t/w death mention, implied child abuse
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Ellie sat down in a chair, staring ahead. There wasn't much for her to do in a war camp after all. She could bother the assorted soldiers, but, then her dad would yell at and hit her for it.
The past couple of days, the entire camp had been praising her. She'd cracked a code! She'd saved hundreds if not thousands of lives!
That sounds pretty praiseworthy.
Bucky and Dolley approached Ellie, the siblings kneeling down in front of her. Dolley was holding something behind her back.
"We have a surprise for you," Bucky smiled, glancing at his sister who proceeded to pull out a doll from behind her back and handed it over to Ellie.
The doll had blonde hair in two braids and was wearing a red and white dress with a black apron. The braids were tied with red ribbons.
Ellie, a big smile splayed across her face, stroked the doll's hair before hugging it tightly. "I love her!" The little redhead exclaimed, no longer hugging the doll.
The Barnes siblings seemed pleased at that. "Well," Bucky said. "If you love her so much, why don't you hug her again?"
And Ellie did just that.
"What will you name her?" Dolley asked, smiling at the little redhead and tilting her head.
Ellie stared at the doll for a second.
"Athena," She finally answered. "My Mama said Athena is the name of the Greek goddess of war. So, I'm gonna call her Athena!"
The siblings laughed as Bucky ruffled her hair.
"That's a great name, sweet pea." Dolley smiled.
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Ellie stepped into her old bedroom. All those decades ago, right before she'd walked downstairs and seen her parents' dead bodies, she'd left Athena lying against her pillow. When she stepped into her room, lo and behold, there was Athena, lying against her pillow.
She looked exactly the same.
Ellie carefully grabbed the doll and sat on the edge of her bed.
She stroked Athena's hair for a minute before hugging the doll tightly. Maybe she was crying a little, you can't prove anything.
The redhead held the doll out in front of you. "I love you," She whispered before hugging Athena again. "I love you, Athena."
