The Spark That Never Dies Part: Three

Chapter Thirty

Everyone wants a happy ending.

But sometimes the best things in life, the greatest things, were never meant to last at all.

The trees surrounding you in the forest were covered in purple, pink, and orange, every color that has ever touched your soul and made your world a little brighter, a little more interesting.

This went unnoticed to Natasha as she slowly made her way to where you had been, dropping her phone by the car in complete shock, and somehow remembering how to move. It was more like she gravitated towards where you had called out in pain, desperately trying once more to make right in this world that had dealt you such a wrong hand for most of your years.

But the energy wasn't pulsing like it had been at the house in Brooklyn and instead it floated up to the tops of the trees, giving you an area all your own.

When she approached you, or rather where you had been, she saw the large half dome shaped hole in the ground and a simple piece of paper lying in the middle. She walked over to it, stepping inside the hole, and numbly reached down to pick it up. It was folded hastily, the scrap of paper that looked like it came from your pocket, and some smoke poured from its edges, so she opened it carefully. Written in what could only be described as some kind of ash, was a small note that had her heart aching to read. Tears stung at her eyes before they fell down her cheeks and she put a hand to her mouth to help stop the sob that threatened to wrack her body.

"Natasha?"

For a second, a split second, she thought it was you since she was alone, but once she registered as it being Tony, she fell to her knees, dropping the letter, and letting the sobs erupt from her.

He rushed over to her side to help and while he held her there, thankful he was out of his suit now, his eyes landed on the piece of paper not a foot away.

The colors didn't go unnoticed to Tony, neither did the giant crater hole in the middle of the dense forest, but he kept her there, tried to ground her the best he could and couldn't help but to wonder what happened to you.

Her vice grip on his shirt was turning her knuckles white as she continued to cry, her body shaking, and he finally reached out slowly, as to not disturb her, to take the note off the ground. He moved his finger around so he could open it in one hand and seconds later he dropped it to the ground, squeezing his eyes shut to will his own thoughts and tears away.

They sat there for hours with only the birds chirping, occasional rustling of the bushes, and Natasha's quiet cries to be heard throughout the entire area. She continued to shake against him and he would hold her tighter, trying to calm her down, but it took so long for him to manage getting her back to the car. She was exhausted, not having slept all night and with everything she's been through, that she ended up falling asleep on the drive back to the tower. He was relieved she was taken away from this for at least a little while, but he knew the second she woke up it would hit her all again like it was the first time.

Driving away, he noticed in the rearview mirror that the colors quickly faded from the forest the farther he drove from it and he wondered if that was just a coincidence.

And he hasn't stopped thinking about what happened for the last year.

Natasha, Yelena, and Sherlock moved back into the cabin, they spend most their weekends in the city at the tower and whenever Natasha has a mission, there's always someone willing to watch Yelena who now insists she doesn't need a babysitter. But Natasha doesn't fight Yelena on her powers anymore, she helps her grow with them, and encourages her to use them because that's what you would've wanted. Whenever Yelena reminds her of you, she smiles sadly, but she smiles none the less which is a big improvement.