girl ― saved by captain america

[forty six] daddy and willa's day

[Steve]

"I wanna be where the people are. I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing..."

Willa's wide eyes never leave the screen as Ariel sings the familiar tune, her little body vibrating softly as she hums, curled up next to me on the plush white sofa. So far throughout the film, she's shifted her position several times, sucking in breaths of discomfort along with her movements; it's glaringly obvious that she's in pain. But she hasn't said anything to me about it, so, for now, I've decided to leave it alone. Not wanting to upset her, I figure it won't be the end of the world to wait for the film to finish to address the elephant in the room.

As the song continues to play, Willa hums along quietly against me as my hand reaches up to find her hair. Slowly and gently, I begin to run my fingers over the smooth locks. The child relaxes slightly against me at this contact, and though I want to stay present in the moment, I can't keep my mind from wandering. What's hurting my Willa? What's wrong; what happened to my sweet little girl? Though it very well could be just a stomachache from the food, I highly doubt it. Eggs, berries, and bread are all very mild in nature and I can't imagine them causing too much discomfort for her.

I still don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I can't help but think that it must have been something more that Tony did, something that Willa's trying to keep from me. The fact that she's in pain is obvious, but that's simply because she's a child and children don't always have much capacity to conceal their feelings. I can just tell that she's holding herself back as much as she can, and it breaks my heart. I hate how she feels like she always has to keep everything inside; I wish I knew how to make her feel safer in coming to me for help.

"Are mermaids real?" a soft voice breaks me out of my thoughts. Looking down, I see that Willa has turned herself on my lap to look up at me. Gazing down at her softly, my hand shifts from her hair to her cheek.

"No, I don't think so, sweetheart... well- actually, I guess I can't say for sure," I correct myself. While the logical answer to that question is of course a negative, my mind travels back to the aliens taking over New York, and with that situation in mind, it's hard to say that anything's impossible.

"Have you ever seen one?" the girl asks innocently, her eyes wide with wonder as she talks about the magical creatures.

"Nope. Not in today's world, and not back in the forties, either," I tell her. She frowns at the news, and my heart sinks at having disappointed her. "But that doesn't mean they're not real. I'm sure they live deep in the ocean, just like Ariel. I was asleep when I traveled to the bottom of the sea, so maybe I missed my chance to see them," I try in hopes of lifting her spirits.

"The bottom of the sea... that's where the fishies live," Willa notes. I nod.

"Yep, just like Flounder and Sebastian."

"F'ounder. A-and S'bas-stin," she tries to repeat back. Smiling at her, I can't help but soften up at her adorable speech. The happy moment is quickly interrupted, though, by a wince of discomfort surging through the little girl. With her eyes still locked on mine, her cheeks turn red, and her eyes widen slightly as she realizes she's been caught.

"You alright, pumpkin?" I ask gently, not wanting to frighten her.

"Mhmm," she hums quickly, her rushed response only giving her away even more.

Sighing, my eyebrows draw together in concern. "Sweetheart," I coo softly, "what's goin' on, Willa-bug? You've been shifting around the whole movie; it's clear something's bothering you."

The poor thing's bottom lip begins to quiver anxiously as her eyes break away from mine, searching for a way out of the situation she's found herself in. "N-no... 'm fine," she insists slowly. As she leans back on my lap, I can feel her little body slowly beginning to shake against me. Poor doll.