A/N: This is my first story, so please no flames! Constructive criticism would be nice, though!
I've decided to revamp my story as I saw a lot of rough patches in the old version. So, here's the new and improved version of A Tale of Two Sisters!
June 20th, 1938
A house in Stalingrad, USSR
Screams continued to come from her parents' bedroom. Natalia (Natasha to her family) Alianovna Romonova winced and rubbed her eyes tiredly. The household had been woken by her mother's screams of pain and her father's frantic search for a doctor in the early morning. The ten-year old was anxious to meet her new little sister or brother. She also worried about her mother; it wasn't easy giving birth after ten years. Finally the screams stopped and a loud wail issued from the room. Natasha jumped up, and then ran towards the room. Poking her head in the door, Natasha could see the doctor cleaning up and her parents were sitting next to each other on the bed. In her mother's arms, she could see a small bundle of pink. Her mother spotted her and beckoned her to come over.
"Natasha? Come in and say hello to your new sister."
Natasha walked over to the bed and her mother lowered her little sister so she could see.
"What's her name?" She whispered, stroking the baby's cheek.
"Yekaterina Alianovna Romonova. Katya for short," her father answered. Just then, Katya opened her eyes sleepily. Natasha was surprised, to say the least. Katya had the exact same shade of amethyst purple eyes as her mother. Katya yawned, and went back to sleep. Natasha brushed the dark red hair that was apparent in the family.
"She's wonderful," Natasha breathed.
"Yes, she is, isn't she?" Her mother said. She started to hum a familiar tune.
On the wind, cross the sea
Hear this song and remember.
Soon you'll be, home with me.
Once upon a December
Once the song was done, Natasha kissed Katya and her mother on the cheeks and hugged her father. She returned to her room to catch up on her sleep. Right before she fell asleep, Natasha sent up a prayer for her family's health and fortune.
74 years and an alien invasion later, New York City, Avengers Tower
That wish never came true. Two days after Katya's birth, Germany invaded Russia. In August, the Nazis arrived on the outskirts of Stalingrad and the Battle of Stalingrad started. During one of the bombing raids, one of the houses on their street was bombed and all the other houses caught fire. Natasha herself was saved from the fire by Ivan Petrovitch. Her parents and Katya weren't so lucky. Natasha has long given up on finding them alive and has buried her grief and survivor's guilt behind impenetrable walls. The only other person who knows is Nick Fury. And he respects, and fears, Natasha enough to not question her about it. The only acknowledgement Fury gives her is the mandatory break for her on June 20th, Katya's birthday. Natasha pushes these thoughts from her head and looks out over the New York City skyline. She sips her vodka, turning her thoughts to the aftermath of the alien invasion. After Loki's attempt to take over the world, Thor took Loki back to Asgard. As punishment and a chance at redemption, Odin sent Loki back with Thor to help with reconstructing New York City. None of them, especially Clint, were happy about this. However, Thor begged them to give him a chance. Surprisingly, Natasha was the first one to extend the hand of friendship. After that, the others gradually came to accept Loki as one of them. Loki earned Clint's friendship and respect when the former dealt with some of the name-calling and rumors about Barton's involvement that had spread throughout SHIELD headquarters and the Helicarrier after the invasion.
The sun is poking through the skyscrapers when Natasha finishes her drink and starts making breakfast. Letting her hands go on autopilot, she casts her eyes over the various pictures on the wall. There are 4 couple shots; Steve and Tony; Clint and Coulson; and Bruce and her. Tony tried to push Pepper on to Loki, but that backfired on him, seeing as how the two are really good friends now. Currently, Pepper is dating Rhodey, Tony's friend. Tony repeatedly tried to set Loki up with blind dates, but the God of Mischief always wormed his way out of it. There was also a team photo underneath the couple pictures. It shows all the Avengers as well as Loki, Pepper and Rhodey. Looking at the picture, Natasha feels a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Turning her head towards the stove, she finds that she had made her mother's favorite breakfast: eggs and bacon with a side of bliny and a glass of milk. The redhead feels her eyes tear up, she hasn't made that breakfast in nearly 3 decades, afraid that it would bring up painful memories. She thinks about throwing the dish out, but decided that it was wasteful. She settles for eating it; by the time the boys are up, it would be too cold to eat. By the time she's done, the sun is well over the skyscrapers and Clint and Phil have shown their sleepy faces in the kitchen.
"Natasha? What are you doing up so early?" Phil asked around a yawn.
"Yeah, isn't today your mandatory break day?" Clint was suspicious. 'Come to think of it, she's always up earlier than she really needs to be and her eyes are always a little bit red every year on this day,' he thought.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to watch the sunrise," Natasha said. She always offered a variant of that reason every year. Besides, it wasn't an outright lie, more of a lozh' vo spaseniye, a white lie. Clint sensed that she doesn't want to talk about, so he gives Phil a look and both men clam up. Phil makes Natasha a cup of tea and she murmurs her thanks. Slowly, the other Avengers (for future reference, Loki is officially part of the Avengers team), Jane, Pepper and Rhodey come in. Like Clint and Phil, Loki and Bruce notice Natasha's strange behavior; unlike them, they don't comment. She'll talk when she's ready. As the sounds of a typical morning fill the air, Natasha flips through the news channel. Suddenly, JARVIS says, "Sir, Director Fury wants to see everybody."
"Really, this early in the morning? Fine, let him up," Tony complains. Minutes later, the elevator doors open to reveal Nick Fury, director of SHEILD. Everybody sits up straighter.
"Agent Romanov, you're going to want to see this," Fury says walking over to the dining table. Natasha is curious, isn't this her day off? Fury sees the question in her eyes and cuts to the chase, "We've found her. We've found Katya."