You must lose that what you love. A soul for a soul.
They were unprepared to hear this and could hardly find the words to describe their shock over this. They looked down at the ground, forced to let the severity of the situation sink in.
Despite hearing the exact same words, they had completely different thoughts concerning what was said. He thought it was a lie, like it was a sick game that the stone keeper was pulling off to scare them. She believed the stone keeper's words. To her, it was no coincidence that when Thanos came with Gamora to Vormir, only to show up to Wakanda without the latter. However, this time, there was a willing sacrifice, and no one wanted the other to die.
Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff locked eyes with each other, still letting the news about this situation sink in. He wanted to make the sacrifice because he couldn't forgive himself for his actions after realizing the fate of his wife and kids. She wanted to make the sacrifice because outside of The Avengers, she had no other family.
Their parting words were soft, but sad. Perhaps they were quiet enough that the stone keeper could barely hear them, if he could at all. They wanted to take the sacrifice but couldn't bear losing the other. All it took were three words from the best friends that this was important, even when the one had to be sacrificed and the other would be heading back while grieving.
"Whatever it takes." These words spoken to each other were quiet, solemn, and firm.
The severity of the situation was hard for them to take, but they knew it had to be done. Knowing that regardless of who sacrificed themselves, this would be the last time they would see each other face to face and alive. They threw their arms around each other in an embrace, tighter than most because neither one of them hid the fact that they would miss each other when the sacrifice was said and done. Their embrace was longer than either of them anticipated, but that didn't matter to them. She would miss him, and he would miss her.
Their final embrace turned into a physical dispute, one running to the cliff but the other refused to let it happen. Clint wanted to be the one to sacrifice his life, but Natasha wanted to sacrifice her life.
He nearly succeeded by running to the cliff then he jumped, prepared to reunite with his family. However, he was caught by surprise when she grabbed hold of him, and he took notice of her using her grapple to try to keep him from sacrificing his life. She succeeded, but not without her holding onto the end of her cable.
His eyes were fixated on hers, shaking his head at what she did. He was one step closer to reuniting with his family, but she had to stop him.
"Damn you." His words came out like an anguished hiss, angry that she stopped him.
She didn't say anything in reply to his curse. All she did was look him in the eye, her eyes watering up a bit, but she knew that there was only one thing to do. In the end, she wouldn't regret it.
"Let me go," said she softly but sadly, knowing this was it.
"No." He shook his head, feeling tears slowly form in his eyes. He couldn't let her die. She was his best friend and he wouldn't forgive himself if she did this. He made himself clear that he refused to let her slip away from him just like that.
"It's okay," whispered she, her voice barely holding back a sob.
He began to feel his grip on her hand slipping away, yet he wasn't purposely trying to let her go. He refused to. He wanted to do this, not her.
She was shaking her hand away from his grip, knowing that this was the only way to get closer to undoing the Decimation, to bring everyone who dusted away in front of her back. She wanted to do this to bring them back after Clint would return home with the Soul Stone.
Before Clint could react at all, let alone say a word, she successfully shook her hand away from his grip. She was falling down the cliff, reminding herself that this was her chance to allow the mission to be achieved. She wanted her best friend to head back to the Avengers headquarters with the Soul Stone, knowing that this was one step closer to bringing back everyone who was lost from the Decimation.
"No! Nat!" cried he, horror and grief was clear and evident in his voice as he watched his best friend fall down the cliff.
A brutal pain hit him in his heart, like someone had punched a hole through it. He was really losing her. He leaned his head against the cable rope, now barely even holding back the tears that were falling from his eyes. Before he realized it, her face and her red hair disappeared in the clouds, making him let out a choked sob.
She was falling further down the cliff, but she couldn't go without saying one more thing.
"Goodbye Clint," said she one final time, her voice barely hiding the sorrow and tears were forming in her eyes, but she knew she was going through with her decision, just when he disappeared from her sight from the clouds that were now above her.
Whether he heard her or not, she wasn't sure. What she was sure of, was that she was that she was firm with her best friend that it would be okay, though she probably figured out that he was sure nothing would be okay.
She didn't flail her arms around or thrash her whole body around. She made peace with herself that everything would be okay.
Without a second thought on her decision, she closed her eyes, prepared for her fate.
When the clouds cleared away, Clint looked down to see a sight that made him sick to his stomach. His best friend laid down, splotches of blood, her blood, on the ground. Her red hair created a half-circle around her head and her eyes were closed. He knew what this meant, and the thought caused him to let out another choked sob.
The Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff was dead, and Hawkeye/Clint Barton watched her death happen right in front of him.
He cried harder than before, the tears falling from his face. She was his near lifelong partner and best friend, and now, she was leaving him and the rest of the remaining Avengers behind. As selfless as she showed herself to be by making such a drastic decision, it hurt him that this was how it had to be done to undo whatever took away his wife, his kids, his friends, and everyone else lost. It was hurting him that this was officially the last time he would ever see her.
"It's okay." He could hear her last words ringing in his head.
Before he could climb up the mountain he watched Natasha fall from, a blinding flash caught him off guard. He didn't know what to expect by then.
— — — — —
Clint opened his eyes to find himself in a pool of water, surprising him at first. He sat up to see that the water around him was more than a pool, it was closer to a river of water. Despite that, he barely cared about his wet clothes or his wet hair.
Taking his hand out of the water, he looked down to see what he was holding. The orange color of the gem shined brightly in his hand and he knew what this meant. He obtained the Soul Stone.
However, his thoughts shifted to what obtaining the stone had to cost. It costed the woman who was his partner, his ally, his best friend. She was no longer here with him. She was gone, her body surrendered at the bottom of the cliff.
He could still hear her final words ringing in his head, more aggressively this time.
"It's okay."
Another brutal wave of grief hit him in the chest, knowing that he would have to go back to the Avengers headquarters without her. He splashed the water with his fist and his anguished-filled sobs broke the uncomfortable silence. He didn't care if anyone here besides that floating guy heard him. He missed his best friend, but he knew that her death couldn't go without purpose.
"It's okay, Clint. It's okay."
The voice sounded very much like Natasha. He could've sworn that at first, he was going crazy because of how distraught he was over her death, but he didn't brush it off as a hallucination. It was like she was speaking to him, even though she was gone.
"It's okay. It had to be done to save everyone."
He was beginning to promise to himself that once this was all said and done, he would create a memorial for his best friend. He knew what she did showed that she didn't die in vain, but she died a hero. Also, he knew that despite his grief, he had to go on to make her death mean something. He looked down at the remaining Pym Particle he had and knew that if he wanted any chance to bring back his family, he had to take the stone with him, even with the loss of his best friend.
"It's okay," were her final words to him in his head before he closed his eyes to prepare himself to travel forward to 2023, alone, with Natasha Romanoff's memory lingering deep in his mind.
It's okay.