Disclaimer: I wish I owned Marvel. Sadly, no one was passing out Marvel rights for Halloween.
This story is dedicated to Curly Wurly Me for being just an awesome and amazing person. Thank you for all your support. I hope you like this.
Fairy Tales Are For Children
"The idea of my life as a fairy tale is a fairy tale itself." –Grace Kelly
Natasha and Clint are in Moscow when it happens, which Natasha will find to be quite ironic when she remembers the experience years later. The place that taught her that love and 'happily ever after's are just things made up to help children sleep better is the same place that delivers a girl to her that will teach her differently.
The read-haired Russian was hiding in an alley, awaiting Clint's signal that she was to enter the fight. Normally she would have scoffed and made some sarcastic comment about her being just as good at fighting as Clint, and who was he to treat her like some storybook princess and leave her behind?
While Natasha was waiting, the snow falling down around her, the screaming of the men that she knew Clint was killing in the name of justice enveloping her like a blanket, something strange happened. The girl just ran up behind her and grabbed her legs. Her hair was the darkest black Natasha had ever seen and her cherry-red lips only seemed redder because of her pale skin. She was wearing a worn-down dress and had reminded Natasha, in some part of the back of her mind, of Snow White. Looking down at the girl who was clinging to her like she was a shield, Natasha wasn't quite sure what to do. Should she leave this girl who would only be a liability in a firefight? Should she stay with her and protect her? Should she simply ignore her? Deciding that maybe it would be best to stay with the girl and then leave when Clint needed her, Natasha helped the girl sit down on the cold ground before joining her, her back leaning up against the dark brick wall.
"Can you listen to me?" Natasha asked the girl in her native tongue. The girl nodded and turned her attentive face to Natasha. "You can stay here with me until this is over, but you must promise to be very quiet and to not follow me when I leave. Can you promise me that?" The girl nodded again and the two returned to their previous state of silence.
It is 20 minutes later when the girl whispers, "Can you tell me a fairy tale? It'll keep me quiet. My momma always tells me fairy tales before I go to bed."
"What?" Natasha responds, mostly because she is not sure how else to react to a child asking her to tell a story.
"A fairy tale. Can you tell me one?"
"What, like princesses and dragons and true love's kiss?"
"Yes. Didn't your momma ever tell you fairy tales?"
"Yes. But I don't think you want to hear the fairy tales I heard as a girl."
"Why?"
"Because they're sad. I don't think I can tell you a fairy tale; I don't know any happy ones."
"Then make one up. Those are the best anyway."
Natasha looked at the girl, saw her big eyes and the way that she clung to the idea of something better and couldn't quite bring herself to say no. So she steels herself with a deep breath, tries to think of some story that ends happily, or at least has a good man and a beautiful women in it, and begins to tell the only stories that she knows.
"Once upon a time… That is how these things start isn't it? Fairy tales do start with 'Once upon a time'?" Natasha inquires, suddenly nervous that she will tell this story wrong. The girl confirms that that is how a fairy tale starts and Natasha continues.
"Once upon a time, there was a peasant from a far away village called Brooklyn and a princess from the great kingdom of England. The peasant could not do much. He was far too skinny and he often got sick. The other peasants were cruel to him and called him names. This peasant only wanted one thing. He didn't want to be big and strong so that he could make the villagers stop being mean to him. He didn't want to be a prince. He didn't even want to marry a princess. All the peasant wanted to do was help his country win a terrible war that they were fighting. One day, this peasant met a great wizard who gave him the chance to help his country win the war. While the peasant was getting ready to become a valiant knight to help save his country, he met a princess, named Peggy. She was beautiful and she knew something that the peasant didn't. The princess knew how to dance but she was waiting for the right partner. The peasant did not know how to dance, but he wanted to learn.…"
The girl didn't seem unhappy about the story she was being told, so Natasha continued. She told the story of a peasant from Brooklyn who became a Captain of America and the woman he fell in love with. But towards the end of the story, Natasha became worried. How to give a happy ending to a story where the peasant- turned-prince is supposed to crash his magic carriage into ice and leave the princess behind forever? So Natasha lies, because how can this story be a fairy tale if the prince and princess can never be together? Once the prince has been reunited with his princess and has finally learned how to dance, Natasha wraps the story up with a "And they lived happily ever after". She expects the girl to smile approvingly up at her, but is shocked by the look of disdain on the girl's face. "That's not the right fairy tale," she states plainly.
"What? But it has a prince and a princess and they live happily ever after. What's wrong with it?" Natasha asks, confused.
"Try again. I'm sure you'll get it this time."
"Fine," Natasha once again takes a deep breath before delving into her story. "Once upon a time there was a prince who was very rich. One day he was kidnapped while he was in a far away land. When he was kidnapped there was a very large explosion and his heart was hurt. In order for the prince to survive, a wizard had to put a glowing star in the prince's chest. To escape his kidnappers, the prince made a suit of iron almost like armor. In a battle with his kidnappers, the kind wizard forced the prince to use the suit to escape. When the prince returned to his castle he found his father's friend and his assistant, who was very beautiful, waiting for him…" When Natasha has finished the story of a prince who hides behind a suit and a wall of snide remarks and his assistant who waits and works for him for years, the girl once again tells her that the story was not satisfactory and that she must start over.
Getting tired of thinking up stories, Natasha begins, "Once upon a time, there was a god who was a prince about to become a king. Right before he was crowned king of all his land, there was an attack. The prince, who had always been rash, led his friends into battle against the giants that had attacked his home. When the prince returned triumphant with his friends, the kind banished him to help him learn how to be a good king. After the king had banished his son, he threw his son's hammer through the same hole that his son had gone through. The king swore that his son would be able to lift the hammer and use it until he had learned his lesson. The prince fell through the sky to Earth, where he met a simple peasant who's only resource was how smart she was..." Natasha was not surprised when the girl simply waited in silence as her new story ended, signaling that she was, once again, displeased.
"Once upon a time, there was a peasant who wanted to be a prince named Bruce and a princess named Betty…" Natasha was cut off by the girl's indignant voice.
"No. No. You don't get it. I don't want someone else's fairy tale. I want yours," the girl said.
"Mine? But I don't have a fairy tale."
"Yes, you do. Everyone has a fairy tale. It's what makes us special."
Getting tired of this game, Natasha rolled her eyes and gave in. "Whatever you say. Once upon a time, there was a young girl with hair the color of fire. She was a very sad girl. Both her parents were dead and she had done some very horrible things in her life. One day a prince found her. The king had told the prince that the young girl was a witch and that he must kill her. When the prince saw the girl he recognized her for what she was. Disobeying the king and all the king's court, the prince took the girl back home with him. He became her friend and convinced the court that she could be good. The prince taught the girl to be kind and gentle. He taught her what it meant to be the best she could be. Slowly, without even knowing it, the girl fell in love with the prince. The prince and the girl were partners for many years; they travelled together and completed many quests for the court. But one day the prince was kidnapped by an evil giant and the girl had to work with a peasant who became a prince, a prince with a suit of iron, a godly king, and a peasant who could change his shape. Together they saved the world and brought the prince back home. All of them became great friends and lived together. They had many adventures and were very happy most of the time. And they ate shwarma. The end."
"That's not how a fairy tale ends," the girl protested.
"Sure it is. I said 'The end'."
"You know that's not how you end a fairy tale."
"Fine then. And they ate shwarma and lived happily ever after. Are you happy now?"
"No. The prince and the girl didn't kiss and get married. Nothing ends. Why won't you tell me the rest of the story?" The young girl began to cry, tears streaking her pale cheeks. Natasha felt helpless; not only was Clint stopping her from helping him, she couldn't even tell a proper fairy tale to a girl.
"I can't tell you the rest of the story because I don't know it. You wanted me to tell you my story and my story isn't done yet. So I can't tell you the end."
"Oh," the girl said weakly right before the ground shook with the sound of an explosion. The blood rushed out of Natasha's face as her heart began to beat frantically. Clint? Where was he? She had been waiting for a whole 16 seconds before Clint strode into the alley where Natasha and the girl were. Natasha's questions about Clint's well-being get lost in his reassurances until neither can hear each other and they are both simply continuing to move their mouths so that the other doesn't catch on to the fact that they are simply staring at the their face, taking in the beauty of person they love most. When both finally run out of things to say they smile and, in a burst of courage and euphoria, Clint picks Natasha up and spins her around in his arms. Natasha laughs. The girl who believes in true love and fairy tales is left sitting in the snow, watching the two agents become a prince and princess before her very eyes. She smiles and prepares to go back home, not saying a word so as not to disturb the true love shining in Clint and Natasha's eyes. She is surprised when she hears Natasha's voice. "What's your name? You never told me," Natasha says.
The girl turns on her heel to face her friend and with a small smile and eyes that are far too old, she says, "Don't you already know? My name is Natalia and I believe in true love and fairy tales."
Natasha isn't quite sure what to say to the girl walking away from her, her tiny boots leaving footprints in the Moscow snow. Natasha isn't quite sure what to think of a girl that shares her name and knows so much about the world, but can still believe in once upon a time and happily ever after. Maybe, Natasha wonders, Maybe, I'm just supposed to believe and have hope.
Natasha Romanoff never again sees the girl with her own eyes, but she hears stories of a girl who came to her wedding to Clint Barton in Moscow on a snowy day. Clint recognizes her, and while Natasha doesn't see her, Clint swears she doesn't look a day older. The newly-married couple do not ponder on it for long. No, instead of thinking about the girl who brought them together with her belief that fairy tales can happen they do something much better. They live happily ever after.
Author's Note: There you go. I hope everyone enjoyed this and if you review I will be thrilled beyond belief. Thank you for your time and for reading my work.
Have a great November,
-When In Doubt, Smile