This is actually the scene that popped into my head and spawned the idea for this series of themed moments. Melina's character is such an interesting one, and I'm certain I haven't quite captured her voice - but hopefully you can enjoy it nonetheless.

(I'm afraid we're back on the angst/emotional train though! I am making an effort to brainstorm less emotionally charged moments for this, I promise! 😂)

Enjoy!

It's nearing dusk as Melina makes her way down the path toward Natasha's headstone. She had intended to visit much earlier in the day, but a series of travel delays meant she had arrived in the country much later than planned. By the time she approaches the clearing the sun has almost set, leaving a swath of colours on the horizon. The trees are blocking out much of the last few lingering rays of faint sunlight, but there are hundreds of pulsing gold dots floating in the area providing glimpses of light.

She can't help but smile. Fireflies, she thinks, how appropriate.

Both her girls loved fireflies. In Ohio, Yelena had delighted in them in a sweet, innocent kind of way that only a child could. To her, the darkening sky being lit up by the tiny beetles like dots of paint on a dark canvas was a wondrous sight. She'd chase them and laugh even as she couldn't manage to grab any. Natasha though, she had been more cautious with her awe. She'd always lingered outside while everyone else had headed into the house, her gaze sweeping across the backyard at the twinkling and pulsing lights. Melina had only ever caught glimpses of her expression, but it had always been so full of wonder and hope. Her smile on their final night in Ohio had lit up her expression in a way that Melina still remembered to this day. It was perhaps, she thinks as she pictures it in her mind, one of the only times she'd seen Natasha truly happy.

But then just a few moments later it all went to shit, and Melina had been apologizing to Natasha from across the dinner table as the façade came crashing down on them. She'd watched as that joy and wonder had dimmed in Natasha's eyes as the girl realized her years away from the Red Room were over, and that she would be going back. All Melina could do was apologize, but she'd seen the sadness creep in, and it had tugged at her heart. She hadn't been lying when she told Alexei she didn't want to go back. It had broken her heart to see the joy fade from Natasha's expression and be replaced with dread.

Hours later Melina had been lying on a stretcher bleeding with her girls clinging to her when she heard Natasha's soft, shaky voice speak to her in Russian, apologizing for being scared. She had looked her in the eyes and recalled vividly that look of awe and wonder she'd seen just hours before. She remembered the way Natasha had grown to love their family and protect her little sister – slowly, tentatively, and cautiously. Melina knew what the Red Room would do to her when she went back. She knew they would rip and claw at what was left of her heart, her soul, and that light inside her. They would do everything they could to stamp it out. And so even though she knew she wasn't this girl's mother, and even though she knew their family was perhaps nothing more than a calculation, she couldn't help but try. "Never let them take your heart" she had whispered through the pain, reaching toward her elder daughter. It wasn't until decades later that she found out that against all the odds, Natasha had succeeded in just that.

Melina looks down at the stone which is faintly illuminated by the nearby fireflies. It's not bright enough to read clearly, but she knows every letter by heart. She knows there's no body buried there, that it's just a stone marking where her daughter should have been laid to rest. That, as it turned out, was yet another luxury not afforded to her by the cruel life she'd had to live.

No, Melina thinks, maybe it hadn't been quite so cruel in the end.

After all, she'd kept that brightness alight and had loved deeply, such that she had two families who were feeling her loss acutely and painfully. Two families who were grappling with the loss of someone near and dear to them, and were remembering how she had somehow, despite everything she'd lived through, managed to keep her big heart.

She remembers watching Natasha hold the photo album with a cautious sort of determination that day when she, Yelena, and Alexei had come home. She had marveled at how the girl she'd spent those years with had somehow managed to hold on to those fragments of her heart and had grown into a woman capable of such love and compassion. Somehow, in and amidst all the darkness she'd lived through and the pain she'd endured, Natasha had held that brightness inside her. It was fragile, yes, but more than anything it was a symbol of her strength. Of her legacy, really. Because maybe to the world she had lived a hero's journey of turning from "bad" to "good," but to her families she had lived a life filled with her learning to overcome what the Red Room had wanted her to be, fighting to right the wrongs that had been forced on her hands, and finding out how to love with all her heart.

And so, as she looks down at the headstone, Melina thinks maybe that strong, compassionate, and resilient spirit...maybe that will be her legacy. Maybe that's what people, the ones who really knew her, will remember about Natasha Romanoff. They'll remember that despite everything the world could throw at her, she had lived, and endured, and thrived as who she wanted to be. That she had been someone who could love, despite what they had taught her growing up. That she had lived to be better, and to make the world a safer and better place. And that no matter how much it hurts to know she had given her life to do that, she had succeeded at it on the grandest scale.

Melina squats down to place the two flowers she'd brought. She brushes aside dead leaves and twigs that have collected at the base of the stone, careful not to knock over any of the trinkets, flowers, letters, and cards that people have left. They are small tokens of the impact she'd had on the world, and they do nothing to lessen the pain in her heart at the loss, but Melina smiles anyway, because they mean that people care and that people know she mattered.

The world was mourning the loss of the Avenger and little girls around the world were crying at the loss of their hero. But the Avengers and Yelena, Melina, and Alexei? They were mourning the loss of Natasha Romanoff. They were remembering her impact on them and on the world. They were trying to honour her legacy by continuing on, trying to be better, and taking full advantage of the lives her sacrifice had given them back.

I'm sorry, Natasha, Melina thinks. They are words she should have offered Natasha so much sooner, even if they are words that aren't and wouldn't ever be enough. She knows they could never be enough to make up for the pain she'd caused. After all, she had known exactly what she and Alexei had been sending Natasha and Yelena back to in the Red Room and she had done nothing to prevent it. They could have lived normal lives and had everything she'd never had a chance at having. Instead, she pushed the memory of their time as a family to the depths of her mind, boxing it up and pretending it never happened. Instead, she focused on her work for Dreykov, which led to both her girls and countless others suffering. Natasha had been right - she was a coward.

She places the flowers she'd brought with her at the base of the stone and presses them into the grass there for a moment as she thinks of Natasha. There's so much she wants to say but she can't find the words. Part of her feels she hasn't earned the right to say any of them, and part of her feels like it's useless to say them anyway because Natasha isn't here.

She doesn't ask for forgiveness, even though a part of her knows that Natasha, with her big heart and her compassion that guided her to a life as a hero, probably would have offered it.

Instead, Melina settles on "I'm proud of you," even though she knows Natasha never needed to hear those words from her. Still, she is proud of the woman that the little girl she had once known had become. Strong, smart, and with a beautiful heart and strong soul. Someone worthy of holding the mantle of a hero.

Melina looks up at the fireflies as they drift around with their lights pulsing gently. It is yet another reminder that Natasha's legacy and the impact she'd had on the people around her would last long beyond her death. Another reminder that the fragile brightness that she had kept inside her all those years in the face of such ugliness and pain was what people would remember. Maybe people will tell their children about Natasha Romanoff, who'd overcome so much just to be able to be her own person. Maybe people will tell their children about the girl who'd kept her heart against all odds and had used it to save everyone in the end.

As she rises to her feet, she looks down at the stone. "I know you're okay, Natasha but...you take care of yourself, alright?" she says softly before turning and making her way back up the path, letting the faint glow of the fireflies light her way.

Thanks to all for the continued support. Comments and kudos always do bring a smile to my face. 😊

Always appreciate seeing what people think.

More to come.