This is a companion piece to October 6th. It plays in the same Soulmate AU!

October 21st: Words

(Rated K+, Lila-Barton-centric)

It was 9 AM on a Saturday and Lila was staring at the ceiling. She had been awake for two hours already, but she didn't want to start that day. She had been a little afraid of it for weeks and now it had arrived - her 13th birthday. A few minutes later Laura entered the room and walked over to her daughter's bed. She sat down and kissed her on the cheek: "Good morning, honey... Happy Birthday! I made breakfast if you want some."

Lila looked at her mom shyly: "I... Actually I don't feel like leaving my room at all today."

Laura put on a concerned expression: "Why? Do you feel sick?"

Shaking her head slightly Lila looked down on the linen: "No... I am just so nervous. I don't know what's going to happen today... what if I have words and they are horrible?"

Smiling again Laura took Lila's hand: "That's not at all bad... I know how scary this day is for you. I was so nervous on my 13th birthday. I had unrealistic expectations, I guess. If I had the words I wanted them to be romantic and sweet and I was really confused when they appeared in the afternoon. I was thinking my soulmate was a strange kind of person and that turned out to be right." She chuckled and Lila started to smile before Laura continued: "See... when I met your father it all made sense. I am sure I have his words and now the only thing I am worried about is the moment he will say them."

Lila nodded slightly: "So... you are saying, there is nothing to worry about?"

Laura rose from the bed: "Exactly... I'll meet you in the kitchen. Your grandparents will also arrive soon, so get ready, okay?"

With a sigh Lila got up and nodded. She got ready for the day and had breakfast with her family. The thought of the words didn't go away, however. While eating another bite of her pancakes she looked over at her brother Cooper who was older than her. On his 13th birthday he didn't seem to care about the whole soulmate-thing at all. He just treated it like a regular day. In the end he turned out to have no words, but he just shrugged when she asked how he felt about it.

When she had finished Lila excused herself to her room again. She closed the door and walked over to the window. She opened it and listened to the singing of the birds. Maybe her mother was right and the words were nothing to be scared of. Then she thought of the conversation she had overheard one night about a year ago. She had wanted to get some water at night when she heard her parents talking about her dad's friends in the living room.

Her aunt Natasha had the strangest words she could think of - even stranger than her mother's. Lila knew them because she had seen them whenever Natasha had been wearing short sleeves. Lila thought it must be hard for her auntie to deal with those words. She herself wouldn't like something like that. If you were the one with the words you already had to worry about the years you would be alone after your soulmate died, but in Nat's case she also had to worry about what the words refer to - what kind of tragedy happens that day. Lila also overheard how her aunt was suspicious of Steve being her soulmate because he had no words.

Lila kind of liked the situation of Tony Stark and his girlfriend best. While Tony had no words Pepper had a simple 'Meet me there' on her left wrist. It was nice to think of a peaceful and hopeful conversation before the significant other would pass. On the other hand, those words were also a problem. Words like Pepper's and 'I love you' and 'Don't cry' were romantic and loving, but in addition something everyone could tell you. They are not specific. You wouldn't recognize them as special to a person. Lila kind of liked how her mother was so sure her father was her soulmate. The words on her wrist were unique and fit Clint's humor perfectly.

Lila sighed. Maybe she would be happier with no words like Cooper. But that also wasn't the answer to everything, she thought. That way she wouldn't even be able to guess. She had talked to her dad about having no words before. He claimed, he didn't ever mind to have no words. Most of his life he had had bigger problems than meeting his soulmate and he had always assumed to die young. He then chuckled and added: "For the things I have done so far, it's a freaking miracle I lived to have you kids..."

Wanda had no words too. She had talked to Clint about it before. Her twin-brother hadn't had words as well. They were okay with it. They had been waiting the whole day, staring at each other's arms, but nothing had changed. Wanda seemed to be a little bothered by her lack of words. She had told Lila's dad that she would have loved to have something to look at when times were dark to find new hope. There had been nothing to hold onto - and after her brother's death she felt even lonelier.

The thing that scared Lila a lot was a situation that very few people experienced - more than one set of words. No one was sure what it meant. Many believed it to be a gift - that you had more than one soulmate. Others saw it as a curse more so. What if both of those soulmates had only that person as soulmate. It was not guaranteed you'd meet your soulmate, but what if the person met both and had to decide. That situation appeared to be Sam's. He didn't speak about that topic with anyone, but everyone understood. On his carpus there was one single word 'NO!'. As if that wasn't bad enough there was another set of words located in the middle of his forearm: 'I'm sorry.' Lila thought that through and it shook her whole body. She thought the words should bring comfort and hope to the people, but that was only terror.

Her parents also talked about the Winter Soldier and debated over rather or not he had words. Her dad didn't dare ask Steve about it because he thought it to be disrespectful. They also discussed if he could remember if he had had any words before his whole left arm had been cut off. Lila felt bad for that person too, even though she didn't know much about him.

Lila had also overheard a conversation of her mother and a friend of hers on the phone. Apparently the words of that woman had started to fade and what was left were only grey letters instead of the pitch black ones a person usually had - like a washed out piece of clothing. Lila had done some research following that and she had found out that people with washed out words would never meet their soulmate. Apparently life could take many different paths. There was one path intended by destiny where you would meet your soulmate eventually. But if something went wrong that path would be out of reach and the words were no longer true - they would never be said. The moment they started to fade was the moment a choice closed that path. Lila wondered if that was even worse than to have terrible words or two sets of words.

The girl supported herself on the windowsill. People like Thor and Vision had no words, but that didn't mean they were to die first. Vision kind of wasn't a real person, he was an entity for sure, but his brain was a stone... kind of. He wasn't human. Thor claimed that Asgardians didn't have words. The system only worked for Midgardians, so he didn't really think about it. Bruce had words - pretty ordinary one, namely 'Good night'. When he was the Hulk, however, they weren't visible. He had done many tests himself, but he couldn't find an explanation to that.

Lila took a deep breath and closed the window again. She stared at her left wrist for a few seconds before shaking her head and dropping onto the bed like a stone. It was ridiculous how much she thought about it, she knew that. She also knew that she wouldn't stop thinking about it. She would have to wait for her birthday to pass, but then... she had a whole different problem to think about.