Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long; the writer's block on this project is hitting me hard. :/ It's kinda sad, but I'm hoping I'll get past it soon!
I'd like to thank MissMarvelousFanfic for the prompt for this chapter! Also, a shout-out to CrazyCountryGirl12, Angelbaby1231, and WriterandDaydreamer4218 for reviewing! And of course, THANK YOU AGAIN to all my readers, followers, and favoriters! You guys are great. Thanks so much. :)
That's all I've got for you, folks, other than I'm planning on re-posting my EDITED (thank gosh) Lord of the Rings 10th walker and my Harry Potter fics soon. Thanks everyone, and have a MARVELous day!
The little vacation proved to be a great bonding experience for the Avengers. It lasted four days and three nights; on the second day, they returned to Universal Studios. Somehow, Esca had managed to convince Pietro to ride a real rollercoaster, if only one time in his life.
Pietro had said he liked the experience… but never wanted to do it again.
Afterward, they had gone to the beach, where everyone had lots of fun. Luckily, everyone had brought a swimsuit—at Tony's disclosure—so everyone was able to wade into the ocean. Esca had had a lot of fun building a huge sandcastle with Tony and Bruce, as those two knew exactly how to make it tall and structurally sound. Thor assisted whenever the castle became too high for any of the three architects to continue building it. Later, Clint, Steve, and Pietro accompanied Esca into the ocean, as she'd never been to a beach before and really enjoyed the experience.
Meanwhile, Wanda, Vision, Pepper, and Zelda preferred to remain in the shade and read or watch their friends fool around. Natasha had grumbled to James about a bullet-sized scar on her side—he apologized three times before she laughed and let him off the hook.
During their time at the beach, Esca and Natasha had both tanned nicely, although poor Wanda had gotten sunburned. To help Wanda's burns heal faster, Esca gave her a big bottle of aloe vera.
Before long, everyone was back at Stark Tower. Unfortunately, the morning after they returned, Clint had to return to the farm. He gave Esca a long good-bye, as he didn't know when he'd be back, although he promised it wouldn't be terribly long.
"Say hi to Nathaniel for me," she said with a smile. And then he was off.
It was that afternoon that Esca began to feel under the weather. The next morning, she threw up. Luckily, she'd made it to the bathroom on time, but she wasn't able to leave it for a half-hour.
Pietro brought her a glass of ginger ale afterward and helped her into bed for a nap.
Throughout the next day, Esca had a couple visitors. Bruce first came by and did a quick evaluation on what she might've contracted. He declared it was a stomach bug, and Esca figured he was right. All the same, it was one of the worst bugs she'd gotten in a while.
Next, Steve came by with a bouquet of lovely white gardenias. He had a kind "Get Well" card, and he had gotten everyone to sign it. Esca couldn't help but grin at the gesture despite her pain and nausea.
"Take care of her, Maximoff," chuckled Steve, kissing Esca's forehead before leaving her to take another much needed nap.
"Don't worry, Rogers. I will."
While Esca was asleep was apparently when she had received the bulk of her visitors, because when she woke up, there was chicken noodle soup, a large bottle of water, and an electric blanket waiting for her. When she registered what they were for, she giggled slightly and muttered, "You'd think I was dying or something."
Pietro heard this comment and chuckled. "We worry about you."
"So I see," she replied, grabbing the water bottle swiftly. She was uncomfortably hot, but she knew she needed to sweat the fever out, so she just buried herself deeper underneath the blankets.
"Should I turn the air conditioning up?" asked Pietro.
She smiled but shook her head. "No, but thank you. I need to sweat the fever out." With a sigh, she then added, "Joy, joy…"
Pietro chuckled and sat on the edge of her bed carefully. "You become sarcastic when you're sick, apparently."
Esca grinned from underneath her blankets. "When I'm sick or when I'm sleep-deprived. Speaking of sleep-deprived… you should take a nap yourself, Pietro. I have no idea how long you've been here, but you don't need to worry. I'll be alright."
He smirked sideways and declared, "I'm not going anywhere. You were awake, watching over me nonstop the first day that we met. I've finally been given an opportunity to repay that."
"Pietro—"
"Nothing the sickie says is going to change my mind."
"I'm just the sickie now, am I? Great."
"If the sickie keeps sassing me, I won't tell her a story," laughed Pietro, seeing the expression on Esca's face. He smirked again seeing the exasperated yet defeated look that followed.
"What kind of story?" she questioned, glancing up at him suspiciously.
Pietro grinned carelessly and shrugged. "Any story you'd like to hear."
"It doesn't matter to me. I like stories."
"All right then. Once upon a time, a brother and a sister went to the lake close to their house. They had somehow managed to escape the ever watchful eyes of their supervisors and went to spend time by themselves. The sister looked into the reflection of the water of that lake and mused, 'I wonder if there is a God out there.'
"Naturally, the brother was confused by this, and so he asked, 'What do you mean, a God? Do you mean an actual deity, or something else that we cannot comprehend?'
"'Call it what you will,' the sister said. 'If you want to call it God or fate or anything else. Is there something greater out there? Is it good? Does it have our parents?'
"'I think there has to be something, although I'm not sure what,' said the brother. He could tell his sister was troubled; he wanted to say something that would comfort her. He knew she was thinking about their parents and wanted to reassure her that they were alright. So he added, 'I think it is a power that oversees that everything happens for a reason. We are here for a reason. Our parents are with this power for a reason. Whatever we do today, tomorrow, or next year will have been for a reason. The people we meet will have met us for a reason. Maybe it's destiny. Maybe it's fate. Maybe it really is a God. I don't know, and I don't think anyone ever will. But whatever it is… I think it's good.'
"The sister watched him for a moment and asked, as if she were afraid to hear the answer, 'Do you think it will eventually bring us to happiness?'
"And the brother replied, 'Yeah. I think it will.' That was all he could say before their supervisors found them and requested that they return to their fortress.
"That conversation occurred two years ago today. Neither the brother nor sister forgot it. They held out hope that whatever-it-is out there would bring them something to live for. They wanted to believe there would be a happily ever after. They believed it would happen so much that eventually it came to be.
"Half of me now thinks it is a God. After all, He sent an angel to save me. And since that day, we've had our happy ending, Wanda and I. Somehow, we've been given more than we ever hoped for. I don't know exactly what we did to deserve it, but we must have done something right. I hope to keep doing it. The end."
Esca blinked and smiled, gazing at Pietro. He had been looking out the window as he spoke, his gaze far away in a million-mile stare. She noted the rare, raw emotion in his tone and couldn't help but murmur, "You said it yourself; everything happens for a reason. I think… you are here because you and Wanda helped save the people of Sokovia. If there is a God, He rewarded you for doing what is right on Sokovia. I think… your path has been decided for a while. It just took a while to reach your happy ending."
Pietro finally looked back at her, surprise written across his face. But then he sighed and replied, "Perhaps. Who am I to argue with the one who has become my happy ending?"
"I was merely at the right place at the right time," mused Esca. "One way or another, you would've found your peace. But… am I… really your happy ending?"
He heard the doubt in her voice and chuckled. "You are certainly a big part of it. Wanda is another—she's all I had for the majority of my life, and seeing her happy certainly means a lot to me. You are another big part of that, of course… but what truly makes it special is having all that Wanda and I ever wished for beforehand. Friends—family—freedom. We have that now, and after so much time wishing and desiring, we know how precious it really is, and how lucky we are to have found it."
Esca sighed, knowing what he was talking about. She knew how precious it was, too. Now that she had everything she'd ever wished for, she'd treasure it deeply, perhaps more than anything else she'd ever treasured.
After a moment of silence, she murmured, "I know what you mean. But now, Pietro, you should get some sleep. You're probably very tired."
She tried to use her power to get him to rest, but he just shook his head obstinately. "That won't work on me this time, Esca Rarity. I'm staying up to make sure you feel well."
"I'm fine," she tried to say, but then she broke into a coughing fit.
"No you're not," he retorted, rolling his eyes.
Esca sighed again. "You're insanely overprotective, did you know that?"
"Wanda's motherliness must've rubbed off on me. Guess I should've seen that coming. Anyway, I'm still not leaving you. I'm going to make sure you get through this all right."
"In sickness and in health, huh?" joked Esca, a small smirk at her lips.
But that smirk faded entirely when he nodded and replied, as serious as he had ever been in the past, "That's exactly right."
At the sudden burst of sincerity, she blinked and stared at him. He didn't say anything, but everything he wanted to convey seemed to be in the look in his eyes. After a moment of Esca reading it, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Now… you are the one who needs to sleep. It will help you heal faster."
"But I just woke up," she declared plaintively, her blue eyes blinking.
Pietro sighed and gently caressed her face. "I know. But the more time you spend sleeping, the closer you will be to getting better. Don't you want to get better?"
"Yes, but… I like your stories."
"I'll tell you another one tonight," he laughed, a hint of a smile remaining on his face as he said this. "But only if you get your rest. You need it, Esca Rarity…"
"Only if you sleep too," she pronounced resolutely, crossing her arms for extra emphasis. "I won't sleep unless you do, too."
Pietro's eyes found the ceiling, but he laughed and held his hands up in surrender. "All right… I guess I have no choice." And with that, he lay down beside her, making sure she had enough room to be comfortable.
Esca glanced at him and thought for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but then swiftly closed it, realizing it probably wouldn't be a good idea to say what she was thinking.
"What?" asked Pietro—he had seen it anyway.
She shook her head against speaking, but at his insistence, she finally sighed and squeaked, "I just wanted to hug you, but since I'm contagious it probably isn't a good idea. I don't want you getting sick…"
He smiled again. "Screw that." And he wrapped Esca in his arms, which made her sigh contentedly and close her eyes. "If you had mono, I'd probably still hug you."
"Well, you'd be the one who gave me mono, because I do not have it, and I do not intend on kissing anyone other than you, so… But you don't have mono, either, so that example was a little redundant—"
"Damn, you are sassy when you're sick," he chuckled into her hair. "Get better soon! Jeez."
Esca giggled at his tomfoolery, but buried her face in his shirt and closed her eyes. Within a few minutes, with Pietro holding her and the warmth of the blankets, she was asleep.
A/N: I sort of wanted a real life theme/moral with this chapter. I hope I portrayed it accurately.
Please review, guys! I want to know if I did this chapter right. :)