Yelena heard crying and thought it was in her head, so she began talking in her sleep. This was an unfortunate reality for her, so she didn't seem too surprised by it. But only then, she realized that her eyes were opened and she was fully conscious, so she wasn't sleeping. The crying was coming from her own home. The only times she'd seen Natasha crying was when trying to comfort or talk to Yelena about her nightmares or pain. She opened the door to see her big sister sitting on the bed, breaking down in tears.
"Natasha?" The redhead slowly looked up and looked at Yelena. She held her arms out, signaling for a hug. Yelena gladly complied, as Natasha kissed her hair. Yelena knew that she needed to know what was wrong. "Are you okay? You usually aren't crying at night unless it's me being a burden."
"Yelena, you're never a burden. Please don't say that. I won't tolerate anyone ever saying that, even if it's you. But..." Yelena felt heartwarmed that Natasha would say that to her. But she needed to know. "But what?"
"I had a nightmare. Maybe similar to the ones that you have."
"No...please no. I don't want you to have to deal with it, too..."
"Hopefully it's just a once-in-a-million thing. But...I dreamed that you were still a Widow, and...well, I was face to face with that same baby girl that I was so proud to protect and call my sister. I didn't want to hurt you. I had to look at my own chest when I woke up to make sure that there were no marks and I was only dreaming." Yelena shook her head. "I would never hurt my big sister." Natasha suddenly said, "I'm sorry, but can you turn around?" Yelena did so, and Natasha lifted her shirt up to check her back. "In my dream, I cut you back, while you hurt my chest. I needed to make sure that you weren't actually hurt. It felt so real, I was terrified. I thought Dreykov wasn't actually dead a-"
"And you don't have to worry about it. He's dead. I've been hiding this from you for a while now, but..." Yelena pulled her phone out and showed a picture of an ashy corpse. "This is Dreykov's dead body. We were able to confirm that he was really dead this time." Natasha smiled. "At least someone checked for a body this time. I'm so glad that he's truly out of our lives."
"Likewise. And I'm so glad that I get to live with my big sister in Ohio again." Natasha paused. "I love you so much. I'm just glad you aren't moving out to leave me here alone"
"No. I would never do that. We are sisters forever. The only love I can feel is for family...well, also some friends," she said as she hugged Natasha around the ribs. She tickled her sister a little bit to annoy her and make her laugh, and of course, got a quick jab in the stomach in response. "Oww..." Yelena said as she put her hand over her lower abdomen where Natasha punched. "That actually hurt..." Natasha was very strong, so she sometimes hit harder than she expected. "I'm sorry, rooskaya. It was out of love, I didn't mean to hurt you." Yelena smiled, and assured her that it was okay. "Y'know, I say that my stomach is a weakness for me. Is that also true for you?" Yelena looked in embarrassment. "A little bit. It's just because that is a weaker area of the body in general. I mean, there are no bones to protect it. Just muscle." Yelena decided to check in again. "Feeling any better? I can do anything for my big sister."
"Oh...a lot better, actually. Thank you for helping me, sweet girl."
"I love you. So much." Those words always got to Nat. "I love you too. Are you okay, 'Lena?" She smirked and said, "Tummy hurts a little bit. But I'm doing great. I know I'll always be okay around you, 'Tasha." Natasha felt a pang of sadness. "I'm sorry, little one." The little sister assured her, "I'm okay, don't worry. They're nothing compared to the stomachaches that I get when I'm sad. Or when I'm scared." Even if it was mostly as a joke and she was okay, Natasha still felt bad about hitting her little sister. "How did I get so lucky? Of all of the little girls in the world, the best one happened to be my sister. And she grew up to be even better."
"Are you the lucky one? Or is it me, who has a smart and strong big sister to be able to lean on as a little girl and grown up?" Natasha rolled her eyes as she chuckled. "We are both lucky, how about that?" Yelena agreed. "Yes, that we are." And they were right. Both were very lucky to have each other. Yelena said, "Y'know, I'm usually the one with the bad dreams. How was I, really? At handling this?"
"You were really good at this, Yelena. I'm proud of and grateful for you." Natasha said, as she brushed Yelena's hair with her hand. Yelena looked at her sister's hand, and then started brushing Natasha's hair as well. Yelena got up. "I'll go back to my room now. Don't be afraid to ask or signal me for help, okay?"
"Okay. Goodnight, and I love you."
"I love you more." Natasha simply smiled and closed her eyes. Yelena walked back to her room, and went to bed. She had a good night's sleep as Fanny curled over near her belly to sleep near her. She really was living her best life. Meanwhile, Kate was sleeping soundly in her room.