Cold as Ice - WinterWidow One-Shots

Once Upon a New York Dream

Summary: a story where Bucky moves to Russia at 12 years old and when he returns to America for college, he brings Natasha back with him

Italics represent Russian

There are mentions of abuse in ballet and by Ivan, Natasha's stepfather, but it's not explicitly shown or mentioned.

When Bucky leaves New York City at the age of twelve and arrives in Russia, he's pretty sure he's going to be friendless and lonely forever. He may have been good at making friends, but saying goodbye to Stevie had been full of tears despite Bucky promising to return. They're twelve and even then, Bucky knows it's going to be years before he has the chance to see his friend again.

What Bucky does not expect is to meet a fiery redhead during his first dance class in Russia. Dance is the one thing that isn't different between Russia and the United States so Bucky is glad his mom let him continue.

Unfortunately, Bucky's Russian is not great and he stumbles through half a sentence when the redhead talks to him.

"Are you American?" she immediately asks.

With a hot face, Bucky nods sheepishly.

"Why Russia?" she asks, switching into English. Her accent is thick, but she speaks better English than he speaks Russian.

"My mom works for the embassy," Bucky answers. She frowns and he thinks she might not understand. "Um, the US. In Moscow, there's an―"

"I know what is an embassy," she tells him. Holding out her hand she finally introduces herself. "Natalia Romanova."

"James Barnes," Bucky says, "but in America, my friends call me Bucky."

"Why?"

Bucky shrugs. "It's my middle name."

Natalia asks him a dozen more questions before their teacher―Madam B―steps into the room and snaps for them to line up.

At the end of the class, Natalia walks with him out to the sidewalk where they both wait for a bus. She helps him find his stop on the map and waves before getting off the bus at her own stop. The next day, he sees her again at school and decides she's going to be his new best friend.

It only takes a year before they're inseparable. James may not have spoken very great Russian when he arrived, but Natalia is patient and, together, they work on improving his Russian and her English. Thanks to her help, it doesn't take long before he can debate any topic equally in English and Russian. After a few dinners with his family, Natalia is just as comfortable in English.

As their last year of high school rolls around, however, they start to encounter some problems. While James is adamant about returning to New York to go to college, Natalia is much less enthusiastic about the idea.

"Yasha." Natalia sighs. "I don't have anything in New York."

"You'd have me. Besides, it's not as if Ivan is a very compelling reason to stay here."

"I can't leave him," Natalia argues. She's sporting a new bruise, though, so her argument isn't very strong in James's opinion. "He's the only family I have left."

"Nonsense." James gently wraps an arm around her waist and brushes a kiss to her temple. "You have me. You have my family."

They argue about it until January. James already knows where he wants to go to college, but he still waits until the last minute to submit his application. Natalia is curled up on his bed, hidden in one of his hoodies, as he does. As soon as he submits the online application, he joins her.