Saving Grace || Peter Parker

Part 35

Nadia had heard a saying once. Though she never truly understood it, couldn't comprehend how it could make sense. The words would float into her ears, scramble in her brain, and leak out the other end. But now? She understood. Or rather, she was trying to.

"To win the war, you must lose the battle"

Or something along those lines. It didn't make sense at first, because surly the two walk hand in hand. You need the small steps to succeed, you would need to win a battle to win the war.

Nadia had been battling in darkness her entire life. Darkness is an unimaginable void of obsidian that she detested. Darkness brings loneliness and depression, a hollow hole of envy and pain.

She had known that void all of her life, surrounded by nothing but it. So, when that little bead of light glided into her life, you could imagine her surprise.

A gift from the moon. Perhaps in all of her sorrow, the moon had kept his watchful eye on her. He had watched her heart and mind be shattered into a thousand pieces of glass, watched as her soul attempted to rip from her very being. He casted his rays onto her, liquid starlight personified into that of Peter Parker.

To finally have light was an ethereal feeling, one that might be comparison to a newborns first breath. For the memory would forever linger in her mind, occupying the vast space, peppering phantom kisses to her brain. The memory of meeting her Peter Parker was so special to her, she guarded it so fiercely that she was sure no one would ever attempt to snatch it away from her.

So, you could imagine the pain and despair running through her veins when she learnt of what was to come- what was to happen.

To send the 'villains' back to their reality, they needed to forget the identity of Peter Parker. Nadia would be loosing two of the most important people in her life in one day. The light in her life would dim, leaving only darkness in its wake.

Shaking her head, her hands gripped onto her Peter's, tears forming in her eyes, falling down onto her cheeks leaving their memories as a trail of sadness.

"No" she whispered "there's got to be another way"

Her head whipped itself to her old friends, recognising the sadness on their faces. She had been too wrapped up in herself to realise what this would mean for them. Peter would lose everyone. But as she opened her mouth to speak to him, he shook his head with a teary smile, already knowing what she'd say before turning to face MJ and Ned. They had their goodbye already, it would be too hard to go through that again.

So instead, she focused her attention on the man in front of her. Her eyes met his. Honey brown. His eyes were honey brown, his eyelashes were naturally long and curled- a feature she had been silently jealous of. He had creases in his forehead, his face was usually pinched which was a sign of him deep in thought. He had thick eyebrows, usually declining her offer to pluck them as he was scared of tweezers. His lips were not thin but they weren't too full either, a light red in colour- so soft to kiss. He had grown his hair out slightly, making it more ragged; he knew she loved it this way, easier to run her hands through.

Nadia was memorising his very being. His very soul. She was making sure that no detail went missed, that her soul would recognise his even if they were realities apart.

"It's okay" he whispered to her, his hand moving up to cup her cheek, his thumb rubbing over her skin. Slow and precise. As if he was too, memorising her. "We had too much fun for it not to end like this"

"Please don't leave me" she begged him, her face melting in his hands, their foreheads pressed together.

"This is your home, Nadia. You were always meant to come back here, we were always meant to separate. And that's okay, because...I'm just grateful that I got a glimpse of what we could've been. And I will spend the rest of my days thanking the universe for that, thanking them for pushing us together. In another reality, in another multiverse, we shall remain together. But not today, not here"

The tears came heavier this time, sobs breaking from her throat as she clutched onto him. She didn't want to let go, shouldn't have to.

"It's not fair!" She whispered into his chest.

"You can't change the alignment of the stars, my love" he cooed into her hair, taking in a breathe of her scent to store away in a padlocked cabinet at the back of his mind.

She looked into his eyes then, determination set in her stance, her jaw locked as she took his face into her hands.

"I won't ever forget you, мальчик-жук" (bug boy)

He just smiled at her, tangled in her warmth, happy to be in her presence for the last time. He left a ghostly kiss on her lips, turning to his left to see his older variant, smiling at him before he looked back at the woman in his arms.

He could feel himself fading away, fading away from the love of his life. His heart was screaming at him. Angry, incoherent screams, longing for Nadia. But he was too late, for he was dust and gold before he was flesh and bones.

And so he stood there, in that alleyway on his own, regretting the fact that he never told Nadia Shostakova Romanova that he loved her. That he was horrifically in love with her and he always would be. And now, he'd never have the chance.

Because if their worlds were to collide once more, he would remember her as a home would remember a rain stricken sky. But she would walk past him, with confused memories in her heart and a stranger in her eyes.

And as Nadia stood there, back in her reality, surrounded by familiar streets and rubble scattered around her, she felt...empty. As if a part of her soul was ripped apart. As if she was not whole.

So she walked away. Away from the battlefield, the mess, the confusion. She walked those familiar streets with broken promises and hearts in her wake.

Maybe in another life, they'll meet again, for Nadia will subconsciously be searching for his warmth in everyone that isn't him. And Peter Parker would have to remember her for longer than he had known her, he would have to remember for the both of them.

For they were two different people, in two different lands, destined to be apart. But Peter Parker would always be Nadia Romanova's saving Grace.