wandanat au - that first summer

chapter four - the friendship

tw: (mild) swearing, insight into natalya's book/thoughts

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THIRD POV

"...out. Good, breathe in... and breathe out..."

Wanda hesitantly opens her eyes feeling the energy shift around her, as though her mind is playing tricks on her, her eyebrows furrow in discontent but also confusion when she no longer sees the pale yellow dress, nor the wrinkles along the face of her mother. But instead she sees the youthful glow of smooth skin. Natasha's face. What is Natasha doing here, she thinks. Disorientated and puzzled, Wanda instantly takes her head away from Natasha's, turning her head in all directions in search of her mothers.

"Where... Where's my mama?" her breath is shaky and her words come out in stutters.

"Wanda? Hey, focus."

"Where's my mom?" she asks once again.

"What?"

"Where did my mom go? What did I do to her?"

Natasha, quick on her toes to quell Wanda's thoughts, "Nothing.. Hey Wands, it's me Nat, remember?"

Agitated, Natasha's words go unheard of by Wanda, "no no no where did mama go? Mama, where are you? Come back to me please." Wanda briskly sprints out the door, through her garden and into the forest of trees.

Natasha dashes behind Wanda, frenzied; she yells out for Wanda to come back, but caught off guard from the moment Wanda ran off, she fell far behind her and lost track of the direction she headed in, only relying on her gut instincts to take her where Wanda may be. Natasha scampered to the first place she thought Wanda may be, the lake.

And there Wanda is situated, much more pacified than she was before, the blue tape rests in the palm of her hands. Her eyes fixated ahead of her, observing the ripples of the lake dance in synchrony as the arctic blue sky beams off of it.

Natasha surveys as Wanda stands ever so still at the bank of the lake, before deciding to trudge up to her.

"Hey...Wanda"

"I should be with her, I should be with her..." murmurs Wanda.

Commiserative, Natasha pleads to take Wanda back to the safety of her house, "You can't be seen here, you don't want to be found do you..." Gingerly she takes Wanda's hand, tugging her in the direction of home, "hey let's go home yeah? Let me take you home where it's safe."

Wanda gives in and lets herself be guided by Natasha.

On the way home, Natasha concerns Wanda's well-being, reassuring her: she'll stay with her no matter how she is feeling.

✮

At home, Natasha prepares a relaxing bath for Wanda, lighting candles and placing vases of flowers around the bathroom. The water is warm enough, with bubbles accumulating on the surface of the water, faint music is playing in the background.

Wanda settles herself in the tub, as Natasha sits on the edge and fondly scrubs a towel across the stretch of her back. She's humming a foreign lullaby, one that Wanda seems to recognise as a russian lullaby. Maybe she learnt that from her mom, Wanda thought, unlike what she has ever learnt. Mindfully, Natasha sweeps her fingers through Wanda's hair, massaging her scalp tenderly. Wanda groans in satisfaction, the massage stimulating shivers and goosebumps through her entire body. Natasha giggles at Wanda's reaction. She then squeezes shampoo into her hands to rub through her hair, mischievously sculpting Wanda's hair on top of her head with the bubbles. Her hands choose to mould her hair into a mohawk thinking she's funny (she is).

Proud of her work, she smirks, "Oh you have got to look in the mirror." Confused, Wanda asks why, to which Natasha responds, telling her to just do it.

Wanda naively stands up from the tub and walks to the mirror. Natasha, who was chuckling at first, flushes at the sight of Wanda's bare figure. She couldn't help but look away, blushing as red as her own hair, needing something to distract herself from the feelings stirring inside her, her hands moving into fiddle with the ends of her hair.