The Soldier and his Widow

12

"Who's Peter?" Anya asked Shuri a few weeks later.

"He's a naughty boy that runs away from home to visit Wakanda."

Anya frowned. "Wakanda is very nice. I would run away to visit Wakanda too."

Shuri smiled. "Well, Peter is coming to visit today. I think you'll like him."

"What's that?" Anya asked, now more interested in Shuri's gadgets.

"Something for your mother. They're called electroshock bracelets."

Anya repeated the phrase under her breath a few times. "Can they shoot lightning?"

"That is now a new goal. No, they can't. But they give little shocks and can sometimes temporarily paralyze a person."

"Like . . . like a stun gun!"

Shuri nodded slowly. "Yes, something like that. You're a clever little wolf, aren't you?"

"I'm not a wolf," Anya laughed, "I'm a person!"

"True, but that's what your birth name means."

"Oh."

"Do you know what your first name means?"

Anya shook her head.

"Ressurection. Do you know what that means?"

Anya shook her head again.

"Born again, to come back to life."

"That's so cool. Who do you think I was? Before me, now."

Shuri laughed. "I'm not so sure, but you do seem to embody your mother. I think that she would've been a lot like you when she was this young."

"I remind you of Mamma?"

"Yes," Shuri said, to keep from having to explain that she didn't actually know Natasha all that long. "You remind me of your mother."

Anya smiled.

"Although, oddly enough, you look like your father. I guess you really were meant to be adopted by your parents, huh?"

Anya laughed as Shuri tapped her on the nose. "I'm glad they adopted me."

"So am I, little wolf."

"Who's a little wolf?" Peter asked as he walked in. He stopped short when he saw Anya playing with Shuri's things. "And who's this little genius-in-training?"

Anya looked at Shuri, who nodded her head to Peter and mouthed his name. Anya slid off the chair and walked to Peter. She stood in front of him and tilted her head backwards. "My name is Anya Barnes. I'm Shuri's appendage."

Peter coughed slightly, hiding a grin behind his fist.

"Apprentice," Shuri corrected, smiling, "she's got a big project, right, little wolf?"

Anya nodded and smiled up at Shuri.

"Barnes," Peter echoed, looking at Shuri, "as in. . .?"

Shuri nodded. Peter knelt down in front of Anya. "It's nice to meet you, Anya Barnes. My name's Peter Parker. I'm Shuri's friend."

Anya smiled. "You're cute. You have a small face."

Now it was Shuri who coughed slightly.

"Er, thanks?"

"My dad has a cute face, too. Mamma has a very pretty face. Umkhulu has a pretty face also. . ." And Anya walked back to her chair, mumbling about the faces of people she knew.