A Little Big Surprise

Chapter 17 ~Part Three~

Everything had started to progress much faster now that Aria had left her headspace. Kevin was able to get everything he needed and set to work decoding the demon tablet, and the boys had agreed that because Crowley no doubt knew what Aria was that they would find him before he could find her again. During the next two weeks she would fluctuate at random between Nikita and Aria. At first it was extremely distressing to watch for Dean and Sam, but Castiel assured them that once she found a balance everything would be alright. The following week she had stayed as Aria without any trouble but the week after she alternated days as either. Finally Castiel had sat her down with Sam and Dean nearby just in case and asked her the all important question

     "Who do you want to be?"

She had bristled in an instant before hesitation and uncertainty filled her small face making it cloudy. It took her a minute to answer him and she had only said a quiet 'Aria'.

After there were no more fluctuations with her personality, but with her age. Aria when she was older was much quieter and subdued and preferred to listen to music on her phone and sketch whatever and whoever was in the bunker. Soon her drawings filled the fridge and the walls of everyone's rooms. But when she was small, she tore around the bunker like a wildling, pulling blankets from the bed and making various forts with stuffed animals as guards. Both of these traits filled them all with happiness and everything was warm and soft as it had been in the beginning. Even so, a darkness roamed still somewhere deep in Aria's heart. Nightmares still appeared every so often, and Sam with the help of Castiel sought to try and help Aria to expel some of that pain. They encouraged her to draw out her feelings and to begin her journal again. Dean's approach was the opposite instead proposing multiple crafts or movies to distract her. Aria wouldn't say but the loved both methods, and she enjoyed the little spats they would get into on her behalf.

     "Castiel, I wrote a new poem." she spoke so quietly in her older headspace that only he had heard her and walked over to her spot at the end of the table.

He peered over her shoulder and began to read;

Sleepwalkers

accidentally perhaps the near darkness saw me and called me an insulting name. his coat lapels came close he looked insolently out of his blue eyes and cursed me, I pulled his chin down "Apologize! Apologize!" in a frenzy I got out my knife and prepared to slit his throat, he, was in the midst of a walking nightmare! I stared at him hard Then I was amused. I began to laugh Would Death himself rupture Poor fool, poor blind fool,

I am not so overtly violent. I am invisible and walk softly

there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.

~An erasure from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man~

He wasn't sure what to say really.

     "It's beautiful Aria. Why don't you go and get ready for bed?" he gave her a smile though his heart was heavy

     "I will! Can you read me to sleep tonight? Dean doesn't make the voices right..." Aria giggled before standing and making her way down the hall. 

Picking up her journal Castiel made his way down the opposite hall until he came to the kitchen where Dean and Sam could clearly be heard arguing as they made dinner.

     "If you put one more vegetable in the stew I'm gonna throw up all over you." Dean was arguing the loudest and holding a peeled carrot out of his brother's reach with great difficulty.

     "Dean come o-" Sam was furious and reaching for his stolen vegetable "Give it back! It's all going to break-down-Anyways!"

     "Are you two finished? Because I think we need to talk." Castiel stared at the two before setting the journal down onto the counter.

Each man took his turn reading the poem but only one of them seemed to see the problem with it

     "I think it's good. Why the faces?" Dean asked looking at both Sam and Castiel.

Sam shook his head and sat down at the smaller kitchen table and moved his hair back anxiously, working his jaw in a similar manner to his brother's. He had had no idea just how much she was holding in exactly until now. To some people (mainly Dean) perhaps it wasn't as obvious, but this poem only began to hint at the rage she was probably feeling from everything that had happened to her in her short life.

     "What should we do Cas?" he brought his head up and stared at the angel "We have to do something."

     Cas began to remember something unpleasant "We can not force her to let us see how she feels. The last time we tried something like that she..."

They were all distracted by the distant sound of Aria singing. It had stopped them all dead because they had never heard her sing in her older headspace. 

Without any of them realizing it they were making their way to her room. Not wanting to startle her into stopping they peeked through a small sliver in the door and to an onlooker they must look quite silly. But they were completely entranced by the sight in front of them. Aria had on a dress that none of them had ever seen before on top of her regular leggings and shirt. It was all lace and sparkles and looked as if it had been plucked out of the Labyrinth. From her nightstand a music box span out a sweet melody to which Aria in all her gentle beauty was singing, her eyes closed in concentration as if she was trying to remember the words. Russian she was singing in. They had never heard her speak Russian let along sing is. Her voice was barely louder than the music box, a rustle among wind chimes it was, but it carried around the room and into all three of their hearts like a kiss,

"Сегодня я спою тебе

Песню о прекрасном сне

Где небо ярко-голубое

И всё вокруг твоё, родное.

Там...."

She stopped and opened her eyes the tiniest bit, bringing her hand to her lips as if she had told a terrible secret. Moving quickly to her nightstand she slammed the music box shut and tore off the dress before kicking it away from her person as if it spider webs had replaced the lace. After grabbing her towel she headed into the bathroom and shut the door, and only then did the men breathe. Each of them stood up from their various crouches and eyed one another carefully, too afraid to speak their fears into the air. Would Aria really be alright just being Aria? They all began to disperse, Sam saying he would check on the stew and Castiel saying he would continue tracking Crowley. 

When he was alone at last Dean placed a hand onto his chest and leaned against the wall, for once in a long time at a loss for words as his face heated up and his left side pinged in an all too familiar and dangerous way.

~I'm Baaaack. The lullaby up top is the one Aria was singing! Enjoy!~