La Petite Fleur

Guérison 1

Author's note: This is going to be the montage chapter. If you don't know what a montage is, it's the part of a movie when there's several scenes that go by kinda quick and blur together and show a passing of time but give a good idea of what's been going on. Music usually accompanies these scenes. (example: In Captain America, he and his little team are taking out raids and bands of hydra people and the scenes just pass with little or no dialogue and the story is told through facial expressions, actions, and implied happenings and changes and the whole time there's epic music playing in the background.) In other words, this chapter will be ridiculously long (some of you are already thinking about skipping this chapter but its totally crucial to the rest of the story.) And because its so long, it will be split into two or three parts. So yeah. Fun fun fun.

Calais, April-

The next morning Steve packed his things and prepared to leave immediately following the ballet performance. Fury had told him not to hang around and he didn't think Antoinette would be fond of that either, so he made sure he was ready. When he reached the theater, he looked around for her and spotted her with some friends.

"Antoinette," he called to her.

She stopped and spun around, startling her friends slightly. "Steve? You actually came."

She sounded surprised. It was written across her face and in her posture as well. The fact that she didn't think he'd really come hurt. He would never break his promise to her, he thought. But guilt gnawed at him when he thought of all the lies he'd told her, the large chunk of the truth he was keeping hidden, and the real reason for his being there. He felt terrible when he couldn't tell her the answer to a question she posed, or explain something she wanted to know. Not to mention it was exhausting trying to hide his past and the whole Avengers deal too.

The weight of it all must have shown on his face because she left her friends and paused in front of him, brow knitted together. "Est-ce quelque chose de mal? Is something wrong?" she asked.

He quickly covered by saying, "You didn't think I'd come."

She cast her eyes to the floor and sighed. "Well, non, I did not think so. You were gone for almost a month. I thought you would just leave again."

He hesitated before answering. "I'll always be here whenever I can. I promise." He couldn't stop himself; another promise he couldn't keep had slipped out.

A smile slowly crept onto her face as she rose slightly onto her toes. "I will 'old you to it," she said.

The dancers were called away to get prepared and changed so Steve found a seat similar to the position he'd been in when the sniper had attempted the shot in Paris. The seats filled and in time, the lights dimmed and the show began. He got comfortable to watch and spotted Antoinette quickly. Her angel costume was the same, but he could see her visibly check to see where he was. She hid a smile when she picked him out of the crowded audience.

The story played out exactly as it had been in Paris the first time, but when it came to intermission, he stayed in his seat and waited until the show began again. When the time came for Antoinette's solo, Steve felt each of his senses prickle. She made it through the entire routine before he felt satisfied that no one would be shooting at her today. When the solo ended and she exited the stage with the other transformed angels, he heaved a sigh of relief and allowed himself to relax.

The ending of the performance surprised him. The mortal man that had been the cause of the war committed suicide by jumping off a cliff (or at least he thought it was a cliff), and the good angel queen refused to save him because he wouldn't agree to rule with her. At the very end, many of the main characters had died, including Antoinette who was apparently the good queen's right hand. Her death had been the least tragic; she simply fell over a waterfall.