ADORE ↠ b. barnes [III]

twenty nine

ALLURA WAS FROZEN. HER GREEN EYES STARED numbly at the people in front of her as she saw them fall on their knees, shock, suddenness, and grief in their gazes. Their bodies were weak, more so reflecting their agony and their mental exhaustion, rather than the physical one.

It was all so unexpected. It all happened so quickly and so out of nowhere that one moment they were fighting; and the other...

       Allura was finally holding her baby. That pink rose which accompanied her through one of the most horrible time of her life was a young woman, with the beauty of a goddess and the heart of a warrior. This was her hope, this was her Nadenka.

"Halló litla stelpan mín." Hello, my little girl. Allura mumbled against her daughter's cheek, only now realizing that Nadenka was a few centimeters taller than her, and a few shorter than James.

"Halló, mamma, pabbi." Hello, mom, dad. She whispered back, her voice sounding fragile for the second time in her entire life.

"G-Gone." Nadenka mumbled, her blue eyes fixed on the ground, full of tears that began rolling down her cheeks like an endless waterfall.

Allura took a deep breath and then she exhaled; almost in relief. Her daughter was alive. Her daughter was safe, and in front of her. Heart beating, body present.

She turned to look at Nadenka's left, scanning the man thoroughly— one who had lost his family, his will, his sense of adventure and happy endings.

"Not that I'm not enjoying our conversation. But, who are these?" She pointed to the man and the woman who were looking at them, their eyes a little wide because of their topic of conversation. The man had been Ezekyel's best friend for years. But his origin still freaked him out to no end, and seeing him speak so casually of it was odd.

       "Oh. Right." He said, pointing at the man. "This is Clint Barton. A close friend of mine and Nat." Allura's eyes immediately became a little more rigid as he analyzed the man who was close with the girl she once knew so well.

       "Hello." Allura nodded at him, the man returning the gesture.

       "Nice to put a voice to the face." He told her simply, respecting that she was a strong soldier with the tone of his voice, which made Allura almost smile to herself.

Clint looked at the ground in shame, getting teary eyed as his hands shook and his body almost trembled. He looked at the other members of the team, and shot them a knowing glance.

Lastly, Allura's eyes fell upon the last two spots; one occupied, and one empty...

"I've always wondered." A deep voice began, eyes glued to the computers with all of the missing people; Ezekyel Ljós being a permanent image they couldn't bring themselves to remove. "When I was a kid, I learned your technique by heart. You always went for the kill when your opponent proved uselessness. You never spared them. Why didn't you kill me?"

"There was always something different about you." Allura spoke, crossing her arms and leaning back onto the chair, her green eyes meeting her missing brother's yellow.

"Other girls were scared, others believed they could defeat me— which, let's face it, they couldn't. But you.... you were more curious than anything. You were willing to learn if it meant survival and I guess I could say a small part of me could relate to that. You were like a flame-" Allura was interrupted by the red head next to her, green meeting blue as a small smile coated both their lips.