Age: 19
Word count: 1274
Summary: Alena visits her aunt for the first time after the blip, after her mothers death and after the battle against thanos.

Alenas hair whipped behind her as she walked.

She was walking up stairs to an apartment in ohio.

She knew that her aunt lived here, just from asking and being successful in actually texting the right number.

What Yelena didn't know that her niece was visiting her.

As of now, the blonde had no idea of what had happened to her sister.

That was Alenas mission for today.

Her stomach turned at the thought of having to tell her auntie why Natasha wasn't with her.

The redhead had now reached the right floor and looked for the right door.

,,Belova. Here goes nothing"

She sighed as she found the right door and gave it a knock.

Seconds later, the blonde answered the door.

Her expression softened immediately once she saw the 19 year old standing at her doorstep.

,,Alena? What are you doing here?"

She asked, her eyes radiating joy and confusion.

,,Hey. Dad's visiting family in ohio and I wanted to visit my favourite auntie"

Alena explained with a lopsided grin.

,,And I need to tell you something"

She added, the smile vanishing off her face.

Yelena frowned, sensing that something was off.

,,Свет, where is your mom?"

She asked, only to be met with silence.

,,Do you have some mac and cheese?"

Alena changed the topic rapidly, hoping intensively that her aunt had some.

The blonde nodded and opened up the door for her to enter.

Yelena definitely knew that something was off, but she wasn't quite sure what as of now.

,,So, how are you, свет (light)"

She inquired as she stood at the stove, warming up some mac and cheese.

Alena stayed quiet. Instead she went over to the cutlery drawer and pulled our two forks.

She hoped to avoid the topic of her mental state for as long as possible, especially because of the reason for her current state of mind.

,,Where do you keep your bowls? And the hot sauce?"

The redhead asked, choosing to simply ignore her aunt's question.

Yelena turned to her. She did not like being ignored and Alena knew that all too well.

,,Alena"

,,Yea"

,,Answer my question"

Alena found the bowls and set them down on the table.

Tears started burning in her eyes, the longer the silence lasted.

Yelena was done with the mac and cheese and set the pot onto the table as well.

The blonde observed her niece carefully, not missing the pursed lipped frown she recognised in herself too many times.

,,Mama is gone"

Alena finally broke the silence, her eyes fixated on her mac and cheese.

Yelena stopped eating and lowered her fork into her bowl.

,,What do you mean, she's gone?"

The blonde asked, an uneasy feeling creeping up inside her.

,,She ... you know how you were done for five years?"

Alena decided it was best to start at the beginning.

If for her own sake or her aunt's, she didn't know.

Yelena raised an eyebrow. She didn't like where this was going.

,,Yea. The thing with that purple Alien guy, right?"

The 19 year old nodded.

,,We had to get six stones to bring you back. Mama, Clint and I were assigned the orange one. Soul stone"

She elaborated, tears starting to burn in her eyes.

Yelenas lips started curling into a deep frown.

,,And ... And we went to a .. a planet called Vormir"

Alena resumed her story, her words interrupted by the occasional sniff.

She took a deep breath and blinked fast to prevent the tears from falling.

,,Up there, we met ... we met an old enemy of dad's and .. and .."

The redhead continued, having to focus hard on staying strong now.

Silence filled the air as she thought about how to best explain the following.

She pushed her remaining mac and cheese around in her bowl, fiddling with her fork.

,,He said one of us had to sacrifice. I wanted to do it, I swear I was going to, I-"

Alena now stated, trying desperately to find a rational explaination to why she was here and her mom wasn't.

Yelena dropped her fork into her bowl, her head rested in her hands while her elbows were stemmed onto the table.

,,She sacrificed, didn't she?"

The blonde connected the dots, her own eyes burning with tears now.

Alena looked up, her eyes glossy.

,,Yea"

She breathed, her voice breaking.

It hurt to actually acknowledge that there was no way that she was never gonna ever hear her Mom's voice, see her calming, emerald eyes or ever feel her soothing embrace again.

,,Дерьмо (Shit)"

Yelena mumbled, now looking up at her niece.

Alena just nodded, her hand gripping on to her fork tighter.

,,По крайней мере, она умерла героем (At least she died a hero)"

She tried assuring not only her aunt but herself as well.

The duo sat in silence for a moment. Both had to really process the situation.

Allthough it's been months and at this point one must've thought that Alena had processed her Mom's death, but in all honesty, she hadn't.

She hadn't in the slightest.

Yelena finally broke the silence by a sharp intake of air.

Then, she sighed and got up.

Alena thought she was going somewhere so she went to follow, but instead, her aunt just wrapped her arms around her.

The redhead tensed for a moment before melting into the embrace.

Finally, she allowed herself to let the tears fall.

,,Ты будешь в порядке, свет (You're gonna be fine, light)"

Yelena assured in a whisper, squeezing the girl tighter.

Alena buried her face in her aunt's shoulder, glad to still have her at least.

The duo stood hugging for what could've been forever.

,,Okay, the mac and cheese are getting cold, моя любовь (my love), let's eat"

Yelena broke the silence and with it the hug.

The redhead nodded, her eyes still glossy and a little red from crying now.

,,Я скучаю по ней, Елена (I miss her, Yelena)"

She admitted, her lips curled into the allto familiar frown she wore too often recently.

Yelena had to turn away from her for a moment, but eventually nodded.

,,Я тоже, маленький свет (Me too, little light)"

She responded, the same frown decorating her face.

The duo sat and talked for hours that day.

Not only about Natasha, but about everything that came to mind.

Alena was grateful to have her auntie by her side. Of course she had many people supporting her, but the bond with Yelena was special.

Maybe it was because both saw kind of another version of Natasha in the other, maybe it was the mere fact that they were family.

Of course, Alenas pain was still fresh, but on that day, she learned to open up to someone other than her dad.

She learned the importance of that sacrifice and she came to accept that her mom had made the decision for her.

This didn't make the whole thing any better, it still hurt, but the fact that she could understand why Natasha sacrificed was one major step to healing.

A/N: AHHHHG, this was commented a while ago, that Alena should speak to Yelena about it and I finally did it.
I am sorry for making anyone cry, let's do it together :,)
Okay anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one nevertheless and I really hope you like the Alena-and-Yelena content.
Have a great day/night and I'll see you around, beautiful people. Stay amazing <3