Death
Death was never a good thing to Maria. That is, until she experienced it herself.
Death becomes less terrifying once a part of you is already gone, and for Maria that was the case. She was sure death had never been sweeter to anyone.
Maria wasn’t sure what would happen after death. No one is, and not even working with some of the most intelligent people on the planet will get you closer to that answer. She did take comfort in other people’s religion, however was there really space for personal beliefs in their field of work?
Maria didn’t consider herself religious, but she sure did hope there was an afterlife.
And so, she was delighted to find she experienced the sense of touch.
What exactly she was touching, and with what body part, turned out to be surprisingly hard to figure out. A smooth and soft surface. Not cold, but not hot either. Uneven and textured, but pleasant. She skimmed her fingertips across the suface again, or at least that what she thought she was doing.
She heard a soft “Hey.” from somewhere close to her. Really close. Close enough to feel someone breathe on her shoulder. It was a strange sensation, the breath was hot and cold at the same time. She shuddered a bit and attempted to press herself closer to whatever surface it was that she was still feeling. A mix between a huff and a chuckle could be heard inches away from the top of her head. Just then Maria realized it wasn’t just a surface, it was a body.
Her focus then shifted to her eyelids, that were starting to feel less heavy by the second. Her inability to control her bodily functions was slowly but surely declining, and she started to be more aware of her surroundings. She was pressed against someone’s body, but had not yet regained the ability to question who, and why exactly.
She recognized that the persons body was warm, a nice kind of warm, and so she let out a small, contended sigh. The person moved their arm, and it brushed against some fabric that, Maria argued, was likely a blanket on top of her naked back, only for the hand to eventually land between her shoulder blades, where it started making a circular rubbing motion that Maria quite liked.
It took a few more minutes for her voice of reason to return, but if this person even minded her laying on top of them fully nude, they did not show it.
Maria realized she had not responded to the persons greeting, and felt it would be rude not to acknowledge them at all, so she tilted up her head a bit and opened her eyes.
She felt a familiar pang in her chest and child-like nervousness in her stomach upon gazing into familiar green eyes, and a face framed with red curls she knew all too well from running her hands through them every night in what felt like another lifetime.
“Hey.” Natasha repeated, with a smile.
Maria’s heart was skipping a beat, or possibly a few beats. “Hey.” She croaked out.
It all hit her like a freight train. She was laying in a bed in god knows where, fully naked, on top of her love Natasha, who was also fully nude. Who had died two years ago.
“What-“ she started, but she only got so far before she started to tear up from a delayed rush of emotions.
Natasha wrapped a second arm around her and held her close. “I’ve missed you”, she spoke softly.
Maria hugged her back. “I’ve missed you too… god, ehm,” she took a second to wipe her cheeks furiously. “There’s so much I have to fill you in on!”
“Don’t worry about it.” Natasha smiled faintly, using her thumbs to wipe some tears off Maria’s face, too.
“I know everything.” She said with a glim in her eyes.
Maria raised an eyebrow at her, unhappy with the lack of context she’s been given.
“I’ve kind of, sort of been haunting you.”
Maria settles for that, and put her head on Nat’s chest again.
“Well, none of it matters now.” She concluded softly.
Natasha made an “Mm” in agreement and closed her eyes, running her hands along the sides of her wife’s arms.
Maybe Maria could live with death.