Knockin' on Heaven's Door

The first rays of morning sunlight slipped through the window, and Xia Yu slowly woke. He looked up to see Natasha gazing at him with a gentle smile, golden sunlight behind her. It felt wonderful!

Xia Yu sat up, stretched, and gave a contented yawn. "Were you awake all night?"

"I rested my head on the table for a while. I guess this counts as paying my medical bill, right?" Natasha pointed to her thigh.

Xia Yu saw the traces of his drool still on it and turned away in embarrassment. "I'll go upstairs and make you breakfast. Come up when you're ready."

Natasha laughed as she watched Xia Yu flee. Once he had run out the door and clattered up the stairs, she lowered her head and gently felt her injured ribs. Sensing how the bones were growing, she once again marveled at the wonders of Eastern medicine. Even if she had returned to headquarters for treatment, it would have taken at least two weeks to recover this much. It looked like she needed to rest here for a few more days.

Xia Yu was happily frying eggs. How happy was he? He had a smile on his face the whole time and looked rather silly, like an honest country boy who had married a gorgeous wife and gotten up to make her breakfast after their wedding night.

"Do you charge for breakfast?" Natasha asked as she pushed the door open.

"I've left some clothes for you in the bathroom. They were my mother's. I kept them after she died. There's no extra charge for those." The smile on Xia Yu's face grew wider.

Even after Natasha had finished her shower and come out, Xia Yu was still wearing a silly grin as they sat across from each other eating breakfast. Natasha paid him no mind and quietly enjoyed the meal. With a sunlit breakfast and a big boy grinning foolishly beside her, she couldn't remember how long it had been since she had felt so relaxed.

By unspoken agreement, neither asked the other any questions that might disturb the ease and quiet. After the meal, Xia Yu cleared the table and asked, trying to sound casual despite his nerves, "Your injuries haven't fully healed. Would you like to stay here and rest for a few days? I suggest waiting until you've fully recovered before you leave."

Xia Yu kept his tone as relaxed and indifferent as he could, but the tablecloth he was wringing until water kept dripping from it gave him away. Natasha pointed at the puddle on the floor and said with a smile, "Once you've cleaned the floor, I need you to come out with me to buy some clothes that fit me. I don't want to wear someone else's pajamas to bed tonight."

Xia Yu had never imagined that his first proper shopping trip with a girl would be in Times Square in the Marvel Universe, or that the girl beside him would be Black Widow, the dream goddess of countless otaku in his previous life. To tell the truth, he was a little nervous and didn't know how to walk. While he was wondering whether it would be better to put his hands in his pockets or swing them at his sides, Natasha naturally took his hand and whispered in his ear, "If you don't know where to put your hand, I think I'd better hold it for you."

She burst out laughing at the sight of Xia Yu's reddening face.

Xia Yu had never seen this side of Natasha before: her every frown and smile, the ordinary jeans and white T-shirt she had put on, the way she kept holding clothes up against herself and asking him whether they looked good, and her indecision as she tried to choose between two colors. Xia Yu only felt the image of Black Widow in his mind slowly merging with the girl before him, becoming flesh and blood.

Natasha dragged Xia Yu around for a whole day, from morning until afternoon. They ate lunch and drank coffee out, and even went to see a movie. Only at dusk did Natasha, still not ready for the day to end, pull Xia Yu out of the mall.

Times Square was a little livelier at dusk than it had been during the day. There were far more people shopping and plenty of street performances too: magicians, clowns, and everything else imaginable. Xia Yu followed Natasha as she stopped in front of a street singer. The singer was a middle-aged man in his forties, holding a guitar and singing an American country song. Its lyrics told the story of a country girl who left a boy behind and went to make her way in the big city alone. It reminded Xia Yu of David Tao's "Small Town Girl" from his previous life. The lyrics meant much the same thing, and the melody was lovely too.

Holding Xia Yu's hand, Natasha hummed softly along, just like an ordinary girl out shopping with her boyfriend who had heard someone singing a song she liked. For some reason, Xia Yu felt a pang in his heart. He thought of Black Widow in the movies, trained from childhood to be a spy and an assassin, never having had a normal childhood or any friends. Only after meeting Hawkeye and joining S.H.I.E.L.D. had she found a belief to sustain her.

After much difficulty, she and Bruce Banner had fallen in love. The two of them, both insecure and afraid of being hurt, even more afraid of hurting others, could have found warmth in each other. Yet when Natasha finally worked up the courage to take the first step, Bruce Banner lacked the courage to accept her. In the end, Natasha never found love, even when she sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone in Avengers: Endgame. The others had families or friends, and even Captain America ultimately lived the life he wanted. Black Widow alone did not.

At that thought, Xia Yu looked at Natasha, who was still humming softly beside him, with tenderness and a desire to protect her, just as Natasha had looked at him the night before. He gently released her hand and, under her questioning gaze, walked over to the singer and asked to borrow his guitar.

Without speaking, Xia Yu slowly began to sing as Natasha watched in delight: "Ma, take the badge off of me, I can't use it anymore, it's getting dark, too dark to see, feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door..."

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was one of the signature songs of the famous United States band Guns N' Roses. It told of a veteran returning home and telling his mother that he no longer needed his badge or his gun, singing of a veteran's weariness and disgust with war. The song didn't exist in this world, but good music resonated in any world, and Xia Yu conveyed the meaning of the lyrics almost perfectly. More and more people gathered around, and by the end, many were humming softly along with tears glistening in their eyes. When Xia Yu looked at Natasha again, she was already standing there, sobbing uncontrollably.

Fortunately, communications weren't so advanced in 2007. Otherwise, with so many people around taking videos on their phones, it would likely have caused Natasha a great deal of inconvenience. As the final note faded softly away, the crowd spontaneously broke into thunderous applause, then insistently demanded another song from Xia Yu.

Xia Yu had intended to refuse, but unexpectedly, the system issued him a temporary quest:

Sing a theme song from a wuxia television series or film from your previous life. It must have a Chinese style and a wuxia feel. Reward: one divine weapon from that wuxia story.

Xia Yu was stumped. He quickly ran through the wuxia films and television series he had seen. The first song that came to mind was "Hard-to-Recite Scripture" from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, but there weren't any divine weapons in it, were there? Besides, he hadn't memorized the lyrics. The Storm Riders had plenty of divine weapons, and very high-end ones at that, but he had barely watched the series and couldn't sing its song. He did know the song from The Flying Dagger, but the weapons ranking in that story was really about the people; the weapons themselves were quite ordinary.

Suddenly, Xia Yu remembered another song by the original singer of "Hard-to-Recite Scripture." It had been the opening theme for an early adaptation of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, the version starring the famous "Roaring Emperor." Xia Yu hadn't seen it, but he had heard the song many times. It was called "Sword Like a Dream."

And so, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Xia Yu slowly began to sing the song, steeped in Chinese style.

My sword, where will it go?

Love and hate, my heart cannot choose just one.

My blade cuts across the sky.

Right and wrong, I understand and yet I don't.

I am drunk, all is a haze.

Kindness and grudges, illusions and emptiness.

Coming in haste, leaving in haste,

I regret that we cannot meet.

Love in haste, hate in haste,

Everything drifts away on the wind.

A wild laugh, a long sigh,

A lifetime of joy, a lifetime of sorrow.

Who will share life and death with me?

Who will share life and death with me?

When the song ended, the crowd once again burst into applause. Although they couldn't understand the lyrics, music knew no borders, and the song's unrestrained spirit and its feelings of settling kindness and grudges to the heart's content reached every listener. Xia Yu returned the guitar to the man beside him, who asked excitedly, "Oh, man, you sing incredibly well! You're a professional singer, aren't you? A Chinese singer?"

"No, I was just singing for fun. Thanks for the guitar, buddy." Xia Yu hurried away as soon as he finished speaking. People around him had already begun taking his picture.

Xia Yu pulled Natasha hurriedly away from the crowd, while the man called loudly after him, "You should be a singer! You'll definitely make it big, I swear..."