The first time I saw her I thought she was an angel. I was in the hall of our apartment building where I lived with my mother and step-father. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
The Clarke's were always taking in foster kids and I gotten so used to the constant stream of them that I barely paid attention anymore when a new one arrived. It was her eyes that made me stop and really look at her. She can still stop me in my tracks with those eyes. They were so sad that day, and afraid, though she was trying to hide it. It broke my heart so see that tiny girl trying so hard to be brave. We didn't speak that day, in fact I don't think she even noticed me.
It was a couple days later when Mrs. Clarke knocked on our door that she saw me for the first time. I was in my room and didn't know she was there until my mother called for me.
"Michael, this is Alexis, she's staying with the Clarke's and she'll be going to St. Bernard's with you. Mrs. Clark was hoping you could walk Alexis to school in the mornings since she has to work early."
I merely nodded and grinned like an idiot because never in my nine years had anyone given me such a gift. I was actually being asked to watch over this angel. She on the other hand seemed less than thrilled with the situation, barely peeking out from behind Mrs. Clarke to glance at me.
The next morning I got up early, excited to get going. I waited impatiently for her to arrive and finally the moment came. She was wearing a hand-me-down dress two sizes too big, her hair in a messy ponytail she had obviously done herself and she was beautiful. I introduced myself but she remained silent not even looking up. We walked to school and I did the talking for the both of us. In school I introduced her to the teacher, she was in my class though she was a year younger because it was a split grade 3/4.
It took me one month to get her to smile and two before she spoke to me. Despite her refusal to talk she aced every test and was eventually given the grade four work. The first time she spoke we were doing homework at my kitchen table. Working in silence I suddenly heard her voice; it was barely a whisper.
"My name isn't Alexis." At first I was so surprised that she had spoken I didn't realize what she had said. Then it hit me.
"What do you mean? That's what everyone calls you."
"It's not what my Mama called me." Again it was scarcely more than a whisper.
"Your mother? What did she call you?"
"Natasha."
"That's pretty, it sounds like a name for a princess."
"He told me not to tell anyone, he made me promise but I had to tell someone because I'm afraid I'll forget it and then I won't be me anymore. I'm already starting to forget what my Mama looked like."
"What happened to her?"
"She died." The way she said it made me afraid to ask anymore questions.
"How bout if I call you Natasha whenever we're alone that way you'll never forget who you are?"
"Thank you Michael, you're the nicest boy I ever met." She kissed me then, on the cheek and I tried, unsuccessfully, not to blush.
We became best friends after that. She told me about her past, the parts she could remember anyway, which wasn't very much. She told me she had lived in a country called Greece in a big house with her Mama and she had worn beautiful clothes. I told her my secrets as well. I told her that I missed my Dad, my real Dad and that I hated my stepfather. She told me that she hated Mr. Clarke.
There was not a single day that we didn't spend together, for six years we were practically inseparable. Then one day I found her crying on the step of our building. She was holding a piece of paper. It was a letter from an attorney named J.P. Douglas, she told me wiping away her tears. She knew I hated to see her cry.
"He's the attorney for a very rich man. The rich man knew my mother and he wants to help me. He's sending me to boarding school in New Hampshire. I don't know what to do." I knew that she was scared, and that she didn't want to go. I also knew that she had to. Mr. Clarke was taking more and more of an interest in her and I knew she needed to get away from him soon.
"This is great Natasha, I mean this is your chance to make something of yourself." I pasted a smile on my face and forced myself to be cheerful.
"What about you Michael?"
"I'm gonna make something of myself too. I've got a job lined up." I told her proudly.
"What kind of a job?"
"Oh just running errands and stuff." I didn't mention who I would be running errands for since I knew it would make her worry.
One week later she left for New Hampshire and I was the one who took her to the bus. It was there in the bus station that I kissed her for the first time. She was crying and I wanted to make all the fear and sadness go away. It was a gentle innocent kiss, my lips barely touching hers, but it was enough and in her surprise the tears stopped.
"Michael?"
"You better go or you'll miss your bus." She got on the bus and rode out of my life. We wrote letters for a while and I visited her at her school once just before she graduated. She had just been accepted by Harvard and was so excited. I had just been promoted in the organization but didn't tell her. After she graduated from Harvard she went to Greece to try to find out about her past and we lost touch.
Then she showed up in Port Charles two weeks ago. She's the new D.A. and I'm first priority on her list of people to take down. She didn't know it was me when she took the job, she never knew me as Sonny Corinthos. I wonder if she would have taken the job if she had known? No one knows about Michael and Natasha, not her ex-husband or her ex-fiancé who have their own reasons for wanting to see me destroyed. No, the people of Port Charles know us only as Sonny and Alexis, the mobster and the District Attorney. I wonder what they would say if they knew, the one woman who can destroy me is the same woman I've loved since I was nine years old.