svetlanacat6 | The Pandora's Box, part 3 (Reply)

“Sasha?”

“Yes, mama?”

“ Tonya..... She asked me about... Napoleon.”

“Oh, yes, I knew that she would ask you... Are you angry?”

“It's okay, Sasha.... ”

“I was looking in the dictionary, and in some books. She wanted to play, so I had to tell her. But she'll keep the secret. I know all about Napoleon, er... Napoleon Bonap.. Bonaparte. Is dad's friend French?”

“No, Sasha. Our Napoleon is an American.”

“But why...”

“Oh, Sasha, that's a long story... Parents sometimes name their chidren from people they admire, from people they like very much... As you with Alexander Waverly...”

“And Tonya with... Nap... Anthony! Lucky Tonya... She wouldn't be pleased, if her name had to be Napoleonia... Pollya...”

“So, now, Sasha, what do you intend to do?”

“I'd like you to tell me about Napoleon, mama. He worked with Daddy... what sort of work? You said an “official organisation”...? Do you know Mr Waverly, too? Perhaps, we could ask him about Napoleon?”

“Sasha, please, enough questions for the moment. Your father and Napoleon worked... Come here, Sasha. Closer. Look at me.”

“Why are you smiling, mum? Oh, you do that again! You stroke my hair! I am not a baby...”

“Your daddy isn't a baby... and I stroke his hair, Sasha. And I smile because you are really alike... You moan when I do that... So does he! Sasha, look at me. I am going to tell you things... things that you must keep secret. Absolutely secret. You are only eight years old, but if you promise me to never tell anything to anyone, I'll entrust it to you. You promise?”

“Yes, mama... But... Are you sure?”

“Sure? Sure about what?”

“Sure that you can tell me the secret. I don't want you having trouble...”

“Sasha, you promise?”

“Yes. I promise. Cross my heart...”

“Okay, okay, Sasha. So, listen. Almost twenty years ago, an organisation recruited your daddy. It was the UNCLE.”

“Whose uncle was it, mama?”

“Not uncle, Sasha : U.N.C.L.E.”

“Oh, it's an acronym!”

“Boy, you are sometimes frightening... Yes, UNCLE is an acronym for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement... In New-York, the chief, number One, Section One, was Mr. Alexander Waverly.”

“And daddy was the number 2. Was Napoleon ... the number 11?”

“Napoleon was number One, section 2, and when Illya came in, he became number 2 section 2. He was Napoleon's partner.”

“Partner ? What does it mean?”

“Sasha... you know the word acronym, you can't fool me.”

“I know the word, but in the Uncle, what was a “partner”?

***

“I am waiting for your answer, Ell...”

“Illya...”

“Papa...”

“You are just like conspirators, both of you... So, Ell, what does mean the word “partner”?”

“A partner is... Oh, Illya... it's time for you to have a man-to-man talk with your son... I think that Tonya is waiting for her bath.”

“Ell, you'll pay for that! And if you think that I haven't seen that wink...”

“Please, Dad, don't be mad at mama. She isn't to be blamed. I...”

“ I'm not mad at your mama, Sasha. Never. nI was just teasing... So, you were talking about Uncle...”

“The uncle?”

“Sasha.”

“It's a secret. I promised.”

“United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, Uncle, Sasha. A partner is someone you can trust in. You work with him, you protect him, he protects you. I entrusted my life to Napoleon. So did he with me. Do you understand?

-I think so... It's a little like... you and mama, isn't it?”

“No... and yes. It's not the same feeling, love and friendship, Sasha. But in a way, you are right. Our friendship was as deep as the love I share with your mama. You frown, boy? What do you think?”

“You liked him as you love mama, and he liked you as perhaps he love his wife...”

“Yyyes... in a way... Sasha, look at me. What happens?”

“You liked each other... and you parted.”

“It's an old story, boy. I...”

“You parted. So mama and you, you could part, someday...”

“Sash... no, come in there, Sasha. Never. Your mama and I coudn't part. Never.”

“But why?”

“Because... Never, Sasha. And you have to take it for sure.”

“But Napoleon and you...”

“We worked together for almost eight years, Sasha. It was a dangerous job. Really dangerous. We had to figh unpleasant people. We had to fulfilled missions... and once, I realized that I was getting to old, to do that.”

“Too old? “

“Old... doesn't mean old in years, Sasha. Last years, you liked some games, which now bother you. You feel that you are too old... for them. So I left the Uncle. Mr. Waverly ... eventually agreed with me. Your mama worked for the Uncle, you know... We were just... friends. Two years later, we met, by chance, and... here you are... and Tonya. And you are, mummy, you and Tonya, my greatest happiness. Oh, and, of course, May with her kittens...”

“And what did Napoleon say?”

“Sasha... Napoleon wasn't there, when I left the Uncle. He was on a special mission...”

“But didn't you work together?”

“Sometimes, we didn't. “

“And you didn't meet him, after that? I can't understand, Dad. If I had such a friend, I couldn't leave him without...”

“Stop worrying about Napoleon, Sasha. Memories were in that box, and we'll let them in. You are a very clever boy, but you are still a little boy. Men... men don't act like kids... Sasha? Did I hear someone muttering?”

“No, no, daddy. Papa... I love you.”

“So do I, Sasha. So, now, you'll forget the Uncle, Napoleon, and all this story?”

“Mmmm.... Yes. I'll help mum with Tonya's diner.”

***

“And he said that men didn't act like kids, mum. But... They did. Daddy left the Uncle, and he didn't speak to his friend about it? And his friend didn't look for him, in order to talk about it? Nothing else? That's exactly what happened last year with Tonya and her friend Amy. They were sulking, and they could still sulk, if ...”

“If a gentle big brother hadn't taken the matter in hand...”

“But dad and Napoleon weren't 4 years old! Does the Uncle still exist, mum? If it does... perhaps Napoleon is still working there... and...”

“And I could take you there to meet him?”

“You could do that, mama?”