Fire and Ice - (Bucky Barnes x OC) 18+

Chapter 35

WAKANDA

Fire blazed from a pit of wood atop the mountain side. The wind rustled the nearby trees, blowing small ashy embers that sparkled in the darkness as they were carried away. Bucky sat on a log beside the fire and gazed into it, inhaling the fresh air with a hint of smokey wood scent. He knew this was going to be his final test to freedom and anxiety tore through him.

What if it didn't work...

What if he became that brutal killer again...

He tried to shift his mind to think about Alex and all the progress she made that Shuri told him about, he knew she was withholding a lot of it and only giving him small cap versions because it was imperative he focused on his own journey. But the details he did get made him feel better. 

Neither had seen each other for the better part of a year. The last time he'd seen her was when she was commanded to kill him. There had been so many nights where he'd woken up from nightmares and fought hard to picture her face in his mind because it was the only thing to ease the pain.

He missed her so much that it physically hurt to be apart from her, and he found himself pondering over the strong feeling inside him that had come to the surface after her awakening. It was so intense it scared the shit out of him because he knew then that it was pure love. 

The kind that existed only between two souls who were part of one, unable to exist without the other, tied by an invisible chain that bound them. The kind that no matter what universe, world, or time, they would always find each other. 

Taking a deep breath, Bucky slid his eyes closed for a moment to reel in his thoughts and try to focus on the ceremony. The flames danced in the wind and Bucky caught sight of a figure walking towards him. At first it was shrouded in shadows but the closer it came he realised that it was a woman, and the woman was not Ayo. 

She did not have a staff like Ayo always carried and she was not of Wakanda heritage, but she wore a garment fit for a Dora warrior. His brows pinched together as he squinted through the flames when she stopped on the opposite side. His eyes scanned her and recognition filled them.

The fire distorted the colours of her garb but he could make out the brown, yellow and orange with red accents on the dress shirt. It had splits on both sides from her hips, ending just at her knees. She wore dark brown leggings underneath with brown lace up boots on her feet. Small beads adorned the dress in multiple lines intricately detailed over the brown leather bustier. It looked like a corset pulling her in and hugging her perfectly. 

The beaded pattern lined around the tops of her shoulders and around the fabric on her neck, she was covered from neck to toe yet she looked absolutely regal, like a warrior princess. Around her waist a deep red wrap of silk fabric hung from a knot to the side and swayed in the breeze. Ash blonde hair was much longer than he remembered and it was done in a half up-half down style with two rope braids on either side of her head, starting from the temples and wrapping in a criss cross to the back. A pin kept it in place and the rest blew behind her, dancing like the flames between them. She looked like something out of a fairytale scene.

Bucky exhaled when his eyes met her face—the face he would remember in a thousand lifetimes. It was bathed in an orange glow from the fire, she looked like Alex but seemed so different...better.

Alex looked through the flames, and her heart did a jump like it always did when he was around. She watched him stand slowly, his stance slightly off balance, but she forced her legs to walk around the fire and meet him. She couldn't stop her eyes from raking over him, it had been so long and he looked so different.