Finding Home

Chapter 25

It had been only a couple of weeks since I left the Tower.

Despite that, the days dragged on, making it feel like months had passed.

Had I made the right choice? Was it best for him that I left?

As that first week dragged by, I watched as the little cottage began to sparkle.

Dust - taking days in itself to finally be removed entirely - no longer clung to every surface. Subsequently, I removed the cloth covering the couch and chair, and I got my first look at the furniture that I sat on so many times before. Furthermore, the windows were bright enough to see out of, for the first time in who knows how many years.

This was the first time I had seen this cottage looking like a home. Despite all the times I had been inside, I never took the time to clean. To make it look like someone was using it, let alone living in it.
Instead, I had always left it in shambles, just as it had been when he was using it.

I couldn't do that this time though. With the memories it held, it deserved to look like a home again.

Looking around the cottage, finally clean and appearing as it should, I can't help the nostalgia that lingers.

That is when I hear a pounding at the door.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

It isn't the knocking of someone just looking to welcome a new neighbor. This is someone who, if determined enough, would break the door down to get at whatever - or whoever - is inside.

"I know you're in there, Petrova! Open the damn door!" His voice booms.

How the hell?

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

"Damn it, Petrova! Open up!" He yells again. "Please?" Suddenly his tone changes. Not rough and loud like it had been. But instead, quiet and -- powerless.

I stand there. In utter disbelief. Completely silent.

Sure, I tossed a loophole into the note.
And sure, a small part of me had hoped he'd figure it out. I had just expected it would take longer.

Frozen in my spot, unable to move, let alone utter a sound. I just listen to him on the other side of the solid door.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Again he tries pounding on the door but is met with silence.

"Fine - don't open it yet. Just listen." His tone is full of despair.

I'm not willing to leave my spot, not yet. So I sit on the floor where I am, listening in silence.

"Look, Petrova, I don't know what made you think that the right choice was running away. After years apart, years of running, years of keeping this - this wall up, you finally had the chance to be happy - to be home - again. And your first instinct was to run instead?"

I hear his left arm thud against the frame of the door and listen to the distinct sound of the plates moving as he flexes his arm, clenching his fist in frustration.

"They aren't Hydra, Marena. There's nothing bad that can come of us - either of us - being happy. Let alone being together. Hell, if it weren't for Natasha, I'd have taken a hell of a lot longer to figure out where the hell you'd run off to."

Natalia. Of course. I should have known she'd be able to pick the clue out of that damn note. She wouldn't know what it meant, but that didn't matter.

I stand up and quietly walk to the door. Standing there, silent still, resting my hand against the middle of the solid wood structure, knowing full well that Bucky had a hand just opposite. That if it weren't for the obstacle between us, our hands would touch — melding perfecting into each other.

"Everyone wants you to come back. But I won't force you. Please, open the door."

I close my eyes tight as I unlock the door, stepping back far enough for it to open without a problem.

After a moment, Bucky turns the handle and pushes the door, watching it open slowly until it lightly bounces gently against the wall.

"You shouldn't have come, my Soldier. I've caused you far too much pain for you to -"

"I've caused you a fair share of pain too, my Queen. Stop focusing on it. Pain happens; anyone can cause it. But that love, that happiness, that euphoric bliss that we feel when we're together? That can only be caused by one other."

He calmly makes his way into the cottage and wastes no time wrapping me in a tight embrace.

"If you don't want to come back to the Tower Petrova, then fine. I said I wouldn't force you. But don't run away just out of fear. You need a better reason than that to avoid me."

Separating slightly, I look up into his eyes.

"Besides, no matter where you try to run off to, I'll find you."

"How did you figure out where I was? I mean, you said Nat helped you find the clue, but you would have had to decipher it."

" 'It will serve as a memory of our love.' This?" He looks around at the cottage as he continues. "This is where we said our final goodbye all those years ago. This was also the cottage you were hiding in when Fury found you."

I look at him with bewilderment.

"Yea. I knew where you were. They didn't tell me to continue that mission though, they sent me on a different one, but I had to know you were okay. This was the first place I looked because I knew it was as close to home as you would feel."

"I guess I'll have to find a new cottage to hide out in then." I chuckle as I lay my head against his chest.

His voice soft as he places a kiss on the top of my head, "it won't matter where you go. I'll always find you, Marena."