N-701124 {b. barnes}

II

A/N: how strange it is to be crying happy tears.

The forest was quiet. It was nighttime, after all.

A small fire burned.

Belle and Bucky sat facing each other, only the fire separating them. Belle leaned forward, resting her forearms just above her knees. She stared into the fire, watching as shapes appeared and vanished in the flames.

"Are you both sure about this?"

"Yeah."

Belle pressed her lips together and didn't answer right away. "What happens if it actually works?"

"Then you're both free."

Free.

The thought of being free made her heart race. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but if this didn't work, she didn't know what she'd do.

Belle lifted her head and met Bucky's eyes. She could tell he was skeptical of this whole thing, but there was no harm in trying. Right?

He turned and looked over to Ayo, who stood a short distance away. He gave her a slight nod, and then turned and stared back into the fire.

The words Ayo began to speak weren't hers, but they still gave her an overwhelming sense of panic.

Belle didn't dare to move. If this didn't work, she wanted to make herself as quiet and invisible as possible.

The only sound around her was the wind rustling through the trees and the fire crackling. No one moved. No one said anything.

She slowly lifted her head, but didn't speak.

Was everything okay?

Belle looked over to Ayo and held the woman's gaze for a few seconds. After taking a deep breath, Belle nodded. She turned and stared back into the flames. 

This was it.

Soon she'd know if she was okay.

Soon she'd know if she was normal.

"Drifted." 

Belle stared into the flames.

"Heartbroken."

There still had to be something there. Right?

"Dance."

She dug her nails into her palms.

"Blue."

She didn't dare to move.

"Fire."

Something was wrong.

"Necklace."

Something was different.

"Outcast."

Something was different than she remembered.

"Explosion."

Everything was normal.

"Sacrifice."

Everything was normal.

Was it all a dream? What if it was too good to be true? Could it be real? Was this all real? Was it too good to be true?

No. Everything was normal.

Normal.

Belle lifted her head. There was so much she wanted to say, but all words failed. So she lifted her head and looked over at Bucky.