Winter Sound

Chapter 11: On the Run to America

Many years had gone by since Winter and Anya started their married life together. Making each other feel safe and special throughout their time shared together was a blessing of God to this couple as they savored every second, minute, hour, month, and year. With lots of physical and emotional bonding to help add to the marriage, Winter and Anya were considered a cute partnership indeed as they worked together as a team. Wherever one spouse went, the other followed when they were able as they looked after each other to make sure they were both eating, sleeping, and otherwise okay. Overall, the relationship between Anya Jablonsky and The Winter Soldier was very close and full of trust and selfless love, despite the fact that the man's 'complicated' job separated the two when he was overseas on a mission or with his wicked comrades and multitudinous masters.

Over the years, though, Vixie had fulfilled her purpose as both loving, loyal companion and animal friend before she passed away ten years into Anya and Winter's long marriage from the natural causes of old age. The way it was revealed was when Anya woke up one morning as she walked over to Vixie's makeshift bed by the shared mattress she and her husband slept in and she tried to wake her beloved animal companion up. Whispering Vixie's name in her large, graying ears of auburn red, Anya shook the tiny canine awake gently until she felt the small animal not responding or moving. Starting to panic because she knew her little friend was getting old, Anya's voice began to break with pleas for Vixie to 'please wake up' as tears pooled in her eyes. Smelling a salty aroma in the room and hearing the sounds of sniffling in the bedroom, Winter was greeted with the heart-breaking sight of Anya kneeling on the floor crying as he hopped out of the mattress, almost tripping over the bedsheets to reach his wife and see what was wrong. Kneeling down beside her with his hands on her shoulders, Winter looked into Anya's eyes as he asked the redhead what was wrong. Wiping her tears with the long sleeve of her red shirt, Anya explained to her husband that Vixie wasn't moving or breathing as the trained assassin leaned his head down to his animal companion's chest to listen for a heartbeat. Finding emptiness in the furry body below his heightened ear, Winter lifted his head up ever so slowly as Anya looked on, waiting patiently for an honest answer, as anxiety entered her veins. With a sad look in his eyes as he whispered 'I'm sorry' to Anya in Russian, Winter watched his wife's heart break as she gasped with her outstretched palm pressed against her widened lips as her eyes released tears down her cheeks and to the wooden floor below. Feeling his own heart break too, Winter immediately brought Anya into his strong arms as she practically clung to his frame with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck while she sniffled painfully with her sobs as her face was buried against his bare chest. In the meanwhile, this very moment only made Winter cry too as he buried his face against her clothed shoulder and just stroked his hands through her hair, said nothing and did nothing else but hold her in his arms and let her know that he was here for her all the way but also that he missed the creature of God too. Seeing that her husband was devoted and attentive to her needs, Anya looked upon Winter's face as she rested against his chest again and stroked his hair in her fingers, said nothing and did nothing else either but just hold him and let him know that she was here for him too. As sad as this life event was, Winter remained by Anya's side as they grieved together over the loss of the domesticated fox. Known only to Winter through stories that Anya told him, the redhead had found the tiny animal in the woods starving, cold, and limping from a front paw injury when it was only a few months old. Feeling sorry for the animal and seeing that it was alone with no family because it had been separated from its siblings and parents, Anya helped nurse the baby fox back to health by caring for its wounds and feeding it in her warm cottage. And according to Anya, instead of going back to the woods to be free, Vixie stayed loyal to the redhead's side as repayment for her human kindness. To be quite honest, if it wouldn't have been for Vixie, Anya wouldn't have found Winter drowning in the woodland lake so she could save him and he wouldn't have a person who loved him for him and anchored him to his old self instead of the assassin. Just as Roza was the reason why the Russian dame survived in World War II, Vixie had protected Anya and Winter from all harm and acted as the wingman in their relationship. Therefore, the couple owed everything to Vixie, so they felt as though she deserved a proper burial. With a slab of stone and offerings of colorful flowers and fresh plums as a secret memorial in the woods by the lake where they first met, Anya and Winter prayed that their little friend was in a better place as they went on with their lives, remembering Vixie and Roza Shanina all the while.