Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

XXLII: Trees of Green

Joana

Seeing him standing there in front of her was like seeing him for the first time.

He was standing there in his white scrubs, smiling like a normal person. He was talking to Steve and Wanda as if he had been awake for weeks. If he had been awake for weeks, someone would have called her to tell her.

She stood in the doorway, mouth agape, unsure of how to move forward. It wasn't until Steve spotted her and turned Bucky's attention in her direction that she was finally able to move.

"Joana?"

The way Bucky said her name told Joana all she needed to know.

Bucky was back. This wasn't the Winter Soldier or whoever it was that was somewhere between the Winter Soldier and James Barnes that Joana had lived with in Romania. This was Bucky, her Bucky.

Bucky stepped away from Steve and took one step toward her. His one step was all it took to break the wall in front of Joana. She bolted toward him. As soon as she started running, so did he until they collided into each other. Joana was crying as soon as he had her in his arms.

But, for once in a really long time, the tears were of joy and not of grief.

"Joana," he whispered in her ear. "Oh, Joana."

Every pain, every ounce of hurt that had ever passed through Joana, every bitterness she ever held on to vanished the moment she touched Bucky. Everything she had endured for the last 70 years was to have this moment, this one moment with Bucky, and it was worth it. He was alive, he was safe, he was hers. Nothing else mattered except that she had Bucky back.

Joana held as tightly to him as she could. She inhaled his scent and stuffed her hands with the fabric of his shirt. He pulled her face away from his chest so he could look her in the eyes. She was surprised to see that there were tears in his own eyes. It made her feel slightly better about crying.

"I love you," he told her. "I haven't gotten to tell you in 70 years, but I love you. I never stopped loving you."

Joana smiled and let out a watery laugh.

"I love you, too," she told him, voice breaking. She buried her face in his chest again and he ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'm sorry to break up the reunion," Shuri said from behind Joana, "But I need to run a few more tests."

Joana nodded and stepped away from Bucky, but she didn't let go of his hand. How could she?

She looked over at Natalia, who had a glimmer of tears in her green eyes. Steve was beaming. Even Wanda Maximoff seemed to be crying. Sam was smiling, but only at Joana. Joana knew that he and Bucky didn't get off on the right foot, but she also knew that Sam was happy for her, which was enough.

As Shuri ran a few final tests on Bucky, Joana built up the courage to let go of his hand so she could talk to Steve.

"How did she do it?" Joana asked him, voice low.

"A lot of it was Wanda, actually," Steve said, glancing over at the girl. Wanda was watching Bucky careful, her hands just barely glowing red. "She used her powers to pull the Winter Soldier out of his head. He still has all of his memories, but the trigger words no longer work."

Before Joana knew what she was doing, she had approached the Sokovian girl and embraced her. Joana wasn't really used to hugging someone who wasn't Bucky, but she managed it. Wanda felt tense beneath her at first, but she finally relaxed into the hug and even put one arm around Joana's back.