Red Winter - COMPLETED

Chapter Twelve: Meditation

They all followed T'challa up the stairs while he spoke, "You see, when she discovered she couldn't use her powers her depression seemed to worsen. One doesn't exactly need to sleep. Nor does one need food nor to use the bathroom. Here seems to be like a dream. Our bodies function differently. So she told me she was going to meditate. The girl has been asleep for a month. I'm not worried, she is breathing. But I cannot wake her. I imagine she will awake when she is ready." T'challa pushed open a door, inside was a large four posted bed. White sheets covered the witch, her face calm as she took slow breaths. Seeing her face only made him feel worse. That not only was she gone from their world, but she was suffering again with the loss of her powers. Not that she remembered that had happened. Which only made him feel worse. Peter and Groot stood by the door as Bucky stood there. "I know you were close. That things changed when she returned from Magneto. The head injury she suffered from...it was unexplainable how her memories were gone. Perhaps..." Bucky held out his hand. "Please..." T'challa nodded, I will show you to different rooms. Turning to Groot and Peter he smirked, "Do you two like bunkbeds?"

When they were gone he knelt beside the bed, running a hand through her soft hair. "I'm so sorry." It wasn't long he stayed there, he knew it was only torture if he lingered. So he made his way downstairs. One room he passed had Peter and Groot in it. They seemed to be arguing. "I get the top bunk! I'm technically more human!" Peter pointed to the top bunk. "I AM GROOT!" Groot mimicked Peter's pointing. "I DON'T CARE THAT YOUR SHORTER!" Bucky almost wanted to laugh, maybe of he didn't feel lost he would have. T'challa was sitting on the porch outside, watch the suns set. "There is a room upstairs for you. I hope you don't mind." Bucky nodded, "No, it's great. I wouldn't want to share with those two...trust me." T'challa folded his hands into his lap. "I have to ask...with your long sleeves and gloves. Have you looked at your arm?" Bucky's confused look answered the question for him. "We are our best selves here it seems. I would recommend you take a look."

(Author's Note: So I totally forgot when I started this Part Two that in The Soul World I wanted them to just be human. It's their "souls" after all. So totally disregard when Peter comments on Buck's arm in the earlier chapters.)

Bucky peeled his glove off. With his mind totally taken over by heavier thoughts he never really felt any different other than lost. Staring down at a bare hand made his almost gag. "Ho..how..." T'challa smirked, "Peter wont have his powers either. As I am not The Black Panther here. From my understanding, we are simply...us. How our souls exist within" Bucky flexed his hand, staring at it sure that drool was dribbling down his face. It had been decades since he felt anything past his shoulder, and for a split moment, nothing else mattered.

A lot of time was spent over the next hour just rubbing his hands together, feeling the skin touch. Bucky sat on the edge of his bed just feeling his skin, feeling the muscles that he hadn't seen in years. The suns were gone from the sky, tonight was darker then the rest. There were stars that slightly illuminated the sky, a candle on his desk sparked light cross the ceiling. Cool air trickled in past the crack in the window, his bare chest feeling the blow. As he got up he pulled his black t-shirt over his body, feeling the soft fabric over both shoulders. While he crawled into th sheets and blew out the candle he felt for the first time since waking in this world, sense of peace.