"Whole" (10)

20 2 4
                                    




Warnings: None

[Final Chapter]

His motorcycle comes to a stop.

"Don't get down yet." A tender warning as she senses him stepping off -  a little shake, she can't see but feel.

A kiss to the surface of her lips that detonates fireworks in the pit of her stomach - and his hands are removing her glittery slippers next.

"No peeking." Her toes are touching sand after he helps her dismount - of that she is certain.

"I wouldn't dream of it, James Barnes." And he is now guiding her down a path - she can't see - yet the smell of sea salt is a dead give away. They must be near the ocean and she involuntarily inhales.

The soothing whoosh of the waves, the warmth of his hand, and she can't believe shes now been fully herself for eleven whole days. She never knew how broken she was until she was made whole.

She had been so frightened when her two selves were masterfully sewn back together by Doctor Stephen Strange.

He had been the only one capable of seeing the split. An anomaly that - she had come to the conclusion - must've happened when she was but a child and no one really knew the reason. There had been theories in her head, but nothing concrete to that day,

Strange had called it a "Splitting of the Astral Self". Not quite t similar to a split-personality disorder. Not quite the case of two separate entities. Stated plainly, it was a case of one being's internal consciousness suddenly splitting into two. Neither incomplete. Neither whole.

He had studied it back when he was in Kamar-Taj but had never witnessed the phenomenon with his own two eyes.

The "Fusing", as they had come to call it, was such a complex transition. Some memories were lost in the process; slivers of past experiences felt absent somehow.

Doctor Strange explained those moments were most likely to come back gradually and with the help of therapy -  something Tony had been happy to provide as a favor to Bucky.

Despite the fragmented memories and the sheer disorientation...

something remained constant...someone.

"James..." she huffs his name, concealing a smile that sparkles so beautifully for him.

The feelings for the man that now led her down the beach were still very present -  a part of the puzzle that grounded her and reoriented her. Her blue-eyed compass. The love of her life.

The Armada was still out there. Even here and now, the possibility of them showing up was making her stomach twist with anxiety.

Amelia had offered all the intel she had before The Fusing - their whereabouts even - but it had been futile to help with their capture. By the time the Avengers showed up to their last location, they had already vanished.

They were coming, there was no doubt about it.

It was only a matter of time.

No one that betrayed their leader ever walked free. Amelia thought about it often...too often.

It would only take one mistake, one second out of anyone's sight...and she would be gone forever.

She had been afraid long enough....so in the meantime, she was savoring her new life, her new self. Soaking it all in...soaking herself with him.

"Almost there..." A fond puff of his voice next to her ear. A few steps forward and, "Are you ready?"

A yes that rushed from within, bursting into an eager nod of her head, and Bucky slowly starts removing the velvety blindfold from her squinting eyes.

Reddish-orange sky, extending ever so bold and brilliant and richly colored to meet the dusky ocean.

The sleepy sun, dark and golden and magnificent getting closer and closer to the line where sky and water met - leisurely dipping its bright edges in the calmness sea. The spectacle leaving her was almost gasping for air.

"Sweetheart..." Appraising eyes roam her features and as glorious as watching the sunset for the first time is, it paled in comparison with the beloved face of the man standing next to her.

The man that had loved her, and protected her and was now sharing that extraordinary moment with her.

"This is everything," is all she can say and her eyes are stinging with the sweetest of tears.

A throaty little laugh spurs out of him.

Happiness.

Fingers intertwined as they stroll toward the grand horizon together - an idea lights her face and as if he could read her mind, he slips her green dress over her head, hair cascading on the supple skin of her back. His yearning eyes drinking in the sight of her bare shoulders.

Amelia gives him a playful shove, "Last one in is a rotten egg!" A challenge he is more than happy to take on as he takes off after her.

The rest of their clothes trail behind.

A round of chuckles, a playful struggle as they readily dive into the inviting, warm waters ahead of them.

THE END

The saddest girl to wear a yellow dressWhere stories live. Discover now