He couldnโt move, couldnโt feel, couldnโt hear, he could only ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ. The thick glass panel in front of him explained everything. Bucky was back under the ice; In Shuriโs lab.
Thatโs when he saw her. She was standing in front of a table looking at a tablet she held in her hands. A figure appeared in the distance. Just the shadow of a man. The closer the man got, the clearer his features became.
Step.
He could now see a body forming. It reminded him of the Vibranium sand map displays. He was still a dark gray, but every curve of his body apparent.
Step.
Color now appeared. His clothing was dark, and his skin, light. The outfit seemed oddly familiar.
Step.
His hair started growing out. He was a few feet away from her now. It was when his hair kept growing that Bucky realized, it was ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง, and he was on a mission.
Another step, and an object formed in his hand. Bucky wanted to yell, scream, ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. But he couldn't. He had no choice, he had no control.
The soldier held the knife, looked at it, and started flipping it around. Shuri turned around then, realizing that someone was behind her.
When she saw him, her eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something, but then in one quick motion, he slit her throat. The Winter Soldier then looked straight at him, and smiled. Then he turned back to sand.
***
Bucky woke up in a cold sweat. He looked around the room and noticed the curtains drawn. If the sun had risen yet, he wouldn't know. Wait, the sun, he realized, where was she?
In a frenzy, he sent Shuri a text:
๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต
***
Shuri was back in the lab when she'd gotten the text, and it took her a while to realize what it meant.
At first, after Bucky had been taken out of the cryo chamber, he didn't talk much. They communicated through other means. Replaced words with facial expressions, and touch. Soon enough, she could take a look at him, and tell exactly what he was feeling.
Eventually, he regained his social skills, and began to talk more. She realized that his thought process was quite different from hers. Whereas she was quite literal, as you'd imagine a scientist would be, he was more metaphorical. You could even say symbolic.
He'd told her many times that she was his sun. She smiled as she remembered the first.
"I'll never get tired of this." He'd said as they watched the sunset. "The most beautiful in the world." She replied before laying her head on his shoulder.
"I never really looked at it much until I came here. And now I realize..." he trailed off.
"hmm?"
"It reminds me of you. You gave me ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ back."
Shuri thought this over as he continued. "You're light..." he stopped to consider his next words, "and love." he whispered.
"Love." she'd repeated just as quietly. "So if I'm your sun, does that make you my moon?"
"I'd hope so, if that's what you want." he'd answered.
As she was thinking, still staring at the message, she noticed something shiny out of the corner of her eye. It was the arm she'd been working on. She still made it, even after he told her he didn't want it becau-
Because of the bad memories.
"Oh." she said to herself when she made the realization. She started cleaning up and went to grab her things.
***
Bucky was laying in his bed when he heard a knock on his door. There was only one person that could be at this time.
He went to open the door. Shuri was standing in the door way, the rising sun shining brightly behind her, and he noticed the gold flecks in her dark brown eyes. At the angle, her skin looked radiant.
He motioned her inside and shut the door. He sat on the bed, patting the spot next to him.
As she sat down, she asked him, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really, just, y'know... well. You were there, ๐ฉ๐ฆ was there." he sighed.
"The soldier?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. Well you don't have to ๐ด๐ข๐บ anything. You know that." she put her hand on his shoulder before continuing, "I'm here. I'll always be here."
"๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, I love you so much."
"I love you too."
And at that moment Bucky cupped her face in his hand, and brought her closer. She stared into his eyes, as he stared into hers. He leaned in, and she met him halfway, their lips colliding.
It was gentle, but passionate. The sun and moon together, treasuring one of the few times they could ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ be together.