delicate; b.barnes

[21:] snail mail and the tragedy of time.

Her voice was quiet and meek. "I miss him too."

Another few seconds of silence passed by before someone spoke again.

"It was really nice to see you again," said Steve, genuinely, "but I have to get going."

"Okay. Yeah. It was nice to see you, too. Stay safe, okay?"

"I'll try," he smiled. Then his eyes softened. "You stay safe too. Can't have anything happen to my best friend's best girl. Alright?"

A soft smile bloomed on her face to match his mellow gaze. For a moment the guilt subsided and was replaced with gratitude. Gratitude for the fact that, Bucky had someone, and that that someone was Steve.

"Alright."

With that, the door closed, he was gone, and she was by herself again. Once alone with her thoughts, her attention was redirected towards the envelope in her hands.

She inspected it. The only thing written on the envelope was her name on the back of it. In not-amazing-but-legible cursive. It was messy, but in a way that made it sort of charming.

She gently tore it open.

A sharp inhale. It was a letter from Bucky. A handwritten, signed - pasted in an envelope and sent across the sea - letter.

Immediately after opening, she wished she didn't. She said they couldn't contact each other; evidently Bucky found another way. Even so, any form of communication had inherent risks.

However, rational thoughts were soon diminished. She stared at his writing, this little piece of him, and her chest filled with so much love.

Y/N held the letter like it would burn up in her hands at any second. Like it was delicate, and she needed to protect it.

She smoothed her thumbs over the paper, thinking about how this paper, at one point, was in Bucky's hands. She closed her eyes in an effort to feel some sort of connection from touching something that he touched.

Then, she plopped down on the floor, straightened her back, and began to read. It was a page and a half and he signed it:

"Yours,
Bucky"

And he meant it.

She only got halfway through the letter before she began to weep. There were a million things she wanted to tell him but couldn't.

"Oh, sweet boy..." she whispered. "I miss you."

When Bucky wrote the first letter, he was almost giddy. He thought it was hopeless but then he realized he wasn't limited by technology. Paper couldn't be tracked or recorded, especially when he sent it with Steve the next time he visited... after Bucky sat down with him and explained everything.

"So, you want me to drop this off in Belgium? To Y/N?" Steve had asked.

"Yes."

"Is she supposed to give me one back? Like, do I have to play mailman now?"

"I... don't know. Hopefully? I want her to but, and I don't know if she will. But even if she doesn't, at least she's reading it. She doesn't really have anyone back home... I just want her to know that someone's thinkin' about her."