Holding On | Bucky Barnes

30 | Sunday, February 13th

I take a sip of my tea and lean my elbows on the balcony rail. The sun sets in the valley of two mountains across from me and my eyes roam over the city.

When Bucky and I got to Birnin Zana, it was like he was home; and T'Challa, Shuri, and Ramonda were his family.

I guess they are.

From what I understand, bringing Bucky here and helping him through un-conditioning was an apology from T'Challa for trying to kill Bucky after he was framed for murdering the late King T'Chaka... But it seems like it became much more than an apology. T'Challa, Bucky, and Shuri act like siblings—bickering and all—while Ramonda watches over them with a sly smile. The first night at the palace, I toddled behind the three, watching and listening to them catch up. After a full day of reunions and eating, we were brought to our room, and I couldn't help but go directly for the balcony that overlooked the city.

I smile as I think of it.

"I missed it here," Bucky mumbled, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

I thread my fingers through his, holding onto him tightly as the evening sun began to drop behind the mountains.

"It really is gorgeous."

The sun reflected off the windows of towers and buildings, making the skyline glitter. I smiled as he rested his chin on my shoulder, butterflies filling my stomach at his gentleness.

"Over there is a restaurant with the best lamb stew. They have live music and every evening the entire block comes out to dance on the street," he said, pointing to an area below us. "And over to the West is this beautiful little lake that I used to visit all the time," he mumbled, pointing to the sliver of water visible between trees. "And on Wednesdays, a few of the high school's bands get together and play in that square over there," he pointed to the right. "There's so much I'm going to show you," he whispered into my hair, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

A door opens behind me, and I'm pulled from my memories as I hear Bucky grunt a little. My heart drops and I turn around quickly, expecting to see him covered in blood and bruises.

Instead, he hisses as a small ball of white crawls up his right arm, while the left tries to grab it without dropping the bags of take-out he holds.

"What the hell—"

"Get this thing off me please," he grunts again, trying to untangle the take-out bags from his wrist.

I rush forward, dropping my mug onto the coffee table before grabbing the ball, realizing it's a cat—or kitten. "Hello," I smile, turning him to face me. "Who are you?"

My heart melts as he looks at me with big blue eyes.

"I was on my way to the restaurant when heard her meowing," he explains, placing the bags on the floor to straighten his shirt. "The poor thing was stuck in a bag behind a dumpster, so I pulled her out, and apparently, she started following me and didn't stop. Ombara almost didn't let me order because I brought a cat into his restaurant," he grumbles. "I put her back outside and expected her to leave, but she didn't, and now she won't leave me alone."

"So, what you're saying is, we now have a cat."

"No, we have to put her back outside so her owners or her mother will find her."

"We can't put her back outside! She's tiny, the other cats will eat her."

"They're not going to eat her," he shakes his head. "What if she belongs to someone?"

I turn to face Bucky and hold the kitten in front of him. "Okay, we keep her until someone comes to find her. But we can't leave her alone."

Bucky looks from me to the cat before his eyes soften a little. Before he can say anything, I smile.