Purple Hope

It's all fun and games...

...until Steve appears to give someone a lecture.

Bucky had decided not to tell Steve what he remembered. He wanted to keep that part of her to himself. Her red hair.

He remembered how it flowed in the wind. How it felt as it brushed across his hand or tickled his face.

How it streamed behind her as she ran or lit up in the sun. That was a new memory. One of his favorites.

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"James." She said, breaking the perfect silence of the valley.

He looked up at her from where he lay. Her face was blacked out against the sun, but her hair looked like it had caught fire in its light.

"What is it?" He mumbled.

"I have an idea."

"Well, that's good. Mine usually suck."

She laughed making the arm that was supporting her give out and she fell on top of him, laughing harder. He laughed too, wrapping both his arms around her.

"They really do." She said. "Remember that- that time you said we should play, what was it, hide and seek?"

"And you climbed all the way up that tree in less than thirty seconds and I couldn't find you for almost an hour?"

"Yes." She said, falling into a new fit of laughter. "The look on your face when you noticed I was right above you the whole time!"

"I still need to work on my observation skills." He mumbled with a smirk.

"Where do you even come up with these ideas?" She asked.

"My friend." He said then frowned, taking a moment to think before continuing. "I can't remember his name, but we used to play it together, I think."

"Steve." She told him smiling.

"Yeah." He said sadly, unable to remember his best friend. "But what was your idea?"

"Actually it was another one of your dumb ideas."

"Oh great. Which one of us is going to look stupid this time?"

"Still you." 

She stood up and offered her hand to him. Once he was up, she let go, gently hit his shoulder, shouted 'Tag!' and took off running.

He stood for a moment in shock. Those two seconds frozen in time. Her running through a bright valley with her red hair streaming behind her. The smile on her face when she looked back at him, it was perfect.

Once he realized what happened he ran after her. Chasing her down, only to pick her up and swing her around, smiling happily while their laughter echoed through his memory.
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The memory was a perfect, tranquil moment. He loved it and cherished it because he remembered feeling so unbelievably happy. 

Another week of Natasha avoiding Bucky passed, and finally, he decided to try and do something. Something that would help him form a friendship with the girl that reminded him so much of her. 

Yet somehow she was so completely different. The girl he remembered smiled often and her eyes sparkled. She was confident and loved to talk to him. While he knew Natasha was confident she was quiet and seemed to avoid eye contact anytime they were in the same room.