Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 54 - Heart To Heart

Wanda's lower lip slipped between her teeth as she leaned into Keira's touch. The conversation was going a lot better than she had imagined. Her mind had painted a much more heated picture, so the fact that they were sitting on the floor, calmly discussing the matter was a big relief. It had been bad enough to listen to the team argue, and she didn't think she could handle it if she and Keira ended it on a bad note.

Raising one of her hands, she let a scarlet wisp dance around her fingers. "What if I never learn to control it? What if it devours me and turns me into something I'm not?"

It was such a fragile question, Wanda's voice filled with so much doubt that Keira closed the distance between them and pulled the brunette in for a hug, seeing the wisp disappear into thin air. "Then I'll be there to bring you back."

With her face hiding against Keira's shirt, Wanda's voice came out a little muffled. "You wouldn't be afraid of me?"

"You could never scare me, Wanda." Keira broke the hug, but she still let her forehead rest against Wanda's, her eyes closed.

Wanda didn't say it, but to know that there was at least one person out there who didn't fear her, who saw her for who she truly was, it meant more to her than words could ever describe. She too, allowed her eyes to close and with one of her hands intertwined with Keira's, they just sat like that, foreheads resting against one another and just enjoying the moment of peace.

But Wanda's brain wouldn't shut up. "I still don't know if it's the right decision not to sign." She sighed, reluctantly breaking the soft atmosphere that had settled in the room.

"If you're asking me to decide for you, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, because I won't do that." Keira opened her eyes and straightened her back, and by doing so, increased the distance between them. "I've made my opinion pretty clear. I can't sign it, I just can't, even if I wanted to. I've already had organizations telling me what to do for the majority of my life, and I can't live like that again. And to be tagged like animals just so the government can keep track of us like some common pet? No." She shook her head firmly, and realizing the sharp edge that had entered her tone, she slowly relaxed her clenched jaw.

It wasn't Wanda's fault, and the brunette didn't deserve her anger at the Accords. "But you need to do what you feel is right. Just make sure that you're making this decision with your heart, and not your head."

Wanda merely gazed at the blonde, feeling the tears burning in her eyes. "And I believe that people will understand why you don't sign it, given your history. But me...?" She averted her eyes as a shaky sigh escaped her lips. The world was still screaming 'murderer' every time her name popped up in the media, but maybe if she signed, it would get a little bit better?

Keira knew what Wanda was getting at and shook her head. "Look, I understand why you would consider signing, Wanda. Just to get the world off your back." She began, ducking her head to catch the brunette's gaze. "But why would signing a document change anything? What really matters, what defines us, is whether or not we're willing to repeat our past actions. That is what separates good people from bad people. And you are good, Wanda."

Seeing Wanda starting to fiddle with her hands again, Keira placed her hand over them. "Just know, that whatever you decide, I won't hold it against you." Her eyes were bright as she spoke and seeing the tears glittering in Wanda's eyes, she cupped the brunette's cheek. "I'll support you either way."

❆

Keira ran her hands over her face in pure frustration. It was the night after the day that the Avengers had been presented with the Sokovia Accords, and things were tense, to say the least. What used to be a playfully bickering group had now turned into a painfully silent one.