Deep in the mountains, Ayo led Bucky, Daphne, and Steve out to a clearing that was far from the city.
In case anything went wrong, in case it didn't work, Bucky practically demanded that they do this far from any civilians.
Ayo set up a fire to give them some light and the gentle crackling sound gave Bucky some comfort. He sat in front of the fire as Daphne knelt in front of him.
"You okay?" she asked, and Bucky silently nodded, staring at the fire in front of him. "Steve and I will be right here the whole time."
"It is time," Ayo said, looking over at them. Daphne nodded, giving Bucky's hand one more squeeze before she stood next to Steve.
"You sure about this?" Bucky asked, still incredibly nervous.
"We won't let you hurt anyone," Ayo said, glancing at Daphne and Steve before she began.
"Zhelaniye."
"Rzhavyy."
"Semnadtsat."
"It's not gonna work" Bucky mumbled, tears pooling in his eyes but Ayo kept going.
"Rassvet."
Daphne gripped Steve's hand, both of them hated seeing him in such distress like he was physically and mentally fighting with himself.
"Pech."
"Devyat."
"Dobroserdechnyy."
"Vozvrashcheniye na rodinu."
"Odin."
"Gruzovovvagon."
Daphne and Steve stared down at Bucky not knowing what to expect. They wanted it to work. It had to work.
And while they were grateful he didn't immediately jump up and attack them, they weren't sure if the tears flowing down his face were good tears or bad tears.
"Bucky" Daphne called, her voice soft.
Bucky looked up at her, his whole body shaking from the sobs he was letting out. "It's me," he said, a hint of a smile on his face. "It's me."
Daphne rushed to him, pulling him into a hug, his tears soaking through her shirt.
"You're okay. You're safe now" she said, holding him as tight as she could. Steve sat on the other side of them, pulling them into a group hug.
"We're all gonna be okay."
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"You sure you can't stay?" Daphne asked as they stood in front of the quinjet he arrived in.
"I'd love to. But someone got to keep an eye on Sam and Nat" Steve said.
"Please, we all know it's Nat that's watching the both of you" Daphne smirked.
Steve rolled his eyes but still had a smile on his face as he looked out at the city behind them.
"What are you two gonna do now?" he asked.
"I don't know" Bucky sighed, looking around at what was going to be his home for the foreseeable future.
"We can do whatever we want," Daphne said, smiling as leaned into him.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Steve said, digging in his pocket. "I found these. Thought you'd like to have 'em back."
He reached over, holding out two dog tags. Bucky took them, surprised when he realized they were his.
He thought they would've been long gone, lost to time. But it was nice to have them back. Something that was tied to who he truly was.
"Thank you," he said, slipping them over his neck.
"So you'll always remember who you are," Steve said.
Daphne smiled, giving them space to say goodbye before it was her turn and she pulled her brother into a hug. "Say hi to Sam and Nat for me," she said.
"I will. I'll miss you" he said.
"I'll miss you too. And stay out of trouble. You can use this time to finally relax" she said.
"Yeah? Maybe go on that family vacation we used to talk about" he said.
"One day. Definitely"
Bucky and Daphne watched as the quinjet lifted into the air, before disappearing beyond Wakanda's borders.
"What now?" Bucky asked.
"I meant what I said. We can do anything we want" she said, smiling at him.
"Anything?" he asked and laughed as she took his hand and dragged him back to their small home.
"Absolutely anything. It's your life, Bucky. You can do whatever you want with it."
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Turns out what Bucky really wanted to do, at least for now, was nothing. Well, not exactly nothing.
But in the short time he'd been awake in Wakanda, he'd been following Daphne around, helping her with her daily routine.
And he liked it. It was peaceful. And relaxing. In the mornings they'd eat breakfast, and he found out she started drinking a lot more tea since it was more popular in Wakanda than coffee.
She showed him the small garden she'd been working on with some of the locals giving her advice since she'd never really gardened before.
Bucky wasn't much of a gardener himself but he was more than happy to lug around the heavy bags of fertilizer for her.
He'd hang around, watching as she played with the kids that lived around them. Usually she'd be playing games or painting and doing other arts and crafts with them.
Bucky realized that it was the first time since right before the war that neither of them were fighting.
Wrapped up in some war that neither of them wanted to be a part of. He looked up as Daphne walked up to him, a little girl hiding behind her legs.
"We need your help," Daphne said, a playful smile on her face.
Bucky looked up at her, thinking she needed him for some sort of manual labor.
The kids loved testing just how strong he was, piling up books and rocks for him to carry, not realizing they weren't that heavy anyway.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We need a model," she told him letting out a small laugh at the confused look on his face. "I promised Assata here that I'd teach her how to braid but I can't do that without a model for her to practice on."
Bucky glanced at the little girl who was looking at him nervously and looked back at Daphne. "And you figured I'd be a good choice?" he asked.
Daphne smiled and nodded. "And I told her that you were really nice and you definitely wouldn't say no to her."
Bucky smiled, his eyes squinting a little from the sun. "Well then I guess I have to say yes," he said.
Daphne laughed, kneeling down to Assata's eye level. "See, I told you that no one could say no to your cute little face," she said and the girl laughed, as Daphne pinched her cheeks. "Why don't you go grab those flowers we picked?"
Assata nodded and ran off and Bucky shook his head at Daphne.
"Flowers?"
"What? Worried you'll ruin your big bad White Wolf reputation?" she teased.
It was a name the kids had given him that was slowly catching on with everyone. For the most part, Bucky was still quiet and his natural resting face always looked like a scowl.
"You really owe me for this" he grumbled.
"Oh please. You're not doing it for me. You're doing it for this one" Daphe said, as Assata ran back over. She grabbed her, tickled her sides, and laughed at the giggles the little girl let out.
"Ready?" Daphne asked her. Assata nodded as she held out the flowers.
"He's gonna look pretty," she said.
"You're right. He's gonna look very pretty" Daphne smiled.
Bucky chuckled, basking in all the laughter around him.
This is what he wanted. And now he could finally have it.