Blue || Bucky Barnes

99. Trust Me Princess

The Orion Astéria hurtles through space on its journey to Earth. It's a subconscious destination. No one really discussed it but it's set nonetheless. Aura still feels utterly embarrassed of her rash decision the day before. She tries to go about things as if nothing happened, but the silent treatment is almost eating her alive.
Aura hears a knock on her door, but she doesn't respond, remaining in her bubble of silence. Another knock follows and she gives in. "Go away Axyl!" She calls out starting to get fed up with his persistence.
Axyl dismisses her requests and enters the room anyway, closing the door behind him.
"Just thought you should know that everyone's just helping themselves to the food." He says simply, silently hoping his words would provoke her to go out and address the situation herself.
"Axyl I really don't care what they do, besides we can just restock on Earth." Aura huffs rubbing her forehead.
Axyl moves closer, sitting down on the bed beside her. "You should just explain to them what happened, they'll understand." He rests his hand on her thigh gently and she suddenly stands up quickly, "Come on, let's go." Aura walks out of the room, not turning back once to check if he followed.

Aura seems as if she's on a mission as she swiftly walks through the corridors to the large living area where thankfully everyone is already gathered. She clears her throat, catching everyone's attention as she intended.
"Um... hi everyone..." The room falls silent, all eyes on her. "I wanted to apologise, and explain myself. No excuses just... the truth." They all look at her expectantly, not one uttering a word. "Okay, I just found out that Zeus implanted a detonator in my arm because he was worried I would become dangerous if I found out that he... that he killed my mother." Her words run wild as a few small gasps escape the audience.
"So I was uh... I was scared. And I just wanted to run, which seems to be my answer to everything. It's stupid but I felt like everyone would be better off without me. The guards were after me as soon as I stepped out of the palace but I left you guys and I shouldn't have. That decision was foolish and I regret it because I put all of you in danger and you wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for Thor." Her words strike a nerve in Thor and he leaves the room, her eyes wandering after him.
Aura looks around, glancing upon their faces which hold a mixture of sympathy and sadness. "I'm so sorry, but I do hope you can find it within yourselves to forgive me." She looks down holding back the stray tears, before she too leaves the room in the direction she came.

Leia stands up ready to follow her clearly hurting friend when Axyl catches her before she's able.
"I think it might be best to leave her be for a while." He suggests and Leia just nods, he would know best given the time he's known her. "Let's get dinner sorted?"
"Okay." Leia agrees following the tall man to the kitchen where he pulls out some sort of roast in a bed of assorted vegetables, enough to feed all eighteen of them.
Axyl and Leia serve the plates of food and everyone comes up to grab their serve one by one. Bucky walks up to Axyl and he gives him a plate of the exotic meat sending him down to Leia who's dishing the vegetables. She has a spoonful ready to go waiting for him to meet her eyes but instead he just moves away and finds a seat to eat his 'meal'. Leia can't help but feel the disappointment. She piles her own plate before looking for a spot to sit. Unfortunately Bucky has taken a seat by Steve, Sam, Nat and Wanda, so she avoids that group completely deciding on a seat with Tony and Peter.

Leia picks at her food, pushing it around the plate unconsciously. Her actions peak Tony's attention as he sees the almost solemn look on her face.
"What's up buttercup?" Tony's voice penetrates through her racing mind.
"Bucky and I broke up." She lets the fork go and it clangs down onto the plate. Tony's eyes are wide while Peter gasps.
It takes the billionaire a moment to process his thoughts to respond but Peter swoops in first. "What.. what happened?" Tony gives the boy a warning nudge.
"We had a fight." She says obviously not wanting to talk any more about it, it's the first time she's said the words out loud and in that moment it sinks in.
"Aw come on, you guys can get through that, it's just a silly fight." Peter jumps in completely missing her demeanour.
"I don't know, it was pretty bad." She says looking up to see Tony's sympathetic eyes.
"You know what they say, if you're meant to be, you'll always find each other again. You might just need some time."
"Mr Stark! That advice is stupid, they should work it out and be together now." Peter jumps in.
"Peter you realise they've known each other for eighty years." Tony deadpans to the teen and his eyes widen just slightly. "Time apart may be exactly what they need. Maybe you just need time to grow by yourself."
Tony's words sink in, calming her despite the strong feelings of sadness that still linger under the surface. She sends him a thankful smile collecting her half full plate. As she walks to the kitchen her eyes catch Bucky's just momentarily, despite knowing this man for almost her entire life a sickening feeling forms in her gut, her anxiety sending waves through her. Leia quickens her pace to the sink, her hands feeling weak, she accidentally drops the crockery down onto the counter with a clang. Her feet then carry her out of the room, leaving all conversations behind, but the thought of what happened with Bucky still at the forefront of her mind.