Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 72 - A Hero Returned

23 days since Thanos

Keira didn't sleep. She couldn't.

Despite the fact that she had been unconscious when Thanos had snapped his fingers together, and thereby unable to see the love of her life turn into dust, her brain was more than happy to fill in the blanks. 

To imagine what Wanda's last touch must've felt like before she faded to ashes, or what her last words might've been.

No amount of makeup could conceal the redness that coated the whites of Keira's eyes, and not a moment passed when they didn't sting. But no more tears had the privilege to trickle down her cheeks. She didn't think she could've cried even if she wanted to; her tear ducts had all but dried up.

It didn't matter where Keira went, everything screamed Wanda's name.

Everything from the now-dried-up plant standing in the window that Wanda used to tend to as if it were a child, to the red toothbrush Keira had gotten Wanda as a joke, that now stood unused in the bathroom cabinet.

Every time Keira thought her heart got a little better at carrying the loss, she would turn over in bed, only for her hand to fall onto the cold sheets beside her. And it all came crashing down again.

She would never see her favorite person smiling at her again, never hear her footsteps down the corridor again. And the realization that she would never hear Wanda's angelic laugh again, it brought her nothing but misery.

One thing people often say when you lose someone is that it's not the end of the world.

But that's the thing. The only reason why they say that is because it's not the end of their world. For someone else though, it is the end. Undeniably and unmistakably, the end. Because the only person who gave their life any meaning, the only person who gave their world its colors, is gone.

And while time may heal all wounds, some wounds leave a scar behind. That scar will always be a constant reminder of what you've lost, even if the burden got easier to carry.

The despair of losing Wanda was heavier than Keira ever could've imagined. Two days previously, she had felt something shift in the universe. She wasn't exactly sure what it meant, or if it was of any significance, but she couldn't care less. Nothing seemed to matter anymore.

A gentle knock caused Keira to glance up from her place on the floor, and a familiar blonde pushed through the door, carrying a tray in her arms. But Keira barely met Natasha's gaze before her eyes fell to the floor again.

Natasha felt her heart clench at the empty expression on Keira's face and shook her head sadly before crouching down in front of the mutant. Seeing the blood trickling down the blonde's lip, Natasha raised a hand and softly tugged Keira's bottom lip free, relieving it from its torment.

Only when she wasn't chewing on her lip any longer, did Keira realize how hard she had been biting down on it. She tried to summon a thankful smile, but all she achieved was to get the corners of her lips to twitch slightly.

In her head, her mind kept replaying moments of Wanda, knowing that she had lost her forever.

The way Wanda would scrunch up her nose adorably when she was really happy about something, or the way she would tilt her head in challenge when Keira was about to do something reckless. Or the way Wanda would embrace her from behind when she was playing the guitar and pressing featherlight kisses to the side of her neck.

"Hey, you need to eat, Key."

Again, Natasha was the one who broke Keira out of her head and with a tired look on her face, she pulled her gaze off the floor to meet the worried eyes of her best friend. Just as she opened her mouth to reply, to give an answer that probably would've sounded much harsher than she'd intended, her eyes were drawn to the orange juice-filled glass on the tray.