RESURRECTION OVERTURE ▹ barnes-romanoff

five.

FLUFF ALERT! Bucky and Svet are back now after that heartbreaking Natasha scene. I am so excited for this chapter! It gets ya right in the happy feels (well, anyway I hope it does, hehe). Oh! And I put in the song above because it is attached to the chapter (title make sense now)! It's called Guilty by Al Bowlly, I've been waiting to use this song for SO long! Okie-dokie, comment throughout!

Hold onto whatever keeps you warm inside.

Time passes.

Months come and go and the father and daughter go along with them, moving from place to place, lingering as long as they can and leaving again before any chance of suspicion can arise. Bucky and Svetlana slowly but surely make their lives the best they can, no matter how little and limited these lives may be.

Svetlana continues to grow up, the little girl stepping into the early stages of teenhood as she learns more and more about the world surrounding them. She gets a little bit taller. Her hair grows a little bit longer and the first time Bucky tries to cut it is an utter disaster, but truly the important thing is that he tried... or at least, that is what Svet says. Perhaps the most noticeable thing is how the girl's spirit becomes a little bit more aged. Maybe that is one of the most beautiful things about being freed from HYDRA. It allowed her to be a child for at least some while and it gave rise to her wonder for the world. But no matter how much she learns, no matter the amount of months that passes by, the redhead's wonder is never stolen from her.

That doesn't mean the girl doesn't acknowledge the darkness.

She knows it better than most, after all.

But, in the months that have passed, she's found a way to live despite it and she does her best to help her father through his own monsters just as he helps with hers.

That's how they survive.

And that's how they've made it this far.

Thick snowflakes fall from the dark sky, twinkling like little stars in the moonlight. The icy bits brush down onto the shivering faces of the father and daughter who are staying close together so to stay warm. They trudge through the rather empty streets of Austria that lay heavy with a cold white blanket. Soft yellow lights shine from the buildings growing up around them, glittering off the glass-like snow.

While Bucky watches their surroundings as carefully as ever, Svetlana can't help but marvel at the city that looks shiny amidst the darkness. She tries to take in every sight she can, knowing it's going to be the last time the two can travel for a few weeks. The two decided together that it is best for them to keep going inland, but the weather has finally grown much too cold for either of them to be in, especially for Svet.

The man suddenly stops by a close alley, his feet crunching in the snow while he gently pulls his still rather distracted daughter to a stop. Svet reluctantly tears her eyes from her surroundings to look up to her papa's mouth, waiting for him to speak. Instead, his ocean eyes just slowly begin trailing up the side of the gray-white building and Svet follows his gaze with matching thoughtful expressions on both of their faces. With its intricate designs and carved architecture, the building is obviously much nicer than any of the others the two usually take shelter in. They tend to find themselves in the most dangerous and darkest parts of whatever city they are in as those parts happen to be where they are safest from prying eyes and overzealous police officers.

Bucky glances back down at Svet who is gripping onto the edges of her brown overcoat's collar, trying to hold it over her bitterly cold nose. She peels it down to give him a reassuring smile before hurriedly yanking it back up to shut out the cold. They both know she can't stand being out in this cold for much longer. As hard as she's fighting showing it, she's practically frozen to the bone with her blue lips and chattering teeth.