"True love is many things and can survive the strongest and most painful of times. When love comes out the other side of a fire, it may be scarred forever, but this bruised love is somehow only greater for having survived the pain."

John Carter Cash

After correcting the mismatched grave markers, Sam had arrived and was talking to Bucky about his new role as Captain America. Wanda and Ophelia took this moment to separate from the two of them, and when Ophelia had apologized over and over to Wanda, they fell into a quiet. It was a peaceful moment, as though they were silently mourning the dead, accepting the confusion of being alive, when previously both of them had been considered dead.

"Sometimes I wish I was never brought back," Wanda said to Ophelia. "My life has never been easy, I found comfort in my brother, and after he died, comfort in Vis."

Ophelia just nodded. At the end of the day, she had never really met Vision, she had only been seen as an opponent to him. At the airport in Germany, he had tried to stop her from escaping with Bucky and Steve. Looking back at it now, perhaps that would have kept her alive. The way one small change in the past could have altered everything in the future, it made Ophelia's head spin a little bit.

"And Vis... He didn't die like the others."

"Tell me," Ophelia said, reaching out and gently touching Wanda's wrist. She felt a connection between the two of them, Ophelia always had since Wanda opened her up to her full potential. The two of them were similar in so many ways, like sisters from different times. Ophelia realized that she longed for a friend like Wanda, someone who understood the horrors of the world, the losses and the hard choices that had to be made. There was no one who understood all that quite like Wanda.

"We knew that the stone had to be destroyed, only it was a part of him. He knew it had to be done, and if I hadn't been so stubborn, all of this could have been prevented. But I waited too long... Have you ever had to kill someone you love?" Tears made her eyes glitter like diamonds.

Ophelia shook her head. She thought of the times she faced Bucky, she remembered the Hellicarrier when Steve was choking the life out of his best friend. It pained her, but she had known at the time it had to happen. Everything had worked out back then, Ophelia lived two amazing years with Bucky.

"I did," Wanda said solemnly. "Then Thanos took even that from me. He took my choice. He took Vision's choice."

Her voice grew deeper, her accent somewhat stronger as her anger came out. Then, just as quickly as she put herself in a rage, it dispersed. "I'm still trying to find something to live for, I think it will take some time, but I can no longer put it in individuals."

"I..." Ophelia stopped, facing Wanda. Wanda's auburn hair hung in perfect waves down her shoulders, cascading flawlessly. "That's not what I'm trying... I've only really ever had Bucky. Just like you only had your brother, and Vision."

"That's where I was wrong, Ophelia," Wanda explained. "I had so much more to my life than just them. And so do you. So does Bucky. He is struggling with you being here, he is struggling with what's going on in his head, because he's used you as an anchor for so long."

Ophelia thought back to her conversation with Cebisa and M'Baku, how she wanted to be known as more than a HYDRA weapon, and Bucky's girl. She wanted to be known as someone who loved to learn, someone who enjoyed reading, someone who had opinions and thoughts. These were the things she wanted to uplift herself, and Bucky was the support she needed to have those things.

Wanda smiled wanly. "It's not you I'm worried about, Ophelia. It's Bucky. Sam and I were talking on the way here, we think Bucky should rejoin familiar territory, at some point."

Ophelia frowned. "He doesn't want to fight anymore."

Accepting this, Wanda simply said, "I understand, I feel the same way."

They continued to walk side by side, slowly moving through their thoughts. Ophelia wondered if Bucky would want to go back to America, and what that would mean for them. She had never been accepted there, rather, she had only been a blip on the radar in America. It was not, and never would be, her home. She felt safest here, in Wakanda. 

Under the welcomed shade of a tall tree extending to the skies, Ophelia said, "I have something I'd like to ask of you, now that you're here."

"You want me to look inside your head again, don't you?" Wanda asked.

"Are you already in there?" Ophelia asked with a laugh, the previous conversation gone and no longer lingering. She was just getting used to Wakanda, she didn't want to think about joining a team like the Avengers, or going to America, the only time Ophelia had pure joy was in Bucharest.

Wanda chuckled. "No, but I can see the look on your face. You're in pain."

Ophelia's eyes dropped to the ground. "You can tell?"

"Women know pain better than anyone, especially women like us. And we know how to hide it better than anyone. Which means we can see it; we can see beyond the smiles that hide them."

Ophelia wrung her hands together, then decided to spill. "It's hardly bearable, Wanda. Every time I've used my powers since I came back, it's gotten worse."

Facing Ophelia, Wanda gestured for her to sit. They both flopped down into the grass and criss-crossed their legs like school children. Though, Ophelia had never gone to school. Wanda reached her hands out and let her fingertips hover over Ophelia's temples. The red substance emerged from her fingertips and Wanda shut her eyes, cocking her head to the side. Her eyes squeezed tighter, her lips parted, but no sound came out. After a moment, Wanda's expression of pain faded, and Ophelia allowed her own eyes to close.

She could feel her inside of her head, and yet Ophelia didn't feel agony when she went into someone else's head. After a few minutes of this, Wanda exited and both women opened their eyes. Wanda's serene expression was pensive now, as if she held information she wasn't sure she wanted to tell Ophelia.

"Well?" Ophelia blurted.

"It's like... the part that processes emotion is surrounded by barbs, ready to stab whenever you feel too much. And you feel too much when you look inside someone's head, right?"

"Right," Ophelia replied softly, her voice a whisper as though they were telling secrets.

"I've put a protective barrier around it, for now. I don't know how long it will last, or if it will work, but... how do you feel?" Wanda asked.

Ophelia focused on the never-ending pain in her head, and Wanda was right, it was dulled. Still there, but as though a shield was softening the blow. A smile etched onto her face, Ophelia lifted herself partway up from her seated position and embraced Wanda. The woman hesitated to hug her back, but did after a moment of shocked contemplation.

"Thank you," Ophelia said through soft tears. "People have only ever been kind to me, save for a select few, and I am forever grateful. I wish I could give you something in return, Wanda."

"Think nothing of it." Wanda waved her hand. "It is the least I could do. But Ophelia, I don't know how long it will work... You should have a professional look at it."

"Shuri is working on that," Ophelia explained. "But... I think I understand now why you want Bucky to have more than me to hold on to."

Wanda said nothing, but the look on her face was relieved. Relieved that Ophelia was coming to terms with the fact that things didn't always work. Steve's intentions were genuine, but the price she had to pay may in time prove to cost too much. She kept her lips sealed, pursed together as she thought about how to approach this roadblock. Bucky was terrified of losing her, terrified that he was imagining her, and now she might have to go again.

"Don't tell Bucky," Ophelia said. "Not yet."