"But we cannot live in fear of losing our bondmate, and risk missing the years of joy and love we can find with them."

Britt Laux's "The Forest Witch"

They walked side by side, moving slowly as they navigated the edges of the lake. Occasionally Ophelia would glance up at Wanda beside her, wondering what she was thinking. Knowing she had the ability to figure this out, it irked her that she could never use her power. Having used it solely for pathfinding for most of her life, once she discovered that there was so much more to her power and to herself, it felt like such a waste now. She nibbled her lip, stepping over a tree root that twisted and warped around the dirt, hidden underneath the ground and then protruding out haphazardly.

Wanda walked with grace, in silence.

Until she spoke. "I know what you're thinking."

Ophelia smiled lightly at how similar they were sometimes. "I have no doubt about that."

Wanda tilted her head, long auburn hair falling over her shoulders. She was wearing a white tank top and shorts, the Wakandan heat was beating down on them. Ophelia's skin had picked up a nice tan, she always felt warm and comfortable here. Coming from such a cold place, having been raised in a cage in a basement on one of the coldest mountains, Wakanda was a perfect contrast. Ophelia herself was wearing a sort of wrap around dress. It was a rich blue colour with black and white designs and patterns all around it. She could look at the fabric for hours and still find something new in it. It was cinched at the waist with a large belt.

"Are you doing this for you, or for him?" Wanda asked.

Ophelia pursed her lips together for a moment. She knew her reply. "Everything I've ever done has been for us, collectively."

Wanda smiled gently. They continued to walk along the lake shore. Now trees were hanging over them, their long, thick branches offering them shade from the blistering sun. It still crept in through the canopy, flashes of light dancing through.

"So, what happens when the pain gets worse? When you can no longer handle it?" Wanda asked the heavy question. "How long can you ignore it?"

"As long as it takes," Ophelia replied. "Until I can figure out how to beat it."

"You know what the stones are capable of, what they did to this universe because of one person... My power comes from a stone, you know. A different one, a kinder one I think," Wanda explained. "It never demanded a price, but I've still paid one. People were terrified of me for a long time, I made a lot of mistakes, I got people killed."

Ophelia recalled living peacefully in Romania, seeing on the television when Wanda was being accused of getting multiple people killed in Nigeria. It wasn't really her fault, it had been Brock Rumlow's fault, but he was dead, and people liked to blame the living. People always needed a face to blame; never a collective group of bad people, just one face that they can visualize and hate. They chose Wanda.

What Ophelia wouldn't do to take her pain away. She looked at Wanda with a love deeply imbued within the marrow of her bones. How much Wanda had suffered, and how little she got in return for that suffering. She was living a life without anyone to truly call hers - her parents, brother, and lover, all gone. Ophelia longed to absorb that pain and take it from her - since she was already suffering, what was a little bit more? But, she was not able to do that, it was not within her abilities to take.

"The soul stone in your head, when I looked in there, it's just waiting for you to give up." Wanda explained to her softly. She had a way of making everything, even the worst of information, sound eloquent. 

"I won't."

Wanda sighed. "It wants you back."

Ophelia stopped, looking at the ground, nudging her toe into the soft earth. Turning to look Wanda in the eyes she said, "I've always fought against the odds. Why should I stop now? What do you suggest I do?"

"I don't know," Wanda admitted, slightly taken aback. "I just don't want to see people hurt anymore."

"I have to try something, not for Bucky, for me. I won't give up just because the odds are stacked against me, they've always been stacked against me. Maybe my time is limited, but I'm going to everything in my power to make it last."

Wanda softened suddenly. "Vis and I... We were on opposite sides that time we fought with you, in Germany. After that... We agreed never to fight again. We lived this weird life together for a time, then he started feeling the stone. It started to react to things going on in the universe, it started to react to Thanos. Warning him. That's all I'm trying to do for you, Ophelia, believe me when I say I am not trying to ruin anything you have, I would never. I'm just scared to see people I care about get hurt, and I do care about you."

"The stones, they are sentient..." Ophelia mumbled to herself. "What if I could talk to it?"

"We don't have them anymore..."

"You said the stone is in my head, waiting for me to give up, right?"

"Yes..." Wanda said, starting to see where Ophelia was going with this.

"I've always been able to get into other people's heads, this time, I'm going to get into my own. I... I'll talk to the stone, I'll make my own choice, my own ultimatum. It can't have me, and I'm going to make that clear to it. I'm not giving up, not on myself, not on this life I've been given, and certainly not on Bucky."

"Haven't you reacted badly when you've used your powers?" Wanda posed the question. Her hands were tucked into her shorts pockets.

Ophelia nodded. "It's the pain that takes me out of it... If I could somehow subdue the pain long enough to have the conversation I need to have – I know!"

Wanda looked shocked at Ophelia's sudden outburst. Ophelia was grinning wide, her teeth on full display. It was the happiest she looked for a while, because she finally had something in her grasp. Hope, hope that she would be able to fight this battle and come out on top. She had to, there was no other option, she refused to go down without a fight.

"How can you-"

"Shuri," Ophelia said with a determined voice. She had a team of people who would be the only ones, likely in the world, who could help her through this. There was no better time than now to set her path.