You Must Remember This

Chapter 34 - A kiss is still a kiss

Wakanda, 2016

The soft melody of Cheek To Cheek played through the lab. Bucky hummed along and bobbed his head in rhythm with the song. He looked up when he heard a strained yawn. 

"You okay?" he asked Natasha, noting the dark circles around her eyes. 

"Tired," she said. "Nothing a cup of strong coffee won't fix." 

"A bed might also work," pointed Bucky out. "How long has it been since you slept?"

Widow scrunched her nose in thought, to which he disapprovingly shook his head. 

"You're gonna keel over any second if you keep this up. Go sleep."

"Nice try, Barnes, but you're not getting rid of me that easily. Now, you keep doing your thing, and I'll do mine."

Bucky scoffed and watched Natasha as she picked up another letter. She placed it on a light box, with the writing facing down, and then scanned the back with the tablet Shuri provided. Since they could fairly assume that two different pens were used as both Lucas and Evelyn handled the letter, the original writing should still be readable because of the indentation on the paper. The idea was to run the reverse letters on the scan through a processor to flip them right back around, hopefully revealing what Evelyn crossed out. Bucky hoped and prayed with every fiber of his being that this worked. Those letters may hold the answer to absolutely everything.

"You know, I never appreciated this music before, but I have to admit, it's beautiful," remarked Natasha then. "There aren't a lot of modern songs like these."

He smiled at her words. The tunes from his childhood and young adult life were indeed timeless. Nothing could compare, in his opinion. It had surprised Bucky when Natasha suggested putting on a playlist of thirties and forties music, but in retrospect, he couldn't have wished for anything else. That lofty music kept down the worst of his migraine somehow and transported him right back to the speakeasy in the red-light district. 

"Glad to see it's working."

"Hm? What is?" Bucky furrowed his brow, unsure of what she was talking about. 

"The music. You're relaxed, despite reading that diary non-stop."

"Oh, that. Yeah, I guess so."

"Any pain?"

"A little, but it's bearable."

Then, as if summoned by magic, the one song that instantly made Bucky's spirit soar and lightened his heart played. At the first piano notes of As Time Goes By, he closed his eyes to listen. The vision of Evelyn underneath the shimmering spotlight appeared before him as her voice overtook the male singer's, reverberating through Bucky. 

"Well, that's interesting." 

His eyes shot open at Widow's sudden comment to find her smirking at him. She was clearly having fun over something, but for the life of him, Bucky couldn't understand why.

"What?" he asked, feeling a tad uncomfortable. 

"You got the most blissful expression on your face the moment this song came up. It reminds you of something, doesn't it? Or should I say, someone?"

He averted, hoping she wouldn't catch his cheeks reddening. Yes, the song reminded him of Evelyn, but what didn't lately? She was everywhere around him. In the journal before him, in her twin's eyes, in the memories he never believed he would find again... 
Those memories were making everything so much harder, though. Bucky never thought it possible to miss someone as much as he missed Evelyn. She haunted him, prodding underneath the surface to connect the pieces of the puzzle. But even though his fractured mind forgot one of the most important people in life, his body somehow remembered.
His arms ached to hold her for a dance. He yearned to hear her angelic voice, to smell her floral scent, and gaze into her enchanting eyes. But most of all, he longed to vanish in her kiss. The lingering sensation that tingled his lips was all the proof Bucky needed to be certain they must have at the very least kissed again at some point. If only he could remember when.