July 1, 2016

     We had begun to have a little morning routine. Steve would leave early. Bucky and I would have breakfast and then continue the language lessons.

     Today when Steve returned to the apartment for the noontime meal, he announced that he had some news.

     "What is it?" Bucky asked anxiously.

     Steve said, "T'Challa contacted me this morning. His coronation was today and he is now officially king. He wanted to let me know that Wakanda is ready to bring us in so they can help both of you."

     "Now? But what about the Raft?" I asked.

     "I told him that we still had some unfinished business," explained Steve. "T'Challa said that whenever we are ready to come to Wakanda, they will be waiting for us."

     I nodded that I understood.

     Bucky asked, "So when is the jailbreak of the century scheduled to take place?"

     "I don't know," Steve admitted. "Natasha and I still have a lot to work out."

      "Well, I'm going to eat," I told the boys.

     "But you just ate a full meal with me," Bucky pointed out.

     I shrugged. "And? I'm gonna eat another lunch with Steve."

     The blond Super Soldier came bearing more than just news though. We had music now. It came from a fancy laptop computer. Steve said that it was a very old laptop, but I had a hard time believing him. He also connected it into someone else's wife network? I don't really know. It's all pretty confusing.

     Steve warned us to be careful because apparently the Internet is a very dangerous place. He showed me how to use the YouTube before he left again. Even though it is safer than a lot of other places, I still needed to be on my guard.

     Unable to think of any other music, I pulled up the songs from The Little Mermaid. Since Bucky was fairly uninterested in the computer and currently reading one of his German novels, I put in the earbuds Steve had given me.

     I found the game solitaire on the computer and played it while listening to my music. Once I had listened through the album a few times, I ran across the Russian version of the soundtrack.

     The complex harmonic beauty of the language brought me peace. Hearing it made me feel like I was... home? Even though I do not know what 'home' even is for me. The Russian words which were sung took me to a place where I was safe and loved.

     "Правда лъ, что ждет, там на земле,

     Пламя любви, что светит во мгле...

     Только б узнать,

     Как убежать

      Мне в этом мир..."

     "You have a set of pipes on you, Doll," Bucky commented.

     I had not realized I was singing out loud until he said something to me.

     Embarrassed, I mumbled, "Sorry."

     "No, don't apologize! I liked hearing you sing," he insisted. "These lyrics have such different meanings than the English ones."

     "I like the Russian lyrics so much," I told him with a smile.

     Bucky asked, "Have you listened to the French version?"

     "No, not yet. But I will."

     Once I had listened to 'Part of Your World' (or 'Partir là-bas' as it was called in French), Bucky asked sincerely, "Could you sing it for me in French?"

    His request had caught me off guard. Bucky wanted to hear me sing.

     "- uh, sure."

     I pulled my earbuds out of the computer and put on an instrumental version of the song so my vocals would not be unaccompanied. I was nervous at first, but eventually gave into the music and let it flow over me.

     "Tous ces secrets que j'ai gardés

     Ne crois-tu pas que les fées m'ont comblée?

     Ne crois-tu pas que je suis

     Bien trop gâtée par la vie?

     Vois ces trésors et ces merveilles

     Toutes ces richesses qui brillent comme des soleils

     En voyant ça tu te dis

     'Oui, c'est un paradis'

     J'ai des gadgets, des trucs chocs, des truc chouettes

     J'ai des quics et des quacs à gogo

     Tu veux un tire-baba ? J'en ai des tas

     Mais tout ça m'indiffère et m'ennuie

     Moi je voudrais parcourir le monde

    Moi je voudrais voir le monde danser

    Le voir marcher sur ses...

    Comment ça s'appelle? Ah, pieds

    On ne va nulle part en battant des nageoires

    Il faut des jambes pour sauter et danser

    Flâner le long de ces...

    Comment ça s'appelle? Rues

     Si l'homme marche, si l'homme court

     S'il peut sur terre rêver au grand jour

     Comme j'aimerais, si je pouvais

     Partir là-bas

     Je donnerais tout ce que j'ai pour partir d'ici

     Pour caresser les grains dorés du sable chaud

     Les hommes comprennent, j'en suis certaine

     Et leurs filles peuvent aimer sans frayeur

     Femmes sirènes, femmes humaines

     J'ai fait mon choix

     Moi je veux savoir, moi je veux pouvoir

     Poser des questions et qu'on me réponde

     Qu'est-ce que le feu?

     Pourquoi est-ce qu'il quoi déjà... brûle?

     Un jour viendra, je partirai

     Je partirai sans aucun regrets

     Vivre sur terre

     Loin de la mer

     Partir là-bas"

      The sweet French words sounded light and airy as they rolled off my tongue.

     "That- that was beautiful, Doll."

     I felt a rosy blush rise up in my cheeks at Bucky's praise.

     We were both quiet for a few moments. It was almost as if I really was a siren and had cast a spell on this man with my singing voice.

     "How about you try German?" Bucky suggested. "For learning purposes."

     I agreed to humor him. After listening to the song in German, I tried to copy it.

     "Eine Welt kann doch nicht schlecht sein diese wundervolle dinge hab vor bringt. So schön wie dies," I repeated Ariel's lines.

     "Sieh dich nur um, ist das nicht schön"

     I was not confident enough in my pronunciations to say most of the words in this song, let alone sing them well.

     "I can't do it, Buck! I sound awful!" I laughed.

     He assured me, "You were doing just fine! But if you're not ready to sing all of it, that's alright. One day, you'll be able to sing it and any other German song perfectly."

     I caught myself smiling at the thought of being able to sing to Bucky in German.

~

     While we were eating the takeout shaurma Steve had brought back for supper, I had some classical music lightly playing in the background. When the video ended, I went over to the computer to choose another. But the title of one of the suggested videos caught my attention. Intrigued, I took the computer over to the kitchen island.

     "Have you seen this?" I asked the other two.

     Both of them shook their heads so I pressed play.

     A well-dressed brunette newscaster with a British accent said, "Two African artifacts were stolen from the Museum of Great Britain yesterday. Museum Director Fiona Thomas died along with four museum security team members who were shot and killed. The cause of Thomas's death has not yet been determined. While police have claimed that this was the work of amateurs, no leads have yet been disclosed to the public."

     "There's always crazy people out there like that," Bucky remarked.

     "But what two artifacts could possibly be worth taking five human lives?" I asked sombrely.

     Steve said in a serious tone, "Nothing in any museum is worth murdering people for."

     Even after I had taken a long shower and crawled into my sleeping bag, I could not stop thinking about the museum robbers and the innocent people they killed.

     It reminded me of the innocent people I had killed. The prisoners, the mothers, the children, the elderly. I had shown no mercy. While these people were now long dead, they haunted me all night long...