Bucky walked down a snow-covered path through the small Norwegian village, his breath visible in the frigid air. He stopped at a crossroads and took a deep breath, finding an odd comfort in the natural cold compared to the artificial hell of cryogenic chambers.
The crunch of boots in snow made him turn around. Celeste was following behind him, visibly shivering and chattering her teeth.
"Think we need to get you a heavier coat," Bucky observed.
"You think?" Celeste replied sarcastically, hugging herself against the biting wind. "How are you not freezing?"
Bucky just shrugged. "After seventy years of forced hibernation, regular cold doesn't bother me much anymore."
"Lucky bastard," she muttered.
The Winter Soldier chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders. She immediately leaned into him, seeking his body heat.
Bucky looked around the village thoughtfully. They'd traveled far into northern Norway, following Celeste's connection to whatever Force-like energy she'd been sensing. For weeks now, they'd been exploring the Lofoten Islands, chasing her mystical guidance to... something.
As they'd gotten closer to their destination, she'd described the sensation as growing stronger, not quite the Force, but something connected to it. Something she'd never encountered before.
"Unimaginably powerful," was how she'd put it.
Celeste had suggested asking the locals about any unusual phenomena, though Bucky remained skeptical that isolated Norwegian villagers would have insights into galactic mysticism.
Still, he'd followed her lead. They'd gone from village to village, asking about anything strange or unusual. The first village had yielded nothing. The second mentioned unusually abundant harvests the previous year. When pressed, an elderly farmer had mentioned meeting a wise old man who'd given him agricultural advice that had transformed their crop yields.
The pattern continued as they moved between islands. Every village had stories of a mysterious wanderer, an old man who appeared when people needed guidance, offering wisdom to those who sought it.
Now they were heading to the harbor to take a borrowed boat to the final island in their search, a remote place where no one permanently lived.
"This is it?" Bucky asked, looking around the empty landscape.
"I'm not sure," Celeste admitted.
"What do you mean, you're not sure?" Bucky turned to her. "Isn't this whole trip based on your Force feelings?"
"The Force can only tell me so much, Bucky," Celeste said, rolling her eyes. "It's not a GPS system."
"Yeah, but I thought, "
"Ah, visitors. What a pleasant surprise."
They both spun around to see an elderly man approaching them. He wore simple traveling clothes and a worn eye patch, but carried himself with quiet dignity.
"Who, " Bucky started.
"I rarely see people venture to this place," the man continued with a warm, fatherly smile. "But when they do, they're always welcome."
"Who are you?" Bucky tried again, his soldier's instincts on alert.
"Me? Just an old man revisiting a place I once called home, long ago." The stranger's single eye gazed toward the horizon with a mixture of satisfaction and melancholy. "Many things have changed, but I'm pleased to find this place much as it was."
"Are you the wanderer everyone's been talking about?" Celeste found herself asking.
"Wanderer?" the man replied with apparent innocence. "I would have thought they'd recognize me by now. Some of the elders seemed to know me, or at least stories of my kind."
He chuckled softly to himself.
"After all, I'm more familiar with their heritage than they realize," he said with a weary sigh. "I've been waiting here for some time."
"Waiting for what?" Bucky asked, not lowering his guard.
"I've been waiting for my sons. I wish to see them one last time before I join my beloved wife in the halls beyond."
"Halls beyond?" Bucky repeated slowly, making sure he'd heard correctly.
The old man nodded solemnly. "I am old, friend. Older than either of you could imagine. My time grows short."
"I can sense it," Celeste whispered in awe, her eyes widening. "The power radiating from you, it's like a beacon. Not the Force exactly, but something connected to it."
The man looked at her with genuine surprise. "The Force... now that brings back memories of my younger days."
"You know the Force?" the Jedi asked eagerly.
He nodded slowly. "You are very far from your home galaxy, young one."
Celeste's jaw dropped. "My home galaxy?! I'm not even in the same galaxy anymore?!"
The old man nodded again, his expression sympathetic.
Bucky remained silent throughout this exchange, every instinct telling him this was no ordinary encounter.
"Fear not," the stranger said, noticing Bucky's wariness. "Neither of you is in any danger. In truth, I'm grateful for the company after so long alone."
"Who are you?" Celeste finally asked directly, though something in her Force-enhanced intuition suggested she might not be ready for the answer.