Music is "Still Falling For You" by Ellie Goulding.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Bombus Polaris

This species of bumblebee is one of two that lives above the Arctic Circle. As such, it is also called an Arctic bumblebee. Bombus Polaris can survive at near-freezing temperatures and has developed multiple adaptions to do so. B. Polaris has a thicker coat of hair than must bees, utilizes thermoregulation, and makes insulated nests.

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Chapter Nine: Polaris

The hours between the visit to the occult shop and Wanda and my study date seem to drag on forever, and that's not just because of the boring World History class I have on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I see a few familiar faces inside--I sit with Carol and Pepper, and see Loki, Thor, and Bucky across the aisle--but all I can think about is what happens after.

"You seem a little preoccupied," Carol teases as the class lets out.

I shrug, shoving my notebook into my backpack. "Wanda and I are going to get take-out and work on our project for one of our environmental sciences classes. I'm excited to get started."

"You sure that's all you're excited about?" I give Carol a playful glare, and she bursts out laughing. "I'm just teasing. I'm glad you're getting along with Wanda. Don't listen to anything anyone says about her."

"What would they say?"

She rolls her eyes. "Well, Tony's a jerk, and other people in this school like to gossip."

Pepper, instead of defending her boyfriend from Carol's insults, glances over her shoulder and says, "Sometimes, he is. He knows his dad is responsible for Wanda's parents deaths, and so they don't really like each other that much."

Carol nods in agreement with her roommate. "Just don't listen to them, okay?" I nod in response, and she smiles. "Good. Now, go on and continue with your 'study date.'" She puts air quotes around the words "study date" and winks at me.

"You're impossible," I sign, shaking my head.

"But I'm right!"

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When I get back to the dorm, I quickly order a pizza from a nearby pizzeria that delivers. The app gives me an estimated time of arrival, and Melizza crawls out from under my collar. She flies and lands on the nearby dresser.

"Your Majesty, I must leave for a little while," she admits. "My hive, I mustest return to it. They will have wondered where I went to, and I can not communicate through the hive mind from this far away. I have to tell them that I have found you! Our search is over!"

I nod and smile down at the little honeybee. "Will you come back?" I ask.

She buzzes her wings, as if to say yes. "After I share the betterest news with my hive and get something to eat, then I will return. I will return with others to help you understand the extent of your gifts as Queen!"

I go over to the window and open it for her, giving her a straight path to the woods on the far side of the campus. "Beeeee careful," I nearly laugh.

Melizza buzzes happily and darts out the window, off towards her hive.

Someone starts to unlock the dorm, so I quickly shut the window and plop onto my bed, pulling the nearest book into my lap. Wanda pushes inside with a soft smile on her face, and I look up as if just hearing her enter.

"Hi," she greets, closing the door behind her.

I give her a little wave as she sets her bag onto her desk chair and throws herself onto her bed, face first. A soundless laugh forms in my chest, and Wanda groans exhaustively.

"I have never been more tired in my life."

When she rolls onto her side to look at me, I sign, "Did you even come back last night?"

She sighs heavily and shakes her head. "I was at the hospital all night. My brother...We thought we were going to lose him for a few hours. He was unresponsive."

My smile fades to a concerned frown. "I'm sorry. Is he okay now?"

She nods slightly. "For now. The doctors have him breathing on his own again, which is good but not great. He's been like this for a couple years, Sarai. I don't have a good feeling about it anymore. I've doubted he'd wake up for a few months now, but after last night..." She shakes her head, dropping her eyes. "I don't know if he'll make it until Christmas."

I put the book to the side and kneel down beside her bed. My hands clasp around hers, and my brown eyes meet her green. I don't sign anything, and she doesn't say anything. For a few moments, with our hands folded together, I know she knows what I'm telling her without me having to verbalize it.

It's going to be okay. I'm here for you. You can lean on me.

As if I'd said it aloud, Wanda nods and brushes the tears that prick her eyes. She lets go of my hands and sits up, pulling herself together. "Thank you," is all she mutters before changing the subject entirely. "So, did you order the pizza?"

"I did," I sign, standing up. "It should be here any minute. Are you sure you wanna do this now? We can do it another day, maybe when you're better rested and have less on your mind."

Wanda shakes her head adamantly. "No. This is important to both of us, and I owe you for ditching you last night. We were only just starting to get to know each other, and I left in a hurry without giving you much of an explanation."

I shrug. "It was a family emergency. I understand, so don't worry."

She bites her lip and sits cross-legged on the bed. "Still, let's get this started. The sooner we begin, the sooner we can get those tickets to my uncle's Fair. I'm looking forward to it as much as you. And this will give us a chance to get to know each other better, definitely more than last night."

"Okay, then. Wanna get started on the outline while we're waiting for the pizza?"

Wanda's face lights up, and she moves for her bag. "I jotted down some ideas last night while I was at the hospital with Pietro."

"I got bored in my history class and did the same," I respond, pulling my textbook and notebook from my backpack. "Let's compare, and then we can start making an outline."

"You read my mind," Wanda chuckles. "You know, I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

As Wanda sorts through her notes, I hear a knock on the door. Already smelling the pizza through it, I open and pay with a grateful smile. When I return with the pizza in hand, Wanda makes grabby hands towards it.

"Mushroom and olive, my favorite," she gasps, opening the lip to reveal the delicious, Italian goodness inside. "Who told you? Stephen?"

I shake my head. "That's my favorite, too."

Wanda laughs, places the pizza on the floor between our beds, and sits with her back against her bed frame. I mirror her position, gathering our textbooks and notes between us. We share our thoughts and ideas on the project as we dine, constructing an outline of sorts in our heads before we write anything on paper.

And as the time passes, I come to many epiphanies. The first is that Wanda is probably the easiest person to talk to in the whole world. She's open and empathetic, and even though there is only one voice spoken in the room, it's not noticed. I'm always aware of my muteness; there's never a time when I forget I'm different. The only person who made me forget that was my adoptive father Hal. She gives me a warm feeling of home, something I thought I'd lost with Hal.

The second is that we think in nearly the same way. We think with our hearts and speak our minds. Though seemingly quiet and reserved, there's a fire inside both of us that burns constant and vibrant. We get equally excited about this project, and after a few hours, we're throwing ideas at each other with huge grins on our faces.

The third comes when we finish the detailed outline. Wanda's taken the liberty of talking out-loud and scribbling notes into both our notebooks, and I've written our ideas down on a giant whiteboard that she kept under her bed. We've outlined each part of our paper, from the history and biology all the way to the most important aspect: the effects on the planet.

This epiphany hits me hard. Not painfully, like a kick in the gut or a slap across the face, but strangely like a piece of ice across my spine. It's cold, sending shivers through my body. It's a feeling I've never felt before, and as Wanda continues to review our outline--reciting what we've already covered--I realize that I've met someone almost exactly like me. Wanda Maximoff is a true kindred spirit.

I've never had that.

She catches me staring at her after she finishes talking about the things we need to research for the project. "You all right, Sarai?" She tucks a strand of brown hair behind her ear and closes the notebook on her lap. "You're staring off into space again."

I take a deep breath and nod. "I'm okay," I sign. "I just..." When I don't finish the sentence, Wanda cocks an eyebrow to urge me on. "I'm just glad I have a friend like you."

Wanda's face flushes a soft, baby pink, and she glances away with a smile on her face. "I know we only met yesterday...but I get this feeling from you that I've only felt with one other person." She looks back up at me with a glint in her green eyes. "I feel like I've known you for a long, long time, Sarai Rizkallah. A lot longer than a couple days. Is that weird?"

I shake my head, quickly moving my hands to respond, "Not at all. I feel the same, actually. We get along so well, and you're really nice and sweet and..." I gesture excitedly with my hands, knowing that there isn't an ASL motion for what I feel. "You make me happy to be around you. I mean, we just talked for almost five hours about the environment and honeybees, and I feel like I could go for fifty more. I feel like I can talk to you about anything and everything, and I really can't wait for us to get to know each other more over the next semester."

Wanda grins cheekily and leans forward, elbows perched on her knees and chin resting in her hands. "Tell me something about yourself, Sarai. Something that I don't know. Something about your future. We've talked a lot about the project and our school lives, but not about ourselves."

I contemplate the question for a moment. "After I graduate, I really, really want to move outside the city, in the meadows between the mountains. I'd love to do my research there, maybe become a beekeeper on the side. Hal has a house in the Roanoke Valley. I sorta grew up there after immigrating. I'd love to go back there, spruce it up, make it my own, and live happily ever after."

Wanda sighs dreamily. "That sounds amazing."

"What about you?"

"Me? I'd like to find a small town to move to, one where I can disappear and be forgotten about with my brother. I'd like to grow flowers, have a huge garden, and do something great with the knowledge I get here. Maybe it'll be researching, like you, or maybe it will be something entirely different. I don't know yet." She shrugs. "It might not ever be a reality, my brother coming with me, but he's half of my heart."

I smile and nod. "That's a beautiful wish."

The brunette Sokovian moves her hand to mine, grasping it tightly as her fingers thread through mine. "Whatever has happened over the past few months, for both of us, I'm glad we ended up in the same dorm. For once, it feels like something has finally gone right."

I laugh soundlessly and nod my agreement. "About damn time," I sign, trying to use only one hand due to the fact that I never want to let go of Wanda's.

Wanda looks over at the clock on her desk, sighing when she sees the hour. It's almost one in the morning, and we both have to be at an eight a.m. math class with Carol, Pepper, Tony, Steve, and the rest of the gang. I knew this night would have to end sometime, but it seems like it's passing all too fast.

She turns back to me with a sad smile. "If we stay up any later, Professor Fury will have to wake us both up for sleeping at our desks."

Sighing, she pulls her hand from mine and helps clean up the mess, and I can't help but feel like a necessary warmth has been pulled from my body. I put the whiteboard on my desk so both of us can see it clearly, and Wanda puts our notebooks and textbooks back in our bags to save time in the morning.

After discarding our dinner trash, I turn back to her and sign, "I'm going to get a quick shower. Do you need one?"

Wanda shakes her head and runs a hand through her hair as she yawns. It's an adorable yawn. "No, I'm all right. I'll change into pajamas out here while you wash up." She leans past me, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt from the dresser. "And don't worry about unpacking. I'll help you do that this weekend, all right?"

As she pulls away, she leaves a chaste kiss on my cheek. "In case I'm asleep when you get out, sleep well, Sarai."

I give a quick smile, grab my pajamas from the bags I've yet to unpack, and push quickly into the bathroom we share with Natasha and Peggy next door. As I close the door behind me, I can't wipe the enormous grin and scarlet blush from my face. With butterflies in my stomach and a sweet song of her voice in my mind, I take my time washing up and winding down from the best night I've had in a very long time.

And I have a feeling that I'll be riding this high for a while.

END CHAPTER NINE.