R O Y A L S

XXVI.

"NATASHA!" Clint called out from the end of the hallway, rushing towards her with his sandy blonde hair in a tousled mess - classic Clint, "I know you're going to miss me, but hey when you get home make sure to bring me one of those arrows that-"

She scrunched her face at confusion at such assumption, "Wait, where'd you think I'm going?"

Clint gave her an incredulous look, staring at her as if she was out of her mind, "Uhh Midgard, obviously, you're going back with Steve aren't you? I mean, you both are together again right?"

When she stared at him with a mirrored expression of Clint's very own 'are you out of your mind?' face, he finally got the hint, "Or... not. I thought you loved him enough to have him back!"

"Well, I do!" she said a bit too excitedly that she had to shake her own head out of it, "But, Father did not approve of me returning back to Midgard."

"Why would he do that?! What could possibly be so terrible about Midgard?" Clint inquired loudly, arms flailing around so animatedly.

"Clint, I was made a walking target in their courts," she stated sternly,"Not to mention we were at war with each other up until months ago."

"Right, right, right, but that was before King Joseph died! Now that Steve is going to be king, I'm certain he would not let anything terrible happen to you," Clint argued with Natasha, whose shoulders are tensed and her auburn tendrils falling out of place in a coordinated mess.

Natasha sighed audibly and it saddened Clint to witness her in such a miserable state of hopelessness, "Father's decisions are final and there's nothing I could do about it. It's best if we stopped hoping for it at all, this is my life now, Clint."

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From afar she recognized the stark difference of her chamber doors without the contrast of metallic armor clad guards standing proud before the entrance, she reached behind her waist and grabbed the knife she stashed between her dress and the silk belt that completed the orchestrated look. She knew better than to become careless of her surroundings, even at the grounds of her own home. Speaking from experience, she has it all figured out that danger came from all the unexpected places.

Kicking the door open with one leg, she held her arms in front of her in a defensive stance, pointing the knife at the intruder in the middle of the room, only to drop all her defenses the second after she heard his voice.

"Natasha!" he jolted away, lifting his arms in a bid to shield himself from her attack.

"Oh my, Steve!" she gasped in surprise as she neared him, eyes scouring his form to investigate what damage did she do in the previous seconds of her cautiousness, "Why are you in here? Where are my guards?!"

"I told Wanda to tell them to leave, I just wanted some time with you," he said, softly pulling the knife away from her grip and placing it on the oak table behind him, "Alone," he added as their hands brushed each other.

"Alright," she replied, "You have my time."

He ran his hands through his neatly combed blond hair, hands on the table behind him as he sighed, with his gaze traveling low towards the floor, he bid his goodbyes, "I'm leaving right after this, for real now... and I feel that- it's just, maybe you and I, we won't cross paths again, even if we tried."

Natasha held her breathe, she didn't know what she hoped for.

"Perhaps it's time for me to really let you go," he said with his voice strained and hoarse, and his gaze snapped up to meet hers, the glossiness in his eyes mirrored her own soul pouring through the droplets of tears brimming her eyes.

"I understand," she nodded heavily and at that moment she didn't hate herself for crying so much in the span of days, "it's for the best of us. For both you and I, to move on with our lives...apart. Father forbid me to return to Midgard, given the previous events that happened to me in your courts. But it's for the better, you could always find someone better than me."

His hand reached out to brush gently at her cheeks as his eyes searched for the emerald sea in hers and he found nothing but an infinite ocean of unending love amongst her eyes, he yearned to lose himself in it once more, to drown in the warmth of the feeling of her presence, "I would never find anyone like you, let alone love anyone like I love you, I'll never be ready to leave you," he said, then her own hand had found its way, clasping gently at the palm resting on her cheeks, shifting her head so she could give it a light kiss, "But we have what we have when we have it, right?"

"It's not fair, we don't have a choice," she said in a whisper, her gaze still locked with his, as if he would be gone the instant she tore her eyes away from him.

"If we did have a choice-"

"If we did have a choice, I'll choose you a million times over," she said with much conviction, that he felt a small smile creep on his lips.

He stroke her stay strand of fiery red hair and tucked them behind her ears as his breathe tickled her lips before his gaze shifted to her lips for a split second, then he found himself holding Natasha close by her waist as they sealed their lips with a kiss, a bittersweet kiss as if it was- because it was the last kiss they would ever share with each other. Her hands wound up around his neck and his hand tangled in her curls as he brought them closer with the firm grip around her waist.

But Natasha jolted away from him like a sudden bolt of electricity had pulsed through him and stung her body, "Nat, what's wrong? Was it something I did?"

She put one hand over her stomach and the other over her mouth,"No, no I'm fine, I'm just- I don't feel so good. Get Wanda for me," she said as sweat trickled down her forehead before she ran for the wooden bucket at the corner of the room.

About a moment later, Wanda came rushing in with a physician and Steve could do was pace back and forth in the sitting room just beside Natasha's chambers.

"Inform my father of this," Natasha commanded the physician after he had examined her conditions.

"Wanda, no word of this comes to Steve, alright," Natasha pleaded as she got up from her bed and up on her own feet.

"But, don't you think he deserves to know?" Wanda said with a small voice.

"Please, Wanda. Don't."

Inhaling a deep breathe she managed a small smile as she walked to meet Steve in the next room, "Thank god, Natasha, are you alright?" he bursted in question the moment she crossed the doorway.

"I'm alright, I skipped dinner last night, silly me. It'll probably be gone in a moment," she said so convincingly that it hurt to lie through her teeth the moment he's about to leave.

Steve heaved a sigh in relief,"Promise me, you'll be alright when I leave?"

"Of course, I will. You too, alright?" she said softly before he returned her smile with his boyish grin that tugged on one side of his lips, once more she leaned in to plant a small kiss on his lips. In a second, they were apart once more.

"My Lady, the King asks for your presence," a guard informed with a bow.

"I'll be right there," she replied shortly before turning her attention back to Steve, whose eyes are once more glassy with moisture, "Safe trip home, Steve."

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SO SORRY FOR YET THE LATE UPDATE! exams are killing me so pls bear with my slow updates.

theory time, comment down below all the things u guys think might happen in the next chapter because I'm sad to tell y'all this but this story's coming to an end and it's been a wonderful ride with every single one of you. So please, please, please do tell me what you think list all dem crazy theories u have in mind because they make my sad, weeping self that this story is ending a lot more happier!

anyways, don't forget to vote and leave some love. xx