THIRTEEN YEARS LATER
"Come on, Y/N! You're eighteen now. Surely your father can't be too mad at you for going outside the palace boundaries," Clint was annoyed.
"You know the rules, Clint," you told your friend kindly. "I'm not allowed—"
"Past the fence," he mocked. "It's never too late to break the rule. Besides, how can the King even know? He has all the guards doing some training of some kind."
"Natasha, tell Clint that this is a bad idea. I would love to go to shipwreck cove, but I can't."
"Honestly, Y/N, I'm with Clint on this one," Natasha admitted. "You need to live a little. You're old enough now, your father should trust you."
"You know it's not about trust, he trusts me. He just doesn't trust what's out there."
"Yes, but how do we even know what's still out there—or even near the surface—when we aren't allowed to go out there?!" Clint exclaimed. He swam closer to you, grabbed your hand, and began pulling you toward the large fence surrounding your palace and the town around it. "Let's go!"
"Clint! Please!"
You tried to get out of your friend's grip, but it was really no use. Before you knew it, Clint had pulled you through the gate with Natasha close behind. Strangely, no sudden panic took over you as you look around at the surroundings outside of the gate. Instead of the panic you expected, you felt... free.
You couldn't help the smile that formed on your face and the giddiness that bubbled through you. Clint kept guiding you further away from the fence and you let him. The world outside of the fence was foreign to you, yet it seemed so much more beautiful than the life you had behind the fence. Your eyes kept moving from place to place, taking in the new environment. It wasn't that different from inside the fence. The plants were basically the same, just able to grow bigger, there were fewer homes than inside the fence, and—the most important thing—there was no fence. Just open water. Clint finally dropped your hand and you paused so that you could study your new surroundings.
"What do you think?" Natasha asked you.
"It's wonderful," you breathed out.
"I knew you would think so."
"Come on, girls!" Clint shouted from where he had swum ahead. "We need to get further from the fence line!"
"Clint's right." Natasha grabbed your hand with an excited smile. "Let's go!"
~~~
Shipwreck Cove was the most amazing place you had ever been to. There were a variety of ships in various conditions scattered around the large area. Natasha, Clint, and yourself swam in and out of the ships. As you explored each ship, you noticed that there were human treasures left behind. Each item was so interesting to you and made you want to learn more about the creatures at the surface. By the time you and your friends decided to head back, your hands were full of items you had picked up.
"What are you going to do with all of those, Y/N?" Clint asked as the three of you swam back. "You can't have the King seeing you with them."
"Good point," you noted. You stopped your swimming to look around. "There," you motioned to a cave inside a large rock formation.
The three of you swam toward the cave. When you entered the cave, there was a dark hallway for a bit until it opened up to a large cavern. It was beautiful, with shelves seemingly carved out into the rock at the sides. There was a hole at the top of the cavern, allowing the sun from the surface to trickle in and light up the place.
"This is perfect," you said.
You swam over to one of the sides and placed the objects in your hands on the shelf, sitting them up and organizing them.
"This is a pretty cool place," Clint admitted, looking around the place. "We're definitely going to have to sneak you out more."
"I agree," you said. "I love my father but now that I've seen a simple part of what is outside the fence line, I don't think I can stay stuck inside much longer."
"We knew you'd feel that way," Natasha said. "We're just going to have to be extremely careful when sneaking you out."
"We all know you enjoy a challenge, Nat," you teased.
"Damn right," she smirked.
~~~
Unfortunately, when you, Natasha, and Clint arrived back at the fence line, the guards had already returned to their places. The three of you had to quickly come up with an idea to get back into the boundaries.
"I've got it!" Clint exclaimed. "Follow me!"
Clint rushed off. You and Natasha shared a skeptical look before following after him. He led you and Natasha to the middle of one of the fence sections that was placed behind a row of houses. Pushing a large rock to the side, Clint revealed a hole that went under the fence.
"Clint, how did you know about this?" You asked.
"When I was younger, I wanted to see if it was possible to dig a tunnel under the fence. So I did," he answered.
"By 'when I was younger', do mean like two years ago?" Natasha questioned.
"Maybe. But it doesn't matter."
"I'm just glad you have a plan," you said. "Thank you, Clint."
"Yeah, yeah, we don't have time. We need to get you back to the palace."
Clint pushed you into the tunnel. You swam to the other side and pushed the rock that was covering the other entrance away. You went to wait for Natasha and Clint to follow, but they urged you on so that you could get back to the palace before anyone could notice you had gone.
~~~
Steve sighed as he watched his best friend, Prince James, walk along the beach with Princess Sharon. It was Steve's job as the Prince's right hand to help his friend find a bride, but the man wasn't making it easy. The Prince currently was walking with a good space between himself and the Princess. His hands were clasped behind his back, closing himself off from the woman.
"How is it going?" Peggy, Steve's wife and one of the top female servants, wondered as she came to stand next to her husband.
Steve shook his head with another sigh. "How do you think? Bucky is not even giving her a try."
"This is the fifth Princess you have introduced to him in a month, Steve. Perhaps you should give Bucky a break."
"I wish to but I am afraid if I did, he would never find someone and the people are growing concerned about an heir."
"You know that women are made for more than just childbirth. I think that I and your mother have taught you better than that."
"I know, I know. But Bucky at least courting someone would help get some of the pressure off."
"Bucky will find someone when he is ready and the time is right. You can't force anything that isn't supposed to happen, especially when he doesn't want it."
~~~
Bucky honestly hadn't listened to a word the Princess had said since they began their stroll along the beach. His eyes and mind were focused on the shoreline ahead of him. He was really growing tired of these visiting Princesses just seeking to marry him without even knowing him. Besides, all of the Princesses, for lack of a better word, were too Princessy. None of them were unique, maybe in looks, but their personalities and hobbies were all the same. Princess Sharon beside him was no different.
After a long and boring walk along the beach, Bucky escorted the Princess back to her room to rest for the evening. Instead of going to his room afterward, the Prince found himself on the main balcony, overlooking the sea. He studied the scene in front of him, the way the water sparkled under the moon's light.
The Prince wanted to blame Steve for the fact that he had spent his evening with another Princess instead of walking around the town with his people or on a ship out at sea. But Bucky knew that Steve was just doing his job and looking out for him. Bucky wished he could just easily fall in love with one of the Princesses that Steve was setting him up with. He really did. It just wasn't that easy for Bucky.
With a sigh, he looked up at the moon and made a wish. Bucky wished for the right woman to come into his life and for him to know her when he saw her.