~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With love, you will live on

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The war was over, the Princesses got home safe, but the price of their return was a pain to all. The world seemed to shine a little less in the kingdom of Rogerteria. They returned, with Jame's body, which will get a proper funeral.

There were tears as the two princesses returned to their families. King Nicolas refused to release his daughter, who was almost a living corpse in her parent's arms. Wanda was running excitedly toward her parents who welcomed her back with the greatest smiles and tears of joy. Natasha has yet to speak due to the emotions regarding James's death.

Natasha's parents were confused with her behavior, however, when the body of James Barnes came in, they all knew. His blood still stained her wedding dress, and his voice ran through her head. At that moment death beat anything.

Steve didn't speak a word. The death of his best friend and brother was enough to tear him to pieces. He saw Natasha's overwhelming pain. He remembers the nights he would hear them speaking in the halls as he brought her to her room.

"James, you really don't have to walk me to my room," a soft enchanting voice spoke, causing Steve to look up from his official paperwork regarding the kingdom.

"But I want to, you mean a lot to me, and we wouldn't want anything to happen to you when I could have done something to prevent it." He said, sending her his charming smile. This action was happening during her first few days at the castle, after his warning about Sharon. He began keeping a close eye on her.

"You seem to be very cautious, do you do this with every princess who comes to the kingdom?" She asked folding her hands in front of herself as they walked at their slow relaxing pace toward her door.

"I can say that you are the only one lucky enough to get this treatment from me," James said to her, causing a blush to form on her cheeks.

"You make me blush..." She let out a sigh when they reached her room. "Thank you, James, for everything."

"You don't have to thank me, Princess." He responded staring into her eyes. They were quiet for a moment enjoying one another company. It was Natasha who looked down as if to prevent actions they would regret.

She turned to her door slowly turning it open. Before stepping in she looked over her shoulder giving him a kind and thankful smile. He returned the smile and nodded his head as if knowing what she was going to say.

"you don't have to thank me, princess." He told her.

"And you don't have to call me princess, seems we all do things we don't have to do." She said before stepping into her room and closing the door. Steve recalled watching their moment from a little opening from his door.

When he still Harvard feelings for Sharon, he would have sworn those two had the perfect chemistry. Watching that moment, he could feel their love beginning to blossom. But now he was sure if they had even an ounce more time together, he would have lost her permanently to his best friend. Was he grateful for his brother's death?

Two days later

Natasha was breaking slowly. She watched this man, who has shown her nothing but kindness in her time at the castle. James always showed her the kindness that everyone else lacked. He remembered the little things, as her birthday.

She remembered their day out at the garden as he mentioned her birthday. He wanted her to know that that day was supposed to be special and that she should enjoy it to the fullest. She remembers her nights during recovery when he would bring her fresh strawberries. He was a true gentleman.

A tear slid down her face as she remembered their times together. Their secret conversations hiding away from all of their duties, (Chapter 14) meant so much to her.
"Why did you have to make me fall in love?" she let out holding his cloak close to her chest. She has stolen it on one of their late night rendezvous.

It was the night before they would leave for Natasha's not so surprised party, and James asked to meet her. She was a bit curious as to what he wanted, but couldn't help but smile as she approached him. It was late in the night, the only time she could get away from it all.

"You know if anyone else asked me to meet them in the middle of the night, I would call them crazy." She said and James turned around and smiled at her.

"Well, I am glad you don't call me crazy." He said.

"Okay James, so what was so important that I had to ditch my guards and sneak out of my room." She asked as she followed him over to the lake. She raised her eyebrows. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"Oh please, you and I both know you could kill me before that thought even comes into my mind." He laughed before becoming a bit more serious. "I know that these next couple days we won't have much time together, so I just wanted to sit and talk... If that's okay with you?" He asked turning to look in her eyes.

Natasha had a small smile on her face, with the blush appearing on her cheeks. Never before as someone put so much effort into caring for her before. She felt so...loved.
"I would love that."

That night they talked for hours. They couldn't tell exactly what they talked about, or what was driving their conversation, however, they could say that they were greatly enjoyed it. As their conversation continued a light breeze brushed over their shoulders, causing Natasha to shiver. James quick to act removes his cloak and places it around her shoulders causing an even bigger smile on her face.

"You are from another world, James." She said pulling the end of the sweater closer to her chest protecting her from the cold weather.

"I hope that's a good thing." He replied turning his attention back onto the lake with a look of wonder. Natasha watched his face before responding.

"It's a great thing."

She lets her tear fall onto her cloak. She has it wrapped around her body as if it was keeping her alive. She hadn't sleep since his death, and today was the day of his funeral. The doctors had repaired his injuries to send him off to rest peacefully.

Natasha stood motionless as the maids prepared her gown. The kingdom was dressed in black, and heavy hearts. The death of the man who saved the princesses would always be remembered.

Natasha wore a black long dress with a white front, it had a pattern all along the top. Combined with a hood. Wanda wore a plain flowy dress with a gold strap surrounding it, while both queens dressed in the same plain black dress that had ruffles on the front of it.

"You look beautiful your highness." Natasha heard Maria speak behind her. She didn't respond, she lost her voice the moment she lost him. Maria watched her friend grieve, she knew that James was much more than a friend to her.
"Your mother wants to know if you would like to speak at the funeral." Natasha looked up from where her eyes were glued to the ground.

"you don't have to, I can tell them that-"

"I want to." She interrupted. Maria was shocked because didn't speak since she returned from her kidnapping.

"Okay, I will let her know." She said with a kind smile before leaving. Natasha wanted to world to know the real James Barnes. The man who was on the brink of stealing her heart. She wanted them to know his story.

Steve sat motionless and expressionless at the funeral as their usual traditions began. He watched as the lead the pray over his body, and people began placing roses over his coffin.

Steve looked at Natasha. She had tears falling down her face. He wanted so badly to go hug her but he wasn't the person she wanted. The person she wanted was gone.

He watched her stand up, and finally came back into the world and heard the priest saying the princess would say a few words. He watched her movements. She stood above the crowd on a balcony, as the king often did to announce the news.

"Two days ago, the world lost a man who..." She looked up as if to prevent her tears from falling. "he was a hero." she said, instead of the weak princess, she was letting her inner queen show. "He risked his life, not only for me but for my kingdom and his own. James Barnes was a loyal and hardworking member of the kingdom." She looked down as if she was afraid of her next words.
"I don't care about what everyone has to say about this, however, I loved this man." There was no sound coming through the crowd, there was no judgment or anything. "He was a man who I could count on. I know that he will watch over this kingdom, and shine the sun on us when we need it the most." She took a deep breath. "I want to thank you all for coming, I know he would have loved all this attention. and I want his story to live on. He is the man who saved this kingdom."

As she finished, Steve couldn't help but sigh, he wanted to make her happy. But how can he make her happy if James Barnes owned her heart even in death?

:
:
:
:

After the funeral, everyone spent the time to recover, taking a step back from life and everything that has happened. Steve was in his room throwing things around in frustration. Times like this was when James would come in and help him out, but James wasn't here anymore. That fact alone bad him mad. He was so annoyed he through one of his books against the wall forgetting who was next door to him.

He needed his best friend, as weird as that was. For as long as he could remember, James was always by his side and now that he wasn't... well he didn't know what to do anymore.

There was a knock on the door startling Steve. He looked around his room and saw how destroyed his room was. He took a deep breath before going to the door. He opened it to see Natasha, wearing a long black silk dress, her hair was messed up and eyes were red and puffy.

"Steve?" She asked and noticed his room, Steve just stood there embarrassed by it all. He closed his eyes but before he knew it she took his hand walking him into his room, closing the door behind her. Steve just followed her movements unsure of what to do. She sat him on the bed and pushed his chest down so he was laying down. She moved on the bed as well and placed her head on his chest. Steve was shocked because out of the entire time they knew each other, this was their closest contact.

"Natasha I-"

"Don't ruin it, Steve." She whispered. "Please, I just wanna sleep..." She said quietly. Steve nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist holding onto her small body. Both of them had a connection with James in their own special way that in someway having each other helped with their emotions. For for the both of them, they both finally got some rest.

:
:
:
:
:

The next morning Steve and Natasha were waking up in each other's arms. Steve was first to wake up and almost jumped when he saw Natasha. He quickly recovered to make sure that she didn't wake up. He watched as her chest slowly raised and fell. She seemed so relaxed for the first time. Steve began to think about how close James and Natasha were. If he was still here would they be having this moment?

"You think too much." Steve looked to see Natasha's eyes opened watching him carefully. "I am sorry if you are upset with me barging in your room..." She was beginning to sit up, and Steve saw her natural beauty shining through.

"It's fine Natasha... May I ask you a question?" He asked not knowing if it was appropriate to ask such a question to the woman he would soon be marrying. Natasha nodded her head.
"You and James... I didn't know you were close."

"That's more of a statement than a question Steve." She told him but then continued talking. "James had a way of attracting my attention. He would often find ways to pull back to the ground. When I was around him I didn't feel like a princess, I felt like a normal person." She was trying to find words to describe how James treated her. "He began turning into my best friend, and then he was just so much of a gentleman that the only thing he stole was my heart. I am sorry this is awkward. We are to be wed in days time and I am talking about a man I have learned to love." She shook her head feeling rather embarrassed.

"It's fine Natasha. It's nice to hear about another side of James, which I previously didn't have the opportunity to see." Steve replies.

"And what side would that be exactly?" She asked curiosity in her eyes.

"The side full of so much love."

The two say there for a moment enjoying the feeling in the air. Neither could fully explain it, however, it felt nice knowing someone else was going through almost the exact same thing.

"I know this isn't an appropriate time, however, the day of your..." He paused not knowing what to say in that situation. When she didn't say anything he just skipped over it. " I was late and I um made something for you. Figured you should know why I was so late."

"Can I see it?" She asked, earning a small nod from him. Steve silently went to go get it. Natasha watched as Steve carefully pull out a covered canvas, then walked over at him. 

"I know it's not the best painting, however, I hope you enjoy it." She smiled and took the cover off of the canvas. She was shocked when it was relieved to her. It was a beautiful painting of Natasha standing before her kingdom with her arms out in a very loyal and caring manner. 

"Oh, Steve..." She said placing her hand over her mouth, in a form of admiration. 

"I know it's not much-" 

"You need to give yourself more credit, this is a beautiful painting, I can't imagine you are the one who drew it."  She said and then turned to him. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome Natasha," He said giving her a friendly smile. Natasha and Steve were creating a new bond, not as lovers but as friends. Maybe that was most important right now. Now with their marriage due, Natasha and Steve can truthfully say that they are friends. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A true friend will show you the ways
of going through life happily

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~