The World (Sequel to International)

The 20s

March 2026

Mariana's POV:

"Happy birthday dear Mariana! Happy birthday to you!" 

I laughed and blew out the candles.

"Speech!" Tatiana cheered. "Speech!"

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Pain in my ass."

"You love me."

"Do I?"

"I don't know. Ask Virginia." She looked away.

"Hmm. Ok." I looked at my teammates. "Um, so another year. Another Algarve Cup. Thank you all making each other better than the last. Let's win this thing. I know none of you got me a gift so I will accept the medal as a gift." Everyone laughed. "No but seriously thank you. All of you."

Mapi's POV:

I saw Mariana walking toward me and smiled. 

"Portugal colors look good on you." I smirked.

"It's melting my skin." She laughed and hugged me. "And you're so hot now I'm really melting." I started to sink down. "Help."

"Ok you big dork, stop it." I laughed. 

"Happy birthday my beautiful fiancée."

"I wish we were playing against you."

"Portugal is playing Spain."

"Yeah but not YOU." 

"It was time." I sighed. "I get to be a fan now." 

She smiled. "I have the rest of the day off. What are we doing?"

"Whatever you want. It's your day."

Mariana's POV:

I laid and bed and looked at Mapi.

"Yep." She nodded. "So happy we're getting married."

"Quiet." I hit her. 

She laughed. "I really am though. I love you and I can't wait to be called your wife."

"You're so annoying." I laughed.

"I love Gabriel." She said. "What about like the future? Do you want kids?"

"Maybe." I said. "I don't know." I turned to her. "Do you?"

"Again. I love Gabriel. I was always scared I'd ruin the kid or something and be a failure of a parent."

"You're great with him. And he loves you." She smiled. "Remember. I'm your copilot. We got this."

"Yeah, we do." 

Mapi's POV:

"How do you leave without your wallet?" Mariana sighed.

"I'm stupid. We know this." I opened the door and walked inside.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone jumped up.

"What the hell." Mariana jumped back. "Fuck." She grabbed her chest. 

"HAHA!" Virginia jumped on her. "We got you!" 

"I hate you." She walked over to me. "Did you really forget your wallet?"

"Nope." I smiled. "Also, it's empty." 

She laughed. "Who is responsible for this?" She looked around.

"Me." Leila slowly raised her hand. "With Mapi's help, of course." 

"I wanted to do something for you that included all our friends. Tatiana told me that the team was doing something so all that was left was us." I smiled. "Since I'm retired."

"BOOO!" Patri yelled. 

"I handed it over to Leila."

"It's amazing that I'm still playing and you're not."  Leila smiled. "I'm gonna be 33 and you're only 30."

"And I'm 29." Mariana smiled. "Shit we're old." 

"27." Patri crossed her arms. "I miss being 21." She looked down. 

"There there." Aitana patted her shoulder.

"Enough of that! It's our favorite Portuguese girl's birthday. Let's celebrate!" Leila yelled. 

Mariana's POV:

"Thank you." I hugged Leila. "You didn't have to do anything."

"Your last birthday before you're married. Enjoy it while you can."

"Hey." Mapi walked over. "You didn't do anything for my last birthday before marriage."

"Because you're marrying Mariana who is an angel. Poor Mariana has to put up with you."

"Leave them alone." Mariona walked over. 

"You suck." Leila mouthed to Mapi.

"Ok, we're leaving." Virginia dragged me away. 

"What's up?" I looked at her.

"Just getting you away from that mess." I laughed. "You're really getting married this year."

I took a deep breath. "I am." I nodded. "I'm getting married."

She shook her head. "I remember when Mapi was stupid. And we all knew she liked you but she was too scared to make a move." She laughed. "I'm so happy she did though. She found the love of her life and I got a new sister." She put her arm around me. 

"Aww, Vir is being nice." Lola walked over and grabbed me. 

"When it comes to Mariana yeah. When it comes to you, no." 

Lola laughed. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

"The last year of your 20s." I nodded. "I remember when I turned 30."

"You're literally 32." Virginia said. "You were 30 last week stop being dramatic."

"I also remember my dear friend Virginia." She sighed. "Man I miss her so much."

"I'm not dead!" 

"I hear her voice sometimes. They put me on medication for that." 

"You know what!"

"Her ghost is very threatening." 

I laughed and looked at Virginia. "Don't tell her ghost but Nahikari is coming this way."

"Run." Lola dragged me away. 

Mapi's POV:

"Thank you guys again. When I met Mapi on the field in 2020 I didn't think anything would happen. We all know it took a while." Everyone laughed. "But while Mapi and I figured everything out, I got to know all of you. You welcomed me into this family and have been there for me so much. My injuries, the accident," She looked down. "My brother." She nodded and looked at everyone. "It means a lot to me to have all of you in my life. Especially you." She looked at me. 

"I love you." I mumbled.

"I wish I could stay longer but I have a game tomorrow." She laughed. "Thank you again."

Mariana started saying bye to everyone and then I left with her. "Good day?" I asked.

"It was the best." She smiled. "You really do know how to make everything special don't you?"

"You deserve to be treated like a queen. And I will do everything I can to make sure you know how important you are to me, my friends and this whole world. Because you are." I kissed the top of her head. "Good luck tomorrow. You're going to kill it."

"I love you." She kissed me and walked back inside.

I looked up at the sky and smiled.

My queen.