𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑊𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 // 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑛𝑒-𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠

··· 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 ···

A few months before IW, in an alternate timeline.

They arrived just in time to see the sunset. As they entered Wakanda, Natasha glanced out the window of the plane, amazed by the breathtaking view. If Steve had told her about the sunsets, she tought, she would have visited Wakanda a lot before. Except surely, she wouldn't have. At least not as long as James was here. The possibility of seeing him was just to painful to handle just to see a pretty landscape.

When they exited the quinjet, they found T'Challa waiting for them. After sharing some smiles and greetings, T'Challa finally mentioned James, who coming to say hi. Without noticing, the widow became marble once again, being throwback to a time she didn't want to remember. Steve noticed, and told her to go to the armory to get some new weapons. Natasha nodded, feeling relieved to avoid the possibility of seeing James. She wasn't fooling him, she thought. That wicked name crossed her mind more ofte than she could admit, and Steve knew it since he had seen the way she looked at James, some time ago.

In less than an hour, all the new guns were stocked in the back of the quinjet. Natasha went up to Steves room to tell him, happy to have finished the assignment.  When she opened the door, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. James was there, sitting across Steve, talking to him. She should've guessed it. Steve was obviously going to be with his friend, that was basicly the whole purpose of coming to visit. 

Natasha froze while he looked at him, as she tried to hold back the tears. His hair was longer, but his eyes were the same. And his smile. She couldn't even find words to tell how much had she missed that smile. That smile was the only thing that had kept her going, a long time ago.

Memories kept coming back to her, and they hit like bullets. Maybe it wasn't too late, she thought. Perhaps, with a little luck they could begin again. Be them once more. Just when she was starting to feel a flicker of what could have been hope, a girl exited the bathroom and saw her standing at the door.

"Hey!" She said, coming closer to her. "You must be Nat. Steve was just talking about you. I'm Keisha, James girlfriend. Nice to meet you." Nat shook her hand, as she tried to look neutral while she noticed how the little hope she had disappeared. "Nice to meet you too, Keisha." She answered, while she started walking towards Steve. "The guns and everything else are already stocked in the quinjet. I just thought you should know. I'm going to the gym now." She said. Then, she started walking with the intention of leaving the room, but, before she could stop herself, she looked over her shoulder, to Bucky, and said: "Hey James, I'm glad you are okay."

An hour later, Steve came into the gym while she was taking a break from the excercise. He didn't mention her encounter with Bucky, but when he sat silently next to her, she knew that he desperately wanted to talk about it. "Spit it, Steve" She said "I'm sure I can handle it." The captain started talking."I knew something was off about you since we arrived this afternoon, but I didn't figure out why until you saw him. I saw the way you talked to him, back in my room. I've never heard you talk like that, to anyone. Not even Clint, or Bruce. You were pouring your soul into your voice. You loved him." He said. Not as a guess, but as a fact. He knew her too well. "While you were being trained back in the red room. You met and fell in love. You were lovers, weren't you?" Steve guessed, finally understanding the situation "Yes we where, and yes I did." She replied. "I think he doesn't even know my name anymore, but I remember everything."

Steve sighed. "He doesn't. He decided not to recover the memories he made while he was being used by the USRR, thought he couldn't handle it. I personally think he could, but it wasn't my decision to make. I can also tell you, that if he knew about you, he wouldn't have stuttered to bring back all the pain, everything, just to remember your time together." He stopped talking, when he saw Natasha smile, tears in her eyes. "Nat, a part of him remembers, I know. Keisha, his partner, is awfully similar to you. He was looking for you Nat, I think he always has been, even since we where kids, back in Brooklyn." Natasha nodded, as she stood up and walked out of the room. Steve let her go, he knew that she needed to be alone for a while.

While she was walking through the corridors of the castle, trying to organize her thoughts, she heard a voice calling her. It was James. "Natalia?" He said. "I just wanted to thank you for worrying about me before. You left so fast I couldn't even answer." She looked at him, as she stopped walking and said, "What did you call me?" "Oh yeah, is Natasha, isn't it? Sorry, I made a mistake, I get the names wrong sometimes." "No, no you didn't" She whispered to herself. "That's my name, my real name, and you remembered it." "I'm sorry, what? I can't hear you." He said, looking confused. "It doesn't matter, James. It's okay. You are welcome." She said, before waving and leaving. She wasn't going to tell him about them. He seemed happy, and she didn't wanted to ruin it.

However, she saw everything better. It wasn't much, she thought as she walked away. But he had remembered her name. Steve was right. A part of him knew about them, and he was happy. Maybe that was enough.

Meanwhile, a confused James continued looking in her direction, asking himself why was her the only person that called him by his real name, while he suddenly recalled a very different sunset, the sun hiding behind a redheaded girl with snowflakes in her hair.

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Authors note:

Hey guys! Have you liked this one-shot?

It was inspired by the song "All these years", by Camila Cabello. The story has a lot to do with the lyrics of the song. I think this one might be a little bad, but I wanted to publish something. 

As Chadwick Boseman character, King T'Challa, appears in this one-shot I also wanted to send my love to his loved ones. Goodbye Cadwick, thank you for everything. Rest in power.

Another thing! Please don't hate Keisha, i imagine her as a very sweet girl. Her name is an ancient African name that means "great joy." She helped James to recover, and she makes him happy. By the way Natashas hair is already blonde at this moment. Would you like a 2nd part?

By the way if you see any mistakes or something please tell me so I can correct them. As always, vote and comment!

Tell me what you want to read, I'm open to (almost) everything. Until the next story!

Thank you for reading. <3

Over and out!