"Maria Carmela Delgado",
Maria grinned widely as a polite smattering of applause echoed throughout the arena. As she climbed some steps, crossed the stage, and shook hands with the president of the university, she heard a few whoops. With a burst of adrenaline and glee, Maria flashed two thumbs up before accepting the honors plaque that was handed to her.
She could barely contain her enthusiasm as she made eye contact with her family, who sat in the rear of the arena. It should've been one of the happiest moments of Maria's life, and yet, as she noticed an empty seat beside her brother, she felt a stinging in the corners of her eyes and Maria's smile became fixed.
It wasn't as though it was completely unexpected- as long as Maria had known Steve, he was always ready to jet off at moments notice. And she understood, really, she did. What Steve did was massively important for the safety of the free world. But while he was off saving civilians and stopping evil schemes, or whatever, Steve missed out on a lot of things that meant a lot to Maria, his longtime girlfriend.
Her 23rd birthday, the family Christmas celebration, the funeral of Great-Aunt Selena, to name a few, and now—Maria's graduation from Med-school. Six years of struggle and strife, of stress and pain, all to receive a signed piece of paper that was almost strictly ceremonial. Maria had hoped and prayed that Steve could make it to the ceremony, but as she scanned the crowd for a familiar blond head, she was left disappointed. Not that Maria would ever confess her feelings to Steve.
He worked around the clock to keep people safe, and she didn't think it was fair to give him a hard time when what he was doing was likely one thousand times more important than a dumb graduation ceremony. Even if it he had promised to be there.
A camera flashed and Maria realized that she was still standing in front of the crowd; she blushed and made to move around the University president. Maria was about to scuttle away in embarrassment, but he stopped her.
"Just wait a second," he murmured to her, "you'll want to have a front row seat for this."
At that moment, a set of double doors in the back of the arena opened and a woman dressed in fatigues stepped through. Beside her, a man gasped, "Sara!" He jumped off the stage, his tassel flapping, and Maria watched as they ran to embrace each other. There was stunned silence for a moment and everyone began clapping and cheering. Maria joined in, a watery smile fixed upon her face. A woman jumped to her feet as an older man with a slight limp came through the door next. If the noise level was loud before, now it was almost unbearable. Members of the crowd began rising to their feet as at least fifteen other service men and women poured through the door
The arena fell into chaos as families ran to greet their loved one. Others wiped their eyes and shouted with glee.
Maria jumped slightly as an arm slipped around her wrist and someone's hot breath tickled her ear, "You didn't think I'd forgotten, did you?"
She pulled back to get a good look. It was Steve, in all his spangled glory. His costume was muddied and dusty and a large spot of red stained his shoulder. His face looked just as bad- well as bad as a handsome face like his could look. Maria brushed a fleck of dirt from his cheekbone, "You were cutting it a bit close."
He grinned, pulling her flush with his chest, "I had to make a bit of a pit stop to pick up some people first."
She laughed, "Steve Rogers, you are an amazing, selfless, human being." And in front of the whole crowd, Maria grabbed a fist full of his uniform and pulled him into a kiss.
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