Okay, so, we're nearing the end. There's some minor stuff left to explain to you all and then of course the wedding and the birth!

Seeing as there will be a hiatus between this story and the next (infinity war is not out yet after all), I was thinking you all could let me know what you want to see! That is, if there's something special you want to read about. Maybe a scene between Wanda and Maria or more of the wedding planning, more about her pregnancy (which is rough, just letting you all know that and I might add some of that in the next chapter anyway) or overprotective Steve?

Oh! And baby names... I have no idea what to name the baby. Nor what gender the baby is going to be :P Meaning, I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks to those who favorited and followed!

And a special thanks to love . fiction.2017 and a guest who reviewed! :D

To answer your question, guest reviewer, I was not 100 % sure if I wanted to continue, to be honest. I have the perfect ending here in this story, but then I looked at everyone who loved this so much and figured 'hey, why not?'. Besides... I'm not really ready to let go of Maria yet :P So, yeah, I'm continuing this when infinity war comes out and whatever comes after that :)

Make You Feel My Love
~Book IV~

Disclaimer: I do not own Civil War or any other Marvel characters in this story. All I own is the story I've come up with and my own characters.

Chapter 25

A week later, Maria and Steve had truly begun to feel at home in Wakanda. They had some of their fellow 'Avengers' as neighbors, living in smaller cottages in the outskirts of Wakanda, close to where the royal family, or rather T'Challa, lived. The hospital Bucky was being kept in was only a five minute drive away, the building being hid inside a barrier of trees and a mountain. Close to Steve and Maria's cottage was a river with a beautiful tropical forest on the other side of it. The water was calm and soothing, a lot of beautiful insects coming to the river especially in the evenings; insects that neither of them had seen before with bright colors – some of them even glowed in the dark. Though the calmness of the river was odd, seeing as it, when you followed it for a while, actually turned wild. The surface of the water bubbled and danced due to the great waterfall that cascaded down into it.

The mountain from which the water fell, was shaped oddly like a panther. When Sam had asked T'Challa about how they had gotten the mountain to look like that, T'Challa had simply stared at Sam as though he had offended their entire religion, before walking away without giving an answer. Sam and T'Challa had not really hit it off since that day.

According to T'Challa, a cave was supposed to exist near the waterfall, and as promised, T'Challa was going to take Maria there to show him what he had found about her 'powers' in there. She was still unsure of what she was going to find there, having only heard of the fact that there were old cave paintings there about what she could do, though she was still excited. Not because she wanted to find out more about herself, even though she did, but because that cave was so close to the waterfall and although she hated water, specifically oceans; waterfalls were still really beautiful, especially close up.

With a simple, pink dress on and some comfortable shoes so she could walk without being in pain, Maria sat in the living room, waiting for T'Challa to arrive. She and Steve had just finished eating breakfast and Steve had been the one to quickly wash everything up, something he had been doing a lot lately. He had just finished the last of the dishes when he entered the living room, his face revealing he was still thinking hard and in working-mode.

"Did you take your shot this morning?" asked Steve, earning a nod from Maria. "Do you have a jumper with you in case it gets colder? And some water in case you get thirsty? You should probably also bring a shot with you in case you need it-"

"Steve."

"Don't forget to eat lunch if the two of you are out there a long time. Careful of slippery rocks when you enter the cave, the water makes the surface-"

"Steve!"

Steve closed his mouth, "Did I let it slip out again?"

Maria stood up, a playful smile gracing her lips. Gently, she placed her hands on his upper arms, looking up at him with loving eyes, "Yes, honey. You did."

Doing the dishes after each meal was not the only thing Steve had been doing lately. Cleaning the house, going grocery shopping, driving the car (albeit that might be smart as Maria did not really have a driving's license to begin with), ordering food for her – the list of things Steve did for her without actually asking, was long. Maria had calmly told him that she could do things, reminding him of the fact that her powers were keeping the baby healthy and safe, and that she fought Tony and his team while pregnant less than a month ago. He had promised to hold it in as much as he could, but had also confessed that he worried about her 24/7. Sam had joked that Steve had turned into a mama-bear, which in turn had caused Scott to buy Steve a cup with just those words on it. Wanda had joined in on the joke as well and Steve was now the proud owner of a shirt with 'mama-bear' printed on it… He actually wore it with more pride than Maria was comfortable with, which did not help the joking from the other heroes.

"Sorry," he sighed, bowing his head in defeat.

"I don't mind it that much, at least I know I'm being taken care of," smiled Maria, leaning up onto her tip-toes to give him a hug.

Right then, a knock could be heard on the door and Maria quickly hurried to open it. T'Challa smiled at her, looking over her shoulder to greet Steve as well.

"It will be a simple ten minute walk, a small climb and then we're there," explained T'Challa, a backpack on his back.

"You hear? Nothing to worry about," said Maria, turning her head to look at Steve when she did.

He rolled his eyes at her before walking over to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Don't be too long. Wanda will be over soon to plan more of the wedding-"

"Wedding?" asked T'Challa, looking from Maria to Steve with anticipating eyes.

"Yeah, we've been trying to get married for a while now," joked Maria, earning another eyeroll from Steve. "We figured this moment of peace, uh, as fugitives, was the perfect moment to actually have a ceremony."

"My people love weddings. It is the symbol of two people becoming one, for eternity," smiled T'Challa. "If you want, I can help you arrange something spectacular."

Maria gasped, looking back at Steve with wide eyes, "I would love that! Steve!?"

He chuckled at her enthusiasm, "Well, you did want a special wedding."

"A big one. Like Tony promised me," smiled Maria, beaming with happiness.

"Thor once joked he would arrange something on Asgard," smiled Steve, though his smile faltered as Maria looked at him seriously.

"He didn't joke. He meant it. Promised me even," said Maria. "Though I guess we can't really contact him about it."

"You weren't kidding on the 'big' part, were you?" chuckled Steve.

"I cannot promise something as… magical as I expect another world have been, but I can promise it will be amazing," said T'Challa, to which Maria squealed.

Steve smiled widely, pressing a soft kiss to her lips as goodbye before the two of them began their walk up the riverbend towards the waterfall. On her back, Maria had her backpack with necessary goods in them. She sported a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt, while also wearing a hat on her head to shield herself from the burning sun. With T'Challa taking the lead, they walked over stones and through mud. Sometimes they stopped so T'Challa could show her something like a special sort of flower or insect.

Long story short, Maria's smile did not falter all the way over to the waterfall. She truly enjoyed her time. So much, even, that T'Challa was the one to remind her to keep drinking water.

Time flew by, and before she knew it they were at the base of the waterfall. Dampness touched her face, little drops of water accidentally splatting onto her from time to time. It made tremendously much noise, and so T'Challa had to scream when he told her they were going to have to climb up. He looked at her with wondering eyes, though she simply smiled at him, taking out her gloves belonging to her suit.

She had been prepared for something like this.

"Will they work on damp stone!?" asked T'Challa as they stood at the base of the cliff, right beside the waterfall.

"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see!" she said back, winking at him once to which he chuckled, all though Maria didn't hear him chuckle.

T'Challa took the lead, using only his bare hands to climb. Maria was close behind him, feeling utterly relieved when she realized her special made gloves worked even on damp surfaces.

"Thank you Stark," mumbled Maria as she took her first leap up the cliff, hanging only from her hands before she found two good spots to place her feet.

The climb took some time, Maria not being the best at climbing to begin with and the climb itself actually being very long. T'Challa looked back at her midway, gaining her attention. He gestured upwards and she saw a flicker of light coming from the middle of the cliff. She looked at him questioningly, and he simply smirked.

The flicker of light had come from lit torches in the cave. T'Challa helped her up into it and once she was back on her feet, her breath was taken away.

From the beginning, the waterfall had been the prettiest sight of nature she had seen, though the sight of the cave she found herself in was a thousand times prettier. It's ceiling reached so high she was sure it went all the way up to the top of the cliff. The left wall had two holes in it, like little windows. Through it, Maria could see the waterfall rushing down over the holes, though the stream of water was thin enough there for her to see through the water and catch a look of the stunning view out there. She saw the small huts her fellow Avengers lived in and smiled, wondering what Steve was doing to occupy himself with while she was away.

Torches hung from every wall, though a beautiful blue light came from the two holes in the left wall. Not only that, but the sun managed to reflect through the waterfall, creating a stunning visage of light on the right wall. And there, beneath the dancing, bright lights, were the cave paintings T'Challa had promised her.

"Are these…?"

"Yes, they are. Made by ancestors of my people at least a century ago."

He watched her walk towards the wall, lightly touching the paintings. They resembled warriors, some dressed as panthers, some dressed as crocodiles, some as hyenas… and one figure standing before them all, with a sword shining brightly with two gems on it. The figure seeming to be leading them was painted as a skeleton, making Maria take a step back and place her hand over her barely visible baby bump.

T'Challa gestured her over to another part of the wall. There, she saw the skeleton figure with the sword standing around dead bodies. It was leaning over one of the bodies, stretching its hand out to it. A vague figure seemed to be pulled out from the body in the next painting and suddenly, the final painting resembling the dead bodies, had all of the dead bodies standing up again, a smile on their faces.

"Those who are links between the dead can bring the dead to life… And…" T'Challa moved over to another part of the wall. "Take life…"

Maria could only look at the painting T'Challa was showing her for a second or two before she turned away, hugging herself. The skeleton figure had been surrounded by dead bodies again, although this time the figure was also hovering over one half-dead body, reaching out to it with its sword. The way the people had been killed resembled much the imagination Maria had had a long time ago during her time as an assassin… and it made her feel awful to know that these cave paintings were so accurate.

"Maria?"

"I don't take lives anymore…"

"Of course not. And this is not you, Maria." T'Challa shifted to stand before her, looking at her with worried eyes. "I simply wanted to show you the legend you reminded me of."

"But… You did think that was me, for a little while."

He sighed, finally nodding his head, "The signs were there. You can heal and have power over the shadows. Then again, there have been many mutants with the same kind of powers over the years… This was simply one mutant like you."

"Yeah…" sniffled Maria. "Besides, I can't give life back. I can't heal others."

"Have you tried?"

She stayed silent.

"But you have wanted to, have you not?"

"I found it stupid that I only could heal myself, yes. It felt selfish," sighed Maria.

"Does it matter if you are this hero-"

"I'm not a hero though, am I?"

T'Challa nearly scoffed at her remark, causing her to move away from him with a sour look on her face.

"No matter where I go, my past is always haunting me. I murdered people, T'Challa. And you know what?" she turned towards him, her lips trembling. "I… liked it. I haven't told anyone that part, for fear that they would hate me. But those people..."

"They were bad people, no?"

She nodded her head. "That doesn't make it better."

"You were good at something. But you regret it now."

She nodded her head again.

"And last year you saved the world."

She stayed still; silent.

"The year before that you helped save the world too. And the year before that you helped save the world too."

A sigh escaped her lips.

"And you still cannot call yourself a hero? Ignore these paintings. You are Maria Dalton. You are a hero. All heroes have a origin story. Yours just happens to be dark."

A soft smile appeared on her lips.

"Stop beating yourself down, something I think you've done for quite some time now."

"Since the day Stark took me to SHIELD… I've never really felt like I could meet up to the standards the real heroes around me held."

"But now you have powers too," he smirked, which only made her roll her eyes, her smile growing bigger. "Come. I know how to make you feel better."

"How?"

She grabbed his outstretched hand, the two walking back to the cave-opening.

"Wedding planning."

The two exchanged a smile.