I woke up with this scene in my head, so I wanted to add it. As I've said before, I have yet to watch all the films in this series, so forgive me if things aren't quite right. I apologize for making you cry.

Clint woke up the next morning feeling drained. Laura was already up. He stared at the ceiling for a while, not wanting to get up and face the day.

It's not goodbye forever. It's goodbye for now.

Nat's words echoed in his brain. Obviously she knew something he didn't. She knew they'd see each other again. Clint wanted that to be true very much. He could still see her standing in front of him in that meadow.

Tell them I love them.

"Dad?"

Clint turned his head to see his youngest standing there holding his teddy in his arms. Nathaniel was six years old. He was supposed to be 11, but when he returned from The Snap, he didn't age. None of them had. It was something that kind of bothered Clint sometimes.

"Yea, buddy?"

"I miss Auntie Nat."

Clint felt his throat tighten. Nathaniel had had a special bond with Nat since he was her namesake after all. His son stood there looking at him, waiting for Clint to say something.

"I miss her too," he managed to say. It came out hoarsely. "C'mere."

Nathaniel climbed into the bed with him and tucked himself into Clint's arm, resting his head on Clint's chest. He could feel Nathaniel's tears soaking into his shirt. Clint rubbed his back soothingly, but he felt bad. How could he make his son feel better when he still didn't really feel better himself?

"I saw her," Nathaniel said after a while. Clint froze, his hand pausing.

"Yea?" he said. Nathaniel nodded.

"She told me to be brave and to be good," Nathaniel went on.

"When did you see her?"

"Before bed last night."

"Was it in your dream?"

"No. She was in my room."

Clint hardly dared to breathe. Nat was in his son's room? How was that possible?

"She had a really white gown on," Nathaniel continued. "And she looked happy."

Clint's mind was racing. The Nat he saw in his dream had also been wearing a white gown.

"You believe me, right Daddy?" Nathaniel asked, looking at him now.

"Of course," Clint nodded.

"She told me to tell you to not be sad, that she will always be right here," Nathaniel said, putting his hand over Clint's heart. "She said for us all to know that."

"There you are," Laura said, coming in then. "Come on, breakfast is ready."

Nathaniel got up then, clambering over Clint to get out of the bed. He raced out the door, leaving Laura standing there looking at him.

"You okay?" she asked him. He looked at her.

"He said he saw Nat," he answered.

"He told me," Laura nodded.

"Is that a coincidence? I mean, first he sees her, then she's in my dream saying pretty much the same thing? That she'll always be right here?" Clint asked, tapping his chest.

"I don't know."

Clint sat up then, trying to make sense of it all. How could a six year old make that up? Could he have made it up? No. He described her exactly the way Clint had seen her himself.

"Are you coming to eat?" Laura asked, breaking into his thoughts.

"Yea. I'll be right there."

"The kids are going to ask about saying goodbye," Laura went on.

"Right. Yea, I'll call the others," Clint said. She gave him a small, sad smile before leaving him alone. Clint rubbed his face with his hands. It was going to be a hard day.

...

In the afternoon, Clint stood outside, waiting for the others to come. A truck eventually made it's way to the house carrying Bruce in the box. Bruce climbed out.

"Hey," he said, going over to give Clint a sideways hug. Steve got out after and came over to him. Then Thor got out.

"Did you forget about me?" Thor asked.

"No," Clint shook his head. "I just thought you had already left."

"I haven't," Thor shook his head obviously.

"It's good to see you," Steve said, shaking Clint's hand. "How are you holding up?" Steve knew Clint had witnessed Nat's death, and he could only imagine what Clint was feeling or going through right now.

"I'm hanging in there," Clint answered. It was a bit of a lie. A piece of him wanted to curl up and die himself sometimes, but he would never leave his family. After all, that was the whole reason Nat was gone.

"Thor!" Cooper shouted, rushing over. Then he stopped. "Thor?" Cooper was confused by the change in Thor.

"It is I," Thor laughed. "I know. I've eaten a few too many chocolate bars."

"Let that be a warning to you," Steve said to Cooper, smiling. Even though they were all sad for everything that had happened, they couldn't give up on life or laughter. Nat and Tony wouldn't have wanted that.

"We're all set," Laura said, joining them with Lila and Nathaniel. Lila was carrying a wreath of flowers she and Laura had made together that morning.

All right. Over here," Clint said, leading them all to the single tree in the field. They stood in a circle. Clint watched as Lila set down the flowers and stood back. He felt like crying again. Lila had had a special bond with Nat too.

"Who wants to start?" Steve asked, looking around.

"I will," Bruce said. Clint had to suppress a little bit of laughter as he watched Nathaniel gape up at the newly formed Hulk in awe. Bruce looked at Clint for reassurance.

"Go ahead," Clint urged. Bruce cleared his throat.

"Nat was the glue that held us together," Bruce said. "She didn't give up on us, and she died hoping to keep us together, to reunite us with everyone else. She was one of the bravest people I knew. When she..." Bruce started to break down a little at this point. Lila surprised him by putting her hand on his arm comfortingly.

"It's okay," she said to him. Bruce patted Lila's hand in return, dwarfing it with his own.

"When she came to get me before New York," Bruce went on shakily. "She wasn't afraid of me. In the end, it was her that was able to bring me back to my human self before I made peace with Hulk. Nat believed in me, and now she's gone. I don't know how I'm going to recover. I loved her, and we missed our moment because I was too afraid, but somehow I know she understood. Somehow I know she's okay and safe. I love you, Nat. And I miss you every day. Thank you for being on our team and for saving everyone." He stopped then, tears thick in his throat. The others were wet eyed as well.

"I, uh, I'll go next," Thor coughed. "I loved Nat's strength and bravery during a fight. She's someone I wouldn't want to mess with. I'm proud to have known her and to have fought alongside her. I hope she knows that even though we didn't spend a lot of time together, I did admire her. I still do. I hope you're somewhere laughing at us. I hope you know we miss you."

Clint gripped Laura's hand tightly. This was a lot harder than he realized.

"You were the best aunt ever," Cooper piped in. "You always had something cool to share with me about your adventures. I'll miss your laugh, and I'll miss our talks."

"When you were around, I knew we were safe," Lila said next. "You were so much fun, and you played our games even if they didn't make any sense. I wish you were still here, but I know why you're gone, and for that I thank you. Thank you for bringing us back to Dad."

"I'll miss your butterfly kisses," Nathaniel said in his small voice.

"Oh, wow," Steve said beside Clint in a hushed voice. He wiped at his eyes. Clint was openly crying now, as was Bruce. Thor was sniffing hard too.

"I can't thank you enough for having Clint's back every time he went into battle," Laura said through her tears. "I always knew he was safe with you. I will also miss our girl talks. You were like a sister to me, and I can't believe I'll never see you again. Please be safe wherever you are, and I want to thank you as well for bringing my family back together. Nat, you're going to be so missed." Laura tucked her head into Clint's shoulder then. Steve swallowed and took in a shaky breath.

"Nat, you were the heart and soul of this group. You were always up for anything, and you kept us sane when the whole word was shattered into pieces. Your strength and determination to fix what Thanos did, it was something that I will never forget. You were there for us, so we are here for you. We will never forget you, and we will never forget what you did to restore the world. If I could bring you back, I would. We all would. We tried," Steve said, clearing his throat as it got tighter. "I know you would tell us it's okay, but it doesn't feel okay. Wherever you are, Nat, I hope you know that we would do anything to bring you back with us. It doesn't feel right without you, but we will live because you wanted us to." Steve stopped then. He looked over at Clint, who was struggling to keep his composure.

"I guess it's fitting for me to be last," Clint said thickly. "Nat, your intensity scared me sometimes, but it's what drove you. You struggled with making things right after everything you had done before I found you. I want you know that your book doesn't have anymore red in it, Nat. It's clean. I hope you know that. You saved me so I could have my family back. You saved me when I felt hopeless and empty. You saved us all, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that I live this life to the fullest because you gave me my life back. I miss you...so much."

Laura squeezed his hand, and everyone else bowed their heads for a moment.

"She's waving," Nathaniel said, pointing. Everyone looked at him and then at each other, confused.

"Where, buddy?" Clint asked. Nathanial pointed again, and he turned. Indeed, there was a rather ghostly form of Nat in a pure white gown standing there waving and smiling at them.

"Oh my God," Bruce said.

"You see her too?" Thor asked. He was hoping he wasn't hallucinating.

"We all do," Steve replied, seeing that everyone was looking in Nat's direction. They watched as Nat faded away.

"I think she's okay," Bruce said. He was crying again.

"I think so too," Steve nodded. He put his hand on Clint's shoulder.

"It's not the first time I saw her. She said to tell you all she loves you," Clint told them. He shared the dream he had with them as well as what Nathaniel saw.

"She wants us to be at peace," Steve noted. "She's letting us know she's okay."

Clint stood with the others in silence for a moment. The wind tussled at their faces.

"This was beautiful, Clint. Thank you for letting us be here too," Bruce said as they walked away from the tree together.

"She deserved it," Clint answered.

"She did."

"We have Tony's next," Steve said sadly.

"That's going to be hard too," Thor commented.

"Do you think they're together?" Bruce asked.

"I think so," Clint nodded. He looked back, but Nat wasn't there. He felt warmth in his heart then, and he knew exactly where she was: where she promised to be forever. As they went inside, Clint knew she'd be proud of all of them. He was glad he had given her a proper goodbye, just like she had done for him.

Yup, I totally cried writing this, especially Nathaniel's goodbye. Gah, I still can't believe she's gone. Anyway, as always, I appreciate your thoughts. If you like my stories, feel free to check out A Surprise to Remember and A Ghost Named Natasha. Until next time!