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1. When she was eighteen, by the recommendations of her parents, Merida was sent to New York to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. It was a good opportunity for her: she would work with some incredible people, and refine her skills even further, having spent her childhood horseback riding and doing archery. Both Fergus and Elinor told her that she did not have to, but she knew being the heir to the throne, she needed the diplomatic experience, and working with S.H.I.E.L.D. would add to that experience. When she arrived, she spent some time with Agent Phil Coulson, a man probably around her father’s age, who assessed her skills. He did not state if he was impressed or not by her. But she appreciated that he never once called her “Your Highness” or “Princess Merida.” He called her “Miss Dunbroch”. After that meeting, that was how she met Agent Clint Barton, codenamed Hawkeye. “Coulson, who is she?” Hawkeye asked, when they entered the training room he had been in and approached him.“Miss Dunbroch,” Coulson said. “She’s from overseas.”“Aye,” Merida said. “Here to learn and gain experience. I have archery skills. Ya Agent Coulson knows.”Hawkeye looked at Coulson who gave a very brief nod of the head to him that was almost impossible to see, but he saw it.“Well, show me,” Hawkeye said.And she did. And she was incredible. Whether her skill level was just below him, surpassed him, or equaled him, did not really matter. The ability that Merida had with her bow and arrow, to make an arrow go straight through a target was beautiful.And he fell in love with Merida Dunbroch. But, Hawkeye realized that she did not feel the same way. She liked him, of course, respected him, but he was her coworker, a colleague. She was not interested in a romantic relationship. She was in New York for a purpose, and that purpose did not include love. So, he never told her.And she went back to Scotland a better diplomat and archeress. 2. She met Jane Porter while in England. This was supposed to be mostly an attempt to establish some sort of positive relations with their neighbors to the south. And since she knew she would be there for some time, she decided get some more education, more knowledge, from books, in particular. She stayed in England for a period of several months. Which was, by no means, a big deal for her– she spent about as much, maybe more in New York.She divided her time between being heavily involved in establishing diplomacy (and she was not alone in this feat, she had others from her Kingdom with her), and being educated by a tutor, the daughter of a famous professor, who while about ten years older than Merida, she was just as learned as her father. Dr. Jane Porter was acting as her tutor in some capacity to her.They got along well. Merida was a good student. She wanted to learn, even if she was learning about things that maybe she did not necessarily need in her life, she still enjoyed it. She asked questions. She did homework. They had discussions about the various things she learned. She was a perfect student.And Jane realized as their time came to a close, that she actually was in love with the Scottish redhead. She was such a great student, who wanted to learn, and had even managed to establish positive diplomatic relations with England!But, it was not proper. Merida thought of her as her teacher, nothing more, and nothing less. And while Merida was of age, being her teacher that was a line Jane must never cross. 3. Dash Parr was twenty when he met the Scottish princess when he was living in Scotland for reasons involving Superhero duties. He and a few other Supers were stationed in the British Isles as to protect them from villains. While he usually worked with his family, there was not rule that he always had to work with the team he usually worked with. After all, Wolverine sometimes worked with The Avengers instead of the X-Men! And to keep Dash’s identity as a Super unknown, he also enrolled in a Scottish University, where Merida was also taking classes.Not that he needed it, he was perfectly content in Scotland and being in another country; he was an adult after all, but she welcomed him and had been nice to him. He knew who she was— yeah, Scottish royalty in University— not many around. Being a super, he had to be a little hip to that knowledge. But, that was not the point. She was a nice person, and they got along well. And they had a couple of classes together, so they studied together. And she brought empire biscuits and shared them with him. She made them! And they were delicious. And he was smitten, in love with her.But the one time he did kiss her, he realized that it had made her feel awkward and uncomfortable about it. She did not avoid him, but she was unsure how to react. And he apologized to her for the kiss. And he realized that sadly, she did not feel the same for him. 4. Merida met the cowgirl with the same color hair as her when Merida went on holiday to a horse ranch and a town in the southern United States, where there were more deserts and cowboy boots than there were glens and kilts. Jessie worked at the horse ranch, doing various duties, mostly in relation to taking care of the horses and of course, she worked with the people who visited the ranch. She easily befriended Merida, who was always a good equestrian without any help. Most of the people who came to the horse ranch either had never ridden a horse before, or were novice at best. She did not have to help Merida with horses at all. And Merida and Jessie went horseback riding together. While the horse Merida rode was not Angus, Merida thought Bullseye to be a very good horse. These horseback rides were admittedly very great, but well… considering her fair skin, and being from a country a little further north than where she currently was… she got sunburned. And while it was the same sun as the one in her homeland, it was brighter and hotter, and not what she was used to. She should have invested in sunscreen, and a wide-brim hat like Jessie wore. She got sunburned. And it was painful. So, when they got back from the horseback ride after spending Jessie’s day off together, Merida was red on her face and on any part of her torso not covered. And she had thought it to be a great idea to wear a halter top that day. So her back was red. Merida probably should have worn a long sleeved shirt and sunscreen.Once Merida was back in her room, Jessie offered her some aloe vera lotion to put on her back to help deal with the burn.“Aye, okay,” Merida said. She gingerly undid her top around the neck and exposed the whole of her back to the other woman, while covering her front.Jessie carefully rubbed the aloe vera on Merida’s back, to which Merida appreciated, as she could tell from Merida’s sigh. And something happened while Jessie was in Merida’s quarters. They started kissing and it escalated to the two women embracing and touching and hands on body parts…That was the first time Merida had gone past kissing with anyone. It was nice, but it did not mean anything more than a nice time with someone. But, apparently it did to Jessie. 5. Kevin Macguffin was Lord MacGuffin’s eldest son. He was also a sweetheart and a genuinely nice guy. Of the three Lord’s sons she had to once choose from as her future husband, he was the one who she actually ended up having some sort of friendship, and a little more than that. Callum Dingwall and Steven Macintosh were nice guys, but she was more interested in their friendship and their loyalty to Dunbroch. If she was ever to be in a battle, Steven was the one she would hope to be with her at that time.But Kevin was someone who she had been much friendlier with. She taught him the archery skills she learned in America and had told him some of her stories, and he did as well. She liked his company. She had even kissed him a few times. And they had briefly been a couple for a while, and she knew that Kevin was in love with her, but she was not. So, she broke it off before it became too serious between them (especially before he proposed marriage!), wanting to spare her friend’s feelings, telling him that he deserved to marry someone who loved him back. 1. Merida was in her mid-twenties when she met Charlotte LaBouff when the blonde woman had traveled with the Maldonian Prince and Princess to visit the Scottish royals for state reasons and diplomatic reasons, on a tour to visit European countries. Lottie tagged along with Naveen and Tiana because she wanted to see the world, in specific Europe, and her father had paid her way. Plus, Tiana and Naveen had somebody fun to tag along with them aside from the royal entourage who at times were decidedly not fun. And the small contingent stayed with the Dunbrochs, which neither party minded whatsoever.The Dunbrochs opened their home— or rather castle to the Maldonians and Americans. Tiana helped out in the kitchen, learning to make their Scottish dishes, while teaching the kitchen staffs their American and in particular, New Orleans dishes, and even Maldonian dishes, so dinner in the castle while they were there for the stay was great. Sure she had had American cuisine while she previously had lived in America but there was something to be said for a great chef such as Tiana making them right in here at home. And, Merida had the choice of empire biscuits and beignets as desserts. “Merida, try these, they are delicious! They are the best!” Lottie had exclaimed. “Eat it!” she added, sounding kinda husky about it. “Aye, if you have the empire biscuits, love, I’ll have your beloved beignets,” Merida said. “Agreed, darlin’!” Charlotte exclaimed, taking the empire biscuit. Merida followed with the beignet. And with that moment between them, Merida opened her heart to Charlotte. And when Charlotte elected to stay in Scotland while Naveen and Tiana continued on to other places in Europe, Merida knew… she felt the same.