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lyncirenzei · 1 year

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Anya Mmiri - Shuri x Namor Oneshot

Summary: Shuri grapples with the aftermath of the decisions she’s made and those made for her. She thinks she needs to grieve alone. Namor thinks otherwise.

Rating: Teen 13+

Word Count: 6.8k

AN: I can’t believe I wrote fanfic again after this long. But these two grabbed me by the throat and threatened me. So I had no choice.

It seemed, to everyone but Shuri, that Wakanda had its strength back. That they were, by all intents and purposes, on the right track back to their former glory.

Thanos had been defeated and the souls lost for five years, returned.

The loss of their great King and protector T’Challa was mourned and celebrated before a new Black Panther rose in his place.

The heart shaped herb was restored.

And the balance of power after the loss of their Queen Mother, Ramonda, settled.

Yes, for all intents and purposes, to everyone else Wakanda handled its issues with grace and perseverance. They always came out stronger on the other side.

But to Shuri, she felt as lost as if it was all suddenly happening to her again. Like someone had taken a spear and stabbed her through the gut with it.

She sighed at that thought, placing a hand against the spot that had now fully healed, but still felt phantom pain in.

All of her emotions felt like an assault against her body. But during her physical fight with him, she realized how much they actually matched. One didn’t hurt any more than the other. Every punch, slam, scratch, throw, and even stab felt like the same pain of rectifying that she couldn’t save her brother, her mother, or protect Wakanda from an invasion of people who went undetected by their sensors.

It was all the same to Shuri. All of it was overwhelming. So she ran.

She needed time apart from everyone and everything. Nakia was the first to be so kind as to give her that place to rest her head. And to give her something even more precious. Her nephew. The future King of Wakanda, a second T’Challa, a second chance for her to protect him. To be there for him.

But even with a place away from it all, her eyes couldn’t seem to stay dry these days. With so little to occupy her time, she was forced to be with her thoughts and her emotions. And the more she felt them, the more they seemed wild and uncontrolled. They would flare up in her chest at the most inopportune moments and she hated how weak they made her feel. She wanted to scream and shout, to punch something or someone, and that was what scared her the most. With such violence playing right under the surface, she didn’t always feel comfortable being in such close quarters with the last living members of her family. She loved them too much to take her anger and frustration out on them.

So she planned a getaway from her getaway. Somewhere she could go that was isolated, where she could use her new strength to break rocks if she needed to. And scream into the air without judgment or worry from others.

And she found it on that same slab of land that she almost died on.

It was completely isolated, and still held the story of her first visit. The ship she flew in on that first time was still in pieces, scattered in the sand and bits of grass. The rock she was pinned to, still had the broken spear sticking out of it. And though some time had passed, the dents left in the sand from their powerful struggle with each other had still not been completely marred by any wind or rain that may have happened.

This was the perfect place for her to sit with her thoughts. A visual reminder of how damaged things could get when she didn’t remember who she was. When she let the greed of vengeance get in the way of what the mantle of the Black Panther was created for.

She was meant to be a protector.

That’s what she kept telling herself.

But she knew her reasons for recreating a hybrid of the heart-shaped herb was purely selfish. Afterall, she was splicing a plant that gave completely different abilities when mixed with vibranium and ingested by organic matter, with another plant that gave a different set of abilities. She didn’t take the time to study the effects it could have on a person.

She didn’t care if they could be lethal, debilitating, dangerous. At that time, she’d rather die than not get a taste of his blood on her hands like she promised herself. So she took the herb and made herself Black Panther as a means to her own ends. She put elite warriors and tribe leaders in danger for those same goals. And now, though the outcome was favorable, she was ashamed of her actions.

But they had all moved on so quickly. If they thought at all about how she used them, they gave her no idea about it. Instead, they focused on their tentative alliance with him. Namor. And on the dangers of the other world powers that would be knocking at their door. Without their attention, it left her feeling isolated and alone.

As she sat in the sand, gathering the small bits in her hands, she wondered about a many great things. All of them painful in one way or another. The tears she stored in her eyes ran as freely as her thoughts, and she didn’t bother to swipe them away. She left them to run over her smooth brown skin, down her cheeks and drip off her chin right onto her legs folded beneath her.

If she kept up this amount of water loss, she’d have a puddle surrounding her. But that was the point of sitting on this violently disturbed land. To allow herself this reprieve of exposure without being exposed.

In her distracted thoughts, she allowed herself to swim in circles, picturing a past self that she could no longer be again. Because the people who shaped her were no longer here.

She sniffled, the sound mixing in with a splash from the ocean that was a distance from where she sat. As she looked through the blur of tears that filled her eyes, she saw what she hoped was an apparition. But she knew it could only be him with that smooth tan skin, and strong, broad body decked in vibranium gold and jade.

Her breath hitched in her throat, almost causing her to choke as she hopped lightly to her feet and activated her necklace that housed the Black Panther suit.

Her entire body was covered in less than 2 seconds and she was crouched in a fighting stance. Ready.

Her eyes scanned his tight body, all the way down to the once symmetrical wings that adorned his ankles. One was missing, and she loathed herself for feeling bad about something that made her feel so good when she ripped it from him.

“What are you doing here, Namor?” She sneered his name as she called out to him, engaging her claws the more he approached.

He didn’t stop walking until he was completely on land, but he never took his eyes off of her, nor did he open his mouth to answer. They only stared at each other for a minute before his sharp eyebrows began to knit together, “Did we not come to be allies, Panther?”

“Our nations are allies,” she yelled to him. “But you and me? We’re nothing.”

She was shaking as she looked at him—he who looked so cool and unbothered by her anger. He never did hide his feelings since the moment she met him and because of that his face held many expressions. They display in the way his eyebrows moved, the sneer of his mouth, the flare of his nostrils around his jade septum piercing, or the squint of his eyes. Sometimes it was all of those things. Right now, it was just his eyes.

He wished her no harm, she could tell, even if he hadn’t said it. Instead, he raised his hands in a universal gesture of meaning peace before he turned his back to her and sat in the sand closer to the water.

She sucked in a deep breath, neck straining where she held it in as she watched him. She could feel her face twitching underneath the mask before she realized he was going to stay sitting there no matter how long she stared at his back, ready to strike.

A few clouds covered the sun, shifting the light, before she stood straight and sat back down in the sand. She kept her suit engaged, wrapped in the cocoon of a suit that offered no protection from him physically and certainly not mentally. But emotionally, he couldn’t see her face if he tried. And any protection from the one who made her feel so unlike herself, was better than nothing at all.

So she sat, quietly, holding in her anger at his presumptuousness and his silent demand to sit on the same shore that she was sitting on. He had the rule of the ocean and could have ended up anywhere, but he came back here. Why? When this place should offer him nothing but a reminder of how close he came to death?

It didn’t make sense, but then again, it didn’t make sense that with one appearance from him he was now all she could think about.

Nothing about what made sense to him or didn’t, should be her concern. She was here to heal. That was all that mattered.

Except…

When she returned the next day, there he was again.

And again.

Every time she made it to the beach and sat near the boulder she almost lost her life pinned to, he would come out of the water and sit. His back would be facing her, and he wouldn’t say a word. They did the same routine for weeks, everyday. Until, eventually, a month passed of them sitting a distance away from each other, silently.

Nakia reached out to Shuri when she realized the girl hadn’t returned to Wakanda and was, instead, somewhere she didn’t know.

Shuri assured her that she was fine. She was healing, but in her own way.

Nakia told her in times of grieving a person shouldn’t be alone. But that was the catch and she stared at its back everyday. Another person was with her. So was she actually alone?

When the first day of the second month started, she felt safe enough to remove her mask. He never turned around after sitting down and she was tired of having the itchiness of her tears pressed against her cheeks unable to dry.

But as soon as he came out of the water, instead of taking the few steps to his usual seat, he walked further up the sand towards her.

Her breath hitched in her chest the closer he got, and she got to her feet when he was only a few steps away, “Hold it! Why are you approaching me?”

She was blinking rapidly as she processed the sight of him before her.

There was a false level of comfort that eased her, knowing he would come on to the shore, sit in his usual spot, and not speak with her. Being able to expect that allowed her to relax. But now, he was suddenly doing something different, something she didn't expect and therefore could not prepare herself for.

“Why do you come here everyday?” He asked, stopping a few feet away from her. He wasn’t looking at her, she noticed. But his eyes were locked onto the boulder behind her, where the broken vibranium spear was run through.

“Why do you?” She said through clenched teeth, watching as his eyes slowly turned to rest on her frame. He examined her exposed face all the way down to her feet and Shuri rued that the one time she needed the mask, she’d been so caught off guard that she didn’t engage it.

She was sure he could clearly see her watery, pink eyes. And she knew the frown she wore was a bad mixture of anxiety and frustration.

“I come here to remember,” he answered her. “Though, what happened here isn’t something I can forget.”

He nodded towards her after speaking, as if to say it was her turn to share. She scoffed, turning her head from him, “I come here for silence and not to be bothered.”

If he had any intelligence about him, which Shuri knew he had plenty, he’d take the hint and leave her alone like he had been. But she also knew he was persistent, and the way he stepped closer to her before taking a seat highlighted that trait of his.

“What are you doing?” The shock in her voice was apparent and her feet carried her a few steps away from him. “I didn’t invite you to sit with me.”

“Didn’t you?” She heard him mutter. “I will be silently here, not bothering you as you requested.”

Her mouth balled up and her eyes widened as she processed his words, “I don’t want you sitting by me. I really don’t want you here at all, but I tolerate it. This is an affront!”

He didn’t look at her nor did he move which left her with the choice of relocating to another spot or bearing his presence closer to her.

She looked around the land, not wanting to move, not when she chose this spot for a reason. So she swallowed her irritation and took a seat after taking two more steps to the right and away from him. He was sitting slightly in front of her, so she could keep her eye on him just in case. But after a while it became obvious to her that she wasn’t only watching him because she was weary. There was something else she couldn’t place that drew her eyes to him. She didn’t know if it was the dark length of his clustered eyelashes, or the soft frame of his dark hair in general. But he looked like some type of art she was meant to study.

She shook her head, that made no sense no matter how she tried to reframe it. And eventually she snatched her eyes away from him all together with a frustrated huff.

At this point, he shouldn’t have any amount of control over her. But he did.

He’d been manipulating her from the moment he rose out of the river and accosted her and her mother. His honesty in his feelings, and his conviction towards his goals were always expressed very clearly. It was something she appreciated. And therein layed the problem. She appreciated things about him that she didn’t want to acknowledge. She wanted to hate him for what he took from her and for what he gave to her. He was just as culpable for restoring the Black Panther mantle to Wakanda the same way he was culpable for taking away a beloved Queen of the nation. And it was not fair how Shuri had to suffer for both when she wanted neither.

The mantle belonged to her brother or anyone more deserving.

And her mother, her mother belonged by her side, guiding her with her wisdom, grace, and beauty. She was her role model and what she thought was the last living member of her family. It was a sweet reprieve to be introduced to Toussaint, T’Challa son of T’Challa.

She sighed, allowing the sound to leave her mouth with no regard to whether he heard her or not.

He didn’t matter.

After a week of him sitting much closer to her, he began to come ashore with random objects.

At first, when he brought her a rock deposit from a cave near Talokan, she didn’t know what he expected her to do with it. Until he told her, “For your studies.”

She didn’t respond.

When he came with something else the next day, garnering no response from her but her eyes weary on his frame, he simply sat it next to her and then sat next to it.

That had been the closest she’d been to him since they traded blows—but unlike that time, this time she didn’t know what he wanted.

“Where did you get that from?” She looked down at the bent rock that seemed to have some sort of metal deposit within it.

“A cave near the land called India,” he said, voice sounding as warm as the sun shining above. “I gave some to our engineers. But you should have some as well. For your—”

“Studies,” she interrupted. “Right. I get it.”

“It is something else for you to focus on,” he spoke again. “When you are finished here.”

“Finished?” Her right eye twitched. “How will I know when I’ll be finished? If I’ll even finish?”

“If you let your grief consume you, then you won’t finish,” he looked at her, eyes soft. “Coming here everyday for unbothered silence will not help you.”

Her chest felt full, like she might be sick if she listened to another word he said. She’d grown to hate listening to him make sense when she couldn’t agree. Didn’t want to.

“I was here first, Namor,” she said. “And I will be here until I am done. You do not have to be here giving me your judgment and unwanted opinions.”

“I do not judge,” he was quick to say.

“You’re not helping either,” she bit out, raising to her feet. “Go away.”

He rose behind her, following in her steps until she turned around to yell at him, “Go away!”

“No, Panther,” he said in a calm, but firm manner. “I don’t think you should be alone.”

“I don’t think,” she stepped closer to him. “That what you think matters. Not in regards to me anyway. If I want to be alone, you will allow it ‘cause I don’t need your permission!”

He squinted his eyes at her tense frame, “You’re being loud is not going to get me to stop following you.”

“I’m not being loud for the fun of it, Namor,” she said through clenched teeth. “I really want you to leave me alone.”

He held his head high, looking down the slope of his nose at her contorted face filled with despair and anger, “I will not come close. But I will keep you in my sights, Panther.”

Her lips parted, ready to argue a point he would not listen to. This was as good as she was going to get without getting physically violent with him. And she wanted to. So very badly. She wanted to sink her claws into his back again, pull him close,and release all the pain she’d stored up over him. But she remembered the blows he traded with her. She didn’t want to feel those against her, not when he was looking at her the way he was. So she took off, running as quickly as her vibranium infused muscles would take her to put great distance between them. Without his wing fully healed, he’d have a hard time flying to see her and she was counting on it.

When she slowed and looked behind her, she didn’t see him. Not even at a distance. It was like he disappeared.

Without anyone around her for the first time, she felt empty—almost lost.

It was the complete opposite feeling of what she was begging for just a moment ago.

She wanted to be alone, away from him, and now that she was…

She screamed.

The sound came from her core, so deep down it felt as if the ground was shaking. Her suit deactivated, allowing her skin to breathe in the tropical breeze that was blowing. Her knees bent until she eventually fell onto them and reached for the earth below. Water poured from her eyes in the form of salty tears as her voice broke on the pain she was releasing.

This was what she wanted. The opportunity to let out all her pain without watching eyes. Even though she knew he was around, somewhere, she couldn’t see him so she pretended he couldn’t see or hear her either.

Her fingers grabbed at the sand and grass that was beneath her before her wail tempered out to whimpers of lingering grief.

Torture.

That was what she felt like she just let out of her body. A twisted form of torture she both controlled and didn’t.

After some time passed with her crouched to the ground, she fell onto her side, laying on the cool sand and staring blurry eyed out ahead of her.

In her immediate line of sight were two brown feet walking towards her with white wings sticking from the sides. One wing was noticeably missing. And when those feet stopped directly in front of her, she didn’t flinch away. When she felt a large, warm hand press onto her damp cheek, she closed her eyes but she didn’t tense up. When that same hand traced a finger down the length of her jaw to her quivering lips, her eyes opened again.

There was a warning welling up in her, like a siren wailing in her heart, but not because she felt in danger from his touch. She didn’t feel at all like she would have expected. She’d thought she would be ready to fight, to defend herself from his cold, callousness and the heavy blows he brought down upon her during their battle.

But, instead, his touch felt so warm, gentle—and what was worse—soothing.

She turned her face from him, pressing her forehead and the tip of her nose into the sand for a brief moment before forcing herself to sit up. Carefully, she wiped her face where the sand stuck and her tears dried. As she got to her feet on unsteady legs, she dusted off her body. All of this she did without meeting his gaze that she could feel never left her.

“I still don’t understand why you’re here,” she finally muttered around a throat that felt ripped raw.

She heard him sigh, but she still didn’t look up at him, “I came to remember, like I said. At first, I wanted to be here as a form of closure. I thought maybe you needed to do the same. Eventually, I realized you were not doing that.”

How could he know anything about her? Did he read minds too?

“You have no idea what I’ve been doing here,” she snapped, finally looking at him. But her face didn’t match the tone of her voice. There were tears filling her eyes again and she knew the expression she made right before crying was anything but threatening.

“I didn’t want you to be alone while you were grieving,” he ignored her. “I’ve lost enough people I’ve cared about overtime to know it is not something a person gets used to. But you shouldn’t be alone while doing so. It is not our way.”

“It’s not ours either,” she admitted, voice cracking. “But when I lost my father I had my mother and brother to share my pain. And when I lost my brother,” she sucked in a stuttered breath. “I had my mother,” she shook her head as she shrugged. “Now that she is gone, who do I have?”

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes directly so he could see all the pain and accusation in her face. She didn’t know what she was expecting to see when she met his eyes, but the soft gaze he captured her in was not it.

“I am sorry for all of your loss, Panther,” he said. “To not have one's family is like not having the very organs we need to live. And to lose a mother is like losing your heart.”

“How can you say that?” She whimpered. “If you know how painful this feels then why would you take her from me?”

“If I could have seen past my own desperate rage,” he muttered, reaching out to her. “Things would’ve been different.”

She slapped his hand away, backing up from him, “I told you it could have and you didn’t listen. You had your mind set on your way only. And now we’re here. I’ve sacrificed everything to get to this point and it's a place I don’t even want to be!”

“You can be angry with me,” he looked at the hand she slapped away. “I accept your anger. I understand it. And I deserve it.”

Her eyes closed at his words, forcing more tears down her face, “I won’t be in this place forever. I don’t know when I’ll move past this hurt. But I will. And when that happens, I’ll forgive you. But not for your sake. It’ll be for myself.”

He nodded, eyes following her as she walked past him, “Will you be here tomorrow?”

She thought about lying to him, telling him she wouldn’t ever return, “Yes, I will be.”

During the second week of the second month she spent sitting near the boulder, Namor sat directly next to her everyday. There were more and more things he’d collected for her to give her scientific opinion about. Eventually she asked him what his own scientist thought of the things he brought them.

“Do you wish to speak with them?” He asked, almost sounding eager.

“No,” she was too quick to answer. She didn't know why she said no, but she felt a fear about seeing other Talokani again so soon. “Not, not right now.”

“Of course,” he nodded. “Whenever you are ready.”

Her eyes dropped down his face, noting his sincere expression, “When I go back to Wakanda, I’ll be pretty busy in the labs thanks to you.”

“Well,” he smiled. “You’re welcome.”

She grimaced at his smile, hating the way it changed his face and automatically made him approachable. It was bad enough she never felt truly uncomfortable in his presence, even when she wanted to kill him. And now that he was by her side everyday as she tried to heal her grief, that comfort seemed to be increasing.

She found it a minor problem.

“I have so many questions to ask you about Talokan,” she said, quickly glancing at him but not being able to hold eye contact. “I don’t know where to start.”

He didn’t reply, only looked on at her picking at the grass growing through the sand. It took her more than a minute to realize he hadn’t said anything. So she looked over to him, surprised when her eyes immediately met his. They sparkled some times when he spoke, especially when he was passionate. And right now, they were doing the same thing without him saying a word.

Was it the setting sun, casting a glow and adding shadows that made him look more dazzling? Or was her eyes playing tricks on her from the amount of tears she’d shed? It could be both, or it could be neither.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Her voice didn’t have the usual strength behind it that it usually did when addressing him. “I don’t like it.”

A lie.

“My apologies,” he dropped his eyes from her. “Sometimes when I look at you, I see something that I’ve not seen in a very long time.”

She didn’t know what he meant and she wanted to ask, but she also didn’t want to know. Her feelings were all bundled up in her mind, making it hard to think and focus. She began to nibble at her lips before her whole face morphed into one of pure worry. It wasn’t until she felt his thumb right below the line of her bottom lip and the rest of his fingers pressing underneath her chin that her thoughts stopped completely.

When he tilted her head up to look at him, she noticed his eyes were sparkling again as he looked at her. They struck her, and she held her breath the longer he held her face. His head tilted to the side, dropping his eyes over the entirety of her face, “You’re impressive, Panther. It is something I cannot deny. You are of the land and no one here truly impresses me. But this is something I cannot take from you.”

She let out the breath she was holding, “I’m so happy to have your approval, Namor. It’s all I ever wanted.

His smile was soft as he dropped her chin, giving her her space back. She relished in it, while wanting to chase him, ask for him to touch her again. Why would she want anything from him, she had no idea. And that alone was part of the torture she was having trouble escaping.

She was drawn to the visage of him the moment he rose from the water and she realized it was a man with wings on his ankles, decked in vibranium, speaking to her. Then when she spent time in his company and got an idea of what kind of person he was, she knew if she could convince him to change his tactic, they could be really good friends.

Friends.

That’s all she would have wanted from him anyway. Not anything else. Well, maybe she did want his opinion on things, and his attention. But that was it.

“Someone like you doesn’t need my approval,” he muttered. “I don’t think you ever did.”

She squinted at his statement, knowing what it sounded like, but not knowing if she was interpreting the meaning correctly.

“Is there something you want from me,” she asked, wanting clarity. “I keep getting this feeling that you are waiting for me to give you something and I don't know what it is.”

“Hm,” he tilted his head towards the sun. “Something I’d want from you?” He glanced at her again, catching her eye, “After everything I have done to you, I’d only request that you are eventually able to be alright.”

“I’m a Wakandan woman,” Shuri said, sitting up straighter. For the first time, she could picture her mother’s face, her elegance and strength even in the face of tragedy. “I’ll be alright.”

In the third week of the second month, Shuri finally felt well enough to go home.

Not to Nakia and Toussaint, but back home to Wakanda.

There was so much she was sure she had missed out on by cutting herself off from the world. She only allowed contact with Nakia to check in and let her know she was still alive.

Her tears had finally dried, though melancholy would probably follow her for a while longer.

When Namor came from the waters that day, dripping wet and positively eye-catching, her decision was made.

She was spending too much time in his company. And the more she did the more liberties she allowed him to take. He had closed the distance between them completely over the month and half that he’d spent daily in her company. She found herself wanting things from him she shouldn’t want from a person who was just a friend. And she knew, even though he wished her to be well, that there might be more he’d take from her if she gave it.

That was something she wasn’t ready for. Not really.

It’d be a glorious distraction from what was going on in their lives, but it would only add so much more to an already heavy situation.

So when he pulled her to her feet instead of sitting next to her, she knew this would have to be the last day she spent here. He walked her to the shore, his large hand almost completely encapsulating her slender one and sending sparks of warmth all the way up her arm.

“Here,” he stopped as soon as their feet touched the warm water. “Would you like to meet someone?”

She immediately looked at him, “Someone from Talokan?”

She looked to where he pointed over the ocean, only to see one large fin come from under the water and make quite the splash when it went back under, “Is that a blue whale?”

“Incantu,” he said. “She swam most of this way with me.”

“How can I meet her?” She was gripping his hand just as tightly as he was holding hers, the excitement running through her was such a nice feeling after nearly drowning in despair.

“Want to go for a swim?” He asked, pulling her deeper into the water before she could say yes. The smile she wore so brightly on her face was enough for him to know exactly what she wanted even though her shirt and shorts were not the appropriate attire.

“Hold onto my shoulders,” he told her once the water became deep enough. “I will take us there.”

She did as he instructed, gripping the firm muscles that were his shoulders and relishing at how warm and soft his skin was. Before she knew it, they were speeding off into deep waters towards a Blue Whale—a majestic creature she never thought she’d actually meet.

As soon as they got close enough, he brought her hand directly to the thick skin of the creature. She was filled with an eagerness as she rubbed her hand over the wet flesh. He had one of his hands pressed onto her back while he was saying some things to the whale in his native tongue, “Incantu, this is Shuri, the great Black Panther.”

She laughed lightly at his introduction of her and startled when the whale made a loud noise, almost as if in greeting. She kept looking over at Namor, wondering what he could be thinking, “The first time I interacted with a blue whale was when I was first taken to Talokan. It was amazing then, but I was far too scared to really appreciate it.”

“Yes,” he nodded. “It was Incantu here that carried you to our home with Attuma and Namora.”

Her eyes widened, “Seriously?” She looked at the sheer largeness of the whale she was floating next to. “Does she remember me?”

“She does,” he smiled. “Come, she must leave now.”

He pulled her close to him, holding her up in the water as Incantu started to swim down deeper into the ocean. His grip was sure and firm around her waist. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but with him that close, she found she couldn’t think of much else.

“Thank you for letting me meet her,” she said to him. “It is an honor really.”

“Anytime,” his voice was like a whisper so close to her ear. She knew if she turned to face him exactly what she would see and when she did turn it still startled her just how close her face was to his. It didn’t help that she was instantly captured in his dark, sparkling eyes.

This was why she had to leave this place and never return. Whatever had started between them when she first visited Talokan had been stamped down by his unwillingness to listen to reason. But now that time had passed and she found herself back in his company, her rage settled. The wall of protection she built was melting as if it were only made of ice and the man holding her now was the sun.

He leaned towards her, just enough to press the flat of his forehead and nose to hers. Every inch of his skin that was touching her was warm with his adorned jewelry being a cooling contrast.

It was intimate. And it felt—necessary. Like a completion to all they had been through, all they had put each other through.

When she opened her eyes again, she felt bold, stronger than she did previously. As if the man in front of her was only that. A man.

A man she wanted a lot of things from.

Who she currently wanted to feel more from.

Slowly, she tilted her head, sliding her forehead to the side until her cheek dragged against the soft hair of his face. He sighed and she could feel his breath fan against her ear and jaw. It tickled, it felt good, it made her hold him tighter.

Just a sigh from him made her feel powerful in his arms.

She ran her hands up from his strong shoulders, against the back of his neck where the nape of his feather light hair started and squeezed. The pressure elicited another sound from his mouth, a sound of pleasure, she was sure, because who didn’t like their heads massaged? She kept the pressure firm and rhythmic as she made her way up his scalp. He buried his face in her neck, where she felt his mouth beginning to gently press into the sensitive skin there. His lips traced up the tattoo she had along her neck that ended behind the fold of her ear. All of this was new, and elicited sensations she’d never thought to imagine let alone actually experience. The warm waves lapped at them as they floated in each other’s arms, tentatively exploring one another.

It sent electric shocks up her spine when she felt his teeth pinch the flesh of her ear with the lightest amount of pressure possible. But that was what she needed to be jolted out of her reverie. She gripped the length of his hair tight between her fingers, and with her power, she tugged his head back enough for him to arch into her. Her eyes were as intense as his while he looked down his nose at her, completely suspended in her grip. She could see it wasn’t because she was stronger, no, that wasn’t it at all. It was only because he allowed it. There was a glint in his eyes that told her she could venture as far to say he might have even liked it.

Slowly, she loosened her grip after staring in his eyes for an intense second. He lowered his head the looser her grip became. His own hands that were firm around her waist stayed steady, fingers flexing into her back and his thumb rubbing circles into the taunt flesh of her abdomen.

“There is a line somewhere between us, Namor,” Shuri finally whispered to him. “And I don’t think it should be crossed. Not now.”

He didn’t say anything at first, instead he ran his hands up her sides and then back down to her slender hips, causing her to shiver in his hold, “Whatever you say, Panther.”

She could tell from his tone of voice and squint of his eyes that he would have preferred to push the issue, but out of respect he did not.

“Come,” he finally released her to grab onto her hands. “Allow me to take you back to land.”

She did, holding onto him as he swam through the warm waves.

There were plenty of thoughts running through her mind about her position in life after everything. And she would be remiss to not consider just where Namor fit in amongst that position. The sun moved along in the sky, denoting the passing of time. And just like the sun, her relationship with Namor rose and fell, but it never failed to rise again. He wasn’t just some foreign King of a magnificent and powerful nation that she only had to see for political reasons. It was apparent that they could at least become friends if they haven’t already over the course of sitting with their emotions for nearly two months.

But there was so much more that could develop. It was innate, the relationship they could have. But that was between them and only them.

Right now, it was not something Shuri could seriously pursue.

As he helped her out of the water and back onto the warm sand, she tugged at him a little so she’d have his attention, “I won’t be here tomorrow. I think it’s time.”

The sparkle in his eyes dimmed some, but it was still there, lingering, “When will I see you again?”

She looked down with a shrug, “I don’t know. But I imagine not too much time will pass between now and then.”

“I hope not,” he said honestly with a playful glint in his eyes.

She looked up at him, a small smile on her lips despite herself, “For now, it’s goodbye.”

He nodded, letting go of her hand and backing up into the water. She watched him go, amazed that so little time had passed since they met, but so much had happened and developed between them.

She wished she had her family to share these new feelings with. For the first time, there was a man scratching for entrance to her heart that wasn’t her baba or brother. But she didn’t have them, and for the first time, she accepted that. She would never be the same as she once was. But she lived on, and with her, the story continued.

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