Author's Note: Good morning starshine, The Earth says hello! 3 #CookiesIfYouSeeWhatIDidThere
How are you in this fine day? I hope you're all doing well. Shall we begin?
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This chapter is for my spanish sistah calabaza-azul. Go check her story with the hunk of Erik :3 (es genial porque podemos hablar en español y en teoria no nos van a entender (?) ok no. Love ya' gurlllll
Without further delay, here's the chapter!
Chapter II. Numinous
Numinous: /ˈnjuːmɪnəs/
Adjective. English word.
Describing an experience that makes you fearful yet fascinated, awed yet attracted-
the powerful, personal feeling of being overwhelmed and inspired.
Sarah followed the servants silently; too awed with the sight surrounding her. The palace was beautiful in a foreign way. Definitely not the Disney castle that everyone would expect, but beautiful anyways. It had a modern design, with tall ceilings and huge arcades crossing each other, making some kind of pattern. Everything was golden; it looked like gold but Sarah was sure that it was some other type of metal, one that she had never seen before.
Waterfalls and tall buildings could be seen through the huge windows of the royal palace and for a moment Sarah had trouble breathing. The contrast of the futuristic architecture against the green fields... it was from another world. 'How can this place even exist?' She asked herself.
Soon enough she was all alone, looking at her bedroom's door. She didn't want to enter; she didn't want to unpack. Because if she did it then all was going to become real, and she didn't want that, not even a bit.
When she finally entered the room, she had to control herself for not squeal. The bedroom was big enough to host a family; in fact it was twice her dorm apartment. Exploring, Sarah was greeted with a huge canopy bed and a beautiful red sofa. There were nightstands at each sides of the bed and a big bookcase that covered the whole wall. Also, the room had it's own private bathroom and a closet big enough to fit a several boutiques's clothes.
Sarah frown. This was wrong. She couldn't let herself enjoy the situation, no matter how awesome the place was. She needed to remind herself that this was not a vacation, this was almost a kidnapping. Well, sort of.
Absently she started walking to the bed; they had left a Wakandan traditional outfit laying on it. It was beautiful, she was going to give them that. The silky fabric looked soft and smooth, the colourfull patterns making it look primaveral and youthful. She was so not going to wear that. In her mind, it was giving up the only part that she had left: her outfit. It was giving in and she was definitely not one to do that.
With a huff, she positioned herself on the sofa and waited for someone to come and pick her up. By the time someone knocked on the door, Sarah was almost sleep.
Jumping from her spot she almost ran to the door; she wanted to end this as soon as possible. When she openned the door, a young african girl was smiling at her.
"Are you ready Miss Wilson?" she asked kindly.
"Yes." was Sarah's reply before closing the door. Why was everyone so nice? They had almost kidnapped her. The couldn't be this nice; it didn't fit.
Quickly they walked through a serie of corridors and end up in some sort of meeting room. She entered, almost crashing with her brother.
"SarBear." said Sam smiling. Sarah didn't return the gesture and that made Sam cringe, hurted.
"Don't call me that mister, you have a lot of explaining to do." she demanded, still mad. The other people in the room were staring awkwardly; they didn't want to interfere with the bickering siblings but they also didn't want to things to escalate.
"Why don't we start?" offered Steve, putting a hand on San's shoulder and giving him a sympathetic smile.
"Finally someone says something smart. And here I was thinking that you were only a pretty boy." everyone in the room rolled their eyes except Steve, who was blushing like crazy and was having a hard time coping with being called "a pretty boy".
"Where do I start?" asked himself Sam with a sigh. "Okay, first of all, I need you to promise me that you will listen until the end and you will not interrupt to give a snarky comment."
"I promise you nothing." she said.
"Sarah, don't make me force you. I will use it if I have to." threatened Sam.
"Fine." she gave up, folding her arms like a scolded child. 'I can't believe he was going to use my middle name. Geez, there's no need to get nasty, I am the victim here bro.' thought the girl.
"Good." smiled her brother, glad to see that she was still a little kid after all. "Okay, so everything began when.."
And that's how it started. Two hours had passed since Sam had begun to explained what happened and she already had a headache. In fact, she was feeling just like the first time someone explained to her inheritance in an object-oriented programming such as C++. At that time, she had felt like her brain exploted, just like right now.
".. and basically, that's what happened." finished Sam. Boy, he was tired!
"Okay, so, let me see if I got this straight." Sarah frowned and met everyone's eyes "Tony genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist-Stark went nuts and thought that the Avengers needed to be controlled. So he asked you to sign some contract to be used when called." everyone nodded. "Some of you were about to sign when someone dropped a bomb, killing a lot of people and reafirming the idea of you being dangerous." at the mention of the Sokovia Accords, T'challa closed his eyes. Many months had passed since his father's death but he still missed the late king. "This person technically was a serial winter-Jon-Snow-killer that looked like America's Sweetheart's friend." Scott laugh at the sight of an red embarrased Captain America. "Steve and Bucky were best friends." Sarah continued pointing to the blonde. "He was supposed to be dead but instead he was experimented on and become a brain-washed-serial-killer. The avengers splited in two and that's when a civil war broke off. Both teams began to reclute people and that's how you all got together. On your team were Hawkeye, who is kinda like a modern legolas; Wanda, who has weird powers and is kinda..."
"Goth? Yep." offered Scott, wich earned him a smack on the back of the head. Wanda smiled innocently at the man.
"Scott, who has a weird fetiche with ants; and lastly my brother Sam who's a little birdie boy." Sam rolled his eyes but didin't say a thing. "You fought but only Bucky and Steve got out. The rest of you went imprisoned in a ultra segure jail thingy. Later Tony showed up saying that he didn't think that they woult put you on prison, wich honestly I think is pretty stupid because I don't know how you can not see that coming."
"Us either. Go on." said Sam gritting his teeth. He was still salty as fuck about the matter.
"Tony wented to help Bucky and Steve but discovered that winter-boy killed his parents so things got nasty again. Finally Stark coudln't move so you left him there, not friends anymore; while the rest of youl were still in prison."
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Oh, yes. After that Steve freed y'all and asked refuge here in Wakanda. T'challa was in Tony's team but realized that it was wrong so he agreed. Also he's a King and a kitten at the same time." the king huffed in annoyance. He was a king and a warrior, not exactly someone comparable to a common house pet.
"I'm a panther."
"You get my drift." said Sarah smiling at the king. He still owned her so the least that she could do was make fun of him for a little bit longer. T'challa just rolled his eyes and started to play with his phone. "Anyway, Bucky didn't trust himself so he asked you to freeze him until you can break whatever that's in his brain." the girl couldn't believe how much of a trouble was her brother's life. It was insane. "That's it?"
"Yeah. Pretty much it". Sam smiled while the others nodded.
"What I still don't get is how you two know each other." that was what really mattered to her. She wanted to kill Steve Rogers for dragging her only living relative into this madness. She had shedded more than enough tears while Sam served in Afghanistan and she didn't want to go trough that again; she couldn't.
"Mmm... we used to run together. Something like that." said Steve awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"More like he used to annoy me to death!" Sam laughed along with the blonde, remembering how normal and rutinary their lifes were not so long ago.
Sarah smiled but it didn't reach her eyes, and Sam noticed this, so he took her small hands in his larger ones and began to stroke them; just like when she was a little girl and was upset. Just like when Jerrika Mallory stole her only doll or when Rodney Sidibe told the whole school that she had cooties. The familiarity of the gesture made Sarah wanting to cry but right now she was a grown woman, and she coudln't let her emotions take the best of her; not in public anyways.
Suddenly the room seemed too small and too crowded. The whole situation was starting to sink in and it overwhelmed her. She was an engineer so she had been taught to think logically, and the logical part of her brain was starting to realize the true extent of the problem; the real danger that they were facing now, the possibility of someone coming after them, killing innocent people along the way. Everything was so messed up and she was beggining to suffocate; she was not trained to handle this kind of things.
Just when she was about to go out for some air the door opened revealing a beautiful and confident woman walking like she owned the place; and in fact, she did.
"Now that the boring part it's over, let's get some fun" said Shuri, grabbing Sarah hand and dragging her. Of course Shuri noted Sara's glassy eyes, but she decided to act as if nothing had happened. Sometimes playing dumb was the safest option or else, she was going to go down the guilty road, and that was something that the princess didn't want to do. She hated feeling guilty and seeing the hopeless look on Sarah's face made her want to crawl under a rock and never come out. 'Argh! Let's give a big warm welcome to the guilt' she thought bitterly.
"Shuri I think Sarah needs a break." the remark on her name made Shuri scoff. Sam was gritting his teeth and was probably beggining to regret the decision of bringing his sister to Wakanda. He had also noted the look on Sarah's eyes. For God's Sake, it was his baby girl! He practically raised her.
"That's why I'm taking her to the lab." insisted the princess with a 'duh' tone."We are science girls, we find confort in little mundane things like computers and projects and nerd stuff that you people don't get."
"Sister, I believe that you need to let her b-" T'challa was interrupted by Sarah's voice.
"It's okay. Don't worry about me. I'm a big girl." the girl said smiling. Of course she was trying to prove it to herself more than to the others but, whatever. 'The sooner this is over, the better' she thought. "Let's go."
Soon enough both girls left the room; Shuri talking exitedly about some new tech toy and Sarah silently walking beside her.
Sam was worried about his sister. Trough his eyes, Sarah was just a kid. A very smart and brave one, but still a kid. And he coudln't stop from wondering if he had made the right choice by bringing her into this mess.
"I give you my word: no harm will come to her while she is here." T'challa put a hand on Sam's shoulder. He was a big brother too, and he could imagine what was going trough Sam's mind. If their roles were exchanged; if they would be talking about Shuri... he didn't know what he would do. Being responsible for a country was one thing; his little sister, was other.
"I'm not worried about that." said Sam, sighing."I'm just wondering if it's not me who caused the greatest harm."
Sam had always looked out for Sarah. They had become orphans when she was barely eight years old. He was away from home at the time, when suddenly the phone rang informing him that now he was the legal guardian of his little sister. Of course he wouldn't have wanted it any other way but it was a shock, for both of them; at the time Sam had not been much younger than Sarah was now. He had had to take a broken and scared child being a child himself.
Sam had always protected Sarah, but now it felt like he couldn't do that anymore. In fact, he was the one harming her. It broke his heart.
As both girls walked trough the corridors, Shuri began to feel a little unnerved. Silent walks weren't her thing, not at all.
At first she had tried to make conversation, but Sarah wasn't paying her attention so soon Shuri got bored. And now she was having trouble concealing her feelings and her thoughts. Why was Sarah making it so hard? Shuri couldn't undestand it. It was really not that bad. Well, unless you were forced againt your will to come here, out of the blue, if a private jet full of scary warriors. 'Yeah... not that bad at all, huh?' she thought sarcastic, releasing a sigh.
When both girls reached the lab's door, Shuri made up her mind. 'This better be worth it!' huffed in her mind the princess.
"Okay, let's cut the crap." said Shuri serious. Sarah couldn't help but to halt a little. She wasn't really paying attention to what the bubbly girl beside her was saying so she had no clue of what was happenning.
"I'm sorry?" she frowned confused.
"Look I know that you are not happy okay?" Sarah had not known the princess for long but it never occurred to her that the girl could be serious, like, at all. "I know you're angry and away from your home. I know that you are scared, because I am too." Shuri had never admited this out loud, not even to his brother. With a sigh, she continued. "And most important I know that you are mad at Sam, but he was just doing what thought it was best for you, he cares for you; and I know that you don't like my brother, because you blame him, but he really doesn't has anything to do with it, if you just could get to know him you will see that he is the greatest man on earth." at that Sarah frown. Get to know him better? Yeah right. He was a king, he sure didn't have time for silly thing like making friends right?. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is... It's not their fault so please stop taking it out on them; they are all having a hard enough time. And if you want to blame someone, blame me." Shuri was burying herself, she knew it, but this was the right thing. 'Good way of becoming best friends' she thought ironically. "I was the one that asked T'challa and Sam to bring you here." the princess was starting to feel uncomfortable. She couldn't look Sarah in the eyes, so she just waited for the girl to speak.
"Why?" asked Sarah, confused.
"Because I thought that you could help me with breaking into the Soldier's mind and Sam was worried about you and..." now she was embarrassed. "And because I thought that It would be nice to have another female fellow science genius. And maybe we could be friends. Being the princess, I don't really have many friends you know? I just... I don't know, I just thought it would be nice to have you here. I'm sorry."
Sarah cringe. Oh boy she knew. She didn't have friends either. The MIT was a really nice place to study but not so much to make friends. Everyone was so competitive and lonely. Of course she understood what Shuri was feeling. She had felt it too, many times. Starting college with thirteen years old had been difficult. She was just a kid and people reminded it to her all the time. And also, she was a girl. For some reason, society made it look like science was just for men so as you could guess, there wasn't many girls in her classes.
She really wanted to stay mad but, she couldn't. She was being childish and selfish. She was giving everybody a hard time and at the end, it didn't help anyone, not even her. Things were like they were and she couldn't change it no matter how much she pouted and sulked. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that certain things will not change and that life is that way. So right now she needed to put on her big girl pants and cope with the situation, even if it was a real crazy situation. She needed to apologize to the King and to her brother.
Sighing, Sarah smile at Shuri. Maybe she could start in the right path by giving a chance to the energetic girl in front of her.
"I forgive you." she said. Shuri looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Don't look at me like that! I forgive you. I may not agree with your ways but I get why you did things. Kinda." the hopeful look on Shuri's eyes made Sarah wanted to laugh. 'This girl is such a big baby' she thought. "But, don't expect me to act as if nothing happened."
"Of course." Shuri was so happy that you could see her literally bouncing.
"I forgave you but that doesn't mean that I will forget okay?" the girl's braids bounced as she nodded. "Good. I think we can still be friends. If you promise to be honest and respect my wishes."
"Of course! I swear. Pinky promise." said Shuri extending her figer to seal the deal. "Think of it as a vacation! Wakanda it's a really beautiful place, you will love it here."
"Well, while I'm here why don't make the most out of it, so how about you show me that big lab of yours?" Sarah asked sheepishly. Instantly, a thousand watt smile creep it's way onto the princess face and she had to support herself on the walls to avoid falling. Shuri was literally dragging her into the huge doors on her lab. 'Boy this gonna be so fun!' thought Sarah almost as equally excited as the other girl, taking in the sight in front of her.
Several Hours Later
By the time Sarah left the lab, it was already afternoon. The girl couldn't believe how fast time has passed and how much fun she had had. Shuri was such a clever girl! Her ideas were brilliant and she was sure that the girl could change the technologhy industry for good.
Sarah was so excited and engrossed in the projects that she completely forgot to visit her brother so now she was walking trough the large corridors, looking for someone to tell her where was he. Sadly, there was no one around so she just kept walking until she got to a beautiful crystal door. Well, not only a door, more like a huge crystal wall.
Even though, what caught Sarah's attention wasn't the wall itself but the beautiful and magical view that ocurred behind it. The royal gardens were beautiful, breathtaking even. Full of green fields and huge waterfalls. You could see trees full of life and even some statues shaped as panthers. 'Boy I wonder why' she thought sarcastic. Colourful flowers that she had never seen before made african tribal designs on the grass and little ponds with different fishes made it look like a dream land. It was so fresh and alive. You could literally feel the earth talking; feel how every rock and tree and creature had a life and a spirit of their own. And most important you could feel in your veins how all were connected to each other; it was magical.
Not even thinking twice if she was allowed, Sarah opened the door and started to descend the stairs. When she reached the end, the grass was just a meter away so she looked around checking that no one else was watching her. Carefully she slipped off her sneakers and began to walk toward the field. Tiny blades of grass tickle her barefoot feets as the sun started to set in the horizon, between the grand great mountains of Wakanda. It was such a imposing and magnificent sight that Sarah couldn't help herself from closing her eyes and opening her arms, enjoying as the last rays of sun bathed and warmed her skin, a tiny smile on her face.
What Sarah didn't know it was that someone was watching her, fascinated with the sight of the girl under the last moments of light. He was mesmerized by it.
T'challa was just passing by the gardens when he saw her and for some reason he didn't know, he just knew he had to stay. It was calling him, as crazy as that may sound. Silently he walked towards her, not wanting to disturb the blissed look on her face. The few times he had met the girl, she was either angry or annoyed so watching her looking this peaceful warmed a spot in his heart that he didn't even knew he had.
She was definitely something. The King couldn't put his finger on what it was but he could tell that she was an unique kind, for sure. Maybe it was the warrior within him or maybe it was the fact that he was royalty and no one ever talk back to him, but he liked Sarah's attitude. She was fierce and fiery, powerful in her own way; not like the Dora Miljae but strong nonetheless.
A few minutes had passed and T'challa decided that it was time to start a conversation. Maybe this time they could really talk, like civilized people instead of her doing all the talk and mostly snarky remarks. Putting a gentle smile on his face, he took a deep breath to calm his sudden nervs. 'A king nervous of talking to a girl.' he thought embarrassed of himself.
"I take that you found the gardens." said the King sheepishly. Sarah turned around so fast that it wouldn't be a surprise if she had had whiplash. Startled, she looked at T'challa with eyes as big as dishes and a blush making it's way onto her cheeks.
"I-I'm sorry." she stuttered, feeling the heat in her cheeks. He had caught her with her guard down and it made her feel really vulnerable; plus, she had no shoes on and probably she still had few stains of dirt from the lab. He on the other hand, was as flawless as always.
Quickly, Sarah began to apologize again but the King raised a hand, stopping her.
"It's okay." he had a crooked smile and for some reason it made him resemble a kid. "It would be a shame to lose this scene. But now that you are here, what do yo think?" he was really interested in hearing her opinion.
"It's so... exotic and beautiful." she said, not being able to not admire the sight in front of her, not minding T'challa standing next to her.
"Indeed it is." he said, looking over the horizon too and wearing a kind smile on his face. Talking about his country made him proud and filled his heart with an incomparable sense of belonging.
A couple of silent minutes passed until Sarah spoke again. Now was the time to do the things right.
"I'm sorry." said Sarah, finally gathering the courage to let the words out of her mouth. T'challa looked at her, still smiling.
"I already told you that it's ok-"
"No. Not about this. I mean... about how I acted." looking down, the girl sighed. "My behaviour was not acceptable. I treated you bad and I'm sorry. You, all of your people were nothing but kind to me and yet I screamed at you guys and I disrespected you in many ways. Andd for that I am so sorry." putting a hand on her shoulder, T'challa looked at her with nothing but understanding and kindness in his warm brown eyes, a smile never lefting his face.
"I understand, Sarah." it was the first time that he had said her name with that deep and smooth voice of his. T'challa was always too formal, too royal-ly, calling her 'Miss Wilson'. Strangely enough, she liked how her name sounded in his thick accented voice. It made her blush. "I may have been a little harsh in the way I brought you. Although at that moment I thought it was the best now I realize that it was indeed wrong. I can only imagine how you felt and I did not wonder why you acted the way you did. I am truly and terrible sorry Sarah." the girl nodded smiling: T'challa was just so well behaved. "Now, seeing as both of us failed I offer you a truce: to act as if nothing had ever happened; this all shall be forgotten."
"So... like we just met?" she asked taken aback by T'challa's offer. The king nodded smiling. Soon enough, an idea appeared in Sarah's head. "Fine. I'm Sarah and I'm 23 years old. I'm an engineer but I'm here on vacation." she stretched her hand, expecting him to shake it with his own. For a moment, T'challa was shocked by her playful demeanor, it was a new and unexpected side of her; anyways, the shock was quickly replaced.
"Pleasure to meet you Sarah." he said shaking hands, a big grin on his face. "I'm T'challa, I'm 26 years old. I'm a King and, well, I'm currently working." that made the girl laugh and T'challa decided that the sound suited her. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention: the sun had finally set, giving Wakanda an orangish colour and Sarah's skin a cinnamon glow. The king had to restrain himself from extending his arm, to see if her skin was as smooth as it looked under the last rays of sun.
"You know." began Sarah, looking over the beautiful horizon of Wakanda. "For being a tiny third world country in the middle of nowhere... she sure is beautiful."
"Yes. Yes she is" reply T'challa, not talking about his country at all.
Sarah could feel the man's stare. How could she not? His eyes were so deep and intense, just like he could see right trough her soul. It gave her goosebumps; it made the hair in the back of her head stand. He was so passionate and yet so calm. People often said that 'the eyes are the doors of the soul'. Well, if that was true T'challa didn't have doors, he had goddamn gates. 'And I'm talking about the big ones.' she added in her mind.
Being the silly little girl she was, Sarah was starting to feel uncomfortable. She could just take so much staring before the shyness hit her again; so acting as a very mature woman she decided that it was time for her to leave, before she made a complete fool out of herself.
"I-I should probably get going. I have to- uh - have to.." she sluttered. 'What did I have to do?'. "Oh right! I have to find Sammy."
"Yes." he answered, slightly... disappointed?. "I should probably go too."
"So... I guess I'll see you later." Sarah put on her sneakers awkwardly and waved, not sure of how to leave.
"Yes, I guess so." T'challa smile sadly, a pull in his heart bothering him as he watched her walk away.
'None sense.' he thought before also starting to move, not without sending a last glance in the girl direction, her shape now blurred by the distance.
So that was it darlings! I hope you like it :3
ps: I'm gonna edit this later. Just in case of some error but... right now i don't feel like it. YES, i know i said the same about the last chapter and i still haven't done it but... i'll do it, eventually :B
Replying Reviews:
LapisLazuliRose: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad that you liked how it started. Hope that you stick for the ride :D
calabaza-azul: YAAAAAZ BEIBI GURLLLLLL. Obvio, no problem, nos hablamos en español asi bien top secret jajaja Ay me encanta que te encante :3 Ay es que si, T'challa es un amor! Donde estan los hombres asi? Encima vivo mirando entrevistas de Chadwick y SUFRO PORQUE ES PERFECTO EL MALDITO HIJO DE SU MAMI! Me alegro que te haya gustado la potter-part. No podia dejarlo pasar, es que ay, potterhead forevah! Ayyy gracias, no sabes lo lindo ue es leerte. Al principio estaba re asustada viste? Porque parece que no pero la gente es muy cruel a veces. La otra vez lei un fic en no se que fandom y eran re malos, tipo uno le ponia "le das un nuevo significado a la palabra sin talento" y tipo, CUAL ES LA NECESIDAD? Me parece re innecesario. Si me ponian eso lloro la vida y no vuelvo a escribir algo jamas. Asi que ver que les gusta, no se, me saca un poco el miedito. JURO que me re dolio separarlos. Pero era necesario. Bah, en realidad no pero suframos un poquito porque why not? xDD me siento voldemort pero bueno, vamoh a sufrih! Buh, hablando de capitulos me tengo que pasar por el tuyo, porQUE NECESITO MAS, NECESITO QUE ME PASES EL WORD ASI ME SPOILEO LA VIDA ENTENDES? Necesito un Erik papito lindo en mi vida y aparentemente leer tu fic es lo mas cerca que voy a estar de uno. Bueno, tambien necesito un T'challa. Y un Bucky... bah, los necesito a todos #YOLO jajaja bueno, ahora me paso por tu fic :3 y me alegra que los personajes esten on char porque ES TAN DIFICIL. Tipo tengo que pensar como ellos (?) y ser una con ellos y ahhh, muy dificil. But anyways, laaaav uuu baby gurl, nos leemos al rato :3
LadyDeathstroke: Thank you for reviewing! Hahaha i'm glad that you laughed. Fun thing: when i fangirl with my mom about black panther she always says wakawaka instead of wakanda. And she starts to sing that dreadful shakira's song and is just so bizarre xD perfect? omg omg omg you're gonna make me blush hahaha thank you sweetie! Hope to see you around
Musicluver246: Thank you for reviewing! I'm happy that you liked it. Hope this chapter lives up to expectations hahaha ps: OMG GODRIC MY BAEEEEEE. I saw your pic and i screamed like a madgirl. Love him too, he will always be in our hearts :3
#WakandaForever