Wakanda wasn't the wasteland Shuri expected to come home to. In fact, it was just the opposite. It was more fortified than before. More AI surveillance. More watch towers and posts. More gates and security. Yet, the people seemed to be at peace. Something that confused Shuri greatly after the ship had arrived and touched down.
On the runway, M'Baku, Okoye, Attuma and the Dora Milaje greeted her. The Dora Milaje quickly took her prisoner and escorted him away. Okoye nodded in greeting and fell into pace beside Shuri as they entered the familiar building that she grew up in.
"Princess Shuri. There is much to discuss." Okoye said.
Shuri looked at Attuma who was walking behind Okoye. Shuri walked and listened.
"First of all, we've taken causalities on each side. Some Talokanil have taken sides with Namor. Those are the ones that fought against us. Others…." She motioned to Attuma. "Took alliance with Attuma and Wakanda. They fought against Namor. They live here. Coexisting with us. They have land, freedoms. Anything any Wakandan would have. Over time, many defected from Namor during his hunt to find you. His numbers were slim but he still had numbers."
Okoye stopped. "I see you have brought him back in shackles. Brought him here along with your daughter. Does he know?" She asked.
"Yes. He does." Shuri answered. "Lets talk about where you will be keeping him."
Okoye nodded. "We have new prisons. Built to keep and hold the Talokanil. Something that wasn't necessary before."
Shuri agreed. "Take my daughter. Make her feel at home. I am going to go talk to him."
Okoye did the X and took her leave.
Shuri said she was going to go talk to him. Yet, that didn't happen right away. It didn't happen that day, that week or that month. It didn't happen for YEARS. YEARS! Not like he'd notice. The way he ages. Rather, how slowly he ages. What were years to him anyway?
The prison was more like an aquarium. Tanks reinforced with vibranium. Tanks where one could swim or stay above water if wanted. The underwater portion was the one that had the aquarium window. The facility were lined with these tanks. All empty. All empty except for one. The Talokanil that were held there who still ailed with Namor were released and banished until further notice.
Shuri walked down the long hallway alone until the reached the only tank that had an occupant. She turned her back to him and sat with her back against the reinforced glass. In the beginning, Namor would beg and say his apologies over and over again. Over and over again they would fall on deaf ears. Shuri would listen. Just listen. Then get up and leave without a word. Over and over again, that's how it was. Until one day.
"You kept the child." Namor said against the glass where he sat. He would sit besides her on the other side of the glass. His back towards hers, his back against the glass.
"Why wouldn't I?" She replied even though he didn't ask a question.
"But the screens. The things I saw." He added.
"She was a child born out of love. Conceived out of love. Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I want her? Why wouldn't I not want what WE had created? What our love had created?" Shuri spoke.
Namor didn't answer. Shuri continued.
"I was running calculations. Factoring in your DNA, your genetic make up. My genetic make up. The effects of the heart shaped herb. I thought of your mother. Her fear of what could possibly happen to you if she ingested the drink made from the vibranium enriched plant and soil. What happened to your people, her, and to you. I didn't want to risk anything happening to our child. I ran the calculations. I took the power of the Black Panther away so prevent any more risks."
Shuri tilted her head back against the glass and looked towards the ceiling. She smiled.
"And as a result, I had a beautiful baby girl with pointed ears and wings on her ankles. A beautiful baby girl."
There was silence for a while. Namor finally spoke.
"I didn't know. How could I know? I waited every night for you. I waited at the beach. I came looking for you. I couldn't find you." He whispered.
"You are what? 500 years old? More? Pregnancy, being a mother, seeing that rather, most likely isn't a new thing for you. But me. My brother gone. My mother , murdered by my lover. So she's gone. I don't know how to be a mother. I can create things in my lab. I can create wonderful things with technology and know how to use them. But a child? Me? Me when no longer had a family? It freaked me out. I was so lost in that. Planning. The future. The what ifs. The decision to even keep it. Running a kingdom suddenly, a land, a people. Where you, who knows how long you have been doing it. It overwhelmed me. It put a lot on my plate. You were the last thing I was thinking about. At the same time, you were the ONLY thing I was thinking about."
Sadness washed over her. "While I wasn't visiting you or the beach, I was doing other things. Moving the lands, setting up things for your people. Moving things around so that all of us could coexist together. I was even working on….." She stopped herself from revealing that one. "I just got lost in it. And when I realized I was late-"
"Late?" Namor questioned. He didn't know her meaning.
"When I missed my cycle… I was just thinking about a lot. It's not like I wasn't going to tell you. But then you just-"
"Ruined everything." Namor finished for her.
"That remains to be seen. She asks about you. Wonders who the man with the pointy ears was that she met that one time. How do I tell her? How do I tell her about the 'bad fish man' that kept her away from here and THERE? Now, she learns there are TWO worlds, two that she's been denied. Another world where people live under water and it has it's own sun? A world where people swim with fish and talk with them? A world like her favorite story? How do I tell her that you're the cause of that?"
Namor didn't answer.
"She's a teenager now. She wonders why she's still small. Why she doesn't look like how she feels mentally if that makes sense. She keeps saying it's some 'Claudia fucking bull shit' and for the life of me I have no idea what she's referring to. But you two age the same. You share the same mutations. There is a lot she can learn from you." Shuri paused.
"If she wishes to do so. Now that she is of age, we will tell her what happened. If she wishes to forgive you, so will I. But it's all up to her. Tomorrow, you will be granted an audience with the King. There, you can plead your case."
"Thank you." Namor replied. No other words were spoken. Shuri got up and left.
The next day, everyone was gathered in the throne room. In the center, sitting on the throne was the King of Wakanda, M'Baku. Next to him on one side was General Okoye and Attuma. Shuri and her daughter on the other. In addition, the Elders of the Merchant Tribe, Border Tribe, River Tribe, Jabari Tribe and Mining Tribe were all present. Around the room, the Dora Milaje were stationed.
The doors opened and Namor, bound by restraints via his wrists was led into the room by Dora Milaje at each of his sides. The Dora Milaje stopped him feet in front of King M'Baku and made him get on his knees.
"You may speak, Fish Man." M'Baku said from his throne with a dismissive and arrogant wave of his hand.
Namor looked around. He looked at all the faces staring at him, judging him. Many with visible distaste. Attuma's expression was neutral, just like Okoye's. Shuri's and her daughter, he couldn't read.
"I am Namor of Talokan. I come before you and the people of Wakanda to ask for forgiveness. To repent. For all of the regrettable and unforgivable things I have done." His eyes turn to Shuri and their daughter because that is who everything is more meant to vs M'Baku.
"I have done terrible things. I took away your mother. I waged war on your people. Due to my rage. Due to my recklessness and grief. None of it is an excuse. Because of my actions, my people have lost. Your people have lost. We lost so many on both sides because of my actions. And what I lost….." He looked towards his daughter.
"I wasn't there for her. I didn't get to see her born. I didn't get to hold her or hear her first cry. I didn't get to be there for her mother who had to do it all alone. I missed out on her life because of my actions. I am the 'Bad Fish Man.' The one that denied you here. Denied you Talokan. My own daughter, knowing nothing about me except of my crimes. My own daughter, hating me. And-"
He looked to Shuri.
"The one that I love, no longer looking at me with eyes that she once had. Eyes that loved me. Eyes that wanted me. Eyes that wanted to ally with me and join our people. Eyes that look at me as if she never met me. As if we never created….." He had to stop.
Namor didn't want to cry but tears did fall from his eyes. He stops for a moment then looks to M'Baku before continuing.
"I feel I have paid enough. I feel I have paid ten fold. I feel I have paid a million times over. Not having their love. My people now banished from here. The lives I've caused. The pain and agony I've caused. I wish I could take it back. I wish I could bring everyone back. I wish none of it happened. I wish….. that things were different. I know I can't undo anything. But…I will spend my lifetime making things right." Namor finished.
There were murmurs throughout the room. Elders discussing. Okoye discussing. Shuri and her daughter were the only ones quiet. M'Baku stood from the throne and walked towards Namor. He stopped in front of him. M'Baku then turned towards Shuri and her daughter.
"I will leave it up to THEM." He said and motioned towards them.
Shuri didn't move.
The daughter, in a dramatic display, rose above the ground by her flapping wings upon her ankles. The Elder's gasped collectively. It's as if she wanted to show, wanted everyone to know what she could do, what her 'mutations' were, whose child she was. She glided over to the man on his knees. The man who also had a winged foot, for the other was permanently damaged. The man who was like her. The man, who was her father.
She lifted his chin with her hand and turned his face side to side to look at him. She then place her fingers upon his pointed ears and gave them a pinch. She smiled at him.
"You have pointy ears like me. Momma said it's because I'm special. That means you're special too." She said.
They were the very same words she said when she first met him.
With that, she returned to her mother's side. No one said anything. Tense moments passed. No one still didn't say anything. Finally M'Baku, frustrated threw his hands into the air.
"OooooooooooooKaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy. What just happened?" He said looking around the room.
Shuri looked at Namor. Actually looked at him and smiled at him. Something that he hadn't seen in a very long time. Her eyes were warm. Warm. Not the cold gaze as if she were talking to some stranger, some prisoner. Some person she had no history with. Her gaze was warm and so was her daughter's. She leaned towards her daughter.
"Yatzil, remove your father's restraints."
Namor's eyes widened upon hearing her name.
CHAPTER END
A/N: Happy ending in store, I promise. One, I'm a huge sucker for extremely passionate make up sex and with everything that's happened between these two… She might die from it (not really). Or have a million more kids. I just want an excuse for earth shattering sexytime. After all, I had planned this damn story to be smut and it wrote itself.
I wanted to say 'Ixchel, remove his chains." I have no idea what to name her. Apparently there is no one Goddess of Love in the Mayan culture. As in she governs over many things. Some things, I don't feel ok naming a child after (sexuality). But I wanted a name that symbolized love, harmony, unity, all the things in which she was created. Yatzil, according to the internet and Mayan baby names means "loved one." I'm happy with that because that's exactly what she is. Other names I was leaning towards was 'Abi' which apparently means 'my fathers delight.' That she is too. Then I liked 'Taavi' which is a boy's name which means 'adored one.' All names to show, intentional that she loves them, wanted them, wasn't going to 'terminate' like dumb ass thought. My Namor is stupid. In the movie he went stupid because she wasn't going to burn the world with him. He was so damn in love already that he just went stupid. My Namor is stupid. He is so in love with her that he doesn't think. He's raw. He's emotional. He's a live wire.
To me he paid the price. He was denied his child for years. Knowing her existence and nothing. Living with that punishment. No it doesn't make up for lives lost. Namor, a child without love, having a child created out of love, learning of that and then having it taken away. I felt that punishment sufficed. But I'm glad that part is over because now I can get to the reconnecting.
