T'Challa found Eshe curled up with her head resting on her knees, sitting under the kitchen island's counter and staring out the window to the balcony and further, to the faint stars barely visible in the city sky. Seeing her sitting like that made him miss home. He didn't like being away from Wakanda for this long.
Slowly he settled next to his daughter and stared out at the night sky as well. Eshe was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Baba… Where will you go when you die?"
T'Challa was stunned by her sudden question, and turned to her sharply, bumping his head on the top of the counter. Eshe gave a little smile. "You are too big for this spot, Baba."
"Maybe," he groaned slightly and gave a little laugh. "But what brought on this question, little one?"
Eshe turned away, as if guilty, and bit her lip. "I was scared today. Alex said that… that because your jobs are so dangerous you could be gone at any minute. I never thought of that before today. But when he threw that car at you, I just…"
She trailed off and tears began to glisten in her eyes.
Opening his arms, T'Challa pulled his daughter into a hug. "Don't cry, little one. I promise to you that my priority is staying by your side."
"But you don't decide, Baba," Eshe mumbled tearfully into his chest.
T'Challa blinked. "No. I don't."
He let Eshe pull away from him so that he could study her deep, intelligent eyes. "You know, my Baba passed away not long before I met you."
Eshe blinked back at him.
"He… he passed away very suddenly. But I got to see him again, when I became king."
Eshe's eyes lit up a little. "You did?"
T'Challa looked past her thoughtfully, trying to pick his words carefully in his mind. "Yes. So I suppose I'd go to be with my Baba when I die. And you would see me again, but when I'm gone from this world, I'll still be watching over you."
Eshe nodded to herself, before looking back up at her father. Tears resurrected in her dark brown orbs. "But I don't want you to go."
T'Challa pulled her into a hug again. "I do not plan on leaving you any time soon, little one."
Hugging his adopted daughter, T'Challa stared out into the dark sky, thinking of his moment visiting the ancestral plane and seeing his father. He still remembered the dark blue sky, the violet lights and thousand shards of sharp white stars stretching across an endless, peaceful horizon. He still remembered his Baba's words. A man who has not prepared his children for his own death has failed as a father. He was not ready for his Baba to pass then, after having many years with him. Eshe had only spent two and a half years with T'Challa. And his father had not been actively fighting to protect the world against supervillains.
Staring out into the night sky, T'Challa sent a silent prayer. Please do not let me fail her, Baba. Please give me as much time as possible with her.
A/N: This tiny drabble takes characters from a fic I've never really gotten to writing (it's set before Infinity War, so I guess I just… didn't write it during the right time). I just felt like I should write something, as a sort of tribute. Rest in power, King T'Challa, Chadwick Boseman… I really can't believe he's gone, he was such a talented actor and from all the beautiful tributes I've seen&read, he was an amazing person too. My thoughts are with his family, and with all of you too.