Let Me Help You

Shuri x Fem!reader

Summary: After the queenmother’s death, you try your best to stand by Shuri’s side

Warnings: Angst, mentions of death, spoilers

Author’s Note: I’m so sorry, y’all. I needed to get this one out🥺

Taglist: @tchallasbabymama @tgigoldie @muse-of-mbaku @chaneajoyyy @ghostfacekill-monger @soufcakmistress @notdsg

Translations: my love (sthandwa), stop it sister (yiyeke usisi), please (ndiyacela)

One week. That’s all the time he had given us. It wouldn’t be enough. It couldn’t. Time had not been kind to your people. After the king’s sudden passing, the light of the Golden City had dimmed. Markets that once gathered happy faces and crowds of voices went silent. Tragedy had marked those around you. And just as a new sense of normal moved through the city, so did the water.

‘Mourn your losses. Bury your dead'. The mutant practically gloated as he hovered over the queenmother’s lifeless body. A lust for blood and violence gleamed in his eye. The love of your life’s cries reverberated through the shattered throne room. Your body quaked with sobs, falling to your knees in and begging Bast to breathe life back into Ramonda’s body. Shuri hadn’t had the chance to open her heart to the journey of healing. And now, you feared, she never will.

The man had taken so much in so little time. The elder’s sense of security, the safety of your people, your queen’s life, and Shuri’s sense of being. Homes flooded with water streaked with blood from the attacks. Motherless children cried out in despair; in the blink of an eye, the feathered serpent had brought your country to her knees. How any of this could happen to Wakanda was lost on you. Was Bast punishing her people because of our ancestor's mistakes?

Days had passed and the queen was laid to rest. The cities had evacuated to Jabariland and though you were ordered to join them, you couldn’t just leave your love behind. She was your home. This shell of a person was shielding what was left of themselves and you needed to be by her side; if not to aid her healing then to stop her from losing herself in vengeance.

You walked through the near-empty palace toward Shuri’s lab. As your steps echoed in the hall, your heartbeat thundered in your ears. After the queenmother’s death, Shuri stopped sleeping in your quarters. You weren’t sure if she was sleeping at all. In the times you attempted to tend to her, your affection wasn’t reciprocated. Gone were the days of stolen moments between you her hands tangled in your thick coils. You missed her touch and the warmth of her kiss. But you mostly missed her smile. And though her heart was closed to your comfort, you would not stop trying to get through to her.

“Y/n, you’re still here?” Riri, the scientist looked around nervously.

“Where is she?” You moved past her, your eyes searching for Shuri. Riri looked down, fiddling with her hands.

“She’s with Nakia. You were supposed to leave with others, it’s not safe here.”

A door opened and Shuri waltzed in, Nakia in tow.

“Bast, what are you doing here? You were supposed to leave this morning,” your wife said as she walked past you, preoccupied with a screen on her kimoyo beads.

“Shuri, I’m staying with you. I want help-“

“Help with what? What could you possibly do to help?” She didn’t even look at you as she questioned your presence.

“Whatever I can. I’m not leaving you like this,” you smoothed your hand over hers and she snatched it away.

“You’re not trained for this. Griot, have Aneka accompany y/n on the next transport to Jabariland.”

You moved in closer to her and whispered.

“Please don’t close me out, sthandwa. I don’t want to lose you to this war.” This made her look at you. Her eyes were darkened with rage and she puffed out her chest as she enclosed the space between. The few inches of height she had on you that were once comforting turned intimidating.

“And what about what I’ve lost? I am the last of my lineage and have nothing left to give! Unless you can go out there and bring me back Namor’s head, you are of no use to me right now,” Shuri angrily lamented.

“Yiyeke usisi, we know you are upset but do not speak to her like this—“

“Shut up, Nakia!”

Your eyes overflowed with tears as you watched her tear everyone down. Her words stung you as she threw them thoughtlessly. Seeing her like this pained you.

“Ndiyacela,” you mumbled through cries.

“Your tears are not needed. I have ordered you to evacuate to Jabariland and I will not tell you again! Get your things.” Shuri walked away from you and continued to work on her screen.

“Shuri, please! I don’t want to lose you, you could be killed,” you pleaded, clasping your hands as tears disrupted your vision.

“Nakia, take her to the landing pad. Right now,” Shuri demanded, blinking the tears out of her eyes as Nakia practically dragged you away.