2002

"WHERE'S THE BABY?"

T'Challa sighed, rolling his eyes fondly, catching wind of the familiar voice of his oldest friend, his stomach lurching at the sound of her voice and his heart rate picking up. A boy of fifteen, his mother assured him that his feelings towards his friend were completely natural, though she wished his first reaction to his feelings wasn't to hide himself away from her for an entire week, nearly sending the poor girl into hysterics, thinking she had done something wrong.

"Shuri is sleeping," he called out, rolling off his bed and opening his door, just in time to see Zarina running down the hall, vaulting onto his bed, bouncing lightly.

He couldn't help but laugh, though it sounded choked, his chest constricting as he looked at her, unsure of what to do with his hands or his entire body in general, falling into his default, hands behind his back, standing up straight.

Zarina giggled at his posture, moving to lie on her side, propping her head up onto her hand, and T'Challa could only stare at her. Over the years, the two had grown very close, their lessons intertwining as Elewa tutored T'Challa on the fundamentals, as well as what it meant to be king and the various tools and knowledge needed. Zarina often sat in with him on request of both T'Challa and her father, as the young prince found his lessons on diplomacy awful and most often lost interest.

While Zarina's presence had helped when he was first learning, still at the ripe age of twelve, she now became even more of a distraction. Better at him at the subject she didn't need to learn, he at first felt some need for competition, but now he was more than happy to just watch her listen to her father and answer the questions when she thought T'Challa didn't know them, softly explaining to him.

Though he would never admit it, he often pretended not to be paying attention—though most of the time he wasn't—just so she could reach out and touch his arm or shoulder to bring him back to focus, her touch sending sparks shooting through his body.

He wasn't lovesick, he wasn't. He just enjoyed having her around all the time, and the thought of her being out of his life angered him more than anything else.

So maybe he was. But only a little. Though it was bad enough that he was jealous of his baby sister, seldom even one year old, for taking all of Zarina's attention and interest.

So maybe it was more than a little.

"How was your lesson with Okoye?" he asked, realizing that he had spent far too much time just staring at his friend, forcing himself to look away from her, his cheeks warming.

"It was awful," she declared, falling back onto his sheets and sprawling out, body aching as her muscles remembered the warrior training she had been wrangled into, gasping in delight when she caught sight of one of his kitten crawling towards her, "Hello...oh, were they being mean again?"

His stomach fluttered as he watched her play with his kittens. He had had to give many away, and others were sent to the sanctuary, as they had just been with him for rehabilitation, but some he was allowed to keep, mainly the ones he had named.

"She will have to leave soon," he reminded her softly, wishing he hadn't the moment she turned to look up at him, utterly mortified.

"No," she cried, hugging the kitten close to her chest, "She's wonderful and I love her." She looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes and there was no way he could ever say no to her.

"I can ask my father if we can keep her here," he relented, "But I make no promises."

Despite his words, Zarina cheered, hugging the kitten one last time before letting her go, watching and cooing as she walked back towards another kitten, immediately falling back into a tussle.

T'Challa moved to sit next to her, careful not to touch her, but wanting nothing more than to be next to her. She turned to smile at him, before turning back towards the kittens.

Zarina was careful never to say it, especially not in front of Okoye or her father, but she had noticed T'Challa's change as the years went on. He being her best and only friend for the longest time, he was all she knew, but even as more people came into her life, her care for him only seemed to grow, and no one could blame her for noticing how much better he had gotten in his warrior training, as well as how much easier it was for him to carry her around.

But he was a prince and she knew her place, so she kept her feelings to herself. While she never felt anything less than fully welcomed by everyone in the royal family and those connected, she was never sure she had a rightful place there, merely being the daughter of one of T'Challa's many tutors, though her father did hold the title of being one of the king's most trusted advisors.

"Did you see W'Kabi today?" she asked, thinking back to the boy from the Border Tribe who was challenging her place as T'Challa's best friend, trying and failing to keep her tone amicable.

"Yes, I did," T'Challa said, already recognizing the tone of voice she was using, "You know he adores you." He tried not to let his jealousy slip through his words as he spoke, thinking to his close friend who happened to be just a little too close to her.

She scoffed, shaking her head and turning away. "I don't understand why he constantly brings me flowers, it is not like I would ever betray Okoye."

She threw a hand over her mouth as she realized her mistake, eyes widening in pure terror. Okoye would have her head if she ever found out what she had said, and there was no doubt in Zarina's mind that the Dora Milaje-in-training would keep her word.

"What does that mean?" T'Challa asked, sitting up immediately, grabbing her hand before she could rush away, "As my best friend, you are obligated to tell me."

"No!" she cried, trying to break free, "I promised Okoye, I cannot betray her trust, she is like a sister to me."

T'Challa narrowed his eyes; Zarina wasn't the only one who felt jealous whenever another friend of theirs was mentioned. "So she is more important to you than I am?"

She scoffed, trying to pull away. "We are not going to do this, let me go."

"Answer the question," he commanded, pulling her close and back into the bed, "Tell me what you meant or W'Kabi will be my new best friend."

She tried to push away, the two immediately falling into a tussle similar to that of the kittens, T'Challa pinning her down easily. "No, he will not, because you threatening that means he will never take my place."

"He can," the boy argued, unable to keep from grinning as he was able to keep in place despite her struggling, "Because I will spend all my time with him and you can spend all your time with your 'sister.'"

She let out a sound of frustration and shock, falling back against the sheets, giving up; because of her mother, she never did find any interest in becoming a warrior or getting any kind of proper training to fight, leaving that to the others, finding more interest in healing and care, leaving her weak in comparison in terms of physicality.

"You wouldn't!"

He wouldn't. Everyone knew that he never would, but T'Challa was nothing if not a decent liar. "I will tell the guards not to let you in, and tell your father that I want my lessons to be private."

Zarina wouldn't admit it, but she felt a jolt of true fear at his words. There was always a fear that, one day, he would realize that he was a prince and grow tired of her and ask for her to leave him alone, and while she could hope he was joking, there was a part of her that was unsure.

"I will tell you," she finally conceded, because having her head sliced off by an angry Okoye was nothing to the pain of knowing T'Challa wanted her away from him.

He boy grinned triumphantly, but didn't move, knowing better to let his guard down before his task was complete. So he continued to hover over Zarina, waiting for her to tell him all he wanted to know, the girl pouting underneath him, looking very hurt.

He softened then, realizing that, maybe, his words hadn't come across correctly. "I would never truly do that, you know. I don't ever want you to leave."

Zarina felt her cheeks warm in shame at the thought of his pity, but she raised her eyes up nevertheless to look into his dark eyes, biting her lip, wishing she could curl in on herself or turn away. "Really?"

The boy nodded earnestly. "Promise." Then he relaxed his grip, because there were scarcely more people he trusted with his life than Zarina; he trusted she wouldn't betray him or run away.

True to his thoughts, once he pulled away, she was on him, climbing into his lap and hugging him. He hugged her back, remembering all the times she would hug him throughout the years, all the times he would hold her as she cried for a mother, all the times she had been so happy that she could do nothing but cling onto him. With only a father to hug her, it made sense that she sought out another person to hold her and show her affection.

He rubbed his face against her neck, taking a deep breath and holding her tighter, and she laughed, trying to pull back just enough to look at him, but finding that he wasn't about to let her go.

"You're just like a cat," she chastised, trying to get away, but finally relenting and continuing to hug him; it couldn't be said that she didn't enjoy it.

When T'Challa finally found it in himself to feign some sort of self-control, Zarina was almost certain that he was actually a cat, near positive that he had been purring half of the time he was nuzzling against her neck, a deep rumble coming from his chest.

"Now tell me what you meant," he said, letting her go and watching as she crawled back a safe distance, arranging his pillows and blankets around her.

"You do not get to ask anything of me after what you just did," she huffed, raising a hand towards the part of her neck that had grown rather raw, "You are a prince, not an animal."

Without thinking, the boy leaned over and kissed the spot she had been touching, freezing only after he realized what he had done. He pulled away slowly, utterly mortified, unable to pull his gaze away from Zarina's shocked expression.

"My-my mother always kisses my injuries, she says that helps them heal faster," he lied, unable to keep from stuttering, his heart nearly racing out of his chest, his stomach doing flips and his palms sweating.

"O-okay," Zarina breathed, trying to find her voice and remember what it means to breathe, staring at him with wide eyes, her skin tingling where his lips had touched, as if it was on fire.

The door opened then and the two couldn't help but jump, turning to look at the intruder like antelopes in headlights, hearts racing at the idea that they were caught, though nothing had actually happened.

Zarina immediately smiled, however, at the sight of Queen Ramonda and, in her arms, Princess Shuri. She jumped to her feet, pausing to bow, and immediately rushed over to fuss over the baby who immediately started laughing at the sight of her.

"I think she heard your voice," Queen Ramonda said, and Zarina practically melted, cooing and tickling Shuri who just continued to cackle.

T'Challa sighed, moving to stand next to Zarina, silently asking his mother for her to take Shuri and leave, wanting to spend more time with his friend alone. Of course, like a mother, she pretended not to notice what he meant, though she sent him a smug smile nevertheless.

Miffed, he turned towards his sister who, at the moment, was the cause of his problems, glowering down at her, trying to intimidate her into crying. Of course, nothing ever truly went his way, and, instead of crying, Shuri just started to giggle and babble, reaching out towards her brother.

"Brother," she laughed, making grabby hands at his lowered face, and the other two women in the room practically shrieked, Zarina hugging T'Challa while Queen Ramonda cheered on her daughter, asking her to say it again.

"Brother! Brother!" Shuri chanted, clapping her hands and shrieking because everyone else was.

Rolling his eyes, unable to hide his small smile, T'Challa took his sister from his mother's arms, bouncing her lightly as he looked down at her with narrowed eyes, the baby looking up at him with her large, curious ones.

"You are going to make my life very difficult," he said to her, "Don't."

She just reached up and tapped his nose as a response, grinning and laughing as she fell back down, pleased with her work.

Zarina giggled, catching his attention. She tilted her head at the two of them and just smiled. "She adores you, T'Challa. You are a very good brother to her."

He glowed under her praise and the way she was looking at him, so soft and pleased. He looked back down at his sister who was going between smiling up at him, then smiling over to her, causing the older girl to laugh and positively beam at him, her smile blinding and heart stopping.

He looked back down at his sister and smiled. "I guess you are not so bad."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 03.02.18 )

I had so much fun writing this chapter, you have no idea. While no Obama, we did get really cute awkward T'Challa and Zarina with references to Okoye and W'Kabi. Cute adolescents with crushes and absolutely no way to deal with them, they're so cute and awkward and I love it. There will be one more time jump, then it'll stay stagnant until the end of this part.

I also like that she's not training to be a Dora Milaje because I never wanted her to, and she actually has legitimate reasons for doing so, which I also really like, I'm glad I did that. I also like that she's physically weak, because she's strong in so many other aspects, and we should just support women, okay? If I hear any of ya'll calling her weak because she can't fight, I'm gonna fight you because I know you probably can't either (I'm just tired of these so-called feminists who hate on women because they're not strong, I mean, what even ya'll)

Anyways! That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!