You wished
Legend has it that among the vast galaxy, there is a star that is him.
“Make a wish,” Shuri said softly.
Namor thought it through thoroughly, as if the gods would really hear his wish.
“If one of us dies, I hope I die first.”
This is his only wish.
“And I’ll be waiting for you, under the Ancestral Tree, or…" Namor smiled even if it hurt, “...by the end of the Talokan sea.”
His dying wish.
And her heart felt as if it had been brutally squeezed and then crushed.
So she crashed into his arms and squeezed him in her arms. Forcefully, with great strength, she pressed him and herself into each other‘s embrace.
She buried herself into his body. Inside his body. Inside his blood and bones. Inside his beating heart. Hide in there and never come out.
“I told you to make a wish, not a death wish, you stupid old man.”
Shuri wanted to hit him in his stupid chest, but you know Namor, he’s too clingy to let go even the slightest.
“All my wishes, everything I ever wanted, have been fulfilled by you over the decades, princess.”
Sometimes Shuri forgets that she built a home in his heart. And Namor locked every way out.
So many wishes! Like having a bunch of children! She gotta call him out! “Gree-”
“I just want to be greedy this one more time.”
Namor chuckled slyly after successfully cutting off what she was about to say. Now, Shuri was exasperated lovingly and pinched his waist not so lovingly.
“In this life, with you, Shuri.”
But Namor was saddened when he thought of the cruel reality.
“The time I had with you will forever be too short.” Because he’ll outlive her anyway. Because the world is always too cruel to him.
Because Namor couldn’t bear the thought— he couldn’t even bear to imagine what it would be like to lose Shuri while he was still alive, he wanted to be selfish for once.
“You are having those wild thoughts again, Namor. I’m only just over 40, and you are somewhere over 500. We have nine lives, remember? It’s not that easy for us to die.” Shuri patiently comforts him, patting his back gently like coaxing their youngest, knowing how it will break Namor every time he goes deep in thoughts about this.
About how he will outlive her, their children, and everyone he loves.
It broke her too… that she wouldn’t be able to be with him forever. But maybe—
For once, Shuri wanted to make a wish.
“In another life—”
In another life, I hope the world treats you kinder. Gentler. As tender as I love you… and let me love you again and again and—
“Why not this one?”
He cut Shuri off. Again. Namor wriggled free from her embrace, leaned in slightly, and rested his forehead against hers, stubbornly countering her.
“Why not this one?”
Why not this one? Because this is the only lifetime we have together.
And yet, precisely because of this, he was unwilling to let her go even for a second.
Shuri pressed her forehead against his with all her heart, gently nuzzling.
His assumption that they might never meet again, let alone the possibility of a second lifetime together, seemed quite reasonable to Shuri. She had never really believed in such things either, so…
“How do you always be so convincing? It’s annoying.” Shuri pouted playfully. Watching Namor’s once-sad, deep eyes light up again, she felt the surge of his affection wrapped around her like a safe cocoon, making her yield. “You made your wish. And I, K’uhul Ek’ B’ahlam shall grant you your wish!”
Namor lowered his head and laughed, knowing she was teasing him.
How could he forget that his wife was just as stubborn as he was?
Shuri wouldn’t let him die first.
She was very driven, sometimes. Especially on such a life-and-death matter.
Taking advantage of her self-satisfaction, Namor pulled her into his arms, locking Shuri in a deep kiss. He pulled away slightly when they were gasping for air, and said with a pout, “At least I tried.”
“Yeah, you wished,” Shuri whispered seriously, her eyes softened slowly because of him. “Maybe in the next life.”
She tiptoed and kissed him with longing. “In another life–-” she added. But was too consumed by his kiss. Namor knew what she wanted to say.
In another life, I might let you die first.
But not this one.
Because… how could she go on living if he were to die before her?