Underwater

Shuri returned to her lab, looking wholly dazed and confused.

Is that her hallucination— or a dream…?

Shuri scratches her head with her hand and—

There is something in her hand,

It's a seashell…

When did he—?!

It's real , she wasn't seeing things…

Then why had he left suddenly?

The man must have never expected anyone to see him down there, I suppose—

But she had seen him.

Shuri checked everything,

No aerial or underwater surveillance of him,

The River Tribe's defenses had not called in for any invasion or trespasser.

Nothing on their radar,

Shuri double checked they do have surveillance on that area,

The man intruded into Wakanda's borders and none of their security got him—

She would have left too if someone found her invading a nation's premises and even been caught being seen by someone, Shuri thinks.

And she thought she could at least get some information from him…

Her kimoyo beads ring again.

"Yes, Mother?" Shuri answers this time.

"—Nothing, I was focusing just now, I forgot to answer your call, sorry, Mama…" She lied.

At least the man did not harm her, he could have.

She says goodbye to Mother and looks at all their surveillance system, time for an upgrade—

The next time he comes, Wakanda will know.

Shuri focused the rest of her day on improving their systems with a thousand questions in her head.

She should tell T'Challa when he comes back on Monday, it may be crucial, there may be an attack, or invasion, or—

Wait—

Shuri looks at her screen, the area she went to just now and—

She predicted it wrong.

She had assumed the man knew English.

She had predicted he wouldn't know what she was saying in her mother tongue, so she also recorded it in English.

What if he doesn't speak English?

She had assumed everyone knew how to speak English…Well, at least the ones who invade Earth do.

Is that why he just left…?

It could be… Shuri ponders on it.

She settled down at her working table and had something in mind.

Shuri decides to go and try again before making it big. I hope he shows up—

Tomorrow…

At the same spot,

At the same time,

Tomorrow.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Namor looked at her obediently closing her eyes, and his heart softened inexplicably. He looked around and picked up a seashell, placing it in her palm before quickly leaving.

I'll see you later, I guess…

And returned home.

Namor had looked for the voice in his head for over 20 years,

He've been looking for her all these years,

After waiting and looking for so many years, Namor was only willing to wait for one more day.

He can only wait for one more day at most.

One more day.

That's all he can spare.

Tomorrow, he will go to the same riverbank, find her and decide what to do next.

Whether to kill her—

No.

Killing her was not an option anymore.

—Whether to answer her question…

And tell her who he is.

"♫Runs to your~ runs to your arms♫"

Shuri made her own version of scuba gear, she had always wanted to make one but didn't always have the spare time to, but now it looks like she finally could. But she doesn't need to use the full set. Just a mask with a built-in regulator that not only allowed her to breathe underwater but also allowed her to talk. Easier for her to communicate. A suit that acts as a wetsuit to provide thermal protection from the cold water by securing her body's heat and her waterproof clothes will do. And a portable and compact tank that could last her 30 minutes is all she needs. It's not like she will go diving and need all the equipment and a tank that could last more than an hour. 

She's just going to sit at the riverbank, the water submerged her head, and she could quickly resurface whenever she wanted to. Nothing with all the fuss. Shuri looks at the time and takes off her lab coat. She attached the equipment behind her back and put another earring on her ear.

Just like that, all good to go.

She looked at her gauntlets and decided she would not be needing them. She leaves it behind.

"GRIOT, you have everything ready?"

"Yes, princess. All translations have been uploaded. Should I play it now?"

"No, I'll play it later. By the way, increase the playback speed, we have a long way to go~"

Shuri leaves the lab, heading to the riverbank.

"GRIOT, activate all the surveillance in that area. Report to me when there is any breach detected."

"All online. Princess, should I inform the others when any movement is detected?"

"No, keep it down. I'll handle it." Shuri gazes at the riverbank—

The calm before the storm, people used to say.

Shuri mentally commands the new earring on her ear, and a helmet materializes from it. The device works like the Panther Habit, constructed from Wakanda Vibranium Nanobots stored in her earring, forming into a helmet excluding her hair. It acts like the scuba mask and she tells it to go transparent. 

Now, she looks like she could breathe underwater just like the man.

Shuri walks into the river and habitually takes a few big breaths. She's underwater now. She sat at her spot but decided to move a little further since she didn't need to worry about being out of breath and needed to resurface quickly.

Her invention worked perfectly fine, as expected.

Now, all she needed to do was wait.

And if the man doesn't show up—?

Then it would be her chance to rest and clear her mind, it had been her plan all along before she ran into him.

"GRIOT?" Her voice echoes slightly in the helmet.

"Nothing on the radar, princess."

Great, if the man doesn't show up before her rest time ends—

Shuri shrugs, gazing forward.

She's just going to come again tomorrow, and the day after—

It's her spot, anyway.

She hums along the lullaby when the faint humming voice ceases in her head. She waves her hands in the water, feeling the resistance and vitality of the water with her fingers. It's cold today, thank Bast she is wearing a suit.

Her humming doesn't stop, not used to the quietness in her head…and since she could hum and talk underwater now. No longer needing to hum it in her head.

Although she no longer had to try to hold her breath, she was not used to not feeling the water on her face. She always liked that.

And she always feels somehow connected to the water when she's fully emerged in it, her face and ears can feel the movement and the sound of the water—

Shuri couldn't feel exactly what she felt before now since she was wearing a mask but—

The fishes that were swimming in front of her—

Are now swimming away from her—

As Shuri feels a slight pressure and movement—

She turned her head to the right.

—The man is sitting beside her, staring at her.

HOLY SH—Where did he come from!? And how long he's been sitting beside me—and she didn't notice at all!

A few inches away from touching their arms together—

"—GR—" Shuri whispers…

"Nothing on the radar, princess."

She looked at him and saw the amusement in his eyes.

Namor leaves his cave and heads to the place where he met the girl yesterday.

Wondering was it wise for him to—

She could have alerted Wakanda about his presence.

The humming in his head getting stronger and stronger, but he ignores it as he arrives at the destination in no time but—

Namor noticed the additional surveillance in the waters—

Looks like she did…

But he simply dodged all of it and went around the other way.

Wondering was the girl here today—

She is.

Namor saw her sitting underwater just like yesterday.

He goes around and now floats behind her, she's sitting further away from the riverbank today…

He goes forward and sits beside her right, the girl was so into observing her hands, feeling the resistance of the water and humming something, she didn't notice him coming at all.

Namor raises his eyebrows, 

—How is she humming underwater? And saw she wasn't squinting her eyes like yesterday, not being able to open her eyes in the water for long…

She was deep in her thoughts and only gazing forward,

Thinking he would appear in front of her just like yesterday—

She had let her guard down in the water.

Namor sits closer instead while looking at her—

And she finally reacted when their arms were a few inches away from touching each other.

The girl's eyes widened again, looking startled—

The corner of his mouth curved up in a slight arc.

Satisfied. That she was surprised by him again.

She whispered and it was Namor's turn to be surprised a bit, amused at what she had done to be able to do that since—

Shuri points at him,

"—You better don't sneak up on me next time, nuh-uh, there will be no next time, or a third time, or not…"

Namor could hear her voice muffled but could still listen to her clearly due to his physiology, he could listen to things normal people couldn't.

He waited for her to finish her "or not" before she grunted slightly.

"You don't even know what I'm saying, do you?" Shuri gives up.

Namor blinks, 

In fact, he knows. He had learned the language way before he turned a century old—

He was going to reply to her—

"But you know what? I figured it out because you didn't answer me yesterday, so I came prepared, no worries, we'll work this through, although you have no clue what I'm saying according to your dumb face, which is full of doubt—"

…Excuse me? Namor frowns.

Shuri didn't give him a chance to talk before she tapped on her kimoyo beads, starting to play the thing she told GRIOT to prepare…

A series of translations.

Saying the exact same phrase.

In different languages.

"Here you go," Shuri reached out her hand with kimoyo beads, GRIOT started translating every language, from the first language he collected from the list to the last—

"—Don't worry, if you are an alien from outer space or another dimension and speak an alien language that Earth doesn't know of…I'll try to…think of something else—" Shuri still chatters because she knows the man doesn't understand what a word she said as he looks at her blankly .

The kimoyo beads start playing with GRIOT's voice, the first language was—

"ما اسمك؟"

.

Okay…? Namor didn't expect her to go this far— After misunderstanding that he doesn't know English…which he does. Because he didn't answer her yesterday—

.

"আপনার নাম কি?"

.

"Don't worry, I already speed up the translation, we will get to your language in no time," Shuri tells the man.

.

Well, the translation is going at high speed …Namor doesn't know whether he should just interrupt—

.

"你叫什么名字?"

.

Or let her continue—

.

"Quel est ton nom?"

.

Since he had never encountered something like this before…

.

"Wie heissen Sie?"

.

"Almost there, I guess?" Shuri starts talking to herself when she sees the man listening to the translation with focus.

.

"आपका क्या नाम है?"

.

"By the way? How did you sneak up on me?" Namor decides to play along.

.

"Siapa namamu?"

.

"My radar didn't even pick you up, how did you do that???" And entertain the girl.

.

"Come ti chiami?"

.

"I'm curious…are you born with wings on your feet?" Shuri shifts the topic.

.

"名前はなんですか?"

.

"Nice earring and piercing tho…" Since he had all the time in the world.

.

"Napa jenengmu?"

.

"Can you fly in the air?" Namor thinks the answer is obvious.

.

"이름이 뭐에요?"

.

"Can you talk to animals?" Uh-huh…

.

"तुझं नाव काय आहे?"

.

"Are you from an underwater nation?" Namor squinted his eyes slightly.

.

"Qual o seu nome?"

.

"Do you even know Wakanda? Because you just trespassed the nation…I'm guessing you come from a place that might be just like Wakanda? " Shuri voices out.

.

"ਤੁਹਾਡਾ ਨਾਮ ਕੀ ਹੈ?"

.

"Hiding in plain sight?" Namor scoffs at it, it takes more effort to find Talokan because they live way down below the surface.

.

"Как вас зовут?"

.

"Like hiding from the rest of the world?" They did not hide, they only stayed away from war, disease and unnecessary bloodshed. Just like your nation did, Namor ponders.

.

"¿Cómo te llamas?"

.

Namor recognized this and hatred filled his heart. He felt insulted by the sound of that language.

.

Shuri noticed the man frown deeply, his face darkened and he looked like he was about to kill someone. Okay…

.

"உங்கள் பெயர் என்ன?"

.

But the next thing the girl said had pulled Namor out of the deep.

.

"To protect your nation?"

.

"నీ పేరు ఏమిటి?"

.

"And the people in it?"

.

"คุณชื่ออะไร"

.

"Just like us?" Shuri breathed out…

.

"Adın ne?"

.

"Just like Wakanda?"

.

"آپ کا نام کیا ہے؟"

.

"I assume…?" Yes. Just like Wakanda. Namor answers in his heart.

.

"Tên bạn là gì?"

.

"Before that, we had turned our backs to the rest of the world." Talokan is just like Wakanda.

.

"Lithini igama lakho?"

.

"I figured you don't understand my mother tongue, Xhosa as well, so…"

.

"Bix a k'aba''?"

.

This is his mother tongue…Yucatec Maya.

.

The question that she's been asking all along was—

.

"What is your name?"

.

.

.

What is your name?

.

.

.

"Are you some kind of mermaid prince or something?? Poseidon? I don't see you have a trident tho…" Shuri leans forward and looks over at him, he's not armed today either…

.

.

.

"If I'm some kind of mermaid prince, then you must be a princess."

.

.

.

Namor says in Shuri's face.

Shuri felt her world had just stopped.

"Princess?"

Shuri stood up immediately from the ground and rushed back to the riverbank…

Namor beams,

Looks like he pissed her off—

She'll come back, Namor was sure. He looks around the water, finally having some peace.

Shuri stepped back into the river and sat beside the man after—

"You couldn't have stopped me when I started playing the translation??? Or interrupt me when I start talking—" Her voice dripping with disbelief.

"What is your name?" Namor asked casually.

"I've been asking you all this time!!! In different languages!! And you know how to speak English from the start!! Why didn't you say that earlier?!" Shuri only felt incredulous.

"...I thought you were…having fun…?" Namor speaks carefully—

"I look like a fool now!" Shuri wanted to smack her forehead but the mask was in her way.

"...Yeah…I suppose…?" And fails miserably. He shrugs, not really bothered by her outburst. Although it was pretty ridiculous—

"WHAT. IS. YOUR. NAME?" Shuri would have put her hands on her hips if she was on land.

"I have many names," Namor says nonchalantly, which he does.

"Then pick one that you want me to call you as!" Shuri thinks she can't believe this man anymore!

Namor tries to think hard…

♫Entrе las sombras, mi amor♫

"In yakunaj?" Namor smiles.

"...Are you making fun of me? That doesn't sound like a name…" Shuri decides—

"No, I'm not~" Namor says cheekily.

"That's your name?" That she will—

"Yes," Namor nods firmly.

"Hmmm…ok…then," Not believing a word he says!

"What is your name?" It was Namor's turn to ask and—

"Princess." Shuri answers without skipping a beat.

"...I'm sure that is a title more than a name," Namor shakes his head in amusement, 

The girl had totally intrigued him.

"Ha…for you hiding that you actually know what I'm saying the whole time," Shuri did not give an inch.

"I'm sorry, princess…" Namor said it almost accidentally, with a sincere tone, surprising himself as well.

Shuri was slightly bewildered in turn.

She had been called princess her whole life…

But the way this man calls her—

P.r.i.n.c.e.s.s—

"May I have the pleasure of asking what your name is? Would it be possible for me to have the honour of calling you by your name? So that I know I've been graced by your presence?" Namor changed his strategy and looked at the girl expectantly.

Shuri looked at the man with a smile on her face, brazen and unafraid to speak his mind, huh? and she loved it.

"Did your mother never tell you not to give your name to strangers?" Shuri said,

And Namor paused for a moment.

"She did." He murmured in a low voice, as if whispering words of love to her.

To his mother.

Namor had decided to tell the girl who he was.

"Ch'ah Toh Almehen."

Not K'uk'ulkan.The Feathered Serpent God.

"My name."

Not Namor. The child without love.

"The name you've been curious about since the moment you asked who I am."

That's who I am. That's who I will be. To you.

"You can call me Ch'ah Toh, if you want…" 

For a moment, Shuri thought about hisvoice…

Sounds familiar—

"My name is Shuri."

She suddenly blurted out, her thoughts interrupted.

"What happened to not giving your name to strangers?" He just wanted to tease her a little bit. Because he knew she had blurted out her name in a moment of impulse or something…

"Can I call you Ch'ah?...if you are alright with it…of course, you can say no or—" At this moment, Shuri didn't even know what she was saying or what she was doing—

So does Ch'ah.

"Shu…ri—?" Namor attempted to pronounce and call out her name.

"Yep, that's me," She answers.

"...Shuri?" He said it more firmly this time.

"Yes, Ch'ah. Shuri. Me. Hi~" She waved at him with a smile like the first time she met him. Minus the smile .

And the teasing in her eyes.

He said her name as if a baby was learning to speak. Shuri tried to hold back her laughter.

"By the way, Shuri?" Namor calls for her.

To the girl, Shuri, whose voice has been in his head all these years.

To the girl, Shuri, who he has been looking for all these years.

To Shuri, who Namor knew,

That she had found a place in his heart,

No matter what she was, is, or will be to him one day, he looks forward to the day when he will find the answer to her significance.

What she meant to him.

"I did not sneak up on you, you were too into discovering the beauty of the sea…"

Namor recalls—

"I can't tell why your radar couldn't detect me, and I intend to keep it as a secret of mine…"

Her questions—

"Yes, I was born with the wings on my ankles…"

And answers them—

"I can get you one if you like the earrings and yes, I can fly in the air, but not here at least. I can talk to whales and yes, I live in an underwater nation."

One by one—

"Yes, I do know about Wakanda and your guessing about our nations are similar, like two sides from the same coin, which is almost true—"

Shuri was dumbfounded. He's answering all her questions just now…

"And yes, I never learned your mother tongue, maybe you can teach me some day…" 

His voice was like a magnet to her, drawing her to him uncontrollably.

"Lastly, my mother tongue is Yucatec Mayan."

Shuri keeps that in mind.

"And no, I'm not a mermaid prince or Poseidon…and I don't use a trident…"

Namor regarded her with a playful glint in his eyes.

"...Should I be impressed you remembered all that?" Shuri was impressed by him. There was merriment in her eyes as Shuri looked at him. 

Namor reached out to touch her cheek, but was met with an expected barrier. She had solved the issue of being unable to hold her breath for an extended period of time or speak underwater with technology. 

Such a clever girl—Impressive.

Young and gifted way beyond her time.

"Are you impressed by Wakanda's technology now?" She smiled at him, proud and smug.

"Yeah, impressive. Just a bit…" 

Wait till you witness Talokan with your own eyes, Shuri—

There was one more question that Shuri didn't get to ask just now…

In the frigid depths of the lonely sea, do you remain warm, like a flame steadfast against the howling winds?

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths,

Shuri retracts her helmet,

She embraces the water,

And the warmth of his palm on her cheek.

Ch'ah Toh gently rested their foreheads together. 

Shuri feels the warmth of his forehead.

"Can I come and see you tomorrow too? Is that okay?" He asks.

Shuri heard him through the water and thought of it for a few moments, squinting her eyes cutely,

You can come every day if you want.

She would tell him that if she could speak now.

Shuri nodded gently. 

Being so close to each other made her heart flutter.

"Okay. Then—" Namor leans back and Shuri misses the warmth already.

"I'm sorry for leaving suddenly yesterday, so today, I'll close my eyes and let you go home first, okay?" He suggested.

Shuri pouted slightly but still agreed while nodding.

She waits for Namor to close his eyes and—

Picks up a seashell to put it into his hand,

And got up to walk back to the riverbank.

She waves at the silhouette under the river and Ch’ah disappears in a blink.

See you tomorrow— Shuri returned to her lab, light on her feet, and in high spirits, her mood was incomparable.

So does Namor.