Chapter 5:

Shuri stared at the bathtub while sitting on the floor in her clothes. It had been an hour before, and she would have been done and sitting in bed, reading or watching a video. More recently, however, she had found it so... terrifying.

It was the faucet. It sounded like rushing water.

It sounded like the river.

That's what she hadn't told T'Challa. The fact that she was scared of running water. The fact that she almost died today was because she was scared of a water fountain. It was everything: the sight, the feeling of droplets splattering against her, the sound, the noise- that recalled the worst day of her life.

At first, Shuri tried to shrug it off. Then she got to the point where just running the water to brush her teeth felt like torture or made her scared.

It wasn't just that. She was barely getting any sleep. Every night were nightmares. Seeing her brother being thrown, mortally wounded into the river while her cousin stood triumphant. She woke up in a cold sweat, holding back a scream. They happened at least twice a night- most of the time more. During the day, her anxiety around situations took away her appetite and made her feel sick.

Maybe this was why she hated T'Challa spending all his time away from her.

She couldn't be around to keep him safe.

She walked out of the bathroom, still in her clothes, and sat down on her bed.

Then she remembered something- or someone.

Two weeks earlier, before Doctor Octopus showed up, Peter asked her a question.

"Can I have your phone number?" he asked.

Shuri was puzzled and slightly caught off guard.

"Look, I know this seems awkward giving the circumstances, and I don't even know if you have a phone, and I think we should stay in contact for... mission purposes. Just in case." replied Peter (this was a blatant lie) "If it's no, that's okay-"

"Sure." replied Shuri.

Peter gave her his phone number, and then pulled out his phone to get hers.

"Oh no." he responded, looking at his phone. "The battery died."

Shuri pulled out a marker from her pocket.

"Here. Give me your arm." she responded.

Peter held out his arm, rolling up a sleeve of his tuxedo. Shuri wrote her number on his arm.

"There you go." replied Shuri.

Shuri hadn't thought of calling Peter. Of course, they called each other after the event for a few days in brief, five minute calls to check up on each other, and then gradually stopped.

Shuri looked at the contact. Peter Parker.

Then she pressed the call button.

It was an ordinary Saturday afternoon. Peter was back from patrols and trying to work on his homework when he got the phone call. He looked at the contact calling and almost dropped his phone.

Shuri. The girl he hadn't talked to in a week. The princess of Wakanda.

He picked the phone up, his hand slightly shaking.

"Hi Shuri." he responded more high pitched then he recalled.

"Peter?" asked Shuri. "I know we don't know each other well... and I just wanted to talk to you. I figured because you're a hero and I'm a hero- in a way- you could relate to me."

Peter put his pencil down.

"Sure." he responded. "Is everything-"

"I'm afraid Peter." replied Shuri. "Of water."

There was a pause.

"It's alright. A lot of people have fears like that." replied Peter. "I'm scared of spiders, ironically."

"I didn't use to be afraid." replied Shuri. "It started last year. When my brother almost died."

Peter felt like the world slowed down.

"He was challenged for the throne by a cousin who was horrible and wicked. I just remember my whole world felt like it froze, watching as my brother was being defeated by this horrible oppressor. I felt so numb. Like someone had just frozen my whole body, just watching. I wanted to jump into the battle and take him down. I wanted to stop him. I didn't care if I died, or was exiled, I just wanted it to stop. And I couldn't even will myself to take a step." Shuri told him.

Ben. All Peter could think about was Ben. How he had froze when he saw him there.

"The challenge took place overlooking a river, high above the ground. And when my brother lost, he was gravely injured. He was bruised... bloody... I was close to crying. I thought my cousin would let him go." replied Shuri. "He did not show mercy. He threw my brother into the water in front of me... my mother... everyone. And then everything went from numbness to everything hurting. I barely remember how I even got down... I was crying so hard, every moment I ever spent with my brother was running through my mind, I could barely think, I was surprised I could function. I was surprised I didn't dive into the water after him. I felt so much guilt. That..."

"It wasn't your fault Shuri." replied Peter, feeling a tear run down his cheek. "It wasn't. It was your cousin's."

"I knew something was wrong with him from the beginning." replied Shuri, her voice filling with tears. "I knew he couldn't be trusted. And I didn't object. I didn't try to stop him. I didn't say anything. I could have sent him away. I could have gotten him thrown in prison at least. My brother could have died. And it would have been my fault."

The phone went quiet. Peter thought she hung up, only to hear muffled sobbing.

Suddenly all the memories of Ben flooded back to him.

He wasn't going to tell her it wasn't her fault. She didn't want to hear that. Her fear was based on this guilt... a guilt that she may truly never get over.

He knew full enough what it felt like.

"I'm so sorry." replied Peter. "Shuri... even if you had alerted your brother about your feelings, or even if your cousin was imprisoned... the situation may have still played out. Maybe not the same way. Maybe worse. But we won't know. And what happened in the past... is in the past. You can't change it."

There was more silence.

"And you can't live off of guilt." replied Peter. "Trust me... I've tried."

There was a pause.

"You're right." replied Shuri. "I... have to let this go. It's just harder than I realized."

"It's never easy." replied Peter. "That doesn't mean it's impossible."

"Thank you." replied Shuri. "This means much more than you think."

"You're welcome." replied Peter.

"I have to go. It's getting late, and my mother gets bad tempered towards me if I stay up too late." replied Shuri. "Thank you Peter."

"Talk to you later Shuri." replied Peter.

There was a pause, and a beep that indicated Shuri had hung up. Peter looked back to his math homework, trying to focus.

His gaze kept looking up at the photo of Uncle Ben on his shelf.

It's your fault Peter.

Peter gripped his pencil tighter.

"Please stop." he whispered.

The voice backed off. Peter looked at the picture and turned it back around, wiping the tears filling his eyes.

"I'm sorry Ben." he told the picture. "I'm so sorry."

Even after all this time, it was Peter's fault.

I'm not big on info dumping- or more or less, having a character reveal her backstory all at once to a character. However, I felt that the trauma both Peter and Shuri faced has a lot to do with this story.

Don't worry, next chapter will be more fluffy and lighthearted. I just have to shovel some angst out of the way first.