HIDDEN ─ marvel

XX. The Chosen One

Chapter Twenty:
Soroya

"Where does she live again?" Alex asks me as we step onto the jet.

"Stuttgart. Apparently she married and divorced twice, had no kids and lives in a house by herself."

Alex sighs, strapping himself in. "We're in for a pleasant encounter. What do we even say? She thinks we're dead."

He has a point. We only met our mother's sister a couple times. I can't even remember what she looks or sounds like. I have no idea how this conversation will go. "I think we should be as vague as possible. Say we both were kidnapped and our parents went after us and we never saw them again. When we finally escaped we found out they died."

"She'll want proof of who we are."

"Well I'd give her my birth certificate but I think she has it. I'll just have to give her facts about our family only we would know."

Okoye silently walks past us and sits in the pilot seat, starting up the engine. I wish I could say something to make her feel better, but I feel like this is something she has to deal with alone. It was decided that W'Kabi would face a few years in prison for what he had done under Killmonger's rule. Okoye is taking it very hard.

Alex can sense this too. So he tries to continue on a conversation so the air doesn't get to uncomfortable. "What form of pop culture torture did Shuri subject you to last night?"

"Well she now knows I love dancing, so she's been giving me dancing movies to watch. I've loved all the ones so far: Step Up, Save the Last Dance, and Moulin Rouge, but she showed me a horrifying movie last night called Black Swan."

"Black Swan?"

"Yeah it's a movie about a ballet dancer who is a complete nutcase. Something that was interesting though is that there's an actor who looks just like Bucky in the movie."

"Really?"

"He could have been his twin..." I say trailing off, feeling my chest tighten.

Alex wraps an arm around my shoulders and squeezes me tightly, knowing how I'm feeling without me having to say it.

Once again I am dressed in more modern clothing; wearing one of the dresses I bought yesterday. Alex is wearing a pair of jeans and the Purple Rain shirt I got him. When I gave it to him, he told me he loved it and swore he would wear until it could stand on its own.

Shuri made sure to remind me to bring my iPod with us. Pulling the earbuds out I hand one to Alex, who eyes it suspiciously.

I shrug. "You need to be subjected to the pop culture torture eventually."

He rolls his eyes and pops in one of the earbuds. We listen to Katy Perry first, who I genuinely like, and is definitely one I will keep on this thing. I let Alex chose next and he chooses a band called Fall Out Boy. It's a modern rock band that Alex looses his mind over. We also listen to Maroon 5, which we both really like.

Okoye was silent the entire trip, only occasionally looking back at us to make sure we were alright. After a few hours we finally landed in Stuttgart, where I asked Okoye to stay with the ship for now. I told her I would alert her on her Kimoyo Beads when we needed her. I think she was happy to stay on the ship, probably not wanting to deal with our estranged relative. Some time away from Wakanda, and by herself, will be good for her. She gives me a reassuring smile as we walk down the steps onto the ground, but I can tell the smile is forced.

By the sigh Alex releases, it's evident he wishes he were back in the jet with her. "Let's get this over with."

We walk towards her house, which looks much smaller than I'd imagined. It's painted white with a sky blue door and window shutters. As we walk up onto the porch, I see that there's some potted flowers lining the house. From out here I can smell a familiar scent, one that reminds me strongly of Mama. This makes me more nervous. What if she looks just like her? What do I say? What will we do?