I Am

Nine

The sound of the door opening caught Harper's attention, turning around she smiled "Are you here to pick me up General?" she asked, arching an eyebrow as she threw the only other t-shirt she had into her bag.

She'd been moving all of the stuff she had managed to accumulate in the room Erik had locked her in. It wasn't much; just her suit, which was to be given back to Shuri for repairs, a spare outfit she had been using as pyjamas and a few toiletries Okoye herself had snuck into her.

There was a slight smile of amusement on Okoye's face as she rolled her eyes "I have actually," she said as she stepped aside to gesture to the door "The King has requested your presence. I assume you don't mind?"

"I guess I can clear my busy schedule, seeing as it's the king," Harper answered, closing up her bag before following the General out into the corridor. It was a walk they had done a handful of times during Erik Killmoger's ill-fated reign and usually filled with mutual irritation and concern.

Now there was a lightness between the two of them as they made their way to the Tribal Councilroom. Once which hadn't been there even before the current events.

"Listen," Okoye said, putting her hand out to stop Harper just before they arrived at their destination "I just wanted to say thank you," she continued, her fingers flexing slightly around the spear she was carrying with her.

"Thank you?" Harper asked, a confused furrow to her brow.

"I am, always have been and always will be, willing to lay down my life for my King and country," Okoye explained "But I would never have asked you to. I was very grateful for what you did, out there."

Harper smiled, nodding her head once "I was glad to," she said with a shrug of her shoulders "Despite my past, what I've done, the people of Wakanda, your Royal family especially, have taken me in with open arms. I just wish I could have done more to repay them and you."

A smile tugged on the corners of Okoye's lips as she reached out to place her hand on Harper's shoulder "You have done more than enough Ingwe."

"The leopard?" Harper asked, she had been brushing up on Xhosa in any spare minute she had. "I like it better than what Shuri insists on calling me but...it is a good thing right?" she asked, frowning as Okoye smirked and leaned over to open up the door "Okoye, right?"

"Sssh," she answered, reaching up and placing her finger on her lips "Quiet time."

"Unfair," Harper mouthed to her as they walked through the door. Up ahead Shuri sent her a smile, patting the seat beside her.

"Was that a smile shared between you and the General?" she asked as Harper sat down beside her.

"Things happened while you were away, we're friends now," Harper answered in a nonchalant manner, shrugging her shoulders as she got comfortable on the seat.

"I heard you're Ingwe now," Shuri said in a whisper, nudging her side with her elbow.

"Yeah, that is a good thing right?"

But the doors were opening as Harper asked her question and Shuri turned away from her as they all welcomed T'Challa, dressed in his full royal regalia once more, into the room.

The mood in the room lifted as he passed by people and sat down on the throne. A smile came to Harper's face as she listened to him address everyone in the room, speaking of Erik the way he learned him to be and informing them, though he had gone about it the wrong way he'd had the right idea.

"Wakanda has been isolated from the rest of the world for far too long," he said, glancing around all of the faces looking at him. "It is time for us to open up, to share our knowledge and our resources with the rest of the world. My cousin had the wrong plan but he was right in what he said, we have been sitting in the shadows and now it is time."