Dedicated to Chadwick Boseman.
Our Jackie Robinson.
Our James Brown.
Our Thurgood Marshall.
And our King of Wakanda,
our Black Panther.
A true warrior on screen and in real life without the world even knowing.
May you rest in peace and power, king.
Enjoy the green veld of the ancestors, you've more than earned it.

Wakanda Forever
Long live the King

A warrior has many different meanings, most think it means a strong fighter in battle, and normally that's what it means. But a warrior is anyone who fights a battle. Any battle, from outside in the cruel world that takes no prisoners, or the battle within your mind that often will keep you awake at night.

That's what T'Challa was trying to tell Mary when she told him her past for the first time. He himself was a warrior through and through, but Mary never saw herself as one. She wasn't a strong person, she was weak in her eyes, succumbing to her fears more than once. Time and time again she would succumb to her fears that gripped her tightly both day and night.

Fears that started from when she was just a child to her life now living in Wakanda.

"Just because you do not fight on the battlefield, doesn't make you any less of a warrior." T'Challa states to his friend, his advisor, his sister. Over the time the two had spent with each other, T'Challa and Mary had grown extremely close. They bonded as friends but grew into the bond that of brother and sister. "The demons you face make you stronger even when you are at your weakest."

Mary looks out the window of where they sit in her office in the palace. Her little baby boy strapped to her chest, not four months old and little Jamie was already being fawned over by everyone his parents were close with. Especially T'Challa, Shuri and Ramonda. "I lost my father before i ever knew him, I don't miss him." She mutters simply, looking back at her king who sits in the chair across her desk, "My mother died when Steve and I were teenagers. We were on our own for so long." She tells him.

"You're not anymore, you never will be alone again." T'Challa points out, wanting to make that clear to his sister whom he cherishes.

Mary smiles in appreciation, "I know that now, but back then i had no way of knowing what would happen to my life. I wanted to be a nurse after Steve joined the Army under my mentor's orders."

"Evelyn's great grandfather, yes?"

"Yeah. Until i met Evelyn, i believed Abraham's family was dead like he had thought so himself. Becca is named after his daughter Sofia." Mary mutters, smiling softly at the memories she shared with her beloved mentor. "And then later on as the war progressed, I married the love of my life." She says with a smile, causing T'Challa to smile as well, he was planning his own wedding to Nakia.

"What does that feel like? Knowing you have that one person bound to you, and you are bound to them." T'Challa asks curiously.

Mary smiles blissfully, "The greatest feeling you'll ever experience. Knowing they'll be yours forever, and that you'll be theirs. That unconditional love you feel when you look at them, i still get butterflies when i see James. I never thought he'd love me, but he does." She explains as best she could. But the light falls from her eyes when she remembers that blissful feeling was shattered shortly after she and Bucky were married, "And then Steve came back after their last mission.. James wasn't with them."

T'Challa can feel the pain emanating from Mary as she remembers the snowy mountain, the tears that froze when they hit the snow. The burning rage in her when her eyes spotted Zola being escorted into a tent for the night by a few of the commandos. The feeling of utter loss.

"I told him i was pregnant with Becca." She whispered, "Just before I lost him." She added, "I still remember that day as if it were yesterday, being told he wasn't coming back, that he had fallen off the train into the ravine below."

"You fought against that darkness, Mary. You gave life to a precious girl during that darkness." T'Challa explains, he was listening intently but also wanted to show that she was a warrior like he always saw her as. The greatest warriors often were mothers who would sacrifice anything for their children. And that was Mary.

Mary shakes her head, "I was in a dark place for a long time, putting on a bright smile that all of them knew wasn't real. I may have fought it but the darkness would win time and time again. And it only progressed worse when Becca was taken." She mutters, her arms wrapping around Jamie as he sleeps, nestled against her chest. His soft coos and his clenched fist that gripped her shirt. He was everything to Mary.

"The pain you felt, the darkness that followed, it made you weak but I know you. I know that you overcame that." He states, "It takes time, it doesn't happen overnight like we want it to." He adds with a slight chuckle, "We are impatient humans and when things are taken from us, we retaliate harshly. When we lose a loved one, we grieve hard. The pain never truly leaves us, but we don't let it consume us."

Mary smiles softly, "I said something similar to Tony when he lost his parents." She comments, looking over at the pictures that laid on her desk of her family and friends. "He was only twenty one when his parents died and he inherited Stark Industries."

"Stark is a good man, and you helped him become that." T'Challa says with a smile, "You helped him because of your pain, your past, and you didn't let that consume you completely."

Mary smiles as she looks at her brother, "You're one of a kind, T'Challa." She states, "I don't think we would've found a way for James to recover or for us to find a new home here in Wakanda had it not been for you."

"It started as wanting to make amends for the damage caused during the Accords." T'Challa says simply, remembering his talk with Becca after they had captured Zemo about wanting to help her family, "But it grew, you became family. Your family has become precious to those who live here, our Wolves of Wakanda. And with your help, Wakanda can be much more than it ever has before."

Mary chuckles, shaking her head as she feels heat rise to her cheeks, "I swear, T'Challa. If I wasn't married to James." She teases and T'Challa throws his head back in laughter.

"Maybe in another reality." T'Challa teases back with a smirk, "But Nakia has my heart and Sergeant Barnes has held yours since well before my time." He jokes. The two were open with each other, they never held secrets from each other. And that's what made them work as both King and Advisor, and as family. "You've held him enough, give me the Golden Wolf." The king teases as he extends his arms to hold Jamie.

The mother and advisor laughs as she unravels Jamie from the wrap she had him in around her chest, "He's still small, T'Challa." She reminds him and he scoffs with a smile plastered on his face.

"He is the Golden Wolf. The son of Wakanda that could brighten any room." The king comments as he takes the infant from his mother and leans back in his chair, "ndiya kuhlala ndikukhusela." I will always protect you. T'Challa whispers to Jamie who stirs in the new arms, his hazel eyes blinking open slowly as the baby takes in his surroundings.

"You're going to be an amazing father someday." Mary states as she watches T'Challa interact with her son, her precious baby boy.

The king chuckles as he rests Jamie on his chest, holding him with his arm under his bottom, "When Nakia and I decide to have children, you will be of the first to know." He tells her, "We've already talked about you being her doctor through it."

Mary smiles softly, "I'd love to." She tells the king, "I miss doing doctor duties."

T'Challa nods, "You're the best there is, though Shuri would agree to disagree." He teases and Mary laughs, nodding in agreement.

"Of course Shuri agrees to disagree." Mary laughs, "With Wakanda's technology and my knowledge and skills, there's nothing I can't cure or heal, I believe."

"Even cancer?" T'Challa asks, despite Wakanda's technology and advancements, cancer was still a monster to anyone diagnosed with it. It was slightly easier to manage but it still would take lives.

Mary hesitates, "I would do anything to help defeat cancer, of any kind. When i worked in hospitals, i lost too many patients to all types of cancer. I don't want anyone else to lose a loved one to that beast."

T'Challa looks up at his sister, smiling softly, "If i know anything about you, it's that when you put your mind to something, there's nothing you can't accomplish." He states proudly. And Mary can't help but smile wide, tears brimming her hazel eyes.

In Mary's heart, no one could replace T'Challa. He was her king, her friend, her Black Panther, and most importantly, her brother.

There was no one in the world who would be able to fill the hole he would leave when his time came. Because one thing about Mary was that she became attached quickly to people and they became parts of her world.

T'Challa was someone who she would never recover from when he would eventually pass on. Where he would be able to run freely with Bast and Sekhmet in the green veld. Finally free of pain, free of turmoil and heartache. He would simply be free.

I still can't fathom that he's actually gone.
I truly feel like he was taken way too soon.

God, you have a plan for everything and anything, but right now, we're hurting bad, we're mourning our Black Panther. He fought stage three colon cancer since 2016, so literally ever Marvel movie he did(four) and his other movies like Marshall, 21 Bridges and the newest one, Da 2 bloods which i don't know when that comes out.

Chadwick was one of the few actors i knew before he entered the MCU. I became a fan of him back in 2013 when i saw 42 and he starred as Jackie Robinson. His portrayal of Jackie just instantly had me hooked, the emotion he brought to his acting, his charisma. It was unparalleled. When he was announced back in 2015 that he was joining the MCU as T'Challa/Black Panther, i knew he was the only one for that role. The only actor who could bring the King of Wakanda to life and do the iconic character justice. And boy did he ever.

Black Panther has more meaning to me than many movies. It came out on February 16th, 2018. My birthday, of all days. My favorite actor was playing a role that i had pictured him in since before he was cast in Civil War. His portrayal of T'Challa back in Civil War was captivating even if he was just a side character in that film. But Black Panther? He changed the game. Big time.

His smile and laughter were contagious. All the tributes yesterday from the MCU cast had me in tears. I was already still trying to deny that it was real, that if i refreshed my social medias that it would come out that it wasn't true, that it was a joke. But as more tributes came out, it just broke me more. He was only 43. That's too young. He was making his name known and he was already a legend in the eyes of many. My heart breaks for the little kids who looked up to him, who saw pieces of themselves in him. Working in the childcare industry, i saw so many little ones dressing up as him for halloween. They simply adored him.

I still remember one memory from the Infinity War premiere i went to with my friends(we always go in large groups to the Marvel premieres) but we had gotten a close and fairly new friend to join our normal group of people. He and his wife are Nigerian, and to say he loved T'Challa was an understatement. All of us when we would see him, we'd call, "Hey, T'Challa!" And he would wave back with a bright smile. Black Panther was his superhero.

We were sitting next to him in the theater when T'Challa, Steve and the rest were standing on the hill overlooking the incoming army Thanos had sent and the Battle of Wakanda was about to start. We all leaned in together, crossed our arms over our chests and shouted, "Wakanda Forever!" As T'Challa shouted it on the screen. It's a memory i'll never forget.

Photo by Bosslogic

"In my culture, death is not the end. It's more of a stepping off point. You reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into a green veld where you can run forever." -T'Challa Udaku (Civil War)

One thing i will say is that he's not in pain anymore. Colon cancer is evil and a beast. It sucks the life out of you but Chadwick still fought through it all. But now he can rest easy, no more pain, no more suffering, he can just run freely in the open plains of the green veld.

Thank you for showing us what a true warrior is.

Wakanda forever.
Long live the King.