#I just want auntie sabe

[snipsnipsnippy]

Everyday, I think too hard about the Luke and Leia’s exchange where she remembers her birth mother.

“Leia, do you remember your mother? Your real mother?”

“Just a little bit. She died when I was very young.”

“What do you remember?”

“Just images, really. Feelings.”

“She was very beautiful, kind...but sad.”

And how canon just…. forgot about it.

I propose mom Sabè.

Hear me out, Leia is born, Bail takes new baby home, Breha cuddles her new daughter, but he had said something to Obi-Wan about forging the adoption papers. And like, I’m not gonna speak on Alderaanian adoption procedures because I don’t know. We don’t know, okay. But generally, adoption takes time. Hella time. And we get this impression from Alderaanian culture or maybe just Breha that, despite being the literal queen, she doesn’t like to put the royal family ahead of the rest of the citizens. Like Leia goes to special royal events and training and whatnot, but she also has normal ass school and meets normal ass people. So sure, they can forge adoption papers because this is a very special circumstance, but it needs to look as normal as possible. They can’t just pull a baby out of nowhere and show up with a newborn they surprise adopted.

So? They need a stand-in mom who will be sympathetic to their case, not ask questions and not make a deal of it. Preferably someone who would do literally anything for Padmè. Had they mentioned it to her, she would have been there, and she’s been acting and keeping secret strategies her whole life. Sabè loved this woman with her whole heart. Hated Anakin, ofc, but she would have loved that little girl who looked just like her best friend.

And of course, she would be sad. Her other half is gone. All that’s left is her daughter who looks so much like her. And she knows she only gets to know this baby for a limited time. Maybe it was weeks, or months, or even years. We do know Leia was with the Organas by the time she was 2-3.

So that’s the mom I think Leia remembered. And maybe she did feel glimpses of Padmè and the two became one in her mind. They did used to swap places so that no one could tell them apart. So maybe all of her memory of her mom was just a vision.

But I like to think her closest Auntè got to know her and love her even for a little bit.

[urgonnaneedabiggership]

NAMOR (MCU) X MEXICAN!OC

MASTERLIST

A/N: Remember you can find this fanfic on AO3 right here. Any feedback and/or comments are greatly appreciated <3 If you want to be added to the taglist, just say so!

My friends, this is the end of this journey. At least for now. I will post an epilogue in the next days that, hopefully, will leave you as excited for the second book of this fic as I am. If you've gotten this far, thank you so much for reading. See you soon!

Warnings: Violence, weapons, death and un-aliving people. Language.

Word count: 5,679



The tense silence that covered the room and its inhabitants like a heavy, smothering blanket was only interrupted by the clink of spoons against dinnerware. Three women of different ages sat at the table, the eldest and youngest occasionally looking at the third one. She pretended not to notice, but their gazes felt like the scorching sun against her skin. Still, she continued to eat, never taking her eyes off the bottom of the bowl. She wasn’t really hungry, thanks to the queasy feeling in her stomach that’d been plaguing her for the last week or so. After exchanging another glance with the eldest, one of the women cleared her throat before speaking.

“So, what’s your plan, Mercedes?” She asked, receiving a stern look from her mother, who hissed her name angrily. Mercedes carefully placed the spoon next to the empty bowl as she replied without looking up.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“You know, now that you’re back. Where will you go?” Antonia clarified, always glaring at the other girl. Mercedes looked noticeably confused, furrowing her eyebrows as she finally dared to look up at her cousin.

“Where…?” She asked, “I’m sorry, I thought it would be okay if…”

“Merceditas, lo que Toña quiere decir es si tienes pensado ir a algún lado, o qué piensas hacer ahora. Cinco años es mucho tiempo y…” Merceditas, what Toña means is whether you plan to go somewhere, or what you plan to do now. Five years is a long time and...

“No Ma, that’s not what I meant,” Toña promptly interrupted her, “I’m asking Mercedes where she’s going to go and when she’s planning to leave,”

“Are you being serious?” Mercedes asked, clenching her jaw as she desperately attempted to conceal the fluctuating mix of pain and anger in her voice, “I was gone for five fucking years, Antonia. I just came back two weeks ago, I…”

“No, Mercedes, are you being serious?” Antonia started raising her voice, “You don’t really expect us to let you stay here after what you did to my dad. You didn’t think that just because you and a million others vanished for a while we’d just forget about it? ”

Again at a loss for words, Mercedes turned to look at a silent Moni, whose eyes remained fixed on her intertwined hands on her lap.

“Tía Moni,” She asked, “¿Tú también piensas eso?” Auntie Moni, do you think that too?

Much to her horror, the woman didn’t reply and didn’t even dare to face her. She just pressed her lips together tightly and shut her eyes.

“Tía,” Mercedes insisted, “Tía, tú sabes que yo no tuve la culpa de lo que le pasó a mi tío. Tú sabes que yo jamás quise que eso pasara, yo siempre traté de cuidarlo, nos cuidábamos la espalda siempre pero…” Auntie, you know what happened to my uncle was not my fault. You know I never wanted that to happen, I always tried to look out for him, we watched each other's backs but...

The girl didn’t really know how to continue. Especially because, deep inside of her, a tiny voice wondered whether she was right to refuse to house the woman responsible, albeit indirectly, for the death of her husband.

“Merceditas…mijita, yo lo sé. Tu tío…” She tried to reply until Antonia promptly interrupted her. Merceditas, my child, I know. Your uncle...

“No mamá, no, ya habíamos hablado de esto,” She protested, which in turn silenced the woman once again before her daughter turned to look at Mercedes, “Don’t make this any harder on my mom than it already is,” No, mom, no. We had already talked about this.

Mercedes didn’t say a word, her eyes shifting from the girl she’d grown up with and the woman she thought of as a mother figure.

“Tía Moni,” she croaked, her voice hoarse as the knot in her throat tightened and tears threatened to roll down her cheeks, “Pídemelo y voy a volver a Bawir nomás a visitar a mi abuela, ni siquiera voy a acercarme a esta casa…” Auntie Moni, ask me to and I will only return to Bawir to visit my grandmother, I won't even go nowhere near this house.

“Mercedes, ya te dijo que…” Antonia attempted to chime in just to be immediately shut down by the other woman. Mercedes, she already told you that...

“No te estoy hablando a ti,” She crudely snapped at her before staring at her aunt with pleading eyes. I'm not talking to you Moni returned that same glance, entirely focused on Mercedes despite the insistent glares her daughter shot her way. Moni opened her mouth once, hesitantly, just to close it again before anything could come out. When Moni’s gaze suddenly dropped to her feet, Mercedes felt as if an invisible fist had taken both her lungs and scrunched them into a tiny ball.

“Merceditas, creo que es mejor que por un tiempo…” Merceditas, I think it's best that for a while...

Mercedes didn’t even want to hear the rest. She didn’t even go upstairs to take what she could with her. The woman hastily circled the table, picked up a backpack that hung next to the door, and walked out before slamming the door after her.







Namor had been waiting outside of the house for over half an hour after Mercedes asked him to do so, claiming she had some things to sort out with Moni. Their argument could be heard from where he was sitting, on the spot next to the river. So, when the door swung open and he heard hurried steps coming his way, Namor turned his head immediately. The budding grin on the corner of his lips faded instantly when the person that took a seat on a rock next to him wasn’t Mercedes.

“You’re a loyal one, I’ll give you that,” Antonia huffed, resting her elbows against her knees as she turned to look at him clearly expecting an answer. Namor didn’t make a sound and remained unfazed, staring at the running water before them.

“Alright, then,” She continued, “Mercedes wants us to take a look around the house. Make sure no one followed us while they pack a few things to take her grandmother to the capital tonight.”

With no other gesture to acknowledge her words, Namor stood up and started making his way to the tree line. “Wait! Don’t you want a gun or something?” After receiving nothing but silence for an answer, Antonia sighed annoyed before following suit.

“You look anxious,” She commented after ten blissful minutes of complete silence, seeing Namor open and close his fists repeatedly as they walked, “You should’ve come armed. Last time I went to investigate a noise unarmed somebody beat me unconscious and when I opened my eyes I was tied up in the middle of the jungle,”

“I can look after myself just fine,” He dryly replied, still refusing to look at her. Noticing the edge in his voice, Antonia scoffed and shook her head.

“She must’ve already made a great job at telling you about me, hasn’t she?” The woman spoke scornfully, “The evil bitch who just won’t forgive her for killing her dad,”

Namor stopped himself before attempting to argue with her, clenching his jaw and taking a deep breath before continuing to walk.

“Let me tell you a few things about her, then,”

“You told me enough back there,”

“Oh, trust me, it’s not nearly enough,”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Shit, she’s got you good, doesn’t she?” Antonia sneered as he walked faster to move away from her.

“You know she’s married, right?”

“Sí Javier, ya sé,” Mercedes whispered into the phone, tapping her fingertips against her knee “No me importan los años, cabrón. Me sigues debiendo un favor.” After a few seconds, she cursed under her breath and angrily hung up the phone, impulsively kicking the wooden stool she’d been using as a seat.



A set of footsteps rushed down the stairs and Moni stumbled into the kitchen, worriedly asking what was wrong as she scanned the room. “Nada, tía,” Mercedes replied with a forced, breathless laugh, attempting to sound as calm as she could, “Nada, esta gente que me hace enojar,” Nothing, auntie. Just these people that make me so angry. “¿Qué dijo tu amigo?” Moni asked hopefully. Her niece couldn’t lie to her. She could see on her face that things had definitely not gone her way. Confirming her suspicions, Mercedes shook her head negatively. What did your friend say? “Ambas están más seguras aquí de todos modos,” Mercedes assured her, “No saben cómo llegar a Bawir y ya nos encargamos de los que sí. Pensaremos en algo.” Both of you are safer here anyway. They don't know how to get to Bawir and we took care of those who did. We'll figure it out.

Before her aunt could say anything else, Mercedes shut her eyes tightly as she unsteadily leaned against the wall.

“¿Mercedes? ¿Qué te pasa, chula?” Moni asked, gently placing her hand on the woman’s forehead only for Mercedes to softly remove it. Mercedes? What's wrong, sweetheart?

“Nada, tía. Nomás traigo migraña, no te preocupes.”   Nothing, auntie. Just some migraine, don't worry.

Not looking entirely convinced, Moni nodded and sighed, looking impossibly tired. Mercedes pulled her into a hug and rested her chin on top of her head, her eyes slowly drifting from the dirty dishes in the sink to the green bushes that could be seen through the window.

Namor felt as if he’d stepped on a high-voltage cable and found himself unable to move after hearing the words that left Antonia’s mouth.

You know she’s married, right?

Somehow, that concept and the person it was linked to didn’t seem to make sense together. In his mind, there was no way she could be married. She’d never mentioned it. In all fairness, he had never asked in the first place. She didn’t act like a married woman either. At least not in the last twenty-four hours, or during any of those moments he was sure he’d seen something in her eyes that could barely be considered friendship and not…something else.

Then again, wishful thinking was real. A very real, terrifying possibility.

“Where is…?” He asked once he’d somewhat regained his ability to speak. Shit. He didn’t even know what word…

“He has been away for a while.” Antonia continued, “They met when she was overseeing some business for a drug cartel. But I’m guessing you already knew about that too.”

He didn’t want to turn around. He knew that, if he did, he would have to listen to everything she had to say. He could just go back to the house, convince her to go back to Talokan before nightfall, get soldiers to guard the house day and night despite the risk, and forget all about what he’d just heard, he didn’t need to know. Except he did.

“I can tell you why her name was different in that picture…”

Namor stopped right before turning his neck and furrowed his eyebrows.

“You said you were in the middle of the jungle when you woke up,” He reminded her, “That picture was inside one of the tents,”

When he was met with nothing but a sudden silence, Namor turned around just in time to see a sharp blade about to descend upon his face. Before he could fully process his actions, his self-preservation reflexes kicked in and urged him to counterattack, gripping the attacker’s hand and twisting the arm around with enough strength to redirect the knife’s trajectory right into an astonished Antonia’s stomach.

The woman immediately fell to the floor with a loud thud. Nothing was visible but the handle of the knife and a seemingly endless surge of bright red blood oozed from the injury. As he watched, his earlier words to Mercedes resonated in his mind.

“Whoever did this knew there was going to be a celebration that day and the exact same time at which the noise would be loud enough to camouflage the shooting…

Either that or somebody else told them,”

He cursed under his breath as the realization hit him. In a way, it made some sense. However, even if they weren’t related by blood, Antonia and Mercedes’ chiich had to have been close given how attached both girls had been growing up. But everybody had a breaking point, he knew that. She had reached hers after Mercedes was involved in what happened to Cruz. Everything she’d said was nothing but hateful lies in an attempt to destroy his loyalty to Xmeech. It had to be.

As if he had invoked her with his, her voice calling his name reached his ears, stilling the chaotic tide that drowned his thoughts. However, the effect was short-lived as he realized it was getting closer. Snapping out of his thoughts, the man quickly placed his thumb on the fallen woman’s neck and detected a faint, but existing pulse. Immediately removing the flimsy cotton shirt he’d borrowed, he tore it to shreds and pressed it against her wound.

Namor had to tell the truth. Antonia tried to kill him unaware of his identity. She had harbored so much hatred towards Mercedes that it ultimately led her to sell them out to the enemy, going as far as giving something as priceless as the location of Bawir, their secret haven. Antonia was the person working with them from the inside. There were no further signs of any remaining members of the group that was after them. She didn’t need to stay there any longer. Maybe then she would want to return to Talokan. If only he hadn’t just confessed to almost killing the woman she’d once thought of as a sister.

With a defeated sigh, Namor raised his head to call Mercedes’ name, but the woman emerged from the bushes before he could do so. He felt his heart sink at the sight of Mercedes’ face contorting into a horrified expression, her mouth agape as she ran towards them and knelt next to Antonia

 “What happened? I thought you were supposed to be standing guard together,”

“Hold this,” He instructed her, “Don’t let go. I’ll try to lift her,” 

“Who did this to her?” She insisted. Still, she obeyed as Namor promptly lifted Antonia’s limp body and followed Mercedes, who led them across the jungle and back into town to reach the small clinic.





“What happened?” Mercedes sputtered once they were sitting in the waiting room, staring into Namor’s eyes despondently. She’d managed to call Moni but wanted to get her facts straight before she arrived, not wanting to discuss them in her presence.

“She suggested we split up and watch a side of the house each, and they got to her before I did,” Namor explained, holding her gaze. Silently scrutinizing his face, Mercedes shook her face and clenched her jaw.

“Bullshit,” She spat out, “They got to her before you? I want to know what really happened.”

Namor opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could make up something else to delay telling her the news that would completely shatter the image she had of her childhood friend, Mercedes chimed in again.

“U jaajile’, kän-än,” She hissed, “I want the truth. You promised.”

She was right. That was what they had agreed. To always be honest with each other, even if they knew the truth wouldn’t be well-received. Namor suddenly noticed the large dark circles under her almond-shaped eyes. His gaze drifted down to her exposed shoulders, covered in goosebumps despite the warm atmosphere around them.

“Are you cold?” He asked. Mercedes looked taken aback by the question and once she noticed his eyes were fixed on her skin, she absent-mindedly ran her hands up and down her arms.

“What does that…?”

“Answer me, please,” Namor sternly insisted.

“A little. I haven’t been feeling well since this morning,” Mercedes admitted, “It’s just the sudden climate change.”

While she perceived a glint of intense worry in his eyes, Namor did not press the matter further and simply acknowledged her answer with a nod.

“Do you trust me?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Nearly with no hesitation, Mercedes nodded and scooted slightly closer to him.

“You have to stay here,” He quietly acknowledged, “Take your chiich somewhere safe. I will do my best to find anything on Wexler’s computer that will help us get to them, and then I will find you.”

 “You’re leaving?” She asked, scrutinizing his face in disbelief as she backed away from him, “Now?”

“I just need to let Attuma and Namora know why I’ve been absent for so long,” He explained, “I was supposed to be back nearly a day ago,”

“Does that mean you don’t want me to go back? Can I stay?” She asked in such a hopeful tone that it tore his heart to pieces.

“No, Xmeech. I don’t expect you to return.”

“Can you find out if there has been any progress in decoding the laptop?” She asked tentatively, to which Namor looked away almost ashamedly.

“I don’t think there was, but I will ask.”

“Do you think that will change soon?” The woman insisted. She refused to look into his eyes as if he could somehow peek into her mind and see the conversation between her and that mysterious person that had taken place inside one of those tents back in the jungle. As if he could see she was very much considering it…

His silence did not help his cause at all.

“Let them know you’re okay, but please come back after,” Mercedes pleaded, her mouth pressed in a hard line as she waited for an answer. “If there has been no progress, I will…take my chiich somewhere safe and go back to Talokan with you. To help.”

“Are you sure?” Namor asked no sooner than she had finished her sentence. He could see a glint of hesitation in her eyes and the most selfish side of him beamed when he realized she was struggling to decide even after he had openly granted her freedom. He wondered what kind of cruel person could revel so much in knowing that parting from him, from Talokan, caused her so much pain, “If you’re sure and that’s what you want, you are welcome,”

“Alright. You know where to find us,” Mercedes replied with a soft smile, “As soon as Antonia is out of here…”

“No,” Namor interrupted her so bluntly that she looked at him in slight confusion, “Take your chiich somewhere nobody but you can find her. Do not tell anybody else, not even Moni. Do not trust anybody.”

Before Mercedes could ask anything else and force him to confess whatever he knew, a doctor luckily showed up and asked Mercedes to go with him. As she stood up to leave, the woman turned to look at Namor one more time.

“Wait for me at the house,” She asked, “Don’t leave without letting me know, please?”

“I will see you later, Xmeech,” Namor nodded with a wistful grin as he turned to leave the hospital.





The doctors said Antonia had been very lucky. Despite having lost a fair amount of blood, they had managed to stabilize her and expected her to make a slow but full recovery since the stab had barely touched any important organs. Moni let Mercedes know she would stay with her daughter for the night and sent her back to the house. Deep inside, Mercedes couldn’t help but wonder whether this had re-opened an old injury regarding having a member of her family hurt or nearly killed because of Mercedes. However, she didn’t want to probe further into that and quietly obeyed and walked back to the house. The woman allowed herself to freely enjoy the unbridled relief that washed over her at knowing that Namor was waiting for her there. For once, she even actively tried to avoid fighting the smile that crept up her face as she reached the small cottage.

Mercedes quietly opened the door and walked inside, surprised to find the house in utter darkness. After giving it some thought, she remembered he was probably used to inhabiting poorly lit grottos and might’ve felt more comfortable in the dark. She promptly ran upstairs and peeked through the door of her bedroom, finding nobody but a sleeping chiich inside. Tiptoeing next to the bed, she smiled at the asleep woman and, as she leaned down to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, noticed a shiny object resting on the nightstand.

It was a round, smooth, metallic bead. Mercedes carefully picked it up and admired it under the dim moonlight.  

“Te dejó un pedacito de Sol,” He left you a tiny piece of the Sun

Chiich’s sleepy voice startled Mercedes so much that she almost dropped the shiny pearl. Baffled, the woman lifted an eyebrow and stared down at her grandmother inquisitively.

“Tet decía que K’uk’ulkan servía al Sol,” She continued, resting her head against the soft pillow, “Y que me durmiera o me elegiría para acompañarlo en su viaje de regreso al mundo de abajo,” Tet used to say that K'uk'ulkan served the Sun, and that I had to go to sleep or he would pick me to accompany him on his journey back to the underworld.

“El mundo de abajo es precioso, chiich,” Mercedes replied, sitting on the bed next to her, “Pero ahora tengo que asegurarme de que no les pase nada,” The underworld is beautiful, chiich. But now I have to make sure nothing happens to you.

“Se fue sin ti al mundo de abajo, Na’,” Chiich stated, but instead of seeming relieved or happy the elderly woman looked utterly sad, “Tenía que cuidar a mi Xmeech,” He left for the underworld without you, Na'. He had to look after my Xmeech.

“¿Y quién te va a cuidar a ti?” Mercedes laughed softly, “Va a volver pronto.” And who's going to look after you? He's coming back soon anyway.

“No va a volver,” Chiich shook her head negatively, “K’uk’ulkan se fue con el sol,” He's not coming back. K'uk'ulkan left with the Sun.

“Sí. Y va a volver mañana con el sol también,” Yes. And he will return tomorrow with the Sun, too.

“No,” The elderly woman insisted, “Le pedí que se no se fuera. Le dije que lo necesitabas, Na’.” No. I asked him not to go. I told him you needed him.

“¡Chiich!” Mercedes angrily whispered as she stood up, a line appearing between her eyebrows as she folded her arms apprehensively, “¿Y como por qué le dijiste algo así?” Chiich! Why would you tell him something like that?

Barely perceiving she had done something to upset her, Chiich didn’t answer and simply studied the other woman’s face with an innocent smile.

“Bueno, ¿y qué dijo?” Mercedes asked impatiently, which immediately turned the elderly woman’s grin upside down. Well, and what did he say?

“Sólo se rió. Dijo que desde el inicio, de algún modo, él siempre te había necesitado más a ti. Y que tenía que irse a cuidar a mi Xmeech. Se despidió de mí. Me dijo que te dijera adiós.” He just laughed. He said that from the beginning, in some way, he always needed you more. And that he had to leave to look after my Xmeech. He told me to tell you goodbye.

Mercedes’ mouth fell open as her eyes left her grandmother’s face to look at the still-open door leading to the hall. Hurriedly assuring her she’d be back, the woman left her seat and rushed into every room inside the house, searching for her kän-än. Her guardian. Her guardian that had left without saying goodbye, without giving her some certainty on when she’d see him again.

If. If she saw him again.

Mercedes rejected that thought as soon as it entered her mind. He wouldn’t leave and leave them to their fate like that. She was certain he would come back.

But that could take months. Mercedes had gone into hiding for extended periods before. Hell, half of her life she’d been hiding along with her family, why did it upset her so much now?

Because you won’t see him, a tiny voice in her head said scornfully. If he had told you he’d be back in six months, would you be freaking out this much?

No. Because there would be a deadline. A day to look forward to, not this uncertainty. She wouldn’t spend days wondering if it would take years to see him again. All this time she had felt they were doing this together, that she counted on his support and, no matter how disgustingly soft it sounded, his protection. Now she was on her own again. And she hated it.

Mercedes looked out of the window, her gaze fixed on the thick canopy and the darkness underneath it. It was a perfect hideout. A perfect place to spy on somebody, or talk without being seen. Not even five minutes later, she was running out of the house. Mercedes stood in front of the trees as an ominous gust of wind caressed its leaves, making them whisper. Convinced she was being watched, she looked around before undauntingly making her way into the jungle.





Namor could’ve flown. He could’ve made the journey in such a short time, but he decided against it after accepting there were many things he wanted to think about before reaching his destination. It had been one hell of an eventful day. The many things he had been hiding from Mercedes were eating him alive. The fact that her cousin was confined to a hospital bed with a stab wound because of him, and also that she was the one that had betrayed her in the first place or the knowledge that their attempts to recover the information from the thrashed laptop were not going well at all. What would she think of him if she knew how badly he hoped there had been no progress since they left so she would have to go back? As he numbered all the secrets he kept from her, Namor briefly looked at something he was holding in his hand before releasing one long sigh. He was protecting her. In his mind, he always tried to convince himself that all of that he was doing to protect her. Namor knew that if there was some way to just whisk her away, leave everything that pained her behind, and make everything better…he would do it in a heartbeat, but the title invested in him by his people was the only godly thing about him. Even with all his power, some things were beyond him. He couldn’t take a look inside her mind, see if she was as desperate as he was to see all the things inside his mind that had her name tattooed on them.

She had to know. Nobody kisses somebody else like that unless they knew something, or hoped the other one did. The Talokanil pressed his lips together as the memory of her lips on his haunted him for the millionth time in a frustratingly short time.

He would tell her everything. He swore to himself that he would ease her into everything he’d kept from her once they were back in Talokan, even if that meant…

Namor’s inner dialogue stopped the minute the possibility of her leaving his side came into play. He tried finishing the sentence again. He would tell her absolutely everything even if it meant… The man stopped walking and angrily ran a hand across his face when a noise interrupted his third attempt.

It was his name. One of his many names and now perhaps his favorite, called by a voice that made him terrified of what would happen the day he stopped putting up so much resistance to the effects it had on him.  Like right then, when he turned around as alert as if he was bracing for the impact of an assailant just to release every bit of air in his lungs the second she entered his range of vision. Even if she looked as if she was about to tear his face off.

Mercedes practically ran into Namor, pushing him away with all her strength. He took a step backwards despite not having felt anything.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She yelled at him, “Were you going to leave? I told you not to leave without letting me know! Do you think that telling my senile grandmother ‘hey say goodbye to her for me’ would be enough?”

“What?” Was all that left his lips as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Yeah, she told me, and here’s your stupid farewell gift,” She took the vibranium bead out of her pocket and shoved it against his chest, “I don’t give a shit if you’re used to doing things in your own time, we had a deal, and that was that you’d let me know before you left, then tell me when you’d come back,”

“Mercedes, I’m…” He tried to explain himself just to be immediately shut down.

“No, no, I don’t care how you’re going to justify it. I…you’re very helpful. You’re too helpful. And I hate that you always seem to lift a weight off my shoulders and I shouldn’t be okay with that, but I’d rather hate myself for needing your help than not having it.”

“So is that all you want from me? Help?” He asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Wait, no, I didn’t mean it like that…” She immediately tried to apologize.

“Was it help all you were seeking on the tree?” Namor asked in such a blunt, straightforward way that now it was she who nearly stumbled backwards.

“A lot has happened since then,” He continued, not moving from where he stood, “And we haven’t had the chance to properly talk about it.”

Mercedes shifted her weight from one foot to the other awkwardly. Not lowering her gaze despite the violent shift of color on her face was a feat of sheer strong will. Fearing an uncomfortable silence more than whatever that conversation could have in store for her, she cleared her throat and gave a step forward.

“Okay. What about it?”

“Why did you do it?” Namor asked, unfazed,

Just the first question and it already appeared to be the hardest to answer, judging by the shift in the woman’s demeanor and how her eyes drifted to the side for the first time in the conversation.

“I don’t know,” was the disappointing answer. The Talokanil man scoffed and this time lifted both his eyebrows as he got even closer, carefully scrutinizing Mercedes’ face.

“Xmeech, you once told me that you thought I looked into people’s eyes to see if they were lying, remember?” Once she nodded, he continued speaking, “The truth is, I only did it with you. And not because I want to catch you in a lie.”

Noticing how she avoided looking at him as if she’d been caught in the act and to further prove his point, Namor gently grabbed her chin and turned her face to look at him, going as far as cupping her face with his hand to keep her from moving it away again.

“I already know two things about you. You are either a very smart person who calculates her every movement or you’re a reckless madwoman who completely disregards her own safety, there’s no in between with you. And your eyes tell me who you are right then. I can see if you’ve completely planned out everything that’s going on, or if you’re just taking a leap of faith.”

“So…you knew I intended to get you drunk that night so I could escape?” She asked in an attempt to ease the tension with a joke that accomplished nothing but quirking up the corner of his mouth for a moment.

“I didn’t then. Now I realize you knew perfectly well what you were doing, just like I know that that night on top of the tree was a mere impulse.”

“If you know it was just an impulse,” Mercedes quietly replied, “What do you want from me?”

His hand left her face to slide behind her neck, pulling her forward and leaning down to end with his forehead pressed against hers and his eyes closed shut.

“I want to know where it came from and if you would do it again.”

What followed was an impossible silence. Even the insects and other noises of the jungle went quiet around them, or so it seemed to Namor as the only sound that reached his ears was his own heart as it echoed inside his chest when he stopped feeling her skin against his.

He didn’t really know what to expect. Maybe a soft and hesitant brush of lips, which was more than enough. Perhaps she would just breathe on his lips and then back down. Even the possibility of being harshly slapped crossed his mind and would’ve made perfect sense. Being roughly pulled forward not for a kiss but for a hug as sobs flooded his ears was far beyond anything he’d imagined. It wasn’t until he opened his eyes in confusion that he witnessed how frantically she was pulling herself closer to him, burying her nose in his neck and clasping her arms behind his neck as she stood on her tiptoes. Almost on instinct, he snaked his arms around her waist and held her just as tightly against his chest, feeling her irregular breaths as she struggled to keep more sobs from coming out. Mercedes peeled herself off him and, letting out a relieved, breathless laugh, leaned forward to kiss him again. This time she didn’t give a shit about whether he could feel her shaking like a leaf. Willingly letting every emotion rush through her, she pressed her lips against his over and over and over, not even aiming for his mouth anymore and not caring if they landed on his cheek or his eyes a couple of times. When she ran out of breath, Mercedes once again found solace resting her chin on his shoulder as he gently placed a hand soothingly on her hair.  

“I’m not ready to be away from you,” She admitted, his flush skin against her mouth muffling her words causing her to move away from him to speak properly, “That’s all I can give to you right now.”

“Does that mean you’re coming with me?” He cautiously asked, holding her face in his hands as he looked at her expectantly.

“We’re not done yet. That shitty computer is our best shot at finding those assholes and I will even if it’s the last thing I do. Even if you had left me behind, I know where to find you.”

 “I did mean to go back,” Namor quickly explained in a more serious tone, “Your grandmother must have misunderstood me when I told her I was going back to you because…well, she thinks you already are in the underworld, so I thought it was best to act accordingly. I only went back to explain my absence.”

As he spoke, Namor closed his fist tightly around a tiny, elongated object inside his hand and concealed it by folding his arms.

“I already placed my family somewhere safe,” Mercedes spoke, briefly glancing to the side, “If we hurry, we should be reaching the ocean before sunrise.”

With a nod, Namor gave her a lopsided grin, which she returned before he turned around to walk in the opposite direction. The minute his gaze was off her, Mercedes pressed her lips into a thin line and diverted her eyes to a small cut on her forearm that, fortunately, he hadn’t noticed. While it was covered by cauterized tissue, she could still feel the awkward metallic bump under it and, if one looked very carefully and knew what to look for, the faint light of the tracker was barely visible.

The Translations:

Tet: Lacandon Mayan. Father



Taglist:

@evita-shelby

[aphrodithine]

“Thine and redge winning time”

Just this morning nag chat kapatid ko and sent me her floor plan ng papagawa nyang bahay. I just can’t believe still kasi andito na talaga kame sa stage ng pamilya ko na binaligtad na lahat. Hindi kame galing sa marangyang buhay we have actually a house sa probinsya na malaki pero hindi amin sa kapatid yun ng papa ko. Si ‘Mommy’ tawag namin dahil ayaw nya na tawagin namin syang tita kasi ayaw nya magmukhang matanda a grandiosa type na aunti. She hate us before tipong tinataguan nya kame ng pagkain, pinag dadamutan at pinan didirihan kasi alam mo naman pag laking hirap kahit manamit ka maayos mukhang dugyutin padin. Mayayaman ang kapatid ni Papa may compound sila at kame itong kani kanino nakikituloy pag nababaha bahay namin that is why katulong kung ituring at utusan kame ng mga pinsan namin. Hindi ko pa naiintindihan kung bakit, dahil para sa akin ok lang isa yung palit sa pinapakain nila sa amin. (this are the reasons why hindi ako madamot na tao, bakit ako tumutulong at selfless, at maawain na tao dahil sa mga past experiences ko)

Si Papa kasi yung tipo na walang ambisyon, pag may pera para syang nangungumpanya palagi inuuna ang ibang tao bago kame dahil si papa gusto nya palagi nakakatulong din. Ofw sya since grade 1 pa lang ako and imagine wala syang ipon until now kahit napagawan man lang sana nya kame ng bahay. Pero hanga ako sakanya dahil napag tapos nya kameng lahat. Kaya sabe ko noon hindi ako mag aasawa ng lalakeng walang pangarap sa buhay kasi si papa lang sa lahat ng magkakapatid ang hindi maganda ang buhay mga pinsan namin may kaya, ang lalaki ng bahay ang sasarap ng ulam pero dahil Papa’s girl ako i never hated him. Nung naghiwalay sila ni mama kay papa ako sumama. Hahaha Pero ayun pasalamat ako dahil love padin nila isat isa at buo padin. (No intentions po sa mga broken family hah. Hugs*)

Never naming susukuan ng kapatid ko pangarap para kina mama at papa hindi na baleng pinalaki kameng mahirap ang mahalaga kame na ang tutupad sa mga pangarap ng Parents namin. I still remember nung magkakasalo kame nila papa kompleto sa hapag kainan netong pag uwi nya sabe nya “Ang sasarap na ng inuulam natin anak ah parang nuon lang hindi natin nakakain mga ito, hindi tayo nakaka ulam ng masasarap”

Sabe nga ni Brad Gast;

“No matter what happens, no matter how far you seem to be away from where you want to be, never stop believing that you will somehow make it. Have an unrelenting belief that things will work out. That the long road has a purpose, that the things that you desire may not happen today, but they will happen. Continue to persist and persevere”

Bukas makukuha ko na si Makarios and next year pagpatak ng 2021 goal namin ng kapatid ko umpisahan na magpa bahay. Bahay nya at bahay naman namin ni Pat mamili na lang sina mama saan nila gusto tumira sa akin o sa kapatid ko. Oh diba? Sa dating nakikitira lng noon ngayon hindi na nila alam saan sila sisilid dahil dalawang bahay ipapatayo para sakanila. Malilito pa sila hahahaha!

[fireflyfish]

True Facts about Auntie Fishy

I have been tagged by everyone. I think I might have a notification from Palpatine somewhere around here. 

Tag nine people you would like to know better so they can participate, if they like: @silvergryphon, @lurkingcrow, @teapirate, @generallkenobi, @resistancepilots, @thefreelancerdivision,  @toasted-marshmello, @loverofcake, @ozzy698

Relationship Status: Thoroughly and ridiculously in love with my resident Sith! Obi-Wan @writegowrite

Favorite Color: Indigo Blue although grass green has been sneaking up on me lately.

Lipstick or Chapstick: Lipstick, Bite lipstick in particular. I love their stuff. I want to say my favorite color is “Boysenberry” but I don’t think that’s right.

Last song I listened to: Praying by Kesha. 

Last Movie I watched: Revenge of the Sith, I swear to the Force. I watched it with Lily and @darthluminescent and stopped watching before we got to Order 66 and then came back for THE SADDEST AND COOLEST LIGHTSABER DUEL EVER. Take that Kylo Ren.

Top 3 characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Shin Mouri/Touma Hashiba (DON’T MAKE ME CHOSE, LILY. I CANNOT), Thor Odinson/Captain America (I can’t chose between them. I love them both SO much. Also Sam Wilson, Scott Lang, Everybody in GotG and just, listen. I’ve been a Marvel girl since 1993, okay? I have a BONE DEEP AFFECTION for those characters.)  

Top 3 ships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker/Padme Amidala, (Honorable Mentions: Obi-Wan Kenobi/A restful nap, Obi-Wan Kenobi/AND NOT THAT, Anakin Skywalker/A Good Therapist, Padme/Sabe)

Books/Manga: Would you believe I haven’t read a whole lot of fiction? I enjoyed American Gods when I read it and Claudia Gray’s Lost Stars and Bloodlines. Manga wise I really would have liked CLAMP to continue Gate 7 but it was not to be.

Top 5 Musicals: In no particular order... Les Miserable, Cats, Hamilton, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, The Music Man, My Fair Lady, I defy you list. You can’t stop me! The Lion King, West Side Story, Cabaret, Chicago, La la la! Oh! Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Paint Your Wagon yeaaaaah... I think that’s it. :D

[urgonnaneedabiggership]

NAMOR (MCU) X MEXICAN!OC

MASTERLIST

A/N: Remember you can find this fanfic on AO3 right here. Any feedback and/or comments are greatly appreciated <3 If you want to be added to the taglist, just say so!

p.s Good news for you, I'll try to make the chapters longer from now on so the story doesn't feel slow.

Warnings: Somewhat graphic violence, mentions of weapons, death and un-aliving people. Language.

Word count: 3108

Almost everything was foreign to the leader of Talokan. From the wooden table covered in an embroidered white cloth to the unfamiliar smell that emanated from the kitchen and the soft music coming from an old sound system.

The elderly woman had paid little attention to him, rather instructing him to stay put while they made some coffee and proceeding to grab Mercedes’ arm and nearly dragging her to the kitchen while affectionately lecturing her for not calling in too long. While he hadn’t had much time to see her face, she was depicted in an old picture that rested on top of a shelf inside an overly decorated frame with hearts and dolphins.

A teenage Mercedes was also there, along with a middle-aged man and another girl. Seeing them together, Namor deduced they probably weren’t related by blood. Sadie was a bit taller than all of them, her skin one or two shades darker, the same as her hair. The man had dusty brown hair, as did the woman and their daughter, who was the man’s spitting image. On the corner of the room was a small table with a liquor bottle, some dry flowers, and a couple of lit candles. Right in the center rested a framed picture of the man in the first photo.

Whispers and occasional muffled laughter left the kitchen every few minutes. For a moment and quite unexplainably, Namor wondered if they were talking about him. Frowning, he shook his head and continued to scan the room, confused as to why he’d felt anxious at the possibility.

Little did he know, they actually were.

“Mijita, tú sabes que no soy chismosa ni suelo meterme en tus asuntos,” Mijita, you know I'm not gossipy and I tend to stay out of your business.

Mercedes smiled to herself when Moni spoke. She always said that before asking something that would be undeniably considered prying. With a mischievous grin, the woman moved closer to her and whispered.

“¿Quién es el muchacho que trajiste? ¿Es tu novio?” Who is that boy you brought with you? Is he your boyfriend?

“¡Moni!” She reprimanded her, shaking her head negatively with a soft laugh, “¿Y tú para qué quieres saber?” And why do you want to know?

“¿Bueno, y qué tiene?” Moni replied deffensively, “¿Sabes cuántas veces me has traído un muchacho a la casa?” What's wrong with it? Do you know how many times you've brought a boy to the house?

Of course, she didn’t even give her time to answer.

“Una, ¿te acuerdas? Aquel fulano que quería trabajar en un acuario,” One, remember? That guy that wanted to work in an aquarium?

“Actuario, tía. Quería ser actuario.” Actuary, auntie. He wanted to be an actuary.

“Ay, eso, pues. No era para ti, todo desabrido, ni estaba tan guapo y lo supe desde que tiró el salero y derramó sal por todo el comedor.” Whatever, he wasn't for you. Bland, not even that handsome. I knew it from the moment he dropped the salt and spilled it all over the dining room.

Mercedes had to stifle a laugh at the woman’s firm superstitious beliefs.

“Este me gusta más,” She continued, looking over her shoulder to take a peek at Namor, who had now wandered off into the living room and was taken by a series of photographs. “Este sí está guapo, ¿no?” I like this one better. This one is handsome, isn't he?

“¡Tía!” Mercedes admonished her once again. Christ, now she remembered why she’d only brought one guy home in her entire existence. She had to admit though that the sight of Namor wrapped in a blanket, staring at the photographs while holding a probably now cold cup of coffee in his hands was…homey.

“Ya dime pues, ¿es tu novio o no?” Moni insisted, nudging her with her hips. Come on then, is he your boyfriend or not?

“No, tía Moni, de verdad que tú no tienes remedio,” Mercedes brushed her off, leaving the room to avoid being questioned further and joining her guest in the living room. No, auntie Moni, you're hopeless.

“See anything you like?” She asked. Namor’s gaze was fixed upon a series of black-and-white pictures depicting several ruins from different angles.

“That’s Palenque,” she explained, “It’s all ruins now but I bet it was beautiful in the past.”

“It was. My ancestors knew it as Bàak.” He replied distractedly, scanning the rest of the pictures and stopping at the first one that had a person in it. It was a man, sitting on the steps of one of the pyramids staring up at the sky with a solemn expression, both his hands holding onto a straw hat. He recognized him as the same man from the picture in the living room and the small shrine.

“Who is he?” Namor asked. He noticed the way Sadie’s expression shifted into a somber, melancholic one the minute she laid eyes on the man.

“Es mi Cruz, que en paz descanse” The voice of Moni coming from behind them surprised them. She’d approached them when she noticed them staring at that picture. The woman crossed herself and placed her hand on her late husband’s face after kissing it. “Mi Merceditas la tomó, ¿qué te parece?” That's my Cruz, may he rest in peace. My Merceditas took that, what do you think?

“No habla español, Tía Moni.” Sadie interceded. “Sí lo entiende, pero él es…de un pueblito en Yucatán y hablan maya.” He doesn't speak spanish, auntie Moni. He does understand it but...he's from a small village in Yucatán and they speak mayan.

“¿Y de cuándo acá volviste a hablar maya?” Moni replied with a smirk, “Ni yo me acuerdo de mucho ya, era tu tío el que sabía.” And since when do you speak Mayan again? Not even I remember much, it was your uncle who spoke it.

“Tuve un buen tutor.” Mercedes replied, sending a knowing smile his way. I had a good tutor.

“Bueno, pero hay que sentarnos que tenemos mucho que platicar, mi chiquita.” Moni interjected and gently grabbed her arm to lead her to the table. Fine, but we must sit down, we have a lot to talk about, little one

“Gracias tía, pero de hecho…” Thanks auntie, but actually...

Namor couldn’t hear the rest of the sentence because Mercedes leaned very close to her aunt and spoke just loud enough for her to hear. Moni pursed her lips and sighed with glossy eyes. Reaching up her hand, she caressed the young woman’s cheek and nodded.

“Bueno, acá los espero cuando regresen,” She whispered and gave Sadie another sympathetic look. Alright, I'll wait here for you when you come back.

Mercedes thanked her and looked back at Namor, gesturing for him to follow as Moni showed them out.

At this point, he knew she wouldn’t tell him where they were going. The only time she’d spoken since leaving the house was to let him know they were about ten minutes away from their destination. It was unnerving to see her so quiet.

Her gloominess was a stark contrast with the atmosphere that suddenly surrounded them the further they walked. More houses began to pop out, a cobblestone road replaced the dirt below them, and before they knew it they found themselves in a tiny main square. It was a lovely, bustling afternoon. People talked to each other or purchased food from street vendors, a group of children gleefully spooked a group of pigeons just to be scolded by the elderly woman feeding them, and a young couple walked hand in hand.

Namor noticed two things: wherever they were, it obviously had a small population. In fact, Mercedes seemed to know most people as they greeted her and some even chatted with her for a few minutes. And two, most of the people around there were women. He hadn’t spotted one single elderly man in all this time. In fact, practically every man he had seen was younger than them.

Finally, they reached a large, white building. From the way it was built, it looked like a school. It had a beautiful front yard with a trimmed-down lawn, several climbing plants that nearly covered the metallic rail around the building, and many trees that, even if they were overgrown from not being properly tended to, gave the garden a nice organic touch.

The air inside was barely cooler than the outside thanks to a huge fan that hung from the ceiling, but the receptionist still waved a magazine in front of her face, only looking up from a small television when Mercedes approached her. After exchanging a few words, the lady stood up and told them to follow her down a long hall.

There were several windows lining the hall that allowed them to look outside into another garden, which had no trees, but instead a set of swings and a slide, along with a small, empty orchard and a pond where an earth tortoise basked in the last rays of sunlight.

“¿No está en el jardín?” Mercedes asked the receptionist, who shook her head. She's not in the garden?

“Doña Itzé quiso quedarse en su cuarto. Dijo que prefería quedarse junto a su ventana.” Doña Itzé wanted to stay in her room. She said she'd rather stay next to the window.

Suddenly, Namor felt something warm in his hand and looked down to realize Mercedes was holding it. Not only holding it but actually squeezing it. He looked at her and noticed how she pressed her lips together anxiously. Her touch in such a way felt foreign, but it was the meaning of the gesture that really made a warm feeling spread over his chest. He didn’t know what made her feel like this, and thus he wasn’t sure of how to verbally comfort her, but that didn’t stop him from squeezing her hand back and tapping the back softly with his thumb.

It was much easier than saying something as emotionally charged as “I don’t know what’s happening or why it upsets you this much, but I’m here for you nonetheless.”

Without looking at him, Mercedes weakly smiled when she felt her gesture be reciprocated.

Finally, they reached the last door. Sadie took a deep, shaky breath as the receptionist slowly turned the doorknob and let them inside. It was a small room with pale yellow walls and wooden furniture consisting of a bed, a large armchair, shelves with many books, a closet, and a desk with several picture frames on it. Sitting on the armchair next to the window was a woman. Her long, white hair with a few black strands here and there was carefully braided, and her wrinkly skin was splotched with the tiny dark spots that came with old age. The receptionist approached her and kneeled next to the chair, whispering something in her ear before making her way back to Sadie. She thanked her and the lady left after offering them a sincere smile and reminding them she’d be right outside should they need anything.

Mercedes let go of Namor’s hand, albeit reluctantly, as she approached the armchair. She didn’t really need to explain anything. Just one glance at the elderly woman and Namor knew what Mercedes would look like in the future when she turned ninety. That thought provoked an uneasy feeling in his throat. But back to the matter at hand, when Sadie looked at her, the woman smiled brightly and it became even more obvious that they were related.

“Chiich,” Sadie greeted her, gently taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles. The woman placed a hand on her head.

“Na’” The woman greeted her, “You’re late.”

Na’. Mother. Namor wondered why would the woman address her grandchild like that, but Mercedes looked as if she’d just received a blow in the stomach from hearing it.

“I’m sorry. But I’m here now.” Mercedes apologized, carefully placing a loose strand of hair behind her grandmother’s ear.

“Na’, every year I wait for this day,” The woman said with a beaming smile, “How is she?”

“She is well. She talks of you a lot,” Sadie replied. The woman seemed pleased with the news.

“Does she miss me?” She asked

Sadie opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had to stop and look away for a moment to pull herself together before nodding with a smile, yet unable to stop a stream of tears from leaving her eyes.

“Every day. She told me to tell you that she misses you every single day, and the good memories she has of you are what keep her going until she can see you again.”

“Oh, but she’s not alone, Na’,” The woman replied calmly, “She has my daughter, my husband, and her father to look after her. And they loved her so much…I love her so much…”

The woman stared dreamily out of the window and down to the main square with a wistful look on her face.

“Xmeech…In chan nikté. It feels like only yesterday she was as little as one of those children, chasing birds.”

It seemed like she was about to cry, but she turned her head and spotted Namor who had confined himself in one of the corners to watch without intervening. Then, her sadness turned into cautious curiosity.

“He’s a friend of your grandchild.” Mercedes explained, “I told him he could come with me.” Itzé looked at him intently and finally gestured for him to approach her. He obeyed.

“Do you know my Xmeech?” She asked.

“I do, Na’ Itzé,”

“Tell me about her,” The woman asked, taking his hands in hers with pleading eyes.

He looked at Mercedes who, even though she looked as clueless as he did, nodded and goaded him to go on.

“I…only met her a couple of months ago, Na’ Itzé.”

From the expression on her face, he knew the woman expected him to keep going. He looked at Mercedes again, who made herself scarce and rushed to the other side of the room, gathering the books scattered around the desk to put them back on the shelf. This made it easier for him to continue.

“Your Xmeech is a very smart person,” He added, “And I don’t know whether to call her stubborn or persistent,” That made her laugh, and it was such an authentic gesture that it was impossible not to do so with her. “But she also has a good heart, even if she seems to think otherwise. Your granddaughter is bold, sharp and loyal to herself and the choices she makes. I respect her and admire her for that, but…”

Itzé looked at him questioningly when he seemed to doubt.

“She is afraid,” Namor continued, “I don’t know why and she won’t tell me.”

“That is my grandchild,” She chuckled softly, “Xmeech will not say anything until she wants to, in her own time. But tell me, can you protect her when she tells you what worries her?”

Namor looked over his shoulder at Mercedes, who was now pretending to clean the framed pictures with the edge of her t-shirt in her attempt to keep herself distracted.

“I can, and I will.”

“Then I am at peace,” The woman affirmed, “Knowing K’uk’ulkan is the protector of my grandchild. Yes, I knew right when I saw you.” She continued before he could say anything else. She reached out and carefully slid her hand along his face, carefully tracing his features with her fingertips. The gesture was so motherly familiar that he couldn’t help but feel a tight knot in his throat.

“You’re just like I imagined you to be whenever I heard my mother’s stories,” Itzé whispered, “I’m really tired. Tell Na’ I will see her next year. Goodbye, kän-än.”

The woman gently leaned back, resting her feet on a small stool before her, and closed her eyes with a tranquil sigh. Namor watched her sleep in silence until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Behind him, the younger vision of the woman before him helped him get up.

“I didn’t mean to take up all your time,” He apologized, “She said she was tired and…”

“I know, it’s okay, maybe we can come back later,” She assured him, “Come walk with me, please? I need some air.”

He looked at her intently. From her large, brown eye now reddened and puffy to the thin line that her full, bronze-colored lips turned into whenever something troubled her. Namor realized with an unnerving certainty that even the strongest resolve could be shaken under that gaze.

They decided to take a stroll along one of the empty streets, under the trees that provided a pleasant shadow and the noise of hundreds of birds that would hide their conversation from other ears.

“She doesn’t know I’m there,” Mercedes blurted out after they left the last person behind, “She thinks I’m some divine messenger from the afterlife that every year delivers her news from her family there. I try to come every month but she still thinks I come once a year.”

“She thinks you’re dead?” He inquired, hoping it didn’t sound too blunt.

“I was taken away from her, a few years ago,” Sadie explained, absently looking at her hands, “By the time I was able to come back, her mind had deteriorated too much for her to understand what had happened. So she will never know I ever came back.”

“I’m sorry,” Namor sincerely apologized. This time, unlike the previous, he didn’t fight the urge to place a hand on her shoulder. However, Mercedes nodded and tapped it a few times before gently removing it.

“It’s not your fault.”

The conversation stopped there. They kept walking around a corner to make their way back to the main square. While the streets were empty, the atmosphere wasn’t somber, but peacefully quiet.

“You never told me your Chiich was still alive,” He eventually said.

“I never told you she wasn’t, either,” Mercedes replied defensively. Realizing she’d spoken more harshly than she intended to, the girl cleared her throat and softened her voice, “Nobody, not even the friends I’ve managed to keep for years, knows about her.”

“Why?”

“I’ve…done things over the years. The kind of things that, as cliché as it sounds, earn you a few enemies. She’s the only family I have left in this world. I’d do anything for her to live out the rest of her days quietly and in peace.”

Her voice trembled when she uttered that last sentence. Almost certain of the answer, Namor made her another question.

“What did that man say to you on the ship?”

Mercedes sighed as if she already knew he would ask that. Her eyes turned glossy again, even if she tried to speak nonchalantly, stating a mere fact.

“He said it was his turn to ask questions and then he said…’Is your grandmother well?´”

He couldn’t blame her for having reacted the way she did. To hide someone so rigorously for years to protect them from any harm just to have someone inform you in the same sentence that not only did they know about them, but intended to harm them? Eerily familiar.

“It was never about the entire seven billion people on this planet. I’m not one of my aunt’s saints to give my life to people I don’t even know. But I would gladly give it for her, or my aunt, or many of these people, as my father…”

The same group of kids interrupted her when they ran in front of them, this time busy loudly playing tag. This made her laugh a little and wipe her eyes. She turned to look at him to find him staring, probably wondering when she'd finish her sentence. His glance, however, wasn't impatient. It was concerned, sympathetic. It felt warm, like the rays of the sun that paled in the sky right about to set.

“You know what? My aunt is waiting for us. We should go.”