Too Little Too Late

T'Challa

Now that he was a King, some decisions were easy to make, some others extremely complicated. His father had tried to raise him right, to be a better king that he, himself, had been. Often he wondered if T'Chaka would be proud of his son. He was trying his best but sometimes it was not enough. The days were so simple when he was only a prince. His father made things look so easy. How arrogant that prince was really. Just as he had been those last few months. When Tony Stark disappeared, it felt like T'Challa was on top the world. Nobody would or could be greater than Wakanda now. The new king had always been competitive and also very proud of his country. S.I. was not that far behind them when it came to technology. And when Stark re-discovered the Starkium, he actually got scared. The new element was after all a synthetic vibranium. Tony could discovered all those things that Wakanda had with their meteorite of vibranium. His country was to re-enter the world very soon and it had to be on top.

What happened during that Civil War was truly unfortunate. He shouldn't have gone on a rampage against Sergeant Barnes like that. Not without proper proof. He had let his feelings overpower his logic. Looking back now, he also had no evidence of Tony Stark's health when Captain America told him that Iron Man just needed time to cool down. Evidently now, the billionaire had not been in good condition. T'Challa would have to live with that for the rest of his days. Tony Stark didn't die in that bunker. When he finally went to check the place out, it was empty. No corpse just traces of a battle. The shield and the arm were nowhere to be found. Plus, the billionaire did things after that, even though nobody had seen him doing them. It was a good thing for Wakanda. It wouldn't have look too good if Stark had died in that bunker.

T'Challa didn't know the other man personally. His country was is first priority anyway. He took over his father's position in the U.N. assembly. The accords needed some work to be done. After a lot of hours and sleepless night, the changes were accepted. Nothing too drastic but still necessary. It just happened that Wakanda knew where to find the rogues. With a little pardon, everybody would sign the new version of the accords and go home. Then the king would be able to concentrate on the important. His country would be able to open up to the world in the best conditions. T'Challa would spend some time in the compound to make sure that everything would go nice and easy on that side. He was a reserved avenger now. Only to be called in case of extreme emergency. Everything would be fine.

Slowly, Wakanda opened its borders and started showing the world who they really were. That did not go down the way he had dreamt. At first, everybody was very curious. They wanted to come visit, see everything by themselves. Quickly, the world started asking questions. Their direct neighbours suddenly were beyond angry. Wars, starvations and pandemics. Inhabitants had to go through all of those over the years. Thousands and thousands of people died in terrible conditions, years before their times. Next to them was Wakanda, pretending to be that poor little nation with nothing. And now, they were learning that the same small country could have helped them all, could have saved them all. T'Challa wasn't expecting that kind of reaction and for a second he didn't know how to respond. Thankfully, his country had cumulated a lot of goodwill during the accords.

"While it might have been true that my country should have been more helpful during those times of need, Wakanda was not responsible for starting those wars, for the weather conditions that started years of drought, for the viruses that spread on our continent. I, King T'Challa, is not my father nor my father's father. I can do only things that I can now. We can't go back in the past and change that but we can move forward to a better future, together."

After that everybody calmed down a little. That didn't meant that they liked Wakanda much more. After Stark withdrawal, the world couldn't really afford to lose more benefactors. T'Challa's people did a lot of good after that. From his work within the avengers, to water pump helping theirs neighbours. No one was denying it. The world was not forgetting. The king didn't really care pass the happiness of his people. To go back in hiding would be next to impossible now. Wakanda didn't need the world. Only the other way around was true. If at that moment the young king was looking a little smug alone in his throne room, no one would know.