Strings of Fate - Avenger's Soulmate Story

Chapter 31

It was quite late now and Shuri received a message to come for dinner. As Shuri walked downstairs she wondered if Serafina had talked to any of her soulmates. It worried her that Serafina was bottling all of her emotions. As she walked towards the hall, she kept repeating the entire conversation in her head, thinking of ways to console her friend.

Shuri's pov

Maybe I should have talk to her again, after dinner. If she isn't comfortable sharing with others then it would be rude to force her. Should I ask Valkyrie to talk to her, maybe a soulmate's perspective would bring some relief? I should probably slowly talk her through this....

As I reached the hall, I saw my brother and the avengers casually talking while settling around the dining table. "Brother, where is Serafina?", I asked him. He responded with a confused look on his face, "I thought she was with you? She told us that you were going to show her around Wakanda. Didn't you see her?" Had she spent the entire day in her room? I gasped at the thought. How come no one noticed this? "No, she came to my lab before lunch but then left the room after some time. I had my lunch in the lab so I have not seen her since. She told me she was going back to her room but I didn't think she stay there for so long?" ,I replied. I saw Natasha getting up," I will check on her. Maybe she is.." She couldn't finish as she was cut off by a loud scream. It was mother. Horrified, we all ran towards the direction of the scream.

My mother was running towards us, yelling, "It's Serafina. T'Challa she is lying unconscious on the floor there. Help her." T'Challa ran in the direction, as did the rest of us.

T'Challa's pov

My hands trembled as I tried to pick Serafina up. What happened here?

The time we spent together before in New York helped our bond grow much stronger. It was so blissful to have her in my arms. I felt safe and content. Right now as I held her unconscious body in my arms, my heart kept sinking as I took in her form. Her eyes were swollen and face covered with tear stains. She had scratch marks around her neck and wrists. I hear a gasp and turn to see the avengers staring at Serafina. "Shuri ,call the medics. And please bring them to Serafina's room.", I say as I start walking.

As I laid her on the bed, I heard Bucky ask," What could have happened? Did she have a fight with someone? Look at those marks.." I stare at her, not knowing what to say. We were asked to leave the room as the doctors were here to examine her. "I can't believe this happened. What could have caused this ?", mumbled Steve. "Do you think it was them?", asked Loki, angrily. I understood what he was feeling right now. Having so much power and yet helplessly watching your loved ones suffer really is gut-wrenching. And this is the second time, she has suffered because of us. "No it was not. It wasn't anyone's fault this time. ", said Shuri. "How do you know ? Did she tell you something? Is something troubling her ?", asked Tony quickly. Shuri shook her head, "I'm sorry guys. She did talk to me, but I can't tell you without her permission. I talked to her today, she was upset, but not with you guys. I asked her to talk to anyone of you, that it will make her feel better. I'm so sorry. I had no idea this would happen. She said she wanted to be alone for some time and I thought it would be good for her to gather her thoughts.", replied Shuri, by the time she finished she had tears in her eyes. I saw Natasha walking towards her and putting a hand on her shoulder," Don't worry. Nobody blames you Shuri. We know how much care about her. And she will tell you the same thing after she wakes up." All of us stood outside the room, not really knowing what else to do. Mother was inside as she wanted to make sure Serafina was given the best care. It made feel a little bit better knowing that she was safe.

Steve's pov

I have never felt this lost before. Even when I went after the winter soldier, I had a plan and i had a goal. Right now, I have no idea what to do. How do I protect Serafina from this pain. I wonder what is bothering her. Could it be something we did? But she would have still shared that with us. Suddenly we heard the door open, the doctors walked out speaking to the Queen. Their voices were so hushed we could barely make out what they were saying.

"The doctors have done a thorough check on her. They think it was a stress induced panic attack, but can't be sure until she wakes up. Her body is exhausted, they have given some medicines for her, please ensure she takes them after every meal. She will wake up in an hour or so. No need to worry to much, but please make sure to maintain a stress free environment around her. It was probably the entire fiasco with Eric that caused this.", the queen informed before walking away with the doctors.

"Should we discuss her birthday party. It might actually help the situation we are in.", asked Pietro, softly. "We need to change the plans we made earlier. I don't think a huge party would be a good idea now. I think she would prefer a smaller party, with just us and close relations.", suggests Tony. Not liking the silence that followed, I decided to voice my opinion, "I agree. A smaller, more intimate party would actually be a good idea. Especially because she'll be getting her soul marks back. We don't really know how she'll get them back or when , it might add on to her stress" "My god. I completely forgot about her soul marks. Of course she'll be stressed about those. We should've at least spoken to her about this.", gasped Natasha. She is right. None of us actually stopped to consider what will happen after she gets her marks back. We didn't even know if she'll get them all together or one by one? "How about we just have a very intimate birthday party. Only soulmates....We can have a big function after getting her approval on guest list and other arrangements. It is her party after all.", suggested Tony. "I think that would be a great idea. It might get awkward for her if she gets a mark in the middle of the party.", Shuri added.

After everyone agreed, the decision was made. To make things easier we divided the tasks amongst ourselves. Tony, Natasha and Pietro were in charge of the decor and the gifts. Shuri and I opted to take care of food and making sure the place was secluded and undisturbed. Loki and T'Challa wanted to arrange a safe place incase her powers go out of hand. And lastly, Bucky was in charge of keeping the birthday girl busy as we made the necessary arrangements.

Even amidst the chaos, I wanted Serafina to have a great birthday.

If only we could have one day without any issues !
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