The Lightest Path

27

"Why you look so terrible?!" Shuri shook her head in great disappointment as she brushed Graces hair.
    "I'm sorry," she mumbled.
    "Did you even take your beauty sleep as I told you?" Shuri raised an eyebrow at her through the mirror.
    Even though Grace knew there were worse things for today than how she looked, she absolutely hated the sleeping bags beneath her eyes, dark circles that tuned out the lack of sleep the had.
    "I did." She tried to.
    But Grace was so nervous. She kept dreaming and waking up, over and over. "Did you take a pill to sleep? You should've done that!"
    "Look, I'm sorry okay. Isn't this supposed to be my day?"
     Shuri scoffed. "Since when is this your day? I thought this was Bucky's day." Grace bit her lip as she looked at herself again.
    She had looked worse. But today was her wedding. She looked like a zombie. Her heart ached when she thought about how she would look — Bucky would be so disappointed when he saw that she looked like trash.
    He had been looking forward this way since the moment she said yes. Oh, she would screw this up so bad. No, she already did! When not being able to sleep...
    "Cheer up a little bit, White Doll. You look like someone died." Shuri pulled a stray of hair and Grace grumbled.
    "I'm just so nervous. Bucky, Steve, Natasha and I will be the only ones who are white. I'll be a damn snowflake in the middle of Africa!"
    Grace whined and looked with terror at the most beautiful wedding dress that she could ever dream of. It would fit amazingly around her body.
It gave her chills.
"So? You'll be fine." Shuri kept mumbling in Xhosa for a while, when suddenly a knock on the door made both of them jump.
"Are we late?" A grinning Natasha with now shoulder long, dyed blonde hair peeled her head around the corner.
"Luckily not." Grace got up and hugged Natasha, happy to see another white face amongst Africa. Now she wouldn't be the only white woman, she got quite a name these years.
"Hey, Natasha," she whispered.
"Hello, future Mrs. Barnes."
"Hush!" Flushing red and with a pounding heart, Grace pushed the agent away, whom laughed at the doctor.
"Did I say something?"
"She's afraid of marriage but also wants for Bucky to deal with his own problems. That's the real tea." Shuri winked.
Shaking her head, Natasha pushed Grace into the chair — she looked quite beautiful herself, so Grace felt even worse when she looked in the mirror again.
"Come on, I'll do your hair. And besides, we have quite a surprise for you." Grinning whilst brushing her hair, Grace frowned at her.
"I don't really feel like a sur..."
"WHERE IS MY GRACE?"
A voice that Grace has only heard through the phone or her thoughts, boomed through the hallway and the door was smacked open, to reveal a fully dressed up, confused and hyper Kathie Stevens, freshly arrived from America.
"Kathie!"
Grace and Kathie jumped up and as two little kids the girls started chatting, laughing and almost crying, what made Shuri scream: "Don't ruin my masterpiece! I've been working on that make up for ten hours!"
"I've missed you so much!" Grace said and she embraced the tiny journalist.
"Why the hell are you getting married in Africa? Why didn't you tell me? I had to hear it from Captain America!" Flushing red Kathie shook her head.
"What?" Natasha winked. "Everything?"
Kathie nodded. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to marry the Winter Soldier? Like, the actual Winter Soldier."
Grace took a deep breath.
"Kathie... I couldn't. It was for your own safety."
"Oh, so you wasn't planning on inviting me?!"
Shuri could no longer watch it, pushed Grace into the chair once again and commanded Kathie to oversee the wedding dress.
"Do I have to explain it?! We have work to do, people! Let's go go go!"

                                 - - -

Once Grace was ready, she had the feeling she was about to faint. She didn't dare to take a look into the mirror, but she knew she looked pretty.
    Pretty enough for a woman who didn't eat because of the nerves and didn't sleep for almost the whole night.
    Holding her modest bouquet, made of soft colourful flowers, Grace tried to breathe.
    "Please relax," said Shuri. "You'll be fine!" After completely organising Grace's dress, Shuri organised her own maid's dress — white and modest, like hers, but above the knee.
    Compared to the beautiful African style she always wore, this was something else. To get used to, almost. Shuri seemed to love it.
    Standing at the back of the wedding location, Grace nodded. It was in the beautiful gardens, it almost looked like they were in the wild.
    Shuri had done everything. The nature-like benches, the hanging, little white flowers, almost like snow (such a funny joke of Shuri to make, because the white guests were called the "snowflakes of America" by the Wakandans).
    "I'm sorry," whispered Grace breathlessly. "I just have the feeling I'm gonna be sick."
    "Well, don't puke though, it'll ruin your dress," said a cocky voice from behind her. Turning around, Grace was immediately being confronted with a tight hug from Sam Wilson.
    "Sam," said Grace happy and placed her arms around his neck. "You couldn't come earlier? I'm about to go!"
Go for failure.
    "I'm sorry, Gracie. Things had to be arranged." Pulling away, he looked at her from tip to toe. "You look great, honey. Everything is gonna be just fine."
    Waving herself some air, Grace tried to believe that. "Well, I'm not sure. I mean, I didn't eat, haven't slept and I'm dying of the nerves."
    She shook her head in disappointment of herself. She could already see Bucky's face in front of her — excited because of the situation, disappointed because she looked so bad. The thought made her stomach do stunts.
    "Stop that right now," said Steve Rogers, who walked around the corner.
    "You have a beard?" peeped Grace when she saw him and Natasha, Steve and Sam laughed aloud.
    "Well, we had to do something about our features. We don't want to get caught." Carefully, so he wouldn't fold her dress, he embraced her. "You look gorgeous Grace."
    "I don't know. You think he'll like it?"
    "If he doesn't, I'll marry you and kick his ass," mumbled Sam and Kathie laughed — those two already started to get along, a dangerous mix.
    In the meanwhile, Kathie, Natasha and Sam were being scared away by a bossy teenager — they had to take their places.
    It was time.
    "Okay, follow me after fifteen seconds!" commanded Shuri and she walked outside, towards the aisle which was hidden from their eye.
    Feeling high in her head, breathless and warm Grace started to stumble on her heels.
    "I can't breathe," Grace placed a hand on her forehead and Steve had to held his laugh as he tried to calm her down. He didn't answer her yet and she pointed that out to him.
    "He'll love it. Because he loves you. Now, take my arm, I'm going to give you away to your future husband and you're going to have a great time."
    Grace nodded, took his arm and squeezed hard. Her heels felt uncomfortable, the dress too heavy, she was sweating and so nervous that her hand shook.
    "Please don't let me fall, I can barely walk in those," she pleaded whispering.
    Steve smiled sweetly at her.
    "Never."