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She finds Dewani in the gardens, soaking her feet and legs in one of the natural hot spring pools.
(Really, she shouldn’t be surprised that she keeps finding her girlfriend --she loves the word, loves how natural it feels on her lips, loves the way Dewani’s eyes sparkle when she uses it--in the garden. It seems to act like a homing beacon for every Jabari citizen that visits the palace.)
Shuri smiles and taps her girlfriend on the shoulder as she sits next to her. “I have a rub that would have you feeling better in minutes, you know. Invented it myself.”
Dewani flashes her a grin, but shakes her head nonetheless. “As much as I trust your genius, I prefer the natural method.” She gestures to the sky, to the full silver moon and the glittering stars. “A rub doesn’t provide a view like this.”
“Ah, but you can have this view--” Shuri gestures to herself “--in either setting!”
At that Dewani laughs. “True enough. You look more picturesque here, though.”
Shuri preens like a model on set for a photo-shoot. “Picturesque, am I?”
“Picturesque. Breath-taking. Gorgeous.” Dewani leans in and presses a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Wonderful.”
Shuri giggles, then reaches up to touch her girlfriend’s cheek. “Silly, you’ve still got your orientation paint on.”
“You mean I didn’t sweat it all off while we were dancing? Must be a fucking miracle; I was drenched.” Dewani dips her hand into the pool and starts wiping her hand over her face. “Definitely wouldn’t want my uncle to see me with it on.”
Shuri’s stomach clenches at the mention of F’Tendi. She hadn’t meant to make Dewani nervous; she’d thought that it had looked beautiful, the hazy pinks and reds smeared across her dark skin. “Let me. You’re missing all the spots anyway.” She dipped her hand in the water and began wiping away the paint with her thumb.
She didn’t realize she was crying until Dewani caught her wet hand with one hand and lifted her other hand to her cheek. “What’s wrong?”
Shuri sniffs and lets her hands drop into her lap. “I thought it looked beautiful... and now it feels like everything that happened today --everything that’s happened with us--has been washed away... like a dream.”
Dewani gives her a gentle, loving look and presses a kiss against her forehead. “I’m glad you like it. I like it, too.” She dips her hands in the water and uses the hazy reflection on the surface of the water to wash off the last remaining traces of paint. “But it’s not exactly convenient as an everyday reminder, you know. I mean, I think it’d make me break out after enough time.”
Shuri giggles.
(She always giggles, always, always. Dewani is that damn funny, not that anyone could ever tell her that. Her head might explode from the swelling.)
“Fair enough.”
“Besides, it’s just paint. Paint is paint, and it not being there doesn’t change reality.”
“Yeah, I know.” Shuri swings her feet back and forth in the water, causing cascades of ripples to dance across the fluid surface.
Dewani faces her, face illuminated by the full moon and the lamps of the garden. “Did I get it all?”
Shuri can’t help her crestfallen expression. She drops her gaze the the stones that line the edge of the pool. “Yeah, you got it.”
“Shuri. Look at me.”
After a moment, Shuri manages to look up, and her stomach automatically tightens at what she sees:
Dewani, staring straight at her, eyes deeper than the ocean more intense than the strongest storm.
Shuri shivers as Dewani runs her thumb over the swell of her cheekbone.
“Princess Shuri Udaku, I love you with all my heart. Nothing --nothing--is ever going to change that.” And with that, she leans forward and presses an ever soft, ever gentle kiss against her lips.
Shuri’s eyelids flutter shut as her heart starts racing. It feels just as good as the first they kissed, as the second time they kissed, as the third, fourth, fifth, as every single damn time they kiss, it never fails--
Dewani always manages to make her go weak in the knees, always manages to send her over the moon in elation.
“I love you,” Dewani whispers after she pulls back to speak --just barely enough to speak; her lips are still brushing against Shuri’s.
“I love you, too,” Shuri whispers back before going back in for more. She slides her arms over Dewani’s thick shoulders, locking them behind her neck. She draws in a sharp, stuttered breath through her nose as Dewani picks her up and sets her in her lap, one hand on her waist, one hand on the back of her neck.
Normally, Shuri wasn’t one to plan extensively for the future. No, she was happy to leave those headaches to her brother and mom, preferring to take things as they came and go from there. Anything could be improved, and you could hardly make the necessary adjustments if you were dead set on having a detailed plan.
However, in this moment --safe and loved in Dewani’s embrace--she could absolutely see herself being married to Dewani.
What had started as a beautiful thought transformed into a burning, passionate fire that consumed her within seconds. She could picture it perfectly --a life together, as spouses; going on adventures, laughing together, creating a life balanced in modern ideals and Jabari traditions.
Shuri doesn’t realize that Dewani is on top of her until she feels the stones that comprise the walkways press against her shoulders. She lets out a moan as Dewani’s tongue slides into her mouth and wraps her legs around her girlfriend’s waist.
“A-hem.”
They both freeze and look up in jerky unison.
Ramonda stares down at them, expression equal parts amused and admonishing. “And what are you two up to?”
“Wrestling,” Dewani blurts out.
Shuri smacks her hand against her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Seriously?! It was a rhetorical question, genius!”
“You have no way of proving that--”
“Up, both of you, please.”
They sit up and disentangle themselves from each other, equally embarrassed with being caught whilst making out.
“I think it’s best that you both come inside--”
“Mother!”
“--in five minutes.”
Shuri looks up at her mother with a shocked smile. “Really?”
“Five minutes, Shuri. Any longer and I’ll be back out here.”
Shuri nods. “Thank you, mama.”
Ramonda smiles back, and disappears back down the path.
Once her mother is out of sight, Shuri whirls around and smacks Dewani across the shoulder. “Wrestling?! Really?!”
“I panicked! Sue me!”
Shuri grins. “Actually, I’d rather kiss you again.”
Dewani grins back almost instantly. “I think I can agree to that.”
Shuri sighs happily as Dewani presses her lips against her own once more. She has to admit, in the middle of the garden, under the full moon and stars, this is far more picturesque a kiss than if they had been inside.