Summary: Wavuka "Rose" Esihle has lived at the Wakandan Palace since she was eight years old, when her father took a job as a servant. He fell ill ten years later, and she took over for him and has since served the royal family faithfully.

After a month-long leave of absence, Rose is returning to the palace and tries to get back to her life. Unfortunately, that is proving harder than she expected. Will she handle it or crack under pressure?

Author's Note: The Xhosa words may not be accurate due to using Google Translate. I do apologize if anyone is offended by this. Also, Xhosa translations are at the end of the chapters.

October 17, 2016
13:40
My sleeping chambers

Dear Diary,

I don't know why I'm doing this, but since T'Challa insisted on me having this feature on my kimoyo bead, I guess there's no harm in trying it.

My name is Wavuka Esihle, but everyone refers to me as Rose. I've worked as a servant in the Wakandan Palace since I was eighteen, but I've lived here years prior. My father had taken a job as a servant where he served honorably until he fell terminally ill. I had to balance working at the palace and taking care of him until he died.

Today I returned to Wakanda from...let's just call it a "vacation" (for now at least). The journey in the aircraft felt like the longest ride of my life, probably due to the nerves of returning home. I sat in the passenger area behind the cockpit while Okoye navigated the machine, while Weza—a sixteen-year-old palace servant—tried futilely to make my naturally coily hair, which hadn't been combed since my departure from Wakanda, look presentable. Why she didn't just bring a scarf for me to wrap my hair in, I'll never know.

"Sister Rose," Okoye called out to me, "we are home."

Rising from the bench I was sitting, I moved to the cockpit and stood to the left of Okoye to see the majestic mountains and rainforests. I don't always get the pleasure of seeing the scenery from outside of the palace, so I took it in, mentally photographing its beauty. We eventually came to the forcefield that hid behind the illusion of a mountain range. T'Challa has always told me how great it is when the aircraft flies into the forcefield, revealing the loveliness and technological advances that was the true Wakanda.

Okoye flew the jet to the palace where King T'Challa, and his sister Shuri, were waiting with smiles on their faces. The ramp lowered and I departed the ship, Okoye and Weza following behind me. The first thing I noticed was T'Challa chuckling as if he saw something funny, and I was pretty sure it involved my hair. Granted, I hadn't been able to see it, but his demeanor told me that it wasn't the best looking.

"Welcome home, Rose," Shuri greeted me as she came over to give me a hug. "You're looking...healthy."

I chuckled and hugged her back. I missed her wit.

"I'm glad to be home. How has the palace been running without me?"

"Complete chaos, if you ask me."

"Especially with her and Weza trying to cook," T'Challa chimed in with a chuckle.

"At least I tried," Shuri told him with a pout. "It would've been perfect had you allowed me to use technology instead of hard labor."

"There's nothing wrong with hard labor, little sister," I heard T'Challa say as they followed me through the palace doors.

"Well, I'm here now," I said to break up the brewing debate between the siblings. "So, I'll get started on supper once I have a long, hot bath and take a nap."

I stopped at a decorative mirror in the corridor and got a glimpse of my wild curls in fits of tangles, which was going to take hours to comb. Weza had tried getting rid of the tangles with her fingers, but it didn't do much good.

"Skip the nap, I need to do something about this hair." I took another look in the mirror. "Supper may be a little late."

"No need to worry about that, Rose," T'Challa said as he came behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "I will have someone...that is not these two," he added when he saw the two teens perk up, "cook supper. In the meantime, you are off-duty until further notice."

I giggled at Weza and Shuri's frowns before smiling at T'Challa's reflection. "Well, if you think I need the time off, I'll take it."

"And maybe the time off will allow you to do other things," Shuri said with a knowing smirk on her lips.

"She is not going to be a guinea pig for one of your experiments," T'Challa told her, releasing my shoulders, while I chuckled.

"Trust me, I learned my lesson with the cloning fiasco."

"Actually," Shuri interjected, "I think I figured out a way to make it work. I just need-"

"Absolutely not!" T'Challa sternly interrupted her.

"Ku bulala," Shuri mumbled under her breath, emitting giggles from Weza and I. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on the ingcuka emhlophe." She gave me one more hug, whispered that it was great to have me home again, and walked away.

"I guess that's my queue to do my chores for the day," Weza said before giving me a hug and inching further into the corridor.

"Weza," T'Challa's voice pulled her back, and she turned on her heel. "Do your chores yourself."

She gave him a thumbs up before disappearing, leaving me and T'Challa alone.

"What was that about?" I asked curiously as we began walking towards my chambers.

"Weza learned an excellent addition to her gifts that she has been using to get the other servants to do her chores for her."

"Mind control?" I received a nod in response. "But that's dangerous."

"Only if used for malicious purposes. That is why I'm teaching her how to use it properly."

"That's good," I told him with a proud look on my face.

Weza was born with the gifts of telepathy and telekinesis. When she came into her gifts at age six, her parents, who didn't know where else to turn, asked King T'Chaka for help because she couldn't control them. By his insistence, the parents gave Weza over to the royal family where she would be trained to control her gifts, and has lived at the palace since. Last year, Weza decided to show gratitude to the family by working as a servant under my guidance, even though they deemed it unnecessary because she was like family. I found it annoying at first, because Weza would follow me around like a lost puppy so she could learn from me, but she eventually grew on me and became the little sister I always wanted

We made it to my chambers. I turned the knob to the double doors, and before I could get the doors open, something raced out of my room and ducked between my legs. As it began to lift me, I instinctively clenched my legs around it to maintain my balance while it moved around the room fast and uncontrolled.

"WOAH! EASY!" I pleaded with it.

It came to a screeching halt, and the momentum forced my legs to lose their grip, causing me to fly towards my queen-sized bed and land with my back to the mattress—leaving my arms and legs sprawled, and my head hanging off the edge. Releasing a groan, I realized I was fine, but my relief was short-lived when a wet substance rubbed against my face.

"Ugh! LEO!" I mustered enough strength to push the licking tiger off me.

Leo backed off me before jumping on the bed. He tried to smother me with kisses again, but I was able to avoid it by rolling off the bed and onto the marble floor, brushing myself off once I got to my feet.

T'Challa's laugh cut through the tension of the room, and I sent a glare towards him.

"I'm glad you find that funny."

"I find it quite amusing," he replied, receiving another glare from me. "Oh give him a break. He missed you."

I rolled my eyes, but petted Leo's head nonetheless.

Sixteen years ago, T'Challa and I found a mother tiger who had been killed by hunters. She had just given birth to a newborn cub that couldn't fend for himself. With some convincing, T'Challa allowed me to take the poor thing back to the palace, where I took good care of him and raised him. I named him Leo, and he has grown into my furry best friend.

"I missed you too Leo," I told him while rubbing his ears. He leaned in to lick my face some more, but I kept him at bay while releasing a giggle. "Hey, now! That's enough of that."

"Rose," T'Challa addressed me as he walked towards my nightstand. He opened the top drawer and pulled out my Kimoyo Beads.

My face lit up upon seeing them. I couldn't take them with me—not until the world is accustomed to the idea of Wakandan technology—so I missed having them. Plus, I needed them to get in contact with my fiancé, Dakarai.

"Thank you," I told T'Challa as he placed the beads on my wrist.

"There's something I want to show you." He tapped on the bracelet and summoned a feature I've never seen before.

"What is this?" I asked him curiously when I saw a blank document with a holographic keyboard.

"It's a diary," he answered simply with a chuckle. When he saw my brows furrow, he further explained. "I asked Shuri to include this feature so that you can write down your thoughts if you feel that you cannot express them." He then proceeded to show me the other features: password encryption, unlimited storage, etc. "And if you want to go old school," he typed in a code and the computerized document turned into a holographic, leather-bound notebook and pen, "it will still save in your database."

"You really did this for me?" I asked, shocked by his generosity.

"Of course. Rose, you're one of my best friends. I just want to make life as easy for you as possible. I know that sometimes it's hard for you to talk about things, so I thought this way you could express yourself without having to talk about it."

I fought back tears as I wrapped my arms around his neck and thanked him in our native language, "Enkosi."

"Wamkelekile."

We pulled away after a while and gave each other friendly smiles.

"Now," T'Challa spoke up, "I have a meeting with the council in forty-five minutes. You, my dear, need to rest and relax. Don't worry, I'll get a couple of servants to do something about that hair."

I shot him yet another glare, but he only chuckled in response while walking towards the door.

"T'Challa," I called him back.

He turned on his sandal-clad heels. "Yes, Rose?"

"Can you show me how to change the password so that only I can have access to the diary?" I arched an eyebrow, and he knew I was referring to his knack for being nosey.

"Of course," he replied while flashing that charming smile that made all the girls in the kingdom fawn all over him.

After showing me how to change the password, he left my chambers, leaving me with my thoughts.

Now, I'm here, trying this new feature. So far I have to say that I'm liking it, and just might get used to it.

Translations

ku bulala – killjoy

ingcuka emhlophe – white wolf

Enkosi – Thank you

Wamkelekile – You're Welcome