#thorane

The stars above Asgard are different, they are not hers.

*

She doesn't answer him right away; she knows he doesn't expect her to.

There is a difference, on how the gift of immortality is offered to you. Like it was offered to him, by birth, without a say on the matter or, well, like this.

A choice.

That's what it comes down to, she muses.

It's his offer, but ultimately it's her choice.

"Let me think about it," Jane says and looks at the stars, still so unfamiliar to her eyes.

Thor nods and laces his fingers through hers, giving her a physical bond to this world.

*

His father shrinks. The almighty king is gone, and left the shell of a broken man behind in his place. He is still a god, yes, but pained with the disease of a mere mortal man.

Loss and grief.

The heart is still a heart even if it beats in an immortal chest. It stills bleeds all the same.

The people of Asgard stand in front of the Allfather, they bow before him, but their eyes turn to their golden-haired crown prince, looking for advice in his eyes.

Jane watches from the shadows, always a woman more suited for the darkness than the light.

She has never been afraid of the night.

*

It's the children Jane connects the easiest with, and out of everyone it surprises herself the most.

On earth she had never spent more time with any than absolutely necessary.

As an only child there'd been no siblings to play with and later in life no nephews and nieces clinging to her legs. The other kids in her school hadn't known what do do with a girl that mostly lived in her own world, always looking at the stars instead, and really she couldn't fault them for it.

But here and now, they gather around her under the wary eyes of their parents, who still don't fully trust the stranger who captured their prince's attention, and ask her questions about a world they have never seen and try to make them see hers.

Their attention is unwavering, their minds so bright, waiting to be shaped with wisdom and knowledge and they want to hear her speak.

It fills her soul with bubbling joy to know she belongs.

*

"She is not suited for this."

"This is not your choice, Father."

"Asgard needs a queen."

They do not see her in the shadows, but Jane is there. By accident only, but that's not the point.

She listens.

"If Jane wants to rule at my side, she will. And if she doesn't-" He shrugs. "The universe will continue to exist onward."

"She is human," Odin spits it out like venom, as if it's a curse.

To him it might be.

Thor keeps his calm, the godly warrior prince is a man of reason these days. The love rushing through her veins almost overwhelms her. "She is my equal. And it is her choice."

*

Sleep doesn't come and find her, no matter how hard she searches for it. Her eyes keep staring out of the open windows. (It's the room with the best few of the sky, Thor had said the day he'd shown her the palace. Now it is theirs.)

Ever since she spends a good deal of her time with the citizens of Asgard, a thought nags on her mind. It doesn't let go.

His hands gently grasp her ribs, urging her to speak. Jane smiles softly, he's too good at reading her mind even when he pretends to be asleep.

"Would we be able to have children?" She knows how cherished children are, how rare in comparison to her world.

His bright blue eyes set on hers. "I don't know, but probably yes."

"But you're not sure?"

"Does this bother you?" Thor ponders over it, confusion evident on his face. He doesn't see it from her point of view and she doesn't know if she wants to cry out of relief or fault him for his naivety.

"I --- You are going to be king." Jane puts an emphasise on the last word, so he knows what she wants to say.

The stars continue to shine above them as Thor places strategic kisses on her collarbone, her jaw, her neck.

"There are other ways to secure the throne line. If it ever comes to be a problem, we'll look for one of those." He puts a strand of hair behind her ear. "And if we ever have children, we will have them because we want to. Not to fill a vacant throne, not to fulfil any duty somebody has misplaced on you. Is that alright with you?"

His honesty shines bright like the sun; Jane nods.

*

There are other secrets he tells her in the dark of their bedroom, so far away from everything they could be in a different galaxy.

About how few mortals have tried to gain immortality and only the strongest have succeeded.

He tells her because he thinks she deserves to know everything.

Once again he hands her the choice about her future like a gift.

*

It had been spring when she had come to Asgard and it's spring again when she extends her hands and takes the gift from him.

In the end, it's easy.

As easy as trusting him when they sat around a fire on a roof top in New Mexico, the stars of Midgard watching over them.

*

She sits on the throne, the crown so heavy on her head.

Again it is a choice, but it is hers.

Thor might have handed her the keys to his kingdom, but she put the crown on her head all on her own.

*

In aeons they tell the stories of the woman who tamed the wild Prince.

The story of the woman who saved the Nine Worlds.

The woman who carried the Aether.

The woman who searched for the stars.

The woman who still stands next to her husband and Heimdall and watches.

The woman who became their queen.

The queen who teaches about the stars to everyone who will listen.

Some of them are true, some of them are wrong, some of them are just absurd.

Nonetheless, she smiles.

*

The stars above Asgard are different, they were not hers, not at the beginning.

But she has made them hers.