Keya was confused in the morning when her new mistress was not in her bed and was further baffled to find her on the balcony covered in a scarlet red blanket. Did humans not sleep in beds? She wondered, but set about her morning tasks and only woke her new mistress up when they were completed and the morning meal had arrived. A broad smile crossed her face and slowly got bigger the closer she came to Jane as she realized the blanket was in fact her prince's cape, he had left his symbol of royalty and status with her, Keya pondered if she even realized the honor that he had placed on her.

Jane was momentarily confused as to where she was when she woke, but the memories and knowledge came flooding back. A hammer eh? A hammer brought me to Asgard she thought. As much as she wanted to believe, it still seemed impossible. Thor had left late the previous night, or was it this morning? When Jane started to nod off, he had placed a chaste kiss on her cheek before he left and although Jane was verging on sleep it was still enough to make her smile, feel safe and warm. Did it really matter how she had arrived, only that she had.

The two ladies ate their morning meal together and Keya listened intently to Jane's vivid description of earth and how she and the prince had met. No wonder Thor liked her, Jane was not like most of the woman on Asgard. Being such an old race, its people's life spans being so long, that to Jane the mortal, Asgardians appeared almost immortal. Keya realized, how individuals got stuck in their own ways, rarely pushing the boundaries of what was expected of them. Or even asking 'is there more'? Sif, the raven haired warrior was the perfect example. It's not that a woman could not be a warrior, it's just that no female had wanted to be one before. Maybe being human had its advantages, a life span so short that humans could not grow complacent and were constantly moving forward with thoughts and ideas, constantly pushing the boundaries and evolving. The earth that Jane described sounded nothing like the Midgard that she knew of. Her father had fought with Odin, fighting off the frost giants many years ago, and she remembered sitting around the fire with her father and listening to him tell of the primitive planet and its inhabitants.

Keya was shocked when Jane had explained that she was an astrophysicist and that she had been working on the creation of her own bifrost. She had listened to Jane and the excitement that carried in her voice when she spoke of wanting to learn more about the Asgard bifrost and its power source, the rainbow bridge. For Keya and in fact all the inhabitance of Asgard, the Bifrost has been part of their landscape for so long that no one marveled at its brilliance, or its importance to their lifestyle. It was timeless and would always be there. Or at least that was what was thought, until it wasn't. The lack of inter planetary travel had been felt by all Asgardians since it had been destroyed these past months. The world's best minds were investigating how to build a new device, but with little success. With Jane sitting across from Keya, she suddenly felt that all hope was not lost.

The knock at the door was all it took to get Jane's heart pounding and she ran to the door, opening it to Thor. The two shared a heated look until Keya, not so subtly coughed trying to break the spell. Both smiled

'She's not related to Darcy is she?' asked Jane

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Authors Note:

To the fabulous online community that is and all those that have reviewed thus far.

Thank you, this chapter would not have been written without you. It has been suggested that I had abandoned this story. The fact is that I haven't. Life just got more important and a hell of a lot more real. Soon after posting my last chapter, my father had some very scary health issues, came very close to dying a couple of times. Without giving you any of the heavy details, let's just say it was at least a month before I felt that I could breathe again . . . or burst into tears when someone asked how I was doing.

Needless to say, it has taken awhile to get back into the head space of being able to write. With this in mind I hope that you forgive the shortness of this chapter, but I felt that it was important to at least post something. Put the runs on the scoreboard, so they say. The time away however has let me think in depth where the story is going and you will be happy to know that I have already written a proportion of the next chapter and hope to have it up soon.

It's sad, but I'm really proud of myself for trying to get back into the routine of writing, instead of just putting in the too hard basket and letting it go. I probably would have if it wasn't for the many kind words of those that have reviewed. You know who you are, and you are all wonderful. You made me smile, when little else did, and you have no idea how grateful I am for that.

Thank you for your patience and hopefully now understanding.