It seemed like all of Valhalla had turned up for the ball, even though it had been announced only hours before. Laurel and Loki stood together at the top of the palace stairs, Odin and Frigga in front of them. In a few minutes, they would be announced, letting the crowd get their first glimpse of their princess and of the only living woman in all of Valhalla. Well, somewhat living. Being the Goddess of Death meant that she could travel between the worlds of the living and the dead, occupying a strange gray area between them.

Loki took her hand, the two of them stepping forward as Odin and Frigga paraded down the stairs to thunderous applause. "They're going to love you," Loki whispered, staring straight ahead.

"I should hope so." Laurel kept her voice low, smiling as they were announced and began making their way towards where Odin and Frigga were now standing. She waved to the crowd enthusiastically, everyone cheering the two of them on. "It's going to be a long night."

A long night it was. Everyone in the world wanted to meet her, coming up to see for themselves the woman who had captured the heart of the prince they all thought would end up cynical and alone. She held onto Loki's arm for a while, both of them not wanting to let go of each other. When Frigga called him over, Loki had to reluctantly leave her talking to a group of warriors, telling stories about being in battle.

Laurel was having a wonderful time, meeting people from all over Valhalla, people who had served as warriors or were members of the royal family from a long way back. They all doted on her, asking questions about the progress on Midgard and about what she did, how she saved the world, and how they were working on defeating the man who had caused an influx of now souls into Valhalla. The people were curious about how she and Loki had met, dutifully laughing at her stories about how he had tried to take over Midgard, failed, and was imprisoned in the Avengers Facility. "So I kind of did meet him in prison," Laurel laughed, reaching for another drink.

Watching from the wall, Loki smiled to himself, seeing how she was enjoying being in the middle of a circle of people, telling them stories and joking with them. It was a role that he never liked, a role that a prince was expected to fill whether they liked it or not. Thor was great at it, holding a crowd and genuinely enjoying himself. Loki, though, preferred the small groups of people that his brother easily dominated, Thor taking over any room he walked into. So he leaned against the wall and watched Laurel, sipping his drink and politely acknowledging the few people who stopped to say hello to him.

Flocks of people came to talk to Laurel, but she only had eyes for the man leaning on the wall, keeping himself out of the way. She glanced over every chance she got, silently trying to let him know that she was doing her duty as a princess but wanted more than anything to be standing over there with him. Eventually, Odin pulled her over for a dance, saying that he owed it to his future daughter-in-law. "You know, it would be rather… uncommon, but you two could still marry," Odin offered as they dominated the dance floor. "As the new Goddess of Death, you would be able to visit him all of the time."

"I still have my duties at the Sanctum," Laurel objected, though she didn't want to. "And the the Avengers. I have my responsibilities in the mortal world." She bit her lip, thinking. "I could leave like a regular job, though. And I could engineer a way to keep in contact with Midgard… maybe some special type of radio. I know there's no real phone service out here."

"Discuss it with Loki," Odin told her, smiling to his wife as they passed. "He surely has an opinion on this. But it is an option available to you, should you wish."

He passed her on to the next noble waiting in line to dance with her, Laurel throwing Loki a look that said, "I'm sorry, I have to do this." He shrugged, just glad to be able to lay eyes on her again.

When Laurel was finally able to catch a moment to breathe, she made a beeline for where Loki was standing, pulling him onto the dance floor so no one else could come and claim her. "I'm so sorry. You know I have to -"

"It's fine," he smiled, leaning in to kiss her. They momentarily stopped in the middle of the dance floor, making all of those who were watching whisper and cheer. He winked, commenting, "Have to let them know you're mine, now don't I?"

"Hmm, maybe you should do that again, just in case they didn't get the message… Your Majesty," Laurel laughed, pulling him closer. "It's so good to see you again. I can't believe I'm here, I can't believe I'm holding you -"

"I never thought I would see you again. Not for thousands of years, anyway. And there's nothing to do but wait," he sighed, spinning her around. "The waiting was agonizing, and I had only done a few years of it. You know… I have an idea. I don't know if you'll think… Laurel, I think we should make this princess thing official. I know Thor's already granted you the title, but I think we should make it even more official, in Asgardian and in Midgardian terms."

She had to smile at that, thinking back to the conversation she had had with Odin earlier in the night. "You mean a wedding?"

Loki bit his lip, nodding slowly. "It seems odd, I know. You being able to travel between our two worlds, while I'm stuck here. You being, well, more alive than I am. Not to mention the fact that I hardly belong in an Asgardian," he stressed the word a bit more, "form of the afterlife. Then again, everything about the two of us, from the very beginning, has been a bit odd."

"Let's do it. Let's get married. I can spend a lot of my time here with you, now that I wouldn't be endangering either of our worlds by travelling between them." The music slowed, Laurel laying her head on his shoulder as she continued, "I can return to Midgard during the day and come back here at night. I'll find a way to rig up communications between here and Earth - I'm sure tony or Shuri could do it. She's the Queen of Wakanda now, but she's also a tech genius, probably better than Tony is. That way I'll know if they need me for a mission or if something's going wrong in the Sanctum. It'll be a Persephone-like arrangement."

"Persephone was a queen too," Loki reminded her, taking a half-step back as the song ended. He took her hand, leading her over to get another drink. While people tried to stop her for a quick word, Laurel simply apologized, promising that she would be back soon before following him, all the while not letting go of his hand.

As they sat there with their drinks, taking a break from the dancing and socializing, Laurel sighed, looking out across the crowd. "None of them, none of the Asgardians, none of the people on Earth… none of them understand what you did for them." Loki raised an eyebrow as she explained, "None of them understand that you gave up everything to try to stop Thanos. None of them know how much of a sacrifice you made. They still think you're a villain. They still think you're evil. I… every interview I give, I mention how you've changed, how you sacrificed yourself for the greater good. It ,makes me sad thinking they'll never know, that'll never believe it, no matter how much I try to tell them."

"You think I'm a good person, though," he said quietly, taking a sip of his drink.

"Yes. Of course I do."

"Then that's all I need," he insisted, turning to see Frigga headed for the two of them. "As long as you know the truth, that's what matters. Mother, I know you two have already met, but I should have been the one to introduce you to my lovely fiancee."

"Special circumstances," Frigga acknowledged. "Special circumstances, my dear. You did very well, though. She truly is a wonder."

It was extremely late when the ball began winding down, Loki guiding Laurel out of the ballroom and back upstairs, to the royal family's quarters. The palace in Valhalla was even bigger than the one that had been on New Asgard, and she was sure that it was larger than the original on Asgard itself, before it had been destroyed. As soon as they had closed and locked the door, Laurel kicked her heels off, sighing and wrapping her arms around him. "I love balls like that, but I'm so glad it's over." She lay her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, silently agreeing. "There's a point where I get so bored of having the same conversation over and over and over again. And half of those people still haven't mastered not stepping on their dance partners' toes, even in the hundreds of years that they've been here."

Loki laughed, giving her a kiss and saying, "They can't all be as talented as I am, I'm afraid."

"Hmm, I guess not. You're special," she breathed, pulling him closer to the bed. "You're incredibly special, Your Majesty."

He snapped his fingers, swapping their formal clothes for their pajamas. "I just want to hold you next to me tonight. I want to hold onto you and never let you go. I… I don't want to disappoint you, but I'd rather just lay here and hold you and… just know you're real, and that you exist, and that you're here with me."

"Okay." She climbed into bed with him, laying her head on his chest as he wound his arms around her again. He was nothing like the papers made him out to be, especially the tabloids. They painted him as some sort of amorous, out-of-control bad boy, no matter how many times she told interviewers that he was a perfect gentleman. Lies almost always sold many more copies than the truth did.

"You're not… disappointed?" he ventured.

"No. You're never mad at me when I just want to sleep next to you," she told him, "and I'd be happy no matter what, as long as I'm here with you. I - are you alright?"

His eyes had grown red, Loki confessing that, "I never had anyone growing up. I mean, I had Thor, but after a while, we were so different… He was always the favorite child, the one who was really being groomed for the throne, and I became the chess piece in Odin's game of negotiating with Jotunheim. I was always 'Loki, brother of Thor'. You said it yourself - no one looks at what I've done and calls it good. But then I had you, and then I lost you… and you found your way back."

"I'll always find my way back," she promised as he held out a hand, dimming the lights so she couldn't see how his eyes were watering. "You'll never have to lose me again."

"Good." He kissed the top of her head, adding, "I love you."

"I love you too. I love you so much that I came all the way to Valhalla," Laurel laughed, pulling him as close as she could. "I've missed this. I've missed you, but I've missed this too. I've missed laying here, thinking that we fit perfectly with each other, thinking that… well, screw the rest of the world, I can be happy with you, even if everything else is going to shit. I've missed coming home and falling into bed next to you after a mission, or sitting up in the library, or going out and practicing magic on the roof. I've missed so much, and I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too. I still can't believe you're here, and that you're coming back… agh, I love you."

They sat up talking for a while longer, Laurel falling asleep a long time before Loki did. He willed himself to stay awake, listening to her steady breathing as she dreamed, smiling whenever she tried to hold him tighter in her sleep. "I really am the luckiest person in all Nine Realms," he whispered, Laurel stirring a bit.

"Hmm?"

"Ssh, go back to sleep."

"Mhm."

She snuggled closer, Loki running a hand through her hair and mouthing a silent, "I love you."