"Oh My Lady, you look stunning!"
"She's right Kagome, it's perfect."
She grinned over at Dalla and Sif, so glad her closest girlfriends had come with her. She looked back into the mirror she stood in front of and took a deep, steadying breath.
A wedding dress.
It was probably the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and she could scarcely believe it was for her.
But it was, and she had to push away the feeling she didn't deserve it and move straight into fawning over it, the poor dressmaker she'd gotten to know over the centuries was antsy at her silence.
She looked him in the eyes, her own watering with tears, and thanked him with all of her heart.
"It's... beautiful. Really, I don't know what else to say..."
"Don't say anything yet." Frigga stepped forward with a secret smile, holding a small box Kagome hadn't noticed her carry in with her.
She opened it, and pulled out a thin but ornate little circlet. Kagome knelt down to let her place on her head and then paled at the sight of it in the mirror.
A crown.
"Oh... I-"
"Oh my darling, you look absolutely beautiful."
She smiled gratefully, but this was the tipping point for her. It was too much.
"Frigga I... a crown? I can't accept- it's too much for me to wear a crown. I'm not a princess."
Frigga grabbed her gently by the hand and led her to a seat on a small plush couch, keeping hold of her hands and looking all over her face.
Kagome's cheeks bloomed a light rose color and averted her eyes for a moment before her chin was gently raised again by Frigga's finger.
"Do you miss your mother my darling?"
She gasped a little, her breath catching in her throat.
"What... how-?"
"You've been out of sorts since we arrived. You haven't been this uncomfortable being dressed since you first came to us. I'm so sorry I didn't consider this a possibility. In truth dear... I sometimes forget you aren't really mine."
Her tears fell then, though she tried so hard to hold them back. She didn't know what she should feel. Sadness that her birth family was missing this, shame that she wasn't more grateful for all that had been given to her, disgust that she could still so easily fall into self doubt. But her sweet adoptive mother leaned forward and embraced her, stroking her hair, and when she pulled back, she lifted the little circlet from her head and looked at it with a small, fond smile.
"First things first child, I want no guilt from you for missing your family. This is a big, exciting time and they cannot be here. That's hard, no matter how long you've been a part of this family. You can be sad and happy at the same time. Now, about this. This tiara was mine. I wore it when I married Odin, and I remember wondering if one day I'd have a daughter of my own to pass it down too. The fates chose not to give me one through my own womb, but they gave me one through you, and I would be honored if you would wear this when you wed my son and become his bride. And then you will be a princess, so your other protestation is no longer valid."
Giggling despite her tears, Kagome gingerly lifted the little crown from Frigga's hands, admiring the sparkly, faceted jewels set within it. She placed a hand on her heart, speechless, heartsick and filled with immense gratitude.
"Thank you. Thank you so, so much."
With final fitting pins and marks made, she went into a little changing room to get back into her everyday clothes. A little pouch of things she'd brought with her fell to the floor and she remembered a small errand she needed to run as the jeweler was close by.
"Hey guys? You all go on ahead, I need to... run into the local market... for some things."
She waved off any protests with assurances she could get back to the palace, and when they were out of sight, she snuck away, her goal of making a wedding surprise for Loki forefront in her mind.
Once the heavy doom and gloom of the gnawing absence of her birth family had been allowed to leech from her heart, Kagome finally felt giddy.
She hopped around on the bed, squealing in delight, trying to convey the beauty of her wedding dress to Loki without revealing too many details.
He smiled indulgently at her all the while, simply watching her light up as she babbled on about beading and embroidery and feeling like a princess and the way her nose wrinkled when he reminded her she was a princess.
She threw herself down next to him, snuggling close and he turned and wrapped his arms around her.
"Not yet, jerk."
He chuckled in her ear and then smirked when the sound sent a shiver down her spine.
"Well, I know you looked exquisite. You always do."
She blushed and then fiddled with some of the closures on his clothing, getting lost in her thoughts.
"It's very, very different from what I would have worn as a bride back on earth."
"Oh?"
"Yes, I probably would have ended up wearing a kimono. That's kind of sort of like a robe made of silk. It's more complicated than that but, you get the idea. That's what's traditional where I'm from."
"Would you prefer to wear such a thing?"
She thought about that for a moment, remembering all her day dreams of childhood and how they'd never consistently featured traditional wedding kimonos over western wedding dresses. She'd hadn't been sure then, had been too young to need to make a choice. Now the choice had been taken from her. It wasn't a big deal, really, but she was sure her mother would have liked to see her all trussed up like a Japanese bride.
"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "It's not like it matters now, anyway, and the dress I'm wearing is a dream! I'm happy no matter what!"
She soon settled down into sleep, her features soft and lovely and he just gazed at her before an idea tickled the back of his mind.
His little bride was not Asgardian, he knew that, he'd never forgotten. She was a human being from a country with cultural practices different from his own.
So far the only concession she'd asked for had been a small, simple little ritual added to the ceremony and nothing else.
He knew she had a tendency to put her own wants and even needs aside in favor of everyone else, and he suspected something similar was happening now.
Well, it was lucky she was marrying him and not some other imbecile who didn't have the means of getting what he wanted.
He knew if he asked it would take a tremendous feat of strength and will to extract what he wanted from her.
But he didn't have to ask...
He would confess later, and apologize if necessary.
But for now...
He placed a soft touch to her forehead, and delved into her memories, looking only for the information that suited his purposes. He would go after that and no more.
He pulled away from her after just a few moments, and laid back with a satisfied smirk.
He had a trip to the tailors to make tomorrow.