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Sixteen days.
It had been exactly sixteen days since Thor returned to New Asgard. He was able to count the days since he’s returned, but the number of days he was gone was lost on him. It had been a few years, that much he knew for sure. The progress that New Asgard made was proof of that. Seeing New Asgard in the state it was in now only made Thor more confident that he made the right decision when he passed the throne over to Valkyrie.
They hadn't spoken since his arrival.
His return was greatly received by his fellow Asgardians, all of whom wanted to know the tales of his adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy. And as much as Thor appreciated the warm welcome of his people, it was Valkyrie that he wanted to talk to the most. But with her daily Royal duties and Thor’s constant conversations with eager citizens, he never had the chance to get her alone. When they did see each other, there were nothing more but brief waves and quick glances.
Their only conversation was a brief one: a casual hug and a “welcome home” was all they had time for amidst the chaos of a large crowd gathering to greet their former King.
Since his return, Thor had somewhat struggled to find his place. He wanted to feel useful and serve the Crown. Though he wasn’t King anymore, he still wanted to show his loyalty to the crown, to his people and to Valkyrie in any way he could.
Now, after being home for a little over two weeks, he finally had a project in his hands.
“Her Majesty, wishes to speak with you,” a young royal aide who was standing on Thor’s door step said. He had been able to stay in the same house as before. Valkyrie wanted to keep it vacant, in case he decided to return.
Thor walked up a slight hill to the Asgardian Palace. It wasn’t grand by any means, but was still far larger than the other homes the citizens lived in. The young lady who was sent to retrieve him led Thor to a room where he found Valkyrie.
“Your Majesty,” Thor said as he attempted to bow.
Valkyrie stopped him before he was able to finish. “Oh, Thor stop that,” she softly chuckled. “It’s not necessary from you.”
Valkyrie took his image in for the first time since he’d returned. His hair was still long, but was well kept and pulled back the way it was when they first met. His body had slimmed and she could tell that he had done some training while he was away.
“I heard you wanted to speak with me, your majes- I mean Valkyrie.” Thor fumbled as usual. He always fumbled around her, ever since they first met. Being gone all these years didn’t change that.
“Yes, the school wants to grow a garden. The children want a place to gather around other than a playground. The school also thought it might be a good way for the students to learn about the local plants.” She paused before she let out a sigh. “You know I’ve always been a hands on leader. However, I don’t have a green thumb and miraculously no one here seems to know anything about growing plants. At least not on this soil.”
Of course. While Asgardians had planted before, it was on Asgard. Not here on Midgard.
Thor looked at her confused. “Well, I most definitely know nothing about plants, so I don’t think I’m the person you’re looking for.”
“That is true, but I know you must be bored out of your mind trying to find something to do all day.”
She had a point. It may not have been his ideal way of serving the people, but even the small things mattered and made a difference.
“Okay, well, at your service, Your Majesty.”
Valkyrie rolled her eyes in the way that Thor had become so familiar with. “Besides, how hard can it be? We’re just going to be transferring plants from smaller pots and putting them into holes that we dig. We start tomorrow morning. The sun should be out all day, so the weather will be in our favor.”
Thor and Valkyrie met at the school the following morning.
They spent the day watering, digging, and planting away flowers and shrubs they got from a Midgardian hardware store with a plant section.
They already had one planter done that they filled with daisies. With their bodies exhausted and sweaty from the humidity and their hands starting to blister from shoveling, they started to realize how inexperienced they were in this field. The planter looked sad and lopsided and just looked off.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if all these plants die by tomorrow." Valkyrie stood with her hands in her hips exasperated. "All the battles we’ve fought in our lifetimes and it’s a stupid garden that we can’t conquer.”
“Maybe I should’ve just hired one of the Midgardians at the hardware store to plant these. Sometimes I feel like I choose to do things on my own because it keeps me even busier. Gives me less time to think.”
Thor looked to Valkyrie from his seat on the ground.
“Valkyrie, the last thing you said to me before I left was that you’d make a lot of changes around here. And you have. My confidence in you hasn’t waivered. But you deserve a break once in a while.”
“I don’t doubt myself Thor.”
Valkyrie could feel Thor’s confused expression burning into her and she knew that she revealed more than she wanted. When she ascended onto Asgard’s throne, she knew her main priority was to rebuild. There’s no doubt in her mind that she achieved her goal.
But there was a time when she knew she was rebuilding and constantly working to keep her mind off of him - knowing he was out traveling to far off galaxies - without a clue if he would even return. What made it worse? Knowing that she never mustered up the courage to tell him how she felt.
“I may have been gone for quite some time, but you should know that you can trouble me for anything now that I’m back. If you're comfortable doing so that is.”
Thor rose from his seat and placed his hand on Valkyrie’s shoulder. Before she could reply, a loud boom of thunder startled them from their thoughts, followed by a spark of lightning.
“Thor, what are you doing?”
“No, this isn’t me.”
The flood gates opened suddenly and a downpour was beginning to flood the garden.
“Shit! I knew this was stupid. There’s no way in hell these plants are going to survive in the mud now. We should just go.” Valkyrie turned to leave when she slipped on the pile of dirt they dug up. Which was now thick, slippery mud thanks to the unexpected rain.
Thor ran towards her to pull her up, but slipped on the mud himself.
“What the hell?!” Thor grew frustrated as he tried to get up and repeatedly failed.
That’s when Valkyrie lost it. The sight of the former King of Asgard and so called ‘
God of Thunder struggling to get off his ass in a pile of mud caused by a thunderstorm.
Valkyrie’s face wrinkled into a fit of laughter so contagious that Thor couldn’t help but laugh himself.
“Alright, hold on, we can do this. Let’s just try to get up slowly,” Valkyrie managed to get out between laughs.
But it was no use, the mud was too slippery and was starting to pool into a puddle.
“Screw it! I’m crawling out!”
Seeing Thor slide across the mud on his belly using his arm to drag him caused Valkyrie to giggle even more before she followed suit.
“Oh, dear gods! I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed this hard!” Valkyrie’s eyes glazed over in tears.
Neither did he, Thor realized.
Valkyrie watched as Thor finally caught his breath and stopped laughing. A huge smile still planted on his face.
“You have no idea how happy I am to have you back.” Valkyrie said, a wave of relief washing over her at finally telling him.“It was hard not knowing when you’d return. I missed having you around.”
Thor’s eyes met hers. He had always known that there was some unfinished business between them. Well, unspoken business to be more accurate.
On Saakar, on the ship as they aimlessly made their way to Midgard, on New Asgard. All the time that went by because they were too scared to admit what they felt. Because they were both too damaged and didn’t want to hold the other back.
“Well, you have no idea how much I missed you too.” Thor placed his palm over Valkyrie’s hand and gave it a small squeeze.
The awkward silence and tension that has continuously existed between them was still there. But for now, this was all they needed: this small gesture to show that their feelings were still there.
The garden was now a watery muddy mess, but the rain wouldn’t last forever. They’d find time to start again and, maybe if they were lucky, the garden would actually grow and bloom. With time, they knew that the unspoken connection between them would grow too. Because now…
It was finally their time.