You kept your grip on Thor's arm, nervous at suddenly being at your wedding. And yet, it was perfect. A surprise wedding kept you from fretting about it for months, plus it was 900 years overdue. You walked with Thor at your side down the aisle. Frigga was waiting for you before the throne. Loki stood in front of her, his back turned to you as tradition demanded. He was forbidden to turn to look at you. You could see the tension in his shoulders even from the other end of the long aisle at the temptation to do it anyway.

You were even more surprised to see Stark standing next to Loki, in what would be Thor's place once the pair of you reached the throne. Nat was standing next to Sif as your bridesmaids. It nearly brough tears to your eyes. "The team arrived with Loki this morning," Thor told you in a whisper. You realized you hadn't seen them all morning. Tricky friends keeping the secret. They had said they were traveling to spend Christmas with friends and family. "The men drew lots to determine who would stand beside Loki," he added as you walked and focused on not falling on your face.

The entire focus of getting up the aisle was not falling flat on your face. Do. Not. Fall. On. Face. Do not fall on face. Donotfallonface. Must not fall on face while wearing wedding dress.

You saw the wings of the Valkyrie in the crowd, most of them were lining the aisle between the half-way point and the throne. Their wings were in hues of the golds and light browns of the Asgardian hair colors. When you reached the half-way point two of the Valkyrie stepped out to block your path, their dragonfang blades crossed across the aisle. Neither of them spoke, but you knew the tradition.

Thor dropped your arm. The Valkyrie raised their swords to let him pass and crossed them again to block your way once he had. Thor made his way confidently up to the throne and took his place next to Loki. You were a Valkyrie of Asgard and had to face the conclusion of this trial alone.

You saw Thor lean to Loki after giving you another glance. "Wait until you see her, Brother," he teased and you saw the tension ease in Loki's shoulders at his brother's joke, the reassurance. You smiled at your silly boys.

You concentrated for a moment to do it gracefully, and summoned your wings, unfurling them from your back elegantly to the gasp of the crowd. Your jet black wings were a sharp contrast to your pure white dress.

You summoned your dragonfang blade and stepped forward.

A third Valkyrie stepped out into the aisle, standing facing you and held her sword pointed at you. You placed your blade against hers. She was the matron, the trainer of all the young Valkyrie and you had known her your entire life. "This union is your choice, Sister?" she asked you, loudly enough that the entire throne room could hear.

"This union is the deepest desire of my heart," you gave the reply. She stepped aside and bowed to you as the other Valkyrie, every single one in the crowd, raised her dragonblade sword in solidarity.

"Proceed with our blessing, Lady Valkyrie, and with our protection," the matron bid you. You vanished your blade, gripping your bouquet instead, and the matron moved in front of you, while the other two walked on either side as you made your way the rest of the way to the throne, surrounded by your sister Valkyrie as honor guard. You smiled at the raised blades in the crowd, solidarity from all of the Valkyrie in the palace.

The matron stepped aside at the last row of spectators, the row that included your mother and the rest of your Midgardian friends. Your honor guard turned to face the aisle, letting you pass alone. You took one more step forward and Frigga nodded to Loki, giving him his cue.

He turned then, elegant in his formal finery, golden horned helmet included. You smiled brightly at him, heard his gasp as he fought to keep his mouth from falling open. You flushed a little at his obvious approval of your looks.

You took the last few steps to him and Sif took your bouquet so you could take his hands. "Words cannot describe how lovely you are, Kyrie-love," he whispered as you turned to face him, both of you standing before Frigga, your hands joined in front of you.

"Ceremonial clothes suit you as well, your highness," you teased and he grinned at you.

Frigga smiled at you both warmly. "Traditionally there would be a year and a day betrothal between the official engagement and wedding," she started, addressing the crowd. "However, this wedding has already been delayed long enough," there were some chuckles from the crowd, those who knew more of the story. "So we have agreed that the engagement has been fulfilled and now with no further delays:"

Frigga summoned a golden ribbon out of thin air.

"Loki, my son, Y/N, Valkyrie of Asgard, the ties that are bound here today greatly strengthen your union and will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth. Do you seek to enter this ceremony?"

"Yes," you and Loki both answered at the same time, excitement in your voices. Frigga grinned at your joy.

"This cord is a symbol of the connection between your two lives. As your hands are bound together by this cord, so too, will your lives be bound together in marriage." She wrapped the ribbon around the wrists of your joined hands. You couldn't believe this was actually happening, after all this time it was finally, finally happening.

"Today you are holding the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, as you promise to love each other forever on your wedding day.

These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love and cherish you through the years
and will comfort you like no other.

These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind.

These are the hands that will wipe tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.

These are the hands that will help you hold your family together as one.

These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.

And these are the hands that – even when wrinkled and aged – will still be reaching for yours and expressing the same tenderness they do today with just a touch."

You squeezed Loki's hands and he squeezed yours back, both of you grinning with tears of joy dancing in your eyes.

"Just as your hands are now bound together, so too, are your lives. Because you cannot always be physically joined together, you will each give to the other a wedding ring to symbolize that connection. It will be worn on your hand as a constant reminder of the bond shared between you as a married couple." Frigga's golden ribbon vanished and you panicked for one instant about not having a ring until Frigga held out both of her hands, a ring in each. You reached forward and took the ring from the hand closest to you while Loki did the same. You carefully slipped the silver ring on the ring finger of Loki's left hand. Silver wasn't one of his colors, so the ring would stick out even more against his usual gold and black. He took your left hand and slipped the slim silver wedding band onto your finger as well.

"With joy in my heart, I pronounce this binding complete. Prince Loki and Princess Y/N are officially wed this day. My son, you may kiss your bride," Frigga announced, her voice warm and joyful. You hadn't forgotten but neglected to appreciate that in marrying Loki, you became a princess. It hadn't seemed important, and really, nothing changed. Loki bent the scant distance between your lips and kissed you to the roars of the crowd.

You turned to make your way back down the aisle, your hand in Loki's, to lead the procession to the wedding feast.

Every single Valkyrie in attendance stepped into the aisle, one on either side of the aisle and raised their blades above their heads, making an arch for you to walk under. It was tradition for a Valkyrie wedding. You and Loki walked calmly through their arch, grinning like joyful children.

The last pair of Valkyrie crossed their blades in front of you, blocking your way. They gave Loki a look. He smirked in reply and turned to kiss you. It was the toll to get past the last of the Valkyrie on a Valkyrie's wedding day. He turned you and bent you backwards, dipping you and kissing you well. He would pay the toll properly. He stood you back on your feet and the Valkyrie raised their swords with grins. However...

The one on Loki's side moved quickly and swatted him lightly on the ass with the flat of her blade. "Welcome to the Valkyrie, your highness," she bid him loudly. You both laughed and proceeded to the wedding feast.

The feast was huge and would last all night. You and Loki went straight to your table. Thor, his warrior friends, and the Avengers had the next closest table and Frigga and Odin had a small table close as well.

Thor reached you first and hugged you both. He clapped Loki's back for his hug and kissed your cheek on yours. "Congratulations!" he bid you loudly. Sif and the Warriors Three congratulated you next. Sif hugged you, the warrior bows bowed over you hand to kiss your knuckles.

"How did you guys get here? How did Odin approve it?" you asked the team when they approached.

Nat came over and kissed the air next to your cheek, very careful not to touch your skin. "Congratulations, Kyrie," she bid you warmly.

"Father did us a favor and allowed our teammates to come for the wedding," Thor explained as more congratulations were exchanged.

"I brought them with me this morning and helped the men find suitable clothing while Mother found a lovely dress for Lady Natasha," Loki explained. You hadn't noticed that the team were all wearing Asgardian style clothes. "I then had to spend the rest of the day keeping Stark from destroying all of our technology to study it," he whined and you laughed. "He wanted to take apart the soulforge,"

"The healers would have killed him," you told Loki. Loki inclined his head.

"So he carefully gave us tours of the palace and kept you from seeing us all day," Clint explained, looking around the palace still in awe.

"And before you fret, sleeping arrangements have been made already. Sif, Thor, and the Warriors Three will make sure our friends are taken care of. Sif is already prepared to carry Stark to bed when he gets too drunk," Loki told you quickly and kissed your cheek at your indignant look. Of course you'd worry about your friends. "Stick to the ale or mead Stark, anything strong will put you on your ass faster than you'd like to be," Loki advised.

You had to greet more well-wishers before you could finally sit and have the feast begin. "Loki, this is amazing," you told him when you were finally alone. "How-?"

He smiled at you warmly. "I told you that Mother, Thor, and I have been working on this together. The hardest part was keeping it secret from you, my dear," he told you. "And making sure every detail was perfect so you wouldn't fret. I do hope you didn't mind that it was a surprise?"

"Not at all, love. It was perfect. Thank you,"

"Anything for you, my Valkyrie,"

There was way too much food, even more ale and mead. You danced with Loki to the cheers of everyone as you floated gracefully across the dance floor. You danced with others throughout the night, including Thor, the warrior boys, and even a slightly tipsy Stark, though you had to summon gloves to dance with him. You didn't mind and he was a better dancer than he wanted to let on.

Part of the way through the evening, Frigga passed you a chalice of mead to share with Loki, as was tradition. You thanked her and accepted her congratulations and her welcome to the family. When you sat with Loki and drank the mead, Thor made his way over.

You sighed heavily, knowing what was coming. "Get it over with, Oaf," you teased him. He laughed and raised Mjolnir high above his head to the cheers of the crowd. He set it carefully on your lap.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked the other Avengers in a whisper.

"Give me nieces and nephews, little sister," Thor teased you right back, his voice warm and full of mirth.

"Someday, oaf. Now kindly remove the symbol of your manhood from my lap, before I do it myself, or your brother stabs you," you grumbled, but goodnaturedly. Loki summoned a dagger, but he wouldn't stab Thor over this, especially today. You turned to your Avenger friends when Thor did as he was told. "It's tradition for Mjolnir, or a symbol therein, to be placed in the bride's lap as a prayer of fertility to Thunderhead. How he became the god of fertility too, I'll never know," you teased, sticking your tongue out at Thor.

"You wound me," Thor protested.

"He's hot, that's why," Nat commented dryly. The group turned and stared at her, counting how many drinks she'd had. She shrugged. "What? Everyone was thinking it." No one dared answer that accusation. She was right, nearly everyone in their right mind thought that, including straight men.

The dancing and feast would last until dawn. In the middle of the night sometime, Thor whistled loudly and you laughed, knowing what would come next. The party would continue without you and Loki. The crowd roared, cheered, and drank more ale, knowing what was coming. "He brought us for manual labor," Stark grumbled as their group came over as well as Sif and the Warriors Three. The Avengers hauled Loki up onto their shoulders while he grumbled at the indignity of it. The Warriors Three and Thor lifted you onto theirs. It had to be this arrangement since the mortals couldn't risk touching your skin. Sif led the procession to the family wing of the palace while you giggled and Loki grumbled that he needed no help finding his chambers.

"It is tradition, Brother, you know that," Thor replied when Loki complained too much. They set you down outside of Loki's suite. Thor opened the door and shoved the two of you inside. "Congratulations!" he bid you one last time before he closed the suit door and he and your friends returned to the party.

You turned to Loki and somehow your lips were on his without another word, though you didn't remember moving. "We're married," you told him warmly between kisses.

"Finally," he replied a moment before his lips had returned to yours. You moved to the bed chamber, your clothes disappearing as you did courtesy of magic. Your lips didn't move from his as you climbed into the bed to celebrate your wedding night properly. Neither of you noticed turning Jotun during, and you fell asleep in a tangle of blue limbs and black feathered wings after a perfect wedding, a perfect day, a perfect night with your Loki.

"I love you, princess," he whispered before you fell asleep.

"And I love you my prince,"