A New Beginning

Chapter 32- A Walk

"I guess you don't have anything with pants?" Noelle asked the Asgardian serving girl as she laid a deep blue and dark purple dress out for her on the bed.

"No, I am sorry my lady," she said. "Asgardian women don't wear... pants."

"Trousers," Noelle corrected herself with a sigh and thanked the girl. She supposed it was better than nothing. Her regular clothes had gotten pretty dirty and ripped and it had been a long day. She didn't care much for dresses and robes given that they restricted her freedom of movement when it came to fighting– not that that was really a problem at the moment.

And if she had to, she was still wearing her Ghost suit hidden underneath her clothes, along with her lightsabers.

After she finished changing, she decided to go and find Thor, not knowing what else to do. She hated just sitting around and waiting. Plus, she liked being in his company.

I can't even meditate, she thought glumly as she exited her room.

It was almost as if Thor had been waiting for her because she found him immediately out in the hallway.

"Hey."

He cleared his throat upon seeing her. "I was wondering if you would like me to show you around Asgard?" he said.

Despite how horrible she was still feeling, she smiled at his kindness. "I'd like that."

"Good," he returned her smile, gesturing for her to walk in front of him.

Noelle did so, but turned back around hesitantly, opening her mouth to ask him a question that had been nagging at her.

Thor seemed to guess it. "My father is doing everything he can to figure out how to remove the Aether from you," he tried to assure her.

Her mouth snapped shut at that, mainly because she wasn't one hundred percent convinced that Odin was doing anything at all. As far as she could tell, he seemed pretty annoyed that she was even here.

"He wants to keep the Aether contained as well," Thor explained. "Even if he is angered that I brought you here."

Noelle nodded in response and decided to change the subject. She would take his word for it. Besides, she really didn't feel like talking about it right now anyway. "So where to first?"

"Well I was hoping to take you through the marketplace," Thor responded enthusiastically. "I thought you may find it a familiar setting."

He was right about that. The marketplace was familiar enough to Noelle– even though she had quite a few familiar places. The city was certainly where she was most accustomed to.

The market was huge and Noelle suspected it ran through the entire city of Asgard, overshadowed by the massive golden palace they had just stepped out of. Cries of "buy your bread here" and other items unknown to her rang through the air. Children hurriedly pushed past her and Thor, racing to catch up with one another. Noelle suppressed a smile, thinking of her own childhood.

Thor stopped for a moment and pointed at a stall to her left. "Have you ever tried roasted rabbit?" he asked, raising his voice slightly above the noise. "It's quite delicious."

Noelle shook her head. "Can't say that I have. An old friend of mine was fond of it though."

Thor offered to get her some, and the rabbit did smell good, but she politely declined saying she wasn't hungry, so they continued on. Eventually they left behind the market, coming to a more quiet area with shrubbery, trees and even flowers.

"Oh, this is beautiful," she gasped. Noelle was instantly even more at home here in this garden. She had grown up in the woods surrounded by a forest, and as a Jedi she was taught to connect with the Force inside all living things.