"Something happened?"
Ina smiled gently, but lost her composure when she felt the light touch on her cheek.
Hela touched Ina's reddened cheek with one hand and softly spoke. "It's not as if miracles can't blossom from our union."
Ina remained silent and seemed to ponder that possibility, she wasn't quite sure that it would happen, but it seemed beautiful to believe that it would. "Do you think it's possible?"
Hela wasn't good at consoling people or saying words of support, she simply said what felt right in her heart.
Normally she was pessimistic and didn't have much hope in the ways of fate, but assuming that felt like a defeat for Ina and she wouldn't accept it. "I don't think it's impossible."
Ina heard that and could feel her heart racing, Hela was really an interesting person. "I understand."
Hela even tried to withdraw her hand, but felt Ina stop her from pulling away. "Hela?"
"Yea?"
She remained kneeling next to Ina and watched as she held her hand tightly.
Ina felt curious about the world beyond what she knew.
She only vaguely knew the place where she lived and it all boiled down to miles and miles of land full of peach trees.
There were no people or purpose, Ina lived her days to ensure the peaches grew nice and healthy. But what would the world beyond paradise be like? "What's it like in Niflheim?"
Hela smiled at Ina's shy curiosity and walked over, lacing her fingers with yours. "Well... It's not much different from here... The days go by slowly, it's dark and not even three suns can light up the vastness of empty space. It snows every day, so we crawl in the soft white snow... The sky is gray filled with souls that roam for eternity..."
"... It is not a place full of happiness, but there is its intrinsic beauty around its purpose... Many times life is not fair, but death is! At least that's what I think about Niflheim there are only people who died in dishonor."
Ina vaguely imagined what it would be like, but she had no idea what to imagine.
"Dishonor seems too strong a term..."
Hela nodded, she really didn't think there was dishonor in dying of old age, life was so complicated in so many ways why couldn't it also be considered a struggle?!
"In our culture, only honorable warriors can go to Asgard and live for eternity enjoying their victories and conquests, the stigma was created that men who lived long were cowardly men who did not have the courage to expose themselves to danger, but I think this an outdated conception...".
Hela stared at Ina and there was a brief feeling of comfort, she was so soft and caring, there was not the slightest trace of judgment in her gestures.
"... We no longer live in times of war, people fight their own struggles trying to survive amid hardship and misery, honor and dishonor has become something much less literal. It's no longer necessary to be on a battlefield to live honorably, but that's something Odin still can't take into account."
Hela felt Ina tighten the grip between her fingers and hers and she subtly pulled her hand closer to her as if she was trying to hug her.
Hela took a small step allowing it to happen and the two of them were so close they could feel each other's heat.
Only water separated them.
Hela sat on the floor while she was leaning and with one arm next to Ina, who remained calm in the bathtub full of foam.
Hela felt some kind of comfort when facing Ina, there was a feeling that everything would be fine as long as that person was in her field of vision.
The woman has already felt wronged either by having part of her body killed or by being sent against her will to Niflheim.
But mainly because she realized that even though she had tried to do her job efficiently for so long, the gods not only didn't take her seriously but also decided to punish her.
Hela had a very serious position on the current human world, she felt that humans were immersed in their own difficulties to the point of not living satisfactorily and much owed to the gods themselves.
She was trapped simply by her beliefs.
Ina who felt how complicated Hela's feelings were just tried to comfort her by lightly stroking her skin.
From the first second they met there was physical contact or comforting words, there was an understanding that they could be free as long as they were alone.
They really were predestined.
Ina's voice softly resonated. "What happens to the souls that go there?"
A gray sky amidst the darkness was not a place that looked pretty, but it was the place Hela called home, there should be some beauty.
"They get lost in the darkness looking for the honor they didn't get in life, at least that's what happened, over the centuries souls began to accumulate as if they were waiting for something."
Ina struggled to understand what kind of place Niflheim was, but mostly to know if this place could be called home by them. "Do you think it would be a good place for us to live?"
Hela who heard this questioning, couldn't hide her surprise.
Niflheim was not a heavenly place, it was dark and full of snow, but there was no shame or revulsion in living there.
Only Hela could see the true nature of this place.
Niflheim wasn't as literal as the realm of Hades, it wasn't brutal and it wasn't even filled with flames and suffering.
It wasn't sad and it wasn't even vulgar.
But it was very different from the place where Ina had lived for all those centuries, it wouldn't be beautiful or have peaches, there wouldn't be any sunsets or sunrises. "Do you want to go there?"
Ina smiled, she couldn't go back to the peach fields again someday...or could she? She believed not. "I will go where you go."
Ina when nothing else had received Hela in her arms as a beautiful gift, she would live happily as long as she was close to her future wife.
Hela smiled, maybe they could live in Niflheim... But some things needed to be resolved before that. "Well... We can light a fire and burn some mashmallows... But maybe we'd better start a life somewhere else, what do you think?"
Ina didn't know many places other than the small village she was born in and the peach tree field she tended for so long.
The wastelands didn't even exist at that time and the small village disappeared and as for heaven, she wasn't a goddess anymore and she couldn't go there without someone taking her, so it wasn't an option.
The world seemed to grow and evolve away from her, so there wasn't any personal effort to observe the human world, but it seemed the only option.
There would be limits to Hela even as a goddess.
Divine lands had their own rules and guardians, each deity with its own cultures and beliefs.
It was true that a god appeared the moment man invented it, but despite their dependence and abstract manner they existed as a concept and as a personification and were realized as a human need.
Gods fed on what humans believed and chose, growing into their own greatness to exist.
Only in this way could so many gods coexist and dominate similar environments and there was a parallel coexistence between one and the other where they could share or not their concerns and similarities.
This was how Odin and Zeus chose to control their domains, but many others didn't mix or chose not to have a say.
Ina understood that the place where they could live peacefully would be among humans, but she wouldn't be able to choose a location. She wouldn't make a difference. "Any idea?"
Hela had no idea where she might go, but they had plenty of time to decide.
She smiled feeling happy and calmly got up, she needed to check the food that was most likely boiling inside the pot. "Well, we can think about it when you're closer... Ready to eat?"
"Yea..."
In a few minutes Hela not only checked the food and it was finally finished, she also helped Ina finish her bath and get ready.
Hela without much difficulty carried Ina everywhere and even though Ina insisted she wasn't willing to allow too much effort to be made.
And when clean clothes were finally dressed, it didn't take much more than 10 seconds for Hela to finally take her to the kitchen and Ina could let herself be invaded by the sweet smell of the soup.
Ina could smell mushrooms and meat, it was so fragrant that she could gradually feel a hunger that she hadn't felt in a long time.
Hela after placing Ina in a chair around the table, quickly placed the pot next to her.
"Dinner is ready, I'll serve it for you."
Ina nodded and waited anxiously. "The smell is good..."
She smiled in her heart, it didn't seem like a bad idea to live a life like that.