Chapter 40
And that's a wrap. This chapter is nothing but some added information about what I imagined happened next and some other stuff I didn't find a way to work in.
Thor and Jane are not soulmates. That was pretty obvious in the fic. Thor's soulmate doesn't really ever manifest as a person anymore--Thor's soulmate and Thor are the ones who made it possible for everyone to have a soulmate. It's why Thor's considered the god of soulmates (even if few people remember why), why Thor does so well despite not really being actively worshipped--he's powered mostly by the concept of soulmates.
He's basically Loki's opposite in a lot of ways.
Jane's soulmate is Sif. They haven't met at the time of this story, but they will. It meant a lot to me, to have these two beings who are used to going into spaces where they aren't accepted (a woman in STEM, a woman as a warrior) and kick face. They're victory, defiance in the face of odds. They balance each other out, the mental and the physical, and they're braver than anyone ever remembers to give them credit for. Remember that they're victory, because at the End of All Things, when Jane falls, Sif falls--and so falls victory, clear and clean and perfect victory.
(Ragnarok is not a clean victory for anyone)
Jormungandr is the only one who can poison the soulmate concept that powers Thor, and it's not a mistake Jormungandr is born of Loki--Loki's cynicism and bitterness have always been what Thor is up against in this universe. Jormugandr is Loki's physics and rules given form without remorse. Thor and Jormungandr clash in the physical, and it happens in the minds--because the gods are ideas after all--with the spread and dismantling of soulmates as a concept. The death of a fantasy given life.
Thor stops Jormungandr, but it undoes him too. That's the beginning of the end, of everything undoing. Without Thor to balance Loki out, all of Thor's fire and life and light is gone and Loki is free to consume as his hunger always compels him to without any restraint at all.
Those times, when Thor dies before Loki, the Ragnarok cycle ends in darkness and nothingness centered on one last star blue glow (Tony) before that, too, winks out--a sigh and a tired chuckle and finally finally rest found in a lovers arms with a whisper of beloved the seed of the next world tree.
And like Thor implied, sometimes Loki dies before Thor--those times end in light and thunderstorms and heat, high summer heat and laughter, the churn of the battlefield, one last crowd-wide roar of exhilaration and joy and love before it all combusts and begins again.
And the reason that Tony's immortality matters, is it's the very first hint of the beginning of the end. Loki being tied to one person who lives and dies and reincarnates is part of what keeps Loki in check. It's as much a part of him as Thor being bound to humanity as a whole is (and another way in which they are opposites that balance each other). Tony taking immortality is him refusing to risk Loki dying, is him beginning to work with Loki. It's why so much of this story focusing on how Tony changes. I don't think canon Tony would take immortality--not even prior IM3--so this fic was born of trying to suss that question out. What would change him so that he would actually take immortality?
This is not a nice Tony. He's very much based on/inspired by the Tony in another country (people die) by pprfaith, and there's some pretty direct nods to that early on with Tony having a network in place to shut things down. This is Tony who walks away from events because he's decided no one else can fix it because they just don't listen.
You can, of course, ignore all this. But while the ending is happy in the sense that Loki and Tony are together, that Tony's not immortal and free of the risk of dying and his soul being destroyed (or more free of it), it kind of is a bit dark too, because it's what leads us to Ragnarok.
But then, I suppose, the other thing worth remembering is no matter who 'triumphs', no matter whether it's Thor who wins or Loki, the last breath of the universe, and the first breath, is always, always love.
And that's pretty alright.
Thank you for the ride. I've had a lovely time posting this, hearing what people liked, seeing the reactions. I didn't expect a ton of people to go for this smashup of two of my favourite tropes. I didn't see myself ever writing a soulmate au. I'm so glad you liked it, and if there's any niggling thing you're wondering, let me know in the comments. One last reminder that you can check out the tumblr to see the various images, sounds, edits, and other fics that inspired and influenced this fic while I was working on it. Thanks again to wrecked anon, seizure7, and verbyna for encouraging this crazy little idea until I had it written.
Till next time~~ <3