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Chapter Twenty- Five: Reunited

~Thea's POV~

I am woken by Natasha, who is already up and ready. Moaning, I sit up blearily. "How'd you sleep?" she asks.

"Fine." I say, which isn't positively true. I had been tossing and turning all night, trying to fall into a peaceful sleep, but failing. A couple times, I woke up, trying to suppress my screams so that I wouldn't wake Natasha.

Then, I remember that I'm traveling to Asgard today, and more importantly, I'm going to see my sister.

I sit up straight like a rocket and climb out of the bed, running into the bathroom, past Natasha, who smiles slightly. I change quickly and walk back into the room. Natasha is gone, but has left my backpack open on my bed. I run around the room in a frenzy, throwing things into the backpack without a glance at what I'm throwing in there- at one point, I accidentally throw in Natasha's hairbrush.

I'm running down to the control room, my back pack only half on my shoulder when I come across Jack. He greets me enthusiastically, but then says a little sadly, "So you're leaving?"

"Just for a week," I reply, finally swinging my backpack on right. "Um, thanks for everything. I really appreciate it."

'Yeah, it was fun," he says easily. "I mean except getting caught. That wasn't ideal, but then again, all plans can't go as planned."

"I'll miss you," I say truthfully, looking at the cheerful British boy who had made my crazy life just a little bit sunnier.

"I'll miss you too, I guess," he says with a grin. Then, he opens his arms out and looks at me hopefully, "Hug?"

I hesitate, and then give in to my instincts, reaching forward and wrapping my arms around him. He's so tall, I hardly reach his chest, but he squeezes me back anyway. He smells like mint, and I try not to sniff too loudly.

The sound of footsteps interrupts us, and we hastily separate. Looking behind me, I see that Natasha is walking towards us, not looking particularly happy. "Okay, Thea, let's go. We're running out of time before those idiots show up, and you and Loki need to get out of here, now."

She hauls me down the hallway, and I barely get to say a brief, "Bye," to Jack before I turn a corner and he's lost from my view.

Natasha leads me down the hallway, hurrying me along if I even begin to slow down. She seems anxious, and seeing that she is the least-anxious person I've ever met- okay maybe except Barton or Loki- this naturally puts me on edge.

She stops me before a corner, waits for some armed guards to walk by and then pushes me ahead. "Hurry," she hisses, looking at her watch.

"Why are we hurrying?" I ask as she throws open a door to the darkness of the dawn. It's overcast, and then smell of rain is heavy in the air. Even though the sun is barely shining over the horizon, the birds are already making a racket.

"Because we have two minutes before the bomb goes off and our distraction is wasted," says Natasha, pushing me ahead of her as we hike through some vegetation at the edges of the rain forest.

I want to ask what the heck a bomb has to do with me when I realize that we are in a cleared-out field. It's a small dimension, surrounded by trees and plants and flowers. Waiting in the center are Barton and Loki, who both look up when Natasha and I approach.

"Forty seconds and counting," says Natasha. "Get ready."

"Why do we need a distraction?" I ask.

"Give the government something to look at besides the sky."

"The sky?" I question, starting to panic at all the unfamiliarity of all this. "How are we even going to get to Asgard?"

"We've got twenty seconds," says Natasha, ignoring my questions and looking at Loki instead.

"Good luck, Thea," says Barton, putting his hand on my shoulder briefly before the two of them step away from Loki and me.

A giant, reverberating bang comes from towards the Nest. I see flames ignite and sirens begin to wail to signify the bomb.

"Now!" yells Natasha.

Loki grabs me, shouts something seemingly at the sky that I cannot comprehend because of the noise of the second bomb going off. And then it seems like the sky opens up over us and my body is sucked and thrown forward.

I try to scream, but find that I can't, that the very reality of space and time has been twisted into a column vortex of light and color. Wind whistles in my hear so that I can't hear anything else and I feel a sense of exhilaration pass through me as I am slammed forward.

And then it's over- my feet hit the floor hard and I am thrown to the floor- I probably would've fallen if I hadn't swung my arms around like some sort of wild goose. When I look up, my eyes widen.

We're in a large, circular room that is most strongly recognized by the bright gold of the walls, the floor, and the armor of the large man standing in front of Loki and me. He regards me with amber colored eyes that peek out from his gold helmet as he removes a sword from a center consul of the room. "Welcome to Asgard," he says in a deep, raspy voice.

"Thank you Heimdall," says Loki. "Has Thor arrived?"

"Not yet, but soon," says Heimdall, and the two men regard each other with an aura of mutual distrust. "The All-Father requests your presence after their arrival, however."

"Of the girl or of me?" asks Loki reservedly.

"The girl."

I see relief in Loki's eyes, telling me that his father and he perhaps do not get along well. "Very well. Come along, Thea."

"What if I don't want to meet him?" I ask, because meeting an Asgardian king is not exactly on my list of priorities.

"Odin doesn't often take into consideration the wants of others," says Loki coolly. "So my suspicion would be no."

I don't ask anything else, but besides, Loki and I have walked out from under the building, and I gasp. In front of us is a massive, sparkling bridge that leads towards a towering city that glistens in the early light. I can't tear my eyes from the brilliant marble, the towers, the waterfalls, and the beautiful land of Asgard.

From across the bridge, three figures make their way towards us, finally allowing me to look away from the city. There is a tall man on horseback, blonde and smiling, a woman also on a horse, dark and beautiful, and finally, an extra horse tethered behind the man's horse.

The man smiles brilliantly, "Loki! I see you've returned!"

"It's been a while Fandral," says Loki with no enthusiasm that the man had. He looks towards the woman, who is regarding him coolly and nods in her direction, "Sif."

Sif turns her steely gaze from Loki to me, and her expression softens slightly. "You must be Thea."

"Yes," I reply, suddenly feeling shy.

Loki clucks to the extra horse, a chestnut, and with a snort, it walks forward, bumping me gently with its nose before coming to a halt in front of Loki, who turns to me, "Have you ever ridden a horse?"

"Oh yeah, plenty of times," I lie. I've been on a horse exactly once, at a country fair when I was five.

"Good." He puts his foot in the stirrup and swings on the horse's back, then reaches down and offers me a hand. Grateful that I don't have to mount the tall animal myself, I let Loki pull me up behind him. It's a little uncomfortable, but overall not a horrible view from here.

"When will Thor be arriving?" asks Sif as Loki nudges the horse around and past Fandral's horse.

"So eager to be rid of me," says Loki conversationally, offering her one of his maniac grins.

"That was not what I implied, although your presence doesn't exactly please me," the woman says, swinging her horse around abruptly. She turns around, "And for the record, you are not welcome."

"That's not what I was implying," copies Loki.

"Thor's arriving soon, Heimdall said," I pipe up because frankly the conversation is becoming heated and I'm in no mood for an argument.

Loki twists around in the saddle to glare at me stonily but Sif smiles at me before tossing Loki a disdainful look, "Well I see someone has some common sense." She smiles back at me once more before turning around and kicking her horse forward, towards the city's towering peaks. Fandral follows suit.

As Loki turns his horse likewise, he hisses back at me, "And here I thought we were beginning to get along somewhat."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," I say dryly.

"If that is some Midgard expression, then I'll tell you it is incredibly stupid," he says, kicking his horse so that I am thrown forward at the sudden movement. "Just like the person who introduced me to it."

It takes a couple seconds for me to comprehend that Loki was referencing me and by that point, it's too late to come up with some witty response. I think he realizes this because he chuckles a little, causing me to scowl at the back of his head.

Sitting on a horse is actually a lot harder than I had imagined. I am rocked back and forth with the horse's gait as it clomps across the rainbow bridge so much, I am forced to hold onto Loki's waist, which I most certainly do not appreciate.

"Ridden a horse plenty of times, have you now?" says Loki so that only I can hear him but nonetheless, I can easily detect the snide tone in his voice. I ignore him and concentrate on keeping my balance as the three horses thunder on into the city.

The horse follows Fandral's and Sif's mounts into what I suppose is a stable- it's much more rustic and ornate than any stable I have glimpsed before. Guards hold the horses' reins as we climb off- Loki catches me with a smirk as my foot somehow gets caught in the stirrup and I tumble off the back of the chestnut.

"Not a word," I snarl as I pat the horse's shoulder, who snorts gently.

"I would never dream of it," whispers Loki amusedly as the guards lead the horses away and Sif approaches us.

As I glare at Loki again, Sif says, "I'll take Thea to her quarters so she can change and rest." She shoots Loki a look of general discontent, and between the two of us, Loki is at the end of two glares.

"Certainly," says Loki, not looking concerned at all but rather amused. Fandral claps his hand on Loki's shoulder and the two men walk away, their capes blowing slightly in the breeze.

Sif looks after them for a few moments, then beckons me towards the shell-cobbled path to the right of the stable. "I hope you find Asgard to your liking," she says. Her steps are so wide, I have to practically jog to keep up with her.

"It's beautiful," I say honestly.

Sif smiles a little, "Good." As she opens a giant wooden door, she says, "Heimdall has been telling us about you and your sister. You've been very brave, it seems."

I'd very much like to ask why and how Heimdall has been watching Leah and me, but I decide not to. Instead, I say a simply, "Thank you."

Sif leads me up a marble staircase and down an open, bright hallway. "Here is your room. Your sister's is this one," she gestures to the door right across from the one she is now opening. Inside, it's a bright airy room, quite large, and washed in pale colors accented by light brown floors and wall hangings. There's a spacious bed, a small nightstand, and for some reason what appears to be a large basin of water sitting on top of a pedestal near the window.

I walk over to it, trying to figure out what exactly its purpose is. Sif seems to notice my confusion, "It's a water basin, an ausa," she says. "We use them to wash our faces, especially before a meal."

"Oh," I say, even though the whole idea seems perfectly ludicrous. My thoughts on Asgardian décor are interrupted by Sif opening the two huge windows right in front of the basin. My eyes widen. I get a view of the front of the city, with the rainbow bridge glistening in the distance, and water sparkling in the sun. "Wow." I say, because that's all I can formulate.

Sif smiles. "I'll let you get settled. Someone will be around when Thor and your sister arrive."

"And Jane too?" I ask, because quite frankly, I've been dying to talk to Jane for a few days now.

The Asgardian warrior's face draws, and I see a trace of sadness in her eyes. Then, composing herself so quickly I might have imagined the look, she says shortly, "Yes. The mortal will be coming as well. You'll find some clothes you can change into on the bed." Without another word, she walks out of the room, closing the doors loudly behind her.

Shrugging off the encounter, I walk over to the plush bed, with a golden duvet and so many pillows I can't even begin to dream of sorting them all. It looks so soft, I just want to jump on top of it, but I refrain, instead inspecting the clothes that, true to Sif's word, lay neatly on the edge of the duvet. I pull on the dress, which is silky and then walk over to the nightstand, where I pick up the brush and begin to try and do something with my hair.

I am looking out the window, past the blindingly bright water when a beam of light passes from the edge of the rainbow bridge, out towards the beyond. Curious, I frown and lean forward, pressing my hands on the glass.

Behind me, the doors open, and turning around, I see Sif. "Your sister has arrived," she pronounces, her tone no longer passive but warm.

I drop the brush so that it clatters to the ground with my surprise. Hastily, I toss it onto the bed and then follow Sif out of the room. This time, I do not have trouble keeping pace with her, as I am going even faster than her. "Where?" I ask, seeing as I have overtaken Sif and am forced to wait for direction.

She smiles and is about to answer when we are joined with Loki, Fandral, and a large cheerful man who introduces himself as Volstagg. I try to slow down a little to regain a little bit of my composure, but the thought of actually seeing my little sister is pulsating through me and I can hardly keep my excitement under control.

Fandral opens a door that leads to a large, open courtyard like area, looking onto a balcony that oversees some of Asgard's cliffs. I don't have time to reflect on the gorgeous view, however. I am instead caught up in the sight of Thor and Jane leaning against the balcony, and my little sister in between them, her hand in Jane's. She looks shaken and scared, her small frame hiding behind Jane's shirt.

But when she sees me, her brown eyes widen, and she immediately lets go of Jane, running into my arms. I grasp her with a gasp and hear Thor's chuckling as I squeeze my eyes tightly to try to stop the tears of joy threatening to spill over. "Thea," she says contentedly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," I whisper as I let go of her briefly enough to allow me to kiss her forehead.

"Why are you crying?" she inquires innocently, touching her small finger to my cheek.

I smile through my tears. "I just missed you, that's all." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Loki open his mouth, as if to say something snarky, but then Thor playfully smacks the back of his brother's head, and Loki is distracted long enough for me to smile appreciatively at Thor.

I don't want to let go of Leah, but finally, like any girl her age, she wiggles out of my arms impatiently. "We're in Asgard!" she says happily.

"Yeah," I say, sniffing slightly. "Yeah, we are."

I stand up finally and give Thor a tiny smile. "Hi."

He grins at me, then leans down to kiss my head softly, and I tolerate the action. "It's good to see you again, Thea."

Jane is looking at me like she thinks I might pounce on her and tear off her head, but I muster up all the dignity I have and actually hug her. She laughs a little, surprised, but then returns the embrace. "Hi, Thea."

I glance over my shoulder; Leah is looking at Loki with an expression of apprehension, her big brown eyes wide like saucers. He, however, smiles at her warmly and puts his hand on her head briefly, causing her to relax a little. Their little exchange makes me smile for some reason.

"Well I'm starving," proclaims Volstagg loudly, after about five minutes of prolonged greetings- I think I've hugged Leah ten times, Jane twice, Thor once, and once accidentally almost hugged Loki before realizing who it was just in time (he seemed to be very amused) and darting away. "Let's celebrate with a feast meant for kings."

Thor's loud laugh echoes through the halls. "Very well, my friend. Allow me to visit with my father briefly."

"Which reminds me," interjects Loki. "Odin requested to meet with Thea."

Thor glances at me, seems to notice my reluctant expression and then says easily, "I'm sure I can persuade him to put off their meeting for a bit longer. This is a time for celebration."

"Here, here," says Fandral jovially, raising his hand in the air.

"Very well," says Loki without the slightest sign of caring. "But I will not be joining you."

"Whyever not, brother?" asks Thor, clearly confused.

Sif answers for Loki, "He knows he's not welcomed in our halls anymore."

Even though I still have a deep loathing for Loki, I can't help but having my heart get depleted a little when Sif's words register on Loki's face, which falls slightly. His eyes lock on mine briefly and he glares at me so hard, I wince and then look away so that I'm not looking at him when he replies coolly, "Sif speaks the truth. Good day, brother."

For some reason, I find myself running after him as Loki turns and walks down the hallway. I have to trot to keep up with his long strides, "Wait, where are you going?" I pant.

He looks at me with an expression of general hate, but I'm not foolish enough to not notice the hurt in his eyes. "Does it matter?"

"Well yeah," I say, and I cannot believe the words are coming out of my mouth, "Why aren't you coming?"

"I believe Sif made that very clear," says Loki. "Now be off with you, you insolent child." He bangs the door in my face, leaving me with tears pricking in my eyes. Except this time they're not from joy. 

Blue Moon Fact: 

Ausa is the old Norse word for water. 

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