"If only this were real," I murmured. I stood towards the edge of the balcony, feeling the soft breeze on my hair. "This is where we would be if you did not go down the path that you did." I felt slender arms slide around my middle. "If things turned out differently, who knows what would have awaited us?"

"I know what you would have wanted to happen."

"I never intended on using you for a royal status. I would never stoop to such a level. I would love you even if you never took the throne."

"Neither of us can change the past," he whispered. "What happened did. No one has the power to turn back time and fix it."

"That we know of. There is always a time for firsts." I looked down at his hands covering my own. "But changing events is fiction, and fiction like that can never become reality. The closest thing to going back in time is dreaming what could have been."

"This hasn't happened for some time." He kissed the back of my head.

"I missed these." I cleared my throat. "For a time, I dreamt of nothing. I am grateful when I see you here, no matter where we are. Sometimes these get so detailed that I believe they really happen, when they don't."

"You have a very creative imagination."

"I like to keep things within my comfort level. Like how you were before..." I turned to look into his eyes. "I wanted this future for us. I hoped day after day that something good would come out of what happened, but I was wrong." Tears gathered in my eyes. "You're gone, and I've moved on. We've been separated since."

"Have you truly moved on if you still dream of me?"

"Moving on does not mean forgetting you."

"If you can't let go, remember me like this." He kissed my temple.

"I do. I try to forget what you had become. How you are now, I wanted him back the day I lost him."

"No matter what our hearts want, we sometimes do not get it. We can strive our hardest and still come up short."

***

My face was wet from tears when I woke. I sniffled, wiping them hastily away.

Why was my mind torturing me? I can't let go, no matter how hard I try. I blinked fiercely, putting my face in my hands. There were times I had this internal battle raging. I would sometimes regret making the move here to Midgard. I would wish that I had tried harder to make him come off of the path he had slowly worked his way down.

I need to take my mind off of this. It wasn't my fault that he turned into such a thing. I'm not letting false guilt consume me.

Deciding to act quickly, I jumped out of bed. I tackled my hair into a braid as I went into the living room, getting into a fighting stance. On Asgard, I wasn't half bad when it came to combat. I was no warrior by any means, but Father insisted that I learned to hold my own if I ever got into a sticky situation. Weaponry was another story. I never had to use my knowledge. Besides, my abilities came first over my raw skill. My instincts were a last resort.

I fought the air, pretending to take out an enemy. I could easily head out into the busy streets and find the nearest gym that had a boxing area, but I didn't feel like going out. Besides, with my strength, I was sure to attract attention. I'd been under humans' radars for a year, I wasn't about to break the streak.

I paused long enough to hear Todd get himself up and head for the bathroom. I knew he was about to shower, ready to make the commute to work. Ironically, he was a boxing instructor. I found that out about him a few months into our fast friendship. I never sparred with him, nor did I ever follow him into work, because with my strength, I would most likely unintentionally injure him or someone else.

With the interruption over, I refocused, painting a picture of who my opponent was. Naturally, my mind put me face to face with a Frost Giant. My mind was a scary thing, because it pictured the Giant vividly: blue skin, tall stature, and malicious red eyes.

But the Giant before me changed into someone else, someone I knew I couldn't fight even if my life was at stake. It made me pause, to see his other form. His skin was no longer of fair complexion; it was Frost-Giant blue. His eyes were the same color as theirs: red.

Somehow, despite the imaginative sight before me, he didn't appear so intimidating like he should have.

"Why don't you just come down with me?" Todd told me.

I stopped my pretend boxing to stare at him. Remnants of him showering showed on his skin and his dark, dripping hair. "And have me, what? What good would I be?"

"You could help them correct their form."

"I'm not the certified instructor."

"It's not like I'd let anybody challenge you, you'd be off limits."

"I could always scare them off with a few moves and intimidating words. That would keep them off my back."

"If that wasn't enough, I wouldn't let it go further."

I patted my blonde braid that ran down my back. "If they still didn't back off, I could always—"

"I know what you're going to say, Kiara. That's the worst idea."

I pouted. "Nobody would know who did it!"

"Not everyone is an idiot. You've even said it yourself that you don't want anyone to see your gifts aside from whoever already does. You want to contradict yourself?"

"Since when did you become a counselor?" I stretched.

"Come with me today. You might like it and want to be my assistant. If you try it, I'll buy you any food you want. I know you've got a lot of favorites."

I had to admit, the food here on Mid—Earth was pretty delicious. I couldn't help but marvel at how many flavors of ice cream they had. Some of the food looked too amazing to even be real!

I bit my lower lip, debating. "Fine. You better keep your end of the deal. You know what'll happen if you don't." I grinned wolfishly.

"Come on, you know that isn't fair. I had to buy new clothes because you couldn't control the blaze!"

"I did say I was sorry," I retorted. "Besides, that was then. I can control it better."

"You incinerated everything on purpose."

"I did not." I intentionally knocked into Todd as I made my way for my bedroom.

The rooms were rather small, but they were enough. I grabbed the appropriate boxing attire before finding the bathroom. I jumped into the shower, letting the warm water cascade down my body. Whatever tension I didn't know I had was gone.

Kiara, we've got a problem.

I wrung out my hair, mulling over Todd's vague statement. I guess this was a better method to talk to me than shouting in the apartment. Depending on my relationship with the person I "talked" with, the range I could hear them from was considerable.

Communication via thought plus the ability to wield fire...it was an interesting combo.

While having an ability was considered normal on Asgard, having two opposite abilities was uncommon. My abilities, if seen by closed-minded humans, would have me locked up in research labs for testing.

What kind of problem? I asked. Did you try and grab something and cause an avalanche?

Did you hear me yelling or things crashing?

No.

Then no, I didn't try and bury myself under things. Someone's at the door.

Then answer it, I'm still in the bathroom. You're closer, and I'm hardly decent. What's the issue?

He looks like someone you don't want to piss off.

My jaw locked. Keep calm and get the door. You didn't do anything, did you?

No, did you?

No. Just don't lose it, Todd.

Right. Cool.

I can still hear you.

I shut the water off and took my time drying. I slipped on tight black shorts and a tank top. I ruffled my hair with the towel, letting the air dry it out. I wasn't fond of hairdryers; they never let my hair work out the way it wanted to.

Down the hall, I could hear Todd calmly talking with someone in the other room. I came out of the hallway to see who came visiting us this morning. When Todd moved out of my way, my mood improved drastically.

I hadn't seen him since he came knocking on this apartment door last year. Our visitor was an old friend, even though I'd met him just once.

"I really don't understand what you're talking about," Todd insisted roughly. "Why do you need Kiara?"

"I have something to talk to her about."

"You sure about that? Because I would think she would have mentioned someone like you to me."

"Are you her boyfriend?"

"Friend," Todd clarified coldly. "Whatever you have to say to her, I can hear it too."

"With all due respect, I don't think you would understand."

"Try me."

"Todd, relax," I said, getting their attention.

"Do you know this guy?" Todd threw a thumb at our visitor.

"Yes. It's only Coulson." I crossed the gap to hug the agent I'd known since last year. "It's great to see you again. You don't look like you've changed at all."

"Well, it's only been a year, so I would hope I haven't. I can say the same for you," Coulson agreed.

"I age slowly, so I would hope I look the same." I blushed. Another perk to being from another world.

"I'm lost here, Kiara," Todd intervened, trying to worm his way back into the conversation.

"This is Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D."

As if on cue, Coulson extended his hand out for Todd. Todd was a little hesitant, but he didn't back down from shaking the agent's hand.

"He visited me last year," I added.

"You and I were friends around that time. Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"I didn't trust you that much, Todd. It slipped my mind after a time, anyway."

"Seriously, a guy like him you forget?"

"I didn't even tell you who I really was then."

"It's still a big deal, Kiara. If you had told me who he was, this would have gone differently."

"He knows about you?" Coulson inquired.

I nodded. "Yes, but he's the only one, I promise. Surprisingly he's still around. It's a mystery." I shook my head. "What brings you here?"

"Unfortunately, nothing good." He held a manila folder out for me. I looked at him with puzzled blue eyes. He only gestured to the folder, for me to take it. "It looks like the home you left behind is following you, bits of it anyway."

I took the folder, feeling Todd's eyes over my shoulder. When I opened it, I nearly dropped it.

No. How could something so powerful land itself here on Earth of all places? If this was coming from anyone other than Coulson, I would have called this a lie.

"How did you get a hold of it?" I asked.

"It was found in the ocean. We had an astrophysicist studying its properties in one of our facilities."

"Just to study it? You weren't trying to harness its powers for your own plans?" I couldn't help but stare at the bright, blue cube in the picture. I knew the name of it well: the Tesseract. It had been on Asgard for years until it was lost. To think it was here on Earth after all this time, buried deep underwater.

"I don't understand the big deal," Todd interjected.

"The Tesseract holds a great power that's very dangerous should it fall into the wrong hands. It's not easy to comprehend if you're not exposed to this kind of thing."

"You leave out a lot of details about your life, Kiara."

"You never ask."

"I didn't come here to be a marriage counselor, you two," Coulson said rather smoothly. "This is serious."

"I'm treating this seriously." I looked up at Coulson. "Someone dangerous has stolen the Tesseract?"

"Yes. He used it as a portal to Earth. He landed inside the testing room, taking down agents as though they were flies. He's turned a few of ours against us using some form of mind control."

"How is that possible?"

"We don't know. He took the Tesseract, and our facility was completely demolished thanks to the extra energy from the portal. He got away. We have no idea where he is now."

"Can't you track him?"

"It's not as easy as you think. That is where we think you might be able to help."

"How? I may be from Asgard, but I don't know how much help you expect me to be. I'm not a tracker."

"You don't have to be. We think that maybe since you know him, you may be able to help us get into his head and try to find him."

"How do you know that I know this person? For all I know, he could be nobody to me."

"I highly doubt that, Kiara. He's well-known on your world, we've done our research."

"Who did you say has the Tesseract?"

"Like I said, you know him, Kiara. The name Loki should ring a bell to you."

**Ah, good old Coulson. Yes, he knows Kiara. Sorry, guys, Todd is not a SHIELD agent. He's just a very helping friend to Kiara.

And to top it off, she's got another ability. Very unique, wouldn't you say?**