The second you got word from Frigga, you both summoned the spellbook at the same time. It appeared open to the right page in your hands. You were both desperate to get this power out of you as fast as possible. The last couple weeks had been rough on both of you. The isolation and lack of sleep was turning you into a depressed exhausted mess. Loki wouldn't say anything, but you knew he hated seeing you like that. So you threw magic into getting the portal open as quickly as possible and rushed through the second it was.

Frigga was waiting for you on the other side with Thor. Apparently she'd known when and where the portal was going to open. "You two look like hell," Thor greeted you jovially when the portal snapped shut behind you.

/Nice to see you too, Thor/ you replied grumpily, but you let him hug you anyway. He was family, so he got hugs, even if you were grumpy and exhausted. /If you try to pick me up, I will stab you/ you added grumpily. You felt helpless enough without him treating you like a child. It was usually cute, but not today. Today you just wanted to be healed and sleep. For a week.

"Brother, your lovely soulbond is beginning to speak like you," Thor laughed, teasing you both and clearly trying to lighten the mood.

"We have had a rough couple of weeks," Loki answered, his voice betraying his exhaustion. That was strange for Loki, he usually hid his emotions better, especially from his brother.

"Come along, children. You will both feel better once we get that power out of my daughter," Frigga ordered gently, getting you all back on track. Thor kept his arm around your shoulders and Loki came up on your other side, mirroring him.

"It will be over soon, darling," Loki told you softly. You nodded exhausted, and let them steer you to one of the private rooms in the healing wing. Loki was explaining to Frigga as you walked about how Balder had broken through Loki's magic to attack you, which is why you'd slept for one night and a couple hour naps in the past two weeks. Not nearly enough sleep. Which made you extra grumpy.

You ended up in the same room in the healing wing where Frigga had healed your mind and your powers. She had you sit on the bed. "Loki, leave us," Frigga ordered.

"Mother-" he started to protest. He could be around anything in the healing wing and was the Master Magician of Asgard. Whatever Frigga was going to do shouldn't be a secret.

"Now. This is not for you to see," Frigga said with a firmness that her son rarely saw from her.

"Mother, you do not have to protect me anymore. I am not a child," Loki protested, not removing his hand from your shoulder, the other hand running through your hair. You had the feeling that was for his comfort more than your. Frigga looked him over, assessing his words and body language.

"Very well, but I do not want to ever hear of you practicing blood magic," she told him firmly.

"Of course, Mother," he replied formally, bowing his head in acknowledgement of the words. She would never hear of him doing it, even if he did.

"Thor, make sure no one disturbs us," Frigga ordered. Thor nodded and stepped out of the room, guarding the door. "This will hurt, dear. There is no getting around that," you nodded. "Where did he insert the power?" she asked. You pointed to the spot on your chest. She gave you a look. You knew that look; you were a healer after all. You stripped off your shirt obediently. Loki made a displeased noise, but one glare from Frigga quieted him. You were still wearing a bra, and this was for healing, not for anything remotely sexual. Silly overprotective boyfriend. You laid back on the bed when Frigga gave the word to. "Are you sure you are strong enough for this, Loki? You will have to hold her. This is one of the worst kinds of blood magic, and it will hurt," Frigga questioned him again.

Loki lifted your left hand and kissed your soulbond marks. "Mother, Lady Y/N is my soulbond. I love her with every ounce of my being and I will do anything for her."

Frigga evaluated his words, then nodded. "Very well. You will have to keep her from screaming, as that would interrupt process, and hold her still. This will hurt," she reminded you both. "Are you ready?" You both nodded; you wanted this over, now.

Loki moved to sit next to you on the bed. "I'm sorry, darling," he whispered as he placed an ice cold hand over your mouth.

/It will be over soon/ you replied.

You both watched in horror as Frigga drew her dagger from the sheath at her side and sliced her palm open deeply. She paused for one heartbeat, two, as golden light started to glow around her. You saw her steel herself, then place her bleeding hand against your chest, in the exact spot where Balder had placed the power in your chest in the first place.

You howled in pain as her magic reached through you, pulling the power from every fiber of your being. It had wound itself through every inch of you, like some awful parasite. It didn't want to give up its hold on you, and gripped its claws into you deeper as Frigga tried to remove it. You don't know how long she worked, how long you wept and screamed from pain, though silenced by Loki, how long Loki had to keep you from bucking and writhing in pain.

Finally, she pulled a glowing orb of power from your chest. With a flick of her wrist, it was safely ensconced in glass. "It is done," she announced. Promptly, her eyes rolled back in her head. Loki moved faster than you'd ever seen him and he caught her before she fell.

"Thor! Get in here!" Loki yelled as you struggled to sit up. "Love, just lie back," he told you gently. You wisely did as you were told for once. Thor burst into the room. He took in the scene and rushed to take Frigga from Loki.

"What happened? I thought this was just a spell," Thor asked as he swept Frigga up into his arms, holding his mother gently and carefully.

"It was blood magic, Thor. Dark, forbidden, painful, magic," Loki looked like he was going to be sick. "Be glad you were not here for it. It is done, now, though. Mother will be fine. She just needs to rest," he added as he came back to your side. "Darling, are you alright?" he asked, pushing your hair back away from your face.

"I love you," you told him softly, your voice hoarse from an ungodly mix of disuse and howling in pain.

He smiled and chuckled at you. "I love you too, but that was not what I asked," Loki replied gently with loving exasperation.

"Is it bed yet?" you managed.

He laughed again. "Yes, we can all go get some rest. Are you going to stab my if I carry you?" he asked with a smile.

"Not you, only Thor," you murmured sleepily.

"Thor is too busy with Mother to try to carry you. You are safe from him," Loki told you with a chuckle.

"She does not need to be saved from me," Thor complained in a whine.

"I didn't get to thank Frigga," you told Loki, more concerned about that than your own well-being, as per usual.

"You can thank her at dinner tonight," Loki told you. He used magic to summon you a new shirt so Thor would stop staring at the wall. He stood and leaned down to pick you up off of the bed. You wrapped your arms around his neck. "Come, my love, you need rest. You have not slept in a week and you have been through more pain and trauma today than anyone should have to go through. Mother will be fine, Thor will make sure she is well pampered. There is nothing else for you to worry about right now." You laid your head on his shoulder, too exhausted to argue with him.

"Brother, will you give me a lift back to Mother's suite so the people do not see her like this?" Thor asked. He didn't like asking Loki to use magic on his behalf, but asking on Frigga's behalf was a different matter.

Loki looked to you. "I am going to set you on your feet. You can hold on to me, but I need one of my arms free," he told you gently. You nodded, trying to stay at least that much awake. He set you carefully on your feet next to him. You wrapped your arms around his slim waist and laid your head on his chest. "I've got you," he whispered and kissed the top of your head. Thor stepped over to you. Loki grabbed one of Thor's arms. In a flash of green light you were standing in the queen's suite. "You ok from here?" Loki asked Thor.

Thor nodded. "Go, take care of your lady. I will see to Mother," he replied, more formally than usual. Loki nodded curtly and swept you back up into his arms.

"I'm sorry, darling. You know safe teleporting requires physical contact with passengers," he reminded you. He felt bad for setting you down, which was ridiculous.

"I know," you replied softly. With a last look at Thor, who was taking Frigga to her bed, to make sure they were ok, Loki teleported you from the room to your own suite. You sighed in relief just to be back there. You were safe. Loki set you carefully in your bed and curled up with you for your nap. He'd slept about as little as you had over the last two weeks. It really had been an awful couple of weeks for both of you.

So you slept most of the rest of the day until you had to get ready for dinner. "Are you up to going to dinner?" Loki asked as you struggled your way out of bed.

You nodded as you disentangled yourself from the blankets. "I'm fine," you replied. "Besides, dinner is where the food is," you reminded him with a smile.

He laughed and succumbed to the fact that you had to leave the suite. "I have missed hearing your voice, my darling," he told you, wrapping his arms around you to give you a proper kiss. You kissed him back gladly, feeling so much better now that his life and consciousness weren't in constant jeopardy just by being around you.

"It's so great to be back to normal," you finally replied when the kisses had broken momentarily.

"Were you ever normal?" he asked with a laugh, which made you giggle as well.

"Not since I was 13," you replied. You sighed, much fun as you were having, you did have to go to dinner. You checked the clock; you had enough time, so you got a nice hot shower while Loki whined about not being allowed to join you. You just laughed at your poor unfortunately husband.

Boyfriend!

Boyfriend, not husband.

You come back out of the shower, with your hair dry, but unstyled and only wearing a towel, trying to shake the unbidden thought of 'husband' from your mind. "You are going to be the death of me," he grumbled at your teasing of him. You laughed and used magic to summon a backless blue halter dress for myself. Loki smiled. "Ravishing as ever, my dear," he told you, stepping over to give you a kiss. You stood up on your toes to kiss him back. "May I do your hair?" he asked. You nodded, surprised he had even asked. He usually just did it. You sat in the chair in front of the vanity and let him get to work, enjoying the feel of his fingers through your hair. When he finished, your hair was in an updo with elegant braids.

"Lo, this is amazing," you told him as you admired his work. He summoned the necklace Sif had given you for your birthday and clasped it around your neck.

"I am glad my lady is pleased," he replied, leaning down to kiss your neck, kissing the spots that were usually covered in hair. You melted at the feel of his cool lips against your skin and turned around to kiss him properly.

"Very pleased," you replied softly. "But we do have to finish getting ready for dinner," you reminded him.

He sighed."But this is way more enjoyable than spending time with your family," he whined with a pout.

"I know. We'll enjoy more of this after we spend the obligatory time with your family. Besides, we owe our Lady Mother a fair amount of thanks for what she did today," you reminded him.

"Fine," he relented. You stood and found the golden wrap that went with this dress. He used magic to be perfectly dressed and have his hair braided in it's usual fashion for dinner.

"You didn't want me to do your hair?" you asked him, surprised.

"We do need to hurry if we are not going to be late for dinner," he reminded you.

You huffed, but accepted it. "I'll brush it out for you later," you offered.

He gave you a smile. "That would be appreciated." He offered you his hand and we walked to dinner hand-in-hand. You were greeted warmly by everyone in the court, most especially Thor, Sif, and Frigga. The first thing you did was ditch your escort in an unladylike fashion and go straight to Frigga. Loki followed behind, exasperated. "Darling, you are supposed to stay with your escort," he reminded you overly patiently.

You heard a couple mutters of 'Sigyn the Fetterer' from some of the members of the court. It made you smile.

You dipped into a low curtsy before Frigga. "Thank you for all you did today, Lady Mother," you told her formally. She gave you a regal nod, trying to hide her smirk at your behavior and Loki's.

"Rise, Daughter. You are most welcome. I am glad we could break the curse Balder placed upon you. Now, please, join us." You rose from your curtsy and Loki was at your side in an instant to escort you to your place at the table.

"Sister! you am glad you are well," Thor exclaimed. You grinned, glad he was back to his normal self. "Are you two staying to visit?" he asked.

"We can't this time, Thor. We only came back for the healing. And we didn't tell anyone we were coming. We have to get back to Midgard before we're missed," you explained.

He nodded. "Then we shall just have to have enough fun tonight to last you until you can come visit properly," Thor decided. You couldn't help but laugh at him.

Dinner was delicious, as usual and full of amazing foods you couldn't get back on Earth.

Afterwards, Thor dragged you to the smaller dining/dancing hall where the younger court members often gathered after dinner. Loki grumbled and dragged his feet. When you got there, Sif dragged Loki by both hands out onto the dance floor. He whined, but you shoved him in the back, propelling him onto the dance floor with Sif.

Thor offered you a hand once Loki was safely on the dance floor. "May I?" he asked. You placed your hand in his and you joined the other dancers. Loki usually liked to dance, but he liked the graceful court dances, the ballroom style dances. These dances were more like square dances on Earth, all rowdiness and fun. You danced until midnight, swinging around with all of the rowdy fun.

You caught Loki just before the last dance started and dragged him to the exact middle of the dance floor. You placed your left hand on his shoulder and and took his right hand in mine. He grinned and took his position. The musicians saw us, and as tradition, made the last dance of the night a waltz. The couples all around you took their positions as well. You saw the joy in Loki's eyes in the moment before the dance started. The music started, a few measures of the beat, and then the dance began. You and Loki were all grace, twirling in smooth, practiced movements across the dance floor. At the end of the song, Loki spun you one last time, before bowing over your hand to kiss your knuckles. There were cheers all around you from the courtiers who had enjoyed the show. You bowed and curtsied to your admirers until you could finally escape to go back to your suite.

The second you were safely inside, you summoned your pajamas. You reached up to start pulling the pins from your hair, but Loki stopped you. "Allow me," he whispered. His hands were gentle as he undid all of the work he had done earlier on your hair. It flowed down your back again in soft curls once he was done. You kept your promise from earlier and you sat in bed for a long time while you brushed out his shoulder-length raven hair.

"I love you," you told him again. You had missed being able to say that, missed being able to say anything.

"I love you too," he replied softly. He turned and hugged you to him, too tightly. "I missed you these past few weeks, darling. It just wasn't the same without your voice,"

"I know. I hated being constantly terrified that I was going to hurt everyone around me," you admitted, holding him too tightly too.

"I will kill Balder for doing that to you."

"Only if I get to help," you replied in a huff.

Laughing, you finally went to bed. You had to go home tomorrow after all