A/N: Last note for a while... I just wanna say good luck and I do love you all <3 Next chapter will probably be up tomorrow night! 

...

Hulk placed you, Thor and Valkyrie down softly and you all turned to look at the destruction which had yesterday been your home.

Home. Your parents. Were they here?

"Mother?" you called, spinning around to look at the crowd of people behind you fearfully. Everyone appeared to be in shock, which was understandable, and many people were crying, especially the children. You muscled your way through the shell-shocked crowd calling your parents' names until after a couple of minutes finally you saw them, relief coursing through you as you did.

Your mother encased you in a tight hug which didn't help the wound in your side, but your father didn't move towards you.

"I told you to stay away from him." he said coldly. He was talking about Loki.

"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry, I shouldn't have lied." you said earnestly, your eyes filling with tears at the look on his face.

"I didn't get a chance to apologise properly to some people and... wait, have you seen Sif?" you asked suddenly, turning around to try and spot her.

"She's on the ship, we saw her earlier." your mother told you, moving back to stand with your father, some of the same look appearing in her eyes. Betrayal.

You opened your mouth to say something else, but then there was an enormous boom, and the whole ship rocked to one side, throwing everyone off balance. There were gasps and cries from the front of the crowd where Thor was stood with Val, Hulk and Heimdall looking out towards Asgard. You stumbled back through the crowd towards them; a constricted sob left you as you reached the window.

Surtur had driven his sword straight through the centre of Asgard, destroying it in an instant. It was now nothing more than thousands of chunks of rock floating through space, backlight by a bright blue light from the aftermath of the cataclysmic explosion.

Thor looked sideways at you.

"Is he okay?" he asked quietly, his voice wavering and almost breaking.

"I don't know." you whispered, your eyes not leaving the destruction in front of you. Loki wasn't on the ship, but he wasn't on Asgard anymore either... there was no Asgard left for him to be on. There was no evidence that he should be alive... apart from the fact that you weren't experiencing the pain he had described having felt when you'd died. Was this what your connection had been trying to warn you about when you'd been stood in your room? That you weren't going to see each other again?

It'll be my fault. Thor's guilty thoughts were too loud for you not to hear.

You stayed with Thor at the window long after many others had moved away, watching the remnants of Asgard get smaller and smaller as you retreated into space, trying to think of anything but Loki. Eventually Valkyrie persuaded you both to get checked over by the few Healers that were on board; they'd set up a kind of medical camp in the corner of the ships main room with the little supplies that had either been salvaged from Asgard or found aboard the ship.

You were presented with a horrible smelling balm to put on your wound and a handful of bandages before being ushered away to sort yourself out; there were people in a lot worse shape than you after having been hunted refugees hiding in the mountains for two days.

Deciding that you would find somewhere else to tend to your wounds you left the ship's main room and found a smaller, private room which looked like a cross between a bedroom and a kitchen. You removed your baldric slowly, painfully, and placed it on the bed, before beginning the slow and arduous task of getting your amour off over your head without stretching the wound in your side any more than it already had been. You were too drained to use your magic, and if you got it wrong something horrible might happen.

Finally pulling the armour over your head with a hiss of pain you dropped it on the bed and looked down to inspect the gaping hole in your side. It was worse than you'd thought. Not wishing to smother yourself in the horrible substance the Healer had given you (it was no doubt going to hurt like a bitch), you crossed the room to stand by the window and looked out into space. From this side of the ship you could only see half of Asgard... or, what had been Asgard.

Trying not to think about Loki wasn't going well at all. You would know if he was dead. Surely you would know...

Then he was behind you.

You saw him materialize in the reflection of the window, stood in the middle of the room holding a glowing blue cube and breathing heavily as though he'd just been running. As you made eye contact in the reflection, your mouth open in shock, his face split into a wide smile and then gave a half triumphant, half disbelieving laugh.

"I didn't think that was going to work." he said, tossing the blue cube aside and moving towards you as you turned around to look at him properly. And then you were in his arms.

Safe. He was safe.

"Why were you gone for so long!?" you exclaimed, suddenly furious, gripping him tightly. He couldn't stop smiling.

"I know, I'm sorry. I had to figure this out." he said, pulling away from you and summoning the blue cube back to his hands.

"Is that...?"

"The Tesseract." he confirmed. "I took it from the vault; it's how I got back."

You took it from him carefully, it was freezing cold to touch. You could tell it was enormously powerful and extremely dangerous.

Tossing it on to the bed, you put your arms around Loki again and kissed him. His hands slid up your back as he held you to him tightly, smiling into the kiss. When you eventually pulled away he looked up, resting his chin on your head to look out of the window at the chunks of rock, still slightly backlit by the blue light.

"Good job you didn't lock me in the wardrobe." you said, turning your face away from the window. Loki laughed: a genuine, happy laugh. The sound made you smile broadly.

You stood in silence for a few minutes, content to just stand and hold each other. Then Loki pulled away from you rather abruptly.

"I'm just going to do this now."

"Going to do wha-"

He conjured a small, black box which looked awfully like it had a ring inside of it. Your heart shot up into your throat and lodged itself there.

"Don't freak out."

"I'm not freaking out." you managed after a pause in which was definitely were freaking out.

"You're not breathing."

You took a deep breath and met his gaze. He was nervous.

"I- what...?" you asked shakily.

"It's whatever you want it to be." he replied carefully, flipping the box open to show you. The ring was gorgeous.

"I don't know... if it's too soon, or- I've been waiting for the right moment for a while, but now I don't know if there's going to be one, or if there's even such a thing as a 'right moment'. I just know that... I-" he paused and took a step closer to you as he tried to find the words.

I love you. And I know we're soulmates and that's amazing but I want you to be mine. Properly. If you do too, I mean. And this doesn't have to be an engagement ring if you don't want it to be, it can just be a promise ring, or...

"Are you trying to propose to me?" you asked, furiously fighting back tears. If a voice can be restricted by the sheer extent of love they are feeling towards a person, yours was at this moment.

"I- yes." Loki replied, swallowing hard and watching you nervously. Then his eyes widened and he stepped back.

"Oh, wait." he said, before crouching to kneel on one knee, looking up at you.

"Lokes." you choked, half laughing half crying. He looked hopeful, and terrified.

"...is that a yes?"

"Yes, of course yes. I love you." you sobbed.

The visible relief which spread across his face made you laugh; he stood up again and reached for you. You hugged him tightly for a second and then pulled back to kiss him. This time he pulled away first.

Did you really think I'd say no?

I wasn't sure.

Loki took the ring from the box and held it out to you; you furiously wiped your tears away and then offered him your left hand and he slid the ring on to your finger.

"It's perfect." you smiled, holding your hand up to admire it.

"You're perfect." Loki told you sincerely, watching you in reverence. You were unable to take your eyes from the ring.

"It's Frigga's. I took it from their old room... I figured she wouldn't mind." he told you.

You smiled at him.

"I love it. Truly."

"Good. But... that was all wrong. I was going to do it on the balcony where we snuck off to after that ball, there was a whole speech... I had it all planned out." Loki told you.

"There was nothing wrong with it. It was perfect, this ring is perfect, you are perfect. Everything is perfect." you replied, elation rising in your chest as he smiled and pulled you back towards him.

Now that the shock was wearing off, for the second time in the last hour, your side began to remind you that it was split open again.

"How bad is it? And don't say just a scratch." Loki said. You smiled.

"It's worse than I thought."

"Come here then."

You sat on the bed looking the other way while Loki healed you, unable to take your eyes from the ring on your finger.

"Don't heal it fully, it'll knock you out." you told him.

"I'm fine. And besides, we've got nowhere to be."

You couldn't argue with that. Still staring at the ring on your finger, you were suddenly hit with a terrifying thought.

"We'll have to have a wedding." you said suddenly.

"Well... yes. That's rather the point." Loki smiled, "Are you sure you've thought this through?"

"Of course I have."

You hadn't.

"Just... where will we have it? And who will be there? What am I going to wear?!"

"You're freaking out again."

"I'm not freaking out! I'm just... considering our options." you retorted.

"It doesn't have to be any time soon. Whenever you like... although preferably after we've found somewhere new to live which isn't a refugee ship." Loki told you. You laughed, and then winced.

"Almost done." he said; when you looked back down at your side you saw he was right. The wound in your side now looked several weeks old.

"Honestly, stop. You're tired, that's fine." you told him, pushing his hands away.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Thank you." you said, giving him another kiss before standing up to enjoy the lack of pain in your side as you did. "You should go and tell Thor that you're alive."

"Yes, I probably should."

"You definitely should."

"Y/N? Thor said... oh check it out, you're alive!" Valkyrie said as she appeared in the doorway and spotted Loki.

"It would appear so." Loki said, standing up.

"Good for you man. Thor asked me to ask you if you could you go and see him, I dunno what it's about. He's next door."

"Thanks Val." you said, and she nodded before disappearing back around the door.

"After you." you said to Loki, gesturing ahead of you.

"He'd better not try and hug me." Loki muttered as you left the room.

Thirty seconds later he was trapped in a deathly bear hug embrace from his brother, looking vaguely terrified.

What do I do?

Hug him back!

Loki reached round and awkwardly patted Thor on the back. You sighed. At least it was something.

"I knew you weren't dead." Thor said happily, releasing Loki who looked enormously relieved. He looked so different with short hair and his new eyepatch.

"We have some news." Loki told him, gesturing at you. For a second you were almost as confused as Thor.

"We do?"

Loki just looked at you.

"Oh! We do have some news." you smiled, stepping forward to stand next to Loki and showing Thor your left hand.

The blast of emotions Thor felt when he saw Frigga's ring on your finger hit you square in the face; you almost took a step back because of it. Thereafter followed tears and more hugging which Loki was less than pleased about.

"I'm so happy for you both." Thor said gleefully for the seventh time in the past two minutes.

"Val said you wanted to see me?" you asked, attempting to calm Thor down but unable to keep the grin from your own face.

"Yes, of course. Where are we going?" he asked.

"I... don't know. Where are we nearest to?" you replied, looking at Loki, who shrugged.

"I have no idea."

"Okay... maybe we should go and talk to the others about it?"

"Everyone's out there waiting for me." Thor said in a slightly panicked tone.

"Hey, chill out. Let's just go and work it out." you said. Thor nodded.

The three of you walked back out into the main room and the crowd of refugees, Asgardian and Sakaarian alike, parted as you moved towards the front of the room. Valkyrie, Heimdall and Hulk were next to the captain's chair, along with Korg who was carrying a seemingly dead Miek.

"Your throne." Valkyrie grinned, gesturing for Thor to sit down. After a hesitant pause, he did.

Loki was watching him; you took his hand and he turned to smile at you instead.

"So, king of Asgard. Where to?" Heimdall asked.

"I'm not sure. Any suggestions? Miek, what's your home planet?" Thor replied.

"Oh, Miek's dead." Korg explained, "I accidentally stepped on him on the bridge; I've just felt so guilty I've been carrying him around since..."

Suddenly Miek wriggled to life, having apparently only been sleeping. Korg's face lit up.

"Miek, you're alive! He's alive everyone! What was your question?"

Thor looked forward into space, a small smile on his face.

"Earth it is."