The water's surface glimmers in the soft light of the sunset, the wet sand feels nice against my bare toes and squished between them. The mist of the waters drips down my chin and I touch the cool moisture nonchalantly, in utter awe of the natural beauty of the lake.

I remember when Loki and I took a walk on Asgard's shores, remember how alike the feel of the cold water and the feel of his cool lips felt against my skin, I wrapped my arms around me, shoving the memory away for fear of losing myself to the grief of the possibility of him being dead and allowed myself to indulge in the beauty. A wave of water washes over my feet and I stare curiously as it pulls back into the stretched out ocean. I jump back when at my feet a flopping creature strays from the water, it didn't get pulled back out by the water. I get on my knees and touch the Midgardian water creature. I pick up it up with my right hand, holding it firmly in my hand. The creature has gills, indicating it cannot breathe out of water. "If you hold the fish like that its fins will cut you." A male voice sounds behind me. Steve sits next to me, but I don't take my eyes off the struggling fish. We had fish on Asgard, but they didn't look like that. And they bit far more than this one was. Steve shows me how to pick it up by the mouth so we can study it closer.

When he hands it to me it's struggles lessen and I panic when I see the fish bleeding. "I guess I do not know my own strength," I say quietly, I doubt he heard me since he barely casted a glance in my direction. I angle to fish so Steve can't see the cut and slide my finger over it so it quickly heals, then I toss it back into the ocean.
"First time at the ocean?" Steve asks, taking note of my astonishment. "First time at the water in general. On As- I mean, in the New Jersey I didn't live near water. There were places like this but I've never been, my job forbid much free time." I say, the truth in all honesty, on Asgard my free time was mostly spent either training or teaching myself magic, I had very little free time and towards the end of my endeavor I had spent most of my free time with Loki, until Odin proclaimed my engagement to Thor.

With that thought my mind wanders back to my life on Asgard, and I find myself mindlessly fiddling with the bracelet on my wrist, the bracelet I promised to keep on for Loki. "That's a beautiful bracelet, where'd you get it?" Steve asks. I grin and run my fingers over the emeralds in admiration. "It was a gift from my lover, as a promise to be with him forever." I say. Steve nods. "So, it was an engagement gift?" He asks. I shake my head and smile.

"No, but I wish all the while we could've courted each other." I say. Steve's shoulder brushes mine and his emotions flow into me like a river. His pity for me, understanding, confusion, and mourning for someone dear to him. Suddenly, images start bursting vividly into my head. At first it was just a man walking down the street, I only see his back that is shrouded by darkness so the indentity of the man is unknown.

In the background people scramble away from him, I am also in this crowd, but one thing I lack in my expression is fear, but I do look confused. The man stops and a single word echoes in my brain. "Kneel." The next images come in confusing swarms, I see a golden sword that resembles my own, then I see a bleeding wound in someone's stomach, people falling, I see Loki's scepter, and finally, I feel the feeling of falling and air whooshing around me, air pushed out of my lungs and my hair flying around my face. I feel a pang in my chest and myself colliding abruptly with a hard surface.

My eyes flutter open and I gasp, clutching my chest. I look around, I'm back at beach, but I still can't shake the feeling of me falling in the air, of the ground dropping out from under me. I clutch a handful of sand in my hand, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I look at Steve who was trying to talk to me the entire time, a worried expression on his face. "What happened?" I smile at him but what I say still comes out shaky, "Just remembered something."

The waves start growing so big that they splash our knees, the water was not to cold, not to hot, perfect. I stood up, starting to get braver. "You finally ready to get in, E.T?" Tony asks. Steve and I look at him, "What?" We both say. "You know, extra terrestrial...? C'mon, you've never seen E.T?" Tony sighs. "I thought extra terrestrials are like aliens." Steve says. "Well because she's acting like she's from Mars, she doesn't understand anything soo... Never mind. A joke's not funny if I have to explain it." Tony sighs. He takes off his shirt and I yelp, turning away in embarrassment. "Why are you disrobing? We are in public!" I say, Tony looks at me like I just told him that someone blew up his building. "It's a swimsuit, Lyra. Guys usually take off their shirts." Steve says. "Oh, my apologies." I say. Natasha steps beside me, wearing something similar to what she had me try on. "C'mon, before the sun goes down." She says. Clint runs by and tackles Natasha into the water, yelling "No regrets!"

"He's gonna definitely regret that." Steve says, peeling off his shirt and running into the water after Tony.

I hang my head and look at the sky. "If you can see me Heimdall, help me." I joke, but I know he can hear me, and I imagine he's laughing to himself right about know, and the thought makes me smile. I take my shirt off and leave on my shorts, throwing my shoes and shirt on the towels sprawled on the dry sand. I look at the water, take a deep breath, and run in. The water makes me feel weightless, make me feel liberated somehow. I smile at Steve who waves at me, but start panicking when he goes under. Tony smirks and I look at him with a pleading look that says, Please tell me that he meant to do that.

Suddenly, I feel myself being lifted from the water and Steve's head appears from under me, my legs on both his shoulders. I yelp in surprise at the sudden height, but laugh it off when I see him smiling.

Maybe it won't be as bad as I thought on Midgard.