Loki shot Thor a hopeful look. You tried to keep the same hopeful look off of your own face. You were so happy to be home, though, that you were sure you were failing. Thor glanced between the two of you and his blatantly hopeful mother. He couldn't resist three pair of puppy-dog eyes. "We can stay for one day," he emphasized that last part. "Our friends will already be missing us," he reminded you. "We did not tell them we were leaving." You weren't entirely convinced they would care that you and Loki weren't there.

"Fine," you and Loki both sighed while Frigga lit up in delight.

"Kyrie, darling. Your mother wished to see you in the practice courts this morning if you were staying for the day," Frigga told you, touching your arm to make sure she had your attention. You flinched and jerked back away from her automatically, panicked and terrified until you remembered where you were. Frigga looked so hurt and you felt terrible for it.

You flushed, embarrassed, wings fluttering in distress. Damn things always gave away your emotions. "Apologies, Queen Mother. My time on Midgard has made me a little jumpy..." That was true, but not really an explanation. She nodded, though gentle and kind as usual. You could see the concern she was trying to hide. "If you'll excuse me, I should see what my Lady Mother requires of me." Frigga nodded and you stood, trying to ignore the sorrowed expression in her eyes. You offered her a bow, nodded at Thor, and kissed Loki. "Try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone. Call me if you need me,"

He rolled his eyes. "Kyrie, love, even I cannot get into mischief while I am spending the morning with my Lady Mother," he reminded you.

You grinned at him. "Which is the only reason I'm not putting another tracking glyph on you, your highness," you teased. He huffed and rolled his eyes even more dramatically. "It's no fair you get to have tea and chocolate cake with your Lady Mother and I have to have my a-" you changed your word quickly with a glance at Frigga "backside handed to me by mine," Loki was laughing as you used magic to change into your armor and headed to the practice courts.

"Was Midgard really so hard on her to make her that jumpy? She acted as though I would harm her," Frigga's voice asked her sons with sorrow in her tone.

"Because she is half-Jotun, she mortals cannot touch her skin without being severely frostbitten or worse. Until she found us again, no one had been table to touch her bare skin for 900 years without dying," Loki explained sadly. "She still jumps occasionally when I touch her without warning and gets that same panicked terrified look expecting that she has harmed me..."

"Poor dear," Frigga's reply sounded heartbroken.

You quickened your pace to the practice courts.

"Daughter!" your mother greeted you brightly as you stepped out to the Valkyrie's practice court. You smiled and went to her. "Was there trouble?" she asked, looking at your wings after you'd hugged her.

"Oh, one of the court ladies made a nuisance of herself and upset my charge. She's been dealt with," you flapped your wings once and vanished them. "And Loki likes the wings," you added sheepishly, which is why you tended to forget to vanish them when you didn't need them.

"Of course he does. Come, let's see what you still remember," your mother bid you with a mischievous smile. You sighed, steeled yourself, and stepped into the practice circle to get your ass handed to you.

*

You did better than you had expected. You'd kept up with training while you were exiled so your skills hadn't deteriorated. Your mother actually told you that she was proud of you and that you were fit to be the prince's Valkyrie. High praise indeed.

That didn't mean she and the other Valkyrie didn't thoroughly hand your ass to you while they were testing you, and of course the ever-present humility lesson. So you were a limping bruise as you made your way back to the family wing, desperate for bruise balm and a hot bath. Your feet automatically went to Loki's suite.

"Lohk?" you asked as you walked in the never-locked door of the suite and stepped into the sitting room.

"In here," he called from the bedroom.

"Do you have any bruise balm or do I have to go steal some from Thor? Mine would have expired a good 900 years ago," you asked as you followed his voice. You smirked when you saw him. He was trying to read and dress for court at the same time. The book was floating on air in front of him while he was buttoning his pants, no shirt, and his hair falling into his face. You sighed at the familiar scene and ripped the book out of the air and vanished it.

"Hey!" he protested, glaring at you.

"Finish getting ready for whatever court function you're trying to dress for and I'll give the book back," you told him just as you had so many times before. He grumbled at you, but didn't argue. "Bruise balm?" you asked. He nodded toward the bathroom.

"Where it always lives," he replied. You kissed his cheek and limped your way into the bathroom. "Kyrie, what happened?" he asked, taking in your state now that he was over you stealing his book.

You huffed. "Mother decided that she needed to test my skills," you told him as you dug through the cabinet in the bathroom for the jar of bruise balm. "Then she and the rest of the Valkyrie on the palace grounds this morning decided to hand my ass to me," you grumbled as you sat on his bed and opened the jar to start applying the goop to your many bruises.

"Why in Valhalla would they do that?" Loki asked and took the jar from you to work on the bruises you couldn't reach.

"Because they needed to make sure I'm still worthy to be your Valkyrie after 900 years of exile. And then to make me remember to be humble after I'd proven myself," you explained. His cold fingers rubbed the sore muscles of you back as he worked. "Mother actually gave me a compliment,"

"That's impressive indeed," he told you warmly. "Mother had decided to have a full feast tonight because of our visit," he added.

"Of course she did," you replied with a sigh. You were much more interested in a nice quiet evening with Loki than with entertaining the court, but you had a duty, which was even more important now that you and Loki were engaged. "Need as escort for whatever court thing you're supposed to be going to?"

"If you don't mind. It's not a function where it's mandatory..." he trailed off.

"Lohk, it's no big deal for me to come with you. It's my job, and your right as a prince," you reminded him, wondering where this sudden shyness came from.

He sighed. "Kyrie. I didn't know what I was missing at the time, but I've had to get used to 900 years of not having-" he hesitated.

"Not having a Valkyrie?" you asked and he nodded. "You didn't think you deserved the honor,"

"Why do you know me so well?" he grumbled, but laughed.

"Because your mother is a very intelligent lady," you replied, making him laugh harder. "Lohk, you're a prince of Asgard. You have always deserved the honor of having a Valkyrie at your side. It's time to remind the people of that, since they have obviously bruised you by forgetting." You stood, stretched, and used magic to make sure your clothes and hair were in order, as well as clean from your workout earlier.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Loki asked as he stood too, magic shimmering around him so he was dressed in court clothes. You handed him his book back when he was dressed and he laughed.

"Loved me from the time we were infants," you replied with a grin and kissed him.

"You are incorrigible, my love," he told you warmly and led the two of you from his suite. You walked beside him to whatever the court function was, you hadn't bothered asking, and saw his relief and saw the strength he was taking from having you at his side again to face the court together.

The court function was a mages' council meeting. Loki and Frigga were both there and both took seats at the head of the table. You took your place standing just behind his chair, guard and advisor. The rest of the council looked surprised by your presence, but just gave you polite nods and small bows as they took their seats. The meeting was long and boring over a piece of legislature. You could see Loki losing his temper over the council being stupid. Frigga was letting him run the council session on his own. He would take over as head court magician someday, so the council needed to get used to him leading the meetings.

You leaned down to whisper in his ear. Loki looked over at you when you moved and you caught the hint of gratitude in his eyes that you had a suggestion. "They should agree to a compromise," you told him while the council watched on nervously, wondering what you were up to. "Agree to the lower taxation rate for a decade, but tie it to the condition that they increase the apprenticeship program. The crown can afford the lesser taxes from the mages and the young mages in the realm will be guaranteed training no matter their social status." It had been a dream project of Loki's for years to have all of the children with the capability for magic be taught to use it.

"Wise as ever, Lady Valkyrie," Loki told you warmly. He turned his attention back to the council and relayed your compromise to them. They all looked shocked, not expecting him to agree to the lesser taxes, and were quick to agree to expand the apprenticeship program in exchange.

Frigga watched the proceedings and you saw the bright, proud expression in her eyes at how you'd both handled the council. "Very well done, darlings," she told you after the council had left. "Impressively handled indeed,"

"Thank you, Mother," Loki replied, immensely proud at the praise, especially from Frigga. "And thank you, Kyrie, I never would have thought of that on my own," he told you and kissed your cheek.

"You would have. It was just a matter of thinking of it before your temper got the better of you," you told him warmly.

Frigga smiled warmly at you both. "You two always did work well together. I know you will be formidable against anything that dares try to stand in your way, and I believe the council just got a taste of that today," she told you with a mischievous smirk of her own.

*

Dinner that night was a huge affair. Everyone was dressed in their formal best. There was way too much food, way too much ale and mead, and way too many people you had to entertain. But your engagement was officially announced so you had to stand and accept the toast in your honor.

But after dinner, the tables were shoved back against the walls and the dancing began. You and Loki danced the night away. You hadn't danced properly in years, but your body remembered the steps. You laughed in delight as you spun through the fast dances, twirling effortlessly from partner to partner, until you ended up back in Loki's arms at the end.

Loki had done nothing but gain grace and fluidity over the years and you saw it during one of the complex traditional court dances, when the less experienced dancers stepped off the floor for a break. You and Loki stayed. You were a bit nervous, you hadn't danced the complex dance in years, but Loki's smile was reassuring and infectious. It was no more difficult than the combat drills.

The dance started simply enough. You curtsied to Loki while he bowed, you stood and stepped together, your right arms raised, touching as you spun slowly, watching his eyes, his strong muscled shoulders for the change in moves. The dance sped, sensual movements as you glided around the room. Most of the court stopped to stare. Your eyes were only for Loki, most of your attention on your feet and the steps, though trusting him to lead. You nearly floated together across the floor in perfect sync. You watched his shoulders, the muscles of his chest, you watched his eyes, and saw his undiluted joy. You were in the middle of the room when the dance ended and he kissed you deeply, even while you were both breathing heavily from the effort of the complex dance.

The court roared in applause, but more important was the joy of your Loki

*

It was late indeed when you finally escaped to your beds... or more accurately to pass out together in Loki's bed. You both giggled like silly teenagers when you spotted the alcove hidden behind the statue of Yggdrasil and neither of you could help ducking into that alcove for a few stolen kisses. A couple of maids came past the alcove and you both ducked behind the statue to hide, even though you were adults and had absolutely nothing to hide about a few kisses. Old habits died hard.

"Aren't you two a little old to be making out in alcoves behind statues?" Thor's voice boomed, laughter in his voice.

You both reached a hand around the statue to flip him off without breaking your kiss. Thor laughed, grabbed your hands and dragged you out from behind the statue. "Come along children. Bed. We leave for Midgard at dawn,"

"Thor~" you both pouted. He huffed and dragged you both by the wrist to your suites and chucked you both inside Loki's.

"Go to sleep troublesome mischief makers," he growled at you, but you heard the laughter in his tone too. He'd missed the old relationship the three of you had had growing up.

"Pfft, he throws us in your suite together and expects us to sleep?" you asked Loki loudly enough that Thor had to have heard from the other side.

"My brother is an idiot," Loki reminded you and in the next moment his arms were tightly wrapped around you and his lips were pressed to yours.

"LALALA I don't want to know what my baby brother is up to!" Thor shouted through the door, realizing his mistake. He'd meant to just chuck you two somewhere where you'd at least be quietly troublesome out of the way. Now he had a horrible feeling he knew exactly what you'd be up to and he did not want to know about it.

"Go away Thor!" you both shouted at Thor through the door.

"I will come get you at dawn. You better be dressed!" he growled back before he stormed off.

You laughed at Thor's absurdity before returning to your previous activity of thoroughly kissing your Loki. That was a much more preferable activity to dealing with your Loki's oaf of a brother. Much more preferable