Ava woke at around four in the morning to the sound of her home phone ringing. She groaned as she walked over and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Ava? Oh thank goodness you're alright." came the familiar voice of Jenny, the only person Ava considered a friend.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ava asked.

"I know James let you leave early and that you left with some strange guy. I've been trying to call you all night."

"Sorry, I forgot to turn my cell on. You know I leave it off at work."

"Yeah, but you should have turned it on when you left to go out with that guy." Jenny countered.

"I was perfectly safe with him. He protected me from a group of rowdy guys at the pub. I took him to the diner to say thanks." Ava replied, feeling extremely tired.

Jenny sighed. "Well, at least you're safe and you got your thanks out of the way. Now you don't ever have to see him again."

"But I am." Ava replied.

"What? Why? You don't know him."

"Jenny, I promise you I'm safe with him."

"Ava, how do you know? You've just met him."

"Trust me." Ava replied. "I'm not sure how I know, but I know I can trust him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some z's to finish catching." Ava then hung up the phone not sure why she felt so angry. She knew Jenny only cared about her safety, but she also knew that she could trust Lawrence.

She slammed the phone back down and returned to her bed. She quickly fell back to sleep, her wonderful dreams drifting to her. Once again she was a girl. This time she was walking through the golden palace...and she was the one searching.

"Loki! I'm coming for you!" She called, her voice filled with such joy and childish innocence.

Just then the boy from her previous dreams appeared down the hall in front of her. "Then get me." He called back.

Ava ran towards him, her little hand outstretched. However when she reached him, he disappeared. "Loki!" She called.

She heard his laughter ringing in the hall to her left. He appeared at the end of that hall. "You can't get me." He taunted.

Ava ran after him once again and once again he disappeared on her. "This isn't very nice, Loki!"

"But it's fun." Loki called from the end of another hall.

Ava glared at him and ran at him once again, hoping that this time she could catch him before he disappeared. Just as she was about to reach him he disappeared. Ava tried to stop herself, but she just ended up tripping over her own feet and falling. She instinctively put her arms out in front of her. That turned out to be a mistake because the instant her left hand made contact with the ground, a sharp pain shot through her wrist. She moved so that she was sitting on her bottom and pulled her injured wrist to her, as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked, appearing at her side and kneeling down next to her.

"I hurt my wrist." She answered.

Loki stood and offered Ava his hand. "Come on. I'll take you to the healing room."

Ava took his hand with her good arm and allowed him to lead her to the healing room. The dream changed then. Ava was now in a smaller building and it wasn't nearly as grand, but it was still beautiful. "Did you have fun playing with Loki at the palace?" a woman with green eyes similar to Ava's asked her.

"Yes, Mother." Ava found herself answering.

Her mother smiled. "Good. Now it's time to get ready for bed."

"But I don't want to." Ava protested.

"Come on, my little one, it is bed time."

"Listen to your mother." a man said, entering the room. "It's your bed time. You need to rest so that you can have plenty of energy for tomorrow, my little one."

"Okay." Ava agreed reluctantly. Her mother picked her up and carried her into a bedroom that must have been her own. Ava was tucked into bed by her mother and the man, who must have been her father. They each hugged and kissed her.

"Good night, little one." They each told her.

"Good night." Ava replied before letting out a yawn. Her parents walked out of the room and Ava closed her eyes.

Ava opened her eyes to her present adult life. She then looked over at the clock on her night stand and saw that it was almost noon. "I need to hurry it up. Lawrence should be here soon." She said, jumping up out of the bed. "And I really have got to stop talking to myself."

Loki...

Loki stepped outside in the chilly air of the afternoon. He walked up the street. He soon entered Ava's apartment building and made his way up to the third floor where her apartment was located. He easily found her apartment and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" Ava called from inside. A few moments later, Ava was opening the door and stepping out. She smiled up at him. "Hi." She greeted.

"Hello." Loki replied, smiling back. "Did you rest well?"

"Yeah." Ava answered.

"I'm glad to hear it. I was thinking perhaps we could do a little ice skating today?"

"That sounds like fun." Ava replied.

"I was hoping you would say that." Loki replied. He then offered Ava his arm. "Shall we?"

She smiled as she looped her arm through his. They walked the few blocks together to the outdoor ice skating rink. They changed into ice skates and were soon out, gliding on the ice. "You know, I forgot to ask you something last night." Ava said, looking over at Loki.

"What would that be?" Loki asked, curious as to what she would be thinking.

"What do you do for a living?"

Loki was surprised that that had been her question, but he was also prepared for it. "I'm a magician." He answered.

"Really? Can you show me a trick?" She asked.

Loki grinned. That was one thing he'd always loved about spending time with Ava. She loved his tricks. "Of course." He then lifted a hand and made a few flourishes and produced a yellow tulip. "For you."

Ava took the flower and put it to her nose. She smelled it and smiled. "How did you do that?" She asked.

Loki grinned mischievously at her. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Ava laughed. "I love yellow tulips."

Loki smiled. He had a hard time keeping from saying "I know." Instead he settled for, "I was hoping so."

Ava felt her cheeks redden slightly. She looked away from him and smelled the flower again. She wasn't paying that close attention and ended up falling flat on her butt.

Loki stopped and looked at her. Her cheeks were bright red. He smiled and offered her his hand. She took it and he helped her up. "That shade of red is very becoming." He told her.

This only caused her to blush further. "Thank you." She replied.

Loki chuckled lightly. He then looked at the time on the watch he had added to his clothing that morning. "We had better hurry or we'll miss the other surprise I had planned."

Ava looked at him. "Surprise? What is it you have planned?"

"You'll see." He answered. "I can't give you the chance to back out."

"Back out of what?" She asked.

Loki looked at her. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then just go with it."

Ava seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then she nodded. "Alright."

Loki led her out of the skating rink. They changed back into regular shoes and then headed up the street and over a few blocks. They arrived at a small log cabin that had a couple of buses parked in front of it. One of the buses was loading people on it at that very moment. Loki pulled two tickets out of his pocket as he gently pulled Ava to the bus. He handed them to the attendant before he and Ava stepped on the bus.

They walked back and found a seat in the middle of the bus. Loki made sure Ava took the window seat. She looked over at him. "Just what are we doing?"

"You'll see." Loki answered, a mischievous grin on his face.

"I trust you, but it's that look on your face that I don't trust." She told him.

Loki laughed. He then took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I promise you, you'll enjoy it."

A few moments later and the bus was in motion. The bus headed towards the mountains that were just outside of the small town. "What are we doing?" Ava asked him again.

"Zip lining." He answered.