Last chapter of the last story in the series! So bittersweet...

The next morning, Eif – having chosen to sleep the night before on a couch in her father's level of the tower – exited the elevator on the JID floor along with Sif and Thor. It had quickly become a morning habit that everyone in the tower ate breakfast on the JID level so that they could catch up with one another before they went their separate ways for the day.

Making sure that Eif was going to join the throng of her peers pouring down the hallway in front of Thor and Sif, the former grabbed the latter's arm, stalling her and whispering in her ear, "Watch Eif and Ryan."

They weren't disappointed. Just like Eif had every day since Scarlet's return from the hospital, the young goddess did a quick cartwheel as she went ahead of the others, making sure that Ryan was watching her. As she did not always do, but this time did, she winked at the boy – decidedly a touch more flirtatious than normal, which made Ryan color amusingly.

"What was that?" Sif hissed with wide eyes as they began meandering towards the kitchen again. "And how did you know she was going to do it?"

"It's just a habit that Scarlet started before we met the children," Thor explained with a small smile. "Eif took it over once Scarlet was hurt. Simple as that."

"She really does like him you know," Sif said thoughtfully, watching the thunder god carefully for any signs of misgivings.

"I do know."

"And that doesn't bother you?" she asked, stopping at the edge of the hallway.

"No," Thor said, staying at her side . "She's being extremely careful and guarding her emotions very well I think."

"He's a seventeen year old boy, Thor."

"An exceptionally kind and good one – and not just, I suspect, because of the way he was raised. From what I've seen, he genuinely cares for her – even enough to stop Andy's matchmaking attempts despite his own desires that such a thing come to pass. He wants her to have the time and space she needs to heal from Loki's abuses, and then, perhaps, they will take their feelings further. Who's to say?"

"Look at the way she just looked at him!" Sif protested. "'Time to heal,' my eye! She's already decided that Loki doesn't get to win, and because of that I'd wager that she's very close to doing something to make their friendship a little closer."

Thor narrowed his eyes, considering the relaxed, happy way his daughter was interacting with Ryan in the kitchen. "Perhaps a month, do you think?"

"Considering how many people are trying to get them to become a couple-"

"-You mean Andy-"

"-I do- I'd put my bet upon a week."

"Really?" Thor asked, looking at her with eyebrows raised in surprise.

Sif nodded with a smile. "Broken or no, they are still teenagers. Don't you remember what seventeen and sixteen looked like for us?"

Thor glanced protectively towards his daughter – so, yes, he did very well remember – but then said, "Ryan's a much better boy than I was at his age."

"Is Andy?"

"…I sometimes doubt it…"

"And is not Andy largely the driving force behind Ryan and Eif becoming closer?"

"He can be when he wants to be."

"Then that means that he's going to nudge them a bit here and there until he gets his way; is that not a reasonable assumption?"

"Very well," Thor agreed with another glance towards the kitchen. "A week from now."

And a week it was exactly. Despite the conversation between Ryan and Eif, there really wasn't any great change in their behavior towards one another, because, perhaps, there had next to always been that undercurrent there between them of one waiting for the other to make a first move. Then, on the evening before Sif's predicted one-week mark, Andy got to pick the movie that the JID kids watched.

"A cult classic for the girls tonight, ladies and gentlemen," Andy said, settling back against the couch cushions with Hazel and the remote.

"What movie is it?" Hazel asked cautiously, thinking the same thing as the others.

If it was a movie "for the girls" than he had an ulterior motive for making them watch it.

"A girl falls in love, but boy disappears and the then-broken girl is unwillingly swept into the arms of a treacherous prince only to have her true love come rescue her from the horrible royal in a movie otherwise known as The Princess Bride."

Ryan put his tongue in his cheek, eyes flashing as he resisted the inclination to sigh or say something sharp to Andy, and instead settled onto the floor to watch the film.

"Well, my good Lady Sif," Thor said quietly in her ear the next morning as they settled in two seats at the bar for breakfast with everyone else in the JID level. "Today is your one week mark; do you think there will be any wild declarations of teenage love before night's end?"

"I don't know," Sif mused, regarding Eif and Ryan as the former did a back flip and wink for the latter. "We'll just have to keep an eye on them."

"My leg hurts; I need someone to help me walk. Ow, ow, ow," Scarlet whined pitifully so that Hayne would wrap an arm around her waist as they went into the kitchen.

Andy snorted, rolling his eyes at her antics.

"'You mock my pain'!" Scarlet said sharply, quoting The Princess Bride.

"'Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.'"

"Oh, come on, Andy!" Hazel complained. "There are so many better quotes in that movie than that one!"

"Really? Because that one's definitely my favorite."

"Hello?! 'As you wish'? That's like the most romantic thing ever."

Andy smirked, answering, "'As you wish'" before giving Hazel a quick peck on the lips.

Hazel rolled her eyes fondly at him before asking, "What about you, Dakota? What's your favorite Princess Bride quote?"

"I guess mine is a little weird..." Dakota admitted. "I like the one where she asks him to get the pitcher for her – the whole subtext there is just really cool I think. She's asking him to do this really small thing for her, but what she's really saying is 'I love you no matter what – if you'll take me.' She's asking a totally bland question, but putting her heart on her sleeve at the same time in this moment that's just for her and him, and it's really, really sweet."

Listening to their conversation, Eif smiled and then paused, hand midway to the open cabinet and a cereal bowl as a sudden idea struck her.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, noticing the nervously thoughtful look on her face as he came up beside her.

Yes. No. Yes. Should I? Am I ready? No. And then she looked at Ryan, at the concerned blue eyes searching her face. She trusted Ryan. She liked Ryan. A lot. That way. Yes; I'm ready.

She took a deep breath, heart hammering nervously in her ears, and asked in a very small voice while pointing to the cabinet, "'Fetch me that pitcher?'"

Ryan blinked, surprise washing over his features as he glanced over her shoulder at Dakota and then back at her. Slowly, his steady gaze never quite leaving her face, he reached up and grabbed a bowl, setting it on the counter as he continued to watch her carefully, his eyes asking if she was saying what he thought she was.

Eif smiled shakily at him, confidence growing as she reached out and took his hand.

That's when the sudden thought hit her and she whispered just for the two of them to hear, "You've never been kissed before, have you?"

Ryan just barely shook his head and Eif thought she heard his breathing hitch.

"I've never actually wanted to be kissed before I met you," she murmured.

He took a subconscious step towards her, free hand fluttering near her arm before he stopped himself and said, "Only when and if you're sure you're ready."

She took a step of her own towards him, that same small but completely genuine smile gracing her features as she answered, "I am. I trust you."

Then she leaned in and kissed him, smiling against his mouth when he responded, quick and sweet before someone took too much notice of what was going on between them.

Ryan whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you trust me, but the thing is, Eif, I loveyou."

Her smile broadened then as she said softly, "I love you, too."

So this was what it felt like – that giddy feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you fall for your first love. Eif decided that she liked it. It was definitely nice – better this way. A hand to hold, a first kiss, the tentative steps towards a new relationship.

Although, there had been a lot of those recently – tentative steps towards new relationships – between a lot of different people, and not just romantically. Sure, there was Sif and her father and even her and Ryan. But there was also the way that Andy and Hayne now had a dozen projects going in the lab with Bruce and Tony. There was the way her father was teaching her how to make the best use of her being able to call her sword to her. There was the way that Dakota had started turning into quite the little business woman under Pepper's tutelage, and how Clint and Natasha were helping Blaine and Scarlet sharpen their skills with their weapons of choice. There was the way that Bruce had started teaching Hazel breathing techniques so that she could control her "friend" when she felt like it. There was the immeasurable amount of patience and understanding Steve had in teaching Ryan how to use modern technology, just as Captain America had to learn in the past.

But they weren't really looking at the past much anymore. As a group, they were looking towards the future – the bright future full of many possibilities for them all – and they had become more than one big group. Somewhere within the time after the Avengers had met the JID kids, they had started to become something even better. They became a family.

Thus we reach the end... Hopefully you guys enjoyed this series; if so, reviews are a great reward that make my day! Thanks! And thanks for sticking with me through the whole series!:)