AN: I apologize for my absence. I was working tirelessly on a thesis and finishing the MA program. Since then, I have been using most of my time for job hunting. It looks like I might have found one. Wish me luck guys! This chapter is a little shorter, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Pamela beamed up at both the handsome prince and her mother. They looked so beautiful from her view between them. She had a craving to try to draw them. "Prince Loki?" she asked, "Do you have any paper or crayons?"

The prince raised his eyebrows as if she was speaking an unfamiliar language. She giggled at his expression before looking up at her mother. "Mommy? Did we bring any?"

"I'm afraid not, sweetie," Veronica said, "But perhaps one of the guards can find something for you."

Pamela turned her attention to the agent who led them to the room they were in. He nodded at the other agents before leaving the room.

Pamela turned her attention back to the prince. "Are there any princesses where you come from?"

The prince curled his lips in a way that seemed eerily familiar. It was almost as if she had seen it before even though she had never met him until that day, but there was something comforting about it. "No, my dear," he said, "There is my brother and myself, but we have no sisters, so there are no princesses at this time."

"Oh…" Pamela said feeling somewhat disappointed. A part of her hoped he knew some princesses. As much as she was excited to be talking to a real prince, she felt there may have been at least a small chance she could meet a princess in the future. "But…if you get married," Pamela said, "Wouldn't she become a princess?"

"Pamela, sweetie," her mother interrupted, "It's not polite to ask that kind of a question to someone you just met."

"Oh, it's quite alright, Veronica," Loki responded with another smirk, "I'm not troubled at all by her questions."

Veronica surprisingly found that her heart rate seemed to slow down. She couldn't believe how…fatherly Loki was towards her daughter. He engaged patiently in her questions and smiled as she gently dragged the black and green crayons across the smooth surface of the paper. Her guard remained up, however, because he had been just as charming as her when they first met. Still, she couldn't deny that the sight of them together just seemed right. "You are quite the artist," he commented as her daughter continued to draw, "You know, your mother once said she would work on a painting of me."

"Did she?" Pamela asked with a tilt of the head.

"Unfortunately, it never happened."

She saw her daughter confusedly frown before turning her attention to her. "Why didn't you paint him?" she asked.

Veronica slightly pursed her lips. Why did he have to bring up the past? Why couldn't he have just used this time to get to know his daughter? "Due to circumstances beyond my control, I never got the chance," she responded.

"Tell me, Veronica," Loki said giving her an inquisitive look, "Do you still have that…what did you call it? Ah, yes. Camera. The one with my image on it?"

She saw her daughter's eyes widen. "Mommy? You have a picture of him?"

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Veronica held in her frustration. "Loki, old friend," she said through her teeth, "May I have a moment alone with you?"

"Most certainly," he said in a charming tone.

Veronica looked down at her daughter and placed a comforting hand on her head careful not to mess up the curls. "Honey, we'll be right back."

"Am I in trouble?" she asked.

"Not at all, sweetie," she said, "I just have to talk to my friend about something."

The two of them got up and entered a room in which they were not completely alone thanks to the agents standing by in it as well, but it was close enough. "Such a shame we can't truly be alone," Loki said as if he read her mind, "I certainly did not expect you to want to relive the past, but I'm certain neither of us would be comfortable doing such a thing as we are being watched."

"Loki, just stop!" she snapped. He raised his eyebrow with surprise, but not without manipulative curl across his lips. "What do you think you are doing asking her questions like that?"

"My apologies," he said, "But I'm not sure I know what you are talking about."

"You know," she said, "I learned a lot about you after the events of your last visit to this planet, so your innocent act is not going to work."

He let out a chuckle. "How unfortunate," he responded, "but I still am unsure what you speak of."

"How about the questions about the past? About us?"

"Ah," he said, "Surely, our child is going to be curious about the day we met."

"Yes," Veronica said, "And that is for me to tell her when the time is right."

"I understand," he said, "But I should warn you, it's better she find out sooner from either her mother or father than to find out for herself."

"Well, it's certainly not going to be from you!" Veronica said.

"Very well," he said with only a hint of his smirk left, "My apologies."

"Next time you mention anything about the past," Veronica said, "Pamela and I will be leaving."

Loki smiled and took a step closer to her. "Really now?"

She felt her heart leap as she almost felt his eyes examine her face, neck, and down her body before coming back up to her face. "Funny," he said taking another step, "I would have thought Asgardian law would have been explained to you. As her father, I am entitled to be apart of her life."

She found herself taking a step back only to be greeted by a wall at her back. His face was now only inches from hers, and as he spoke she could feel his cold breath tickling her skin. "It would be a real shame if the friendship between your world and mine be threatened simply because rules were broken."

She wanted to turn away, or at least she wanted to believe she did. She found herself remembering what it had been like to kiss him all those years ago. "Too close, Loki," said one of the agents. It was just the interruption she needed to come to her senses and gently push him away from her. "Pamela is waiting for us," she said before leaving to rejoin their daughter in the other room. Next time, she thought, Lawrence will be joining us.