It was late morning when Shuri finally saw Thor move. He hadn't even shifted position in his sleep so when he did turn on his side facing her, she thought he was just getting comfortable again until she saw his eyes peek open.

"Good morning," Shuri told him warmly.

Thor rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to focus his one good eye. The mechanical one readjusted on its own. "What time is it?" he groaned.

"More like what day is it?" Shuri laughed. "You've been out for nearly thirty-six hours."

Thor looked at her in shock. "You're joking, right?"

Shuri shook her head. "Nope."

Thor looked over to Loki's bed where his brother was still very much asleep. "When did he finally give out?"

"About ten hours ago."

"And you stayed here the whole time?" Thor asked almost questioning the words as the came out of his mouth.

Shuri nodded. "Well, most of it."

What happened next almost happened on reflex. When Thor had heard that she had never left his side, he pulled her close to him and kissed her so deeply that it left them both breathless when they parted.

The kiss had surprised Shuri at first but soon she gave in. "I want more," she gasped when they broke apart as she moved in to kiss Thor again.

For a moment, Thor gave into her before his rational mind took over. He knew she was close enough to feel how he was reacting to her and he had to stop. "As much as I want to continue this," he gasped breathlessly. "There are two immediate issues which would prevent it."

"Such as?" Shuri asked, trying to catch her breath.

"Number one, I may sleep through a herd of wild horses running through my bedroom but HE doesn't," Thor whispered as he gestured to Loki sleeping in the next bed.

Shuri couldn't exactly argue that. "What's number two?"

Before Thor could answer, his stomach rumbled loudly and quite embarrassingly. He cringed and felt his face flush with embarrassment. "That would be number two."

Shuri tried to muffle her laughter but it was hard. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh. You haven't eaten anything in two days."

"That's not my fault," Thor complained playfully as he got up from the bed.

By the time Loki had finally gotten up and joined them, Thor had already managed to polish off two substantial bowls of chicken, rice and vegetables. Loki sat down with Shuri and Thor and greeted them pleasantly.

"Are you hungry?" Shuri asked him as Thor was tucking into a third bowl.

"Yes, please," Loki replied, rubbing his eyes and still trying to wake up.

Shuri called for another bowl and sat back down as the two brothers ate. Normally, Loki ate like a bird in comparison to Thor. It surprised Shuri to see him devouring the food just as fast as his older brother.

"Loki, did you neglect to get any food for yourself while you made sure I ate while I was sitting with Thor?" Shuri questioned him as she put all the pieces together that he was far hungrier than he let on.

Loki didn't answer but his head and gaze clearly shifted downward as he ate.

Thor noticed his brother's posture after the question was asked. He couldn't be angry with him for making sure that Shuri was taken care of but he was concerned that he did not care for himself. "Loki, is this true?" he asked carefully as to not let his brother think he was angry with him. "If it is, I need to impart some wisdom that was passed on to me by someone far more intelligent than I. I was reminded that we can not suitably care for others if we do not care for ourselves."

Loki didn't answer right away but there was a small hint of a smile on his face. "Her Majesty is very observant," he commented. "And very wise."

Shuri smiled. "So, you told me that you found the pattern we needed before you fell asleep. Don't you think we should test it out before we go full force?"

"And how would we do that without actually using the stones?" Loki countered.

Shuri rolled her eyes. "With technology."

Loki raised an eyebrow at the comment. "But the technology on this planet is so archaic."

Shuri looked downright offended at the comment. "Excuse me?"

Thor shot a look to his brother.

"Okay, not yours," Loki quickly apologized before Thor bore a hole through his head. "The rest of the planet is another story."

"Perhaps you should explain it further for him," Thor suggested to Shuri.

"I scanned the stones' properties when we had all of them here. We could virtually run a program with the specs I have to see if it could work before we actually use the stones."

Loki nodded in understanding before turning to Thor. "You let her play with the gauntlet before you destroyed it, didn't you?"

"It was for scientific research," Thor said in his own defense.

In Shuri's lab, she pulled up all her files she made on the stones and brought them up on her interactive interface. All six stones appeared and she looked to Loki. "Give me the pattern we need to try out."

"We start with activating the Soul Stone," Loki started. "This could potentially be harder than just looking inside of it."

"You're not making me feel better about this," Thor added.

"That's why I'm going to be helping you as well as protecting you," Loki replied.

"I thought you said that you could not touch the stone," Shuri countered.

"I can't," Loki replied. "But I can touch him. My magic will go through Thor."

"If you say so," Shuri sighed. "Which is next?"

"The Power Stone," Loki stated as she Shuri pulled the purple stone forward. "This one will be used to supercharge the magic Thor and I will be using. This one will be surrounding us."

"That's going to hurt," Thor groaned. "We're going to take a beating with that one."

"I do apologize for that again, brother," Loki stated. "I never meant for you to have to suffer through that at his hands."

Thor knew Loki was referring to when Thanos put the Power Stone to his head on the remnants of their escape vessel. "I know that now. I withstood the full force of a star to forge Stormbreaker. I can take the Power Stone again if I have to. The real question is can you, brother?"

"I've dealt with worse," Loki sighed. "All the same, you had better keep Stormbreaker close by when we do this."

Shuri had to force down her concern and fear as she listened to Thor and Loki explain what the Power Stone could do. "The next step?" she interjected, trying to keep the procedure at the forefront of her mind.

"The next four stones will surround the Soul Stone itself. These will need to be cast in rapid succession but not simultaneously. The Time Stone is next. It will start to rewind what had been done. Then the Mind Stone will restore conscious thought to those who had vanished. The Reality Stone will restore corporeal form and the Space Stone will in theory send everyone home," Loki explained. "If we did everything right, this should restore those who were lost."

Shuri started the simulation. Each stone started to glow as they reacted with one another but the simulation came to a quick and sudden stop. Her simulation failed and it shouldn't have failed. "Perhaps the order could be wrong?"

"No, the order is correct," Loki stated as he re-watched the simulation. "It has to work. Perhaps your simulation didn't go far enough into the stones."

"We're not going to know if it will actually work until we try it out," Thor interrupted. "And we may only get one shot."

"We are risking a great deal here. What happens if we have made a mistake?" Shuri questioned full of concern.

"I seem to make mistakes all the time," Thor admitted. "Everything seems to work out in the end. It's just a little rough getting there sometimes."

"You're awfully confident about this considering we are going into this almost blindly," Shuri spat back.

Thor stood up from the chair he was sitting in, crossed over to Shuri and held her close to him as he rested his head on top of hers. "I'm an optimist by nature and I have confidence in our plan. I trust my brother's research because I know he hates failure just as much as I do. I trust your analysis in the stones. I made a promise to you that we would find your brother just as you found mine. I have personally seen T'Challa inside that stone and I know we can release him."

Shuri sighed as she rested her head against Thor's chest. She didn't like going into this without knowing all the details. She could usually solve any problem with science and technology but this time she had to give into magic. "When do we do this?"

"Tonight," Loki replied. "We have a few hours to explain to the Stone Keepers what they need to do."

Thor, Shuri and Loki sat down in the chairs of Shuri's Grand Council with Tony, Steve, Wong and Rocket filling in the rest. Natasha, Rhodey and Pepper stood off to the side to make sure nothing was missed.

"Tonight, we undo what Thanos did. We return those who were turned to dust," Thor started to explain. "We have a short period of time to explain to all of you how you will play your part."

"You're sure about this particular plan?" Rocket questioned. "I mean...I'm not doubtin' ya or anything but it seems like this was thrown together rather quickly."

Thor smiled. "I am sure of this, Rabbit."

"The stones need to be activated in a certain order and very particular placement and timing," Loki explained as he conjured the stones in the air in the center of them. "We found out that the stones must be activated in a chain, not simultaneously. All of the stones will need to feed off the Soul Stone to reverse what has happened."

"After Loki and I open the Soul Stone, Tony, you will cast the Power Stone around us to amplify the magic. A word of caution. The Power Stone is akin to a weapon. It is extremely destructive. You must hold in your mind that you are using it to strengthen us even as it possibly hurts us," Thor explained.

"I have no desire to hurt you, Thor," Tony stated quickly as he almost backed away from the stone in question.

"I know you don't and I know that would not be the intention as the last time I had up close experience with that stone," Thor said calmly. "I can take it. You need to protect yourself more."

"The Time Stone is second," Loki continued as he looked towards Wong. "Cast the incantation directly at the Soul Stone to reverse time for those trapped inside it only."

"The Mind Stone is third," Thor said as he looked towards Shuri. "You need to awaken those inside. Imagine that you are reigniting and reattaching the synapses that were broken."

"The Reality Stone is fourth," Loki stated as he looked to Rocket. "You need to imagine that everyone is a puzzle and you are putting their bodies back together again."

"He can't touch the stone without protection," Thor interrupted. "How can we protect him?"

"I have an idea," Shuri stated as she got up from her chair and crossed to a cabinet. She opened the doors and pulled out a necklace made of metal teeth. "This was a prototype of the Black Panther armor I made for my brother. It will adjust to your size and it should protect you," she said as she placed the necklace around Rocket's neck.

Rocket looked at the necklace and up to Shuri. "I think you and I need to work together more often."

"I look forward to it," Shuri said warmly.

"Last, is the Space Stone," Thor said to Steve. "You just have to keep in your mind to send everyone home."

"What about those who were on Titan when all this went down?" Tony asked, remembering exactly who turned to dust right before his eyes there.

"If they return there instead of Earth," Wong interjected before Loki or Thor could. "Strange was with them and he can bring them here."

"Does everyone understand what they need to do?" Thor asked a bunch of scared but comprehending faces in front of him.

"Then we meet on the field at dusk," Loki ordered.

As the sun set on Wakanda, the Stone keepers gathered on the field where so much life was lost. Now, they hoped to restore it.

"We must form a circle," Loki instructed as he moved in front of his brother. "You must be touching the person next to you at all times. Line up in order of casting the stones."

Tony stepped up next to Thor. His left hand went to his shoulder while his right held the power stone in the glove of his Iron Man armor.

Wong stepped up next to Tony followed by Shuri. Rocket stepped up and was faced with the issue of his considerable height difference.

Before the issue could get bigger, Steve stepped up and put Rocket on his shoulders. "I'm not Thor but I think it could work."

"I think I'm beginning to like some of you Avengers," Rocket commented.

Thor completed the circle with Steve and looked down at the stone in his hand. "Are we ready to do this?"

"It's now or never, brother," Loki stated as he took a hold of Thor's wrist and cast the protection spell around him.

Thor relaxed and focused his energy on the Soul Stone. Lightning started to twist with the green glow that already surrounded him from Loki. It did not take long before an orange glow illuminated the center of the circle.

Once Thor had the Soul Stone locked open, Loki looked to Tony. "Stark, do it now. He's not going to hold it on his own."

Tony whispered an apology before raising his hand and firing a steady purple bolt from the Power Stone directly around Thor. As it hit, Thor gritted his teeth in obvious pain but he held through it.

"Go now!" Loki cried out to the other four.

In rapid succession, green, yellow, red and blue bolts surrounded the Soul Stone. Now, they just had to hold the strength.

As all six stones interacted with each other, the Soul Stone soon lifted up from Thor's hand followed by the other five soon after. The stones levitated about two feet above their heads as everyone took a few steps back.

"Loki? Is this your doing?" Thor questioned.

Loki shook his head. "This is why the simulation didn't work. We didn't account for the stones acting on their own."

The stones soon became brightly colored blurs until bolts of light of every color started to erupt from the center of the Soul Stone. The rose into the sky and exploded like fireworks, raining ash back down to Earth. As the ashes hit the solid ground, they started to form shapes which shifted back into living forms.

Shuri broke from the circle and went straight into Thor's arms as the fireworks exploded around them, lighting up the night sky. "It worked. We did it."

"This is one of the best victories I have ever had," Thor responded as he wrapped his arms around Shuri and the stones gave off their energy one by one and fell to the ground.

One by one, more and more people started to reappear and started to search for those they knew. Bucky and Sam quickly found Steve. Groot and Wanda emerged from the trees. A portal opened up on the field and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy stepped out followed by Peter and Strange. From the shadows a purple glow started to reveal the form of a cat and soon T'Challa emerged.

T'Challa saw from across the field the man he had seen in the Soul Stone with Shuri next to him. "Shuri!" he called out to her.

At the sound of T'Challa's voice, Shuri looked up and saw her brother crossing the field. She broke from Thor and ran to him, nearly tackling him as she hugged him. "Wait until you hear what we went through. We have so much to tell."