Loki sat in the library, reading over one of the magic books, studying a new spell. Learning new tricks helped him pass the time and keep his mind occupied. So far, it had done well over the last week. Of course, that didn't work all the time, nor did he have any distractions at night.

"Brother, there you are." Thor said, entering the library.

"I suppose you are here to entice me to join you and our friends on some kind of journey or something?" Loki asked, not even looking up from his book.

"That is exactly what I am doing." Thor answered. "I thought we could all take a little holiday to Vanaheim. It would be just like old times."

Loki sighed and stared at his book as he thought. Finally he closed the book and looked up at his brother. "I suppose it would serve as a distraction." He replied.

"Loki, I know you miss Ava, but you know she will be back." Thor replied.

"I know...I am just afraid of her getting hurt." Loki replied. "She's never been a warrior. She's never fought and now she is on an island completely inhabited by warriors."

"Perhaps this will be good for her then." Thor replied. "Who knows, she may come back a little stronger."

"That would be a good thing." Loki agreed. "It doesn't change the fact that I would rather have her home with me."

"I know." Thor replied. "Now, come on and let us get ready to go. We will have some fun, just us guys."

"Sif is not coming then?" Loki asked.

"No...she apparently has better things to do." Thor answered.

The two brothers then got up and readied themselves to leave. They met up with Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg at the stables. "So, you were able to convince him to join us." Fandral observed. "Good to see you coming along, Loki."

"I am assuming you have something planned for me." Loki replied, not a question.

"Well, I do still have to get revenge for that lovely little prank you and your wife pulled at that last feast." Fandral answered anyway. "You made a fool of me."

"You do that all on your own." Loki replied, as he mounted his horse.

"I will be paying you back." Fandral said.

"I can't wait to see you try." Loki replied, grinning.

Volstagg chuckled. "There's the Loki we know and love."

Loki just rolled his eyes. "Are we going or not?" He asked.

The group of men were then taking off, racing towards the bi-frost. They arrived and Heimdall was sending them to Vanaheim. They arrived and decided to go camping in the forest of the world. They spent the day hiking, hunting, and sparring. Loki was on high alert, waiting for Fandral to make his move.

"I am not going to make my move when you are so alert." Fandral said, as he sat down next to Loki by their camp fire.

"That would be precisely why I am not letting my guard down." Loki replied, a bit smugly.

Ava...

Ava had spent three days recovering before returning to training with Skuld and the others. Luckily, Skuld had taken those days to go over the hand-to-hand combat once again. So Ava had missed nothing. On this day, as soon as breakfast was over, Skuld took them out to the forest.

"Today we are doing survival training." Skuld announced. "And one of the most important things of survival is knowing what plants are edible and what plants are not."

Ava felt something within herself stir at this and a smile come across her face. Plants? I know plant life! She thought as she looked around.

"Ava." Skuld said, snapping Ava's attention back to her.

"Yes?" Ava asked timidly.

"What plants do you see around here that are edible?" Skuld asked her.

Ava began to look around her. It was then that she realized that she had no idea about any of the plants around her. She recognized none of them...she began to panic, but then something else changed. While she recognized none of the plants, she somehow instinctively knew which plants were safe to eat and which were not.

"Those berries over there," Ava began to point to some delicious-looking red berries, "are safe to eat...but the purple berries next to them are poisonous."

"Good." Skuld replied. "Point out some more."

Ava then found herself pointing out all of the leaves, berries, and such that were safe to eat and which were not. She was feeling happy and confident in herself after the little exercise was over. They returned to the fields to have a picnic lunch.

Once lunch was over, they got to work training with swords. The sword felt a little easier to wield in Ava's hands and yet she still fumbled through the exercises. They did not pair up after finishing the exercises, this time though. Skuld ended their training early and they all went to the hot spring to get washed up for dinner.

"You did well today, Ava." Skuld said, as her fingers worked the soap in Ava's hair.

"I don't know. I did drop my sword a few times." Ava replied.

Skuld chuckled. "You did do well with that, especially since that is the first time you have ever picked up a sword. You are getting closer."

"Why did you ask me about the plants?" Ava asked.

"Because, I knew you would know." Skuld replied.

"How?" Ava asked.

"That is a secret to be revealed for later." Skuld replied. "I will tell you more about it after dinner. You and I will go for a walk. Does that sound good to you?"

"Does this have something to do with the power you said I have hidden?" Ava asked.

"Yes." Skuld answered. "After dinner we will talk."

A/N: I hope everyone is still enjoying. I would love some feed back from all of you guys :) Please and thank you?