The last weekend before Christmas passed in a flurry of activity, and Sunday was primarily spent in the kitchens making enough gingerbread for the whole of New Asgard. Freya had begged for full use of the kitchens, and she had set to work a little after four o'clock in the morning for she was very much aware that Thyra would still be needing to cook the evening meal for everyone. There was something rather therapeutic about making the dough, for she enjoyed the process of combining the ingredients and the fact that she could focus purely on making the biscuits. For once she did not feel so stressed or worried, and the scent of the spices was somewhat nostalgic. Playing one of the Christmas playlists that Astrid had sent across, Freya could not help but sing along as she rolled out the dough, and she was blissfully unaware that she had an audience until she turned away half way through 'All I want for Christmas'. She immediately stopped and her cheeks flushed red, while Thyra and her two assistants smiled and clapped.

"Sorry, I will be out of…" She began, but the three women merely donned their aprons and started to make more dough.

"I thought you may appreciate some help." Thyra commented as she looked at Freya's recipe.

"So long as you don't mind the background music…"

"Not at all."

By the time they had finished icing everything, it was mid-afternoon, and Freya was covered in flour, icing and dough, but she did not mind. It had been a fun couple of hours, and she was certainly starting to feel a bit more festive. With there only being a day and a half left before the big day, she was determined to get everything sorted and try to get more into the spirit of things. She did still have to bag the biscuits, but that would have to wait until the icing had dried, and so Freya decided on spending the rest of the afternoon wrapping the gifts she had got for her friends and colleagues. Each of them had been carefully chosen, and she did her best to wrap them beautifully, although her heart sank when she came to the last one. She knew she should just talk to him, and she wished that the opportunity would appear soon. After all, the stolen glances simply were not enough, and she needed to know his intentions towards her before it was too late. As much as she could not forgive him for his treatment of her prior to the attack, she knew she owed him her life, and the past few weeks had given her hope that maybe, just maybe, not all hope was lost. Sighing deeply, she finished tying the bow and set the box carefully aside, hoping that things would work out for the best.

Freya woke early on Christmas Eve, for there was still plenty to be done before tomorrow, and she desperately wanted to get a head start on everything. Double checking the programme of events, she sent it to print, before she sent out a number of emails. The monthly report was finalised, and she finished off what she could, all the while keeping an eye on her phone. She had sent a number of messages to her family, but so far none of them had been read, and she wondered if she would have any time to catch up with them later. She certainly hoped she would, for it was the only way she would get her usual family traditions too.

By lunchtime she still hadn't had any responses, and her mood was quickly taking a downturn. She had checked the post, only to discover that nothing had arrived for her, meaning that she would have nothing from home to open tomorrow. She knew that the parcels would arrive eventually, but it was still one hell of a blow considering how bad her homesickness was. Freya had done her best to hold herself together until she returned to her office, at which point she let her tears fall freely. The one thing she had wanted more than anything this year was to spend Christmas with her family, and yet that had been denied. With nothing at all from home for the day itself, Freya just missed them even more. She had known that the homesickness would be bad over these few days, but this heartache was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Still, she pulled herself together, for she had far too much to do today, and so she dried her eyes before working her way through the list.

The afternoon saw her checking the decorations and place settings in the hall, making sure that everything was set up. Freya had also added the finishing touches to the hampers and had decided to start distributing them so as to make life a bit easier. She had found a couple of old luggage trolleys which meant she could move several at a time, and she happily focused on getting the hampers to their destination. After a couple of trips though, she was feeling a little tired, and she smiled when Ragnar and Hilda appeared with more trolleys.

"Right, that should be all of them." Ragnar commented as they stood in the room where the gift exchange was to take place. Each of the labels had been turned the right way, and Freya finished tweaking a few of the bows before seeing the time. It was getting late, and she still had a one more thing to do before she could rest.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for your help." She wished them.

"You're more than welcome." Hilda smiled before heading home. Freya checked her phone then, and sighed as she still had no messages from her family, which was very unusual. She had no idea what to do with the rest of her evening once she finished off the next task, and it was evident that she would not get any of her usual family traditions, even virtually. She did find it incredibly odd that not even Astrid had replied, and Freya desperately tried to ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong. After all, the last time no one had responded, they had all been turned to ash. But that was not the case now. Perhaps they had all been too busy to look at their phones? Or maybe the network was down? Sighing deeply, Freya wandered towards her room and tried to focus purely on what she was doing next.

Retrieving the box from her room, Freya checked that she looked okay in the mirror before taking a deep breath. She hoped that the Prince would be in his room and that he would be willing to talk, for she hoped to find out once and for all where she stood with him. She was prepared for heartbreak or for an argument, and she knew that there would probably be tears, but it was a case of now or never. The box gave her a legitimate reason to talk with him, and so she steeled herself before walking across the corridor, still questioning if she was doing the right thing. Without hesitation she knocked on his door, and then waited for him to answer. For one horrible moment, she wondered if he was otherwise occupied elsewhere, but then the door opened.

"Freya? What can I do for you?" The Prince asked curiously as he took in what she was holding. Freya offered him a smile, before realising that he was in his bedclothes. She hoped that she had not woken him up, but she was almost speechless at the sight of him in black silk pyjamas.

"I wanted to give you an early Christmas present." She told him, trying to calm her racing heart. Not for the first time did she wish that the Prince did not have this effect on her, and she did her best to hide it from him.

"But surely this can wait until tomorrow?" He asked, confused. "For that is when the gift giving is taking place?"

"I'm afraid this one cannot wait." She explained as he stepped aside to let her in. She remained near the door, wanting to keep her escape route clear, for she had no idea how he would react when he realised what she was doing, while he took the box from her. She had wrapped it in gold paper and tied it with a gold bow, and he carefully examined it, wondering if this was some form of trick.

"What is it?" Loki queried as he sat it on the table.

"You will find out when you open it." Freya pointed out, not wanting to give anything away. The Prince gave a funny little smile before untying the ribbon and unfolding the paper to reveal a simple brown box. It was the size of a shoebox, and there was nothing written on the outside of it. Freya fiddled nervously with the cuff of her sleeve as she watched him take the lid off, and she could barely watch as he realised what was inside.

"Freya?" He asked, feeling very perplexed. "What is this?"

"I am giving you your freedom." She explained as he picked up the sceptre. "It is unfair enough that you are trapped in this settlement, let alone the fact you cannot use your seidr."

"My freedom?" He repeated. "But I can leave at whichever point I so choose."

"I know." She stated. "But it was decided that the safest place for these items is with you."

"These may be the only way of stopping me though."

"I know."

"So why…?"

"They have caused no end of grief between us, and I no longer trust myself to use them in the right circumstances." She explained. "But you cannot use them, so they are safest with you. It also means you no longer have to worry about being bound to anyone's will."

"This is why you are giving them to me here?" She nodded, though she could not blame him for being suspicious.

"Thor knows what I am doing." She told him, though it was not quite the truth. It had taken her quite some time and effort to persuade Stark and the rest of SHIELD that it was a good idea for her to have them back, but none of them knew that she had planned to give them to Loki. This was a decision that she had made after the attack, and one that she had discussed at length with the God of Thunder before she had acted on it. "Do what you will with them. Keep them, bury them, destroy them… I simply ask that you do not tell me what you do with them."

"You truly do not trust yourself?" He asked as he set the sceptre back in its box.

"I have only brought you pain and suffering through my use of them." Freya sighed, suddenly feeling very tired. "The first time I used it, you were trapped on Earth as my pet for three months, and the second time, I caused you to risk everything we have built in New Asgard. I cannot let that happen again."

"You will not regret doing this?" He was truly curious, not that she could blame him.

"I may do, but I trust that you will do the right thing." She told him honestly. "I know that I cannot undo what has been done, and I truly regret the night I threatened to use the sceptre. I never wished to lose our friendship, and I know that I cannot ask you to forgive me." She began, hoping that he would listen to her. "I just figure that this is my way of proving that I will not ever bind you to me again."

"You are letting me go." He realised, while she bowed her head. It was true, in some sense, though she did not want to lose him completely. "Are you certain that this is what you want?"

"What I want does not matter."

"But it does matter." He pointed out as he stepped closer to her. "Freya, you have done all you can to repair things between us, and I am sorry that I did not respond sooner. I had hoped that…" He hesitated, while she looked up at him. "Well, there are things that I also regret. I hope to never need to rescue you again, because twice now this sceptre has nearly cost you dearly…"

"I owe my life to you." Freya admitted softly. "The only thing I do not regret is the fact that the sceptre let me meet you."

"I am glad that you were the one to use it." The Prince paused. "I mean, you could have done anything and yet all you did was ask to see Asgard."

"It was a beautiful realm." She told him. "I had always dreamed of seeing it, and you made that come true."

"I am glad to have done so." He smiled, but something shifted in him. "Freya, I fear there is something I have been meaning to tell you. I was hoping to do so the other night, but…"

"It is hard to talk without being interrupted." She agreed. "There are things that need to be said, but…"

"It is hard to find the words?" He guessed, while she nodded. "Freya, though it is true that I cannot forgive you for what happened the night of the attack, I do wish to make amends." He told her, causing her to meet his gaze. He truly looked honest, and it gave her hope that they may be able to repair their friendship, even if it took some time. "My treatment of you has been terrible, and I know that this is unforgiveable."

"It is understandable though, given what I did." She pointed out.

"The Solstice for my people has always marked a new beginning. Can we perhaps…?"

"I would like that." She smiled, for though she knew she should be moving on from her crush, she truly did miss her friend. "I should also say thank you for the books."

"It was not much really." He shrugged. "I just wanted to help you, for organising Samhain was difficult enough. I cannot even imagine how hard it has been…"

"It has had its moments, and I have questioned whether staying here was the right thing to do, but it is worth it to see so many happy faces." Freya admitted.

"Although you wish you were with your family, don't you?" She deflated a little at this, for her phone still had no messages.

"I miss them dearly." She told him. "Christmas is a time to be with the ones you love, and this year especially has been hard considering I nearly lost them, and then they nearly lost me. I had hoped that I may be able to…" She sighed. "It does not matter."

"I am sorry that Thor denied your request." He seemed to be sincere about this, and Freya shook her head.

"It's okay. I knew I was asking a lot." She told him, having already accepted this.

"You will talk with them tomorrow though?"

"If I have the time." She sighed, feeling tears form and knowing that she should probably leave before she broke down.

"I am certain we can find a point where you can be spared for half an hour."

"Thank you." Freya paused. "I should probably go. I have taken up more than enough of your evening…"

"And tomorrow will be rather a busy day." He agreed, before they both heard singing from nearby. Freya instantly turned towards the door, for the song was one of her favourite hymns, and then she frowned, for she partly recognised the voices. The only thing that made her pause was the fact that they should not be here, for her family were in England and had not been allowed to come to New Asgard. "Are you alright Freya?"

"I…" She paused as she heard another line of 'In the bleak midwinter' and then shook her head. "I know those voices, but I must be imagining things."

"Or maybe you aren't." He said pointedly. Freya looked at him, and then back to the door. "You should go and find out."

"Good night Loki." She wished him, before heading out of the door. She instantly found the source of the music, and she grinned as she ran towards them, tears of joy flowing freely down her face.

"Mum! Dad! Astrid!" She called as she hugged them. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too!" Her dad smiled as she let go of them. "We figured that as you could not spend the day with us at home, then we would come to you."

"But… but that was denied…. I…"

"Someone changed their mind." Her mum explained. "You must have been so worried."

"The parcels have not arrived, and none of you were answering your phones and…" Freya was sobbing now, but Astrid merely gestured to Freya's room.

"Your presents travelled with us." She explained. "We have known about this trip for weeks."

"But…"

"We were sworn to secrecy." Her mother told her as they walked inside, and Freya smiled as she saw a pile of gifts beneath her tree. The Christmas lights were all switched on, and a mug of mint hot chocolate sat waiting for her on the table. Her cat was curled up on the sofa in a festive jumper, and a pair of Christmas pyjamas sat at the end of her bed, while the coffee table held a rather beaten copy of a story that her mother had read to them every Christmas Eve since they were small children. Freya was speechless, and though she had no idea who was responsible for this, she was tremendously grateful, for it seemed she would get her traditions after all.

The Prince, meanwhile, stood by his door as he heard the joyful reunion, and he smiled, for he knew that Freya deserved as good a holiday as any of them. It had not been easy to persuade Thor to let the Wilkes family join them for Christmas, but the God of Thunder had soon relented upon seeing just how miserable Freya had been recently. To hear such hope and joy truly did bring a smile to his face, and Loki knew that this mischief was one of the best schemes he had done for quite some time.

"Merry Christmas Freya." He wished, knowing that he had given her the best present she could ever wish for.