Ella felt a sense of apprehension as she met Steve the following morning for brunch. She had told him that she would meet him in the city after they had both gotten a good night's sleep. She hadn't slept at all, however, too worried over what had happened with Loki the night before. She had just laid on a bed in the plush hotel she had checked into, her hands on her stomach and her eyes looking at the ceiling above her. She knew that she should go to Australia and bring her father home. She knew that was the right thing to do.

She wondered what it would mean for Loki, however. Would he be locked in a cell again? Would he run before Ella returned home with Odin? And, just as importantly, where was her other brother? Where had Thor gotten to? Ella had no idea, but she knew that it was up to her to set things right in Asgard. And that meant going home. She couldn't stay here with Steve, no matter how tempting that sounded to her.

"Hey, am I late?"

Ella looked up from the booth she was sat in. Steve was walking towards her, dressed in a plaid shirt tucked into dark jeans with brown boots. His hair was neatly combed on top of his head and his blue eyes were fixated on her as he slipped onto the seat opposite her.

"Steve, when are you ever late?" she asked and he began to open his mouth, but Ella smirked at him, letting him know that she was joking. "I'm just early. I ordered you a coffee, but said that we would wait for food."

"Okay, great," Steve said and he took hold of the menu that was in the middle of the table. "So…how did you sleep?" Steve wondered, clearly needing to make small talk with her. She wondered if the two of them would talk about last night and the kiss, but it seemed that they had to build up to that bit.

"I didn't," Ella confessed to him and Steve looked over to her as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Neither did I," Steve admitted on that point. "About last night, Ella, I don't want you to think that…what I'm trying to say…is that if it meant nothing to you then I would understand. You made your feelings perfectly clear."

"No, it's not that," Ella promised him with a firm shake of her head in his direction. "You will never mean nothing to me, Steve. I really do like you. I adore you. I just…I think that we both have a lot going on right now. You are looking for Bucky. I am trying to find Thor. I just don't know if it would make sense us dissecting it or…or wondering if it could lead to anything."

"And after then?" Steve questioned from her. "Because I've got to say, Ella, sitting with you last night and just talking felt like the most natural thing I've done in such a long time. I miss you. I miss how easy things are with you."

"And I miss you too," Ella assured him and he set the menu down. She reached for his hand, holding onto it. His large palm engulfed her small fingers. She leant across the table slightly, Steve bowing his head to be closer to her too. "But I…I don't know if I can give you all of me. I don't know if I can love you like you deserve to be loved…like you loved Peggy. And I don't know if you can love me like you loved her, either."

"It's different, Ella," Steve protested to her and she shrugged. "What I felt for Peggy is different to what I feel for you. I don't think that feeling can ever be replicated."

"But you deserve to find someone who can at least make you think that it can be."

"And maybe in time that could be you, if you just give us a chance," Steve protested and Ella didn't know if that was true. She didn't know if she could be that for him. But she didn't know if she was just scared. And Steve could see that. He could sense it from the way she clung onto his hand and the way she seemed so reserved. "Just tell me what is holding you back, Ella. Be honest with me. Whatever it is, I know I will understand."

"I know you will."

"Then just tell me," Steve urged, thumb running over her knuckles gently. It took her a moment before she came to the conclusion that she owed Steve this. She owed him an explanation. It was only right.

"Growing up, I was always closest to Loki. I know that you're not supposed to say that…that you're not supposed to be closer to one sibling over the other, but it's true. Thor was always busy and wanting to fight. We hardly had anything in common when we were growing up, but Loki…we were always together whenever I didn't have lessons or Thor wasn't sparring. I never had any true friends, either…being a Princess…you have duties and expectations bestowed on you. I was never very good at any of them, as mother noticed, but in the end she just wanted me to be whatever made me happy and that wasn't marrying some nobleman in Asgard."

"You mentioned a potential engagement before."

"It never materialised," Ella said with a shake of her head. "I guess...what I'm trying to say is that, at times, Loki was all I felt I had. He was the one I confided in. He was the one I opened up to. And then I discovered that my parents had intended to marry me to him when we were of age."

"Your brother?" Steve exclaimed and Ella shook her head, looking down at their entwined hands.

"He's technically not my brother," she reminded him. "I just…all these people I love…they've betrayed my trust in some way or another…and loving people…it's not supposed to hurt, is it? But it does. It hurts to give someone all you have and then be betrayed."

"You're scared of being hurt," Steve observed and Ella nodded before peering up to him through her lashes.

"Aren't all of us scared of being hurt?" she questioned.

"I guess," Steve said, "but I think that you cannot let fear rule your life…stop you from being truly happy."

"Easier said than done," Ella said.

"You can't let Loki's actions hurt you forever, Ella," Steve said to her. "Because you do deserve to be happy. You just need to learn how to trust and I can't promise you that I will be perfect…that I will always make you happy. There may be times when I might drive you mad, but I can promise you that I would never intentionally hurt you. I would never intentionally keep things from you."

"I know," Ella said and Steve picked her hand up, kissing the back of it tenderly, his lips soft on her skin as a waitress came to take their order and they pulled apart, Ella knowing that Steve had a point. Perhaps she had to stop living in fear.

Steve had asked her if she wanted him to come with her to Australia, but she had promised him that she would be fine. He had driven her to the airport after she confessed she was uncertain if her magic would get her as far as Australia. He had dropped her off, getting her small bag from the trunk. She had pecked him quickly goodbye and promised him that she would come back and see him.

Once she had landed in Australia, she had checked into a hotel and left her bag there before going to her father. The care home was on a street corner and was built in an old brick with expensive furniture lining the corridors. The decorations were neutral, with plush brown carpets on the floor and walls covered in artwork. A nurse finally led her to her father's room and Ella wondered just what she was going to find. She stood in the doorway, seeing that patio doors were open at the back of the room. She could make out the white hair of her father on a wooden bench on a wooden decking that overlooked a creek at the back of the care home.

The sun was shining down on him and he was glancing straight ahead. Ella tucked her blonde hair behind her ears, moving slowly to the door. Her breathing felt laboured, her palms sweaty. She didn't know what she should say to him. She had no idea what she could say considering the last time she had actually seen him things had not gone well.

"Father?" Ella finally spoke, voice shaking.

She stepped onto the decking, the heels of her ankle boots clicking on the wooden surface. Moving around the bench, she finally came face to face with her real father. He let his lips arch upwards at the sight of her, a tight feeling in his chest. Reaching a hand out to her, he spoke in a soft voice.

"My Ella," he said.

She took his hand then, sitting down beside him. He looked exactly as he had done the last time she had seen him. The only difference was the Midgardian clothes he wore; a light brown shirt tucked into brown loose pants. Odin looked over his daughter, his free hand going to stroke her cheek softly.

"Look at you," he whispered to her. "You look so different."

"It's just the clothes," Ella commented, adjusting the skirt down her thighs, the black pleated material flowing over her calves and her white shirt tucked into it. "I'm still me."

"No…you're different…changed…" he commented with a shake of his head. "I saw what happened in D.C…both you and Thor destroying those hellicarriers. I watched on the TV here and I was so proud. You were so strong, Ella…so brave…your mother would be proud too, of the woman you've become."

"But I should have come here sooner. I should have known something was not right," Ella said and Odin chuckled, patting her hand and then sitting back, leaning against the backrest and looking to the creek as Ella kept her gaze on him.

"Loki is quite adept with his magic, Ella. Do not blame yourself. It took me quite a while to escape his spell." Odin confessed. "Frigga would have been impressed too."

Ella's brow furrowed. "You…you've chosen not to come back?" she asked from him and Odin continued to smile, turning to look back to her, drinking in her fair complexion and the look of worry on her face. He nodded his head once at her and she wondered just what Loki had done.

"My time on Asgard is over," Odin said. "I can feel your mother calling me, Ella. I can feel the pull. I wanted to resist it long enough to see you all again. I will resist it until I see you all together."

"Father, just come home with me," Ella urged from him. "Come home and we can sort things out. Asgard is your home. Loki…he cannot be allowed to do this. It isn't right."

Odin chuckled. "Perhaps not, but I can still see what is happening on Asgard. He might not be the rightful ruler. Thor might be the rightful king, but I've watched you. I've seen what you have done there for the people. You would make a gracious queen, my dear Ella."

She scoffed and shook her head. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"No true ruler knows what they are doing. That's the truth."

He patted her hand once more. Ella shook her head and crossed one leg over the other. "I don't know if that's for me. Thor knows better. I…I might not want that life. I haven't decided what it is I want. All I know is that I have to make my own decisions."

"The Captain?"

"The Captain?"

"Yes, Captain America," Odin said and Ella shook her head, her own lips arching as she remembered the sight of Steve at the airport, waving her goodbye. "I know that you used to go to Heimdall and ask how he was. I am no fool, Ella. I cannot say that I approved. I would prefer for you to have fallen for an Asgardian, but only because a mortals lifespan is so much shorter than our own. I don't want you to go through the pain of losing someone so soon."

"I…I don't know, father. I have Loki to deal with first before I can even think of that. Just come home with me, please. Come home with me and we can try to sort everything out."

But Odin shook his head. "It is not my home anymore, my darling," he said to her and she felt her eyes begin to widen, trying to blink back the tears. "And I wish that I had done things differently before…that I had not pushed you away as I did…I wish that I could have been better for you, for you all."

"Father," Ella whispered, the lump forming in her throat as Odin reached for her and embraced her tightly. "I do love you."

"And I love you too, Ella. I always have done and I always will do…but my time has come to an end, darling…you're the future of Asgard now. Not me."

….

"You can't ignore me all night."

Ella had been walking around her hotel room after leaving her father to rest for the day. She had told him that she would be back the next day to see him and they would talk more about what it was he wanted. They had both been too emotional that afternoon to talk about everything, but Odin wasn't ready to say goodbye to his daughter just yet. As soon as she had entered her hotel room, Loki had been there, lounged on her king-sized bed with his hands clasped over his stomach. She had gone around the room, emptying her bag and hanging up her clothes before dealing with her toiletries, grateful Steve had taken her to the store before she flew out.

"I mean, I am impressed you have lasted this long," Loki continued to goad her. "Although, if you do wish to go to bed then you will need to talk to me."

"Or just push you out the way?" Ella called from the bathroom and she washed her face.

"You've finally cracked," Loki commented and Ella rolled her eyes, checking her reflection in the mirror before she went into the bedroom. Folding her arms over her chest and creasing her white blouse.

She kicked off her ankle boots into the corner by the dresser where the TV sat on the wall above it. The room was clean and modern, with a coffee machine in the corner and a kettle with a mini fridge. There was a grey sofa at the end of the bed along with a coffee table in front of it.

"Father doesn't want to come back to Asgard," Ella said, cocking her hip out and resting against the doorframe to the bathroom. "He said that he feels mother's pull. He says that he wants to go to her…that his time is coming to an end."

Loki nodded thoughtfully. He was dressed in a black suit, his hair hanging loose down his back. He watched as his sister continued to glare at him, finding himself almost feeling uneasy under her intense stare.

"I suspect it makes sense."

"It makes sense?" Ella asked him back.

"Even our time comes to an end, Ella. Odin…I suspect that he feels there is nothing for him anymore. His children have grown up. His wife has gone. Frigga was everything to him. It makes sense for him to want to be with her. Life without someone you love…it's not worth it…"

"What would you know of it?"

"Why do you think I pretended to be Odin for all those months?" Loki questioned his sister and she looked startled then, almost as though he still had the ability to shock her. He took a moment to consider his own words and then moved from the bed, watching as Ella walked away, keeping a distance from him. She busied herself with putting her bag on top of the wardrobe.

"That's different."

"Perhaps," Loki agreed with her. "But love is still love, Ella. It just takes different forms."

"If you loved me then you would never have lied to me," she responded.

"I lied because I love you."

"That makes no sense and is just messed up," Ella retorted. "You should go, Loki. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep. I'm seeing father tomorrow and then I'll be back in Asgard…and this façade ends then. Do you understand me?"

"If that's what you wish then I will go. You know that I cannot stay on Asgard once the truth is revealed."

"You go where you need to," Ella retorted and grabbed her pyjamas from the end of her bed to take into the bedroom to change. "But this will end."

Loki grabbed hold of her by the wrist, stopping her from moving away from him. She didn't try to pull away. She just stood still, waiting for him to say something. It took him a few moments, but finally he spoke to her.

"You're…Ella…you're my sister. I did what I did because I was scared of losing you."

"You don't get it, do you?" Ella said. "You could have told me the truth and I would have helped you. I would have come with you. You didn't need to lie to me…how can I trust you when you find it so easy to lie to me?"

"I never found it easy."

"You found it easy enough that you did it for a long time," Ella said and she finally pulled free from him. "And I worry that you will just keep doing it so long as it benefits you."

Ella slammed the bathroom door closed and Loki watched the wood for a moment. He moved over to it, wanting to knocked on the door. He let his forehead rest on the wooden surface and he sighed. Ella was on the other side of the door, her back pressed to it as she slipped down to sit on the floor and wanted to do nothing but forgive him. But it just wasn't that simple. It never was with Loki. It never was.

...

A/N: Not sure if anyone is still interested in this, but I hope there might be someone reading! I'm going to try and update more! Do let me know what you think/anything you want to see!