Axl had been secretly hoping that Ty and Dawn would need him to take them home so he could spend as little time as possible back at the flat that he shared with Gaia. He knew that if Ty knew that, that Ty would call Axl and hire him to chauffeur them around Auckland, but that was exactly the reason why Axl didn't wish to do that. Ty had already done too much for Axl in helping him with his relationships, so it was time for Axl to return the favour.

So instead, Axl was sitting rather unsatisfactorily in the driver's seat of his car, parked in front of the flat. His eyes were fixed broodingly on the window of the house that he knew Gaia was behind. It was hard to tell who he was most pissed off with – Gaia, Anders, or himself. He didn't have to dwell on that for much longer, however, as his thoughts were interrupted by a noisy van pulling up beside Axl's car. Jerome, George and Leon pulled out; Jerome and Leon with a sense of purpose whilst George was dawdling behind them.

"Come on, bro, I've gotta get those blueprints before his flatmate steals them and sells them!" Jerome was saying to Leon. They raced up the steps to the front door, and Leon looked poised to try and kick the door down.

"You guys know that Gaia's probably inside, right, dicks?" George called out to them as he stood leaning against their van.

"It's alright, we'll just knock at a frequency that only men can hear," Jerome said confidently. Axl stifled a snort and ducked his head down so they were less likely to notice him watching the whole thing. When Jerome turned back to the front door, Gaia was facing him, a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Can I help you?"

"RUN!" Jerome yelped, and he and Leon nearly broke several bones trying to escape. In their panic, Jerome opened the backdoor to Axl's car to dive into as it was the closest refuge. George was rolling his eyes as Leon pushed past him into the van.

"I can still see you, Jerome. And you, Axl, did you have something to do with this?" Axl let out an exhale of frustration. He had wanted to avoid talking to Gaia for as long as possible until he figured things out, but his plans would have to change.

"No, I just got home," Axl called back irritably. Jerome guiltily climbed out of Axl's car and dusted himself off.

"We were just coming to pick up our half of the game blueprints," Jerome muttered somewhat unintelligibly. Gaia retreated back into the house, and emerged a few moments later with a handful of papers.

"You mean whatever this is?" She unceremoniously stepped out and walked over to Jerome so she could hand him the papers. Jerome nodded in thanks, and turned to leave. He was stopped by George clearing his throat meaningfully.

"Oh. Yeah. Um, do you want to join us for dinner sometime next week?" For the first time that evening, Gaia smiled.

"Yes, please. You're not shunning me because I'm Idunn?" she was meaning it as a joke, but her voice had the slightest quiver to it. Half of Axl wanted to get out and wrap her in a hug, but the other half was keeping him firmly rooted to the seat of his car.

"You're still my sister!" Leon piped up from the van. Gaia's smile widened.

"Just text me, eh?" George finally looked satisfied that they had completed their mission. He herded Leon and Jerome into the van, blueprints and all. Axl felt a twinge as he knew that those blueprints included ideas that he had made and was proud of. It was of the few positive things that had happened that day, and now he was about to watch that drive away.

"Alright, boys, let's go." Jerome sent a nod in Axl's direction.

"Later cuz!" Axl waved half-heartedly in their direction as they backed out of the driveway. He was hoping that Gaia would go back inside and he could continue to stew inside the car for a few minutes (or hours, he had a lot to process). But Gaia couldn't read his mind. She walked down to the car and climbed into the front passenger seat. It was several minutes before either of them said a word.

"Where's Zeb?" Axl asked, reaching out and awkwardly fiddling with one of the radio knobs. Gaia's eyes were fixated on a spot on the dashboard.

"He's baking a cake to celebrate the occasion," Gaia replied dejectedly. Zeb was an excellent cook, but somehow his skills didn't extend to baking. The thought of a Zeb cake would have cheered up Axl if he were in a more adventurous mood, but the events of the day had sapped Axl's energy. He couldn't quite understand how Zeb could be chipper enough to bake, given the circumstances. Unless -

"What – he doesn't know?" Axl hadn't been home all day, and he had expected Gaia to fill Zeb in on the situation, although he was beginning to realise what a tall order that was. He had barely grasped the full situation himself.

"I thought we could tell him together." There was no mistaking the sadness in Gaia's voice. She had been dreading the fallout from either becoming Frigg or Papatuanuku, but at least there was an ounce of certainty of the way forward with those two goddesses. The Idunn surprise made Gaia feel sick to her stomach. She had enjoyed her exchange with Anders far too much for her liking. It wasn't right.

"I'm sorry," she added in a small voice. Why did she have to smell so good? Every second that she spent in the car with him Axl could feel his anger melting away. Maybe things were going to be okay. He no longer had to worry about the threat of Jerome. And Anders? Anders was a dick; there was no way Gaia would pick him over Axl.

"It's not your fault," Axl said softly. Already he was more confident that they could get through this. He was Odin, for fuck's sake, a little stupid technicality meant nothing. Nothing at all. Olaf couldn't give him a straight answer, so he'd answer it himself. He loved her.

"Really?" Gaia asked hopefully. In response, Axl turned and kissed her like it was the last kiss they'd ever have. Gaia was surprised at first, but she quickly responded positively, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer to him. There was desperation in the way she clung to him that Axl mistook for pure love.

"Woohoo, Odin and Frigg together at last!" Zeb cheered from the balcony. Gaia and Axl broke apart abruptly, and it felt like Axl had been dunked headfirst into a bucket of water. Gaia quickly slipped out of the car, not looking at Axl.

"Zeb, there's something we need to tell you, actually," Gaia said shortly as she started briskly up towards the house.

"You've got to tell me everything, the cake will hopefully be ready when you've told me all the details about the ceremony. When do you guys get your powers?" The two of them entered the house whilst Axl still sat in his car in shock. The anger that had disappeared when Gaia was sitting next to him was now throbbing in his mind like a violent headache. He was now more confused and helpless than ever.

And he couldn't shake the feeling that that kiss they had just shared really would be their last.

A/N: Unlike the actual Season 3, the Maori gods ain't going nowhere.