Before we get started, I've been so busy lately that I'm missing out on movies I want to see like Five Nights at Freddy's, The Marvels, Saw X, The Exorcist: Believer and so on. It's kinda annoying doing nothing but work, but never having a time to catch a showing of movies. Also, I'm starting to feel much better now. So here's the new chapter finally.

Disclaimer: Turning Red and it's characters are the property of (c) Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios.

Elements are borrowed from God of War (2018) and Ragnarök, owned by (c) Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment.

In fairness, it was relatively new to the gods seeing Hel in a far less macabre state. It was almost as if they were seeing her true appearance for the first time as someone who didn't look like a half-dead corpse. And because of this, she didn't seem so scary anymore. A look like that, some would find attractive or alluring. In any case, Kris helped the woman to her feet and with a little bit of hesitance, she accepted his help and arose unsteadily. She didn't have that slight limp in her left leg anymore, so she had no trouble standing perfectly.

"I don't believe my own eye." Odin commented with a surprised whisper.

"How is that even possible?" Thrúd asked her grandfather.

"I really have no idea."

"Is that what she really looks like?" Skaði asked her fellow gods, astounded.

"The Goddess of Death has finally felt love, something she's been lacking for years." theorized Týr, scratching at his beard. "Perhaps this would explain her frightening appearance."

"Aye, n' that lad's got the gut t' put his guard doon before her." Mímir reasoned, feeling perplexed. "What a heart o' gold he has."

"How are you feeling?" Kris asked the death goddess.

"I feel…warm…and fuzzy." She answered both sure and unsure at the same time. Her voice sounded different too now. Originally, it sounded low, raspy and a bit gravelly like a ghost or someone possessed, but now it sounded more ethereal and mellow like her throat had been unclogged upon recovering from a terrible cold.

"You'll get used to it soon." Kris smiled and gave her another hug and she smiled back and accepted it again, feeling the butterflies fluttering in her beating heart. To their surprise, Stig came in and hugged her too. Even though she imprisoned her brother and tried to kill them, Stig knew the blame game was pointless after a while.

Then Roar joined the hug.

So did Rudolf.

And Willow.

And Moose.

And Toshio.

Although Stacy was still understandably cross with her, she followed suit reluctantly, but allowed the warm feeling to distract her from her contempt. Carter came in as well, as did Michael, Svir, Thrum, Ratatoskr, Stefan, Diana, Hrafn, Marvin, Lars, Georg, Loki and Angrboda.

Despite how out of place this was in a battle situation, most of the gods came in with open arms themselves including Thor, Sif, Thrúd, Heimdall, Baldur, Skaði, Bragi, Týr, Mímir, Freya, Freyr, Hermod, Frigg and finally, Odin. And for Hel, this was a feeling like no other, no other feeling she's felt before. Her whole life has been nothing but a swirling tsunami of hatred, sadness, cold rejection and loneliness, only horrified or disgusted stares she received, only accusations, threats and insults she heard, only emptiness filled her soul, locked away despite having done nothing wrong, this was a far cry. The boy she tormented and kept hostage in her realm had chosen to give her a second chance and embrace her without any fear of her anymore and now all were embracing her and it made her heart flutter.

After they all broke apart to give Hel her space back, everyone took a moment to get a good inspection of her brand new appearance. However, Odin stepped forward without hesitation to face Hel again once and for all, hoping not to have to fight her again, though won't have the nerve to stop her if she acted out against him. Hel locked eyes with him, her breath turning to short pants when her fists clenched and the warmth in her chest turned into a wildfire. Her resentment returned and in seconds, she did act out.

Hel yelled as she lunged at him with her hands out, gripping his throat tightly and shaking him viciously all the while the old man didn't lift a finger to prevent it, just letting it happen to him as a sign of remorse and humility to her. He even dropped Gungnir to the ground to show he has no intention of fighting back. As a matter of fact, nobody else made a move to stop her either, not even Kris. They only kept their guard up just in case.

However, the only one to react was Stacy who rushed to put an end to it herself, but she was grabbed by Angrboda, grasping her arm firmly.

"Just let her have this." She told her.

As Hel continued to throttle him, she got more and more aggressive. Done with choking him, she slapped him hard across the face, both cheeks, over and over, growling like a lioness and then to top it all off, she punched hard in the face, sending him crumbling to the ground as she took a second to control her breathing, still exhausted and still glaring furiously while everyone had their watchful eyes on the scene before Hel delivered the final blow with words as sharp as a knife.

"You have paid, old man." She declared darkly. "Somehow or rather, you have paid. The lifetime you've stolen from me remains to be seen. I don't have it in me to kill you, but somewhere inside, there is still a part of me that is still angry and it will always be angry! But it may…not be too late for you either."

"I realize that." Odin groaned, standing back up. "And you're right. I have paid heavily. Nothing I do now will ever make up for the shit I've done in the past. And I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I'll never stop making things right. I won't be that man ever again. And I won't force you to forgive me either, not unless it's been earned. It's the only thing I really can do, starting with this. Brjóta."

Holding his hands to her head, he used his magic power to undo the hex he placed on her before banishing her to the underworld, the one that kept her bound to the shadows of the darkest point of Helheim with no chance of leaving it and at that instant, Hel felt a great relief wash over her body as she felt her curse disperse from her very soul.

"No more walking the shadows." explained the elderly king.

Hel let out soft gasps, gazing at her hands. No more sulking in the dark forever, this she saw as a stepping point to a brand new perspective of her life.

Gaining the courage, Loki came over to her with a desperate Angrboda by his side and he placed a hand on her shoulder to make her turn to face him, seeing the same two from before, the same two who tried to convince her that she was her parents. But she didn't find the urge to fight them this time.

"Hel, trust me." Loki pleaded.

"Who are you?" She asked him, still unsure of what to make of them.

"My name is Loki and this is Angrboda." The shapeshifter answered, introducing himself and his old flame.

"Loki…" Now that Hel thought about it, she remembered that name very well. It was her only clue as to who her parents were and she distinctly remembers being addressed with the patronym 'Lokisdottir' by the gods.

"I can show you." He didn't need to ask for permission since he and Angrboda pressed their names onto her forehead, using a spell to unlock memories of her past and she started to witness visions of when she was born and she saw the faces of both Loki and Angrboda's faces looking down on her, then the Æsir taking the child away from her mother. The baby grows up with a half-dead appearance, which earns her the fear and revolt from any and all who set their eyes on her, forcing the gods to place her in total isolation away from the outside world until what to be done about her is determined. Loki sneaks visits to Hel in the form of horsefly, a centipede and a rat to check up on her, though never breaking character out of fear of sending the gods after him.

Hel was freed from these visions, gasping and feeling her heartbeat accelerate. Then her eyes started to water.

"You really are…" The poor woman didn't know what to say.

"Yes." They both said with hope.

In all her years, she had been without a family and desperate to know the identity of her parents or why they never came for her. Even after she had lost hope, the pain of not having anyone still hurt and a yearning remained. But now she was finally here, standing before her parents after years apart. And she had been so obsessed with vengeance that she caused harm to them both, the idea of which broke her heart. She let a tear fall down her cheek, the first tear she's ever shed, and slowly moved towards them while she let them both bring her into an embrace and allowed her warm feeling to come back to help fill her cold heart. And as everyone eyed them, it made a majority of them wonder if Hel was truly ever evil to begin with. Though, she was more likely a victim of circumstance, having let the insurmountable agony brought onto her life poison her mind. Some of the Æsir especially, such as Odin, Thor, Frigg and such, began to feel the guilt of breaking a child away from her parents like this. Seeing Loki reunite with his daughter like this was a solid reminder of how awful they had truly been. Hel never asked for the life they forced onto her.

"You really were there." Hel weeped.

"I was." Loki admitted. "I just had to be discreet so as to not arouse suspicion. I will admit that I'm known for my tricks, but I don't lie when I say that I wished I had done more to stop them from casting you out."

"We may not be able to give you your childhood back and we may not change the past, but must learn to let go. Your rage is understandable, but you've let your hatred cloud your judgment." Angrboda said to her. "No amount of chaos, murder or destruction will ever undo the pain you've felt all these years. It will only make it worse until unrepairable. As much as they may not deserve it, you must try to give them a chance. They're not perfect, perhaps the worst, but no one ever is."

Kris listened to these words and it made him wonder about Ming again and think back to the memories he saw of her. For all her faults and flaws, Ming has tried her hardest to make up for everything she's done and although Kris had it perfectly clear she wouldn't be forgiven yet, he had yet to give her the closure she had been working for. Walls formed around him, putting a distance between him and her, struggling to connect with her emotionally. Not to mention, he had already promised Mei before she left for camp that he'd go easy on the woman. It was a known fact that Ming was the worst prior to the SkyDome, but maybe Kris should try taking a moment to just forget about all that and redirect his focus on everything after the incident as well as take into consideration that she and her family fought every obstacle in their way to save his life.

Hel was about to respond when a beam of light from the distance hit her in the face and it really stung her eyes because she had spent her whole life in the darkness of Helheim that her eyes had adjusted to the dark so she covered them up, wincing from the pain. But her parents carefully removed her hands from her face and together with them, Hel took her eyes a few seconds to readjust and she found them staring back at the bright orange-colored morning sunlight just beginning to break over the horizon. For her, she was finally witnessing her first sunrise. Watching the dawn from this angle was a spectacle worthy of an audience in her mind currently.

And it made her smile lovingly.

"So lovely." Hel giggled with a watery smile.

Meanwhile, while the other teens were feeling glad for Hel that she was starting to evolve positively and see things from a different perspective - even Stacy - they now started to think about their families back at home. They must really be worried about them by now.

"Excuse us, sir?" Toshio grabbed the All-Father's attention. "If we're all done with all this saving the world stuff, would it be alright if we could…..go home now? We'd really like to see our families again."

"Um, yeah, I'd like to do that too, if you don't mind." Stacy nodded frantically in agreement.

"Of course." Odin complied.

"Just one thing first." Kris spoke, needing something to do first before he returned home to his mother and went over to Thor and actually gave him a huge. Surprised, he accepted it and after a second or two, they looked each other in the eye. "It's been an honor fighting with you, to be honest."

"You're really a strong kid. You take care of yourself out there." Thor informed him.

"I will." He nodded and then he rushed over to give his father a hug too and theirs were the tightest. "I will miss you the most."

"I know, son." Michael smiled back, almost hesitant to let his son go. "I'll always love you, Kris, no matter where I am. And you tell your mother I love her too. And I will see you again someday."

With a sad smile, Kris looked at all the Nörthfölk members and they all shared their own grateful smiles in return and he waved them all goodbye before going back to his friends. He was ready to be back home with his friends and family and go back to his summer. As for his house-keeping job, he had a feeling the owners would not be happy that he wasn't there looking after their home. But Kris didn't care about that anymore. And so, one at a time, Odin had his ravens send the teens back to where they originally picked them up and as for Kris and Stig, they gave one last look at everyone, such as their father and even Hel, who smiled back with gratitude before they both disappeared in a swirling cloud of feathers.

Kris and his brother were both gratefully relieved to be back home in Toronto in the real world where they truly belong. It was morning as the sun was just barely starting to peak over the clouds and bright up the sky. They had both reappeared in front of their house and when they went bursting inside, they were reunited with their mother, who was both glad to finally see them back home again, but also pissed at them for disappearing on her and scaring her half to death, especially when the world was close to ending. A few well-deserved explanations later, they were able to calm her down. For his part, Kris kept his father's rebirth really vague for obvious reasons, but kept his word and exchanged what he was told to tell her, bringing tears to Elsa's eyes.

However, there was still something Kris desperately needed to do, that he knew he must do.

So he left the house and hiked all the way over to Chinatown and didn't stop until he was in front of the doors to the Lee Family Temple, thankfully still standing even after the apocalypse that everyone helped save the world from.

Breathing a deep sigh, he had to press forward. This was the most important part and must be carried out. He had been angry long enough and he's come to accept that Ming had grown enough to make up for her mistakes of the past. Walking through the entrance, past the room where homage to Sun Yee is paid, past the gate in the back, Kris kept his spirits up as he carefully approached the front door to the Lee household, also still intact.

This was it.

Moment of truth.

He raised a steady hand, rapped at the door and waited patiently.

After a minute or so, Kris heard footsteps approach the door and as he had expected, the one to answer the door was Ming Lee herself, dressed in her nightgown and slippers with her hair down. Must've just gotten out of bed. And she gasped with surprise to actually find Kris standing there at the door, disheveled, sweaty, tired, dressed in peculiar Viking age clothing and covered in dirt and ashes. In spite of seeing him like this, she was more taken aback to see him actually here at all by choice.

"Kris?" She peeped. "You're….you're here."

"Hey." He greeted her numbly.

"Where the hell have you been, mister?" She chastised. As you can see, she, too, was worried about him when he seemingly disappeared without a trace. "Your mother was worried sick about you!"

"I know that, but-"

"Not to mention that so much craziness has been happening around here with the darkness and sudden winter and that-...what on earth are you wearing?" Ming gestured to his outfit, then pinched some of the ash off his hair locks. "And why are you covered in ashes?"

"I was snatched up by the gods of Asgard to help them out." He answered briefly and straight to the point.

"What? Is this about…..?"

"Ragnarök."

"Wait, why did they need-"

"Look, it's a long story and I won't get into that right now, because that's not why I'm here." Kris stopped her anxiously. "Can-Can I come in?"

Ming's eyes grew wide when he asked that. Remembering when their last encounter didn't go so well as she had hoped, seeing him here at her doorstep long after he's been off the grid for days asking to gain entry to her home and even be near here almost tickled her heart. Though, Kris slumped with sadness, thinking she was still upset that he blew up at her last time.

"It's fine. I understand." He sighed and was about to leave.

"Wait!" But then Ming suddenly stopped him, jumping out to grab him by the arm, much to both their shock. But she recovered and corrected herself saying, "Uh, no, it's okay. Please, come in."

Secretly flattered, he entered the house and stood next to her while Ming was starting to feel beholden that he decided to swing by, despite his current issues with her, but also knew for a fact that he was worried about his girlfriend, her daughter.

"Oh, Mei-Mei is okay, by the way. She and the girls are okay." She quickly assured him comfortingly. "I received a letter from her camp saying that everything's alright. However, I've also been informed that she got into a fight with a fellow camper. Me and Jin will have a few words with her about that when she gets home. Count on that."

"Uh, wow."

Kris was even more relieved to hear that Mei was okay, though the part about her starting fights with someone sounded almost amusing, if not unexpected. Some part of him hoped she hadn't used her red panda to deliberately cause any harm in the process, though she probably wouldn't do that unless perhaps she had been pushed to her limit. And he didn't know anybody of the sort who would foolishly push their luck that way other than maybe Heather.

"Well, that's good to hear. But I actually came here to see you." He replied.

"I-...Is that so?" Ming stammered, really wondering why. However, she had a feeling as to why that was.

With a sad sigh, the boy meandered over to the couch and dropped himself down on it, slanting over with a gloomy expression.

"I've been thinking lately." He started off in an ill-tempered mood. "I've had a lot to think about these past few days during my time with the gods in their realms."

"Like what?" asked Ming.

"Like how I've failed to realize how much you've been there by my side after I've been saved." He bemoaned. "Like how you've done everything to try to make it up to me and I now see how incredibly distant I've been."

In all honesty, Ming had no words to add to that right away for she was surprised to find Kris feeling so regretful about keeping her at an arm's length. However, she also still had that feeling like it wasn't really necessary since it's no great mystery why he's been so reluctant and aloof when it came to her, especially when one takes into account the many times he's been harried and bullied by her all thanks to her paranoia, overprotectiveness and trust issues. Ming has indeed taken lengths to be less of the monster he remembers her as, but maybe she had been overdoing it a bit, like how she overdid it when protecting her daughter. And now she's been thinking if she even deserves a second chance, despite all she had done to fix the errors of her actions. Ming's eyes fell to the floor as he continued.

"This isn't just about turning you down when you offered to rehire me, it's about everything." He said in low spirits. "Ever since my time in Helheim, you've been doing so much for me and I guess I was too stubborn to realize that. Yes, I said I wouldn't forgive you yet, but I've been focusing too much on the bad stuff of the past. And you and Mei risked everything to come so far to bring me back home. I would've been trapped there forever if you hadn't shown up. You….saved me."

"No." Ming finally said, shaking her head. "I was you who saved me."

She glumly sauntered over to have a seat next to him on the couch and he did not protest when she sat so close to him that their bodies touched. This sentiment radiating off of her made him think of his mother. The Asian mother bit her lip and could feel tears coming on as she spoke tenderheartedly.

"When Mei first asked me to hire you, I really couldn't stand you. I wanted nothing to do with you. Because I just couldn't stand the thought of my precious little girl associating herself with others, like Miriam, Abby or Priya. It felt really unfair to me that she would rather spend time with them than with her own mother. That might be my ego talking, but still. But I suppose I was just afraid. Afraid that she would be hanging out with the wrong people, afraid that they would want to use her or hurt her, afraid that sooner or rather, something terrible and awful would happen to her and I wouldn't have the power to do anything about it. As a mother, it's my job to look out for my children no matter what, because I could never live with myself if something were to happen to her on my watch. However, I may have also been doing it for the wrong reasons."

"I don't think so." Kris disagreed.

"No, I have." Ming denied. "I've been doing it all wrong. All I've done was put my needs and wants above hers. I don't think I've ever asked her what she wanted, because I just didn't care to consider it. I only assumed that she loved succeeding in school tests and quizzes, coming out on top and being number one like I wanted her to be. And what's worse is that I keep invading her space, following her around and spying on her at school to make sure she didn't wind up in any embarrassing compromising situations because of her red panda. Red panda or not, that doesn't excuse it. That's just a huge violation of trust and it's neither positive or helpful for any relationship. Looking back, me just being there alone only made that worse for her."

"Mei is a growing girl and growing girls need their space once in a while." Kris replied. "Even if they are blessed with red panda powers from their ancestress."

"Yes, I know." nodded Ming. "And that night of the red moon ritual years ago, I really wanted to free her of such a burden and give her a normal life. But if anything, we Lee women are anything but normal, whether we like it or not."

"Neither am I."

"Yeah and you have the powers of a storm god and yet, you're the only one in your family that has them." Ming responded fondly. "But Mei refused to do the ritual. She just couldn't bear losing her red panda after all the fun and freedom it brought her, which was probably on account of you."

"She really did love it. It was a part of her after all." Kris smiled, remembering the time back in middle school during their red panda hustle to raise money for the concert. All those times when she allowed all her classmates to have fun with her red panda, all the pictures she took with them and it warmed his heart to see his girl that happy having so much fun in her life.

"And then the party…" Ming gulped when she brought that up. "It really scared me to see her attack Tyler like that."

"He may have been a jerk and yes, Mei almost hurt him after lashing out, but above all, we still had a lot of fun at that party." Kris noted. "But she got so stressed out about everything at the time. So torn between honoring her family's wishes and doing what she wanted that it almost broke her."

"I can honestly bet that she was." Ming moaned. "Especially with the amount of weight I had unceremoniously put on her shoulders all her life trying to make her the perfect daughter, trying to repair what I felt I ruined with my own mother. That sort of pressure can ruin anyone mentally, emotionally and psychologically. After my spat with my mother years ago, maybe I decided it was better to just do what she wanted and not make a fuss about it, if that's what it took to make things right. Cowardice. That's what it was."

"I guess we were both caught up with our own problems." speculated Kris with a minimal sum of amusement.

"I suppose we are, aren't we?" Ming smiled briefly before frowning again. "But I just wish I hadn't let my pride and my ego get to me that night. Like I said, I was only concerned for Mei-Mei's safety, but regardless, it was not fair of me to just lash out at her friends like that or you for that matter."

The memory of that came crashing back in her head and a great pain panged her heart remembering those heartless words of cruel and unfair judgment Kris had to take from her. Now her eyes stung even more until finally a lone tear ran down her cheek.

"Yes, she snuck out and yes, she had been lying to me and scheming behind my back, but if I had only trusted her with handling everything on her own and allowed her to go to that concert in the first place, then maybe she would've trusted me with the truth. I can never emphasize enough how much it hurts me now to remember seeing you so broken after I hit you." She whimpered, wiping a tear. "And I can't even imagine the pain you felt when Mei didn't even lift a finger to stop it. No wonder you stopped talking to everyone."

"That actually broke my heart, too, when I distanced myself from everyone I loved even though I was hurting so much after that night. Though if I hadn't gotten involved with her plan-" Kris was interrupted by the despondent Ming.

"No, Kris. Don't bother making excuses for me!" She told him, looking him sharply in the eyes. "That wasn't fair of me or to you and you know it! What Mei-Mei did was irresponsible and reckless, but it's me you should be angry at! Your anger should be at me, not her! Nobody put her in that position but me!"

"I was never angry at her, I was just really upset. She was just under so much pressure." Kris argued. "And yeah, I considered our friendship pretty much over then, but I could never blame her for what she was going through."

"Oh, Kris, how does Mei even deserve you?" Ming mused, quite touched seeing him so understanding.

"You already fought to correct your mistakes even if it killed you. We all make mistakes." He answered softly. "But mine was not giving you a chance."

"How can you even say that?!" Ming sputtered, incredulously. "After all I put you through?! Especially the SkyDome?! Need I remind you of the chaos I caused all because my daughter wanted to see her band on stage instead of doing what I wanted?! I put innocent lives in danger, scared people to death, tore an arena to pieces and I tried to crush you into powder had your brother not intervened!"

"I'm aware of that, yes. That's all in the past now. Besides, I'm the one who tried to kill you too. You almost died because of me." Kris countered.

"I kinda deserved it, though, didn't I?" Ming lamented, still beating herself up.

"No!" Kris nearly shouted. "You may have asked for it, but I wouldn't say you deserved to be beaten to a pulp or killed, which you don't. Because that would be a horrible thing to think about someone, no matter how mad you are at them."

"Kris, you fell into a coma! Alright? A coma! One you could NOT wake up from!" Ming persisted, sounding more and more self-loathing by the second. "You've missed seven months of your life! Seven months!"

"I didn't miss them." He refused to believe that. Granted, he was initially all alone lost in a forest on Midgard since the arena disaster, but he wasn't alone the entire time. At least up until his venture into the realm of the deceased. "I spent them in the Nine Realms with the gods."

"You were supposed to spend them here!" Ming gripped, more hot tears incoming. "In Toronto with your friends, your family and Mei-Mei! Having fun with them and enjoying your life, seeing movies, playing sports, doing your homework, playing with card games like the ones from Japan, like Pokeman or something, or Yogi-Yohs…"

"Pókemon?" Kris corrected.

"My point is you've missed out on a lot! You've missed school days, summer break, starting the ninth grade, Halloween, Thanksgiving and you were this close to missing Christmas if we hadn't arrived to pull you out before your time ran out. And there's nobody to blame for all that except me!"

"Regardless, you still helped fix the problem you started, no matter the cost. I just forgot to consider that." Kris looked back at her, trying to talk some sense into her. "You've sacrificed so much for me, I know that now."

"You're right, I did." Ming settled down with a murmur of slight acceptance, still crying her eyes out. "But still, I've made a mess of everything that night and I was too caught up with my anger and my pride to even think about the damage I was causing. My little girl was growing up, having her own interests. And you beating the shit out of me and laying in that hospital bed in casts finally made me realize….I still had some growing up to do myself."

She sighed heavily, holding her face as she wept and sniffled.

"I had taken the chance to actually reflect on my life for once and see how truly messed up I was." She sniveled. "I had failed miserably. I underappreciated my husband, I always jumped to conclusions and I kept pushing Mei-Mei to achieve perfection and made her toss her friends away for that. Mei became a loner in school. No friends, no social life and nobody but her family, nobody but her mother,...just like I was. It wasn't right. Since then, I had to pay a huge debt to repair the damages I had caused - well, we caused - all the while being forced to stay at home with broken bones. And even after all that, things were not going well for either of us. Everytime I went out and everywhere I went, people called me names and sent me hateful glares. This one time, some kid dumped sewer water on me. And all in all, I'm surprised the girls' parents even allowed them to still be friends with Mei-Mei, the daughter of the crazy bitch that almost got their children seriously hurt."

And with that cathartic baggage unloaded and while Ming sat there sobbing, Kris could feel the most sympathy for her than he ever could. And right now, he began to see her in a new light. No longer could he see the nasty dragon lady with the bad attitude he used to work for, but instead, all there was a vulnerable and miserable woman dealing with so much stress and pain herself, not only from the consequences of her own poor choices and dumb judgment, but from the trauma of striving to surpass the desired expectations of a demanding and controlling parent of her own growing up and how it affected her self-esteem, her relationship with herself and others and to some extent, even her sanity. In some way, Kris could relate to this, how he had been tormented with endless nightmares of his father's death. While nobody else knew about it, he despised himself for it, perhaps even blaming himself for supposedly causing it. The satisfying feel of the steel blade cutting open his flesh, the dark voices in his head calling out on him and driving him near insane, like he deserved to be hated, like he was alone with no one to love or anyone to love him back.

Ming stopped crying when she gasped as Kris grabbed her hand and held it gingerly, comfortingly, then she looked at him with uncertainty and a lack of confidence. This was different from that time when she went to hold his hand, but he held his back from her, rejected it. But now here he was offering his own to hers to console her.

"You need to stop being so hard on yourself." He told her wisely. "Nothing you say to do yourself will take away the fact that you deserve love more than anybody. I, too, have been struggling with accepting myself, trying to get over my father's death, trying to convince myself I had nothing to do with it. But you helped me through that. You told me that I'm wanted. I have a loving family and friends and so do you. I've been too hesitant to overcome my grudge for you to really accept you, but no more. If Mei's part of my life, then so are you. And I…I forgive you."

Words could not describe the feeling in her heart like a singing bird fluttering up into the sunlight.

Hearing him say those kind words to her was more than she could ever hope for. Seeing the boy she had treated so harshly, the boy she had tried to smooth things over with say the one thing she wished she could hear. And with this, she can finally be able to forgive herself now that he's given her the amnesty she wanted. She smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his cheek like any mother would, not caring how dirty he was at the moment.

"That's all I wanted to hear." She cooed, shifting in her seat on the couch to lay onto him, cuddling up to him and laying her head on his shoulder and Kris brought his arm around her, smiling himself.

"And I've decided that, if you're still offering, maybe I will come back to work for you again." He told her.

"No, please don't accept that just because I was upset when you didn't. It makes me feel manipulative." Ming fretted.

"But I want to. I'm not even sure if I'll ever get to go to Deathfest at this point, but I really want this. And I'm not doing to make you feel better, I think this will give us both a chance to really get to know each other better. What do you think?" He insisted.

"Well, since you're offering, I think I would be more than happy to have you back at the temple." Ming beamed, proud that he's finally come around. "Also, I must ask that you not waste your summer doing nothing but work, young man. I want you to take time to enjoy yourself."

"Yes, Ming. I hear you." Kris nodded briskly and she smiled again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and take a shower and get out of these clothes."

"Of course. Please do that. You smell like you haven't bathed in a while." agreed Ming as Kris got up and headed for the door before she stopped him again. "But before you leave…"

POOF!

She transformed into the red panda in front of him and opened her arms out for him.

"Do you forgive her too?" She asked, obviously referring to the kaiju panda that attacked him at the SkyDome in third person. Even Kris couldn't deny the power of panda cuteness and Ming was no exception. So he enthusiastically threw himself into her furry arms that held him tightly, basking in her soft red fuzzy goodness.

"I do." He gushed.

After getting undressed, showering off and getting back into normal clothes, Kris received an angry phone call from the owners, yelling at him when they came back home and didn't find him there. In fact, they've been trying to contact him constantly during the time he spent in the Nine Realms and they were super unhappy to think he hasn't been doing his job like they painstakingly and over-specifically instructed. But Kris just told them to shove it and basically quit since he's found a new job now; his old one. And from then on, Kris was back to working at the Lee Family Temple with the exuberant Ming as his boss once again. Within reason, he did not disappoint when he did his job as a cashier perfectly and to a satisfactory degree, which the woman actually appreciated him for. Something she never did long ago and for once, Kris was happy to be working there. He helped out with more than just the register. He helped out with other duties like sweeping the floor and other things, even praying to Sun Yee with her. Ming never could've been any happier now she has earned the boy's forgiveness.

When summer camp was over and Mei had at last returned home with her friends, you could tell that she was pleasantly surprised to find her boyfriend and her mother finally getting along and it undeniably brought a smile to her face, knowing that the harmful rift between the two had been mended and seeing them work together almost like mother and son was like a breath of fresh air. Ming asked Elsa to go pick her daughter up that day since she was busy cooking dinner with Jin with Kris there lending a hand.

And Kris was glad to be reunited with Mei again as they rushed into each other's arms and shared a passionate kiss.

"I'm so glad you're back home." He moaned.

"I am, too, Sparky. I couldn't stand being away for so long." Mei expressed fondly.

They shared everything together like how camp was for her and how fighting to save the world from total destruction was for him, which, naturally, he oversimplified and kept some parts to himself. While her parents worked the rest of dinner together, Mei held a sneaky smile on her lips, guiding her boyfriend down to her room with a sexy sway of her hips and an enticing swish of her red panda tail moving along with the hypnotic movement of her butt and then she peered at him alluringly.

"Feel like celebrating, hero?~" She seductively offered, inviting him inside.

And that caused his heartbeat to go into overdrive and his face to heat up hotter than a furnace as he unquestionably accepted her irresistible invitation as he moved over to her and as soon as he was caught in her web, Mei yanked him inside for some…shall we say, catching up to do.

"You make sure to use protection, young lady!" Ming called out to her daughter from the kitchen.

"I know, mom!" Mei answered back with a groan before closing the door for a little private time with her beau. Of course, she always used protection.

…and she and Kris were in for a real steamy moment together in that bedroom.

Hel's finally snapped out of her twisted mindset, but it not at all free from her trauma. While she won't kill Odin for all he's done to her, she certainly won't ever forgive him, which is understandable. But she's still willing to give him a chance, nonetheless. And for the first time in her life, she watches the sun rise, it being the first time she ever sees the sunlight in all its glory after being subjected to the darkness. As for the teens, they are sent back home finally to reunite with their families again.

As for Kris, he starts feeling guilty for pushing Ming aside in spite of all she's done to make up for her poor actions. He pays her a visit and finally, the two have a long-overdue conversation where they start to acknowledge each other's faults and settle their issues for each other. They share one thing in common, they both are a product of their own trauma. They both deal with their own problems in unhealthy and destructive ways. Ming is obsessed with perfection and keeping her relationship with her daughter and Kris is plagued with self-loathing and depression, feeling like his father's demise was his own fault and that he deserves hurt. After so long, Kris doesn't see Ming as the stuck-up snob he used to know anymore and finally finds it in his heart to forgive her. I thought this was a wholesome and powerful scene to write, in my personal opinion.

And Mei and Kris have reunited as well after spending days apart from each other.

Next Chapter: With everything in the Nine Realms returning to normal, Loki is invited to Asgard along with Hel and inhabitants from all realms where the Wall of Asgard is to be torn down, finally bringing an era of peace to their world.

Next Update: Nov 24, 2023