A/N:

The emotions which flooded her now knocked her off guard.

Fuck it..she was done with the smalltalk..

"Why did you lock us out?"

Suddenly pain was hanging thick in the air, it was amost palpable.. Pain and anger and incomprehension..

She dreamed to wake up.

It was like the last time, waking up on the ground, the warm green light around her..familiar in the strangest way but mind blowing all the same.

And not just the scenery.

Her heart started beating so fast right now and with every step the nervousness inside her grew. Now she knew this wasn't just a dream. And even if the connection was unclear, the reason invisible..it had to mean something.

When she finally stood in front of the tree she already knew where to look out for him.

There he was, unmoving, his eyes in that dreamy state again.

She placed a hand over her chest, as if it was possible to calm her heartbeat down with this simple gesture.

"Loki"

No reaction.

The branches kept going through his fingers and hands and he held them together. It looked kind of effortless, like it was the most natural thing to do..it was like someone was casually knitting a sweater.

A sweater entirely made out of green, multiversal branches.

"Your majesty, could you please do me the favor of honoring me with your presence?"

Sylvie faked a curtsy.

She wasn't the typical nervous talker, not like her male counterpart. When Loki was nervous the headache that followed for the listener was guaranteed. But in this very moment Sylvie felt like back then before they stepped into the citadel at the end of time where she wanted his reaction, his assurance.

The man above her moved his lips to form a smile.

"You know, I could get used to you calling me that."

As he finally spoke, her heart skipped a beat and she cursed and loved how it made her feel at the same time.

She was here again..she was really here.

"Not even in your wildest dreams, Loki."

And then the branches divided, giving him space and bringing him down to the ground. The most surreal thing to watch, no less than the first time.

Loki opened his eyes and god and goddess of mischief locked eyes.

God, have they always been this big and bright?

"I'm happy to see you, too," he said with that typical smirk, which made her sigh, a little out of sarcasm, a lot out of happiness.

She managed to hide it.

Never in her life had she felt so vulnerable as with him. Even more after what she said to Val outside the tavern. What she admitted to herself..And vulnerability was not her forte..

"Soft get you killed"

It was hard to admit to herself but she was getting weak in her knees. Time for some smalltalk to calm down the nerves.

"So, what's up in tree- land?"

She did her best to hide her nervousness and excitement in her eyes and voice.

Damn, that smirk.

It all seemed all a little more easy for him than last time, the smiling, the talking. He almost looked like himself, like she remembered him..well, apart from that strange structure on his face and the layers upon layers of green, kingly gown and massive horns.

And he looked skinnier than last time.

"You just missed the party I threw..to bad for you, everyone was there.."

Sylvie made an imaginable phone with her hand on her ear.

"Just call me next time"

They both smiled and looked each other in the eyes for a long moment.

"We hunted down a kang variant," Sylvie started, "You know, the old fellas, Verity, Mobius..after good old Mobi dusted himself down and finished the letting- time- pass- thing'..but I heard he was here, anyway."

The god nodded and smiled, "Yes, he was. Seems as if some barriers are coming down. For better or for worse.."

He probably noticed the possibility to misunderstand his statement and added quickly, "..as long as I don't have to welcome Miss Minutes any time soon"

Sylvie knew what he meant with the 'for better or for worse' part. Everyone was irritated why this was happening right now. And in the vast universe..multiverse..everything was possible, for better or for worse.

"You'll laugh. These two idiots, O.B and Casey really revived her. Either they are just highly confident of their skills..or the three of them are plotting to take over the world. Only time will tell, I think."

Sylvie shrugged and they both laughed. Looking at him caused some funny feelings in her stomach. Long ignored, swallowed down..

"I met Thor," she stated, waiting for his reaction.

The god smiled but for some reason she didn't see much surprise in his eyes.

"And? You two got along?" he asked with curiosity and mischief in his voice.

"He's irritating.." the enchantress answered, getting a laugh from Loki, "..but I already expected that. My brother was the most irritating being I ever met..well, besides you."

The last words caused even more laughter from Loki, "I think that's the exact way Thor thought of me our whole life."

"But..I think I like him," Sylvie added truthfully and thought about their conversation and the bonding with him.

"Were you aware that he founded a new place for the Asgardians..you know, after Ragnarok?"

Loki was absentminded for a moment and nodded then, "Mobius told me after I read about the destruction..it's a place on earth.."

"Norway," Sylvie said, "New Asgard. It's actually very nice. Nothing compared to the gloss and splendor and golden toilets.."

Loki laughed. What a beautiful sound..

"Don't tell me you had golden toilets on your Asgard? That's a new one."

"Come on, prince of pomp and glory, don't tell me you didn't eat from gilded plates served by some poor guys, desperate to get a glimpse of your magnificence."

He raised an eyebrow, grinning, "My magnificence? You're highborn yourself, princess Sylvie of Asgard..I mean, just in case you forgot."

Sylvie stuck out her tongue to him, "That's where it started. But I grew out of that very fast, just in case YOU forgot, your highness. And from that moment on I hadn't had any servants to polish my crown and wipe my ass.."

"I could take care of myself and my ass just fine, thank you," he affirmed.

"Yeah? But I suppose there were a lot of volunteers to help their prince taking care of himself," she presumed with a grin and it felt a lot like their first conversation in the train on Lamentis.

Again the raised eyebrow, but this time with a serious undertone, "That's an interesting topic, Miss Laufeydottir. There had been some distraction, for sure, like I told you before. But.."

"..but nothing ever.."

"..real"

Sylvie smiled and shook her head.

It was all still so surreal. Being here again, seeing him, it was something totally different. Different than talking to Mobius or Thor or Brunnhilde..

And for some reason, in that moment..it all came crashing down on her.

All the things that had happened since the last time she was here..her disastrous date, the talk with Verity, New Asgard, Valkyrie, Thor..

And now she was here again.

She was a princess of Asgard, Jotunn, an enchantress..powerful and strong.

But most of all, she was a survivor. She knew her strengths and weaknesses..in battle. And she had begun to explore them in her 'normal life', too..with all its ups and downs.

But this whole thing..this thing with Loki was different.

She knew how powerful she could be and yet in in this very moment she felt powerless..

The enchantress had been alone her entire life. There had been many encounters, for sure, people she met, men and women, sex in the face of certain doom..with all the desperation and fear and bravado and survival instinct that came with it.

But all of this had been to keep her going.

And it had been alright.

Until this presumptuos ass of a demigod had walked into her life, talking and smirking himself into her system.

The emotions which flooded her now knocked her off guard.

Fuck it..she was done with the smalltalk..

"Why did you lock us out?"

Suddenly pain was hanging thick in the air, it was amost palpable.

Pain and anger and incomprehension..

The enchantress watched him closely, waiting for an answer. Lokis expression changed as well, into something more thoughtfull, touched. He didn't answer but never broke eye contact, either.

"..at the temporal loom. Why didn't you tell us?"

She wanted to add something to her question, but she didn't.

Why didn't you say goodbye to us..?

Why didn't you say goodbye to me..?

He sighed deep, closing his eyes for a moment, before he opened them again. They seemed just a bit watery.

"There was no time for that."

Sylvie shook her head..his words cutting into the scars that were already there. The scars she had covered perfectly fine with pretending to be perfectly fine.

"Seriously, Loki?

The enchantress was hurt and she had no intention to hide it anymore.

Screw all the jokes and the fake restraint.

Time for honesty.

"I think you had enough time. You know I didn't lose my memory after the loom was destroyed in the first place, right? Didn't it come to your brilliant mind once that I may remember our last conversation, too?"

Her green eyes bore into his blue ones, not hiding anything, letting it all flood her and directly to him.

"Do you know how hard it is to feel grateful beyond all measure for you saving my life and all of reality when at the same time I just want to kick your godly ass and scream in your face how much of an asshole you are for locking us out and making this shit decision alone!"

The god closed his eyes, which made Sylvie even more furious.

Now she was all in.

"Come on, Loki, what about that silver tongue of yours? Cat got it?"

Her voice became louder and every word was full of raw emotion now. The intensity of it shocked even her.

She hadn't noticed but his hands were balled into fists now, the timelines around him reacting, quivering. His eyes remained closed but his lips were pressed into a thin line now.

"Did it occur to you, that it was the only option, after.."

Sylvies eyes on the other hand were glimmering with anger now, ready to fight.

"Say it, Loki. For god's sake, just say it."

"After you freed the timelines."

She nodded, the smile on her lips now full of bitterness.

"There it is. Tell me, god of never-shutting-up, why did you wait so long before flapping this in my face?!"

He hadn't. Not once.

Not even when the loom was exploding. She thought that she had done the right thing in killing He who Remains and most of the time it still felt right..but everything that happened afterwards had cast a larger and larger shadow over her decision and the bigger the shadow grew the bigger grew the unspoken mass between the two gods.

And in this very moment she realized how much she had wished he had confronted her with it.

Not him argueing with her about her walking away after giving everyone free will or about how much they should intervene for good or letting Victor Timely behind the curtain..no

Confront her about her killing the man in charge in the first place, telling her how stupid she had been, how she had also betrayed him, kissing him and then kicking him through the timedoor..

She had wanted him to shout at her how her own selfish decision was turning everything into a desaster..wanted to tell her how betrayed he felt.

"Do you care about anything than the TVA?"

Away from the TVA, away from the greater good, away from two gods arguing about free will..

And back to two people caring for each other.

Kissing each other..

Betraying each other because of the high stakes around them..

And then never speak about it again.

When Loki opened his eyes, she saw tears in them..tears of hurt, but also tears of anger.

"What do you want to hear? You persisted that you did the right thing. Nothing I could have said would have changed that."

"Would be the first time that stopped you from speaking your damn mind."

His voice was full of emotion and it almost broke as he answered.

"But that wasn't about you and me anymore, Sylvie, don't you understand? This was about the greater good!"

The greater good..

"Maybe it should have been about you and me."

There it was. Cat out of the bag.

No turning back now..

"Can you imagine how much I just wished we had time to talk? Not about the damn TVA or Victor Timely or the temporal loom but about everything that went wrong between us?!"

The goddess of mischief breathed heavy and for a moment there was silence.

The gods eyes had widened and in them there was..irritation?

Disbelief?

"You kissed me because you needed a distraction."

Thank god she remembered the words he had spoken to her during their fight at the citadel.

"Really, that's what you think of me? After all this time..sure, why not, evil Sylvies masterplan comes together."

They simultaniously grinned at that, a mixture of amusement, bitterness and realization hang in the air. Her heart was beating like hell in her chest but there was no turning back now.

"That was not the reason I kissed you, Loki."

The disbelief was still there in his eyes, but also something else, too..a spark of bliss..

He hesistated for a long moment but it was clear where this was going..

"Then, why did you do it?"

His voice was barely a whisper while asking this big, important question.

"I don't know how to do this"

"I don't even know what we're doing"

Now Sylvie was lost of words. In that moment she wished the ground would swallow her up. She hadn't thought this throught.

To be honest, she hadn't thought at all. It just came out..had to come out.

And then she felt them, literally and metaphorically..

..cold feet.

"I..it's complicated.."

His eyes were full of agony, his voice a mixture of frustration, hope and disbelief.

"No, no, no, Sylvie..you're not fobbing me off with that now."

Don't let your guards down, Sylvie

"This is new for me"

It was..not just for him.

And now the mask of being perfectly fine crumbled. Everything crumbled.

Vulnerability rushed through every vein now..

Don't let your guards down..

But it was like a snowslide. Once kicked off, it couldn't be stopped.

Fight or flight..

Flight it is.

She slowly walked backwards..

And in that moment Loki did something out of reflex that he had never done before. With one hand he let go of the timelines.

And they stayed.

And glowed.

God and goddess froze in place and looked with wide, unbelieving eyes at the spectacle in front of them. The only sound was the little whispers of the branches, twisting and glimmering with green energy.

And then simultaniously they looked deep into each others eyes.

Longing..

And in that moment, with all the emotions..her walls came down and she rushed towards him.

Only to be stopped by the branches immediately. Before she even realized it she stumbled and fell, the timelines building up around her like a jungle.

"Fuck!"

For a moment she couldn't see him, they blocked her sight..they were everywhere, whispering, forcing her to stay in place.

Protecting their king.

She felt ridiculous, speaking to the branches and particularly because was almost pleading now.

"Let me through, I'm not going to harm him..or drag him away from his precious throne.."

But she wanted to..she wanted to pull him away from that thing, detangle him from this self- imposed destiny, scream a thousand malices at him, slap him in the face..and then press her goddamn lips against his.

But all she got was a jungle of timelines surrounding her and a gush of frustration.

"Common, Loki. Summon your branches back..I can't see anything."

A few moments passed before the chaos slowly cleared up. She began to see him as he was grabbing the branches again, "Thank you very much"

For a few seconds there was that glimpse, before he seemed to remember something. The god of stories sighed long and deep and his eyes turned into something which could be described as sad acceptance.

"It's okay...and it doesn't matter anymore..things are how they are. Besides, I'm not going to stand in your way, Sylvie. I meant what I said back then at the citadel. I want you to be okay, to be happy.."

Sylvie knitted her brows, not understanding why he brought that up now.

"What the hell are you talking about, Loki?"

There was something he didn't want to tell her, she felt it, some information, some realization.

It hang between them.

"Spit it out, Loki."

He took a deep breath, clearly hesistating, before he answered, "I saw you..outside the tavern..kissing her"

Sylvies eyes widened, "What?!..You saw me?"

Now it made sense that he wasn't surprised when she told him about Thor.

The enchantress sighed, her lips forming a bitter grin. She felt embarassed, exposed..and reacted defensive, "So, that's how it's gonna be from now on? You, sitting there on that throne you promised you wouldn't even want, stalking me? Well, that's just great.."

Sylvie trowed her arms up in frustration, walking back and forth, "Well, if your highness had waited just a few seconds longer.."

She was already bracing herself to end this sentence.

Do the one thing she hadn't done once in her life until now and looked deep into Lokis eyes.

And there she saw it..

He had already come to a conclusion, made up his mind, building his walls back up..the walls carried by countless branches, excessive heroism, misguided protectiveness and self told purpose..

So be it.

She had walls, too.

And they could be solid as stone.

"Nevermind.."

This time she was totally fine as the scene started to fade before her eyes.

In fact, it was perfect timing.

She had to say one last thing before she woke up, though.

"Do me a favour, Loki, and stop stalking me."

Hey fellas, chapter 11, yaaay =)

I hope you like the re- reunion of our lovable, stupid, complicated chaos gods..or sigh and facepalm in frustration, like me..as much as I love them, at the moment I just want to take those two idiots and shake them vigorously..

Please Review! I need to know if I'm doing it right :)

Mysecretgarden95 ~ Omg, thank you soo much! I'm glad the conversations are relatable and not too much..I read about the Sylvie/ Verity friendship in another story and it inspired me and well, Mobius and Sylvie - I just love these two together. The snarking (but also caring), the honesty. I hope so much, that we see them again. I'm sure about Owen Wilson, he's an absolute Fan- favourite, but please bring Sylvie back, too!

When I read "You write Mobius perfectly! It felt so much like listening to Owen Wilsons actual voice, it's impressive" - I think my heart skipped a beat! =) I think so, too (about the father figure part). Recently I saw Fanart where Mobius spreads his arms and hugs them both, it's perfect!

Kelly of the midnight dawn ~ Thank you! Oh yes, I love that she's so warmly accepted by Thor, she absolutely deserves it - and I think it's good for him, too =) Is it the watcher? Hm..maybe, maybe not..it's hard to tell because of the shadow- thing..we'll see, I guess ;)

I hope you enjoy the next chapters as well.

"Happy reading!" (Miss Minutes)