The next morning, Loki awoke to Asta smiling at him.

"Well, good morning, sleepy head," she whispered.

"Good morning, my love. What time is it?"

"It's 8:00. You looked so tired that I just couldn't wake you."

"I do appreciate that. But we'll need to get up and moving now."

"Are you ready to go now?"

"No, darling. As I said, I need you to be completely at ease. Well rested and well fed. I don't want your sugars dropping or an ill-timed stomach growl to interrupt us."

Asta nodded, a little disappointed that they weren't going to fix her right at that moment.

He noticed, of course, and tapped her nose with his finger. "Don't pout. I'm certain your dad has made pancakes and then we shall begin. Yes?"

"Yes. Let's get going then!" She grabbed his arm and began to pull him out of bed with her.

Loki grinned and waved his hand, changing their pajamas into black and green sweats for her and black soft pants for him and a long sleeve green shirt for him.

"Sneaky," she giggled. "C'mon!"

They hurried down to Tony's apartment kitchen where they did indeed find him making pancakes.

"Well, there's the Laufeysons," he said as he flipped a pancake onto the waiting stack. "Thought you two may have gotten lost."

Asta took a seat (her usual chair, strangely). "No, just making sure we're well rested, apparently."

"Being careful is a good thing," Pepper said as she entered with Morgan. "A certain other Stark could use that information."

"I feel attacked," Tony said as he brought the stack to the table. "Morgan, save your poor dad."

"Nope. Mommy's always telling you to be more careful. And Mommy knows best."

"It appears you've met your match, Stark," Loki said with a raised eyebrow as he reached for the pancakes.

"Careful, Rock of Ages, I could deny you breakfast privileges."

The god of mischief smirked. "Then how would I possibly be ready to try to reverse Asta's amnesia?"

Morgan beamed. "You're gonna fix Asta?"

"Well, nugget, it's my intention. I do hope to be able to."

"You can do it. True love fixes everything."

Loki made a few fireworks burst safely over Morgan's head. "Thank you, Morgan. Your confidence inspires me."

Morgan giggled as she watched the colors fall around her.

Breakfast was eaten in relative silence. The conversation was mostly driven by Morgan. But once they were finished, Pepper took Morgan to her room and Loki took Asta to their room. Tony joined them.

"Asta, make yourself comfortable on the bed. I shall join you in a moment," Loki instructed. He turned to Tony. "Once I have her in the trance, get Wanda. If something goes wrong, I would like her assistance. But I don't want Asta to see her beforehand. She needs to be completely relaxed."

"Got it," Tony replied.

Loki turned back to Asta. "Ok then, my love. Let's begin. I shall start by putting you under a bit of a spell. This will keep you relaxed and make things easier for me to enter your mind. Do I have your permission for that?"

"Of course, Loki. Whatever you need."

He sat next to her and took a deep breath. "Very well. I shall see you in there, my dove." He placed his hands on either side of her head and gently coaxed her into a deep sleep. He then turned to Tony. "Fetch Wanda. I hope to not need her, but I don't wish to take any chances."

Tony hurried off and Loki looked back to Asta. "Now, my princess, let's finally free you."

He touched her head with as much of his hands as he could and focused on her mind. Loki felt the pull as his consciousness merged with his wife's.

Loki looked around and it seemed as if he was in a garden. No, not just any garden…

"My mother's garden?" he asked himself.

He walked a bit until he came to a huge wall—one that had never been in Frigga's garden. It was there that he heard crying. And saw his dearest Asta sitting at the top of the wall. Her knees were to her chest and her face rested on them.

"My love!" he yelled as he ran to her.

"Loki?" she whimpered as she looked up then down to him. "You're here!"

"Of course, my darling. I'm here to get you back."

"My knight in shining armor!" Asta replied with a small grin.

"Well, I prefer your king-to-be in Asgardian leather, but tomayto-tomahto."

She sniffed a giggle, but then sighed. "I can't think straight. And I don't know where I am."

"And I'm going to fix that. But I believe that I shall need your help."

"My help? I can't even remember myself sometimes here. How in the nine realms can I be of any assistance?"

"Come down to me, my princess. I know you can do this."

"It's too high, Loki! I can't do it!"

"I will catch you, darling. I will always catch you!"

Asta tilted her head. She felt the fogginess returning to her brain. But she couldn't lose him when he was right there.

"Ok, but please catch me!" she said before tentatively pushing off of the wall. She fell for what felt like an eternity, but finally felt the strong arms of her love. She looked up into his sparkling green eyes.

"I told you so," he said with a grin as he put her on her feet.

Asta squinted as she desperately tried to hang onto who this man was.

"We need to hurry. I'm feeling fuzzy again."

Loki nodded with resolve. "Very well. Do you know how to use your powers here?"

"My powers? What powers?"

"Damn," he muttered. He put his hands to her head again and sent the tiniest of sparks to her mind. "Did that clear things up for you?"

Asta shook her head. "A little. Enough at least to make this work. What do you need me to do?"

"This block is bigger than I expected. I'll work to break it down, but I'll need you to work your healing powers as well."

He held out his hand and she took it immediately.

"Do you trust me, my darling?" he asked.

"With everything I have."

Loki nodded and put his other hand on the wall. In an instant, she felt him drawing her power from her and using it to help dissolve the mental blockade. She felt lightheaded from the drain and leaned her other hand on the wall as well. Asta tried to push her power to help. She looked over and saw the sweat forming on Loki's brow. She was fairly certain that she had never seen him break a sweat, not like this. Asta steadied herself and leaned in further. She had to help him, she just had to.

Suddenly, there was a great shaking and the wall cracked.

"Asta!" Loki called over the rumbling. "My love, it's working! Keep pushing!"

She screamed as she pushed all her power into his hand and let him channel it as he needed. The rumbling and shaking increased. Asta began to fear that this might not work and they would both be trapped here. But soon, there was a great explosion and she found herself on the ground. Loki threw himself on top of her and raised one hand into the air. Asta saw the shimmer of the green shield he conjured and hoped it was strong enough for all that was falling.

Finally, it was quiet. Loki collapsed on top of her. Asta reached up to check his pulse. She was relieved to feel the beating.

"I'm here, my love," he muttered against her shoulder. "No need to check."

"Well, you can't blame me."

"Perhaps not." He pushed himself up and sat beside her. "How are you feeling, my dove?"

Asta sat up as well and looked around. The garden was completely undamaged and it was sparkling with green and gold. Their willow tree was visible now.

"I'm feeling strange, but better. How are you?"

He chuckled. "Like I could sleep for a decade. But, did it work?"

Asta smiled. "I think it did. I don't feel that fog returning and the pressure is gone. I can't believe you did it!"

"We did it, my love. We did."

"So, how do we get out of here? We need to wake up again."

"I need only to sever the connection. You need to bring yourself to consciousness."

"But I need your help!"

"My light, you don't need me for anything. Once I break our connection, you need only will yourself to wake up. And as one of the strongest people I know, I have complete faith that you can do it. Believe in yourself, as I do." He lunged forward and kissed her hard. "I shall be right there when you wake. Don't keep me waiting any longer," he added with a wink.

"I'll see what I can do, troublemaker."

"By the norns, it's such a relief to hear you call me that." He kissed her quickly again. "I love you."

And with that, he disappeared.

Asta looked around. It didn't surprise her that her subconscious would use Frigga's garden as an appropriate background. She smiled at the tree in the distance and closed her eyes. She thought of nothing but returning to Loki. Suddenly it all went black.