Summary:

A delicate film of tears began to form in Sylvie's eyes, which she could no longer hold back.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to.."

Her voice trailed off in mid-sentence and she saw Loki's smile as her gaze kept wandering to his lips.

~~~

His appearance was characterized by a matter-of-factness that intimidated her against all her ironclad resolutions.

He didn't need this mask to hide behind it.

There was no insecurity, no trace of skepticism or restraint.

His face was certainty personified.

~~~

With each spoken word, Sylvie's throat became a little drier, her eyes continued to widen.

"You killed He who Remains and by doing that, freeing all realities..that makes you the mother..."

Her throat was dry as the desert by now, her head spinning.

Mobius was right, it wasn't like her dreams.

It was incomparable.

As she climbed up the stairs to the End of Time, the floor lit up with every step she took.

Green lights combined with purple sparks and golden veins that permeated everything.

Even the whispers that filled the atmosphere was in no way similar to the last breath of life from dying branches..it was alive, all-encompassing, universal.

Like the buzzing of thousands of bees, a busy café at lunchtime..

The surf of the ocean..

With every step she took, her knees became weaker, but at the same time her gait became steadier and Sylvie had to be careful not to fall over her own feet in amazement.

At that moment, she thought back to their walk to the citadel together.

It brought back vivid memories and yet everything was different now.

What had previously seemed rigid and static around the citadel, despite the movement and glow of the Sacred Timeline, had now become a reflection of life. Even the golden threads in the rock regularly lit up, seemingly coming to life in their own way.

But all of this was just a sideshow.

With every meter she walked, the tree grew bigger and bigger, its imposing nature becoming ever clearer.

Everything spread out before her eyes and yet remained mysteriously hidden at the same time. It was impossible to see all the way down to the roots or up into the crown. Just as the dense foliage of a real tree protected its fruits and inhabitants, the tree of the multiverse protected itself and its hidden treasures.

And the most important of them all sat in its center.

Her steps slowed until she finally came to a halt.

She was here.

She was really and truly standing before him.

The god was sitting so high up that it was almost impossible to see more clearly. What she could see, however, was that he was moving.

Loki was awake.

And he could see her.

Her eyes were transfixed on the man and the spectacle that was about to begin.

The branches, which had already parted in their midst, now began to carry him downwards, similar to what had happened in her dream.

As the throne slowly descended, she feared more and more that she would faint at any second.

Or that everything would suddenly blur before her eyes and she would wake up in her bed.

But neither of these things happened.

The moment blue eyes met green, she was flooded with so many emotions at once that she had to fight not to burst into tears immediately.

And since her eyes were already getting moist and she wasn't the queen of sarcasm for nothing, she quickly turned her attention to what she was good at.

"I like to repeat myself again.."

Her voice was uneven and the lump in her throat felt like one of the angular rocks on her way to him.

"..don't think just because you're sitting in this chair that I'm going to kneel before you.."

When she heard his relaxed laughter, the last butterflies in her stomach awoke from their slumber.

"Don't worry, I've left that phase behind me," he replied with a grin, but in a raspy voice.

It reminded her of the conversations with him from her dreams.

Sylvie pointed to her own neck, grinning mischievously, "Remind me to bring you some throat drops next time..must be really strange for you to not move your mouth all the time."

Loki responded to her lovingly teasing statement with an equally challenging gaze, "Then I guess it's all the better that you're here now."

As he replied, god and goddess looked deep into each other's eyes and it became clear that they both still couldn't believe what was happening.

"You're really here.." he picked up on her incredulous thoughts in a low voice.

"I am really here.." the enchantress confirmed, but that didn't take away the surreality of it all.

"How?" he asked, "how did you..how did you get through the gate?

"Quite the ego, Laufeyson," the goddess remarked, raising both eyebrows flirtatiously, "as if you're the only one with multiversal magic tricks up your sleeve."

After a moment of shared laughter, Sylvie added, "To be honest, it was all trial and error and could just as easily have gone wrong..although Casey was pretty convinced from the start."

She slowly took a few steps forward, further towards him.

With every meter, she noticed how the branches became more restless and finally stopped.

"Mobius was more critical..by the way, I'm supposed to give you regards from our favorite analyst. However, I'm afraid that if he doesn't get to see you in person anytime soon, he'll go on hunger strike."

Loki's resounding laughter filled the entire atmosphere around them, while at the same time a pleasant warmth spread through Sylvie.

"Mobius and hunger strikes..that's something we absolutely cannot allow!"

As he spoke, Sylvie watched the branches he was continuously connected to.

The image was very similar to what she had seen in her dreams. However, she could now clearly see that they were not only slipping through his hands, but were also connected to his cloak and the throne he was sitting on.

They wound around his body, over his arms, his legs.

"Isn't that kinda..strange?" the goddess asked, pointing to the constantly winding timelines.

"You get used to it," Loki replied and stroked the surface of a branch, "quite fitting really..they're like snakes. And I've always felt a connection to them."

"Maybe.." Sylvie shrugged her shoulders, "I've never understood the fascination with these animals. I'm more of a cat person."

Although she enjoyed every word of their exchange, her mind was constantly preoccupied with the question of how close she could get to him before the branches would block her.

Or would they even?

This wasn't a dream, was it?

And at least she had managed to get here.

Maybe she could even..

"Would you.." Loki began, clearly able to read minds, "would you like to come here?"

She looked skeptically at the god and pointed at the branches, "Can I..will they let me?"

Now it was Loki's turn to shrug his shoulders, but his gaze reflected something very different from serenity.

Something they both wanted so badly.

"We'll only see when we try.." he winked at her, "or have you become the scaredy-cat of the two of us?"

"You wish!" Sylvie replied, although she had to admit that she was nervous beyond belief.

Step by step, she walked towards the god, while they looked into each other's eyes incessantly.

The branches moved faster, became more restless, but against all her fears and Loki's uncertainty, which she could clearly see in his eyes, the timelines didn't stop her, letting her through..

..until she finally stood before him.

With soft knees and a pounding heart.

"Hi"

Loki's voice made its way through the flood of emotions rollercoastering through her body..not to mention her heartbeat..

..which she could now literally feel from her toes to every fingertip.

"Hi"

Just like a few days ago in the streets of Oklahoma, she was standing in front of him.

Only this wasn't a projection.

Completely overwhelmed and having no idea where to go with all her excitement, she started babbling.

"That robe looks really good on you..I like it more cozy too..I mean, who says it always has to be tight leather?! And the shoes are extra..but we really need to talk about those horns..I mean they are impressive, yes..but seriously, Loki, you know what they say about men who.."

"Sylvie"

Her name on his lips interrupted the nervous rant, but that wasn't what took her breath away..

..it was his hand, which had closed around hers.

"I want to touch you so badly.."

His hand..

"That makes two of us."

..on hers.

"You can really let go of the branches.."

Her own words sounded surreal..like they were coming from far away.

"For a few moments, yes.."

His soft whisper as well..

Completely perplexed, the enchantress stared at the two hands, his delicate yet strong fingers, the veins that spanned the back of his hand, the green fabric of his robe sleeve..

Then she looked up and their eyes met.

"Where was I?" Sylvie's voice was no more than a whisper.

"You talked about my horns..and what that says about me as a man.."

She stroked the back of his hand with her index finger and he also began to move his fingers, gently caressing her delicate skin.

"That's right, the horns.." she repeated without really being conscious of speaking, completely absorbed in the moment and what was happening here.

Unconsciously, she had come even closer to him in the meantime..so close that their faces were only an arm's length apart.

She let her gaze wander over his unmistakable face..the high cheekbones, which were now even more prominent..his distinctive nose, the delicate wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes.

His eyes..

Deep blue mirrors into his soul..

Mirrors in which a whole ocean of emotions were reflected at that moment.

She wasn't even really aware of what she was doing next..not until she saw her hand moving towards his cheek.

Remembering what had happened in Oklahoma, she half expected to slide through him this time too.

But that didn't happen.

Her hand didn't go through, instead it snuggled right up against his skin. Skin that was rough and covered in the fine crust she had seen in her dreams.

But none of that mattered.

Touching him was indescribable..

While the two demigods looked so deeply into each other's eyes that everything else around them became completely insignificant..

..their faces came closer and closer.

A delicate film of tears began to form in Sylvie's eyes, which she could no longer hold back.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to.."

Her voice trailed off in mid-sentence and she saw Loki's smile as her gaze kept wandering to his lips. The hand that had previously held hers was now resting on her lower back while her own stroked his cheek.

She felt and saw how the branches gradually gathered around them both, embracing them in their midst.

A curtain of green lights..

Whispers of approval..

Heads tilted, so close she could feel his breath on her skin..

Eyes closed while lips opened..

"That makes two of us.."

The moment their lips finally touched..

..a massive force pulled her down..

..letting her hit the ground with full force.

"What the..?!"

In shock and completely disoriented, Sylvie raised her head and looked directly into the eyes of the man she had recently met in an unpleasant way and would have preferred to forget immediately..

Dr. Stephen Strange.

This simply couldn't be true..

"You!!"

Bewilderment spread through her..what the hell was going on here?

"Yes, I'm sorry, the landing wasn't supposed to be this..uncomfortable," he commented, unable to hide the slight amusement behind his beard and smugness.

The rage boiling inside Sylvie was so strong that she wanted to plunge her dagger into the wizards guts, who had turned around in the meantime and was now walking a few meters in front of her.

"I should be somewhere else right now!"

She didn't have the slightest idea where they were, she only knew two things.

That this wasn't a normal place at all. Everything around them was bathed in unnatural white..there were no objects, no sounds, not a soul.

"What is this?! Where are we?"

And what was even worse..

..she was no longer there.

She could still feel the touch of his lips, his hand stroking hers.

For a fleeting moment, she had experienced what peace felt like..a turbulent ride of emotions with a thousand wildly fluttering butterflies..

And yet at the same time this deep feeling..

..the certainty of being at home.

And now she was standing here in this wasteland of nightmarish, white nothingness, in front of her a second-rate wizard with the style of a circus ringmaster and the arrogant attitude of ten Asgardian gods..and she just wasn't having it.

Abruptly, she stopped walking, her entire body under enormous tension.

"You're going to stop right now and tell me where we are!!!"

Strange turned to face her and at the sight of his arrogant, condescending gaze, her anger rose immeasurably.

"We are in a place called 'The Limbo'," he explained in a calm voice..far too calm and completely unacceptable. A hand gesture later, she found herself sitting in a chair opposite him.

"Come again..the what?!"

"The Limbo," the mage repeated, as if she simply hadn't heard him audibly, instead of completely and utterly doubting the word he had just used.

"It's a world in-between, if you like."

"In between what?" the goddess continued to ask, feeling her patience growing shorter and shorter, "why the hell are you dragging me here?"

Strange sighed, putting his elbow on the armrest of the chair and his hand on his head.

Was that gesture this man's trademark?

"If you'd let me finish, I could explain."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, clearly convinced that she was going to interrupt him again. But Sylvie merely leaned back in the chair he had conjured up and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Well, then.." he began, "we're on the threshold between all worlds, so to speak. No one can follow us here, no one can track us down. This place is only accessible to powerful magicians."

"Ah.." Sylvie replied, who had already heard enough, "you mean like the place we landed the other day thanks to you? Tell me, do you enjoy showing up unexpectedly in mysterious places, giving sermons and getting on everyone's nerves? Maybe you should think about joining the church.." she cast a disdainful glance at his cloak, "..or alternatively telling fairy tales at children's birthday parties."

For a moment, her statement seemed to throw him off balance, but a second later he had regained his composure again. A small smile began to spread across his face.

"Look, Miss Laufeydottir, we're here for a reason and I have no interest in arguing with you."

Sylvie snorted, "Then why are you dragging me away from the best moment of my entire life..to this place?!"

He took his arm off the chair and leaned towards her.

"To protect you."

As she stood a few feet away from his throne, she wondered if this would be her life from now on.

A messenger, doomed to report at the foot of powerful men sitting in oversized chairs.

Then she remembered a saying she had once read in a well-known Epic, 'Sometimes you have to serve in order to lead'

So this too was just another step, a temporary inconvenience, on the way to her goal.

"Come here," she heard his voice, muffled by the mask.

He was considerably smaller than she had imagined, but the penetrating, commanding voice and his overall demeanor easily made up for that. His muscular body was clad in silver armor, the green cape covering his shoulders and part of his head.

Nothing about his person or his habitus cast doubt on his power.

As she stood before him, barely two arm lengths away, she felt the cold shiver that his presence sent down her spine.

A fact she cursed.

"So he'd rather send his servant than show up here himself..I wonder what that says about him?"

Ravonna swallowed her anger at what he had just called her and looked through the silver mask into the eyes she could see behind it, "He sent me to show you something.."

She took the device from her pocket that contained the hologram.

"..and to team up."

In one smooth motion, he rose from his throne and Ravonna had to force herself with all her might to stand firm and not flinch away from him.

"And what is YOUR mission, messenger of Rama-Tut? What's in it for you?"

Ravonna straightened her uniform while her body kept up the tension. Her eyes showed the determination of a woman who would go to extremes to achieve her goals.

"I want to restore order to the chaos conjured up by a gang of terrorists. I want a rightful ruler for the multiverse."

When he pulled the mask from his face in a quick, completely unexpected gesture, Ravonna flinched. His appearance was characterized by a matter-of-factness that intimidated her against all her ironclad resolutions.

He didn't need this mask to hide behind it.

There was no insecurity, no trace of skepticism or restraint.

His face was certainty personified.

And it was well known.

It was the face of a man she had seen many times before on many branches..but never in this way.

This was no Avenger standing before her, but an Emperor.

And his penetrating, merciless gaze pierced marrow and bone.

"And the multiverse will have its rightful ruler!"

Sylvie couldn't believe what she was hearing. A thousand question marks buzzed through her head.

"And what could you possibly want to protect me from?"

Strange looked at her for a moment before he began to make movements with his hands in the air.

Still angry and yet with a certain curiosity due to the situation, she watched him as his hands created something in front of both their eyes with a series of wiping and sliding movements.

It took a few seconds before she realized that it was a planet that was now spinning in front of them.

After they had observed the round celestial body for a few moments, the mage wiped his hands again, whereupon the planet shrank to pea size and thousands more miniature planets appeared around it.

Sylvie raised an eyebrow as her anger slowly turned to annoyance, "What is this, an astronomy lesson? Should I get out a pad and pen? Are we going to write a test afterwards?"

Strange looked at her, shaking his head, "You're insufferable..even more insufferable than your male counterpart."

The goddess grinned at him with a poorly suppressed grin.

"Ditto."

Still shaking his head, the planets began to condense and finally coalesce into the shape she knew all too well..a green timeline.

He waved his hand in her direction, causing the timeline to appear directly in front of her. Sylvie's eyes widened as she looked closely and recognized the individual planets in the winding structure.

"Yes, look at it closely. YOU created this," Strange commented on her fascination, which then turned directly back into anger.

"Are you going to lecture me again about how I could have done that..throwing everything into chaos just because I didn't want little children to continue to see their realities crumble to dust before their eyes?"

But the mage simply shook his head, "No, we're past that now. We can no longer change what has happened and it probably had to happen at some point. I'm here to explain what that means."

Sylvie had by now gone back to sitting with her arms crossed as Strange swiped again and the single timeline suddenly became many and finally formed the shape she knew.

Yggdrasil..

Loki..

"That's exactly where I should be right now.." Sylvie whispered regretfully.

Strange ignored her statement and instead began to enlarge the lowest part of the tree, its origin, with his fingers, "What anchors a tree to the ground?"

Sylvie couldn't help but laugh at this stupid question.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," he replied, enlarging the source, the lowest branches even further, "of course it's roots that anchor a tree to the ground. But what anchors the largest and most powerful tree that carries the entire multiverse within it?"

As Sylvie was about to answer, Strange raised a finger, "And I don't mean who or what holds it TOGETHER."

The goddess took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, "The roots of infinity?..Planted in the sacred soil of stardust?..Imbued with the blood of immortal..unicorns?"

But instead of sighing or calling her 'insufferable' yet another time, the wizard remained deadly serious and pointed to small glowing dots that could only be seen when magnified many times.

One such dot could be seen on each of the countless branches.

"What roots every single universe, stabilizes it, is something we call an 'Anchor Being'. Every universe has one of these. If the Anchor Being of a branch dies, the entire timeline eventually dies."

Sylvie nodded, but still didn't understand why she was here.

"As fascinating as that is.." her gaze wandered over the branches and the dots, "..but what does it have to do with me? Why are you showing me this?"

Strange wiped his hands vigorously one last time and instantly the whole demonstration disappeared before her eyes.

"You see, every universe has an Anchor Being, we've known that for some time. But now an unexpected and in a way disturbing component has been added. It turned out that it's not just the individual branches that need to take root, but the multiverse as a whole."

He looked directly at her now and she noticed that the arrogant façade, the condescension, had almost completely disappeared from his gaze.

"Your male counterpart, Loki Laufeyson, destroyed the Loom, resurrected the branches, bringing them together to form a tree..so you could call him the father of the multiverse, the 'God of Stories'..but if there is a father..and now it gets really poetic..then there must be a mother..a mother who carried the idea of free will, the spark of change in the first place..and that is why you are here, Miss Laufeydottir.."

With each spoken word, Sylvie's throat became a little drier, her eyes continued to widen.

"You killed He who Remains and by doing that, freeing all realities..that makes you the mother..."

Her throat was dry as the desert by now, her head spinning.

"You are the Anchor Being of the multiverse."

A/N:

Hey y'all,

so, FINALLY they met again =) I would love to hear what you think about the reunion of our two favourite chaos gods..and everything else of course!

Mysecretgarden95 ~ Omg, this parallel about Ravonna/Kang - Loki/Sylvie..I haven't thought of it but you're right! And to add another element to it - Before the show, before meeting Sylvie (and Mobius) and everything that happened there, Loki would have done the EXACT thing that Kang did - push everyone away, so that he could rule/have to throne to himself. And I also hate it when people say "In season 1 He Who Remains already offered them the throne and then season 2 ended with the same result" NO, it didn't!! At the end he destroyed the loom and didn't just save one single timeline, but THEM ALL!...but this is another topic Anyway, thank you so much for your comments and I'm so happy you like it!

Everyone else - Thanks for all the likes and reads..I would love to hear from all of you =)