The room had gone dark, and I felt a tug at my stomach. Everything seemed to bend around me, but it all snapped back in place when I opened my eyes. We were in a completely new area, but I could tell we were still in Asgard. I looked around and realized we were in some sort of forest.

My stomach still felt weird, so I leaned against a tree as the last meal I ate resurfaced.

"Great. Just g—" I bent over and threw up again. "I was fine just a second ago."

"It's a side effect of teleporting if you aren't used to it." I sensed a strain in his voice. I wiped my mouth and stood up once I was done doing throwing up. I walked over to Loki and met his gaze. I could tell he was on the verge of tears.

"Loki? Are you okay?"

"Okay? Am I okay?" He laughed, and it scared me. There was an emptiness in his voice, and it was as if something inside of him had snapped. "Oh, you ignorant little Valkyrie." He grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull it away, but it was a useless effort. "What does it even matter to you? You know nothing. You couldn't possibly fathom the pain this has brought me! You—"

"I what? I couldn't understand your pain? I beg to differ. Need I remind you that you put me through events worse than this? At least she's alive, Loki. My family, on the other hand, is dead. You killed them. So tell me, Loki, what exactly do I not understand?"

He dropped my wrist and backed away. He leaned his back against a tree and slid to the ground. I heard him sniffle and knew he was trying not to cry.

"Loki?"

"You're right. I had no right to accuse you of not understanding. I am sorry." He wiped his face. I slowly walked over and sat next to him. He wiped his nose and tried to stop the tears from falling.

"Hey," I said. "It's okay. I mean, everybody gets mad sometimes. Hell, getting mad was how I was able to use some of my Valkyrie stuff." He propped his head up on his knees.

"Really?" I nodded. "Hmm."

"What?"

"Nothing, just that I unlocked some of my capabilities through anger of not being able to do it."

"Well then, we have something in common." He smiled, and for a moment, I felt okay.

"Yes, I suppose we do." We sat there for a few minutes, in total silence. He took a deep breath and stood up, offering me his hand. He pulled me off the ground.

"So, now what?" I asked.

"We need to figure out where we are and what's around us." He looked around. "Can you fly up to check things out?"

I got ready to take off. Before I spread my wings, I remembered they were injured.

"I can't. I'm sorry." He looked puzzled but then realized why.

"Oh, right. Come here." He went around me to stand with my back facing him. He placed his hands on my shoulders, sending a shiver down my spine. "Spread them, if you will." I carefully opened my wings, trying not to hurt them. I cringed, realizing that I couldn't spread them all the way. "May I remove the bandages?"

"Why?"

"I just want to see. I will not hurt you."

"Okay, go ahead. Just... be careful." He unwrapped my right wing first, moving his hands delicately along with the bandages. He moved on to the left wing. His hand barely grazed a sore spot, and I inhaled sharply.

"Sorry. I'll try to be more careful." He continued until the rest of the bandages came off. "There we go. They are stunning," he said with wonder in his voice.

"They're fucked up." I could feel them bending awkwardly as I stood there. "Without the healers, it'll take them forever to heal correctly."

"Well, we won't have to worry about that much longer." I turned to face him, accidentally grazing him with some feathers.

"What do you mean?"

"Just turn back around." I did as he said, making sure not to hit him this time. "This might feel weird, possibly a bit painful, but do not worry." I started to worry.

He placed his cold hands on my back between the place where my wings emerged. They were cold, but soft.

"Hold still." I felt my wings rearranging. I could tell that he was healing them. I felt bones crack into place, and the feathers sorted back to normal. I was trying extremely hard not to cry. It was painful, but I was trying to focus on staying still.

Loki took his hands away. I didn't realize I had been holding my breath until I let it all out. I looked back at my wings. They had been restored to their former glory.

"Wow. That's... Thank you. I owe you one."

"Nonsense. Just let me see them in action." I nodded and took off from the ground. Everything rushed past in blurs of color. It felt amazing to be in the air again. My wings gave powerful strides and guided me through the sky. I eventually stopped and looked down. I memorized the layout well enough to be able to share it with Loki.

I took another minute to stretch my wings before descending back towards the ground. I landed beside Loki and tucked my wings back in.

"That felt great," I said.

"It looked great, as well. Your wings are absolutely stunning." I blushed as he stared at them in wonder. When he looked at me he must have seen me blush. He fiddled with his hands and looked towards the ground. "So, what did you see?"

"Hm?"

"Went you went up, what did you see?"

"Oh, right." I explained our surroundings, noting that most of it was trees. I made sure to tell him that I saw no end to the trees, either.

"Well, I suppose we should make camp for the night and sort this out tomorrow." I hadn't even realized how late it was. We had just enough daylight to at least try to prepare ourselves. I agreed, and we both began collection wood for a fire.

We piled our wood together, and Loki started the fire. We didn't have anything to sleep on, so we sat by each other. It was beginning to grow even darker. I could feel myself shivering but tried to ignore it.

"Here," Loki said as he put his jacket around my shoulders.

"Oh, no. You don't have to do that." He smiled and shook his head.

"No, please. I'm fine. It would be of more use to you."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me, I don't really need it." I gripped the fabric of the coat. I felt my eyes getting drowsy but refused to lay down. I don't know why, but I didn't want to fall asleep yet.

I looked at Loki, who seemed to be fighting sleep as well. Our eyes met, and he smiled gingerly.

"Come here." He motioned for me to get closer, even though we were already next to each other. I scooted a little, but he sighed and came the rest of the way. He placed his arm around my shoulders. "I vow to you, Lilith, I will not let any harm come to you. I shall protect you with my life."

I didn't know how to respond. He had vowed to protect my life. I wasn't sure if there was an appropriate response to that. I figured it was his way of saying he got me into this mess, so he'd get me out.

We sat in silence for a while. Eventually, I succumbed to my senses and fell asleep.