Second Chances

Chapter 3

When Thor brings the three Lokis and Mobius to Asgard, they appear just outside the palace. TVA Loki is practically vibrating from excitement. He's never been so excited to be home. As far as he can tell, nothing has actually changed, but everything looks different through these rose-colored glasses.

He's home.

He's finally home.

As they walk, Thor in the lead, Loki looks over at Sylvie. She's looking all around the palace, her eyes wide with awe. He smiles to himself. Nothing makes him happier than seeing her happy. This centuries-long fight of hers is finally wielding its prize.

"Do you remember the palace?" he asks her.

She looks up at him and gives a minute shake of her head. "I didn't. Not really. But now that I actually see it..."

"It's all coming back to you?" he guesses, and she nods. "Is it everything you'd hoped it would be?"

"It's better," she says. "It's so nice to be back."

"It is, isn't it?" he agrees. It's nice to be back for the both of them.

Thor glances over his shoulder at them. "Sylvie, do you not remember Asgard? I thought you grew up here. You filled Loki's role in your timeline, did you not?"

"I did," she says. "But it's been a long time."

"Ah," he says. "You remember your family, though." He says it more as a statement than a question, but the type of statement that requests confirmation.

She shakes her head. "Not much. I think I remember you most of all." A small smile graces her lips. "I remember you wouldn't give me the time of day when your friends were around. You were 'too cool' for me. But when they left, you'd sit down and play with my dolls with me. We used to fight over who got to save Asgard and who had to try to destroy it because we both wanted to be the hero."

Though Sylvie is clearly enjoying reminiscing on her past, Thor just looks confused. "You had a very different upbringing than my brother."

"What was his upbringing like?" She glances back at TVA Loki, giving either of them the chance to answer.

"More mischievous, for one," Thor says.

TVA Loki chuckles. "That one's a little obvious."

"I was pretty mischievous, too," Sylvie says. She perks up (not that she wasn't already enthused) as she begins telling a story. "There was this one time, right, where you were out with your friends, and I was bored so I turned myself into a snake and I followed you, and you were in the midst of your snake phase so you picked me up and —"

"And you turned back into yourself and stabbed me!" Thor finishes quickly, and he bursts out laughing, as do both Sylvie and Loki.

"How did you know that?" she asks, both dumbfounded and amused.

"I did the same thing!" Loki says excitedly.

"You did?" Sylvie laughs even harder, which is a big feat given how hard she was already laughing.

"And I still to this day think it was one of the funniest things I've ever done," Loki says proudly.

"I do not," Thor says, but the big smile on his face gives him away. "You didn't even bring a healing stone! I had to wait until --"

"It was ten minutes!" Loki and Sylvie say in unison, which just makes them laugh more.

"It was a painful ten minutes!" Thor says, though there are clearly no hard feelings.

"Not for me, it wasn't," Loki says teasingly.