"I eplehagen står møyen den vene. Og synger: Når kommer du hjem?" Loki sang.
Then he clapped his hands before turning back towards me. He placed his hands in mine before spinning me around. I let out a squeal as I held onto his hands. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked back at Loki, who smiled back at me. After what felt like several minutes, he released my hands.
"Men traner danser og fossene stanser. Når hun synger, hun synger, 'kom hjem...When she sings, she sings come. When she sings, she sings come home!" He exclaimed.
Once Loki finished singing, he lifted his glass. "To Storm, everybody."
I was taken back, not expecting him to dedicate the song to me. Everyone around Loki cheered and applauded. Loki then finished his glass before smashing it to the ground. "Another!"
Sylvie and Seda approached us at once. Sylvie wore a stern look. "You're drunk."
"No, I'm just full. But bear in mind, I'm very full." Loki corrected before turning to the counter of the bar table as he grabbed a plate containing a pastry. "Now, I need you to try this. It pairs very nicely with the Figgy Port."
Loki looked around. "Who's got the Figgy Port. You have to take my word on the Figgy Port."
"Where's your uniform? We're meant to be laying low." Sylvie reminded him before looking over at me. "And where's your dress?"
I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't even realize the dress was gone. I glanced down to see myself wearing suit that the TVA gave me along with the Variant jacket. Loki shrugged. "Nobody cares. It's the end of the world."
"I think something's happening." Sylvie replied.
"Yes." Loki confirmed before looking up at the ceiling of the train. "Uh, that planet is about to crash into us."
"Don't be an ass. I saw some people looking at you weirdly." Sylvie informed us.
My heart dropped. That wasn't good. Loki glanced over at Sylvie, taken back by her words as he blurted out. "What?"
He then dropped the plate, containing the pastry. Loki glanced down at the plate for a few moments before looking back up at Sylvie. He furrowed his brows. "When did you get so paranoid."
"It must've started when I spent my entire life running from the omniscient fascists you both work for." Sylvie retorted.
Loki let out a sigh. "It's a shame to let that go to waste."
"Are you seriously so worried about a piece of pastry?" Seda inquired.
Loki nodded. "Yes."
Seda shook her head. "You're a nerve burner."
Loki smiled. "Thanks."
"Uh, that's not a--" I began.
However, Seda cut me off. "No, it's a compliment. One of the highest."
Loki wore a grin before changing the subject. "Hey! Change of subject. I thought of an answer."
"To what?" Sylvie questioned.
"Your question." Loki answered.
I raised an eyebrow. "What question?"
"Love is a dagger." Loki mentioned as a dagger appeared in his left hand. "It's a weapon to be wielded far away or close. You can see yourself in it. It's beautiful. Until it makes you bleed. But ultimately, when you reach for it..."
Sylvie reached out to grab the dagger, when it vanished. "It isn't real."
"Yeah." Loki confirmed.
I stared at Loki in awe. What he described...that's how I felt about love, it was a perfect metaphor. Seda grimaced. Sylvie furrowed her brows. "Love is an imaginary dagger."
"Doesn't make sense, does it?" Loki asked.
"No. Terrible metaphor." Sylvie replied.
"Damn." Loki cursed. "I thought I had something there."
And I wasn't sure why, but instead of remaining quiet, I blurted out. "No, it's perfect. That's how I feel about love."
Loki's face softened at my words. He was about to say something as he opened his mouth, but the doors then opened. Guards approached us at once. Sylvie whispered. "Stay cool."
At that moment, the guard I used the mind trick on spoke up. "Sir, can I see your tickets?"
Loki chuckled. "You again. Hello. Um, tickets. Yes, of course. Here they are."
He then raised his left hand. From the palm of his hand, fireworks emerged. Loki grimaced. "Oops. Still, it looks lovely, doesn't it."
I fought the urge to cover my face with my hand. He's definitely drunk. The guards extended out their hands, prepared to grab us. Loki let out a sigh. "Look, is this really necessary? There is a simple explanation."
Two guards grabbed my arms. I narrowed my eyes, swinging my leg, knocking one of them to the ground. I then spun around to face the second guard, lifting my arm. My fist hit the side of his jaw, causing him to fall back behind the bar. A third guard approached me, raising a baton in his hand. I lifted my right hand, blocking his baton before swinging my left arm, hitting his stomach. He stumbled back towards Loki, who spun around before slamming his head against the bar table.
As we fought on, I glanced over to see Sylvie struggling against one of the guards. Loki aimed one of his daggers at them. However, he missed, hitting the wall centimeters away from Slyvie's face.
"Awful throw." She retorted.
"I got this." I assured them.
I then took out one of my vibro-knives from my belt before throwing it over at the guard, hitting his side. He let out a cry before stumbling back. Sylvie then whipped around, punching him in the face.
"I didn't need your help." Sylvie retorted.
"I believe the words you're looking for are you're welcome." I corrected with a smug look.
"Oh piss off!" She spat. "You're just as bad as Loki."
I merely rolled my eyes as I turned around, seeing several guards, throwing Loki out the broken window. My stomach dropped as I stared in horror.
"Loki!" I shouted out.
Without thinking twice, I ran towards the window, using the Force to throw back anyone in my way. Once I reached the window, jumped out, using the Force to cushion my fall. I landed beside Loki. Once we were all up on our feet, Loki glanced over at the train, which was now far from us.
"Well, that's not ideal." Loki commented.
Sylvie extended out her sword, pointing it at Loki. "Give me the TemPad."
"All right. All right. Okay." Loki said, raising his hands.
He then slowly reached for the TemPad behind his back. Green beams appeared in his hand. And as soon as the green beams were gone, we saw the TemPad, which was destroyed with sparks flying around. I grimaced. There's no way to fix that.
"Well, I did take quite the tumble." Loki pointed out.
"You asshole. You killed us." Sylvie rebuked.
"Maybe we can fix it. Okay? Um..." Loki trailed off as he tried to move some pieces around.
However, it crumbled apart as he accidentally dropped it on the ground. Well, there's no fixing that now, even if it had been possible. Sylvie glared at him. "You're not a serious man."
"You're right. I'm a god." Loki corrected.
"You're a clown." Sylvie protested. "You got drunk on the train."
"I'm hedonistic. That's what I do." Loki argued.
"I'm hedonistic. A lot more than you, I assure you. But never at the expense of the mission." Sylvie shot back.
"Oh, the mission?" Loki repeated. "The mission? What? Your glorious purpose? Give me a break. You can't beat them."
Sylvie shook her head before storming off. As she walked off, she clenched her fists, which were filled with green beams as she let out a scream. Seda narrowed her eyes. "You just don't understand, laserbrain."
Loki furrowed his brows. "Laserbrain?"
Seda stormed off, sitting next to Sylvie, looking just as frustrated. Loki and I exchanged a look. I didn't understand what this meant to them, but what they were doing, was it right? My stomach churned. The TVA allowed horrible events to occur, and why? And yet Seda and Sylvie were killing minutemen left and right. Who was right and who was wrong? Whose side do we choose?
"Okay..." Loki trailed off.
We then slowly made our way towards them. Once we sat down on a rock next to them, Loki then spoke up. "Did the...uh...scream, make you feel better?"
Sylvie gave Loki a glare before letting out a sigh. "Yes, it did. You should try it sometime."
We were then silent for a few moments until Loki spoke again. "What now?"
Sylvie shrugged. "I don't know. You broke the TemPad."
"Well..." Loki trailed off.
"And that planet is about to crash into us." Seda chimed in.
"Well, yes, but-" Loki began.
However, Sylvie cut him off. "Yes, but what?"
"Well, the entire moon is destroyed, right?" Loki asked.
"Yeah. And everyone on it is killed." Sylvie confirmed.
"Including us." Loki said.
Seda nodded. "Including us."
My stomach churned. Where was he going with this? Loki hesitated before responding. "What about the Ark?"
"The Ark never leaves because it's destroyed." Sylvie informed us.
"Never had us on it." Loki pointed out.
I then realized what he was going with this. It was a reckless plan, and who knows if it would work, but it's better than dying here. And besides his plan sounded like a plan that Anakin and I would come up with. My heart clenched as I thought of Anakin.
"So what? We hijack the Ark and make sure it gets off this moon?" Sylvie inquired.
"I mean, sounds like a good idea to me." Loki said.
"It sounds like a reckless plan to me..." I trailed off before giving it some thought. "All right, I'm in."
"Really?" Loki asked, looking shocked.
"Yeah. That plan is like the ones I would come up for missions and battles along with Anakin..." I informed him.
Loki then raised an eyebrow. I saw a frown appear on his face. "Who's Anakin?"
My face fell, remembering I never told about Anakin or about my friends from my galaxy. My mind then flickered back to the last image I had of Anakin.
Anakin struggled to keep himself out of the lava as he extended out his mechanical hand into the sand, pushing himself up, but failing, making his way down towards the edge of the lava river. Anakin narrowed his yellow eyes at Obi-Wan and me as he spat. "I hate you!"
Anakin's clothes were then ignited, making its way to his entire body. Anakin let out a scream of agony. Obi-Wan and I watched in horror. I felt my heart clench at the sight of Anakin engulfed in flames.
"He was one of my best friends..." I trailed off.
Fortunately Sylvie spoke up, standing up. "Okay."
Loki and I were surprised that she didn't protest. We glanced over at Seda, who let out a sigh. "Oh all right. Let's go and get this over with."
With that, we walked off towards the canyon, following the train tracks. For a while we remained quiet, Seda and I walked side by side with Loki and Sylvie right behind us. Then, Seda spoke up. "You know shouldn't be so hard on yourself. That glass you broke back on the train, it could've happened to anyone."
"And it does, but I'm not just anyone...I'm a Jedi. And a Jedi controls their emotions." I protested.
A Jedi must be in control, not allowing any emotions to dictate my actions. Sylvie then spoke up. "Do you always follow rules, especially this Jedi Code?"
I grimaced. No, I didn't. I broke the Jedi Code and multiple times. And I definitely didn't want Seda to discover that. So I changed the subject. "So Seda, when did you discover you weren't just an Echani and human?"
"My parents told me when I was just a child." Seda informed me.
My jaw dropped. "What? They told you?"
Seda nodded. "Uh, yeah. I'm guessing they didn't tell you."
"No, they didn't. Had to find out the hard way...through Jinx." I explained.
"How did Jinx find that out?" Seda questioned.
"Through Sidious." I answered.
Seda clenched her fists upon hearing his name. "Sidious...Just wait until I get my hands on him."
"Or he gets his hands on you." I pointed out. Seda's face fell. I immediately gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, it's just...you facing Sidious? It sounds impossible."
"Alone yes, but I'm not alone. And it's not like I have a choice. Like I mentioned before, Sidious is after me." She reminded me.
"I thought the TVA resets the timeline?" Loki asked. "Surely he can't remember what happened."
Seda let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, that's what happened. But unfortunately, Vorlega escaped from the TVA. So when the timeline was reset, she informed Sidious everything that had happened."
"I have no doubt he'll be searching you 'cause you ruined his plans. But he doesn't know about the timelines or about the TVA or exactly where you are. So you're safe." I stated.
I then glanced over at Loki, who made his way over to walk by my side. He raised an eyebrow. "You thinking of joining Sylvie and Seda on their little crusade?"
My eyes widened. "What? No, I...I was just curious. That's all."
I'm not sure if Loki believed me, but he didn't ask anything else. And we proceeded to walk on in silence until we decided it was best to rest. Seda informed us we had enough time so we could take a break to rest. We found a cave and decided to sit there, away from the meteorites.
Seda and I created a small fire for light and warmth. Seda had fallen asleep, while Sylvie sat next to her, keeping watch. As I glanced over at Sylvie, I thought of Jinx. She reminded me much of my older sister. Despite considering herself a lone wolf, Jinx would always watch over us, making sure Alotren, Maya, and I were all right. There's still good in Jinx, I know it. I sat at the front of the cave, looking up at the purple sky, watching as more meteorites dropped throughout the canyon.
"Want some company?" Loki's voice rang out.
"It would be much appreciated." I mentioned.
Loki sat down next to me on the ground. He then noticed the rose that I still had behind my ear. He was taken back. "You still got the rose."
"It's my favorite flower. Besides a very special person gave it to me." I informed him.
His face lit up as a smile grew on his face. "What a fortunate man."
I cracked a smile. "He's truly something, that's for sure."
I then glanced down at my hands, thinking of what Loki told me in the Time Theater. I remember how I didn't respond when he was comforting me. His words echoed in my head.
"I understand, trust me. But all you can do is accept what you've done. Believe me, you are not a monster...And if you are a monster, then so am I."
My heart clenched. I didn't think he's a monster, even if he did the things he did in the past. But I did things just as terrible as he did. And he was right, it was better if I just accepted what I did. So with that I said what I should've said at that moment.
"I've been thinking of what you told me in the Time Theater...You know you're not a monster, right?" I questioned. "I've seen your file, you die saving your family. You're a hero."
He couldn't save the future me as I was taken by Thanos and the others, but knowing me, I had a feeling that I was able to make it out alive, finding a way out of there. Loki then gave me a small smile. "Well, I could say the same about you, Storm."
I let out a scoff. Loki shook his head. "No I mean it, Storm. You were the only one who saw through my facade. You saw the real me when no one else did."
"Yeah, but that's your Storm you are talking about. Not me." I protested.
"But she's still you, Storm. You're the same person." Loki argued. "...If I hadn't intervened, then you would've gone to Midgard and eventually met the Avengers...and me."
"I'm glad you did intervene though." I admitted.
A smile appeared on Loki's face. "So am I. But seriously Storm, you mustn't think so lowly of yourself. You're a wonderful, smart, kind, generous, fun, and beautiful person. You are far from a monster. You've done so many incredible things. Just because you're a Dathomirian and a Sith pureblood doesn't define who you are. Embrace who this side of you, it's who you are."
My heart fluttered at his words. I didn't expect him to say such comforting and nice words to me. I returned his smile. "Thanks, but how do I know that this isn't just the alcohol talking?"
"I'm not drunk." He assured me. "Like I said before, I'm just full."
"Hmm, sure, you are." I replied, letting out a chuckle. "But, I do appreciate it, Loki...I feel better."
I then glanced down at my hands, and this time on my command, I turned my skin red. I looked back up at Loki, whose smile widened. "You look beautiful."
My own smile widened at his words, feeling my face heat up. He then changed into his Frost Giant form. I stared at him in awe. He did look like a Chiss, but there were some differences, like the markings on his face. He looked beautiful, he doesn't look like a monster to me. I fought the urge to reach out and touch his face. I watched as Loki grew insecure as I remained silent. He then turned his head away. I could feel his anguish, pain, fear, resentment, and anxiety all at once, causing my heart to clench. But before he could transform back into his human form, I blurted out.
"You know you're handsome in this form...Your original form."
At my words, I felt Loki's nerves and all his negative emotions diminish as he gave me a smile. Not wanting Loki to think that I've developed feelings for him, I quickly added. "But don't think that changes anything, Loki. You're still a nerf herder to me."
Loki let out a chuckle at my words. "Oh believe me, darling, I know."
And with that, we then remained silent, looking out at the sky. We didn't have to say anything, the silence was comfortable.
~Translations~
I eplehagen står møyen den vene. Og synger: Når kommer du hjem?----The fair maiden is in the apple orchard. And she's singing: When will you come home?
Men traner danser og fossene stanser. Når hun synger, hun synger 'kom hjem'---But the cranes dance and the waterfalls stop. When she sings, she sings 'come home.'