New memories

Chapter 23

After getting my brother and his friends out of the cell, we gather into the throne room. We are finally meeting the king of Alfheim. "I am grateful that you were able to save my son's life. We do apologize that you were forced to come here. Your brother's and his friends' arrival to our realm gave us an opportunity to get you here. I offer you my gratitude. We will be in great dept to you Halla, princess of Asgard. "I am glad that I was able to help you and your son. I do not understand why you needed to get me here by this ruse. You could have just asked our help.", I tell the king. He looks at me confused and answers, "We asked for Asgard's help few days ago, the counselor of the king denied our request.".

"What do you mean?", Thor asked the king, "My brother Loki, is the king of Asgard. He never told us that you have requested help. Loki wouldn't deny help. We were told that someone sent a call for help from this realm. We were told that someone was held as a hostage in here.". The king is looking at Thor with a surprised expression on his face. I look at Thor and we both realize that something has to be wrong in Asgard. Something is wrong with Loki.

"I do not know what is going on in your realm, but we are grateful for your actions and help in here. I cannot offer you much right now, but I promise that whenever you are in need for help, you can always turn to us.", the king tells me and Thor. He them signs someone to come closer. A female elf in an ethereal flowy dress carrying a jewelry box walks closer to Ellard. Ellard takes a necklace from the box. It is made from white gold. There is one celestial charm on the necklace. It looks like the Northern Star.

"This is the mark of our gratitude to you, lady Halla. It is called Elentári, 'the Queen of the Stars'. It will always show you the way home and the way to your loved ones. If you trust it, it will guide you on your journey.", the king tells me. Ellard steps behind me and puts the necklace on me. He then says something in elvish. "Yare tye maure, emme indóme n- tar.", Ellard says out loud. Only the elves and I know what he is saying to me. I don't see it, but I can sense that Bucky is getting little jealous. "Thank you, your highness.", I say to the king and basically ignore Ellard, because I think that it will help Bucky's feelings.

We say our goodbyes to the elves and leave to the aircraft. Ellard is walking us to the aircraft. I decided to walk close to Bucky so that he won't get more jealous. I hold his hand, and he asks me while looking at the back of Ellard's head, "What did he say to you, back in the throne room?". I tell him that it was nothing that the elves would be there for us if we need them. I don't think that it helps with Bucky's jealousy at all. Nat realizes the situation and tries to ask me what's wrong. I shake my head, and she realizes that it is nothing that she can help with.

Ellard is talking with Thor and Steve. "I don't know what is going on in Asgard, but it can't be anything good, if the prince of Asgard is deceived to leave on a dead-end quest.", Ellard says to them. Thor agrees with him. "We need to go home as soon as possible.", Thor tells me.

We get to the aircraft, but we do not head to Asgard. "We can't just go there. Something is wrong and we need to figure out what to do. We go back to the compound. You guys are still hurt and need rest. Besides, we could use some help.", I tell everyone. Nat puts the aircraft on autopilot to home. We keep talking about everything and soon enough, we are back at the compound.

I immediately go to see Nanna. I need to see that she is alright. I find her with Wanda, playing in the lounge. We all gather there, and when Nanna sees Thor, her face lights up. She starts to giggle and sign Thor that she wants him to pick her up. Thor picks her up and hold her gently in his arms. "I thought I told you not to grow when I am not here. You are getting big, little angel.", Thor tells Nanna and kisses her on her head. Sif looks at Thor and Nanna, and smiles. I catch that and at the same second Sif notices this. She smiles at me and continues looking at Thor.

We all take a breather. Steve calls Tony and tells him, what is going on. Soon after that, Tony and Peter appear to the compound. Tony seems mad that we went to Alfheim without him. Peter on the other hand is excited. "What was it like? Was it like in the Middle-Earth?", he asks. Everyone is looking at him like he is talking gibberish. I start to laugh and before I can say anything to him, Bucky responds to him, "You do know that Middle-Earth isn't real, it's only in books?". I look at Bucky and ask him, "How did you know that?". Steve tells us that they both read the Hobbit when it was first published. I can't believe what I am hearing. Sometimes I forget that I am married to a man that is actually about hundred years old. But on the other hand, if we are talking about Asgardian years, I think that I am about thousand years old, so I probably shouldn't judge.

Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three stayed for the night. After dinner we all went to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about Loki. Bucky is singing Nanna to sleep. It always surprises me how well this man can carry a tune of a 40's love song. And I guess like mother like daughter. Nanna seems to like Bucky's singing as much as I do. I keep staring at him and just smiling. And for a while I forgot every worry that I had. The moment just takes over me. After Bucky places Nanna to the crib to sleep, I ask him to keep singing. He humors me, and then he pulls me close to him and starts to lead me into a slow dance. We keep holding each other close, and he is singing to me. I look at him and he looks at me. We kiss and then keep dancing for a while.

We didn't get to the sleeping part immediately after the dance. We found ourselves from the floor all over each other. It was spontaneous, hot, and extremely satisfying. It wasn't just the situation, the singing or the dancing; I knew that part of it was Bucky trying to prove himself after the whole thing with Ellard and the necklace. I am not complaining. It felt too good. It still feels good. We are laying on the floor, facing each other, and just staring into each other's eyes. He looks like he just did some heroic thing, and I think that I am going to let this one go. He looks so cute when he is proud of himself. I smirk at him and move myself closer to him so that I am able to snuggle myself right next to him. He puts his arms around me, and we stay there for a while.

After some time, we decide that it would be more comfortable to sleep on the bed. We put some clothes on and cuddle under a warm blanket. And finally, I start to get sleepy. I rest my head on his chest and he puts his arm around me. We both drift into sleep. But I can't seem to sleep peacefully. It's not that I don't try or that Bucky is doing something. I think that now that we know that there is something wrong with Asgard, I am worrying about Loki. What is my brother doing right now? Is he alright? How can we help him? I wish that there'd be a way to contact him. I try to get some sleep. I know that soon we will save our home in Asgard.