Mischief and Enchantments

Chapter 12: Embrace

Time seemed to stop.

The world seemed to fade.

And Loki could only see her.

He saw her wrap her arms around him and break down into tears.

This couldn't be real.

But it was.

There she was.

And so Loki accepted the first real embrace that he had received in years.

They fell to the ground and Loki pulled her closer, still in disbelief. He held her as if she might disappear any second. She was a lost treasure that he had finally found, and he didn't want to let her go.

Tears poured from Loki's eyes as he pulled Sylvie back to look at her. A wobbly smile came to her face as she met his gaze. Hesitantly, Loki touched her cheek to wipe her tears away. She leaned into his touch, her smile turning into a grin.

A laugh escaped Loki as he finally accepted the truth.

She was here. She was alive.

He smiled at her. A real, genuine smile. He didn't think he'd ever do such a thing again.

How could he not? This was a miracle. His only friend wasn't dead.

But she would be if they didn't get moving soon.

But he also didn't want to shatter the moment just yet.

Sylvie leaned back into him, crying once again.

"Sylvie." He whispered her name over and over. "Sylvie."

No tricks this time. No daggers in the back. This was real for him.

"I've found you." Sylvie choked. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Suddenly the ground shook. Loki tightened his hold on Sylvie so she wouldn't fall over.

"We need to get moving." Sylvie sniffled, looking up at her friend.

"Where?" Loki asked.

"There's power somewhere on this moon," Sylvie explained. "We just need enough of it to travel through inter-dimensional time and space."

With one last squeeze, Sylvie got up. She extended a hand to Loki and helped him off the ground. Not letting go of him, she opened the door and sprinted out of the shack.

They ran for what seemed like forever, dodging asteroids and other debris. Loki would've died in seconds if Sylvie hadn't been holding onto him.

"Sylvie!" Loki panted. "Syl! How are we supposed to look for power properly if we keep running at full speed?"

Loki saw Sylvie look towards the sky as if checking for any pieces of falling rock. Then, without warning, she skidded to a stop. She caught Loki before he could fall. When he got his bearings, Loki immediately doubled over and started coughing.

"Weakling." Sylvie coughed. Loki looked up to see a teasing smirk on her face.

"Hey," he said defensively. "I'm new to this whole thing."

"In my defense," said Sylvie. "That plan you interrupted was years in the making. Years. So of course I would want to move quickly."

"Sorry," Loki mumbled. He couldn't remember the last time he said that. But Sylvie and his mother (and sometimes Thor) were the only exceptions.

"It's all right," Sylvie said. "I'm not mad at you. Yet."

"How long do we have?" Asked Loki.

"About twelve hours." Answered Sylvie.