The Valiant (The Seventh Avenger)

Chapter 89

The kettle whistles letting me know that Pepper and my tea is ready. I pour the two of us a cup and tuck a book under my arm. It was a tradition that Pepper and I started when Tony started to play around with the table in the living room for a couple of days now, he started the day Steve, Nat, and Scott stopped by. When I saw him working on it, my hands began to shake in excitement and I tried to reach out to Loki to let him know that the time is finally close but he didn't reach back. We communicated that we will meet tonight since he was traveling to a new area as he tries to get more information on the Monilie despite him always coming back with nothing.

"Shit!" Tony shouts from the room and I look up at my reflection in the microwave. I steady my breath and grab the mugs, I can't allow myself to get so excited over something that possibly won't happen yet.

"Shit?" Morgan's voice flows into the kitchen and I smile at that. Tony must have dropped something and Morgan was just mimicking him. I shift the cups in my hands and stop to listen to them as I think about the type of snacks we should have.

"'Cause I got some important shit going on here," Tony says and I could just imagine Morgan sending him a look. "What do you think? No, I got something on my mind."

"Was it juice pops?" I reach into the pantry and grab a roll of crackers to share with Pepper. Morgan walks into the kitchen dragging Tony by his hand and leading him to the fridge. I smile at the two of them and walk out the doorway. The cups slip out of my hands and shatter to the floor and my hand covers my mouth to stifle the sob.

Over the table, the hologram of the Mobius strip and the numbers all match the vision Loki and I had. The time is close and almost here and it will be coming soon and everyone will be back. My brain erupts into a storm of thoughts about what the future holds. I can't stop thinking about it and tears streamed down my face from the relief and hope that we could have a normal life after this. I crouch down and my shoulders shake.

"Grace?" Tony questions looking down at me with Morgan in one hand and Juice Pops in the other. I look up at them and pretend to have cut myself from the glass.

"Don't worry it's nothing," I disguise my laughs as sobs and allow the green flames to surround the glass and undo the damage, they freeze mid-air and I latch my fingers in the loopholes. Morgan claps her hands together and I send her a wink. My heart pounds in my chest and I breathe in and out to calm it down, I end up having to cover my heavy breathing with a cough.

I lift myself and give the Mobius strip one last look before walking out to sit with Pepper. But throughout the time, I couldn't help but glance over at it just to make sure it was real, and for once compared to the dreams that tricked me out, this felt real.

"Loki the time is close, it's almost here!" We both face each other on the bed with our hands intertwined. A smile won't leave my lips as I look at him but something seems off. He only gives a sly grin and looks around the room, we've barely made eye contact since I came here. My heart thuds in my chest at the thoughts rolling through my head. What if he wants to break up with me?

"That's really good news, Grace," he musters a smile onto his lips but it does not reach his eyes instead I see the nervousness in them. I glance around at everything he is looking at to try to calm my chest. He finally makes eye contact with me and licks his lips which always means he's nervous. "Grace, there's something I need to tell you."

My breath catches in my throat and my chest constraints. I'm scared, I'm so, so, so scared. I don't know how I would be able to live the rest of my future without him. I don't think I would ever be able to live a life without him.

"I need to ask you something," I finish the sentence in my head: Do you want to break up? He stops, lifts off the bed and lowers to one knee. A box shakes in his quaking hands and my heart pounds for other reasons now. Is this really happening? Tears of relief and joy begin to roll down my cheeks and I stifle a sob and a laugh in the palm of my hand. "Will you make me the happiest person in the world and marry me?"

I smile and can't help but giggle, "Yes!" I exclaim. I leap off the bed and wrap my arms around his neck and connect our lips. He takes my hand and slides the ring onto my finger, the feeling of being his forever makes my chest warm. The green metal wraps itself around the purple diamonds representing our two colors. I stare at the ring memorized by the thought process Loki put into this. The way the ring was shaped shows how I am his and the purple stone representing the Infinity Stone I am the child of.

"Did you get yourself a ring?" I question and he shakes his head, I smile and allow red flames to surround my fingertips. I close my eyes and imagine a band that fits Loki. The smooth metal appears between my fingertips and I opened my eyes. The black band turned out just the way I had imagined it. A purple and green stripe wrap themselves around it and seven words are engraved in silver between the two of them.

I found you in the stars

"Loki," I begin, "will you make me the happiest person in this world and marry me?" He chuckles and nods his head. I slide the ring on his finger and our lips connect once more. Both of us crying tears of joy of the finality of us being banded together. I smile against his lips and he breaks away, looking at me. "What?" I question, checking to make sure nothing was wrong with me.

"Nothing, it's just," Loki begins, the smile won't leave his lips and I cock my head to one side, "I can't believe how truly lucky I am to be with you." My chest bursts in an array of emotions as they all fill me. So this is love? This is what love does to you, it makes you feel everything at once. It makes you feel weightless and amazing and when our lips connect it's as if there is nothing we can't go through.

I pull the blanket down and cover myself with it so he can't see me blush. The way he makes me feel by just being here with me is insane.

"Grace," I respond with a hmph and I can feel his happiness radiate off his body. "May I please see my wife-to-be?" My face reddens into a deeper red and so he can't see me I reach out my hand for him to take. Red flames surround my arms and transfer everything to stars and planets of our galaxy. I pull him under the blanket when he takes my hand and we fall, our arms wrapped around each other. His hands gently gripped my hips and my hands locked onto each other behind his head.

We dance and spin and twirl our way between the stars, laughs escaping our lips each time we made a move. Earlier he said how lucky he is that he's with me, but little did he know that he is my world and without him, I don't know where I would be in life. The smile has not left my lips since he proposed to me. The happiness has not left since I discovered the Mobius strip. The thought of having a life after all this has never left me, but now the hope behind it seems stronger than ever.