Sylvie wept until she could barely make a sound, trembling all over. She did not even know what she was crying about.
Perhaps every wanderer far from home had cried during those weary, numb midnight reveries. They had merely saved up those tears, like scooping a handful of surging spray from the great rivers of the journey home.
"We really searched for you for a long time." Thor's voice carried a hint of exhaustion, but even more than that, an indescribable sigh. He said, "You have no idea how much we regretted it. That day, Odin and I should not have left. Otherwise, you would never have gone through all this."
Thor's voice made even the motes of dust in Asgard Palace's afternoon light tremble. Loki, standing nearby, gently stretched out a hand. Watching the tiny glimmers dance between his fingers, his gaze drifted away again, as though he had sunk into his thoughts.
"Do you know? That night, I thought about disappearing forever, never coming back, making them regret it forever, making them miserable forever. But do you know why I didn't?"
Loki murmured softly to himself, but he was not asking anyone. He merely blinked, then continued.
"Because I was afraid that without me, nothing here would change. They would still be a happy family of three, as though nothing had happened..."
"I know. That's why Sylvie wouldn't go home."
Helen, cradled in his arms, glanced up at his expression. She wrapped both arms around Loki's neck and gave him a little shake. "Dad, none of us has ever seen this Asgard. Let's go look around!"
Loki was shaken into a slight daze. Looking at Thor and Sylvie, so deeply affectionate as sisters, he felt that he truly was somewhat superfluous here. He looked around, then let his