A/N: Written for day 4 of Sifki Week: AUs.

No, Loki.

The two words break him. He lets go.

And in the void, he sees an infinite number of possible lives – an infinite number of ways for him to exist, fight, and die – but only one captures his attention.

Releasing his hold on this reality, he allows himself to fall into the universe before him.

Power courses through him. It is different from that of his usual life, but still so familiar, somehow. He is filled with such rage; it drives him onward, shaping his every intent. He has been mocked, betrayed, forgotten – left to rot in the darkness that has tried to consume him since birth.

He kills his father here, too, but it doesn't change anything. It never does. He wants to revel in the chaos that he brings to this galaxy, but he can't. He feels as if he is being torn apart.

Until he sees her.

Sif, he tries to say. Instead, his voice – deeper, accented – says, "Rey."

Though she looks different, she is still his Sif, strong and beautiful. She holds a shaft of electric blue light in this world instead of her double blade, and he can feel its power vibrating through this strange force that connects them to everything.

Powerful light, powerful darkness – darkness rises, and light to meet it.

He is the darkness, she is the light. Together, they could bring balance.

He isn't alone. Not when she stands by his side. Not when they fight, back to back, his crackling red blade joining hers as they cut down the strange creatures in this crimson throne room. Neither of them has to be alone ever again. If she would join him, he could show her just how much she matters to him – in this universe, and his own.

But she rejects him.

She leaves him, unconscious on the floor of the throne room, and she runs back to his enemies.

He is alone. Again.

He snaps back to his reality with a sickening thud, his consciousness suddenly aware of a presence – a dark, terrifying, monstrous presence – that is ripping him from the void.

After that, he doesn't have time to ponder what that other universe might have been trying to show him. He is too busy trying to find a way to escape Thanos's clutches alive.

An attempt at world domination, a prison sentence, and two deaths later, he is standing before Sif for the first time in several years, finally realizing what he was meant to learn during his time in the void.

The other universe hadn't meant to hurt him, though it had. It had meant to warn him. He couldn't go to Sif as the man he once was, filled with darkness and rage, allowing his pain to control him. She was – she is – too good. She would only see the villain within him if that was all he presented.

He has to meet her halfway. If he wants her in his life for eternity, then he has to change. Only then can they truly balance one another.

He takes a deep breath, preparing himself to speak. "Sif, I stand before you now a new man. I have learned much over the years since we first pledged our hearts to one another, back in our youth – back before I allowed my jealousy and my feelings of betrayal to change the way I viewed all of life. I…I am sorry for the ways that I have hurt you. I deeply regret all the things I have done that have put such great distance between us.

"I was told, recently, by someone who is occasionally smarter than he looks, that I will always be the god of mischief – but I could be more. I now vow that I will be more. I have found new purpose in my life. I would be most grateful, my lady, if you would allow me the chance to start anew with you as well."

He holds her gaze, hoping with everything in him that she will see the truth in his words, and accept his offer. He needs her more than anything he has ever believed himself to need before – more than power, revenge, or glory.

Before he can stop himself, his mind flashes to that other universe. Without even meaning to, he adds in a whisper, "Please."

Tears begin to fill her eyes, just as they did in that crimson throne room.

This time, though, she takes his hand in her own.

With that one touch, he sees their future stretch before them. He can only see the shape of it, really, but it is solid and clear.

With Sif by his side, Loki can finally put the darkness behind him.