* Katherine's POV *

 "Can't we just teleport to the..." I try to remember how they had pronounced it, "Yggdrasill?"

We have been walking for a while now and we have just entered the still quiet city. After all, it is still early.

Loki who is walking in front, falters in his pass. "Well, we could have teleported to the secret tunnel. But from there we had to walk anyway."

"How come?"

"We can't use that kind of magic nearby the Yggdrasill. It is protected."

I let out a sigh. Of course it is.

"And no, it is no use to teleport now," Loki continues before any of us could suggest it. "We're nearly there."

"Really?" Megan asks who is walking next to me. "That was quick."

"I think he was talking about the secret tunnel," I point out and I see Loki nodding his head.

"Yes, from there is still a long road ahead of us to get to the Yggdrasill."

"Too bad," Megan says.

We continue our walk through the city and I feel like we're some kind of an escort, because we keep an eye on everything. Every small movement catches our eyes. But there's nothing to be escorted, kind of weird. Well, actually we're escorting the Tardis but no one can see that.

We turn around a corner and we enter a dead end. "Uhm, Loki. Where are we going?" I ask when he keeps walking straight ahead. He ignores our confused calls and keeps walking with big paces. I halt and cross my arms, expecting him to bump on the wall but till my suprise, he walks right through it.

"What the..." and quickly we all follow him. Behind the wall is indeed a tunnel. There's no light at all and Iris and Loki create a little lightorb which lits the tunnel in front of us. I can't see how far it goes but Loki has said it'll be quite long. The tunnel is wide and high so it is no problem for Diamond to keep the no longer invisible police box hover above our heads.

"Kind of a strange place to put a secret tunnel. Everyone could stumble across it by accident," I say.

"No, not really. Who walks into a dead end and tries to get through a wall?" Loki comments.

"Well, perhaps if you like Harry Potter..."

"Harry what?" He throws confused a look over his shoulder.

"Never mind." After all, Asgardians don't know about that.

We continue our walk in silence and I notice we're going deeper and deeper under ground. While our long walk I try to imagine what the Yggdrasill would look like. The Doctor had called it the Tree of the World, but would it actually be a tree? Or perhaps something else? The most spiritual place on Asgard is a tree... Well, alright. I suppose that could be. Strange, but possible. The Navi's from 'Avatar' had a special bond with trees too, so yeah... Possible.

After an hour or so I notice the tunnel starts to go upwards again, hopefully we're nearly at the end of it. I like adventures but this walking in the dark is kind of boring. Elizabeth, Skyler and Iris are trying to get as much information out of the Doctor about the series; if they're actually right, but since I don't know the series, I'm not really interested in his answers. But by hearing some shrieks and squeals coming from them, I think they are very pleased with his responses.

Finally we step out of the tunnel and the rising sun almost blinds me. I squint my eyes a bit and when I'm used to the bright light, my jaw drops a bit by the sight. The field all around us is impossibly green and it smells like it has been mowed only a few moments ago. I breath in deeply, enjoying the soothing smell. A cool breeze blows over the field but it isn't really cold here. Nor is it warm, the temperature is somewhere between it and it is just right for everyone. In the distance I can spot a huge lake but no matter how much I look around, I cannot see a tree. Not even one. Everywhere are amazing flowers and bushes with colorful flowers, but no tree. Perhaps the Yggdrasill is a bush? I chuckle in myself, now that would be something. The holy place is a bush.

Loki sets course towards the big lake and curiously we follow him. The lake is further away than it looks and it takes us a several minutes before we're standing on the lakeside. For a few seconds he stares in the water but then turns around to face us.

"From here on we have to swim."

"Sorry... What?" Skyler replies.

"Dive, actually," Loki corrects himself.

"Not a problem," Iris reassures us. "I can bend the water around us."

"Not here, love. It isn't exactly water."

"It looks like water..."

"It isn't."

"But how am I supose to dive with the Tardis? I don't know if I can do that," Diamond says with a thoughful frown.

"Put it down then. I can dive while moving the Tardis along with us," Loki answers and he makes a gesture with his hand as if it's no big deal. Diamond rolls her eyes but does let go of the Tardis, and with a soft thud it lands on the sand.

I crouch down and put my hand in the water to feel the temperature. I'm not exactly overly fond of cold water but luckily it is tepid. Almost as if the sun has already warmed it up, but that can't be because the sun hasn't been up for that long. When we entered the tunnel, it was still dark outside. I take my hand out of the water but till my suprise, it isn't wet. No water dripping off of the palm of my hand, nothing. It is completely dry. Well, I can't say I don't like it. In this way we wouldn't be soaked.

"Well, who's up for a morning swim?" I ask teasingly and some look enthusiastic while others look like they have just entered their biggest nightmare.

~

* Megan's POV *

I. Don't. Like. Swimming.

That's the only thing that goes through my mind since I've heard Loki announce it.

"You really can't bend the water?" I ask Iris to be sure. She turns her attention to the water and makes some movements with her arms, but the water stays where it is.

I sigh. "Great..." They must have seen my horrified expression because they all start to look a bit concerned.

"I suppose there's a reason why the serum gave me fire powers... I hate water." I say before they could ask for an explanation.

"You could stay here?" Loki suggests but I shake my head fiercely. "Don't be ridiculous. I want to see the Yggdrasill too." I pause for moment, thinking. "How long do we have to dive?" I aks with a small voice. I don't know if I can keep in my breath for very long.

Loki just shrugs. "I don't know."

"But you've been here before."

"Yes, but that was a long time ago. I can't remember and besides, the environment changes."

"O! I'll go check it out," Elizabeth proposes and before any of us could react, she dives into the water.

"I thought cats didn't like to swim?" I say, raising an eyebrow towards Iris, her best friend.

"Well, she does."

After a while Elizabeth appears again, breaking through the surface.

"I've found where we have to go through. When I've catched my breath, I'll go see how long it is, alright?" she shouts at us because she's pretty far away. "Ey... My hair isn't wet. That's odd..." she says after it, and now I notice it too. That means we won't get soaked.

She treads water for a little longer but then she dives again.

Seconds pass by and nervously I count them, and after three minutes she's back again. So, at its most we'll have to keep our breath one and half minute. I can do that, I suppose. She swims back to shore and gets out of the water.

"It's not long, a minute."

They all look at me and I nod slowly. I can do this.

"Just follow me, okay?" Elizabeth says and I nod again, trying to ignore the tangle in my stomach.

"Let's do this," the Doctor says while jumping up and down on his feet, holding his arms in front of him, ready to dive. I let out a small chuckle, at least he's looking forward to it.

We all get in the water and with the Tardis floating above us I suppose it must look kind of absurd. If anyone could see us now... We swim towards the spot where we have to get through and I take a deep breath. I can do this. It's just water. I follow Elizabeth and luckily it doesn't hurt to keep my eyes open. She swims into a tunnel which is almost three meters under the surface, and I start to feel a bit claustrofobic when I notice how small it is. I doubt if it's wide enough for the Tardis to move through.

I keep swimming and swimming, and I feel my lungs getting more empty by the seconds. I hope we're nearly there, a minute has never been this long...

I inhale deeply when I break through the surface and I try to get out of the water as fast as possible. I pull myself up on the stone wall which is build in a small circle around the spot where we've just surfaced. It's a well, I realize. I catch Elizabeth's glance and she holds up her thumbs as a compliment towards me, and she pulls herself out of the well too. One by one the others break through the surface, Loki as last and the police box follows behind him. Guess the tunnel was wide enough.

"Where to now?" I ask but then I spot the huge silverwhite tree behind us, and my voice fades away. The Yggdrasill looks like it's made out of starlight... It is beautiful. The stump is silver but the leaves are as impossible green as the field by the lake. Dews drop down from the leaves and fall into small streams that run through the surroundings.

"It stands forever green over Urðr's well," the Doctor repeats in awe the last sentence of the poem.

Serene we walk to the tree and Loki sets down the Tardis next to it. For a moment the Doctor keeps staring to the Yggdrasill but then he shakes his head to get out of his trance, and opens the Tardis. I peek a look inside and see he is connecting some cables at the Time Rotor in the centre of the console. He grabs the end of the cables and starts running back to us, so I quickly get out of the doorway.

"What exactly are you planning to do, Doctor?" Loki asks.

"Asking the Yggdrasill permission to recharge my Tardis," the Doctor answers, and he crouches down in front of the tree, holding up the end of the cables in the palm of his hands.

"Askr Yggdrasils," he starts respectfully. "Tree of the World... I need to get back to my own universe to close the gap in the Void. This universe is in danger unless I may use your power to recharge the Tardis."

A little drop of dew falls down from one of the leaves, right on the tip of his nose. Questioning he looks up. "Is that a yes?"

A breeze sets up and makes his brown hair even more messy than that it already is. A huge smile spreads across his face and he jumps back on his feet. Carefully he attaches the cables to the silver strump and immediately a loud high pitched noise fills our ears. Startled I utter a sound of pain and quickly I clasp my hands over my ears. What on Earth makes that noise? Is it the tree?

"Doctor!" Skyler yells, "you're hurting her! Stop it!"

"But she said I could use her powers!" Confused the Doctor stares at the tree with his hands over his ears. He throws a look over his shoulder back at the Tardis and I follow his glance. She's recharging but not yet fully recovered.

The high pitched tone decreases but then another sound reach my ears...

-

A/N: Mwhahaha, cliffhanger >:)