Sif sprawled out across a large branch, picking meticulously at the skin of an apple she managed to grab on her climb up. Loki sat slumped against the tree trunk below her, his arms crossed, his eyes closed. She glanced down at him every now and then, delighted by how peaceful he looked in the rays of the midday sun.
"Loki?" she whispered, hoping he was still awake.
"Mmm?"
"Did you always love me?"
"Yes," he groaned irritably, cross that she was rousing him for this conversation, one that they'd had many times before. "You know this."
And she did. She did know it. But she never once tired of hearing him say it.
"Do you remember when we first met?" she mused, her voice enthusiastically growing louder (much to his dismay).
"No."
"Liar."
Loki smirked, though his eyes remained closed.
"What did you think of me then?"
"I thought you a pain," he sighed, lazily turning to lean against his other side. "Just as I do now."
"You don't even remember," she tested, though she knew damn well that he did.
Several minutes of silence passed between them. Just when Sif was certain Loki had fallen back asleep, she heard him shuffling on the ground beneath her.
"We were in the meadow, the one not far from here," he said, clearing his throat as he sat up a little straighter. "There were quite a few of us running around, playing a variety of inane children's games, so I didn't see you. Not at first. But when I did, when I turned and I saw you, I-"
Her stomach tightened as he trailed off. She remembered what it was like, what it felt like, when their eyes first met. How they both stopped cold and stared for ages, paralyzed while the other children ran past them in a blur.
"I knew I was doomed," Loki finally answered, leaning his head back against the trunk. He remembered that day clearer than any other, for he hadn't been the same since.
Sif smiled to herself and began to pick at the apple once more. "I thought you fancied Lorelei."
"Lorelei?" he barked incredulously, squinting up at her. "Are you jesting?"
"You spent the entire day chasing her, not me."
"As I recall, you were a bit preoccupied with Thor."
A wry smile crept across her face at his rapid change of tone and she jumped down from the tree to crouch beside him. "Were you jealous?"
Loki pursed his lips, avoiding her eyes. He hated when she did this. "Possibly."
"Possibly?" she pushed further, crawling over him playfully until her grin was just inches from his frown. She loved that no matter how irritated he was with her, and he was irritated with her quite often, he would never push her away. Never.
Loki swallowed as he allowed himself to look at her. Each time he did was like the first.
"I'm quite certain I didn't know the meaning of jealousy before that day."
Sif beamed, thoroughly satisfied with his answer. "You knew you loved me, even then?"
"Yes," he said quietly, reaching up to push several loose strands of her locks away from her face, tired of fighting the urge to touch her. "Even then."
Sif sighed deeply, leaning her forehead into his.
"Promise you'll never leave me. And if you must, promise you'll find me again."
"I promise," he whispered, moving to brush his lips against hers. "I will always find you."
