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A/N read Loki's parts in Toms' (beautiful) voice ;)
One Day
Loki walked into the dining room hesitantly. For as long as he could remember the dining room had never before been this quiet. Even the kitchen hands, normally so giggly were now silent. As the door closed behind him the eerie silence was broken by distant footsteps. Loki walked briskly to the other end of the room. When he failed to find anything, he climbed the stairs to the pillars he and Thor had often used as hiding places as young children. Yet again nothing, frowning Loki was about to abandon his search when a faint sound reached his ears, the strangely familiar sound of quiet laughter. Spinning on his heel he raced back to the central dining area to hear footsteps, louder this time, running towards the other side of the room, where heavy dark blue curtains hung blocking the doors to the balcony. As fast as he could he raced to the nearest parting in the curtains, but like before he was too late. Again the laughter caught his ear and he whipped his head to the side in time to see a flash of black disappear back into the main hall.
Like a cat chasing a mouse Loki could not resist the urge to chase the fleeting sound. Standing in the middle of the room he looked around. "Show yourself!" he commanded.
His demand was met by a series of tsking sounds from various directions. "Now where would the fun in that be?" came the reply in a shadowy teasing voice.
Loki stood impossibly still. He knew that voice. Looking at his feet he smiled to himself and called "Shay-sho…Shay-sho…where o where is my shadow?"
"My-O…My-O…I did see-a, see-a shadow" the reply came from in between the pillars.
"Hey-a…Hey-a…Can I ask who? Whose shadow did you see?" the cryptic answer left his lips as though he had been saying them all his life.
"Twas a shadow like no other, unlike his father or his brother, and yet this shadow was as livid as any warrior…" the reply made him laugh.
"What of you? Is your shadow of red? Of blue? What of you? The one who watches the shadows? What of you?" Loki walked slowly to where the royal family sat and took his seat.
When he next heard the voice it came from directly behind him. "I do not have a shadow, nor is it red or blue, for I am the keeper of shadows, that much I say is true."
Loki daren't turn around instead he asked, "Keeper of shadows, my darling, my sweet, would you consider taking a chair and joining me in a bite to eat?" silently hoping that maybe today would be the day that she would agree.
"No. My fair prince, it is not meant to be, you live in the light, whereas me? I live in the embraces of the dark, where the light fades and the shadows start." The voice whispered, with a hint of regret, in his ear, and for a moment he thought he felt a gentle hand, as subtle and delicate as the shadows themselves, caress his face gently. He closed his eyes, savouring the sensation.
When he opened them again he was alone once more.
"One day…when the sun is settling in the West and the ocean is calm. One day…when the ground is lightly brushed with the traces of snow. One day…my darling Shadow Girl…one day I will see your beautiful face. And on that day the world will know true beauty." He said quietly in a wistful tone before standing gracefully and slowly walking to the dining rooms doors.
He paused for a moment. Though he couldn't be sure if it was just his imagination, Loki was sure he heard a soft voice whisper back…
"One day…"
A/N Ok let me explain: I started this in the wee hours of the mourning about a year and a half ago and then out of the blue the muse woke up and demanded that I actually finish it. In all honesty this is nothing like how I was expecting it to end up but I was pretty happy anyway.