A/N: Not surprisingly, I decided to scrap my old one and begin a re-write and re-edit of my previous work. I know this chapter didn't change too much in way of plot but I felt that it wasn't conveying what I thought it was in my head. Hopefully I can scrape enough creativity jam to make this short work. I hope it is much more enjoyable. Also, since I don't have a beta please keep in mind that I am the only one editing and if you notice anything please I encourage you to message me and I can correct it.

Also I have to mention that I was inspired by a fiction I read somewhere on this site when I wrote out the section of Sigyn and Loki. Again, I am too lazy to figure out which one since it was so long ago but I just wanted to mention that if anyone happened to have read the story and noticed some similarities.

It was nearing seven in the evening and here I am sitting on the window seat moping out the window as the sky burns out into a pink-orange laced with purple hues.

The dank, cramped apartment I now call home was nothing compared to the lovely home we had a stone's throw away from Ari's work. I still can't help but feel contentment. My boys were safe—Odin knows what happened to the young children that disappeared out on the streets. Our rations have shrunk to those with families half our size and yet we still managed to live a simple, satisfied life. It's hard but we are all healthy and happy.

But I cannot help feel my stomach roll with anxiety at what's to come, the unknowns of life, but I quelled it with Ari's little mantra—"life is full of ups and downs, never just all ups or all downs; our lives have peaks and valleys like our world, that is what makes it, and us, so beautiful."

Ari, my wonderful husband, the philosopher, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that thought.

My mood quickly shifted to a despondent shade of grey. I reached out for a small ragdoll on the table. It had been several months since I miscarried. We already had a large family but this last child had been a girl—a daughter. A daughter Ari would have loved and cherished; a sister that all her sons would protect; a daughter that I had secretly dreaded having each time I felt the first signs of being sick with child.

I absently run my fingers through the doll's thick chorded hair and continue to look out the window—the pink-orange gone, purple hues as well as an emerging blue tone revealing itself as the stars begin to twinkle. I am ashamed of myself in every possible way; I am glad my daughter was dead, as morbid as it was, I'm glad because of my promise to Loki in exchange for being with Ari. Gods, it seems so long ago.

"How could you betray me like this?"

"I never intended to betray. It…It just happened."

"You're immortal, Sigyn, you will outlive him by eons."

"The All-father said he would grant me mortality if I can receive your blessing."

He visibly sneered at the words, "Grand you mortality? You say this as if losing your immortality is a gift." He takes a deep breath and pulls his imaginary mask back on. "You cannot go through with this," he deadpans, "I won't let you."

Noticing his sudden change in body language, Sigyn pressed on in a softer tone, "You have to let me go."

"He will never know you the way you truly are…your, your" he was finally at a loss of words after all the years of their marriage, "…the details that only I have noticed. The spirited girl that I knew grew into a woman but you still cling to that young innocence. I see it when you walk barefoot in the gardens. You're face… The small moment you take to pull everything in before you move on with your day."

Sigyn noticed his mask was still in place but his eyes looked as though they were about to burst under the pressure of his eyelids. "Loki, please see reason. I know we loved each other but as of late you have taken many mistresses and our love has cooled. I am just a trophy now." He pondered on her words. "I love him." She added.

Loki's eyes snapped to her face; Sigyn lifted an unsure hand to his arm. "DO NOT TOUCH ME!" he barked. Sigyn jerked back in instinct and surprise. She shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze as he went on, "Love. Love?" he scoffed, "Love…" he said once as he steps away and paces the room.

"If it is a Midgardian life you so desire, then it is what you will have." He strides closer to her "But with all the suffering it entails." Their faces just millimeters away, "Know this, my dear Sigyn, since you have disregarded your eternal vow to me, you will agree to another deal. You promised your heart, soul, your love, and your children to me. I will allow you to leave Asgard for that mortal but I will return to Midgard and I will take your daughters. I will take them and make them mine."

I always knew he was a trickster but that promise of taking away my daughters and what he insinuated caused a chill to creep down my spine every time I thought about it. He had always had conditions and tricks to anything he did in exchange of something. He could never do something for nothing. He was never doing something 'just because' as my husband often said. I almost don't believe Loki's threat but his face is what makes me so afraid to have a daughter. He let his mask fall away and that look of hurt and anger and…rejection was all I needed to know that he would take this agreement seriously just to spite her. He was hurting from my leaving him but I had to do this thing for myself, for once.

Ari and Zack burst through the door and I jump slightly.

"What is going on?" I asked, still a little startled.

"We must go," before I could protest he added in a stern tone, "now."