AN: Thank you to all who have read this far. I know it's only the second chapter, but I really appreciate it since this is the first story I have decided to publish. Please feel free to comment any suggestions you may have. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! :)


Chapter 2:

Kira walked behind the two guards as they lead her towards Loki's cell. She tried to plan out what she would say to him once she saw him, if he even spoke to her at all. She doubted he would, she was just a librarian's assistant after all, but she couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, he hadn't forgotten her.

….

Kira woke up before the sun had even risen the morning after she had played with the princes, but she was too excited to go back to sleep. Skidding down the hallway and running down the stairs, Kira breathed in the scent of books as she ran into her father's bookstore, jumping onto one of the cushioned chairs and grabbing her favorite book to read until it was time to play with Thor and Loki again.

Eventually, she grew too excited to sit still so she bounced off the chair and, taking her book with her, skipped out the door and onto the sidewalk. Or, she would have skipped onto the sidewalk, if her older brother's arm hadn't been in the way.

"Where are you going?" he asked sternly, blocking the doorway with his tall frame. "Does Mother know?"

"Hagen," Kira complained, "I'm just going to the park near the bakery."

"To read?" Hagen asked incredulously, looking pointedly at the book in Kira's hand.

"Yes." Kira said, "Is that against the rules too?"

"No, it's just that little girls like you don't go to the park just to read."

"Well, you're not a little girl, so you wouldn't know." Kira said confidently and Hagen laughed.

"Maybe not, but I know you; and you've always got something going on under the surface. Does it, by any chance, have to do with the boys you were playing with yesterday?"

Kira gasped, "How did you know?"

Hagen laughed again, "Because Mother told me last night. If you want to go back to play with them, you'll have to wait until she wakes up, she'd kill me if I let you go out to the park without her knowing."

"Okay," Kira said sullenly, and Hagen ruffled her hair as he headed back up the stairs.

Kira decided to try to read again while she waited, but she didn't have to read long as ten minutes later, Hagen came back down the stairs.

"Turns out I'm not the only one who was woken up by your running down the hallway. Mother says you can go as long as you shut the door quietly."

Kira sprinted towards Hagen and threw her arms around his middle, "Oh, Hagen, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Hagen kissed the top of her head and pushed her towards the door, "You're welcome, Kira. Just be careful and try not to get hurt too badly."

"I won't, Hagen, I promise!" Kira skipped out the door towards the park.

As she walked along the sidewalk, Kira tried to think up games for the three of them to play. She sat down underneath a willow tree and waited excitedly for the boys to come running up. She waited there for five minutes…then ten…then fifteen…

After twenty minutes of waiting, Kira pulled out her book and began to read, trying to distract herself from the nagging thought that the two brothers had forgotten about her. She felt her eyes begin to sting and soon her vision was swimming with unshed tears of abandonment. She tried valiantly to keep them from falling, but eventually they overflowed and a single tear splashed onto the page. Kira took a shaky breath and tilted her head back, blinking away the rest of the tears that were threatening to fall. She was about to go back to her book when she felt a hesitant tap on her shoulder. Kira glanced up find Loki watching her.

"I thought you had forgotten about me," she said, trying to keep her tone light so that Loki couldn't see how upset she had been. But Loki could hear a slight sharpness in her voice that betrayed her feelings, and he sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, "Father kept us in the palace longer than he usually does. He's still talking to Thor right now."

"That's okay," Kira sniffled, Loki's sudden appearance had made it difficult for her to control her tears, and she could feel the dangerous sting begin to form again. Loki could tell what she was holding back and it made him shift uncomfortably on the grass beside her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked tentatively, unsure if this was how he was supposed to proceed. He was taken aback at Kira's next words, expecting something considerably less emotional.

"No!" Kira didn't mean to yell, but she had been holding in her feelings for far longer than a little girl should , "I thought you had forgotten about me and I was going to be sitting here alone forever just waiting for you to show up!"

Loki looked down guiltily and tried to find the words to say. He couldn't find any that he thought would comfort Kira, so instead he hugged her and decided to make her a promise, "I'll never forget you, Kira; never, ever, ever. I promise."

.

I promise. The two words rang in Kira's head as she followed the guards down the steps into the dungeon.

They stopped silently by the entrance and Kira guessed she was supposed to go on alone. She tried to keep her hands from shaking as she walked down the corridor, feeling as if every eye was upon her. Thankfully, Loki's cell was the first one on the left, so she did not have to go far.

The first thing Kira saw when she walked up to the cell was Loki himself, sitting against the wall as he read. She studied his appearance and posture, noting the bored way he turned the pages. He had certainly grown up since she had last seen him.

Kira stepped through the golden mesh that blocked Loki from leaving and glanced over at him, wondering where he wanted the books that were stacked in her arms placed. When he didn't do so much as glance up at her, she just dropped the books down on one of the tables that were scattered throughout the cell. Kira glanced once more at Loki, slightly indignant he hadn't acknowledged her yet. She had turned around to leave when she finally heard him speak.

"Not there."

She turned back around and faced him, waiting for him to elaborate, but Loki just continued to read as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"Then where do you want them?" Kira asked, mildly irritated at his bored tone.

This time he did look up and Kira could have sworn his eyes narrowed slightly when he looked at her, as if he was trying to place her, but the look was gone in less than a second.

"Over there somewhere." He waved his hand lazily in the direction of the corner to his right, much to Kira's annoyance; she didn't like his attitude. She hid her feelings towards him, however, and moved the books onto the floor, nestling them into the corner.

"Not there either."

This time, Kira let some of her annoyance out, "If you're so picky about where you want your books, move them yourself."

She saw his blue eyes flash and fought the urge to back into the corner with the books stacked against it, away from Loki as he stood slowly and strode towards her. He reached out and lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes as he whispered vehemently, "What is your name, girl?"

"Kira," she said dauntlessly, not particularly caring at the moment whether he remembered her or not.

"Well, Kira, I suggest you learn to show some respect to your betters. This will be your only warning."

"Right," Kira said dryly, "because the one who can't leave his cell is the better one."

Loki shoved her against the wall, holding her by her throat, "I was meant to be King! And you are nothing but a servant." He let her go and she slid down the wall, maneuvering around him so her back was to the golden mesh.

"Assistant, actually." Kira said as she backed out of the cell, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she stepped onto the marble floor of the dungeon corridor. Once she was safe from Loki's grasp she turned and walked down the hallway, trying very hard not to run.

….

Loki watched her leave, a satisfied grin on his face. He knew he had frightened her, he'd seen it in her eyes when he had pushed her up against the wall and he'd seen it again when she was backing out of the cell, though he admired how well she had hidden it.

But he had other things to think about. Such as why she seemed so familiar. He felt as if he should know her from somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Loki supposed he could blame it on her brown hair and brown eyes that were so typical on the streets of Asgard, but he felt as though he had known her better than just someone from the street.

Kira. He racked his brain, trying to remember when it was he had last heard that name. Coming up with nothing except a few memories of a park, he decided she must have been a childhood friend. A childhood friend that had been easy to forget.