Just a one shot designed to give y'all a glimpse of what to expect as far as Anja's children in the next installment. There are some spoilers for my past stories in here, so HEADS UP if you're still reading them. This would actually take place before the prior one-shot I posted with Loki in the cell talking to Thor.

"Awic!"

The voice of a young girl, irritated and high-pitched, echoed around the walls of the garden as she looked around with sharp silver eyes. Her forehead was wrinkled, distorted by the furrowing of her brow as she yelled out her brother's name once more.

"Awic!" She was still quite young, unable to pronounce her brother's name correctly. "Grandmother says you have to give my dollie back right now!"

She tossed her long wild curls over her shoulder, looking around as she searched for her older brother. She hitched her long skirt up, straining to keep her balance. She was three years old, soon to be four, and her brother had taken advantage of her seemingly lack of magical ability to steal her favorite toy and use his own magic to vanish.

"You have to find me first, Leena!" Aric called out, and his voice had Leena's head snapping around as she searched for him.

"Awic," she whined. "I'll tell father on you!" It was something that had become a habit for her, to resort back to an instinct that really made no difference anymore. Loki was far beyond being able to do anything for his children, let alone get a doll back for the girl that looked so much like her dead mother.

At that, Aric's form seemed to reappear. Just as quickly as the spell had lowered, his mood seemed to have as well. He blew a strand of raven hair out of his face. It was curly… and while everyone told him he was the spitting image of his father, he knew his mother had had curls just like this… His heart sank even more as he looked back at his little sister.

"Father can't do anything about it where he is, Leena," Aric said quietly. His tone was dark, and he knew that his words would upset his sister but at that point he didn't care. At a mere six years of age, he was practically on his own. He had always thought that his mother would return to him after she had fallen so many years ago… and then his father had been taken away from him too. Leena still seemed to think that Loki had some sort of say in what his children did, but Aric was old enough to know better.

Leena's lip curled as a small tear started to form in the corner of her left eye. "Please, Awic. I want my dollie."

Aric closed his eyes at that, nodding as he sobered up and walked over to his little sister. He handed the ragdoll out to her and she took it quickly, extending a hand and snatching it away from him. She clutched it to her chest, rearranging the yarn-like hair around the cloth doll's face.

"When will we get to see father again?" she said with another sniffle.

Aric wrapped an arm around his little sister's shoulders, looking down at his feet on the brick walkway. "Grandmother said it won't be for a while," he said quietly. The two hadn't seen Loki in a year. Leena barely remembered the way he had always been cold and stoic around her, but for one reason or another she had loved him all the same.

Leena nodded at her brother's words, looking down again as they made it to the edge of the largest fountain in the garden. She plopped down in the grass that surrounded it, cradling her doll like a child before motioning for her big brother to join her. Aric did, sitting gracefully down on the grass next to her.

The fountain in front of him looked cool and welcoming in the hot afternoon sun, but he stayed with his sister for a bit. Instead of walking to the fountain though, an idea went through his head.

"Leena," he said with a soft smile. "Would you like to see some magic?" He was on his feet again in an instant, brushing the grass off of his breeches and looking towards the water.

She cocked an eyebrow up, and in that moment she looked just the mother she had never met. She kept her doll clutched close, suspicious that Aric may try to take her from her again.

Aric's small hand stretched out towards the fountain. He had watched both of his parents perform this simple magic on numerous occasions. Even his cousin Andrew, who was ten years old by now, had done it when the two had been playing outside.

"Awic!" Leena said excitedly as her brother manipulated the water into a small stream and pulled it through the air like a ribbon. "Awic, that's boo-tiful!"

Aric let out a small smile as he pulled the water back and forth. Mother had done this so many times when she had been upset and now he knew why. His spirits lifted infinitesimally as he pulled it to and fro. Teasing his sister, he looked back at her with a gleam in his eye before sending it over her head. She ducked down a bit, looking back at Aric with an annoyed glance. He would have laughed, but at that point his arms were growing very tired. It was harder than his mother had made it look and he found himself struggling the longer he kept the stream in the air. He sent the stream over Leena's head one more time, but this time he lost control as he was bringing it back to the fountain.

Leena let out a shriek as the water he had been manipulating fell across her outstretched legs in the grass. Her skirts were ruined by the water, and a bit landed on the doll in her arms.

"You did that on purpose," she whined, standing up to toddle towards the palace. "You always do things like that."

Aric pressed his lips together in a fine line, racing after his sister.

If his father had been there, maybe he wouldn't have had to teach himself… Maybe he would already have control over his abilities… and maybe his mother would have cared enough to have figured out a way back to Asgard by then.

He knew she was alive, so why wasn't she coming back?