Home Is Where the Heart Heals
Chapter Seven
I will say now, I hold no accountability for any injuries obtained from the raw feels in this chapter.
I'd also like to say that I'm proud that the original pairing I was intending on is pretty much what everyone else is looking forwards to! ^w^ I'm pretty sure you guys can guess what it is, but I'll leave it a mystery until it turns up. Which might be anytime at all to be honest. I doubt it will be next chapter, but I can't say anything about the chapters after that.
Thank you Hakurei no Miko, Chibi y Hina, MavisDracula118, and AncientHeartlessKai for reviewing last chapter! And HUGE thanks to Kyrianae Narii, who reviewed each and every one of my chapters! *squee*
[Insert Rabid Disclaimer]
"After a while I began to get restless, though the Turks travel constantly it became rather dull. Luckily for me I obtained an apprentice, so to say, who helped stave off boredom for a time."
Hidden in the branches of a salt cedar tree, Loki snickered and his accomplice giggled as they sucked on a few salty-fresh leaves.
Lope walked by, hatchet in hand, and approached the trap-ahem-I mean, log.
He examined the fallen tree, nodding when he deemed it appropriate firewood. He raised the hatchet and brought it down in a good swing...
Only for the hatchet to bounce off the wood.
The look of complete befuddlement on his face nearly broke their cover, as he stumbled from the backlash of force and they clutched the branches around them in order to stay still. Loki held a hand over his accomplices mouth so that they didn't laugh out loud, both the troublemakers shaking with silent laughter. He quickly removed his hand with a look of disgust when she spit the leaves that had been in her mouth on his hand. She gave him a smirk and he rolled his eyes.
Lope gave the log another look and shrugged. He gave another experimental swing at the wood, frowning and giving it a LOOK when the hatchet bounced off again. He looked up in no particular direction.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Can I get my wood now? I'd prefer not havin' to cut down a whole tree just for firewood."
This broke them, Aleena falling out of the tree laughing manically and accidentally pulling Loki down with her. He had enough presence of mind to use a small cushioning charm before they hit the ground and rolled around on their backs on the scratchy needles laughing.
"Your FACE, dad!" She cackled.
Loki waved a hand at the log as he laughed, tears going down his face. It felt so good to cause mischief after so long!
Lope swung the hatchet softly again, nodding in satisfaction when it buried itself a centimeter in. He chopped the log into manageable parts, shaking his head when the two continued laughing, calming down a bit but then looking up at each other and collapsing into laughter again.
"You two have fun." He chuckled as he left back to camp.
"Lo'?" She giggled.
"Yes, 'Leena?" He snickered and tried to calm his laughter. She paused for a second before speaking, composing herself.
"Do you know how to make wood fireproof?"
The look of (obviously faked) innocence on her face made him collapse again.
"Sadly, that only lasted for a month or two. I was never one for a quiet life."
Terla walked up to Loki with a determined look.
"What's wrong with you?" She demanded.
He stared at her bewildered. "I... What are you talking about?"
"You've been acting weird and you haven't been helping 'Leena with hardly any pranks! What's wrong?" She held up a finger when he gave her a confused look. "As much as she's getting good at it, it's quite obvious when you are or are not involved. Spill."
He stopped and thought for a moment, frowning. "I... never really noticed... I suppose I'm just... restless?" He scowled at his inability to put words to it. He was the Silvertongue dangit! He was always supposed to know what to say!
Terla nodded, obviously absorbed in her thoughts, and walked off without another word. Loki blinked as she left and 'Little Lara' (as she was always called) tugged on his sleeve.
"Yes, Little One?" He looked at her.
"Why's my Ma acting weird?" She looked up at him through her half lidded eyes.
"I don't know, Little One." He shrugged. "Knowing your mother, we shall learn at some point."
"Okay. Let's go, I still wanna show you the blackberries I found!" She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the nearby forest, smiling at him.
He smiled back and allowed her to pull him along.
"Eventually the Turks caught on to my restlessness and encouraged me to find my own way."
Several nights later, Terla pulled them all together at the campfire for dinner. Instead of serving the food, she sat down herself and they all knew that tonight would be for talking.
"Loki, you've been acting strange for several weeks. Don't try to deny it, we've all noticed at some point." The only one who didn't give a nod and slightly reluctant look was Lara, who'd never even thought about it.
"I suppose..." He sighed. "I don't quite know what it is. I've been feeling restless, like there's something... more I can do. I feel like I should do something, something that will actually matter... As usual I don't quite know what to say with you Turks around."
Lope smiled and nodded. "This happens every once in a while with some of the people we help. Before everything... you were one for action, right? You liked getting out there and doing things, sitting back and relaxing wasn't ever your thing."
Loki nodded as well. "Yes, whether it was training, attempting to keep my brother and his friends from getting killed, or causing chaos around the castle," Here he couldn't help but smirk slightly. "I was always doing something." His eyes lit up in understanding.
"Our life isn't one meant for people like you," Terla grinned. "You're made to go and have adventures, 'cause chaos', and in general have fun. I think it would be best for you if you joined a guild."
"A guild? That would be impossible, they require their members to register their magic. My magic would be impossible to label. Besides, I don't want to leave you. You... You are all very much like a family to me..." He choked up a little on the last part, reddening slightly.
Aleena, Jaxel, and Lara immediately moved in for a hug, piling on top of him in a massive dog pile. Loki groaned in exasperation at the sound of a click. Lope had way too much fun with the camera he'd bought at that last big city.
"It's okay Lo', besides! You get to go and have awesome adventures and send us pictures!" Aleena grinned.
"It'll be good for you, we don't want you to stay with us if it's making you unhappy." Jaxel nodded, ever the sensible one.
"It's not making me unhappy traveling with you, I'm happier now than I've ever been." He protested.
"But yer not as happy as you CAN be." Lara smiled at him innocently.
Loki blinked back a few tears. The raw care and love they were showing was incredible.
"I... Since you all insist. I would still need to find a guild and find a way to pass my magic off as a normal form of magic." He noticed as they all nodded, accepting his 'reasons' though they all knew what they were. They were excuses, excuses for him to stay as long as possible.
But they never acknowledged it, wanting the time as much as he did.
Several weeks later, Loki didn't bother blinking back the tears. They didn't either, everyone but Lope crying full heartedly as the man merely sniffled morosely.
Loki refused to allow them to deviate from their course (leading to a small village sick with a violent disease) to bring him to his guild of choice.
Fairy Tail.
It had been a fairly obvious choice, looking back. The guild was the rowdiest, strongest, and craziest of all of them. Not to mention their penchant for disobeying the law and causing destruction. Loki knew as soon as he started narrowing down possible guilds that Fairy Tail was at the top of his list.
His magic had also had a similarly easy fix. Jaxel, having the largest knowhow on forms of magic due to researching his sister's, presented him with Variant Magic.
Variant Magic was pretty much exactly that; its uses and forms varied. The few mages known to have used it were long gone and no one could ever accurately predict what Variant Magic would do, so the idea that he'd learned to control its unpredictability was acceptable - compared to his massive magical power, that is.
He'd taken his sweet (oh so sweet) time with the tasks nevertheless, spending much of his time with the Turks relaxing and having as much fun as possible. He declared Aleena proficient in defense, if not a warrior. She was also regularly creating and modifying her own training regimen thanks to his teachings.
Speaking of teachings... He imparted as much of his mischief knowledge as possible, charging her with bringing evidence of future pranks and purchasing a communication lacrima so that she could call and ask for advice if needed.
He gave Jaxel some advice in discovering his magic, suggesting and helping him get started with meditation to find his magical core.
He spent some extra time with Little Lara, letting her give him 'makeovers' because, really, he couldn't turn her down when he was about to leave.
He talked with Terla and helped her with chores around camp. She also helped gather herbs and gave him a list of instructions for calming teas and droughts, nightmares still plaguing his mind that would doubtlessly grow worse again once he left the Turks' calming presence.
As for Lope, he simply refrained from any pranks and went on walks with him in the morning, neither of them really needing to say anything.
Now the time finally came where they would part, Loki to travel for a week in order to get used to living on his own before finally reaching Magnolia town and asking to join the guild.
In any other case he would have taken the train, but as it was Loki despised the closed in cabins and wanted to put off spending any time in them as long as possible. So here he stood at a crossroads (metaphorically and literally) with a pack slung around his shoulders, enchanted inside for there to be more space.
"Call, alright? I'll make sure 'Leena keeps in touch." Lope determinedly refused to outright cry, eyes watery as he shook Loki's hand.
"Be safe, Loki. And more importantly: have fun, take care of yourself, make some friends, and remember that as long as the Turks line continues you will always be welcome in our camp." Terla cried and hugged him, sweeping him up and causing a fresh wave of tears to fall.
"I'm gonna miss you, ya know that right?" Aleena muttered from where her face was pressed into his shirt. "And I'm gonna be calling you every night, no matter what time it is where you are."
"I... Yeah..." Jaxel ducked his head shyly. "I guess... goodbye? Because where there's a goodbye there's always a hello." Jaxel smiled softly, too jittery to stay still long enough for a hug.
"I-I'mma m-miss you Lo-Lo!" Lara sobbed, taking it harder then the rest of them. Even though she supported him like the others she was still a young child, one who didn't want 'big brudder Lo-Lo' to leave.
"I will miss you too, Little One. I will miss you all." He said, crouching down and hugging the toddler tight as she most likely rubbed snot all over his shirt. He finally stood up and released her, glad that 'Leena came forwards and picked her up in order to keep her from following him.
He turned and started walking, going forwards a few yards before looking back and waving.
He saw the whole family standing at the fork in the road, tears still going down their cheeks. They waved back as well, silent as they'd already said their goodbyes.
He focused back on the road in front of him, thoughts and emotions whirling as tears still trickled down his face. He walked and walked until he looked back and they were almost out of sight. He smiled softly and fully turned around, spreading his legs and lifting his hands above him.
Back with the Turks, they watched with a sense of pride and sadness at the wretched, damaged soul they'd found what felt like lifetimes ago. He'd grown stronger, far stronger, but he held a road all his own to travel now without them holding him back. He was still cracked, still hurting, but there would be others in due time that would help and heal the wonderful soul who still didn't know where he belonged or who he was.
Aleena blinked and pointed as he turned around, all of them muttering among themselves wondering what he was doing.
They gasped and tears flowed yet again faster as a soft green flowed out and up, spreading across the bright daytime sky and forming shapes, lines, and finally words. They laughed to themselves and cried even harder at the great honor.
"On the day I left, I was no longer Loki Odinson. Mother, I have always loved you, even in my darkest moments. Brother, even though I often doubted your love and on several occasions hated you, I now love you just as much. But Odin shall never again be my father, the wounds are too fresh in my mind and no matter how I look at it I can not feel it in my heart to care for him.
I am not an Odinson, I never truly was and I never shall be.
Far across the sky, sprawled in Loki's beautiful calligraphy, green letters danced and wavered.
"I am Loki Turks-Friggason."
Oh my Primus, I just made myself cry! *blows into tissue*
Just for those people who don't know, a salt cedar tree has long, soft, stringy leaves that taste like salt when you suck on them. When the leaves die and fall off the tree they take years to decompose, ending up making an extremely scratchy and poky layer of dead leaves on the ground. There is a small grove of the trees behind my dad's house that my sister and I pretty much grew up in, and salt cedar trees will always remain precious to me because of the hours my sister and I would spend playing in them. :')
Whoo, alright, please read and review because I'm honestly wondering what you guys think of this chapter and how it ended.
*grabs at heart* Oh the FEELS!
