Three more half mage children showed up in one day. Two more girls and a boy, unrelated. That seemed like a lot of kids, you wondered if Jotunheim was creating more mages to make up for its loss.

The children's suite was getting crowded. They had just started the foundations for the new temple, hopefully it would be finished before they ran out of space.

Actually there were a lot more children of any type than usual. The Casket of Ancient Winters was changing the planet back to a more friendly place. There would still be snow and ice, but now there would be time to grow in the spring and harvest in the summer.

There was still a lot of sea farming and fishing, the slightly warmer waters created abundance of creatures and plants, some that hadn't been seen in hundreds of years.

The planet was encouraging life and growing stronger. There were pregnant women and babies all around when before they were rare.

Jotun Loki had more than made up for Aesir Loki, you thought with a smile.

You looked up and saw Byliester quickly walking towards you with a huge smirk on his face. "Hi there sister!" He said with a chuckle, reaching down to slap you on the back.

"Cut it out Byliester" you complained.

"But is it not true? One of the messengers is telling everyone that he found you and Loki all curled up together this morning- good for you, it's about time, mother might be disappointed though, she so wants one of her warriors in the family" Byliester babbled.

"Shut up! Stop it! It's not what it sounds like!"

"No?" Said Byliester putting his hands on your shoulder and stopping you.

"No" you verified. "We had a lot to drink, fell into the fish pond and then I fell asleep."

"Sorceress no!! Ok. You still have time, it's not like you hit him or something"

"I think I might have"

Byleister stared at you like he was trying to decide if you were joking. "You like him now though, don't you?"

"I like his Jotun self".

"You can't split him in two, Sorceress. He was Aesir for hundreds of years, that's part of him".

You were quiet. Maybe you just wanted to split his Aesir self in two... "just don't start planning a joining ceremony, Byleister, unless it's your own"

He grinned, "that I might. I should beat you to it so I'm not the one who ruins mother's last chance of bringing a warrior into the family.

"I will be happy for you my friend" you said with a smile.

"Call me brother"

"Shut up, Byliester"

You wanted to encourage Jaxarna's new found skill of shape shifting things other than herself. You first had to convince her that no one was angry with her over Fandral. She felt really guilty, poor kid.

You had her work on inanimate objects, like rocks. She eventually started to enjoy it and got creative- much like molding things from clay. She made lovely things from the rocks, elaborate statues that would never melt and ornate containers that you had no idea what she intended to store in them.

Later you would have her work on animals, but first you wanted her confidence to be solid.

Thor reported that she was doing really well with warrior training too. You were very pleased with your young apprentice.

The warriors were going to take their Aesir friends out into the town to show them more of Jotunheim. Later that night Byleister would take them to his favorite place where his beloved sings. You and Loki were staying at the palace, having had enough drinking for a while.

You decided to get together after dinner to work on lesson plans now that you had more students to work with. He would meet you in your suite.

You wore traditional Jotnar attire of a halter top and a long loincloth. They were both maroon and embroidered with heavy gold beads. You let your hair lose again, soft waves cascaded down your back that were created by the tight braid earlier in the day.

You moved the writing table over to the couch so that you could sit next to each other.

When you opened to door to let him in you noticed that he was wearing a green Asgardian style tunic and pants, probably the same outfit Farbauti had made him change out of to fit in to the population better when you took him out to the town for the first time. It seemed so long ago, he was a different man then. Or are you different now too?

You brought a teapot to the table and poured a sweet herbal tea for the two of you to drink while you worked.

You both focused hard on the lesson plans for a while then you looked up and saw Loki gazing thoughtfully at you.

You smiled timidly back, the tension and silence was unnerving. You decided that you'd had enough and would take a chance, what was the worst that could happen? Would he run out of the room screaming that the ugly little monster tried to bite him in the face?

Your nerves got the best of you and you started laughing at the scene in your imagination. You couldn't stop and he looked confused and started to chuckle along with you.

"What's so funny, Sorceress? He said between breaths as he started laughing harder with you.

"I..." you giggled "I can't... I can't explain." You covered your face with your hands and shake your head.

The look on his face made you laugh more but you tried to calm down. Once you were breathing normally you framed his face with your hands and kissed him.