If someone said count your blessings now, for the long gone,

I guess I just didn't see how, I was all wrong

Who Knew, P!nk

Laufey sighed and passed a hand over his eyes. "I should probably be concerned about that, shouldn't I?"

Sigyn nodded, staring after him in confusion. "Thor will probably take care of it. Are you alright?"

Laufey grunted in pain as he tried to struggle to his feet. "I've been better. Why… why did you save me?"

Sigyn tried to help him to his feet, not an easy task for someone almost twice your height. "Two reasons. First and most importantly, you're a person, and don't deserve to die."

"I'd beg to differ with that, little one." Laufey smiled sadly.

Sigyn glanced up at him, confused.

"I've done quite a number of things that have earned me death." Laufey explained as Sigyn helped him slowly walk out of the room. "I'm not a good man. I'm not even a good king."

Sigyn shrugged. "The Midgardians have a saying. Where there is life, there is hope. As long as you continue to live, there is still hope that you can improve."

Laufey considered this. "Where are you taking me?"

"Healing halls."

"Ah."

Another silence.

"It's very hot in here." Laufey noticed.

Sigyn nodded. "I suppose it would be, to you. I don't notice anything."

"May I ask you a question, little one?"

"Hm?"

The king hesitated, grimacing in pain. "What… what was the other reason you did not let your husband end me?"

Sigyn smirked. "You'll think me foolish. But it's because you have my beloved's smile."

"Do I?" Laufey chuckled. "Interesting."

Sigyn opened the door to the healing hall, where Eir was treating the wounds of Volstagg that he'd received from the Destroyer.

"Frost Giant!" He screamed, throwing a mace in his direction. Sigyn caught it with her sedir, and dropped it, entirely unimpressed, on the floor. Laufey rolled his ruby-red eyes. "If I had a seed for every time a random Asgardian has tried to mace me, Jotunheim wouldn't be a barren wasteland, anymore."

"Eir, he's wounded, can you see to him?" She asked patiently.

Eir nodded. "Of course. Sit him down on one of the beds, see if you can't stem the bleeding. I'll be right over."

Sigyn glanced at the wound on Laufey's chest, dripping black liquid. "Is that… blood?"

Laufey nodded. "Silver-based, instead of iron like you."

The princess cocked her head. "I'd heard of that, but I'd never actually seen it, before."

She picked up some towels, and tried to apply pressure to the wound, but Laufey gently extracted it from her fingers. "Your body heat is making me melt."

"Oh." Sigyn backed up. "Sorry."

Laufey smiled at her. "No harm done."

And those were his last words, for at that moment, Odin burst into the room, and sent another blast of power at Laufey, causing him to fall dead on the clean tiles.

Sigyn gasped, and jumped backwards. "Allfather! You… you just…"

Odin nodded grimly. "I am entirely aware. Sigyn, your husband, Prince Loki, has fallen off of the rainbow bridge into the void."

Sigyn widened her eyes at him. "Wh-what?"

Odin glared at her. "I believe you heard me. Thor's out looking for the body, now."

Sigyn's eyes filled with tears, and she ran back to her room, the hem of her dark red dress stained black with Laufey's blood. She locked the door behind her, and stared numbly out the window for hours.

As the sun began to set, she heard a knock on her door. She slowly went to open it, to find Thor standing there, woebegone, and stricken with grief. "Sigyn… I searched for hours, but… this was all I could find." He miserably held out Loki's horned helmet. Sigyn, with shaking fingers, took the helmet from Thor's hands. "Thank you."

They stared numbly at each other for what felt like hours. "Sigyn, you're… you're all I have left."

Sigyn nodded again, placing a hand on her stomach. Thor wrapped his muscular arms around her, his shoulders shaking. "I-I'm so sorry, Sigyn." Thor whispered brokenly.

She nodded once more, hands clasping the golden edge of the helmet. "Thor."

Thor pulled away from their embrace, looking into her eyes. "What is it, Sigyn?"

A single tear slid down the princess's cheek. "Thor, I bear his child."

Thor's blue eyes became wide with disbelief. "You-you're pregnant?"

She bit her lip, as more tears poured down her face. "Yes. And I never got to tell him."

She wept herself to sleep, that night, clutching the helmet to her chest.

Life without Loki was strange. She'd only known him for a year, and already, she could barely handle life without him. Thor never found the body. Odin said he'd plan the funeral, but they waited weeks, and nothing happened. Vali refused to eat or drink for weeks, opting to stay closed in his closet. Sigyn assumed she'd eventually have to pack up all of Loki's things into a trunk to put into Asgard's storage, but she kept putting it off. She decided to stay on Asgard until the baby was born, and then she'd return to Alfheim with Vali. One day, about a month after Loki fell, she sought out Thor, who was still scouring the beaches for any sign of him.

"Thor, he's gone." She told him above the roar of the surf.

"Some Goddess of Endurance you are." Thor grumbled.

She glared at him. "I'm the Goddess of Endurance, not futile hopeless fantasies. I'm hurting just as much as you are, brother. I just accept the truth."

Thor turned to her, a lost expression in his eyes. "Then why hasn't Father had a funeral, yet?"

"Because Odin never loved him!" Sigyn screamed. "He's probably happy he's gone, Thor! If we want him to have a funeral, he's not getting it from Odin!"

Thor turned and stared out to sea once more. "I'll get a boat."

And he did, a beautiful boat, painted black with gold trimming. There wasn't a body to put in it. They had to send it out empty. Sigyn and Thor were filling it with garlands of flowers, when Vali walked up behind them, clutching a piece of paper in his hand. "Mama?"

"Yes, Vali?" She asked, glancing up at him.

"Is that boat for Father?"

Sigyn nodded. The six-year-old stepped forward, holding out the paper. "I drew it for him. Can you send it out on the boat, so that when it burns, he can see it in Valhalla?"

Sigyn, feeling almost detached took the paper from the little boy's hand. It was a rough drawing of three figures, one obviously Loki, identifiable by the horned helmet, but she couldn't tell who the others were. They all appeared to be happy, though. "Who are the other two, Va?"

Vali's eyes filled with tears. "They're his brothers. He can be happy with them, now, right?"

She heard Thor release a sob behind her, and there were tears running freely down her own face. "Right."

"So, can you put it on the boat?" Vali asked, a desperate hope in his eyes. "Please?"

"Yeah, Va." Sigyn nodded, wiping her cheeks. "We'll put it on the boat."

After Vali went back inside, Thor turned to his sister in law. "Do you think there's anything else we can put on it? In his memory?"

Sigyn thought quietly for a while. "Um… How about his spell books?"

Thor vehemently shook his head. "You've never seen the inside of those, have you?"

"No, he didn't like me meddling with them. Why?"

Thor smiled fondly. "He writes things in the margins of the ones he owns. Sometimes funny things, sometimes things about the spell, sometimes really insightful things he randomly thinks up. And lots and lots of doodles."

Sigyn raised an eyebrow. "Doodles? I thought you were the artist of the family."

Thor scoffed. "Perhaps, but that doesn't-didn't prevent him from drawing. He wasn't particularly good at it, but he got the point across."

Sigyn nodded. "So, not the books. Anything else?"

Thor shook his head. "He opened up to you the most. What was important to him?"

"It wasn't possessions." Sigyn replied. "He valued people more than anything else."

So, they sent the boat out full of flowers, and one picture. Angrboda, Narfi, and Legolas came to see it off, but nobody knew where they'd heard when the funeral would be held. Thor shot the flaming arrow off to light the boat aflame. The entire time, Vali clung to Sigyn's leg and wept bitterly. Narfi seemed to be in shock, his eyes wide and staring into nothing, and his hands were trembling. Angrboda stoically stared out across the water, not a flicker of emotion flitting across her face. When the boat sunk, after burning for a good half hour, she quietly tied a green ribbon around her left wrist, giving Narfi one of the same. Sigyn recognized it as the Jotun sign of mourning. Legolas stood quietly by her side, silent tears running down his face as the sun slowly set over the now calm sea. Thor, surprisingly, stood next to Angrboda, a turmoil of emotions raging across his face in sharp contrast to Angrboda's impassive features.

That night, Sigyn packed up Loki's things. The room looked empty and bare without the marks of his living in it. The desk neat and orderly instead of the constant clutter that seemed to overpower it, the wardrobe empty of his clothes, his artifacts and books cleared off the shelves. The only thing she kept out of the trunks was his golden helmet. She planned to take it back to Alfheim with her after the baby was born. Afterwards, when Sigyn was sitting on the bed, feeling incredibly forlorn, Vali crept up next to her, and lay his head on her lap. She remembered how he had always done that when seeking comfort from Loki. Now, she was all he had left.

"He did everything for me, Mama." He whispered, turning his red tear-stained eyes up to her. "And I didn't even notice!"

Sigyn nodded, running a hand through his hair.

"Did… did he let go because I was bad?" Vali asked, his voice trembling.

"No." Sigyn said firmly. "I don't know why he let go, I don't know what was going through his head at that moment, Va, but it was not your fault."

Vali sobbed into her skirt. "Then why didn't he stay for me? Why didn't he stay?"

"Oh, Vali…" Sigyn hugged him close to her chest, rubbing his back.

"I need "im, Mama! Why did he go?"

Vali cried himself to sleep, and Sigyn held him for a very long time. She had never felt more alone.

To Be Continued…

Thank you all for reading! Like, It seriously means a lot to me! This is the last chapter, but I'll have the sequel up, Upside, in a fortnight! Have fun, stay safe, and don't lick strangers, Corona is still a threat.

Signing off for the last time... yeesh.

Evilly, TheOnlyHuman.