Epilogue:
Loki stared at Mayura in shock. "You're pregnant?"
"Umhmmm…"
"And how far along are you?"
"Three months."
"And the father is?" asked Loki getting worried. Mayura lifted up her head to look right into Loki's eyes, biting her lip nervously. "I… I am?" Mayura nodded her head positively. I'm the father? Mayura's carrying my child? What should I… I have to… "What do you want to, to do with our baby?" posed Loki even though it hurt him to ask.
"What are you implying Loki-kun?"
"Well, you have the option to… to…"
"No! I love you Loki-kun, and if this baby of ours is the only reminder of that time we shared in a dream… I'll… I'll take care of him or her all by myself if I have to!" yelled Mayura standing up. "So… so there!" Loki smiled at Mayura's loud display. "Loki-kun, what are you smiling at?" she retorted angrily.
Standing up, Loki grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the study. "Come on, follow me."
"Where are we going?"
"To the basement. There's something down there that we need."
"What and why?" Mayura inquired confused as she was led down the basement stairs to a solid wall.
"We need one of Freya's cords so I can claim our little one before you begin to show," he replied gently, touching Mayura's stomach tenderly.
"Loki-kun…" Loki waved his hand in front of the wall and opened his secret storage room. Everything was exactly the same as they left it three months ago. "Loki-kun, you said you didn't have this room! Why did you lie to me?! It wasn't a dream, was it?"
"No, it wasn't a dream. I didn't want to get you involved. People would be after your life if they knew you knew about this room. Besides me, you are the only other person alive or dead that knows about this room."
"What about Yamino-san?"
"Not even Yamino-kun."
"Then why are you telling me about it now?" Mayura inquired incredulously.
"Because I have so much to tell you," he responded, pushing back the first and second chests. Loki looked at the floor and noticed for the first time the cord Mayura had tied around their wrists in secret. His eyes flashed red and he slammed the door shut. "I'm not going to open this door until you explain the meaning of this!" he commanded, thrusting the knotted chord at Mayura.
"I… I don't really know why I did it. I was curious I guess. I wanted to pretend I was married to you Loki-kun."
"You wanted to marry me?" Mayura nodded and blushed.
"I hope I didn't do anything wrong."
"Not seriously. I overreacted. You see, this cord was the Freya's cord from my wedding with my second wife, Sigyn."
Sigyn… why does that name sound so familiar? "I'm sorry Loki-kun." Mayura bowed her head in shame. "Wait a minute! Second wife?!"
"I said there was a lot I needed to explain, didn't I?" Loki released the magic holding himself within his childish form.
Mayura stared at the young man before her: The man from the cake shop, the older Loki-kun that wasn't from a dream, the man who told her he was a god… "Loki-kun?"
"Yes Mayura?"
"You're a god? Is this what you really look like?"
"Yes and yes, Mayura. Now, I need you to tell me exactly what you did with this cord. Then I'll answer any of your questions."
Mayura looked down, embarrassed again. "I don't know why I did this… it sounds so silly! I… I held our right wrists together and loosely wrapped the cord three times around our conjoined wrists before making the knot."
Loki blinked at her. How could she know the proper way to… If Sigyn approves… created our union… thank you Sigyn.
"Loki-kun?" At the sound of Mayura's voice, Loki pushed her back against the wall. "Loki-kun, I'm sor…" apologized Mayura, but Loki stopped her words with a passionate kiss.
"I'm not mad at you Mayura."
"Aren't you going to open the door Loki-kun?" asked Mayura warily. She wasn't sure what Loki-kun could be thinking, or what could have been so important about her earlier answer. If she had to guess from his expression what he was feeling, she would have had to say he was… hungry.
"Not yet." Loki bent down and once again fervently kissed her. Mayura melted into this embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers into his hair. Breaking off the kiss for air, Loki began to kiss down her neck. "I want a long third month wedding anniversary. I love you Mayura."
A flash of light shined from within Mayura. It was so bright that Loki had to cover his eyes with his arm. Blinking to clear his eyes, Loki looked at Mayura. Nothing seemed to have changed… at least physically. "Mayura?"
"Yes Loki?"
"What happened?"
"I was released."
"Released?" asked Loki confused.
Mayura laughed. "It's so much fun to fluster you Loki." He backed up in alarm. "Loki-kun, don't you know who I am?"
She's Mayura, isn't she? Mayura walked up to him and cupped his face in her hands. Smiling gently, she brushed her lips against his—once, twice, three times. Tired of her little kisses, Loki tried to capture her lips for a much longer and deeper kiss. But Mayura was ready for it and backed away expertly as if it was a game they had played many times before. "No… Sigyn, don't do that to me." Loki opened his eyes wide in distress. "Mayura, I'm so sorry. That's… that's something Sigyn, my last wife…"
"Why are you sorry Loki?" asked Mayura grinning widely.
"Because you're not Sigyn," answered Loki as if Mayura was acting crazy.
"I'm not? Why can't I be Sigyn?"
"Sigyn died while I was exiled, and in reduced form."
"No she didn't. She was always with you, because that's what she asked of Odin. To always be near you during your exile. But everything comes with a price. She was cursed to live repeatedly as a powerless mortal until the love of her life lover her once again…"
"But I never stopped loving you Sigyn!" interrupted Loki.
"Let me finish Loki-anata," stated Mayura, silencing Loki with a gentle kiss. "Until the love of her life love her once again, not for the person she used to be, but for the person she had become."
"I love you Mayura," responded Loki kissing her sweetly.
"And that's what freed me. I… my punishment was to met and be with you once I turned sixteen, and know that I couldn't be yours."
"You're mine now, now and forever." Loki walked behind Mayura and circled his arms around her waist. Kissing her neck and shoulder, Loki asked huskily, "Now perhaps we should go somewhere more comfortable?"
"Where can we go Loki? You locked us in here for at least two days," reminded Mayura.
"I am not left without a few secrets Sigyn." Walking to the back of the room, Loki waved his hand in front of the empty wall and two sparks of green power surged up from the floor creating a second door. Opening it, Loki walked into his bedroom.
"Loki! If you had that exit, why didn't you use it before?"
"This room isn't real. It's just a reproduction of the current state of my bedroom above."
"Why didn't you use this room when we were trapped in here before!" whined Mayura.
"I didn't want you to see anymore of this than you had too. Besides, I had no intention of bedding you." Mayura looked at Loki disbelievingly. "Alright, I had thoughts about it. But not either of the times we actually went to sleep. The second night, I was actually trying to stay away from you!"
"Well you certainly did a good job at doing it."
Loki cocked his head to the side and smiled sheepishly. "I didn't hear you complaining. It sounded a lot more like you really enjoyed it. In fact, wasn't it you who came onto my side of the chests to sleep to with me?"
It was now Mayura's turn to look sheepish. "Well when we did get that far, why did you want to do it on the floor?"
"I wasn't thinking too straight," he replied once again kissing her on her neck from behind. "Besides, it was interesting."
"And it's not interesting now?"
"We have a little one to watch out for," he answered softly into her ear, pressing his hands against her stomach.
"Loki-kun, what does the letter from Idun say? You should be able to open it now."
"Oh! That's right!" Searching into his coat pocket, Loki pulled out the envelope from Asgard. Flipping it over, he found the seal to be release. Opening the letter, Loki read it out loud.
If you're reading this letter Loki, you have finally learned the lesson I sent you down to Midgard to learn. Return whenever you wish. Idun's package contains an apple for your wife, hopefully Mayura—otherwise you are more of a fool than I thought. Idun's apple will break the final part of my curse effecting Mayura and your child.
Should you receive this letter well after Mayura's death, be assured that your child has been brought back to Asgard, for the love of my daughter and my grandchild. But for your foolishness, you shall never be able to claim him or her as your own, for you don't deserve that honor.
Don't leave too early. Your wife's other father wishes to see his grandchild grow up.
Your blood-brother,
Odin
Loki put down the letter carefully onto one of the night tables in the room. Loki brought Mayura to sit down on the bed with him before asking, "Who are you now, Mayura or Sigyn?"
"Both, although I prefer the name Mayura. But does it really matter Loki-kun?"
"No…" he stated before pushing her down onto the bed and kissing her thoroughly.
.
.
.
"And Mayura… its Loki."
The End
And yet, the beginning.
Author's Note: Here's some information you might not have known.
1. Eisa and Einmyria are Loki's first children and twin sisters. Their mother is Loki's first wife, Glut. Glut and the twin girls were killed while Loki was away in Jotunheim.
2. Muspelheim is the world of fire giants, Nidavellir is the world of dwarves, and Svartalfheim is the world of the dark elves. Midgard of course is the world of man.
3. Idun is the goddess that grows and maintains the apples that give the Aesir and Vanir they're eternal youth. (Aesir and Vanir are two 'races' of Norse gods.)
4. Loki's refers to the Helhiem (house of Hel) the land of the dead inside Niflheim, not his daughter. Or maybe he's cursing about the horrible weather found in Hell, Norway... and Montana. Perhaps he's talking about the Christian Hell. Take your pick. Hehe.
5. Hand-fasting, an old form of marriage requires the couple to tie their right wrists together with a cord. The different colors stand for different things. The knot is called a Freya's knot and this tying of a cord to symbolize marriage is where the expression, "Tied the knot" comes from. I'll post more in-depth information about Old Norse weddings in my other story, "The Trials We Face."
How was the story? Did you like it? This is the second story I've wrote and the first that I've finished. Yes, really!
Hanashi wa dou deshita ka. Anata no ga suki desu ka. Kore wa watashi no futatsumeno hanashi wo kaiteite, hitotsumeno hanashi wo owarimasu. Hai, hontou!