Chapter 51: All for Her
Loki bolted up in bed, his heart beating so fast that he could hear it in his ears, his breathing heavy. Clutching his chest Loki took several deep breaths. His heart rate slowed but his fear didn't dissipate. Trembling slightly, Loki turned his head to see the form of his wife sleeping peacefully next to him. "Mayu-chan... my Mayu-chan... Don't ever leave me Mayu-chan," he whispered, bending down to kiss her forehead gently. "I don't know what I would do." Loki lay back down and wrapped his arms around her.
«What would I do? Was that dream prophetic?» Loki shook his head and drew Mayura in closer to him. «No... don't think like that.» he chided himself. «She was so close. All she had to do was pick it up! But what if Odin proclaims that she failed? Almost is not success.» Loki shivered at the thought. He desperately closed his eyes, hoping to fall into a peaceful sleep, but his thoughts and worries wouldn't let him.
He sighed and kissed Mayura again, giving into his fears. «I know I'll stay with Mayura; I love her too much not to. But... but...» Loki squeezed his eyes shut tightly before burying his face into her hair. « …what will I do when she dies?» Loki held his breath as Mayura stirred next to him. Just because he couldn't sleep didn't mean that she had to be awake through the night as well.
"I missed you," Mayura mumbled in her sleep as she scooted closer towards Loki as if she wanted to share the same physical space.
Loki smiled whispering, "I missed you too." Pulling back enough to view her face, «Would I start Ragnarok in my depression?» he ran a finger gently down her face and jaw line. «No... not in my depression. My anger? My anger against Odin?» He sighed. It would be a tough call. «I made a holy oath to stand by his decision as final. I pledged to, to…» He gazed at her face, his hand cupping her cheek. «No. For her... without her I'd break my oath. I wouldn't have a reason to keep it—I wouldn't have a reason to live.» Loki's eyes filled with shock. As much as he had known he loved her, he never suspected... never thought... «And after depression would come anger—Ragnarok.» "But what was that dream about? What was Verdandi doing?" he mused to himself. Closing his eyes he replayed the dream in his head.
«She gave me a handkerchief, but she was watching me so intently. Like something was supposed to happen. And then, and then...» he thought, desperately trying to remember the quickly fleeting dream. «She then apologized for not telling me about Mayura's death. Why would she have to tell me about her death? I would have been the first to know!» He shook his head in confusion. «She said something else but I... I just can't remember. And then I... then I said, 'Yes she did mean something to me... She was cute, in a best friend's much younger sister kind of cute, you know?'» Loki blinked. «Little sister! I never thought like that! Why would I say that after, after...» "… after Verdandi erased my memory," he whispered disbelievingly.
It suddenly made sense, as if the dream finally came into focus. And even though Loki had no ability to see prophetic dreams, he knew Odin too well. With the help of Verdandi's potion skills, Odin could and would erase all traces of his love for Mayura, not caring if he created a soulless animated shell if he thought it would prevent Ragnarok. And as much as Loki wanted to hate Odin for that, he couldn't. Because unlike all the other times Odin punished him or his children in fear of Ragnarok, this time he would be right.
The very thought of forgetting Mayura panged his heart. Tilting Mayura's head so he could get a better view of her face, Loki made a decision. It should have scared him, it should have terrified him, and yet he felt oddly calm. He knew it was the right choice. Mayura had risked her life to become immortal for him. And if the next few hours revealed her failure, he would become mortal... all for her.
Author's Note: Last chapter was a dream! Hehe, I know I'm evil, but I have to keep my pen name proud. Actually last chapter came to me as a rather annoying plot bunny while I was writing ch. 49: Back. Be glad that I decided only to indulge the plot bunny because it almost won and would have made that chapter the real ending with a more lucid contection betweenchapters of course. (ie. some plot points that will be in the next chapters. Like the meeting with Odin and stuff.)
To lazycat: I hope the chapter or my note clarified your distress. (smiling LokiGirl)
To EarthStar: I really think they would make a cute couple.
To Ytak: Yeah, the chapter was kind of randomly placed wasn't it? Orginally I had last chapter and this chapter as one, and being the evil person that I am I decided to split it. (LokiGirl runs under her desk to hide.)
To crazy: I love happy endings. I'm just twisted.
To neko-chan: I just loved Kirk's explainationofswears toSpock. One of the greatest lines in that movie.