Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok or any of its characters. (Does anyone really even care about this dumb thing?)

Author's Note: Okay, I'm sorry about the last chapter. It really sucked. Well, at least it came out quickly, right? I can't promise that this chapter will be better, but I can promise that I'll try. I'm hoping to be able to post this chapter today, but I'm not sure if I can. If I do, then I'll have updated three times in three days! Of course, there's no way I'll be able to maintain this for long, what with high school and clubs to worry about. Oh, and about the dialogue, I'll try to put some in. I can't really see them talking a lot, but they obviously have to talk at least a little.sigh Whatever, I hope the readers enjoy! (Yes, all of my…one…reader… T-T)

Emotions Part III

Blah- private thoughts

Loki's POV

Loki and Fenris became nearly inseparable. When you saw one, you almost always saw the other with him or her. Not that this really occurred to the two that this was happening. Well, at least not to Fenris. Loki obviously noticed it since it was part of his whole objective, but did not attribute any significance to this particular detail. After all, what did it matter if he had a habit of staying close to one of his companions more than the others?

It meant everything.

He really had to get rid of that habit. Lately, he seemed to contradict himself over the smallest things. It was almost as if he had developed a split personality. Such a thing would obviously be a serious impediment to doing what he needed to. He could not afford to develop such a weakness now of all times. It made it easier for him to be distracted…

"….Loki?" There was Fenris, almost right in front of him.

That was a surprise. Since when had he gotten so easily distracted as to be unable to sense someone's presence? He would have to remedy that, or else eventually suffer the consequences. What would happen if he let an enemy get so close to him without even noticing?

Simple; he would die, and so would all those he hoped to protect.

It was as if his "human" side was getting the better of him, making him weak and vulnerable. That was something he simply could not allow.

"…Are you all right? You seem…distracted."

Ah yes. He had forgotten about her. Which meant that he had again fallen prey to his "human" weaknesses. What was wrong with him lately?

"I was…thinking." It was all the Assassin could think of to say.

"…I see." It was obvious that she sensed that something was wrong, but respected his privacy enough to ignore it for now.

It was often the small things like this that made him feel comfortable around her.

An exceedingly dangerous way to feel. If he was comfortable, he could be caught unawares and fail in his duty to protect her. And that was the one thing he could not be allowed to fail in.

"….Well then, perhaps we should head back?"

He really had to stop thinking so much when he was supposed to be having a decent conversation with someone.

"No, there is no need for that. I am quite alright. I apologize for ignoring you."

It was a feeble excuse, true. But it was the simple truth, and he had never truly felt the need to lie, especially not to Fenris.

"So, what do you want to talk about today?" Fenris started off their daily routine with the same question she always asked.

"It does not matter." His reply was always the same.

Then she would suggest some topic for them to just discuss and they would proceed to talk about it. It never mattered what the topic was, or if it was all relevant to their quest. The only thing that really mattered was that they actually talked. It made little sense when he thought about it.

Did it have to?

Whenever they talked (Fenris did most of the talking), he felt at peace. It hardly mattered what they talked about. As an assassin, he had had little time for small conversations like the ones he had with Iris. He had his companions, but he never tried to start such conversations with them, for he had no need to. They were probably too respectful and perhaps even a bit afraid of him to think of starting such conversations on their own. Although he had learned to trust them more than any others, he did not consider them friends. They were only his companions, his partners in his work. He would help them and depend on them to some degree, but never had a close relationship with any of them.

Not like now.

Now, he had people that he felt he could call friends. All of his companions were his equals, not his subordinates. They did not feel the need to submit to his will or follow him blindly. To him, it was as if he did not have to worry so much about his responsibilities. He was expected to do only what everyone else did; no less and no more. And now his closest friend was Fenris.

Did she feel the same way?

Sometimes these thoughts unsettled him. It wasn't as if that mattered. Why would he care? And why wouldn't he just let go of that damn thought? Damn. Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to ask. It wasn't as if it was a big deal or anything. It was just a simple yes or no question, nothing that he needed to worry about.

You're babbling.

So he decided to just ask her directly.

"Fenris."

"hm…?"

"Am I your… friend?"

"….of course. Why wouldn't you be?" She was looking at him oddly, as if he had just said something strange.

Had he?

For some reason, he felt rather relieved when she answered.

Odd. Why would he feel relieved of all things to just a simple answer to a simple question?

Nevertheless, it was a comforting thought. To Fenris, he was not just a traveling companion. He was something more.

He was a friend.

Fenris POV

As she spent time with the enigma that was Loki, she gradually began to learn more about him. It was surprising how well she had gotten to know him in just a few weeks. And yet, as well as she had gotten to know him, she could not help but feel that there was always more to him than she knew.

Was it even possible to know just who Loki was?

At first, she had thought him unfeeling and wondered at how he did it. But, as she got to know him more, she learned that he was not as unfeeling as she had thought. He was just able to control his emotions better than most. He seemed to show no emotion, but that was not true. You just had to know where to look and what to look for. For the most part, his eyes told the most about him. It was nearly impossible to tell how he felt by judging based on his facial expression or behavior. But if you looked closely, he would show most of his emotions in his eyes. If he was happy, his eyes were usually more relaxed and less piercing. If he was worried, his eyes constantly moved, taking in his surroundings and preparing for any possible threat with uncommon alacrity. Noticing these seemingly small things was the key to knowing him.

And since when had she suddenly noticed all these things anyway?

The obvious answer was that she had spent more time with him lately. It made perfect sense that she would know him better than every one else.

But why in the world are you noticing so much about him?

She couldn't think of an answer to that particular question at the moment.

Should she be worried about that?

Perhaps. But, it did not seem important at the time. After all, simply noticing some things about some one you talked with on a daily basis wasn't exactly a major problem.

Was it?

Whatever. Now was not the time to worry over such trivial matters. There was simply no need.

Wait. 'There was simply no need'? Since when did she start to talk like Loki, even if it was to herself? Actually, now that she thought about it, it seemed as if being in his company was starting to rub off on her in various ways.

Odd.

Wait, she just did it again. It was all rather confusing, so she decided not to dwell on it too much.

Her conversations with Loki were often relaxing for her. Even though he did not talk much, it was nice to talk about random things with someone who she knew could at least understand. Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't talk at all. In fact, being in her company had probably encouraged the calm assassin to actually talk without necessarily needing a set reason. It seemed that their companionship was mutually beneficial in certain ways.

Companionship? Were they merely companions? Or could they consider each other as friends. She was not quite sure, and yet wondered when she had made any distinction between the two concepts. Before, a companion and a friend had meant the exact same thing. Apparently, her way of thought had changed over time.

Another very important part of her conversations with Loki was that she forgot about her pain when she was talking with him. Their talks were usually away from the camp, so she did not have to see Chaos. Their conversations were never really about Chaos either, so she was not reminded of him at all.

When was the last time that she had not thought about Balder or his reincarnation?

When she had realized this, it had been quite a shock. Then she had realized that it was also quite a blessing. She didn't have to feel the sharp pain of unrequited love when she talked with Loki. She could just talk about whatever she wanted and not worry about how much longer she could stand of seeing Chaos but being unable to do anything about it. It was an effective way to forget that feeling, if only for a little while.

As a result, her pain and anguish gradually lessened to the point of dullness. Even when she did see him, with or without Iris, she no longer felt like her heart was being ripped out of her body. It still hurt, but not nearly as much as it had used to.

She had Loki to thank for that.

She did not know why the assassin had chosen to try to befriend her, but she could not be more grateful to him for doing so. And now she knew that he considered her to be not just a companion, but also a friend.

Author's Note: I finished this chapter in one day too! Yay for me! Actually, I think this chapter was probably a bit shorter than the others. Oh well. But I probably won't be updating after this for a couple of days because of school and all that. I think I'm already falling behind in all my long-term stuff. Sorry if you didn't like the chapter, but there's not much I can do. Reviews help, you know. I haven't gotten any reviews for the second chapter. (Then again, I just posted that late last night…) But still, reviews definitely help, even just my self-esteem. And by the way, the story is not going to end there. As I was writing it, I realized that it kind of seemed that way, but it's not. Alright then. Bye!

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