Smoke Signals
by aishuu
Loki, Sigyn had learned long ago, was unable to love just one woman.
She had married him too young, back in the days when Asgard was just starting to rise. He had been handsome and blazed brilliantly in front of her eyes and she couldn't say no when he asked her to become his wife. For a moment she had allowed herself to dream of an ideal marriage but the hope went up in smoke quickly.
She had known he would be an unfaithful husband. Loki was a God that none could control no matter how they may have wanted to. Loki was a rule unto himself, at times playful while others fiercely defiant. He couldn't resist taking the wrong path, time and again.
She had grown used to his affairs and the spawning of his monstrous children. Even now when she looked at them, she felt nothing inside but a quiet remorse. Her children – their children – had not been the ones he had favored. Loki knew his sons, the descendants of giants, needed him more than his heavenly sons. It was better to leave the holy ones to her care.
He didn't mean to hurt her, she knew. Loki wasn't as vindictive as many people would believe. He just didn't understand relationships. He was as capricious as the flames he ruled and as unpredictable. Always she accepted him back into her bed without complaint, finding life more unbearable without him than the pain he caused her. He needed her kindness and she needed his passion. She burned inside every time he touched her gently, knowing he cared. As long as she had part of his heart, she was content.
The last time she saw him he had been but a child, thrust out of heaven by Odin's rage. She had known of his exile and had been unable to speak in his defense. She was the most loyal of wives and no one would trust her word.
It was one of the most difficult things she had ever done, letting him go. She had to find a surrogate, someone who could care for him in a way he did not care for himself. Looking down, she selected a pink-haired girl full of curiosity and caring, tempered by laughter.
She hoped the girl would be able to help. She quietly touched the girl's dreams, hoping that she could love Sigyn's husband while Sigyn could not. One day, she was sure he would return to her, but for now all she could do was leave him to Mayuri.