Chapter 14! Woop!

Let's stop by Asgard, shall we? :) Yes, let's. Oh, and this is a really short chapter, but important nevertheless!

Oh, and by the way, I'll post the next chapter soon, since this one is so short!

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-o-

Chapter 14 - In Time

Frigga had to find a quiet place when she returned to Asgard. She had to think. Process.

She did not know how long she had been sitting there when Odin entered the room.

"You were away for some time," he said warily. "And now you are lost in thought. I am not certain whether that is a good, or a bad thing."

"Come, husband," Frigga said and patted the spot next to her on the sofa. "Come sit, and I will tell you."

Odin came over and sat down, gazing at her. "Is it good news? How is Loki?"

"He is well," Frigga said, and saw Odin relax slightly. "I have much to tell you, but I would like to show you something first."

She had already placed the pictures in the order she wanted to show him, and put them face down so he would not see the next picture accidentally.

First, she gave him the picture of Loki in the sofa.

"He looks...calm."

"Indeed," Frigga said. "He is."

She let Odin look at the picture for a bit before giving him the next one. "Not only is he calm. He has found patience, and tolerance."

Odin actually smiled, looking at the picture. This is Amber's work? The food?"

"Indeed. She is truly something."

She handed him the next picture - this one of Amber. "Loki has taken this picture."

She quickly explained why Amber looked the way she did, and Odin chuckled.

She handed him the one of Loki and Amber with garlands in their hair next, and Odin chuckled again. "He has indeed found patience."

Next was the one of Loki and Amber in the wind and snow, and something softened in Odin's face when he saw it.

"Look, husband," she almost whispered when she handed him the next. The one where Loki laughed.

Odin gazed at the picture as if it was something foreign. "He is...happy?"

Frigga nodded. "He is. Not only is he happy, I believe he is...changing."

She handed him the picture of Loki with red eyes and blue skin, and Odin inhaled sharply. "I never thought this could be. I never imagined."

Frigga explained the backstory to the picture, and Odin shook his head. "How...surreal."

Frigga nodded. "And this is him today."

Odin gingerly took the picture from her - the picture of Loki and Frigga.

"And tomorrow I am invited to the event that is decorating the Christmas tree."

Odin looked puzzled, so she laughed, and explained. Everything. How Loki had called her mother, how he had spoken freely, how he had smiled, and how different he had been. She then recited the phone call from Amber as well as she could, and then told her husband all about their journey to purchase a tree. She talked about Amber - how she had managed to return a lost child in the midst of it all, how attentive she had been to everything and everyone, and how fascinating it had been to watch.

"I told Amber 'I thought he was lost for us. I had given up' and she replied – as if it was the most natural thing in the world – 'someone just needed to find him again'."

"And she has found him," Odin said quietly. "Are they…lovers?"

"Yes."

"I thought so – looking at the pictures…"

Frigga shook her head. "No. They were not lovers as of yet – not on any of these pictures. It is very recent. And it is not a mere infatuation. There is something more there. And she accepts him – for everything he is. She wouldn't mind if his regular skin colour was blue. 'You are you – you are Loki – and that is all that matters' I think her expression was. And the way she speaks to him… I heard her call to him today. 'Loki, dear, would you be so kind as to bring your supernatural strength over here for thirty seconds? My frail, mortal arms will not do.' He chuckled as he went to her, and then I heard a soft 'thank you, love'."

"Frail, mortal arms indeed," Odin said, and then gazed at Frigga for a long moment. "We shall consider that – in time."

"Yes," Frigga agreed. "In time."