Author's Note: Ok, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't excited to get to write some Loki/Sigyn interaction once more! It is time for some pleasant things to happen between them again. Caitreylove *songbird4Him pulls out smelling salts in an attempt to revive the reader in time to read the next chapter* Anonymous1662 *songbird4Him hands reader a tissue* Glad I could bring tears to your eyes… which sounds really mean. MithrilEvanesco I am excited that I was able to surprise you!


Broken.

That was the only word that Sigyn could use to describe Loki's appearance as he had knelt in front of her. It had been the first time in her long acquaintance with him that she had ever seen him so humbled. His apology had been no lie. Even Loki couldn't have faked the level of extreme desperation she had sensed in him. The question that remained now was where exactly did they stand?

Sigrún waddled over to Sigyn with a book. Sigyn, knowing exactly what her niece wanted her to do, grabbed the book and opened it on the floor in front of her. Sigrún sat/fell over by Sigyn's knee with a little 'umph' and Sigyn smiled down at her.

"I see you picked out a different book this time." She commented. "Did you finally tire of the boy with the green eyes?"

"neinn glek naghuðsyn hiblnn nú ga…"

Sigrún continued to babble on happily. As much as Sigyn loved her niece's unidentifiable chatter, she could't wait till she actually understood what in the Nine Realms Sigrún was actually saying. Sigyn just smiled and nodded encouragingly to Sigrún as she continued to smile, "talk", and turn the pages happily. Sigyn supposed Sigrún thought she was reading to her so she didn't stop her. Sigrún skipped a couple pages here and there, and when she finished she closed the book and looked up at Sigyn proudly. Sigyn smiled down at her niece and gave her some applause.

"Good job Siggy!"

Sigrún matched Sigyn's clapping motion, but almost fell over in her enthusiasm.

"Ooops." Sigyn said with a smile before picking Sigrún up. "You know that boy with the eyes you liked so much? I saw him the other day… actually I have been seeing him quite a bit over the last few months and I didn't even know it. He can change his appearance you see…anyways we had been fighting so I hadn't seen him in a long time, but I finally forgave him. He is a Prince you know. That's right, you've been held by a real life Prince. That's pretty exciting isn't it? He too of course has held me, but that was a bit different then how he held you. I have never seen him so unassuming before. He went down on his knees in front of me and begged my forgiveness. He, a proud Prince of Asgard, knelt for me! I wouldn't have even thought it possible…"

Sigrún wasn't really paying attention to Sigyn's rambling, but she didn't care. It felt good to get all of her thoughts out into the open, even if her only audience was a toddler who couldn't really speak, let alone comprehend what was being said. Sigyn wasn't sure why she hadn't told Frida or even her mother about going to Loki, but she hadn't. It seemed almost wrong to admit that Loki, a royal who had every right to command her to her knees, had so willingly gone to his before her.

"I think he still cares for me after all this time…"

"He most certainly does." Frida interjected from the doorway.

Sigyn looked up quickly to see Frida and Markus standing there.

"Back so soon? I didn't think you would return from the palace for at least another three or four hours!" Sigyn commented.

"We hadn't planned on coming back this early, but we got rather bored and decided that we wouldn't make you watch Sigyn any longer than necessary." Markus explained.

"So you've seen Loki?" Frida asked.

"Yes. How long have you been standing there?" Sigyn queried.

"Long enough to hear you say that he asked you for forgiveness. So when exactly did this little meeting occur?" Her sister inquired.

"Last week."

Frida placed her hands on her hips, and Sigyn knew she was going to have to deal with her elder sister's sassiness for a few minutes.

"I see, and when exactly had you planned on telling me about it?"

"I hadn't, I didn't think you would care to know." Sigyn excused.

"Of course not, why would I want to know that the Prince who physically abused and almost raped you pleads for your forgiveness by supplicating to you on his knees. Why would I possibly want to know that?"

"Now Frida, Sigyn's personal affairs are just that: personal. She doesn't have to share every detail of her life with you if she doesn't wish to." Markus interceded.

"When it deals with Prince Loki she does!"

"So are you required to share every detail of our relationship with her?"

"No, but that is because I am the elder sister. I have the right to know what goes on in my baby sister's life!"

"I am not really a baby Frida…"

"Not now Sigyn, I obviously need to explain to Markus how being sisters works."

Sigyn shook her head and smiled.

"Looks like it is you and I in the children's corner Siggy." She whispered to her niece.

"That is a ridiculous argument Frida, and you know it. If Sigyn and Prince Loki had wished you to know about their meeting they would have invited you to it."

"Well maybe they should have then!"

"I think I am just going to head home." Sigyn interrupted.

Frida gave her a sour look, and Markus sighed.

"I'll show you to the door." He offered.

Sigyn handed Sigrún off to Frida.

"Sorry I got her all riled up before bed time." Sigyn apologized to Markus as they reached the front door.

"It will be fine. Sigrún didn't seem too riled up to me." Markus responded.

"Oh yes, Sigrún will be fine. I meant Frida."

Markus let out a laugh.

"Yes, well perhaps her little temper tantrum will work to my advantage."

"How so?"

"She will have to vent some way, and I have a feeling I can direct all that energy into other activities aside from talking."

Sigyn smothered a laugh.

"Now is that any way to talk around a Lady?" She inquired.

"Oh Sigyn, you spent years around Fandral. Surely that is not the most suggestive remark you have ever encountered."

Sigyn had to surrender the point to Markus. Fandral had said much worse in her presence, and Thor was not above a lewd joke every once in a while.

"Fair enough." She replied.

"So can we expect you to watch Sigrún next week for the summer solstice? She is still a bit young to attend."

"Actually…I was thinking about going… it has always been my favorite after all…"

"You haven't gone in what? Five years now?"

"I know, but I don't see any reason to miss out on it any longer."

"Does this have to do with Loki?" Markus pressed.

"No."

"Sigyn…"

"Well yes and no." Sigyn corrected. "I used to avoid it since I knew he would be there, but I am not worried about avoiding him any longer. We have made our peace with one another, and can now act as indifferent acquaintances."

"Indifferent acquaintances?" Markus asked doubtfully. "Is that even possible?"

"I don't see why not." Sigyn remarked. "Either way I am not going to let our relationship dictate the rest of my life."

"A wise decision." Markus encouraged. "Will we be seeing you tomorrow then?"

"No, I am to take Hallsteinn's sons out riding tomorrow afternoon, and then I am to dine with he and Aldís tomorrow evening."

"Then enjoy your day." Markus responded in farewell.

Sigyn gave him a little wave before mounting Roan and riding home. It wasn't till a few days before the summer solstice that Sigyn reveled her intentions of attending to her parents. Both Halldor and Signy expressed their delight in her decision, much to Sigyn's relief. The day of the celebration was filled with excited energy for Sigyn. Her attendance was sure to be a surprise to her old friends and Loki. She chose a deep pink dress that would hopefully be cool enough for the outdoor portion of the celebration. Once at the palace, she approached the throne with her mother and father. The Queen seemed very pleased to see her, and in a far better state of mind than when Sigyn had last seen her. Odin smiled at her kindly, Thor winked down at her, and Loki kept up a passive façade, but Sigyn could sense the smile that he was hiding oh so carefully.

Sigyn found herself sitting almost across from Fandral and his family at the dining table so she spent the entirety of the meal chatting with him. He had expressed his sorrow over Theoric's death and offered her his condolences, which she readily accepted before asking after his personal life. There was nothing all that surprising in his report. He had slept with a ridiculous number of women since their last meeting, and he had been making a name for himself on the battlefield. He demanded her first dance when they reached the bonfire, and Sigyn promised it to him gladly. Fandral was most assuredly the most skilled dancer she knew. They danced a couple of dances before he insisted that she join he, Thor, Sif, Hogun, and Volstagg in catching up. Each member of the group offered Sigyn their condolences over the death of her fiancé before cheering her up with stories of their latest adventures in battle. Sigyn laughed at the rather embellished tales told by her warrior friends for quite some time before a smooth voice joined the conversation.

"May I join you?" Loki inquired.

Thor and the others looked to Sigyn for an answer, fully expecting her to deny him or excuse herself. Much to their surprise, Sigyn gave Loki a small smile.

"Of course, My Prince."

Loki gave her a nod of appreciation before addressing the others.

"And what thrilling conversation have I just interrupted?"

"We were just telling Sigyn of some of our more recent exploits." Thor answered. "I was just going to tell her of the incident with the rock trolls…"

"Do you think that wise?" Loki asked.

"Yes, that is probably a story she would rather not hear." Fandral remarked.

"I am not made of glass." Sigyn assured. "Hearing stories of valor that occurred during the same battle as Theoric's death will not cause me to shatter like a glass dropped on the ground."

"Why don't you tell her all about it then Loki? Oh yes… how silly. I forgot that you weren't actually there." Sif baited.

Loki sent her a dirty look.

Apparently the relationship between Sif and Loki hadn't improved these past five years, not that Sigyn had expected it would. Those two had burned their bridges ages ago.

"Yes, he happened to be off pretending to be a politician in some outskirt village." Volstagg explained.

"I was hardly pretending." Loki defended.

"Enough teasing." Thor interjected with a smile. "Loki was only doing what father asked of him. If he hadn't been off on Odin's business he would have been fighting valiantly right along side us! Wouldn't you have, little brother!?"

"Of course." Loki replied with forced enthusiasm.

Sif and Hogun looked at Loki doubtfully, and it took all of Sigyn's self-control not to say something. They had no right to criticize Loki. If they had seen him bloodied and dying as she and Frigga had they wouldn't be so quick to doubt him. Loki had been tortured in his line of service to Asgard, and she doubted if any of the other warriors standing before her at this moment could have survived what he had survived.

"Well a good politician needs practice to perfect his craft. Perhaps Loki's experience will one day help to prevent battles altogether." Sigyn defended.

Loki looked at Sigyn a tad surprised by her defense, Fandral raised a curious eyebrow, Volstagg gave her a sympathetic smile, Sif rolled her eyes, Hogun did nothing, and Thor gave her a small condescending laugh.

"A noble sentiment Lady Sigyn, a bit childlike, but noble none the less. Enough talk though, I have yet to dance with you." Thor noted.

Sigyn wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to allow Thor to dance with her after that condescending remark, but she permitted him to dance with her anyways. He didn't seem to take the hint that she was upset with him while they danced seeing as her sharp remarks seemed to go over his head. She only gave him one dance before excusing herself to go and make a coronet of flowers. She wasn't there long when Loki came to take a seat across from her. He sat a respectable distance away, but remained close enough so that their conversation would be difficult to make out by anyone not sitting extremely close to them.

"Thank you." He simply stated upon sitting down.

Sigyn smiled, but didn't look up from her crown.

"You're welcome…I only wish I could have said more. It seems unfair that they can't know of your true involvement." She remarked.

"It is best if they didn't. They probably wouldn't appreciate it anyways. My work would seem too backhanded and dishonorable to warriors like them." Loki pointed out.

"If they saw you as I did that day, they would rethink that sentiment." Sigyn remarked offhandedly.

"As you did?" Loki asked in a confused tone.

Sigyn looked up to see his befuddled expression.

"Yes…" She responded.

Had Frigga not told her son what happened when he was brought back to the palace?

"I was with your mother when they brought you back."

"You were?"

"M-hm. We had been walking in the gardens when I spotted them coming to the back gate with you in tow. I helped your mother get you to her bath chambers so she could attend to your wounds."

"You helped her?"

"To carry you, yes. After that I pretty much just tried to keep you from bleeding out."

Loki looked away in thought for a moment.

"Thank you." He finally stated.

"It was nothing… literally I did nothing."

"I wouldn't say that. You kept me from bleeding out, and I can only imagine how important it was for my mother to have you there."

"That is the only reason I think I was able to stay level-headed about the whole thing. I knew that if I panicked I would only worry her, and I knew that she couldn't afford to worry… there was a moment though… when I thought, well I thought we had lost you…"

Loki's eyes took on a new look of inquisitiveness. It was as if he wished to know what she would say next, but feared it at the same time.

"I had been applying pressure to your stab wound, but I couldn't feel your heart beating and you didn't appear to be breathing. I was afraid that I was going to have to tell your mother that you were dead, and I didn't know how."

"Then it is a good thing you didn't have to." Loki comforted.

It was obvious to him that whatever occurred in that moment still bothered Sigyn, and he didn't want her to think on it longer than necessary. Sigyn nodded in agreement. She placed a few more flowers in her crown and smiled.

"She was a little concerned about undressing you in my presence though."

Loki felt a sudden heat rise to his cheeks with the change of mood.

"She undressed me with you there?" He asked.

Sigyn laughed at his embarrassment.

"Yes, she needed to search your body for any hidden wounds. She hesitated to strip you down at first, but I reminded her that I had indeed seen you naked before."

"How did she react to that?" Loki asked with a smirk.

"She stripped you down without a second thought."

"You know, you could have shocked her to death with a statement like that." Loki scolded.

"Really, how so?"

"She might not have been aware that you and I had slept together." He pointed out.

Sigyn looked up from her coronet with an incredulous look.

"You might be the 'god of deception,' but I don't think even you could have convinced your mother that we had never slept together."

"You never know, I can be pretty convincing…"

"That is true, but what excuse could you give for my spending countless nights alone with you in your bedroom?"

"I could have told her that we were having late night study sessions."

"To which your mother would have inquired what the topic of study was, and if these late night sessions were theoretical or application oriented."

"As to the topic of the sessions, I could have responded that they were to study the body's reaction to various stimulae. I would have then explained that such study would require both theoretical debate and practical testing as well."

"So you would have told your mother we were sleeping together without saying the words 'we are sleeping together'?"

"…yes, but it would have sounded much more genteel."

Sigyn smiled.

"I was a bit more concerned about your life than being genteel." She pointed out.

Silence fell between the two of them. It seemed that despite their best efforts, they couldn't seem to shake the heavy feeling that lingered between them. Never before had silence been awkward for them, but now it was. Sigyn supposed this shouldn't surprise her seeing as they hadn't spent this much time alone in each other's company in five years. She put the last few flowers in her crown and placed it on her head.

"How does it look?" She inquired.

"Lovely." Loki remarked.

He looked as though he was about to stand and leave, but stopped unexpectedly. A smile crept on to his face and Sigyn gave him a questioning look.

"It would appear that you are about to be ambushed." He noted.

Before Sigyn could turn around a few small bodies clung on to her back and wrapped their little arms around her neck, waist, and arms.

"Lady Sigyn!"

"You came!"

"I wanna ride Road!"

Children's voices squealed in delight.

Sigyn managed to turn her head and look around. Her attackers where none other than about a dozen children.

"Road?" Loki asked.

"She means Roan." Sigyn managed to get out.

Several of the children ran in between Loki and Sigyn and began to bounce around.

"Can we ride him!?"

"Pretty please!?"

"Me first, me first!"

Sigyn smiled at the kids, but shook her head.

"Not tonight." She apologized. "Roan is at home."

Several of the kids let out sad sighs and moans, but one of the younger girls released Sigyn's arm and slid on to her lap.

"Then will you tell us a story?" She asked with the sweetest smile Sigyn had ever seen.

Sigyn smiled back.

"Very well, what kind of story would you like to hear?"

"Oooh, oooh! Tell us about a princess who falls in love with a prince!" The young girl that was still holding Sigyn around the neck pleaded.

"Ugh no!" One of the boys replied while plopping down on the ground in front of Sigyn.

"That's disgusting!" Another little boy added.

"No its not!" One of the older girls replied. "Its romantic, but she shouldn't fall in love with a prince."

"Then who should she fall in love with?" Sigyn inquired.

"An inn-keeper!" The girl replied.

"An inn-keeper? Why an inn-keeper?" Sigyn pressed while smothering a laugh.

"Because Lofn likes the inn-keeper's son!" Another little girl proclaimed loudly.

Lofn and the other girl began to bicker, and one of the other boys interjected his thoughts.

"Tell us a story about a great warrior who saves Asgard from a giant monster!"

Sigyn hushed the children before they could interject any more story ideas, and with a little difficulty managed to get them settled down.

"How about I tell you a story of a warrior maiden who fell hopelessly in love with one of her companions, and helped him defend Asgard from a terrible monster?"

The children seemed contented with this compromise, and each tried to get as close to Sigyn as possible. She stole a glance to where Loki had been sitting when she began her story, and was a tad surprised to see him still sitting there. She thought that he would have left as soon as the children began clamoring for a story. He wasn't looking at her when she glanced his way however, he was more focused on the two children who were using his legs to lean on, and the one brave soul who had climbed up into his lap presumably uninvited. She didn't even try to hide her amused smile as she began her tale.