Author's Note: Hi there everyone! Sooooooo I am going to go ahead and admit that these next few chapters are not going to be anyone's favorite. I have to start setting up the next chain of events, so they are going to be more focused on covering a larger span of time quickly. It's not that I wouldn't love to write out every day of Sigyn and Loki's lives… but I wouldn't. Sorry if these next few chapters are not quite up to par, but don't say I didn't warn you! Caitreylove I am so excited that you enjoyed the chapter, as you might guess, it was a blast to write! I am glad to hear that Loki's actions didn't seem too out of character, and I am also glad that Loki and Sigyn's relationship seems restrained enough. Megsy0 So glad that you came out of your corner once more to review! :) (I am also glad you found the chapter to be adorable.) AmandaXOXO :D I am elated that you found this chapter to be so cute, maybe there will be more Loki/children interaction somewhere in the distant future… bijoulovertje123 Hahaha glad to hear that you loved the chapter! Yes, Loki does seem to get himself into funny predicaments doesn't he?


Loki stood outside his mother's door. He brought his hand up to knock, and pulled it away again. He knew Sigyn was in there, and he could hear the two women laughing about something.

Should he knock?

Would they allow him to stay?

Sigyn had seemed comfortable enough with him the evening before, but perhaps talking with Frigga and Sigyn as he used to would come off as trying to rekindle their former friendship too quickly.

"Come in Loki." Frigga called out from inside her chamber without him even knocking.

Loki took in a deep breath and looked around the corridor. There was no one in sight. He could still flee with no witnesses to his cowardice…

"Don't even think about scampering off, I know you are out there." Frigga remarked.

Loki's shoulders sagged. Was he really that predictable? He shook off his nervousness and turned the handle to his mother's door.

"Good afternoon Mother, Lady Sigyn." Loki greeted upon entering the chamber.

"Good afternoon darling." Frigga returned.

"Afternoon, Prince Loki." Sigyn greeted.

"Come to hide from Thor?" His Mother asked as Loki took a seat in one of the chairs.

"If you don't mind the intrusion." Loki answered.

"You know I don't mind, so I shall leave the decision up to Sigyn."

Loki shot an inquisitive look towards Sigyn, and she smiled.

"I see no reason why he cannot hide in here with us. I was just telling her of our little play time with the children last evening."

"Ah, and what do you think of our little story time?" Loki asked his mother.

"I think it was quite the feat to get you to participate." His mother responded.

Loki smirked.

"I wasn't really given any option but to participate between the children, who thought I would make a comfy chair, and Sigyn forcing me to tell a story."

"You didn't really tell a story." Sigyn pointed out.

"No, but they seemed to enjoy it anyways." Loki retorted.

"Sigyn tells me that you had to play the part of the evil magician." Frigga mentioned.

"I was the obvious choice." Loki answered. "Sigyn thought that she could get out of it, but the children refused to allow her off so easily."

"Yes, she explained that they wanted her to be the princess that was kidnapped."

"Indeed, the damsel in distress. I would say she played her part convincingly enough."

"I am sure she did a marvelous job, perhaps not as typecast as you, but I am sure she did well all the same."

Sigyn smirked at the Queen's jest and Loki rolled his eyes.

"So how did the story end? I am sure they were able to defeat the magician and save the princess."

"Yes, but the children threw in a plot twist at the end." Sigyn affirmed.

"Oh really, what sort of plot twist?" Frigga queried.

"The magician had kidnapped the princess because he was in love with her, and during her captivity she fell in love with him." Loki responded in a slightly scoffing tone.

"An interesting choice… so do the magician and princess live happily every after?" His mother inquired.

"We don't know, they said they would get back to us on that one." Loki replied.

Sigyn smiled.

"With their imaginations there is no telling how it will end." She added.

"Probably with them having dinner." Loki remarked.

The Queen and Sigyn both looked at him like he was crazy.

"I am not jesting, one of those children kept suggesting food related things every time a suggestion needed to be made!" He defended.

Sigyn laughed.

"That was Asa, one of the twins, she likes food I suppose." Sigyn explained.

"And she is normal compared to bird-girl."

"Bird-girl?" Sigyn pressed.

"The girl that wanted to be a bird."

"Oh, Dagny…yes, she can be a bit silly sometimes."

"Did you learn any of the children's names Loki, or did you just give them all monikers?" Frigga asked.

"Which do you think I did?" Loki asked.

Frigga shook her head in exasperation.

"I hope you didn't actually call her bird-girl out loud." She admonished.

"No, not out loud." He assured.

The three of them fell into silence, and Loki looked over to Sigyn. Her hands were folded in her lap and she kept fiddling with her fingers. She was nervous. She obviously didn't know what to say, so she was hoping that either he or his Mother spoke first. Unfortunately for Sigyn, Loki was just as lost as to what to say next. What could they possibly talk about that wouldn't remind either of them of some sort of uncomfortable or painful memory? Fortunately his angel of a Mother relieved them both of having to say anything.

"Today is such a lovely day, what do you two say to taking a stroll in the gardens?"

Loki and Sigyn quickly agreed. Sigyn walked to his Mother's right while he walked to her left, and neither spoke as Frigga talked casually about the flowers in the gardens. They spent the afternoon allowing Frigga to carry on more of a monologue than a conversation. Loki would steal glances at Sigyn, and every so often he would catch her stealing glances at him. Sigyn eventually had to excuse herself to return home in time for supper, and Loki offered to walk her to the stables.

"That's all right, My Prince. I can find them myself." She assured.

Loki didn't press the topic, and gave her a nod as she curtsied and left. Once she was out of sight Frigga sighed.

"She wanted you to go with her." His Mother remarked.

"She said that she didn't." Loki defended.

"With her voice yes, but he entire demeanour was telling you to insist on escorting her there."

"If she wants me to do something than she should just tell me, not depend on me reading her demeanour correctly." Loki asserted.

"And did she ever tell you exactly what to do the first time you courted?"

"No, but perhaps that was the problem with our relationship."

"No darling, the problem with your relationship was that you cheated on her." Frigga pointed out.

Loki had no retort for that, so he excused himself to go prepare for dinner. He hated it when his Mother was right.

Lithasblot came soon enough, and Sigyn attended the banquet with her family. Loki watched enviously as other men danced and flirted with Sigyn, but he couldn't pull himself to ask her to dance. Even watching Thor lead her around the dance floor wasn't enough to push Loki to action. How could he ever touch her again? He was merely grateful that she allowed him to talk to her, which he did quite a bit of over the course of the evening. He always made sure that their conversations took place in a group setting, but seeing her positive reactions to the things he was saying gave Loki more confidence in his ability to patch up their splintered friendship. Sigyn met with his Mother again the next day, and Loki joined them once more. There were still awkward pauses in the conversation, but less than there had been previously. When it was time for Sigyn to say goodbye Loki offered to walk her to the stables. She declined the offer again, but this time Loki pressed his case. Sigyn finally consented to his offer, and the two of them walked there in awkward silence. Before she mounted to leave Loki offered her an invitation to join him, Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three for the celebration of Mabon. Sigyn accepted his invitation graciously, and Loki practically counted down the days till the minor festival arrived.

Sigyn drank little at the celebration despite the fact that drinking was the entire purpose of it, but she had never been much of a drinker. Loki followed her suit since he couldn't afford to be drunk with Sigyn present. Too much alcohol and he was likely to act on his desires towards her, which would be an incredibly bad thing if he wanted to continue to mend their friendship. The celebration was loud and merry, and Loki had to force himself to look other places than Sigyn for at least part of the time. She spoke little and contented herself with listening to tales of battle that Loki knew she had heard a thousand times before, but she smiled as though it were her first time nonetheless. It was early in the morning by the time Sigyn announced that she should return home. Loki immediately offered to walk her to the stables, and Sigyn accepted his invitation without complaint. The two of them talked of the celebration, and some of the amusing moments it had held. Not a deep conversation to be sure, but it was conversation. Loki received several curious looks from Thor and the others upon his return, but Loki gave them nothing to satisfy their curiosity. Fandral gave Loki a look that said he didn't need a clue as to what he was up to, and Loki had half a mind to inform the warrior that he was way off base. Loki wasn't trying to woo Sigyn, all he wanted was his best friend back.

The feast of Winternights was the next time Loki would get a chance to see Sigyn after Mabon, which meant he had to suffer Thor's questioning till then.

"So you and Sigyn….?"

"Are you sure you only wish to be friends with her?"

"Are you still attracted to her?"

"Why don't you invite her to the palace if you want to rekindle your old flame?"

Thor's disbelief in Loki's innocent intentions towards Sigyn seemed to be shared by Sif and the Warrior's Three as well, but Loki paid them no heed. It didn't matter what they believed to be true since Loki actually already knew the truth. Did he want to be more than friends with Sigyn? Yes, but he could never be more than that. He couldn't bring himself to even touch her, let alone bed her as passionately as his body desired. Loki couldn't explain this to Thor and the others however, so he just put up with the questions and inwardly longed for the Winternights feast to arrive.

The Winternights feast was a somber event compared to the other festivals of Asgard. It was an evening to honor the memory of those that had already left this life. Those that had lost members of their family during their lifetime wore black to the celebration. Though no deaths in the family had occurred during Thor or Loki's lifetime, they were required to wear black all the same. In theory, the Royal House held all of Asgard to be its family, and was to respect all of Asgard's dead as their own. The feast was always an elaborate one, with drinking and merriment, but there was no music or dancing immediately following this meal. Loki eyed Sigyn's family from a distance. They were one of the few families in attendance in which every member was attired in black, and they were certainly the largest one. Even Sigyn's nieces and nephews would be required to wear black when they came for the lighting ceremony. Though Theoric and Sigyn hadn't been married, he still would have been considered family through his engagement. The burden of this festival certainly weighed heavier on them than it did most others in the room, and Loki could hardly blame them. It seemed as though death haunted their footsteps at every turn. Once the meal was completed all of Asgard would gather at the water's edge to let off a candle for each family member they had lost. Sigyn's family would send out nine, a staggering number by Asgardian standards. Loki had always found the sight of the little candles floating on the water to be rather pretty despite their melancholy meaning. Those along the shore stayed watching till the last of the candles disappeared. The fading light of the last candle signaled the beginning of the final part of the festival, which was a wild celebration filled with drinking and glee. Loki snuck off from this section of the celebration after a little while. There was somewhere he had to go.

It was not the shortest ride to get to the lake, and he hoped Sigyn was there when he arrived. Every year during the Winternights feast Sigyn would sneak off to the lake so she could light a candle for her sister in secret. Loki had found out about this habit, and used to join her. He slowed his approach so that he wouldn't disturb Sigyn if she was there. He dismounted a ways away from the lake, and walked the rest of the way to the body of water. A single light floated on the surface, and Loki could just make out the small form of a female sitting on the bank. Loki's approach was suddenly halted however, when he spotted another form not too far from the lake also making their way towards Sigyn. Loki couldn't make out many details about the figure since they were wearing a dark hooded robe, but they were too graceful to be a man. The figure seemed too tall to be a woman, but it had to be. Wisps of long golden hair blew out from under her hood, but that was the only specific thing Loki could see.

A tall figure in a dark hooded cloak.

Sigyn.

Why did this seem familiar to him?

Of course…

"They're… they're gone…" Sigyn stated, obviously stunned. "They had been over there outside that shop since I arrived, and they were there not even ten minutes ago."

"What did they look like?" He inquired.

"I am not sure; they were heavily cloaked with their hood pulled low so I could not make out any of their features. The more I think on it though, the more I think that they must have been a woman. They were taller than me, but their cloak seemed like one a woman would wear…"

"This is not the first time you've seen them, is it?" He asked.

Sigyn reluctantly shook her head 'no.'

This was the figure Sigyn had seen all those years ago. It had slipped Loki's mind to ever ask her about it again, but seeing the being now caused Loki to shudder. He could understand why the woman had scared Sigyn so much. This strange woman gave off a frightening sensation. The figure approached Sigyn silently, and stopped right behind her. Loki considered calling out to Sigyn to warn her, but stopped as the woman did something truly strange. She reached out and carefully took a section of Sigyn's hair that was blowing freely about in her hand, and the strands began to turn a glowing silver color.

How was Sigyn not noticing this!?

He watched as Sigyn continued to stare out at the light on the lake as if in a trance.

The silver spread to the entirety of Sigyn's hair, and Loki knew he had to act.

"Sigyn!" He yelled as he threw a dagger in the strange woman's direction.

Loki's voice seemed to wake Sigyn from her daze, and she turned to see the strange woman still holding on to her hair and struck out against her. The figure had looked in Loki's direction in time to avoid his dagger, but Sigyn's stuggle came as an unexpected surprise to her. She recoiled quickly from Sigyn, and the sudden loss of force pulling Sigyn caused her to tumble into the water. Loki ran to Sigyn's aid, but not without getting a good look at Sigyn's stalker. The sudden movement had caused her hood to fall away, revealing the strangest sight Loki had ever seen. The woman disappeared in a sudden fog before Loki could confront her so Loki went to Sigyn. The girl was pulling herself out of the lake shakily. This must have been worse for Sigyn than most of her nightmares. Falling into the lake where her sister had drowned because of a tussle with her unnatural stalker with only the man who betrayed her for another woman to help her. Sigyn managed to pull herself all the way out of the water before Loki could reach her and got shakily to her feet. Her body was shaking violently, and Loki didn't think she was going to be able to stand for long. It was a cold night and Loki wanted nothing more than to warm her body with his own, but he couldn't. Instead, he pulled off his cloak and outer layer of clothing. He wrapped his outer tunic, which was still warm with his body heat, around her, and then threw his cloak tightly around her shoulders as well. Sigyn tried to speak, but she couldn't seem to get any words out. Loki hushed her and began to use a spell to dry her soaked clothes and body. He monitored her closely as the spell took effect. After a few minutes she was completely dry, but she was obviously still shaken.

"Thank you."

She whispered.

"It was nothing." Loki replied.

She went to remove his cloak and outer tunic, but he stopped her.

"Keep them on, you need to stay warm." He instructed.

"Why are you here?" Sigyn asked.

"Because I knew you would be here, and I didn't want you to sit out here alone." Loki explained.

"I'm glad you came." She admitted.

"Me too… Sigyn is this the woman? The one you told me about that day in the alley."

Sigyn nodded.

Loki studied Sigyn's face and a sinking feeling began to overtake him.

"Tonight isn't the first time you've seen her since then is it."

"It is not."

Loki looked around them to make sure the woman hadn't come back. He should have looked into this years ago, but he had to look into it now. Sigyn could be in danger, and he needed to know why.

"Come on, let's get you home." Loki stated. "Did you ride here?"

Sigyn shook her head 'no.'

"Then I will take you back."

They walked over to his mount, and he jumped up first. He lowered his arm down for her to use as an assist to mount. She was up in a flash and she wrapped her arms tightly around Loki's waist. Loki's heart was set racing as Sigyn's arms squeezed around him. He wasn't going to touch her, but if she was going to touch him he wouldn't complain. Loki took the ride slower than he could have, but he didn't really want to lose the feeling of Sigyn grasping him and their bodies riding in unison. Needless to say, he was glad Sigyn was sitting behind him and not in front. Once they reached Sigyn's home, she slid off his horse and made a motion to remove his articles of clothing. Loki stopped her once more.

"Keep them on for now, I will get them from you later."

Sigyn gave him a nod and pulled the tunic and cloak tightly around her again.

"Thank you." She restated.

"You are very welcome, it was the least I could do." Loki returned.

She gave him a small nod and curtsy before entering the courtyard of her home and vanishing from his sight. Loki turned his mount back towards the palace and made a speedy return there. He had work to do regarding Sigyn's stalker.

Who was this strange woman?

What type of sorceress was she?

"How had she put Sigyn in a trance?"

Why had Sigyn's hair turned silver when she touched it?

But most importantly…

What did she want with Sigyn?