Author's Note: I am so so so sorry everyone! Seriously, I feel terrible. I never intended to go so long without posting. I managed to get the one shot up, and then I started writing the next chapter, but one thing after another started interfering. I promise that I will not take so long in uploading the next chapter. Because I am so far behind I am sort of just giving you guys this one to tide you over to the next real chapter... I mean this one is real, but it is sort of a transitional one. I cover two days pretty quickly. There are some important things to note in it, but the next chapter is where things begin to pick up speed. Again I am so sorry. Enjoy this little tidbit till I can get a real chapter up. RebornRose1992, sorry this next chapter will take a little step back, but hopefully the next one will pick things back up again. taytayfanatical sorry for this update taking forever... Snow White Queen yes, we are certainly beginning to see where I am going to leave everyone before the plot of the first film. mybonded I am glad you were teary-eyed over Loki and Sigyn's way of mourning, and yes, the War Council and Odin can go to Hel as far as I am concerned XD Hehehe well, I suppose it was a slight cliffy... though it was more foreshadowing than anything else. Fire Elf Maiden,thank you :) I'm glad you are enjoying it. Cosima n the updates are grievously late is where they are. Sorry about that :( Anonymous 1662 All is well, I was just being a terrible writer and not posting in a timely manner. Thank you for waiting though :)


Loki spent the day after eating with Sigyn's family preparing for their trip. Livia was to leave the next day so she could prepare the living chambers of the first estate for Sigyn and Loki's arrival, which meant he had to ensure that she had enough money and supplies to fend for herself for a day. She had been so excited when Loki had informed her that she would be taking one of the carriages to the estate, that she claimed she didn't mind making the trip by herself. Well, almost by herself. One of the stable boys would be driving the carriage since Livia certainly couldn't, and Loki would never consider sending a young girl on such a long trip entirely alone. He had considered recruiting a second maid to join her, but Livia had protested that she didn't want help setting everything up. Though somewhat doubtful, Loki promised that he wouldn't bring another maid along anyways. What was happening to him? Making promises to maids was certainly not something he was accustomed to doing, but it was something Sigyn would do. His wife had always had the strangest effect on him, and now she was starting to rub off on him. The door to his study opening caused Loki to look up and see Sigyn gliding into the room. She was wearing her riding kit and she gave him a little smile.

"Did you forget our date?"

Date? They had planned a date?

"No, of course not." He lied.

Sigyn raised her eyebrow before going to sit on the edge of his desk.

"That is officially the most unconvincing lie you have ever told."

Loki straightened the little piles of parchment on his desk and then looked up at his wife.

"Is everything set for our departure?" She inquired.

"All the arrangements have been made for Livia's departure tomorrow."

"So you are done planning for the day?"

"I can be if you would like."

"I would like, you promised me that we would do a little sparring this afternoon."

Loki leaned back in his chair and smiled up at Sigyn.

"Is that the date you were referring to?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I'm not sure that qualifies as a date."

"Of course it does, now are you ready or not?"

"I'm ready, I'm ready!" He exclaimed as his eager wife tried to pull him out of his chair by his arm.

She practically dragged him to their usual sparring courtyard and only let him go once they were standing inside of it. Loki pulled out his practice dagger, as did Sigyn. Now was the fun part. Who would strike first? Neither of them particularly liked being the aggressor, preferring to stay on the defensive till they could gauge their enemies weaknesses, but after twenty years of this training game both Loki and Sigyn knew each others fighting style pretty well. To date Sigyn still had never beaten him, but that didn't surprise Loki. Her twenty years of training still couldn't stand up to the hundreds of years of training he had. Loki knew it still bothered his wife that she couldn't outmaneuver him, but she was encouraged by the fact that she could always give him a run for his money.

Loki went to lean against the tree and began to flip his dagger, while Sigyn walked aimlessly about the courtyard.

"Someone has to make the first move." Loki remarked after a minute or so.

"Indeed, someone must." She returned with a smirk.

Loki sighed. He was going to have to make the first move. Sigyn was both stubborn and patient; she could wait around all day and not make a move. He, on the other hand, would get bored of standing around waiting for her to strike first. Eventually he would be the one to cave, so why put off the inevitable? He caught his dagger one more time, and in one fluid motion sent it sailing at his wife. Sigyn didn't miss the telegraph, and she sidestepped to avoid the weapon. Loki threw a second dagger, which she caught and sent sailing back at him. He caught the dagger, but then noticed it was being hotly followed by the dagger she had been holding in her other hand. He didn't have time to catch that one, and he was barely able to dodge out of the way. The dagger lodged itself in the tree behind him, and Sigyn took advantage of his momentary distraction by coming in for some close range combat. The match seemed to be going in his favor as she spent more time trying to avoid his dagger and disarm him than landing any solid blows of her own, but she did eventually send his dagger clattering away from him. Now that they were both weaponless the fight began to center around their hand-to-hand combat. He was stronger, but she was quicker. Her best strategy was to dodge his attacks entirely instead of attempting to block and counter. The more hits she took the slower she would get because she would tire more quickly. Sigyn's other preferred strategy was to jump in fast for an attack and then get out of his leg's reach just as quickly. There was no sitting back and planning with her like there was with his brother, Sif, or the Warriors Three. He had to constantly move to keep up with her, which could wear him out. Sigyn bounced around the courtyard nimbly managing to avoid pretty much every offensive he made, and soon they were no longer even in the courtyard. Livia had to jump out of the way to avoid being caught in the middle of their sparring as they fought down the corridors of their wing of the palace. Back and forth they went. One moment he had the advantage, the next she did. The loser would be the one who made the first mistake, and for the first time in twenty years it was him. Sigyn jammed his leg by stepping in towards his body mid-kick, and though he deflected her elbow before it could strike his jaw, he wasn't able to stop her from sweeping his supporting leg out from under him. He took her to the ground with him, but it didn't matter. She landed on top and gave a small smile before plummeting his world into darkness.

His brain seemed to have been replaced with cotton as he awoke to a dull pounding behind his temple. He opened his eyes very slowly to help keep the sun from offending them too quickly. Sigyn was no long atop him when he finally managed to raise his eyelids fully. He carefully sat up and looked around to see her sitting next to him with the same smile as she had had when she knocked him unconscious.

"Not so fun is it?" She asked.

"What isn't so fun?" He questioned back.

"Being knocked out."

"No, of course it isn't. I don't ever recall saying it was."

"One would have thought you had, considering how pleased with yourself you always seem when you manage to knock me out." Sigyn remarked.

"I have never done that for pleasure, and you know it… though I certainly could if you wanted me to." He retorted with a devilish grin, while placing a hand behind Sigyn's head.

"I would prefer you didn't, My Love. I like to be cognizant when pleasure is involved."

Loki grinned and leaned his head back against the wall behind him. He was torn between pride for his protégé and disappointment at being bested. His pride won out however.

"So it appears that the student has finally surpassed the teacher." Sigyn cooed.

Loki gave a throaty chuckle.

"I would hardly go that far. I have spent the past twenty years beating you, you were bound to win eventually."

"Must you really dampen my victory?" She asked as she curled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"That was not my intention, I assure you."

"Mhmm." She hummed disbelievingly.

"Do you not trust me, My Dear?"

"Need you really ask?"

Loki rested his head on hers gently. He didn't need to ask, he had been the one to tell her not to trust him completely.

"We should bathe. I would hate to spend the evening with Thor and the others sticky from perspiration." He responded with instead.

He gave her thigh a squeeze to warn her he was about to stand. Once he was on his feet he offered Sigyn a hand. She took it and allowed him to pull her up. His head seemed to swirl for a few moments after rising, and he had to steady himself before leading Sigyn back to their quarters. Though she didn't say anything, Loki could tell Sigyn was still feeling rather smug about besting him as he wavered for a moment. In truth, he had forgotten how awful it felt to be knocked out like that, so he granted that she had some right to feel avenged on him for the number of times he had done it to her.

Loki allowed Sigyn the use of their bath chambers first, and he took the time she was washing to look over their itinerary for the next few weeks. Each day that brought them closer to their trip seemed to bring a little more joy to Sigyn and himself. She would chose an estate, Thor would be crowned, and then they would leave the palace to start a truly private life. Maybe, just maybe, they could reconsider starting a family then. He placed the parchment with the itinerary in the trunk he would be sending with Livia the next day. Sigyn's trunk was already closed and sealed for the journey so any last minute necessities would have to be put in his, and knowing Sigyn, there would be plenty of those. As she came out of the bathroom she threw one such thing on the top of his clothes and books causing him to grin.

"What's so amusing?" She asked suspiciously, catching his smile.

"You don't need to bring the entirety of our possessions with us."

"I'm not!" She protested. "We are brining two trunks, that isn't even enough room for a quarter of my books." She lamented.

"I'll share mine." He comforted in a teasing manner, but before he could wrap his arms around her, Sigyn jumped out of the way.

"Oh no, young man. You are all sweaty. Off to the bath chamber with you."

Loki contemplated wrapping his warm sticky arms around her anyways, but decided that staying on Sigyn's good side would be a wise idea before they embarked on their little journey. There would be plenty of time to tease his wife later. The warm water of the bath soothed his tired muscles, and he closed his eyes to enjoy it fully. The next thing he knew there was a soft hand caressing his cheek. He fluttered his eyes open to see Sigyn sitting on the edge of the bath smiling down at him.

"You know most men complain about having to wake from their dreams, but I'm a lucky man. No dream could compare with the beauty I behold upon waking."

"You must desire something from me to be so flattering." Sigyn remarked.

"Only that you join me in my bath." He answered.

"Not this time, Loki. We will likely be late meeting your brother as it is."

"My brother can wait." He determined before wrapping his arm around Sigyn and pulling her into the bath, robe and all.

She splashed and sputtered about for a moment before turning to him with a scolding look.

"You are such a child!" She pronounced before splashing water in his direction.

Loki ducked under the surface to avoid her splash, and then poked his head above the water.

"An odd accusation for a girl who splashes her husband in protest to make." He observed.

A playful gleam began to shine in his wife's eyes, and Loki had to duck under the water again to avoid yet another splash. Their little water fight continued till the bath water was cold, and Loki had to question how clean he had actually gotten. He finally managed to pin Sigyn to the edge of the bath, and he gave her a kiss.

"So are we going to be late?" He inquired.

"Most assuredly." She confirmed before giving him a kiss of her own.

The pair was certainly late meeting Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three in their favorite sitting room. Loki had just brushed his wet hair back and thrown on a simple tunic and pants, while Sigyn had resorted to braiding her wet hair and putting on a simple dress. Their attire was certainly far more casual than what they were used to wearing in the company of others, but it didn't seem to be out of place since Fandral was the only one in the group who seemed to be dressed to impress.

"Loki! Sigyn!" Thor exclaimed happily as they entered. "I was beginning to wonder if you had forgotten our little get together."

"How could we forget? You only reminded us twice at dinner last night…" Loki pointed out.

"And this morning at breakfast." Sigyn added.

"And you sent that servant to remind us right before lunch…"

Thor smiled.

"I sent no servant."

"You didn't? My mistake, I must have imagined that."

"You have always had a vivid imagination, brother."

"Well it doesn't take much of an imagination to come up with what you two were doing to cause your tardiness." Fandral interjected good humoredly.

"Yes, last minute packing is the worst." Sigyn deflected.

Fandral chuckled but made no further comment. Dinner was brought to the room, and the group set into eating. Thor and the others told Sigyn every story of adventure they had experienced since the last banquet Sigyn and Loki had attended, but of course she had already been told the less embellished tales by Loki. There hadn't really been anything of interest in regards to battle since Loki had come out of mourning, but that wouldn't stop them from telling grand stories anyways. Sigyn was an attentive listener however, and she didn't discourage their wild tales. Once dinner had been finished, the group moved over to the sitting area and sprawled out on the couches and the floor. Conversation then turned from storytelling to discussing Sigyn and Loki's upcoming trip.

"So the palace isn't a good enough place to live is it?" Fandral baited.

"It's a wonderful place to live, but I am used to having a home life that isn't constantly surrounded by the pressures of court." Sigyn explained. "I think raising a family away from this environment would be a good idea."

Loki glanced at his wife surreptitiously. So she too had considered the possibility of trying to start a family again...

"Are you ready for that? I mean trying for another child. It seems rather soon to be contemplating that." Sif commented.

"Well… Loki and I haven't discussed the idea yet, but I am sure at some point we will be ready to try again…"

"Of course you will, and I hope it is sooner rather than later. I look forward to having a nephew."

"You do realize we could have a girl." Loki pointed out to his brother.

Thor rested his hands behind his head and smiled.

"I certainly hope for the child's sake you don't."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Loki asked.

"It means that you would spoil her rotten, which would be no good for her." Thor clarified.

"He is right you know." Sigyn agreed.

"No, I don't know. I think you are both being rather unfair." Loki pouted.

"Don't glower, Loki. Thor would be just as bad." Sigyn assured.

"Possibly worse." Volstagg concurred.

"Its true. Thor has never been able to resist a woman…Yes, I can see it now… mommy and daddy refuse to let her stay up eating sweets so she goes to Uncle Thor. He would refuse at first of course, but the moment she starts batting her eyes at him he would cave." Fandral remarked as he lounged out on the couch. "Before you know it, she would be running Asgard from behind the scenes." He theorized.

"Then we best hope she takes closely after her parents." Thor returned with a grin.

"Hopefully more so after her mother." Sif muttered.

Loki shot the female warrior a scathing look, but didn't draw any further attention to her comment. The topic of Sigyn and Loki's theoretical child was then dropped for more tales of adventure, a topic that continued to be the focal point for the rest of the evening. It was early in the morning hours when the little party broke up.

"Will you be joining us for some training tomorrow?" Thor inquired of his brother.

"Sigyn and I will be sending Livia off tomorrow morning to prepare the first estate for our arrival, but I will be free to train with you in the afternoon." Loki informed him.

"Then I will see you after lunch," Thor stated with a slap on Loki's back, "and I will see you, My Lady, at dinner."

Sigyn nodded to Thor and then looped her arm through Loki's, indicating she was ready to return to their chambers.

"I assume you do not mind if I spend the afternoon training with Thor?"

"I do not mind at all. It will give me some time to spend in the stables ensuring our horses are ready for the trip."

Both he and Sigyn were quick to fall asleep, and they rose early to send Livia off. The young maid was wide-awake despite the early hour, and Loki questioned whether or not she had been able to sleep due to all of her excitement. He gave her several letters to deliver upon her arrival, and a list of instructions on how to prepare the estate for he and Sigyn's arrival. Livia claimed to understand all of his directions, but Loki had his doubts. He and Sigyn's things were packed into the carriage with the maid, and then she was sent on her way. Loki and Sigyn waited till the carriage was out of sight before returning to their chambers to sleep a little more. A new maid brought luncheon not long after the pair awakened, and after lunch was finished Loki headed to the training grounds while Sigyn went to the stables. The afternoon passed as any other might have, and Loki and Sigyn joined Thor, Frigga, and Odin in the main dining hall for dinner. Loki spoke very little to his father, which now seemed to be the normal state of their relationship, but he was surprised to notice that Sigyn said very little to the AllFather as well. Though she wasn't as close with Odin as she was with Frigga, Sigyn had always carried on some conversation with her father by law at dinners. It seemed that the frost that hung over he and his father's relationship was encroaching upon hers as well. It wasn't till they were in the safety of their bedroom that Loki decided to bring it up.

"You seemed quiet tonight." He commented.

"Quiet? I spoke to your mother quite a bit, and your brother for that matter."

"Well I don't believe you spoke more than two words to my father."

"Which would be two more than you spoke to him."

"You know we are not on the best of terms right now."

"Nor am I, I am rather surprised you hadn't noticed it before."

"It would have been difficult to notice given how little we have been around others lately. So what has put you at odds with my father?"

"I am merely upset with him on your account."

"There is no need for you to bear my grudge Sigyn."

"Well I want to." Sigyn replied firmly as she curled up in the bed.

Loki slipped in next to her and studied her discontented features. She was hiding something from him, something that really bothered her, but he didn't want to press the matter when she was in a stubborn mood. Instead, he made a mental note to ask her about it when she was in better spirits. He wrapped his arm over her waist and pulled her body into his. After placing a kiss on Sigyn's temple he drifted off to sleep. The dawn came soon enough, and Loki quietly slipped out of bed to begin dressing. He let Sigyn sleep as late as he could, but eventually he was forced to wake her. She seemed a bit groggy when she opened her eyes, and he could tell that for one reason or another Sigyn hadn't slept well. She dressed into her riding kit quickly, and they made their way to the stables. Both of their mounts were ready and waiting for them when they arrived, but they didn't leave right away. Frigga had requested that they wait to leave till the rest of the Royal family could see them off, so they waited. Thor stumbled into the stables with a sleepy grin first, and his parents were not long behind, though they looked much more put together. Loki coldly shook hands with his father, hugged his mother, and then stopped in front of his brother. The thought that he would be separated from Thor for such a long period of time caused an unexpected knot in his stomach. It was just two months, perhaps a little more, but still… this was his brother.

The same brother he had trailed behind as a child.

The same brother that he had always strived to be like growing up.

This was his best friend, aside from Sigyn of course.

Loki extended his hand and Thor grasped it with one of his own, while his other hand found Loki's shoulder.

"Remember this trip isn't all about work, Loki. You best treat Sigyn to a good time while you are away."

"I have every intention to. Try to stay out of too much trouble while I am gone."

"I wouldn't dream of it, not without my most trusted companion by my side."

Loki smiled. Thor was bound to get himself into trouble during his absence, his rash nature would assure that.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Sigyn nudged Loki, and he looked towards his wife.

"May I say goodbye to my brother-in-law or do you intend to monopolize him?"

Loki released Thor's hand, and Thor brought Sigyn in for a quick hug.

"Ride safe." He charged.

"We will."

"Force my brother to enjoy himself while you are gone, you know how mournfully serious he can be when he is on a mission."

"I am sure I will be able to think of at least a few ways to keep him entertained. Try to behave yourself while we are gone, and for goodness sakes try to keep Fandral from chasing every being in a skirt. I'm not sure who will keep him in check while I am away."

"I cannot account for Fandral's actions, but I promise that I will not do anything that Loki wouldn't do."

"Better promise that you will not do anything Loki would do." Sigyn teased.

"Very well, My Lady, I swear it."

With a parting smile, Sigyn mounted Roan. Taking her lead, Loki mounted his own horse and smiled down at his family.

"Promise you will write." Frigga requested.

"We will." Loki assured.

With that he and Sigyn spurred their horses out of the stable. It was time to break free from the constraints of palace life, and Loki was more than ready to do so.