Ch. 3

15 years old

I ducked as Sif's sword cut through the air, I pushed my sword up to meet hers and pushed her backwards. She moved her footing to prevent herself from losing her balance, and I stood up to my full height. I advanced upon her, swinging my sword forcefully. She easily blocked it, smiling at my close attempts at beating her. In the two years we'd been training together, I had still yet to beat her. We'd been training almost every day, and eventually, I didn't give up as easily as I had that day two years ago.

"So, how's everything going between you and Fandral?" Sif asked, stepping toward me, her sword arm outstretched.

I circled around her, eyeing her cautiously, waiting for her to attack. "It's nice. He's really sweet. I like when we hang out, he gives me all of his attention, even when his fan girls are surrounding us."

"Aw, that sounds so romantic! Do you love him? I mean almost two years! That's a really long time to be with someone."

"I know that. But I don't think I do." I sidestepped her attack, "I mean, yes he makes me laugh, all the time. He always has a smile on his face when he sees me, and honestly? I feel like smiling whenever I see him, but I just don't think that's' what I feel when I'm with him. Besides, I'm only fifteen, there's no possible way I could be in love with him."

"That's kind of how I feel with Thor. Whenever he walks into the room, it's like everything is better. Nothing could make me feel down as long as he was there and happy."

"Sif.. Do you love Thor?" Sif, shocked, lost her balance. She stumbled. I saw my chance and I took it. I put my foot behind hers and kicked, sending her to the ground. I stood above her, smirking proudly, my sword at her neck.

Sif smiled back, "Good job." she moved my sword out of her way and stood up. "As for your question.. I'm not sure. I think so, though. Don't tell him, please?" Her voice was pleading, her eyes looking at me.

I shook my head, "No, no. Of course not. Never. I promise."

"Thanks Sigyn, you're a good friend. Now, as for your first win ever, we need to celebrate! Tonight, we'll meet in the dining hall after dinner and have drinks and food. All of us. How does that sound?"

I beamed at her, loving the idea of hanging out with everyone all at once. "That sounds awesome!"

"Aw. Poor Lady Sif. However will you recover from the humiliation of losing a fight?" Fandral made an exaggerated frowning face.

"Oh, shut up. Shouldn't you be happy for your girlfriend?"

"I am very happy for Sigyn." He gave me a sideways hug and kissed my cheek. "Good job."

I hugged him back, a small blush on my cheeks. "Thanks, Fandral."

"We're all proud of you, Sigyn. You finally beat Sif. That's not any easy task." Loki looked at me from across the table. He had a sincere smile on his face and his green eyes were lit up with happiness.

I looked down, letting my hair fall in front of my face. "Thanks Loki." I looked back up and smiled at him to show that even though I was a little bit embarrassed that they were making a big deal out of this, I still appreciated that they got so happy about it.

"What I'm wondering is how you managed to do it?" Thor asked. "What was your advantage on Sif?"

"She distracted me. It was brilliant, really. Made sure she got me thinking about something and then- BAM! She saw an opening and took it." Sif said.

"What was it that she used to distract you?" Fandral asked.

"Uh.. She asked me.." I saw her getting nervous, obviously not wanting to bring up her crush on Thor right in front of him.

"I asked her how she was so confident and pretty all the time. I mentioned how much I look up to her, being able to be herself twenty-four-seven without ever feeling self-conscious." I interrupted, quickly.

Everyone's eyes turned to me, and I smiled sheepishly. "What? Sif is awesome. I wish I was just like her."

"Thank you, Sigyn. But you have no need to wish to be more like me. You are a beautiful girl who could have any guy you want. For some reason I'm still not sure of, you've chosen Fandral." She winked at him. "And you are just so sweet and caring that you could never hurt someone purposely."

Again, I let my hair fall into my face, "Thanks, Sif."

"Awe, Sigyn." Fandral kissed my cheek. "You don't have to be jealous of Sif."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sif's voice asked, faking offense.

Loki's smooth voice cut in before Fandral's could. "He means that Sigyn shouldn't be feeling anything less than perfect. She should realize that when she's herself she has nothing to worry about. Of course, neither do you, Sif. You're both extraordinary young ladies."

Loki's words made me blush slightly, as I glanced at him. This was the second time Fandral had started to compliment me and Loki had come back with something better to say. Was there a competition I didn't know about? "Thank you." Sif and I spoke the words at the same time and glanced over at each other, giggling quietly.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Thor bellowed picking up handfuls of grapes and chucking them at each of us. I shrieked and held up my arm to shield myself from the flying grapes.

The boys responded quickly, all grabbing the foods around them and throwing it. Cheese, fruits, and much more began being thrown. I ducked under the table to avoid being hit, just as Sif joined in on the food throwing. Before I went under I made sure I grabbed a cupcake being is I hadn't had one and probably still wouldn't due to their immature food fight.

Loki dropped down under the table next to me and grinned. "What're you doing under here? Scared?"

"Not scared. More like I don't want to get all messy with food."

"Oh, you mean like this?" Loki too, had a cupcake in his hand, which he happily smashed into the side of my face. My jaw dropped and I stared at him, shocked. Did he really just do that? Without thinking about it, I shoved mine into his face as well. He looked at me, equally as shocked as I had been only seconds before. "That wasn't very nice."

I laughed, "You did it first."

"Did not."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever you say, Loki. We both have smashed cupcake on our faces and we're arguing about who started it? That makes lots of sense."

"You're so weird." He reached over and messed up my hair.