A/N: To my wonderful, amazing followers-this may be the last chapter for a few days. I have company coming in today and I'm not sure when I'll have the opportunity to write another, so I tried really hard to make sure this one is good. I hope my efforts paid off *crosses fingers* Anyway, have a wonderful weekend if I'm unable to get back to it before Monday. Happy reading :-)

"I did not think I would ever see the day," Odin rose to his feet, placing his weight upon his staff. "That you would return to me a changed man."

Hope began to creep into my thoughts as he spoke. Perhaps, just perhaps, he would spare Loki. If that were the case, then I supposed I could allow my great hatred for him to fade into slight dislike. Loki's tone was puzzled, though I detected the same trace of hope in it that had possessed me. "I do not understand-"

"You sought my help to save your family, knowing the consequences of your actions. Not only have you accepted them, but you have had the humility to kneel before me to receive them." Odin stopped directly before Loki, examining him carefully. "I would greatly like to trust you once more, to call you my son again. I cannot do so now but I am willing to allow you to prove yourself worthy of my trust; worthy of this house. I decreed your execution should you return and I now alter that decree. So long as you remain faithful to me, faithful to this house, and faithful to this realm, you shall live."

If I were able, I would have gladly jumped for joy. As it was, I was left stranded on the floor, left to do nothing but smile with gratitude. "Know this, however." Odin stared with such piercing intensity at Loki that I could nearly feel it. "Should you betray us, any of us, ever again, I will not hesitate to destroy you entirely. I was more than prepared to do so upon your arrival prior to the change I saw within you. Do not force me to do so."

From nowhere, I felt a searing pain flood me. Nothing in my life could compare to the agony I felt at that moment. My teeth ground together from it, though I refused to make a sound. Thoughts whirred in my mind until I made the decision to look down. The floor around me was covered with a pool of water and I realized that the lower portion of my body was soaked. So enveloped had I been in the scene that had played before me, that I hadn't even noticed that my water had broken somewhere along the way.

My fingertips were covered in the liquid and I stared at them in shock. It couldn't be possible. I wasn't ready for it. Not any of it. I had just survived an attack from a monstrous snake. I had nearly watched the love of my life be killed his adoptive father. I was far from prepared to have a baby. And yet, as I sat dumbfounded in the puddle, recognition flared in my mind. Those very reasons had been the cause for it. I had been under stress and my body only knew one thing to do: induce labor so that the child might have a chance to survive.

"L-L-L-" How very strange it was, to be unable to form the simplest of names. "L-Loki?" I finally managed, sounding utterly delirious as I did so. I became aware that at some point, Odin had left, leaving Loki to sit in bewilderment at what had just occurred.

My voice seemed to snap him from whatever thoughts swirled in his mind. Slowly, he turned to look at me. Upon the sight of me, his eyes widened and he nearly jumped to his feet. "Olivia, what is it? Why are you-" He didn't finish his question as his foot hit the water. The sound of it made him look down. He took an assessing glance from his foot and followed it to the point of origin, my fingers still hanging aloft in the air as I continued to stare at them. "Is that what I think it is?"

"I think, I'm pretty sure at least, that I'm-I'm..." He didn't waste another moment, grabbing me by my elbows and pulling me upwards. In one, swift motion, he hoisted me into his arms and carried me down the hall. I hardly noticed where we were going because I felt another wave of pain spread into every fiber of my being. It was greater than the first and a small cry escaped my throat. I dug my fingers into his back, my eyes closed, as I tried my hardest to push through it.

I was only vaguely aware that he had laid me down upon something soft. It was as if everything within me was on fire with the intensity of a thousand burning suns. The pain grew stronger with each second and I finally lost the ability to contain myself. I let out a pitiful wail, my hands balling into fists. "Olivia, I need to leave you for a moment. Only a moment. I do not know how to-"

But another wave had risen from within and my cry drowned out his words. In truth, the world around me might as well have never existed. I was lost in a sea of pain and nausea, a slight delirium taking root. The thought of opening my eyes made my stomach lurch and I rolled over, retching onto what I hoped was the floor.

"How long has she been like this?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask from somewhere near me. I had remained on my side, clutching the side of what could only be the mattress.

"Only a few moments. She was perfectly fine just minutes ago..." Loki began to divulge information but I tuned him out. I didn't want to hear anyone or anything. All I wanted was out of my misery. "She is going to be alright, is she not?" He inquired finally.

There was silence for a moment and I retched again, a pathetic, broken sob emitting from my throat. "Let us hope so."

"Hope? Is that all you can offer me?"

"Loki, she is human...mortal. I do not pretend to know what will happen. Her body is not intended to carry and deliver a child outside of her own kind. Were she Jötun like you, or even Aesir, I would have no concern. But she is neither, my son. She is only human and I cannot give you the comfort you seek."

"Mother, please!" Loki implored longingly. "There must be something you can do! Anything!"

There was a sickening snap followed by unspeakable, insurmountable pain. I screamed in response, my nails digging into my palms. Immediately, I felt the familiar warmth of cell regeneration. When coupled with the pain I already felt, it produced an altogether horrid sensation; akin to being run over by a bus repeatedly. "MAKE IT ST-AH-AH-OP!" I howled miserably. "PLE-E-EASE!"

But no one could make it stop and the process repeated for hours. Hours upon hours I lay writhing in agony, screaming and begging for it to be over. It may not have been very dignified, but I couldn't care less. Never, ever had I experienced such unadulterated torture. My spine snapped three more times over the course of it all, each time my cells regenerated to form a new one.

When it had come time for me to actually push the child out, my pelvis collapsed. Not once. Not twice. But five times. Five times I had felt my bones crumble to pieces from the effort. "It is a miracle she is still alive. Were it not for her body's ability to reconstruct itself, she would have died long ago." Loki's mother stated sorrowfully. He said nothing in return, merely kissing the tips of my fingers.

"One last time, child. One last time." She stated encouragingly to me.

I can't! I just can't! Just let me die! I shouted mentally, the sound of my ragged breaths impeding upon them. Just one more time. I corrected, my back arching off the mattress from the effort. I heard, then felt, one final snap as I screamed yet again, a great force leaving my body. A second cry joined my own as my back slammed onto the soft surface. My spine began to heal, for the last time, the pain still present though fading in intensity.

"I should commend you for having such a lovely, little girl." Every muscle, every fiber ached multiple times over. I felt like death warmed over, ever so slightly. It took every remaining ounce of strength I had to open my eyes. I wasn't entirely sure what I had expected to see, perhaps thinkings she would be blue and foreign, but she was far from whatever it had been.

She was incredibly pale, paler than me even, her skin possessing a faint blue twinge. A thick, dark crop of curls sprouted from the top of her head. Though I was unable to see her eyes, I was reasonably certain they wouldn't be the red I had imagined. Her resemblance to Loki as I knew him, not in frost giant form, was unmistakeable. He would never be able to deny her if he wanted to. His mother passed her to him and I watched the multitude of emotions on his features.

Loki didn't utter so much as a word as he held her. Instead, he looked at her in awe, marveling at this tiny person. I felt myself begin to fade and there was one thing I wanted settled before I slept for what I knew would be hours. "She needs a name." I croaked. My voice was unrecognizable, faint and hoarse.

He looked from her to me and back again. "What would you call her?"

I took one last look at that precious face from afar before I allowed my lids to close. There was only one name that suited the perfection that she was. Only one. "Sarah." I replied, darkness greeting me the instant I closed my eyes.