Hello everyone! This is the first chapter of what I'm going to call the adolescence phase. You can think of the main characters as being about 17 or 18 in this phase of the story. Cougar rolypoly bug: Thank you for your review! I wanted to have some subtle hints about Loki not being of Asgard in this story before I get to the portion in Thor where he actually finds out he's a Frost Giant. Thank you for your review :) I like writing their friendship, I wish I had a Loki in my life!

A Wild Clover: Thank you for your review! I love writing Thor's oblivious lines haha. Loki will certainly be quite different from the Loki she knew when they were younger! I posted this very late last time, and I wish I had time to update yesterday, but I didn't unfortunately :/

Here is chapter 16!

The sun's rays were diminished by the clouds that had moved in front of it, casting a hazy gray light over Asgard. You emerged from your quarters after gazing out the window to find that even the corridor was cast in the same hazy light. Weather like this made you want to go back to bed, but you had to attend your final training session. You wouldn't exactly call it a training session anymore because you had learned and developed all the skills you were expected to learn over the years which would be tested in this final class that you were on your way to attending. Your final examination was today which would determine whether or not you were fit for real battle should Asgard ever need you to fight. Fortunately, no wars or major battles had occurred over the years that threatened Asgard. You knew that the peace would not last forever though and while you had greatly improved from when you were younger, you were still nervous about passing your examination. You were not interested in becoming a warrior, but you wanted to have the opportunity to defend your home if the occasion arose.

While your sword fighting skills were still your best asset in actual combat, you found your niche as Loki had once promised you would find. Your specialty was not in fighting with a weapon, but rather in evading blows or disarming attackers. You were adept at dodging advances made by even some of the fastest people in your class and were quite nimble. Your small frame allowed you to flip through the air and perform other aerial or terrestrial stunts. You were flexible enough to contort your body and twist in ways that no one else in the class could which allowed you to avoid getting struck in close combat and allowed you to disarm others from angles that were uncomfortable or impossible for them to sustain.

As you walked through the corridor toward the arena you wondered if your abilities would be enough to earn you a pass. While you had grown taller, you were still considerably shorter than everyone else in your class and your build was still slim. The only advantages that came with your size were your quickness and the fact that there was less of you to hit compared to everyone else.

You had finally reached the arena and were about to walk over to where everyone was seated waiting for Vali to arrive when you heard a voice from behind you say, "Are you anxious, Aurora?"

You quickly turned around to find Loki standing behind you with a slight smirk on his face.

"You know I always am, Loki." You responded as Loki laughed and shook his head.

You had to tilt your head up slightly to look Loki in the eye because his days of having a small stature were over. Shortly after leaving childhood in the past Loki had finally hit his stride; he had grown into a very tall and strong individual. Loki towered over you and almost everyone else in the palace. The only people who were close to Loki's height were Thor and Volstagg. Thor and Volstagg were still bulkier than Loki who was lean in comparison, but concealed a great deal of strength within his thin frame. No one would ever guess that Loki was as strong as he was because he appeared to be so thin, but Loki was the master of deceit and illusion. Loki not only gave off the illusion of frailty simply by his appearance, he was able to generate many other illusions by the use of magic. Not too long ago, Loki had become a master of magic and often used his abilities for mischief. The look of mischief was almost always in Loki's eyes and you had come to know the look very well. Even though Loki's dark hair had gotten longer he often kept it slicked back away from his face which provided a clear line of sight into his emerald eyes, the same eyes that were glinting down at you right now.

"You should not be so nervous," Loki spoke slowly as he walked closer to you, "you will pass, I assure you of that."

Loki now stood directly in front of you and you kept your eyes lifted up to meet his because if you kept your eyes level you would be staring at the portion of his armor that covered his chest which was not common courtesy when speaking to someone. You stared up at Loki and bit your lip.

"I hope you're right." You said to him.

"I do not doubt that I am right. Come now," Loki said as he outstretched his hand to you, "we better go inside before Vali arrives. You certainly do not want to be late for your last day, do you?"

"I suppose so." You laughed as you placed your hand in Loki's palm.

Loki curled his long, slender fingers over yours as his hand completely encompassed yours.

"Try not to crush my hand, please." You said jokingly.

Loki glanced over at you and winked, "You need not worry, what even makes you think I am capable of such a deed?"

"I know that you could, don't act like I don't know that you aren't the same as you were when we were children." You laughed lightly.

Loki smirked at you and replied, "While that is indeed true, I would not use my strength against you. You are my friend and I would surely break you if I did use it, even slightly."

"Hey! I am not that fragile! You're a liar, Loki!" You said as you feigned taking offense to Loki's statement.

Your words only elicited a laugh from Loki who squeezed your hand and said, "Think of me what you will, but I will not be testing your durability anytime soon."

You rolled your eyes, "I wouldn't want you to anyway. If you really did break me, I'd be very upset."

"As would I." Loki chuckled as the two of you walked into the arena and took the same spots you had sat in for years.

Some of the tension that existed among everyone when you were children had faded away, but you and Loki were still separate from the others. Fandral was still insufferable and Thor was still oblivious. Sif, who had once been a good friend of yours, had become extremely close with Thor and the Warriors Three. The two of you were on better terms than you had been when you yelled at her for not aiding Loki years ago when Fandral attacked him in the courtyard, but you were not as close as you once had been. Fandral had decreased his confrontations with Loki ever since Loki had gotten taller than him. You surmised that Fandral did not appreciate have to raise his eyes even slightly to meet Loki's gaze because it made him feel like he had lost some sort of power over Loki by being smaller than him, as if he had become inferior. You thought it was stupid, but you did have to admit that you felt intimidated by Loki's height. It was a bit scary having someone completely tower over you all the time, but you didn't fear Loki because you trusted him and felt safer with him around you.

"Greetings everyone!" Vali yelled as he walked into the arena.

"Hello, Vali!" You all yelled back.

Vali stopped walking and stood smiling at all of you as he said, "As I'm sure you all know, this is your last session with me. Try not to get too upset now," Vali laughed, "but this is the last time you are required to see me. Today I will be administering your final exam and your eligibility to fight for Asgard is contingent upon your passing of this exam. In order to pass, you must either beat the opponent you will be facing or perform satisfactorily in the battle. So, even if you lose, it is very likely that you will still pass as long as you put up a good fight."

You felt slightly better when Vali said that you didn't necessarily have to win to pass. You didn't think you would likely win a battle, so now if you just gave it your best try, you could still pass. You wouldn't be devastated if you didn't pass because your ambition wasn't to become a warrior, but you still wanted to feel like you were completely part of Asgard and that included the ability to fight in battle if you needed to, but you were planning to largely leave the fighting behind. You would only fight if a situation called for it, but you wanted to be allowed to defend Asgard instead of watching hopelessly from the sidelines.

"First up, Loki and Hogun!" Vali called out.

"Time to wrap this up." Loki said as he stood up next to you.

"Good luck!" You said to Loki who looked down at you and smiled.

"Luck will have nothing to do with it."

You rolled your eyes and laughed, "Don't be too confident."

Loki winked at you as he jumped down to the ground and walked over to the arena where Vali and Hogun stood. You found it amusing that the person who used to be the shortest was now about a head taller than both Hogun and Vali.

"Shake hands, you two." Vali instructed as Loki and Hogun shook hands and retreated to opposite sides of the room.

"On my count, you will begin the battle and may employ anything you have learned, but do not do anything that would kill the other person. In order to win you must be able to pin the other individual down onto the ground for a total of ten seconds. Are these rules clear?" Vali asked.

Loki and Hogun nodded.

"Then good luck. 3…2…1!" Vali counted and then stepped out of harm's way.

Hogun drew his sword as Loki made a golden staff materialize out of thin air. Hogun advanced towards Loki as Loki stood still with his staff in hand. As Hogun neared Loki, he drew out his sword to strike at Loki. As Hogun brought down his sword he hit nothing but air. Hogun turned around confused, but was quickly smacked to the ground by Loki who had reappeared behind Hogun. Hogn quickly rolled over and swung his sword at Loki's ankles, but Loki jumped into the air to avoid being hit. Hogun jumped up and began swinging at Loki who used his staff to block Hogun's swings. Hogun was pushing Loki back towards the wall which Loki must have sensed because after blocking one of Hogun's blows, he forcefully pushed his staff back against Hogun, knocking him onto his back with his sheer strength. Loki stood over Hogun about to push his staff down on Hogun to hold him in place but Hogun thrust his sword up in an attempt to keep Loki's staff from descending any further. Hogun was shaking as he tried to use all of his strength to keep Loki from winning. Loki kept pushing the staff down, however, as it got closer to Hogun's armor. Sensing that he was going to lose if he remained in his current position, Hogun kept his sword in contact with Loki's staff as he swung his legs out to knock Loki off his balance. Loki came crashing down to the ground and Hogun seized the opportunity to try and pin Loki down with his hands rather than the tip of his sword. Hogun had pinned Loki down, but by the time Vali had gotten to five on his count, Loki smirked and dissipated into the air. Hogun was still looking at the place where Loki had once been when he was forced onto the ground face first by some force behind him. Loki had his staff in one hand and kept his large boot on Hogun's back as he calmly stood there with only his foot to keep Hogun pinned down. Hogun laid still until Vali got to five, at which point he began struggling underneath Loki's boot. Hogun twisted and turned his head, but was unable to move his body enough underneath Loki's weight. Loki wasn't very heavy, but he wielded an enormous amount of strength in his lean body that rendered Hogun immobile.

"Ten! That's it! Loki is the winner and has passed the exam!" Vali called out as Loki removed his foot from Hogun's back and helped him up.

"I am also granting Hogun a pass so he too, will be able to fight on behalf of Asgard!" Vali called out.

Loki patted Hogun on the back with a large hand and said, "Congratulations."

"You too." Hogun said as the two of them returned to their seats.

"Congratulations, Loki!" You exclaimed as you hugged Loki when he returned next to you.

Loki chuckled and wrapped his long arms around you and said, "Thank you. I was rightly confident, was I not?"

"Don't rub it in." You urged with a laugh.

"Very well." Loki replied as he released you and the two of you watched the remaining battles.

Ingrid faced Sif and lost dreadfully, failing the exam. Ingrid didn't care though, and was all too happy to leave. You were relieved that Ingrid failed because if you failed your exam, you wouldn't be the only one. Volstagg lost to Thor, but both passed the exam and no hard feelings were shared between the two friends. Liv went against Kari and failed the exam. Like Ingrid, she too exited the area. Gunner faced Canute and won because of his sheer size and muscle mass; both moved on, however. Agmund battled against Ivar which was a truly amazing battle, with Ivar shooting arrows and Agmund deflecting them with his sword. The battle was very close, but Agmund won. Vali applauded their battle and stated the obvious, that both would pass the exam. Finally, Fandral faced Ragnvald the strategist, and lost. You enjoyed seeing Fandral lose, but he still passed the exam which you expected anyway.

"The only person who has yet to fight is Aurora and even though she had already fought, you will be facing Kari. Kari has already earned a pass so even if she loses to you, she is still permitted to participate in battle. However, since she has already fought and is weaker because of it, you must beat her in order to pass this exam. If you lose, you fail." Vali instructed to you as your eyes widened.

You supposed it was only fair since Kari was tired from facing Liv, but this put a lot of pressure on you. The only way to pass was to win; you could not be saved from your performance if it was good enough despite losing. Your only hope was to win. You had suddenly become very anxious. You felt a cold hand cover your wrist and you turned to your right to come face to face with Loki.

"You can do this." He reassured you.

You took a deep breath and responded, "I don't know, Loki. I thought I could, but now I'm not so confident."

"Nonsense," Loki shook his head, "You are better than you think you are, now go out there and win."

"I guess I don't have a choice but to go out there anyway." You sighed.

"I believe in you." Loki smiled as you stood up.

"Good, because I don't." You smiled shyly as you walked to the center of the room where Vali and Kari stood.

Kari was tall and thin so while she had a height advantage over you, she didn't have a lot of weight to throw you around with which was good. You were fast, but so was she. The only possible advantage you could think of was that she would probably be slower since she had recently battled Liv, and that you were skilled at evasive movements. You stood on your side of the room as Vali began the countdown. When he reached one, Kari stood still as if she were waiting for you to make the first move. You knew that this was probably because she was trying to conserve her energy. However, you didn't feel like standing still until she decided to move, so you took her bait and moved forward. You ran quickly as Kari began to run towards you with his sword drawn. You hadn't drawn any weapons yet, but continued to rush forward. As Kari swung to hit you with her sword, you dodged to the left and quickly dropped to the ground and rolled forward, crashing into her leg.

Kari fell to the ground with a yelp as you kicked the sword away from her. Kari reacted quickly however and swiped at your ankles causing you to fall. Kari scrambled for her sword and retrieved it. She made her way back over to you as struck at you but you rolled away before she could hit you. She kept swinging at you and you kept rolling away. Eventually, you go up and were panting heavily. Kari was breathing heavily as well and you weren't sure who would grow too tired first. You started running towards her again as Kari raised her sword. You weren't sure this maneuver was going to work, but you wanted to try it anyway. As you came close to Kari, you slid across the ground and grabbed hold of her sword and used it to propel yourself upwards as you flipped backwards and over Kari's head, using your legs to bring her down with you. Kari looked completely stunned by what you did that she didn't know how to react as you held her down. You couldn't believe it when Vali announced that you had won and passed your exam.

You were out of breath as you rolled off of Kari and lay on the ground next to her.

"That was a really good move." Kari said to you.

"Thanks," you breathed, "I wasn't sure it was going to work."

"Well, it did and congratulations." Kari said as she got up and offered a hand to help you up.

"No thanks," you waved your hand, "I think I'm just going to lay here a while and try not to die from shortage of breath."

Kari laughed and said, "Okay, suit yourself."

Vali walked over and eyed you curiously, "Are you okay, Aurora?"

You looked up at Vali and offered him a smile, "I'm okay; I just need to rest here a little. Feel free to leave me here."

Vali looked puzzled as he said slowly, "Well, okay, if you insist. Congratulations on passing the exam."

"Thank you, Vali." You replied as he nodded at you and walked away.

You closed your eyes and continued breathing as you lay down on the ground. You could hear the footsteps of your former classmates leaving the room, but what you didn't hear were the footsteps that belonged to Loki as he walked towards you.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were dead."

"Gods, Loki! You startled me! Why do you walk so silently?" You asked as you sat up quickly.

Loki looked down at you with an amused look on his face, "If I make noise when I walk, how am I going to sneak up on anyone?"

"You don't need to sneak up on me though!" You huffed as you placed your hand over your chest.

"You have my sincerest apologies." Loki said as he bowed.

"You are not forgiven." You said as you crossed your arms.

"Oh? I am not?" Loki asked as he raised an eyebrow at you.

You shook your head with your arms still crossed. Loki's eyes shined down at you with that mischievous glint in them.

"What are you going to-" You began to ask before Loki quickly lifted you up over his shoulder cutting your off.

Loki held you in place on his shoulder with one arm as he walked out of the room. You squirmed under his hold in a futile attempt to escape. You could feel the muscles move underneath Loki's shoulder as he carried you out into the corridor.

"Put me down this instant!" You yelled as you pounded on his back with your fists.

All your pounding did was earn a laugh from Loki.

"You know I hate being picked up!" You yelled to the empty space behind Loki's shoulder since that was all you could see.

"That is precisely the reason why I do it." Loki said with a chuckle.

"You are so…rude!" You huffed as you finally stopped trying to wiggle free from his grip.

"Me, rude?" Loki sucked in a breath feigning offense.

"Yes, you! You are denying the requests of what a lady wants and that is rude!" You said with a slight laugh.

You weren't able to move your head to see Loki's face, but you could lift it slightly only to be level with his head and glancing to the left, you could see Loki's black hair and you smirked to yourself. You lifted your left hand and quickly covered Loki's eyes with your hand.

"Oh, Aurora, now I can't see where I'm going! That isn't going to help either of us." Loki reacted.

"I won't remove my hand from your eyes until you agree to put me back down safely on the ground where I belong!" You yelled thinking you had outwitted Loki.

"Really now, Aurora?" Loki asked as he stopped walking.

"Yes, really." You replied with your hand still over his eyes.

"Very well then, if you remove your hand from my face I will put you back down." Loki said.

"Good, I knew you'd see it my way." You said as you removed your hand from his eyes.

"Later." Loki said.

"Later? What do you mean later? You tricked me!" You exclaimed as you started to struggle underneath his arm again.

Loki laughed so hard that his shoulder shook and you groaned in frustration.

You suddenly felt Loki's arm slide slowly across your back as he curled his fingers underneath you and picked up with ease. Loki lifted you off of his shoulder and brought you around to face him. Loki held you in front of him with one arm, keeping you suspended about a foot from the ground. Loki was grinning at you mischievously as you crossed your arms and glared back at him.

"You think you're funny, holding my captive when you know I can't escape." You said as you stared into your best friend's bright emerald eyes.

"I find it humorous how you try to escape when you know you can't." Loki smiled.

"One day I will!" You exclaimed as you pointed a finger at him.

"Right, right. I am sure you will." Loki chuckled.

"I'm serious! It just won't be today because I'm too tired to fight against your hold since I just passed my exam." You spoke.

"That's right. You did a wonderful job, I'm proud of you, Aurora. I never did give you my congratulatory hug." Loki said as he brought you closer to him and wrapped his other arm around you in an embrace.

You hugged Loki back with your feet still not touching the ground. Loki leaned down so you could find your footing as he released you, placing you back on the ground.

"Finally." You huffed once your feet hit the ground.

Loki laughed, "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Well, I knew you wouldn't drop me, but still, it's scary being up so high." You responded.

"It really isn't so scary." Loki replied as the two of you walked down the corridor.

"That's easy for you to say because you're just tall, and your feet are still on the ground whereas I'm short and not accustomed to being so high up from the ground." You explained.

"You'll get used to it." Loki winked at you.

"Oh no! You will not be lifting me like that on a daily basis! I won't have it!" You warned Loki.

Loki laughed at your threats as he said, "How about we discuss your demands over at the dining hall?"

"Discuss we shall." You said as you took your best friend's hand and led him into the dining hall with you.