Previously:
"You-You-You-! ?" Takeru shouted.
"Lokiiiii…" Balder warned.
"Don't worry, I was really gentle with her." Loki grinned.
Bragi placed a hand over his face, feeling sorry for Yui, and Apollon looked like he was about to faint.
"In the beginning at least." He added.
"That's it! You're dead!" Takeru screamed and sprinted towards Loki, who jumped to the side to avoid him. Takeru continued to chase him and the whole thing ended with both gods running down the stairs, passing their surprised and confused friends who had stepped out from the kitchen to see what was taking so long, and then out the door. Balder and the others followed them down the stairs, leaving an embarrassed Yui alone outside her room. She could hear their shouts and laughter both downstairs and outside and started smiling once she had calmed her nerves. "So, this is how it's going to be." She said to herself. 'A life with Loki is definitely going to be interesting. I should have known he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut and I believe it's going to take a while before our friends get used to this and stop trying to hurt him the moment he lays his hands on me.' She thought with a small giggle. "Oh well." She said and started walking towards the stairs. "Let's see if I can help him out of this mess."
Now:
Yui was thinking back on the memories she shared with her friends, the gods. About how she was allowed to live among them, when she was given the task to come up with ideas for the island, when she cared for the human boy, when she got cursed, when she and Loki got together and when they all went to spend a day on the island to "test it". So much had happened in a blink of an eye and time just continued to flow after that, barely giving them time to adjust. Not that it bothered them, they always had things to do, fun things, and they had all the time in the world. Now she was standing in the kitchen inside her cottage she was now sharing with Loki, he had moved in a few months after they had visited the island. Well, he had basically moved in right after but it wasn't until he had moved all his stuff to her cottage they made it official. In fact, the trickster hadn't moved all his stuff at once, they hadn't even talked about living together, he had just sneaked things into her home now and then so she wouldn't notice a big change. Yui had just woken up one day, taken a good look around the house and realised just how many things Loki had brought with him. Because he had moved one thing at a time she had barely noticed what was going on and once she had gotten used to see the thing he brought into her home he went right ahead to bring another one. The poor woman had just been standing there in the middle of the living room for several minutes before she went back to the bedroom to ask Loki about it when the thought hit her, Loki had been sleeping beside her for as long as she could remember, they were never apart. And now that she thought about it, the only times he had left to go home to his own cottage was when… he… had… gone… to… get… more… stuff…! He had moved in without her realising it! When everything became clear she had taken a deep breath and moved to sit down on the couch, the couch that actually belonged to Loki, and started wondering where her own couch had went. A minute later she had begun to giggle, her boyfriend was a really sneaky one and she had walked right into his trap by making her adapt to the changes little by little. She hadn't been angry, she was more embarrassed about how she hadn't figured it out until now, and had stood up from the couch to confront Loki who was still sleeping in "their" bed. She had more or less attacked him by jumping right on top of him, shouting out things about how he had tricked her. He had responded by laughing at her for being so slow and the whole wrestling match had ended in a make out session. And after that… Let's just say they hadn't been seen outside the cottage at all that day. Smiling at the memories Yui continued to focus on the food she was making, food that was enough to fill 4 people and she was still wondering if it was enough. Her thoughts were interrupted when two arms sneaked around her body from behind. "I'm home, Kitten!" A grinning Loki greeted.
"Can't believe you're still calling me that." Yui giggled.
"What else can I call you?" Loki joked.
"How about "wife"?"
That's right, 10 years had passed since they had admitted their feelings to each other, and the two lovebirds had been married for 3. When Loki had proposed he had done it in front of everyone, during one of the big dinners Odin had arranged. He had surprised her by doing so, she never thought he was the type of god to do that but she was happy he had, so they could share their happy moment with the people they cared deeply about.
"Alright then, wife," Loki smirked. "why are you making so much?"
"Don't tell me you have forgotten? The dwarves, Otr-san and Regin-san are coming over later for dinner. We invited them, remember?"
Loki let out a sigh and rested his head on top of hers. "I don't like dwarves…"
"You hardly like anyone." Yui joked.
"That's not true, I like you and Balder."
"... And?"
"All of our friends of course." Loki admitted in defeat. "But that's it! I don't have any room left in my heart for dwarves."
"We still invited them to our wedding."
"Because you wanted to, along with the centaurs and the rest of the outcasts."
"You didn't complain, though." She giggled and turned around in his arms to face him.
"Hmm, only because it made you happy." Loki said and leaned down so their faces were almost touching. "That little otter likes you, you know."
"Otr-san? He's just friendly."
"More than friendly if you ask me."
"Are you jealous? Don't be, you know you're the only one I want."
"I know." Loki smiled and gave her a kiss. "But the dwarf doesn't seem to know."
"You're too adorable when you worry, Loki."
About an hour later the two dwarf brothers arrived, earning stares from the gods they passed on their way to Yui's cottage. "They're just not used to dwarves walking around in their village, let them stare." Regin said.
"It's a good thing we're Yui-san's friends or we wouldn't be allowed to be here." Otr pointed out.
"Yeah, it is."
When they reached the cottage Regin moved to knock on the door. It opened just a few seconds later. "Regin-san, Otr-san, welcome! I'm so glad you could make it." Yui smiled down at them.
"Hello Kusanagi-san, thank you for inviting us to your home." She was still called "Kusanagi" by some, even though she was married to Loki.
"It was my pleasure, please, come inside. The dinner is ready."
"Great! I'm starving!" Otr exclaimed and hurried inside.
"Don't get too comfortable, you greedy dwarf!" They heard Loki call from further inside the cottage.
"I'm surprised she hasn't divorced you yet, you stupid god!" Otr called back.
"Why on earth would she do that? !"
"Because you are a trickster! But don't worry, I'll take good care of her in your place!"
"Why you little-!"
Yui and Regin, who were still standing in the doorway looked at each other before they started laughing. Those two were like cat and mouse, they'd never get along.
"Are you going to the island with Sif later, Thor?" Balder asked as they were walking down the snow covered road.
"I am. She wanted us to spend time together."
"I'm not surprised. She's waiting for you to propose to her so you can finally settle down like Yui-san and Loki."
"I know."
"And what are you going to do? You've been together almost as long as they have, what's stopping you?"
"I'm waiting for the right moment."
"And when is that?"
"Later today."
"... Really?"
"I'll ask her to marry me when we're at the beach."
"Oh, well, good luck then, my friend!"
"Thank you."
"By the way, isn't it today the two dwarves were going to-"
"Come back, you little rat!" They heard Loki shout in the distance.
"Yup…" Thor answered.
Once the two gods were closer they saw Loki chasing Otr, in the form of an otter, with a snowball while Yui and Regin were watching. "Yui-san!" Balder called, making Yui look to the side to see them walking towards them. "Hello Balder-san, Thor-san!" She called back.
"Hello." Thor greeted.
"I see the dinner went well." Balder sweat dropped, looking at his best friend chasing an animal.
Yui let out a nervous laugh. "Hehe, yeah."
"It was very entertaining." Regin confirmed with a smile.
"I apologize for my husband's behaviour, Regin-san." Yui apologized, looking down at the older dwarf beside her.
"Don't, Kusanagi-san, my brother hasn't exactly been going easy on him either."
Before Yui could answer him Otr and Loki were now heading their way and Loki was throwing like, 20 snowballs at once at him. But a small animal is hard to hit, even for Loki, and the snowballs flew right past him and continued towards Yui and the other three. And they were all hit, letting out screams in surprise as the force of the snowballs made them fall backwards. "Good job, Loki!" Otr laughed mockingly. "You just shot down your wife!"
"Don't you worry, dwarf, I'll be sure to warm her up real good after you've left." Loki smirked. "I'll make her forget you were even here today."
This made Otr stop in his tracks and turn back into a dwarf. He then glared at him, clearly jealous but now Loki had him where he wanted and he took this chance to throw a snowball at him. "Now I've got you!" Loki laughed as the huge ball flew towards Otr and hit him in the head before he could react and the dwarf began to fall.
Meanwhile, Yui and the others had pulled themselves up from the snow, obviously she had heard what Loki had said because the blush on her face refused to disappear.
"Why you-!" Otr shouted and wiped the snow off his face.
Loki was now standing right in front of him and grabbed Otr's other hand and helped him up before he could protest. "This was fun." He smirked. "Let's see if you can beat me next time."
Otr blinked at him in surprise but then smirked back. "You better be prepared."
"Otr!" Regin called. "It's time for us to leave!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Otr sighed and he and Loki started making their way to them.
"Thank you for everything, Kusanagi-san." Regin smiled. "Next time it's our turn to invite you."
"Thank you for coming and I look forward to that." Yui smiled back.
"You're not going to make me go there, are you! ?" Loki cried out to his wife.
"We are going, Loki." Yui almost hissed at him.
If there was anything that scared Loki, it was when Yui got angry. "Y-Yes!" He stuttered, making Balder laugh. "What are you laughing for, Balder? !"
"It's just so fun to see how she's able to make you shiver!"
"Like you're the one to talk! Your legs are shaking!"
Balder stopped laughing and looked down. "O-Oh, they are…"
Otr took the opportunity to walk up to Yui and took her hand in his and kissed it. "Until next time."
"Yes." Yui smiled at him, ignoring the glare coming from Loki.
When the two dwarf brothers were out of sight Yui stopped waving and turned to the others. "Do you want to come inside for some tea?" She asked Thor and Balder.
"I'd like that, Yui-san." Balder smiled widely.
"Yes, please." Thor agreed.
"Then let's-"
"So slippery!" They heard a familiar voice yell in the distance and turned to see where it came from.
A second later they spotted Apollon, he was sliding down the snow covered road on his butt at a very high speed, just like he had done many years ago. And further away they could see Hades, Dionysus, Takeru and Tsukito running after him, shouting out his name. Yui and the others followed Apollon with their eyes as he got closer and closer to her and Loki's cottage. "Oh dear…" Yui uttered right before Apollon crashed into the door, making a huge hole in it just like last time and disappeared inside.
An awkward silence occurred among them but it didn't take long before Loki burst out laughing. "Hahahaha, I got to see it! So that's how it looked like!"
"L-Loki…" Yui sighed.
"He… He did it again…" Balder said in disbelief.
By now, the rest of their friends had caught up with him. "Hey, Apollon!" Takeru called. "You destroyed the door again!"
Hades made his way over to Yui. "I apologize, Kusanagi. We weren't able to stop him."
Yui let out a small awkward laugh. "Ehe, don't worry about it."
"Maaaan…" Dionysus sighed in amusement. "Can't believe he actually did it again. The past is repeating itself."
Apollon then popped his head out from the hole in the door. "Hello Fairy! We just stopped by to say hello!" He greeted cheerfully.
"I can see that." Loki snickered.
"Hello, Apollon-san." Yui smiled, trying to ignore the broken door.
"I'll go get someone who can fix it." Thor said calmly as he turned around to leave.
"Ah, thank you." Yui called after him.
"What are we going to do with you, Apollon?" Takeru sighed and Hades and Dionysus nodded in agreement.
"Huh? What did I do?" Apollon asked, confused.
"Why don't you look around and see for yourself?" Loki told him.
Apollon looked to his right and then to his left, then up and down. "O-Oh, hehe, sorry about this."
"Apollon-san." Yui giggled. "You and snow don't go very well together, do you?"
"Ehehe, no, I guess not." Apollon laughed in embarrassment.
"Get out of there, Apollon, you look like an owl peeking out from its nest." Dionysus joked.
"Right!" Apollon said and stood up, forgetting about the hole he was peeking out from and hit the back of his head on the edge. "Ouch!" He cried out and fell backwards and disappeared on the other side of the door.
This made everyone laugh.
"Poor Agana Belea!" Balder chuckled.
"I can't even be mad at him!" Loki laughed.
"No one can!" Takeru snickered.
"Oh well." Yui giggled and started walking towards her cottage. "Let me give you a hand, Apollon-san."
A while later Thor was back with a new door, explaining that the god who had given it to him had made it a few years back just in case something like this would happen again.
When everything was back to normal they had gone inside to talk about things that had happened during the month they hadn't been able to see each other. They even got to play the game "Twister" before Thor had to leave to meet up with Sif. Dionysus and Tsukito had stayed a little longer than him but then they had left to go visit the island as well, apparently Dionysus had wanted someone he could order around while drinking in the spa house, his new favorite place. The island had turned out to be a huge success and gods and goddesses from all over the world visited it regularly. Freyja and her brother Freyr were there right now, learning about human stuff in the academy together with many others and with Thoth as their teacher, poor things… The moment he had heard that they were in need of a teacher he had dragged Anubis with him to the island to help new "students" learn about the human world. Everyone who went to the academy even received the same kind of uniforms Yui and her friends had worn when they were students at Zeus's academy.
"I want to go to the island, too!" Apollon uttered in excitement and turned to Hades. "Can we go, uncle? Can we go, please?"
"Go if you want." Hades answered simply.
"Buuuut it's no fun to go alone! Can't you go with me?"
"Not today, I have things I need to take care of later."
"I'll go with you, Apollon!" Takeru smirked.
"Aha! Really! ?" Apollon exclaimed.
"Let's go mountain biking."
"Yeah! Let's-...!" Apollon stopped right in the middle of the sentence and his face darkened, he hadn't gone mountain biking since that time 10 years ago. "Uh, mountain biking…?"
"Hell yeah! Come on sunshine!" Takeru laughed and grabbed Apollon's arm. "We'll take the same route we took the first time we did it!"
"N-No, no!" Apollon almost cried.
"Steep hills and rocky mountains, here we come!" Takeru smirked and teleported himself and the panicking sun god away before he could protest.
"It seems my misfortune has struck again…" Hades sighed.
"You take care of yourselves now!" Yui waved at Balder and Hades as they walked away from the cottage.
"You too, Kusanagi!" "I'll come visit you and Loki again soon!" Hades and Balder called back.
Once they were out of sight she went back inside and closed the door behind her. She was just about to start putting a few things away when she noticed how quiet it had gotten. Sure, you shouldn't expect so much noises inside a home where only two people lived but she wasn't living with just anyone, she lived with Loki and the silence was kind of making her nervous. 'Where did he go?' She thought and looked inside the kitchen to see if he was there. He wasn't. 'Did he sneak out?'
She peeked inside their bedroom. "Loki?"
In that moment someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her close. "Damn, I thought they'd never leave."
"Wha- Loki?" Yui exclaimed in surprise.
"They should just go to that island and stay there for good so I can have you for myself."
"You would get bored if they did that."
Loki let out a sigh. "True… But I'll choose you over them any day."
"That's sweet of you but isn't it nice to spend time with them now and then?"
"As long as they leave when I feel like doing things with only you."
Yui turned her head to the side to get a glimpse of his face, that's when she noticed he was smirking. "Things? What sort of things?"
"You know, things."
Now Yui knew exactly what he meant. "Ah, um!" Was all she managed to get out before Loki removed the hair from her neck so he could reach it with his lips. "L-Loki! Now! ?"
She could feel his grin against her neck. "Why not?"
Yui was about to give in, resisting him was really hard, but then her heart sped up and she was starting to feel playful. She smiled to herself and quickly pushed herself away from Loki, making him look at her in confusion. She took a few steps inside the bedroom and turned around to face him. "If we continue like this you're going to get me pregnant you know?"
Loki's mischievous smile decorated his face. "So what?" He asked and stepped in after her.
"Alright then." Yui smiled and closed her eyes. She could hear him getting closer and closer. Loki was almost right in front of her when she suddenly opened her eyes and grinned at him as she spun around and ran for the portal. "You will have to find and catch me first!" She laughed and disappeared through the portal.
"Hey!" Was the last thing she heard before she found herself surrounded by trees.
Feeling proud of herself she took a look around to see where she had ended up. She knew she had thought of a place before she had stepped through the portal but the thought had hit her so fast she didn't have time to think just where exactly this place was. It had just popped up inside her head. 'If I don't know where I am, then I don't think Loki will-... Wait, isn't this-?' She thought as she remembered something. "I wonder…" She said to herself and started walking towards a house she had spotted in the distance. When the full house came into view everything came back to her and she heard herself gasp. "This is…" She whispered. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard laughter coming from somewhere further inside the woods and she quickly moved to hide behind a tree.
The laughter got closer and soon she could hear footsteps coming her way. "Should we really leave him like that?" Came the voice of a young boy.
"Don't worry." Another boy said. "I used to wander into the woods all the time when I was younger. Mom told me so."
"But this is the first time your little brother is here, right? Playing hide and seek in here with a 3 year old who doesn't know his way around is-"
"You worry too much. If he can't find us then we'll go find him."
Meanwhile, Yui was trying to stay quiet and listen to the conversation. 'Those kids, I can't see them but they sound like someone who can't be older than 12, maybe 10 or 11.'
"By the way, Hiroto, isn't this the place where you disappeared when you were like 1 year old? I heard our parents talk about it before."
'Hiroto…! ?' Yui thought in shock.
"Yeah… I was too young to remember what happened but… I do remember there was someone who was very kind to me. The memory is very faint, but it's there… I think she saved me and took me home."
"Wow, that's something…!" His friend exclaimed.
"I don't know if it was just a dream or actual memories, though… They've been following me for as long as I can remember."
Yui felt like she was going to cry, the boy they had saved 10 years ago was right there. And he had grown up. 'Hiroto…' She thought. 'I'm so glad!'
"Well, anyway, I'll go back to look for your brother, I'm getting a little worried." Hiroto's friend said before he ran back the same way they had come from.
"I told you not to worry!" Hiroto called after him but he was already out of sight.
'I should take this chance to leave, I can't let him see-' Her thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly saw something small in the corner of her eye, staring up at her. She let out a quiet gasp when her eyes met a little boy's. The boy looked almost exactly like Hiroto when he was his age and he was looking up at her like she was some sort of angel. 'This isn't good.' Yui laughed nervously inside her head. She didn't say anything to the boy, instead she just smiled down at him before she walked past him and went deeper into the woods.
She stopped once she reached an area where there were hardly any trees, believing she was safe and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. 'He saw me… Oh well, as long as-' Once again her thoughts were interrupted, this time because she felt someone grab her white dress from behind and she turned around slowly. There stood the boy again, Hiroto's little brother no doubt. 'So he followed me, huh? Now what?'
The kid let go of her dress, still staring up at her. "Pretty." He said in a very cute voice.
"Oh, um… Thank you." Yui smiled sweetly at him. "You should go find your brother before he gets worried about you." The boy didn't seem to listen, he was more interested in the beautiful lady in the white dress to even think about looking for his older brother.
"Koji!" The sound of Hiroto's voice echoed through the woods.
Before Yui could grab her necklace, the one that could take her home, Hiroto appeared just a little further away from where they were standing. "Koji, there you a-!" He stopped when he saw the woman his little brother was standing in front of.
She held the face of someone he knew, yet didn't.
"You… Who are you?" He asked as he stepped a little closer.
Then his brother spun around and ran over to him. "Big brother! A pretty lady!"
Hiroto didn't look away from Yui for a second, not even when his younger brother stopped right beside him.
Yui didn't say anything, she didn't really know what to say. She hadn't been prepared for this. But realising the boy in front of her obviously recognized her she closed her eyes, smiled and opened them again. "I'm nobody special, just someone who's passing by."
Hiroto wasn't buying it. "No, no, no, I've seen you somewhere before! You… Are you that lady… from my memories?... Or dream?"
Yui stayed quiet.
"I've had dreams about you! I know it's you! It has to be you!"
Thinking of how to respond Yui looked down at the ground.
It wasn't until Hiroto turned to leave she found the words she was looking for. "Sorry." Hiroto said and took his brother's hand. "Guess it's not you after all…"
"You've grown so much, Hiroto."
Hiroto stopped in his tracks, his eyes widened and he quickly turned around again. He was met by the smiling face of the woman who had taken care of him and brought him home 10 years ago. And she hadn't changed at all. "You..!"
Before Yui could react, Hiroto was running up to her and threw his arms around her. "I hardly remember anything…" He whispered. "But somehow I just knew I had met you before."
"You don't have to remember anything." Yui said calmly and hugged him back. "Just know this. You were very brave back then and I'm glad I could bring you back to your parents. Seeing how you've grown up and become a fine young man has made me very happy. And, like I told you many years ago, I'll never forget you."
The moment that followed Hiroto found himself hugging nothing but air, realising she was gone his arms dropped but he didn't move from where he was standing.
"Hiroto, Koji, there you are!" His friend called, running towards them.
"Ah, yeah, I found him." Hiroto smiled and turned around. "Let's go home."
When Yui found herself back in the bedroom she had a smile on her face and her mind was spinning. She had not expected to meet the boy again, she had planned to let him live his life without interference but it seemed fate had other plans. "Eeeeh, done with the kid already?" A voice came from the bed.
"Huh?" Yui uttered as she turned her head and saw Loki lying on the bed with his arms behind his head, smirking at her. "Ah! Um, you, you saw?"
"I did."
"... Wait, how did you know that's where I went?"
"I'm your husband."
"That's not an answer."
"I just got a feeling that's where you went." He answered and sat up on the bed. "It was fun to watch you try to get away. That little kid followed you like a tail."
"I didn't even notice he did." Yui sighed with a smile and walked to the other side of the bed and sat down on it. Loki took this chance to grab her shoulders and pulled her towards his chest. "But you got to talk to him, it made you happy, right?"
Yui smiled and leaned against him. "Yes."
"Great." Loki said and quickly moved to the side, making Yui fall backwards and land on her back. She let out a sound of surprise and soon found herself trapped underneath Loki. "So, what to do with you now?"
Yui's eyes widened, she had forgotten what she had done earlier. "I, I'm… sorry?"
"Hmm, I don't know, Yui." Loki smirked. "You escaped through the portal, trying to make me chase you, I did and now I've caught you. You better be prepared."
Yui started giggling. "Alright, you got me. But you know," Loki's face came closer to hers. "I wasn't kidding when I said you're going to get me pregnant… sooner or later."
"I wouldn't mind." Loki whispered before he covered her lips with his own.
Yui gave in right away and let Loki do what he wanted. 'He's only joking… right?'
"He wasn't joking…" Yui told herself. Frigg and Eir had just finished examining her.
She was pregnant. That's what they had told her and by the looks of it, they were right. She had asked to see them since she had been feeling sick lately, especially during the mornings.
The door suddenly flew open and in came Loki with an irritated Helga right behind him. "I told you to wait a little longer!" She shouted at him. "Sorry, Yui-sama, he's so… slippery."
Yui let out a small laugh. "It's alright, Helga-san."
"Well? !" Loki asked, feeling excited.
Eir smiled to herself. "She's with child, congratulations."
"Hard to keep your hands off her, huh?" Frigg joked.
Loki didn't even hear anything after the word "child" and walked straight up to Yui and surprised her by kissing her. "Hmph! ?" Was all that could escape Yui's lips, making the three goddesses in the room giggle. When Loki pulled away he gave her a big hug before he took a step back. "This is great!" He exclaimed.
"He seems happy." Frigg stated.
"And excited out of his mind." Eir added.
'I get a feeling this was not an accident.' Helga thought in amusement.
"How about you, Kitten? You happy?" Loki asked.
"Of course I am, I'm very happy about it but," Yui answered calmly and stepped closer to him. And without warning, reached into his pockets and took out pieces of candy. Loki knew what was about to happen and quickly jumped back as Yui threw a piece at him. It exploded. "I've told you not to kiss me in front of anyone!"
"Haha! Sorry, sorry, I forgot!" Loki laughed as he ran out the door to avoid the flying candy.
"No you didn't!" Yui shouted and ran after him, leaving the others behind.
"I was just so happy I couldn't help myself!"
"I understand that! But my emotions are out of control right now and throwing things at you calms me down!"
Eir walked out of the room and watched them disappear down the hall. "What an odd couple."
"If she's like this now, then I'm glad I'm not Loki when the child is going to be born." Frigg pointed out.
"Haha, yeah, that's going to be scary." Helga agreed.
"Guess we have to keep him away from her when that time comes, or heads are going to roll." Eir said and stepped back into the room.
"Only Loki's, though." Frigg joked.
"Hello, how are you doing?" Hades asked as he, Balder and Dionysus walked up to Loki who was waiting outside the cottage. The door was open so they guessed he was waiting for Yui to come outside. "Did your wife kick you out?" Dionysus teased.
Loki turned to grin at them. "Nah, she's just taking her time to find something to wear."
"I understand that, she can give birth any day now." Balder pointed out. "I can imagine it's hard for her to find clothes that fit."
Almost 9 months had passed since they found out she was with child and Loki had been doing his best to support her during those months. Human pregnancies last longer than the gods' do, they are much less painful and they don't experience that kind of complications human women do. Sleepless nights, aching backs, morning sicknesses and mood swings are some of the things goddesses don't have any problems with. Thankfully, the gods had known Yui's pregnancy was hard for her so they had made sure she took it easy and didn't allow her to do anything that could complicate things. They were not used to pregnancies being hard so they sometimes had to stop themselves from asking too much of Yui, she was tired enough as it was. Loki had asked her questions about all sorts of things when he had found out just how exhausted she seemed to be. One day she had even started crying because the food he had made for her tasted good. Loki had almost panicked and tried to ask her what was wrong and why she was crying when he got the answer, "It just tastes so goooood!"
Loki started snickering. "Yeah, she's pretty big."
In the next moment a candle came flying and hit him in the head.
"Who are you calling big?" Yui asked in a not so amused voice from the doorway. The black dress she was wearing had thin fabric and long, wide sleeves. A seamstress had made it for her just a month earlier and it was one of the few dresses she could actually move around in without feeling restrained.
"Morning honey!" Loki grinned as he rubbed the spot where the candle had hit. "You ready?"
"Yes, I just hope this will help."
"What will help?" Dionysus asked.
Now Yui noticed that three of her friends were there. "Oh, sorry guys. I didn't see you there." She smiled in embarrassment.
"No worries, Kusanagi." Hades smiled. "We heard it's time soon so we came to visit and see how you're doing."
"Things are as good as they can be with a stomach this big." Yui sighed with a tired smile. "I was hoping that a walk could help start things. I'm pretty tired of waiting any longer. Want to join us?"
"Of course, Yui-san, we'd be happy to." Balder answered her.
"Let's go then." Loki said and moved to take her hand so he could support her.
Yui was just about to accept his help when she suddenly froze, something wet was running down her legs.
It didn't take long before the four gods noticed what was happening. "Shit." They all said in unison.
"Out of the way!" Loki called as he flew with a groaning Yui in his arms through the castle and with Balder, Dionysus and Hades close behind.
Every god and goddess they passed had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit.
"Find Eir, Frigg and Helga!" Balder told a guard as they flew past him and disappeared through an open door.
"I didn't expect this." Dionysus said. He and Hades were waiting outside a room and Balder had gone to inform the rest of their friends about what was going on. Now and then they could hear Yui's screams coming from inside the room.
"Yeah, I knew it was only a matter of time but…" Hades agreed, his eyes were closed and he was leaning against the wall beside the door.
"It doesn't sound like she's fine in there either."
"I've heard it's extremely painful for a human woman to give birth. We can only hope Kusanagi is strong enough to handle it."
"She has three experienced women and Loki in there with her. She's in good hands."
"Uncle!" They could hear Apollon call and turned to see him running towards them together with Tsukito and Takeru.
"That was fast." Dionysus commented.
"We came as fast as we could!" Takeru answered just before they reached the two Greek gods.
"How is she?" Tsukito asked.
More screams came from inside the room.
"That should answer your question." Dionysus said.
Apollon looked really worried. "Fairy will be alright, right?"
"She will, Apollon, don't worry. She's stronger than we think." Hades answered him in a calm voice.
It didn't take long before Thor arrived with Sif, followed by Freyr, Freyja and Balder.
"Anything new?" Balder asked.
"No, just more screams." Dionysus explained.
"Poor Yui…" Sif whispered.
"My little flower sounds like she's suffering in there." Freyja commented as Yui's screams continued to echo through the walls.
"I know it's harder for humans but is it really that painful for them?" Freyr asked.
"There's a reason some humans die during childbirth, Freyr..." Balder said. "Some just can't handle that huge amount of pain."
"Hey, hey! Weed is going to be fine!" Takeru shouted.
"I know that. It's just… We almost lost her once, remember? The memory from that time is still fresh." Balder explained with his head low.
"I know how you feel, Balder." Hades said and moved away from the wall he was leaning on and placed a hand on Balder's shoulder. "But we must believe in Kusanagi. She's not going anywhere."
"That's right, that's right!" Apollon exclaimed, trying to sound cheerful. "No one can handle this better than-"
The door suddenly flew open and Loki ran outside and quickly closed it behind him.
Silence ~
"Loki?" Balder uttered.
"What are you doing?" Thor added.
"Hiding." Loki answered nervously but with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Why? ! Yui needs you with her!" Sif shouted at him.
"Well, she threatened to kill me and that girl can be scary when she's angry!" Loki said in defence.
Dionysus and Freyr let out a small laugh.
"Loki you coward! Get back in here!"
"You just made her even more angry." Tsukito informed.
Several hours passed and still nothing.
"Is it supposed to take this long?" Takeru asked. By now, most of them were sitting on the floor, only Hades and Thor were standing, waiting impatiently for anything to happen.
"For humans, yes." Hades answered.
"Wait, did she just stop screaming?" Freyja asked when she noticed how quiet it was.
But before anyone could say anything the screams started again but this time it wasn't coming from Yui, but from something much smaller.
"Oh my- It's over? !" Sif exclaimed and quickly stood up from the floor.
It took awhile though before the door to the room finally opened and the pink haired Helga stepped outside, a big smile was planted on her face. "She did it, everyone, and she's fine. Do you want to come inside?"
All the gods sighed in relief before they stood up from the floor and followed Helga inside the big room. There they found Loki standing beside the bed Yui was lying in. Soft cries were coming from the small creature in her arms. When Yui's tired eyes met theirs she smiled at them. "You all waited outside all this time?"
"Of course we did, Fairy!" Apollon cried out, but not loud enough to disturb the newborn half god.
"You mean everything to us, of course we were going to be here." Balder smiled back at her and the others nodded in agreement.
"You are so sweet." Yui smiled again. "Do you want to meet her?"
"It's a girl?" Freyja asked in excitement as they stepped closer to the bed to have a better look.
"Well, yes and no." Loki smirked.
They looked up at him in confusion.
Loki moved away from the bed and walked up to Frigg, who was trying to stay hidden behind a smiling Eir. They followed his movements and watched as Frigg carefully handed him something before he walked back to them, smiling proudly.
"Oh. My. Goodness." Dionysus uttered.
"Twins!" Apollon exclaimed in both surprise and excitement.
"This is Taro." Loki said. "And that's his sister, Aiko."
Their friends were looking at them with wide eyes before they started crying out their congratulations and split up to welcome the both half gods to their world. Taro was born with red hair, one brown and one golden eye, small horns on top of his head and human ears. Aiko had red hair as well but both of her eyes were brown, she had no horns but she had pointed ears just like her father.
"They are both beautiful." Hades said while smiling down at Aiko in Yui's arms.
"This sure surprised us!" Freyr pointed out. "Twins, huh?"
"Hehe, yeah." Loki snickered. "That might explain why Kitten was so bi-"
"If you want more kids in the future Loki, I suggest you stop it right there." Yui warned him, smiling innocently with her eyes closed.
The rest started laughing as Loki froze and didn't say another word.
"See you, Balder!" Loki called before he stepped back inside and closed the door behind him. "There, they finally left." He sighed in relief and walked over to the bed and sat down on it beside Yui, who was holding both of their kids in her arms.
"Give them a break," She giggled. "they were just so excited to meet them they forgot what time it was."
"Yeah, I guess." Loki said and looked down at the small, sleeping figures. "You did good, you know."
"Huh?"
"They came out strong and healthy. You did your best."
"Loki…" She whispered and threw him a smile. "You did good, too. Even though I kind of wanted to kill you for doing this to me." She joked.
Loki let out a laugh. "I understand now why you wanted to do it, though. That looked like it hurt like hell."
"It did." Yui confirmed. "But, it was all worth it."
Loki's eyes met hers and he slowly leaned forward and gave her a kiss.
"We're going to be awesome parents! I'll teach them to pull all sorts of pranks and-"
"Your head is about to roll, dear husband." Yui said and smiled in the same way she had done before.
From now on, Loki would have to learn to think twice before opening his mouth.
The End
A/N: That's it everyone! It's done and I'm exhausted xD
Thanks all of you for the wonderful comments you have left me and I hope you're satisfied with the ending! Please leave your last review before you go and Merry Christmas to you all!
