Author Ramble!: Reviews, Reviews, Reviews! I received three reviews yesterday and loved reading them so much that I just had to post this chapter today!

Keep them coming! The more reviews, the more I want to write and the more likely you will get a new chapter! I love writing this story for you guys and I really love hearing from you so please keep it coming!

Anyway, we are getting more into the relationship of Loki and Kaleria and uncovering more and more of what happened between them and the beginning of our story... Stay tuned kids!

You know the drill..

Read, Review, and above all... Enjoy!

Kaleria sat in the training courtyard alone. It had been three days since she had heard or even seen Loki. It was as though he disappeared from Asgard completely. They had left on less than amicable terms and now she was alone. Yet for the past three days, Kaleria would show up ready to train. She'd practice conjuring fire balls and making them disappear at whim. She began to notice another trick she could do, shaping the fire into different things. First the shapes were only basic shapes such as squares and triangles. Today, she was able to concentrate hard enough to create a butterfly. Kaleria smiled to herself as she made the butterfly move. She was really getting a hang of her gifts now, especially when she was alone to concentrate.

Kaleria was learning that the only fear was the fear she instilled in herself. She could be great, she could be powerful, and all this at the price of confidence. She was slowly making her way to having strong confidence, and it was oddly enough thanks to Loki for giving her a backbone. Kaleria sighed, making the fire butterfly disappear at the thought of Loki. She was really unsure of what she should be feeling towards Loki. She was letting her guard down after specifically trying not to. Then again, was she actually trying? Was she actually enjoying her time with the person she hated most? Did she even hate him anymore?

Kaleria sighed once more as she sprawled out on the grass, closing her eyes as she lied in the sunshine. The sun did not add any warmth to her skin, but it was still powering. "You're here again?" A confident voice said.

Kaleria opened one eye to see a smiling Thor looking down at her. "It's a nice place to relax." Kaleria propped herself up on her elbows, her eyes never leaving Thor.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked with a smile.

"Please." Kaleria moved over a little as Thor sat down beside her. She still kept a distance so that their skin would not accidently touch.

"He's not coming." Thor said flatly, looking to Kaleria. "His pride is a little hurt." Thor had a small smirk on his lips. "You may be one of the first to hurt his pride."

"Well he should get used to it." Kaleria said defensively as she looked down to her toes.

Thor chuckled. "Maybe he isn't the only one who needs to get used to changes."

Kaleria raised an eyebrow. It was a big change for her to let anyone in her life, let alone anyone actually touch her. "I could really hurt him, Thor." She finally managed to say. "I could even kill him, not on purpose but, it could happen."

"I know you could." Thor replied simply. "And he knows you could." Thor paused for a moment, watching Kaleria's body language as he continued. "He must be willing to look passed that."

Kaleria deflated slightly at the thought of someone willing to look passed her gifts, someone willing to try to be with her in other ways than social conversation. "I couldn't get passed it."

"Why not?" Thor asked curiously.

"When I was a little girl, my gifts were growing more rapidly than anyone was truly prepared for. My mother was a skilled woman with magic; she was always trying to help me.

One day, I cannot remember why I was so upset, but there was no consoling me. The room was igniting, flames were everywhere. My mother came in to help me, to try and calm me down. Without really thinking, just motherly instinct I suppose, she touched my shoulder. Next thing I knew, her hand was on fire and then soon the rest of her body was." Kaleria swallowed hard. "This was a little while after Sif left for Asgard to begin her training." Kaleria avoided Thor's gaze as she continued. "That could be Loki, Thor."

"You were young then, still learning." Thor tried to comfort Kaleria. "It was an accident."

Kaleria looked to Thor, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "And when the same thing happens to Loki, will it be an accident then?"

Thor was taken aback by Kaleria's story and emotions. He was silent for a few seconds before adding. "It's an accident he's willing to risk, Kali. You have to respect that too."

"And I do." Kaleria wiped the tears from her eyes. "Do you not think I never dreamed of a day where I could get married, where I could have children and hold them?" Kaleria laughed slightly. "It's something I've accepted will never happen."

"It will not happen because you are too afraid to let it." Thor replied sadly. "Take a chance; you cannot live in fear forever."

"Does Loki know about your Mother?" Thor asked.

"No, you're the first, along with Sif of course." Thor just nodded as Kaleria contemplated one other thought. "I know it sounds selfish to ask but, why me?" Kaleria asked. "Why would Loki even want to take a chance on me?"

Thor smiled. "He clearly sees something in you that you, yourself do not." Thor then chuckled. "You must be just as strange as he is."

Kaleria returned the smile. "I must be."

Thor got up from the ground, stretching slightly as he looked down at Kaleria. "I think you should talk to him."

"Maybe I will." Kaleria said.

"Let me try again." Thor smiled. "Talk to him."

Kaleria laughed. "Fine, I will."

Thor nodded with a smile still on his lips as he left the courtyard, leaving Kaleria alone once more.

After a few more hours alone, Kaleria finally left the courtyard and headed to her chambers. She walked slowly, admiring her surroundings as she went. Instead of heading the direct route to her chambers, she wandered the halls. She was doing anything and everything she could to distract herself and avoid finding Loki.

She found herself at the training hall. Kaleria was curious to see how the repairs were going on the room she burnt down. She walked inside the hall and headed to the room at the end. Kaleria could hear movement inside, clashing of metal against stone. Curiosity getting the better of her, Kaleria opened the door carefully to peek inside.

Loki was training, throwing smaller knifes onto a target board. He seemed distracted as he threw the knives. He was missing the target every so often. Loki grunted in frustration as he threw another knife, this time sticking the target. Loki stopped throwing after that, and ran his hand through his hair to put the stray strands back in place. Kaleria was about to close the door to leave when Loki finally spoke. "Yes?"

Kaleria hesitantly opened the door and walked into the training room. She looked at Loki who was staring at the target. "A little off today?" Kaleria joked nervously.

She could see Loki had a faint smirk on his lips as he walked over to the target, taking out the knives that did hit. "I suppose."

Kaleria closed the door behind her, watching Loki carefully as he walked back to his original position. He began throwing the knives once more as Kaleria cleared her throat. "Can we talk?"

"About?" Loki said with almost no emotion as another knife hit the target.

"About yesterday." Kaleria said.

Loki threw another knife, this time much harder into the target. He stopped to look at Kaleria. "There is nothing to talk about." He stated simply as he threw another knife.

Kaleria shuffled nervously. "Can you just stop for a moment and talk to me?"

Loki threw another knife. "I am talking to you."

Kaleria watched him throw a few more knives before collecting them again. Loki went back to his stance from before and began throwing the next round of knives. "Fine, if you won't talk to me, then I'll just talk at you. Maybe you'll listen." Loki responded by throwing another knife. Kaleria sighed, rolling her eyes. "I talked to Thor today." Another knife hit the target. "We talked about us." Kaleria flinched as another knife hit the target. "And we talked about what's going on." Kaleria, now frustrated with Loki, lost her temper. "I'm scared alright?" She yelled, causing Loki to miss the target and stop throwing all together. "I'm scared that I will hurt you, that's inevitable." Kaleria laughed sarcastically. "I'm scared you'll hurt me, you're not trustworthy, Loki!" Kaleria paused for a moment before finishing her rant. "I'm scared of not knowing what is going to happen…" Loki finally looked at Kaleria; she was shuffling awkwardly from one foot to the other, looking down at the floor. "I'm just scared okay?"

Loki, feeling a little bad for the way he was treating Kaleria, put the knives down. He watched her awkwardly play with a piece of her hair, she was nervous, she was scared. He didn't know what to make of any of it. "Please do not be hot…" He muttered.

Kaleria, raising an eyebrow in confusion, looked up at Loki. "Don't what?" Before she could process what he said, Loki was already in front of her, grabbing her face gently with both hands and kissing her. His lips were like ice against her burning ones, the reaction sending sensations through her whole being as his lips lingered on hers for a few moments.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Loki pulled away from Kaleria. He looked at her; she was processing everything in her mind. Finally he spoke. "Was that so hard?"

Kaleria narrowed her eyes. "That is the first thing you say?" Loki smirked as Kaleria hit his arm playfully. "I can't believe you."

"Fine, let me try again." Loki said as he reached to kiss her once more.

Kaleria pulled away this time. "No, we need to stop and think about this first."

Loki sighed. "Here we go again."

"What are we doing?" Kaleria asked. "We can't just do this, there's a lot to consider."

"Yes, and we can consider it later." Loki said, trapping Kaleria's lips once more with his.

Kaleria could feel her body heating up. "Loki…" She breathed in a warning tone.

"Control it." He muttered against her lips. "Consider this a lesson."

Kaleria finally pulled away, pushing Loki away from her. "We have to stop!" She hissed. Loki watched Kaleria carefully before she spoke again. "We have to be smart about this, Loki…"

Loki nodded. "You're right. We have to keep both parties safe and happy…" Kaleria and Loki stood in silence for a moment, both parties breathing becoming normal. Kaleria felt her temperature begin to stabilize. Loki looked at Kaleria. "Have you cooled down?" Kaleria only nodded as Loki closed the gap between them once more. This time, Kaleria equally returned the hunger and need within their kissing.

Finally, Loki and Kaleria pulled away from one another. They were short of breath and unable to look away from one another. Kaleria began to panic. "I… I should go."

"Don't do this to me." Loki said. "Don't shy away because you're afraid. I have a stake in this just as much as you do."

Kaleria nodded. "This is just all so fast…"

"Then let's take this slow." Loki replied.

"What am I going to tell Sif?"

Loki was grinning now. "We could always not tell her."

Kaleria couldn't help but laugh. "You're terrible."

"I know I am." Loki winked. "It's getting late."

Kaleria nodded slightly. "People are going to ask questions."

"That's fine; don't give them any answers." Loki replied as he opened the door. "Shall we?" Kaleria, smiling now, left the training room with Loki.

They walked in silence to Kaleria's chambers, avoiding each other's glances as they went. It was as if earlier did not happen and they were back to normal. Both knew there was going back at this point, they were steamrolling towards certain demise, whether either cared to admit it or not.

Both stopped in front of Kaleria's chamber doors, finally looking at each other. "So what are we now?" Loki asked. Kaleria looked at him slightly confused. "On the hatred scale, I mean."

Kaleria smiled slightly. "Tolerant."

"Tolerant?" Loki laughed.

"Yes, I tolerate you." Her smile widening as Loki stopped laughing and smiled.

"I suppose it is progress." Loki was about to lean forward to give Kaleria one last kiss for the night. However, both froze as a familiar voice spoke up.

"Late night training, I see?" Kaleria and Loki turned to see Sif smiling slightly.

"Yes, Loki and I were just…" Kaleria started.

"Goodnight." Loki nodded to Kaleria, then to Sif before walking away.

Sif made sure Loki was not within hearing distance before she spoke. "He's never walked your to your chambers before."

"It was late." Kaleria said, slightly defensive.

Sif watched her sister for a moment, knowing she was lying to her. "Be careful, Kali." Was all she said as she turned and went into her own chambers.

Kaleria sighed with somewhat relief for being able to avoid that awkward situation. She turned and went into her chambers where she'd have a very hard time sleeping.

Final Thoughts: Hooray! We have our first kiss, people! Let's watch the fire burn... in a matter of speaking... Ahem. Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please remember to review!