CHAPTER 14

They walked stride for stride together, reaching the front of the cleared area in front of where Odin was standing. Lina's grip got tighter as the room grew silent. She looked up at Loki and all he could do was smirk to himself.

"Princess Lina," Odin began. His voice carried throughout the long hall and people's ears honed in on the speech. "Because of your kindness, devotion, and bravery, we celebrate you tonight. Asgard is forever in your debt for helping defeat the evils that had spread to our realm."

The audience applauded loudly, Lina smiling very humbly as she looked at the floor.

"I also wanted to congratulate my sons and the warriors they have had helping them for restoring the many realms and kingdoms back to their original states." A larger roar of applause came from the warriors who were there, Thor being the loudest of all of them.

Loki rolled his eyes at his brother as Lina giggled to herself.

"Let tonight be one of happiness and laughter. Let joy fill us as we not only celebrate the actions of those who saved us, but also the lives of those who are no longer with us because of recent events." Odin walked down to Lina and put his hand on her right shoulder. "Your father was a great man. A gentle giant and the bravest person I knew. He would be so proud of the young woman you've become. Don't ever let that part of you go."

Lina nodded her head as her eyes welled with tears.

Odin smiled at her reassuringly, then thanked the guests for coming as the ball continued.

Throughout the night, Lina and Loki shared many laughs with Thor and the warriors as well as danced quite often with each other. It wasn't something that Lina thought Loki wanted to do, but he was a better dancer than she realized. She got to take turns dancing with Thor and some of the other warriors that she trained with. Eventually, she grew tired and walked outside for a moment to relax.

Loki followed, bringing her water.

"Having fun?" he asked. He was beaming. Lina didn't think she had ever seen him that happy before.

"Of course I am," she smiled back. "It's everything I had dreamed about and more."

Loki sipped from his glass as he continued, "I'm glad. You look beautiful, my flower."

"You've only told me that about a hundred times this evening," Lina teased.

"Mustn't blame me for telling the truth," Loki retorted.

Lina laughed as she looked down at her cup.

"Are you all right, love?"

Lina looked back up at Loki and smiled again. "I'm fine. Just getting tired is all. Lots of dancing, lots of spinning, lots of everything."

Loki nodded. "Excuse me please, Lina. I'm going to see my mother. I'll be back in a moment."

Lina nodded as she watched Loki rejoin the party.

Loki walked towards where his mother was sitting, having conversations with some of the other women.

"Mother?" Loki called.

She turned to face him. "Yes, Loki?"

"May I have a word with you please?"

Frigga nodded and followed her son to an empty wall where he leaned against it, closing his eyes. "Have you decided?"

Eyes still shut, he replied, "Yes, I have."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Frigga brought Loki's face in her hands to look into his eyes. She smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek.

He smiled too, grabbing her hands with his. "Thank you, mother."

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

The end of the night was drawing near, the ball starting to slow down. Loki paced nervously back and forth as he waited for Lina to finish talking to his mother. They had been talking for at least half the night.

~Surely they'll run out of things to talk to each other about…eventually.

Finally, Frigga noticed her son's pacing and ended her conversation with Lina. She walked towards Odin, whispered something in his ear, and stood behind her husband.

"Prince Loki," Odin called.

All voices ceased. All eyes were at the front of the room. All ears listened curiously. What did the Prince of Mischief want?

Loki swallowed hard as he looked at Lina, her face clouded with confusion. He held out his hand to her, his eyes begging for her to take it.

She obliged as she followed Loki to the front of the room. The only sound that could be heard was their footsteps on the marble floor. Eyes of wanting men and women followed the couple, wondering what was happening.

They stopped in front of Odin.

"You have something you wanted to say, my son?" Odin asked.

Loki nodded, a slight smile crawling across his father's face.

He took a deep breath and faced Lina, taking her hands in his.

"Princess Lina," he began.

Lina's eyes were glued to Loki's. Her heart was racing. Her knees became so weak, she didn't know if she'd be able to continue standing.

"On this night of your ball, many people celebrated your accomplishments. None more-so than I." He took another deep breath. "Throughout the time that you've been in Asgard, you've shown me what it's like to truly…be happy."

Thor stood and watched his brother, silently cheering him on. "Come on, Loki," he encouragingly whispered.

He cleared his throat and continued. "You once told me that you believed in fairy tales because they filled you with hope: the prince would get the girl, good would triumph over evil, and everyone lived happily ever after." A lone tear dripped down his cheek, Lina reaching up to wipe it. "You have proven to me from that night up to this very moment that it is possible for everyone to get their 'happily ever after'. It is because of this that I wanted to ask you something very important."

"Yes, Loki?" Lina's eyes were dancing with inquisitiveness as Loki composed himself to ask her his question.

"Lina, will you be with me always? To stand beside me as my wife? To help me finish my story and truly be my happy ending?"

Silence continued to float through the crowd. It seemed that everyone was holding their breath, awaiting Lina's answer.

She was in a state of shock. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that Loki would be asking her what he had asked. Her hands trembled in his, Loki awaiting his answer.

"Loki," she said, "how could I ever say no?"

A smile burst onto Loki's face as he picked her up in his arms and twirled her around. Cheers erupted from every end of the room as the couple's engagement brought the ball back to life. People smiled, laughed, and for once accepted the Prince of Mischief as more than what his title had made him.

Lina couldn't stop smiling and laughing as Loki set her down, his arms still around her. He pulled her into a kiss that seemed to last a lifetime.

"Alright, that's enough," Thor interrupted. They pulled apart as people started to flood them with their words of congratulations. Thor pulled Loki on the side, away from the craziness. "So, my brother proposes to a woman before I do. I never thought it would happen."

Loki chuckled as he continued to watch Lina, her smile never fading. "Well, you best believe it."

"You better take care of her," Thor reminded. "I will not see her hurt in any way because of you." He sounded protective, taking Loki aback for a moment.

"Why would I ever hurt her?" he defensively asked.

Thor shrugged and brought his arm across his brother's shoulders. "I'm not saying that you will. I just want to make sure that you stay in line, as I'm sure you will do for me when the time comes."

Loki nodded and returned his attention back to Lina. He was happy, and hoped to remain that way for an eternity.

Hello everyone!

This story may be coming to an end soon...BUT! I have an idea for a sequel in mind. Either that or I might just continue it in this story. We shall see.

Please give me some feedback :) Where would you like to see the story go? Anything you want to see? Lemme know! Thanks for the support!

-sparrowlina