Hello loyal followers and new readers, it certainly has been a while and I offer my sincerest apologies.

I am continuing this fanfic about my beloved Loki, I have had great plans for this since it's beginning and I hate that it's taken me so long to continue it but that's about to change.

Here is chapter 3 that was promised a long time ago, please enjoy.

I enjoy reading your reviews, they're very helpful so please feel free to leave your feedback.

Thank you so much for reading!

xxx

I do not own any of these characters, they are all property of Marvel Studios.

A young Loki sits alone in his chambers, his head in his hands and the curtains drawn. It's the middle of a bright summer day but in this room, it seems like the worst of winter nights. Loki is motionless, he had been for days, ever since he sent her that cruel letter. A letter! The letter was almost as cruel as the message. He hadn't been outside since for fear of seeing hatred for him is her brilliant eyes. Although from what he'd heard from his mother, Aura had the same idea. The door to his chambers opened, Loki did not look up as he recognised the arrogant, self-important footsteps of his father.

"You did the right thing Loki. You had to put an end to it, you were getting the girl's hopes up for something that would never be." Odin said, an attempt to comfort his son. Loki just scoffs at this. "Loki, you cannot mourn something that never had the chance to be!" Loki slowly looks up at his father, his eyes burning with rage in the darkness.

"Never had the chance?! All the years since we were new borns, playing together, talking together, growing up together, you thought that wasn't chance enough for me to fall in love with her!?"

"Fall in love! Please! I expected you to know that she was nothing more than your companion, and I expected her to know her place, nothing more than a peasant!" Odin bellowed

"Her place was with me!" Loki retorted, now in his father's face. Their battle of words was interrupted however by the sound of loud sobbing coming from the gardens below. Odin marches to the window and throws open the drapes which makes Loki flinch at the sunlight.

"It's Reida." Odin says quietly. Loki's eyes widen and he immediately sprints out the door.

As he enters the garden, he sees his mother hugging Reida who is sobbing uncontrollably. Loki stops to watch.

"She's gone! My baby … she's gone!" Reida sobs. "The whole town is looking for her but she's missing! My poor baby girl!" Loki makes eye contact with his mother, his crushed expression meeting her solemn one. Loki turns back towards the castle almost in a daze. When he reaches his chambers he stops for a moment. He lets out the quietest of sobs before a gut-wrenching scream. He begins to thrash around the room, throwing and smashing things off the walls and completely destroying the place. He finally stops and his body crumples in grief to the floor.

Now, the trickster prince and his childhood love whip past the trees, pursued mercilessly by the palace guards. Aura begins to lag behind and without thinking Loki grabs her hand and pulls her alongside him. Aura is shocked at the contact but welcomes it nonetheless.

"Loki, where are we going?" Aura asks in between panting, Loki just smiles. Just like old times.

Loki stops suddenly, causing Aura to run right into the back of him. Aura's hands rest on Loki's back and she breathes slowly and quietly, trying to take in what was happening. Loki listens to his surroundings for a second before speeding off again, pulling Aura with him. They run faster and faster towards the face of a cliff. As they come to the rock, Loki runs alongside it for a bit before pulling Aura inside the wall behind a clutter of cascading leaves. Aura opens her mouth to speak but before she can Loki pushes her against the wall and puts his hand over her mouth. Aura starts to protest but Loki's calm demeanour stops her and when she calms herself, Loki puts his finger against his lips indicating her silence. Aura nods understanding and Loki slowly takes his hand away from her mouth but he remains pressing her into the wall. The two of them breathe heavily, looking right at each other. A palace guard passes close by and both Loki and Aura stop to watch him. Loki looks back at Aura who continues to watch the guard. She breathing heavily but quietly and Loki watches her chest heave up and down. Aura turns back to Loki, finding him watching her. It was almost like nothing had happened, no one had been hurt, no one had lost themselves. Like they were still sitting in the tree adoring each other. But at this memory, Aura flinched. That memory crushed her, he had broken her heart. He had hurt her, she was here for payback, she'd done everything for payback. But here he was, his body against hers, his breath on her face, his eyes burning into her and she was melting. With the guard gone, Aura pushes Loki away from her. She storms further into the cave. Loki looks at her frustrated.

"So was this your whole plan?" Loki snaps at her. "Come back into my life and ruin my plans, is that it? You have no idea how hard I worked to put all of this together and just like that, it's gone. Because of you!" Aura is angry now.

"This wasn't my plan either!"

"Then what was your plan!?" Loki demanded.

"PAYBACK! To crush you like you did me! To take everything you thought you had away from you! To leave you with nothing!" Aura yells at him, furious. Loki is speechless. He doesn't know what to say to this familiar girl with the raven hair and the emerald eyes that he doesn't seem to recognise.

"The girl I knew would never be so cruel." He says quietly.

"The girl you knew disappeared the morning she got that letter." Aura hits back at him. A harsh blow to the both of them. Loki has nothing to say to her. "It seems we are as cruel as each other."

"I hope that's not true." Loki says sadly. It is quiet for a moment before Aura speaks.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"Nothing until the morning. The longer we leave it, the further away from the castle the guards will be searching for us. That's when we escape." Loki tells her. Aura looks around at the cave and sighs.

"Fine." She removes her cape and lays it on the hard ground. Loki watches her do this. He can't help but notice that her body is no longer straight up and down, she had a waist and hips and they seemed to sway when she walked. Not to mention her other curvaceous attributes. He'd also noticed changes in her face. No baby fat in her cheeks, her cheekbones sat perfectly in its place and her lips her fuller. Still her eyes remained as bright and startling as they'd always been. It was true, the girl he knew had disappeared. Now there was a women in front of him. A woman that he wanted more than to be to king, more than to be feared and more than he'd wanted that adoring girl in the tree, he didn't think that was possible.

Aura lays down on the cape and turn to face away from Loki. Loki peers through the foliage and sees the light diming. Loki slowly walks over to Aura.

"May I have the other side?" He points towards the cape but without looking at him, Aura shuffles over to the edge of the makeshift blanket, leaving plenty of space for Loki and a gap between them. Loki lies on his back, looking up at the roof of the cave. It's quiet for a minute or two, muffled shouting of guards can be heard getting further and further away.

"Loved?" Loki said quietly. Aura is puzzled.

"What?"

"You said you loved me. Is that true?" Aura sighs.

"Of course I loved you. I adored you, I believed in you. You were everything to me." Loki looks sad.

"You were everything to me too."

"What was it you said? "Our companionship must be terminated. I'm a prince and you're a handmaiden's daughter, it just isn't right."" Loki is ashamed of himself, remembering what he'd written to her. He couldn't even say it to her face. "I was nothing in your quest for leadership."

"I did it to make you proud of me. You prove to you that I could be as great as you thought I was." Loki tried to defend himself, but even he was seeing that his reasoning made no sense. How could she see him become great if he threw her away.

"Look where that got you Loki."

"I know. Odin's paying for it now though." Aura smiles a little at this. "Back to my original point, "loved", "adored", I was everything to you. It's all past tense … is that still correct."

Aura is quiet for a moment.

"Yes."

The cave is in complete darkness except for the moonlight snaking its way through the branches covering the entrance to the cave. It's the middle of the night, it's silent except for the nocturnal animals who are calling to one another. The temperature has dropped significantly. In the cold, Aura, with her bare arms and shoulders felt warmth around her and reached out and clung to it, still fast asleep. Loki, who had not been able to sleep at all with Aura lying soundly beside him, felt her soft body roll into him and her cold arms wrapped themselves around his body. Feeling her cold skin on him, he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm but the warmth of his hands on her icy skin roused her from sleep. Her sleepy eyes looked at him and he watched her eyes sparkle in the darkness.

Neither of them said a word, they just reached for each other and kissed. Nothing else mattered. Neither of them thought about the past, everything they had done didn't matter now. They were wrapped in each other's arms and that's all that mattered. Missing each other for so long, all the longing came out in this one kiss. Neither of them took a breath for what felt like a lifetime but they didn't care. Aura grabbed Loki's hair, pulling him closer to her and he was more than willing to oblige her. Loki wrapped his arms around Aura's tiny waist and his hands began to explore everything his eyes already had many times. The more he touched her, the more she grabbed at him. Anticipating him, Aura moved her hands to Loki's chest and began to pull at any fabric she could, desperately trying to remove it all. Her eagerness spurred Loki on, who after trying to undo her dress found it easier just to rip it off. Aura followed his lead and there became a pile of their tattered clothes alongside their entangled bodies that no longer felt the cold. They continued to kiss passionately, trying to make up for all the time they were apart and the silent night began to fill with gasped breathes, pleasured moans and whispered sweet nothings.

Chapter 4 to come very soon! Please favourite, follow and review if you are so inclined. :D

xxx