Clarity

Loki's day ended with a sunset, a walk, and a kiss. Noir's day ended with a sunset, a ride, and a kiss. The two held each other on the rooftop as the sun sank below the horizon, and then they started their way back to the healers' wing. As Noir started leaning against Loki murmuring of how tired she was, Loki offered to carry her. Noir laughed at what she interpreted as a joke, but Loki repeated the offer seriously, and in a minute, Noir was riding on Loki's back as he brought her back to the healers' wing. The two ignored the disapproving looks from a few of the healers, and Loki kissed Noir as he tucked her into bed.

Thor's day ended with a kiss on a hand, a hug, and a lost article of clothing. Marron's day ended with a kiss on her hand, a hug, and a new cape. Sometime earlier in the day, as they had grown frustrated with cards and bored of dice, the two had fallen into merely talking of nothings—favorite foods and stories of pranks and trading likes and dislikes. As the sun moved in the sky and no longer shone through the window of Marron's room, it became colder, and Marron shivered. Thor graciously draped his cape over Marron's shoulders as she blushed and smiled at him. When he took his leave once the sun had set, he took Marron's hand and kissed it softly. Then she had hugged him gently and whispered good night before he left. And halfway to his room, he recalled that he had left his cape around Marron's shoulders, and Marron had wrapped it around herself for the rest of the night.

Catalysseur's day ended with a quandary, an answer, and exasperation. Soir's day ended with a quandary, an answer, and cold anger. the two wondered where Chatte Blanc Lune had gotten off to, and Soir bitterly proclaimed that they should just be glad that he had not returned yet: he was a mere irritation to everyone else. Catalysseur reasonably pointed out that the kit knew far too much about the rebellion's plans for them to let him go. If he did not return, then they would have to find him. If he did not return willingly, then he would have to be killed.

Blanc's day ended with a decision. He had set what he could to rights inside the hideout—restacking empty boxes, pushing the beds flush against the walls, putting overturned empty sacks right again. As he had, he had thought about all that Noir and Marron had told him: how the rebels were wrong, how the violence and mobbing's and attacks would only make things worse. How diplomacy would have worked better. And as he thought over it, he had realized that perhaps the girls had been right. Perhaps talking things through would have caused things to end better than they had so far. And besides… the rebels… Soir's cruelty, Catalysseur's cold calculations, the rest of the nekos' bloodthirstiness… suddenly he didn't see the glory in it. He didn't see how something that had caused the death of his dearest friend and the loss of another friend, that had caused the loss of what he had called home for years, that had ransacked his old home, how any of it could be good. So… he had decided he would not be rejoining the rebels. He would stay away. He would be alone… as it felt he was destined to always become. A thief, a loner.

The following morning, the two princes and the two nekos had all once again convened in the room in the healers' wing and chatted amiably.

"I want to practice fighting today," Noir suddenly announced as they finished off the tray of breakfast. When the other three looked at her with surprise and uncertainty, she explained herself. "I'm feeling much stronger, and my balance is just about back to normal. But I need to practice again to make sure I'm ready."

"Ready," Loki echoed quietly.

Marron and Thor glanced at each other, and the girl murmured, "The nekos are set to attack in less than a week."

"It's been nice to take a bit to relax and heal," Noir continued, and she and Loki shared a quick glowing look at the memory of their previous day on the rooftop of the tower, "but I do think it's time to begin to prepare for what's coming."

She could practically see in his eyes the seeds of doubt and worry and bitterness at the thought of what was to come. Perhaps, she thought, at the reminder that she planned to fight in the battle against the rebels, too. But he took a quiet breath, and his voice was calm as he asked, "Are you certain you want to start today?"

Noir nodded solemnly, and she smiled slightly to herself when his hand rested atop hers on the blanket. He nodded back in resigned understanding, and she might have imagined the smallest hint of reluctant pride in his eyes.

"I want to practice, too," Marron drew her eyes from Noir's and Loki's hands and instead looked hopefully up at Thor.

"Of course," he smiled. "All of us must go down to the training grounds!"

"First, I need to get dressed," Noir deadpanned, and she gestured from the men to the door pointedly. "Marron, you can stay," she added meaningfully.

Marron's eyebrows quirked in interest, and the boys exchanged a look as they exited the room, closing the door, and leaving the two neko girls alone. Noir smirked to herself. The princes had to know that girlish gossip was on the way in this room. Her gray eyes returned to Marron, and they immediately giggled.

"Well," Noir began in a business-like tone.

"Well," Marron agreed giddily.

"I'll get my clothes. You tell me all about Thor," Noir ordered briskly, starting to stand.

Marron bounced up and firmly set her hands on Noir's shoulders. "No, no, you sit and reserve your strength for training. I'll get you clothes, and you tell me about Loki."

Noir shook her head vehemently. "You tell first."

Marron smiled ruefully as she went to the collection of clothing the tailors had provided to Noir. "Nothing of… much importance has happened," she began slowly.

"But?" Noir pressed, detecting the hesitancy in her younger friend's voice.

Marron's cheeks colored, and she shrugged. "Yesterday we spent the day together again. We merely talked, but…" she sighed softly, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "we're starting to understand each other better. As crown prince, he has such an arrogance and pride about him. But I've been trying to make him see beyond his own confidence and be more thoughtful."

Noir grinned and clasped her hands together. "And you feel?"

Marron's smile grew more. "He really is sweet and caring, once he has the chance. And he's very warm to me, and he makes me feel… different, in a way. More interesting and more wanted. I think he and I—." She cut herself off abruptly, and closed her eyes, suppressing her smile with obvious effort.

Noir groaned softly in anticipation, excitement for Marron flooding from her heart through her extremities. "He and you…?" Noir repeated.

Marron quickly shook her head, beaming. "I don't know yet. I… like him very much. I think he likes me the same way. But I… I don't know. Just close friendship right now." A helpless shrug here.

Noir smiled wryly. "Perhaps sometime it will be more?"

Marron glanced away shyly and murmured noncommittally. Her hands had stilled in the middle of her explanation, and she resumed sorting through the clothes as she brightened once more. "And what of you and Loki? You had time alone yesterday! I didn't see you at all! What in the nine happened?"

A slight happy tingle trailed from Noir's scalp to the tip of her tail at the memory of the rooftop, and she bared her teeth in a mischievous smile. "Do you happen to recall what I told you when I first saw Loki?" she inquired nonchalantly.

Marron looked puzzled at the question. "What you said when you first saw Loki?" she wondered as she draped a pair of breeches over her arm for Noir, continuing to look through tunics.

Noir nodded, and Marron tilted her head in thought.

"Let's see… that he was attractive?" Marron asked.

"And then you said you didn't think he was very attractive," Noir reminded her friend, trying to hide her smile at the memory of what came next.

"I didn't say he wasn't attractive," Marron said defensively. "I said it was a matter of taste."

A suggestive smirk played on Noir's lips. "And then I said?"

Marron's brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to recall, and Noir held back her giggles as a look of comprehension came over her features. "You said… 'Matter of taste?' and then you said…"

Noir snickered and let herself fall back across the bed. "Just for your information, I was wholly and entirely correct that day. Prince Loki is delicious."

This statement was greeted with silence.

Noir lifted her head slightly. Marron was standing limply, her mouth slightly open in a scandalized expression. The tunic she had been holding had fallen to the floor, but her hands were held in front of her as if she were still holding up the article. Noir burst into laughter and laid her head back down again. "Don't look so scandalized, Marron. It was nothing untoward. Just… kissing," she breathed the last word in a happy sigh and rolled onto her side, looking towards the window at the head of the bed. She paused and rolled onto her back once more, lifting her head. Marron still looked as if her innocence had been offended by whatever thoughts Noir's words had conjured. Noir cracked another smile. "Also, I am unofficially declaring myself the greatest lockpicker in the nine realms. I told you I didn't need a key."

00000

Queen Frigga was in the sitting room of their chambers writing a letter to the rulers of Alfheim when she heard her husband let out a sound somewhere between a disapproving grunt and a hum of concentration. The queen looked up from her task to see the Allfather at the window, looking out with a deep frown.

"Something vexes thee?" she asked mildly, a touch of sarcasm coloring her voice at the comical indignance on the king's face.

Odin looked away from the window, his one eye looking slightly troubled and slightly irritated. "Your sons are on the training grounds. And they have the nekos with them."

Raising an eyebrow, Frigga stood and went to stand with her husband, resting her hands on the windowsill as she looked out. Indeed, far below on the training grounds, there were Asgardian soldiers who had stopped their own sparring sessions to watch as the royal princes led two neko girls across the fields. "Lady Marron and Lady Noir are granted permission to go wherever they like, so long as they don't leave the palace grounds," Frigga reminded as she continued watching.

"Yes," Odin acknowledged grudgingly. "Yet look at them."

It appeared that the princes and nekos were walking close together and talking amiably, and when they stopped at an empty area, they stopped walking and merely continued talking, gesturing as they spoke, occasionally one of them shaking with laughter.

"They're… cavorting," Odin said distastefully.

Frigga laughed gently. "They're young. They're enjoying each other's company."

Down below, it appeared that Lady Marron and Lady Noir had started a practice fight between themselves. Thor and Loki were standing back, watching as the lithe, nimble nekos swung at each other with fists and feet, ducking and jumping and spinning and flipping acrobatically as they fought. Frigga thought to herself that those down below on the training grounds had grown more attentive, watching with more attention than before as they took in the nekos' fighting style. The girls would be able to teach them so much about how to fight against the rebels, the preferred fighting styles of nekos… it would be so useful for the soldiers to pay heed and learn from this display.

Noir feinted a low kick, then kicked high, sending Marron stumbling back as Noir's boot connected with her sternum. Thor immediately jumped forward to catch Marron and dust her off. Meanwhile, Noir had doubled over with her hands on her knees, clearly either out of breath or in pain, and Loki was hovering next to her with an arm over her shoulders, the other hand gently touching her side where the stab wound had been. It was another long moment before the princes backed off, and the girls went at it for another round.

"Our sons are infatuated with nekos," Odin sniffed as he watched.

Frigga shook her head. "Do you truly think it is infatuation?"

"They've all hardly known each other a month. Less, I think, in Thor and Chatte Marron's case," Odin pointed out.

The queen sighed. "At some point, all young men and women who come into each other's acquaintance have known each other hardly a month. At one point, you and I had known each other only a month. That doesn't make it infatuation, just because they have quickly made a connection."

"That doesn't mean it isn't infatuation," Odin insisted.

"The four of them care for each other deeply," Frigga said adamantly. "Is that not enough to know that they are at least good friends? Why must they be infatuated or in love—can they not be friends at least? They have done nothing untoward."

"Servants saw Loki carrying Noir on his back last night to the healers' wing."

"She's been injured. She's healing. She's been building up her stamina again," Frigga gestured out the window.

Marron had sent Noir reeling back with a shove of her shoulder into the older girl's stomach, and Noir had fallen backward onto her rear. Noir had yet to get up yet, putting her head between her knees as the other three crowded around concernedly.

"She's well enough to be sparring. And Loki should have the sense to show a little more decorum in public, whether he and Chatte Noir disappeared together the entire day yesterday or not," Odin snapped. "And Thor and Chatte Marron have been spending so much time alone together. It is unseemly. I am forced to wonder if we should put a stop to it."

Frigga's lips tightened. Perhaps that was true. But still she saw it as far less of a problem than Odin was treating it as. After all, it would be a number of years before the day that Thor would ascend to the throne would draw near. Certainly, the princes would need to behave properly at such a time, as true heirs to the throne and a king-to-be and the brother of a king. But now? Now they were young. They could enjoy youth while they had it, could they not?

Noir had been helped to her feet by now, and the four were talking again, seeming a little less boisterous and more serious now. The connection between them was still evident, but the easy confidence had left. Noir and Loki were holding hands, and Thor and Marron were standing close, and the two pairs were close together in a small huddle. The other soldiers were starting to go back to their own doings now that the nekos were no longer putting on such a show. Thor pointed across the field to something, and Loki crossed his arms in irritation. Noir stood on tiptoe and kissed Loki's cheek while Marron giggled. Loki frowned down at the black neko, and then he walked away to where Thor was pointing, returning with a pair of practice swords.

Frigga watched, her frown softening as she watched the four. Each of the girls was given a practice sword, and each of the princes showed their respective young ladies the proper way to hold it in both hands. This went on for a moment or two before Thor stood behind Marron and Loki stood behind Noir, wrapping their arms around the nekos and laying their hands atop the girls' on the swords, and guided them with slow and exaggerated movements through some basics of swordplay.

"Why are you so concerned? Let them have their time together," the Queen Mother murmured fondly as she stepped closer and laid a hand on Odin's arm.

"Why must I?" he challenged quietly as he observed the fencing lesson.

"Marron and Noir are both perfectly charming and polite young ladies, and I see nothing that suggests they are unsuitable for being in the company of the princes for the current time. And the four of them get on so well together. Their relationships are… innocent. Moreover… You know that they can't stay together for long," Frigga lowered her gaze.

"That is precisely why I am so concerned," Odin huffed. "The nekos cannot remain in our sons' lives for long. Look at them. The confrontation with the rebels is coming in less than a week. Our people will be calling for justice once we have overtaken them."

"So, give them justice when the battle is won," Frigga answered simply.

Odin shook his head. "They will not want exceptions. New laws involving nekos will have to be laid down. The people will be more angry and disdainful towards their kind than ever… It won't just be the rebels who have to be punished. It will have to be all the nekos, else the people will be unsatisfied. Chatte Noir and Chatte Marron will have to be included."

A dark look came over the queen's countenance. "I know this. So, can we not let Thor and Loki enjoy their company while it lasts?"

Odin's gaze shifted over the other training soldiers. "There is no place for them in their lives. Even if it weren't for the rebellion, it could never be… why allow it to continue now?"

"Because your sons are happy," Frigga met his eyes sternly.

Odin glanced back to the mock swordfight. "It is not that I disapprove of the girls that I say these things. They are… polite and charming girls, as you said. I simply…" he let out a breath of what seemed defeat as he confessed, "I worry for our sons and what could come of this… attachment to the nekos."

Frigga took his hand in hers. "All parents worry for their children. That doesn't mean we should get in the way of their happiness."

His face hardened slightly again. "It is for their happiness that I worry. What shall they do when the nekos are gone? They are happy now. And yet…" Down below, the practice swords were crossed between the girls, the princes still guiding them through the motions. "It won't last," he declared bitterly. "We all know this."

00000

"Today is the ninth day since the nekos announced that they would be attacking in two weeks," Marron reminded the other three as they walked back to the healers' wing that evening.

"Which leaves five days until they attack," Thor added promptly.

"Brilliant," Noir congratulated the blonde.

"Did you calculate that yourself?" Loki asked.

"Do you need to sit down?" Noir continued.

"That much thinking must have hurt your head," Loki nodded in sympathy.

Thor glared, unimpressed, while Marron smiled wryly.

"I was just saying," Thor muttered.

"Of course," Noir nodded soberly. "How much training do you think we'll be able to fit in the next few days before the rebellion?"

"Enough, I think," Thor said confidently.

"I didn't think you'd be able to do as much as you did today," Marron confided quietly.

"Neither did I," Loki confessed with a small sheepish smile.

Noir beamed. "I know I'm not perfectly back to normal, but it's only a little soreness and shortness of breath, really. I can work through it in a few days and definitely be entirely ready five days from now. Maybe sooner."

"Me, too," Marron grinned. "I haven't practiced so much in a while like today. A little more training, and I'll feel better about fighting the rebels."

"We all shall feel better," Thor dipped his head.

"I feel better already," Loki smirked.

Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: This is kind of a filler chapter, but it's got two scenes in it that I've really wanted to write forever: Noir getting to bring back "delicious" and proclaiming herself the realms' greatest lockpicker, and also Odin and Frigga's foreboding conversation about Thor and Loki's relationships with Noir and Marron. I know this chapter is rather uneventful otherwise, but I'm hoping to post another chapter within the next week.

Further, my spell-checker was weirdly goofing on this chapter, so I sincerely apologize if there are any grammar mistakes… I went through a couple of times, but please let me know if you catch any errors.

Thank you all again for the phenomenal support on this story, and thank you all for sticking with me. I love you all, and I hope to see you next time! Please favorite, follow, and review!