Forever. I Promise (Sequel to As one. Always)

Chapter 1

My breath caught in my lungs, the world seemed to stop as I watched him. He seemed so relaxed, no tension in his shoulders, though he was going in to face his sentence in a few short minutes. From this distance, I could clearly see he had changed, just as I had; he looked like he had grown up. His hair was longer, reaching past his shoulders. It looked good on him, and I wanted to get closer, to be reacquainted with each feature again, the curve of his lips, the lines that appeared by his eyes when he laughed.

As I mustered up the courage to get closer, his head whipped up to my direction and his eyes lingered, darting here and there, before landing on me. His piercing green eyes kept me still, my blood froze. He can see me. Of course he could. He was still the Master of Magic. I stopped breathing again, and felt at a loss for words. I didn't break his gaze, his eyes emotionless. Without meaning to, my soul seemed to reach for him, yearning for him, to be whole again with his presence. I hadn't reached out to Loki for a long time. I had stopped when keeping our connection open started to keep me from sleeping, and Thor started noticing.

His eyes betrayed him for a few seconds, and I knew he felt it. He felt me reach for him, in need. And those beautiful, mischievous green eyes looked more vulnerable, tender. But it only lasted those few seconds, before his eyes turned hard and emotionless again, and I didn't feel him reach back. Instead I felt as if there was a wall between us. And I wondered why and how Loki had managed to ignore me.

And then the doors opened and he was ushered inside, his head turning slightly to look at me one more time. As soon as the golden doors had closed, I felt my lungs begin to function properly again. My hands shook, and I felt exhausted. I sunk down to the ground, careful to still keep my illusion.

Nothing could have prepared me for that. It should have been easier than this.

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Loki walked into the throne room slowly, taking his time. He didn't want to rush. He wanted to keep Odin waiting, just like he had been kept waiting by him for years.

"Loki." Frigga spoke softly to her son, seeing how much he had changed. Her heart realized her little boy had become a man. A man who had made bad choices.

"Hello mother." Loki turned to look at the woman who had raised him, the only mother he remembered having. What an actress she is. Though Loki no longer heard the voice in his head consciously now, his thoughts were still streaked with the raspy voice, his conscience. "Have I made you proud?" He should have been nervous, afraid even. He was about to be sentenced. About to answer for all he'd done. But he couldn't find it in him to be serious. To him it was all laughable.

"Please." Her tone and eyes gave everything away. "Don't make this worse."

He leaned in closer to her. "Define worse." He dared her.

"Enough. I will speak to the prisoner alone." The king glared down at the prisoner from his throne, dismissing his wife. She dutifully left the throne room, but she still listened in to find out her son's fate. Loki watched her leave before turning to look at his so-called Father. He took a few steps forward, before clapping his heels together in mock attendance.

Before breaking out laughing. Then seriously, he added. "I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

"Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes?" Loki smiled in response, and Odin wanted to smack him on the back of the head. He was trying to treat Loki like any common criminal. He had to. He couldn't let Frigga's feelings and his fatherly feelings towards Loki cloud his judgment. "Wherever you go, there is war, ruin and death."

"I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god." The prisoner countered. "Just like you."

"We are not gods." Odin cursed himself slightly. He had been the one who put that in his son's heads when they were children. It was a mistake on his part. He made a lot of mistakes on his part. "We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do."