Hawkeye's Sister

Chapter 14

"Healthy." I say, Loki and I both standing up. We leave the room and walk out into the garden. Tears gather in my eyes, and I laugh.

"I'm healthy!" I say, spinning around and laughing. I grab his hands and spin him around with me, feeling like I can fly.

"Yes you are." Loki says, and I smile at him. His face also has a grin on it, and he leans forward and gives me a full on kiss.

"You have no idea how happy I am for you." He says, and I hug him tightly.

"Thank you Loki! All this has happened because of you. If you hadn't been willing to bring me here and study my illness, I would never had become this healthy. I would have stayed confined to my bed for the rest of my life, and when Pamela would die then I would also die, with no one else to take care of me. I would never have met you, Rika, Sarah, Frigga, and everyone else. You have no idea how grateful I am!" I say, a few tears running down my face. He wipes them away gently, staring at me with an intense expression that causes me to shiver, in a very good way.

"You will never know just how much you affect me, Darling. If you had not come into my life, I believe that right now I would be on a much darker path. One that fits the Frost Giant I really am..." He trails off, sitting down on a bench, his face sad.

"Hey..." I say softly, sitting on his lap and lifting his face. his eyes are filled with so much pain and sorrow, that it makes my heart ache. I look deep into his eyes, and see the fear of constant rejection floating beneath the surface. A young boy, always compared to his older brother and found at fault by all except his mother and nurse. Now a young man, having trod a dark path and now on the way back to the light, but always afraid of losing his guiding light.

"Just because you are of the Frost Giant race, does not mean that you are a monster. A monster is someone who chooses to be evil and hurt those around them, with no reason other than that they want to. They feed off of hate and discord, extinguishing light wherever they find it. They have no regard for life, or for beauty." I slip a hand under the armor and leather plates over his chest, and I find his heart. I take his hand, and lay it over my heart.

"Do you feel that? It shows that you and I are the same, that in the end it doesn't matter what other people say. I know as long as you have one person to use as your anchor, that you can fight against all the storms in the world and come out victorious. Any heart is capable of love, kindness, joy, honor, why should yours be any different?" I ask, looking straight into his eyes with as much love, trust, joy, and any other positive emotion as I can. Loki takes my hand, the one not on his heart, and kisses my palm.

"You are the most amazing woman I have ever had the pleasure to meet." He looks up at me, intertwining his hand with mine. I smile down at him.

"And you are the most wonderful man I have ever known." I feel happiness pour into every part of my body, and I wish some of it to Loki. I take my hand off his heart and brush some of his hair away from his face.

"By far the handsomest too." I joke, grinning. He smirks, and puts his hands on my hips.

"And you..." He stands and I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his torso.

"Are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He spins me around, and I hold on tight. My hair whips around and I can feel Loki laughing.

"Stop stop!" I say, and he pauses. I look up at him, and I take one hand off the try and fix my hair.

"Don't. It looks beautiful." He says, distracting me by giving me a kiss. I feel the butterflies in my stomach act up again, and sparks run all through my body, making me curl my toes.

"Do you feel that too?" I ask, breathless. He looks down at me, his face full of the intense emotion again.

"Do I feel what? Do I feel the butterflies when I so much as look at you? Or the warmth when you hold my hand? The sparks that run from head to toe when you kiss me? The need to protect you, to forever cherish you? To never let you go? The want to never stop kissing you, to always make you feel good? The urge to fill your every need and follow your every whim? If by 'that' you mean all of those, I believe they have a word for that." My heart is beating 1000 miles per hour, and my mouth runs dry. I lick my lips, and his eyes flick down and back up to my eyes. Setting me down on a bench, he stands and takes my hand. I look around and notice that we have moved, and we are now in a white gazebo surrounded by roses and jasmine, my two favorite flowers.

"They call it love." He says, kneeling down in front of me.

"And I, Claire, am head over heels in love with you. With every fibre of your being, every gesture, every little quirk." My eyes water, and I smile at him.

"So Claire, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, strong Claire. Would you do me the honor of letting me court you?" He says, and my breath catches.

"Yes." I say, and then I smile wider.

"Yes yes yes you may." I say, and he leans forward and kisses me.