I Know You...

Chapter 3

"Mother! I found her!" Loki exclaimed as he barged into the dining room. Frigga glanced at her husband and then back at Loki, 'Don't Loki, please don't. Not now...' her eyes pleaded. But it was too late. He had been so caught up in the moment that he'd forgotten. Odin didn't know.

"Loki?" Odin's voice broke his train of thoughts, and at that moment it was the most terrifying sound he had ever heard. "Who exactly have you found?" Never before had he needed his silver tongue this much...

He let his face fall into a fake façade. "I'm sorry father, but I'm afraid that is strictly between mother and me..." he said smiling, an obvious look of secrecy on his face. Odin seemed to relax, thinking this but a harmless thing that Loki and Frigga were playing at. He nodded and then resumed to eat. Frigga quickly excused herself and then she and Loki made a show of bickering as they left and let the large golden doors close behind them. Before the doors closed Loki glanced back into the room and saw Thors gaze on them. He'd deal with him later....

When they were safely away from prying eyes and ears they dropped the act. "Mother I'm sorry for making you lie like that, but I thank you for doing so..." Loki said all in one breathe. Frigga just nodded. But then her expression turned serious.
"Loki you must be careful, if Odin finds out...." she let the rest of the sentence trail off. He nodded sadly, Frigga's face brightened. "You found Natasha?" she asked excitement and fear in her voice. Loki grinned and nodded.

Frigga loved the effect that this woman had on her son. Loki always smiled with her. He laughed because of her. He couldn't lie to her. He simply loved her. And she brought out the side of Loki that anyone seldom saw...

"Natalia," he said, the smile faded from his face replaced by anger, sadness and hate. Frigga frowned slightly. "She has suffered mother," he said his voice low. "She is suffering, her parents died when she was a child, and since then she's been unmade by an institution called 'The Red room'. Natalia-" Friga raised a golden eyebrow. "Natalia?"

"Natalia Romanova, she was born in a place called Russia," Loki told Frigga about what Natasha, or rather Natalia had endured. And then he told her of how she could vaguely recall Loki, like she had known him once...

This especially exited Frigga, for she believed that Loki and Natalia were bound together. "Loki, you must be very careful. If Natalia is a descendent of her past self's sisters child, it means that she still has Valkyrie blood...Loki, Odin must not know about her, or what happened..." Frigga had told him that long ago, he hadn't known why, but he understood...

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"Loki!" the trickster stiffened and a chill ran down his spine. His face fell into a false expression. He slowly turned around to face the all father. "Father?" he said. His father fixed him with a cold hard stare, then finally, "To the throne room," he said before spinning around and walking towards the throne room. Loki swallowed and followed. He had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well...

After the large golden doors to the throne room had shut behind them, Odin whirled around to face his wife and son.

"A half Valkyrie Loki!?" he demanded. Frigga looked down at the floor and Loki let out a low groan. "She's not half Valkyrie, her Valkyrie ancestry is centauries old, very little of that blood runs in her veins..." Odin shook his head.

"She should not exist! And you should have known that and told me instead of infatuating yourself with her!" rage boiled within Loki as he clenched his fists. "If I had told you of her you would kill her?" Loki wasn't exactly sure if it was a question or a statement. "She should not be alive to begin with!" Odin exclaimed. "And what of your children?!" the All father demanded. Children? Loki froze, fear threatening to overwhelm him, but he didn't show it. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Any children you might have...part human, part Valkyrie and part Asgardian," "So!?" "Your battle maidens do have children with Asgardians, I do not see the problem," Loki said, his voice venomous. He had not understood then, for he had not known that he was half frost giant.

Odin sighed in frustration. "She must die, I'm sorry," Friggas head snapped up and Loki worked harder than ever before to stop himself from killing the king. "What!!??" he gasped. "No!!" Frigga said speaking for the first time. "Please don't! Don't do this," she pleaded.

Loki was not one to plead, especially not from Odin, but Natalia was worth anything and everything to him....

"Father don't, she's the last of her line, and she is incapable of having children. Sh-" Odin cut his son off with a wave of the hand. "I am aware, Hemidall has told me,"

Hemidall? Anger burned up within Frigga, until she came the point when she realized it was pointless because Hemidall had not betrayed her and was simply doing his job. But she was more than grateful that she and Loki had used their magic to fool him from time to time....if he had known about....

Mother and son both pleaded for the All father to spare Natalia's life, and he finally agreed....on one condition. The condition being, that he shall erase all of Natalia's memories of the God of mischief, and that he not continue a relationship with her....and to protect his beloved, Loki agreed.

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He had told Odin that he would not go to see her again, but honestly, the All father hadn't even let him say goodbye...so here he was, using his magic to hide his presence so Hemidall would not see him, walking down a Midgardian street, dressed in Midgardian cloths with the an anticipation of merely bumping into her. Natalia was in front of him, walking towards him. Loki seemed to be drowning in his own thoughts when he bumped into her.

"I'm so sorry," he said. She looked up at him and then shrugged his hands off her shoulders, but she didn't for a second brake their eye contact. Loki had loved to look into those blue eyes of hers, he took in as much of them as possible because this was probably the last time he'd ever see them again.

"Do I know you?" she asked. Loki swallowed, and shook his head. "No," he said quietly. "Oh, sorry I just..." she let the sentence trail off. Loki swallowed hard and braced himself for the following words which he would say. "Goodbye Natalia,"

"How-" Loki waved his hand in front of her face before she could finish and she froze. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he lightly kissed her forehead. By the time Natalia came back into consciousness, the God of lies had disappeared into the night...

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Loki was never the same after that, he knew that something that had happened centauries before had changed him, but this had finally broken him. There were pieces of his memories which he didn't know about, but as they continued to flood into his mind everything began to make sense...in a way....

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"Why have you summoned me Hemidall?" Loki asked as he approached the other. He was silent for a moment. "You agreed to stay away from your Natalia on the condition that she lives. That is an act that no one would ever expect of you, Loki the god of mischief and lies. One thought to be so cruel..."

"Loki rolled his eyes. "Have you called me here to mock me Hemidall?" The keeper of the bifrost shook his head. "Nay my prince, but to warn you. For there are those who wish to kill your beloved," Loki's cold mask broke at this. "What?!" he demanded. Hemidall merely nodded.

"Much has changed since last you saw her. She now has the blood of many on her hands," Loki's face fell into worry and despair. Is this killer all that was left of his love? But then again he'd changed too, he'd betrayed her, but he'd thought he had lost her forever. Whatever the case he'd betrayed her (how he could at the moment not recall properly) but that didn't mean he didn't love her like hell.)

"Do not blame her, she has done what she must to survive, she has suffered..." Loki raised an eyes brow. "How would you know?" He asked. Hemidall shrugged. "I have watched her, I was...intrigued. She is after all the woman who made the trickster fall in love. I have watched her for many years.

"Why have you called me here Hemidall? To tell me that she will die?" Hemidall shook his head. "I rarely defy the All father, this is one of those times. If you wish, I will let you go to Midgard so that you may save her..." Loki stared at him in disbelief, but then nodded.