Chapter 6
Frigga thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye and cringed. Loki's seizures had continued, though less frequently than they had initially come, and he always started twitching a little bit just prior to it becoming a full-blown grand mal seizure. She hated seeing him like this, but wouldn't leave his side for the world either. She braced herself for what was sure to follow, but something was different. These weren't the same twitches he normally had. They reminded her of times that she'd woken him from a deep sleep as a child. Her heart raced. Was it possible?
"Loki." She called gently, "Loki, wake up. I'm sure you can hear me. You need to wake up now."
She could have sworn his eyelids fluttered a little. She squeezed his hand. "Come on, wake up. It's past time and everyone is getting anxious."
This time she was sure of it. His eyelids fluttered. Fluttered again. And then opened. And he was looking up at her with big green eyes, looking sleepy and disoriented, but he was home and awake, and she couldn't blink back her tears any longer.
"Mother," He whispered, voice so weak as to be barely audible, "Why are you crying? What's happened?"
She smiled through her tears. "I am so happy to see you awake, my child. You were unconscious a long time and we all have been worried about you."
"Oh." He looked puzzled. "Is that why I hurt? Did Thor throw me into an empty swimming pool by accident again?"
Mother looked taken aback by the question, and Loki wondered if he shouldn't have let slip about the pool incident. He didn't want Thor to get in trouble for an accident. Thor hadn't meant ill by it, he just wasn't very good at thinking was all. Loki mentally shrugged. His head was too foggy to remember what he should or shouldn't keep a secret at the moment. Thor would forgive him.
"No, dear. I don't know exactly what happened. There was a battle in Midgard, and he brought you home unconscious."
"A battle! Midgard? Aren't we at peace?"
She stroked his hair with a very sad look. "I worry that your concussion has affected your memory. What do you remember- No, better, how old do you think you are?"
Now he was truly worried, not to mention becoming very tired by the excitement. "I'm seventeen, unless I've slept through my birthday." He saw his mother's face and his own face fell. "…I'm not seventeen, am I."