Hello, everyone! :-) 

Hope you're all doing well. MAN, the last chapter got almost 90 comments! GEEEZ. But I loved seeing all you react to it :) 

Hope you like this chapter as much! :) 

Lots of love, 

Sierra xx

Chapter Sixty-Three

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Because Max was right, you were making things worse for you and for Loki, and also probably would have burned down the room at some point."

"But...But..He...WHAT IF THOR KILLS HIM?"

"Thor won't kill him, Thea, it's his brother. Archer could have killed my father, and I wouldn't kill him. Lock him up for all eternity maybe, but not kill him."

Videl has brought me up one entire story from the conference room, maybe hoping that a solid floor between me and the others will prevent me from flying back inside. We're in a kitchen now, Videl looking half-interestedly at the fruit bowl and me pacing up and down.

"That's not any better!" I exclaim.

"So you'd rather him die than be locked up?"

"No," I sputter, "But Loki shouldn't be punished at all!"

"He did kill Odin and sort of pose as the king for almost a year."

"I killed that woman in the alley, and nobody's talking about locking me up for eternity!"

"That was self-defense. And who knows, maybe they don't know you killed her and you and Loki can get adjacent cells."

Videl tries out a smirk. I almost take off his head.

At that moment, a white blur comes running into the kitchen and nearly tramples me.

"Klaka!" I exclaim as my dog yelps in excitement, his bushy white tail whirring like a helicopter. I throw my arms around him, burying my face in his thick fur, "Klaka, geez, you're big!"

Klaka licks my cheek with his sandpapery tongue, widening his mouth in a puppy smile.

"That's not a dog," says Videl, "That's a wolf."

"He's actually part wolf," I say.

"No. I can look at him right now and tell you that he's completely a wolf."

I stare at him, "Dagan, the guy who sold him, said that he's part hunting dog, part wolf."

"Asgardian dogs might be big, but they're not that big, or ever that white," says Videl, "That's a full Asgardian wolf, I assure you."

I look at Klaka, who's still panting in excitement and trying to lick every inch of my body. Then, I say, "Why would Dagan say that he's a wolf?"

"He probably keeps a wolf of his own and doesn't want people to know. Asgardian wolves are very loyal, but very strong and sometimes dangerous. Yours though, seems as dangerous as a baby deer."

Klaka's ears stand erect as he notices Videl for the first time. He growls low in his throat and then barks sharply.

"I take that back," says Videl. "But there is something you can do with him now that you know that he's wild."

"What? Threaten my enemies that he can tear them to shreds?" I ask.

"Well, yes, but there's one other thing." Videl raises his arm and almost magically, Wairua appears from the other room and alights on it, "I found Wairua as a chick in the woods, without a mother."

"And you didn't drink his blood? Shocking."

He ignores me, "There's a way to connect with an animal that's feral, if there's a little bit of wildness in yourself, which I assure you, there is in you."

"Thanks."

He smirks, stroking Wairua's head with one of his long, ring-studded fingers, "Don't mention it."

"So I can talk to Klaka like you talk to Wairua?"

"That'll take a while. But if you listen and do what I say, you can share snippets of thoughts, and he'll respond to you."

This peaks my interest, and temporarily distracts me from what's probably going on in the conference room. "How do I do it?"

"You have to feed each other raw meat."

I think I make a squawking sound, because Videl begins to laugh.

"I'm joking. But all you have to do is make a connection. Usually, it's through prolonged eye contact, but when it happens, you'll know. See through his eyes. Try that out. I have to go back now, so stay put, all right?"

I look at Videl, "Please, please don't let them take Loki from me."

His shoulders slump, "I don't know if I can promise anything."

"Videl, I–"

"But I'll try, idiot."

He leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

I turn back to Klaka. The wolf–apparently, wolf– whines at me, and then licks me again. I sit down in front of him, cross-legged, and look into his eyes, which are an endless black. Klaka licks me again, wagging his tail.

"C'mon, work with me," I say, feeling really stupid, "I swear, if Videl's playing a joke on me, I'll kill him."

Klaka barks softly.

I stroke the fur around his face, and his tail goes faster. "You know, I'm really sorry for leaving you for like, months. I missed your first Christmas. And you grew about ten feet too. But I'm glad you're okay...Bruce said that Loki attacked you when you tried to defend me. Thanks, buddy. And don't be hard on Loki. He was under a spell."

Klaka hasn't looked away from me.

"I can't lose Loki," I say, "He's the only family I have left. I mean, technically Thor, but I don't count him, not if he..." I sigh, scratching Klaka's ears, "Family's complicated. My family in particular." I lean against Klaka, "And then there's Neidra. She's still on the loose. God knows what she has planned. She'll probably swoop down and kill everyone at once."

Klaka whines.

"Sorry," I sigh, looking at the ground,"I'm so depressing, aren't I?"

When Klaka whines again, I look up at him and nearly fall over. His eyes aren't black anymore. They're a very very bright green. Just like mine. I suddenly recall how Wairua and Videl have the same glistening amber eyes, and how Miryen and Archer had both had red eyes.

I blink. "Um," I say, not sure how this works. I look around the room and see a plastic plate on the coffee table. I close my eyes and concentrate. Bring me the plate, bring me the plate, bring me the plate.

I open my eyes. Klaka is looking back at me, not moving, but still wagging his tail.

I huff, then try again, this time focusing on the image of holding the plate in my hand. As I hear Klaka's dog tags jangling as he moves, I open one eye and see him walking over to the table. I grin as he picks up the plate in his mouth, walks back over, and drops it at my feet. He wags his tail, looking very pleased with himself.

"Thanks, boy," I say, and he whines and licks my face.

*

Two hours later, I hear voices from downstairs, loud voices. I've been spending my time with Klaka, strengthening our bond. I realize that I haven't eaten anything since the granola bars outside Neidra's mansion.

I ignore my hunger and hurry downstairs as fast as I can in crutches, Klaka pattering after me, and nearly run into Clint.

"What happened?" I demand, "What's-"

"Long story short, we're starting after Neidra. Videl's not taking over Ardhigiza right now, Thor's helping him and so are the twins and—"

"Loki," I interrupt him, "What about Loki?"

Clint grimaces. Then, he says as gently as possible, "Thor and the other Asgardians decided that for his crimes, he deserves life imprisonment in Asgard."

"What?" I whisper in horror.

"I'm sorry Thea," says Clint, "I really-"

"Where is he? I want to see him."

"Thea," says Clint softly, "I don't know if you'll be able to see him again."

I can't move.

From beside me, Klaka senses my distress and whines, licking my hand.

Then, I whirl around and begin to push past other people. I need to go upstairs, to my room, I need to think about what I can do, I need to think, I need to-

I come to a skidding half as I come face-to-face with Thor.

I don't really notice that he looks beat-down and exhausted. I don't really notice that his blue eyes are full of grief. I only see the man in front of me who has stolen my father from me.

He took my father, I think to Klaka.

Klaka growls, his lips curling around his razor-sharp teeth and his hackles raise as he snarls at Thor.

"Thea," says Thor, ignoring my wolf, "You have to understand-"

I open my mouth, but when I realize that the only thing I'll do is yell or curse at him, I instead glare at him with as much poison as possible and whirl away. After another feral snarl in Thor's direction, Klaka follows me.

*

I stalk through the hallways, not really knowing where I'm going and not really caring at this point. I've been looking for Loki, but Fandral tells me that he's been kept locked up until the morning and can't see him.

I throw open the door to the hall of bedrooms, and find myself right in front of Jack.

He stares at me, opening his mouth and then closing it slowly, like a deflating balloon. He's dressed in sweats and the old Coca Cola shirt that I love because it's so soft.

Looking down, he starts to walk past me.

I whirl around, "Why are you avoiding me, Jack?"

I say it so calmly, I'm surprised at myself.

He turns around slowly, like he's moving underwater. For a while, he doesn't speak. Then, he says, "Thea..."

"I know what my name is. Why are you acting like this?"

He closes his eyes briefly, takes a deep breath, and says, "I can't do this, Thea."

"Do what?"

"I can't... be with you."

I nod several times, trying to understand what I'm hearing, "Why...why not?"

He waves his hand between us, "Me...you...it... It won't work out. It never will."

"S-same question," I sputter, because all the emotions I've been feeling for the last six hours are coming roaring forward.

"You're immortal. I'm not."

I stare.

"So that's it?" I choke, "You want to stop it before it's even started?"

He shuffles, looking down, then looks back up to meet my eyes. He doesn't need to say anything for me to know the answer.

Then he adds, "I don't know if we can even be friends. It's just...too much. This is all too much."

"This is all too much?" I hiss, stalking forward, trying to stop my tears, but I feel a few of them on my face anyway, "This idea of not being able to me with me is too much for you?" I laugh emotionlessly, "You don't know too much, Jack, you don't know the pain I've been feeling that's just been piling up since my birthday like some damn snowball. You don't know what it's like to be in your own personal hell day and night."

"Yeah, Thea, I do," responds Jack, angry, "I do. I've seen pain and I've felt it. I've been through things just like you, and you know it! And I've been waiting for something to change so that this could work, but now I know it can't, so I'm trying to stop it now, I'm trying to be the mature one–"

"The mature one that ignores me instead of talking to me?"

"I'm talking to you now!"

"No you're not!" I shout, "You're yelling, and you're only yelling because I yelled first!"
"At least ignoring the problem is better than trying to go through this!"

"No, it's NOT! You can't just IGNORE it, and let me think something that's not true, and just pretend that everything's fine!"

"I haven't seen you in three bloody months!" he yells, "I know everything's not fine! You've changed, Thea, you've changed in three months, you're just so angry at everything in the world like it's given you its worst!"

"Well it HAS. IT HAS, JACK, and I've been trying to bear it as much as I can, but I can't take it all!"

Jack is breathing hard, and but his voice, unlike mine, isn't constricted from the dam of tears that is threatening to burst. But I can see it in his anguished eyes, that he's hurt and angry and frustrated and furious all at the same time, just like me.

"I thought this would work! I thought that you'd come back and we could be together, but no, that's not what happened! You had to go turn yourself immortal!"

"THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!" I shriek.

"If you hadn't been so close to Loki, he wouldn't have kidnapped you, and you wouldn't be immortal and none of this would have happened."

"Don't you dare bring him into this!"

"I can if I want because it's his fault!" He shouts, his cheeks flushed with anger, "And I do know my own personal hell because I see know that my own personal hell is you."

I lose the use of my voice for several seconds.

We just stare at each other, both breathing hard, me trying not to cry, and him with his fists still clenched and his eyes that I used to love now full of hardness.

Then, I whisper hoarsely, "Then you shouldn't have kissed me."

"You're right," he says coldly, "I shouldn't have."

Then, he turns and stalks away, banging the door to the bedrooms behind him.

I sink down to the floor, sliding down the wall, and begin to sob. Klaka whines, settling down next to me and leaning against my leg, but I can't even move, I'm crying so much. My head begins to throb and my eyes burn and burn. But I keep crying, determined at least that I can cry my heart out and then I won't be able to feel anymore.

I vaguely hear distant shouts from the kitchen, someone shouting at Jack, but don't get up, don't move, don't stop crying. I become rigid against the wall, like a statue that will always be washed in grief. Because that's what I am.

The door beside me opens with a click.

"Oh, baby," says Kyle, crouching down in front of me and lifting my chin up. I probably drench his fingers with a single touch. "Baby, talk to me."

I'm amazed that he's not still mad at me for turning on Max, but I don't stop to think about it.

"L-Loki," I sob, "And Jack."

"Mm," he nods, frowning. For a couple minutes, he lets me cry, rubbing my arm. As I continue sobbing, he says, his eyes drawn and sick with sympathy, "The world has thrown you so much, Thea. It's thrown you everything it's got, and you've had to take it all in again and again."

"Then let it s-stop, just make it s-stop!"

"Have you heard the saying that God sends His greatest struggles to His strongest soldiers? Because I'm looking at you right now, and that's what I see."

"N-no," I cry, "You s-see someone who c-can't h-handle it and doesn't want to!"

"No," he shakes his head, "Look at me."

I look into his green eyes, which are blurry because I'm still crying.

"You know what I see?" He squeezes my hand, "I see a girl who's been walking through a storm with her head held up high, giving everything she's got. I see a girl who has learned how to forgive, and learned how to let love back into her heart. I see a girl who loves with all her heart, and when she does, she gets hurt sometimes, but she doesn't stop loving deep down inside. I see someone who's stubborn and fierce and determined. But most of all, I don't see a temperamental, lost, and confused little girl." He smiles at me, not his half-moon smirk, but his full smile, "I see a young lady who's going to grow even stronger, and do things that this dang universe won't even be ready for."

I sniff, my tears finally starting to slow down. Klaka licks my face eagerly, apparently liking the salt plastered on my skin.

"But what..." I croak, "What about Loki, I'll never see him again!"

"Aw, that's not true. He's not gone yet, I'm pretty sure you'll see him," says Kyle. He looks distantly sad, like he's more upset for me than for himself. "But let me tell you, as much as he and I don't exactly mix, I've got to give him one thing. He really does love you. And Loki loving someone? That is as rare as a blue moon."

He wriggles his eyebrows at me. I try to smile.

"As for Jack," he says quietly, watching me for any reaction. I do my best not to give him any. "Give him a little time. He's a bright kid, he knows this isn't your fault. And if everything is meant to be, then it will be. And if everything isn't, and he's not the one for you, then that's fine too. You've got time to love, Thea. Don't give your heart away to the first boy that captures it."

I swallow, wiping my eyes and looking up at the ceiling. For a couple minutes, I sit there and try to sniff back my runny nose, with Klaka still leaning against me and Kyle still rubbing my arm. Then, I say, turning back to him, my voice still hoarse and wobbly, "You don't think I'm a little girl anymore?"

He looks at me, a little sadly, "You haven't been a little girl for a while, baby."

I think about this, and while I do that, Klaka nuzzles my other shoulder, nibbling a little on my hair. His now green eyes blink at me. Don't be sad.

I smile. It's okay.

He licks my cheek again.

Kyle nods in the direction of the open door, where I can hear some people talking, "I'm making sandwiches and cookies, I think we're all hungry. How about you take a shower and–"

"Can I help you make them?"

The question is sort of sudden, explaining why Kyle furrows his brow, "I really think you should take a shower, if you can with your ankle, and then come eat."

I lean against the wall, "I haven't made anything with you in three months. I miss it."

For a second, he doesn't respond. Then, he says, "You know I missed you goofing everything up in the kitchen too, but it's almost eleven thirty. Take a shower, get in some cozies–"

"Cozies?" I ask disbelievingly.

"–And then come in the kitchen." He pauses, "I'll make sure Jack has his ass out of there."

"Are you mad at him?"

"I'm not mad about how upset he feels, he's having a hard time with this too. But I heard some of the things he said to you, and that wasn't remotely okay with me. And he should have waited until some of this cooled down, he should've known you were too upset to deal with him as well as everything else."

"And...does Max...what I said-"

"Hey," he says, "Max knows you didn't mean it. And he still cares about you like you care about him."

I pause, then look back up at him.

"Do I look better with blonde hair or black hair?"

He smirks, this time the half-moon one.

"Well I think you look just as pretty either way."

I smile, this time an actual smile.

Kyle reaches over, pats Klaka, and then stands up. He leans down, offering me a hand, and as he pulls me up, he says, "You know when life gives you lemons?"

"Throw the lemons at people you don't like?"

"Nope. You hand them right back to life and say 'Sorry dude, I wanted oranges', and don't stop working for those oranges until you get 'em."

Gotta love Ky, don't you <3 

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love you all!