The time was well past high noon in the realm of Asgard. Surrounding the mother and her daughter were blooming flowers as they sat in the center of their favorite garden, weaving flower crowns and placing the festive colours of red and orange atop their platinum heads with gleaming smiles and dimpled cheeks. Mother Nature was kind to them on this day, for the mother and daughter had been at it for hours enjoying the peaceful silence while basking in the sun's warmth. Their laughter was like a ballad for all to hear; a soft, angelic hum that brought warmth to the souls of those near.

With her flower crown complete, Skadi leaned up on her knees and Beira, her mother, leaned her head down, allowing the small girl to lay it upon her platinum head. The small girl took a minute to brush strands of her mother's hair out of her face, eyebrows knitting in concentration as she placed the strands behind both her mother's ears. "There!" The child grinned. "It's perfect."

The goddess of winter's heart filled with warmth. "Very much, my little snowflake." Beira smiled. She leaned down and planted a delicate kiss to the crown of her daughter's forehead. "I shall never take it off."

Skadi's cheeks flushed at the compliment. "But Mother, you must! It will wilt into your pretty hair."

A hum of laughter vibrated in Beira's larynx. "That it will." She grinned and tapped the tip of Skadi's nose, causing the young girl to giggle. "How clever you are. That is what will make you a fine leader one day."

Skadi frowned at her words. Her cerulean-blue eyes sank to her lap, fingers playing with the material of her pale blue gown. Her entire demeanor had shifted in a matter of seconds, all happiness seeming to wither away as if it was never there.

Beira noticed her daughter's expression and frowned in concern. The mother reached out her hand and took her daughter's chin between her fingers, lifting it so their eyes would meet. "What is it, my sweet?"

"I don't want to be a leader," Skadi mumbled.

Beira's titled to the side. "Skadi, I realize that it must seem scary for a girl your age but it is not, I can assure you. One day, when I join our ancestors in the stars, you will become the next winter goddess. It is your legacy."

"But I don't want to be responsible for winter."

"And why is that?" Beira wondered.

Skadi bit down on her cheek, head dropping in shame. "Because I don't want to fail you, Mother."

"Oh, my sweet . . ." Beira smiled a tearful smile toward her daughter. "Do you not see? You already have failed me."

Skadi's head snapped up in confusion, brows forming together against her porcelain skin. The words stung her young and frail heart and produced tears in her eyes. "I─I have?"

"Yes, my little snowflake, you have," Beira told her. "I have already fallen, and you have already celebrated your coronation."

Skadi's bottom lip quivered as she listened to every word of her mother. How could her mother be dead when she was sitting right in front of her? None of what her mother was saying made any sense.

"I had always believed in you and now I know that I had misplaced my faith. I had been the finest winter goddess to serve the Nine Realms and you, my own offspring, crushed my legacy because you are weak. You are a disgrace to our lineage, my little snowflake, and for that I will never forgive you. You have done the unthinkable, something that will end our bloodline once and for all. No man will ever lie or accept you as their wife now. Your friends fear you... your father fears you... all of Asgard fears you because of what you have done. And now Odin will never forgive you. Loki will never forgive you."

"No," Skadi breathed. She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. None of this could be true. Her mother couldn't be dead. She was alive and sitting right in front of her, saying such awful things, right?

"My daughter was supposed to be strong," Beira went on. "She was supposed to inherit our family power and welcome my winter throne, but alas, the future I had saw for you was a delusion, one that I was foolish enough to place my faith in." She leaned forward and caressed her daughters cheek and Skadi stiffened beneath her touch. "I had loved you, Skadi, but no longer will my heart hold your soul dearly. Along with the realm, you have broken my heart, and for that, my daughter, you will pay."

A gasp slipped from Skadi's mouth when a cold sensation flowed through her body, originating from her mother's palm that lay against her cheek. It traveled through her skin, claiming reign over every organ, muscle and bone in sight until it consumed her very soul in its cool grasp. She was being frozen from the inside out. Shallow breaths fell from her shaking, violet lips and her terrified eyes peered into the hard cerulean-blue eyes of her mother; the very woman who vowed to never do her any harm.

The pain had become unbearable and cold. In time, every ounce of Skadi's innards had become polluted with frost. A cry burst forth from her trembling lips as the frost touched her heart, taking it within its cool grasp and gripping tight. Her eyesight blurred over and then they closed, only to reopen with a start.

Skadi's breathing was heavy within the cavern she had found refuge in the day before. On instinct, she reached for her heart, where the intolerable and cold pain had affected her moments ago. She exhaled through her trembling lips as she clutched the fabric of her coronation gown where her heart rests. It had been a dream. A terrifying dream, but a dream all the same.

After a moment, her fist unclenched from around her gown and she reached up to touch her cheek in the same place where her mother's hand had rested in her dream. Frost coated the area of skin. But it wasn't Beira's spirit who did this to her like the woman had thought. Skadi had done it to herself. She realized in that moment that she had made the entire cavern freeze over from within.

She was sitting on a sleet of ice, icicles hanging from the ceiling and white flurries of snow dancing before her eyes, floating around her platinum head like a crown. Skadi had lost control over herself once more. Her face contorted and eyes clouded over with tears. The woman drew her knees up to her chest and let out all her pain and fear and shame she was feeling in a stream of hot tears that melted away the frost on her porcelain cheeks.

Skadi cried for what seemed like hours until her stomach growled louder than her wails, a reminder she needed to eat something. It had been hours since the woman had any nutrients, as she had skipped breakfast the dawn of her coronation from all the anxiety she felt. Pulling herself onto her feet and being careful of the sleet of ice she had to walk on, Skadi exited the cavern to scavenge the woodlands for something to eat or drink.

The frozen leaves and branches beneath her boots crumbled into fragments, the sound and the blanket of white powder that surrounded her serving as a reminder of what she had done to her home and to the people she loved. The goddess ignored the noise out as she walked, cerulean-blue eyes scouring the area for any sign of food. Much to her relief, a bush of boysenberries was growing near.

Skadi's cerulean-blue eyes lit up at the sight of food, her stomach growling once more. The woman scrambled to pluck them from the stem and shove them into her mouth. She figured she didn't resemble much of a lady in this moment as she piled berry after berry into her mouth. She used to care about her appearance, knowing that it would bring shame to her mother and father for not raising a perfect lady. But considering that she had already frozen over the entire realm, her table manners didn't seem to matter to her anymore. People feared her now, and because of that, small things such as table manners didn't seem as important.

The winter goddess pursed her lips as she began to think about where she would go next. Asgard was out of the question. She could never return home after what she has done, so where? Earth was her initial thought. She knew that Odin had banished only a few Asgardian to Earth ─ she could find them, make friends with them. The idea was not terrible, but it had one flaw: Skadi had never been to Earth before. She didn't know what it was like to live there.

Maybe somewhere else would be more wise.

Skadi sighed and crammed more boysenberries into her mouth. She remained there for some time, gathering more of them into her palm, and froze in movement when she heard a branch snap behind her. Her eyes grew, and she whipped around to investigate the noise, but she saw nothing but the white powder and frost.

For a moment, Skadi believed that she was hearing things or that maybe it was an animal, until another branch snapped. But this time, she heard not just the snapping of a branch, but the sound of voices with it. Voices that sounded all too familiar to the winter goddess.

"Loki?" She breathed.

All air abandoned her lungs and her heart started to race, eyes clouding over with tears once more. He was here, searching for her. With him were her friends, Thor and Sif. Thor's presence was surprising to her. The greedy prince spent his days avoiding situations that tended to not benefit him. It made her wonder ─ did he volunteer to help Loki and Sif find her out of genuine concern, or was he here to make himself look the perfect son in front of their Allfather by claiming to find her first? Either way, Skadi appreciated Thor coming. Maybe somewhere in that greedy heart of his he cared for her as friend as she does him.

When she saw the top of an obsidian head breaking over the incline, Skadi's breathed became lodged in her larynx. She abandoned the boysenberries and ran as fast as she could. She couldn't face Loki ─ not after what had happened to Asgard and between them. Her heart couldn't bear seeing the disappoint in his eyes and on his face. It would shatter the last fragment of her heart that was still intact and keeping her held together.

As much as Skadi wished that her friends hadn't spotted her, they had. His voice cut through the frosty air, and before the winter goddess knew it, their feet crunched hard in the snow as they ran after her.

"Skadi, wait!"