NO REGRETS [l.laufeyson]

TWENTY EIGHT

     Weeks had passed and Lyra was no better than before. Eir and her healers had stuck by the girls side every hour of the day and through the night. Eir feared her condition had worsened and Loki knew this. His biggest fear was happening all over again and there was absolutely nothing he could do other than stay by his daughters side.

As Eir was leaving for the night she pulled Loki out to talk to him.

"I don't really know how to put this any easier-"

"Just give it to me straight, Eir." Loki cut in bluntly. Tears welling up already knowing the outcome.

"Just make her as comfortable as you can." Eir sighed sadly. She placed a hand on Lokis shoulder and squeezed it before walking away trying to keep her head up high. She birthed the girl and now she was going to watch her die. Not even the great Eir could cope with the thought of that.

Loki let out a shuddering sigh and took some time to recollect himself before walking back in to his daughter. He wasn't going to act weak or pathetic now, not in front of his daughter. He was going to do exactly what Eir said, make her happy and comfortable.

He walked back into the room to sit back next to his sleeping daughter.

~

Time had passed and Loki wouldn't allow anyone to visit after Thor. He had told his older brother to alert those close to them but not to inform Asgard just yet.

It was hitting the early hours of the morning and everyone in the kingdom was still fast asleep. Everyone but Loki. He couldn't sleep even if he wanted to. All he could do was hold his daughter close and he never felt so useless in his life. As Loki was looking down at the ghostly streets of Asgard he heard stirring coming from the bed behind him. He rushed over to the bed where his daughter was trying to wake up.

"Papa?"

"I'm right here princess." Loki cooed as he wrapped his arms around his daughter to cradle her close to him.

"I want to go."

"Go where?"

"I want to go on the trip... I want to go to the field." Lyra spoke as she struggled to get out her words. Loki's heart broke even more listening to the sound of his dying daughter. He knew this was coming but this was too soon, he wasn't ready. Just as he was about to protest, Eir's words echoed through his mind.

Just make her as comfortable as you can.

Those words were on repeat in his mind again and again until he decided to give in to his daughters wish. He picked her up and wrapped a blanket around her for extra warmth as he carried her down to the stables where he mounted his horse and rode off with Lyra still wrapped close to him.

Loki was deep into the forest by this point when he heard his daughter speak up.

"Are we there yet?" Her voice was so quiet and when he looked down he noticed the green of her eyes were no longer bright and full of life, they were dull. That's when he knew he ran out of time. He looked around and noticed exactly where he was. He dismounted his horse and sat down next to the big tree. The same tree he met Evelyn.

"Yes. We made it sweetheart." He cleared his throat after to hide the hurt in his voice. He had to be brave for Lyra, he had to keep her calm.

"It's dark. Is it night time?" He looked down at her face again but saw her eyes were open. That's when he knew it was happening and he couldn't do anything about it. Tears rolled down his face as he looked around helpless. He wanted to scream for help but nothing would work now. This was it.

"That's right, it's the middle of the night." Loki soothed his daughter as he pulled her closer to his chest and stroked her hair.

"Papa?"

"Yes, Lyra?"

"I love you, Papa." Lyra sniffled weakly. Loki shuddered at his daughters words and let out a shaky breath before replying to her.

"I love you too, my darling girl." He replied and kissed her forehead.

In that moment hearing those words again, Lyra was happy, the happiest she'd ever been. She was in the arms of her father. She smiled as she closed her eyes, feeling at peace with everything. She let out her final breath and Loki felt her arm fall off his and she went limp. Loki's eyes widened and he didn't want to look. He didn't want to pull her away from him and he certainly didn't want to confirm anything.

"I love you, I love you, I love you." He repeated again and again before he finally pulled his daughter away from him. She looked happy and comfortable. But that didn't mean anything to Loki because she was still gone.

"No... no, no, no!" He screamed as he pulled her closer to him again. "Help her!"

He wasn't sure who he was screaming to. But at this point he needed a miracle and that was what he was begging for.

"Mother, please do something! I'm begging you!"

"Please."

With Loki's wish the whole of Asgard was covered with those same light orbs that both Evelyn and Lyra had witnessed before. They surrounded Loki and Lyra's body as he cried into her. He was so heartbroken he didn't even noticed the ground turning a bright white around them. While these orbs were blinding the kingdom, Loki was silently reliving his life. He thought about the time he met Evelyn and how it was possibly the best thing that ever happened. But then all that heartbreak that came along with it. First he lost his wife, then he abandoned his daughter and just as he got her back, she slipped through his fingers. Everything he had ever learned to love was gone again.

There was one question he kept asking himself.

Why?

Why did this have to happen to him?

Why did his wife and daughter have to suffer like this?

Why did he have to suffer?

Just why?