Heaven Sent (Loki/Asgard Fanfiction - Aislinn's Story)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Asgard

McKenna sat out on her favorite spot on the ledge, overlooking the Asgard Sea in the distance. Thunder rumbled low, beyond the iron-gray clouds and she frowned as she looked up at Loki. "We can't make her come home. She's not a child any longer."

"No, but I don't want her living with some Midgardian man, either." He leaned against the golden pillar next to hers. "She's been down there for almost two months. She needs to come home."

"Careful, Jötunn," she teased, "you sound like a father."

"I am a father. Her father and it's taking every bit of will I have to not zap down there and blast this Midgardian to Hel for touching my daughter."

"I told you not to have Heimdall look. You were not supposed to see that. And you shouldn't have pried, Loki. She's a grown woman and you stuck your nose where it didn't belong. You never did that for Selig or Nicholas. She loves this man, Loki, and you're going to have to accept that part of that means she's going to be intimate with him. Just like Selig and Celia. Just like Nicky and Elyse." She gave him a look. "Just like you and me."

"No. This is different."

"No," she corrected gently, "this is the same. And you know it. Don't even try to use a double standard here, Loki."

He sighed, combing his fingers through his hair. "She's my little girl."

"She's not a little girl any longer, but a woman now. And if this Midgardian is the man she's chosen, we have to accept that. If not, we will lose her." McKenna sighed softly. It was the same argument they'd been having for almost two weeks, when Loki had Heimdall check in on Aislinn. Unfortunately, the gatekeeper's timing was poor and when he told Loki Aislinn and Steve were enjoying one another, it took every last bit of McKenna's powers of persuasion to keep Loki in Asgard. Aislinn would be mortified, and rightfully so, if she knew her father had been privy to an intimate moment between her and Steve, not to mention downright furious.

But Loki refused to see reason. In his mind, Aislinn was still five years old, dancing on his feet to learn the steps. All he wanted was to retrieve their daughter and bring her back to Asgard.

Which, of course, was probably the surest way to get her to dig in her heels and never come home.

"Loki," she shifted, scooting to the edge of the ledge, "you have to let her go if you ever want her to come back."

"I rule over all nine realms, love," he told her, his voice even but tight, "there is nothing I have to do."

"No, that's true. But as a father, you do have to let her go. You have to let her live the way she wants to, with the man she chooses." She caught his hand and got to her feet. Running her thumb along his, she added, "And we both know there is not one Asgardian you think good enough for her, either. From what we've been told, from what Heimdall has seen, this Midgardian cares for her. He makes her happy, Loki. Happy. Isn't that what you want for her?"

"What I want," a sigh wove its way through his words as he turned to gaze out toward the water, "is for her to be eight years old again. For her to want only to dance on my feet."

"I know, but that isn't going to happen." She squeezed his hand. "Now it's time for her and her Midgardian to have a little girl who dances on her father's feet."

He winced. "I'd rather not think about that."

"Serves you right." She clasped his hand between both of hers. "She loves him, Loki. And it sounds as if he loves her just as much. This is what we want. Her happiness."