A Whole Bunch of Loki's

Leave A Light On

(Darling, leave a light on for me,

I'll be there before you close the door, to give you all the love that you need.

Darling, leave a light on for me,

'Cause when the world takes me away, you are still the air that I breathe.

- Belinda Carlisle - Leave A Light On.)

He staggered towards the palace, exhausted and aching.

Whilst he enjoyed his adventures with Thor, the Warriors Three and Sif this one proved more physically tiring than he had first anticipated.

His side stung from the small stab he'd received during an unexpected ambush on the group and he was exhausted from their long trek back.

Loki could feel blood seeping through the bandage they had secured around his waist, the wound was taking longer than usual to heal, something he suspected was from a tampering with the blade used to catch him.

Still he had managed to find his way home, though he found himself growing weaker and stumbling more with each step, he had made it home all the same.

As he made his way across the garden, which now felt yards longer than he remembered it, he could see the balcony to his own quarters where there stood upon the balcony, carefully reaching up for the lantern they had hung up together many years ago, was the woman he had called his own for years.

He let out an involuntary laugh of happiness and sped up for a few steps, hoping to catch her eye.

When he was close enough, Loki could see that she was replacing the candle within the lantern with a new one and smiled at the memory of when they had put it up.

It was the symbol of their promise to each other.

That each time he left for an adventure or a battle she would light a candle for him in the lantern, a symbol of his promise to always come back to her as long as she was willing to put up with the escapades he'd be pulled into, she would let him know by the flame of the candle that would be visible when he returned.

If one day he came back and lantern wasn't lit then he knew that she had grown tired of his leaving and was no longer his to call his own.

He had been on many journeys since and each time he returned a candle burnt within the lantern, the giddiness that sparked up never faded despite the years they had been doing this.

As he neared enough to be heard, he called out to her.

She paused in her actions and looked out into the gardens below, a look of confusion on her face.

To draw further attention, Loki raised a hand in a high spirited wave and called to her again, perhaps even louder this time.

He watched as her eyes slowly scanned the garden but yet somehow never landed on him, each time he thought she had spotted him her eyes would move away once again.

Stepping closer, Loki frowned and lowered his hand from the waving as he noticed the forlorn look in her eyes, the wet lines that streaked her cheeks and the letter clutched in one hand.

His mind started racing as he thought about the lack of reaction she had shown, despite the fact that he would have been stood directly in her line of sight and the light coming from behind him cast no shadow to hide him and she had always been overjoyed to see him upon each return.

As it all clicked into place he could only watch helplessly as she turned back to the lantern and lit the wick of the new candle she'd just placed inside until the light shone brightly above one corner of the balcony, a single blood soaked hand pressing harder against his wound as tears welled in his eyes.