Tabula Rasa (Unlike Loki: Book Two)

Chapter 91

(Anna) ONE MONTH LATER

I sit up and climb over the covers until I am right beside him. I swing my legs over him so that I am stradling his stomach. His eyes flicker and he groans, but his hands find my waist and swings me down so that I am now on my back. I laugh as he leans over me, his long dark hair brushing against my face. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a deep kiss. I grab the sides of his face and kiss him just as deep. 

He eventually pulls away, leaving my lips swollen, and kisses me on the tip of my nose. "Well, good morning to you too." He smiles widely at me. 

So much has happened in the last few weeks. 

Loki and I are better than ever. 

He properly proposed to me one night in the library, and I of course said yes. I don't know why, but I hadn't been expecting him to ask. 

But everyday since he asks me, "Will you marry me?" 

And everyday I answer, "If you'll have me." 

I still dream about them, about Leolin and By. But they are happy dreams. They are happy. And how can I be sad about that? The dreams are always different, but the endings are always the same. They finish with my son hugging me and telling me he will see me soon and with my friend touching my face and saying he loves me. And somehow, I know that these aren't just dreams, but Leolin and By reaching out to me, telling me they are just fine. 

And so I tried to move on with my life, and with Loki and I motivating each other, we succeeded. We smile more than we have in all the years of knowing each other and laugh constantly. He's a beautiful romantic and I'm hopeless. 

I look back and am amazed at all that has happened in my life. It all flashes before my eyes, and for the first time, I feel that this is the golden age. No wars, no death. Just peace and love. Now that I had a shorter life span, I vowed to live life to the fullest. Loki promised he would never leave my side and would be with me towards the end. He also promised to teach me more hand to hand combat, seeing as my powers were AWOL. But I would make the most of this life, and I would see those I loved on the other side. 

While we were gone, Thor had done just what Loki was going to do and let the souls stay on agreement that they would live separately from the other Asgardians and would fight in the King's army should they need to. The souls had powers of varying kinds and would be useful in battle. 

Jotenheim was willingly under Asgardian control. Currently, Loki had his highest ranked officer and his best men keeping an eye on things. We still needed to figure out what we were going to do with the Frost Giant planet, but they didn't seem to care. They actually seemed agreeable and happy. 

Heimdall brought it to our knowledge that because of the Infinity Stone being bounced around so often, it messed with the time frames of different areas. Currently, Asgard and Jotenheim was on a much different schedule than Midgard. Apparently, we were moving much faster than Midgard. The problem with this though, was, as Heimdall had located Thanos's 'time bubble' and he was progressing in time as fast as us. His century and our century equalled only a few tiny years on Midgard. And something told me Midgard would be a target planet. 

Thor had been spending a lot of time on Midgard lately. Something told me it had to do with that girl. I could tell he liked her, as often as he spoke of Jane Foster when he did come home. I told him that he was free to bring her to Asgard any time, but he didn't seem to keen on the idea. He had also been spending a lot of time associating with SHIELD and its growing allies. They had slowly rebuilt, thanks to Tony Stark's funding and the loyalty of those who still stood behind the program. 

He said he had also met two very interesting people who had been recommended for the Avengers Initiative. He said that they were siblings and like Steve Rogers went by Captain America, they went by Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. 

I hadn't heard anything from Talia, but I hoped she was doing well; I genuinely did. 

Oh, and in other news....

I was pregnant. 

I was terrified when I found out. Terrified and confused. And then terrified when the doctors were as confused as I was. The baby was far enough along that it put it before the time of the battle with Thanos. 

I had died during that battle. 

But the doctors said that the baby was fine. It was breathing and it had a heart beat. And in about eight months, I would hold that child in my arms. 

And probably never let it go. 

It also terrified me because my other two children hadn't ended up the way I expected. I know Loki was worried too, but he did a good job of hiding it. I think he was more excited that he wouldn't miss this one. He would be there. 

And so would I. I would not be lost with grief this time. 

This time, we would truly be a family.