Odin's sons followed the old king down to the dungeons of the city, and his ward followed quickly after, ignoring the fact that she was dirtying her elegant dress and shoes in the murky layer of dirt on the stone floor.  She shivered as she saw the fallen bodies of a pair of guards.  These men did not deserve to die.  How did Frost Giants get into Asgard, let alone the castle, without Heimdall's knowledge?

  Thor and Odin were arguing, and Aura listened closely, recording all that was said, while a storm of thoughts raged within her.  Why didn't they take anything?  A little further and they could've taken the source of their power!  She shuddered at the very thought.

  As usual, Thor's heart turned to rage.  "This was an act of war!  As king of Asgard-"

  "You are not king yet," Odin thundered.  "Now go! You must see to the citadel!"

  Aura wanted to intervene but didn't dare.  She glanced at Loki, hoping to hear his view, but his expression was blank as he gazed upon his father and brother.

  Later, Aura returned to the banqueting hall, shocked to find the table upturned.  She now wore her usual armoured tunic with her blue cape - the exact same colour as her ceremonial dress and her light, misty blue eyes - similar to Loki and Thor's but more feminine.  Her light orange hair was worn casually half-up half-down, and the makeup she detested was gone from her face, leaving her lips soft pink.

  She saw Thor sitting with an angry, brooding expression on the sidelines, and Loki at his side, from the look of him trying to calm his older brother down.  Immediately she knew that Thor had overturned the table.  She hurried over, her blue cape swirling after her.

  "- but there's nothing you can do without disobeying Father!"  She caught the last of Loki's plea.

  Thor suddenly got to his feet, intent clear in his face, while the blood drained from Aura's. "Oh, no. You can't possibly be considering going to Jötunheim!"

  "He's joking, right?" said Loki anxiously.  "That's a really really bad idea..."

  At that moment, the Warriors Three led by Sif arrived.  "Who's going to Jötunheim?" she asked, concerned.

  "And who sent all this food to the floor?" demanded Volstagg.  Aura clenched her teeth. Priorities!

  Could Thor be grinning? What kind of a fool was he? "Both of them me."

  "Thor..." Loki begged.  "There's..." He counted quickly.  "Six of us here to fight.  We'll be hopelessly outnumbered against the entirety of Jötunheim."

  Aura bridled. Who was he not counting? It had better not be her; there needed to be some common sense in the group, and none of them really trusted Loki, except Thor who wasn't listening to anybody right now. Which, she hated to admit, considering the things Loki had done over the years, was perfectly reasonable.

While Thor attempted to persuade Sif, Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg that going to Jötunheim was a good idea, Loki pulled Aura to the side. "Listen, Aura, about earlier..."

The Frost Giants had completely wiped the memory of Loki's kiss from her mind, but she remembered it now in full clarity. She was unable to stop the faint pink blush that came to her face. This was so confusing; this was just Loki, her best friend. Nothing weird going on between them. But then... Why was she blushing? "... Yes?" she prompted hesitantly.

"I..." he said slowly, almost nervously. Loki was never nervous. "... I love you."

"Um, what?" she said, her mind unable to comprehend this development.

He sighed, running a hand through his sleek black hair. "You don't have to say something back at all, just think about it, okay?" With a swish of his cape, he returned to the others, leaving Aura frozen with shock.

Did he love her? She loved him as a friend, of course, and she had always assumed that his feelings were just the same, nothing more and nothing less. But he was making it clear that he thought he loved her in a romantic way. The key word being 'thought'. He'd said that he loved her, but how could he know? Suddenly, she longed for what just yesterday she had thought was a simple, uncomplicated friendship.

With a sigh, she turned back to the others, avoiding Loki's piercing green eyes, and heard Thor's jubilant announcement, "We're going to Jötunheim."

Today had just gotten even worse.

*

  One of the many things that struck Aura as the seven walked down to the royal stables was Loki.  In particular how he behaved with the others.  He acted so... Different.

  Her Loki was kind, funny, clever, a laugh, mischievous perhaps but he never meant any harm by it; it was always a joke.  Her Loki was the kind of guy who laughs when you trip but is always the first to offer you a hand up.  Her Loki was slow to decide on something, but once he'd chosen he'd never, ever give up.  Her Loki had some darkness but also had a bright enough light to hold it back.

  The others' Loki was different.  She couldn't believe she'd never noticed this before.  I have to be the least observant person in the world.  In one day, the person I've known for hundreds of years has suddenly become bitter and jealous of Thor, announced he loves me, and now he's a different person when he's with anyone else.  I am the worst of friends.

  When he was with the others, he was cold, arrogant and downright rude; putting it nicely, a manipulative liar.  She hated to say such things of Loki, the only person she was certain she loved (as a friend, she reminded herself firmly), but it was true and now she understood the look on Sif's face when she saw his jealousy at Thor's broken coronation.  They didn't see the light that was holding back more darkness than Aura had ever known, they just saw what might happen if the darkness was unleashed.  And now Aura saw the darkness, all seemingly based from his jealousy, she was afraid too.

  But that won't happen, she reminded herself loyally.  Loki is stronger than that.  He would never give in to the darkness.

  Right?

When they arrived at the stables, and Aura went for her horse, Loki frowned. "You're not going."

She paused in doing up her ornate but practical saddle, and glared at him. "I knew it was me you didn't count earlier! Why shouldn't I go?" If he was about to make some joke about her being a terrible fighter, she was going to kill him, whether he loved her or not.

He glanced around, then said in an undertone, "Because someone has to talk sense into Thor, and if you're there I have to protect you. Sif and the Warriors Three are never going to talk sense to anyone."

She glowered. Aura was excellent at glowering, turning her blue eyes icy cold. "I don't need you to protect me, Loki. I can look after myself." She finished fixing her strawberry roan mare's bridle.

"I know you can." His green eyes blazed into her blue ones, seeming to look straight through them. "But I need to protect you."

This time when he kissed her it felt more natural, maybe because it was less of a shock. The first time had been quick, just a touch on the lips and he was gone, but this, this was slower, more passionate and less nervous. She could feel his arms pulling her closer, and instinctively her arms went about him and she kissed him back. Aura forgot about Jötunheim, about the Frost Giants, about war, about the Bifrost. About the entire world around her. About everything except Loki.

"Loki! Aura! Are you ready to ride?" boomed Thor.

They pulled apart, and Aura took a deep breath she hadn't realised she needed. "I'm still going," she whispered.

Loki closed his eyes briefly. "And how will you feel when Thor is banished because I can't talk sense into him?"

"And how will I feel when you come back injured-" she didn't even want to say anything worse "-and I could've stopped it if I was there? You can't stop me, Loki."

He ran a hand through his hair again. Apparently that was his sign for nervousness which she hadn't really seen before. "Alright. But if you get so much as a scratch from a Frost Giant I swear I'm going to destroy the entirety of Jötunheim."

She smiled. "I think I'll be able to live with that."

So I realise "Loki" is a stupid name for this chapter and I literally have no idea why I called it that since the entire thing is pretty much about Loki.  But whatever.  It was originally called "Jötunheim" but since I decided not to have them actually go until the next chapter, that was an even worse name for it.

Since writing that, I've renamed it. Idk if this name is better or worse, but, whatever.

Aaaaanyway, please comment! I really want to know what people think of this.

Oh, and again, sorry for how OOC everyone is.