The God of Mischief had been lurking outside Thiazi's icy stronghold, waiting for his chance to get Iduna alone. He wasted no time in rescuing her when he saw Thiazi depart to hunt. This was his one and only chance. He could not afford to waste it.
Thanks to the feathers the Goddess Freya had lent him, Loki was able to transform himself into a hawk so that none would notice him. Once he had Iduna, he changed her into a sparrow. But she was so weakened that she could not fly on her own. He clutched her safely between his talons. Appearing like a predator capturing stray prey, Loki hastened out of Jotunheim through the passageway that ran along the branches of the great Yggdrasil Tree that connected all Nine Realms to one another.

But alas, Thiazi noticed the Trickster's subterfuge just moments before Loki and Iduna could safely cross the border between the frosty tundra and Asgard and changed to his mighty eagle form to pursue them. He swept upon them, a ferocious demon in flight. Fortunately, thanks to his smaller and more agile form, Loki stove him off long enough for the Aesir to light a pyre.
Fire was the only thing that could stop a Frost Giant, even one as powerful as Thiazi. He was weakened by his animal form. Loki took full advantage of that. He made the foolish Frost Giant chase him and then flew straight toward the fire. The hawk swirled just at the very last moment, but the eagle, too large and not nearly as graceful, plunged right into the flames.

It was thus that Thiazi, Lord of Thrymheim, perished. Loki had done it again; he had played a dangerous game and had come out the victor yet again. Yet, he also lost something precious. Something he sought desperately to reclaim.
He just hoped Iduna's time on Jotunheim had not frozen her heart to him.

***

"Can we talk?"

Iduna glanced over her shoulder. The Trickster stood at her threshold, hesitant to enter without her permission.

"I'm tired, Loki."

"Only a moment. I need to... to say something."

Iduna turned to him with a deep, weary sigh.

"Say what?" she questioned. "What could you possibly say that would make this all better?"

Loki opened his mouth, but then closed it again.

"Nothing," he breathed. "Nothing will make this better."

The Goddess sighed again. She did not want this. She did not want her friend turned traitor turned saviour here in her private chamber. Others among the Aesir had come and gone as well. Iduna sent them all away. She needed time and privacy to shed what remained of her scarlet dress and wash her tangled golden hair.
But Iduna also needed to know what had driven Loki to do what he had done. She had to know why he used her in his trick to rid himself of Thiazi. So, she beckoned Loki into her chamber. "I'm listening."

He closed the door behind him and looked at Iduna. She crossed her arms and waited for him to speak, yet he remained silent. The Goddess saw the conflict in his eyes and pressed on, her voice edged with annoyance. "Loki, if you have something to say, then say it now. Else leave me in peace and do not come near me again. Ever."

He flinched. Did her words hurt him? They should. They hurt her as well. But he had to understand what his actions had brought about. Not just to her personally, but to them. Their friendship was as good as over. And Loki had no one to blame but himself for that.

"I would not have let anything happen to you. I just... A lesson had to be taught."

Iduna scowled at him. "A lesson? That is how you excuse your actions? Loki, a Jotun is dead! And a Lord at that! We will be fortunate if this does not start another war between our realms."

"It won't; I have already made sure of it. Thiazi's grievance was with me and me alone. One of us had to come out the winner of our dispute, and it was plenty clear one of us could die. I just wasn't foolish enough to trust a Trickster."

Iduna scoffed and averted. Loki had unwittingly compared Thiazi with her. She had, after all, also trusted the Trickster with everything she had. And just like the Frost Giant, the Goddess of Eternal Youth had been betrayed. The only difference between them was that she yet lived.

"And what of the Aesir?" she questioned. "What lesson did you want to teach them?"

"That," Loki licked his lips, "you are... precious."

She tilted her head at him, one brow raised. "What?"

"Iduna, you hold their life in your hands. Your apples grant the Aesir youth and beauty, and they take it for granted. They take you for granted. I could not bear to see their treatment of you any longer."

"Oh, so your idea of getting me better treatment is to have me kidnapped and imprisoned in that frozen hell? Or was that my lesson? Was I too kind and caring and gullible that you sought to freeze my heart and have me ravaged by that monster?"

"No, never! I... That's not what I..."

"Enough, Loki! Get out! I don't want to see you ever again!"

"Iduna, no, please..."

"Leave me be!" Her tattered dress swirled about Iduna as she turned away from Loki, too angry and disappoint to look at him.

"Iduna, I love you!"

The Goddess froze in place. She eyed him cautiously over her shoulder. Had she heard him right? Had he just said that...? No. Impossible.

"Another trick?"

"My own lesson." Loki's voice broke. "Freya came to me just before I set everything in motion. She told me I would succeed in defeating my enemy but also lose what I love most. I believed she meant one of my powers or my youth even, but... it was you."

Iduna's heart pounded in her chest as he walked toward her. She held her breath, listening, and holding on to every word that fell from Loki's lips.

"I saw you dancing with Thiazi's human form and felt jealous. I saw your pain and felt it as my own. I saw your grief and... and all I wanted to do was to hold you in my arms."

He was inches away from her. His spell-binding eyes forced her to meet his gaze. It was impossible to look away.

"Iduna... My love... Please forgive me," whispered Loki.

She wanted to. Iduna yearned to fall into Loki's arms and only be in his embrace. She longed for his lips, his touch, his body. She desired to have him warm her bed. But...

"Freya was right." Tears brimmed in Iduna's eyes. "You've lost me. Now leave me, Loki."

His soft gasp nearly made Iduna waver. But what he had done to her far outdid intentions and feelings. He had gone too far this time.
Iduna waited until he was gone. She waited until he was far enough from her chamber. Then she fell to her knees, her hands gripping her arms tightly, and cradled back and forth.

"I love you too," she cried. "I love you too, Loki."

And from her tears sprang a new apple, born from her bleeding, shattered heart. It blossomed and grew in the darkest shade of red — poisonous, yet with a bittersweet core. So it would remain until the day Iduna's heart could no longer be without him.
Until she forgave him.
Someday.