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Running down the rolling hills, chasing their hopes and dreams. One another, their smiles never fading. Love so strong that it made little to no sense and yet at the same time it made everything feel so much clearer, his head felt so light. As if it would float off into the sunset, the sound of her playful squeals as he chased her through the tall grass had him grinning like there was no tomorrow. That this would be their last day together, ninety-nine days of summer. A hundred days of love, for he would still love her the next day. He was certain, Loki laughs as he sees her gathering her skirt into her hands as she waded into the shallows of the lake. Enjoying the cool water as it surrounded her feet, this is what they had come for. Their secret spot, far in the hills where no eye would catch them. Escaping the palace and those who lived within it, their families and the servants. Hidden by the hills, surrounded by hissing trees. He waded in after her, their clothes now left discarded on the rocks nearby. The water caressed their navels, so cool and glittering. He kissed her there, over and over again until there was no breath left in him. Her arms draped over his shoulders as the water swallowed them, weightless. Smiling into each other's mouths, another day of adventure. The tip of her nose pressed into the flesh of her cheek as he embraced her, carrying her deeper into the water. Hoping to drift away together, through a portal to some distant world. His lips never left her skin, his arms around her, his eyes on her and his heart in her hands.
''I love you.''
The water rippled, the hot sun shining down at them. She wouldn't look at him, afraid that she might break right here and then. He knew, she didn't want to talk about it but he had to. He heard her whisper to him, the lulling water played a perfect harmony. His skin on edge, hoping and waiting for her to say his name again in a more intimate form. To hear the sweetness of it, dripping from her lips like honey. The way only she could say it, he waited.
''We are only one another's summer.''
She pulled away from him, her nails raking through his hair. Almost tempted to grab her and sink into the depths below where they would remain together, time was limited but it had gone too fast. Neither of the barely registered the flow of it, she would return home and he would be left here. In this city, aching to feel her touch and hear her voice. Watching the sunset each and every day, wondering if she was sharing it with him from the other side. His lips trembled at the thought of their great romance being over so quickly, that he would need to live on without holding her hand. No more late nights in the gardens, sneaking about the palace, their ventures into the bath house. Their secret lake, their summer love.
''But you'll always be my forever...''
Tears in her eyes, her legs wrapped around his hips. Their love had blossomed like a rose, only ten days in he had already decided to share with her his secrets, his intimacy. She became everything that occupied his mind, Loki's duties laid unattended too like papers strewn about his desk. The sand in their hourglass was running low, the realization of her imminent departure crushed his heart. The pain would eventually become so unbearable, would he hunt her down? Their summer had been fleeting and yet so full of memory, sweet and savoury. Frothy wine sliding down their throats as they danced and sung together by the fire, breathing together. When was the last time Loki had ever felt so free? That he had become just like any other man? Filled with promise and poetry that he would write upon her skin with his fingers, waking up in the early hours only find that she was gone. Left him those little flowers as a reminder that she was indeed very real, his beauty and his beast. Temper would run so hot, handling her would sear his hands. Mar him from the inside, that she was afraid he wouldn't understand. But he did, this is what brought them together. Their shared rage, their grief and loneliness. Loki believed her to be so special, so unique. Her hands cup his face, the water stopped moving around them. The realm got so quiet as he focused on her face, wanting nothing more than to devour her again. Leave no trace, love her. Fuse with her so that she wouldn't disappear, that he'd vanish with her. She sniffled.
''One day, I'll become nothing more than a distant memory. Perhaps even a fond one but know this that I will never forget.''
Loki hadn't seen her cry this way before, he'd never seen sorrow be so beautiful. Her knife digging into his chest, inch by inch as she spoke to him. Time was almost out, his mind couldn't think. Too clouded from his ninety-nine nights of euphoria, fastlived and yet slow. He wiped her tears away, exchanging them with his kisses. The wounds would heal soon enough but he didn't want her to go, he didn't want to feel the scars on his back open up again. She'd rip out his heart and somehow Loki would let her, the tears in his eyes signalled the end. She kissed him, her lips still swollen with love. His love, their love. Loki whispered.
''Don't say goodbye yet.''
He whispered so desperately, any higher and he'd break.
''If I don't, I'll leave without it.''
Floating in the water together in silence, his arms never left her but only tightened. One summer that had passed too quickly, she would leave and he would let her. This was what they knew would happen, the parting of two souls. Their lives still waiting, their responsibilities and their futures. Loki could understand that, he needed to understand that. She would come back to him one day, he would see her cross his path and he would breathe again. They would meet and they would spend yet another summer together, in love.
''Should we see each other again and our feelings remain the same, let's meet here.''
In their now special place, his haven which he shared with her. No longer just his but hers as well, his gift to her should she ever need to escape. Loki would meet her here, he would wait for her right by their lake. Skipping stones to the beat of his heart, waiting. She smiled.
'’Don’t wait too long...''
A day which they would love again.
Slumped over, sat on the rock which their clothes had time and time again laid neglected as they enjoyed the soothing waters of Asgard. His hair dripping with rain. Staring out over the disturbed surface of the water, watching it ripple. His fists clenched, his heart had burst. Loki saw her, he waited for her, he promised he'd wait. This was their promise, that they would meet here. That they would love again, breathe again. Loki refused to cry, allowing his heartbreak to silently stream down his face. Becoming one with the rain that wet his skin.
''You'll always be my forever...''
His summer love never returned to his embrace but the memories had him smiling, the pain of first love would remain and it’ll sting but it was the truth of his love for her. Though it only lasted that one glorious summer, he still smiled.