A/N: This is my first published Loki/OC FanFiction. Please R&R!

My story is divided into two parts. Pre-Thor and Thor.

I have a playlist now (although it's incomplete). Check it out, it's Chapter 24.

Part I: Shall We Dance?

Chapter 1: Of Dances and Meetings

3rd POV

As soon as she was old enough to understand that she was born royalty, Katarina was utterly delighted with her placement of birth. Every little girl wants to grow up as a princess; living in a castle, wearing beautiful gowns everyday, being the envy of every other young woman in the entire kingdom, with servants at her beck and call, answering every wish and desire. She would grow up and go to a ball where she would meet her Prince Charming, and they would fall in love instantly, getting married and living happily ever after.

Until she turned six, Katarina was quite content with her aloof lifestyle. But then came the rules. Suddenly, there were ways that she had to act. She couldn't be herself, lest it should reflect badly on her family and ultimately, her kingdom. A princess had to walk, talk, eat, dance, smile, and laugh a certain way.

"A princess has to walk with small steps to prevent from tripping on the hem of her dress, with her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes cast downwards."

"A princess must converse quietly, but not too quietly lest people think that you are shy or uneducated. She must be intelligent but not smart-alecky."

"A princess must eat with small bites, slowly, stopping frequently to sip her drink or wipe her mouth. At the end of the meal she lays her utensils diagonally across the plate to signal to her waiter that she is done."

"A princess must dance gracefully, without stepping on anyone's foot. She must be the belle of the ball at evening parties."

"A princess should smile small, with a little bit of teeth, but not too much if her smile is unattractive."

"A princess must laugh quietly and not too long; her laughter should neither be obnoxious or loud."

A princess this, a princess that. And, even more unfortunately, Katarina had the misfortune to be born second of three children. Meaning that she was exposed to both the constant chastisement and superior attitude of her older brother, Nikolai, plus the annoyances of a younger sibling, her sister Katia.

Although she was good at following the rules, it was enough to drive Katarina crazy.

And, as she got older, she realized that her airway was slowly being cut off from the oxygen known as liberation, her freedoms whittling away one by one.

I have to breathe. She thought suddenly one day. I can't go one living like this.

OoOoOoO

Katarina slipped blindly into the dress, clutching the hand of her stepmother. She kept her eyes obediently closed as she felt a maid painstakingly button up the back of it, and then finally opened them to examine herself.

She was standing in front of a full length mirror. The dress was beautifully made, laced with white and navy ribbons to match the ocean blue silk. Katarina ran a hand slowly over the full skirt, feeling the material between her fingers. It was like running her hand over water.

Her stepmother smiled at her through the reflection. "Beautiful. Now come sit, so they can do your hair."

Katarina sat down in said chair and again closed her eyes as she felt hands take strands of her hair to brush and style it.

Tonight, father was again throwing one of his evening dinner parties, and Katarina was again being forced to go, because she was the princess.

"Katia's a princess too. Why can't she go?" She had argued with her father the day before over dinner.

"Katia's too young to attend these parties, Katarina, you know that. When she grows up, she'll attend with you." Her father had replied.

Katarina turned to her baby sister, who currently getting food all over her face. "Never grow up, Katia." She told her sternly.

Back in the chair, Katarina felt a choker being fastened around her neck, and assumed that it was the one with diamonds and sapphires, as it would match the best. A matching bracelet was being placed around her wrist. Something was perched on her head.

"There." Katarina heard her stepmother say. "Gorgeous. You can look now."

Internally sighing, the princess looked up, and saw that she had been right about the bracelet and necklace. She was surprised to see the tiara though. Surely her stepmother would know by now...

"No." She said firmly, taking the tiara off. It was a finely wrought silver thing, encrusted with a couple of diamonds.

"Oh, come on, Katarina. You know you should wear it..."

"I refuse. Please bring me my other hair accessories."

Immediately, a maid rushed up with her collection. Katarina's hand hovered momentarily above an ornamental flower, but then at the last moment she chose a white ivory comb, tapping it. The maid nodded, set down the rest of the accessories, and placed it delicately in her hair.

"Am I done now?" She asked levelly to her stepmother, who sighed and nodded.

"Yes. You may go downstairs. I shall join you in a few minutes."

Katarina's heels clicked softly on the marble tiles as she walked swiftly down the hall, finally arriving at a twisting staircase that led to the main ballroom. She could already hear the lively chatter of guests, and assumed that most of them had arrived.

Her heart sank as she surveyed the room from the top of the stairs. The room was quite filled, and as the princess, it was her unfortunate duty to dance with as many of the guests as possible.

She slowly started downstairs. She had a bit of time before the music started.

OoOoOoO

The crowd parted in awe, bowing, as the two figures cut their way through the guests, like a god among mortals.

Although, that was pretty accurate. They were gods among mortals.

"Ryker!" The older of the two called out, smiling broadly as he approached a man that seemed to be about the same age as himself.

"Odin, how nice of you to come!" The man- Ryker- replied, returning the smile. They both shook hands warmly, and it seemed to the rest of the people that they knew each other very well.

"How are you?" Odin asked.

"Very good, but I doubt that you can say the same." Ryker's eyes flicked over the streaks of white in Odin's golden-brown hair.

"I may not look it, but there's plenty of life left in this old king." Odin chuckled, and then turned to the young man next to him. "Thor, this is my friend, the king of Vanaheim, King Ryker. Ryker, this is my son, Thor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The two said at the exact same time, and then they both laughed.

"So, I've met your son Nikolai, but have yet to meet your daughters. You've spoken quite highly of them." Odin looked around curiously.

"Ah, yes. Well, Katarina is here, but you might have to wait to see Katia. She's a bit too young to be attending these kinds of parties." Ryker led both Odin and Thor through the crowd.

Soon, they came across an older girl who seemed to be in deep conversation with one of the musicians. Ryker tapped her shoulder, murmured an apology to the musician, and the girl turned around.

She had straight, dark red hair, going to about her waist or so. Her eyes were lightest blue, unique to the brown of her father's. Thor silently admired the choice of the person who had picked out her dress: it fit her figure nicely, also bringing out the color of both her hair and eyes.

"Katarina, I would like to introduce you to King Odin, and his son, Prince Thor." Ryker said to the girl. "Odin, Thor, this is my daughter, Princess Katarina."

Katarina blinked in surprise, but recovered quickly, smiling and curtsying with a soft, "My lords."

"Ah, Ryker, your praise rings true. She is certainly every bit as beautiful and charming as her mother." Odin said, smiling at her.

At the mention of her mother, Katarina's smile froze on her face, but again, she recovered, although her expression was a bit more strained.

The slight change might have slipped Odin and Ryker, but Thor noticed, and he cocked his head to the side, as if trying to figure something out.

Soon, Odin and Ryker drifted away, leaving Katarina and Thor alone with awkward silence.

Katarina had heard many things about Thor- him being the thunder god, the winner of a thousand battles- but most of her information had come from her friends, the daughters of her father's nobles. Many of them swooned and chattered excitedly over him, but before, Katarina had just internally rolled her eyes and ignored it.

Now that she was with him, Katarina could see what made him so attractive- the bright golden hair, strong jaw, deep blue eyes and muscular figure- but personally, she wasn't interested. There were too many men like him, and most of them had egotistical attitudes that she found irritating.

Katarina watched her father with Odin with attentive eyes. "Our fathers seem to know each other very well."

"I did not know." Thor admitted. "Forgive me for saying so, Odin has never mentioned your family before."

"Same." Katarina said nonchalantly.

One conversation led to another, and soon, Katarina was engrossed in a story of one of Thor's battles. Surprisingly, she found him rather interesting despite herself. Yes, he was slightly arrogant and full of himself, but at least he wasn't rude or condescending. He was actually quite charismatic.

But then the music started, and Katarina could not suppress a sigh of disappointment. And just when she was starting to enjoy Thor's company...

"What's wrong?" Thor asked, noticing her disheartened expression.

"That's my cue." She started to walk away. "I must dance."

Suddenly, Thor was in front of her, bowing, offering her a hand. "If you must go dance, then perhaps you could grace me with your company a little longer and honor me with the first?"

Smiling, Katarina took his hand. "Since you asked so nicely..."

He whisked her off to the dance floor, placing a hand on her waist as she put a hand on his shoulder.

Soon enough, they were surrounded by whispers, and Katarina noticed her father's-noble's-daughter's-friends were looking at her, green with envy, heads together, probably gossiping away.

Thor saw her slightly uneasy demeanor at all the stares and whispered, "Don't worry. People will join us soon enough."

His prediction proved true. Many other party-goers started to dance around them.

Throughout the dance the two royals chatted, getting to know each other more and more, and Katarina was actually disappointed when the song ended.

Thor took his hand off her waist but did not let go of her hand. "This is where we part." He said dramatically, and Katarina laughed. Quickly, he brought her hand to his lips and gently pressed a kiss there. "Until we meet again." And then he was gone.

Katarina was forced to go through her tiring routine of dances, although at least she found the conversations a bit more interesting. It seems her father tonight had invited a great many of war heroes from Asgard. Although the stories of fights may have been a bit exaggerated, at least they were entertaining. She even danced with a couple of Thor's friends- a tall blond sword fighter and a shorter, more portly dwarf-like man.

Eventually, she had to stop- she was getting so tired that she almost stepped on the feet of her last partner. She headed towards the refreshment table for a drink.

Suddenly, a hand flew into Katarina's face, smacking her dead center, surprising her so much that she stumbled backwards. It seems that one of the men had been so focused on his story that he gestured outwards, hitting her by chance. The stumble caused her to step on the hem of her dress, tripping her. She would've fallen flat on her back (a terrible disgrace) had someone not caught her.

There was an arm around her waist and a hand on her hip, keeping her suspended above the floor. In an unconscious effort to stay upright, Katarina had grabbed the person's arm. She froze and looked up, ready to express her thanks and apologize, but the man's appearance took away her words and jammed them back down her throat.

He had short, deadblack hair and light blue eyes- much like hers- and pale skin. These three attributes alone set him apart from the golden-haired and nicely tanned warriors in the room. He was tall, leaner in comparison, wearing black, silver and green. The features of his face were sharp yet quite pleasant to look at.

Suddenly Katarina realized that she had been staring and blushed, letting go of his arm and thanking him.

"My pleasure." He replied, pulling her upright. His voice was smooth and had just the right amount of respect. And then he was gone.

Katarina stood there for a little while, her heart beat erratic although she had no idea why. After a few seconds, she went off to dance again, drink forgotten.

Soon, though, her dances with the men began to get increasingly more unpleasant. They had drank a lot of wine (and her father tended to forget that he had a high immunity to alcohol and usually chose the strongest wine) and her partners were now quite intoxicated. Her feet hurt from being trodden on so many times.

Woefully inadequate dancing aside, they talked so much. Katarina found herself bored out of her mind.

As a song ended and Katarina moved to leave the dance floor, she felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning around, she saw it was Thor, and she felt a smile unexplainably grace her lips.

"Thor! Enjoying yourself?" She asked mildly.

"Indeed." He looked around. "Since you don't see to have a partner for the next dance, perhaps I could...?"

Typically, Katarina didn't dance twice with the same person, but she decided to just go with it; she needed someone intelligent to talk to anyway. "Of course." He took her hand once again.

"You seem tired." Thor noted as he twirled her around. The princess gave him a wry smile.

"You would be too, after dancing with almost everyone here." She gestured around her to all the guests and Thor chuckled.

"True." He admitted. "But you're quite the dancer; surely you're enjoying yourself?"

"I like to dance, but after a while it gets tiring." Katarina sighed, then quickly recovered and said hastily, "Not that I'm complaining."

That was close. A princess must not whine.

The dance with Thor was soon over and all too quickly she was dancing with the dwarf-man again, whose name she learned was Volstagg. He seemed to have consumed quite a bit of wine, and it was all that the princess could do to stop him from humiliating himself. He was talking loudly, dancing horribly, and Katarina winced whenever he stepped on her feet.

This song is going to last a long time. She thought wearily. But the thought had just surfaced when that black-haired stranger was suddenly at Volstagg's side. She stopped dancing in surprise, and the young man put a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"Come now, Volstagg." He murmured persuasively. "You've danced with the young lady quite enough; shouldn't it be my turn?"

Volstagg let go of Katarina and graciously stepped aside. "Of course, of course." He said, speech slurred. He just barely managed to stumble off the dance floor; the princess wouldn't have been surprised if he passed out in the middle of walking.

"You have amazing timing." Katarina exhaled in relief. The man smiled slyly.

"Thank you. Now, if the you don't mind giving me a dance...?"

"Of course I don't mind."

He took her hand, placing another on her waist as she put her's on his shoulder, and they spun in time to the music.

"I don't think I know your name." He said finally, after a little while of silence. Katarina realized her mistake and hurriedly introduced herself.

"Princess Katarina of Vanaheim." She said in a mock-grandiose voice, feeling too tired to follow her guidelines of princess-hood.

"Katarina." He repeated slowly, and for some reason, the way he said her name sent a shiver down her spine. "What a pretty name."

Katarina wasn't what to say; whether to thank him or not. She blushed, and tried to cover it up by asking, "And yours?"

"My name?" He twirled her around. "Hm, I don't think I'll tell you."

Katarina blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I don't think I'll tell you... yet." He added afterwards.

His partner felt somehow cheated. "Yet?"

"Oh, yes. I believe we'll meet sometime in the future." It wasn't a question or a request, it was a statement.

"Oh, come on." Katarina laughed. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Now, now, let's not get impatient." He smirked.

The song came to an end, and although they stopped dancing, neither person made to let go. Katarina found herself trapped in the full stare of his piercing blue eyes, and she knew that it was a test of wills; who would back down first.

Finally, Katarina couldn't take it any longer; somehow, she had to break the silence. "Fine, then. Some other time."

He smiled, triumphant. Still neither moved. Katarina didn't know how much time passed in that moment, but she did notice that his eyes flicked twice to her lips.

Suddenly, he leaned forward, and Katarina's immediate first thought was, Oh my gods he's going to kiss me! Then, immediately afterwards, she squashed it, wondering how such a ridiculous thought managed to get inside her head. She had just met him that evening.

But her thoughts were quite accurate; he leaned down, his lips so close to her cheek that she could feel his breath on her skin.

Just when she thought he was going to kiss her, he leaned closer to her ear and whispered.

"Goodbye, Princess Katarina."

And then he was gone. Disappeared. Leaving Katarina blushing and unexplainably flustered, her heart beating unnaturally fast.

A/N: Review, favorite, follow.