Author's Note: Well, it's done! I actually finished this story! *Cries tears of joy and throws confetti in the air* No, but seriously, there were moments when I really didn't think that I would actually finish this thing, but I did! And I did it well, too, which I think is more important.

Anyway, this is just a short little wrap-up chapter (really short compared with most of the other chapters), but I think it really says all that needs to be said. I hope you enjoy. Once again, my sincerest thanks for all those who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I can't thank you enough for all the feedback. It really makes me happy to write things that others enjoy. And, as always:

REVIEW, FAVORITE, FOLLOW! Thanks!

Spoilers to an Iron Man 3 plot point, but I couldn't resist.

Chapter Eleven

It was a week after Odin's visit that Loki and Thor returned to Asgard. Christy had practically glued herself to Loki's side the day before they left.

"Are you trying to catch me?" he asked finally, as she stood a few inches away from him in the Common Floor kitchen.

Christy nodded. "Yes. Can…can I take a video of you, in case I want to hear your voice once you leave?" Her own voice sounded choked.

If there had remained any shard of ice in Loki's heart at this point, it was gone now.

"Christy…" Loki stopped what he was doing and faced the girl. "I will come back to see you."

Christy sniffled. "Really?"

"Really and truly. And you know Thor will have to come back sooner or later, so you can give him letters for me. I will want to know what you are doing!"

Christy looked slightly less upset at this. "Can I still stay with you right now?"

Loki sighed. "Yes, of course. And I promise not to leave while you are at school."

"But what if` your dad or that other guy, the gatekeeper, comes…?"

"Then I shall make them wait."

Thankfully, that didn't occur. It was actually Heimdall who arrived to escort both princes back to Asgard, one mild April Tuesday.

Everyone crowded around to say their goodbyes.

Christy ran up to Thor first, giggling as the blonde swooped her onto his shoulders.

"Farewell, little Valkyrie. I will miss you greatly. But never fear, I shall endeavor to visit."

Christy nodded solemnly. "Bye, Uncle Thor. I'll miss you, too."

As Loki finished a last-minute conversation with Bruce, he turned to face the tiny girl.

"Well…I suppose this is farewell." he said.

Christy tackled him in a hug. "I hate goodbyes!"

"Ah, little one." Loki whispered, trying to hold back the choking in his voice. "This is not goodbye. This is farewell. As in, fare well until I see you again. For I will."

Steve gave both brothers a firm shoulder-clasp. "Take care, you two. Don't do anything stupid on Asgard. Next time you show up on earth, I want you both here of your own free will!"

Thor chuckled. "Rest assured, my friend, that will most definitely be the case!"

Loki was silent, so Steve gave him a friendly glare.

"What? Oh, yes, of course! Next time I visit your...lovely planet, it will be completely of my own volition."

"It better be." Clint muttered. "And tell your dad not to get any funny ideas about exiling anybody else to earth in hopes of teaching them a lesson! We're a planet, not a rehab facility!"

Loki smirked. "I will convey that request to him."

Last hugs and goodbyes said, Thor turned to Heimdall. "Heimdall, we are ready."

Heimdall nodded…and then turned to Loki. "You are ready, my prince?"

Loki's mouth nearly fell open at the last epithet he'd ever expected to be called by any citizen of Asgard. "Y-yes. I am."

"Then we shall depart."

And with a crack and flash of light, they were gone.

Epilogue: Two Months Later

Loki was sitting in his chambers, poring over a stack of documents, when a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in!" he called, already having a feeling who it was.

"Brother!" Sure enough, Thor bounded into the room like an over-excited puppy. "I have returned from Midgard!"

"And? What news do you bring?"

"Have you enough time to hear it all, or am I interrupting your work?"

Since his return to Asgard and his very public reinstatement by Odin, it had been decided that Loki needed something to do that would restore him back into the good graces of Asgardian society.

It had been Loki's idea to become the one to oversee the set-up and running of several homes for orphaned or abused children.

"I grew up a prince, and yet I had no sense of worth." he'd said. "It can only be worse for those with no family. I want no child in this realm to ever feel as I once did."

And it was working. Seeing the once despised prince speaking out on behalf of the very least in society certainly helped to raise his reputation, as well as the very public knowledge that the anti-lying spell was still in place (and would remain so for the foreseeable future).

Loki nodded. "I have time. How fare our friends?"

Thor smirked. "Well, the Man of Iron thought it would be a brilliant idea to publicly give his telephone number to a terrorist…"

"And what, pray tell, is a terrorist?"

"So far as I can tell, a man who seeks to cause fear in others by public acts of destruction and killing."

"Lovely. I assume he's still alive…?"

"Oh yes, alive and insane as usual. And that reminds me, I have a letter for you."

"For me?"

"Well, for both of us, I suppose, but more for you, since you were not present. From Christy."

Loki frowned. "You did explain to her why I could not come? That I had much to do here?"

Thor nodded. "She understood. She seemed…proud of you, for you."

Loki smiled, almost bashful. "Well…she would." He tore open the letter and began to scan the sheet of paper.

"Dear Uncle Loki," he read aloud.

"How are you? I hope you are doing well. I am fine. (That's how they teach us to write letters at school. Isn't it boring?)"

Both brothers burst out laughing.

"Now that, that is Christy!" Thor managed through guffaws.

"Aye!" Loki composed himself and continued.

"Anyway, I really am okay and I really do hope you are too. Things have been kinda crazy around here since you left. Uncle Tony gave his phone number out to a terrorist last month, and then he got kidnapped. But he's okay now.

Dad and I were in Washington D.C. when that happened. (That's the capital of America. Dad said to say that, because you might not know). We were visiting one of his friends from a long time ago. And Uncle Clint and Aunt Tasha were on a really long mission, so they missed all of that. Uncle Bruce just kinda hung out in the Tower.

Oh, and your cure works! Uncle Bruce has been giving it to hospitals and doctors. It really works! A lot of people have gotten better! It's so great!

When people ask him how he made the cure, he says he did work with a 'agoraphobic' guy named Dr. Tom Hiddleston. (Uncle Bruce taught me that word. It means somebody who's afraid to go outside). That way, people don't ask too many questions. And Uncle Bruce is making sure the cure goes to everybody, even those who don't have a lot of money.

Uncle Nick (Director Fury) has been talking to Dad about Dad maybe going to DC to work for SHIELD. I'm kinda scared. I don't think Dad would take me with him. I think he would leave me in New York, in the Tower. And that's scary.

But I'm okay. Don't worry about me."

Loki had to roll his eyes at that. It was so very like Christy to shift focus off herself. He couldn't help but feel a knot of worry build in his stomach on her behalf.

"Uncle Thor said you're doing important stuff on Asgard and that's why you couldn't come. I'm glad you're doing something good. But I still miss you.

Be good and don't do anything stupid. Come see me soon!

Love,

Chrystal Elizabeth Allen Rogers (Christy)

Loki finished the letter and shook his head slowly, trying to process everything.

"It seems that quite a lot has happened in our absence, brother." he said quietly.

Thor nodded. "Yes, much has occurred, but things remain stable. Yet I cannot help but feel a strange sense of foreboding…"

Loki shrugged. "Well, all we can do is keep an eye out. If Midgard has need of you, then you go."

"Aye, I suppose that is all we can do." Thor said softly.

Loki's face morphed into a teasing grin. "And how fares your lady love?"

"She fares well, especially since I have been to see her." Thor's face now bore the incredibly loopy look it always did when he spoke about Jane.

"And when are you going to marry that woman?!"

Thor growled lightly. "When I can convince Father of the soundness of that idea! We may have convinced him of the value of mortals, but he still sees no sense in me marrying one!"

Loki tsked. "Well, we'll just have to try harder, then. In the meantime, I suppose I can listen to you gush."

Thor rolled his eyes. "And what of you? Surely some maiden has set her sights on the dark, handsome prince of Asgard."

Loki scoffed. "Not likely. Maidens in these parts prefer blondes."

"Are you truly so thick, brother? You were the talk of last month's feast. Plenty of eligible young women are seeking after you! What about that one girl…Sigyn, isn't that her name? Didn't she fancy you at some point?"

Loki actually blushed slightly. "Ah, yes, she did, but that was before…"

"And now it is after." Thor clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Now you have been redeemed and reinstated."

"I still have a long way to go."

"Indeed. But you should no longer view yourself in light of the past. You are forgiven."

Forgiven. It was a strange word.

Months ago, he had never expected to be this happy ever again. He had narrowly escaped life imprisonment, only to be sent on what he had deemed a fruitless quest for redemption.

He had expected failure.

What he'd found was another chance.

And as he took in Thor's smiling face, remembered all that had occurred, he found himself saying:

"You are right, brother. And perhaps I should not be so disparaging of myself. I might find a lady after all."

He laughed softly, and tossed out a phrase he'd come to love, a phrase he'd first heard from a skinny, blonde Midgardian child with the heart of a Valkyrie:

"Why not?"

Why not, indeed. And so ends Loki's tale and the second installment of the ChristyVerse. NOW...

My other story that I am currently working on, "Lookin' At Life Through My Own Eyes" will be my only story for a few more chapters. I have a few more ideas in order to set the tone for my post-Winter Soldier fic. And then comes that fic...(and BUCKY! and Sam! But mostly, BUCKY!)

I'm really excited. ;)

In the meantime, if you haven't been keeping up with "Lookin' At Life," I would encourage you to do so, since that's where I'll be posting. My next story will be entitled "Never Meant For You To Fix Yourself" and should be up within the next couple weeks. I also might post a standalone story called "I Will Always Return" but it might end up as a part of "Lookin' At Life." I'm still debating.

Keep your eye out for new postings. Thanks once more to all those who stayed with this story. And, one last time, reviews are wonderful things!

~theoriginalbookthief07