This is the final chapter.

Epilogue

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There were some things that Loki regretted.

For instance, that one time when he plucked an unripe, golden apple from one of Idun's many apple trees; she sharply smacked him upside the head and proceeded to give him a verbal beating, making him feel like a scolded child despite his age.

And there was this other time when he failed to be there for Hel. He had been too wrapped up in his own problems while his daughter was already miserable with his absence and his neglect. It brought her to the point where she wanted him dead.

There were many things that he regretted that came from being a god, living forever even when he sometimes thought he didn't deserve his eternal life, but Loki found that the worst of all regrets came from the ones that he could have changed.

For instance, there was Mayura.

He regretted many things about her—the time when he erased her memories for his own selfish reasons, the days they had lost when he left her once again. It was so easy, Loki thought, to forget that her days were limited, that he was not a god and just be Loki.

Then again, there were some things, he thought as he stared at the fragile and yet strong woman lying on the bed, could be lost in a moment.

It was the middle of July, where the summer heat was at its highest. The sky was clear with white clouds floating peacefully from high above his head. The summer breeze was cool and gentle against his skin, savouring it as he slightly tilted his head up with his green eyes closed.

He'd forgone his usual attire and replaced it with a light maroon shirt underneath a white polo shirt that had subtle swirls of yellow and grey flowers decorating the bottom half of the thin polo together with soft cotton pants and brown loafers.

The town seemed lively in the summer season. There were changes he noticed once he walked around the streets. An apartment complex occupied the lot where his mansion used to reside. The quiet café he used to frequently visit was now replaced by a busier family restaurant. Loki only looked on. He hadn't really visited Midgard just to sightsee. He only wanted to purchase a book trilogy, from the paper bag dangling in his fingers, and maybe drop a visit. It was long overdue for one.

He sensed her before he saw her. Sitting alone, she kept to herself as she busied herself with a tablet. Amongst everything, his eyes could not help but only see her. The ache he felt in his chest whenever he thought and looked at her was long gone, except for a dull feeling. It wasn't an empty feeling. It was a feeling of acceptance and of moving on.

He knew she felt the same too.

Almost blindly, his feet carried himself towards her as he entered the tea shop.

An old woman, with white hair tied in a bun and wearing a light yellow yukata, greeted him almost immediately.

"Table for one, sir?"

Loki lightly shook his head, his eyes darting towards the pink-haired woman sitting alone. "I'm here to see my friend over there." He unhurriedly gave her his order before making way towards his intended destination.

The place where she was sitting was a slightly elevated, open area where the view was the empty but the peaceful streets of the town, and anyone could feel the fresh air and breeze.

Gently putting the paper bag on the ground beside the low table after taking off his shoes, he made himself comfortable on the maroon cushioned seat.

"Ijyuin Mayura-san?"

He saw her look up as if she expected to encounter a fan who wanted an autograph, a smile ready on her face before she paused once she found out who was sitting across from her. She couldn't quite keep the shock from her face even if she tried, but it only made the god of mischief subtly trace her features with his eyes. She looked older, more mature. There was light make up on her face that highlighted her natural look and crimson eyes. The long, pink hair he liked to caress was shorter, up to her collarbone. She had on a plain, white dress with no jewellery except for the silver band on her left ring finger. She was a woman now, not a teenager. His heart skipped a beat. She looked lovelier than she did the last time he saw her.

She continued to gape at him like a fish out of water. Loki only chuckled at her expression.

"Loki…" she breathed his name. "You're here?"

Time seemed to stop then.

She slowly reached out a hand, almost hesitatingly, towards him. They stopped an inch away from his face for a second as if she was afraid he would suddenly disappear, before he felt her small hand finally touch him. He leaned his right cheek into it, a tender expression on his face that reflected in her eyes. Her wedding ring was cold against his warm skin but he ignored it as he settled his attention towards the stunned woman in front of him.

"Hi Mayura."

He heard her intake of breath but instead of the smile she would give, he felt the pain on his cheek where her touch turned into a painful pinch. She released her hold on his cheek before he could flinch away from her.

"Thirteen years. That's what took you so long to come and visit?" She asked but there was no anger in her voice.

Loki rubbed his cheek. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

Mayura was saved from replying back when a waitress came to deliver what Loki ordered. He gave his thanks, causing the younger girl to blush, stutter back her response and hurriedly walk away. Loki could see Mayura was holding back a snort.

The pink-haired woman leaned back a little while she stifled a smile. "So you're here to personally check up on me? And here I thought you already knew what was happening in my life." She teased.

"Contrary to belief, we gods don't always spy on humans from where we are. I wanted to see for myself how you are doing." He glanced at the ring resting on her knuckles. "And to see how married life is working out for you, Miss Mystery novelist. So what's he like?"

He didn't know what made him ask. He didn't feel jealous—well only a little bit. But maybe it was out of curiosity, of wanting to know what kind of man Mayura had chosen to spend her life with that prompted him to ask.

Smiling a little, Mayura let her eyes droop to cover her eyes, fingers absent-mindedly tapping the side of her tea cup. "He works as a college professor. He gave me a son that both of us love very much." She looked up at him. "Work is good, really good."

When he heard her say those words, he couldn't help but feel a bit lighter than he felt before he left for Midgard. It was a good feeling while he looked at the expression on her face.

"You're son," Loki started, leaning forward a bit, genuinely wanting to know about the little boy that Mayura gave birth to. "What's his name—"

"Okaa-chan!"

A blur of dark brown and white invaded his vision before a small figure launched itself unto the woman in front of him, causing a startled yelp from her. A shadow loomed over their table and Loki looked up to see a woman, wearing a yellow blouse and white pants. She looked at him with interest before she raised an eyebrow towards the pink-haired woman who was too busy landing butterfly kisses on the intruder.

The intruder was a little boy, a three year old little boy that was clinging to Mayura with the biggest smile on his face. A fluff of dark brown hair covered his head while he had his mother's eyes—eyes that looked at the woman across of him like she was his whole world. At that age, she would be.

She was his whole world too—once—a long time ago.

"Did we interrupt something?" She questioned Mayura while her inquisitive eyes did not leave the obvious foreigner beside the brown, low table. The question snapped him out of his trance. Loki quickly turned to the other woman.

"Loki." The god of mischief gave a nod of greeting to her. "I'm a… old friend of Mayura's."

"Are you now?" Her tone was sly. It made Mayura roll her eyes. "Well, I'm happy to meet one of Mayura's old friends she had not mentioned to me about. Morimoto Saki, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Pleasure is all mine, Morimoto-san." He let out a charming smile that Saki couldn't resist giving him one too.

"Saki is fine," the other woman gave a careless wave of her hand. "I would love to stay and chat but I need to get back to work. I only dropped the gaki off."

"Thank you again, Saki." Mayura said with a thankful smile.

"It was nothing. Maybe, next time, I can have the chance to have a chat with you, handsome." Saki turned back to Loki, pasting a flirty smile on her lips before she left the establishment like a whirlwind.

A snort came from the woman before him. "She already has a fiancée. Kami, she is such a flirt." She couldn't help but let out an amused sigh.

"Sa-chan's a flirt!" the three year old copied with a toothy smile that had Mayura giggle helplessly from her child's cuteness.

"She is!"

It was such a heart-warming scene by mother and son that he didn't want to interrupt. Loki continued to watch them silently until the pink-haired woman noticed his quiet observation. Nudging her son gently, Mayura turned her son to face Loki's direction, a small smile on her lips. The child watched him curiously as their eyes met.

"I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine. His name is Loki. He's the main character of Okaa-chan's book." Loki chuckled, not really surprised from Mayura's revelation, judging from the trilogy he bought that had his name in the title. "This is my son, Masaki."

"Hi Masaki." Loki leaned forward a bit, a welcoming smile on his lips.

"Okaa-chan told me a lot of stories about you." The child suddenly blurted out which caused the two adults to look at him in surprise.

Loki then threw a sly look to the woman in question and saw her blush. "Did she now?"

"Un!" Masaki nodded with enthusiasm. He too leaned forward as if to share a secret. Smiling with amusement and a twinkle in his eyes, the god of mischief indulged the little boy. "She said that you're a god and that I shouldn't tell anyone coz it's a secret."

He heard Mayura let out a laugh and Loki couldn't help but widen his smile, ruffling the boy's hair. "That's right. I'm glad to know that you're a good secret keeper like your mother." To which, he shot Mayura a look of amusement.

"You have cute kid, Mayura. Takes after the mother, I see."

"Don't worry. He inherited his father's smarts. He won't be growing up an idiot like I did back in the day." She laughed, wrapping an arm around Masaki's tiny shoulders.

He gave her a soft smile. "Would it have been bad if he grew up a lot like you?"

Mayura paused after giving some sweets to Masaki who happily dug in, already forgetting the two adults with him. She stared at her son for a second before turning to face him.

"No, it wouldn't. I'd want to see myself in him too." She started softly. "If things were different back then, I would have liked to see myself in the child we would have together too."

Those words had Loki transfixed and Mayura looked away as if she hadn't even said anything. There was a lovely smile upon her lips. And it was the smile that she had directed towards him a long time ago. He didn't think he would see it again. His chest tightened at the small happiness bubbling within him, knowing that even when they lived separate lives, she hadn't forgotten about him, just like he hadn't forgotten about her.

He glanced at the happy child sitting beside Mayura who giggled when said mother fed him a slice of the Japanese delicacy. His laughter left a soft smile on both their faces that Loki couldn't help but reach across the table in front of him to wipe away the crumbs on the boy's lower lips with his paper napkin. The little boy gave him a toothy smile before thanking him, and for a moment—just for a little moment—he couldn't help imagine he was the father instead and this was his son and Mayura was the mother of his child.

It was sudden but it wasn't a feeling he hated.

Mayura's beaming smile all the more made him feel light hearted and he didn't feel bad about imagining what he had pictured in his mind. He long accepted what was given to him. This was a moment, among the many he cherished, he'd think to himself that he wouldn't ever forget.

The breeze billowed in the distance, drifting through the branches and bringing a quiet swish of the trees and sunlight towards the earth, sweeping across the three of them. Shadows danced once more across the quiet streets outside the traditional tea shop.

The sky was blue and endless and brilliant, and Loki could only think of the future within these boundless skies.

The pink-haired woman looked up when she noticed that Loki quieted, confused by his sudden silence.

Loki watched her seriously, his green eyes suddenly unwavering and strong.

"Are you happy?"

Mayura halted from cleaning up her son's hands, and the silence stretched between the two as customers went in and the owner welcomed the newcomers with a joyful tone. The sky was endless, specks of white dotting the wide expanse of blue. Two birds chirped and glided through the summer wind.

Mayura smiled. The trees and leaves danced across the sunlight and brilliant patterns erupted over her skin and dress, and Loki's eyes softened.

"Yeah," Mayura whispered. "I'm happy."

And those were memories.

Of all the things in the world that Loki regretted, and of all the things he did not, there were things that stayed in his memory and things that slipped away.

He could still vividly picture that day in the tea shop, still remember that afternoon filled with nothing but tea, sweets, happiness, and the faint winds of summer. The woman in front of him was fragile and yet there was still a sort of strength emanating from her weary, old body. Her sickness continued plaguing her, but from the look on her face, Loki knew it didn't bother her one bit.

"It's my birthday today and you didn't get me anything?" A slight huff came from the woman supported by many pillows to keep her upright. A red shawl covered her frail shoulders and her white hair was neatly tied into a bun. Loki could see the lines and weariness and paleness of her face, showing him her old age and yet there was still the same twinkle in her crimson eyes that he had seen back when she'd been a teenager.

"I thought my presence would be enough and besides, you have an abundance of gifts to look forward to." Green eyes looked towards the right to see many gifts piled on top of each other.

"Well, at least some haven't forgotten the birthday of this poor, old woman." She let out a weak laugh and Loki chuckled with her.

With a sigh, she settled back comfortably as she gazed at the man who, even after half a century, still looked the same in his red coat and blue cravat.

"Thank you."

Loki stared at the woman who looked bone tired but still had that quiet determination to tell him words that should have been left unspoken.

"When you left, I wasn't angry. Sad yes, but never angry. Because back then, I wished we could have been together." She let out a tired sigh as she closed her eyes, but a small grin was on her face as she reminisced fondly on old memories of days long gone. "But if you hadn't left, I wouldn't have met my husband and my two lovely children. So in a way, I am grateful.

"I lived a good life. So thank you Loki, for coming to pay me a visit, one last time, on my birthday."

With that, she gave him a fond smile.

With her words, he couldn't help but swallow thickly as he felt the slight pressure in his chest, because in way, she was giving him a goodbye. Almost unseeingly, Loki slowly reached out a hand to gently cover hers, his thumb stroking her knuckles like a lover would.

There were many things that Loki regretted.

"I'm glad," He replied thickly. "To know despite everything, you had a good life Mayura."

He just wanted to know that, before she closed her eyes and never waking up again.

But he knew there were even more things he did not.

There was comfortable silence that settled between them when Loki decided to share something that he had always kept close to his heart.

"A long time ago…"

"Hm?"

"I had a dream once," he started with a soft voice that Mayura had to strain her ears to hear him. "I was holding a baby in my arms while taking deep breaths of sunshine filled air and basking in the sun with the baby."

He could still picture it in his mind—the scene where he held the baby gently in his arms as he sat on a rocking chair, under the shade of a tree and feeling a slight breeze rustling their hair and cooling their faces.

He felt her take hold of his hand that covered hers in a surprisingly strong and soft grip. Looking up, he saw her closed eyes and smile.

"It'd be nice, don't you think? If that really happened." Her whispered voice cut through the sombre haze that surrounded him as he stayed in her weakening presence.

Loki's eyes burned at the thought, together with the knowledge that she was leaving, and yet still continued to have that positive outlook in life.

Silently, he brought her hand up to let his cheek lean in to her palm as he closed his eyes and breathed.

"Yes, I think it would have been, Mayura."

To his answer, she never replied.

end