Chapter Text
The Bifrost was a wonder known throughout the nine realms even to ignorant Midgard who were unaware of the higher powers that operated around them. To the mortals the Bifrost as a natural phenomenon that could be seen by their limited vision only at the extremes of their planet. The bridge set off a rainbow light that melted into the pinpricks of light the stars created in their slow rivers amid the blackness of the void. It created an oddly mesmerising vision that was only slightly blurred by the tears in Loki's eyes. They slid down her cheeks and landed on the bridge, shattering into hundreds of tiny rainbow shards.
Standing at the very edge of the Rainbow Bridge was strangely exhilarating. It was like flying, magic singing in her veins and the exact moment that sapphire blue crept up her arm from the icy grip of a Jotun. This brink between life and death was both the peak and the rock bottom of her entire existence.
The bridge trembled with the heavy steps of Heimdall. The watcher was approaching her from his observatory, jogging to her spot in the centre of the bridge between the observatory and the gates of Asgard. She spared him but a glance before returning her gaze to the void below. Most considered the void to be complete nothingless, a death devoid of the glory of Valhalla but then there were those who saw it as a gateway to other worlds that they hadn't previously encountered.
Personally Loki didn't believe either of these theories. She believed that the Rainbow Bridge simply spanned a portion of space akin to a bridge across a ravine. The space below the Bifrost was merely a ravine that they hadn't yet navigated however it would still fulfil the purpose she intended. She wondered what they would say about her death. Would they say that the Princess had fallen from the bridge or would they admit that the least loved of the royal family had jumped, ashamed of the truth of her birth? For it was a shameful birth. A Jotun in the house of Odin, stolen from a temple where she had been abandoned and raised amongst them as some kind of war prize unbeknownst to herself and the Aesir.
Her heart was hammering and the cool breeze that ruffled her long black hair and caused her long green skirt to swish around her legs. Sweat was cooling on her face but it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered. Not anymore. She wasn't the daughter of Frigga and Odin. She wasn't Thor's sister, she wasn't his baby sister. Not really. Heimdall was getting closer. She could hear him calling for her, yelling her name in his deep monotonous voice. Loki ignored him, Heimdall would have known the truth from the start, known that any trips to Jotunheim could be disastrous, he knew and did nothing.
Loki took a deep breath and time seemed to stand still. In the space between heartbeats Loki stepped off the edge of the glowing rainbow bridge that had been visible from her window since she was in the cradle and soared into the endless void below. It was the best and worst moment of her life.
oOo
Loki opened her eyes. Her heart was thudding faster with every heaving breath she took. Her head was tingling and it felt as though her every hair was electrified while the tears running down her face were searing her skin. Why was she awake? She was most definitely still alive that was certain. Loki knew every afterlife and this was none of them.
She was lying in a field of long grass before a vast forest that looked simultaneously inviting and intimidating. As she pushed herself up to her knees, the split in the sides of her dress fell aside so her brown leggings and boots slid out, the green fabric of her dress pooling between her legs she vaguely realised she was sobbing, great heaving sobs that shook her right down to the core. Her hands were grasping at nothing in the air before her but finally managed to tangle in her own hair and, using that as an anchor she managed to thread her fingers through the gold woven strands and pull hard. It hurt. Loki barely noticed.
It felt as though she wasn't in her own skin, like another being had slipped inside and was controlling her movements while she watched, helpless, from the background. It took her a long time to realise that the terrible, high, piercing scream that sounded as though it was from a terribly wounded and tortured animal was being torn from her own throat.
oOo
Thor was perhaps one of the few in Asgard who believed that Princess Loki was still alive. After returning from his banishment on Midgard the news of his sister's apparent demise had hit him hard especially following the betrayal of Amora, the enchantress who had been a part of the court for centuries and who he had believed was a loyal friend. He had begged his mother, father and Heimdall all for news of her but both his parents believed that she had thrown herself from the bridge once their families deepest secret had been revealed. Heimdall however had confided in him that he believed Loki still lived. She was however blurred from his sight as though she had fallen into another world like many believed the void led to. The news had warmed his mother's heart, Thor knew but his father had frowned as though the news troubled him.
The main problem that Thor could see however was that he had no way to find his sister. Heimdall couldn't see her clearly and had no idea where she was and there was no guarantee that simply leaping from the bridge as Loki had done would lead any to her. His friendship with his new Midgardian shield brothers and sister however had offered him a new chance at finding his sister. The Man of Iron and the Son of Banner were both formidably intelligent and once they heard his plight agreed to aid him in his quest to find his sister.
It had taken five years, five very, very long years but Tony Stark, Bruce Banner working together with several other brilliant scientists and magicians and Heimdall himself had managed to build a portal that would transport a number of people to the place that Heimdall was near certain that Loki had gone. The feeling of complete and utter triumph sung in Thor's veins as he stood before the portal that stood on the Bifrost site on Midgard beside his oldest and greatest friends, Sif and the Warriors Three. He was going to find his sister and at long last bring her home.
"Thank you my friends." Thor said to his Midgardian friends who stood around the portal, hands filled with strange electronic devices they were using to monitor the portal that was blossoming before their eyes. "I cannot thank you enough. Soon enough, thanks to your generous help I shall have my beloved sister once more and we will return her to our home, hale and hearty."
Tony smirked at him, a tug on his lips that was bordering on a genuine smile. "No worries Point Break. Can't have you moping all over my tower now can I?"
Thor laughed and turned to his oldest friends. "Thank you for accompanying me on this quest." they were all dressed in their armour and looked as fierce and determined as he himself felt.
"We would not abandon you on this venture." Hogan said sternly. "Loki is our princess too. She is dear to all of Asgard."
The others all nodded their agreement and Thor beamed. "Excellent! Now we go to rescue my sister from her terrible exile." they stepped forward together, as they had always done into the blue and purple spiralling abyss that was the portal contained within the huge metal circular doorway and Thor's vision whited out.
When he came to he was sprawled in the midst of a thick forest that had to be at least a millennia old. He scrambled to his feet, hammer in hand and spun in tight circles, trying to get his bearings. Sif was lying on a pile of dead leaves but there was no sign of the Warriors Three. Forcing himself not to panic, Thor pressed a finger to the device that Banner had inserted in his ear and to his great relief it beeped and Tony's voice could be heard albeit crackly and at times indistinct.
"Thor? Thor Buddy? You alright?"
"I am well." he panted, kneeling beside Sif to feel for the heartbeat in her neck. "As is Sif. We were merely knocked into unconsciousness. The Warriors Three are not with us however."
"Yeah they didn't make it through the portal. They're still with us."
"Very well." Thor replied as Sif began to stir beside him. "Sif and I shall venture on alone."
"We can keep the portal open for one week." the voice cut out for a few tense seconds before Tony's voice returned. "The voice feed will only operate near the portal and you need to bear in mind that time may travel differently in both worlds so I advise you get back ASAP. Good luck."
"Thank you, Anthony Stark. I am indebted to you." there was a faint crackle and then silence. "We are on our own." he told Sif who had managed to get groggily to her feel and scrutinise their forest surroundings.
"We shall be fine." Sif told him firmly. "We just need to seek out Loki and bring her back here." she took out her knife and scored a deep X in the trees surrounding the faint shimmering air that indicated this side of the portal. "Come. We do not have time to waste."
They walked for hours, following the midday sun and were just about to call a break when a creaking overhead made them both pause and look around closely. There was a rustling in the trees around them and it was only when they looked up that they saw the danger. There were figures perched soundlessly in the humungous trees and they were approaching swiftly. Sif made to draw her weapon but Thor stilled her hand. He secured his hammer to his belt and held his hands up to show their lack of weapon. He hoped that sign was universal.
It only seemed to take a matter of seconds before the fleet footed beings had surrounded them and had their bows poised to fire at any false move. They were all tall and slim and incredibly fair. They each had long braided hair and pointed ears protruding from them and it was obvious that they were some kind of elf but they were not any kind that either Thor or Sif had ever seen. The leader of the party stepped forward, bow slung across his chest but two long hunting knives sat easily in his hands as he moved, long sinewy movements that seemed to be constant for all elves. He spoke in a sharp voice but neither Sif nor Thor could understand him.
"I apologise for intruding on your lands." Thor said carefully, valiantly trying to recall all the lessons on courtesy he had ever been taught. "Myself and my companion are simply looking for my sister."
The leader froze, staring at him curiously, a bird-like tilt to his head. It was clear that neither of them understood the other's language…but did this elf recognise his words? The elf glanced around at his fellows several of whom nodded almost imperceptivity before they turned back to Thor and gestured for them to follow. Thor stepped after him cautiously, feeling Sif treading carefully behind him. Being surrounded by these beautiful ethereal creatures was eerie and creepy and oddly reminded him of Loki when she was striding through the halls of Asgard, long dress framing her lithe frame and long hair floating behind her. He was reminded of Loki at her most graceful.
The elves refused to respond to any more of his questioning but he did notice that there was a ripple through them when he mentioned Loki's name. Sif noticed it too if the hand gipping his arm was any indication but neither of them said anything. They were led through the forest in complete silence, the only noise being the thudding of Thor and Sif's boots on the ground, the elves seemed to make no noise at all. Thor was surprised they hadn't unarmed or even bound them. This was the elves forest after all and they were trespassing here. The elves had every right to strip them of their weapons and vision and lead them blindly.
Apparently Sif was thinking the same thing as Thor. "Why haven't they taken our weapons?" she hissed. "Why aren't we being treated as trespassers? We are trespassing."
Thor shook his head. "I do not know. Do you think they...may know of Loki?" Sif just shrugged, scowling at the elf who prodded her sharply in the back with a knife.
By the time they reached the tall gates both Thor and Sif were tired and aching neither of which seemed to have affected the elves that were escorting them. The gates were opened after the guards spoke with the leader of their party and Thor and Sif were let through the huge gates with nought but an odd look. This behaviour was incredibly strange and not half off-putting but neither Thor nor Sif had the inclination to cause a fuss once they entered the gates.
It seemed as though the entire kingdom had been sequestered into the caves of the ground that were so ancient that gigantic trees had been allowed to grow from their depths and then so high that their canopy was barely visible except as a dark mass that flickered with sunlight as the trees moved in the wind. Sunlight entered the canopy and shone down onto their party where they walked over high paths that, upon further inspection, proved to be lower branches of the trees merging seamlessly with rock.
Thor and Sif were led through the strange kingdom to what appeared to be the centre and the equivalent of a throne room. The path narrowed for the space of a short flight of stairs and then opened up into a wide almost circular space which held little except a narrow set of stairs leading to a tall and impressive wooden throne that was winged with two huge moose antlers. It was even more impressive that Odin's throne room, Thor had to admit as much as it galled him. It wasn't as opulent as his father's but the throne room of this Elven King was far more impressive and intimidating in the sheer dominating qualities of nature.
Thor and Sif were pushed before the throne and the King who sat upon the throne stared down at them with intelligent and impassive blue eyes. The elf had long hair that was so blonde it almost looked like liquid moonlight. It hung long over his shoulders and his crown encircled his head from temple to temple. It was, like his throne, demonstrating the power of nature, long twigs poking up over his head and garlanded with small white flowers that looked somewhat like poisonous ones on Asgard. He wore long dark red robes over leggings and a tunic and his legs were crossed as he reclined lazily in his seat.
The lead elf bowed swiftly and spoke quickly to the King in their strange liquid language and something said must have piqued his interest because he sat up from his reclining pose and fixed Thor and Sif with a piercing gaze. He replied to the guard and his voice was smooth and musical and regal. He waved a hand and all the guards seemed to vanish after one more short command. Thor opened his mouth to speak but a single look from the King had his mouth shutting with a sharp click.
"Thor Odinson. I am Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm." The King said languidly settling back into his throne and it was then that Thor noticed the second slightly smaller throne that was situated beside the King's it didn't have moose antlers but rather long curving deer antlers that stood straight up from the chair instead of out to the side like the King's. Was that the seat of his Queen?
"You know me?" Thor asked, surprised.
"Not personally." Thranduil replied. "I do however know of you. A great deal in fact."
Sif stepped forward and it was so, so close to threatening. Thor hastily pulled her back before she could move too far and the King smiled nastily. "How do you know our language?" Sif demanded.
An elegant dark eyebrow rose slowly and Sif stepped back a few steps, head sinking slightly. "It was taught to me by one who left your world for ours long ago."
"Loki." Thor gasped, throwing caution to the wind and moving forward until he was right at the base of the stairs leading to the two thrones. "Please, Your Majesty, do you know my sister? Is she well? Is she safe?"
"Yes." Thranduil replied with a smirk quirking his thin lips. "The Lady Loki is well known to me."
Thor sagged in relief but before he could continue speaking footsteps behind him made him turn. Another elf was approaching, tall and elegant as the rest of their kind, his face was clearly Thranduil's but he had long black hair braided back from his face and woven around a crown similar to but a lot less elaborate then Thranduil's own. He was young but definitely in adulthood and his sharp blue eyes glanced over the guests but otherwise ignored them, striding past to bow at the foot of the throne and then venture up when the King beckoned. They spoke softly in their elven tongue but switched to what Thor assumed must be the Alltongue that Loki taught them.
"This is Calithilon, my eldest son. Ion nin, this is Thor Odinson and the Lady Sif." the words seemed to hold a hidden power for the younger elf stared at them with something akin to astonishment on his face before he turned back to his father who nodded slightly. "Fetch your Naneth, ion. She will want to greet our visitors."
The prince nodded, looking only slightly distracted. "Yes Adar." he turned and strode back past Thor and Sif and there was something familiar about that hair…
"King Thranduil, my sister, please." Thor said, trying not to beg but he knew his voice was beginning to take on a pleading tone. "She is very dear to me and I haven't seen her in many years, please is she alright?"
"She is quite alright." Thranduil assured him softly and he rose steadily from his throne but didn't descend the stairs. He just stood watching them until they both gave in and fidgeted uncomfortably. It was a tactic he was familiar with from several royal courts but this was different. Thranduil's eyes were like shards of ice, boring into their souls, digging out their secrets and their every thought. The spell wasn't broken until the faintest sounds of footsteps were heard and Thranduil swiftly descended the stairs, sweeping past them to greet what appeared to be his family. The boy, Calithilon was leading another young elf, almost his twin in appearance yet his hair was far lighter, a pale brown and his green eyes were warmer than his father or brother's. Thranduil's queen was tall and fair, her dark hair was mostly unbound bar a few long braids which hung loosely in her tresses bound with golden threads. She wore a green dress in the gossamer fabrics the elves seemed to favour and she had an infant on her hip whose hair was as pale as his father's.
The Queen paused when she caught sight of Thor and Sif but glided past them to greet her King. Thor was speechless. There was no way this was possible, there was no possible way. The Queen stroked her hand down Thranduil's cheek and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. Thranduil in turn, enfolded her in his arms and the child between them stared at Thor over his mother's shoulder and sucked absently on a braided lock of her hair.
"Loki?" Sif asked when it became apparent that Thor had been rendered speechless. "Loki is that you, Princess?"
Loki bristled and turned, pulling away from Thranduil and it was definitely Loki, no one else could fix Thor with so poisonous a glare. "Queen." she corrected imperiously. "I am the Queen of this realm."
"My apologies." Sif muttered and Loki sneered as though she doubted it.
"Loki." Thor breathed. "Sister, I have been searching for you, I worried and I feared for you." he moved forward, hands outstretched but Loki pulled away from him.
"You should have saved your strength." she said softly. "I had no desire to be found." she turned back to her husband and they spoke again in that strange fluid language. When Loki turned back to them she fixed them with a hard stare while gently tugging her hair from the child's mouth. "Come. I shall show you to a room where you can rest." she beckoned vaguely and slid her free hand into the arm of the middle child who led them away, glancing back at his father and elder brother only once before Loki spoke to him softly in their language. They spoke quietly, the infant on his sister's hip babbling softly to himself and playing with his mother's hair once more.
The rooms they were given were large and pleasant, warm sunlight filtering through the windows and a fire crackling in a circular pit in the centre of the room. Loki sat on a long cushioned bench and placed the child down on the floor. He sat at his mother's feet but didn't venture away from her, suddenly shy at Thor and Sif's presence. Loki smiled fondly down at the boy who had her skirt fisted in his tiny hands as Thor sat heavily on a similarly padded seat opposite his sister, the seat he had wanted to take beside her suddenly occupied by the other boy whose chestnut hair fell around him like a curtain.
"How long have you been here?" Sif asked eventually looking from Loki to the two elves who seemed content to let Loki do the talking. Loki eyed them suspiciously but still answered.
"Several thousand years I believe." she answered nonchalantly. "How long has it been for you?" she asked while they gaped.
"A mere five years." Thor breathed. "Are these your children?"
She nodded looking rather proud of herself. "Yes. You met Calithilon my eldest and this is Thínor." she stroked a hand over the older boy's light hair. "My evening star." she smirked as Thínor blushed to the tips of his pointed ears.
"Nana." he protested softly.
"Oh hush, darling. Your Nana likes to tease."
"I know." he muttered sullenly.
Loki laughed and leaned down to kiss the infant's head when he pulled himself up on wobbly legs using her skirt to balance. "And this is my little green leaf, my Legolas." the boy grinned as his mother spoke his name and Thor couldn't help smiling back. "Boys this is your Uncle Thor."
"And the Lady Sif." Thor added when Loki made no move to introduce her. Loki and Sif had never really seen eye to eye but they had been nothing but civil in his presence before. "Mother has missed you greatly."
Loki looked pained. "I regret causing her undue grief but I do not regret remaining here."
"Do you mean to say you could have returned?" Sif demanded, leaping angrily to her feet.
Thínor shifted slightly beside Loki as though ready to go to her defence and Loki called up a ball of green flame in her palm as a warning. Thor pulled Sif back down but fixed his sister with a steely look. "Sister? Is this true? Did you have a way of returning to us?"
Loki didn't look ashamed as she nodded, in fact she looked rather smug banishing the fire with a flick of her wrist. "Yes. It is true. I discovered the way back to your universe shortly after Calithilon's birth. By that time I had been here for hundreds of years, I was married to my husband and I had my first suckling babe. I found a happiness here that I never had with you. I will not return with you Thor."
Thor's face fell. "But sister, surely you wish to return home? Home to mother and father and Asgard? The people miss their princess!"
Loki barked a harsh laugh. "I doubt that very much. It was little secret you were the favourite and that I was the strange princess who wielded sedir like a weapon and spoke with a silver tongue. Odin is not my father, I'm sure he had told you by now. My true parents were robbed of me when Odin stole me from my homeland and he never claimed to love me. As to returning home, I am home. I feel more at home in the Greenwood than I ever did in Asgard and I have a family here, Thor and the people here love their queen far more than the Aesir loved their princess." She leaned forward, green eyes hard and serious. "Would you ask me to leave those whom I love and who love me unconditionally?" Thor looked conflicted still and Loki sighed irritably as his blue eyes flicked from her to Thínor who looked fearful at the thought of his mother's departure.
"I just want my sister back." he said helplessly, blinking away tears.
"I would be leaving in any case." she reminded him harshly. "Do you really believe Odin would have waited much longer to have me married off to a suitable husband?" Thor frowned but didn't argue. "Here I have a husband whom I chose, beautiful children that I bore him and a life where I am happy at long last. Would you take that from me?"
Thor was staring down at his hands, trying furiously not to let the tears breech the barrier of his lashes and didn't answer. Loki scooped Legolas from the floor and tucked him back into her arms before standing, Thínor surging to his feel beside her looking relieved. "Wash and rest." Loki instructed. "You shall join us for the evening meal. Someone will be sent to fetch you." with that Loki strode from the room, dress fluttering behind her and second son walking briskly at her side.
oOo
Sif and Thor made themselves presentable in silence and then sat by the fire, gazing into its depths while they waited for their escort. "What should I do, Sif?" Thor croaked, eyes slightly red and face desolate. "Should I allow her to stay here in this, this forest?"
Sif sniffed irritably and tossed her head sharply. "I do not think you should be allowing her to do anything. She is your sister not your possession." Thor nodded guiltily. "I have never seen Loki so happy." Sif continued in a softer voice. "She loves that elf and their children. If you take her from them I believe that Loki will slaughter you."
"I miss her." Thor whispered brokenly. "She is my little sister and I failed her."
"She is not your sister." Sif said not unkindly. "Not anymore. She is not Loki Odindottir nor is she Loki Laufeydottir. She is Loki Queen of this realm. She is Loki, wife to Thranduil and she is Loki, mother to Calithilon, Thínor and Legolas." Sif's eyes were hard but kind as she lay a hand on Thor's thick arm. "Loki belongs here more than she ever did in our own universe. She will not come home with us and I for one will not make her." The 'and nor will you' was an unspoken.
"Do you think I should be allowed to visit?" Thor breathed into the silence.
Sif shrugged. "I do not know. Loki may be privy to allowing you visitation however time travels differently between our worlds. A mere five years in our home was a thousand times that here. Her life will change greatly in the time it takes for us to blink. It may perhaps be kinder to part ways with naught but fond memories."
Thor nodded and they lapsed once more into silence. "Naneth spoke of you often." Calithilon said when Thor opened to door to reveal his nephew as their guide.
"I imagine it was colourful." Sif said wryly as Thor bristled.
Calithilon shrugged, a small smile on his face. "She often told me you were a fool."
Thor couldn't make himself find offence. It was a truly Loki thing to do, tell her children of the idiocy of their uncle. "Is your mother, your-your Naneth…is she happy here?"
Calithilon turned to look at him, his father's eyes softer in his younger face and when he smiled it was Loki looking back at him. "Yes. She is happy here." he darted elegantly up a flight of stairs, the grace of the movement leaving Thor feeling particularly graceless. "Adar says she was…damaged when she first arrived here but she was certainly recovered and happy by the time that they married."
"Damaged?" Thor asked, shocked. "Damaged how?"
Calithilon shook his head slowly, his dark hair shifting down his back. "That is not for me to say. You shall have to ask her yourself."
They entered a small hall that was apparently the royal family's personal dining room. It held a long table but only one end had places set. Thranduil had removed his crown and he sat at the head of the table with the infant Legolas on his lap, the elfling playing with his father's long hair, spellbound. Loki sat to her husband's left, their hands entwined on the tabletop and they spoke softly in their elven language while Thínor sat to Loki's other side a book open in his lap.
Loki and Thranduil looked up when the doors opened and while Loki smiled and greeted their eldest son, Thranduil stared at Thor and Sif with unforgiving eyes, readjusting his hand within Loki's in a no doubt deliberate move to draw the eye. Calithilon took his seat at his father's right hand and Thor and Sif sat together at the Crown Prince's side. "That is a familiar sight." Thor said nodding to Thínor who sat opposite him. "You would read at the table too, sister."
Loki smiled slightly, smoothing a hand over Thínor's hair and gently plucking the book from his hands, slipping a leaf between the pages and handing it to a nearby servant who took it with a small tinkling laugh. "But see, I encourage my children's desire to learn rather than taunting them." Thor's smile dropped suddenly. "Thínor does not have his father taking his books so he may do something he detests nor do his brothers take his books and use them for kindling."
Thor and Sif both looked down at their silver plates, feeling ashamed at how they had treated Loki as children. "Apologies." Thor murmured but Loki waved it away with a more genuine smile than any previously bestowed upon him.
"It matters not." she plucked Legolas from Thranduil's lap and placed him carefully into a chair between hers and her husband's that was taller so that the child would be at the same height as themselves. There was already a filled plate on the small table which served to hold the baby in place. Legolas immediately began to eat but everyone else waited before Thranduil reached for some fruit to place upon his plate to begin eating their own food.
It was a pleasant meal all in all. Thor made idle conversation with his sister and brother-in-law and his nephews while Sif remained, for the most part, silent, only speaking if first prompted. By the time it was over Thor was convinced of his sister's happiness in this realm. Thranduil looked at his sister the way that Volstagg looked at his wife, as though she hung the stars and moon and even their beauty had no compare to her. He did not doubt that this Elvenking loved Loki with all his heart and Loki had told him plainly that she loved the man she married. Their children were beautiful and intelligent and loved. After the meal, Legolas and Thínor were sent away with a nanny after bidding their parents, uncle and Sif a goodnight despite Thínor's clear irritation at being treated like a child. Thranduil watched his wife carefully for several long moments before he nodded to her and kissed her sweetly on the mouth with a few more murmured elven words. At his mother's indication Calithilon followed after his father but not before he allowed Loki to kiss his forehead and adjust his long dark hair, the exact copy of her own.
Loki stood from the table, regal and elegant as ever and taking his cue, Thor stood also and offered his arm to his sister who took it was a small smirk, a large contrast to the last time Thor had offered his arm when Loki had snarled and slashed at the offending arm with a dagger. They walked together through the beautiful kingdom with Sif following at a respectable distance and under no illusion who was really leading who.
"Thank you for your loyalty, Thor. I could never ask for a more loving brother."
Thor nudged his sister playfully, relishing the very familiar scowl he received in return. "I love you, my sister, I want nothing but your happiness. I had to see that you were well."
"And have you?"
Thor frowned, looking down at Loki's dark head, the golden braids sparkling amid the ebony mass. "Yes." he admitted softly. "You are very happy here. I did not want to see it but you are far happier here than you were in Asgard."
She nodded, smiling up at him and he again marvelled at the difference between them. The sun prince and the princess of the moon they were often called. Loki had always been pale, made even more so by her long black hair but Thor had never noticed how close to sickly she had been before now when there was a healthy flush in her cheeks and her green eyes sparkled with a happiness that had only been rare in their youth. This place had been good to her like Asgard had never been.
It took Thor too long to realise that Loki was leading them back toward the entrance of the kingdom. "Are you asking us to leave, Loki?" he asked pointedly.
She smirked at him with hard eyes. "Yes." she said bluntly. "I realise you agree that it I am happy and safe here but I would like you to leave please. You, unlike me do not belong here and if five thousand years have passed in the time for a simple five to pass for you then you do not have time to waste. How long in your universe would have lapsed in the hours you spent here?"
That thought had not occurred to Thor but must have crossed Sif's mind for when he twisted to look at her she looked unsurprised and her jaw was clenched tightly. "I can send you home." Loki promised him. She paused looking conflicted before she spoke again. "I can also set up another portal for you to use but it will only work once. Just the one trip back here and then back to your world. A. Single. Round. Trip. That is all."
Thor nodded but Sif was the one who questioned it. "Why? I thought you were happy here."
Loki rolled her eyes and for a moment Thor thought she wouldn't deign to answer. "I am happy here. I can scarcely believe how happy I am here. No, for Mother. I know Mother will not let this lie and it is dangerous to traverse the universe unprepared. Also if it takes you another five thousand years to make the connection, assuming it is the right one could prove catastrophic. I need to talk to her…and maybe Odin. I need the closure."
Thor nodded his agreement, reluctant as it was as they reached the gates. Loki stepped forward to speak with the guards, the strange fluid language slipping easily from her tongue. The guard smiled at her and nodded, bowing elegantly and the respect on his face as he looked at his queen was absolute. Thor could see now what Loki had meant when she said that the people of this kingdom loved her while his own people scorned her behind their hands.
The trio walked through the woods and it seemed to take no time at all for them to reach the place where Sif had marked a circle of trees. The shimmering curtain of magic was gone now but Loki reopened it with a wave of green sparks and several softly spoken words in an oddly guttural voice. "How did you know how to find this place?" Sif asked and even to Thor she sounded suspicious.
"I have been in this forest for centuries." Loki said calmly, giving no sign she had sensed the other woman's misgivings. "The elves here can understand nature to an amazing degree. They taught me long ago. The trees were in pain from where you slashed them." Loki lay a gentle hand on the trunk of the closest tree and the x that was seeping amber sap closed steadily.
Loki turned back to Thor and smiled beautifully at him. "Goodbye Thor." she said and she didn't sound sombre. "I imagine it will be many years before I see you again."
Thor surged forward to pull her into his arms hugging her tightly against him and trying to memorise the feel of her in his arms, the scent of his sister that had changed dramatically over the years. "I shall move as swiftly as possible." He promised. "I shall not abandon you again." Loki just smiled and stepped back, waving regally at the portal. Sif stepped forward first and she and Loki nodded curtly to each other. Neither would miss the other. Once she had gone, Loki took Thor's arm before he could follow.
"Only you and Sif could enter the portal because it was degenerating on my end." she explained hurriedly. "I estimate that by the time a month of your time has passed the same will begin to happen once more. I have strengthened it but do not try for any more than four or five people."
Thor nodded his understanding and Loki released him. "Goodbye." they said together and Thor's last look at his baby sister before the swirling colours of the portal took him once more was of her standing in a copse of trees under the light of the stars, clad in a green dress that made her seem altogether otherworldly and looking every inch the queen she was born to be.