Summary: Ragnarok hits and the universe is reborn. Thor and Loki live on opposite ends of the earth as mortals, but they must find each other to fulfill their destinies as gods.

New Beginning:

It was as though nothing had ever changed. Everyone in the universe was just sort of, thrown back into existence. It was as though we'd finally completed a giant, double-sided puzzle, and just as we are about to put in the last piece, someone steps… no… jumps all over the puzzle, but not before flipping it over and showing us a brand new pattern that needs to be completed. The world was like that, a big, double-sided puzzle that had just been turned over and needed to be completed all over again…

. . .

"Thor!" A young man called across the street. It wasn't as hot as it usually was outside in sunny SoCal. The weather was surprisingly very, very nice. Slight breeze, not too hot, not too cool. Just right. The young man approached Thor as soon as the cars moved across the intersection. Thor held onto his surfboard and smiled at the young man.

"Hey there, Steve." Thor smiled. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled at the young man who was also holding a surfboard and smiling.

"Nice day to catch some waves." Steve said, not really to Thor or anyone in particular.

"I certainly hope so…" Thor said, "I just hope there are some today. You know, I came here straight from work? I practically threw on my suit and drove here as fast as I could. I didn't think there'd ever be a time where I didn't want to be at work."

"You say it almost as if it's a bad thing, Thor!" He laughed and ran a hand through his short, blond hair. "Hey, you know, Thor, I've been meaning to ask you, you know, since you work at a gym and all… How do you get that muscle right there?" Steve pointed to Thor's arm, a bulge between his biceps and his deltoid. "I lift weights but I can't ever seem to get my muscles in those places like you… Your parents were right to name you Thor. You have such a godlike body, man…"

Thor beamed proudly for a moment, he had to admit, he loved receiving such compliments on his body from people. He liked feeling… worshipped. Still, he practiced humility. "I wasn't born muscular, Steve." He chuckled. "I worked hard to get this big."

"Nah, Thor, you've definitely got some raw talent." Steve said through a smile. Thor didn't argue with him any further, there was no need. He couldn't argue with something he agreed with, though he'd never let Steve know he agreed. It was better to just feign being humble than to make himself seem as though he was, in fact, a god.

Though, the thought often crossed his mind. He loved the idea of people worshipping him, admiring his strength, and he wanted the responsibility of caring for people as a god would. He let the thoughts slip from his mind as he and Steve approached the boardwalk along Venice Beach. They passed some street performers, some beautiful women, some impatient puppies and they ran towards the water with great speed and excitement.

They were just two good friends, going to catch some waves together after a long, boring day at work.

. . . .

"Will you take me to see the horses tomorrow, Loki?" A young girl with brown hair, no older than five years old asked. She held the hand of a tall, lanky man with medium length, thick, jet black hair that was slicked back. His skin was pale and his eyes were a bright, vibrant shade of emerald green. They both wore their fall jackets, it was an unusually cold, dreary day in Germany. Not the usual weather for October. Loki smiled at the young girl he was attached to and he leaned down to eye level with her so he could adjust her hat and scarf.

"Only if your parents say it's okay, Hela." Loki responded. "We usually don't see the horses more than once a week." Loki looked at Hela's sad face. He secretly loved taking Hela to see the horses, it was a chance for them to bond over common interests. After all, Hela was his biological daughter. He didn't want to lose the bound they had, even if she didn't know he was her real father. "I'll talk to mommy and daddy, Hela, I'm sure they'll let me take you to see the horses. Sounds like a deal?"

He felt his heart leap when he saw his little girl's smile. It always brightened his most gloomy of days and he tried to keep himself from melting completely. Hela nodded and let go of Loki's hand to wrap her arms around his legs and hug him close.

"Yes please! Danke!" She exclaimed. Loki returned her hug and smiled back.

"Let's get you back to your parents now, Hela. I'm sure they're home now and wondering where we are." Loki grabbed Hela's hand tightly and began walking through the busy street with the child in tow.

.

Angrboda was upset. She was upset with Loki this time because he was out fifteen minutes longer than he said he'd be. It was making her upset because her husband would get angry with her that they could have stayed out longer if they'd known Loki wasn't going to return on time.

"You should have called, at least!" She yelled in English. It always threw Loki for a loop when she did that, but it was the only language they both spoke fluently that her husband wouldn't understand. Loki was out of practice with his English and it made him feel dumb to have to wait a few moments before responding to Angrboda because he'd have to find the words to say and translate them in his mind.

"I would have, but I didn't think it would be such a big deal!" Loki said. He didn't feel like yelling would be worth the cause. He decided to go with a calm demeanor and whatever wrath he'd receive for it, he would receive with open arms. He was in no mood to raise his voice and risk getting her husband angry with him.

"It's a big deal to me! You know I care about the safety of my daughter and I need to know where she is at all times!"

"That's bullshit." Loki scoffed. "You're just pissed because Mr. Partyman yelled at you for coming home early to meet me. I know you don't even care about Hela that much…. and she's MY daughter too!"

"That's pretty rich." Angrboda laughed, "Coming from the girl's real father who lives in another fucking continent and only sees his daughter maybe once or twice every three months!"

"Hey!" Loki yelled. "I'm staying for a whole week this time… so you have nothing to complain about."

"Mhm, right. Then when this week is up, what happens then? You know what will happen? You're going to go back to fucking India and you're going to go back to work, and then, you're going to forget about her."

"I'll never forget about Hela."

"You know what, I can't deal with this right now… Just get the hell out." Angrboda turned away from Loki and she pulled out a chair from under the kitchen table and sat down, holding her head in her hands, looking stressed. Loki let out a deep sigh.

"Alright." He said, and he finished in German. "But I promised Hela I'd take her to see the horses tomorrow. I'm not breaking that promise." And with that he turned around and stormed out of the kitchen, went to the closet in the hallway, grabbed his coat and left.

Neither Loki nor Angrboda noticed Hela was sitting on the steps in the foyer, listening to their conversation.

.

When Loki thought about it, when he really let his mind marinate on it, he truly didn't want to go back to India. He didn't care if that was where he was raised, if that was where he spent most of his life. That place wasn't home compared to being with his daughter, the apple of his eye. He and Angrboda had a strange relationship. They met in India, while she was on a business trip, he was the interpreter for an Indian government official, she was another German government official's assistant. When they learned each other's names, learned that they were both of Norse mythology, they felt there must be something more than coincidence. They didn't quite, "fall in love" it was more like, they sank in love. They face planted in love and sank deep into it. Or, so they thought. Loki didn't want to rush into a serious relationship, not off the bat, but Angrboda knew they didn't have much time together. They made love the one time and she left the next day.

They exchanged information and it turns out, six months later, after not having any contact since their coupling, Angrboda contacted Loki. Loki was excited, thinking she'd contacted him to get back together sometime, however, he was a little disappointed to hear that she was pregnant, and she'd fallen in love with someone else.

Loki agreed to visit Angrboda and their new child as often as he could. He wanted to stay in contact with his child as much as he was allowed. Angrboda would tell her new boyfriend that Loki was a cousin of hers and they were separated for a long time, him being in India, her being in Germany. It wasn't long after Hela was born that Angrboda and her new fiance decided to finally tie the knot in Germany. Her new husband decided he'd raise Hela as his own and there'd be no reason to tell Hela of her real father in India.

It tore Loki apart that she didn't even invite him to the wedding, or send him pictures of Hela when she was born. Loki was completely thrown out of the loop and he was forgotten for all he knew. He wasn't going to let his daughter forget him, not if he could prevent that from happening. He'd made a vow to do all he could to stay close to his daughter.

He wasn't looking forward to returning to India… But he guessed, he wouldn't mind seeing his parents and all his familiar faces once more when the time came.

. . . .

Thor was utterly exhausted. He and Steve were able to catch some waves, which was exciting, but wasn't the best part of the day. They spent the whole afternoon surfing and once they sun went down, they walked along the boardwalk for a little while, flirting with some girls and later went to some of the shops along the beach. They got dinner, shared some ice cream and had a great time in each other's company. Thor hadn't felt so relaxed in a long while now. It was nice to just hang out with a close friend and leave all of the stresses and worries of work behind.

Thor said goodbye to Steve as he hopped into his car. It was very, very late now, but Thor didn't care. It was Friday night and Thor didn't have to be at work until later in the afternoon. He could sleep in tomorrow and take his time getting to work.

He shoved his key in the ignition and began to drive home. Thor usually didn't listen to the radio while he was driving, he preferred to have either silence or his own music playing, but today he wanted a nice change. He turned on the radio and kept it at whatever the last station was that he played. It was the Top 40 Pop songs, which, he didn't mind. It wasn't his cup of tea, but he didn't quite hate it either. However, they were currently reciting some news for SoCal.

"Strange." Thor mumbled. "News? At this hour?"

"Southern California will be giving a warm welcome to Bollywood sensation, Abhilasha Abhay, who will be spending a month in California to better her English and hopefully be exposed to some good ol' fashioned, California sweetness!" The radiowoman said excitedly.

"I hear she's very beautiful, Pat. You think she'll be comfortable with all of our famous Hollywood stars?" An anchorman asked.

"You know, Rob, I am certain that my fellow Californians will show Abhilasha a great time!"

Thor snorted. He hoped that that would be true. The Californians that he's met in his lifetime of living in SoCal hasn't been anything to write home about, but he did hope that for the Bollywood star's sake, she'd have a good experience in California. He also hoped that of all the fitness centers in Southern California, she wouldn't pick his to go to. Though, the gym that Thor worked in was a very popular, elite fitness center. All sorts of celebrities go there, but Thor prayed that this woman would not go to his gym. He was getting so tired of the celebrities showing up and acting as though they owned the place. Getting in his face about minor things and making him work harder for something they could have easily done themselves.

Haha. No. He didn't want anymore extra work. Not this weekend, especially. He just wanted some time to himself this weekend.

.

Thor made it home in no time at all. He parked his car in the garage, opened the door to his house and thought about flopping down on the couch and watching a movie. But he was curious about the new celebrity who'd be visiting California. He, instead, went straight to his computer in his office and Googled, Bollywood star coming to Los Angeles. He got the results he wanted, there she was, Abhilasha Abhay, a very beautiful Indian woman with very long, thick, brown hair and the most gorgeous shade of bright, green eyes Thor had ever seen. She was lovely, but for some reason, her beauty paled compared to the man that stood in the background of the image. He wasn't special, just wore a suit and tie. His skin was pale and he also had a beautiful shade of green eyes. His hair was long-ish and black and it was slicked back from his head… This puzzled Thor, the man behind her didn't look Indian at all. In fact, he looked very European. Very white. Yet, the image was clearly taken in India, there were other Indian people in the picture, surrounding the woman, all looking like they were doing something busy. Yet, the man who stood behind her in the background of the image, he looked as though he were just standing there.

Thor was interested in this man and tried to figure out how he could find out who he was. However, his search was fruitless. All of his results came up with nothing. Thor sighed, that man in the picture probably wasn't anyone important anyway.

Thor was feeling tired, he closed the tabs in Chrome and sulked off to his bathroom to shower. The plan was to shower, throw on some pajamas and hit the sack. He'd have to figure out who that mysterious man in the picture was tomorrow… or any other day.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so I didn't want to post this until I was able to get a little further in my other story, (I'm Not) Crazy. However, I just had a dream and this plot bunny came up, and I'm sure it's been done before, but I wanted to try my hand at it. My dream was magnificent! If only I can get my story to be as magnificent as that dream.

So, you get the picture, Ragnarok happened and the universe is reborn, this was originally going to just be a Thor fanfic with none of the Avengers in it, but I really wanted to add the Avengers because they add so many different personalities to the story.

Anyway. Let me know what you think.

- Rawiyah