As the light of the day grew, warming my home as the time passed, I paced back and forth in my room. What if this was just a dream? I risked Odin seeing me and sending me back to earth, or worse. I hadn't heard of Thor being around Asgard for ages, so why would that change now? On the other hand, if it wasn't a dream, and Loki really was alive… Why had he not come for me? Even just to let me know that he was alright? Was the single kiss that he had given me only been for show? To throw me and everyone else off their best? There were too many questions for me to answer myself. I had to go speak with Odin.
I got dressed, my asgardian garb the perfect mix of protective and flattering. Placing my shortsword in its sheath, I left my house, and made my way up to the palace. On my way there, the bustle of the shining city made me smile. I could smell the fresh bread as I passed the market, the laughter of children echoing in the alleys as I climbed more and more stairs.
Walking into the palace was easier than I expected, as the crowd that was there to see the play was large enough to hide in. I approached the amphitheatre area, my heart racing faster and faster in my chest with every step I took. I pressed my way through the crowd, trying to squeeze my way to the front of the group. After many a "I'm sorry." and "Excuse me, please." I finally found my way to the edge.
Odin stood speaking with Thor, the actors from the play standing still in the background. My heart sank. It was wonderful to see Thor once more, but it seemed as if my vision of Loki had been in error.
Suddenly, Thor tossed Mjolnir out far over to the mountains, speaking to Odin in hushed tones. Grabbing Odin by the neck, he resummoned his hammer back, Mjolnir speeding through the air to return to Thor's hand. Odin became increasingly nervous, fighting to get away from Thor's grip. As the hammer re-entered the theatre, a familiar voice shouted.
"All right, I YIELD!" the voice yelled urgently. Odin stepped away from Thor, covered in shimmering green light that melted away to reveal the voice's true owner.
Loki.
As Loki stood facing away from me, I froze completely. A million and one emotions and thoughts fought for control of me, and I barely noticed as Skurge stepped through the crowd announcing Thor's arrival. Loki turned and angrily spoke to Skurge, my ears filled with the sound of my rushing pulse as I watched Loki reprimand the Bifrost keeper. My hearing slowly started to come back, and I stared intently at Loki, still frozen.
"Where's Odin?" Thor pressed, regaining Loki's attention.
"You just couldn't stay away, could you? Everything was fine without you. Asgard was prospering." Loki sighed, facing Thor once more. "Ask them."
"Where's Father? Did you kill him?" Thor said angrily, stepping closer to Loki.
"You had what you wanted. You had the independence you asked for." Loki stammered, walking backwards, away from Thor's intimidating steps. Thor backed Loki onto a chaise, resting his hammer on Loki's chest.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow. Okay." Loki said, raising his hands in surrender. "I know exactly where he is. I'll take you there."
"You had better." Thor said, removing the hammer from Loki's chest, allowing him to stand.
"Just give me a moment to arrange some things," Loki said, turning to walk away from Thor, "and then we can-"
He stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes fell on mine. His face paled, and I could see his eyes flood with the same emotion I had seen back on Svartalfheim. His lip twitched up into a smile for a fraction of a second, soon replaced with the deadpan look of astonishment. We both stood there, staring for an eternity at each other's face. I took one step towards him, my legs moving of their own accord. Loki didn't hesitate to close the distance between us. He stepped forwards quickly, his arms wrapped tightly around me, lifting me slightly off of the ground. I could feel the urgency in his embrace, the apology, the welcome, the feeling of home. Slowly, Loki put my feet back on the ground, but his hold never loosened. His fingers gripped the edge of my shoulders, and he pressed his face to the crook of my neck. I returned the embrace, all of my anger gone in that moment. I clutched at him, my fingers tightly gripping at his clothes as I pressed my face firmly into his chest. I felt all the weight and tension from the years apart begin to fade away the longer I stayed in Loki's arms.
"Gods, I have missed you." Loki whispered to me after a moment, his voice broken and soft. I could feel it rumble in his chest, and I felt tears sting my eyes at hearing his voice once more.
"And I you, Loki." I replied, a single grateful tear rolling down my cheek as I squeezed just a little tighter.
Backing away from his embrace for a moment to look into his eyes, I was briefly reminded of the last time I had seen them, back on Svartalfheim. That was more than enough to snap back my anger at his trickery, and I slapped him as hard as I could across the face.
"How could you?" I demanded, anger and sadness mixing in my broken voice. "How could you not tell me, tell anyone that you were alive? I spent YEARS thinking you dead."
"I suppose I deserve that." Loki grumbled, rubbing his jaw.
"Nice to see that you haven't lost any of your fire, (Y/N)." Thor said, smiling as he approached Loki and I.
"I can explain." Loki pleaded, "If you'll allow me to."
"It had better be the best explanation anyone's ever heard." I said, still upset. "You can explain on the way to get your father."
Loki nodded, speaking with someone quickly before magically changing his clothes and following Thor and I towards the bifrost.
"I'm sorry, (Y/N), I am truly sorry." Loki said as we walked, his voice lowered. "If I had any idea that you were here, I would have made myself known to you. All the same, I remained hidden from everyone so that Thanos might not find me. If anyone knew that it was me on the throne in Odin's stead, Thanos would have found out, and come to destroy both myself and Asgard."
"As far as excuses go," I sighed, accepting his reasoning. "That's not horrible. How did you even get back here?"
"You don't know?" he said, obviously surprised by my statement. "How could you not know? You did. You transported me here with the energy of the Tesseract."
"That's what happened?" I asked, "I passed out before you disappeared from Svartalfheim, I thought I might have accidentally sent you to Thanos in my despair."
"Well you didn't." Loki said. His eyes looked up and down my frame, longing painted across his face. He bit his lip for a moment, continuing. "I arrived safely here. I was able to get help, and eventually convinced Odin to take a vacation while I took over."
"How did you do that, brother?" Thor questioned, suspicion lacing his tone. "Or was it another one of your tricks?"
"I swear he didn't put up a fight." Loki insisted, and I punched his arm as we walked onto the Bifrost.
"Let us hope that father also shares your view of this." Thor sighed.