A Mother's Faith
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but they own my emotions. These stories are the effects of my post-Thor: The Dark World viewing. Enjoy and do let me know what you think.
"It is because I worry about you that you have survived."
Frigga would never take credit for all Odin's victories that had been of her making. She was not that kind of a person. She did not require validation or even acknowledgment of her contributions to her family's glory. She was content to see them happy.
Loki could never understand this though for years he had tried to see things her way. He had tried, if only for her sake, to look beyond Odin and Thor's inadequacies and accept that though they sometimes hurt him with their neglect, it was never done intentionally.
"Do not hold on to grudges or petty offenses," Frigga often told him, "they will only weigh you down. Allow yourself and others the benefit of the doubt, the freedom from resentment and you will be happier for it."
So, to humor her, he tried to follow her advice. And sometimes, it had even worked.
In those days, Loki could forgive Thor for his insensitivity because for all his arrogance and occasional stupidity, Thor always meant well.
Odin was a greater challenge since he was considered one of the wisest kings in the realms. It baffled Loki at the time how a king so supposedly wise could fail to see the wedge he was driving between his two sons. Or perhaps he could see it but persisted in the unequal treatment for some unfathomable reason of his own.
Then the truth came out and even Loki's affection for Frigga could not prevent him from giving full weight to all the years of neglect and deceit. He was done being the meek martyr his mother wanted him to be.
And when she spoke to him in his cell, she implored him to admit the error of his ways.
"Like a true king," she had said.
He would only believe such words from her because he knew that though she was party to the lie he had been fed all his life, she was also the only person who could still see a king in him.
But he refused to oblige her this time because clinging to resentment and rage was all he had.
"Accept that justice has been shown to you," she counseled him, "and you will be the happier for it."
"Satisfaction is not in my nature," he replied coldly.
"And surrender is not in mine," she said purposefully, "I shall never give up on you, my son."