A/N: Just a quick note, Thor and Loki are very young at the beginning of this story, the equivalent to being 6-7 years old.

Also… the OC's name is pronounced "CAR-UH" not "CARE-UH". That's just the way I say it in my head :P

The Art of Dreaming Death

One-Shot

Gone were the days when the bad dreams that plagued Loki brought him running tearfully to Odin and Frigga's bedroom. He had been lectured once to many by Odin about how he was showing weakness, Frigga understood her husband was trying to get Loki to face his own fears and grow from that, but she also understood her son and knew that wouldn't happen.

Loki now turned to his older brother for comfort, especially when the dreams began featuring Thor. The first time it happened, Loki woke in a cold sweat when he had the dream; it unfolded with him in the cold, snow blowing around him obscuring his vision. His whole body was freezing, so much so that he couldn't move, as Thor appeared in the snow a ways away from him he tried calling out, but he had been rendered useless, he could do nothing to save his brother. Then there were red eyes appearing all around them, red blinking glowing eyes. Loki felt a suffocating fear, he wanted to be near Thor, he wanted to go to his brother's side and run away with him. But alas he was all but frozen solid, no part of his body could move. All he could do was scream soundlessly as the red eyes developed blue grotesquely tattooed bodies, Frost Giants.

It was then that Loki woke up shaking. He leapt out of his bed and walked across the hall to Thor's room. Opening the door and sneaking inside, he saw Thor was already sleeping.

"Thor, Thor wake up." Loki shook him. When Thor groaned and opened his eyes Loki felt relief wash over him, his brother was okay.

"Why in the Nine Realms are you waking me at this hour?" Thor asked.

"I had a dream…"

"Another one?"

"Yes, I needed to make sure you were okay." Loki's eyes were widened with fear and his hands still shook. "Can I stay?"

"Of course, " Thor made room for his little brother. Once Loki was settled beside him he said, "When will these dreams cease, they have hurt you enough I think."

"I know not," Loki sighed, "But I am quite sick of them."

"Well, brother, for your sake I hope they soon disappear." Thor gave his brother a smile, "Now, we must sleep."

"Yes, of course."

However, eventually even Thor ceased to comfort Loki when these dreams plagued his sleep. They grew up, they were adults now. Loki should not still be having nightmares, he was a grown man… and yet he still fell victim to watching those he loved fall prey to the Frost Giants.

This is where the story begins, how Cara managed to find herself comforting a fearful Loki one night, and how she realized the expanse of his feelings for her.

Cara was a visitor from Vanaheim, one gracing Asgard thanks to her connections to the Queen. Cara's mother had been a great friend of Frigga when she still resided in Vanaheim and remained so when Frigga left for Asgard. She had grown up with yearly visits to Asgard and therefore became great friends with the Princes. She had found herself on a visit when a wonderful offer had been made to her by the All-Father himself.

"We would like to extend an offer for you to be schooled here in Asgard for a way to continue the peacekeeping between our two realms." Odin gave her a rare smile.

Cara was grinning, "Yes, of course I will accept your kind offer."

It was the most wonderful experience; Cara woke early and was tutored until noon and then she would go to the training grounds to spar with the others. She soon grew curious of the younger Prince and his magic. She too knew magic, but only the basics, she wanted to excel as he did, so she asked for him to tutor her.

Loki scoffed, "One does not simply get tutored in magic. You have to be born with the ability."

Cara summoned her energy to her hands and allowed the green light to dance across her fingertips. "I can harness the energy, I have basic understanding; but I want to more proficient."

Now that Loki had seen her use magic he could no longer come up with an excuse to not train Cara. It was not as if he disliked her, he had just always figured she preferred Thor's company like everyone else.

This however wasn't true. The two of them clicked well, both silent and thoughtful workers. They often spent their evenings working in the library together; only speaking when Cara had to ask Loki to clarify a concept. Cara was a diligent student and soon found herself advancing in magic as well as her other studies. She was pleased when she wrote letters to her mother telling her of all she had learned.

Her planned year in Asgard was almost up, she would be returning back to Vanaheim in then next few months. She walked towards the library with sadness as she slowed her pace to observe the familiar paintings and tapestries that adorned the walls. She sat in her seat beside Loki with a sigh.

"What?" he asked not looking up from his book.

Cara smiled, "I'm going to miss Asgard."

This made Loki look up sharply, "You're leaving?"

"Loki, I have been here almost a year already." Cara laughed lightly.

"But you're coming back, right?" He furrowed his brow.

"I'm not sure. It depends what my parents have planned for me. Truthfully I'd like nothing more than to come back to Asgard and continue learning. But I do not know if they plan for me to marry…" Cara veered off.

Loki's frown deepened, "I would not like for you to marry and never come back." He did not say that he did not want her to leave ever, that would be saying too much.

She gave him a soft smile, "I would come back to visit."

He thought of her coming back to visit with her husband, a man who would prefer Thor's company because he too would probably be a warrior. Cara would tag along with the men and not visit with him, she would forget about him as her life progressed. Eventually she would have the other man's children and never come back to visit him because she would be far to busy, she would forget him altogether.

"What are you thinking, Loki?"

Her voice shook him from his reverie, and he acted on impulse. He brought his mouth to hers before either of them fully understood what he had done; however Loki was more than surprised when she returned the kiss. He brought his hands up to tangle them in her hair, eliciting a moan from her as he tugged gently at the golden locks.

"Loki," She groaned as he broke the kiss, but his mouth was already moving to her throat, he kissed down her neck, sucking at her pulse.

"Would you like to go elsewhere?" He asked, part of him was terrified that she would reject him.

But she eagerly nodded.

They ran through the halls like school children, pushing and stumbling against each other, pausing to give each other long deep kisses against walls in deserted corridors they knew no one used anymore. The two of them finally ended up in Loki's bedroom, completely unclothed and on his bed. It had passed in a blur of blind desire for Cara; she had never dreamed that Loki would return her feelings. Elated she was all but letting him have his complete way with her.

Hot kisses were lavished upon her body, every inch of her was screaming for him to take her. But Loki was smirking above her, a single finger was inserted and she couldn't help the yelp of pleasure that came from her lips.

"Loki, please. Do not tease me." She whispered fiercely.

"What is it exactly that you'd like, dear Cara?" He asked, his grin stretching.

She moaned louder as a second finger joined the first, he was slowly pumping them in and out of her, working a painfully slow rhythm.

Muttering something unintelligible Cara lifted her hips farther into his hand, hoping to relieve the dull ache his fingers were not sating.

"Pardon me, Darling, what was that?"

"I want you inside me." Cara panted.

"Just a tad louder."

She ground her teeth "I want you inside me!" She nearly shouted.

Loki quickly replaced his fingers, both of them groaning with relief and pleasure as he picked up a reasonable pace. Cara began lifting her hips to meet his, increasing both their pleasure.

Positions were changed, but both achieved their climax and Cara collapsed on top of Loki and placed her sweaty cheek against his equally sweaty chest. His arms wrapped around her and held her close.

"You cannot leave." Loki whispered fiercely.

She did not respond.

It was around a month after they had first slept together, sometimes they shared a bed, and sometimes they did not. Tonight was a night that they were sleeping in their own rooms and not for any particular reason.

Loki could feel it coming, when the nightmares came. It was usually due to some sort of trigger, whether it be lack of sleep or stress, but he lay down for bed anyways and waited to fall asleep.

No sooner had he fallen asleep did the nightmare pounce. It was always the same, but this one was different, usually all he could ever hear was the howling wind, but this time there was screaming. He was again surrounded by whirling snow, he couldn't move and felt utterly helpless when he saw who the subject of his dream was, Cara. She was thrashing in the snow, screaming and writhing in pain, crying out for him. He couldn't answer, no noise left his mouth, and his limbs were frozen still. The eyes appeared next, the burning red eyes, next came the bodies of the Frost Giants, and this is when he would wake up. But he didn't. He watched through the snow as a Giant reached for Cara, as soon as his blue hand grabbed her her screaming ceased and her body froze.

Loki woke terrified. Without a second thought he rushed to Cara's room, opened the door and let himself inside. She was under the blankets, and he felt his heart stop. One day his dream would come true and he would find someone dead. He walked to the edge of her bed and called to her. She didn't stir; finally Loki reached out and shook her, not gently either. Cara was jarred awake and looked around wildly before spotting Loki, she visibly relaxed when she saw him. Until she took in his appearance; he was standing over her looking uptight and worried. His eyes were wide with fear and unshed tears and he was paler than ever.

"Loki, are you alright. What's happened?" She asked hesitantly. What had made this normally confident man shake in terror?

"I had a dream." He answered quietly.

"A bad one?"

"A nightmare." He shut his eyes tight, willing the lingering images to go away, "I had to make sure you were okay."

"Come here." Cara scooted over and made room for him in her bed, "Come here and tell me what happened."

He crawled in beside her and lay with the covers pulled up to his chin, looking wholly uncomfortable. Cara wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her. His head was resting her chest now and he felt her fingers combing through his hair, he closed his eyes and focused on the sound of her heart and the feeling of her hands, his own arms secured themselves around her on their own accord. He felt safe. He told her about his dream; about how it differed from those in the past and how terrified he had been when he woke up.

She cradled his head and listened attentively, not letting go even when his tears soaked through her gown. She listened to everything he had to say; about his dreams both past and present and how they differed slightly, but mostly about how this last one had been the most upsetting one.

When he finally fell silent Cara didn't know how to respond, she knew he was still awake but she wasn't sure what to say to him. So she decided to not speak any words, instead she began to sing to him.

It was a lullaby from Vanaheim that her mother used to sing to her, it occurred to her as she sang his own mother may have once sang it to him. She repeated the song when it ended, continuing to calm him with her voice. His body had already relaxed, his grip on her was no longer as tight and his eyes were closed gently and not shut tightly. When she went through the song the third time Loki was asleep when she finished. She looked down at the Prince; he had never looked so vulnerable. His face was devoid of it's normal smirk or frown and instead it looked peaceful yet tired. His hair has mussed from her combing it but it suited him, even the way he sighed contentedly made her heart flutter.

She knew after this that she couldn't leave him. He needed her, and she needed him. After that night there was an unspoken agreement between them, to be each other's confidants, and to never betray the other. Loki's nightmares didn't leave him, but at least he knew when he would finally wake up, someone was right there to comfort him.