A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 2: Asgardian Brothers
Loki glanced around the hall before marching out of his chamber and heading for the stables. He kept his green cloak over his head as he made his way there, hoping he wouldn't be spotted. Unfortunately, he was, and by the last person he wanted to speak to at the moment.
"Brother!" Thor bellowed through a grin from behind Loki, making him cringe and lower his hood. No need to hide now. He kept up his march as Thor caught up with him, twirling his hammer in one hand. "Heading for the Bifrost?"
"Is it any business of yours?" Loki shot back, not looking to him as he still walked.
"Only curious, Loki," Thor smirked, rolling his wrist with his hammer as he nearly skipped next to Loki, who frowned at him in suspicion before stopping and turning to the Prince of Thunder.
"Why?" Loki questioned, glaring at the blonde who grinned back with a shrug.
"I've noticed you leave for the Bifrost around this time nearly every day," Thor smirked, making Loki sneer. He thought he had been covert about his trips to Arendelle. Apparently not, by the way Thor was grinning like an idiot at him. "So, brother, who's the lovely lady that's caught your eye?"
Loki rolled his eyes as he turned to march onward, trying very hard not to show the very slight blush that came to his cheeks. If Thor noticed, he'd pretend it was anger. Thor hurried after him, quickly matching his pace and still smirking, smugly.
"She must be special if she's caught your interest, brother," Thor smirked, tossing his hammer in the air and catching it, expertly. "Who is she? An elf? A lovely maiden from Vanaheim, perhaps? Or a mortal from Midgard?"
"Again, I ask, is it any of your business, Thor?" Loki retorted, making his way into the stables and toward his horse, already saddled by a stable hand.
"Perhaps not, but I cannot help but notice the spring in your step of late," Thor smirked, stepping toward his own horse and Loki frowned at him in wonder and suspicion. "I would like to meet this maiden that has caught your fancy."
Loki pursed his lips in irritation as Thor pulled his horse from its stall, saddled as well. He did not want Thor and Elsa meeting. He wasn't worried about Thor charming her. He knew she would see right through his idiocy, being an intelligent girl. He was worried Thor would embarrass her and she would end up freezing something unintentionally…and Thor would tell their mother, revealing that Loki had done exactly what she had told him not to do. He meant to tell her, eventually, just not through Thor's big mouth.
"Where are we headed, brother?" Thor grinned, mounting his horse and ready to head after Loki who swung onto his own steed, yanking on the reins, irritably.
"If you can keep up, we'll be going to the Bifrost, where Heimdall will send us to Midgard," Loki snapped, pulling his horse up next to Thor's to look him in the eye. "Now you listen, brother, you will do exactly as I say. This lady is of delicate nature and you will not tell mother of any of this, understood?"
"And why may I not tell mother?" Thor frowned in wonder. "Would she not approve of her?"
"Quite the opposite," Loki couldn't help but smirk before turning his horse to head out of the stables and onto the Bridge. "She would adore her. But I am not quite ready for them to meet. As it is, you are fortunate to accompany me on this trip."
"I thank you, brother," Thor smiled, following Loki down the Bridge, both launching into a gallop.
When they reached Heimdall he gave them a strange look as Loki pulled his horse back to a walk, rounding the platform where the gatekeeper stood. Thor followed his lead with a frown of wonder as well.
"Will you both be heading to Midgard, Prince Loki?" Heimdall wondered as they stopped their horses in front of the gate.
"Yes, Heimdall," Loki nodded. "Together with our horses."
"Very well," Heimdall nodded before activating the Bifrost and sending them to a clearing in a green forest on Midgard.
"And where is this place, Loki?" Thor wondered as Loki kicked his horse to head forward in a walk, Thor following.
"Arendelle," Loki smiled, adoring the way the name sounded, his hands wringing at the reins anxiously. He couldn't wait to see Elsa. "The ancestors of this land worshipped us, and some still do."
"Does this maiden know who you are?" Thor wondered as they made their way through the forest.
"She does," Loki nodded. "And she is no maiden. She is a princess. You will show her the proper respect, I hope."
"Of course, brother," Thor nodded, used to Loki's jabs.
"I had arranged to come horseback riding with her," Loki explained, ducking under a low hanging branch. "She will be riding with me."
"Has she no horse of her own?" Thor wondered, pushing the same branch up to avoid it, and Loki gave a sigh.
"'Tis complicated," Loki reported. "You shall see."
They came to another clearing, and Loki grinned when he saw now sixteen year old Elsa sitting at the window of her room, looking out.
"Wait here," he told Thor, who nodded before Loki stepped his horse forward so that she could see him.
She grinned when she spotted him and waved excitedly, making him chuckle and nod in greeting. He smirked as he noticed her look around her room before opening her window and climbing out, wearing a burgundy riding dress, riding boots and her snow white hair pulled up in its usual braid wrapping around her head. She raced over the grass, lifting her dress so as not to trip and he dismounted to meet her.
"Loki!" she grinned, throwing her arms around his neck and he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist to hug her as he held the reins of his horse with the other. She noticed Thor, making her smile fall as she pulled away, still staring at him as she frowned in wonder, "Who is this?"
Loki looked over his shoulder at Thor, who dismounted, then turned back to her with a smirk, leaning toward her ear to murmur, "Take a guess, princess."
Elsa turned a frown to him before looking back at Thor who grinned at her before bowing low, and she noticed the hammer hanging from his belt, making her eyes light up in recognition.
"Thor!" she gasped as he stood tall. "The God of Thunder!"
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Thor smiled, charmingly as he took her hand to press a chaste kiss to the back of it.
"Elsa of Arendelle, Thor of Asgard," Loki introduced as Thor lowered her hand. "I hope you don't mind if he accompanies us on our ride today."
"Of course not," Elsa smiled, shaking her head before Thor and Loki mounted again, Loki reaching down to take Elsa's hand. She grinned as he pulled her up and sat her behind him, his heart skipping when she wrapped her arms around him to hang on while she sat sidesaddle. "I have an hour before mama and papa return from court."
"Then, we'd best make the most of it, shall we, my snowflake?" Loki smirked before launching his horse into a full gallop through the trees and Elsa cried out in delight, gripping him tighter to keep herself from falling off the horse, Thor racing after them. When Thor matched their pace, Loki looked over at him with a mischievous smirk, and Thor knew what he was thinking before he called, "Care for a race, brother?"
"Only if your delicate princess can handle it," Thor smirked back, making her laugh and smirk at Thor.
"I'm not so delicate," she called. "The winner will escort me back home!"
"We dare not say 'no' to a princess!" Loki laughed before pushing his horse forward even faster, Thor struggling to match Loki's speed.
Even with two riders, Loki's horse was far swifter than Thor's. It was one of the reasons Loki had chosen his horse. Speed was far better, in his opinion than sheer power.
Elsa hugged tighter to Loki's chest making him glance back at her, grinning when he saw her craning her neck up to stare at the sky above, peeking through the trees. When he looked ahead, he found that they were nearing the river he had wanted to bring her to and began reining his horse back, but Thor still galloped forward, and when Loki brought his horse to a stop at the bank, Thor's horse stopped next to him so harshly that Thor launched over its head with a shout, followed by a splash when he landed in the water. Loki laughed heartily as Thor surfaced and Elsa giggled, covering her mouth to hide the fit, but unable to stop it when Thor shook his blonde hair like a dog to dry himself.
"How is the water, brother?" Loki laughed as Elsa jumped off the horse and he dismounted himself, Thor trudging up the bank, soaking wet.
"'Tis rather fine, Loki," Thor smiled, stepping closer to Loki as Elsa straightened out her dress. "Why don't you have a go?!"
"Thor—!"
The blonde grabbed his brother's arm and shoved him into the water, making Elsa gasp and throw her hands over her mouth in shock, her eyes wide as Loki landed with a splash. Thor laughed as he stepped next to Elsa, still staring on in shock as Loki flailed to scramble to his feet, looking very displeased, as Elsa knew he would be.
"You imbecile!" Loki snarled, trudging up the bank to meet them. "These clothes do not do well with water, you dolt!"
"'Tis not my fault you insist on wearing leather, brother," Thor chuckled, pulling his hammer from his belt, static forming around it and climbing up his arm, causing steam to rise from him as it dried him.
"Here, Loki," Elsa called, drawing their attention to her as she pulled her gloves off and churned her hands in the air, causing an icy cyclone as tall as Loki to form. "It'll be cold, but it'll dry you off."
Thor stared in awe as Elsa used the cyclone to dry Loki, and it didn't take long before the brothers were dry, and Loki's clothes hadn't been ruined.
"Thank you, darling," Loki smiled, taking her hand to kiss it as the cyclone died and a blush stained her pale cheeks.
"She has magic!" Thor grinned, drawing their attention to him and Elsa instantly pulled her hand from Loki's to cast her gaze down in embarrassment, pulling her gloves back on. Loki glared at Thor who cringed visibly before explaining, "I don't mean to embarrass you, princess. It is very rare to find a Midgardian with such powers. I've yet to see it. It's wonderful, really!"
"Thank you, Prince Thor," Elsa smiled, politely with a small nod as she looked up at him.
"No need for titles, little one," Loki smiled, taking one of her hands again. "We are all royalty, after all. Shall we have a seat?"
She smiled and nodded, letting him help her sit on the bank, Thor next to her and Loki on the other side of her, lowering his head into her lap and making her blush return, but she didn't object.
"Tell us about your day thus far, Elsa," Loki smiled, lifting a hand to brush a finger over her cheek as she gazed down at him, making her give a small giggle.
"Well, mama and papa are planning a trip to a land across the sea," she explained, lifting a hand to fiddle with Loki's hair, leaning back slightly to include Thor in the conversation as he watched them. "They've been invited to the wedding of a princess thought lost. Rapunzel, I think."
"And you will not attend as well?" Loki wondered. "Nor your sister?"
"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "Someone has to take care of things while they're gone."
"Very true," Loki nodded in agreement.
"You have a sister?" Thor frowned in wonder, catching her attention and she nodded with a smile.
"She's my little sister, Anna," Elsa smiled, fondly. "You would like her. She's so full of energy and playful and caring." Her smile fell as she continued, "I hate that I can't spend as much time with her as I want to."
"Does she not know of your powers?" Thor wondered as Loki still gazed at her, knowing the story and idly wondering what her hair would look like if she let it down.
"She did when we were little," Elsa explained. "But…I accidentally hurt her, and when my parents took her to the trolls, they had to erase all memories of my magic to cure her. Since then, we've had separate rooms and…I never played with her or even spoke much to her. It hurts every time she comes to my door to try coaxing me out to spend time with her. But it's the only way…otherwise I'll hurt her again."
"If you would listen to me and take my advice, you would be able to control it," Loki chimed in and she turned to him, meeting his gaze as he tugged at the glove on her hand where it rested on his chest.
"Loki! Don't!" Elsa cried, pulling her hand from his grasp, managing to keep her glove on as she did. "I know I won't hurt you, but I don't want to freeze anything over! I'm here for an afternoon ride with you, not a lesson."
"Very well," Loki sighed as Thor watched the exchange, closely. "When will your parents be leaving?"
"In a week or so," she replied, stroking his hair again. "They'll be gone for two weeks."
"Perhaps I'll be able to stay longer when I visit?" Loki smiled and she nodded, a blush coming to her cheeks as she smiled.
"I'd adore that, Loki," she grinned before looking up at Thor and smiling, "Will you be visiting again, Thor?"
"If Loki allows it," Thor nodded as Loki gave a sneer that she didn't see, but Thor caught and it made him smirk. "But from the look of the two of you, I think my brother would rather have you all to himself when he visits."
Elsa frowned before looking to Loki who looked away from her to hide the look in his eyes that revealed Thor was right.
"Perhaps…we should head back," Loki suggested, sitting up as Elsa looked up at him, Thor standing as well and Loki turned to hold a hand toward Elsa to help her up. "We can't have you in trouble with your parents on my account. What kind of prince would I be if I kept a princess out later than she should be?"
Elsa smiled, sweetly before taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet as Thor made his way to his horse. She gasped when she tripped over the hem of her dress and fell into Loki's chest, his arms instantly wrapping around her to keep her from falling.
"I'm sorry!" she gasped, chancing to look up and meet his gaze, her cheeks flaring with embarrassment as her heart raced in her chest.
"Are you alright, little one?" Loki murmured, keeping his gaze locked with hers and she swallowed before nodding, her hands on his chest, and even through the gloves, her anxiety caused ice to form on his chest. She looked down and gasped, pushing away from him, his arms falling away from her as he frowned at her in wonder, but when he looked down at his chest, he understood why she had pushed away. "Oh, Elsa, I told you it doesn't matter."
He waved a hand over his chest, causing the ice to disappear, but she was facing away from him into the water of the river, and he could tell she was upset.
"I will hurt you one of these days, Loki," she muttered, taking a step back.
"If I say you won't, then you will not," he assured her with a smile, stepping toward his horse and mounting before kicking it to step up next to her, holding his hand toward her as she turned to look up at him. "Come, let's get you home, princess."
"Excuse me," Thor called, strolling his horse to the other side of her and making her look up at him. "I believe I won the race. I should escort the princess home."
"You were thrown into the water, you dolt," Loki chuckled before looking to Elsa and smirking, "Well, my lady? Who would you say won the race? Lady's choice."
Elsa couldn't help but smile as she glanced between them, both offering their hands to her. She gave Loki a smirk with a mischievous glint in her eye that made him frown until his eyes widened in disbelief when she grabbed Thor's hand and he hauled her up in front of him, gripping the reins with his arms around her as she sat sideways in the saddle.
"Better luck next time, little brother," Thor laughed as he turned his horse before launching into a gallop back toward the castle.
Loki frowned in disbelief before growling and yanking his horse around to gallop after them. It wasn't long before they came to the castle, stopping at the edge of the forest as Elsa jumped from Thor's horse, but he didn't dismount. Loki nearly threw himself off his horse when it stopped, landing directly in front of Elsa who had waited for him with a smile.
"You little minx!" he snapped, but before he could say anything else, she threw her arms around him, hugging him close and his eyes shot wide in surprise before he hesitantly hugged her in return.
"The time flew too quickly, my prince," she whispered, not wanting Thor to hear her endearments before she pulled back enough to press a kiss to his cheek then met his shocked gaze with a smile. "I had a wonderful time. Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Y-Yes," he sputtered, nodding slowly before she turned to Thor.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Thor," she smiled then turned to race back to her open window to climb back in and shut it as the brothers watched her.
"She is a treasure, Loki," Thor complimented, breaking Loki from his trance.
"Yes," Loki sighed. "She is."
Two Weeks Later...
She heard a soft knock on the door, but didn't move from her position, curled up on the floor against her bedroom door.
"Elsa?" Anna called, sadly. "Please…I know you're in there. People are asking where you've been. They say have courage, and I'm trying to. I'm right out here for you. Just let me in. We only have each other. It's just you and me. What are we gonna do?"
Elsa swallowed, tears forming in her eyes and instantly freezing…her room covered in ice.
"Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna choked before Elsa heard her start to sob, softly.
She curled in on herself even more, tears falling down her cheeks and freezing. She wanted so badly to open her door and throw her arms around her sister so they could cry together and share each other's pain as they should have. But nothing could change. If she revealed herself now, she knew it would only make things worse.
"Elsa?"
She gasped and shot her head up to see Loki standing among the suspended snowflakes and ice covering her room. He glanced around in wonder before looking back to her with a frown. Unable to stop herself, she shoved herself to her feet and ran toward him, throwing her arms around him and burying her face into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her in return.
"Mama and papa," she shuddered. "Their ship got caught in a storm, and…they…they—!"
"Oh, my poor darling," he murmured, sincerely as he hugged her closer when she cut herself off with a sob, and he knew what had happened. He nuzzled his cheek to the top of her head as she sobbed, sinking against him. He swept her off her feet to carry her to her bed, using his magic to remove the ice surrounding them before he sat with Elsa in his lap. "I can't imagine what you're feeling now, but I am here for you."
"I can't even be there for my sister!" she sobbed, hugging him tighter, making him sigh and lift a hand to release her hair from its bun and braid, hoping it would relax her. "She went to the funeral today, and I couldn't be there because of this…this curse!"
Loki felt a stab in his heart at hearing her call her powers a curse, not only because he had given them to her, but because what she could do really was beautiful…if she would only see it.
"Elsa, you shouldn't call it that," he murmured.
"Why not?" she sobbed, pushing back to wipe her tears away, which consisted of pulling the ice from her skin. "That's what it is. I haven't been able to do anything without worrying about freezing something!"
Loki sighed again, hiding his pain at her words before he lifted a hand to her chin to pull her gaze to his.
"You will control this, darling," he assured her. "If you think of it…as an animal. A horse, perhaps? With practice you learn to control the animal, and it is bent to your will, not the other way around."
"Can't you do something with your magic?" she hoped, her hands resting on his chest as their gazes met. "Can't you cure me?"
"This isn't some sort of disease, little one," he urged, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You can't…'cure' a person born with magic."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" she hoped, desperately.
"I'm sorry, Elsa," he whispered, shaking his head, making her choke on a sob before lowering her head to his chest again to cry, softly. He held her close, hoping that one day she would realize the gift he'd given her…but also wondering if his mother had been right all along.
A/N: it's moving a little fast, I know. reviews?
