AN: Hello my dear, dear, readers! Can I just start by saying how amazing you are? No, really, don't be modest... Thank you all for the feedbacks on Mind Games, it was so nice to receive during this last month!

I wanted to write something about Loki and Frigga's relationship for a while. That's not exactly what I first had in mind but you know... sometimes you just have no control over your imagination.

Plus, it's almost Xmas, so family is a fashionable theme!

This piece is set when Thor and Loki are still babies so no spoilers warning here (:

Of course I own nothing. Not from the mythology, not from Marvel... But I've spent two wonderful nights at the theatre admiring Tom Hiddleston playing Coriolanus so I do not get the right to complain.

Enjoy and for those who are celebrating it, have a nice little merry Christmas!

Nyna.

In the dim light of her large bedchamber, Frigga was watching her little Thor sleeping in her arms, letting his quiet breathing soothe her worries and grief.
She had tried to put him into bed but every single time she did so, he had started crying. Frigga herself could hardly repress her tears. She did not want to let go of him. She needed to feel his warmth against her chest, she needed to know that he, at least, was there with her.

Smiling sadly, Frigga pushed a lock of blond hair which had fallen into Thor's sweet face. He was so beautiful, her precious little boy. As she watched him wrinkle his nose from the tinkling of the hair she couldn't help but wonder if his brother would have had the same expressions. Certainly, she thought. They had been so much alike.

Frigga closed her eyes for a short moment and went to lay back on the bed, careful not to wake Thor. She secured him next to her as he remained still closely embraced into her arms. He was the only thing in all the worlds that could really ease the profound emptiness she had been feeling for months and she knew he must be feeling something very much akin to her own pain. They needed each other.

Frigga had known what would happen. She had seen it. She still had not been prepared. She had lured herself in a false sense of security, had persuaded herself she could still save her little Baldr because no future is definite. She had only sped up the process. She should have known better than to try and meddle with the Norn's design.

Frigga simply failed to understand the purpose of such a thing. Why bring an innocent being into this world only to take him away with such cruelty? The result was pain and pain alone; her's, Thor's, Odin's, Baldr's... She could not see any more. There was no meaning.

Finally lulled by Thor's deep breathing, Frigga gave in to sleep, her hand resting on his round little chest. Life was not always fair, but she still had him...

"Frigga." It felt as if only a few minutes had gone by since she had fallen asleep when someone tried to wake her up. "Frigga, dearest..." came another soft call as someone's hand settled softly on her shoulder.

She knew this voice. She knew this presence. "Odin," she exclaimed in a breath, careful not to raise her voice. "You have returned home at last," she said in relief.

Her husband had been gone for many days now, having concentrated all his attention on the war against the Jotüns, whom had only recently been driven off of Midgärd, where they had started to destroy everything in their revenge from the last treaty signed between Asgard and Vanaheim, which was not to their liking.

Keeping her right arm around Thor, Frigga shifted slightly so she could see Odin's face. "What happened?" she exclaimed in worry as she saw a bandage hiding the top of the right side of his head. It was clean and new and she thought he must have stopped by his own chambers before coming to her's. His clothes were clean too, which confirmed her suspicions. At least, she thought, as he walked around the bed to face her, he did not seem to have suffered from any further injuries.

Something suddenly moved in his arms. She caught her breath when a small hand emerged from a bundle of dark green material. Baldr, she thought for the briefest moment before chastising herself for her own naivety. "Who... what is this, Odin?"

Her husband came to sit on the bed, on the other side of Thor. Frigga could then see. It wasn't her little Baldr, who had looked so much like Thor, but it was nonetheless a baby. A very beautiful baby, who was sleeping peacefully against Odin's chest. She could see the remnant of Odin's deep blue magic surrounding the child's body, slowly attaching itself to it. Frigga watched them for a long time, pondering on the AllFather's purpose. Odin did not say a word. She could feel his gaze upon her but he remained silent and she was grateful for it.

After long minutes, Frigga carefully let go of Thor and stretched out her arms expectantly, her eyes locked with the only one her husband was able to use. Odin gave her the child, holding his head cautiously as Frigga took hold of him.

The weight of the child in her arms felt natural, right.

"He was left in one of the Frost Giants' temples," the AllFather finally said, breaking the palpable silence hanging in the room. "A sacrifice," he precised.

Anger flashed through Frigga's eyes and she hugged the child more fiercely. Slowly, slightly hesitant, she kissed him lightly. His skin was strangely cold but still as soft as Thor's. Odin's magic was strongly present in his aura and as she looked more closely, Frigga realized just at which extent.

She abruptly shot her head up, gazing at the AllFather with a renewed intensity.

She almost did not dare hoping, but what she saw in his eye only confirmed her first impression.

Odin had made the boy his son.

Frigga took several short deep breaths, taking in what this realization could imply. After a few moments, she had regained enough control on herself to speak in a casual tone. "It is a boy, then?" Odin nodded. "A Jotün boy?" Once again, Odin simply nodded, watching Frigga attentively. She had started cradling the boy slowly, in a natural gesture. "I can see your spells still binding themselves," she noted, tracing the boy's features with the tip of her fingers.

Odin finally smiled. He knew his wife and could see the true meaning behind her seemingly casual attitude. "He is still extremely young, only a few days old. It will be more natural for him, he will not notice the difference. It will be as if he had always been an Asgardian."

Frigga smiled too and at this moment, the boy shifted in her arms, drawing her attention to him as he opened his eyes. Frigga looked at him, fascinated. His eyes were the colour of ice; a metallic grey with shards of the clearest blue, but the warmth in his mischievous gaze was so heart-warming that Frigga realized she would never be able to let go of the child.

A peaceful smile lightened Frigga's face. She had not felt so at peace in months. It was because she knew she would never have to let go.

"How could anyone want to hurt you?" she asked softly, kissing him on both his soft cheeks, on his cold forehead, on his round little nose. "Do not worry, my precious boy, I will never let anyone try to hurt you ever again."

Briefly closing her eyes in focus, Frigga let her own magic flow, joining her husband's, softening some of his spells, adding some of hers, embracing the boy in a cocoon of soft yellow light which slowly turned to a deep green as it mixed with Odin's one.

When she was satisfied with her work, she looked at the AllFather.

"Our son," she declared decisively.

A sad shadow in his eye, Odin nod in acquiescence. "Our son."

Frigga looked down at the soundly sleeping Thor, curled up against her hip and she settled her youngest boy next to his new older brother.

Still unconscious, Thor sighed in contempt and moved slightly from Frigga, his small hand coming to rest on his brother's shoulder.

Watching her family, Frigga could see clearly again. In a sad acceptance, she started to understand part of the Norn's purpose. Having Baldr taken from her did not feel more right but in a twisted way, it made more sense. Thor and his new brother were meant to do great things. They needed each other, they were simply meant to be.

Taking Odin's hand, Frigga smiled at him before they both let their eyes rest on their children.

"Sleep well," Frigga breathed before stopping for a short instant. "My precious Loki."