A/N: Welp welp, here we are at the last chapter. I wanted to note that despite my best efforts, I could not find ANYWHERE the actual dialogue that takes place between "Odin" and Thor at the end of The Dark World. Seeing as how I last saw the movie at the end of November, I had to improvise for the bits I could not readily recall. So my deepest apologies for what I KNOW I got wrong...when the movie comes out on DVD, I have every intention of fixing it because it's driving me nuts. Many thanks to those who waited patiently for updates on such a short story...my heart belongs to you. And I have more stories in the works, so check up on me from time to time!

Okay, shameless begging aside, I present to you the last chapter.

UPDATE 2/3/14 - What are the odds that shortly after posting this, I happen to come across a badly-filmed, yet very audible video that has this last scene? *bangs head against table* Anyway, as promised, I went back and fixed it - just had a lot of stuff in the wrong order. Ehehehe.

This was ridiculous.

His throat felt too narrow, and it was difficult to swallow. If he stared long enough at his hands, he was certain he could will them to stop shaking. But this irritating flutter in his stomach was making him nauseous and he anxiously ran his hands through his hair when no one was looking.

It didn't help.

He wasn't nervous. Not in the least. He was certain Thor would be unable to see through this disguise (but what if he does), and he couldn't do anything even if he did (demand his rightful place on the throne).

He wasn't nervous. He wasn't.

He very much wished he could simply transport himself to the throne room by means of magic, but Odin never did such a thing and he was shortly flanked by guards on all sides as they marched back up from the dungeons. They would think it quite odd if their king suddenly disappeared before their eyes. The idea was tempting, but he was the Allfather now. Odin did no such thing. Never tricks. Never anything that even resembled mischievous behavior. In fact, such things had always been frowned upon and Loki could recall with clarity almost every time he had been chastised for a simple illusion or turning a piece of fruit into a frog -

Calm yourself, fool. A clear mind denotes a calm spirit.

He forced his mind on other things before the ramblings with himself could continue.

Ordinarily, he supposed it would be fitting to meet his brother (not brother, son, not son) somewhere other than the hall where the throne resided. But that was not fitting for a king. A prince, perhaps. He had done so often when Thor would return from yet another voyage or hunt he had not been informed was happening, but would justify the rejection as a simple lapse of memory or

STOP.

"I wish to see my son. Bring him," he commanded and two soldiers instantly bowed and rushed to comply. He sat heavily and ran a hand down his face, sighing before he could stop himself. Gods, this was going to be...interesting. The last time he had beheld Thor, he thought he had been dying in his arms. He thought it would be the last time he would gaze upon that sorrow-stricken face; the face that was contorted in anguish for his sake, that shed tears for a lost brother who had returned to fight by his side. Who had supposedly sacrificed himself to protect the crown prince of Asgard.

And now he sat upon this throne, posing as this realm's king and Thor's father. The deception nestled deeply in his heart and the guilt of how truly wicked this seemed inexplicably intensified.

In that moment he knew.

He would remain dead. If he had ever entertained any notion of sharing with Thor what had actually transpired, it died instantly as footsteps echoed against the walls. Thor would immediately assume that Loki had played yet another trick, told yet another lie. He would never believe his last words had been said in earnest. This must remain a secret.

Loki had long ago become quite adept at masking what lied beneath. Doing it once more should not pose to be an issue.

He suddenly could not bear the thought of losing whatever affection Thor had regained for him in those last moments in that light-forsaken land. Such sentiment was not typical of Loki Laufeyson (Odinson, Liesmith), but he found he needed it now. As he had once long, long ago.

And it was placed ever more heavily on his heart when he heard that voice.

"Father!"

"My son." Loki's false voice was gruff with emotion that he was not faking in that moment. It took everything within him to stay where he was and not run to embrace him. Odin would never do such a thing.

Dignity. Always dignity.

Thor bowed before him and the irony was not lost on Loki. In spite of everything, he still found it difficult to suppress a smirk. Born to be a king.

"Father, I come to beg your forgiveness." Thor kept his eyes on the floor. "I went against your will. I disobeyed the commands of my king. For that I am truly sorry. I do not know what would have transpired had I not done so, but Malekith is defeated and the realms are safe. For this I cannot apologize, but I ask your forgiveness all the same." His voice had steadily gotten more quiet and Loki smiled at his submissive form. He somehow could not muster the hate and ill feelings he had when the Sif and the others had stood before him.

He had always thought Odin foolish for his willingness to put not only Asgard, but all the nine realms at risk.

"You are forgiven, my son," he said softly and Thor finally looked up, eyes wide. "My actions were foolish. Dangerous. You demonstrated a strength that I can openly admit I do not have. While we both mourned for your mother, you found courage amidst your grief. I found only guilt and a clouded judgement." He stared him full on then and gently shook his head. "Let us end this here, Thor. It is done." Thor nodded mutely and remained on the ground, suddenly looking less like a man and quite like an unsure little boy who did not know how to react to mercy. He seemed dumbstruck, so Loki continued. "You once said there would never be a wiser king than me. You were wrong." Even as he said it, he vaguely wondered how he knew this. Yet it seemed as true as the breath in his lungs and the sight before him...

It just was.

"The alignment has brought all the realms together. Every one of them saw you offer your life to save them. What can Asgard offer its new king…in return?" Indeed, he had been told such things. He could not deny Asgard's true prince some form of recompense for what he had done.

"My life." He said it without hesitation and Loki could not stop himself from raising an eyebrow. My, my, what a transformation.

But it was what followed that truly left him breathless.

Thor arose from the floor. "Father, I cannot be king of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will – the brutality, the sacrifice. It changes you. I would rather be a good man than a great king." A distant buzzing sounded in his ears and he suddenly could not remember the last time Thor had spoken so...so highly of him. Was he, against all reason, putting forth Loki's better qualities that he could have displayed as king?

Then he remembered that he was supposed to be dead and the glamour of the moment faded. If anything, this proved beyond any doubt that Thor must never know the truth. He had been such a burden and disappointment in life...for the first time, it finally seemed that Thor now thought of him in lighter and far more respectful terms because of his sacrifice. He would not be able to bear ever casting himself back into the trickster role.

Yet that is exactly what you are doing now.

Who was he to change this?

His mask remained unchanged. Thor would never know.

He could never know.

"Is this my son I hear, or the woman he loves?"

"When you speak, do I never hear mother's voice?" There is a warmth in his voice that Loki recognizes, and his heart sinks. A puff of breath escapes his lips before he can stop it. "This is not for Jane, father," he continues. "She does not know what I came here to say." Loki suddenly finds he no longer has the strength to stand and he sinks heavily onto the throne. "Now forbid me to see her, or say she can rule at my side – it changes nothing."

Loki's head spun. Time for a change of topic. What would Odin say?

"One son who wanted the throne too much…another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?" All because Loki wants a throne.

"Loki died with honor. I shall try to live the same. Is that not legacy enough?" He is so earnest in this moment. Every damned thing about him right now was eating away at what remained of Loki's conscience, but he was Odin now.

How hilariously ironic that was.

And then, as if to more or less prove his true pureness of heart, Thor turns his mighty weapon Mjolnir in his hand and offers it. A sign of submission, of humility. The Allfather would be touched. Millions of thoughts of what he could do with it battled for control in Loki's already-frenzied mind, but of course logic rose to the surface and won within a span of mere seconds.

You could do nothing, of course. You have not the worth to wield it.

But what if Thor did not have it and

You could do nothing. Leave him be.

The sheer power of Thor's weapon…

That I could not even hope to touch…

Loki shook his head and raised his hand. "It belongs to you. If you are worthy of it." Thor nodded and grasped the handle firmly.

"I shall try to be." Thor. So pure and clean and without guile. So foolish, in that he cannot see the truth. A true downside to those of innocent natures.

"I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune." Outright compliance would make Thor suspicious, surely. He feared he knew how to play this game too well.

"I know." And just as this misplaced guilt was finally winning and rising to be spoken from his lips, and Loki wanted to scream out, Thor, you fool, I am right before you!

He turned to leave.

Loki's heart withered in his chest. Surely, this would be the last time he would lay eyes upon Thor. He felt the sudden urge to speak, and even as he opened his mouth, he was hit with another wave of simple knowing. Of a memory he had not been there to experience. Of Odin and Thor standing on the balcony nearest the feasting hall.

Making the Allfather's aura his own apparently carried his memories with it.

Someday...I hope I will make you proud.

You've already made me proud.

Unexplained shame gripped his heart and he knew not where it came from.

"If I were proud of the man my son had become…" And here Thor paused, as does the Allfather's voice. "…even that I could not say." Thor turns and looks upon him once more, eyes brimming with gratitude. "It would speak only from my heart. Go...my son."

The real Odin would never let Thor go. He would more than likely threaten. Perhaps banish again. Offer some sort of misplaced punishment, or guilt his son into submission with words like "obligation," "duty," or that he could not abandon his people. But right now, Loki was struck with the thought that Thor needed to go. What was left for him in Asgard?

He would always wonder why he chose to refuse the throne, but as it worked to his advantage, he did not feel led to question his brother's (NOT) decision.

"Thank you, father." And he leaves. He simply leaves, still as ignorant as Loki had always known him to be, and it somehow touches him to know that as wretched as he had become, Thor would forever remain the better half of what Loki had once known.

He watched Thor's departing form and he quite suddenly and inexplicably found this to be undeniably funny. Almost sickeningly so. Loki the trickster had triumphed again, but then again, Thor had always been too trusting. So before the Golden Prince had disappeared from sight completely, Loki allowed the false image to fall to reveal a grinning, dark-haired man who still bore the glint of mischief in his eye, almost daring Thor to turn back around and finally see.

He did not.

But by the gods, he would fix this.

He would return Asgard to what it had been before.

He would protect his home from further attack, and undo the damage the all-knowing Allfather had inflicted upon it.

And as for those problems that remained...well, Loki was a planner. And it had always worked to his own advantage.

"No...thank you."

And that's a wrap, folks! I'm a tad uncreative in ending it the same way, but really, what else is there to expound on? Many MANY thank yous to all who reviewed/favorited/followed...you are all the inspiration for my writings.