Disclaimer: I was bored. I don't own anything, bitch!

LOKI

Loki's expression was a mixture of horror and grief. Young Thor stood before him in all his glory holding a thick book in his hand. In the other hand he held magic fire, which crackled and hissed at him. Loki felt tears well in his eyes and bile rose in his throat. He was going to be sick, he knew it. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and shouted at young Thor: "What are you doing? Stop being so stupid!"

Young Thor grinned and held the book up higher. "What's so special about this stupid book anyway? It's just a book. It's paper. It'll burn nicely, don't you think Sif?" Thor asked. He turned to young Sif who had her hands on her hips. She shrugged at Thor.

"I don't care what you do to it, just do it quickly so we can get out of here!" she said impatiently.

Loki looked at them helplessly. "Please," he whispered. "Don't do this," he said.

"It's just a stupid book, Lo. Watch me, I am your future king and I command you to watch me!" Thor shouted.

Loki began to cry and sank to his knees. "Please, Thor, please stop this," he pleaded. Suddenly he was a child again, no longer a fully-grown man with a mind of his own. He was his old self, a babbling fool, blundering around, crying and reading books. Loki looked at the thick novel in Thor's hands and cried even harder. The book had been a gift to him from Odin. Loki had read the tales in the book over and over, hoping that some day he would be a fierce warrior like those in the stories. He had cried many times over the book's pages and he had smudged the ink with his countless tears. Loki looked up and noticed that his brother's expression had suddenly softened. He dropped the book down onto the ground and Loki smiled up at him. "Thank you, brother," he said. He rose up and began walking over to the book when Thor laughed.

"You really think I'd let you off so easily?" he asked in a dangerously low voice. "We're going to play, Loki. We're going to have a good time," he said. He blew at the fire on his hand and it flew down onto the book. It immediately caught on fire. It began to smoke and the pages curled.

"Why?" Loki screamed. His voice was a mixture of anger and sadness. He closed his eyes to block out the sight of his book burning. He could not bear to look at the burning book, could not bear to relive this haunting memory.

"Open your eyes, Loki!" Thor thundered.

Loki opened his eyes and he was on the seashore. The waves crashed loudly onto the surf and the water came up to his toes. Loki couldn't help but smile. He loved the sea. He noticed Thor was there as well, sitting on a log, staring out into the ocean. This Thor was older than the one who had burned his book. He looked calm and had a soft smile on his face.

"I have never seen a more beautiful sunset, brother," Thor said.

"I just saw one," Loki said quietly.

"Sit with me, Loki," Thor said.

Loki walked over to the log and sat next to Thor. They sat in silence for a few moments and then Loki turned to Thor. "Why do you hate me?" he asked.

Thor picked up a shell and observed it carefully. "I don't hate you, Lo," he said quietly.

"But…you burned my book, Thor. Don't you remember? That was my favorite…you just burned it like it was nothing. Why did you do it?" he asked.

When Thor did not answer, Loki realized it was because he himself did not know the answer to the question.

"Can't you just put it behind you, brother?" Thor asked. "Can't we start over?"

"How can we? You can't even hear me," Loki said.

Thor turned to Loki and grasped his hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze and then he placed the shell in Loki's palm.

"I wish I had an answer for you. It pains me to see you so sad," Thor said.

"I can't wake up, Thor. I'm tired of this place. All the bad dreams, all of the things I thought I had forgotten…"

Thor placed his hand on Loki's chest over his heart. "All of those things make you who you are, Lo. You can't have all good things all the time. Sometimes you get bad things too," he said.

"But why was it all bad for me? Why did you make it bad?"

"I wish I knew. But I don't have the answers to your questions, and you know that," Thor said gently.

"I know I deserve a worse punishment than this for the crimes I have committed. I know Thor…I know you are sparing me from much pain and humiliation, but I…"

"Loki, why do you trouble yourself so? No one is perfect, we're all made up of bits of bad and good things," Thor said.

"Yes but why did I let the bad things win?" Loki asked.

"Perhaps when I was young, I let the bad things win. I hurt you and I didn't protect you the way a brother should have. All of these things caused you to let the bad things win, Loki," Thor said.

"So you're saying I should blame Thor? That I should blame you for everything I've done? Do you know what I did to you? I tricked you, Thor. I told you Odin was dead when he was not. I let the Frost Giants into Asgard and allowed them to put their hands on the Tesseract. I went to Migard with an army and destroyed an entire city. I killed countless people without a second thought. I am evil, Thor. I am broken and I cannot be fixed. I deserve to die."

Thor shook his head. "No, you do not deserve to die," he whispered.

"Why?" Loki asked. He threw the shell onto the ground and grabbed Thor's collar. Thor made no reaction to this but he smiled at Loki sadly.

"No one has the right to choose death for someone, no matter what you have done, if you are still alive, it is because you still have time. It means you still have a destiny, Loki."

Loki let go of Thor and buried his head in his hands. "What destiny could a monster like me possibly have?" he asked quietly. He turned to Thor but realized that he had already gone and Loki was alone. He looked down on the ground and saw the shell had turned into his book. He picked it up and turned to the first tale. As he read he wept. He watched as his tears fell onto the pages and stained them. He closed the book, unable to go on. Loki looked at the sun as it set on the water and suddenly realized that he could not blame Thor for who he was. He realized that Thor was not inherently a bad person, and neither was he. Just as Thor had said, they were both made up of good bits and bad bits, and sometimes, they allowed one to win over the other. Loki felt fresh tears burn his eyes and he allowed them to fall freely. He closed his eyes and when he opened them he was staring at himself. He was young, thin and small, crying while huddled in a corner, his nose red and raw. He clutched the burned book in his arms and the ashes rubbed off on his clothes. Loki remembered this day, it was a day that he had buried so deep within himself, he thought he had forgotten it, but here it was sitting right before him. He felt an immense sadness well up inside of him. A door opened and Thor entered the room. Loki stared at him in wonder as he walked over to the young Loki and sat next to him.

"Lo, I'm really sorry. You know that, right?" he said.

Loki continued to cry and hugged his book tighter.

"You aren't sorry, you're a liar," Loki stuttered through his tears. The look on Thor's face pained Loki. It was a look of sadness and regret.

"I don't mean to do those things to you. It's just…you're so small compared to the rest of us. You're different."

"And that means you can treat me like I'm worth nothing? I'm your bother, Thor. You're supposed to love me and take care of me. I love you. I always do anything you ask me to. I look out for you and tell you when father is coming so you don't get into trouble. Why can't you do the same for me?" Loki asked.

"I just want you to toughen up, Lo. You need to start fighting back. You can't spend the rest of your life with your nose buried in a book. You need to fight. You're Odin's son. You're my brother. I don't care if you fight me. I just want you to fight."

The young Loki had stopped crying and was staring up at his brother with something that looked like admiration in his eyes.

"What if I don't want to fight?" he asked.

"Then I'll make that fat oaf Volstagg tickle you like this," Thor said. He began to tickle his brother and smiled as a reluctant laugh bubbled out of Loki's throat. Young Loki soon dropped the book onto the floor and continued to laugh with his brother. When they had stopped, Loki sat with his head on Thor's shoulder. Thor had placed his arm around Loki's shoulder and hugged him close. "Loki, I'll always be your brother, no matter what," Thor said seriously.

Loki lifted his head from his brother's shoulder and stared at him.

"You hate me because I'm weak? Because I'm not a fighter like the rest of you? The magic and the tricks that I learn are powerful, Thor. I may not be able to break someone's face with my fist, but one day I will be powerful, Thor," Loki said.

Thor looked at Loki and smiled at him sadly. "I really do hope so, brother," he said.

The memory quickly faded and Loki was back on the shore. His heart was filled with sorrow as he thought of what he had just seen. Did Thor even remember what he had told him all those years ago? Did Thor remember that he had wanted Loki to fight? And if so, why then was Thor not happier that Loki was fighting? He wondered if Thor remembered that he had said that he would always be his brother. Loki looked around the empty beach and suddenly it was less beautiful.

"It is only beautiful when I have someone to share it with," he mused. He looked at the empty space next to him on the log where Thor had sat, and then it finally dawned on him. "It is only beautiful when I am with you, Thor," he whispered into the air. He waited for Thor to reappear but he remained alone on the beach, staring into the sunset and dreaming of better days.

A/N: So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for favorites, the follows and the reviews! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! :) Poor Loki. I feel sorry for him :( I just wanna hug him. lol.