"Thor?" he heard Jane's voice from behind him. He had been sitting in his room for quite some time now, alone. He knew that he should be figuring out what to do about the elves and the casket, but he just needed to be alone for a while.
Thor turned and held out his hand. Jane gave him a sad smile and took his hand and sat next to him on the floor. "Not to bother you with anything more, but... Loki isn't to be found." she told him. She rubbed his arm and leaned into his shoulder. "I don't think he ran away from imprisonment, though. Volstagg said that he had a quick glimpse of him by the door of the vault when… when…" Thor looked up to see that Jane couldn't finish with bursting into tears. He didn't need her to finish. He hugged her close.
"Should we look for him?" she asked in Thor's arms. He nodded.
"Probably." He got up and offered a hand to Jane. He helped her stand, and then they walked out to Loki's room where Sif and Volstagg were already looking. As they entered, his two friends walked up to him. Sif put an arm around him and Volstagg clapped a hand on his back. He was comforted to know that his friends were always there for him. He knew that his mother had been like a second mother to all of them. Sif didn't dare to say anything about Loki and his trouble-making now. Everyone knew that the only person that Loki would go out of his way for was Frigga.
"I don't know where he could be." Sif said. "We looked all over the kingdom and no one has seen him." She looked up at Thor. "Any ideas?" Thor was about to say no, but he did. He knew exactly where Loki was.
"I know just where he is." Thor said. He looked at Jane, Sif, and Volstagg. "I'll go talk to him."
Thor was surprised to find that it was already dark outside. Had he really been in his room for that long? He walked through the streets of the village and watched people cleaning up from the elf attack. As he passed different Asgardians, they all looked at him with remorse. A few stopped what they were doing and bowed or curtsied and Thor nodded back. He was so lucky to have such great people.
The forest was coming closer as Thor walked. It was cloaked in shadows even darker than the night already was. Thor walked in, careful of the thick roots that ran through the ground. He walked for a while and hoped that he was going the right way. He and Loki used to come here a lot, but he hadn't for a while now. It was nice; almost comforting to walk in the old forest and be reminded of the happier times when his mother was still alive and when he still had a brother that loved him. The fresh air and sounds of the forest helped calm Thor as well. There was still the tight feeling within him that made him feel constricted, but he felt a little better.
Finally, the outline of "their" tree came into view. Thor walked as quietly as he could to the base of the trunk, not wanting to startle Loki. He looked up into the tree, trying to see if he could see Loki from where he stood in only the light of the stars and nebulas that floated in the dark space sky.
"Loki?" he said. He didn't get a response. "Come on, Lo. I know you are up there." Thor listened, but still there was nothing. Thor felt for the foot holds that were carved into the tree and pulled himself up. He got to the first branch that he could and looked at the branches. He still couldn't see Loki. Thor knew he liked to be as high and as far away as possible.
"Loki, I will find you if it takes all night." Thor said. He heard Loki sigh from above him; extremely high above him.
"The branch where we carved our names." He heard his brother say. Thor began climbing the branches towards his brother. It took a few minutes, but he finally reached the branch where Loki sat. His brother had his arms wrapped around his knees and his head rested on his arms. His back was up against the trunk of the mossy tree, and even in the darkness, Thor could tell that his eyes were filled with tears. He let himself feel bad for his brother for once. He pulled himself on the branch so he sat next to Loki, shoulder to shoulder.
"How long have you been out here?" Thor asked him. Loki didn't move.
"I don't know." he told Thor. "I left as soon as she died."
Thor nodded and remembered something. "She told me to tell you that she loved you very much." He told Loki. He watched as Loki's eyes became wet again. His brother buried his face in his arms. Thor reached his arm to Loki and wrapped an arm around him. At first Loki was about to pull away, but he seemed to of decided against it. Instead, he let his legs hang over the side of the branch like Thor, and he leaned his head on Thor's shoulder. Thor smiled and wrapped both arms around him and held his little brother. Thor knew that only his mother's death would bring Loki to let Thor hug him and the only reason he was letting it happen was because Thor was the only other person alive that knew how he felt, but Thor didn't care that his brother would probably go back to his old ways in a few hours. Right then he only focused on Loki.
"Don't ever, ever tell anyone about this." Loki told him. Thor chuckled and squeezed his brother.
"Don't worry." Thor said.
"And don't get used to it either." Loki added. Thor sighed and enjoyed that moment because he knew that Loki wasn't kidding. Soon everything would be as it was. Loki would hate him again and be distant and seclude himself. Thor would trust him, just to find out that he couldn't be trusted and so on. Thor did know one thing though: this proved that all hope wasn't completely lost in his brother. Maybe, just maybe he would come around. Thor needed him now more desperately than ever. This is what brothers were for. They were there for each other in hard times. Thor looked down at Loki. This moment was good enough… for now.
A/N: Hi everyone! I would just like to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following my story! I look at every single one and everytime I see how many people are reviewing, following and so on, I get so excited to write more of the story as fast as I can. I have a poll on my profile page regarding a part of the story and Loki. I could really use some help from you on what to do, so if you have time and want to vote on this issue, please do! Thank you!