"You can't expect me to just sit around and wait!" Loki shouted at his father. "I can't sit around while you talk things out with Laufey! I have to be there! I have to save my wife and children!"
"Loki, calm down!" Odin shouted back. "This is why you have to stay here! This is why you have to allow me to bring her back! You are too close to the situation!"
"Father, you can't expect Loki to just sit idly by." Thor said, for once being the one to remain calm. "Ava is his wife and she carries his children."
"This doesn't concern you, Thor!" Odin shouted at his eldest son.
"You're only saying that because he is taking my side!" Loki shouted. "There is nothing you can do to stop me from rescuing my wife and children."
The doors to the room the three men were in burst open just then. Frigga and Eira stepped through. Frigga carried herself in a calm and dignified manner. Eira seemed a bit more uncertain, but she followed the queen's lead as best as she could.
"That is enough arguing." Frigga said. She turned her attention to her husband. "You know better than anyone that you can't keep Loki from saving his wife and child...and while you may be king and have to keep the good of Asgard in mind, you're a father and a husband...and Ava is our daughter-in-law. She carries our grandchildren. That being said, Loki is the best person to go and negotiate with Laufey...if there is any negotiating to be able to be done that is."
"That is true, Father." Loki said, remembering what Odin had told him the day he had finally admitted the truth. "After, isn't bringing peace between Asgard and The Jotunheim what you had taken me for in the first place?"
"I thought we had moved past this..." Odin began.
"Enough." Frigga said, her tone stern and motherly. She was every bit the matriarch of the family. "No matter what you say or do, Loki will go anyway. You may as well let him go and do things his way."
Odin sighed in defeat. "Alright...but I want you to take Thor with you." He said, looking at Loki.
"Alright." Loki nodded.
"I'm going, too." Eira spoke up.
"No, you're not." Thor countered.
"You would only get in the way." Loki said.
"Look, Ava is on a strange world, one that we all know to be very cold and harsh. She is also pregnant, very pregnant. She may need medical attention and I am a trained healer." Eira replied, making her case. "That and the excitement of all of this could cause her to go into early labor and what do either of you know about delivering babies?"
Thor and Loki looked at each other, dumbfounded. Eira was beginning to get more comfortable voicing her thoughts around them. She had also just made a very good point. "Alright, you can go." Loki agreed, turning to Eira. "But you do as we say." He knew that she was right. Ava was likely to need a healer, immediately. He also knew that Eira cared about Ava and would do anything for her.
Eira nodded. "Alright."
The group then headed to get ready for their journey into the Jotunheim. They all changed into warmer clothes. Eira grabbed anything she could possibly need for any possible injury Ava could have. She also packed away plenty of blankets and other needed items in the event of Ava going into labor.
"Are you sure you can handle this?" Thor asked, coming up behind her.
Eira looked up at him. "Ava is my friend...I know that I probably annoyed her when we first met at the academy...but she put up with me all these years...she's the closest thing I have to a sister. I want to help."
Thor put his hands on Eira's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Just promise me you will stay safe while we are in the Jotunheim? I...I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."
Eira smiled up at Thor. She stretched up and kissed his cheek. "I will be fine. Let's just worry about getting Ava and the twins home safely and not starting a war with the Jotuns?"
"Alright." Thor agreed, kissing Eira's forehead.
"Are you two ready?" Loki asked, entering the room, an impatient look on his face.
"I have everything I need." Eira answered.
"I'm ready." Thor added.
The trio then headed out to the stables and mounted their horses. They rode out to the bi-frost and Heimdall sent them to the Jotunheim. They stood in the cold frozen landscape of the Jotunheim. Every breath they took, appeared as a visible mist from their mouths.
"Let's get going." Loki said, determined.
They began walking towards the frozen throne of the Jotunheim. "I see you have come a long way for your wife and unborn children, young Asgardian." Laufey greeted them from his place on the throne.
"Where are you keeping them?" Loki demanded.
"Somewhere." Laufey answered. "I am willing to negotiate with you for their safe return."
"And just what do you wish?" Loki asked.
"I want the casket...my power returned to me and I shall return your beloved wife to you." Laufey answered.
"You know we cannot do that." Thor spoke up. "You will only use the power of the casket to destroy Asgard and with it, all of us."
"I do not believe I was speaking with you, Thor Odinson." Laufey replied. "I was speaking with the other son of Odin."
"No." Loki replied.
"Excuse me." Laufey replied.
"I will not give you the casket and you will return my wife and unborn children to me, unharmed." Loki replied. "Besides, you are not speaking with Odin's son. You are speaking with your son."
"What?"
Loki allowed his skin to change to blue and took on his Jotun form. "I am your son, the son you cast out on a frozen rock, abandoned to die!"
Laufey stared at Loki, his eyes wide and mouth agape. This was the last thing he had expected.
Loki took the opportunity of Laufey's surprise and signaled Thor. They knocked out Laufey's guards. Loki then went up and held his dagger to Laufey's throat. "Where are they?"
In a temple on the Jotunheim...
After arriving on the Jotunheim, Ava had been taken to a temple and thrown to the cold hard ground. A group of three Frost Giants were set to guard her. She looked at them, noticing they were wearing something around their necks. That must be why I can't use my powers on them. She thought.
I've got to get out of here. Ava thought as she looked around. She began to shiver with the cold on her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep warm. She felt the twins kicking and moving in her belly. She put a hand to her stomach. "Don't worry babies...Papa is on his way...he'll come for us." She whispered to her unborn children.
Ava was doing her best to keep her panic from taking over, but that was very hard. She began to feel a pressure in her pelvis and pain in her lower back and abdomen. The pain and pressure came and lasted for a few moments before leaving. Ava didn't have time to process what the pain and pressure meant. She heard something from outside the temple.
Ava looked up to see that her guards had fallen and Loki was entering the temple, Thor and Eira not far behind him. She smiled. "Loki."
Loki walked over to her and bent down to pull her into a standing position. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm so glad that you're alright."
Ava buried her face in his chest. "I knew you would come for us."
"Do you have any injuries?" Eira asked, approaching them.
Ava shook her head. "I'm fine."
"Then let's get you home." Loki said.
Eira pulled out a blanket and handed it to Loki, who wrapped it around Ava's shoulders. The group began to walk out of the temple, when Ava felt the pain and pressure. "Ah!" She cried out and gripped her belly.
"Ava? Darling, are you alright?" Loki asked, concern in his voice.
"I'm fine...it's just a little pain and pressure." Ava answered, sucking in a deep breath.
"Where?" Eira asked.
"The pressure is in my pelvis and the pain is in my stomach and lower back." Ava answered. "Why?"
"You're in labor." Eira answered.
"But my water hasn't broken." Ava replied. Then as if on cue, her water broke. "Okay...now I'm in labor."
