A/N: And now for something completely different.

Chapter Twenty-One – Day 122-141

Despite what Loki liked to think of her, Sif was not an idiot. In an Asgard where the Valkyrie were no more, she had needed to cultivate her every skill – including intelligence – to make it as a female warrior in a race filled with fragile male egos. Though she knew she would never be as cunning as he was, she could still read a situation. And there most certainly was a situation with the little mortal who had been hiding away in the guest rooms for the past few months.

At first, Sif had been unsure of what to make of the girl. The way she had clung to Thor's arm like a helpless damsel and Thor's easy familiarity with her had been irritating, but it was a dishearteningly familiar irritation that she knew how to handle. And yet, something about the girl's otherworldliness gave her pause, so she may have used a bit more strength than necessary to intimidate the little chit. She truly had not intended to hurt the pathetic thing, but her heart had overruled her head in that lapse in judgment.

And as it turned out, her original concern over Thor's wayward affections had been entirely misplaced. That had been obvious from the moment Loki yelled at her to let the girl go. The furious way he had dressed down Thor in front of them all and then immediately took the girl away once she asked to leave… he might as well have hung a banner around her neck that said, "Property of Loki, no touching." Loki regarded nearly everyone with utter disdain, so for him to berate Thor so openly and over a mortal of all things was suspicious beyond belief. From then on, she had decided to keep an eye on this mysterious girl.

Befriending the girl had been easy and, to Sif's surprise, enjoyable. It was rather nice to have another woman around who was not a fluff-brained courtier. She was so open and naturally honest that her lies were as easy to discern as Thor's. It was endearing, but it made it all the more curious why Loki spent so much of his time with her and was seemingly content to do so. Not that Sif minded, of course; any reason for Loki to stay out of the way was a good one. But something else had to be going on. The girl was locked away in her room unless she had a chaperone; no other interplanetary guests faced such strict monitoring policies. Yet Thor, Loki, and the girl stuck to the same, unmistakably false story of her simply being a tutor.

Upon leaving the throne room after giving their report on the situation in Vanaheim, Sif finally decided that she was going to get answers. Loki had been more insufferable than he had been in a long time for the entire week, his foul mood palpable to both Hogun and herself beneath the gracious mask he maintained for the sake of the negotiations. It made her realize how much better the prince had behaved since the girl had arrived. Aside from him purposefully dressing the girl in vibrant red for her debut, his mischief had been negligible. No snakes slithering in her bed, no magical dullening of Volstagg's axe in the midst of a fight, not a hint of crude gossip regarding Fandral's philandering. Either Loki actually cared for the girl – Sif snorted at the thought – or else she was part of some grand scheme sanctioned by the Allfather that intrigued the prince enough to suppress his need to be a bother to everyone else around him.

With that in mind, she followed the prince as he made his way up the stairs toward the girl's room with nary a word of parting to her or Hogun, his faster-than-usual pace just barely perceivable. He never even noticed her following him, so focused was he on his destination. She stayed back as he knocked on her door, waiting until it shut behind him to creep closer and press her ear to it, trying to overhear their muffled voices.

"-survived without me?"

"What, did you think I was gonna die of despair just because you went away?"

"That's a flattering thought, but no; I meant that you didn't decide to do something else idiotic on your own."

"Hey!"

There was a slight thump, followed by a chuckle from Loki. "Really, Jane? I wouldn't advise starting a pillow war with me. I shared a room with Thor for over a century, and never once did I lose such a battle."

There was a murmur from the girl she could not quite make out. Sif pressed closer, wondering why it had gone silent before another, louder thud reached her ear. "Oh, you are so on!"

Sif pulled back suddenly as Jane's words were accompanied by a flurry of her giggles. Whatever she had been expecting to hear, it certainly was not this private moment between her friend and her prince. After the argument she had witnessed between the pair of them only a few weeks ago, she never would have imagined this peculiar turn of events.

It was too strange to even think about, the idea becoming even more preposterous with every step that took her farther away from the room. Loki, the perpetually snide and conniving snake of a man, was engaging in childish play with an insignificant mortal. It was so completely unlike him that she wondered briefly if it even truly was Loki in there. But no, she reminded herself, she had just spent a week with the prick, and he had been every bit as annoying as she knew him to be. Perhaps the girl was a secret sorceress and had cast a spell upon the prince to bend him to her will.

Sif felt her stomach bottom out as she missed a step on the staircase, her brain frozen on a sudden realization. No, this was no spell. This was love. As impossible and unbelievable as it was, it was the only thing that accounted for his complete shift in behavior. Whether he knew it yet or not, Loki was either in love or well on his way to being there.

But as the shock of that thought faded, it was replaced with something worse. For the first time in her life, she felt a twinge of sympathy for the prince. Her own love for Thor was unrequited, but at least she could stay by his side for the rest of her exceptionally long life. Loki would have to face losing the girl in only a few decades, and given that he loved no one and nothing else, she could not imagine the strength he would need to get through the sorrow that would surely follow. Whether she died tomorrow or in fifty years, he was already in too deep to get through it unscathed.

With an unexpectedly heavy heart, Sif promised herself then and there that she would watch out for Jane even more and make sure she was safe and content. Even if she mistrusted the God of Mischief, Sif did not wish this pain on Loki. Not if she could do anything to stave it off for a little longer.

When Sif had brought her concerns over Loki's infatuation with Lady Jane to him, Thor had initially brushed off the idea as absurd. His brother, the man who derided the Midgardians as the unworthy scum of the Nine Realms, could not possibly be in love with a mortal. It was ridiculous.

And yet, Thor remembered that he had been the one to recruit Lady Jane to help him roust Loki from his room all those weeks ago. He had recognized that Loki cared about the girl in some form or another. But love? Loki had never been in love, as far as he was aware. His brother had carried on with women before, same as the rest of them had, but he had never known Loki to care for any of them beyond the physical. Loki's true affections had always been limited to just their family; how could Lady Jane, lovely though she was, have made it into his heart when countless others had failed?

Unconvinced by his arguments, Sif had asked him to watch the pair sometime, believing that he would see she spoke the truth now that he knew to look for it. Which was why he was wasting this beautiful spring day sitting with Sif beneath the cover of a clump of wild berry bushes near the edge of his favorite swimming hole, plucking and eating the early-growing fruit as they watched Loki escorting Lady Jane along the shore. It was unimaginably boring, sitting there, watching them walk and talk, and he wondered how he had let Sif talk him into this pointless subterfuge in the first place.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Thor grumbled crossly as sharp branches poked at his arms. He should have just let Sif think he agreed with her conclusion; then he could be doing any of a million more interesting things with his day off.

"Well, you did, so deal with it. Respectfully, of course."

Thor snorted at her unconcealed smirk. Respectfully, indeed.

A breeze drifted by, sending the branches into a fresh round of scratching. Snapping off the offending twigs, he formulated a new rebuttal. Only a month ago, it had seemed perfectly natural to pull Lady Jane to himself and kiss her, her rosy cheeks and wide eyes drawing him to her with potent magnetism. Sif's theory would assuage the sting to his pride the girl's rather forceful rejection had inflicted, but it did bring up a troubling issue. "If your words are true and Loki is in love with Lady Jane, then how do you explain that he only laughed at my kissing her and did not instead find a way to seek vengeance?" If their rivalries of the past had taught him anything, such a betrayal would have warranted an unsuspected stabbing at the very least.

Loki's revenges were obnoxiously poetic that way.

Distracted as he was by his ineffective pruning of the bush, Thor missed the irritated retort Sif muttered under her breath. "What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing. It doesn't matter." She shook her head, her dark hair whipping across the back of her arms. He often wondered how she managed to not get it caught in anything. "Maybe he's coming up with something special or perhaps he just doesn't want anyone to realize he's in love. But you aren't going to see it if you don't start paying attention."

At her light shove, Thor finally turned back to the scene in front of them, scanning the pair intently as they walked toward Sif and him unawares. The arm Lady Jane clung to for support was easy to disregard; Loki had been trained in proper manners and would undoubtedly follow them even with a companion he deemed unfit. But the way they were gazing at each other when they thought the other was not looking… he had never seen such an adoring expression on his brother's face before.

It was a peculiar idea, his brother being in love. But the longer he watched them, the more right it felt. Adding in the fact that Loki had taken the girl out of the bounds of the palace at all, Thor was convinced of Sif's conclusion. For as much as Loki's mind confounded him at times, Thor did know Loki never did anything unless it had a purpose. And he could see none here unless his brother truly was smitten with Lady Jane.

Unable to help himself, Thor let out a hearty laugh at the thought. Sif smacked him to be quiet before the pair noticed them, but Thor did not care. For all the protesting his brother had done about not being interested in anything more than the mystery of the girl's power, in the end it had done him no good. The little Midgardian must have been very interesting indeed to have held Loki's attention for this long and actually inspire him to behave like any other man who desired a woman.

Or, well, almost like any other man – only Loki would think it acceptable to push a woman he liked into a lake and laugh about it. But Lady Jane's retribution was swift as she pulled herself out of the water and leapt onto his brother's back, quickly drenching him as well. Beside him, Sif let out a soft snicker at their antics, and Thor met her eyes with a grin. He was perfectly happy to concede that Sif had been right.

Oh, he would be able to poke fun at Loki with this for years and years.

"Did you know Loki is in love with Lady Jane?"

Frigga startled at Thor's abrupt words, the thread in her hands slipping from her fingers. Of course, her eldest would be the one to just say it so bluntly and without anything to ease her into such a conversation. She was merely glad that he had had the sense to come to her in the privacy of her weaving room instead of bringing it up at the breakfast table.

She turned away from her loom to give Thor her full attention. He was nearly bouncing on his feet, so eager was he to share his news. "Yes, dear, but we should not gossip about such things."

His gleeful smile drooped a little, as if he had expected her to be unaware of his discovery. Honestly, as if she would miss one of the most significant developments in Loki's life so far. She kept her chuckle at Thor's disappointment to herself, waiting to see if he had any other purpose to this announcement. He needed but a moment to recover before he asked hesitantly, "Then you approve?"

Frigga smiled softly at the concern in his voice. She should have expected this, at the very least. Thor would not care that Loki was in love with a mortal, only whether or not Loki would be allowed to continue loving her. Perhaps the rift between her sons was finally healing. "Loki has the freedom to love as he chooses. If he has decided to let Jane into his heart, then why should I disapprove?"

Thor accepted that easily, to her relief. She pressed on, "But you are not to mention any of this to Loki. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because Loki does not love easily." It had caused her great sadness over the years to see her youngest so cut off from everyone, resulting from a potent mixture of rejection and self-imposed isolation. "I fear that if any of us were to interfere, he may see it as judgment upon him and take offense, denying his affection entirely."

Thor scoffed at her reasoning. "That's ridiculous. Loki would never let himself be influenced so easily."

"In general, yes, but this is a new experience for him." Her eyes implored him to understand. "True love brings you strength, but that takes time to build. Right now, it is as fragile as a glass ball, and I will not have you tossing it at him."

He mulled over her warning words, and she saw the comprehension dawn on his face. "All right, Mother. I will not say a word."

Pleased with his acquiescence, Frigga pulled him in for a tight hug. What had she done to deserve two amazing sons?

Later that day, as she joined Jane for another session guiding her magic, Thor's words floated around in her mind. Frigga found herself contemplating the girl's character again, reexamining it for any significant failings that could prove the girl to be a poor match for her son. She could find none. The girl had her flaws, of course, but there was also a certain charm, with her endless enthusiasm and determination. She was almost perfectly suited to Loki, and her presence had softened the prickly edges that had been forming around her youngest. Oh, her wrath would be fierce against anyone who tried to take this happiness away from him.

Naturally, she would have preferred it if Loki had found a woman of a similar lifespan if not the same species (would he even want either a Jotun or Asgardian wife once he learned the truth of his heritage?), but there were ways to extend Jane's life. Dangerous ways, but still ways. If Loki decided he did truly love this girl and wanted her with him always, then she would do everything in her power to grant the girl a longer life. It had been so long since she had seen her little boy so at ease with himself, and her motherly instincts would not be denied.

But first, she would need to be sure of Jane's feelings. There was no doubt that the girl held her son in high regard, but Jane was still a mortal. Even if she thought she loved Loki, the commitment in her love as it stood now only had to last a few decades. If she were to be bound to Loki, Frigga had to be absolutely certain that her love would last through the centuries. And as neither of them had admitted to loving the other yet, it would be a most difficult thing to prove.

For now, though, she would support Loki for however far he wished to take this. She only hoped her king and husband would be just as understanding.

Odin watched with disdain as Loki left the breakfast table in haste. The boy had been rather unlike himself the past few weeks, carrying out his duties with even more efficiency than usual, all so that he could spend more time with that mortal. He was very much regretting his decision to let Loki anywhere near the girl in the first place.

In the beginning, he had seen little harm in the idea. Loki's curiosity was boundless, so agreeing to let him play with her power had seemed the safest course of action at the time. If he had denied his youngest, then Loki simply would have done as he wished but in secret. This way, he maintained some control over his son's activities. But, evidently, using the girl as a distraction while Thor was away had been a mistake. He had not anticipated Loki's attachment to the hapless thing.

Frigga's hand rested on his, the warning look in her eye restraining him from calling the boy back. For reasons unfathomable to him, his wife was trying to encourage the bond between the two. She was unaware of the truth of the mortal's condition, but even without that knowledge, she should see how precarious this situation was becoming. Mortals did not belong on Asgard, and it was unwise to allow Loki to think he could keep the girl. Once he figured out how to remove the Aether, she would have to go back to Midgard, and he did not want Loki to waste his time pining over the unworthy creature.

And there still was the possibility that the Aether could not be removed. If that were the case, he would be forced to extract it in a less pleasant manner. It would be unfortunate, as all lost life was, but there were several billion more just like her on Midgard. Her early demise would be no more than a blip in the history of the universe.

Either way, he would not let this foolishness continue. Loki needed to be reined in if he was to be Thor's right-hand man. Nothing was more important than ensuring the continued glory of Asgard, and there was still so much more he could teach his sons before leaving the kingdom in their hands. Certainly enough that neither would have time to think about the charms of feminine companionship for the six weeks he had left as king. Frigga could hardly complain about that.

Lurking in the shadows, a malevolent presence watched the palace with interest. The song of the Aether had been difficult to track, its melody wavering in and out of existence as he forced its echo back to him. The Aether was playing coy with him, the promise of its power inciting his lust for it, but it continued to hide from him. Well, it could hide no longer.

The months of searching had paid off. The Aether was here, shrouded by the gilded cage of Asgard, ripe for the taking. The king must have been a great fool, attempting to hide the Aether inside a weak shell of mortal flesh. Or perhaps it was the fault of the dark-haired son whose constant presence thwarted each idea he had had for getting the girl alone. But that would not deter him.

He simply had to wait for the opportune moment to arrive. And he had the perfect plan for when it did.

A/N: This was a bit experimental for me, jumping between these five new POVs. Hopefully I did them all justice! They each have a slightly different take on what this budding romance means, which I thought should be explored at least a little.

Oh, and in my head, that scene Sif was snooping on ends with Loki conjuring an avalanche of pillows to bury Jane in :)