Ella looked over at Thor as they stood outside of the Throne Room the following morning. They knew exactly why they were both there, but they had no idea if they could stay. A part of Thor longed to leave. He didn't wish to see Loki go before his father. Ella didn't want to go in and see her brother being dragged in. He would be chained. He would be restrained. He would not be Loki. Ella bit down on her bottom lip before looking to Thor.

"Are you thinking the same as I am?" Thor enquired of his sister.

"That we would both rather be anywhere but here?" Ella questioned.

"Then do not be here."

Frigga's voice came out of nowhere. Turning to look behind them, they saw her wandering towards them. She had a kind smile on her face for her children, stepping forwards and taking hold of each of their arms.

"Your father will dismiss me as soon as I go in there. He wishes to speak with Loki alone," Frigga said. "But I want to be there to see him."

"And when will we see him again?" Ella wondered.

"Your father will not allow you in the dungeon to see him," Frigga said, but before Ella could complain, Frigga squeezed hold of her arm, holding it tightly while looking to her with a nod of her head. "But there are ways to see him without him knowing. When the time is right, Ella…Thor…I shall not deny you."

Thor nodded. "I do not know when that time will be."

"Nor do I."

"And there is no rush," Frigga said, "but I cannot abandon him. I could never abandon him."

"He feels like a lost cause, mother," Thor said.

"Perhaps he just needs to find his way back," Frigga responded.

Ella nodded her head. "I do not think that I can face father just yet after what I said to him. I want to go and think on things."

"Then go," Frigga said. "I will come to both of you later."

Ella pecked her mother on the cheek before leaving her. She let Thor wander off as soon as he heard the calls from Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Ella had shook her head and left them, knowing full well that she had done nothing to gain their favour the last time she had spoken to them. She had been rude and she had been wrong. That was the worst part. They had been right about Loki all along.

Wandering towards the stables, Ella allowed the guard to saddle her horse for her before she climbed on, riding through the streets of Asgard. She found herself travelling to the edge of the Rainbow Bridge, looking out over it in time to see Heimdall stood at the foot of it. He was staring over it as Ella slowed down on the horse, climbing down from the creature, her yellow skirts swarming over her legs.

"I know why you come," Heimdall spoke as Ella stood besides him, her horse remaining stationary.

"How?" Ella dared to enquire.

Heimdall turned to look to her, his brow arched as he did so. "Do you forget that I see all?"

Ella smirked and looked down to the ground, her hands drumming against her sides before she spoke in a whisper. "How is he?"

Heimdall nodded his head once. "He is getting to grips with the world he lives in. He is taking time to himself and has moved somewhere new. He wants to keep helping those who he can, but he just needs time to adjust."

"But he is well?" Ella checked with Heimdall and he nodded his head.

"He is well."

"Good," Ella said.

Turning back on her heel, Ella wandered towards the horse and climbed back up, allowing a smile to form on her face as she headed back towards the palace. Her mind was still on everything, but for a moment she didn't feel a sense of sadness. She felt a sense of happiness. She felt a sense of relief. He was still safe and he was doing well. That was enough for Ella. It was more than enough for her. Perhaps she might see him another day, but she didn't know how possible that would be.

As Ella left her horse in the stable, she moved back inside before wandering towards the training pit. Standing over it, she looked over the training of the Asgardian warriors, her eyes catching Thor's eye as he continued to fight against whoever dared to get in his path. Ella knew that there was unrest in the Nine Realms and she also knew that Thor would be charged to go and settle them.

"I should learn how to train," Ella said as soon as she sensed Thor next door to her. He looked at her with intrigue then as his hands went to rest on the stone ledge in front of him. "We were in New York and I was rather useless, Thor. I could not fight like you could."

"Because mother never wanted you to learn how to fight," Thor said. "She wanted to protect you."

"And she has," Ella said with a nod of her head, "but mother knows how to fight."

"Because mother had to," Thor said. "Mother has known danger. She never wanted you to know it, hence why she did not allow for you to train. She begrudgingly only allowed Loki and I to fight because she knew we might need to if we became King one day."

"I do not blame mother, Thor," Ella spoke with haste to her brother. "I just want to learn. I think that it might be practical. I never expected to go to Earth and fight, but I did. You understand me, don't you?"

Thor nodded. "I understand, Ella," Thor said. "Yet a part of me would rather not teach you for I do not want you to experience battle again."

"And a part of me would rather be prepared should I need to fight," Ella said. "Thor, I am not asking you to drag me along to help you protect the Nine Realms. I know full well that you would not take me and I would not be able to help you. I just want to know the basics should I need to defend myself."

Thor's lips quirked and he moved a hand out to ruffle his sister's hair. She swatted him away at his wrist, causing him to chuckle before he nodded his head at her, his hand moving to wrap around her shoulders.

"I will teach you the basics," Thor said, "so long as mother permits it."

"Thor," Ella complained to him. "Do you think that she will? Besides, it makes you look like a bit of a coward when you say you need mother's permission."

Thor laughed heartedly, throwing his head back as he squeezed his sister's shoulder tightly and she looked up to him with a frown on her face.

"Because I am a coward when it comes to mother," he commented with no hesitation. "However, you are no coward so you can be the one to speak to her. I heard how you yelled at father yesterday, Ella. You would never have spoken to him like that before all of this happened."

Ella shrugged and Thor removed his arm from her before holding it out to her, offering for her to take hold of it. Thor knew that he wanted to speak to his sister about yesterday considering he had not gotten a chance to. He did not wish to see Ella upset, but he did wish to know what was going through her mind. Linking her arm into his, Ella felt his muscular form underneath her fingertips as they wandered along the edge of the water.

"I was so angry with him when you were not here," Ella said. "I was angry with you too. I was upset that you had been banished, but I saw why father did it. I understood his reasoning behind it. I understood that he thought it might educate you and it did."

"I do not deny that."

"But then he…there was so much that he had kept secret. He had lied to us…to Loki…he should have told Loki what he was, but that it made no difference. He should have told Loki he would never be King because he was adopted, but he did not. And then he had this ridiculous plan to marry me off to Loki," Ella scoffed at the idea. "All the while I read bedtime stories about Frost Giants were monsters. It is so foolish, Thor. He…could you imagine if his plan had paid off? If he told me that I was to marry a Frost Giant, despite being told of how they were evil my entire life?"

Thor confessed that he found it odd, but he said nothing for a brief moment. Instead he focused on his sister's words as she continued to speak, her mind clearly whirling about everything.

"And then Loki became King and he made decisions that horrified me. What he did…sending the Destroyer after you…bringing the Frost Giants here…he wasn't the brother I knew, but I…I tried to understand him. I tried to understand why he had done what he had done. I could to an extent. He wanted father to love him. He wanted to be our equal. He wanted to be something other than a pawn."

"He truly saw himself like that?"

"He did," Ella said. "But father never took the time to understand him and then he did the one thing that made Loki fall. He refused to accept him or try to understand him."

"Ella, I understand why you are angry with father, truly I do," Thor said, coming to stand still as he took hold of his sister's hands inside of his. "I think I would be angry too if I were in your position, but Loki chose to do all of this."

"Do not misunderstand me, Thor," Ella said with a firm shake of her head, "I am angry with Loki too. I am beyond angry with him. He…he has done things that are unforgiveable."

"Then why do I get the feeling that you long to forgive him?"

Ella managed a sad smile, turning her head to look to her brother.

"Do you not long for that too?"

"I long for a great many things, Ella," Thor said, "but I feel as though Loki is beyond redemption."

Ella said nothing in response. Instead she took hold of Thor by the arm and dragged him on to continue their walk, hoping that they could change the topic of conversation to something less intense.

…

Thor had been gone for a week and Ella confessed herself bored. She had no friends on Asgard, nor did she long to make any. He was doing all in his power to restore order to the Nine Realms and had taken a vast majority of the Asgardian Army with him. Ella had broached the topic of training to fight with her mother who had reluctantly agreed so long as Thor would be the one to train her and that she did not actively go out and look for trouble.

Settling down at the dining table, Ella prepared of another evening of terse conversation with her mother and father. Frigga was doing everything in her power to keep the peace between the two of them, but she realised she was failing miserably. Ella was still angry with her father while Odin was still upset with how his daughter had spoken to him and what she thought of his decisions.

"Have you been to see him?"

Frigga looked over to her daughter once she had asked her the question. She nodded her head slowly as Odin departed the dining hall to attend to business of his own.

"He is still the same," Frigga informed her daughter. "He is bitter and unapologetic for his actions, but he is still so blind to everything around him."

"How often do you see him?" Ella continued to enquire from her mother.

"Once a day if I can," Frigga said. "I do not spend a long time with him, but I take him books to read. He asks after you, Ella. I think you should know that."

Ella nodded solemnly. "I do not doubt it," she said. "But I do not know if I want to see him."

"I think that he understands that," Frigga said. "Regardless, he does care in his own way, Ella. He will always care for you after everything you have both been through."

…

Thor had returned home and had managed to restore some peace, but he knew his work had just begun. As he had escorted his latest shipment of prisoners to the dungeon, he found himself wandering along the line of cells until he came to the final one. Peering in, he kept his hammer tight in his grip as he saw the familiar outline of his brother.

"Well, well, well, I am honoured."

Thor almost felt the need to grind his teeth at his brother's sneering tone, but he remained mute instead. He watched on as Loki moved to sit upright on the bed, swinging his legs over the side and then standing up. His eyes shifted onto Thor as he prowled through the cell and Thor stood in front of him, dressed in all of his finery. Placing his hands behind his back, Loki looked to his brother before speaking.

"I trust Odin does not know you are here?"

"Odin has forbidden us to come down here to see you. I was escorting some prisoners."

"And curiosity got the better of you?" Loki asked, stretching his arms out wide in a dramatic fashion. "Well, here I am, brother."

"I never wanted any of this to happen," Thor responded with a firm shake of his head while Loki scoffed. "I thought that we were brothers, Loki. I thought that you cared for me."

"You are not my brother," Loki hissed. "And all I cared about was seeing you out of the picture after spending my entire life in the shadows of yours."

"I never wished for you to feel that way," Thor said with haste, "but to send The Destroyer…to tell me I had been banished to Earth forever…that is just cruel, Loki. You could have spoken with me. You could have told me how you felt."

Loki chuckled darkly, rolling his eyes to the ceiling before fixing his glare back on Thor. "And do you believe that you would have listened?" Loki demanded from him. "You? The Great Thor? You never listened to anyone before any of this. You never took responsibility for your actions."

"I have changed."

"Yes, because you were on Earth," Loki snapped. "You would never have listened to me before your banishment. You never listened to anyone."

"And so you wanted to take Earth out of revenge? You wanted me to suffer? To see what it was like to be helpless?"

Loki shrugged. "And it comes back to you," Loki said. "You think that I took Earth because of you? I took it because it was offered to me. I took it because he told me that I could rule. I was born to rule."

"No, you were not," Thor said. "And if you think that ruling is anything like what you did on Earth then you are ill-suited to the notion of ruling, dear brother. Whoever offered you the Earth was as foolish as you."

Loki chuckled and perched on the edge of the bed. "I would not let him hear you speak that way," Loki declared.

"And who is he?" Thor snapped to his brother.

"No one of importance now," Loki waved a hand. "Nothing is of importance to me anymore."

"Not even your family?" Thor wondered.

Loki's snarl grew then. "I have no family," was all that he offered to Thor who did grind his teeth together then.

"I adored you," he said with haste. "I would have done anything for you, Loki, had you only asked it of me. As would mother and Ella. Do you not think about them? Do you not consider their feelings?"

"Why?" Loki enquired. "I suspect they are getting along quite well without me."

It was Thor's turn to give a smirk in disbelief then as he shook his head, swinging his hammer into his other hand before turning on his heel and walking away, calling out to his brother as he left;

"You truly do not understand family, do you, brother?"

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!