Kicking off chapter 2 with a huge revelation for the twins! And they aren't going to react well ;) Angst ahoy! You know y'all love the angst.

A nice long chapter for you all!

Edelweiss Say I'll Be with You Till the Day You Leave

Chapter Two: Words Left Unsaid

The first day of school was always the most difficult. Being dropped into a brand new environment amongst hundreds of strangers, children who behaved in ways that were rude and bratty; made to follow a schedule to somebody else's liking, and not having prime quality time to play video games in the middle of the day or read a book on one's own time was a bit overwhelming. Aster and Kari certainly thought so.

But Amelia assured the twins that the overwhelming feeling would pass in time, and in time it did.

The twins' second day at school was better than their first; Louis decided he liked to hang around Kari, which gave the latter a solid navigator around the school - plus, it helped that Louis was fun to talk to, they both had a similar list of favourite video games and Kari learned just how exciting it was to have a discussion about his hobbies with someone new.

Aster and Autumn quickly found a partner in each other whenever a teacher called for their students to pair up; the two of them worked like peas in a pod, both work-oriented with a determination to do well in their lessons.

Charlotte and her giggly minions made sure to brand the two girls as the 'teacher's pets', encouraging her friends to speak the words like they were an insult. Aster could not understand why Charlotte seemed to have a weird obsession for bothering her, but she was not distressed by the girl's attempt to verbally embarrass her. Aster put her focus into her work, brushing Charlotte aside - which only seemed to irritate the bully more.

The third day of school was easier still. Aster and Kari displayed natural talents in their respective gym classes, soaring above other students - quite literally in Kari's case, who had always had a knack for climbing, and almost immediately seized the record for the fastest child to climb the rope and ring the bell at the top - out of every grade. He preened when he was showered with praise from Louis, who was beyond impressed. Trevor took Kari's achievement personally and made his distaste known by glaring him down during the rest of gym class.

Despite the occasional unnecessary and mean remark from Charlotte and Trevor, Kari and Aster developed a genuine eagerness with attending education; and only then, when the two woke up with smiles on their faces before school, did Amelia finally relax.

Several months after the twins' twelfth birthday, Amelia found herself packing up Kari and Aster's lunches one morning as the kids got dressed and presentable for school. Loki sat nearby, spooning pear and banana flavoured baby food into little Daisy's mouth, simultaneously making faces at his youngest daughter as he did so - whether it was purposeful or involuntary, Amelia did not know.

Either way, it was adorable, and given that there was still quite a lot of time left before they needed to leave, Amelia allowed herself a moment to lean on the counter and observe her husband and daughter.

Loki lifted the little spoon and murmured, "Open up," before opening his own mouth up in the hopes the girl would mimic him. Daisy merely giggled, so he repeated himself, "Open up for the aeroplane." He brought the spoon closer to her mouth with the added sound effect of a jet plane, but Daisy kept her mouth shut, grinning at her dada's hilarious antics.

"No? Are you not a fan of the taste of aeroplanes? What about a train? Choo choo…"

Once again, Daisy denied the spoon entry into her mouth.

"Hmm, okay. New scenario, you're a little baby vampire and you've just made your first kill. So now you have a feast of delicious… somewhat gooey blood and flesh, and you need to eat it to regain your strength, so open up and eat it, honey," miraculously, the girl obeyed and opened her mouth wide for the spoonful of tasty banana and pear goodness. Loki hummed, his nose scrunching up in faux disgust, "that was rather revolting. I'm glad you don't understand what I'm talking about."

"Dadada!" Daisy exclaimed, blissfully unaware.

Amelia snorted, shaking her head fondly, "You're ridiculous."

"What? It worked, didn't it?" Loki protested his wife's disapproval with a smug smirk in the corner of his lips. He finished feeding Daisy, cleaned her free of the mess of baby food around her mouth and pulled her out of her high-chair, into his arms. "How long until the twins need to leave for school?" He addressed Amelia.

"About twenty minutes, I should probably go and rally them up," Amelia responded with a smile.

"Okay. Very good. Daisy and I will just hang out until you return," Loki stated, carrying the happy and carefree little girl in his arms towards the lounge area. Amelia sighed softly before she made her way out of the room, marching dutifully to her children's rooms on the upper floors.

Upon arriving in the hallway between the ajar doors of each twin, she peered first into Aster's room, spotting the immaculate area in which not a single object was out of place, "Hey love, we're going to leave soon, do you have everything you need?"

The girl in question was currently kneeling by her desk, slotting a few textbooks into her bag before shuffling some papers into a stack - probably homework or research for a project; she looked up with a small smile and nodded, "I'm ready to leave."

"Excellent," Amelia remarked, before crossing the hall and peering into her son's room. Kari's bedroom was another story; she peered disapprovingly at the pile of dirty clothes on the floor at the end of his bed, and the random pieces of litter and papers and books spread across the floor, not to mention the absolute disarray of the boy's desk.

"Darling… you really need to keep your room tidy, this is too much of a mess," Amelia stated, eyeing the boy who was sitting at his desk and scribbling almost frantically into one of his work books.

"Uh huh," Kari mumbled airily.

"Kari," Amelia said with the intention of drawing the boy's attention, but he stubbornly kept his eyes on the paper in front of him, "Kari."

Kari finally looked up, making a noise of irritation in the back of his throat, "I'll clean it at the weekend, mom."

Amelia frowned, eyes falling to his work book, "Is that the homework you said you would do last night?"

Kari looked guilty, "It's, um… I was just checking it over…"

"We're leaving in fifteen minutes, make sure you're ready," Amelia spoke sternly, wagging her finger purposefully.

When Kari finally made his way down to the communal area, Amelia prepared to leave while Loki remained home with Daisy on his hip; it was easier for just one parent to accompany the twins being driven to school instead of having to strap Daisy into her car seat every single time.

"Say bye bye, Daisy," Loki instructed, his lips brushing the top of his youngest daughter's head, "Bye bye Aster, bye bye Kari." He demonstrated by waving at the twins.

Daisy waved with both hands, "Ada! Key!" The girl used her affectionate nicknames, syllables that sounded vaguely like the twin's names in their simplest form, because she wasn't yet quite able to get her mouth around them.

"Have a good day at school. Remember, we have magic lessons this afternoon in the training room," Loki reminded; they'd fallen into the habit of working on training their magic at least once a week, sharpening their skills when they could - it was something the twins enjoyed learning just as much as their favourite subjects at school.

Aster and Kari bid their father and little sister goodbye and left with Amelia, a little pep in their steps and eyes practically sparkling with contentment.

Another regular school day passed, bringing the twins to their final lesson of the day without too much trouble from either Charlotte of Trevor - Charlotte rolled her eyes endlessly when Aster and Autumn presented their English project on influential writers, and Trevor felt the need to call Kari and Louis a few undesirable nicknames in gym, but all in all they weren't terrorised too badly.

Their final subject of the day was History, a lesson that the twins, their friends and the two priorly named bullies all shared together, taught by one of the more agitating teachers at the school, Mrs Balfour.

The teacher in question had just popped out of the classroom and into the room opposite in search of a very specific set of worksheets she had misplaced and Louis took the opportunity to pull his phone out of his pocket with the intention of playing the next level of Candy Crush while they waited.

Kari caught a glimpse of his home screen which displayed a picture of Louis standing beside two adults, a man and a woman, both with pale white skin unlike Louis's, all of them smiling into the camera. Naturally, Kari's mind bounced to the conclusion that the adults pictured were his friend's parents.

"Are you adopted?" He blurted out curiously.

Louis froze momentarily before peering over his shoulder, but it seemed the ambient chatter in the room was loud enough that nobody had heard Kari's inquiry, "No, it's weird - this super rare occurrence, something about weird genes, I just happened to come out several shades darker than my parents."

Kari blinked, "Oh."

After a beat, Louis snorted, "Yes, I'm adopted. They're my adoptive parents, Nathan and Marie Mayweather."

"Oh," the tips of Kari's ears turned red, "that's cool. My dad's adopted."

"Oh yeah?" Louis hummed with interest, "What are your parent's names?"

"Lo-" Kari coughed, cutting himself off mid-word before he could ruin the secret. He cleared his throat, desperately searching his brain for a fake name to use instead.

"Lokir Avery," Aster spoke up, peering at Louis from Kari's other side; she gave her brother a stern look as it occurred to Kari that their mother had told them 'Lokir' was the fake name she'd used for their father when filling out paperwork to enrol them in the school.

"-and Amelia is our mother's name," Kari finished off as if he hadn't almost walked head first into a blunder.

Louis regarded his friend with an odd look before shrugging slightly. He was forced to quickly shove his phone back into his pocket when Mrs Balfour came strutting into the room with the worksheets in hand, grumbling about how she had left them in the other classroom in between periods.

"Right, attention everyone," she called across the room, snapping her fingers to draw the gazes of her students, "I have a very basic lesson plan for today, we're going to delve into the topic of a little more recent history, and by recent I mean twenty years ago, so still long before any of you were born. Now, I should hope you all know about this topic, but can I have a show of hands, who here is familiar with the events of the Battle of New York in 2012? Also known as the Chitauri Invasion."

A sprinkle of hands flew up, more so than not, including Louis, Autumn, even Charlotte, but Aster and Kari's hands remained down, for they had never heard of such an incident. Mrs Balfour gave the students with their hands down an exasperated, condescending stare before tutting and shaking her head and mumbling quietly, "Honestly, what do your parents teach you?"

Aster frowned, glancing over at her brother. She didn't like not knowing things that most of her classmates seemed privy to, but Kari appeared unbothered, looking as though he was more than a little bored, attempting to idly balance his pen on his upper lip - which prompted Aster to roll her eyes.

Mrs Balfour activated the projector, which projected an image onto the board, "As I'm sure most of you are aware, the Avenger Loki was not always the saint this city makes him out to be. In fact, he was quite the opposite prior to his return to Earth in twenty-eighteen."

Aster's brain was flooded with a rush of disorientation; she stared at the projection of several still images showing Manhattan buildings in various states of destruction, along with a few grainy snaps of alien-like creatures, and one image that was obviously a reconstruction of one of these aliens. Then there was an image of her father from a newspaper clipping, handcuffed with what looked to be a metal gag covering his mouth, being led somewhere by Thor and the rest of the Avengers. The accompanying headline read, 'Self-proclaimed God of Mischief, Loki, arrested by Avengers for crimes against humanity.'

She blinked rapidly, a sting of confusion and discomposure causing her eyes to well up, and instantly, a wall of scepticism erected in her mind, bringing all the veering thoughts to an immediate standstill. She only peered briefly at her brother, who was staring at the projection with his mouth hanging open, before her hand shot up and she spoke without being called on.

"Miss, surely there's some mistake? Loki is a hero, he doesn't hurt innocent people," Aster spoke, trying to force her voice to sound level despite her heart pounding in her chest. If the teacher was pulling some awful prank on her class, it wasn't a very good prank.

Louis and Autumn gave Aster a puzzled look, and Charlotte - who was sat a couple seats in front of Aster - swung around to glare at her in a way that seemed to imply what had just come out of her mouth was nonsensical.

The teacher placed her hands on her hips, looking down at Aster over the top of her glasses. It was a very patronising stare, the one this teacher was prone to giving to most of the kids in her class whenever they asked what they thought was an innocuous question. Mrs Balfour had earned the nickname 'Mrs Ludicrous' among her pupils for the very fact that the word 'ludicrous' was basically her catchphrase. According the Mrs Balfour, there were stupid questions, her students were idiots, and they - along with all their questions - were ludicrous.

"Silly girl," the teacher snapped unkindly, drawing a subtle flinch out of Aster, "you are naive and ignorant. You were born after these events, and you're trying to tell me, somebody who was very much alive and lived through this day, that I am mistaken?"

Aster swallowed, mouth snapping shut as her wide eyes shone with unshed tears. She wasn't used to being so brazenly scolded for simply asking a question, but that was Mrs Ludicrous in a nutshell.

Kari's teeth were clenched together as he laid a hand of attempted reassurance on his sister's arm, but there wasn't much that could be done in that moment when a million thoughts were spiralling through both of their heads.

"Loki was a villain, a murderer. A devil. I'm so sorry some of you are just finding this out just now, but any notion that he is anything but what I've described is simply ludicrous," Mrs Balfour went on to say with no a hint of empathy in her stony voice, in fact she seemed more than a little amused at Aster's current state, barely hiding a poorly-stifled smirk at the corner of her mouth.

Aster couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. There was no way - there was no way the teacher's words were true. Her father was a hero, he saved lives with every mission he took, he wasn't a bad person, he was a hero. If Mrs Balfour was telling the truth, why were the Avengers all friends with her father? If it was true, wouldn't they resent him?

The hand on her arm tightened and she looked up at her brother.

"Breathe," Kari whispered, noting the fact that his sister was completely rigid, chest still as she held her breath. He didn't look any more put together than her, because his eyes were shiny like he was holding back tears, and his hand squeezing her arm was probably also for his benefit.

Autumn joined in comforting Aster, mistaking her silent distress for merely being upset at the scolding she received, but it was welcomed nonetheless.

Out of the corner of her eye, Aster spotted Charlotte staring at her, but it was easy to ignore because in that moment, the only thing going through her mind was an intense feeling of torment as she tried to distinguish whether the teacher's sources were very, very wrong, or whether she and Kari had been lied to all their life.

It was a blessing really that Mrs Balfour's lesson was the final lesson of the day, because Kari would have stressed himself into a faint if he'd had to stew in his negative thoughts all day long. Louis had tried asking him what was wrong, but all Kari could say was that it was nothing, that he didn't want to talk about it. That wasn't true, though. He wanted to talk about it, but he was forbidden from doing so.

Aster and Kari exited the school quickly after the bell rang after informing their friends that they had to hurry home, dropping a dismissive excuse about having a guest coming over for dinner and thus couldn't be late, and hurried towards the familiar black car of their personal driver. They were both stiff and silent as they walked, neither of them wanting to face their father just yet, there were still a lot of things they didn't understand and they were hoping above all else that he was not in the car.

As they closed in on the car, they both froze as the door opened before letting out imperceptible sighs at the sight of their mother's bright, smiling, sweet face. Totally unaware of the bombshell of a revelation that had been dropped on them.

Amelia's smiling face wasn't present for long, because she saw at once that her children looked shaken and upset by something; she regarded them with a gentle look as they climbed into the car and took their seats, "Is everything okay, my darlings?"

Aster shared a look with her brother, wordlessly agreeing with him that it was best to keep quiet for the moment, and together they nodded their heads, forcing weak smiles onto their faces to try and seem convincing. The truth was, they were far too unsettled to persuade their mother that they were fine, because she continued to regard them with a look that exuded maternal love and care.

"Did something happen at school today?" Amelia cautiously pried, "Was it that Charlotte girl? Or Trevor? Were they mean to you?"

"No, mom. We're fine, just tired. It just felt like a long day today," Kari protested, averting his gaze to peer out the window, unable to lie to his mother while their gazes were locked.

"Are you sure?" Amelia looked between them with a frown, "You know you two can tell me anything. If someone has upset you-"

"It's nothing," Aster insisted, raising her voice just a tad, but regret rolled over her face almost immediately upon seeing the surprise on her mother's face. She bit her lip, also turning to gaze out of the window in the hopes their mother would just forget it.

Amelia eyed her kids closely. She wasn't ignorant or unaware, she knew something was bothering her kids and she intended to find out what, but she held off for now. Perhaps she could encourage the truth out of them later when they were more inclined to confide in her or her husband.

The car ride home was quiet. Amelia thanked the driver when they arrived and the three of them hopped into the elevator in the Tower to rise up to the communal floor. In the living quarters, Loki was present with the rest of the Avengers, all of them watching him walk Daisy across the floor as the young girl giggled and stumbled with the help of her father.

Loki looked proudly down at her, barely aiding the girl who was walking on her own with unsteady but somewhat certain steps. Daisy was a determined little thing, loving the praise everybody was giving her merely for taking some steps across the room.

Aster stalled at this sight, staring in silence as she watched the scene before her with a seed of disbelief growing in her head. Watching her dad and her baby sister, not to mention the other Avengers in the room with smiles on their faces all content in Loki's presence - it could only rouse doubt in her. Because how could Loki, her father, have been a brutal killer just twenty years ago when he was the picture perfect model of a loving dad.

Loki scooped Daisy up into his arms, the little girl squeaking with excitement, and approached Amelia and the twins.

"Hi. How was school?" he asked, quickly following up with, "Are you both ready for magic training?" He hadn't yet clocked the turmoil racing behind the twins' eyes, but their ensuing silence made his face fall and he looked to Amelia for an explanation as to why Aster and Kari looked so upset, but Amelia shrugged sadly. She had no explanation.

"Ada, Key," Daisy sang happily, waving her little hands at her older siblings, but the twins couldn't muster the will to greet her back. Loki handed Daisy over to his wife, who held the girl on her hip, and gave the twins his full attention.

"What happened at school?" Loki asked, quickly attuned to the simmering negative emotions emanating from the kids in waves. He sounded concerned, like a good dad would sound upon finding his children upset, but the constant mixed signals bouncing around Aster's mind felt overwhelming.

Instead of answering, Aster wrung her hands together and looked past her dad, "Actually, I don't want to train anymore. I want to help Uncle Tony in the lab." The aforementioned man looked up from his data pad in surprise, eyes flickering to the back of Loki's head momentarily.

"Oh," said Tony, "I don't have a problem with that."

Loki's brow furrowed, flickers of confusion and disappointment evident in his expression, but Aster only noticed in her peripheral vision because she was avoiding his direct gaze; Loki looked to his son instead, "Kari?"

Kari shifted uncomfortably on his feet, staring at the floor; he too spoke with a dejected tone and a dismissive shrug, "I just wanna go play video games."

"I see," their father murmured despondently, "I, um… well, I suppose we can train next week then." He gazed between his children for a moment longer, his suspicion growing. He could tell they were acting unusual, they generally came home from school with smiles on their faces even if the bullies in their grade had been causing problems, so something big must have happened. "I'd like to hear what's made you both upset though."

"You will later," Aster murmured tightly before turning and walking out of the room, she didn't give her father time to respond before she was heading down the hall to the elevators that led to their floor. Kari's footsteps jogging behind her sounded and he slowed to walk alongside her, a permanent frown on his face.

"Are you really gonna go help Tony in the lab?" Kari asked as the two of them stepped into the elevator which was thankfully already on their floor.

"I'm going to ask him about the Battle of New York," Aster explained, "according to what Mrs Ludicrous said, Tony was there, and I would rather trust his word than our dumb history teacher's word."

Kari nodded keenly in agreement, "She was extra horrible today."

"I hate her."

"Yeah, me too," Kari sighed. He looked down to see his sister's hands clenched at her sides, "Hey… what are the chances that this is all a big mistake and Mrs Balfour was totally mistaken? Or just kidding?"

Aster glared at the floor, "Maybe there was a chance she was exaggerating the truth. She kinda seems like she hates our dad… but I don't think she'd be allowed to teach if she made up complete nonsense."

"So you're saying it's most likely true?" Kari swallowed, "That our dad killed people? Innocent people?" His voice grew tighter the more he spoke and he bit his lip to try and discourage the tears that threatened to spring to his eyes.

"That's what I plan to find out," Aster stated, exiting the elevator the moment the doors opened on their floor. She went straight to her room, changed into more suitable clothing, and headed towards Tony's lab.

Aster looked over Tony's equations on the data pad he'd handed her as he explained just how he was working to improve the capacity and tensile strength of Spider-Man's web shooters while also keeping them light and compact for easier mobility. She'd started joining Tony in the lab a few months back, occasionally shadowing him as he worked because she found everything he did to be interesting.

She was getting better at understanding the equations and inner workings of all the equipment, her brain absorbing everything he told her like a sponge, but today, as she sat and listened to Tony explain his process, she couldn't concentrate. The mathematics on the data pad might as well have been gibberish because she wasn't taking any of it in.

She was too distracted, her mind reeling on the revelation at school that afternoon. All she wanted to do was gather the courage to ask Tony about the Chitauri Invasion, so that she could hear everything she needed to hear from a trusted source, but she was afraid of what Tony might say to her.

"Kid? Earth to Aster?"

Aster's gaze snapped up, looking into Tony's concerned eyes. He had a look on his face that exuded comfort, a small smile of consideration pulling at his lips.

"Something happened at school today, huh? Something you didn't want to tell mom and dad about?" Tony inquired, voice soft to encourage her to be open with him.

Aster sighed, placing the data pad down on the table; she spun to face him in her stool, mouth opening and closing a few times as she fought to discern which words to use. She hadn't quite mustered all the courage she felt she needed, but it was now or never - this was why she was sitting in the lab, because she needed to hear it from Tony.

She made a quiet, nervous noise as she cleared her throat, "Today at school… our teacher told us about the Chitauri Invasion."

The smile on Tony's face fell as soon as he heard the word 'Chitauri', a spark of understanding becoming clear and sharp in his eyes; he seemed to understand entirely in that moment why Aster and Kari had been acting the way they had since coming home from school, and he looked away for a moment, probably thinking of how best to respond.

After averting his gaze for a few seconds, he looked back and simply said, "Ah."

Aster said nothing, staring silently at Tony - this time holding eye contact in the way she couldn't with her dad. Tony scratched idly at his beard, biding time to think further on how to broach the topic.

"What did your teacher tell you?" He finally asked.

"That my dad is a murderer, he killed hundreds of innocent people, and led an invasion of ugly aliens to destroy the entire city," Aster spoke monotonously, though it took some effort. Her throat was tight, threatening to release a world of unpleasant emotions.

Tony looked away, his lips once again pulling into a smile, but this one was humourless and completely sarcastic, "Listen… the first time your dad came to Earth, he… he wasn't himself."

"So it's true?" Aster's eyes widened. A small part of her had hoped Tony would laugh and say 'what are you talking about? That's a load of nonsense' but clearly that had been wishful thinking.

There was sympathy in Tony's gaze, "This isn't a black and white issue, there's a lot of complexity that you need to take into account, but I think the person you should probably be talking to is your father, Aster. Only he can tell you why what happened, happened."

The words were far from comforting to Aster, she clenched her jaw, shaking her head, "Just tell me what happened, please?" She didn't want to go and ask her father about it - he may have been the God of Mischief but he was also the God of Lies, Aster wasn't entirely sure her dad would tell the truth, "I want to hear it from you before I talk to him."

Tony seemed uncomfortable with being placed in such a situation, "Kid… your father is a good man. He made… mistakes in the past, but he's long since redeemed himself. He changed for the better when he met your mother."

Aster fidgeted with her hands in her lap for a few moments, eyes downcast, then eventually sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve before slipping off the stool and heading towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Tony asked.

"To talk to Kari," she replied before exiting the lab.

At that moment in the communal living quarters, Loki was leaning against the kitchen island, carrying Daisy in his arms as she began to doze; Amelia was preparing to cook for dinner and the two of them were mid-conversation as they theorised what had bothered the twins so much.

"I bet it was that Charlotte again. She's always causing trouble for no reason, do you think I should try and get an appointment with the principal?" Amelia asked.

"I think we need to discern exactly what the problem is before we start pointing fingers in front of the principal," Loki responded, "I don't know what could upset them so badly that they would decide to skip their magic training. They were so excited this morning."

"Well, I'm hoping maybe they'll be more inclined to talk at dinner-"

Amelia was cut off as Tony's voice suddenly rang over the built-in communications system, "Loki? I've just spoken with Aster and I thought it best to warn you in advance why the twins are acting strange. You're not gonna like this…"

Loki stood upright at once, lifting his gaze to the ceiling, careful to mind Daisy snoozing lightly in his arms, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"They had a history class today. They were learning about the Battle of New York."

Loki grew still, the understanding taking a moment to sink in. Then he turned, looking over his shoulder at Amelia, whose hands were pressed against her mouth. A foreboding feeling trickled through his body in a way that felt disgusting, like insects crawling over his back, and he could feel that his own face had gone pale.

"Fuck," Loki whispered. He held Daisy out for Amelia to take, which she did, and it really spoke to just how shocked she was at the situation that she didn't reprimand Loki on his language whilst holding Daisy.

"What are you going to do?" Amelia asked frantically.

"I need to talk to them before they decide I'm a monster and that they never want to see my face again," Loki bitterly responded as he turned and stormed to leave the room, voice raised a few decibels. Daisy startled awake and was quick to begin whining tearfully, not happy at being frightened out of her light slumber.

Amelia shushed her gently, stroking her head assuringly, and swiftly followed after her husband. She needed to be present for what she was sure would end up being a very emotional falling out; her heart pounded in her chest as she feared for the imminent exchange between her husband and her eldest children, and she pondered whether this was a conversation they should've had with the kids when they were much, much younger.

Aster arrived at the door of Kari's room to find it locked. She knocked on the door, "Kari? Open the door, it's me."

There was no reply; Aster let out an exasperated sigh. It was no bother really, she knew the emergency override code to enter his room - she'd swiped it once from Tony's computer's data logs when she was in the lab.

She input it on the keypad and the door slid open, allowing her to step inside; Aster swept the room with her eyes, faltering when she didn't immediately locate her brother. Kari's laptop was missing from its usual place on his desk but he was nowhere in sight, however his door had been locked from the inside, so he had to be present somewhere.

"Kari?" Aster called out, she leaned down to peer below the bed but was greeted with a mess of boardgames, books and dirty clothes.

"In here."

Aster turned to the walk-in wardrobe where she'd heard her brother's voice originate from and noted the fact that the door was slightly ajar, "Why are you hiding in there?" She stepped towards the wardrobe and opened the door, spotting Kari sitting at the very back of the tiny room, surrounded by shirts on hangers, pairs of shoes and drawers full of jeans.

Kari shrugged miserably, "Just wanted to hide."

Aster nodded, she understood how her brother felt. It was as though they had been deceived by their own parents - not just them, but the Avengers too. Why had nobody ever told them the truth? It hurt beyond belief that they were finding out something so dark and disturbing now. Their father, a murderer. The pain rolled over Aster in waves, the urge to just drop, sit by her brother and start crying was strong, but she bit her lip, fighting the tears.

They had to confront their father, there was no way they could just sweep this under the rug and pretend they didn't know about it. It was too big and too harrowing.

"I spoke to Tony. It's all true," she clarified, biting the inside of her cheek to distract herself from the emotional vulnerability she was feeling.

"I know," Kari whispered, before grabbing his laptop from the floor beside him, opening it up and showing the screen to Aster.

Aster was greeted by a wikipedia page entitled 'List of Lives Lost During Loki's Invasion.'

One-hundred and fifty five innocent lives. Each person was named. All their ages listed.

Aster scrolled down the page, her eyes automatically homing in on the ages of the deceased against her better judgement. What she saw on the screen broke her heart into pieces.

It was impossible to hold back tears now, they rolled down her face steadily, and there was no point in wiping them away because they would just keep falling. Kari shimmied to the side, allowing room for his sister to drop down next to him, squashed together in the small space - the two of them in need of each other's comfort.

"Did you see the first name on the list?" Kari murmured.

"No," Aster responded, tearfully scrolling back up to the top of the page, and her jaw hit the floor. The very first name in the alphabetised list was none other than one she was very familiar with.

Aaron Avery.

Their uncle on their mother's side, who had died before they were born.

Kari sniffled, watching for his sister's reaction, "Do you think it's a different Aaron Avery?"

Aster shook her head, "Look at the date. November 2012, that's the date on uncle Aaron's tombstone. It's him."

"But… Do you think mom knows?" Kari asked, his voice meek and wrought with emotion.

It was a fair question on the surface, because why on Earth would their mother marry and have children with the man who killed her brother? But thinking about the answer of that question for more than a minute brought her only to one conclusion.

"How could she not know? She knew the day her brother was killed, she must have known how he died, so of course she would know," Aster hiccuped, to her dismay. "How… how did mama end up with daddy if he did these things? Killed her brother?" Her face felt disgustingly wet and snotty, and she wished she had brought a tissue into their little hiding place.

The sound of the door opening made the twins freeze.

"Kari? Kari, are you in here? Aster?" Loki called out into the room, his voice filled with pure panic. The sound of footsteps and Daisy crying followed after and Aster surmised it could only mean their mother was present too.

She didn't feel ready to confront her father, but would there ever be a good time to confront him about this?

Giving her face a good scrub on her sleeve, Aster slowly stood, lightly tugging on Kari's arm to coax him up and out of their hiding space too; she clutched her brother's closed laptop in hand and together they exited the wardrobe, stepping out into the room that was far brighter in comparison to where they just were.

They felt exposed as their father stared them down, his face pale and full of what could only be described as stifled terror. He looked guilt-ridden too, like he'd finally been found out after all this time, the kids finally knew his big secret.

And as he looked upon their red, puffy faces full of tears, a flicker of helplessness joined with his other whirling emotions.

"Listen…" Loki choked the word out, trailing off like he was unable to form words. Amelia rushed in behind Loki with Daisy clinging to her and crying - the young girl could sense the negative energy in the room. "I'm not… I didn't… I-I wasn't-"

"You're a murderer," Kari expelled the words like they were acid on his tongue; Aster looked to her brother, eyes widening just a little as she was shaken by the sound of hostility in his words, but really he was right. He was right to point it out.

"Kari!" Their mother gasped, as if she was horrified by what her son had said. By what Kari had said? And yet, she married a man who had killed over a hundred and fifty innocent people, and probably more prior to the invasion of Earth.

Loki's teeth were clenched, as were his hands at his sides. He was trying valiantly to keep a lid on his emotions, but being angrily called a murderer by his own child made it difficult to remain composed.

Aster's mouth was tightly shut as she waited for her dad to address the accusation, because a small part of her wanted him to deny it, to deny that he could ever do anything so malevolent, but any hopes she had were quickly fading the longest Loki refused to say a word.

"Okay, listen, everyone calm down. This is a complicated matter-" Amelia began.

"How is it complicated!?" Kari snapped, "Either dad killed innocent people or he didn't!"

Loki closed his eyes momentarily before opening them, a renewed sense of poise in him, because he would need it in order to communicate with his emotional children, "Please let me explain myself, just… just let me talk-"

"What, are you gonna say it was an accident?" Kari shouted, ignoring the way his eyes were welling up. His vulnerability and emotionally pained state contributed to his anger.

"No, it wasn't an accident!" Loki shouted suddenly, all attempts at composure breaking away in one moment. He regretted it immediately when Aster and Kari visibly flinched and recoiled a step, and Daisy's cries grew stronger behind him. Loki's eyes watered as panic grew like a tree inside his lungs, climbing up his throat and threatening to choke him. Why was it he was always so good with words until his family was involved?

Aster's wide eyes were affixed to her dad and his rapidly deteriorating emotional state, she wanted to hear him out, because she loved her dad and didn't want all of this to be true. There had to be something they didn't know, something that would explain how their father could be linked to this heinous crime without their worst assumptions being accurate.

Kari tearfully turned to their mother, "Mom, you know he killed Uncle Aaron, right?"

Amelia and Loki both visibly shuddered, their faces displaying suppressed shock; Amelia bounced Daisy repeatedly, trying in vain to soothe her tears as she rubbed her hand in circles over the baby's back, "...How do you know this?" Amelia asked tightly.

The implication that Amelia had known all along hit Kari like a wall in the shape of pure confusion; he squinted at his mother, shaking his head. He couldn't imagine any scenario in which his mother would be at ease with her husband killing her beloved brother.

"There's a list," Aster finally spoke, her voice meek and full of heartache, "of all the victim's that died as a result of your actions," it tapered off to a whisper as she locked eyes with her father, who still hadn't found the courage to speak after his outburst.

"It's an alphabetical list, uncle Aaron's name was at the very top," Aster held herself together despite feeling like she just wanted to collapse to the floor and sob, her sniffles interjected every so often between her words, "all their names are listed, all the people you killed. Do you know the name Susie Reed?"

Loki's adams-apple bobbed as he swallowed tightly, watery eyes flicking between his daughter's. He shook his head, answering her question with burgeoning dread.

Aster responded, "The ages of all the victims are listed too. Susie Reed was the youngest of those killed. She was seven years old."

Loki covered his face with his hands, unable to look his kids in the eyes. He hadn't known. He hadn't known that one of his victims in the Chitauri Invasion had been a child of seven years old, and now he felt like a monster for never having made an effort to find out about all of the people he killed.

He'd been responsible for the death of someone's young daughter, he'd probably been responsible for the death of someone's son. Brothers and sisters. Fathers and mothers. He'd torn families apart in his lust for power, and now years later he was called a hero by the people of New York.

He was willing to bet the parents of Susie Reed didn't think him a hero. And there would never come a time when they did, no matter what good deeds he performed. No matter how many people he saved. He would only ever be the killer of their child.

"Did you know that?" Aster asked, wanting to hear him answer aloud. "Did you know that you'd killed a little girl?"

Loki couldn't answer aloud. He dropped his hands and spun on his heel, passing Amelia as he fled from the room, leaving only the echoes of his retreating footsteps.

Aster and Kari looked at each other, their entire worldview of their father disintegrating into ash, and they could feel the overwhelming force of each other's pain. Kari stormed back into his wardrobe and slammed the door shut behind him, the sound of his ensuing sobbing audible through the wooden door.

Amelia held Daisy close with shaky hands, the little one still wailing from all the strong negative emotions being exchanged in the room, and looked at her eldest daughter's distressed face while tilting her own head back to stop her tears from falling down her cheeks.

"Sit down," Amelia managed to say, motioning towards the bed, "we're going to talk about this." Unlike Loki, who was currently not in the right mindset to calmly explain himself - especially while his volatile children were shouting and snapping at him and calling him a relentless killer.

Aster did as she was told, sitting on the edge of her brother's bed.

"Hold your sister for me," Amelia instructed, lowering Daisy onto Aster's lap, and the latter held her baby sister to her chest, bouncing her knee and softly shushing her in an attempt to quieten her down.

While Aster was watching Daisy, Amelia went to the walk-in wardrobe and opened the door slowly, spotting her son slouched in the back of the small space, hugging his knees and sniffling. It didn't take much to coax Kari out, he was very much pining for comfort and clinged to his mother when she encouraged him to stand and exit the wardrobe. When both twins were sitting on the bed waiting for an explanation, Amelia took Daisy back, somewhat relieved the girl had calmed down a little, and drew in a heavy breath before speaking, "I think it's time the two of you learned about an evil tyrant named Thanos."

Amelia and Loki had always been careful when it came to any allusion to one of the most frightening and powerful beings the universe had ever known. Loki straight up refused to say his name or speak of him, even years on he was plagued with nightmares about the purple titan, though admittedly the nightmares were few and far between. They were still painful, no matter how infrequent they had become.

If the tyrant's name had ever arisen in conversation with the kids, Amelia had tried to steer the discussion away. It was inevitable that the kids knew vaguely about the titan, understanding only that he was a being of immense terror and power, and that their father was one of the heroes who helped take him down.

With that in mind, Amelia told the kids of how Thanos had hunted the infinity stones and tracked the last ones to Earth, where there had been a great battle and the Avengers had come out on top, but not without suffering along the way. What had followed for their father was one of the most truly agonising and confusing few months of his life; Thanos had messed with his mind and made him see things that were not real.

"It wasn't the first time Thanos used that power on Loki. The first time was before the Battle of New York," Amelia explained softly, "your father fell into Thanos's clutches after… after going missing from Asgard. The titan saw him as a tool to be used and manipulated in order to harness what he wanted - the most compelling force in the entire universe."

She paused, seeing the pain in her twins' faces. Amelia was glad Daisy had started nodding off in case she somehow subconsciously retained any of the information being spoken. Even at her young age, Amelia feared she could inadvertently absorb some frightening information.

"Your father has never divulged to me exactly what happened to him between leaving Asgard and arriving on Earth, only that he was… tortured," it felt like a slap in the face to admit this to her children. It hurt that she had to explain their father's horrific ordeal in order to persuade them that he wasn't some sort of evil monster capable of impassively taking the lives of innocents.

"Thanos broke him and manipulated him. He made your father believe that there was no other way out than to follow his orders and carry out the attack. Your uncle Thor almost got through to him that day before things got really bad, but Loki's fear of Thanos was able to control him entirely," Amelia explained, "luckily, the Avengers managed to overcome him and put an end to his plans before the damage became completely irreparable, but innocent people did die, your uncle Aaron included, and I assure you… your father will never forgive himself for it."

Aster and Kari wiped their eyes. They continued to sniffle and whimper, but they had stopped sobbing now upon learning that their mother had been right - nothing about the invasion led by their father had been simple.

"But…" Kari whispered, "mama, how did you forgive him? He killed your brother…"

Amelia looked at her children through her blurry gaze, blinking the moisture out of them, "After being apprehended by the Avengers, he was returned to Asgard and punished for what he had done. He went on to lose his mother, his father and his entire home; when I first met him, your dad was a lonely, depressed man who felt he would never have a place in the universe ever again," she smiled sadly, "and so was I. We connected because we understood each other. Granted, for a while after we first met, I wasn't actually aware he was the one who killed my brother, but um… I'm actually glad for that now, because if I'd known from the beginning who he was, none of you would be here with me today…" she trailed off, giving a pained little half-chuckle, "anyway… that's another story. I will tell it to you one day, but for now, I hope you understand that your dad is a man who hates the person he used to be, does not condone the terrible actions of his past, and is constantly trying to redeem himself. Always, every single day." She forced herself to smile at her kids, even if her eyes still felt moments away from crying.

Aster and Kari looked miserable for a whole new slew of reasons. Kari regretted screaming at his father, he'd been angry and confused and he'd jumped to conclusions before knowing all the complicated inner details of what had happened twenty years ago. Aster wished she hadn't brought up the child victim.

"I want to talk to daddy," Aster murmured.

"When's he gonna come back? He must have left the Tower," Kari sighed.

"He didn't leave the Tower," Amelia stated with utmost confidence. "Come on, I'll take you to him."

The wilted flowers of winter had slowly but surely sparked new life with the coming of Spring, dotting new little blooms all over the rooftop garden where Loki was currently hiding like a coward, too anxious to face his children after they learned of his rocky past.

He sat on the middle of the bench, staring out at the skyline of Manhattan, which was somewhat cloudy that afternoon. It wasn't a particularly spectacular sight today, not like it was in the middle of summer when the sky was the purest shade of blue, but Loki figured even if the view had been gorgeous, it would bring him no joy in that moment.

His past had finally come back to bite him in the arse. He should've expected that this day would come - the day his kids found out about the terrible things he had done. There was never a chance that he'd be able to hide it from them, but he thought when they did find out, he would be ready. He thought he'd have the courage to explain to them his story, why he had ended up doing the things he did, and he hoped they would forgive him.

But this had all come so early, and he wasn't ready. He was just a mess.

How was he going to explain everything to his children when he could hardly even think of the purple tyrant's name without feeling the unpleasant tingle of fear creeping up his spine?

His son had called him a murderer, and his daughter had stabbed him where it hurt without the use of a knife, but it bled just as much. Susie Reed was a little girl who had died as a result of his manipulated mind and its lust for power - he had killed her. Not Thanos, not some Chitauri soldier, her death was on him.

Just like Aaron Avery's death was on him.

And however many more who had died because he wasn't strong enough to resist Thanos's influence.

He would never escape who he was and what he did, no matter how much he wanted that part of him to die. There would always be somebody present to remind him he wasn't always a 'superhero' and no amount of heroic actions could ever make up for that.

The sound of the metal door opening behind him made drop his gaze to the wooden decking in front of him, he didn't want to meet the eyes of whoever had joined him. It made the most sense that it would be Amelia, because it was within her character to come and talk him through his turmoil and attempt to give him the courage to return to his children and reveal his past to them.

That was why he stiffened in surprise when he heard two sets of footprints rushing around the bulky flower planters surrounding the sitting area. Aster and Kari sat on the bench on either side of them, both clinging to his arms; he could feel their gazes on him in his peripheral but he kept his gaze firmly stuck to the ground.

"Daddy… I'm sorry," Aster whispered, throwing her arms around his neck, "mama told us about Thanos."

Loki flinched at the mention of his name.

"I'm sorry I called you a killer, dad. You're not a killer, Thanos was the killer," Kari spoke with certainty, resting his head against his father's shoulder.

Loki expelled a shuddering breath, glancing to either side of himself at his twins' faces before turning to look back over his shoulder where Amelia stood at the entrance of the garden, cradling sleepy Daisy in her arms. He repositioned his arms to wrap around his kids and held them close against him, feeling overwhelmingly relieved that they were willingly hugging him, but confused because he felt he did not deserve it. Nonetheless, he did not want to let them go.

"I'm sorry," Loki whispered, "I'm sorry for the things I did. I don't expect your forgiveness, I'm trying to fix things," tears sprung to his eyes, "I don't know if I can ever do anything to fix this."

Aster and Kari pulled back from the embrace to look their dad in the eye.

"Daddy… if mama can forgive you then I can too," Aster stated.

"Me too," Kari agreed.

Loki pressed his lips together, biting the inside of his cheek as the wave of consolation rolled over him. Amelia stepped into his vision, walking around the bench with Daisy in her arms; the girl was awake now and extended her arms when she saw her father.

"Dada," she whimpered, making grabby gestures with her hands to show she wanted to be held by her father. Amelia obliged, handing the girl over and Loki embraced her close, glad that Daisy did not fear him after his outburst earlier.

"I love you," Loki stated, unwavering, "all of you."

Aster and Kari leaned against him for comfort and Loki locked eyes with his wife and mouthed the words 'thank you', pouring all the gratitude available in his soul into the expression on his face. Amelia had been the one to step up and explain Loki's situation because he simply wasn't strong enough to, she had come to his rescue and spoken to the children when it should have been him telling them.

But even though his children were hugging him now and telling him it was alright, and that they loved him too, this revelation was going to put a rift between them forever. He didn't know how it would take effect but he knew deep down that things would be different now.

Hope you enjoyed! Please comment, I love discussing my fic with you all! And if you haven't already, don't forget to hit that kudos button if you are enjoying Edelweiss!

Last weekend I went to comic con and I cosplayed as Loki! I had a few people ask me for pictures so that was super cool, I felt so powerful in my outfit! I'm definitely gonna go to comic con against next year and definitely dress as Loki again on one of the days!

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!