Frigga was perturbed as she walked, but she did not press herself for answer to the questions that swirled just beneath the surface of her mind. To demand answer now, would prompt a rash grasp at first impressions. Better, she told herself, to remain at length in the company of uncertainty than to be certain of wrong.

She walked for a long while in her garden. She closed her eyes and she felt the warmth of the sun on her face.

Thor found her there, sitting on one of the low garden benches.

"Mother," he took her hand as she rose to greet him. She embraced him. "I would have come sooner," he told her, "but there has been much Father would have me do."

"Oh, don't worry after me, Thor," she said, a touch of mockery in her voice. "I'll always be waiting, like any docile mother."

"You are many things," He smiled at her fondly, "Docile not amongst them."

She pressed his hand, "Come," she said. "Walk with me. Much has happened since last we spoke at any length,"

"Much," Thor allowed slowly, "that I am not over-eager to discuss."

Giving a soft breath, she walked beside him in silence for a moment, then said, "He is not so far as you might imagine him, Thor."

"Truly, Mother?" he asked, voice heavy. He did not meet her scrutinizing gaze. He looked straight before him. But the lines of his face had deepened. He was weary of heart, and that weariness shone out of his eyes. Eyes that had once flashed so brightly. "Have you seen him?"

"I spoke with him this morning."

He gave a soft laugh, like a cough. "Does Father know?"

She watched him. "Of course," she said.

"I was given to understand their first meeting went poorly."

"Not so poorly that he would deny me my right," she told him. Giving a soft smile, she pressed his arm, "I am many things."

His mouth quirked toward a smile. But the expression did not touch his eyes.

"I hear you met many of Midgard's finest warriors on your quest," she said. "Will you not tell me of them?"

He gave a long breath and the look he turned on her was soft as he stopped and pivoted wordlessly to face her, taking both of her hands to hold in his own.

"What are you thinking?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"I wondered where we would be without you for our queen," he said, "And I, without you for mother."

Bowing his head, he kissed the back of her hands.

"It would be a hopeless mess," she decided. "Can you imagine your father?"

Thor chuckled.

"Your father has his ways, Thor," she said, her hand resting on his strong arm as they walked. "As I have mine. All is not lost, not yet."

He nodded his head, and when she turned to look at him, his smile was strained. "I hope that you may be right, Mother," he said. "But I have little of belief yet remaining."


That 'first meeting' between Loki and Odin that Thor mentioned is in my fic 'Little Lion Man', chapter 36. You don't need to read the whole fic for that chapter to make sense if you're curious how it went down ;)