Well, here we are. Last chapter. Thank you all for actually liking this; this has been one of the coolest things that's happened to me I think. ;) Here you go!

Darkness.

Loneliness.

Burning.

A golden flash.

Coolness.

Comfort.

Peace.

Loki came to slowly, managing to wake up without anyone noticing.

This turned out to be a rather good thing, as there were currently two people talking about him.

"I think he will awaken soon." That was Frigga, hopeful and optimistic. And sounding very alive and not dead which was good. She barely sounded worried, which he took to mean Asgard was in fine condition.

"Yes. He is strong." That was Odin, with what could only be called—though he could scarcely believe it—respect and admiration in his voice. There was a shifting across the blankets—I have blankets now?—and a slight pressure on his knee which he supposed was Frigga's hand being cradled by Odin's. "He did save you from what otherwise would have been certain death."

"You were not sure, however." The queen sounded slightly antagonistic.

The pressure withdrew. "No one could ever be completely sure. I was as sure as I could be." There was a pause. "I saw his dream," Odin said quietly.

Through a supreme effort of will, Loki kept his face from showing any emotion.

Frigga drew a breath. "You did?"

"Yes. And I felt what he was feeling." Odin paused again, and sounded confused when he continued. "The amount of rage he felt when he saw you lying there…I have not seen anything like that in ages. He could not have that much anger for someone he did not care about. I knew it was safe to leave you then."

The staff, Loki realized. He used the staff to see my dream. But if he knew what I was feeling, why in Helheim would he leave the fate of Asgard to me? I would have burned it to the ground if she had died.

Frigga, bless her heart, still had a question. "What of the prison? The barriers keeping him there?"

"Barriers have never stopped my son." Odin sounded like he was smiling, perhaps ruefully, but smiling nonetheless.

My son, Loki repeated to himself. Was he really? Not just a stolen relic that had finally acquired a use?

"No, they have not," Frigga agreed. "I do not care so much for your leaving me, but the city? The people? How could you trust their safety to his breaking out of your prison?" She sounded indignant, and Loki had to fight back a grin. She was the Allmother, after all.

Odin shifted. "He'd tried once before, when he was first imprisoned, and I knew how he would do it. I attached the barrier to the earth and left some of my own power in the muzzle, which I would remove once he had proved himself worthy."

That's why the muzzle fell off when I drew life from myself.

"But how could you know?" Frigga pressed.

"I know this as I know everything else that happens in Asgard." Then Odin sighed. "He is not completely absolved of all guilt, you know."

"I know. I am his mother, after all." She sounded resigned, and he could almost hear the words which had been spoken before: I love you, and that is why I must do this.

"And I am his father."

Loki was fighting harder than he ever had before to keep a serene, sleeping expression. Odin had sounded very similar to the Allmother, and he had used the same words in the past.

Again Odin shifted positions and Loki suddenly knew he was being examined very closely. The Allfather drew a breath. "You are awake."

He opened his eyes. Oddly enough, he was struck with an urge to say Yes, Father. He wasn't quite sure why. Odin wasn't his father.

Frigga was smiling at him, her eyes twinkling. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not very long," he said, pushing himself up on the pillows. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Eight days," she said seriously.

Loki blinked. That wasn't quite so bad, for how much he had spent. But then this meant Thor was still in Midgard, and he had hoped to see him when he woke. Odin moved and his eyes instinctively darted over to him. The king's face was nearly unreadable; perhaps there was respect, confusion, and some other trace of something.

"You have proved yourself," Odin said. "But above that, you have saved the life of my queen and I thank you." Loki must have been imagining the hesitant, unsure expression on his face. "Asgard owes its safety to you, and we know that." He glanced at Frigga. "For this, you are released from your imprisonment here."

"You would loose me on the world?" Loki asked in disbelief.

"No," the king answered immediately. "But I would loose you from prison."

Parole, the Midgardians call it, Loki thought to himself. He kept himself from expressing his disgust for such a restriction. It was better than what he had.

He saw a bowl of water and a towel by the bed and frowned.

"You took in too much fire," the king answered his unspoken question. "It began to burn within you, while you were unconscious. It has only been a few days since that passed."

"You noticed?" Loki asked. They never had before, not even when he'd spent all his magic and could barely stand yet he had because he must.

Odin's face flickered with pain. "I do now, my son."

Frigga smiled at her husband, then hopefully at Loki. He stared at the king. Then he glanced at Frigga. He'd decided to call her mother, to treat her like his mother, because of how she had acted.

It didn't mean she was perfect.

He looked from Odin to Frigga and back again. "How can I be your son?" he asked, valiantly keeping the tremble out of his voice.

"I chose you long ago, and nothing will change that." Odin looked out the window. "You may do things that merit punishment, but you are still my son."

"Chose me," Loki repeated, so quietly he thought Odin might not have heard him.

He might not have, for he said thoughtfully, "And perhaps you chose me as well. As soon as I touched you, all those years ago in the ruined temple, your skin turned from the blue to mimic mine. You smiled," he remembered.

Loki closed his eyes and cast his thoughts back. He'd tried once before, when he discovered who he was, but he hadn't gotten far. The furthest back he could remember was lying in a little bed, staring at the ceiling which was painted with stars, and noticing that they glowed by themselves. He couldn't have been more than two, and he'd reached out to them and discovered he could make them shine brighter.

He remembered more now, details he'd missed in his replays of that memory.

Odin rushed in, eyes eager. He smiled the biggest smile at little Loki, picking him up and cradling him in his arms. "You have magic," he whispered proudly. Frigga appeared in the doorway, breathing harder. She looked worried, but Odin turned to her, beaming. "My son has magic," he said. Loki gurgled and smiled up at him. He thought dimly yet brightly as children do that he was like his father, whom he'd seen making the torches brighter once.

Loki gasped and his eyes flew open and found Odin. "Father," he breathed.

Odin's eyes widened in surprise. A small smile turned his mouth up. "Yes, my son." He reached out and clasped his son's arm, somewhat awkwardly if truth be told.

Frigga smiled again, reaching forward and enveloping him in one of the most…complete embraces he'd ever felt.

And Loki closed his eyes and drank in the atmosphere of comfort, of safety, of security.

Of his family.

And about three days ago this decided it wanted a sequel, a rather cliché sequel wherein Loki goes to Midgard and works as a servant for the Avengers to learn humility or some such thing because as much as I want a fluffy happy ending he did do something bad and he does need to be punished for it so...I was really not sure how to do that. If you'd like to see something like that, send me a PM!

And thank you all again for reviewing, favorite-ing, following-thank you.