Are you, too, feeling somewhere
The loneliness of that cloud that drifts along in the wind?
In order to protect our dreams we hurt each other
And walked away with our backs to each other
-Realize by Nami Tamaki

"To be sure, it is heartwarming to hear such things," Odin said, shaking his head from side to side. "But what would make me believe such a thing? You have been a liar for a long time. One cannot simply shake hundreds of years of lying because of a few months' time. There is no reason for me to believe whatever you say."

Loki wrapped an arm around himself and looked away. "I am not the one who is able to see the future. Can you not tell me what it is that you see ahead? You have told us enough before, but what has changed in your line of sight?"

"I do not need to look once more," Odin replied gruffly. "Actions can change, but people cannot. A chameleon may change its colors, but it is still a chameleon. Your appearance has changed, but your soul is still the same."

Loki frowned. What was he supposed to do to convince Odin that he had changed? The man seemed impervious to changing his mind. Loki felt like giving a snappy remark about mulish stubbornness, but knew it wouldn't go over well right now. "I am glad that you know what change is. I suppose you have never seen it though. It is not as if Thor had been banished before changing into what you call a true king. No, that never happened at all." Loki rolled his eyes. He could tell that Thor winced slightly at the memory, and he silently apologized. The point had to be made though.

"Thor only needed to grow up. You, on the other hand, would require a complete change. The comparison cannot be made," Odin replied stoutly. He gave a loud sigh. "This is foolishness and it just wasting time. I do not know if you are trying to stall me or you think that anything can really change from this, but I will tell you that it will not work. I made up my mind long before I set step on Midgard."

Odin took a step towards Loki, causing Frigga and Thor to tense warily. Loki defiantly held his ground. As Odin neared, a loud crack was heard. Odin stopped mid-step and looked up at the ceiling. A long black crack grew across the molding. It forked out in the center of the room, sending branches all cross the rotunda. Thor vaguely remembered the layout of the building. There were three floors above the ground floor where they were.

"This is why I hate Asgardians. They have no sense of environment," Loki grumbled under his breath. He looked past Odin and Frigga to where the now gaping hole in the wall seemed extremely obvious. He rubbed his forehead as the internal beams creaked around them. A chunk of plaster fell down from the ceiling, crashing right beside him. Loki looked at the white material skeptically before staring up at the yellow insulator that was now sticking out. "We should go," he said simply, looking at Thor. "Just because something like this cannot kill us does not mean we should linger."

Odin snorted. "We will continue this outside." He pointed Gungnir at Loki before running through the gap in the walls. Frigga gave Loki an encouraging smile before running after her husband. Thor pulled on Loki's arm and the two made chase.

A pillar moaned as cracks raced up its sides. As the four ran past, the pillar collapsed, the portion of the ceiling caving along with it. "The entire building is going to collapse! Hurry, brother!" Thor called back to Loki as they raced through the corridors.

Loki's mind stopped. The entire building was going to collapse? The blueprint of the building played out in his head. The rotunda, the small rooms leading off of it, the single hallway leading away from it. Loki skidded to a stop, turned around, and sprinted back from where he came. He leaped over fallen parts of the upper floors as he hurried through the small hallways.

He hadn't seen the two SHIELD agents run out of the room where they had been taking care of him. He had never let them outside of the small room. They were trapped with no way to escape. The three Asgardians emerged from the building. The building shook as it slowly crumbled apart. Thor looked among the crowd of agents that were now outside the room. He saw Tony, Odin, and Frigga, but... Where was Loki?

Thor cast a look over back towards the building to see a flash of black hair turning around a corner. Thor's heart plummeted in his chest. That couldn't be... His panicked eyes searched the crowd for any figure resembling his adoptive brother, but he realized that Loki wasn't among them. He turned back to the building and yelled, "Loki!"

Author's Note: I got an overwhelmingly positive reception to the idea of a sequel, so it's going to happen! ^^ I already have an idea, so I just need to write out the plot! Thank you all so much for your comments!

Thank you for all the well wishes! I'm not any better yet, but I hope to be quickly improved! I really appreciate your thoughts!

Guest: You made me laugh. I could just imagine Thor saying that. ^^