This last chapter has bits and pieces written by both my mother and I (though the idea was primarily my mother's) - it references a little of each chapter and ends presumably before Loki takes the throne. I'm not sure if I'll write any further on it (perhaps I'll create Loki's reflection or something of the like), but this is, as far as I know, the end of our little story/explanation.
All of Asgard shook as the Allfather realized what had happen. He had raised his sons together and as equals but always with the thought that Loki would secure Jotunheim and serve Thor when Odin had finally gone. Now all his plans were in ruin. This child he had saved from certain death now plotted with his flesh-and-blood to flaunt his command. In a rage of anger, Odin destroyed the cell that had once held Loki. If he ever returned, he thought, he would not put him in a cell; he would utterly destroy him.
Having surveyed the dungeon, Odin returned to the palace and then to his throne room. He sat upon the throne of his grandfather Buri and his father Bor. He called upon their strength for he felt his own leaving him.
"Go and find the wayward princes and Jane Foster. Return them here at once." At that, the guards left for the one place they knew Loki and Thor were headed: Svartalfheim.
Alone in his throne room, utterly alone, Odin sat astride the throne and put his head in his hands. In the silence of the moment he felt the yearning for sleep – the Odinsleep. It was no wonder with all that had happened; the betrayal by Loki; the Aeither and return of the dark elves; the death of Frigga; and now Thor too had left him. Everything around him seemed to be fading or dying and he was helpless against it. It was at times like these that he would look to Frigga, who was his strength – his greatest, most trustworthy advisor.
He knew what would come next; Thor, Loki and the Jane-girl would return to Asgard. He no longer had the strength to kill Loki but decided that he should nonetheless never see the light of day again. Odin's last command before entering his sleep would be to sentence Loki to the lowest and most severe of all the dungeons. There, Loki would live out the rest of his days – his life spared if only for the sake of Frigga. That done, Odin would have Jane killed as quickly and painlessly as possible. Death was the greatest release for her kind and with her gone Thor would no longer be distracted and could take the throne of Asgard. It all made sense. Raising his head, he straightened himself. Sure in the resolve of his choices. This was how it must be.
In the grand hall of the throne room of Asgard, empty save for its king, a small and gentle voice spoke. So much softer and kinder than Odin's own voice; it was a voice he had heard for thousands of years – a voice that had guided him through the very best and the very worst. But it was not possible to hear this voice, not now. For Frigga was dead and could not give wise counsel anymore.
"Is he so different than you were at his age?" It was a question Odin heard not with his ears but with his heart.
"He is reckless; thoughtless; he thinks nothing of the pain of others. He is arrogant and greedy. He only desires power." Odin spun around to see who else was in the room with him. Surely this was Loki playing a trick or one of his poor deluded followers. But none but him was to be found in the throne room.
"Do mean Loki or yourself?" Again, it was the voice of Frigga. He looked around with a mixture of anger and hope. Perhaps she was not dead. Perhaps she had used her gifts and hid herself away and only now was able to come to him. He descended a few steps away from the throne, aware that it could be a trap set by his thankless, ungrateful son.
"I speak of Loki, of course." If it was the child, he would call him out; bait him and trap him in the snare he was setting. "He is worthless and hopeless..." but before he could finish, Odin was filled with a sense of warmth that brushed across his lips and silenced his words.
A single tear welled up but it dared not leave the Allfather's eye.
"Frigga?" Odin whispered.
"They are our sons – both of them."
Again, Odin looked around the room but could see no one, could sense no one but he knew the voice, it was clearly Frigga.
"Our sons they may be, but neither is worthy. Both would bring darkness and result in the fall of the realms."
Odin asserted himself. Stood straight and waited for friend or enemy to appear. After a few moments, he took another step down away from the throne toward the great hall.
"Odin, you must forgive him." the voice whispered so tenderly, "He is more like you than you realize."
"He is nothing like me!" raged the King of Asgard and as he turned to ascend back to the throne, he stood face-to-face with her spirit; the spirit of Frigga. She looked like he had remembered her – her hair adorned with jewels fashioned by Asgardian smiths, worn long and beautiful – her eyes, as lovely and kind as ever; those eyes that pierced into his soul, those eyes he could not hide from. He stepped back and almost stumbled.
"He is just like you." She caressed his face and Odin was filled with warmth once more. He reached out to touch her but his hand only passed through the image… the spell… the spirit. Whatever magic she had conjured to be there was limited and she was beyond a veil that Odin could not reach.
"My beloved," Frigga spoke, "he has good in him. He only needs the opportunity to show it."
The Allfather hung his head; shame crept through his heart in light of his earlier thoughts. He knew her words were true. The sadness that had overwhelmed him gave way to resignation. He knew Thor would not return in time before the Odinsleep took him. But perhaps all was not lost.
"And what would you have me do? Give him the throne. Let Loki run the realms? And what of our son, Thor? There is good in him, too. Do I dismiss the son you bore me for the son that took you from me?"
Frigga smiled, "Just speak with him and do what is in your heart to do. Even now, Loki comes to you as an Einherjar. And afterward, he will go to Midgard."
"And if I, the Allfather, reach out my hand to welcome back my son, will he not slap it away?"
"Then do not meet him as the Allfather. After all, he does not meet you as Loki." And her spirit faded as the footsteps of the Einherjar became louder.
Odin looked at the man that stood before him. He was in an instant overwhelmed but knew he could not show it, not yet. He would let Loki play his game and he would meet him on Midgard. But he had to be clever – as clever as his trickster son, he would have to meet him as one he should never suspect.
And now Loki stood before him again. All masks removed, each of them looking at the other – maybe for the first time, as they really were. Odin thought of Frigga's words and while his mind was not sure it had not been a trick, his heart knew the words were true. Loki was truly his son. In fact, Odin realized, perhaps Loki was even more so his son than Thor. For Thor, despite his past boorishness had always possessed the strong, perceptive, gentle heart of his mother rather than his father's stubborn and proud doggedness. It had not been difficult for Thor to see the error of his ways, to humble himself… it would take Loki [and Odin] far longer. Odin thought of the days when he and his brothers Vili and Ve had fought together; had laughed together. He thought of the sadness he had seen in his father's eyes when they had brought Vili and Ve's dead bodies to him.
Loki's "why," hung in the air. How could he convey to his son all he had learned in the moments after he and Thor had left? He didn't know, but he would try.
Odin looked into his son's face. As he began to speak, he felt it. First pain, then numbness, then nothing. Strength had left him. He was falling into the Odinsleep. There was no time.
Odin collapsed on the steps of the throne. Loki caught him but could not hold him so he carefully put him down upon the steps. "FATHER!" he cried but Odin shook his head. He summoned all his strength.
"We are in danger, my son." And Odin removed his helmet and pushed it into Loki's chest. "For the sake of the nine realms, I cannot leave the throne."
Loki looked down at the helmet and then to his father's face.
"Loki, there is much to be done. But there is no time. Loki, you must ..." but Odin could not finish his statement. The Odinsleep had taken him over. And Loki was left alone with the helmet of Odin and the question of "why."
I do hope you enjoyed! ~ I know we did! I must say though, this, of all the possibilities, is probably the very best (and possibly one of the least likely) - but HEY, we can dream/write fanfic about it! ~_^