The first time Loki got to hold Alayah was around a few hours after she was born. During that time, Thor had been revived from having been knocked out by Amora. The mother herself, once having hold of her daughter didn't want to let her go and it even took her ten minutes to be persuaded to get Thor hold her. There had been a lot of threatening that if he dropped her he'd never see the light of day again. It had taken a lot for him to convince his wife that he wasn't going to drop her and that she would be fine. Loki could see the look in his brother's eyes to tell that he loved his daughter more than anything and that he was be a great father. Loki had waited patiently until he was allowed to hold his niece, not once asking if he could because he knew how much time Amora wanted to spend with her daughter at this moment. But at the moment she was asleep, Thor dozing off in the chair next to her and Alayah asleep in the crib next to the bed. Very gently and very carefully he lifted her out of the crib and settles her into his arms.

It felt wonder, holding his niece because he had wanted her to be born as much as Thor and Mora had. He watched and smiled softly as she stirred slightly in his arms, taking in all her little features; her little nose, her little hands and fingers and the little movements she made. The smile nearly faded however as he saw she was waking up, hoping she wouldn't cry. Mora would kill him if he made her cry. However she didn't. She opened her eyes, bright blue shining up, looking into his green ones a look of curiosity on her face, wondering who this new person was. Loki's smile became even wider at this point and he took one of his fingers and gently stroked her hand with it.

''Hello little one. I'm your Uncle Loki...'' He whispered softly down at her. Alayah blinked a few times before smiling and grabbing his finger with her hand, gripping it tight. Loki watched her for a few moments feeling his emotions take control as a few tears filled his eyes.

''I promise you Alayah, that I will love you and protect you. I promise that I will always be there to help you and care for you and show you the many wonders of the world. I promise to make you laugh and smile and to show you how much to mean to everyone...'' He continues to smile as he kissed her forehead, she still having a tight grip on his finger.

''That was beautiful Loki.''

He looked up to see Amora awake and smiling at him sleepily. He smiled back at her but didn't say anything.

''She loves you already and I'm sure you'll do an amazing job at protecting her.''

Safe to say, the first time Loki held Alayah was something he'd never forget.

It was about two and a half months after that that he had to go away to sort something out for a few days. It was boring and he missed his family like hell. He finally got back well into the night and walked past his brother's quarters half asleep to get to his own. However he stopped when he heard crying coming from inside. He frowned and opened the door to the living room to see a tired and disgruntled Amora trying to comfort Ali whose face was red and streaked with tears.

''Come on baby, its okay...sweetie what's the matter?'' She looked up when she heard the door close and looked slightly pained. ''She hasn't stopped for ages...I don't know what's wrong...'' She looked like she was about to cry.

Loki was by her side in a few strides, taking Ali out of her arms and holding her in his. He comforted her and as he did, her crying slowly sub-sided into sniffles. He looked at her and then over to Amora who looked almost relived.

''She just wanted her Uncle Loki it seemed. '' Mora said softly, smiling. And indeed it seemed she did. Little Ali took hold of Loki's finger and gripped it tightly again.

From then on it always seemed that Ali would hold Loki's hand whenever she could. It was like she felt a lot safer with her uncle and later on her father to be right next to her. But then, she had always felt safer with him no matter what the situation was. She also loved her hugs with Loki. To her, he gave the best hugs in the world (apart from Thor who could always wrap her in his arms tightly) and she knew Sif was wrong when she said that his hugs were like getting a paper cut.

Loki would always wrap his arms around her when she was sad and kiss the top of her head, telling her everything would be okay. He did a lot of this when Mora died. Thor had become distant with the loss of his wife and so Alayah had taken to staying with Loki most of the time. Whenever he could tell she was about to burst into tears he would bundle her up in her arms and hold her until she had fallen asleep on him. He had always promised her that he would protect her and love her and he would always keep that promise, even if he broke the others.

Because in the end that's what kept them strong. Knowing that the other was always there to hold their hand or to hug them. And Ali knew she'd always have her Loki and that he'd never leave her. Because a hug said it all.