A/N: Hey guys! I'm back...ish xD

Welcome to the next part of Before Letting Go! I'm working on a lot of stuff and also taking some summer school classes, therefore the updates will be slow so I apologize in advance! I wanted to get this up for a friend of mine *cough* Lexi *cough*, so here it is!

ENJOY!

The End is the Beginning

Days, months, years.

That's how long it took Loki to return to Thor. Not as a man, but a child.

The Aftermath

Bright torches blazed in the gilded halls of Valhalla. The golden spires of the palace glittered in the light of the everlasting star. The enduring realm of Asgard was once again whole after the events of the battle long since passed, but never forgotten. For every passing of the year, the citizens of the eternal realm celebrated the anniversary of their victory against the Dark Elves and mourned the death of the All Father. But this particular day passed like every other day.

And this day above all other days, Thor hated.

After all this time the ache of everything he had lost that day, in spite of what he had gained since then, was still plaguing his heart. It was like no time had passed at all. Not for Thor. And Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral all knew it.

"He does this every year." Sif pointed out. They were all three lounging in one of their usual haunts which was one of the palace's many parlor rooms. Volstagg glanced over his shoulder at her before returning to spread more butter over a fresh, warm slice of bread in order to hide his 'here-we-go-again' expression.

"Why do you expect?" Fandral answered from his spot on the floor. "It's his birthday."

"I know, I just do not understand why he has to be like this every year around this time," Sif complained. "It has been years since his death."

"Loki was raised as his brother," Hogun reminded them. He turned to face his companions, "You can't expect him not to mourn Loki, especially on the day of Loki's birth."

"But Loki betrayed us, he betrayed Thor!" Sif argued, her eyes wide with anger. "He shouldn't mourn the death of a traitor who killed his father and nearly destroyed Asgard!"

"You do not know the depth of Thor and Loki's relationship and you should not claim to."

The room filled with silence with only the cracking of the fire disturbing the quiet.

"It's more than that," Sif explained in a more subdued manner. "He's never been the same since that day."

"Nothing has," Volstagg allowed. Silence fell again, this time for a shorter duration.

"Then why don't we do something? All of us?" Sif suggested, excited by her own idea as she gazed at her companions hopefully.

"Well sure," Famdral drawled, "if you can get Thor out of his chambers."

Determination set Sif's jaw. She wasn't one to back down form a challenge.

Thor sat with his back to the windows as he gazed into the fire blazing in the hearth. He'd been like that for hours, not even caring to move. No matter what he had done in the past three years, there was no escaping his thoughts. There was no escaping the vivid images of Loki's eyes as the light left them. Or his father dying in the middle of hall. Or the ache of how much he missed them both.

But Loki was at the forefront of his mind today.

Thor remembered when he first saw Loki, wrapped in Frigga's shawl in her arms.

"What is it, mama?" Thor asked, his eyes as wide and blue as the Midgardian sky.

"We have another son," Frigga smiled, kneeling down beside Thor so he could get a better look. Thor placed his little hands on Frigga's arm as he balanced himself on the tips of his toes to peer down at the squirming baby. The baby looked up at Thor with eyes as green as the leaves in Idun's orchards.

Thor looked up at Frigga while he pushed his golden hair out of his eyes. "Is he my baby brother?"

Frigga turned her head to glance at Odin, who nodded.

"Yes," she smiled. "His name is Loki."

Thor shook his head out of the memory only to be replaced by another. A memory he cherished because it was the birthday before everything had fallen apart.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" Loki grinned as he sauntered into Thor's rooms.

"Your helmet is stupid?" Thor replied trying to hide his own smile. Loki laughed as he snatched up an apple from a bowl placed at the center of the table.

"It is my birthday," Loki reminded him. "Aren't you supposed to be kind to someone on their birthday? You know, say nice things and shower them with gifts?" Loki wondered as he sat, throwing his feet up on the table and settling back against the chair. Thor laughed this time and grabbed the box that rested on the mantle.

"I shouldn't have gotten you anything," Thor said honestly, noting the satisfied expression on Loki's face when he spotted the box.

"With most of your gift ideas over the years you really shouldn't have."

Thor shoved him, nearly sending him tipping backwards out of the chair. While Loki recovered his balance, Thor placed the wooden box on the table in front of him and stood back crossing his arms over his broad chest.

To free his hands, Loki shoved the apple in his mouth. He sat forward in his chair and wiggled his fingers on either side of the box in playful anticipation. Before he opened the lid, Loki glanced up at Thor with the apple wedged between his teeth. Thor rolled his eyes.

"Would you just open it?" he chuckled through mock exasperation.

Loki consented and flung open the lid.

Inside placed on a bed of red velvet was a gleaming silver push dagger. Loki's brow furrowed as he took the apple out of his mouth and stared in amazement at the shining piece of gilded metal.

"It's beautiful." Loki said at last, glancing up at his brother with a smile.

"I thought you'd like it," Thor smiled back, pleased that his brother genuinely liked his gift. Loki pushed back the chair and brought Thor in for a hug, both of them laughing.

"Just don't stick yourself with it," Thor warned, slapping Loki's back.

"Or stick you," Loki laughed.

Thor leaned forward to hide his face in his hands, trying to quiet his sobs.

It was the same dagger that Loki had stabbed him with on Midgard. The same dagger he had gotten him on his birthday.

Without warning the doors to his chambers flew open and Sif barged in. Thor quickly wiped his eyes before she could get a good enough look at him. Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg came in after her. Sif spotted him sitting by the fire and threw a bag and a crossbow at his feet.

"Come on, Thor. We're going hunting."

Thor glanced at the objects by his feet and looked away. "Not today."

The warriors three shifted uneasily on their feet, but Sif was not deterred. Instead she took those few fateful steps closer to Thor.

"You've been in this room all week," she pointed out to him. "It's time to get out."

When Thor said nothing, she knelt by the arm of his chair. "We cannot live in the past, Thor. We have to move on. We all have to move on."

Thor let out a heavy breath. She was not going to let up. He could order her to leave, but that wouldn't stop her from making other attempts. He could yell at her, but that wouldn't scare her off.

Reluctantly, Thor stood. "Fine, let's get on with it."

It was a beautiful day like it always was on Asgard. Faint wisps of clouds streaked across the sky off in the distance beneath the lights and stars of the other galaxies.

Thor rode ahead of the group in silence while Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral chatted behind him. Sif was quiet and watchful. Mostly watchful of Thor. He decided to ignore her like he was ignoring the others. He had agreed to go with them, that was all. That didn't mean he had to talk to them.

The forests in Asgard could be treacherous if one was not careful. But Thor knew these woods. He had been in them often enough when he was a child. Not far from where they were now were Idun's Apple Orchards. Thor could remember the times when they had spied on Idun picking her ripe golden apples and contemplated stealing some. They never did for fear of what their father might do to them if they were caught. But that didn't stop them from planning.

Thor almost smiled…almost.

As they crested a hill, they could spy the city just over the tops of the trees. Here the clouds were growing thicker and it was a little bit darker.

"I haven't seen any pheasant since we left," Volstagg commented. He glanced around their surroundings with his crossbow resting against his right shoulder. They slowed their pace, also taking in their surroundings.

"Maybe we haven't traveled far enough?" Fandral suggested. "What do you think Thor…Thor?"

The four companions turned their attention to Thor. They might as well not even be there for his attention was drawn to the far side of the clearing looking over the city of Asgard. Only what they had not seen before was that there was someone standing there.

"Who is that?" Sif wondered out loud, squinting her eyes.

"Who goes there?" Fandral called out, his voice carrying across the plain.

As Thor dismounted he didn't take his eyes off the figure standing on the other side of the hill, transfixed. The figure did not turn around right away when Fandral called out. Only when Thor came nearer did he finally turn.

Thor stopped in his tracks. It was a small boy, no older than six. His eyes were greener than the grass beneath this feet and his hair blacker than the darkest corner of empty space. The boy was pale beneath the dirt and tangled hair that covered his face.

And Thor knew that face.

On shaking limbs, Thor approached the boy. He did not run when Thor came to kneel before him. His face was oddly void of emotion, all save the faintest hint of confusion as if he could not quite remember why it is he came to be standing there.

With trembling hands, Thor gently grasped the fragile boy's shoulders. His face broke into awed disbelief when what he felt beneath his hands was solid and real.

"Loki?" Thor said, his voice breaking. The boy furrowed his brow.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Loki asked suspiciously.

"I'm your brother, Thor," he said speaking slowly as his heart squeezed tighter and tighter in his chest. "You are my brother."

"My brother?" Loki repeated. His bright eyes narrowed as he looked away, trying to remember. "I don't…I don't know you." The boy said, becoming distressed.

Thor's face contorted into an expression of apprehension, his heart breaking. "Do…do you remember anything?" he wanted to know. Loki peered into Thor's eyes.

"No."