A/N: I'm posting this short chapter because it feel like this is a good transition into the other chapters. When I post next it will be seven years in the future where we will meet 13yr old Loki!

The Nature of Dreams

Thor shot out of bed as soon as he heard Loki's screams echoing in the corridor outside his chambers. He ran down the hall that was quickly alight and filled with curious residents peeking their heads out of their doors. Thor ignored them all as he made for Loki's room. He found several people lingering outside Loki's door, too afraid to go inside. Thor shoved them out of his way without a word and barely had the door opened before he was rushing inside.

It was dark, but Thor could see in the dim light that Loki was thrashing in his bed as if he were fighting off an invisible enemy. Thor lunged to Loki's bedside and grabbed the boy's flailing arms in his hands so he wouldn't accidentally hit him. Thor was lifting him off the bed by his arms and shifting his grip to Loki's shoulders while he called out his name in an effort to wake him.

"Loki! Loki wake up! It's alright!" Someone lit a lamp behind him, making his shadow dance eerily upon the walls.

"Stop that awful screaming!" Freyja demanded as she barged in past the onlookers, a not so beautiful scowl on her face. Loki continued to scream, trapped in whatever nightmare he was having.

"Go back to your room, Freyja," Thor bellowed. "This doesn't concern you!"

"It does concern me!" Freyja shouted right back. "He's been at this every night since you brought him here! It's getting old!"

"GET OUT!" Everyone lingering in the room jumped as Thor's voice boomed like thunder in their ears. They didn't even care that Loki's screams had stopped, they turned and left before Thor really lost his temper. Freyja left more slowly, pausing in the threshold to throw a narrowed look in Thor's direction.

Loki sniffled and sobbed, his head unsupported fell back until Thor placed his hand on the back of his neck. Tears leaked out of the corner of Loki's eyes and slid shining down his face in the lamplight. Loki was sweating, but instead of being hot to the touch, he was cold.

"Loki, open your eyes," Thor ordered, his voice gentle so he wouldn't startle him. Loki did just that, his eyes taking their time to focus on Thor.

"Brother?" Loki said in a choked sob. He sounded terrified. Thor let him crawl out of his sheets and wrap his arms around his neck. He placed a hand on the back of Loki's chilly wet hair and rocked him in his arms.

"It is alright, Loki. You have nothing to be afraid of," Thor tried to assure him. When Loki said nothing, Thor quit rocking him and pulled him back so he could cup his face in his hands and look him in the eye. "This is the third time you've had bad dreams, Loki and you haven't wanted to talk about them. But I think this time you must." Loki pressed his lips together and started to shake his head, but Thor stilled his head. "Please, Loki-"

"I keep falling," Loki said suddenly. A cold chill shot down Thor's back. "I see your face and a man that I've never seen before. And I feel so…sad…and then I'm falling. I…I keep hurting you." Loki began to tear up again, "I don't want to keep hurting you!"

Thor hushed Loki's sobs as he pulled him into his chest. He was at a loss for words and he didn't know what to say. But seeing Loki like this…he was remembering things. He could only imagine what he was reliving in his dreams. They were probably things he himself would have rather forgotten…

"It's always the same," Loki continued more calmly. "But this time…this time when I looked up at your face I felt like I was dying." This time it was Loki that pulled back to gaze up at Thor. His expression was a mixture of worry and confusion. "Did I die, Thor? Is that why I can't remember anything?"

Thor closed his eyes and looked away. There was no way he couldn't tell Loki the truth now. Not when Loki was coming to realize that his dreams were memories reappearing to him in nightmares. And they would be nightmares. The end of Loki's life had not been an easy one…

Thor turned back to Loki and lifted his hand to brush his fingers across his cheek before settling his hand on his little narrow shoulder.

"Your past is not an easy thing to speak of, Little Loki. But I will tell you, if you think you are ready to hear it." Loki stared up at him, his eyes wide.

"So I did die?" he said quietly. Thor shook his head.

"I do not know why you have come back to us or how. But I would not have it any other way," Thor told him with a smile in the darkness for Loki.

Loki did not smile back. Instead he thought, his mind reaching for anything to hold onto from his past. But there was nothing.

"Who was I?" Loki finally asked. "Before I…fell?" Thor's expression became torn. Should he tell Loki of his true origins? The last time Loki found out who and what he really was, he fell down a path that lead to his death. Thor would rather die than see that happen again. But it was lies that turned Loki into the monster that he had become. Thor decided that the truth was better than betraying Loki's trust and lying to him.

"You were Loki, son of the Jotun Frost Giant Laufey. You were the child of Odin and a brother of mine. And you, like me, were a son of Asgard and a god." Loki stared up at Thor, openly shocked.

"I'm…I'm a Frost Giant?" he asked, his brows drawing together worryingly. "I'm not really your brother?" Loki began to drop his head to hide the disappointment on his face. Thor grabbed his chin and forced Loki to look at him.

"We are brothers in every way but blood. You are the only brother I've ever had and if I had had the power, I would have brought you back myself." Thor touched his forehead to Loki's. "Don't ever doubt that I love you, brother."

Loki nodded against his head, his worries eased. He concluded then that if he had nothing in the world, he'd always have Thor. But something still bothered him. "I was bad…wasn't I?"

Thor was quiet for a moment, but said, "There was wretchedness in your past life, but this is a second chance for both of us. I won't fail you like I had in the past, Loki."

"And I won't disappoint you." Loki promised.