Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sorry folks... Kudos and internet cookies to the real owners

Given permission to finally leave the palace and explore, Harry found the young princes as his willing guides into the Asgardian countryside. It was peaceful, beautiful as was only possible in this world. Harry found himself the willing audience to the boys' cheerful tales of their own childhood adventures as they moved further from the city. Stories of fishing and races and wrestling were the majority of their narratives. "Nothing like the quests you've been on," Thor added with a hint of a blush. Loki rolled his eyes and guided Harry along.

"Don't dismiss your childhood adventures so quickly, Thor. I wish I had a childhood full of similar stories and experiences. Hold those memories close. They will help you when things seem impossibly hard," Harry said quietly, a gentle expression on his face while his eyes seemed lost to the horizon.

Loki and, surprisingly, Thor silently studied the young man as he remained lost in a memory. A glance at each other was all that was needed to agree to leave Harry alone in his thoughts.

After a few moments, Harry seemed to return to himself. Realizing no one had spoken in a while, Harry looked down to see the boys staring at him in solemn concern.

"Sorry about that. I was thinking about… Well, it doesn't matter what I was thinking about. Enjoy this time. Adulthood and all its problems come quickly enough."

Both boys agreed with him, confused expressions on their faces as they did not quite understand what he was talking about but they got the gist of what he meant.

Harry wanted to laugh at how similar they looked like at the moment but suppressed it before asking them a couple questions about life in Asgard, their favorite places, etc…

Before long they were far from the palace and Harry found himself exhausted.

He turned to the boys to suggest a rest when a creature ripped itself out of the ground before them. It reminded Harry of rock trolls but it looked much smarter and angrier.

"Run back to the palace!" Harry ordered spinning each boy in the right direction. Immediately the boys began to run with Harry on their heels.

The creature roared and began to charge, the ground shaking from its every step. The vibrations rumbled up from the ground through the soles of their feet and into their chests, making their breaths sound shaky in their ears.

Harry glanced over his shoulder to find the troll quickly gaining on them. He spun to face it, throwing his hands out and shouting the first spell that came to mind, "bombarda maxima." The ground before the creature exploded, slowing it down as it tried to defend itself from the flying debris. Harry panted in exhaustion but he knew they would not be safe until they reached the palace. He cried out one last spell to get enough distance, "expellemis!" The creature flew back several yards giving Harry enough time to grab the boys and order them to hang on before digging deep to his core for the power to Apparate.

Gritting his teeth, Harry teleported them to the only place he could think off.

Frigga whipped out her dagger as soon as she felt the surge of magic in the air. At the loud pop of warning, she spun around to face whatever was coming. Expecting an attack, she was not prepared for the sight of Harry and her two sons appearing out of thin air. Once Harry made sure her sons were well, he collapsed to one knee, panting and holding his still healing chest. His pale and sweating face was gaunt with pain and fatigue. But his eyes seemed haunted and Frigga knew that he was barely holding onto reality and it would take little to plunge him into the warrior's sickness of nightmares and visions.

"Mother, a troll attacked us. Harry used magic to save us but I thought trolls were forbidden to step foot in Asgard," Loki explained as he turned to Harry, only to pause at the man's hunted expression. He cautiously kneeled next to the raven haired soldier and placed a hesitant hand on his arm. Harry's gaze snapped up to look into eyes so similar to his own. Frigga watched in amazement as the young man seemed to push back the darkness that threatened to consume him when he saw the concern in the boy's face.

"I'll be alright. Just did too much, too quickly," Harry said gently, his voice soothing. His expression becoming one of pain and weariness rather than the look of a man drowning in his past.

Loki seemed to take his word for it as he returned his attention to his mother. Thor on the other hand kept a close eye on the man, searching his face for traces of the warrior's sickness he had seen in others. The sickness has been known to cause the sufferer to lash out unexpectedly and he feared what a powerful sorcerer might do to his family should the man's spirit break.

Above their heads, a raven called before taking wing and disappearing into the halls.

Harry watched it with interest. He had sworn a raven had flown overhead their entire outing. Perhaps it was the same bird? A familiar maybe?

His thoughts refused to stay together. He barely heard Loki telling Frigga all that had happened. He felt as if he was back on the battlefield, bombs and curses and hexes flying through the air. But this time he felt helpless. Without his wands, he had bare use of his magic. He barely got the boys out of there in time. He hadn't felt so worthless since he was a child, living under the Dursleys' strict rules and harsh punishments. Or when he watched his godfather slip into the Veil after being struck by a killing curse or listened to Hermione being tortured. And poor Dobby… dying to save him, even after he had every reason to hate humans.

He hated this feeling. Worked so hard to prove he wasn't useless and here he was again. Trying to keep himself from breaking. From slipping into the place of his nightmares.

Suddenly, he felt a large warm hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Odin watching him with an understanding gaze. "Come," the king ordered gently, helping Harry to his feet. He guided him from where Frigga and the princes watched him with concern down a long hallway and towards a room he had never been.

Inside were many weapons that oozed with power.

Author's note: I have returned! Did you miss me? ;) Man, I hope you did. Updates on everything. I am officially married and moved into a new place with my significant other. We have internet again yay! I work full time doing what I love and will have a second part-time job to help pay for things. My poor S.O. is working a full time job with two more part-time jobs. But hey, we are making ends meet. I have no idea why we are considered the lazy generation. It feels like all we do is work. Anywho, enough of that. I plan on posting once a month again. I will try and finish these stories before we start having little kiddos running around. Much loves!-Randompersonality