Chapter XX: TELL ME!

A/N: This started out as a one shot interim piece between Skyfall and Go for Broke. I decided it would work better as a chapter. This takes place a year after the end of chapter 19. Also, this is the last chapter. Thank you to all who helped, read, reviewed, and alerted. Thank you Laura for your help again. Also, thanks go out to theicemenace, for her skill as a beta reader. Enjoy.

Hanna had found a way to Vanaheim. It was one of the passageways that he apparently had used to get around Heimdall's sharp, all-seeing eyes. With the Bifrost broken, this was the only way she would likely see her father in the short term future. She had some questions for him, questions that only he could answer.

The entrance to the passageway was hard to perceive, even for someone like her. She had happened onto it almost on accident, though she had been looking for others.

Hanna had found passageways to all of the other realms. The ones to Musphelheim, Jotunheim, and Niffleheim had been closed off as best they could. She hadn't found any to Midgard yet. Thor was particularly anxious for her to find any there.

As Hanna made herself ready to try and get through the passage, someone knocked on her door,

"Come in." She called out, not bothering to turn around, having a pretty good idea who it might be. In private, things could be a lot less formal.

"I hope you find the answers you seek, Hanna," Frigga said softly.

Hanna nodded, before quietly replying, "I hope I do as well, your Majesty."

With a slight bow, Hanna left the room.

###

Making her way through this particular passage was a surprisingly easy trek. There were few obstacles to worry about and no creatures to deal with.

Hanna had no idea what she would say to her father when she saw him. It all depended on how she reacted to seeing him for the first time in well over a year.

###

Sure enough after a while, the tunnel began to get noticeably warmer. Not that the cold really bothered Hanna, ever since she'd mastered manipulating her body temperature several decades ago.

Hanna came up in a cave, and she kept on making her way topside. Things were starting to look very familiar. She had made it. And as irony would have it, the passage led to a place that was well within walking distance of her family's home.

It was likely that she would run into Ragnar or some of their guards at minimum.

###

She found the familiar path a few moments later and shortly after that, a huge silver ball of fur caught her off guard, knocking her to the ground and began licking her face. Draugur must have smelled her and took off.

"Draugur get back here!" Ragnar then saw who was petting his wolf. "Hanna are you really here?"

"I really am here…" Hanna got cut off as her brother hugged her tightly.

"We have been so worried about you, but the information we have on what happened is unreliable at best." Ragnar took a look at his older sister. Her eyes had a strange look in them, with many emotions that seemed to inhabit them.

He was so distracted with worry that he nearly missed Hanna's next question.

"Is our father at home? There are some things that I would like to discuss with him."

"What do you want to discuss with him?"

Hanna gave him a look that told him that this was a matter between her and their father. The look made Ragnar uneasy.

"I am sure that our father will be thrilled to see you. Perhaps you could help us shed some light what has happened."

Hanna smiled tightly not wanting to taint her brother's joy.

###

Ragnar was taking longer than usual to get back from his ride.

As Sven was about to go out to find his son, Ragnar burst into the study, joy clear in his voice, "Father, Hanna's here, though I don't know how!"

Hanna had followed her brother into the room, though much more quietly. "Apparently there are ways between the realms besides the Bifrost." Noticing that Ragnar was still in the room, Hanna asked, "Can we have this discussion in private? It is something that concerns some recently revealed information about the Jotun war."

Sven saw something in his daughter's eyes. He had a very good idea what piece of information Hanna was referring to. And it had the potential to cause her some grief.

"Then again, from the look in her eyes, it seems to have already caused her trouble."

Aloud, Sven murmured, "Of course." To Ragnar he said, "You can speak to your sister later. Leave us."

Her brother was about to argue, but left when his father gave him a look.

###

Once Ragnar had left and was well out of earshot, Sven turned back to his daughter who was pacing like a caged animal. A short time later, his daughter snarled, "How long did you know?"

As he didn't know for sure what Hanna had found out, Sven asked, "How long did I know what?"

Hanna obviously didn't like that answer, stalked towards his desk, slammed her hands down and growled, "How long did you know that Loki was a Frost Giant?"

"Okay, now that's out in the open. I can talk about it with people who already know," Sven thought before answering, "I always knew. While I wasn't there when Odin found him, I did run into Odin shortly thereafter."

Hanna's eyes were near black with rage. She obviously was not happy.

###

Ragnar had not gone well out of earshot. He wanted to know what was making his sister so angry at their father. He had never seen her like this before.

When he heard that Loki was a frost giant of all things, all Ragnar could think of what this meant for his favorite sister? This was more than likely causing a whole host of problems for her.

###

"And why did you not choose to share that little detail, when you let me become his apprentice? You, who hated frost giants so heartily?" Hanna's voice was a deadly calm.

Sven considered his daughter for a moment, knowing that no matter what he said she wouldn't be happy with the answer. He wanted to choose his next words carefully.

Hanna stared her father down and saw the look in his eyes that told her he was contemplating what to say next. As far as she was concerned it better be damned good.

"Hanna, you may not approve of my choices on this matter, but I had my reasons for making them," he said, hoping she would understand and drop it. But he also knew how strong willed his daughter was, so it was a small hope at best.

"That's not good enough," she bit out, staring at him icily. "I want to know how a father could make the decision to have his own daughter trained by the one thing he hates the most." Hanna's feelings were warring inside of her. She had been raised to hate the frost giants, and that hatred ran deep. But she'd spent years with one, never knowing the truth, and she couldn't deny what she had felt towards him either. Not that Hanna was going to say anything about that to her father.

Sven continued to watch his daughter and caught the subtle changes in her demeanor. He'd learned over the years to read people and it had aided him in advising his brother on many occasions. She was battling some inner demons, of that he was certain.

"Are you just going to sit there?" Hanna's voice was somewhere between a snarl and a hiss.

"I'm not sure what more you want me to say Hanna."

The calm he exuded was infuriating to Hanna. Why couldn't he just give her a straight answer? "I want to know why you did it, how it didn't bother you to make that decision." Tears stung at her eyes as her anger grew. "How could you do that to me?" She waited for an answer, and when she didn't get one she screamed, "TELL ME!"

###

Heimdall was watching the scene unfold. It looked similar to another scene between another father and his child.

###

"Telling the whole truth now is probably the most prudent path," Sven thought to himself.

"The reason I couldn't do anything about it, was that I had given my word to Odin that I would not say a word. No one else knew, not even your mother or even your uncle. And as for saying no to you being his apprentice, I couldn't have pulled that off without him raising some questions that I was in no way able to answer. And his father was Odin, so I also could not say no to a Prince of Asgard."

Even though what her father was saying made perfect sense, Hanna was still less than thrilled.

Deciding to get off the current topic was the best idea, Sven asked, "So is the Bridge actually broken?"

Hanna nodded before replying, "Thor had to destroy it, because… Loki was using it to try and destroy Jotunheim. He reacted poorly when he found out."

Sven figured that the younger prince would react badly, but it had never been his place to say anything. He liked his head where it was, thank you very much.

But what had the young prince had in mind for punishing him for his knowledge? Sven shuddered as he looked at Hanna staring into the flames in the fire. Whatever it may have been, it would have been something that would have used the knowledge against him, and his daughter would have likely been involved in the "bargain".

###

Ragnar heard some rustling on the other side of the door and sprinted down the corridor. Even as he was two corridors away, Ragnar heard a smiling voice say, "Listening at doorways, little brother?"

He jumped as he saw Hanna behind him. She must have teleported. His older sister had learned many tricks under the tutelage of the former Ice Prince of Asgard, as some had called him. Apparently that moniker was a touch of irony.

"I hate it when you do that!" he hissed.

Hanna grinned crookedly, though it looked to be more of grimace. "It is nice to see you, Ragnar. But I really have to get going." There was true sadness in Hanna's voice at that.

"You can't stay longer?" Ragnar asked, with a pleading tone in his voice.

"No, I cannot. I had to explore that inter-realm passageway to its end, and while I got some time here, I can't stay any longer."

"May I at least walk with you to the mouth of the passageway?"

Hanna could not deny her brother's request. She nodded yes.

###

They walked to the passage opening. Hanna turned to her brother, saying, "If there's trouble, come here and just keep on going straight. You will wind up near the royal stables."

Ragnar sadly asked, "Is this goodbye forever?" as he hugged his sister.

"It's goodbye for now, Ragnar." Hanna replied just before she slipped back into the passage.

A/N 2: And here we come to the end. Please tell me what you think! Go For Broke should be out sometime in September or October what are you all looking forward to seeing in it the most?