Beneath A Moonless Sky: A Thor Fanfic

A Little Fall of Rain

Thor had stood tall beside his father, head held high, though on the inside he felt as small and insignificant as a stone. Odin's eye had looked down on him as it always did, omnipresent and ever critical. There was never any pleasing this man, there never had been, and Thor knew that there was no way he could ever convince his father to spare Loki. He had been kind enough to imprison him the first time, upon Frigga's request...but this time...Loki would be hanged faster than one could say bifrost. Thor had had to choose his words very carefully, avoiding the silent tears slowly rolling down his mother's cheeks. Frigga was always going to love Loki, he was her baby.

"My son," Odin began, Thor dropping to a kneeling position immediately upon being addressed. "I know you know of your brother's whereabouts. Heimdall and I have spoken many times since you left the palace. I know what he has seen."

Thor kept his head bowed, but he knew what was right in his heart, despite the rigid fear of disobeying his father that had bubbled in his chest. First-Borns were always conditioned to be blindly obedient, to be sheep. Thor was done playing that game. "Then you know that Loki means no harm. My brother is a lot of talk, he always has been, but he knows better than you or I that the only thing in Midgard that exists for him is Lanie. There will be no conquering, no war. He has been there two months and all he has done is love her. Is there really a need to reprimand him for that?"

"I expected better of you. You have always been child who did things right, the child held up to my image. I beg you, do not allow Loki to lead you down a path of darkness. He is not your brother."

Thor clenched his jaw hard, fighting every urge in his body to rise to his feet. That was unfair, and Odin damn well knew it. "He is more my brother than you are my father. My father, the Odin I remember and respected, had loved us equally. Would you not show me an ounce of compassion if our roles were reversed? If it were me, and not Loki who had fallen off the path of righteousness? He is changing, father. I have seen it."

"You see what you want to see. You are a foolish, naive boy, you always have been. I had hoped your time on Earth would have taught you better." Odin bellowed, his aged face reddening as Thor slowly rose to his feet. Odin looked as if he might blow a gasket, and Frigga gently reached out to touch his arm, to calm him, as Thor stepped forward slightly.

"Midgard taught me a world of things, father. Humility, mercy, forgiveness...all things the crown is sorely lacking in. I will not have my brother bound or killed because of your warped sense of what is just. Loki is just as Asgardian as you or I, Asgard is a people, not a place. This is his home, it is time you acted like it."

"Don't you dare order me--"

"No! I am the one done being ordered. You raised us both side by side, and if Loki isn't your son then neither am I. You can have your precious throne." Thor snarled, tearing out of the room like a whirlwind.

Thor thought back on this moment as he quietly led Emily out of his bedroom and into the castle's main foyer. He was unsure if his father was going to retaliate, or whether it was safe to tell Loki and Lanie to come out of hiding. One thing was certain, however, and that was that Emily was now a part of his family as far as he was concerned, and it was time for him to make that known. If he was going to push his father away for the sake of his brother, he was going to need a little extra TLC from a certain someone...someone he thought would understand his insecurity.

His hand clamped around hers tightly, and his heart beat erratically in his chest as they neared their destination. He didn't know how she was going to take this...she had made herself clear in the beginning. She wanted a casual relationship. Thor thought that was what he wanted too, at first. It was nice to have someone by his side who just genuinely liked him as a friend, no strings, no jealousy, no drama. She was the most down-to-earth person he had ever met, it was part of what made her so attractive to him. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable, but she needed to know how he felt. He was going to get everything he needed to say to people off his chest in one go.