Brotherhood - Loki & Thor ♡

19. I'll be living one life for the two of us

Loki died by the hand of the Mad Titan. He never made it to Valhalla.

~~~

He stood there, watching. Thor and Valkyrie and Captain Rogers and Stark and Agent Romanoff and Barton and Bruce and wow! There were some more standing by his brother's side. Some he didn't even know their names, never met them before when he was still alive. And yet they came. Loki didn't think so many people would come. Didn't think Thor would go through the trouble holding him such a ceremony when Thor said it himself Loki was the 'worst brother', when his body wasn't even found. At first it kind of irritated Loki; the fact his soul was still here, very much aware of what was going on, yet his body was still floating aimlessly out there, somewhere in the space. It felt empty and, if he were to admit, utterly terrifying; him and his body being separated for eternity.

They said he'd been dead before, thus he should probably got used to it. They were wrong. Loki had never been 'dead' before. That would be ridiculous, wouldn't it? Death was a one-time thing. God or mortal, they could only die once. In the past, Loki never returned from his demise. He simply managed to survive. It was them who assumed he was killed.

However this time it was real. This time he really got killed in front of Thor. And here his spirit remained. Unable to move on.

"I know you're up there, brother." Thor broke the silence, looking up at the thousand stars scattering all over the night skies.

"Wrong," Said Loki from behind his brother, "I'm not up there. I'm here, idiot." But of course no one could see nor hear him. No one could acknowledge his existence.

"I wish we had more time together. Wish we had another chance to watch the sun together, chasing each other under the sunlight like when we were children." Thor laughed softly, reminding himself of the memories. Though the pain in his voice was visible. "I remember you always crying out for me when you were little and the nightmares bothered you."

"Well, I would rather you forget about that part.... or at least not mention it out loud. People are around. Even though I'm dead I still have to keep my reputation alive." Said the little brother.

"You would follow me everywhere, come wherever I called. You would always stand by my side." Thor's voice cracked, a single drop of tear rolled down his cheek and he didn't wipe it away.

"Come on now. Don't get so soft." Loki tried to sound playful, but even a ghost with the voice that only he could hear he still heard the crack in his own voice and felt the pain in his cold, dead heart that was no longer beating.

"I would never be here if not for you. You saved my life. This life I am living, I got to live it because you sacrificed yours for me. This life, I promise to live it as best as I can for the two of us, brother. We will meet again some day." And Thor held up the shining candle in his hand, holding it above his head and out towards the skies.

Thor's action spurred his friends into following him, so all of them raised their candles up. The fire at the top of the wax could never shine so bright compared to the moon and the stars, but it made something inside Loki's chest... twist. It wasn't bad and it surely didn't hurt. It was only that Loki had never been talked about so highly before. All his life, well when he was still alive, all he wanted was some encouragement, a little praise words to tell him he did good. And now he finally achieved them he didn't know how to feel. It was so very foreign for him.

They were standing at the edge of a beautiful, isolated cliff in Norway. Just the same spot where Odin took his last breath. When Loki followed Thor's gaze, looking up at the sky he saw his mother, his father and Heimdall looking down. The empty spot between the late king and queen of Asgard was for him, for the God of Mischief. Loki earned his place there, up above in Valhalla with his family but here he stayed on Midgard.