All The Little Pieces

Vanaheim

The air boat slipped from the dim world of ice and shadow into the blinding shades of a fresh green meadow in golden late afternoon sunlight.

"You'd best answer my question, brother. What are we looking for, and why didn't you tell me until right now?" Loki's fists were clenched at his sides.

"Calm down, Loki. We're looking for this." Thor handed him a folded square of parchment.

Loki opened it and scanned the writing. "This is not as easy to find as you might think. First, we need to find a stream."

Thor pointed in front of them. "Rather easily done."

Loki sighed in irritation. "Yes, well now we need to find a spot where a 'great tree with saffron leaves' has roots reaching into the water. A needle in a haystack. Well done with the planning, Thor, well done."

They followed the stream slowly into the wooded area.

"Are you going to answer my other question?" Loki demanded.

Thor said nothing for a moment, then spoke in a low voice. "I didn't want you to try to stop this trip from happening."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

Thor's eyes flicked to Loki's face. "Elizabeth."

Loki's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You think she will leave and I am so selfish that I would rather keep Odin from ever returning and our people isolated from the universe than have that happen? You think I would keep her trapped as a prisoner? She will have a choice, but I think she will choose to stay."

Thor raised an eyebrow speculatively. "You really think she will choose you over her world, her life, everything she had before? She's been in Asgard, what, a few months? You really think she won't want to return to Midgard?"

Fear at the possibility squeezed Loki's chest. Keeping his voice confident, he turned to Thor. "She'll have the opportunity, any time she wishes to go." He thought of Elizabeth's deep brown eyes as she told him he meant the world to her, and his heart steadied a little. "I don't think she'll leave."

"Let me tell you something Jane told me," Thor said. "On Midgard, they have a saying that 'if you love something, you must set it free, because it was never yours to begin with.' You need to let her go, Loki."

"Ah, yes, relationship advice from the woman you rarely see." Loki's tone was biting with mockery. "Thank you, brother. I'll be sure to take that to heart."

He pointed ahead. "Here, steer that way. Against all odds, we may actually have our tree."

Thor frowned as he slowed the boat. "Do you really care so little for my words, or do you not truly care for Elizabeth? I thought from your actions and what you've said, she was more than just a dalliance for you, but apparently-" He broke off as Loki's knives appeared.

Loki worked his jaw angrily. "She is not a dalliance. Whether nor not she ever returns to Midgard, you will speak of her with respect. She is not some passing woman who spent the night in my chambers and is gone before morning."

Loki turned his back to Thor and stared at the tree. He stepped over the side and studied the water flowing at the base of the trunk. After a moment, he straightened, holding a smooth black rock in his hand. Before he could reenter the boat, movement caught his eye.

A little girl was standing next to the stream. Soft golden wisps framed her pink cheeks and round, blue eyes stared out of a perfect doll's face. She held out her hand. "Please sirs, I've lost a stone in the brook. Can you help me find it?"

"You're looking for rocks?" Thor looked bewildered. He pointed toward the water. "I see whole handfuls there."

"Shhh, brother, shhh." An indulgent smile flitted across Loki's lips. "Of course, sweetling. I may have picked it up by accident." He opened his hand to reveal the black stone. "Is this it?"

The child's eyes opened wide and she nodded hopefully, holding out her cupped hands.

"Here, catch!" Loki tossed the rock toward her, but it fell short, bouncing off a large, flat rock and skittering sideways. The child darted after it, and Loki swung himself into the boat. "Go brother, get us out of here as fast as you can!"

Thor gripped the tiller and they shot forward. "What's going on?"

"Just get us out of these trees and back into that meadow."

The boat crashed roughly through underbrush and shot out into the bright sun. Behind them, a gibbering wail sounded, raising the hair on their necks.

Thor's eyes widened. "What the hell was that?"

Loki's eyes never left the line of the forest behind them. "That was the tree guardian. It appears to be a little girl, but it's actually an extremely unpleasant fanged beast, and it's clearly quite unhappy that we took the gem."

"What gem? Those were river stones. And you tossed her the one you picked up."

"Ah, brother, are you ever going to not fall for that?" Loki opened palm, revealing the black stone. As Thor watched, its smooth sides changed to a deep faceted carmine. Another blood curdling howl emanated from behind them, this one farther away, answered by a third howl from deeper in the woods. "I think it's definitely discovered the one I gave it was a fake."

He stepped to Thor's shoulder. "Come on, the entrance back to Asgard is just ahead. Let's make sure we're gone before it brings its friends I hear."

They swept back into the familiar world and skimmed over the surface of the water. Loki drew a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment as the fine mist rose and touched his face.

Thor glanced at Loki. "You love her, don't you?"

Loki opened his eyes and fixed them on the palace ahead of them. "Let's go home, brother. Let's go home."