Thank you for all who read, reviewed, and put this story (and me) on your assorted lists. Not long after I thought it was done, I was convinced that it needed a second chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Disclaimer: I do not own Thor or Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 2

"Brother! Where have you been?"

Thor greeted Loki on the Rainbow Bridge, just outside of Asgard.

"Interesting. I'm surprised that you cared enough to ask."

Thor peaked his eyebrows. "Brother," he said quietly, "I've returned from my exile three months ago. I have missed you dearly. Mother has cried every night since you departed."

"And Father?"

Thor hesitated. "He asks after you."

Loki sneered. "I'll bet he has."

"Brother, please tell me…" Loki blinked at Thor's use of the word 'please.' "What have you been doing?"

"Learning my place." Thor winced at the emotional pain Loki must have been in to admit such a thing. "The last we spoke, you told me to know my place. I spent over three months reflecting on what that was, and its possible ramifications."

"Please forgive me, Brother. I was hasty with my words, and I would hear no reason but my own passion."

"Forgive me: this is the first time in existence you have ever apologized to me. For any reason."

"Then it was over a thousand years overdue, with plenty of interest."

Loki was silenced. The surprise was too great for words.

"Loki, where have you been?"

The dark-haired fellow frowned. "I don't know, precisely. It resembled Alfheim, but it was not. I specifically asked Heimdall to send me somewhere none of us had gone before. The Realm was called Arda, and I was on the continent Middle-earth, in the Kingdom of Gondor."

Thor looked at him with disbelief. Loki rolled his eyes. "I don't know why I bother to try. You won't believe me, anyway." He started to walk past the blond to the palace.

"No, Loki…"

"Besides… if it wasn't confirmed by the Warriors Three or Sif, it isn't worth listening to. Remember: I spent time learning and considering my place."

Thor put a hand on his brother's shoulder, halting him. "Once again, you are right, Brother. I… have much to atone for in my treatment of you."

"Yes, you do. I'm genuinely surprised that you acknowledge it."

Thor closed his eyes. "I have learned much in my time on Midgard. I have especially learned not to take those I'm close to for granted. I have also learned that there is much I have yet to learn." He opened his eyes and gazed into his brother's green eyes. "You have surpassed me and all of our peers in this. Perhaps you can teach me some of what you know."

"Are you truly Thor Odinson? This is speech I have longed to hear, but never have."

Thor gave a half-smile. "Aye. As I said, everything is long overdue." He put his arm around Loki's shoulders. "Come with me, Brother. Let us greet our parents, as they have longed to greet their wayward son."

"Have they?"

"Aye."

"Sure. Let's go. This should be interesting."

They entered the throne room, which was oddly empty besides the four family members and a few attendant servants. Both Odin and Frigga stood as their sons neared them.

"Welcome home, Loki, my beloved son. Thank you for bringing him home, Thor." Frigga stepped down and hugged her son who had disappeared months ago. With his many talents, he could just as easily do so, again.

"I've missed you, Mother," he murmured over her shoulder. His neck was soon wet from her tears.

Only once they broke their embrace did Odin speak. "And where have you been?"

Loki magically dismissed his staff, sending it to his room, and locked his hands behind his back. "I have spent these few months in the company of a king who was raised by a father, and alongside brothers, not of his race."

Frigga pursed her lips. She didn't know what her son would say, but she could guess the theme.

Loki continued. "Besides concerning the great difference in ages between the brothers, or the marked difference in race, no difference was made in the treatment and affection shown by the father to his natural sons and his adopted son. The older brothers treated the adopted younger as a great favorite. Love and affection abounded. The older twins were princes of an entirely different kingdom than the king I spent time with. Elessar, Aragorn, and Estel were all names lovingly bestowed on him, though I believe Aragorn was given to him by his birth-father."

Frigga asked gently, "What happened to… the good king's natural parents?"

"His father was killed when Elessar was in his infancy. His mother helped raise him alongside Lord Elrond, and she died while Elessar was in his youth. As soon as the boy was old enough to understand, they taught him who his birth-father was, and it was then when they informed him that he had a kingdom waiting for him to take charge of."

Loki glared into Odin's good eye. "Why could you not have done the same?"

Thor jerked his head. "Brother, what is this you are…"

"Oh, they haven't told you?" Loki laughed cruelly. "Really, now, are you going to tell him, or shall I?"

Frigga cleared her throat. "Loki, my love, there is no shame in who or what you are. However, revealing the secret too early in the conversation (but definitely within this discussion) will distract from the point you are making. Considering that I am desirous of your success, I suggest you come back to this later."

"Very well, Mother, for your sake, I will."

"Thank you, dear. If I may… when, precisely, did you leave?"

"Mother, I was the first to see Father fall into the Odinsleep. Based on everyone but your general habit of blaming me for everything that goes wrong besides the weather…"

Thor grinned sheepishly, as he recognized who was responsible for things of that nature. Then he sobered, as he realized the accuracy of Loki's statement. It really wasn't fair that everyone, including himself, was apt to blame Loki for just about anything that went wrong. Except, of course, the weather, which was Thor's special purview.

"I was afraid that I would have somehow been held responsible for this, too. So… after Father was safely ensconced in his own bed, I took off for parts unknown as I sorted through the information I had been given."

Odin frowned. "I suppose my timing could have been better."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "You think?"

Thor cleared his throat. "I see that 'what you are' is perhaps a shocking surprise. You have mentioned that you are of another race, and this was a painful revelation. I swear by Mjölnir that whatever you may be, my love for you will not waver. Not even if I learn that you were born a Frost Giant."

Loki grinned broadly and spread his hands wide. "Well, that's convenient, especially considering that I was, apparently, sired by Laufey himself."

Thor was pole-axed. "But how? You look…"

"It's an illusion, and shapeshifting is one of my specialties - thanks to Mother. She taught me almost everything I know. When we were in Jötunheim, a Frost Giant grabbed my wrist. Instead of freezing, which was the expected result, my right hand turned blue."

Thor thought for a moment. "Aye, you were distracted for a bit once we got home."

Loki jerked his head and whispered, "You noticed?"

"I did. Particularly because you would not focus on my concern: how did those…" Thor swallowed the epithet he almost released, and tried again. "How did those Jötuns get into Asgard?"

Loki looked away. "I let them in."

Odin glared. Frigga was disappointed, and Thor felt betrayed. "But why? You knew how important a day that was for me!"

"Because, Thor, you were cruel, arrogant, and ready to slaughter whomever should perchance to slight your honor. I'd intended it to be a relatively harmless prank – I did not intend the deaths of either the Asgardians or the Jötuns in the exchange. I thoroughly intended the distraction their presence caused.

"You were not ready to rule, and while I never expected to have been chosen in your stead, it would have been nice to hear that Odin might have said, 'Even Loki could have done better.' Or, perhaps… I don't know. Something, anything to show that I meant more to either of you, Thor and Odin, than the guards at the back of the room, whom I was forced to stand near at the blasted coronation of my supposed brother."

Frigga closed her eyes – she began to recognize the depth of her younger son's pain.

Odin frowned.

Thor peaked his eyebrows. "My Brother… You were against our excursion to Jötunheim from the first. Perhaps… If I asked you and attended to your thoughts, the whole incident that led to my exile would never have happened. And while the Warriors Three and Sif are good friends, they… are not you."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I should hope not."

"No. They are not princes of Asgard, as you have been since… our Mother and Father adopted you."

Loki cocked his head. "Thor?"

"I will endeavor to be a better brother."

"Just like that? That's it?"

"I give you my word."

"I suppose that will have to suffice."

Thor opened his arms wide, inviting. "Brother?"

Loki sighed, stepped close, and allowed himself to be embraced. "Brother."