There he stands. Looking out over the vast body of water. The Allfather. He does not turn. The princes exchange a look before they approach him – one of them more tentative than the other. Normally, Loki liked the unpredictability of things. He liked not knowing exactly what might be around the bend. To put it simply, he liked surprises. Especially if he was the element of surprise. Now however, he was afraid of what lay ahead.

The Allfather never tears his gaze from the horizon. Not even as he speaks to them. He was never good with intimacy. Perhaps it made him uncomfortable. Perhaps he did not know how to express his love and affection. At least not in a way that Loki understood. It was different with Thor. He and Odin shared a bond which Loki had never been part of. He was not like them. He was not his brother. The strong, fair, golden haired prince of Asgard. A master of war and combat. No, he was the dark prince with the silver tongue. A master of trickery and deceit. All those things which people frowned upon. For what is silver compared to gold? Who needs sharp intellect when you can have brute strength?

Who needs Loki when you can have Thor?

When compared to his brother, Loki always came up short. 'Twas only with his mother that he could feel like he was enough. Like he was special. She shared with him her magic and taught him how to use it. As he was never the best at physical combat, casting spells was something he could excel at. He remembers her kind words of encouragement. Her soothing voice as she would sing him to sleep. Her sad smile as she faded from view after he told her she wasn't his mother. He didn't mean it. She may not have been his birth mother, but she was the only mother he had ever known. He thought about it on sleepless nights. How much he wanted to take it back. All those things he said to her. But now it was too late. The damage could not be undone. He didn't even get to say goodbye.

Odin says she calls to him. His time has come. He says her name. Says she would have been proud of him. Of Loki. The dark prince looks at the old, one-eyed man. He had not expected such a thing to come from him. From the one who locked him away in the deepest dungeons, never to see his mother again. The one who outright told him his only birthright was to die. Loki looks at Thor and realizes how much his brother has changed. And now Odin. Is that what happens when you're exiled?

He tells them about Hela. The goddess of death. His firstborn. Their sister. Neither of them can believe it. How is it possible? Loki sees it in his brother's eyes. How his whole reality is shattered. Piece by piece, it falls apart. Like broken glass. Sharp and cold. It cuts like a knife. Loki knows the feeling all too well. Finding out that everything you thought you once knew is nothing but a lie.

Before he leaves, Odin tells them one last thing and it's the most shocking and unexpected of all. "I love you, my sons." And as he slips away, Loki feels both hollow and fulfilled. His father is now gone with the wind. The father whose approval he had always wanted. Finally, he knows who he is. He isn't Loki of Jotunheim. Never Loki Laufeyson. He is Loki of Asgard. He is Loki Odinson.

I watched Thor: Ragnarok for the first time yesterday and it was so good! I missed Loki so much and I absolutely loved him in this. Tom played him so well (as always) and I got inspired to write this little fic. I'm not going to lie, I cried during this scene when they meet Odin again and he actually says "I love you" to the both of them. I never liked Odin much, but this is one thing he did right. You could really tell that Loki was surprised at hearing this and oh, all the other moments with him and Thor just gave me such feels.