I own nothing.

Written for Lupin

"Words cannot… She makes the world better."

"How do you feel, brother?" Thor asked all of a sudden, so strange he sounded so quiet, almost as though not willing to disturb the soothing night, not to drown out the mild breeze. He tilted his head back, faint smile twirling his lips, the fair locks brushing his shoulders.

Loki remained silent at first. Words were there again, but still so hard to let out. Perhaps he was still afraid of the pain that had inevitably followed each attempt to speak, cry or weep. The stitches had been removed, but the scars will always remain. Visible or hidden in his heart, they will burn.

"Satisfied." He said simply; and looking down from the balcony, he laid his slender, delicate hands on the cold stone.

Viewing those hands, Thor had to remember the scene from the throne hall this morning. Those gentle fingers, tearing the beast into shreds of scaly skin in order to finally pull the serpents heart out. Loki had had all the right to do so. It was the only possible way he could find his peace. He had to fight, slaughter and destroy the animal that had tortured him for so long. Thor remembered holding up the bleeding heart together with Loki, demonstrating his little brother's ultimate victory over his darkest demon. They ate it together. They pulled out the poisoned fangs together. And now they were wearing them on their necks. The most precious jewelry two devoted brothers could have ever worn.

"It is your turn to celebrate, Loki." Thor answered at last, his voice mighty and firm. Just as the voice of the King of Asgard should be.

"My turn?" Loki snorted a soft, quiet chuckle and glanced at Thor. "There's a certain person who has just become the glorious King of the Realm Eternal and had not celebrated at all." He paused to give a small smile. "If the rumors are true."

"The rumors?" Thor let a slight frown on his forehead. "It is not a rumor. What was for me to celebrate if there was no bride by my side?"

"I'm very sorry, brother. But perhaps you should try and travel to Midgard and speak to her. She might have changed her mind."

"I'm afraid she might not."

"You shouldn't give up, brother." Loki said softly as he stared into the night. "I almost did. But there are always good signs to guide you in the dark."

"Signs to guide you?"

"Yes. It happened a few days before you saved me." Loki let out a long, heavy sigh and leaned against the stone balustrade. "I believe it was at night, when the serpent would not attack me." He continued, but his voice turned into a careful whisper.

"It just let the poison drip on my skin. But something in the venom had changed: it was running deeper, burning right into the bone. It was…" he inhaled. The struggle behind could be sensed in each word. "I… I think I might have been… weeping." The confession came out as a faint sigh.

"And then, there was something. It was near. It was warm. And despite I could not see, it was shining, I felt it was. She came to visit me. And she must have been so courageous – to bring a bowl under the serpent's fangs and catch the venom – this is unheard of a woman. And yet she did: she kept the poisonous liquid from dripping on me." Loki breathed, raising his eyes up to the night sky.

"It was the first time within those countless days of pain I was allowed to feel relief. I was given a hope. Her hand was so small and gentle when she touched my face. I was broken, starved to death, wounded and dirty. My eyes could not see her, my mouth could not thank her. But there she was, silent, standing right beside me. Defiantly, ignoring the snake's hiss. She stood there the whole night. And I felt the deepest affection just for her presence. From that moment and until my last breath, I shall never forget." Loki declared, trailing away as his silky voice betrayed him.

"Do you know who that woman was?" Thor sounded after a silent moment.

"She must have realized that her action would turn the hand of justice against her. Yet she came to me. Gave up her life for me. And that is all I need to know."

"Did you know she had been bitten?" Thor asked suddenly.

"Yes. She must have died before the guard discovered her presence I guess… At least she avoided the embarrassment in front of the court."

"No." Thor sighed.

"No?" Loki breathed desperately. "Then… She was beheaded… Because of me?"

"No." Thor repeated.

"Then what happened?" Loki straightened; his eyes full of anxiety.

Silence.

"Brother. You will answer me." Loki pressed, stepping close enough for Thor to notice the tiny, pale spots around his little brother's mouth and eyelids.

Thor looked down, pressing his thumb into the palm of his other hand.

"Jane." He whispered. "The truth is that since the day she arrived she heard you crying in her dreams. It haunted her each night. Once, she dreamed about visiting you in your prison cell. No one could have proven she left her chambers that night. It was just a dream, but somehow… you have just said the truth: she had been there with you. The next day she woke up with tremendous pain. She could not move. And then the healers found the bite-marks on her forearm." He paused, biting at the inside of his cheeks. "She was not accused of treason, yet she was banished from Asgard. At the end of her trial, she said the Asgardians were cruel and that she could never call this realm her home. "

"My words exactly." Loki whispered.

"Even now?" Thor asked, hurt and pleading.

Loki glanced at the long serpent's fang hanging around Thor's neck. "My home is always by your side, brother. It does not matter where it is." He uttered finally, viewing the sharp end intently, not allowing himself to even blink.

"Jane." Her name left the strangest taste on Loki's lips. From all the living beings in the universe, it must have been this mortal. This tiny, weak, fragile little human. The bravest woman he had ever known.

The richest woman the Nine realms had ever known. Because down there on Midgard, somewhere amongst the lands of men, her gentle hands were holding and warming the treasure of a great value. A certain little Frost Giant's heart.