Home Is Where the Heart Heals

Chapter One

Prologue

Hi there. ^^ You can call me RpM. I have had this fic stuck in my head for forever. Forever. It's a very rare crossover, and I was nervous about starting this for several reasons. Number one is that I don't know if anyone's even going to find it, much less read and like it. Number two I have a lot of stories already that I'm working on, none of which seem to be ending anytime in the near future. Three, I'm out of notebooks. That means that everything I type will be straight out of my head, with half as much editing as it normally goes through.

But Number one kind of helps me. ^^" If not many people like it I can focus on it whenever and not really have to worry about updating schedules. (not that I really have one anyways) Anyways, here is the Prologue to Home Is Where the Heart Heals. :D [insert Disclaimer]

Thor walked at a brisk pace towards the library where his mother had summoned him.

He had been interested when she had sent her personal servant to bring him the message. She trusted the servant with many things, all of them of the highest importance. That she felt the need to send her to give him the message was a warning of how serious the matter was.

The message itself had sent him reeling.

"I have news of your brother, come immediately."

Short, but laden with hidden a meaning. He could tell no one.

Now as he neared the ornate doors he thought back to the past two and a half years.

Loki had disappeared during the Battle of New York, leaving nothing but a shape in the floor and vague wisps of magic. The search was immediately put out for him, but hours passed with no news. Hours turned to days, weeks, and then months before the strains on their resources forced Midgard to give up its search. Even after all this time it was still wary, waiting for news of Loki's return.

Heimdall found nothing. All he discovered was that Loki had attempted a teleportation spell. With how weak he was his magic had spiked wildly, causing him to travel somewhere even Heimdall's gaze could not pierce. Many suspected that his 'trickery' had finally backfired upon him, ending him for good.

Thor had mourned, right from the start. Even though he believed his brother had gone mad he could not bear to imagine his brother truly gone. After the initial mourning he had met with his mother. They began talking of Loki over the years, and as they spoke they began to realize just what had happened.

It wasn't truly Loki's fault he had grown so cold and distant, but theirs.

They had treated him differently always, letting others get away with mistreating him because they didn't stop to think of how it would affect him. Many looked down on him and ignored his successes. It was clear, looking back, the exact point in which Loki had reverted to causing trouble to gain the attention he was denied.

Oh how badly that had hurt Thor. He had always loved his brother, even to the last second. To know that he had been one of the pushing points to Loki's madness? It caused both him and his mother to weep, holding each other to late hours of the night as they mourned for him.

He realized many things for what they were. In doing so, he changed much. He no longer rushed everything, attempting to pause and think as his brother had often rebuked him for not doing. It didn't quite work as well as it might have, but Thor knew simply trying made a difference.

He thought often, mostly about his brother. He joined his mother in her gardens or private library when he was in Asgard, discussing subjects that ranged from serious talks over Loki to lighthearted banter about which servant had stolen a freshly baked muffin from the kitchens.

Thor had waited with bated breath like everyone else, hoping for news of his brother instead of fearing it as they did. Thor was desperate to see his brother again, to know that he would be able to apologize. Even if his brother rejected him, he was willing to do anything to just try. He knew his team could tell, they had grown very close during the battle and were growing ever closer still. They didn't mention it, staying away from all talk of Loki as much as possible.

He brought himself from his thoughts as he opened the doors, slipping inside quietly as he possibly could. His mother sat on a soft couch, a large embossed book sitting on her lap. She held the book as if it was a treasure of the rarest kind and held a hand gently on top of it. She looked up as he came in, a yearning look in her eyes.

He moved quickly to sit next to her, leaning into her for comfort. They sat in silence for a few minutes, a silence filled with tension and sorrow and too many other things to name.

"This was in my quarters this morning, when I awoke." She ran her hand over the book carefully. "It had been transported there from somewhere I can not feel with my magic. This note was lying in the inside cover." She opened it and pulled out said paper. Thor's heart constricted as he read his brother's familiar handwriting, though it was much more free and loose than he remembered.

"Dear Mother,

I do hope you received this package. If not, I have made an error in my calculations and there is no point in writing this.

I must request that you retrieve my brother and look through this book together, as it is very important that you both understand my situation. Do not worry, nothing is wrong. In fact, I believe that things have never been better for me and that is why I wish for you two to know. The book is spelled to only open when both of you and ONLY both of you are ready to look through it.

There is nothing much else to say, except that I must ask you read through the whole book before considering telling Odin or anyone else of it.

~Loki"

Thor choked and read the note three times over, not believing what he'd read. Loki had not called him brother in a very long time, and the last time he'd seen him had even outright denied it. He looked up at his mother, hope in his eyes. She smiled at him.

"Yes, it truly is Loki's writing. His style of writing feels different, but it is him." Thor couldn't resist the large, eager grin he gave. "Shall we begin?" His mother asked calmly, setting a hand delicately on the page to turn it. He nodded, not trusting his voice.

Inside the first two pages were written by Loki's own hand, a small picture resting between them with its blank side up. Thor was the one to pick it up and carefully turn it over. Both of them couldn't hold back the small gasps as they saw Loki.

He was standing in front of what appeared to be a large lake at sunset, turned towards the vibrant colors reflecting off the waters. He looked... new, as if a million burdens had been cleansed off his shoulders. His eyes were closed as he felt the warm sun and a small smile graced his lips. It wasn't the fake, forced smile Thor had seen him give a thousand times, but a truly contented smile. He looked so unlike what Thor had known him as, that he was only now truly struck by how miserable his brother must have been.

His mother traced his figure with her fingertips, tears threatening to spill. She bowed her head, reaching the same epiphany that Thor had.

They eventually turned their attention to the writing.

"Before I can truly begin to describe anything I must go back. Back many years before you were banished, brother.

Out of anyone I know that you both meant no harm. But as I grew up I was constantly taunted, teased about my studies in magic and my less than 'perfect' visage. I do not know for sure whether you have realized it by now, but I am confident that you now know how my childhood was not the best of situations.

Thor, you often protected me even when you believed I deserved what I was being put through. If you've realized what I grew up with you will be astounded to know that your protection was only enough to defend me when you were around. When you weren't, it was truly horrible."

Thor and Frigga teared up again. Both knew that he had been treated horribly, but when it was finally put to words...

"Considering the circumstances of your banishment, I believe that I was already becoming slightly unstable. I recall feeling unbelievably apart from anyone, and when I discovered my true heritage I broke.

My actions weren't particularly called for, though I did what I believed was correct. Now I thoroughly regret all of it."

"He shouldn't regret any of it, it is not his fault..." Thor bowed his head and his mother put her hand on his shoulder in comfort, fighting back her own grief.

"I do not wish to dwell on the subject very long, as I do not like remembering my instability at the time.

The moment when I let go and fell into the abyss is one of my lowest. At the time, I truly wished for it to just end."

Frigga shook as tears suddenly slipped down her face.

"Now, I want to go back in time and slap myself. However, there are many important things that never would have happened had I not attempted it.

I floated through the void for an eternity, with nothing. There were tales of beasts and monsters roaming through the void, so I had resigned myself to being destroyed in their grasp. But there was nothing, and in that nothing I truly went mad.

Eventually, when my madness had faded with time as everything did, I was finally found by something.

Thanos."

Their eyes widened in shock.

"I will not mention that time but for this once. Many, many terrible things were done to me there that I am still too damaged to attempt reliving by writing them. I know that I then knew what it was like to beg and wish for death, and it is possible I did die a few times while in his grasp.

I know that he had molded me into a perfect little soldier, controlling me in a similar way that I soon controlled others."

Gears started turning as both began to make connections, to understand what had happened.

"When the Hulk flung me into the floor was when the control was finally loosened.

Sadly, that control was what had kept me from having a mental breakdown. I panicked as I regained my senses, attempting to cast a teleport spell to remove myself before I was captured in my weakened state.

However I was weak, exhausted, still fighting remnants of Thanos's mind control, and I'm fairly sure I had a dangerous concussion. My spell went awry, flinging me beyond, within, and everywhere.

The details of what my spell did are too long for this and I'm certain you would not understand it, brother.

The simplistics of it are that I went somewhere none had gone before. I woke up in a strange land, with strange creatures, strange magic, and even stranger people.

THAT, my brother and mother, is truly where this story begins."

Epic ending line! I bet you guys can already see where this is going huh. ;D

Since this is such a rare crossover I really hope you guys like it! Please Read and Review so that I'm inspired to do the next chapter sooner!