Odin knows it is him the minute he enters the throne room. Loki keeps his disguise as long as he is in public, but as soon as the All-Father asks to speak to him in private, he knows things are going to go badly.

"Drop the illusion, Loki. I know it is you. How is it that you escape Svartalfheim while your brother yet fights for this realm and all others? Do you know he places his life in danger this very moment?"

"My body healed from a wound I thought was mortal. I know nothing about my own anatomy."

"You are a creature of ice. That is all you need to know." Odin sits behind his vast desk.

Loki remains standing, feeling small, but also incredibly angry, "You let her die."

"There was no 'let', Loki."

"I could have helped. I could have fought with her. She wanted me to stay with her. Had I not been in the dungeon-"

"You would both be dead and I would be mourning the loss of my son and my wife both."

Loki is stunned to silence for a few moments, "You would mourn me?"

"Your mother was right. About many things. But also that I should not have sent you away."

"Would it sound too petty to insist that Thor started it?"

"Perhaps. But it would at least be a familiar pettiness." There is a small smile at the corner of his lips.

"Thor did not answer when I asked. Did she suffer?"

"No."

"At least there is that blessing."

"Yes." Odin studies Loki's face. He is hiding something, "Drop the illusion. You are still wearing one. A very good one, but still, an illusion yet."

Loki does as he is asked and appears blue, "Is this how you prefer me? The monster?"

"Frigga would say you are yet our son, colour makes no difference."

"And you?" Odin hesitates and Loki's face falls.

"I will learn to live by her example. For her. A last gift."

Loki is shaking as he nods. This conversation is frightening, but it is not in the way he had thought. He had imagined quite a lot more yelling and possibly a beating. Instead he feels naked, exposed, and vulnerable. He always has in the presence of the All-Father. It is because of this that he elevated his storytelling and lies to an art so fine that even Odin doubted which brother was telling the truth and even when he knew Loki's tale to be false, he could not quite put his finger on why.

"So you are not going to return me to the dungeon?"

"No. Unless you earn it. And, of course, if Malekith succeeds at the Convergence, it will not matter."

"I will seek out Thor and Jane."

"No. You are needed here. The people of Asgard have not seen their younger prince in quite some time. With the fall of their Queen, they need to know the rest of the family lives and is well. The loss of one of their princes would be devastating."

"What ought I do?"

"What would she have done?"

"Pardon?"

"What would your mother have done? The city is in chaos, pieces of it are falling in. There has been an invasion of a long-believed-dead enemy. What would she have done to bring people peace?"

Loki cannot believe what he is hearing, "Months ago you sought to let me die in Jotunheim. Then you caged me so that I might simply disappear from the memories of the Aesir. And now you ask me to take on the things she would have done? How can you honour me so?"

Odin's face is pained, "I do not do it out of the goodness of my heart, Loki. I am a foolish old man, a brutal king, and often a poor father. Your mother understood you far better than I ever did. And now I ask the person who knew her best, possibly better than even I, to work in her stead. I give this task to you because it is what she would have wanted."

"And Thor?"

"Thor will continue to learn to be a warrior king."

"What of Jane?"

There is a long pause before Odin answers, choosing his words carefully, "Her life is short. She will serve as queen beside Thor if this is what he wishes. But she will need you to teach her. She does not know this place, its people, its customs. She knows nothing of what it means to be queen. You have sat at the knee of Asgard's beloved All-Mother your entire life. There can be no better teacher for Jane."

"A Midgardian in the Queen's chair."

"Your brother will choose his own path. The question ahead of you is what yours will be."

Loki holds out his hands, "This is what I am. I cannot be seen. I will find no love in this realm and if I do, I will have to tell them of my affliction and it will end."

"Do you wish me to restore your Aesir appearance?"

Loki is conflicted. He does want this, very much, but at the same time...he knows he will have to come to terms with what he is and hiding from that will not help. He nods, slowly. Something warms across his skin and he watches the colour shift from blue to his familiar pale peach.

"But I may ask you to remove it on occasion so that I might know what I am."

"I will teach you to do it yourself, if I can keep my patience."

Loki is still unnerved by the encounter when he is dismissed a few minutes later. He retreats to his sunlit study and calls for a servant to bring him his writing kit and the large book that is still down in his cell. Things are going to be different in Asgard. He still believes he will be walking on thin ice around Odin, but perhaps not forever. Perhaps Odin will grow from treating Loki as his son only because she did to wanting it himself. Or not. But even if not, there would be no break in the face of the family. Her death bought him a little protection and he silently thanks her.

When Thor returns to Asgard, he speaks to Odin about living with Jane. Odin allows it on the condition that for at least one month every year, he comes home so she might learn of their lives and Loki can enjoy the company of his brother. This is how Odin tells Thor that Loki lives. Thor bolts from the throne room.

He finds Loki in his study, writing a letter- he does not bother to knock and Loki looks mildly annoyed, but at the same time, happy to see him, "Hold for just one moment, Thor. I will not lose this thought."

"To whom do you write?"

"I said hold, you oaf." He shakes his head, playful.

Thor only waits a moment, hugging him from behind, "I thought you dead."

He sets his pen aside, "I thought I was as well."

"Then we are both happily surprised."

"No, not entirely."

"You did not wish to live?"

"I had no reason to. Mother dead, no home in Asgard, Father's disapproval...and you happy with Jane..."

"I would not have left you had I known. I am so sorry, Loki. I will always return for you."

"Well that is far preferable to living a monastic life with no company at all."

Thor kisses Loki's cheek as he did so often when they were small children, "So. To whom do you write?" He reaches for the previous pages set face aside face-down, but Loki slaps his hand.

"That is none of your business."

"And yet you say you would otherwise be alone. Come now, a- how many is it?- ten page letter must be for someone special."

"It is." Loki tries not to be annoyed, but he finds Thor's questions, as well as his hanging from his shoulders like an oversized cape, to be irritating.

"But you said you would have no one were I not to visit. It cannot be to Father, can it?"

"Of course not. He and I have said our pieces. We do not need to speak any more than absolutely necessary."

"Ah, family."

"Yes, indeed."

"So if not to Father...do you have a forbidden lady friend? Perhaps the darling Sigyn?"

"No, and no. Please stop asking."

"Surrender is not in my nature, remember?"

Loki sighs, "It is to Mother. Are you happy?"

Thor stops teasing and pulls over the drawing table chair, "You have this much you left unsaid?"

"Yes. And more. Volumes, perhaps," his voice is barely above a whisper.

"And you intend to write everything down?"

"I have no other choice. The words will eat me hollow if I do not."

Thor does not understand his little brother's romance with words, but he can see that this is far more important to him than any of his other writing, "Yes. I suppose that means you must." He thinks, then speaks carefully, "May I read them when you are done?" He wonders if he should reassure him that no, he does not have to. This is completely up to him. A willing audience should he want one.

"Perhaps. But not now."

Thor opens his arms and Loki practically falls into them. Things may not be entirely right with Odin, and the hole left by Frigga's death will never heal, but Thor...Thor searches for his heart and wants to see it wherever he hides it.

"I am so glad you are still with us, Loki. My heart has been so heavy, believing I had lost you both."

Nestled against his brother's shoulder, Loki feels safe, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For remaining brother to a creature as cold as I."

The allusion is not lost on Thor and he holds Loki tighter, "Always."