Thor busies himself with kingship to forget that the woman he loved so dearly is dead. But after a few months, he decides to face his grief. He turns on Jane's computer, his fingers clunky on the small keys, and tries to remember her file storage system. There is research on here that he knows his scientists would be interested in, approaches they have not considered. And it is the best way Thor can think of to honour the legacy of Dr Jane Foster.

Loki can think of no way to honour her, though, so he retreats to illusion, pushing aside all thoughts that could remind him of Jane. No Svartalfheim. No Midgard. No ice palaces. He is left with the Void, Jotunheim, and dead dreams of Asgard's throne.

He stops bathing. He stops eating. Only just enough to stay alive, and some days, not even that. He cannot think of any reason to put in the effort, so he does not. He has a life of solitude ahead of him, no friends, no family, and only his books. But books cannot touch, and he finds his illusions more and more often including other people and some false approximation of what it feels like to have someone warm and kind near him, touching him. And when he is particularly desperate, he recreates Jane and relives the conversations they had in his cell, even if it is incredibly painful. Her voice is comforting, even though it tears his heart open to leave the illusion and let her fade.

As he does this, he goes back farther and farther, mining their earlier conversations for things that he can use to keep his sanity. And then he comes to something he had forgotten, something, that in the months since her death, he has entirely ignored.

"It does not do to dwell in dreams and forget to live."

Loki tries to touch her cheek and his hand passes through her. He sighs. His illusions fall away and he is back in his cell leaning against the wall. He drops his head into his hands.

"Loki?" He looks up as Thor calls to him from beyond the barrier, "Do you see me?"

"Yes, Thor, I see you. Regrettably."

"Are you being difficult for the sake of being difficult, or do you really still wish to have no company?"

"I no longer know."

"Fair enough."

"Have you come to mock? To tell me that I should give more of an effort to stay alive for some reason yet unknown to me? Perhaps because you would feel badly were I to die? Or is it to gloat that you had her love, her trust, and her time?"

"She was more than your friend, wasn't she?"

Loki sighs, "No. She wasn't."

"But in your heart-"

"I said no. She was just a friend."

"A friend to Loki is never 'just'. You take your friendships quite seriously."

"Those few I have had, yes."

"You look terrible."

"Oh, thank you. I really needed a commentary on my appearance during our little heart to heart."

"You were eating for a while. She convinced you."

"Did it ever occur to you that I might not want to talk about her?"

"Did it ever occur to you that you ought, whether you want to or not?"

"I hate you, Thor. With every ounce of my being."

"No, I don't think you do. Because you know I'm right."

"And that is not a reason to hate you?"

"No. If you are to hate me, make it because I did not believe her when she said she could trust you. When she said you were her friend."

"Why did you come here?"

"I come with a proposition. Not one you are likely to take, but..."

"Tell me."

"In time. But first, Jane left a will on her computer. A final document of her wishes. I only found it a few days ago. There is little in it, as she had few possessions. But there are messages there. One for me. One for you. One for the both of us."

"Oh?"

Thor holds up a piece of paper, "Here, I wrote it down."

"You never were one for memorizing your lessons."

Thor smiles a little before reading, "She says to the both of us, 'Boys, be kind to one another. I know you don't like each other right now, but hold on to each other. Even if you hate each other. Maybe especially when you hate each other. I'm writing this as an old lady without anyone left but you two. I love you both, in different ways. And I wonder what we're missing because of everything we've been through that's separated you. I want you to do one thing for me. Try to fix this. Not by changing who you are, not by trying to ignore what's happened. Not even by just pretending things are OK. Just...be yourselves. Be honest. And give each other a chance. Accept who you each are and look for the best in each other. It's there. I've seen it in both of you. And since I don't have a big fancy anything to give you each to remember me by, I want this to be the legacy you make for me. Even if you can never be friends, at least you'll still be brothers.' There...that's the part for both of us." Thor pauses and waits for Loki to react. For a long minute, he does not even move, staring at the floor.

"And the other message?" His voice cracks. He clears his throat, pretending that it didn't happen and that his eyes aren't a bit damp.

Thor reads, "'My dear, sweet, heartbroken Loki. I have been visiting you for over half my life. And while I am sure this is the nature of people with super long lives, I have seen you open up so slowly that I wondered for a while if you were even still in there. I wondered if the young man I saw die so nobly was the same person I sat with for so long, waiting for him to speak. But it was worth every minute. Even the frustrating ones. I don't want you to think that it wasn't, or that those early years were wasted. They weren't. I need you to know that. I need you to know how happy I was when you finally acknowledged me with that one little nod. I could have walked on a cloud. I'd been told, mostly by Odin, but a little by Thor, that you were unreachable. And Odin was pretty sure you weren't worth reaching. He was wrong. 100% wrong.

"'As I got older, as everyone I knew in Midgard died, I realized that you were the friend I would never have to worry about losing. It was a weird sort of comfort to know that you and Thor would always be there for me. But, selfishly, that you would be the one person I could count on paying attention to me- you didn't have a throne to worry about. You were kind of stuck listening to me.

"'There was something magical about sharing movies with you, too. I will never watch Frozen the same way. How could I? We had so much fun! I've always wanted to be a Disney princess, ever since I was a little kid, and you gave me that chance. You sparked my imagination, Loki, the same way that exploring astrophysics did. And I don't think that's ever happened. I started writing and dreaming and digging into my research big time. My curiosity exploded and I started really wondering again! It was amazing! We had a good run. I hope you think so, too.

"'Now I know Thor is probably reading this to you, and it's probably super awkward, but I hope you can remember it's me talking. You're wonderful, Loki. Keep eating. Take care of yourself. Keep your spark. Love yourself. Because as your best friend and sister, I love you. And I want you to find some measure of happiness, even if you're locked away. Keep dreaming. Always. Hold on to that one final inch. And remember that you're OK in my book...even if nobody else sees it.'"

Loki has given up trying to stop his tears and has instead put up an illusion to hide them. Thor knows what he is seeing isn't real. He watches for any reaction and, when he cannot find one, he enters the cell and crouches in front of his brother.

"No more illusions, Loki. Not when it comes to Jane."

"There will only be illusions, Thor. I cannot keep her any other way."

Thor bows his head, "Loki...it is not healthy to do this. To cling to the dead in such a way. She is gone. Did you do this after Mother's death?"

"Not until Odin threw me back here."

"And then you did."

"Until Jane stopped me, yes. I spent hours, days even, in the rose garden. But also in Svartalfheim."

"And since?"

"I keep both of them. Did they meet? She would have loved a daughter."

"Briefly. And she protected her as one of her own. It is what she was doing when she died."

"Oh. No one told me that."

"Jane felt responsible for her death for many years."

"I wish I had known."

"But why? What could you have done differently?"

"I would have told her that I told the monster to take the stairs to the left."

"You have also blamed yourself."

"Of course."

He reaches out to touch his brother and remembers just how frail he is as he gently rests his hand on his bony shoulder, "Loki...do not do this to yourself."

"Leave, Thor. Just go." There is no anger in Loki's words, only defeat.

"No. She told me to take care of you, no matter how I had to, and whether or not you were receptive. She told me I was to open my eyes and my heart to you, no matter how much it hurt. And I am going to follow her last wishes."

"You said you came with a proposition, yet I have not heard one. If you do not have one to tell, I wish to be alone."

"I do."

"Then what is it?"

"I wish to return you to the sunlight."

"And what does that mean?"

"Your rooms will be under heavy guard, and there will be magic in place to restrict you to that space unless escorted, but I will visit you often and I will seek your council as Mother once intended. Perhaps one day you will wander the halls as you once did. There is so much we have both done wrong, but I will honour Jane's last request."

"You will have to forgive me if I do not drop the glamour as you bring me up. No one needs to see what I have become."

"You mean how you have starved yourself."

"To put it bluntly..."

"Will you come with me, then?"

He looks around his bare cell. The furniture he damaged has never been replaced. That which he could right, he did, the rest was removed. Everything is battered. Even his cot sits at an odd angle.

"I would have a real bed."

"Yes."

"And my writing desk."

"Yes."

"And my books."

"Of course."

"And a view of the city."

"A stunning one. But there would be a barrier there so you could not escape. I cannot trust you yet, even if she did."

"And yet you did. On her last day."

"Yes. With her, I did. But with yourself? I do not."

Loki laughs, "Oh, you know me too well, Thor. Far too well."

"So?"

"Yes. I will. But not because I'm conceding."

"Of course not. You have your pride to consider. You may sulk our entire journey upwards if you so wish."

"You know I will. And perhaps I will even glower."

"You always were quite good at glowering. And scowling. I caught you scowling at Father's back far more than once or twice."

"And here I thought I did so when no one was looking."

"I was always looking, Loki. Always watching out for you."

"You're really going to do it, aren't you?"

"What?"

"Try to find me beyond the anger."

"She didn't think it was hard to do. I mean, it took her decades, but she didn't seem to mind."

"Precious decades..."

"Now, no regrets on your stubbornness. I see where you are going with this. Don't. Enjoy what you had- she certainly did. And come. We have supper waiting for us in your rooms."

Thor rises. Loki follows. He is slow, he is weak, and Thor does not chain him. Instead, he offers to carry him. Loki resists at first, but after a few stairs, he cannot catch his breath and he asks for help, but with an illusion in place so no one knows. Thor gathers him in his arms and sees the glimmer around him as Loki uses what little strength he has to hide himself and recreate a proud prince beside Thor, chained, gaunt, but standing tall, glaring at his brother. No one needs to know that he is cuddled against Thor's chest, secretly glad that the fight is over, that he has an excuse to let himself rest.

Once safe in his rooms, the illusion drops and Thor places him on the bed, "Shed the other illusion, too. You are far more ill than this." Loki does, and, in the bright light of the setting sun, Thor can see even more clearly just how poorly Loki fares. He brings a tray beside the bed and takes a bowl of soup from it. He brings the spoon to his brother's lips. Loki does not protest, sipping slowly. Supper takes a few hours this way, but Thor does not feel the time slip by. The rest of the realm can wait.

"Thank you, Thor. For more than simply supper."

"Oh?"

"You allowed me Jane. And you are here because of her."

"I am here because I want to be and because she was wise. Do not mistake my agreement with her for a lack of kindness on my part, for a man acting out of obligation instead of love. I do not do this out of pity, but rather because it is time we move forward and she has given us a way to agree on something for the first time in many years."

Loki grins, "Oh, Thor, you speak only the truth."

"I hope to hear it escaping your lips more regularly in the future."

"You will. Because she asked."

Thor nods, "Good. But I must go be king for a few hours. Get some rest. There will be plenty of time for talk."

There is still a smile on Loki's face as he falls asleep. He dreams of Jane. She tells him how proud of him she is. She holds him tight and kisses his cheek. And she pushes a spring of rosemary behind his ear, a gift for remembrance.

When he wakes in the morning, the sunlight streaming in the other windows, the smell of breakfast wafting from the other room, he stretches and reaches to brush the hair from his face. Something catches on his fingers and he tugs it out of the tangles to inspect it. Rosemary.

"I don't know how this is possible..." But he stops himself and accepts that it is, "Thank you, dear Sister. Wherever you are. I hope you and Mother get along well. I think we'll be fine here, thanks to you."

He gets out of bed, draws a bath, and relaxes in the luxury of a real tub until Thor enters the room and threatens to feed him breakfast in bath. Loki cannot help but laugh as he washes his hair, fully enjoying the feeling of deep clean that he has not felt since before he was imprisoned. And when he dresses in silk, he runs his hands along the fabric, happy beyond words for the things he once took for granted.

Thor hands him his plate as they settle in at the table, "Eat. But take things slowly."

He picks at his food and then slowly brings up the fork, "Yes. For Jane."

"And perhaps someday because you have found life worth living for other reasons."

"Yes, well, we'll get there. Perhaps. Let us start simply though, shall we?"

Thor chuckles, "Of course, Loki. Of course. For Jane."

Loki takes a bite and closes his eyes, a look of bliss on his face, "Oh gods, this is good. If you continue to feed me this way, I most definitely will keep eating."

Thor beams, "I am so glad to have you back, Brother."

Loki thinks for a moment and realizes that he is happy for more reasons than just the far superior food, "I think I may become content here."

"But satisfaction-"

"Was not in my nature. I know. Perhaps, though, because of how Jane approached life, I have found some measure of it. Her delights in the little things, or in movies, or in imagination."

He rises, and walks around the table to hug Loki, "Welcome home." Loki does not resist. Instead, he returns the embrace. Thor is delighted. So is Loki. Both of them imagine that Jane is, wherever she is, as well.