A/N: This is the part where I swear I haven't been dead. Right? Right. I haven't been dead. Sorry for the terrible writer's block with this one, everyone.

Part Six.

He could hear them laughing and it echoed all around him, closing in and pressuring him so that the little god sunk down to the ground and covered his sensitive ears with the palms of his hands pressed as hard against them as he could. His eyes were squeezed shut, so tight that nothing should have been able to escape, but much to his dismay a tear or two did form a trail down his dust-covered face and it only seemed to solidify what they said. He wouldn't let the sob break free, though. He was a prince of Asgard. He was not a coward. He was not weak. He was not… everything that they said.

One green eye popped open when he heard his own name booming over the laughter and he pressed his back up against the pillar he'd been hiding behind. Words swirled in his mind, but he didn't dare speak them to make them so. If he did, he might not cast the spell quickly enough and the elder boy might find him. No, he thought, it was best to stay hidden by clever means rather than magical.

"Found you!" Thor's voice echoed and Loki risked a glance up, feeling his face redden. Fifty years. That was all that separated he and his elder brother, yet Thor loomed over him and was broader across the shoulders and chest. They were still very young, but it was obvious - just as those that had jeered at him pointed out - that the younger prince was small, undersized for his line, and, if he listened to some of the quieter whispers, phrases like runt were even tossed about. Like a pup born too small.

"It's your tournament, brother," Thor continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the younger prince wanted nothing to do with anyone at that point.

Loki swallowed hard, hoping that his voice would quiver as he spoke. "You were doing quite well on your own. Go back to it. They'll cheer you."

"They'll cheer you too."

The dark haired boy snorted, burying his face in his hands, not wanting to risk the look of shame that might break through his mask of ridicule. "They scoff at me. Listen to your lessons a bit closer, brother, and you might know the meanings of words."

The sharp words had no effect as the blond laughed, pulling Loki to his feet. "Come. We'll show them what the Sons of Odin can do in the ring. This will be the best birth celebration you've had. Let's show them, Loki."

That did it and the younger brother felt his resolve snap in two, the tears building and slipping down his cheeks. They had not driven him to public tears in the ring and he did his best to keep steady before his brother, but the meaning hit deep. The Sons of Odin were strong and brave, two things that he was not, and that meant he was not worthy of any of it. They were right, about all of it, and the prince felt the sob building and escape.

Though Thor surprised him. In all of his hasty talk of glory and honor and strength, he rarely seemed to remember his smaller brother lagged behind or even why, but in that moment he did not hesitate to gather the second prince up and hold him close. He did not understand the meaning behind Loki's tears, nor would have even if the other had tried to find words to explain, but he held his tongue and the younger boy. At least, despite his failed attempts to provide a birth celebration that the younger prince would have liked, he had given him this.

"Loki?"

Green eyes blinked blurrily and the next step he took sent a jolt of pain that he may have simply not been aware of before. They had started to follow the stream some time ago, but he'd lost track of the time somewhere. He wasn't sure when he'd drifted into memories of their early childhood, though it seemed that he'd been lost in it for some time with the way Thor was now watching him, one large arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders and holding him up. The water that he'd used to clean the second prince's wounds had closed them some, showing that the magical properties lingered even towards the end of the waters. Loki had stood slowly, determined to make it on his own feet and had finally compromised to lean on his elder brother when his knees nearly gave out under him.

"Sorry," he said at last when he realized that Thor was waiting for a response. "Lost in thought."

The thunderer seemed to relax a bit more at this. "What thoughts gained so much of your attention?" he asked with a smile.

"I was thinking about my third birth celebration. The one with the tournament."

The smile immediately faded. "You hated that, didn't you?"

"I did."

Silence moved between them for a long moment before Thor spoke again, his voice strangely quiet. "You've hated every birth celebration since I started to try to make them great. I'm sorry, brother. I should have known."

A short laugh escaped Loki and he let his head lull against Thor even as they limped along. "I was actually thinking… Well about what you did give me that was kind on that celebration."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember how I cried after that one dull-wit… Oh, I don't even remember his name now, but he'd beaten me in the arena and pinned me down, holding me as everyone laughed?" His voice hitched as he spoke, though not from the pain. He realized after a brief moment he had never spoken of it until this moment.

"No, I don't remember that at all."

A fond smile perked thin lips. "No, you wouldn't. You came to fetch me back when I slipped away, but instead something you said set me off. Embarrassing, now that I look back on it, but you comforted me. You've always been terrible at it, but you try." He risked a glance at the taller god. "Thank you, Thor."

Two blue eyes blinked owlishly at him, their owner not sure how to respond. Finally he cleared his throat, still looking a bit embarrassed at what he finally decided was rare praise. "Tell me about this spring of yours, brother. It obviously has some sort of healing properties?"

"Mm. I'd read that they're quite strong, and they must be for it to remain so far from the main pond."

"Why doesn't Master Rowen keep a store of this?" Thor asked as they continued down the wooded path, careful to avoid rising roots and half buried stumps that might trip his brother up and pull the dangerous wound open again. The talking seemed to be exhausting him, but it also kept him focused, and Thor had to admit that he much prefered Loki focused. The blank look he'd gone to earlier had frightened him even if he might not admit it out loud.

"It's very small and takes many years to replenish. Healing stones work nearly as well. Is your ankle troubling you still?"

"A bit," the elder murmured, hardly feeling as if he had the right to complain about it now. The truth was that it ached more than a bit, but he was the only support his brother had as they limped along. Green eyes flickered over as if to say that he didn't believe him, but Thor's boot snagged a root, sending them both to the ground.

Thor heard Loki give a sharp cry when he hit and the elder prince scrambled up immediately. The dark haired trickster was curled into himself, his face having lost all colour and sweat beading against his brow. Fresh blood could be seen through his tattered shirt and the thunderer cursed his momentary clumsiness. "Brother?"

Loki opened his mouth as if to answer, but a ragged breath was all he managed, the sound painful to hear as it wheezed past his lips. His eyes closed against it and for a moment he could only focus on breathing.

The blond was frozen in place, hovering just over his younger brother, large hands reaching out as if to touch him but afraid to do so. "Loki?"

Green eyes snapped to meet blue and for the briefest of moments he looked as if he were trying to say something before his lids drooped and those emerald orbs lost their usual sharpness, dulling until they slid closed and the younger prince went entirely limp.

Thor watched him, as if he expected a trick. It was more of a hope that after a moment of non-reaction that Loki would perk again, frowning at the fact Thor had not fallen into his jest, but sense told the thunderer that this was not a time for pranks to be played, even by the god of mischief, and his brother's breathing was shallow when he checked it, the wound along his chest bleeding again. Without hesitation, he gathered the smaller boy up in his arms, holding him close as to keep from jolting him too badly, and started forward as quickly as he dared.

His ankle throbbed in protest with each step he took on it, but he didn't slow. Instead he pushed forward with even more haste, praying to the Norns that he'd get Loki to the pond in time and that it would do everything that they opened it would.

"Almost there," he promised to the still form, his own breath coming in gasps now. He could see the stream widening just ahead, the waters expanding out and curling into a small pond that did not go any further. "We found it, Loki. We found your present. Please hold on."

The younger prince did not stir as they approached and Thor did not pause. Instead of laying him down on the ground and bringing the water to him, he tightened his grip around the trickster and plunged in. The water rose up to his knees and then to his thighs, and he was chest deep and holding his brother so that his head was the only part of him above the water by the time he stopped.

"You'll be alright," he whispered, his voice desperate and clipped, looking for signed of change in Loki's face. "You have to be. Please, Loki. I got you here. I didn't fail you, little brother. Please." He could feel the tears building and he did nothing to stop them as they fell down his cheeks, mixing with the water of the pond.

Thor stood still in the water for what seemed like an eternity, fingers digging into Loki's tunic and his trousers where the younger prince's knees were folded over, floating slightly in the waters. Quiet pleading fell from the blond's lips with every moment that his brother did not stir, his thoughts coming back to the fact that he was to blame. He had brought Loki out this day and he had risked his life as if it were nothing. "I won't ever let anything harm you again, brother. I swear it."

"Don't make promises…. you know you can't keep."

Blue eyes snapped open, finding drowsy green ones staring back. The tears didn't stop even as the thunderer's lips parted in a grin and he leaned forward, nearly dunking them both fully into to the water as he placed a kiss to his brother's hair. "You're alive!"

"Of course I am, you idiot," Loki snapped, though his tone held much less malice than Thor was sure it would have if he'd meant for it to.

"I thought you'd died. I thought I'd killed you."

Any sharp retort died on the trickster's lips and he squirmed. "Put me down."

Thor released him gently, letting him slide until his feet touched the bottom of the pond and they stood there for a moment, both soaked through and neither caring. Finally, Loki cleared his throat. "Thor… Even if I had died it wouldn't have been your fault. You know that, don't you?"

"It would have," the elder answered without hesitation. "You're my younger brother. I'm meant to protect you."

A laugh escaped the smaller prince and he was pleased to feel only a minor twinge in response to where there had been a deep wound across his chest.

Thor did not seem quite as amused. "What's so funny?" he snapped.

"Perhaps if we weren't so often in trouble you might not need to protect me as much," Loki laughed, and started carefully towards the side of the pond. When he reached it, he laid himself out on the bank and felt surprisingly at ease for everything that had happened. One glance at his brother, though, showed Thor looking very put out by his words. "Oh don't be like that, brother," he chuckled. "There's no fun in not finding trouble from time to time."

The thunderer crossed the space between them and might have brought half the water with him as he all but jumped from it, sprawling next to his sibling. "You're not angry with me for ruining yet another celebration day?"

"No," Loki laughed. "It would have been a very dull celebration day indeed had we not left the palace. I'm not sure what I would have done with that."

Thor smiled and folded his arms beneath his head, sighing loudly and contently.

"Just remember I pay things back in full, brother, and I have five decades to make sure it's good."

"Ah…"

Loki's chuckle slowly tapered out when he felt the elder prince staring at him in earnest and he turned a bit to meet his gaze. "In all sincerity, I'd give everything I have to protect you. You know that, don't you, Loki?"

"I do." There was a silence the followed and the blond shifted so that he was staring at the sky once more. It wasn't long until the younger brother heard the soft snores drift from the elder and he felt a smile touch his lips. "And I'd give the same for you," he whispered the promise.

END