Chapter Text
You could feel the ground around you shake with every impact that was made by the forces outside of the house. Your village was under attack, in the middle of an ongoing war in your realm. Weeks- Months-Years, you couldn’t tell which by now and the memory of peace seemed like a far away dream by now. You didn’t know what the opposing side wanted, but you knew that the Asgardian soldiers were on your side and fighting to regain peace for your realm.
Screams sounded around you as dirt fell from the roof above, the old house at the back of the village that all the women and children had been ushered into was going to be torn to shreds.There was a crack of thunder and a wave of heat and wind rushed through the wooden walls. You began to push back the elderly and the scared children into one of the less open rooms, trying to get them to a safer place than in the wide open main living area. They held onto you too. You were a part of the village’s healers and even despite being the youngest of the group, you were one of the best healers that they had. They need you safe in case of worse circumstances. The children were still crying and you were tending to an elderly woman that had been burnt when her house caught on fire when a heavy knock on the door silenced everyone. Everyone remains frozen where they sit, stand or lay and their eyes are full of fear. The knock comes again, this time with more force. You place a finger on your lips in a signal to all of the eyes that are watching you that they should remain quiet. Then you beckon Kara, one of the young female warriors in training to come with you as you cautious and slowly make your way to the front door.
“Please!” A male voice shouts from the other side of the door. "We are in need of a healer!“ Then he pounds at the door again. Seconds later, the door splinters. Apparently you hadn’t reached the door in what seemed like a timely matter to him. Both he and his companion are in tattered and blooded, but clearly in Asgardian armor. They stumble forward, one is dark haired and nearly unconscious; all but a dead weight on the other’s shoulders.There is arrow sticking out of this man’s torso, and you can see that that it might have punctured some of his organs. And he’s sweating profusely, which means infection and fever. "The prince with not make it past the journey through the Bi-frost.” The man holding the injured dark hair figure (who now you know is the prince) tells you can Kara as you both stand frozen. “He needs a healer now.”
His demanding voice springs you into action. “Kara, I need hot water and cloth.” You tell her as you bring the two men inside. She stands there for a minute with her tan skin turning a pale ashy color, still in shock from seeing the massive amount of blood covering both men. “Kara, now.” Her head snaps up and her eyes meet yours. Then she runs from the room, calling out your orders to the others as she goes. A few of them rush into the main room to help you as you clear off a table, shoving things to the floor in order to have a clear space to lay down the injured prince. As the soldier lays the prince on the cleared table they both let out a groan, the soldier’s from relief and the prince’s from pain.
You immediately go to work, making do with the meager tools that you are given. A bowl of fire warmed water is set on the table a near the head of the prince and you plunge a clean cloth rag into it, to being to clean the blood off his clothes and skin. He whimpers and shakes as you do so because as you clear the blood from his skin, you only find more (but thankfully less life threatening) wounds on his body. There is a gash on his forehead, a hole in the skin of his arm from where he must have tugged an arrow head out, and a burn running the length of his leg from who knows what. As you strip him from the majority of his clothing, all of the unnecessary help is removed from the room, so you can save what is left of his dignity. You find that his now tattered and blood darkened clothes were once a green, ‘This must be Loki’. Not many from your realm saw any of the crown princes, much less tended to one. His newly exposed pale skin starts to glisten with sweat in the fire light, not a good sign. You experimentally tug at the arrow and his body arches in pain, his eyes popping open as a yell leaks out of his mouth.
“What… are you… doing… to me?” He says through his gritted teeth, his head swinging around to determine his location. His eyes find the other soldier and he goes to ask him a question, but his train of thought is stopped short a you pull him to lay flat against the table once more. He winces, a pale hand going to find the arrow shaft still stuck in his abdomen.
“She is a healer your majesty.” The soldier says weakly from where he sits on a chair. He hasn’t moved since he dropped into the chair after laying the prince on the table. “And you are in need of her help.”
Loki looks up at you from the table, “I need the help of no one.” Then without warning- he sits up, gets off the table and yanks the arrow from his body. Blood instantly starts to gush from the open wound, even though his hand is trying to cover the opening. A flash of green goes through the air, then fizzes out second later. He slumps backwards into the table, losing his what was left of his strength as a second flash of green flies around his hand and then vanishes. He is breathing hard as look of panic crosses his face and his skin is becoming more pale by the second.
You, however, had gone into action as soon as you had popped out of the frozen state of shock you had been in after he pulled out the arrow. Your hands are shaking as you place a large amount of bandages into his side and push him to lay flat on the table. He was going to loose too much blood this way, he was going to die by his own hand. You think fast, telling one of the others in the room to put pressure on his wound. Then your frantic gaze hits the fire and its metal accessories. It wasn’t anywhere near the right tool, but it would have to work in this situation. By the time he’s paling and realizing his mistake, you had already directed the rest of the helpers in the room to hold him down anywhere the could have the most grip. Some were at his shoulders, others placing hand on his legs and hips. When the hot metal hits his raw skin it sizzles, but the small sound is quickly blocked out by the agonizing scream that leaves his mouth. The sound bounces off the walls, his body arching against the hand that hold him in place in the struggle to move away from the object that was causing him so much pain and then all goes silent as he returns to unconsciousness. The silence rings in your ears as you drop the now cool metal to the floor, the thud barely registering. Now all you could do was wait, if he had internal bleeding you couldn’t do much- the little healing magic you had wasn’t strong enough to heal that deep of a wound without killing yourself in the process. But it was enough to heal the rest of his minor injuries when you had the necessary equipment.
Loki was still unconscious when the leader of your village came to give you the all clear. You had covered Loki’s body with the cleanest sheet you could find and had asked them to move the entire table to the healing center right next to your home.You followed them, making sure that he wasn’t moved too much and that he was still breathing. The other Asgardian soldier followed just as close.
When you arrived to the healing center you went back to work, not bothering to take a break. You exchanged the make-shift bandage dressing that covered Loki’s wound for clean wrappings, infusing them with the minor spells that you knew and clean up the Asgardian soldier, who left as soon as you were done to report back to Asgard.
For days, Prince Loki lay unconscious and you stayed almost just as still, monitoring for signs of internal bleeding and tending to him. You ate what was brought to you by others and took few breaks. He still had a fever, which had you worried. When he would start to moan in his sleep, you’d take the cloth from cool bowl of water by the table and wring it out before dabbing at his hot skin. The light that made its way through the windows bounced of the white fabric and made his skin take on a rightly placed sickly appearance. A few weeks in, the gash on his forehead no longer needed bandaging and neither did the burn on his leg. All that was left was the arrow wound and the shivering of his almost gone fever.
“You need rest, child.” The voice coming from over you shoulder startled you, your hand jerking away from where it lay on Loki’s forehead to check his temperature. The calm voice belonged to the old healer that everyone called “Nana”. She had been around long enough that she had taken care of nearly every kid in the village at one point or another. “He’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
You let out a sigh, checking on the dressing of Loki’s arrow wound. “I can’t- I can’t. What if he wakes and I am not present?” You had feared that he might do something stupid again. “What if I’m asleep and something happens?”
Nana took your chin in her wrinkled hand, stroking the dark circle that had formed under your eyes. “You care a great deal for the boy you know nothing about, do you not?”
“It’s my job to Nana.” You yawn. “He needs me, even though he said he did not.”
“Then rest child.” Even in her old age, she still find the strength to force you into the bed next to Loki’s table. Patting the top of your head like she did so many years ago when she tended to your own fever you had as a child. “You need it as much as he does.”
But as it happens, Loki did wake during the night. He had been shivering while you had fallen asleep, his fever breaking shortly before he woke. He plucked the now dry cloth from his forehead, letting it fall to the cloth covered floor of the the healing center. His brow furrowed as his eyes adjusted to the low light and he groaned in pain when he tried, then failed to sit upright. The muscles in his neck shook as he turned his head, taking in his surroundings. When his eyes found you, he let out a sigh of relief that he had not been taken somewhere that they might do him harm. But then he frowned upon seeing your condition. He couldn’t remember much from the short time he had first awoken under your care, but he knew that your skin should not be that pale and that you shouldn’t have such dark marks under your closed eyes. You stirred in your sleep, moving a bit before and opening your eyes slightly before sighing and falling back into a deep slumber. He smiled a little before doing the same. He’d have to find a way to repay you somehow.
Early the next morning, you awoke with a start. Something was different and you knew it. Last night couldn’t have been real, his eyes were open last night. You rushed from the bed next to Loki and placed a hand to his forehead. His fever was gone, it had finally broken. You hand slide from his forehead to his cheek, testing to make sure that it was really gone.Then his green eyes open, blinking up at you as he squints in the morning light. “How do you feel?” Your question is hushed, as to not wake the others in the room. “Do you think you can stand?”
He doesn’t say anything yet, but nods in response and you slowly help him up. He winces a couple of times but eventually makes it to his feet, leaning on your body for support. “How long have I been out?” His voice is cracking and soft due to its un-use in the past weeks, but you can still feel it vibrate over your skin.
“Almost a month now.” You tell him as you sit him on the bed you had recently vacated. It would be much better for him than the hard table and his legs were still weak. “You had me worried, but there wasn’t any internal damage.” You admit while you kneel down in front of him to check the healing progress of his arrow wound. It’s a bright pink against his pale skin. “You can go back to Asgard as soon as you can walk on your own.” You give him a light pat on the shoulder, then stand to leave.
He catches your hand as you turn, tugging you weakly back to face him. “Thank you.” He says, looking straight into your eye with sincerity radiating thorough his own. “I guess I did need the help of another.”
Over the following days, you help him regain his strength. When he’s been in your care for a little over a month and a half, he can walk on his own and his wound is no longer an angry pink mark on his pale skin. He has had someone bring him more clothes from Asgard and is about to begin his journey back when you insist upon checking him over one last time.
“I’m fine.” He tells you with a short laugh as you run your fingers over the wounds that have now turned to light pink scars on his skin. “You don’t need to worry about me anymore.“
"It’s my job to worry.” You tell him with a smirk as he catches your hand as it smooths down his shirt.
“If there’s anything I can ever do to repay you…” he tilts his head to catch your gaze, even if you don’t want him to.
“There is no debt to repay.” You shake your head and help him stand with your arms wrapped around his, even though he doesn’t need it anymore.
“There’s always something.”
“No there is not.” You lead him to the entrance of the healing center and out of the door. “Now go,” You say with a joking smile, “You are no longer under my care.”
“Maybe one day then, you think of something.” He smiles and presses a charm into your hand. “Call out to me when you do. I will hear."
And with that he turns to leave for Asgard.