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Thor paused at the edge of the clearing, his arms full of firewood to keep the camp fire burning most the night, but while he’d sought additional fuel, Sif had already started the fire. Sitting, now, on the hard ground in front of it, one knee pulled up against her chest, an arm looped carelessly around the upraised limb as she gazed into the flames. It was the most relaxed he’d seen her since he returned to Asgard, and even now she looked pensive, dark brows furrowed in the waning daylight.
When the Warriors Three had been unable to accompany them, he should have cancelled the trip, but Fandral had convinced him to go without them. It had been an uncomfortably quiet day, the easy camaraderie they had shared for so many centuries was nowhere to be found, the silence between them an ever-widening chasm of things not said. He missed the warmth of her smile and the sound of her laugh.
He could remember their last actual conversation, the way she’d looked at him. It was the first time he realized just how much he had changed, but he’d been too distracted by his thoughts of Midgard and Jane to do anything more than let her down gently and depart. She’d made no effort to approach him since that day, and while he had greeted her as happily as he had the rest of his friends upon his return, her reception had been lacking in warmth.
Dry leaves crunched underfoot as he moved across the clearing and dropped the branches next to fire. Sif’s eyes flicked toward the pile, but she did not turn her head, did not look at him, and Thor allowed irritation to show on his face.
“Is my company so poor to warrant being ignored?” And finally she looked up at him, her own expression frustratingly blank.
Sif rolled one armor clad shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “I could not say, your company is that of a stranger.”
“A stranger?” His tone was incredulous, wavering between anger and hurt. “Hardly, Sif. We have been friends since we were children.” She looked back to the fire and he dropped to the ground beside her, catching her chin as his temper flared. “Does any man know you as I do?” He forced her to meet his eyes, but what he saw there made him flinch, bleeding away the anger and leaving behind only confusion.
Her hand closed around his wrist, squeezing, and he let go of her face. “I did not say that I was a stranger to you.” She replied, releasing him. “But the man I had known died during his banishment on Midgard.”
“Who is he?” Thor asked quietly, his eyes colder than they had any right to be.
Confusion crossed Sif’s features before she realized that he was not responding specifically to her statement, but rather a continuance to his own question.
“As if that is any business of yours.” Her voice matching the icy cast of his blue eyes.
“You are my betrothed.” He rumbled, thunder echoing, far off in the distance. “I deserve to know who stole your heart from me.”
Her knuckles connected with his cheekbone with a loud slap when she backhanded him. “The betrothal that you made a mockery of when you paraded your mortal love through the palace! I am quite certain that you did more than enough to make that contract null and void. “
Thor scowled, rubbing the blossoming mark on his cheek. “I loved Jane and worried for her, and I refuse to be sorry for the time she and I spent together.”
Sif laughed bitterly. “And yet you have the gall to be offended by some imagined man? Verily, if another did hold my heart, it would not be because he stole it from you, but because you returned it to me, and I offered it freely! You should recall that you did not want it.”
“Is that what this is? Jealousy?” Sif moved to rise, but Thor caught her arm, pulling her back down. “I’ve had other lovers before.”
“Yes,” she hissed, “thank you for the reminder.” Sif jerked her arm, trying to pull it free of his grip, but his fingers tightened, bruising.
“Just as you had my brother…” He felt a vindictive sort of satisfaction when she stilled. Until she met his eyes voluntarily, defiantly.
“Would you have preferred I waited around, pining after you for all eternity?!”
“He never loved you, Sif. You must know that. He coveted you because you were mine.” Finally victory, when he could see her resolve break, but the feeling was short lived when he watched her close off, and he realized he’d pushed just a little too far.
When she pulled away this time, he let her go, listened while she gathered her things together and whistled for her horse. Thor thought about allowing her to leave, but even as upset as he’d been he could see the error in his words. His chest clenched painfully, a replica of the guilt he’d carried since walking away from his responsibilities in Asgard.
He twisted to watch as she threw her saddle over the big gray’s back. “Sif….” She ignored him, ducking under Astrid’s neck to make sure all the saddle straps were laying correctly before she tightened it down. Thor rose to his feet, and lifted the tack right off the mare’s back, setting it aside, and turning to catch her fist as she swung it at him.
With a sharp pull he yanked her against him. “I’ve never know the Lady Sif to run from a fight.”
She struggled against him, baring her teeth before striking out with her free hand. Their close proximity slowed his ability to deflect the hit, but he was able to slow the blow, and a moment later he had her wrist closed in his grasp as well.
“You would bar my retreat? I know a battle I cannot win.” She responded finally, trying to mask the emotions in her voice.
“Since when has our relationship been a war, Sif?” Thor’s eyes were bright, looking down at her.
“Since you made it clear you never loved me.” And the words are little more than a breath, forced into something coherent despite her traitorous, pounding heart.
Thor adjusted his grip on her, shifting her hands to be grasped in only one of his, held tight at the small of her back. “It’s not true, I have ever loved you, Sif. You will be my Queen, the one I always return to. I thought you understood that.”
“I understood perfectly well that you abdicated the throne and walked away from Asgard, and me in the process.” She spoke roughly, but even so there was no mistaking the pain that laced her voice. Thor knew well enough that he would wear more than a few bruises should he release her.
He almost did release her anyway once he fully realized her words. His expression softened instead, his free hand moving to cup her jaw as he bent his face closer to hers.
“I am so sorry, beloved. I have no suitable excuse for abandoning Asgard so. I can only beg your forgiveness in the matter.”
Thor watched Sif’s expression harden and he braced for attack, but it never came. Instead, her eyes closed tight, but she was unable to stave off her tears as one escaped, sliding down her cheek. He did release her then, freeing her hands and crushing her against him in tight hug before his thumb moved to wipe the tear away.
Sif threw her arms around him, burying her face against his shoulder. “I hate you.” She murmured, and he laughed softly.
“You may wish you did, and I cannot much blame you, but I know you do not.” His fingers laced into her hair, tugging gently to encourage her to look up at him. “I have neglected you for too long.”
Hazel flashed as she responded with a feral baring of teeth.
“Sif…” He let go of her hair, tracing her jaw with his fingertips, catching her chin and tilting her face up to capture her mouth with his own.
She tensed and for a moment he thought she was going to pull away, a moment that ended with the warrior goddess softening against him, her body molding against his as closely as possible with the both of them clad in armor.
Thor broke the kiss a few moments later, resting his forehead against hers. “I will make it up to you.” He murmured.
Sif sought his hand, linking their fingers together in a way they hadn’t done since they were little more than children. “You have made a good start.” She answered softly, a smile tugging at her lips.