Aura didn't know it but she looked exquisite. Her soft masses of orange hair elegantly braided into a crown, she wore a long, beautiful light blue gown the exact shade of her eyes, at the end of which was sewn white fabric like sea foam. She looked like an ocean goddess - which, of course, she was. But she was no girly princess; slipped into her golden girdle was an intricately designed bejewelled scabbard, only the hilt of the one-handed sword visible.

"Took you a while," said a man's voice heavily layered with a smirk.

  Aura span around. The motion gave the dress the appearance of a wave rippling over water and finishing in creamy white froth. "Loki! What the Hel are you doing in here?"

  He merely laughed, shrugging.  "Mother told me to find you. How does it take you so long? The ceremony's about to start."

  She smiled, and walked over to join him.  At least I was done when he came in.  Now that would've been awkward.  "Beauty takes time."

  "I don't know." He flashed her a winning grin.  "You always look beautiful so it can't take that long."

  "Don't you try and charm me, prince," she said with a mock stern expression, crossing her arms.  "We'd better hurry.  Thor will kill us both if we miss his big ceremony."

  An expression of pain and envy flashed across his face before disappearing, and he nodded.  "Right."

He made as if to walk away, and Aura reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. "Loki. You're jealous."

"What?" As the god of lies, he sounded completely natural and surprised as he said it, but Aura had recognized the expression even if it had only been there for an instant.

"You're jealous. Of Thor. Do you - do you wish you were Odin's heir?" she asked hesitantly. She knew he loved his brother, but she also knew that he was bitter because of Thor's arrogance and fighting prowess. But did he really want to be the next king?

Many, she knew, had assumed that Thor was always going to be the heir. But Loki had told her how Odin Allfather, ruler of Asgard, and Thor and Loki's father, had told them that they both had an equal chance at it, that both were worthy, both born to be kings. So maybe it had stung Loki more than she had realised when Odin had simply announced that today was to be a ceremony crowning Thor king.

"Yes," he muttered. Suddenly his head shot up and his armour and helmet rippled into existence. "And why shouldn't I be? Am I not good enough? Am I any less his son than Thor?"

She took a step back, releasing his wrist, a look in her eyes of hurt and - could it be? - fear. "Loki?" she asked uncertainly.

The armour disappeared, the helmet was gone, his face sorry. What Aura couldn't see was the shock inside him. What had he just done? How could he have made Aura afraid of him? "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." No other words came into his mind, just apology, the need for Aura's forgiveness.

She relaxed. "It's okay. I guess I can sort of see where you're coming from." She offered him her hand. "Promise not to freak out again?"

He nodded, and took her hand, but instead of leading her through as she had expected, he pulled her closer and kissed her, gently, on the lips. It was so brief she could barely comprehend it, just a soft touch and his slight scent.  Without further explanation, he said, "I have to go in with Mother. You stand next to your father, right?"

Momentarily stunned, she merely nodded, and Loki swept away, his cape billowing after him.

*

  In the Great Hall of the castle, Odin Allfather sat on his mighty throne.  On his left, stood Sif and the Warriors Three, best of all Asgard's warriors and Thor's friends, whereas on his right were Frigga, queen of the gods, Loki, Valr and Aura.

  At any other time, Aura would've been annoyed she wasn't next to Loki or Hogun, the only one of the Warriors Three who didn't constantly flirt with her (Fandral) or, putting it nicely, was an idiotic drunkard (Volstagg). However, she didn't need Hogun's short temper right now and she definitely didn't want to talk to Loki. Jealous Loki, god of mischief and lies, who had just kissed her. Why? She had no idea whether or not that meant... He liked her... That way.

She was so preoccupied by the Loki conundrum that she only noticed Thor halfway down the red carpet that led down the Hall. She rolled her eyes as he tossed Mjolnir through the air, and winced at the look on Odin's face - solemn and blank. That was his disapproving face, a girl who had been in his care since she was five and a half could tell. She was a little surprised by that; this was one of the most important days of Thor's life, wasn't he allowed to show off a little? Then again, Thor was always showing off, more than a little, no matter what day it was. And Mjolnir was no toy. Her precious sword was nothing to that heirloom of kings.

She couldn't help but glance at Loki. He was staring at the floor.  For Loki, that meant he was hiding an emotion - his jealousy.  She let out a soft sigh.  How was I so oblivious?  How did I not notice that this mattered so much to him?  You're a terrible excuse for a friend, Aura Valrsdaughter.

  The reference to her father's name made her give the god a concerned look.  He wasn't flipping out and flooding the Great Hall, which was a good thing, but his eyes were vacant.  Does he even recognize me?  Probably not, she figured.  I haven't seen him for hundreds of years.  He has no idea what I look like.  She sighed again.  I hate Frost Giants, all of them.  Maybe when Jötunheim has melted they'll understand how it feels to realise that your entire home and life has been destroyed.

Her attention was brought back to the ceremony, and found herself almost dismayed by Thor's expression. He was jubilant, grinning; like a child that has just won a game. Didn't he realise that this was not a game and he was no child? Suddenly she was worried and for the first time she considered the point behind Loki's angry words earlier. Wasn't Loki more... Serious? Didn't he understand more, didn't he want more than the glory of war?

Then again, what was wrong with the glory of war? Perhaps Thor will destroy Jötunheim once and for all. The thought almost reconciled her to Thor's leadership.

Thrice Odin asked for Thor's oath, and each time he bellowed, "I swear!", the last even more energetic than the rest. Aura spotted Sif looking at Loki; she knew from the warrior woman's expression that she was seeing the sorcerer prince's jealousy; worse, she was seeing the darkness in it rather than the light.

  "And on this day, I, Odin Allfather..."  The king of the gods dragged out the words.  Was he too having doubts, or was he merely making the ceremony more dramatic?  "... Proclaim you..." Aura guessed the second.  What she would never say aloud, except perhaps in private to Loki, was that Odin saw a younger version of himself in Thor.  Which was almost certainly why Thor had Mjolnir, the same cape as Odin, and was the new king.

  But then something changed.  Aura's sharp ears heard the sounds moments after her senses of the water beneath the castle, the sense that always calmed her, shifted as the water slowly turned to ice.  And she knew what Odin Allfather would say even before he uttered the two words.

  "Frost giants."

Thank you for reading the first proper chapter!  This is based on the start of Thor and I think I got most of it true to the film, apart from the minor detail that I shuffled the people around because I wanted to add Aura and I also added Valr to make the sides equal.  I think we found out a bit more of Aura's personality, past and a little of her powers.

Sorry if Loki is kinda OOC, I'm doing the best I can but he's a difficult one to get right because a lot of the film time you don't know what's going on in his head, plus he's a really complicated character anyway. Also he'd be a little different because of Aura's influence since he was seven.

Please comment! I really really really wanna know what people think of this.