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Sif is still very young when Thor becomes her companion. He's her prince, of course, her future king, the man she vows to protect now and in the future, but much more than that he becomes her partner in bloodshed and battle, be it physical or every time she has to defend her position as the "Lady Warrior" of Asgard with words and not deeds. Before anyone else Thor recognizes her skills with the sword and realizes her potential as a warrior, unhampered by the fact that she's a woman and not a man. He supports her, publicly and without shame he defends her right to train to fight and go into battle. And no matter how often Sif comes home to cry in her mother's arms because of how helpless with anger the others made her, because of Thor she every morning leaves her home to fight again, with him at her side, for her right to be a warrior. Even if nobody else does, not her mother nor the other girls her age nor the warriors she faced on the training range, Thor understands her, then and now, and more importantly, respects her.
Over time, others come to respect her as well, if only because she forces them into it. Thor gathers friends around him, Hogun and Volstagg and Fandral, all with their own faults but good warriors, trustworthy and honest, steadfast in their faithfulness, just like Sif. They ride together, battle together, grow strong as companions in arms, but they all know that it's Thor who truly holds them together.
Sif loves him. Of course she does, and everybody knows it, but nobody truly knows it, not even the men she fights with. They say she follows him out of love but no matter how deep her feelings for him reach, that's not true – she is a warrior, a fighter, and one of Asgard's finest. She follows Thor because he fought for her like he knew it when nobody else allowed even the possibility. She follows Thor because she trusts him, believes in him. The thought of him becoming her king in title as well as in her heart fills her with pride and faith.
All this is why she cannot even find the name for the feeling that wells up in her when the week before the crowning ceremony he says to her, with all the gravity the prospect of his future title as well as a fair share of mead bestow upon him, "You cannot become my aide, Sif. You are a woman."
If it were anyone else – anyone, even Fandral or Hogun or Volstagg – she would have hit him until he begged for forgiveness. She would have forced him to realize that a woman, that the Lady Sif can hit as hard as any man. But this is Thor – her prince but more than that her companion, the only person to ever support her, not to mention the only man.
But apparently in the end, Thor, too, is just another man. It's astounding how long it has taken her to realize this. He's just another man that needs to be brought down a notch like all the others she beat to prove herself, more than once if necessary.
That's all she means to do, honestly. Prove to Thor her worthiness. The plan is simple; after centuries of riding out to battle Frost Giants with Thor she is familiar with the paths they travel. She convinces a couple of young male sorcerers with the need to prove their worthiness – very familiar with the type, it does not take her long – to distract Heimdall at an opportune moment, just when a scouting party scopes out one of the secret paths into Asgard. The young warriors guarding the palace are easily distracted with the glory of the crowning ceremony and the injustice that keeps them from attending, and so the Frost Giants make it into the palace and almost into Odin's treasure chamber. Sif is there to slay them along with the more experienced warriors guarding the entrance; the battle is glorious and fast, with Sif defeating twice as many Frost Giants as Odin's personally appointed guards. The Frost Giants don't even come close to doing any harm and Sif's skills as a warrior have been proven for all of Asgard to see; nobody can argue that as she stands victorious over the corpses of the ones she has slain.
What Sif hopes to gain from this isn't accolades. She's hoping for an acknowledgement of her skills, her worthiness as a warrior – of what they know she has done, what she's worth. But it doesn't happen. Instead, Thor calls for war and, when his father denies him, he gathers his friends around him and means to invade Jotunheim on his own. It's madness and Sif feels everything rapidly spin out of her control – this is the last moment to reveal the small trick she played, but as incensed as Thor is, she fears he will do something unfounded. She is no traitor, never that; she always knew the Frost Giants were never a threat for Asgard. Even if by some miracle they had made it into the treasure chamber, they would never have made it out of there. But at the height of emotion Thor is less than perceptible to logical arguments; he would not listen. Fearing her position as his trusted friend Sif keeps silent, safe in the knowledge that Heimdall would never allow them to leave.
She does not expect for Heimdall to let them pass. She does not expect for Thor to actually attack the Frost Giants in their own realm, with just three warriors at his back against their hundreds. Odin coming to save them is not something she expects either and she barely has the time to feel relieved before Odin strips his son of his power, bans him to Midgard. Her and the Warriors Three's protests fall on deaf ears, and then the king falls into Odinsleep and the queen does not rescind his orders.
Numb with what all has happened in so little time, Sif wants to retreat to her chamber and think about what she should do, but she's nearly out of her mind with worry for Thor, mortal and alone. Forbidden from going to see him she instead goes to Heimdall and eventually manages to convince him to tell her how Thor is doing.
Sif expects some sort of absolution. She expects to hear either that Thor is alright or that he needs her – she does not expect to hear that he very much does not need her at all. Really the very last thing she expects is to hear that Thor has replaced her so easily just within moments of his arrival.
Replaced her, the woman at his side, with a mortal. A mortal woman who cannot even fight, who doesn't know him, hasn't fought at his side for centuries, who hasn't endured half as much hardship as Sif has for the privilege to ride at his side, to call herself his trusted companion-
No, Sif does not expect that.
Queen Frigga comes to her for counsel. She asks Sif – Sif, the only woman who comes close to understanding her position and the hardships she's facing – for advice; she asks, "Should I order my son back to my side, to take on the position he rightfully should inhabit while the king remains in Odinsleep?"
Sif looks at her, and thinks about it for a moment, and then says slowly, "My queen, if I may… Thor is reckless. He is a good man, but ruled by his emotions the way a king shouldn't be. His unfounded and reckless attack on Jotunheim has proven it. As much as I… love him, I fear he is not yet ready for the responsibility."
The queen lowers her gaze and nods once, to herself. "It is as I had feared, then." For a moment she's silent, then she nods once. "You speak the truth, but I have faith in my son. I will order for his return tomorrow."
That evening Sif is with the Warriors Three, who rail against the unfairness of it all. "Thor needs to return," Fandral says. "As the rightful king of Asgard. A woman has no place on the throne."
Volstagg agrees vocally and Hogun nods. Sif closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and says, "The queen is weak. She is a wife more than a leader and knows not the glory of batle, but she is our queen nevertheless. You have to go to Thor and tell him to remain in exile as she orders. Stay with him as his faithful companions. I will remain on Asgard and try to convince the queen – try to convince the king, once he awakens – to allow for Thor's return. Once it is done I will come for you; until then do not allow him to call for Heimdall and stay from the bifrost. I fear for him should he disobey Odin's orders again."
Some time under the queen's reign should plant the seed of doubt in the men's belief that a woman cannot be a leader. Especially if in the men's absence there is only a woman to defend the queen from another attack by the Frost Giants. Then, once Odin has awakened, Sif will be the only one of Thor's companions available – the only one with enough experience so he will have to give her some of their responsibilities in training the young warriors-to-be. After some time with her – a woman – training the youngest, making good fighters out of them, they will have to accept that a woman may lead just as well as a man can. Thor won't have a choice but to let her be – perhaps even remain – aide.
But it doesn't happen the way she plans it, of course it doesn't. The Frost Giants she lures in attack at the same time as Heimdall is bringing Thor back. That minimal distraction is enough for the Frost Giants to incapacitate Heimdall by freezing him into a block of ice. Thor and the Warriors Three of course attack them immediately and utter chaos breaks out; Sif doesn't quite understand how it happens but at one point Thor makes the decision to destroy the bifrost to prevent the Frost Giants from using it to call more of their warriors into battle. In the past Sif would have faithfully assumed that he did it out of necessity, that there was no other way, but by this point she does not know if she can trust him at all anymore.
Once all the Frost Giants have been defeated Sif stands on the broken bifrost and looks at the battlefield around her and doesn't know who she is anymore. Maybe Thor was right, maybe they all were right when they said that a woman cannot be a leader. Maybe all this time everyone was right and she was wrong.
It's almost a relief when she is attacked from behind; not expecting it she nevertheless manages to throw the attacking Frost Giant off, but not without losing her balance. She falls off the bifrost but manages to hold on to its corner, the splinters cutting into her hands, and suddenly Thor is there, catching her just as she slips off. One look at his face and she knows that he knows – maybe everything, but at least part of what she has done.
"Why, Sif?" he asks. He has the gall to look like she is the one who betrayed him.
You are the one who betrayed me, she thinks as she stares up into his wide eyes, the eyes she looked into for so many years believing them belonging to a person she could trust fully. Replaced me, lied to me, betrayed me.
"All I wanted," she gasps, "all I wanted was to prove to you that a woman can be a leader! That I can be a leader!"
"I was wrong," Thor says. Wrong to trust her, wrong to support her, believe in her. He does not say it but she knows that that's what he thinks; it's obvious.
And maybe, she thinks, maybe he is right and should not have trusted her; after all, look at what she did. The bifrost broken, Frost Giants having breached Asgard's borders twice in less than a week. After everything that happened… he's right. They are right. A woman cannot be a leader, should not even be a warrior.
She, the Lady Sif, is the one who's in the wrong. Has been all her life.
Thor's eyes turn wide and panicked but his grip on her hands is too slippery with her blood to keep his hold on her once she lets go. The last thing she sees of him is his face above the broken bifrost growing smaller and smaller as she falls.
She closes her eyes.