Shawn is based on the Animated Lust (rated PG!) forum participant known as Shawn and, as such, is copyright to himself, and used with permission.

The below shows and characters are used for fanfiction purposes only, I disclaim all ownership:

Digimon and associated characters and concepts are © Akiyoshi Hongo - Toei Animation; © Bandai

Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok and associated characters and concepts are © Sakura Kinoshita

Heimdall was probably an indulgence in this chapter... What can I say? I like Heimdall...

I have no idea if the Norse Gods believed in sacred guest right or not -- my concept of sacred guest right is based mainly on Andrew Greeley novels. But there really were Norse kings of Dublin around the year 1000, so it seemed within the realm of possibilities.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok Frey really does have a ship that unfolds. And it really exists in actual mythology. Those Viking types had wild imaginations!

I think I have my one mistake in this chapter – I'm fairly sure that in the anime Loki knows that Mayura has seen Frey's folding ship.

Farewell to Midgard

The next morning, Yamino had made a breakfast to die for – freshly ground coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, a selection of teas, pastries, jams, jellies, eggs and sausages... Mimi and Shawn discovered what armies had known for centuries – a full belly does wonders for your courage. Yamino could cook for them anytime.

Halfway through the meal Loki joined them, followed by Fenrir who promptly started begging table scraps. "As best I can tell, when you passed through the Digiworld, you came out in a slightly parallel universe," Loki said. "I think this world and yours co-exist side by side, so to speak, but the only intersection point is the Digiworld. The separation between these universes is normally impermeable so you enter and exit the same dimension, but for some reason that didn't hold up so you came out here instead. I think I can get you back inside the portal you fell through, but I make no promises for what will come after, however I'm fairly certain my power will end at the threshold unless I come with you, and unfortunately I have business in this world I must finish, so that is not an option. So the question becomes, 'Are you willing to risk it?' "

Shawn and Mimi looked at each other. This time yesterday Shawn would've considered this crazy talk, but that was before his reality had been stood on its head. And anything was preferable to the way Mimi's heart had broken the night before. He squared his shoulders and asked, "What do you need us to do?"

"I think it should be possible to expand the portal and drop you into it ... so to speak. But after that it'll be up to you."

"How do you plan to drop us through?" wondered Mimi. "Can you lay it on the floor here, and have us jump in?"

"Actually, I think it'll have a far better chance of success if you exit were you came in," Loki said. "Since you fell out of the air in the park I think it's going to be unfortunately necessary for you to fall back into the portal there."

This sounded less than good.

"Just how can we do that?" she asked.

"Well ... I'm going to have to ask a friend for a favor." Then Loki looked at the dog.

"Fenrir, will you ask Frey to meet us at the park where we were yesterday? At, oh, about 10:00 a.m. should do nicely. And tell him to bring Neo-Skidbladnir."

And, just as though he'd understood every word and had a message to deliver, Fenrir barked once and trotted from the room.

So Shawn and Mimi finished breakfast, packed their new things in the handy little carryalls, and returned to the park along with Loki and Yamino to find Fenrir already waiting with a tall brown-haired man in a dark cloak edged with knotwork trim – Shawn wondered if he was a reject from one of those pseudo-medieval societies. He wasn't alone however; accompanying him was a short kid with his hair flopped over one eye, who, except for leather gauntlets, was at least dressed normally. He was also accompanied by the pink haired girl from yesterday, and he had a balloon that looked like a floating mechanical pig – but by this time Shawn wouldn't have taken any bets on anything being what it seemed.

Both Loki and Yamino looked less than pleased with the additional recruits. "Frey, I don't think..." Loki began.

"Oh, I've seen his boat before." Mayura interrupted. This was met with a rather shocked silence. "It's very cool!" she added to Shawn and Mimi in the quiet her previous words had created.

"Do you think that was wise?" Loki questioned Frey.

"It made perfect sense at the time." Frey was supremely unconcerned.

"Nevertheless, the fewer people who observe this, the better. One of the advantages of this park is it is almost always deserted this early. Besides, if this doesn't work, things could get ... interesting."

"Are you saying it might not be safe?" asked Frey. Suddenly he was kneeling in front of Mayura. "My Classic Japanese Beauty, you mustn't risk yourself! If anything were to happen to you it would be a tragedy beyond bearing!"

He's got it bad, Shawn thought to himself. He could remember acting this twitterpated when he'd first met Mimi.

Mayura simply looked bemused. "I've told you, you can just call me Mayura."

Frey blushed bright red at this, and seemed totally tongue-tied. Yep, Shawn decided, he's got it bad and that ain't good...

Frey turned to the short kid, who hadn't been introduced.

"You must take her somewhere safe – I'm trusting you, Heimdall! Take her –" and he stopped, at a loss for a place to stash Mayura.

"Why don't you and Yamino escort Miss Mayura back to my house?" Loki suggested. "You can fix lunch – if this doesn't work I'm sure we'll all be wanting something."

And so Yamino took his leave most properly, and the last Shawn and Mimi saw of them was a small parade disappearing in the distance – the ponytailed man, followed by the pink-haired girl, followed by the short kid.

Heimdall wasn't happy. Babysitting this stupid idiot girl Frey had fallen head over heels for, and having to cook in Yamino's kitchen to boot wasn't his idea of fun. Yamino was one damn good cook – not that Heimdall had any intention of admitting that out loud – and the way his luck was running lately Thor would no doubt show up to cadge a free meal (he usually did), and no matter that he was cooking under a false name, Thor could use any name he wanted, and any restaurant in town would jump at the chance to hire him. Well, maybe not the five star establishments, but Thor could get a job for the asking in any of the mom and pop joints. When on earth had he learned to cook Japanese anyway? No doubt about it, Thor got around...

So he, Heimdall, would have to be on his mettle to hold his end up; he was damned if he was going to let them get the better of him in any kitchen.

And the hell of it was, it was Loki's kitchen. A perfectly good opportunity to assassinate the guy, messed up by sacred guest right. If some idiot Norse king hadn't decided that conquering Dublin was a good idea a thousand-odd years ago, it might not have mattered – but everyone had hung out in Ireland just long enough to pick up the idea that you could kill a man in cold blood, or in hot, over any insult, real or imagined, but not while you were a guest at his table and in his home, or, for that matter, he in yours. And the hell of it was, Loki knew it, and would be sitting there laughing at him the whole time.

No, Heimdall was not happy. He went off grumbling in their wake.

Back at the park as soon as the little parade was out of sight, Loki led those who were left to where the trees grew thickly at the back of the grounds. They came to a grove with a bit of a clearing and the only warning they had was Frey asking, "Ready?" Then he took a small square of dark paper out of a pocket inside his shirt and gave it a flip. And it unfolded.

And unfolded...

And UNFOLDED...

And there was suddenly a ship floating in mid-air. Not a boat – a ship. It looked rather like a classic Viking warship had mated with the Millennium Falcon. No, scratch that, Shawn decided, – with an Imperial Cruiser, considering the gun turret mounted amidships.

Shawn made one last, almost futile snatch at sanity, got a grip on it, fought to close his gaping mouth, and glanced at Mimi to find she was in the same condition.

"Like it?" asked Frey. He looked proud, as any captain should, and just a tad bit smug.

Sometimes the only thing keeping you from descending into madness is your sense of humor. Shawn looked at Mimi and quipped, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more."

And Mimi collapsed in giggles, caught her breath, and added, "Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!" – which of course set Shawn off.

He got himself back under control, caught her eye, and made the mistake of adding, "And rabbits!" And then they had only to look at each other to lose it again; they were both laughing so hard their sides hurt and their eyes were watering.

Frey, Loki, even Fenrir and the pig balloon were looking at them as if they had finally lost their minds. Shawn gasped, "I guess the movie doesn't exist here..."

And Mimi invited, "If you ever get to New York – our New York, that is – we'll watch it with you."

"What's it about?" Frey questioned.

"It's about..." and suddenly Mimi grew pensive. "It's about going home."

All the laughter drained out of Shawn. He looked seriously at Mimi and gave her a soft smile. "Next time we'll pack the ruby slippers," he said. And Mimi smiled softly back. God, he loved her...

He took a deep breath, looked up at the floating ship (something was bothering him about that ship – besides the fact that it couldn't possibly exist, of course – and he wished he could put his finger on it) and then he looked back at Frey, to ask, "So ... what now?"

"We board, of course," said Frey.

The mechanical pig floated up and nudged a rope ladder which dropped down to land at their feet. Mimi and Shawn followed Loki, who was carrying Fenrir, up onto the ship, with Frey bringing up the rear. As they stepped on deck, the ladder rolled back into place and the ship rose higher – and a couple facts from a half-forgotten myth and legend class drifted to the top of Shawn's consciousness. The cogs turned, the tumblers fell into place, the kaleidoscope shifted to make a new pattern, and he added two plus two to make five, because he realized just who, or what, they may have been talking to.

Why Tokyo? he thought wildly. Why not Oslo? Or Minneapolis? Or Lake Wobegon? Then he thought ...maybe in our world they are in Minneapolis – they have lutefisk in Minneapolis... And making a final grab at sanity, he lashed it and himself to a figurative mast and vowed he would stay away from Minnesota. Far, far away. Just. In. Case.

Mimi was handling the whole experience much better than Shawn was – but then Mimi had been used to being sucked in and out of the Digiworld since she was a kid. Little surprised her these days and it took more than a shift between universes to upset her equilibrium; she'd been doing it for far too long. She saved her panic for threats to her children or her world, so she was finding the whole experience charming and the view exhilarating. The wind of their passage was ruffling Shawn's hair, but her hat as usual stayed on as though glued.

As they rose higher, Shawn wondered what they looked like from below – surely someone should notice a flying Viking ship? Loki must have sensed his puzzlement because he said, "People tend to see what they want to see – a ship can't fly, therefore there is no flying ship. Skidbladnir tends to be mistaken for a cloud, or a helicopter, or a UFO."

Shawn thought about that. "Most people can't see Digimon in our world," he offered. "Only the Digidestined, and those really close to them. It seems to partly be a matter of the Digimon choosing to be seen, but not entirely. For instance, I can see Palmon because Palmon chooses to let me see her; if she didn't want me to, I wouldn't. But I'm also able to see her because I'm in love with Mimi; if I and Meems didn't have a personal relationship, I wouldn't be able to see her either, no matter how badly she wanted me to. It was years before Mimi's parents could see her."

Loki digested this. "Mayura, who believes in ghosts and spirits and such, can't see them. She can't see Ecchan, who's – I guess "my familiar" is as good a word as any. Her father, who doesn't believe in any of these, can. I've never totally understood this..."

Then he shrugged and said, "Well, we should be high enough." He glanced over at Shawn and added nonchalantly, "If this doesn't work, we'll just circle below you, catch you, and then we'll have to think of something else."

He pulled the diamond pane of numbers from the simple shopping bag he'd used to carry it. It hung in the air before them. "Frey, can you drop anchor?" he called over his shoulder.

The floating pig released a catch and the ship came to a halt.

They stood for a moment in silence contemplating the diamond, which Mimi broke by asking, "Now what?"

Loki looked at her, and his face softened in sympathy. "If this goes right we drop it overboard, I unfreeze the numbers, let it expand, and, as soon as it's big enough, you dive in."

This sounded highly suspect to Shawn. He gave Loki his best Ya-Gotta-Be-Kiddin' look. Mimi, however, already was nodding.

"Yes, that should work," she said. "That should work perfectly! Especially if I activate my Digivice!" Shawn turned the Look on her – she was beaming.

Some arguments you just aren't going to win so you might as well not even try. Shawn had been married long enough to have learned this. Giving it up as a lost cause, he shrugged, mentally crossed his fingers, and said, "Well, I guess we'd better get on with it before we chicken out."

Loki took hold of the pane by its bottom and pushed it to the side of the ship, flipped it from vertical to horizontal, and dropped it over the edge. It floated for a moment and then very slowly began to sink. Loki again pulled the crescent-headed staff from thin air, pointed it, said a word that again refused to translate, and the numbers began to slowly move, then to spin faster. Fenrir put his paws up on the railing, wagged, and barked once.

The diamond shifted to an incrementally expanding window-shaped rectangle and Mimi started to climb up on the railing. Then suddenly she stopped, got back down, dug in her carryall, pulled out a lipstick, and bending to the deck, wrote their home address and phone number, along with her email address. Straightening, she said, "We can't thank you enough. We should've said goodbye when we had time, and now we can't – not properly. But if you ever get to New York you have crash space with us for as long as you need it. Anytime, open invitation for you and yours. No advance notice necessary."

Then she climbed onto the rail, reached down to help Shawn up in turn, and, holding his hand, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Together – we go together. On three. One... two..."

...And leaped.

She must have hit the Digivice with her other hand, because the light Shawn was used to seeing when she was swept into the Digiworld poured out of the square, and they followed it down into swirling zeros and ones.

Back in the real world Palmon's head jerked up. This time she was sure she'd felt something.

She looked at Izzy's Tentomon and could tell he'd felt it too.

But it was already gone again.