"Well well well, it looks like even the lump of coal princess can find her prince charming." The pink-haired Atli snarked.

"Congratulations, daughter of Surtur." The curly red-haired Elisiv addressed her. "But you know what we must do now, do you not?"

"Yeah yeah, back to my cell." Fiamma nonchalantly muttered.

"Have you two been listening in on us since we parted ways in Alfheim?" Detective Loki questioned them.

"Listening and watching." Atli answered. "You see, these ravens are descended from great grandfather Odins'."

Elisiv nodded. "But if not for them, we could easily listen in on those devices you possess; don't forget that our technology is significantly more advanced than those decrepit old models you use from the 31st century."

"31st century... is old to them!?" Kōrima summarized in disbelief. "I would say that's absurd, but I've already been dealt so many blows of absurdity today, I guess I shouldn't be too shocked... Fiamma chan, who are they?"

"Sorry Kōrima... before I temporarily joined the detectives, I committed a few acts of arson myself. I was released under special circumstances when the same detectives who arrested me needed my help, but now my time is up. I wish I could stay with you, but unlike you, a lot of random people were hurt and killed in the fires I caused... in my search for power." She forced a smile as he took in the news. "But anyway, you've got a new home, so at least we could help you with that!"

Kōrima shook his head in dismay. "This can't be happening... what, were you just acting sweet towards me so- so you'd have a criminal loverboy to break you out!?"

Fiamma fought the urge to roll her eyes. "And there's the oversensitive reaction... Kōrima, I wasn't using you; I'm really attracted to you, and nothing I have told you was a lie. The deal I made with the detectives was that I help them save universes if they help me find the perfect mate, and..." She gulped. "Ugh, this is about to get mushy, but if I don't say what I'm feeling, you won't trust me..."

"...What?"

"...Well, at first, I only wanted a Jotun mate to produce powerful children, the perfect hybrid of fire and ice, in my opinion, but after my travels through different universes, after meeting you and... seeing so much of myself in you... well, I want to be exclusively with you, but if you don't anymore, I won't make you. I've never wanted happiness for anyone before, never cared... until your case."

Kōrima smirked. "I'll bet you say that to all the Lokis."

"She hasn't." Detective Loki told him. "Honestly, I've yet to see this side of her."

Sylvie nodded. "So far, either the other Lokis have rejected her or she's rejected them before she could get anywhere with them."

"Yesss, with every other Loki, she's pretty much been a cross between a pyromaniacal sociopath and a horny spitfireee." Healer agreed. "And you are the only one she has smooched!"

"Can't you just say 'kissed?' It sounds more professional." His host groaned.

"Smoooooooooched." Healer smacked his lips for emphasis.

"Smooched." Fiamma agreed.

"Smoochity smooch smooch!" Sylvie joined in.

"Children..." Loki mumbled. "He must have forgotten about that one kiss she had with President Loki, though I suppose it wouldn't count under the circumstances."

Fiamma then continued. "I won't ask you to break me out, since I did do the crime, especially since my wardens are listening... I want you to be with your people, all happy and such. You just found them, so I want you to be able to choose your own happiness for once, even if I can't."

Kōrima stood silent for a good moment and turned to the two young women. "Will she be allowed visitors?"

"Sorry, but the last time she had visitors, they broke her out of prison." Elisiv explained. "Besides, her prison lies in Niflheim... another universe's Niflheim, an entirely separate realm from an entirely different universe and timeline: it won't be a convenient trip for you."

"And if you sneak in to help her escape, we'll crush you into ice cubes!" Atli threatened.

"Fine then. I won't break you out, Fiamma chan, but I will visit every day to continue getting to know you better, to be sure you're worth waiting for." He faced Elisiv. "How long is her sentence?"

"As of now, for life." Elisiv looked at Fiamma. "But not without the possibility of parole, if she behaves well and does not attempt escape."

"And... about how long would that take?"

The two sisters quietly discussed the matter. Then Atli turned back to him. "At least 5 years... maybe more if we see fit to add."

Kōrima nodded. "Well, considering I'm 600, a five year wait wouldn't kill me. You can have the guards watch me and take any precautions you feel are necessary, as long as I can be near her." Kōrima allowed.

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Hush Atli!" Elisiv scolded. "Would you permit us to keep a squadron of guards around you, to put magic-dampening handcuffs on you just to see and speak with her?" Kōrima nodded. "And you would risk the Asgardians of this era growing evermore suspicious of your visits to her?"

"There is nothing I would not risk to be rid of my eternal loneliness." The faithful shinobi stepped up to his newest lover, who had just been handcuffed, and he took her hands in his. "Surturdottir Fiamma, even though we only recently crossed paths, I actually feel like we are the same, perfectly matched both physically and mentally. So, if we don't change our minds over the years... if you would honor me for the first time in centuries, after your time in prison is done, will you let me keep you warm for the rest of our lives?"

Fiamma looked him in the eyes, keeping her expression as blank as she could. "Listen to yourself, you sound like a bad soap opera... not that you'd know about those. Besides, didn't you just say you wanted to 'see if I was worth waiting for' first? Was that a bluff?" Kōrima sheepishly shrugged. "Heh, you're such a sentimental sap, maybe we're not so well matched after all! Tell you what, Frost Mini, why don't you stay here with your Frost Giant family and start growing again until you're at least up to my waist, and then I'll think about your proposal for a few years, or however long I'm imprisoned? I'll keep plenty warm myself until I'm free."

The two granddaughters of Thor exchanged glances, and Elisiv nodded to her younger sister, who dragged their prisoner back to the future Niflheim, with the two ravens following until Detective Loki interrupted them.

"You know, Thor was just here moments ago. He's probably just waking up from Kōrima's genjutsu if you'd like to visit with him, and then we can say our goodbyes to our fiery friend?"

Elisiv shook her head. "It would be best for us not to look back, to keep moving forward in our duties, as Grandfather and Frigg would wish for us."

Loki nodded. "I'm sure they're both very proud, watching over you from Valhalla."

They both nodded in thanks. "If you want to say your farewells, you can visit her tomorrow morning."

"Oh, tell Grodan he's a free kappa now!" Fiamma called back. "He probably won't last 5 years there anyhow!"

"I will see you first thing tomorrow then..." Kōrima silently vowed. "And every day after until your release.

"You'll need this." His variant offered him a TemPad, knowing what he was thinking. "You just press these buttons... I'll add the destination to the saved list and... can you read English?"

Kōrima shook his head. "The words are harder to spell than speak."

"That's true, let me just change the language to Japanese... and there we have it! Let me show you how to select the Niflheim prison..."

The Frost Giants talked amongst each other, unsure what to make of their prince, or any one of them, loving a Fire Giant. Laufey especially pondered the implications, curious how their offspring would turn out as Fiamma was.

"Son..." Laufey said as he approached him. "It's time we had the talk."

Kōrima winced. "Uhm, thank you, but I have already had one of those!"

Laufey shook his head. "Not this one." Kōrima raised an eyebrow as his father began to talk with him privately about Yggdrasil and the different beings of the nine realms.

The Lokis rejoined Mobius, Watari, and their animal companions. Wanwan ran up to his master, but Jörmungandr quickly slithered past the dog, beating him to Loki and wanting to be the first to welcome him back. Grodan looked around for his master, but Loki shook his head at the kappa.

"Great jobs, detectives!" Watari congratulated them. "You helped both Amaterasu sama and Kōrima the Undying; you're incredible! Here is your reward, Loki sama." She looked around. "Wait... where is Fiamma san?"

"She... was only a temporary partner. Grodan, she has officially freed you. She'll be too far away for you to find her, but she's alive and well, so worry not for her." The kappa sadly took a moment to accept the news and dove into the closest body of water, swimming into the sunset. Loki then spoke to Watari once more. "Fiamma may have lost a servant, but she gained a soulmate."

"Hm, how poetic."

"So she and the ninja you... alright, good for her!" Mobius cheered. "So, you wanna grab a bite before we head back home?"

"Just a moment." Loki faced the shrine guards. "Could you take care of Wanwan for me? I already have Jörmungandr, and he isn't exactly dog's best friend. He's a very good guard dog, and he could alert you if he sniffs out any intruders!"

The guards looked to each other and nodded. "Yes, he'll make a fine addition to our team!"

"Here Wanwan, I will bring you a nice fresh bone!" The dog happily followed them after Loki said his farewell.

The next day, the detectives and Fiamma's siblings were escorted to Niflheim by Einherjar. The two visiting Fire Giants instinctively shivered at the sight of the cold, misty realm, in spite of the heated spacesuits they and Mobius wore. As they reluctantly allowed the security to temporarily dampen their powers, they noticed Fiamma's ninja was already there, sitting across from her cell with guards at his sides.

"So this is the perfect Frost Giant prince, is he?" Logi looked him over. "Hi, I'm Logi, Fiamma's brother."

"And I'm her sister, Gnista. So you call yourself, uh, Korīma?"

"Kōrima, at least until I get used to my birth name." He bowed to the siblings. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Logi san and Gnista san."

"We can go sans san; you don't have to be so polite!"

"Especially not with Gnista." Logi told him. "She's a mouthy pain in the ash!"

"No, that's more Logi." Gnista argued. "Except he uses his mouth more for eating than talking."

"You're lucky you got my mature sister."

"Go smolder yourself, Logi!"

Kōrima chuckled as the two argued, and he turned back to Fiamma. "Your siblings are funny. Are you warm enough?"

"Surprisingly yes." Fiamma answered. "So, you're using your genjutsu to trick my senses into believing I'm not cold, right?"

"Correct."

"...That's a handy technique. I really did get the alpha Loki!"

Detective Loki and Sylvie shook their heads and grinned, pointing to each other.

"Oh, I brought you some lava shark kabobs." Logi handed her the food.

"Thanks Logi."

"So, Fiamma..." Detective Loki began. "It was nice working with you, when you didn't burn me or try to proposition me. Despite your past view on your potential lovers as tools for power, I can tell you really love Kōrima, and I hope you'll be happy with him, once you're free to be with him, uninhibited."

"I agree with Loki, you've made a lot of progress with your Loki hunt!" Mobius told her. "We're happy for you, even kind of proud of you!"

Sylvie nodded. "And even though he snuck in that genjutsu for a cheap win, you fought well." She smirked. "You were lucky he's not as powerful as me."

Fiamma smirked back and nodded in appreciation to the trio, turning back to her crush.

"Waaait." Healer called out. "Fiamma, I want to say, uhhh, I want to thank you."

"For what, the eating contest with my little brother?"

"For setting fireeee to Contraxia... to the temple. If you had not, I would still be stuck with that fickle brat Rilly, and I never would have found my perfect match. So thank youuu." Healer faced Elisiv and Atli. "You should thank her too, because if I didn't bond with Lokiii, All-Black and Gorr would have butchered himmm, and then he would have butchered your grandfather on Earth nineteen ninety nineeee!"

"That's one ninety nine, nine ninety nine." Mobius corrected him.

"Close enough for a cigarrr."

"Unfortunately, that isn't enough to make a big dent in her sentence time, but we'll keep that in mind." Atli replied.

"Kōrima, your visiting time is over."

The shinobi nodded and looked down at his wrists. "Will the handcuffs really be necessary every time?"

"Until we can be absolutely sure you won't try to free Fiamma again, they will." Elisiv eyed him curiously. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather date a Jotun lady? You are living back on Jotunheim now, are you not?"

"I'm sure. Honestly, I can hardly tell the males from the females of them. And now that I know who I am and what I want, waiting isn't so hard anymore." He turned to Detective Loki after his hands were unbound. "So, did you bring that dessert maker from here?" Kōrima asked his detective variant.

"Unfortunately, this universe doesn't have an Earth to retrieve it from. Actually, how would you like to accompany me to 21st century Earth, and that way you could try a fresh soft serve!"

"Very well. Lead the way Loki san... Loki..." The ninja scratched his head. "This is a bit confusing... we don't use honorific titles with our own names, and you're me, yet you're still a separate person... it feels weird to call myself 'san,' yet Loki feels too... well, like I'm talking to myself... should I call you Detective Loki?"

"By all means, please do. Shall we?" And so, the Jotun ninja subsequently fell in love with the frozen dessert, as his doppelgänger knew he would, and when Kōrima next visited his realm, his fellow Frost Giants' sweet teeth also rejoiced at their first taste of ice cream. From then on, they would run to his location like human children to an ice cream truck whenever he made a new batch! Even King Laufey's mood had improved, and Loki "Kōrima" Laufeyson finally had a place where he truly belonged, plus a new dream to look forward to in his future!