Lost in the Mists

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom

Doors

The halfa Danny and the ghost Danny looked uncertainly at one another and then walked through the door Clockwork held open for them.

Welcome, my son.

Phantom looked down to see only one of himself again. For a moment, he had double vision and a brief flash of memory of two lifetimes. He groaned.

You will reorient in a moment, my child.

"Mother?" he asked, hesitantly, looking around in all the bright light for someone.

I am all around you, Daniel. Here, let me properly attire you for this century.

Daniel looked down at himself and whistled slightly. "Modern meets Victorian Goth," he mused. "Sam and Ember would be pleased. But, Mother, why was I aged?"

This is the age you always were, my son, until the coming of the hunters. They and I have an agreement; their offspring after them will have the care of you when you reside in the human world; I will leave your mortal form to you for your safety. Only their offspring may not lay eyes upon you or see our world until they have passed the threshhold. The one you call Jazz Fenton made this mistake; that is why you were fractured.

"Explains a good deal. How do I go about righting this wrong?"

Love, luck and time.

"You're not really going to give me any hints, are you?" Danny asked, amused and annoyed at his mother's vagueness.

That is for you to decide, my son.

Phantom stood in the doorway between worlds and held his breath slowly and counted to ten. "Jack? Maddie?" he called, hoping they were on the other side.

"Danny?"

It was not Maddie or Jack, but Sam and Tucker. The door must have brought them here, when Clockwork had bade them all enter.

"I am here in the doorway between worlds," he told them. "Only Jack or Maddie may let me enter their world."

"Danny? Tucker's gone to get Mr. Fenton," Sam's breathy voice curled out from the portal's doors. "They told us about you, the Portalkeeper. I'm Sam Manson, one of the next three who will have guardianship of you, while you reside in our world."

Danny smiled as he watched Sam's hazy form slowly come into focus as he transitioned closer to the mortal plane. Footsteps beyond reached his ears; he stopped.

"Okay, Phantom," Jack's booming voice was heard. "It is safe."

Sam and Tucker watched as an ordinary human boy with short messy raven hair and bright blue eyes walked on through, casually, as if he did this on an everyday basis. He wore jeans, a red and white t-shirt, and red and white converses.

He smiled shyly. "By design or chance," he said, by way of greeting.

Sam and Tucker hugged him, not knowing why. Danny embraced them back. He turned to Jack Fenton and hugged him as well. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Danny boy. Your mother is proud of how well you turned out," he said, indicating Maddie Fenton, who held out her arms to him, a cookie in each hand.

"For both of my boys," she teased.

Danny chuckled and gave his human mother what she craved the most.

Jazz picked up the note from her dresser and read:

Dear Jazz,

A world awaits at your fingertips. Though we cannot meet physically, we still can communicate in this fashion. Jack and Maddie Fenton are my caregivers on the physical plane. Once, while exploring the Ghost Zone, they lost all coordinates and drifted for days. My mother, by chance or fate or whatever the heck you want to call it, came for them. A bargain was struck and I was given into their care. You never saw me, but I was always there, growing, learning.

In two years time, you will cross the threshhold and we can meet again. I miss having our little "debates".

Love,

Danny

As for the rest of the story, the Honored One returned home to find her son waiting for her, a wide beam on his face. "Portalkeeper," she whispered. "We are honored."

"No, mother, it is I who am honored," he replied. "Mother understands the importance of family and to me, you and Danni are mine. May I stay?"

"What about the humans?" she queried.

"They are my family too," he said. "I am a part of both worlds and must honor the agreement between the hunters and my Mother. May I stay?"

"Yes, but do me a favor and brush up on your mathematical, geographical and history lessons, please. You're horrible at all three."

Danny unfolded himself from the sedan chair and embraced her. "I love you, Desiree."

"I too," she told him. "Ember and Danni should be here momentarily."

"I take it they found Skulker?"

"Yes, on an examination table in the middle of a battlefield in Norway." Desiree had no idea where this knowledge was coming from, but she smiled broadly at the ghost teen floating in front of her.

"Welcome home, Portalkeeper," she told him.

"That's Phantom, Danny Phantom to you, ma'am," he teased.