Time, while always healing, is also the reason things break down, degrade, and disappear. For me it was the illusion of love. My parents love to be precise. That day when I got my ghost powers, I was afraid, but I'd always believed that my parents would love me no matter what. That they, of all people, would understand. Last night my sister, Jazz, forced me to tell them the truth. I wasn't ready. I couldn't have known. I shouldn't know. It was the first time that I was truly afraid for my life. I always thought that if they ever figured it out that somehow they'd be able to see past their prejudice. That they'd know somewhere in their minds that I was still their baby boy. Still their Danny. As soon as I saw the steel in their eyes I knew that time was destroying an illusion. They didn't smile and shakily say they'd try to understand, they didn't even speak. Their eyes steeled and they regarded me as something else, something no longer human. Which to them I wasn't. Not anymore. Being half ghost dismissed me from their love and protection. Instead I was an animal something that wasn't meant to be. Abomination. That's what mom called me. She ground out the word, not a single tear in sight. Jazz , who'd be sitting with them on the couch, I could see her face fall. Regret washed over her entire body, and she jumped up hoping to salvage the situation.
"Mom! Dad! Can't we talk about this some more?" She was frantic in her attempts to stop them from drawing their ecto-blasters. They didn't seem to hear their only daughter. As far as they were concerned an abomination was standing in their living room, and it was their job to get rid of it. I hoped for a moment that time would slow down like in the movies, just so my brain could catch up but instead I felt the sharp sting across my cheek. Maddie was pointing the weapon at my forehead, and was just about to pull the trigger a second time, when I bolted.
I remember hearing Jazz frantically calling after me. I couldn't hear what she was saying, all I heard was the wind whipping past my ears, and the sound of my heart beating frantically. Where do I go? My friends? The ghost zone? Things weren't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to wait to tell them, ease them into the idea, but that chance was gone now. I couldn't take back the reveal and I wouldn't be able to get them back either. They knew, and I was as good as dead to them. I wasn't their kid anymore, they would probably get rid of every trace of me as soon they could. Time still ticked forward already it had begun trying to heal me, but it was no use. I knew, rationally, one day I'd see this as a blessing. I didn't have to hide anymore, didn't have to wonder what they'd think or how they'd react. I already knew. But still I wanted time to stop for just a moment and let me feel the sting of their words, and the hatred in their eyes. To mourn the loss of my parents. No one would ever fill their places, even though I knew so many cared for me. They gave me life, and yet here I was running from them fearing that they'd now take my life away. Regret weighed heavily on my chest and I had to land for a moment to wipe the tears. I hadn't even realized I'd been crying. I knew that time would make this easier, that the weight would slowly lift but never disappear. However, I knew of one person who could make this easier.
"Clockwork, please I know you can hear me, and you know what my request is. Can it be done?" For a moment I just listened to the sounds, they hadn't changed even though I had. Even thought nothing could ever be the same. A blue portal appeared before me, and I didn't hesitate to step into it.
"Can you do it?" I asked to the cloaked figure floating into front of the viewing screens.
"It can, but this won't be like last time. You get no do over. I can't resent the timeline it you dislike the outcome." Clockwork had no expression on his face but I could tell how anxious he was. How as the embodiment of time he wanted to do all he could to help me heal. That's why he was doing this.
"Do it." I needed this. They needed this. It was better for us all. "Please."
Clockwork clicked the top of his time staff causing several scenes play out on the viewing screens. There was the moment that changed everything, when I got my ghost powers, and I watched as my past was rewritten. Instead of staggering out of the portal and passing out, I fell to the ground dead. Sam cried for days afterwards, and Tucker did all he could to be strong for her. Jazz threw herself into her studies hoping to find a way to cope. Maddie and Jack heavily mourned the loss of their child but they took comfort in knowing that he wouldn't come back as a horrible ghost. Every moment from then on was erased from the minds of all the people who had ever come in contact with me after the moment I got my powers. This didn't change what really happened, I was still half ghost, but they wouldn't remember me. Maddie and Jack wouldn't hate their second child, instead they'd mourn his loss, and silently be thankful that they would never have to hunt their own son. Jazz would finally begin healing, and just as always she'd go on to do amazing things. Sam and Tucker would stick together as they grieved but they would eventually find their own niches, though they never would completely lose touch. And sometimes all these people would get a feeling that something, or rather someone, was missing. They stand at an important event and look among the crowd to find me, like they expected me to be there, like I was still supposed to be alive. And sometimes Sam would tear up and touch her lips softly, missing the blue eyed boy that she'd always thought she'd marry. I was a passing thought now, a moment of deja vu, a puzzle piece that was missing but didn't stop you from seeing the picture.
"It is done." Clockwork turned and smiled sadly. I stepped forward and hugged the old time ghost tightly. Time could do many things but this wasn't something it enjoyed. He stood before me looking more like the old man that his shifting age had stopped on. His shoulders sagged and dark circles rimmed his eyes showing how tired he was.
"Thank you. I know you've done all you could." Danny Phantom, took several steps away from the time ghost before he turned and flew towards where the Fenton portal used to be. There was nothing there, no reason for Jack and Maddie to continue their research; it had killed their child after all. As far as the human world was concerned, Daniel Fenton was dead, and the ghosts only remember that one day Danny Phantom showed up. They were two separate people. One who was a facade, a shame, only a mask worn but the person underneath. Let time march forward, let the world forget my name and face, and let time begin it's triumphant march towards healing.
So this story is written as a coping mechanism for some things I'm going through personally. However, I did really like the feel and style of this story and decided to post it.
The title is from the song "Remember Everything" by Five Finger Death Punch.
The entire song was on repeat as I wrote this but there were the parts I was mostly focused on:
"Oh, dear mother, I love you
I'm sorry, I wasn't good enough
Dear father, forgive me
'Cause in your eyes, I just never added up
In my heart I know I failed you
But you left me here alone"
"Oh, dear brother, just don't hate me
For never standing by you or being by your side
Dear sister, please don't blame me
I only did what I thought was truly right
It's a long and lonely road
When you know you walk alone"
TLDR; Im a mess of emotion right now so I thought Id cope by taking it out on Danny. Song makes me cry.