Forever Gone

Who would have thought... that he could die? Nobody expected that... He died while doing his job, naturally; he basically sacrificed himself to defeat a ghost. He died to protect Samantha "Sam" Mason, his girlfriend, because the ghost was specifically targeting her.

She watched on front row how he used his last bit of energy to create the mass explosion that blew him up, leaving nothing left of him. His last words for her were "I love you."

They were going to celebrate their first year as a couple. She loved him too, and she had to watch how he blew himself up to stop the ghost and to let her live.

But the work wasn't finished. She slowly stood up as if in trance, and walked over to the ghost that was, kind of, unconscious, pointed the phantom term at it, with her hands shaking and said before activating it "Why are you still here when he died to get rid of you? WHY?" she activated it and the ghost soon disappeared inside it.

As soon as it was over, she fell to her knees, shaking, and started hyperventilating and sobbing; still, no tears came out. No matter how much she wanted to cry, the tears wouldn't flow.

Tucker, crying, slowly neared to her, as she was still on her knees, and tried to comfort her. Although, when he put his hand on her shoulder, she shook it off in rage, despair and frustration, "Get away from me!" she yelled, her eyes widened in shock.

Everybody was looking at her, waiting for something, and she just couldn't stand it. She stood up and started running away; away from their eyes, away from the people, away from the fact that Danny was dead, away from the sadness, away from herself.

She entered the woods, tripped and hurt her knee, which started bleeding nonstop. She couldn't do anything but sit and wait until she could walk again. She found a spot under a big tree and lied there.

Alone in the woods she could finally cry, mourn for the death of her loved one. She felt so guilty because he had died to protect her, she felt so sad because she didn't want him to die, she felt lonely because her best friend, her boyfriend, and the only person who understood her was gone and was never coming back.

She drifted to a sleep full of nightmares and woke up startled in the same spot in the woods, but something was different. There was a strange aura surrounding the place. Her knee didn't bleed or even hurt anymore, but she found herself unable to stand up.

She looked around, and suddenly saw someone walking towards her. He was surrounded by a white light emanating from him. At first he was too far to even know who he was, but when he got closer, she found herself looking at her boyfriend.

"...Danny..." she mumbled under her breath.

"Hello, Sam." he said casually. All of his wounds were gone and he seemed happy, peaceful and calm. Sam found her strength again, stood up and ran to hug him. Surprisingly, she didn't pass him through.

"Danny, Danny, Danny, Danny..." she said clinging into him and not wanting to ever let go. "Are... are you dead... for real?" she said with her head buried into him.

Danny broke the hug and look into Sam's eyes sadly. "Unfortunately, Sam, yes. I'm dead."

"Are you a ghost?" she said still stunned.

"Not exactly. Sam, we need to talk and I don't have much time." Danny said sitting down, she sat down too.

"All right, I'll listen."

"Sam, you are the most amazing person I had the pleasure to meet. Now that I died, I don't want you to give up on living. You love me, but that's not enough reason to waste the rest of your life. I love you, that's why I tell you this. I want you to keep on living, I want you to laugh, to smile; I want you to meet someone else, someone else you'll love the same way you love me..." Sam was about to interrupt but Danny didn't let her "I know that you think it's impossible, I know that you find that hard and that you are about to call me crazy; but that's the meaning of moving on. It's also painful for me, because I keep thinking you may forget me; nevertheless I want you to be happy and to live."

Silent tears started running down Sam's cheeks but she managed to say. "Danny, I... I... I'll do what you ask; I'll keep on living, even though it's going to be hard. I'll do it for you and I promise to live what you couldn't. But I can't promise I'll find someone else because I don't want to forget you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I don't want to let go. But I do promise I'll try to be happy, on my own way, Danny."

Danny reached out a hand to Sam's face and cleaned a tear. "Don't cry, Sam. That's everything I needed to hear, and now I can move on myself."

"Don't go... don't go just yet..." Sam begged while holding his hand tightly.

"My time here is up, Sam. I'm sorry. Please be happy and keep on living. I'll always be watching over you, protecting you; I'll be your guardian angel."

Sam hugged Danny one more time as he started to fade. "Danny, was this a dream?" she asked sadly.

"It was whatever you want it to be... May I ask you one last favor?" he said, more transparent than before.

"Anything."

"Don't forget me," he said, vanishing forever and leaving Sam sitting alone in the ground.

"Never, Danny. You'll always be here." She said touching the place where her heart was and looked up to the sky with tears in her eyes. Slowly, she stood up and walked back the way she had come.

Everybody was still there. Danny's parents were crying into each others arms and Jazz soon went to join them. Tucker was the first to realize Sam had come back. He wiped the tears off his face and run to meet with her.

They stood there in silence, watching each other without daring to move. They hugged and cried. Tucker was comforting Sam for losing her boyfriend while Sam comforted Tucker for losing his best friend.

Sam broke the hug and went to Danny's parents. She told them how sorry she was, not able to contain the tears, and his parents hugged her too. A small circle of friends had gathered around them, and everybody heard when Sam said: "Danny would want us to move on. Danny would want us to smile again."

The burial was held the next morning; but because there was no body to bury, Sam's parents donated a monument on Danny's honor. There was a small ceremony, only with the closest persons to Danny, and soon everything ended.

Danny's parents moved out of Amity Park and Jazz went to Harvard. Sam and Tucker graduated and then each one went their own way.

Seventy years later, at the age of eighty six, a grown woman was sitting on her hospital bed after she suffered a heart attack. The doctors didn't have much hope of her leaving the hospital alive, but they didn't say anything. Her son was asleep on the couch next to her bed. She knew she didn't have much time left, she could feel it. Her body was weak and there a lot she couldn't do anymore.

She looked outside the window and there she saw a sixteen year old teenage, with a white T-shirt and jeans, black hair and blue eyes. He had beautiful white wings coming out of his back and he was looking straight at her.

She stood up slowly and went to the window and opened it. She was surprised to see her hands young again, then she looked at her body and she had the same height and figure as when she was sixteen.

She turned around and saw herself, lying in the bed with a smile on her face, but her eyes were now dull and lifeless. Her son was trying to wake her up, he was begging her not to die yet, but it was time for her to leave.

"Hello, Sam," Danny said smiling to Sam.

"Hello Danny," she said, smiling too. "I did what you asked, I lived my life and on college I met my husband, who I never got to love like I loved you, but I always respected and admired him. At the same time, I never forgot you, you were always in my heart and there were times when I really wanted to be with you; I guess, I still love you."

"I know. I was there on your graduation of high school, on your graduation of college, on your wedding, when your first child was born. I was always with you."

"So, I guess you've come to pick me up, am I right?"

"Yes, Sam, I've come to pick you up."

"Well, I have no regrets and I'm ready to move on."

"That's my girl." Danny reached out a hand for Sam. She took it and both of them flew away, leaving behind the world of the living.

The End