DANNY PHANTOM: THIS TIME AROUND

DIAMOND GRYPHON

DATE: 3/5/07

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

IMPORTANT!!! This is a sequel!!! You should read "The Way I See It" in order to understand the story!!! That is all.

Chapter 1

"Jazz, are you okay?" Sam asked as she rushed over to the immobile woman and started to pick of the pieces of broken pottery that had scattered everywhere around her feet. "You should be more careful with . . ." She stopped talking when she realized that Jazz still hadn't moved.

"I think," Jazz said slowly, trancelike, "That you should probably go home now. Your parents will start to get worried."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Sam scoffed, dumping her load of pieces into the trash. "They don't care." Jazz still hadn't moved.

"I think," Jazz repeated in the same sort of far away voice, "That it is time for you to go home."

"Are you okay?" Sam walked over to stare Jazz in the eyes with concern. "You're acting really weird all of a sudden."

"No, I'm fine." Jazz seemed to snap out of her trance, blinking rapidly, only her strained voice betrayed that she was still shaken.

"It's just a plate." Sam kept eye contact with her, trying to figure out what was wrong. "It isn't that big of a deal."

"I'm sorry, but you really should go home." Jazz seemed very flustered about something, avoiding Sam's gaze. She started fidgeting and glancing nervously around. "I'll walk you out."

Before she could object, Sam found herself unceremoniously shoved out the door with only a quick 'goodbye.' She scowled. What was wrong with her? She shrugged it off; there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. Sam flipped open her cell phone to call her butler.

"Hey. Yeah, it's me. I need a ride home from Ms. Fenton's house."

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Sam spent most of the evening wondering what could possibly have worried Jazz so much, avoiding her parents, and trying to call Danny on his cell phone. At first, she had been concerned when she couldn't reach him. Then she remembered that Danny rarely used his phone, and probably had turned it off.

When her phone rang, and she jumped on it.

"Hello?" She asked hopefully. Maybe he had returned one of her calls. She was disappointed when he wasn't on the other end.

"Sam, it's Jazz." The woman's voice was slightly choked up, like she had been crying. "I called apologize for how I acted earlier, I was just surprised because I forgot about today."

"Today?" Sam asked, confused as to what could be so significant about the date. Danny hadn't mentioned anything.

"Yes." Jazz's voice was bittersweet; both wistful and sad at the same time. "An opportunity came up a while ago for Danny to visit his parents. Today was the day he caught his flight to Australia. I can't believe I forgot about it."

"He didn't tell me." Sam felt left out and lost. Why didn't her best friend trust her enough to even tell her he was leaving? Especially to as far away as Australia! "How long will he be gone?" She dreaded the answer, any day he wasn't there was too long. There was a pause before Jazz answered.

"I don't know." It was amazing how just those three simple words could strike terror into Sam's heart. "He could be back as soon as next week, but if all goes well he will end up staying there with his parents, permanently."

"Oh." Sam managed to get out before hanging up the phone and falling onto her bed. How could he do this to her? Danny was her first true friend, and now he had abandoned her. He hadn't even had the guts to tell her beforehand! A horrible feeling of anger and hurt built up inside her. Why did he leave?

Why?

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Sam trudged into school the next day weary and lonely, still feeling the full loss of her best friend. At first she barely noticed the whispers and the uncomfortable fidgeting.

Soon, however, the silence became deafening.

She looked around to see that even the most chatty kids sneaking nervous glances and keeping their mouths shut. Sam frowned, something major was going on. She tapped a nearby girl on the shoulder. The unfortunate person immediately whipped around in surprise, nearly dropping her books.

It reminded Sam of Danny at the dance.

She shoved the image from her mind and got back to the matter at hand. She didn't need to bring up painful memories now, of all times. The girl was still staring at her with wide, scared eyes, shivering slightly.

"I'm sorry that I scared you," Sam spoke softly, as not to disturb the profound silence in the halls. "But what is going on? Why is everyone so quiet?"

"Haven't you heard?" The girl glanced around, as if to see if anyone was listening. "Ms. Fenton came to school in tears this morning to say that she was taking the rest of the week off."

Sam blinked in surprise. That was what had the whole school so worried? A teacher taking a week off?

"Don't you get it?" The girl had obviously caught her confused look. "Ms. Fenton was crying."

Again the meaning of the statement was lost on the goth. The girl rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Ms. Fenton never cries." She explained patiently, as if to a small child. "And she never misses school. I even heard that the last time this happened was over fifteen years ago, when her brother disappeared."

That was news to Sam; she had never known that Jazz had a brother. It made sense in a weird, sad way though. She could understand the logic behind it.

Jazz had loved Danny as a relative; he left her. She had loved her brother as well, and had broken down when he left. Danny had brought all that old pain and emotion back up to the surface. Jazz was experiencing the loss of her brother all over again.

Sam's heart went out to her. She must be going through her own personal purgatory.

Now she had another reason to hate Danny.

I'm finally posting, are you proud of me? I've decided that I will finish what I start, 'cause I won't make that mistake twice (3 chapters of very original, badly witten junk don't ask). Don't you just love the irony in this chapter? Bet you're still wondering about what the heck happened to Danny, huh? That only comes next chapter. : P

I want to try and post Mentor and a couple of crossovers that are in progress, but it will take time since I'm still sick and am under a large writers block. By the by, for crossovers, how do people like Artemis Fowl and Stargate?

Updates Tuesdays, send Reviews!!

-Gryph