Okay, so this is a one-shot to get my creativity going for the next chapter in My Legacy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or any characters therein.
It is dark. No moon, just the stars. Even the city falls silent tonight. Danny sits, waiting for Sam on their favorite hill. So many memories here. Their first real kiss. He smiles. This was the spot where he had slipped the class ring on her finger, when he'd let her know how much she meant to him. The same spot where, six years later, he'd asked her to marry him on a cool summer evening. And she'd said yes. Ah, this hill. This is where their daughter was conceived. He spends the weekends here with her, a miniature version of Sam. They play dolls, throw around a baseball. Danny wishes that Sam could see their daughter grow up day by day.
But tonight isn't about their daughter. It's about them, the memories they share on this hill, the good and the bad. Danny's smile disappears. Being here on this particular night is especially painful. It's been a year since Sam has died, breathing her last on this hill. No warning, nothing to help him ease the pain of having to deal with losing her. He loves her still, in death, as in life. He knows he will love her until the day he dies. It's almost time. He twists his wedding band around his finger. He'll never take it off.
From above, Sam sees Danny. She watches the way he twists his wedding band, a sure sign he's nervous and uncertain. It's been a year and as promised, she will visit him. This is the first time she'll speak to him since that day, the first time she'll be able to hold him, kiss him, and tell him everything will be alright. She watches him play with their daughter here, amazed that she's grown so much in just a year. Sam wants to hold her daughter and husband, wants desperately to tell them she loves them. She wants so much to be alive again. But she knows it cannot be.
This hill holds some of Sam's most cherished memories. It's been one year, and she can see the changes on Danny's face, the fear and pain and love carved into it. She was bitter for the better part of the year, angry at how she would never see her daughter grow into a woman, and that she and Danny would never grow old and hold hands as they walked around town. Life is so uncertain. But she feels ready to let go of the bitterness death brought, to feel the peace that her daughter will be taken care of and that Danny will be happy again. But it's time.
"Danny?" Sam materializes in front of him. "Sam? Sam!" For the first time all year, Danny fully smiles. He runs to her, and stops. He reaches out, caresses her cheek. "I-I've missed you so much, Sam." Sam can already feel the tears in her eyes. "Danny..." She kisses him, tells him everything she feels in the kiss. She doesn't know if the tears she's feeling are hers or Danny's. It doesn't matter. They are together, once more whole and complete. They were always one.
Danny breaks the kiss first. "Sam… I love you. I'll always love you."
"And I love you."
There is no need for more words. They hold each other through the night, neither wanting to break the silence of their conversation. They both know this is the last time they'll see each other in this lifetime. Daylight begins to break. Sam stands.
"Tell Lillian I'll always be watching over her."
"I will. Sam, I-" Sam silences Danny with one final kiss.
"I love you, Danny. Everything will be okay. I promise."
"I love you with everything, Sam." Sam smiles, tears falling freely as she begins to dissolve into beams of light.
"Good-bye, Danny." Sam disappears, no longer a woman or a spirit. She is gone. Danny feels a sense of peace and contentment even as he falls to his knees and cries as his heart breaks again.
All things heal. Danny knows Sam is finally at peace, and because of this, he can finally move on with his life, can come to this hill with no shadows to hold him back.
"Good-bye, Sam."
R&R please.
