My name is Valerie Gray. For the past year, I have been on a personal crusade to destroy the ghost who cost my father his job and sent us both into poverty. My personal life has suffered and I have yet to make any real headway with my vengeance, but I still marched on.

There is a very simple methodology to how I go about looking for retribution. Ghosts: bad, humans: good. But that has all changed.

The day started out simple enough: I planned to fly around the city looking for the so-called hero Danny Phantom so I could exact my revenge upon him. I found him, we battled, I gained the upper hand and he went plummeting toward the ground. Then something immeasurably unexpected occurred.

Imagine my surprise when two rings of white energy engulfed my downed opponent, and Danny Phantom, controversial savior/bane of Amity Park once stood had been replaced by Danny Fenton, one of the few friends I've had since my fall from grace and my almost boyfriend.

At first I was stunned. I inspected the unconscious boy and found that he appeared uninjured. I checked for a pulse, and was relieved to find one. That meant that I had not become murderer, though I still might.

How could this have happened? How could the subject of my unyielding hatred and the clumsy yet charming boy I nearly went steady with be one and the same?

I'm certain that he has know about my attempts to kill him. He unveiled me in front of my father during the Ghost King incident. That means he must have known about me.

But if he knew I wanted to kill him, why become my friend? Was he planning something, or was he just stupid. I remember when I told him that we could not be more than friends. I broke up with him because I wanted to protect Danny from the ghosts I fought, particularly... Danny? Man this is confusing.

A part of me realizes that if I'm going to kill him, I have to do it now, because I'll never get another get chance as good as this one. But killing a human is different than killing a ghost. For one thing, he's protected under human law. It would make my complex life even more complicated if I got in trouble with the cops.

A random thought crosses my mind: what if my hatred of him is the result of a colossal misunderstanding. At first it seems ridiculous. But then I remembered that I live in a town plagued by paranormal beings, some of which I have battled with hi-tech weaponry. If all the problems between me and Danny are just the the result of a misunderstand, it wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen.

I'm not going to kill him: at least not right away. I will give him a chance to explain himself. I don't know what I'll do after that. I guess it depends on whether or not I like the answers he gives me.

I used to think of ghosts as a black and white issue. Now I've found lots of gray.

Author's notes: I like to think that if Valerie found out about Danny, she would stop to question Danny. If Valerie seems OOC, that's because these are her musings disguised as my own.

As for the open ended nature of this story's end, I'll leave the rest up to your imaginations. You could have them be allies, lovers, or enemies again if you want. If you want to see Danny's attempt to explain himself, try chapter four of my story, The Road to Understanding.