Sam found her boyfriend in the park. He was lying on a particularly sunny patch of grass, with his eyes closed. His raven hair waved in the wind, and his lips were relaxed, as if he had fallen asleep smiling. The girl smiled. He looked so peaceful. She hadn't gotten to see him like that very often before the big unveiling, and Vlad's defeat, and Tucker's election. Maybe it had been because of the whole secret identity thing. Or possibly the stress of constantly being targeted by ghosts. Between the two, Danny hadn't ever seemed to get enough sleep, let alone the chance to be at peace like this. It pleased Sam that he was finally getting some rest.

Unfortunately, the teen's sleep had been interrupted. Sitting up, he blinked a few times before turning to look at Sam blearily. He smiled. "Hey."

"Sorry for breaking you out of your beauty sleep, ghost boy." Sam plopped down on the grass beside Danny. They both lay down. This was nice. After a while, the girl opened her mouth to say something. Then she closed it. Maybe she shouldn't ask that.

"If you want to know something, don't let me stop you," Danny said. Sam's head turned so she could see him. His eyes were closed.

"Like a book," she breathed. "Read me like a book."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Hmm." For a second, Sam couldn't remember what she'd wanted to say. Then, quietly, she asked Danny, "What is it like to fly?"

His eyes opened. She had taken him by surprise. "You know what it's like. You've flown with me before."

"Yeah, but…" She wasn't sure how to put this. But… what? "Well… you've always been holding me when we flew. I've never really flown by myself. You know, with my own power."

There was a silence. Just as Sam was about to check if Danny had fallen asleep, he spoke.

"Terrifying." His eyes were closed again, and a small smile was on his lips. "It's absolutely, heart-stoppingly terrifying."

A pause. "What?" Sam was taken aback. "Then why would you…?"

"Do it every day?" Danny asked. "I wondered that myself, at one point. And then I realized, yeah, flying is terrifying. But at the same time… I can't really explain it. I don't think anybody could. It's exhilarating, I think."

"You think?"

"Mm-hmm. Flying is so amazingly terrifying, but it's also wonderful. It's like nothing you've ever experienced before, nothing you ever will experience. But you really can't deny that it's also terrifying. Just hanging up there, however high you are, even if you aren't looking at the ground, but especially if you are. You just think, 'What if I fall? I can't trust this power. There's no good evidence I have that can prove to me that I won't just drop out of the sky, right now. And, if not now, then any time. I can always fall and die.'" He took a deep, shuddering breath. His smile was gone.

"Wow."

"Yeah." Then his smile came back, wider than before. "You wouldn't ever understand. Even if you think you do, you don't. But… it's so great, and you just can't understand that either. You feel so much power in those moments when you're up in the sky, the wind in your face, nothing under your feet. Makes you feel like there's nothing holding you back, like there never will be. Amazing."

"So… it's both terrifying and amazing." Sam smiled too. "Sounds like my kind of thing."

"No." Danny's voice was so harsh that Sam sat up. He did too, and leaned in close. His eyes were hard. "There's one thing you need to understand. Flying…" He trailed off helplessly.

"What?"

"It's…" He seemed too hesitant. But Sam knew what Danny was going to say. She finished for him.

"It's not worth losing your humanity."


A/N: Hello there! This is just a quick one-shot I've been meaning to write for a while. Hope you enjoyed.

Please review and stuff ;) Thank you for reading!