AN – well, this is my little Valentine's Day contribution. And as a poet, well, I just had to do it! If I could give it a third genre, it would be Humor. I'm going to try to post a chapter every 2nd day, ending when I leave for Reading Break on the 12th of February.

Now for the usual; you know as well as I do that I don't own Danny Phantom. If I did, I certainly wouldn't have stopped its production after only 53 episodes. It deserves a longer run than that. Anyways, here it is…

L.O.V.E.

-

Love

Or

Valentine's

Experiment

-

Prologue

It was the afternoon of Sunday, February 12th, and many Amity Park citizens were at the mall, in all its red, pink, and white glory, searching for Valentine's Day gifts for their significant others. Among the holiday shoppers were a group of teens from the local high school. Danny had dragged his best friends, Sam and Tucker, along to help him find a gift.

As people jostled by, an already annoyed Sam began to lose her patience.

"Why are we here again?" she demanded.

"I wanted to find Valerie the perfect Valentine's Day present and I appreciate your help," Danny said as he eyed each store they went by, unaware of Sam's discomfort.

Do we really have to be here? Sam thought in irritation. She glanced over to Tucker and noticed he was no longer staring at the little screen on his PDA, but at every female who walked past and gave them the widest grins he could muster. Ok, correction, do I really have to be here?

There were streamers and glitter and heart shapes all around them, their visions overwhelmed by little cupids and lipstick smudge kiss-marks and red roses. It seemed that the only shoppers in the mall were those currently in a relationship, and this was probably true, since those that were single knew well to stay away and save themselves from this bombardment.

"Maybe you could get her one of those?" Tucker offered pointing at a heart-shaped locket in the window.

"Yah, maybe… oh, no, uh," Danny blushed, "It's sorta out of my price range. Hmm, gotta cross jewelry off my list. Wonder what else?"

"Well, there's always a box of chocolates or a dozen red roses or something like that. That'd be a sure way to win a girl's heart," stated Tucker.

"What planet do you come from?" Sam questioned. "Candies and flowers aren't what make a girl fall for you. It's ridiculous that advertisers even try to make people believe that! Then again, I suppose they are successful in gaining business off of idiots who soak up all their tales of 'true love' won over with a stupid candy heart that says 'Be Mine'."

"What's with you?" Danny asked perplexed.

They were walking past an entrance to a store that Kwan had just emerged from, holding a gift-wrapped parcel in his arms and a triumphant and giddy smile plastered to his face. He didn't even notice the trio as he rushed off in the other direction.

"Ugh, this commercialism is so overdone!" Sam exclaimed. "Valentine's Day is the worst holiday. If you're really in love with someone you shouldn't need to have just one day confined to telling them how great they are and anything you give them (at any point in the year) should be meaningful and heartfelt, not some overrated box of chocolates, or roses, or a card."

Danny didn't reply. He continued his contemplations for the gift without obtaining any new ideas. Sam's right, though. It should be something special, he thought.

"Why are you getting something for Valerie anyways? Didn't she say she wasn't interested?" Sam interrupted his thoughts.

"No, she said she was too busy."

"Yah, too busy trying to kill you!"

Tucker, who had dropped out of the conversation a little while ago, was flirting with an older teen. She abruptly turned away and the expression on his face was clear sign that he'd just been burned.

"Well, maybe if I give her a gift she'll change her mind. I'll be hitting two birds with one stone!"

Before Tucker's smile fully lit up his face, his next attempt was dashed as another girl blew him off.

"I'll get the girl I like, and who obviously likes me back, to go out with me, and I'll get one ghost hunter off my case!" Danny continued.

"Oh yah, it's the perfect plan," Sam said sarcastically. "Flawless. I don't think it's gonna work. But whatever, suit yourself. Don't come crying to me when she turns you down again. She hates Danny Phantom's guts more than she likes Danny Fenton, she's not about to give the chase up."

"We'll see," said Danny evenly.

Tucker, having been turned down for the nth time in the past few minutes, rejoined his friends in their discussion.

"Anyways, I'm outta here," Sam announced. "See you when you get your head out of the clouds and when all this commercialism mush dries up. I need to leave before I get sick of 'heart'-ache!"

And she left, passing underneath an archway that had been constructed for this holiday, which had intertwining vines and paper mâché 'stone' hearts engraved upon it, and neon lights shining heart patterns on the floor.

"What's her deal?" Danny wondered turning to Tucker. "I mean, can't she be happy that for once I'm actually interested in a girl who's also interested in me?"

"Women. Their entire race is crazy. You can never please them," Tucker replied knowledgeably.

Having spent so long at the mall, the two decided to call it a day and go home. Just as they passed by the last store before the exit, Danny saw the greeting cards in the window and it gave him an idea. I could write a poem, he thought. That would be heartfelt and meaningful, not to mention I'd save some money in the process.

Meanwhile, in the Ghost Zone, one particular ghost was sitting at his keyboard and tapping the side uselessly. His shoulders were hunched over, his head was supported by one hand, and his eyes were half-lidded as he stared at his blank screen. The Ghost Writer became annoyed with his own tapping and stood up to pace. He sat back down when that didn't help, and stood back up again when he still couldn't concentrate.

"Oh! It's no good!" he barked out in frustration. "I just can't seem to link two words together at all! I need something else…"

He'd been in a writer's block for too long, as far as he was concerned, and he couldn't take the constricted creativity anymore. He needed something to inspire him, something to set him free…

"I need a muse," he muttered.

He looked around his lair. His eyes found rest on a bookshelf where his poem, The Fright Before Christmas 2, was placed. A smile slowly curled on his mouth and he spoke, "yes! Why didn't I think of it before? Danny really does make the best character, especially when he has to juggle his human half and his ghost half and takes all the blame!"

So the Ghost Writer began to type and observed Danny in his room, attempting to write a poem himself, but going nowhere with it.

"A Valentine's poem, eh? I think you've given me just what I need…"