The best day of Danielle Fenton/Phantom's life began when her cousin/genetic original kidnapped her, dragged her to his hometown, and placed her under house arrest.
. . .maybe there could stand to be an explanation. Danielle certainly wanted one when Danny Phantom collided with her fifty feet over the streets of Rome and gave her the biggest hug in the history of the world.
It had started out normal. Dani had flown through the night to get out of Amity Park, and had drifted on the air currents until she found herself in unfamiliar territory. She'd touched down on new earth and invoked the change to human in an alley. She stepped out and watched with wide eyes as a crowd of strangers thronged around her. Dani smiled, remembering something she'd read or heard somewhere.
No strangers, just strange friends.
Dani then walked up to the first person she could find, a girl about ten years older than her in a bright blue dress.
"Can you tell me where I am?" She asked, grinning. The girl didn't even bat an eye at the odd question.
"Home." She said, and walked off waving. Dani waved back. I love the human race. She thought. The oddest question ever and she just waves it away. Good on you, kid!
Dani walked through the street, her natural exuberance demanding that she put a spring in her step. Music drifted through a shop window, and Dani smiled as she recognized the words. She sang along and danced as she did so.
"Feel the rain on your skin! No one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in! No one else, no one else, can speak the words on your lips! Drench yourself in words unspoken! Leave your life with arms wide open! Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten! I break tradition, sometimes my tries are outside the lines. We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way! Uh, uh. . ."
Dani felt like flying, so she let the white rings of light wash over her. No one even blinked. When she took off from the street, she'd never felt so happy. She glanced up and saw the giant billboard. It had a picture of her face, smiling and carefree, and the giant words, Amity Park, Dani Phantom's home.
. . . and then Dani woke up in the hotel room she'd rented in Vlad's name. She blinked sleepily and glanced out the window, sunlight dripping through like thick syrup. She sighed and stood, changing into her ghostly self and floating out the window. The dream had gone, leaving nothing but a hole in her heart.
And then a black and white blur hit her and pulled her into a lung-bursting hug.
"Danny! Can't! Breathe!" Dani gasped. Danny let go of her and she began to drop towards the hard tar below her. He quickly grabbed her white boot and started dragging her through the air. No matter what she said, she couldn't get a word through the thick wind that was forcing it's way into her mouth. In about five minuets she was being carried over Amity Park, even though it had taken her about twelve hours to fly to Rome all by herself. Either Danny was incredibly and oddly determined, or he was having a sugar rush.
Dani realized they were slowing down right over Fentonworks. She had a few bad memories about this place, in fact it was the reason she'd left in the first place. It wasn't the bad memories that made her want to leave- she'd had plenty of those everywhere- it was the fact that she really, really wished that Danny's family could be her family. She'd seen a lot more of them than Danny thought, not exactly spying but definitely watching. Danny had the most amazing parents and a loving older sister. Danielle had always wanted an older sister, and parents would be a dream come true. Still, she knew she had about as much of a chance of finding a family just like Danny's as Vlad did of marrying Maddy. As they lost altitude she began panicking.
"Danny! What are you doing? Let me go!" She cried. Danny just tossed her into the air, catching her around the waist as gravity pulled her down again. He dropped onto the ground and she began squirming as she saw the Fentons exiting the building. She could hear the grin in Danny's voice as he began talking.
"Well? Ask her already!" He said. Maddy shifted uncomfortably.
"Listen, Danielle, I know you probably hate us, but we were wondering if we could adopt you." She said. Danielle froze. What? What did she say?
"Uh. . . what?" Dani asked. Maddy looked away.
"Sorry, I kinda figured the answer would be no. . ." She murmured. Dani cut off any further nonsense by racing up to her and tackling her in a hug bigger than the one that Danny had given her.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" She shrieked. Suddenly Jack was there, and then Jazz, and finally Danny joined in as Fenton. This is so much better than any dream, Dani thought. For a few moments everything was perfect.
Then the legal battle of the century began. The battle of Dani Phantom.
