This is probably my sweetest piece of Danny-Vlad father son writing I have ever done. Please don't stare at me funny… it makes me feel awkward to write the bachelor in this manner, but I want to right now. I still don't own Danny Phantom. Why? Well, if I did, reruns would be shown on Nick…
A Perfect Christmas
Wisconsin- the state of what seemed to be cows, farmland, and cheese… a lot of cheese. It also happened to be the home place of Vlad Masters, Billionaire of the Year, mayor of Amity Park, and enemy of Danny Phantom. None of these titles seemed to be on his mind tonight as he sat in the living room, staring at the Christmas tree he had just put up.
Vlad Masters had a funny way with holidays. No one could ever really tell if he was enjoying himself or if the whole thing was simply for show to keep the tabloids busy. All the same, it could not be helped for that he had the entire Nativity under the tree- Maddie as Mary, himself as Joseph, Daniel as the baby, and Jack… well, he was a sheep. Jazz was the angel. He smiled to himself and fingered the "Mary," "Joseph," and the baby. All his life, he had wanted this for himself- the perfect family.
The perfect Christmas.
So far away and few to remember about those times he had lived with his days in college and after the accident… No one really wanted to be around the man with a problem of his face and ecto-acne together, and the bitterness of having lost the love of his life. He pondered this, setting down the figures and standing up, gazing out to the starry night sky. Clouds were moving in slightly, but it didn't deteriorate his feeling of content. Even if that content screamed for mercy in his mind as his thoughts drifted to his sole goal in life.
Danny Fenton.
The boy had so much to give to the world, so much to give to… himself. Vlad chuckled to himself as he made his way to the top deck of his mansion to the outside. Daniel may have hated his guts, but that gave him no reason to mercilessly pummel the hybrid hero into oblivion every time he saw him. Could he help it? Probably not- after all, Vlad had a nasty habit of allowing the boy to get upset at him for something. Whether it is a new plan and simply trying to woo Maddie, it was constantly opportunity after opportunity to give Vlad what he deserved… a serious beat down.
Despite all of this, Vlad was simply a bachelor with nothing but his cat, Maddie, and his house filled with empty memorabilia and unfinished promises of love. As he stepped outside into the cool December night, he knew that the starry sky would be overshadowed by the cloud of doubt, fear, and anger… and like many of his weather predictions, he was right.
Silently, the snow began to lightly fall to the ground and on Vlad himself. He stared out at the yard, hands leaning on the pole for support. A figure was flying in his direction. White hair, a black jumpsuit, white gloves… Vlad sighed and shook his head, morphing into Plasmius. The cape swayed slightly, proceeding to gather more snow on it, and he waited for the boy to land… or possibly get into his typical battle stance.
Not surprisingly, Danny Phantom landed on the rooftop where Plasmius stood and stared at him for a long time. There was no gesture to battle, no smart remark coming out- in fact, he looked at the male quite calmly, his lips slowly curling into a grin. "Nice weather, huh?"
Vlad shook his head, startled. "Excuse me?"
"I said, 'nice weather,'" the teenager repeated, leaning against the rail. "It's the first time I've seen a snowfall in a while like this. Not some stupid snowstorm blowing in your father kind of thing." He cocked his head, evidently enjoying the bemused look on his archenemy's face. "Come on, Vlad. Don't tell me you've got nothing to say."
The half ghost looked at Danny warily. "What exactly are you trying to get me to do, dear boy?"
Danny shrugged. "Nothing, really. I'm just having one of those days."
"Meaning?"
"Think of it like this: you're at home, family's putting up the decorations, and you're going with the flow so people will stay off your back about the holiday spirit jazz they give me every year. And despite the number of times I tell them, they still don't get that I hate the holidays." He laughed and floated in the air, sitting slightly. "I guess the same can be said for you, right?"
Vlad couldn't say anything; he was too astonished at this confession from the boy, his mouth merely hung open.
Danny sighed and stared at the falling piece of frozen rain. "The snow of life."
The billionaire blinked. "What?"
"The snow of life, Vlad," Danny told him, exasperation creeping into his voice. "The snow covers up everything we don't want to see, gives us an entire new perspective on our lives for a few months. I see the snow as the beginning of the holidays, something new to not look forward to. You probably see it as another miserable year to try and win over my mom and make me your son. Another lonely Christmas- not a perfect one again."
Vlad smiled. "It's a possibility."
The boy simply waved it off, to Vlad's surprise. "It's the spice of life I guess. But I was wondering something…"
Vlad cocked his head.
"If you're so miserable all these years of Christmas time, why didn't you come to my parent's house or something?"
He frowned. "I couldn't. Not with you, not with Jack, not with Maddie… I'm bitter and alone, Daniel. You told me that to my face once, and I should probably keep that notion of a promise. Besides, you would probably hate my guts for what I tried to do every year for your mother. And given you're my archenemy…"
Danny snorted. "True. But you know what? Being bitter and alone isn't always such a good thing."
The snow fell more steadily now as Vlad considered this.
"Tell you what. You can come over to our house, and we can both be bitter about this Christmas season and complain about how lonely we are at some points in our lives."
Vlad gasped in mock surprise. "You- be alone? Never thought it was possible!"
Danny gave him a sour look. "Shut up before I change my mind."
The man smiled for what seemed like the first time in many hours. "I guess I could try and make your Christmas more miserable than it already is."
Danny shrugged and watched Vlad float to his direction. "Not that it's ever going to happen, but I guess we'll have to muddle through this year, huh?"
The man smirked. Yes, they'd have to muddle through, as Daniel so eloquently put it, but that didn't matter. The thought of the snow and Daniel's gesture of spirit was already enough to make his Christmas the best one yet.
Where the heck did I come up with this one? I have no idea, but this is the second one shot I wanted to do! Hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are appreciated. Happy holidays!