DISCLAIMER: Danny Phantom is property of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon.
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Remember My Name
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Johnny sped through the streets of Amity Park on his motorcycle, ignoring the rain as it fell all around him and turned the roads traitorous. He'd already slid through three buildings via intangibility, and he was getting pretty good at it by now. If he had thought of it earlier today, he probably would have tried cutting straight through Casper High, especially the girl's locker room, just to see what he could see.
Of course, girls weren't on his mind at the moment. Not even Kitty, with her arms wrapped around his chest as she rode behind him on the bike, got more than a passing thought. He was in one of those moods. He always was when a storm like this started up.
Thunder rolled across the sky and the rain continued to fall in heavy sheets.
Johnny crushed the urge to look behind him when heard her call his name softly. Kitty knew better than to try talking to him when he got like this. It hadn't been Kitty's voice anyway. It had been hers.
After all these years, she still tormented him, her voice calling him in gentle tones as her memory bounced around his mind. Her memory just wouldn't leave him alone!
But he wasn't crazy! He wasn't. He couldn't be. It really was her messing with his brain. It had to be. She was out there, somewhere. But he had no intentions of going out of his way to look for her.
'You miss me, Johnny,' her voice taunted in light tones, 'It's the only reason I can still call to you.'
No, he didn't miss her. Not at all. He didn't even feel guilty about what had happened. Not anymore at least. It hadn't been his fault anyway. Not really. He had just been trying to find her. Make things alright again. He hadn't seen. He hadn't known.
...
Johnny hated storms like this.
'It WAS your fault!' she screamed, suddenly angered as she also began to remember, 'It's your fault, Johnny! You killed me! And you killed that little boy! And you killed everyone in that whole bus!'
But it hadn't been his fault!
'You even got yourself killed!' There was quiet, almost unheard, sob before she finished, 'And you killed her, too.'
It had been an accident! He hadn't meant to! There had just been so much rain. And the road had been so slick... too slick...
'It wouldn't have happened if you had just listened to me!' the voice cried, 'I told you to stop driving so dangerously, but you wouldn't listen!'
First the wheels of the bike had slid out from under him in a drift, but there had been so much water of the road that he hadn't been able to regain control. Not in time. Kitty's arm's tried to squeeze the life from him as she cried out in fear behind him; and though he had barely heard it then, it haunted his nightmares now.
The lights came from nowhere, blinding him. And for one, glorious second, he had seen her, and he had known that he could set things right again. But then her face twisted into a mask of terror and he knew then that he was wrong. The ground disappeared from beneath him, and all went black.
He only woke up once after that, to agonized screams as the lone survivor in the bus slowly perished to the flames devouring the large vehicle. She'd seen him. He was sure of that much. She had even called to him for help in her desperation! But he hadn't been able to. No, he hadn't been able to help her.
He had died watching her die. And it had hurt. So much, for so long. And he had lied before...because it still hurt.
She sounded tired—disappointed, maybe—when she next spoke. 'Why did you leave me?'
He'd tried to help her! He did! He hadn't been able to, but she had to know that he'd tried!
'Not then,' she said quietly, 'The first time. When you left me for her.'
No! He hadn't meant for it to happen like that! Kitty had just been... He'd only meant for her to... He'd been jealous. He had wanted her to be jealous too. He shouldn't have, but he...and then Kitty... And Kitty was... Kitty was... He didn't know, but Kitty was special. Somehow. But he wanted something...something...different. Kitty wasn't it. He wanted her. He'd always wanted her.
'Then why are you still running?' she demanded, growing more frustrated as time went by.
He wasn't running. He just had places to be. Places away from her. He couldn't see her. He didn't dare. Not after all that had happened.
Lightning flashed through the darkened sky. Thunder clapped its roaring applause at the stunning display.
'Come back to me,' the voice pleaded, 'I miss you.'
Johnny shook his head, water droplets flying from his hair. No, he couldn't. It was a bad idea, and he shouldn't. He wanted her. But Kitty was important. He needed Kitty.
They were linked, chained. Bound together for all eternity. He couldn't leave Kitty. He wouldn't. And Kitty needed him too. He couldn't.
'I just want to see you.'
...
'Johnny...please...'
Johnny turned the bike around, dodging several trees as he raced back towards Amity Park through the surrounding forest, just now realizing how far away he had gotten from the small city.
"I'm coming, Ember," Johnny whispered into the storm, praying that Kitty wouldn't somehow hear him over the wind and rain. Not that he could keep her from a truth he knew would be painful to her, this truth, but he wanted to put it off as long as he could. Still, he realized that Kitty would know within the hour.
He could feel her smile in the back of his mind, and he couldn't help the small return smile it coaxed out of him.
'I knew that you would remember my name.'
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