Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does.

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Drabble #1: Appreciation.

Danny Fenton always felt underappreciated.

This was even before the accident in the portal. At least, before the accident he knew why: Danny Fenton was an ordinary boy who got average grades and was beat up by bullies like Dash at school. He wasn't popular; Tucker and Sam were the only friends he had and needed. His sister Jazz was the brilliant one, not him. His grades were average; he wasn't athletic but instead was clumsy and forgetful.

As Danny Phantom, he still felt that Amity Park wasn't thankful about him. At first, he was a villain; another evil ghost haunting Amity. Walker overshadowing the mayor didn't help matters either. Even though he had saved the town countless times, ghost hunters were sent out to catch him.

After the Pariah Dark incident, Danny Phantom was hailed as a hero. He was Amity Park's defender against the ghosts. Paulina Sanchez had a huge crush on him- in Phantom form. He was finally appreciated, right?

Wrong. Slowly Amity Park started to take him for granted. If a frightening ghost attacked, everyone expected Danny to fly in and save the day as usual. So what if the ghost was bigger and stronger? So what if the ghost boy was tired and stressed? Ghosts don't get tired and stressed. They were immortal and invincible. Phantom was anyways.

Well, technically, Danny wasn't a full ghost. He was a halfa, but Amity Park didn't know that. Yet.

Danny's parents still hunted him. Of course, they didn't know that they were hunting their own son, but what was the difference? As long as they were hunting Danny Phantom, they were hunting Danny Fenton. They just didn't know that little detail at the moment.

Valerie didn't help matters. She had broken up with Danny Fenton because of Danny Phantom, who indirectly "ruined" her life. In Valerie's eyes, Amity was better off without Phantom.

Sam knew when he was feeling like this, and tried to comfort him.

"Danny, they appreciate you and they are grateful. They just never get a chance. Besides, it's only Amity Park- all of your family and friends are thankful for you."

Even though Sam's words had comforted him somewhat, it still would have been nice to be thanked personally once in a while.

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One rainy Tuesday afternoon, Danny was exhausted. He had just battled Vlad, who was visiting town. The ghost boy had escaped, but barely, and only with his sister's help.

Sam and Tucker would have helped him, but they weren't there. Tucker was grounded because of using his PDA too much during class. Lancer had finally gotten fed up with him, and as a punishment he confiscated Tucker's PDA and called his parents. This was along with the customary detention. Sam came to school looking pale and sick. Turns out, she had the flu, and ended up leaving school earlier that day.

Instead, Jazz had tried helping him by trapping Vlad in the Fenton thermos. It worked, and Vlad was stuck in the thermos with the Box Ghost. One would almost feel sorry for Vlad, as he was stuck in a small container with a ghost who would not stop rambling on and on about boxes. Almost, but since Vlad was Danny's archenemy, Danny laughed it off.

Currently, he was drifting through the park. How did he end up at the park anyways? He had heard some cries of "Oh my gosh, it's the ghost boy!" Danny was lucky that Valerie or his parents hadn't come out yet, but he was too tired to feel anything else. Nothing else mattered to him at the moment.

A tap on the back startled him. He was wide awake again in five seconds, turning around to discover who was there.

There were two people: a little blond haired boy and girl, probably brother and sister, who were obviously playing in the rain. The children couldn't have been older than five or six. They were carrying an envelope and a small box, both inside a plastic bag.

"Hello, Mr. Phantom!" the girl said. "I've always wanted to meet you---"

"You're a real live hero!" the boy exclaimed. "You save towns and people from the big scary ghosts!"

"Anyways, we have something for you. It's in a baggie 'cause of the rain. You can open it when you get home." The girl spoke again, ignoring her brother.

"Lila, Derrick! It's time to go home!" A voice, obviously their mother's, floated through the air.

"Coming, Mom!" The children responded, but not before they said one last word.

"Thank you Mr. Phantom!" They shouted before running off.

"Your welcome!" Danny replied.

Danny Phantom was finally appreciated by someone who wasn't close to him. This day was worthwhile after all.

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A/N: First fic! Review and tell me what you think of it! Anyways, this is the first oneshot drabble of many. The whole thing is rated T for future stories. This will be updated whenever I come up with something- which could be tomorrow, or two months from now ;-). Well, review- I want to know what you think!