Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

A/N: I just wanted to write a bit more on how Sam came up with Danny's symbol in Season 2. Contains bits of Sam/Danny fluff, as well as references to various episodes. Written in first person, Sam's POV. Enjoy!

What do I think of Danny's symbol? I dunno, it's cool I guess? Fine, I guess you deserve a little more information than that. I wanna look back on this journal someday and have it actually contain something useful. Where do I start...

Well, let's just say that I put a lot of work into designing it. It was a pain at times. (Oh, more than you know.) Why did I do it then? I dunno. In between school, homework and ghost hunting, I thought it might be a neat idea to try.

Really, I actually thought that Danny needed something like that. A simple image that stood for the work he puts into saving Amity Park. Like a Superman symbol, showing the world what the famous Danny Phantom was capable of. An iconic hero with an icon to match.

Yeah, sure it sounded all nice when you say it like that. But in reality it was way harder. The first time I opened my sketchbook (sleek obsidian-black cover, killer markers with names like Soulless Gray or Heartbeat Red ) was a pain. I sat at my desk for 2 whole hours and came up with nothing, other than a major headache and 5 chewed-up pencils.

Those pencils weren't cheap, you know.

The next several tries weren't very successful either. I spent nearly all my free time absentmindedly doodling geometric shapes, hoping that any cluster of them would form something halfway decent. None of them ever did.

Finally, I closed my sketchbook in disgust. Danny didn't really need a symbol, not from me anyways. Besides, how would it ever stick on his costume when he transformed? I abandoned my halfhearted tries and chucked my sketchbook in the darkest corner of my closet. His jumpsuit looked just fine as it is.

Without my failed project to worry about, I spent more time hangin' with Tucker and Danny. It felt good to be their friend, wasting time in detention and playing pranks in the mall. Sneaking out to deal with Technus or smacking Danny with a textbook for staring at Paulina too long. Avoiding the Fentons and sabotaging whatever crazy contraption they've built before it zaps Danny into ectoplasmic mush. Yeah, it's the good life.

And while I was chillin' I started to notice certain things about Danny that really affected his "hero" personality.

For starters, he always seemed to be in motion. No, I'm not talking fidgety, ADHD type of motion. (That would be more like Tucker.) What I mean is that every day there's something new and surprising happening in his life. Either a new ghost is causing trouble, a new gag he pulled on Mr. Lancer, or at lunch he makes us howl with laughter about some wacky incident involving haunted fudge and his dad's late-night fridge raiding.

Danny Phantom also seems to be always in motion. Rarely a week goes by without him saving random civilians and sending ghoulies back into the Ghost Zone. His name is mentioned on the streets and in the newspapers, everyone glances up sometime or another to see a gray and black streak crossing the city skyline. It's comforting, seeing him fly off to preform heroic duties. The symbolism of constant motion represents the loyalty Danny Phantom has towards Amity Park.

Next, no matter how much the people want to think otherwise, Danny Phantom is a ghost. It seems pretty darn obvious on the surface, but you'd be surprised at how many civilians are willing to delude themselves into thinking he's some sort of Superman. They hate ghosts for causing trouble, but they also idolize one for protecting the city. I'm quite frankly surprised that no one's thought about the missing logic in this. Why would a ghost (a teen one at that) devote his afterlife to saving humans, when all other ghosts try to cause as much trouble as possible?

Whatever. They don't know Danny's a halfa, and it's much better if it stays that way.

His symbol also needed to be aesthetically pleasing. Nothing too complex, too frivolous or too cheesy to wear in public. And nothing, I repeat NOTHING like the Ghostbusters icon. Danny was dealing with serious specters here, not giant demonic marshmallow men. (Oh, Tucker wished.) As I mentioned before, my earlier designs didn't cut it. Lightning bolts, random spooky faces and awkward triangles were definitely not going to be a big hit on the streets.

But what to put? I needed something vaguely "ghostly," representing fluid motion and including the letters "D" and "P." How in the name of Vlad the Crazy Frootloop was I going to do that?

P.S: I do NOT recommend calling him that to his face. Wait... actually I do. *snicker*

I guess I actually have Mr. Lancer to thank for all the time I got to work on it. Drowning out his annoying lectures was like second nature to me, and I could get inspiration from watching Danny in class every day. And I must admit, having him there just felt kinda good.

Don't tell him I said that. I still remember when he and Tucker replaced my antique bottle of nineteenth-century calligraphy ink with hot pink nail polish. And when they played hacky-sack with my bag of gummy bats. And when Danny made it look like Tucker's disembodied hand was strangling him around the throat. And when - wait, I'm getting off topic here.

Anyways, I finally managed to come up with a design that worked. The only problem was, now what? If Danny didn't like it then I would've wasted all that time for nothing. And even if he did agree to wear it, there was still the issue of it sticking to his costume.

The main problem was that Danny's costume actually wasn't a costume. When he transformed, his outer body was entirely composed of ghostly ectoplasm that didn't exactly stick to things like Velcro or Krazyglue. The image would've needed to be imprinted on exactly when Danny got his powers.

I must admit, that stumped me back then. Good thing I was able to recreate the accident during that whole catastrophe with Desiree. *snicker* Going ghostly...

So, yeah. After all that time and effort, Danny Phantom now wears that symbol proudly, saving citizens, being a hero and all that stuff. As Tucker calls it, he's fighting for "Truth, Justice, and the last slice of Pizza."

In a way, that symbol ended up meaning a lot to me. Kind of like a talisman against evil or whatever. As long as Danny's wearing that costume, I know that he'll make the right choices.

Which is why my world nearly fell apart that day.

When I saw him.

Dan Phantom, or Dark Danny. That monster that clearly wasn't Danny, but somehow he was.

I was scared for my life that day. When we escaped from Clockwork into the future, I was astounded at how disastrous the city looked. Everything seemed too frightening to be true. But what scared me more was the way Danny had gone. Destroying the city he once vowed to protect?

Even worse, surrendering his human half?

If there was one thing I thought Danny would never do, it was that. He loves being a normal teen, goofing around and enjoying life and stuff. That one time when he used the Fenton Ghostcatcher to split himself in two was specifically so he could have more of a normal human experience.

Danny knew that ghosts couldn't feel very much. Their emotions were quite dimmed down from humans, and whatever feelings they possessed where what usually drove them to causing chaos in cities like Amity Park. I knew Danny reveled in being a ghostly superhero, but he loved emotions like "love" and "friendship" even more.

I never told anyone this, but I think Danny's slightly afraid of someday becoming a full ghost. Even if it would make him much more powerful, I could understand the emotional devastation of coming back to Earth one day, only to find that he doesn't even enjoy it anymore. Rooting himself in being as human as possible prevents Danny from ever considering letting the valuable things go.

Well, Tucker and I ran. We left Danny to fight his evil future self alone, abandoning him as the Fenton building crumbled under the ghostly wail. How foolish I was. Danny could handle himself, right? He could take down an enemy in 5 minutes that neither Valerie nor the Amity Park Policecould defeat in 10 years, right? Right...?

I wasn't thinking straight. I was too rattled by the future that me and Tucker didn't even notice how different Danny was behaving. Why worry when there's nothing wrong?

I even ignored the little red flags that went off in my head when I caught him cheating on the C.A.T. Now that I look back, I'm mentally kicking myself for not noticing the utter lack of humanity Danny showed. I mean, we had seen what would happen if he cheated, and he still did? I held Danny Fenton in high esteem, but I also know when he's being a jerk. During that test, I just passed it off as him being a bit more of a jerk than normal. But that isn't him.

As I said before, he cares about the valuable human things more. Call me a helpless romantic or a stalker or whatever, but deep down I knew it.

Later, Tucker and I ran to the Nasty Burger. I gasped at the sight of Dan Phantom, revealing to be behind the whole mess. Everything made sense now. That lying, scheming, evil little JERK! Danny was probably still stuck 10 years in the future, lying injured who-knows-where! Or worse. He wouldn't stand a chance against Older Valerie and the whole freakin' police!

Danny. No...

The Fentons pulled out their weapons, but Dan just laughed. It was true, he was Danny. They took it like a slap to the face. I could sense how they felt, learning all this time that the teen ghost they swore to tear apart (molecule by molecule) was their own son! My shock was equal to that. Not because I thought he would never become this way, but because I had.

At that last moment, gagged and bound with our own doom leering down upon us, I could only think at how hideous it was that one symbol, the one that stood for so much good in the world, could bring about this utter devastation. Seeing him wear that symbol was repulsive to me. He wasn't Danny. Not now, not ever.

Either way, let's just say I'm glad that he's gone for good. Technically he shouldn't even exist now, being that he's a true paradox of time. Danny never became him, so how is he still alive? I'll have to ask Clockwork about that sometime. But for now I think he's got things under control. Good. The less ghosts that are meddling with the time-stream, the better.

Anyways, it's nice to know Danny Phantom is out there, and that Danny Fenton is in no danger of disappearing as well. He might be a mess sometimes, but I'm working on it. Hey, at least he's my mess. And underneath, he's quite a handsome mess too.

-Dang it. Tucker just called to say it's movie night at his house again. I'd better get there early, before he decides to pick one of those awful western movies like last time. The whole thing ended up with a popcorn fight staged like Cowboys and Indians. It took me weeks to get the permanent marker war-paint off my face, and Tucker showed up to school the next day with a mini plunger-arrow through his hat. Don't even ask what happened to Danny.

Just for the record, it involved noodles, getting locked in Tucker's walk-in freezer (which just happened to contain a whole bunch of blood-blossoms) and finally tangling everyone in a giant lasso. Go figure.

Yeah, as I said. It's the life. Carpe Diem and all that jazz. See ya!