Title - Always With You
By - PheonixFireBlack
Summary - A spell is performed and it goes horribly wrong, however, in it's mishap, Thackery Binx can be human for the course of 24 hours. What will he do in that time? And who will he see? Thackery/Danni. Future-AU-fic
Category - Hocus Pocus Set in 2001
Genre - General/Romance
Rating - PG-13
Feedback - Yes. Please!
Criticism - Whatever.....
Disclaimer - Don't own. You no sue.
Notes - Ok, so just so you know.....EVERYONE READ: This is based on my age-guessing, all right? Sorry if any of the speaking I have Thackery do is sort of....not exactly right.....lol. PLEASE keep in mind that, while this might have a half-plot and Reianna is a witch, she isn't actually meant to be in it much. She's just the catalyst here. Don't whine over plot holes. lol! Yeah...ok, you can STOP reading now. Danni is 16 at the time, as well. That's pretty much all you need to know for this. Read on!

I shall always be with you...
-Zachary Binx Hocus Pocus

Danni Dennison sighed and tapped her pencil against the desk, trying to think of how to start the English essay that had been assigned last Friday and was due tomorrow. She couldn't concentrate on that though. The important thing to her right now was that it was Halloween. She'd always loved the holiday, and that hadn't changed. The fascination had actually grown after that one Halloween eight years ago. That night with Binx and all of the screaming and the witches. That had been one interesting night. After that night, Halloween had been different, it had a different meaning, almost.

Danni sighed again, "God, I swear, I can't focus worth anything today!" She let her arms drop, folding over one another, and finally, her head dropped to land on the desk. "Focus, dammit!" She muttered to herself.

"Hey, Danni, what's--" Max, now twenty-four, stopped as he entered his sister's room, "What's up, Danni?" He asked, walking over to her desk and looking at the paper over her shoulder.

Danni groaned and looked up at her brother, "You are so lucky to be out of school, Max! I hate you..."

Max chuckled, "I'm, uh, sorry that I was born before you?"

"Well...ok, if you're really sorry...." She grinned at him, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"What? I can't visit my family anymore all the sudden?"

"No, it's not that I just haven't seen you around in awhile is all."

"So, how've you been?"

"Today has sucked. I've been trying to work on this essay for two hours. All I've gotten so far is 'The way people act is', and I've been there. For two hours."

"Wow."

"Yeah, but some pretty weird stuff happened in school today."

"Like?"

"Well, there's this new transfer girl, she's from Transylvania. It was her first day yesterday and already, today, she openly admitted to being one of many in a long line of witches. Why would you just go around telling people something like that?"

"Maybe it's an act."

"Ma-ax!"

"What? No one would just openly admit something like that unless it was an act."

"But that's not the weirdest part, Max!"

"There's more to this?"

"Her last name...." Danni's face was very serious and her eyes held a bit of fear, "Is Sanderson."

--------------

Reianna Sanderson grinned and glanced over at the boiling pot on the stove. No, it wasn't the old traditional way of making potions, but that's all she had. She stood up from the desk in the kitchen and walked over to the stove, stirring the boiling purple liquid in a clockwise motion. "Mmm....why is mom having me make this?" She wondered aloud, stirring it counterclockwise now. She walked back to the desk and rolled her eyes. With a flick of the wrist and snap of the fingers, her pen was writing exactly what she would have written had she felt like actually writing the essay. "While you do that....I'm going to look at Grandma's books..." She muttered to her pen.

Reianna had gone down to the loft--the makeshift attic of the house--and looked through a few boxes. She found the book that she loved the most. It was The Book. The one that Grandma had received from none other than the Devil himself. Rei grabbed it and took it downstairs to look at it while her mother was gone. Her mom didn't use any of the old magic books much, and there was a ton of dust that flew everywhere when Rei flicked her wrist and let the book open itself. With the dust flying around, Rei knew she wasn't safe. Damn allergies. She went into a sneezing fit for a good two minutes before she was finally able to calm herself. The Book lay forgotten in the sneeze attack on the floor. Reianna glared down at it, "Stupid book for having stupid dust all over it." She tentatively reached down to pick it up, a little afraid that she might stir another whirlwind of dust to fly everywhere. When she found that the book was free of dust storms--for now--Rei sat down at the table with it in front of her, flipping through the pages in amazement.

"Wow," She whispered, "This is so amazing. I wonder if I could do one? Maybe I could see her brother again..." Rei started flipping through the pages at a quicker pace. Not happy with her flipping speed, she made the book flip through for itself. This hadn't been smart. Sure, the dust from the first few hundred pages had settled and dissipated, but not all of it. However, the dust didn't come when she book was flipping through the pages. Rei didn't think one bit about any dust as she skimmed the spell over. It would allow a person of your choice to be where you were for a whole twenty-four hours. The spell could be performed for the living....or the dead.

Satisfied that this spell would do the trick, Reianna stood up, lacing her hands together with forefingers straight in the air, she started muttering the spell in a low tone, "Dust to dust and ash to ash, let the one who's name I speak raise in a flash!" She paused in her speaking to allow her fingertips to touch, her thumbs over her middle and ring fingers and she flicked her fingers to her right. Right before she spoke her brother's name, Rei sneezed, "Zackary!" However, it had sounded more like "Thackery" and Reianna realized this immediately and her eyes were wide as a hand flew to her mouth, "Uh-oh...."

--------------

Thackery Binx had been lying on the ground next to his sister, enjoying the company of his sister and the human body that he'd missed for three hundred years. The pair hadn't aged a day since the day they'd had their lives robbed of them.

Emily looked up at her brother, "Thackary?"

"Yes, Emily?"

"Can we do something?" She asked, sitting up a little, "Beside lie here on the ground all day?"

Thackery smiled up at her, "All right, if you can come up with something, I might think about it." He winked at her, knowing that she would get that he meant that it made no difference to him as to what they did.

As Emily tried to think of what game she might like to play with her older brother, she flipped over and lay on her side, facing him, propped up on one arm. She had a look of serious concentration, but that was quickly replaced by a look of confusion, then terror when her brother cried out.

Thackery didn't know why, but he had the pain of what he thought might be similar to millions of fists banging on his head. He heard himself cry out, but barely. The pain was quickly traveling to the rest of his body and it was beginning to become unbearable.

"Thackery! Thackery, what's happening?"

Thackery didn't get to answer his sister because he was enveloped in a bright white light, the pain searing through him like nothing he'd ever felt--except that night he'd been turned into a cat. He had his eyes shut tight, trying to bear the pain and trying to grasp any vague idea of what was going on.

--------------

Reianna sighed. Her mother wasn't going to be happy about this. But maybe nothing would happen. Maybe all would be well and nothing she had done would cause the entire universe to be thrown off proportion. She had put the old Book back in the loft-attic and continued keeping a watch on the potion her mother had have her fix up.

It was as she was sitting there at the table, thinking things over, when something flashed through Reianna's mind. She gasped, "Oh, no. That's not good. Thackery. I know who I brought back. It's that....Binx guy, isn't it? Well, where is he? And why isn't he here? Isn't that what's supposed to happen? They come where you are? Why isn't he here? And if he's not here....where is he?" She rambled to herself. Rei couldn't believe this. She hadn't meant to say 'Thackery'. She could care less about some boy that had been a cat for three hundred years. Rei had only wanted to see her brother again. But that wouldn't be happening now. The spell could only be performed once every six months. Now, Reianna had to wait half a year to see him.

--------------

When Thackery opened his eyes, he found that he wasn't with his sister any more. All those years of trying to be with her, and he was, for a few years, and now he was gone again! What had happened this time? And who had done it? The sisters were dead, for good, right? Thackery sighed and stood up from the forest grounds. If he was going to be here--wherever here was--he may as well try and get somewhere. Try to meet a few people. At least now he wasn't a cat, right?

--------------

Danni sighed and threw the blankets off of her when she heard the alarm go off the next morning. She hated alarm clocks. She used to just hit the snooze button and sleep longer, but her mom had solved that. She had been forced to move the clock away from the bed. And if she got it close enough to where she could slap the clock into silence, she was grounded--not that this stopped her from trying or anything.

Danni threw open the closet door and looked at the clothes hanging there. Nothing really jumped out at her to wear, so she just grabbed the nearest pair of faded blue jeans and the just recently purchased, black t-shirt with it's red lettering "The Clash" spelled out across the shit. She slipped the clothes on and brushed her hair before grabbing her bag--with her very finished and not-to-her-satisfaction English essay--and going downstairs.

When she reached the kitchen, Danni was greeted with no one but her brother. This didn't seem odd to her; her parents were almost always already at work when she got up. However, Max was not a sight she was quite used to seeing any more.

"You just gonna stand there and stare at me as if you've never seen me, or are you going to eat breakfast?"

"Max, I don't eat breakfast."

"Why not?"

"Makes me sick. You know this!"

"Right. I do." Max said, sounding both sure and skeptical about that.

"All right, well, I'm going to school. See you later, Max."

"See ya 'round, Danni."

--------------

Danni was only half-way to school when she could have sworn someone had called her name. But when she turned around, all she was greeted with was rows of suburban houses and the trees again though. She glanced at the forest. She glanced at the forest, wondering for a moment if that's where it had come from. She discarded that thought quickly; she didn't have time to be trying to find the source of a voice that probably wasn't even there! Danni shook her head and continued on towards the school.

--------------

Thackery wondered just where he was and if, maybe, by any chance, he might happen to already know someone here. That would make things tons easier, but the only way that he would have any chance of knowing anyone was if he happened to be in Salem. Maybe he was, actually. Certain places where looking oddly familiar. "Maybe I can find someone. Max, Allison. Maybe even Danni. She would probably be absolutely ecstatic to see me again....I would hope...."

--------------

Danni hated the walk to school. It was so long! And all there was to look at were the woods to her left, and block after block that contained identical houses. There was really nothing at all to differentiate the houses except the address numbers, which she couldn't even see. "Something interesting should happen this year. It's been eight years since anything good has happened on Halloween!"

--------------

Thackery stopped for a moment when he was just on the edge of the forest. That voice was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Who did he know from around here? Wait. He still wasn't sure exactly where here was. For all he knew, the voice wasn't familiar at all, but only similar to one he really was familiar with. Deciding against confusing himself, Thackery went onward, hoping to find the source of the voice.

--------------

Danni had the distinct feeling of being watched. She never liked that feeling. It was creepy and she was almost always proven to be wrong. Danni couldn't remember the last time she'd had that feeling and it ended up that someone really was watching her. So, she ignored the feeling and kept walking.

--------------

Thackery could see what he assumed was the source of the previously heard voice. That meant he could maybe figure out where he was. With that thought in mind, he ran towards the figure, hoping to find something out.

After a good eight minutes of running--honestly, how could a run that looked to be only about twenty feet take so long?--Thackery finally reached the girl. Well, a safe distance without scaring her to death. Now that he could talk to her, Thackery wasn't quite sure how to go about it. That didn't last long, though....

--------------

Danni stopped dead at the corner of the street, groaning when the "Don't Walk" sign shone it red. She had actually barely been able to see that it was lit up when someone knocked into her from behind. She fell to the ground, landing on her hands and knees with a "Ow!"

Thackery's eyes widened and practically fell himself so he could help her up. "Sorry, Miss." He said politely, helping her up.

Danni's eyes widened.. She knew that voice. It couldn't really be, "Binx?" She turned to face him as he helped her up.

Thackery frowned a little, "Sorry....Do I know you?"

"Oh, right," She started in a dismissive tone, "I guess I wouldn't look the same as I did when I was eight..."

"Danni?"

She grinned, "Yeah,"

"Then...I'm still in Salem?" Thackery asked skeptically. He hadn't taken note to the fact that he still had his old on her, one hand on her waist, the other holding one of her own hands.

Danni didn't notice either. "Yep. Still in Salem," She smiled.

"Were you....going somewhere?"

"Oh, uh....no, nowhere important." She lied. So, she might miss one day of school. What was one day, right?

"Well, then, maybe you could help me figure out...how I got here."

"All right. Where do we need to go, Binx?"

"I'm not sure," Thackery said, his tone slightly depressing. "But you can call me Thackery."

Out of nowhere, an idea flashed through Danni's mind, "Reianna." She muttered.

"What?"

"She's this new girl in town. She's a descendant of the Sanderson sisters, Binx."

"This isn't making things easier on me, Danni."

"Sorry....but she is...."

"Do know where she's living?"

"The old Sanderson house."

"We've got to go there. Find out what spell she might have used and reverse it. I haven't even gotten to spend time with Emily at all."

"I know. We will. Don't worry. And we can even go now."

Thackery frowned, "We can?" He arched an eyebrow, "She won't be home?"

"No," Danni shook her head, "School's in."

"Didn't you say--"

"That I wasn't going anywhere? I know. And...actually, I was, but I'm already late and it's for a good cause, right?" Danni grinned.

Thackery sighed, but complied with her. "All right, but don't expect this to happen alot..." He smiled at her.

"Well....all right," She started in a mockery tone of disappointment, If you won't make it a reoccurring habit, I guess I'll just have to revel in the one time it will happen, right?"

--------------

Danni and Thackery had no problem at all getting into the Sanderson house. It was almost too easy. Then again, the locks didn't work, so the house couldn't be locked up. All they had to do was open the door and walk in. The problem was finding the particular book that Reianna had used, then finding the particular spell, and even furthering it to finding the counter-spell. This was going to be a lot more work than Danni had thought. There were a good forty or fifty spell books they'd have to go through. There was no time to go through them all, but they would have to make due with what they could.

While Thackery was looking in the books down in the ground area, Danni had gone up into the loft to see what might be up there. As she was moving boxes and other things around, something caught her eye. Something that happened to be vaguely familiar to her. "Binx!"

"Thackery, and yes?"

Danni smiled and looked down at him, "Thackery, I think I might have found the book she used."

"How would you know?"

"Well, I'm not, really, but...it is Winifred's book. The girl's my age and a witch....you can't tell me she wouldn't be curious."

"I don't know about that, Danni. If she is really a descendant of the sisters...she'll know the book has been opened." Thackery said skeptically. This did not sound like a good idea. Not in the least.

"Well, that's just a chance we'll have to take, because I'm looking in it." Danni said, coming down the stairs. She sat down at the table in the room and put the book on top of it. She opened it up and waited to see if anything happened. When nothing weird took place, Danni started flipping through the pages, absolutely ecstatic to find that even spell books had Content pages.

Thackery stood behind Danni, eyeing the book warily. He had come to never trust that book. Ever. And it wasn't any different now. He had no reason to trust it, though. It was the reason that Winifred had decided to turn him into a cat, after all. And one that couldn't die, at that! "Danni, I'm still not sure about this," He said, moving to sit in a chair next to her, "It doesn't seem like you should be doing this. You could cause real trouble with this book, Danni."

"Thackery," Danni looked up at him, "It's not like I'm going to read anything from it out loud. Don't worry, we'll be fine." She smiled at him and looked back down at the book, still skimming the Contents page to find something that might be what Reianna used.

Thackery rested his chin in a hand and watched her read the book. He tried to keep his eyes focused in a glare at the skin-bound volume, but he found his eyes drifting towards Danni every so often. And he didn't know why. He leaned over just slightly to try and see the book a little better. "Find anything yet?"

"I don't know. I doubt that this is it, but I think that," Danni turned her head to face her friend and found that he had moved closer; so much so that when she turned, their lips brushed against each other. Danni's entire functional-self seemed to stop completely for a moment. When she regained her previously lost composure, Danni blinked a few times, "Wh...What was I saying?"

"You....thought that you found something....I think." Thackery said, every bit confused as Danni was.

"Right. Ok, well, I'll just, um, look, you know, at all." She flashed a jerk-of-the-lips-smile, laughed lightly and nervously, and busied herself with the book again.

Thackery took his former position with his chin in his hand to watch her. He was farther from her this way. Maybe they wouldn't have something else confusing happen to them. Maybe Danni could just find the spell and everything would be all right in the end.

Danni laughed lightly as she clapped and turned to Binx, "I found it! This has got to be what she used!"

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but..." Danni sighed, "Don't ruin my fun?"

Thackery smiled and nodded, "Right, then, what did you find?"

"If this is the right one, this spell only lasts for twenty-four hours. Whatever time it was when you got here....by that time tomorrow, you'll be....gone. And quite incorporeal and in another realm of the universe." Danni grinned at him, but the sadness of the thought of him really being gone forever was in her eyes.

"But, how do we know this is the one she used? I'm sure there are other spells that she could have performed that are similar. And...why did she pick me for it?"

"I didn't." A soft, flowing voice came from behind them. The black-headed girl sighed and walked over to them. "You know I'm a Sanderson, right?" When she got silent nods as answers, she continued, "Then why did you open the book?"

"Well, we had to find the spell and, I thought that--"

Reianna cut Danni off, "You're in my English class, aren't you? Danni something-or-other...." She turned to the boy, "And you must be...Thackery." She said bitterly.

"Yes, that would be correct."

"I hate you." Reianna said suddenly.

"Can I...ask you why?"

"Because! This spell wasn't meant for you! It was meant for my brother, Zackary! But I messed it up. And you're here instead! There had to have been more than one dead Thackery in the town at some point. How did the spell even know it was you to bring back?"

"Well, why don't you just perform the spell again?" Danni suggested, "With the right name?"

"Because," Rei bit back, "The spell can only be performed once every five hundred years!"

"Oh."

"Yeah, exactly." Reianna sat in a chair in front of the pair, "I can't believe this! My only chance to see my brother again and I screwed it up!"

"I'm sorry," Thackery said softly, "I know what that's like."

"Oh, don't give me any of your sympathy, cat boy!" Rei bit, sitting straight up in her chair. "Leave. Now." She said, looking at the two. "There's not a reverse spell, it'll just wear off. Nothing special has to be done. He'll just be gone by tomorrow is all. You've got the information you need, so you may as well go."

"Right. Ok, so, uh...I'll see you school, then?" Danni said, smiling a little as she stood up and followed Thackery out of the house.

--------------

When they had reached the park, Danni chose to sit on a bench, looking up at the still standing friend of hers. "Look, Thackery, about earlier....i--it wasn't on purpose, you know? It was an accident. I didn't know you were right there...so close....and, I..."

Danni was hushed by his finger going to her lips, "It's fine, Danni. You don't have to worry about that. It wasn't your fault, after all."

"But, it wasn't your fault. I mean, the way I just...turned like that, it's just...I shouldn't have done that."

"And why's that?"

"Well, because...." Danni frowned a little, "I don't know..."

"Exactly."

"So...then...it was..."

"No one's fault. Just something that happened."

"Right. Ok." Danni grinned at him, but it faded soon.

"What's wrong?" Thackery asked, noticing her sudden change of mood.

"I don't know, it's just...I don't...." Danni sighed and looked down at the grass, watching her feet swing back and forth slowly. As she spoke, she slowly looked up at him, "I don't want you to.....leave."

"I'd love to stay, believe me, but...Emily..."

Danni nodded, "I know, I know. That's why I should have never say anything. I'm just being...selfish, I guess is the word. All I'm saying is...that I don't want you to leave, but I understand why you have to." As an afterthought, she added, "Besides the fact that the spell would force you to do so..."

Thackery smiled a little. At least she understood.

An awkward silence fell between the two. Other than the one night either years ago, the pair really didn't have much to talk about. And neither of them wanted to bring that up. It hadn't exactly been the best night in the world/. Though it had been, by far, one of the most interesting ones.

During the silence, Danni watched the blades of grass move as she swung her feet back and forth, occasionally lifting her head to look around before going back to watching the grass again. Thackery on the other hand, sat almost completely still except for his hand, which he kept interlacing and separating them.

In the end, it was Danni who broke the odd silence. "So....what do we do now?"

"I have no idea."

"It's almost like, now that the sisters are gone and you aren't a talking black cat, we have no idea what to do," Danni smiled.

"Well, that it how we met....and it's the only thing we really know of that we have in common...." Thackery said, looking up at her.

"True..." She nodded and the silence took over again.

--------------

The day had gone by quickly and night had soon engulfed the town of Salem. At the Dennison house, it was a little strange explaining just who Thackery was. No, it wasn't the truth, but it was what Danni had been able to come up with when they walked in the door to find her parents home.

"Danni, honey, why didn't you call and say you'd be late?" Her mother asked.

"Because I didn't know that I would be?" Danni suggested hopefully.

"A better question might be," Her father started, "Why didn't you show up at school today?"

"Oh. That. Well..." She looked over her father's shoulder to see Max, who gave her a 'it's outta my hands' gesture. "I didn't feel so well this morning. I was here for the better part of the day. But around....two-forty or so...I was feeling better, so...I went out." She smiled that 'oh, I hope they buy that and let me go' smile that all teenagers have perfected at some point or other in their lives.

Her parents eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but her mother quickly changed the subject, "Well, are you going to introduce us to your friend or are you just going to make him do it himself?"

"Oh, this is...Zack." She looked at Thackery, giving him a 'go along with this!' look, "Zack, this....is my family. Mom--or Allison, dad--a.k.a. Mark, and Max--or, as I prefer to call him, Older Brother Who's a Pain in the Ass." She smirked at her father's reaction.

"Danielle Nichole Dennison!" He scolded her, "Watch the mouth, missy."

"Yes, sir, Drill Sargent, sir!" Danni said, saluting him.

Max rolled his eyes. She had so learned that from him. He had used that one more than one occasion himself to their father.

"I don't mean to sound rude in any way, but...Zack...why are you dressed like that?" Allison asked curiously.

"School play," Danni answered for him, "He told me all about it earlier."

"Oh? What play is it?"

Shit! Danni's mind shouted. "Why does it matter? Aren't they all basically the same?" She asked, knowing that the school didn't really have a play going on and having no clue about what play they might have 'been doing' to explain Thackery's clothing.

"No, hun, there are all kinds of different plays? Since you obviously know nothing about it....Zack, what play is it that you're in?"

"Mom. There's something about Zack you have to understand. Big on acting, not so much on talking."

"It's just one question, Danni."

"Can you puh-lease stop grilling us and let us go to my room?" Danni complained, really not liking having to lie on top of lies to her parents.

"Fine, fine...away with you....or something like that."

Danni shook her head at her mother and took Thackery's wrist and pulled him upstairs to her room. When they got there, she closed the door and sighed, "Parents...ugh!"

"Why did you lie to them?"

"Because they wouldn't have believed the truth." Danni said, flopping down on the bed and falling to her back over the width of it. After a moment, she sat up and looked at the clock. 11:42pm, it told her. "So..." She sighed. "I guess coming home didn't do much, either, huh?"

"Mmm..." Thackery didn't seem to actually hear her question as he was looking at the CD player on her desk.

Danni watched him. He may have been alive for three hundred years and seen changes in the world, but he had been a cat after all. The confused, thoughtful look on his face as he tried to figure out just what the CD player was for was absolutely adorable. Danni smiled, "It's a CD player....it, uh, plays music."

"Oh. Interesting." He turned to look at Danni and smiled.

Danni wondered if, when he'd been alive, he'd had a lot of girls think about him the way she was doing right now. Thinking about just how hazel his eyes were or just how cute he looked with that small, warm smile on his face. Danni figured that, even if he didn't know it, there had been several girls that had thought exactly what she was thinking right now.

Thackery tilted his head slightly to the side, only to make himself even cuter if that was possible, as he walked towards her. "Something wrong?" He asked quietly, subconsciously brushing a piece of her hair away from the side of Danni's face.

"Huh? Oh, no. Nothing's wrong. Why? Did something seem wrong? Because it's not."

He smiled, "Nothing big. You just seemed a little distant is all."

"Oh. Sorry...."

"It's all right." He said, sitting next to her on the bed before sighing.

"We're pathetic. All we've done is waste away the last day we'll ever see each other." Danni looked at her friend, "We should do something."

"Do you have anything in mind?"

"Unfortunately, no. Absolutely nothing."

"Something....something, something..." Danni fell across the bed again, heaving a sigh, "Something...."

Thackery watched the girl with amusement and didn't realize that he had actually made a full turn to face her.

Danni sat up quickly, "What kind of something do you think we should..."

When she sat up as quickly as she did, their lips touched for the second time that day. In a slightly nervous manner, Danni managed to say, "Well, that's, uh, one kind of....something that we could....do..."

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Mind....what?" Danni asked playfully.

"Oh, stop being a fool," Thackery smiled and kissed her tantalizingly.

Danni smiled against his lips, but with the kiss being broken, she tilted her head, "What? Am I a bad kisser?"

"Far from it..." Thackery said in a whisper.

"Then why'd you stop?"

"Just teasing you," He said with a grin.

"Boys just love teasing us girls, don't they?" Danni sighed dramatically, as if this really mattered to her so much, before leaning in for another kiss.

Thackery liked the way Danni's lips felt against his; liked the way she tasted. This was probably the first, last, and only time he'd ever get to do this. So, he was glad that it was with a girl he knew and cared about.

As the kiss went on, Danni noticed something. Thackery seemed to be...not to be quite as corporeal as he'd been before. No! This could so not be happening! Not now! Not yet! This was so no fair! Danni slowly, regretably, and reluctantly broke the kiss. "Thackery..."

"Hmm?"

"I think you're....leaving...." Danni said for a lack of words.

Thackery looked down to see what she meant. Sure enough, he was starting to be less corporeal than before, looking almost translucent. "Look at that...I am."

"Yes. You are...." Danni smiled sadly, "Going home to your sister....again...."

Thackery smiled a little, "I'm just glad you understand." As an after thought, he smirked and added, "Even if the spell would have forced me to do so otherwise..."

Danni smiled at the rendition of what she had said earlier. "Well...I guess that this is..." She blinked the tears back, "Goodbye. For good, this time, I guess..."

"Don't cry, Danni. Please?" He asked softly, placing a hand on her cheek to brush the tears away with a thumb.

"I can try not to, but I'm not promising anything. I don't want you to leave, you know?" Danni smiled a little.

Thackery knew that he was about to be gone for good from this realm of life. So, he decided to leave Danni with the parting words of, "Danni....I shall always be with you...."

Danni grinned through the tears and waved her fingers at him. "And I believe every word of it...."

--------------

Notes - Well, I hope no one was really out of character. I don't personally think so, but I might be wrong. Whatever. Hope you enjoyed that.

Drop me a line! (thinking about getting a new thing here, but I don't know what to put there....lol!)

Later days,
-PFB-