Well, I'm back! Writing this has turned out to be harder than I thought. I thought that I had it all planned out and that I could do it and have it done in a blink of an eye and move on to my next story, but man, was I wrong.
Oh well, at least I'll have a little fluffy Christmas fic in the making after this chapter. Keep an eye out for The Gift Of Giving!
Disclaimer- I do not own Danny Phantom or any related characters. They are the sole property of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon Studios.
Well, onward I suppose.
(General POV)
Sam had decided the previous night that she wouldn't wake early to go to work with her father. The argument that occurred yesterday still rang in her head. Instead, she woke to Hannah knocking on the door frantically.
"Sam! Sam! Sam, you must wake now! You are needed immediately!"
Still being half-asleep and still light sensitive, she cringed when she opened her amethyst eyes and her voice was still very thick from sleep.
"Sam!" came another frantic call.
Sam shook her head and rubbed her eyes and stretched before Hannah's calls registered in her head. Obviously she slept like a log.
The ebony headed fourteen-year-old girl slid out of her bed and walked lazily to her door and swung it open.
"Yes Hannah."
"Sam, your grandmother is terribly ill! And you are the only Manson family member home! You must come now!" urged the housemaid.
Sam's eyes widened. "Grandmother!"
She shoved Hannah out of the way and dashed down the stairs, not caring that she was still in her nightclothes.
Hannah followed suit, red braids bouncing behind her. The two teens ran to Sam's grandmothers' room and stopped.
Lying on her feather bed, the elderly Mrs. Manson lay ill. Her face was very pale, and she was unmoving.
Sam strode over to the bed while Hannah remained at the doorway. "Grandmother?"
"Sam", the sickly woman groaned.
"What's…what's wrong?"
"I am ill, Samantha."
"Hannah, go call the doctor", Sam said, not taking her eyes off of her grandmother.
"I have tried. Twice, actually. I could not get anyone to answer", Hannah said, a frown appearing on her face.
"Did anyone know about you before they left?" Sam asked the older lady.
"No, Sammy, they didn't. Neither your father nor mother. I am not worried about it, to be truthful sweetie. I am past the old age mark. I'm over it", she joked. "It's time."
"No, no it's not", Sam whined. "You can't."
"I apologize Sam. But the good Lord is calling me back, and I have no choice but to obey. I have been blessed with many wonderful years of life, so I do not mind leaving."
"But-"
"There's no 'buts' Sam. If it is my time, it is. If I happen to go before your mother and father return from their jobs, tell them please. Do not keep it a secret until my funeral date comes."
Sam directed her eyes towards the floor. "Yes, grandmother."
"That's a good girl, Sammy. Thank you. Make all the friends you can. Even if they are ghosts. Do not forget that." Her breathing slowed. "Sam?"
She looked up, tears pooling behind her eyes.
"Could you go and get me a glass of water?"
"I will do it, ma'am", Hannah offered.
"No, thank you Hannah. I want Sam to do it. I would like you to stay at your place at the doorway."
Sam walked out of the room and her grandmother still lay in the same position that she and Hannah found her in.
Not even a split second after Sam had gone, Hannah gasped.
Sam walked into the kitchen; thanking God they had indoor plumbing and running water.
She took a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water, accidentally letting it fill over because her tear-welled eyes wouldn't let her see. Sam poured a little out and wiped the excess water off with the dishtowel.
She walked quickly back to her grandmother's room and stopped short upon seeing Hannah staring straight at her. Her face softened and a frown appeared on her face again.
Sam dropped the glass and let it shatter, spraying her and Hannah with water. She broke into sobs and collapsed.
Hannah strode over, putting an arm around the distraught girl's shoulders.
"It's ok, Sam", she said. "Everything will be fine."
"I didn't even get to see her die", Sam said between sobs.
"I know you didn't. She didn't want you to. That's why she made me stay with her instead of you. I am going to try to phone the doctor again, Sam. Leave this mess for Bess to clean up."
Sam stood up and walked into her now late grandmother's room.
The deceased woman still lay still and her snow-white hair was falling into her face. Sam extended a shaking hand and moved it back to its place.
Sam saw something glitter around her grandmother's neck. She knew it to be the necklace that she and Mr. Manson picked out for her on her birthday eight years ago. She pulled it around until she got to the clasp and undid it and put it around her own neck. It dangled daintily off of her small neck and it glittered even more.
She looked at the elderly woman's hands and glanced at the two rings she wore. Sam took them off and held them in her own.
Tears streamed down her face once again. Hannah walked back into the room again and told Sam quietly that the doctor would be over shortly.
As Sam and Hannah sat in the parlor waiting on the doctor to arrive, the raven-haired girl remembered something.
"'Make all the friends you can. Even if they are ghosts. Do not forget that.'", were some of her grandmother's last words.
Danny.
She clutched the rings tighter and prayed that Danny would come back to her window that night.
A long black sedan pulled up in front of the Manson mansion and she and Hannah rose to greet the doctor.
Hannah opened the door and let the doctor in. Sam stepped out into the foyer and looked at the doctor.
"I have been informed that there has been a death here. Please escort me to the victim's deathbed", he said.
Sam nodded and Hannah closed the door. An ambulance stopped behind the black sedan. Hannah shook her head.
Sam showed the doctor to her grandmother's room. The doctor nodded and showed himself back to the front door. He motioned for the people in the ambulance to bring the stretcher.
Sam stood to the side and watched as the doctor and the paramedics lifted Mrs. Manson onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.
"You will need to notify your parents about this terrible misfortune, Miss. Good-bye and good luck", said the doctor before leaving.
Sam nodded and watched the ambulance and the doctor drive off towards town. She glanced at the clock on the foyer wall. Two twenty-five. Her mother would be back in a little over an hour.
Hannah went off to do chores, upon Sam telling her that she would be fine.
Sam walked back into her grandmother's room. It seemed so empty now. Although Sam knew that her grandmother would pass on, she did not expect it to be so soon.
She walked over to the vanity and opened the antique music player. A cheery tune emitted from it. It sounded so familiar but it seemed so new.
As she was swaying to the music, Sam heard her mother enter the house. "Sam darling, I'm home!"
She shut the music box and put the rings back into the jewelry box.
The saddened girl met Mrs. Manson in the foyer.
"What's the matter?"
"Grandmother died today", Sam said quietly.
Mrs. Manson dropped her bag and gasped. She ran in the direction of the late woman's bedroom.
"It's true", she breathed. A silent tear leaked its way down her face.
Sam walked up next to her mother and looked at her. Lillian looked back at her daughter. The mother and child embraced and sobbed into each other's shoulders.
Mr. Manson arrived from the hotel reservation early. Mrs. Manson broke the news to him.
His face paled and all nerves in his body went numb. He put a hand to his forehead and slumped into the nearest chair.
Sam had already gone upstairs, bringing a few crackers and some juice with her. She was still in her pajamas so she curled up on her bed and hugged her legs to her and buried her face into her knees.
She sat quietly that way for quite a while. She took small nibbles from a cracker and sipped from her juice.
Noticing that her clock said nine forty-seven, the depressed young woman walked over to her wardrobe and changed into a purple satin pajama set and sat down in her velvet chair and directed her eyes to her large bedroom window.
Green eyes appeared in the window and Sam stood up abruptly and opened it. Immediately Danny knew something was wrong.
He took her by the waist again and flew over Amity, this time heading into the mountains near a brook in which he knew. He landed softly and Sam pulled away.
She sat down on a large rock and Danny settled himself next to her. He waited patiently until she was ready to talk-something he desperately wished he could do right now.
Her eyes remained aimed at the ground.
"My grandmother died today. She meant so much to me. I do not know what I will do."
His face softened and he reverted back into human form. Sam stood up, ignoring the flash of silver light. She walked towards the edge of the brook, Danny close behind.
Sam sighed quietly. Danny draped an arm across her shoulders. Silent tears began to stream down her face again.
"All these years, she's always been there for me. She even taught me to talk. All I have left of her now is this golden necklace and her bedroom objects. I hadn't even been awake an hour and she died."
Danny pulled her into a firm hug. Her head was resting on his shoulder and he was allowing himself to be her shoulder to cry on. He was her only friend and she was his only friend.
He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back softly. Moonlight lit up the brook and the sound of running water sounded like more people crying. Mysterious forestry assured them they were alone-from people that is.
"Have you ever lost anyone close to you?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Then you have no idea what it's like. It hurts so bad."
Danny nodded close to her head to let her know he answered.
Sam pulled away and stared into the brook. She followed the water's current with her eyes and looked at the moon. She choked back more sobs.
Danny was beginning to feel Sam's pain; her normal vibe had changed and it was affecting him. He pulled her into another hug, this more tighter and more secure.
Sam's tears stopped and her body relaxed a few minutes later. Danny moved a little to allow himself to see why. She had cried herself to sleep on his shoulder.
Danny shook his head and picked her up bridal style and flew her home quickly. He laid her onto her bed and blew out her candles.
He shut her window before he left. The boy looked at her, eyes full of pity, sorrow, and sympathy. He regained intangibility and flew off into the night.
The half-ghost half-human boy flew back to the same spot they were just at. He let Desiree out again. Simply the sight of her made his eyes glow a deep yellow and his hands emit a high-energy ghost ray.
Once she was out of the cylindrical container, Danny rose to her height.
"Give. Me. Back. My. Voice. Now.", he mouthed.
Cliffie. Review and you'll see what happens next.