Hey, guys, this chapter is going to be a little bit different as while it does start and end with an episode it trails off to its own thing to focus more on my characters. For that reason, it's a bit of a shorter chapter but I thought it would be nice to have some character development away from everyone else. Anyway, let's get onto the chapter. I don't own anything; Danny Phantom belongs to Nick. Enjoy!
Mother-Daughter Weekend
Team Phantom Shadow stood in the Fenton's basement, helping Danny run some drills to help him with his ghost powers. Tucker and Sam stood with a scanner and clipboard while Sasha hovered in her ghost form, observing him herself. Sure, Tucker and Sam had their own stats they wanted Danny to meet but as the only one in the room with experience being a half ghost, Sasha had her own qualifications Danny needed to meet. Currently, Danny was flying as fast as he could while Tucker tracked him with the speed scanner.
"112 miles per. Lightin' up the speed gun, dude," Tucker informed him. Danny smirked and then moved onto the next drill. He easily went intangible and phased out through the wall and back through the ceiling before reappearing.
"Intangibility, check," Sam said and took note on her clipboard.
Hearing that Danny moved on and turned invisible. Sam and Tucker looked around confused as to where he went. "Danny?" Sam and Tucker asked confused. They looked over at Sasha hoping that she could give them more information.
"He's still here, right?" Sam asked.
Sasha tapped on her cuff, bringing up the built-in screen that her mother installed. She went to her ghost sensor that confirmed that Danny was still in the room. "Yeah, he's still here," Sasha answered.
"Invisibility, check," Tucker said. He flinched as the invisible Danny overshadowed him.
"Hi, I'm Tucker! Don't let the PDA, glasses, and lack of muscles fool you. I'm a stud," Danny said as Tucker before leaving his body.
"I hate when you do that," Tucker commented.
"Okay, hotshot, let's ramp it up," Sam challenged.
She clicked a button on a remote, causing several rings to pop down from the ceiling while dart guns came out of the walls. Danny flipped through the rings while easily dodging the darts. After that cardboard ghosts popped up from the counter. He zapped them with ecto blasts, skipping over a pop up of Jazz before hitting a third ghost. Sasha couldn't help but roll her eyes as Danny zapped the Jazz one once he was finished with the others. The last part of the set up happened as metal barrier popped out of the floor. Danny used his intangibility and coasted right through them. Having gone tangible, he gave his friend a thumbs up and immediately slammed into a wall, falling to the floor.
"Hi, I'm Danny Fenton! Don't let the concussion and bruises foo you, I need more practice," Tucker mocked him. Scowling Danny turned a patch of floor intangible causing Tucker to fall through it.
Sasha rolled her eyes once again and then headed over to save Tucker. Upon her returned she turned to Danny. "He's not wrong you know. While you have improved significantly since the first time I met you there's still a long way you have to go. If you ever want a chance of sparing with me at full force or coming across your ghost specialty you have to admit when you messed up and work to better yourself," she told him.
"I know, I'm trying," Danny said.
"Well next time maybe try not to get cocky and pay attention to where you're going. Also, maybe try not to go back to blast the cardboard cutout of your sister," Sasha suggested. "But enough with that, let's just move onto the next drill."
Danny nodded and got up off the floor. His three friends stood in a circle as they watched him concentrate, all of them curious as to what he was trying to do. Sweat creased his brow as they looked on. The three of them gasped as Danny managed to split his head into two separate heads.
"Wow! You can eat a Nasty Burger and fries at the same time," Tucker commented.
"Yeah. The problem is, I can only split myself this far," one of the Danny heads said.
"Plasmius can turn into like four different Plasmius' at once. That's what this weekend it about," the other head pointed out before both of Danny's heads when back and forth.
"Nonstop drills."
"No homework."
"No family."
"No interruptions."
"Can you split yourself at all?" Sam asked Sasha.
"In all my years, I've only ever been able to make two copies of myself and the second one has always been the more unstable one. So, in reality, I've only been able to produce one stable copy of myself. It's not really something I like to do as it takes up way too much energy and if the copy gets hit in just the right way it would completely snap back into my body," Sasha explained. "It could take several decades to master something like that."
"Great," Danny muttered, disappointment laced in his voice. "But then again that's all the more reason to practice."
"Hey, Danny!" his mom shouted from on top of the basement stairs.
The team looked around in alarm. Danny and Sasha instantly reverted back into their human forms, except because of Danny's attempt of splitting himself he was left with only one eye in his human form. He almost let out a scream in alarm but Sasha silenced him but putting her hand over his mouth and used her own powers to return his other eye before Mrs. Fenton came running down the stairs, a large smile brandished on her face with an invitation in her hand. Sasha instantly released her hold on Danny's mouth as the team tried to act normal.
"Pack your bags! We're going to a mother-son science symposium in Florida! Doesn't that sound fun?" Maddie told her son. Danny instantly slumped, disappointed that his plans for the weekend were ruined by his mom.
"Well there goes our plans," Sam muttered.
"But hey, that means we get to hang out with you at least. Right, Sasha?" Tucker asked.
"Yeah, perhaps we can finally finish up that poetry book," Sam suggested. Tucker and Danny couldn't help but roll their eyes, finding composing a poetry book boring. If they only knew that poetry book was a code word for Nova Super's first album they would be singing otherwise. And while finishing up recording the last few songs sounded tempting Sasha had another idea.
"Actually, Mrs. Fenton reminded me of something. I haven't spent some real quality time with my mom since we moved here," Sasha pondered. "Maybe it's time for some mother-daughter bonding of my own."
"Ah, that's so sweet," Maddie gushed while Sasha's friends groaned.
"You two have fun on your trip!" Sasha wished Maddie and Danny before running out of the Fenton's basement.
o
When Sasha ran into her house she went looking for her mother and found her in the basement working on a piece of ghost tech. Zoe Lucas instantly looked up from what she was doing when she heard the basement door slam open and was surprised to see her daughter after all Sasha had told her that she would be spending the weekend helping Danny with his ghost powers.
"Hey, honey, do you and your friends need anything?" Zoe asked.
"Actually, our training session got cut short as Mrs. Fenton is taking Danny on a weekend trip," Sasha informed her.
"Oh, well what are you, Sam, and Tucker going to do then?" Zoe asked and went back to working on her tech.
"I'm not sure what Sam and Tucker are gonna do but I was kinda hoping that we… could have ourselves a mother-daughter weekend," Sasha asked, a bit unsure. This time Zoe completely set down her gadget and turned herself in her seat to face her daughter.
"Where is this coming from all of the sudden?" Zoe questioned. "Not that I wouldn't like to spend time with you but ever since we moved her you've been attached to the hip to your friends."
"Well… that's just it. I realized that we haven't spent much quality time together since we moved here and thought that maybe this weekend we could change that," Sasha admitted.
Zoe smiled sweetly at Sasha. She got up from her chair and brushed any dust off. "Alright then, mother-daughter weekend it is," Zoe agreed.
o
Having lived their lives with a bank account fluctuating from homeless to getting by, the two were used to find free activities to do. While their bank account was in the higher of the two, which would easily allow for them to attend a movie, Zoe and Sasha Lucas settled on spending their afternoon at the park which would include a picnic and stargazing later on that night. So, the two went to work, gathering the required elements for their mother-daughter weekend. First came the food. While Zoe quickly whipped up some sandwiches and a few snack bags of chips Sasha began baking. Her grandmother's recipe for chocolate chip cookies was a fast one and had been engrained in Sasha's mind since she was six, so whipping up a batch for their picnic would be a breeze.
Zoe watched as her daughter stirred ingredients together, having finished her task not that long ago. She smiled seeing the serine look of Sasha's face. It was the calmest Sasha was when doing activities she was taught back at their old community center. Zoe always tried to have ingredients for whatever Sasha's fingers itched to make as with the constant moving and issues with money, baking was the only stable thing her daughter had in for the most part. And then there was the guitar. When Sasha couldn't bake she would play, happily strumming away. That changed during Sasha's frightening period of depression thanks to the year with Spectra, having shoved the much loved instrument in her closet. But after going to that concert with her friends all those months ago, hearing music leak into the hallway, it filled Zoe's heart with joy.
"Moving to Amity Park was the best thing we ever did," Zoe thought to herself.
While the location was teeming with ghosts – something neither Zoe or Sasha needed more of in their lives – it also provided the Lucas' so much more. It gave Zoe a stable job and pay, so much so that she was able to leave dingy apartments behind and get herself and Zoe a nice house. It provided friendly neighbors who, although a bit more than eccentric were the nicest people they had met in a while. Maddie had become such a good friend to her. A single tear welled up in her eye as Zoe was reminded just how similar Maddie was to her old friend Marie. The older woman quickly brushed it away, happy that Sasha was too busy with the cookies to notice.
Sasha. Amity Park had done wonders for her. Zoe remembered before they moved here how Sasha would almost constantly be at her side. When she wasn't at school or fighting off ghosts her daughter practically clung to Zoe. And then the whole Spectra incident happened, pushing Sasha into this dark hole, driving her away from the small important things in her life. But Amity Park brought back her daughter. It brought back Sasha's smile and humor and love for playing music. It also brought Sasha what she'd been missing all her life: friends, a chance to be a teenager, someone who was just like her. For that, Zoe was grateful for Amity Park and the Fenton's, for bringing so much happiness to their family.
"Alright," Sasha said, clapping flour off her hands once she got the tray of cookies into the oven. "while those are baking we should probably look for a basket and a nice blanket to lay on."
"Good idea, kiddo," Zoe agreed.
"Ugh, mom! I'm fourteen, I'm not a little kid anymore," Sasha complained.
"I know, I know. But you'll always be my little girl," Zoe told her, pulling Sasha to her side so that she could kiss her forehead. The fourteen-year-old couldn't help chuckling a bit at the touching gesture. "Now come on, we better start looking so we have time to make it back before the cookies burn."
o
Dinner at the park was nice, they managed to find a good spot where the shade covered them when the sun was up but would be a great spot to stargaze once the stars came out. As they ate the two talked about school. Sasha talked about how her classes were going, her getting through with a solid B average, and the complained about some of her classmates and teachers. Zoe couldn't help but laugh when Sasha pointed out to her that Mr. Lancer cursed in book titles. Her mother had her own encounters with Lancer on her journeys to the teacher's lounge for the occasional much needed cup of coffee. Zoe, in turn, talked about that the biggest supplies that she used during the school week were bandages and ice. Dash and his football friends really did send quite the number of students her way, something Sasha wasn't surprised about. She made her mother burst out into laughter once again when Sasha suggested she hand out cards to all of Dash's victims he sends to the nurses off and once they have ten punches on the card they get a free bouquet of lollipops. Silly conversations continued on into nightfall when Zoe and Sasha packed away their basket and laid down on the blanket, taking advantage of the empty park and the clear night to stargaze.
It had been so long since the two had done this. The last time the Lucas's took the time to just look at the stars was four years ago when they first moved into their last apartment. With no clouds in sight, familiar constellations came out as if welcoming them back. Sasha couldn't help but think back to when she was first really showed the stars. It was when she was having a breakdown over her shadow powers, how she was beyond frightened of herself. Her powers over the shadows just reminded her of Blackheart, and if there was one thing she never wanted to be it was him. Zoe did her best to try and calm her daughter down but it wasn't until night time settled that she thought of something that could help. Zoe took Sasha outside and asked her to look up at the stars. She then explained that while the dark could be scary it also allowed was needed to see the stars. Without the dark, you couldn't appreciate the light. It calmed Sasha's worries, just looking up at the stars. After that Sasha discovered her powers of light. Her and her mother's times gazing up at the stars always created this comfort. It made them comfortable enough to talk about some things they typically wouldn't.
"Hey, mom, do you think I should audition for the school musical?" Sasha asked.
"Well sure, it sounds like it would be fun for you. And if sure your friend Xavier would be happy about that," Zoe answered.
"But don't you think it would be selfish of me to do so?" Sasha continued to ask.
"How would auditioning for the musical be selfish?" Zoe questioned.
"Because I'm supposed to be out there fighting off ghosts. If I were to audition and get a part then I'd have to focus my time on auditions which would stop me from fighting off ghosts which would result in them taking over the town and then that would cause so much destruction and people would get hurt and…" Sasha ranted.
"Sasha, honey, relax. That's not gonna happen," Zoe tried to tell her.
"But what if it does?" Sasha asked worried.
"Sasha, while you are a ghost hunter, you're a teenager first. You should get to experience things like something simple as auditioning for the school show. I wish you got more time to be a teenager. You've worked so hard over these years, growing up faster than you should have and deserve some normalcy in your life," Zoe said.
"But what about my friends? Wouldn't they be mad that I've ditched them for play practice instead of ghost hunting?" Sasha questioned.
"I'm sure your friends would understand. A besides, you've said that Danny has improved vastly since you first met him so he can take care of things while you're busy," Zoe assured her. "Do something for yourself, be a little selfish for once, it's what a teenager does."
"I guess, I just worry about him sometimes. I know how difficult becoming part ghost has been for him," Sasha said.
"I've noticed him do the same regarding you. It's cute how much you two care about each other. Makes me think that you might have yourself a crush," Zoe teased.
Sasha was extremely thankful that her mother couldn't see the deep blush spreading across her face at the moment. "I… I don't know. Maybe. I'm not sure," she slightly stuttered.
"Maybe?" Zoe questioned. It was pretty clear to her from viewing Sasha and Danny's interactions that the two did have a thing for each other.
"Yeah, it's just… I do like Danny that way, I do but I'm not sure if I like him for him or just because he's a half ghost like me," Sasha admitted.
"Oh," Zoe said surprised. "Yes, I guess that would cause a bit of confusion. And I thought being a teenager would be confusing enough for you. It sounds like you just need to take the time to find out whether your feelings are true or not. But remember, if you need someone to talk to you can always come to me."
"Thanks, mom. But that kinda reminds me of another issue I wanted to talk to you about," Sasha said.
"Oh? And what might that be?" Zoe asked.
"Are you lonely?" Sasha asked.
"How could I be lonely when I have you?" Zoe answered, dodging the question Sasha was implying.
"You know what I meant," her daughter said. "I don't think I've ever seen you date."
"Well, it's been a bit difficult. No twenty something year old wanted to date the single mom. Especially none of the college students," Zoe explained.
"But you're not looking at those twenty somethings anymore. People around your age now have matured enough to accept that you have a kid, and if they don't you don't want them anyway," Sasha told her.
"You really seem to want me to date," Zoe laughed nervously.
"Only if you want to. Look, I know how flakey I can be with the constant ghost fighting. And while you do have Mrs. Fenton to keep you company I can't help but feel like you want a real intimate relationship in your life. So, if you really wanna find a boyfriend then go for it. And don't worry about me, I just want to see you happy," Sasha explained.
A small smile spread across Zoe's mouth. She pulled Sasha over to her side and gave her daughter a hug. "Thanks, kiddo," she replied.
"Of course, Mom," Sasha smiled. "But if anyone hurts you just know that the likelihood of me kicking their ass is extremely high." Zoe chuckled, releasing Sasha from her grasp and letting her return to their original spots on the blanket.
"Alright, if I'm gonna do this then where should I start? Amity Park doesn't really have that many places for singles like me to meet. The closest thing is the teacher's lounge and trust me when I say this, there aren't that many people there close to what I'm looking for. Mr. Lancer would be the closest but is still nowhere near my interest level," Zoe pondered.
"That's a good because although I said I'd be fine with whoever you dated I would strongly protest Mr. Lancer. I don't want that man getting close to the possibility of step-father level," Sasha replied, letting out a breath of relief.
"Okay but that doesn't answer my original question," Zoe pointed out.
"Maybe you should try online dating. You can talk to a potential guy on there, see if you're interested, and then either say goodbye and never speak to him again or plan to meet up for an actual date. That way you don't have to waste your time going out with flops," Sasha suggested.
"Hmm, maybe I'll give it a try next weekend?" Zoe relented.
"Next weekend? Why not when we get home?" Sasha questioned confused.
"And ruin our mother-daughter weekend? No way," Zoe answered.
o
The Lucas's slept in for the majority of Sunday morning, waking up only when the harsh sun sneaked through the curtains into their eyes. Sasha was sluggish to get up and out of bed though so when she finally came down for food she was surprised to find that her mother already made breakfast. Though what surprised her the most was what breakfast was.
"Ice cream sandwiches?" she questioned. With the leftover cookies from yesterday, Zoe had pulled out some vanilla ice cream and used the cookies to sandwich a scoop together. Seeing Sasha up Zoe headed to the freezer where she pulled out an already made ice cream, cookie sandwich, handing it to Sasha.
"In honor of our mother-daughter weekend," Zoe explained. "But don't go getting used to it. This is only a once in a blue moon thing."
"Aren't you supposed to be an adult," Sasha teased before biting into her breakfast treat.
"Even adults get tired of adulting and want to indulge in their childish side every now and then," Zoe defended herself.
"So, ice cream for breakfast?" Sasha questioned.
"Ice cream for breakfast," Zoe confirmed.
"You have to be the best mom ever," Sasha said.
"Damn straight," Zoe replied causing the two of them to get into a giggle fit.
Their laughter was interrupted however as the two of them heard a helicopter landing right outside their house. The Lucas's shot each other a confused look before rushing over to their door. Flinging it open they saw that a helicopter had indeed landed right outside their door and that it was Mrs. Fenton who had flown it there. Both Zoe and Sasha's mouths fell open in shock as they shot each other another look before heading over to the helicopter to greet Maddie and Danny as they jumped out.
"Wow, you two seem like you had an exciting weekend," Sasha commented.
"Though I'm confused as to why you guys are back early. Wasn't the trip for the whole weekend?" Zoe asked.
"Let's just say things didn't go as well as we thought it would and had to head home early," Maddie explained, leaving out as many details as she could.
"You'll tell me everything later, right?" Sasha whispered to Danny.
"Yeah," Danny answered. "Wait, are you guys eating ice cream sandwiches?"
Sasha looked down at the semi melting ice cream sandwich in her hand, having forgotten to put it down before they left the house. "Oh, yeah. My mom made them for breakfast or I guess brunch."
"Your mom's pretty cool," Danny told her.
"Thanks, I guess we both got lucky in that part," Sasha smiled.
The two teens looked over at their mothers who were currently in a conversation of their own and smiled. They really did have great moms.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave me a review and a crazy "So Tell Me About Yourself" answer. And be sure to check out my profile for character designs and my writing schedule.
"So Tell Me About Yourself" is an inside joke between me and my friends which started from my one friend's hatred for the typical getting-to-know-you question "So tell me about yourself". She, being so annoyed with the phrase, gave a silly answer that she murdered people in their sleep. When she brought it back to me and my other friend we both gave a silly answer. That is where the idea for my account name came from.
