Chapter Nine
He didn't say the word 'Danny Phantom' or 'ghost', but 'spirit'? Danny had to laugh. He clutched his cell phone even harder and brought it to his chest. Laughter filled the air.
Everyone looked at the ghost hybrid, startled by the sudden laughter. Finally the laughing ceased; the teen wiped a tear from laughing so hard.
"Y-you're kidding right?" Danny asked shakily and grinned.
Aang blinked, recovering from the outburst. "Um, no, I was actually serious."
"But Aang, he can't be a spirit!" Sokka exclaimed.
Katara folded her arms. "I'm sorry Aang, but I have to agree with Sokka. It just seems impossible."
How did Aang figure it out anyways? He never revealed his ghost side. Could've his powers given it away? Why was Aang the only one to figure it out...?
Danny had turned off his cellphone, leaving everyone in darkness... Well, besides Toph. Turning off his mobile phone caught the kids' attention.
"Danny are you still there?" Katara couldn't help to ask.
"Yes," The halfa answered.
The waterbender hesitated. "Danny...? Are you a spirit?" She questioned.
"Me? A spirit? No." Came the reply. Technically he was telling the truth, spirit and ghost were different to him. Maybe to others they were the same, but him? It was different. If they rephrased that question to "Hey! Are you a ghost?" He would stumble on that.
"See Aang?" Katara glared, although no one could really see that. "He says he's not, so he's not a spirit."
"I just really think he is," The Avatar defended, "I mean it would explain some stuff."
"Like what?" Sokka asked curiously.
"I mean when I met him I felt that somehow I knew him. As in a link." He explained. "I mean I am the bridge between the spirit world and the human world as well."
Sokka frowned. "It still doesn't make sense."
"I mean Hei Bai was able to come to the human realm because it was close to the winter solstice," The Avatar said, "That's when spirits can come to the human world and occasionally people can go into the spirit world, but it's rare."
"So are you saying Danny could've, somehow, stumbled into the human world and was trapped because he was too late to go back to the spirit world?" Toph finally asked after minutes of listening to everyone else.
"I don't think that's how it works exactly." Aang admitted.
The raven-haired teen rolled his eyes. This was nonsense. "I'm still here you know," Danny said irritated. "And besides, I'm not a spirit. And this spirit world that you're talking about doesn't. Make. Any. Sense."
Anyone, anyone could go into the Ghost Zone and anyone could come out at any time. Apparently, this 'spirit world' was different to the Ghost Zone.
"He is telling the truth," Toph announced. "But I can also tell he's annoyed." She smirked.
"Yes, I am annoyed," He got to his feet, "Because you guys keep going back and forth about how I could or couldn't be a spirit. Let's just leave it at this: I'm not a spirit."
"We're sorry, Danny," The Avatar said quietly. And a few 'yeah, sorry' followed after that.
The teen sighed heavily. "Listen, I think we're just tired and we need to get some rest."
"Can spirits sleep?" Sokka randomly asked, forgetting how annoyed Danny was.
"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed harshly. "Not now."
"Right! Right! Sorry about that... Again."
Toph yawned. "I think Danny's idea is the best thing we should do right now." She lied down on the grass. "We're sleeping here. I'm not moving."
"Fine, we'll get some sleep and leave tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get some answers tomorrow." Katara agreed.
Danny and Sokka didn't need to be told again, they both fell right to sleep. Aang continue to sit where he was, not moving an inch. Katara sensed that he was confused.
"Aang, you really should get some sleep," She insisted tiredly.
"I'm confused," He replied softly.
"I know you are," She sat down by the Avatar, "We'll figure stuff out in the morning. I'm sure of it."
There was a long pause between the two, the only sound that they could hear was Sokka's snoring and some night critters. Finally Aang sighed. "How was he able to do that?"
"Do what?"
"You know? Get out of his cell easily, the green wall, and not to mention he turned us all... Invisible?" He said, running through his mind for anything else he missed.
"I'm not sure, but I'm starting to understand why you suspect him as a spirit," She admitted, "I mean he did say he was lost, and Roku said a spirit needed help."
Little did they know, Danny pretended to fall asleep, now listening to the conversation...
What was going to happen once they found out about his ghost half? Ever since he got his ghost powers, he was scared because he was worried people would reject him. Now he was worried because if they found out about his other half, they would reject him as well. Then he would truly be lost.
"...just try to get some sleep, Aang."
"Okay."
After about a minute went by, he could tell everyone was slowly fading into dreamland.
Danny noticed that they never used the word 'ghost'; all they used was 'spirit'. But what if spirit was the same thing as ghost here? Was if he really was the 'spirit' they were looking for?
No, it wasn't him, he thought bitterly, it was someone else, it had to be.
He rolled onto his back, hearing some grunts from Sokka. The trees were above him, but there was also an open spot where billions of stars were. Soon those stars slowly started to fade and darkness engulfed him.
...
Danny was the last to wake up, no that's a lie—Sokka was.
Aang woke up with good news for everyone, everyone besides the halfa.
"Okay, Roku visited me in my dream," He began, "And you know how we went to his island to talk to him about a week ago?" When he received nods, he continued, "There's an ocean nearby us, he wants us to find a good place near the shore. He needs to talk to me and..." He paused, "He wanted Danny to do something."
Everyone turned to face the teen. Feeling very uncomfortable with all the stares, he shrugged. "What?" He asked. "I'm just as surprise as you are." He looked at Aang. "What... What does he want me to do?"
"I'll explain when we get there," The Avatar said. "It was a bit strange."
"O-okay then," Danny gave him a weak smile. Did Roku tell him about his ghost side? The ghost hybrid paled at that thought. Pretty much the whole Ghost Zone knew about his other half, he wouldn't be surprise if Roku knew about it, but he seriously hoped he didn't tell Aang about it.
"Well then, we should leave!" Katara exclaimed. "The more time we waste, the less time for explanations!"
"The ocean isn't that far, we'll walk," Sokka informed, "That way the Fire Nation won't be after us if they see Appa."
"Sounds good to me." Toph grinned.
Aang told Appa and Momo to stay hidden and to try and keep people away from them if there was any. After that they began to walk with Sokka in the lead, since, of course, he had the map. Toph claimed that she could feel the ocean crashing into the rocks just up ahead.
But everyone still followed Sokka.
Sokka kept muttering directions, while Toph and Katara talked. Danny walked behind everyone, keeping quiet. Aang noticed and slowed down so that the teen could catch up to him.
"What's wrong?" He asked, putting on a smile.
"Nothing, really." The raven-haired teen mumbled.
The Avatar's smiled disappeared. "Hey, we're just trying to help. I'm starting to worry."
"I'm 15, I can handle myself," Danny growled softly.
"I'm not saying you can't, I'm just saying we're here if you need us."
That instantly reminded him of his friends. They were there for him, no matter what. That kept him going, their help, and their love.
The halfa smiled. "Thanks, you really remind me of my friends." He told him, voicing his thoughts.
"I'm sure you have good friends then," The Avatar said, with a hint of happiness in his voice. Then he looked at Danny again. "That's not what's bothering isn't it?"
"It's part of it," Danny admitted.
"What's the other part?"
"I'm lost, I have no idea where I am," He gestured around him, "And I'm starting to think I'll never see my family or friends again." He stared at the ground.
Aang didn't speak for a moment, using that time to process everything he said. "It may be hard right now, I understand. But you must have hope that you'll see them again. I think you will see them again, it may be awhile though."
"Thanks, Aang, it really means a lot."
Before he could say anything, the kids in front of them stopped their tracks. "We're here!" Toph announced.
Danny looked ahead to see the blue-green ocean sparkling from the sun. The waves crashed into the rocky shore; the ocean scent filled the air. And a soft breeze went through.
"So," Toph said, "Mr. Bridge guy, what did Roku want you to do and same goes to Danny."
"Okay, well, I'm going to cross over to the spirit world and I'll find Roku there." Aang explained, "He said he once I made it to the spirit world, he wants Danny to touch my physical body."
"Uh, why?" Katara asked.
"I don't know, but I told him he would do it," The Avatar said.
"I mean nothing happens when we do touch you when you're in the spirit world," Katara reminded him. "Zuko took your physical body and nothing happened to him, and you were in the spirit world at the time."
"Well, I guess we'll see, right?"
"I guess."
"Whoo! While you guys are doing spirit stuff, I'm going to practice sandbending." She turned towards Sokka's direction, "You in ponytail guy?"
Completely ignoring the 'ponytail man', Sokka grinned. "I'm in! See ya later guys!"
They both ran to the shore.
The rest of them found a big bolder, about a hundred feet up from the ocean. The wind whipped through Danny's hair as well as Katara's.
"Okay, so you know what to do Danny?" Aang asked.
"Yes," Danny replied uneasily. He wasn't sure if he wanted to do it. But Katara said nothing happened when this 'Zuko' person touched him, so why would it be any different with him?
Aang sat down and started to calm, he focused on the waves below him and he easily slipped into the spirit world. His eyes glowed an icy blue. Danny yelped and stumbled back.
Katara chuckled. "I forgot this was your first time." She looked at the Avatar then back at the teen. "Okay, go ahead."
The ghost hybrid took a deep breath and put his hand on Aang's shoulder, for a second nothing happened. Then he felt his legs give up on him, he fell to his knees. His hand was still on the Avatar's shoulder; the world spun.
He felt a hand gripping his arm and realized it was Katara's. She was shouting for Toph and Sokka, but soon her shouts faded and he fell back into her lap. It was quiet, the world still spun, he couldn't hear anything.
Then the world slowly faded and a brilliant white light was all he could see.
…
Okay, okay, I lied. So they still don't know about his ghost half. I'm sorry, another plot bunny attacked me. I hope this wasn't a bad chapter or anything, I hope it was still enjoyable.
So… yup!
REVIEW REPLIES:
Jeanette9a: haha, nice! xD
lymea: lol, i'm glad you like that. Toph is my favorite character as well. :-) Thanks so much! Yup, i guess we're even! xD
Pichicha123: Here ya go! :D
GhostDog401: lol
cecilia: haha. :-)
starwarrior4ever: haha, i'm glad it did!
Splashfire: haha, smart Aang comes around!
ichigo-lover-1412: hehe, mee too...
prophetofgreed: thanks. And yeah... i like to do release dates. I just find it helpful for some reason. But i totally understand why i shouldn't.
THE ULTIMATE POTTERHEAD: lol, yes, a cliffhanger. xD
LandofMidnightRain: But you have to admit that i'm nice at updating at a fast pace, right? lol. thank you very much! :) It helps me when i tell people when the next chapter will be out, just a habit and it actually helps me. :-)
melody phantom: lol, i'm glad you're liking this. i try. xD
ChopSuzi: lol, happens to me all the time. xD
aWsOmEcx: haha, i'm glad you enjoy it! hehe... they still don't know...xD sorry? heh...
syd004: LOOOOL!
seantriana: lol, yup.
ulimo: A plot bunny attacked... so... um... i'm so sorry. lol
Sda209: it's totally fine. :-) ...well i do challange myself to get at least 2000 words... thanks by the way!
Clockwork Apperentice: :-) I'm glad you do!
chicaalterego: lol, that reminds me, i have a whole box of cookies (no seriously, i do) just try and find me and i'll give them to you. that way you won't have to bake them! xD Lol, oh, right i knew that...xD poor people. since when was i going to court? xD
fanficfantasies: I'm smiling some more! :-) That will PROBABLY be in the next chapter... heh...
Guest: Thanks! :-) lol, 500 bucks huh? haha!
deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover: lol, maybe. xD
Red-Hot Habanero: glad you enjoy it! hehe, well he had his cell phone, gotta explain it sometime! xD thanks!
ChristinCC: Woo! Chocolate bar! :-) sure thing! xD
Basia Orci: I'm glad you do!
Awesomeness: Yes, yes they are. xD Thanks. :-)
nonapal13: glad you do! :-)
Sorry for the spelling errors in the review replies, i was doing that on an iPad. It's a lot harder than a computer. I couldn't use the computer, so iPad it was... and i hope this chapter was okay!
Anyhow, thanks so much guys! :-)
