LES: First, let me just say that I'm so happy with the reviews I've gotten for the first part. I spent the whole of last week (minus the time I spent at work. Yuck.) writing it. I've been worried about posting it though because it's been a whopping four years since I last wrote fan fiction, and I'm so out of practice. Basically, don't be afraid to give me constructive criticism. After four years, I've probably (definitely) lost some of my old touch with fan fiction. I know that my ability to write romance has taken a dive (used to be I could write whole chapters of just romance…) but if there's anything else that you guys think I can improve on, just let me know. Thanks, guys!


Chapter IX: As The Years Go By


(Six Years Later)

For the past several years, things had really flown by. For the most part, Danny had been forced to focus on the Ghost Zone. Pariah Dark had been the King, but he had been locked in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep for so long that many ghosts did not know what the king did.

By far the hardest thing that Danny had to do was regulate travel to the human world via natural portals. He could not stop ghost attacks that were all ready in the human world, but he could reduce the number of violent ghosts breaking out into the human world.

It was the first time in his rule that he had been met with anything resembling a rebellion. Many ghosts were unhappy with the fact that their king was basically trapping them in the Ghost Zone, and he'd had to face a number of challenges to his throne. But the young King Phantom had been able to defeat all comers.

So, five years after taking the throne, the challenges slowed down to a stop and most of the ghosts now accepted that if they wanted to travel to the human world, they were bound by law not to attack the residents.

And it was a good thing that the challenges stopped when they did, because something happened not long after that put some strain in his relationship with his wife, Sam.

Not long after he had married her, she had revealed to him that she knew that he would eventually stop aging and that she didn't want him to suffer through watching her grow old and die while he remained forever in his mid-twenties. She told him that she had plans set up with Thanatos for months to send her peacefully to her afterlife when he stopped aging.

A part of Danny, the part that had passed the test of the Crown of Fire, remembered what the crown had taught him. Human life is temporary. Eventually, Sam would die, and there was nothing that could stop that. But, even still, he was not totally okay with her basically having an assisted suicide.

"You don't have to do this." Danny told her as they lay in his bedchambers after she had told him. He ran his fingers through her hair, nearly paralyzed by his love for her. "Sam, I understand what you are feeling, but I can't ask you or anyone to die for me."

"You don't even have to ask me." Sam replied, pulling him into a kiss. "I want to have a life with you, Danny, even if it is an afterlife. I want to help you and support you, and I can hardly do more than smile and wave as a princess. And, Danny, I want to have a child with you."

Danny sighed. He definitely knew how she felt in that regard. He could not give her a child as a human, but he could create a ghostly child with her. But that would not work unless she were a ghost herself. "I want a child with you too, Sam… but dying for one?"

"Thanatos promised it would be painless, and I believe him. Don't you?" Sam asked.

"Of course I believe him." Danny replied. After Clockwork, Thanatos was one of the ghosts that he really thought of as a friend. In some ways, he was closer to Thanatos than any other ghost because, like him, Thanatos was a halfa. He sighed. "If you want to do this, then I do understand, Sam. Really. The Crown of Fire really beat into my mind how human life is temporary. If you're going to become a ghost, then I will become a full ghost too."

"There's no reason for you to do that." Sam said. "Being a halfa is too much of who you are. Remember what happened when we split you in two?"

Sam didn't say it, but Danny also remembered what had happened when an alternate version of himself got ripped in two. And he knew that Sam was right. He could absolutely not risk himself going crazy from being turned into a full ghost and wielding the power that he had access to. He could end up like Pariah Dark. Hell, the Sarcophagus was still standing in the throne room as a reminder of how he could be taken out.

"Maybe… we could find some way to turn you..." Danny began.

"Into a halfa?" Sam laughed quietly. "You know that the Observants would blow a gasket if you asked permission for another halfa to be created. They are so down on halfas in general that it looks like Thanatos is going to keep his post for the rest of eternity."

He sighed, and kissed her. "Okay. I understand I can't expect them to allow another halfa to be created just because I asked. I guess this is the only way..." He thought back on the vision he had of her as a ghost while under the control of the Crown of Fire. She had been glorious, every inch a ghost queen. He wondered briefly if she would end up looking like she had in his vision.

One thing he knew for sure was that she wouldn't change her personality from it. Whether a ghost kept the same personality as their human self depended almost entirely upon the strength of their spirit. And Sam had one of the strongest spirits he knew.

"When are you going to do it?" Danny asked.

She ran her fingers down his face, gazing at him intently. "You haven't changed in a year." She told him.

Danny sighed. He had known that he had stopped aging several months ago. Twenty-three was the age he'd stay for all time. "I know." He said softly. "I guess you'll want to do this soon?"

She nodded. "There's no point in putting it off." She said.

"Okay." He leaned down over her, pulling her into a passionate and demanding kiss.

"Make love to me." Sam whispered against his mouth. "My last night as a human… show me the very best of humanity."

"As you wish, my love." Danny whispered his reply, transforming back into his now-rarely used human form and pulling her closer to him.


Overall, it had gone just as Thanatos said it would, quick and absolutely painless. The Spirit of Death had not even needed to draw her blood with the Deathscythe. As soon as the unsheathed blade touched her flesh, Sam unbound spirit rose from her body.

It turned out that Sam's ghostly form was pretty close to the one he'd seen in the visions that the Crown of Fire had given him. She was gloriously beautiful, the strength of her spirit shining through without hindrance from her flesh any longer. In terms of power, she was slightly stronger than other newly formed ghosts, but it would take many years for her to reach her full strength.

Danny rushed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. In the Ghost Zone, she felt as real as she ever had, but it would take her some practice to keep her body together if she left the ectoplasm-rich environment for the human world.

"Sam? Are you all right?" Danny asked, meeting her eyes with his.

She smiled at him. "I think I'm all right." She said.

It was a strange moment for Danny. On the one hand, the woman that he loved was dead. But, on the other hand, her death had opened the door up to them being together for all eternity.

"I love you, Sam." Danny kissed her, deciding that Sam had wanted him to be happy.

"I love you too." Sam replied.

"Her spirit is remarkably strong." Thanatos commented, looking over her appearance. "It appears that she'll have no issues with keeping her identity and a grasp on her emotions. When she fully matures, she might even transcend to being a spirit!"

"I'll bet you are tired, my queen." Danny said, whispering her new title in her ear. After he had been transformed into Phantom for the first time, Danny had felt so tired that he could barely stand. It had taken him nearly all day to feel better. But that had been because his body was trying to feed on ectoplasm and it could only make due with the trace amounts of ectoplasm that emitted from the portal. In the Ghost Zone, Sam would probably be feeling a lot less tired in a few hours.

"I guess… I'm a little tired." Sam admitted. Danny picked her up, and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. Thanatos followed Danny as he began to carry Sam up to their room to recover.

Thankfully, Danny was correct, Sam recovered from the experience much faster than he had. Within the ectoplasm-rich environment of the Ghost Zone, her ghost form soaked up ectoplasm. It would take years for a new ghost to reach full power, but she was off to a good start.

And, of course, the two people who were most interested in studying Sam's transition into being a full-fledged ghost was Danny's parents. For the past few years, Danny's parents had been making regular trips into the Ghost Zone for research. No weapons, of course. But, even still, they had trouble talking to ghosts because of their history of being trigger-happy ghost hunters. But, thankfully, Sam was familiar with them and allowed them to ask their questions.

"Have you noticed any changes to your emotional state?" Maddie asked.

"Well, some of my emotions seem to have dimmed." Sam answered thoughtfully. "But most of my emotions seem to have stayed about the same. I still love Danny just as much as I did when I was alive, but I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that I died for love."

"So that means that you'll be able to give us some grandchildren? Um… grandghosts?" Jack asked. "Well, they'll be Fentons either way!"

"Yes. Danny and I do want to have a child together." Sam said.

Danny, who was walking past, stopped abruptly when he heard the conversation turn to children. He grinned to himself and floated up behind his parents with a sly grin on his face. "If you're so interested in us having a child, do you want to watch us make one?"

Both Maddie and Jack stared at him in shock. "Are you… serious?" Jack asked.

"I don't think I want to take scientific investigation… that far." Maddie said with a disturbed look on her face.

Danny and Sam both burst out laughing. "Jeez, mom, ghosts reproduce differently from humans. There's no physical contact."

"Oh… oh… well, that sounds very interesting." Maddie said, blushing.

"But not yet. Sam's ghostly core needs to mature for a few more weeks." Danny said. Before anyone could say anything else, Tucker ran into the room. "Tucker? Where did you come from?" Danny asked, shocked. His parents had come in the Specter Speeder.

"Clockwork brought me." Tucker said, rushing up to Danny. "Dude, we've got a problem. A massive problem!"

"What? What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"You're not going to like it." Tucker said, passing Danny his cellphone. Danny took the phone and glanced at the screen, and he almost dropped the phone in shock.

The phone was on a news website, and he couldn't stop staring at the headline.

Wisconsin Billionaire Vladimir Masters announces his plans to run for the President of the United States of America.


LES: I'm sorry, my current events is showing.