Hey all. I am sooooo sorry that I haven't been up in forever and a day. But, since you are reading this, I'll list off my reasons. I was on a band trip, (computers were strongly discouraged) got sick, had to make up the schoolwork for the band trip and being sick, and then my cousin got married. More studies. Had enough of the craziness? Me too. But I also applied for a job, so I might be a bit occupied in the near future, but maybe not. Anyway, I'm sorry for being off, and I hope this chapter will make up for it. If not, let me know. I love reviews. ^^

Disclaimer: Do I really need to go over this with you again? I don't own the stuff unless it's mine! Get it through your head!

Chapter 10: Over the Woods and Through a Smile

The ground beneath her was a blur as Deliah flew away from Vlad's 'training home'. Even though she knew that Vlad had been slowly wearing away her stamina intentionally, she was starting to have second thoughts about leaving. Like it or not, she didn't have a lot of options. She had no place to go, no money, no place to stay, and only the clothes on her back and her sketchbook to her name. She couldn't go back to Josh. He was a Guy in White. She was a ghost. Well, a half ghost if you wanted to get technical, but still a ghost. Josh would have a field day if he found out that she was a ghost. No, Josh's place was not a smart option.

With a sigh, Deliah looked down at the ground to try to pinpoint her location. Woods. And a highway. Deliah adjusted her direction so that she was flying in the same direction. If she remembered correctly, this highway led to Amity Park. If she could, she would try to take refuge at St. Alice's. If not, there was a big hill on the far edge of the park that she could camp out on for a while. But then, the mayor had wanted to turn that area into a housing development, last she'd heard.

At that thought, Deliah face palmed herself. The mayor. She'd forgotten that Vlad Masters was the mayor of Amity Park, and that-wait. No. ever since the Disasteriod incident, some teenager had been appointed mayor, since Vlad had been thought to be floating aimlessly in space, and the fact that he was a half ghost. The new mayor was around her age, if she remembered correctly. Tucker Foley? Well, nevertheless, she'd have to lay low for a few days; work out what to do, where to go, and how to feed herself. She'd done it before. When she had been younger, she sometimes ran away from her past foster homes. She would usually last a day or two, before someone found her, usually drawing in a grassy clearing.

Deliah felt her eyes tear up. Even though she was flying through the air at top speed, on a chilly night, she knew her tears were caused by the small pile of ashes that were a few miles behind her. Vlad, with enough money to buy whatever he wanted, didn't get attached to any one thing; since he could always buy more of whatever it was that he wanted. He didn't understand how a drawing that had been made years ago could be anything significant. He hadn't talked to each person on that sheet of paper as a child, imagining a life where he was wanted, where he wasn't just another name on a list. Deliah squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the cold wind sting her face where her tears had slid down. When she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry.

She brought one of her gloved hands up to her face to wipe away her tears. She had just looked up in time to see that she was headed for something. Fast. Deliah only had enough time to process the fact that she should swerve out of the way when she collided with it. Whatever it was, it was hard. If she hadn't been in her Phantom form, she was pretty sure she would have gotten a cracked skull. It was also enough to send her tumbling out of the sky. She fell, losing hold of her sketchbook.

Deliah hit the ground with a heavy thump, leaving behind a good sized impression. Groaning, she got out of the large imprint, clutching her head where she had collided with . . . whatever it was. Quickly, she did an inventory of what was injured. So far, only her head was aching. She wiggled her fingers, toes, ankles, wrists, neck, knees, and elbows. Nothing was broken, and a good thing too. Since becoming half ghost, Deliah, in both Phantom and human form, had been able to heal at a rapid rate. What normally took months to heal, sometimes took a few days. Minor injuries, such as cuts or bruises, which she received in her ghost form, vanished when she turned back human. But, even though her ability to heal more quickly than what doctors would believe was even possible, it also meant that when she broke a bone her body tried to heal, often incorrectly. So, Vlad had been 'kind' enough to show her a trick. It had taken days to get right, and even now, it was a bit shaky. The trick was to turn her arm (or leg, or whatever else happened to be fractured) transparent, but keep her bone visible. She then had to set the said bone, and wrap it up. Vlad had even gone as far to break one of her arms to make sure she knew how to properly do it. It had been a painful few hours while she had struggled to set her own arm, and it was an experience that she didn't want to soon repeat.

Once Deliah was satisfied that all of her was intact, she sat up, still pressing her hand to her head. Squinting, she looked around to see if she could find what she had hit. It didn't take long for her to spot something a couple of yards away. It was a . . . person. But, it couldn't be. It was after midnight, and the only source of light was the moon. But this figure was letting off a very faint glow that she dimly recognized. It was white, and not entirely human. Deliah looked down at her feet, which was when she noticed that the white, glowing aura around the figure was identical to what was surrounding her ghostly form. But then that would mean that . . . Deliah looked harder. Sure enough, the figure who was climbing out of a similar indentation to her own, was dressed in a black hazmat suit with silver gloves, boots, and neckline, with the familiar Phantom logo on his chest. It was just her luck to slam into Danny Phantom. If she remembered correctly, he didn't trust her and thought she worked for the creep she had just escaped from. But, nonetheless, she should check that he was okay. She did run into him after all.

"Um, are you alright?" she asked the white-haired boy. He groaned, as she had earlier done, and pressed his hand to his forehead. With his eyes still shut, he responded, his voiced letting off a very faint echo that was similar to Deliah's voice while in her Phantom form.

"Yeah, I'm great." He said, his voice sarcastic. He then opened his eyes. They traveled up to her face, and blinked in surprise. He rubbed them, then stood up. but before he could say anything, Deliah cut him off.

"I am not Danielle, if that's what you were going to ask." She told him, thinking back to what he had assumed when he had helped her get out of that tree. Uh oh. She thought when Danny Phantom narrowed his eyes at her. This guy only knows me as Deliah Preston. He's never seen my Phantom form before. What if he makes the connection? She wondered franticly. She watched with barely controlled nerves as Phantom asked her a question.

"I wasn't going to. You're too tall to be Danielle. She's only thirteen, after all. What I want to know is how you knew about her. And who you are, for that matter." He said, crossing his arms. A small voice in the back of Deliah's mind took note about how he looked a lot like her; he was even standing the same way: back straight, arms crossed. And the fact that the hazmat suits, hair, skin, and eyes were all the same as hers added to the creepiness. Maybe he had looked like Deliah Preston when he had been alive.

"Um . . . I've heard about her. Everyone's always saying that I look just like her." Delaih said, bringing one of her gloved hands to the back of her head; what she did when she was nervous. "And my name?" she asked, unsure on what to say. Vlad had told her to call her ghost form Deliah Phantom, but Deliah wasn't so sure. It sounded like she was some wannabe fan girl. And since 'Deliah' wasn't the world's most common name, she was worried that Phantom might make the connection between Deliah Phantom and Deliah Preston. After all, her body build, facial structure, and overall look stayed the same when she changed. Her appearance was just different in . . . well . . . hair and eye color, skin tone, vocal sound, (her voice let off a faint echo while in her spectral alter ego.) and clothing. Which, she admitted, was enough to prevent anyone from making the connection between her two appearances. Heck, it had taken her a few days to recognize herself in a mirror. It's not like he knew about people who just happened to be half dead. Sure, he knew Danielle, but it had probably been a while since their last encounter. Especially if he had mistaken her for Danielle if she was thirteen. Look like her or not, it was still a stretch.

"Yeah. My name is Deliah. Deliah Phantom. And don't harp on my 'originality'." She told him, catching the smirk on his face. "The name was given to me." She informed him. This time, Phantom let out a small chuckle.

"Really? By who? Vlad Masters?" he asked, now laughing out loud. However, when the teenager standing across from him just stood there, with a somewhat guilty expression on her face, the mirth quickly vanished from his features. "No." the ghost hero said, stepping back in horror. (Deliah noticed that even though he stepped back into the dent in the ground, his level didn't change; he was hovering above the earth) "He didn't. Did he?" Without warning, Phantom flew over until he was inches away from Deliah. He planted his feet on the ground, and looked straight into her eyes with a deep intensity. Deliah blinked, but didn't step back.

"You're another clone of me, aren't you?" the question, though blunt, came from a voice that showed how tired the boy was. But that didn't stop Deliah from reacting to the words he had uttered.

"WHAT?" she practically screamed at him, taking several steps back and giving him an incredulous look. Yes, she looked like him. A lot like him. They were practically the same height. Add that to the fact that they both had white hair, green eyes, and similar designs in hazmat suits, and they looked like they could be clones, but saying something like that was just plain ridiculous.

Phantom now looked hesitant, but still convinced. "Not a clone? Hmm. Maybe some sort of crazed fan girl?" the last part was said in an exhausted manner. Deliah, however, was to infuriated by his remarks and assumptions to feel any sympathy for him.

"A clone? A fan girl? That's what I have to be in order to be here? Ego much?" she asked furiously. Even though she hadn't had much sleep for nearly a week, had broken out of a prison, rammed into someone, and discovered a way to push spectral energy out of her body, all within two hours, she could show this guy that she wasn't a fan girl. Or a clone, for that matter.

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Danny was surprised to see this 'Deliah Phantom's eyes flare up when he had asked if she were a clone or a fan girl. Whether she would admit it or not; she looked scarily like him. The only one who had even remotely looked that much like him had been Danielle, and she's been a clone. That, along with the fact that she had let on that Vlad had 'named' her, made him suspicious. He thought it was perfectly understandable. But, obviously, not to Deliah. (The irony that a girl who looked so similar to him also had the name 'Deliah' was so high; Danny didn't even want to think about it.) The girl who looked so similar to him had a fire in her narrowed eyes. Usually, fan girls (or guys, for that matter) denied being obsessive people with way to much free time on their hands, but eventually asked for a picture or an autograph. This girl looked like those two things were the last things she could want. And the last thing he expected was a familiar green aura to surround her clenched fists, which was exactly what was happening.

"What the-" He managed to get out before a green ghost-ray was fired from one of her hands at a tree that was behind him. Eyes wide, he turned to look at her hand, which was letting off green vapors from her attack. She smiled a small, smug smile at his shocked expression. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Still think I'm a 'fan girl'?" she asked him, her voice touched with frustration.

Danny's sleep-deprived mind was spinning. Another ghost? And one that could easily be mistaken for him at that. Where did she come from? How did she get out of the Ghost Zone? And why was she here? Ghosts normally didn't come out into the human world unless it was to visit an old haunt. Or to actually haunt, which is where Danny usually had to step in.

But, this ghost didn't look like she wanted to hurt anyone. In fact, she had looked sort of nervous when she had fired the ghost-ray out of her hand. She looked like someone who was lost. And slightly ticked, but that was understandable. She reminded him of how Danielle had looked before she had turned on Vlad. When Danny had tried to convince her of her 'father's true motives, she had looked like this Deliah did. A bit lost. Angry. Guarded. Indignant.

"No." Danny replied. "No fan girl could ever even hope to be able to do that. I'm sorry for the confusion." He told the girl with a smile. She didn't relax her crossed arms position, but did allow a shadow of weariness cross her face.

"Right. Just don't make the same assumptions again." She said. "I have enough on my plate as it is. Which reminds me, where's Amity Park?" she inquired. Even though the question had been asked casually, it sent out warnings to the male Phantom. An unfamiliar ghost wanting to know where his hometown was? Not okay.

Deliah must have read his expression, because she quickly added, "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going there to hurt anyone of anything. I just need to find someone there who might be able to help me get back on my feet. I promise I won't hurt anyone." She thought for a moment before adding, "Unless I'm attacked first." She amended.

Danny couldn't help but to chuckle to himself. This girl had spirit. And she looked like she would stick to a promise. Most people wouldn't believe her, since she had almost attacked him, but Danny felt as if she was someone that could be trusted. He believed her. He got the feeling that she would much rather protect than attack. She reminded him of himself, as weird as that sounded. And it wasn't because of how similar she looked to him. "Three miles in that direction." He told her, jerking his thumb off to his right side. He watched as Deliah's eerie, green eyes flickered over towards where he was pointing, then back to him. She surprised him by giving him a small smile. She then jumped up into the air, hovering a few feet off the ground.

"Thanks. And I'm sorry for calling you an ignorant, big-headed moron." She said. When she saw his expression, she laughed. A care-free, happy laugh. "In my mind." She clarified. "I've had a long day. A long week, actually."

Danny returned her smile. "I can relate." He told his look-alike. Then he turned serious. "But, please stay out of trouble. It's my job to protect, and I'd hate to have a friend put me in a situation where I'd have to do something I really don't want to have to do." His statement seemed to shock the floating teenager.

"You consider me a friend? I met you a grand total of maybe five minutes ago by ramming into your head. You have a very thick skull, by the way. I then attacked a tree. I was considering the grass by your feet, but I didn't know how accurate I would have been, since I have had almost no sleep the past few days." Deliah told him.

Danny smiled at her. He was going to like this girl, he could tell. "True and you have a hard head yourself. (Deliah rolled her eyes at that.) But I provoked you. It wasn't intentional, but I still did it, and for that I'm sorry."

Deliah quirked an eyebrow at him. "Sound a bit more formal, why dontcha? And you already apologized." She said, pushing her snow white bangs out of her face. "But thank you." She said, bringing her bright green eyes up so they met a pair that was identical in color and intensity. "It's nice to know that I'm not necessarily alone." She told him.

"No problem." Danny said, shrugging. "I feel like I almost know you or something. Did I meet you when you were . . . y'know, alive?" he asked. He didn't miss how the female's eyes widened in, was that fear?

"No." Deliah said quickly. "And my . . . death is kind of personal."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Danny told her, holding his hands out in a form of surrender. Deliah nodded and began to fly up into the sky. "Remember to stay out of trouble!" he called after her. The black and silver suited girl gave him a smile as she disappeared from view. She was okay. And he did feel like he knew her from someplace. That's when he saw something lying on the ground a few yards away. He walked over and picked it up.

It was a sketchbook. It was a thick notebook with a maroon cover. There was a black 'DP' drawn on the cover. Curious, he flipped it open. On the first page was a pencil drawing of a view from a car seat window. It was a typical view; the occasional tree, fields, grass, barbed wire fences, and the power line towers. The shading and detail was amazing, but the picture had been smeared. It looked like someone had taken their arm and swept it across the picture from left to right. It looked . . . like a real car ride. The picture was amazing. Danny turned the page. The next drawing was of a leaf. Just a leaf. The leaf had been blown up so that it filled the entire page. The artist had drawn in every little detail; the shadows the tips made, the veins, the delicate stem, the little packets of chlorophyll, and even a small drop of water near the top. It was a work of art.

Eagerly, Danny flipped through the rest of the sketchbook. He didn't even like art, and he knew that these were superb. He passed a sickle moon, a dog, a sunflower, a building, a computer with a blank screen, a folded quilt, a rocking chair, and even a portrait of a person who looked a bit like the Casper High bully and football star; Dash Baxter.

Once he had finished looking through the sketchpad, he flipped back to the front cover. On the inside, there was a brief note:

Please return to Deliah Preston if found.

Danny stared at that sentence for a few minutes in shock. Deliah Preston? The girl he had been looking for these past two weeks? What was she doing out here? This was nowhere near where he had run into her with her hand stuck in a tree. In fact, the spot where he had found it wasn't too far away from where Deliah Phantom had crash-landed. Had Deliah stolen this from Deliah? No, that didn't make any sense. Why would a ghost want a few sheets of paper with pencil marks all over them? They were really good pencil marks, but still!

Then, Danny thought he understood. Maybe Deliah found the sketchbook and was returning it to Deliah! Wow. Danny thought, rubbing his head. Two Deliahs? How am I going to keep them straight? Well, no matter who, Danny had to get this back to Deliah. Deliah Preston. It was obvious that she had put a lot of energy and time into these drawings, and returning it was the right thing to do. Of course, getting this back to her would be a lot easier if I knew where she was. Danny thought to himself.

Danny let out a sigh of frustration. It was late. There were no ghosts out, and tomorrow he had a test that he was nowhere near prepared for. He tucked the sketchbook under his arm and flew home. It wasn't until he was home, in bed, and practically asleep that a wall of worry and fear hit him.

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Oh no. Deliah moaned to herself. No no no no no. I did not lose my sketchbook. I did not leave it in the middle of the Woods of Lake Eerie. And to make matters worse, it had started to rain. What was left of all of her drawings was a wet pile of soggy paper by now.

Deliah wrapped her arms (now swathed in a long-sleeved blue T-shirt) around herself, and buried her face in her arms, which were resting on her knees. Her sketchbook was lost. She was now officially 'homeless' and was sleeping in a tree. Only two thoughts remained as she drifted off: that she was at least away from Vlad Plasmius, and how Phantom had smiled at her, even after she had admitted to almost attacking him. And how he'd called her 'friend'.

*whew* That, my fellow reader, is the longest chapter yet. 25 KB! Woot woot! Oh, and if any of you know ANYTHING about foster care, I would really appreciate it if you would PM me and let me know, since my knowledge on the subject is tragically limited.

And, for those of you who think I made insulted Danny's character for not making him realize who he was conversing with, may I remind you about his nickname? Clueless? And Danny has no idea that there is another ghost-human hybrid in existence. And the differences in appearances of both Danny and Deliah (and, to that extent, Danielle) are enough to prevent anyone from making the connection. The only reason Jazz (who is one of the smartest people out there) figured it out was because she saw him change. Even Vlad, who was the world's first hybrid, didn't know it until Danny changed. We see all the similarities because we know that they are there, and we know to look for them.

Anyway, thanks soooo much for reading. It really does make my day. I LOVE you all for reading, and don't forget to review!

Keep Laughing!