I left you with a bit of a cliffhanger, so here's chapter 21. All my normal chattyness is at the end. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Death

"Danny!" Sam cried as soon as she saw her boyfriend step out of the portal. She couldn't contain her joy as she practically tackled him in her embrace. They held each other tightly for as long as they could. Sam was just relieved to see him come back, while Danny just wanted to savor this last moment.

"I'm so glad you're back, Danny! You guys were taking so long that we were beginning to get worried," Sam said with a sigh of relief. Danny shyly looked at the floor in response, not exactly sure how to answer her.

"So, Dan's gone now, that's it?" Tucker asked anxiously.

"Yeah, we got him. He's gone, as in doesn't even exist gone," Danny answered quietly. His two friends breathed a sigh of relief as they celebrated this victory.

"Come on, let's go out and celebrate!" Sam suggested enthusiastically.

"Yeah, let's go! Come on, Danny, I'll do whatever you want, even if it means eating vegetables, but I know you wouldn't do that to me," Tucker teased light-heartedly. Both Sam and Tucker were happy to know that the one thing the feared most was done with and out of their lives.

"Guys," Danny called to them in nearly a whisper, "I don't think that's a good idea." Sam and Tucker looked at him quizzically. "There's something I need to talk to you about, and I'm not sure how much time I have to say it." Tucker and Sam looked at each other nervously and then slowly approached their friend.

"Sure dude, you know you can tell us anything. What's up?" Tucker's voice was comforting, and lacked its normal joking undertone. He knew whatever was going on must be really important, and that whatever it was his friend needed him to be serious for now.

"When we went in," Danny started carefully, "something happened that we weren't expecting. It changed our whole plan, and left two options: wait it out for more time to maybe think of something better, or take care of it now with certain sacrifices that we might needed to make anyway if we had waited, only we knew that if we did it now it would work."

"Sacrifices…?" Sam thought out loud, trying to get her thoughts in order. Suddenly a light bulb went off in her head, and she gasped in shock.

"Danny," she said softly as tears began to roll down her face, "change back, please."

Danny dropped his gaze at her request. He looked dejectedly at the floor as he hesitated before quietly answering.

"I can't. I'm sorry."

"Then why did you come back? How could you come back?" Sam asked in confusion. None of what was going on made any sense to her. Mentally she comprehended everything that was going on, but emotionally it just didn't click. This couldn't be happening. His cousin freaking controlled this type of stuff! It shouldn't have been allowed to happen!

"Sam," Danny lifted her chin locking her gaze with his, "I came back because I promised you I would. I said nothing would stop me, and nothing did. I love you, more than you will ever know."

"Well, I think now I have a pretty good idea." Sam smiled weakly, knowing how rare this event is, and how much it meant to both of them. They were just about to pull into each other, when a male voice echoed through the room.

"Time out," they heard the somber voice of the time ghost cry. Danny and Sam looked at each other, and then at themselves. They both had on Clockwork's amulets, the ones that allowed others beside the time ghost to exist outside the confines of the time stream. They looked around the room, only to find that it was entirely frozen in time, except for the three Fates, who were speaking to Clockwork with utterly bewildered and upset faces.

"W-what's going on?" Danny asked Clockwork in utter confusion. The ghost's presence confused him, as normally it meant either good news or bad news, and the former didn't look promising.

"With the agreement of the Observants (for once, we agreed on something), I have a proposition for you," he answered the frightened boy calmly, getting straight to the heart of the matter.

"What kind of proposition?" Danny asked, still confused as to why he decided now was a good time to bring this up.

"There is an important choice that you now face Daniel, one that neither I nor anyone else can decide for you."

Danny had no idea what he was talking about. He looked over at the Fates for help, but it was clear from their expression that understood just as much of what was going on as he did. Danny looked back at Clockwork for some sort of hint as to what the ghost was trying to hint at, but the ghost showed no sign of explaining further.

"Come," Clockwork finally said after a long pause, "I will show you what this choice is. You may bring Samantha, as this choice affects her as well. Now you three," he now directed his attention toward the three Fates, "must come as well. There is a lesson here that you must learn about the nature Fate and Time."

Bewildered, they all looked at each other, but followed the ghost to another time.

In this time, it was a sunny spring afternoon. The songs of chirping birds resounded through the air. Fully bloomed cherry blossoms dotted the park landscape which the group was currently floating over. The cheery scene was such a contradiction to the depressing and morbid one they had just come from that all but Clockwork stood there slightly dumbfounded as they adjusted to the situation at hand.

After a long and deafening silence, Danny finally spoke up for the group, asking "Where are we?"

"This is Amity Park, ten years in the future. I am sure you are wondering why I chose to show you this." Danny nodded in response, so Clockwork continued, "Do you see that couple over there? I want you to watch them, very carefully."

Danny did as he was told. They were nothing out of the ordinary, just a young, married couple, probably in their late twenties, enjoying a day out in the park. They were with laughing and playing with a little girl no older than three, who, judging by the raven hair she shared with the couple, was probably their daughter, while a baby slept in a carriage nearby. It was a typical family outing, one that happens everywhere and anywhere.

"Clockwork, it's just two parents playing with their kid, something that I could see anywhere. What's so important about them?" Danny asked, slightly miffed at being suddenly dragged here with nearly no warning.

"Take a closer look, and you'll see what link they have to you." Clockwork cryptically answered, as always. Danny rolled his eyes and looked back at the playful parents. Seriously, why does he always have to be so cryptic? Couldn't he be straightforward for once in his life, or rather afterlife? Danny left his mental ranting for later and focused on the task at hand, even though he wasn't exactly sure what it was.

"Impossible!" Katie cried out. "How does this timeline still exist? I was told… and he was told… and they told me… how did this happen?" Katie asked in awe.

Danny looked closely at the couple before hand, and his cousin's shock now made sense. Before him was himself, but older… and very much not dead.

"How?" was his stuttered response.

"The Observants, as annoying as they may be, took notice of what you did. You willingly sacrificed your happiness for the sake of everyone else, knowing that you would probably not return. They were impressed by your courage, your loyalty, and by your skillfulness during the fight. They were so impressed, in fact, that they decided to give you a very rare opportunity. They are giving you a second chance. You will return to your life, exactly as it was before all this happened."

Danny was silent, humbled by the offer before him. He was being given the chance to live again! He didn't know what to say. He looked at Sam, whose expression of dumbfounded happiness mirrored his.

"However, there is a catch, so to speak," Clockwork continued. "If you choose to take this offer, you will not live the same life that you once did. You will be coming back as my apprentice, and you must do exactly as I say. If I call, you must come, no matter what is going on at the current moment. You will have to learn to divide your time between here and the Ghost Zone, and you will be expected to spend certain lengths of time training with me. Eventually, you will be required to spend all your time with me, but that won't be for quite a few decades.

It is a difficult job, working for me. It will end up becoming a big part of your life, just ask your cousin. She spends more time doing her work for me then she lets you believe."

"Am I allowed to tell anybody?"

"You may tell your friend, Tucker, and your sister if you so wish, but I strongly encourage you not to tell anyone else."

Danny stayed silent for a minute, thinking the whole thing over. Though truly it wasn't even a contest, he wanted to appease Clockwork by thinking very carefully about what he was doing. So he spent a few tense moments in silence doing what he knew the time ghost expected of him. Finally, he decided that he had spent enough time thinking and gave an answer.

"If it means that I get to go back with Sam, then I'll do it, no matter the price." Clockwork, though he tried to hide it, gave a slight smile when the boy confirmed what he knew the answer to be.

"If that is your final decision, then I must abide by it." Clockwork opened up another portal, and gestured Sam and Danny into it.

"This will bring you two back to the exact minute I left you. You three," he now turned his attention toward the Fates, "Come with me, we have work to do."

Danny looked at them quizzically.

"Work to do?" He asked himself. It was a rhetorical question that was answered anyway.

"Yes, work to do," Katie said, pulling up her hood, "You get a second chance, but we…"

"And by 'we' we mean mostly Katie, with a little help from Jess," Molly interrupted. Katie glared at her before continuing.

"But we have to do all the dirty work to make it happen. But we're happy to do it." She added brightly.

"Thanks guys." Danny smiled at them, and, with a slight wave, he and Sam set off into the portal, ready to start a new life.

Okay, so what did you think? Was it too slow? More importantly was it way too sappy? If you have any advice or comments, please leave a review.

So, that's chapter 21. Originally, I had a graduation chapter planned out as the final chapter, but I think I'm just going to skip straight to the epilogue. I don't know, we'll see. If you guys have some advice on that, please let me know.

Before I go, I just want to thank everyone who has stuck with me this far. Thanks for everything you guys! And now I'm done being chatty, so until the next chapter!