A/N: Well, I hope that the last chapter satisfied you enough so you wouldn't start getting hungry for the next chappie until right about now. And, hey, you're in luck! I just so happen to have that next chapter ready for you to chew on! Here is Chapter 25. Enjoy!

TrueHeart—Chapter 25—Disheartened

Danny had arrived at his home way before his friends did. He suddenly realized that he was starved and headed right to the kitchen. He quickly retrieved some snacks and made his way to his room. When he neared his parents' room, however, he stopped at their door. He quietly opened it and peeked in. He smiled in relief that they were asleep. Thankfully, all they knew was that he had gone to Valerie's party.

He shut the door as quietly as he had opened it; and then after dropping off most of the snacks in his room, he grabbed a granola bar, and headed toward Jazz's room. When he saw that a light was on under her door, he softly knocked on it.

"Come in," her voice quietly said.

Jazzed looked up from her book. She smiled when she saw that it was her little brother munching on a snack, and said, "That was a long party. Did you have fun?"

'I'll say it was, and not exactly," he said with a smirk, commenting on both of her replies in their exact order. But then, he proceeded to tell her between bites all that had happened at Valerie's party…

"Man, she really did that?" Jazz gasped upon hearing the part when Valerie revealed her secret to the three friends. "What was she thinking?"

"You know, before you said that, I hadn't had the chance to think about it," he remarked, grabbing his chin in thought before continuing. "But now that you mention it, that's a very good question. What was she thinking?" But he brushed those thoughts away for the moment as he added, "Well, anyway, there's more to the story."

Jazz gasped again when he told her about the fight he had with Valerie when she caught him looking for Tucker; and how he ended up in the Ghost Zone because of that. And then, he told her about everything that happened there, including Valerie's somehow being there and, of course, their encounter with the Wraiths.

Usually, she could keep level-headed with at least a calm 'psychotherapist' face on her whenever her little brother told her harrowing news such as this. But sometimes, even she could get a little fretful about all those scary things Danny did, even if most of them were all in a day's work for him. She finally said, "You're okay, aren't you? Well, of course, you're okay or you wouldn't be here telling me this, right? But you're okay, aren't you?"

Her brother smirked, "Yeah, I'm okay, thanks. And also thanks to that new healing power that Libro gave me, I'm as good as new. And, really, the Wraiths are nothing for me to worry about. They've sorta left me alone, well, since the first time I stumbled upon them. But still, they aren't to be taken lightly, either. They are a tough bunch when they want to be."

Jazz silently smirked at that remark. The Wraiths certainly weren't tough enough for her cool brother.

Then Danny added with a sigh, "Still, how Valerie got into the Ghost Zone is partly a mystery to me. Tucker somehow knew she was in there, but I don't know how she got there. But all I care now is that she's safe and back in the Real World."

"Good, and…" Jazz began, but she was interrupted by Danny's cell phone ringing.

Her brother put up his right index finger, signaling to his sister to hang with that thought as he answered it. "Hello?"

"We're right outside your front door, dude," Tucker reported to his ear.

"I'll be right down," he replied before hanging up.

He turned to Jazz and said, "You were saying?"

"Oh, nothing important, so who was that?" she said with a curious look.

"Tucker and Sam are here, so I gotta go."

She glanced up at her clock. It was nearly one in the morning. "This late?" she replied, raising an eyebrow and scrunching her face a little.

"C'mon, Jazz! We haven't been able to figure everything that happened tonight yet. And it's a Friday!"

She immediately gave him a 'just kidding' look and said with a mischievous smile, "Well, let me know all about it when you've got it figure out, okay, little brother?"

He returned her grin and nodded just before he left her room.

In no time, the three best friends were snacking and talking in Danny's room—make that only Danny and Sam were snacking. Tucker wasn't interested in the least with that. Instead, he wanted to hear everything that had happened with the Wraiths. And when he did, he was not very happy to hear that Valerie had come that close to being hurt—maybe even permanently so. His face and shoulders finally drooped when Danny had told him and Sam the rest. He had felt so guilty about all of it—including, of course, the fact that Danny had ended up there by mistake, too!

"I still can't believe that this has all happened," Sam finally said with some edginess to her voice. But then, she saw the slight change in Tucker's face and realized he wasn't eating. She cringed when she also realized that he looked very sorry right after she had said that. She never did blame him and she wasn't upset with him anymore; but then, he was kind of the reason why that had all happened to Danny…and even Valerie…..She wondered if now was the time to bring up all that other stuff on how Danny and Valerie ended up in the Ghost Zone in the first place. But it suddenly made sense to do so. Besides, she wanted to know if Tucker had changed his mind on what he had told her about Valerie.

She added more gently this time, "Hey, Tucker, maybe now you should tell Danny why you left the party so suddenly, okay?"

Tucker's face would have fallen right to the ground if it weren't still attached to his head. Both of his friends noticed that right away and frowned in worry. Still, Danny and Sam waited patiently to hear what he had to say. And, at first, it was a long patient wait because Tucker was surprised how hard it was to actually spell it out again.

Finally, Danny quietly said, "Look, dude, if you don't want to talk about it, we understand."

"No, that's okay, Danny. I owe it to you since I was sorta responsible for this whole thing. And I already sorta told Sam."

Sam scrunched her face a little more in worry. She had been hoping that since he had been so upset back then, he hadn't been serious about what he had told her earlier.

Tucker swallowed hard and his voice cracked a little as he said, "I ran away because I suddenly felt so….so dishonest." He paused and swallowed the lump down that was creeping up his throat.

His friends unconsciously bit their inner lips. He was very serious. They listened more carefully as he continued, "It's like this: I think that when Valerie did that—told us her secret, that is—she was feeling like she could trust us more now. But then, I suddenly knew that I couldn't trust her with mine—I mean, our— secret! I didn't know what to do or say, so I left before I could make matters worse."

The three of them fell to silence. They knew he was right. But before either Danny or Sam could say anything, Tucker spoke once more, and his words cracked, sounding drier than his throat felt. "But there's more. I don't think Valerie—or I should say—the Red Huntress will ever not stop hating Danny Phantom."

He paused a little at his next silent thought. Valerie might as well have been slicing him apart with how sharp that hatred-laced edge in her voice had been whenever she ranted on about Danny Phantom. He finally said, "It still gives me the creeps when she sounds so heartless whenever she talks about Phantom. I mean, she's talking about my best friend."

"Tuck..," Danny gently began.

But Tucker interrupted him, and motioning for him to stop, added, "No, it's okay, dude. I really understand. I think I'll just roll with it and break it off with Valerie. I had hoped it would—but guess it really won't—work out."

Sam gasped and Danny frowned. They knew he was very, very serious. And they both wondered why did he keep saying he 'understood' when he was so obviously upset about all this? But then, Danny thought of a way to help him.

"Hey, dude, maybe…" Danny tried to say again.

But Tucker interrupted him again, having a hunch on what his best friend was about to say. "No! I think it's the only way! I've made up my mind, okay? I know you would be willing to let me tell her your secret if it would help matters, but I really don't think it would. There's just too much other stuff. But thanks, anyway." He smiled after saying that, but it definitely wasn't a convincing one.

Danny and Sam could feel their own lumps swelling in their throats. They would never, ever wish that look on Tucker's face on him, especially with how low he definitely must be feeling right now.

Sam was particularly crushed by guilt at causing so much additional turmoil on her hurting friend. But she was too choked up to say anything.

Danny, of course, was also at a loss on what to do. Tucker had been right in suspecting that his friend would gladly let Tucker tell Valerie his secret—if that would make Tucker happy. But Danny also now knew that this is not what Tucker wanted.

Again, all three sat in a sad hush. Finally, Tucker rose and slowly said, "Well, I think I'll just get going. I'm totally beat, you know."

Danny and Sam were also so upset that they couldn't make themselves convince him to stay. They just nodded weakly as their friend quietly left the room. They looked at each other in silence after he left, but they didn't know what they could say to the other at the moment to help matters. Instead, they just sat holding each other, thinking about their best friend, and now feeling just as low as he.

In the meantime, Tucker was so glad that he had left when he did. He didn't want them to see the tears he now let flow freely as he walked among the cold nightly shadows.

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Valerie looked all around her after reaching the Real World—thanks, but no thanks—to Danny Phantom.

"Hmph!" she grumbled as she activated her GPS program to pinpoint her location. "That Ghost Punk probably just set me up back there to scare me into getting off his turf," she huffed again. She suddenly groaned, bitterly aware of the tender wound Razilo had given her as the cold air bit into it. She turned to look at it. She was relieved that at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. She grumbled under her breath, "And I'll never forgive him for doing it."

But underneath, she wondered just why he helped her—again. What about all those other times, too? What was in it for him, anyway? She tried to grumble her thoughts away, but couldn't. All those times when he 'helped' her didn't make up for all the times when he didn't. It probably was just part of his 'little game' with her. After all, he couldn't 'play' with her if she got wasted, now could he? The jerk!

She narrowed her eyes and growled in indignation. She would beat him at his own game. She was no sucker!

Her GPS beeped and she looked down at the map to home. Then she glanced at her watch. Nearly one in the morning already? Her dad was going to kill her! She pressed the accelerator of her hover-board and soared toward her house—well, as fast as her damaged board would let her, that is.

All during the slow-going route to home, other thoughts couldn't help but escape from her.

She still saw their faces—Danny's, Sam's-and especially Tucker's—when they reacted to her 'surprise'. It confused her. She had expected them to be, well, surprised, but not shocked. She frowned, disappointed with herself. Well, how else would they have reacted? It wasn't every day that someone laid this type of a bomb on their friends. Still, she thought that they were her friends, and that she could…trust them now, especially Tucker. And she had thought that they could now trust her…especially Tucker.

Valerie saw her house just ahead. Her face fell with her descending hover-board. She regretted the whole thing. How could she have been such an idiot? She tried to remain strong, but tears pushed forward in spite of it.

She entered her still open bedroom window and quickly deactivated her suit. She just as quickly—but also quietly—closed the window and crept toward her father's bedroom. She was surprised to see that his light was still on. She swallowed hard and knew she had to get this over with. She slowly opened the door and was about to call his name when her eyes widened. He was asleep?

The disheartened girl smiled weakly, a little happy that at least he was able to trust her.

She slowly closed the door. But before it had fully closed, her father quietly said, "Good night, Honey. And happy birthday, anyways. "

"Thanks, Daddy. Good night, too. I love you."

"Same here," he answered as she finished closing the door; and he then turned out his light.

Walking down the hallway, more of Valerie's tears suddenly began to flow. Some birthday.

"Yeah," she morosely grumbled to herself. "Happy Birthday."