Valerie wasn't sure how she had gotten herself in this situation.

One might suppose that by saying such an ominous statement she meant it in a bad way but, surprisingly, she had not. Something had changed in the last three years and even she was afraid to admit that. Graduation was just around the corner and with that came college. She was working towards law enforcement and, while that didn't always entail ghost-napping, she and her father alike thought that it would be best for a girl of her … interests. She was not even close to ready to leave her father. Sure, after three years of late night hours and brown-nosing he had gotten his old position at Axiom back, but Valerie still felt a sort of protectiveness over Damon that had only come after her fiasco with Danny Phantom and his dog. Now was the matter of waiting a little while to upgrade to a nicer, larger apartment (she and her dad had found that apartment-style living had actually suited them quite nicely and that they wouldn't mind residing in a complex for a couple years before house hunting).

Danny Phantom. The boy who had changed her life in more ways than one. She'd never understand Vlad Master's interest in him or his constant denies of Cujo being his dog when she saw the two around each other all the time, but Valerie supposed that didn't matter now. She had other things to consider, like college, the new apartment, and … well, and the ghost lying next to her and staring silently up at the night sky with a swollen eye and a relaxed expression.

Phantom and Valerie loved to fight one another, though it seemed Valerie did most of the fighting. It did not even constitute as fighting anymore. Not really. She and Phantom moreso … sparred. For hours. In the middle of the night. Yeah, that's what it was.

She really should just handcuff the ghost now and take him back to Masters, but she'd found quickly that Phantom always managed to get away in record time so, really, what was the point? It was rare that he and Valerie would sit silently on a roof with one another, but still. They were both sore from the fight and tired because of the moon, whose tiny crescent allowed stars to be seen more visibly through the dark of space. Valerie guessed that she had just stopped caring as much. She and Phantom had been young when the incident occured and she had made plenty of mistakes along the way. The two of them were just … older, both physically and mentally.

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows. It was strange how much Phantom had changed, considering he was a ghost. She glanced over and noticed that it had not been just mentally, either. Phantom had lost his baby face and a couple pounds along the way, revealing a jawline and cheekbones. He'd gained muscle mass, though, which showed through his suit. And he had grown taller. Valerie used to top him by four inches, at least. Now the tip of his nose went to about Valerie's hairline when they stood side by side, and that was with her uniform on.

Valerie studied his swollen eye. She'd done that earlier with a well placed kick to his face. It had not bruised yet and it might never get the chance to due to Phantom's accelerated healing. Valerie had gone unscathed, just like she usually did. After three years, she had began to notice how he purposely missed his shots. Valerie had seen him around other ghosts and he never missed, not anymore. It was just with her.

Why? Why would he do that for her? Was it because he was human and he had some sort of moral compass? Because he had convinced himself that he was the hero through and through? Or because of something more primal, like how his ghostly obsession forbade him from doing harm to anyone alive?

"You're staring," Phantom mumbled, and Valerie tensed when she realized he and his illuminated eye (the other one was completely closed now) were staring intensely into hers.

"Sorry," she quickly responded, looking back up at the sky.

Beside her, Phantom chuckled lightly. He was completely at ease, even after what she'd done to his face. She'd done worse before, back when Phantom wasn't so good at dodging. Briefly, she wondered if ghosts scar.

A moment of silence passed. Valerie sighed, staring at the big dipper. It and the little dipper were the only two constellations she knew. That and Orion's belt, which always shone brighter than the stars around it. She supposed that's how it became a constellation in the first place.

"When I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut," Phantom said suddenly, breaking the quiet.

Valerie closed her eyes. She could feel Phantom beside her, his cold presence somehow not inspiring a feeling of uncomfortability. "Before you were … ?"

"Dead, yeah." Phantom's eyes searched the skies above and he smiled a little. "I memorized the control panels in seventh grade."

"What's stopping you from going?"

"I'm a ghost now, remember?" Phantom sighed, but it didn't sound sad. Just nostalgic. "Plus I've already been sans the spaceship."

"You're joking." Valerie opened her eyes to look at him and his soft, remnistic smile. "What's it like?"

Phantom did not respond for a bit. "Void of oxygen? I mean, it's really cool, but I was kind of on important business at the time. It's … kinda like the Ghost Zone, actually. You ever been? Besides when we were imprisoned by Skulker, I mean."

Valerie bit her lip. "No." A beat passed. "It kinda creeped me out, actually."

"Well yeah, I'm sure. I was creeped out at first, too," Phantom said. "But if you just sit in there like we're sitting now, it's really peaceful. Just miles and miles of green swirls."

"Sounds empty."

Phantom did not respond to that. Instead, he hummed and began twiddling his thumbs on his stomach.

"Did you get good enough grades? To become an astronaut, I mean."

"Yeah, I guess. It was middle school, mind you. Grades don't really matter when you're that young. But they started dropping when I-"

Valerie looked over. Phantom had froze. "When you what?" she prodded.

" … When, uh, right before I died, I guess."

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"

Phantom shook his head, almost panicked. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Valerie stared at him. That was really uncharacteristic for Phantom. She'd never really seen him unwilling to talk, especially about his past. He was always going on about what he used to do when he was alive, like how he loved eating at the Nasty Burger with his friends and how Valerie should totally try the vanilla milkshake with strawberries and bananas in it, extra strawberries and bananas. This time, he'd frozen. Like it wasn't something he wanted to share.

Like he was hiding something.

Valerie didn't prod. Maybe she would another day, but tonight she didn't want to scare him away. As much as she hated admitting it, it was nice lying beside him. Calming. Peaceful. Like it was just him and her and the rooftop and the stars and nothing else.

… Empty. But not in a bad way. Valerie wondered if this was how space felt. How the Ghost Zone felt.

"You should take me sometime," Valerie said, almost to herself.

"Where?"

"The Ghost Zone. You should … show me around."

"Really?" Phantom sat up a bit and studied her, eyebrows raised. "Aren't we supposed to be like, mortal enemies or something?"

Valerie just shrugged. After a while, Phantom lay back down.

"Sure. We should do it before our graduation, though. I mean your. Your graduation. Before you leave."

"Okay."

Valerie wasn't sure how long they had lay there afterwards, but neither of them had gotten up to leave until after the sun had turned pink from sunrise and the birds had began chirping.