Author's Note: Still don't own Danny Phantom. And thanks to all for the kind reviews.

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Daniel Fenton slowly slid open the top drawer of his desk. The room was quiet, which was odd enough in itself. Twenty heads bent over twenty test sheets and he worried that he'd made it too hard. Still, the silence made a nice break from explosions and paper airplanes.

He reached in and pulled out an energy bar, wincing at the pull of the muscles in his arm. Last night had been particularly bad, one of the worst encounters yet. Jazz was right, this was getting out of hand. For the last few months it seemed that a new breed of ghost had been finding its way to Amity Park. These ghosts weren't just nasty. They were malevolent, and extremely powerful.

He glanced up to see if the squeaking drawer had disturbed anyone, but they were all still busily working. He carefully unwrapped the bar, smiling at the wrapper. "Super Naturals". It had Sam all over it. He'd made sure to keep tabs on his two friends after they left Amity Park, and Sam's story was definitely something. She'd dropped out of college after one semester, worked a few crazy jobs, made her way across the country with a backpack and a sturdy pair of boots, and gone on to start her own natural products company. It seemed that she'd inherited her family's business sense, although she'd probably hate it if anyone told her that. The company, a clearing house for natural, recycled and vegetarian products, was just getting off the ground, but it was picking up steam quickly,

He took a bite of the bar. It tasted like cardboard flakes and dog food, but he'd come to like the taste in an odd sort of way. It reminded him that he'd made the right choices. Sam was happy, doing well, finding her place in the world. That never would have happened if she'd hung around Amity Park.

The bell rang, making him jump, which in turn made several of the students laugh. They bunched up around his desk, jostling to drop their tests off and get out the door. A few of the girls lingered, asking silly questions, finding a reason to hang around the cute new teacher a little while longer. "Maybe you should start an after school tutoring session, Mr. Fenton. That test was a killer." One of the girls, he couldn't remember her name just now, was smiling at him as she wrote her name on her test with a little heart over the "i". That's right. Belinda.

"I'll think about it. Better hurry or you'll miss the bus." The girls filtered out, leaving Daniel chewing the dog food/cardboard bar, which made him think of the Box Ghost, which made him think of the first year he'd gotten his ghost powers, which made him think of Tucker and Sam, which made him think about how much he missed them.

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The snow was falling harder now, covering everything in the park with a fluffy smoothness. Danny walked slowly, hands in his pockets, not really in a hurry to get home in spite of the fact that it was so dark. He closed his eyes and let the cold flakes hit his warm face, listened to the noises of the town and the wind. It was peaceful, serene, and...

WHOOOMP!

Something hit him in the back of the head, and not lightly either. His eyes glowed green as he spun around. He didn't see a soul, human or otherwise, but he could feel the snow sifting down the inside of his coat collar. This was no ghost. It was a snowball-wielding, flesh and blood person. The first thought in his head was that it was Dash or one of his crew, but things had really settled down during Senior Year. The cliques seemed less...cliquey and everyone seemed to be thinking more about the future than about who was the biggest loser. That wasn't to say that everyone sat around campfires holding hands, but maybe they'd all grown up a little.

While he stood there in the open like a six-foot bullseye, another snow missile hurtled toward him. This one caught him on the ear as he tried to dive out of the way. He heard a laugh from behind the statue of some town founder or other and realized the source instantly. "You're gonna be so sorry when I catch you!" In spite of his better judgment, he stooped down and scooped up a big handful of snow, patting it into a projectile with his thick winter gloves. He knew better. He'd been spending the better part of the last year trying to push Sam away. But the snow was melting and trickling down his back, and the air was crisp, the night was new and clean, and something in her laugh made him want to...well, pelt her with snow for one thing.

He heard shuffling and saw a figure in black sprinting between the statue and a tree. He took aim and lobbed his snowball at her. He knew his strength, muscles built up from the last few years of fighting and running, arms and legs grown long, and he was careful not to throw too hard. Just hard enough. He laughed out loud, for the first time in months, and it felt amazing. Cold air filled his lungs, and the breath in front of him was crystalline white, not blue. The snowball hit her in the shoulder and she yelped, diving for cover behind a bristly pine tree.

"You shouldn't dress in black if you want to blend in with a snowdrift!" he yelled as he ran after her. Somehow, she'd snuck away, and while he was running toward the tree after her, he heard a high-pitched shriek from behind just as a dark shadow sailed toward him, knocking him down into a drift of snow. She was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe as she tried to stuff snow down his back. He managed to roll over, but not to shake her as she continued to try to pin him down. He was laughing as hard as she was, barely having to fight to hold her smaller body at bay, managing to grab a handful of snow and toss it at her face.

She stopped laughing suddenly, looking down at him with sparkling crystals in her dark hair and eyelashes, dusted on her cheeks and melting on her lips, which were red with the cold. He stopped laughing too, realizing her arms had stopped thrashing, afraid for a second he'd hurt her. She didn't look hurt and he was mesmerized by the light from the streetlamp catching the glisten of flakes on her lip. She was breathing hard from the exertion of trying to stuff snow in his shirt. He was breathing hard because she was so close.

Suddenly all of his dreams seemed to be hanging in the air above him, so close that if he just reached the tiniest bit... She closed the gap between them, her lips warm as she brushed them against his. He drew in a deep breath as his arms closed around her, pulling her down to him, drinking like a drowning man from her kiss. It was the best three seconds of his life, before his brain decided it wasn't going to shut down after all. He had a flash of the future. The one Sam wasn't going to have if she hung around Amity Park, helping him chase ghosts. He pushed her away roughly, rolling out from beneath her and quickly standing up. He kept his back to her as he brushed snow from his coat.

He waited just long enough to make sure she got up. He couldn't look at her. He knew if he looked at her, he'd be done for.

"Danny..." Her voice sounded small. He cut her off. "I'd better get home. My parents'll be waiting." He knew he should walk her home, but he didn't trust himself. Instead, he waited until she walked toward her house, then went intangible and followed her to her door.

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"Mr. Fenton, do you think you could give me some extra credit work?" a high-pitched voice asked from the open doorway. He turned to shoo the girl out only to see a giggling young woman in the doorway, dressed in black jeans and a black sweater, her black hair pulled into long ponytail and her lilac eyes twinkling. Her voice was huskier as she spoke this time, and achingly familiar. "Long time, no see, Danny."