Chapter 2

This chapter is dedicated to my very first reviewer: Rose Garden twilight! Yay! And to all my other lovely reviewers, I love you! I didn't really that much of a response to this fic, but thank you all so much! It really means a lot to me.

Anyway, some of you were wondering how no one noticed that Danny was half-ghost. I promise you, all will be explained… just not now.

Disclaimer: But mah Danneh! I love him so! Le sigh. I don't own Danny Phantom. I should think that would be obvious, ne? If I owned it, I would not be writing fan fiction.

Sam discovered that teleporting within the castle was not allowed. In doing so, she was left to find the dining hall on her own for lunch.

Her attire today was another black corset, but this one was accompanied by a violet skirt that was cut just above her knees in the front, but fell past the floor in the back and on the sides. Her hair was up in its usual half ponytail. She wore fishnet stockings covered partially by rather tall black boots that laced up in the front. Instead of the gloves she had worn yesterday, today she wore violet armlets that swayed down past her hands accompanied by black fingerless gloves hidden underneath.

Upon finding and entering the dining hall, she took a seat at the opposite end of the table from the prince. She gazed around absentmindedly, but stopped when she saw Prince Danny whispering to a butler. In a few moments, the butler was standing next to her.

"Your highness?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"His majesty, Prince Daniel, requests that you be moved."

Sam stared at him confused. "To where?" She asked.

"Next to him."

She looked down at Danny, who smiled invitingly at her. "Oh, okay." She followed the butler and Danny rose and pulled out her chair when she reached her new seat. "Hello, Danny," she greeted. He barely acknowledged her. He looked upset. "Hi Tucker," she added as the young lord was sitting on Danny's other side.

"Hi Sam. How are you?" Tucker asked.

"I'm fine. A little hungry, obviously, but otherwise fine."

Danny seemed like he had something on his mind, but didn't say anything to her until their food arrived. "Why did you choose a seat all the way down there?" He asked. "Am I that repulsive?"

Across from Sam, Tucker stifled a laugh. "Yes!" He blurted before he could stop himself.

Danny either didn't hear him or pretended not to.

Sam blushed and shook her head furiously. "No, that wasn't it…" her voice trailed off. "I didn't know where I was supposed to sit and I think some of the girls don't like how much attention you're paying to me."

"I don't really care what they think," he smiled at her.

Sam smiled back.

Lunch seemed to take forever, as per the rule of time when one is greatly anticipating a good event. As soon as it was announced that lunch was over, Sam bolted out of the dining hall to her room.

"Computer?"

"Yes, Princess Samantha?"

"Could you teleport me to the lilac grove in the garden?"

"I will do so immediately."

"Thank you," Sam replied as she fizzled out of the room.

Danny's blue eyes lit with relief when she appeared in the lilac grove. "Sam!" He exclaimed happily when he saw her. "I was worried you wouldn't come," he confessed.

"Why?"

"From what I've heard, the prince has taken quite a liking to you. Since you're a princess… I don't know… I'm just a gardener and he's a prince…"

Sam gave him a stern look. "Don't underestimate me like that."

He grinned cutely and Sam melted. "I won't," he promised. "You never got to answer my question."

"Which one?"

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

Sam's cheeks reddened slightly and she looked down to try and hide it. "What would you do if I said yes?"

"Kiss you," Danny answered with surprising conviction.

Sam looked up; her face was still red, but her violet eyes were sparkling. "Then… yes. I do."

Danny slipped one arm around her waist and pulled her into him. He pressed his lips to hers, very carefully until she pressed back harder. He refused to go any farther, however, and after a moment (too short in Sam's opinion) he pulled away. "We shouldn't be doing this…" he murmured.

"Why the hell not?"

"Princess, you're royalty… I'm just the gardener. Plus, the prince already likes you…"

"I don't care," Sam replied, placing her hand on Danny's cheek delicately. "Besides, if they catch us, I'll say I coerced you."

Danny rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, they'll believe that too. Guys can't stand you that much that you have to force them to kiss you," he drawled sarcastically.

"You'd be surprised. In Casper, I'm known as a total recluse and on the rare occasion I do leave my room, I'm not known for geniality. My mother figures this is the last chance she'll have to marry me off. I'm kind of known as the 'Ice Princess,'" Sam admitted.

Danny placed a light pick on her lips and trailed his index finger down her cheek, jaw line, and neck. "Hmm…" he mused, "I think the ice can be very beautiful to someone willing to look at it with respect and not fear."

Sam laughed. "That is entirely corny," she chided, then smiled, "but you're cute, so I'm going to let you get away with it."

Danny grinned. "Shit, and here I thought I was being clever."

"Samantha?"

For a moment, Sam thought it was her bracelet, saying that it was time to get ready for dinner, but it wasn't. "Is it time- Mom! Um… this isn't what it looks like, he's just…?"

"Who, dear?"

Sam turned around to find Danny was gone. "Uh… no one, sorry, my imagination just ran away with me for a moment. What did you need?"

"I haven't seen you since you ran off, I just wanted to see how you were enjoying yourself."

Sam quirked a skeptical eyebrow at her mother. "You mean, you heard that the prince has taken an interest in me?"

Stella glared at her daughter. "If you must know, yes. I did hear that. Is it true?" Her eyes were hopeful.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"What do you think of him?"

"I think he's very nice. He's not like those oppressive, stifling bastards you usually set me up with. I definitely like him."

"But you don't love him?"

"Why do you care?"

Stella gave her an extremely stern look. "Samantha, despite what you may think, I do care about your happiness-"

"Just not as much as you care about marrying me off to a wealthy prince, right?"

"Samantha, if you're going to take that tone with me, then I won't give you the gift your grandmother sent to you."

"Grandma sent me something?" Sam perked up at that. Her grandmother was the only one in Casper who understood Sam.

"Yes," Stella handed her a jewelry box. "She says that this was hers and she was wearing it when she met your grandfather. She also said to tell you she hopes it will bring you good luck."

"In what?"

"She didn't specify."

Sam opened the box carefully. Inside lay a stunning tear-shaped amethyst pendant, smooth and shiny, dangling from a black velvet choker. "Oh… wow… this is so pretty," she removed it from the box and put it around her neck.

"Samantha?" This time, it was her bracelet.

"Yes?"

"Your presence is requested in your room."

"Okay."

"Should I teleport you now?'

"Yes, please. See you later, Mom."

"Okay, bye Samantha," Stella called as her daughter fazed out of the garden.

Cherry and Madison brushed Sam's hair and re-applied her make up, but other than that, she was ready.

When Sam reached the dining hall again, she finally saw how many other girls were actually there. She guessed about fifty to sixty other girls besides herself. She remembered something in the letter they'd received that girls would only be sent home for breaking the rules, there wasn't really a competition here, Sam reasoned.

She noticed Prince Danny talking to a group of girls, rather animatedly, in fact. He met her eyes and winked at her.

"Excuse me, ladies," he bade them goodbye and walked over to Sam, very aware that their eyes were still following him. He took Sam by the arms and whispered in her ear on the side they couldn't see. "Hi, Princess."

"What are you doing? They're glaring at me murderously. They probably think you're necking me."

Danny put a finger to her lips, leaving his still brushing her ear. "Shh… let them think what they want."

Sam resisted the urge to shudder. His lips were so… seductive. "You're crazy."

"So?"

"I don't feel safe here anymore."

Danny grinned and Sam felt his warm breath tickle her neck. "Fear not, my lady, I'll protect you."

"You're crazy and you're going to get me killed."

"It's part of the job description. I'm just trying to cause as much trouble around here as possible…" he muttered cheekily.

"What?" Sam asked, abruptly pulling away, déjà vu overtaking her.

Danny stared at her with confusion in his bright green eyes. "What what?"

Sam shook her head. "Never mind." She suddenly felt something pull on her wrist.

"You slut!" Paullina exclaimed accusingly, raising her hand to slap Sam.

Danny stepped between them. "Excuse me… eh… Paullina? What seems to be the problem?" He asked rather congenially.

"This little whore," the latina pointed an accusing finger at Sam, "has been monopolizing your attention and I want it stopped."

Sam considered whipping out her blackmail on Paullina, but decided it was better to watch what happened here, see how Danny handled things.

Danny threw a glance at Sam. She was staring apathetically at the scene being played out before her. "Of course, my lady, would you care to sit next to me at dinner tonight?"

Paullina's face broke into a glucose coated grin. "Yes, my prince, if it would so please you."

'Doubt it,' Danny thought. "Of course," he repeated, taking her hand and leading her toward the place where Sam had been at lunch.

Sam stared after the two of them, gaping. Danny was absolutely… some kind of crazy anomaly. He didn't really care what anyone thought and often acted rather eccentrically and had firm convictions, but he could also be so diplomatic and accommodating in the name of peace. He would make a great king. Sam was so awestruck that she barely noticed Tucker walking up to her.

"Your highness?" He asked.

"Oh, hi Tuck," she replied casually. "And call me Sam."

"Prince Danny told me to take care of you for the duration of dinner and wishes to make it clear that he is sorry and would much rather be spending the evening with you."

Sam smirked. "Well, that's just a little cocky of him, isn't it? To assume that just because he wants to spend time with me that the feeling is mutual? I think he's a bit pretentious."

"If I may be so bold, Princ- Sam, I think that is precisely the reason why he wants to spend time with you. He finds you so intriguing because you don't find him intriguing," Tucker gave her a look, "or at least… you don't appear to."

Sam just smiled mysteriously.

Tucker sniffed the air. "You've been in the lilac grove again, haven't you?"

Sam blushed. "Yes," the thought of blue-eyed Danny made her heart flutter wildly.

"Is other Danny being nice to you?"

"Yes."

To Sam's surprise, Tucker didn't advise her to stop seeing the gardener or remind her that it was forbidden or of the Prince's interest in her or anything like that. His only response was a contemplative, "Mm…"

Dinner, for the most part, went quite well, Sam continuously glared at Tucker for his excessive consumption of meat and Tucker mocked Sam for her vegetarianism. They got along quite well. They both pitied and at the same time laughed at Danny. He looked so incredibly miserable next to Paullina and found any possible excuse to talk to the other girls around him.

"See the girl sitting about three seats from Paullina?" Tucker whispered to Sam.

Sam followed Tucker's finger to a dark-skinned girl with wavy dark hair. She slightly heavy set, but still quite beautiful. "Yeah."

"That's Valerie, Duchess of Elm. She's going to excuse herself from this competition as soon as her parents approve our marriage," he explained elatedly.

"Tucker, that's great!" Sam replied.

After about twenty more minutes, the hall door abruptly burst open. "Danny!" A female voice cried excitedly. A girl with long, strawberry blonde hair and turquoise eyes.

Tucker and Danny both rose from their seats.

The girl spotted Tucker and stopped to see him first. "Hi Tuck! Long time no see!" She kissed his head randomly. Tucker just sort of grinned.

"Danny!" The girl trilled again.

"Jazz!" Danny opened his arms and received her in a warm embrace as she kissed his cheek.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, but you know how far away I am," she explained. "And it doesn't help that we can't really teleport in here without special clearance."

"Who is that?" Sam whispered to Tucker.

"Danny's older sister, Jazmine. Boy… the pranks we used to pull on her…" Tucker laughed in remembrance. "The two of them are actually quite close. Both of them have a common enemy."

"Who?"

"The royal advisor, Vlad Masters." Something Tucker's tone warned Sam that she'd better not ask anymore questions on the subject.

"Why is she here now?"

"Not a clue… all of the royals in Amity are a little off…"

Danny chortled at all of the girls' faces. "Everyone, I would like to introduce to you a very special person to me," he paused for effect, "my sister, Princess Jazmine." (Ha…)

"Hello, so sorry to have interrupted your dinner."

Danny whispered something to Jazz and she merrily bounced back to Tucker, taking the empty seat next to him.

"How are you doing, Tucker? Sealed the deal with Valerie yet?"

"Not yet, we're just waiting for her parents' letter to come."

"Awesome, awesome. And who might you be?" She asked, leaning to look at Sam.

"Sam."

"No title?"

Sam shrugged. "Princess Samantha of Casper, but please call me Sam."

"Oh!" Jazz exclaimed. "You're the one my dear brother has his eye on, then?" It was more of a statement than an inquiry.

"I see," Tucker said. "That's why you're over here: to meet Sam. It wasn't to see me then…" he muttered in joking sadness.

"Of course, Tucker. I've never wanted to see you," Jazz jested.

"Is there a club for that? I'd like to join," Sam interjected.

Jazz laughed. "I can definitely see why my brother likes you. Do either of you know who that horrible girl he's sitting next to is? She was glaring at me the whole time before he said I was his sister."

"Lady Paullina, also of Casper. Her parents are part of my parents' court," Sam replied.

"Really? So, if she's below you in station and Danny likes you anyway, why are you sitting down here with dear Tucker?"

"Apparently," Tucker answered, "Sam has been 'monopolizing' Danny's time. Paullina won't stand for it any longer."

"But you all have only been here two days!"

"She's a gold digger," Sam explained. "Everyone in her family just want to climb the ladder of power as high as they can and don't care who they knock off to get to the top."

"Oh! I can't stand people like that! Can't we do something to get rid of her?" Jazz asked.

"Yes. I have blackmail on her, but I'd rather see how Danny handles her. I'm testing him," Sam told her.

"I like you, Sam. You'll make a good sister-in-law," Jazz stated matter-of-factly.

Sam blushed and averted her eyes. "Don't count your chickens just yet." As if on cue, a piece of paper appeared, apparently, out of nowhere in Sam's lap. She looked up to see Cherry standing there. "What's this?"

"I don't know," Cherry said. "I was told to give it to you immediately."

"By who?"

"I promised to not tell you…"

"That's okay. Thank you, Cherry," Sam said.

"I'll see you later, Sam," Cherry then left.

Sam opened the paper.

Princess, please meet me in the lilac grove when you're finished with dinner. There is something I think you would like to see.

-Danny (the one you shouldn't be seeing)

Sam barely said a word for the rest of dinner, only twitched with anticipation and smiled mysteriously when Tucker and Jazz asked what the note had said. As soon as dinner was declared over, just like at lunch, Sam raced quickly back to her room.

"That note was from Danny's human self, wasn't it? The side he uses to play commoner in?" Jazz asked.

"I believe so," Tucker answered.

"Why is he messing with her like that?"

Tucker ruminated for a minute. "I'm not sure, but I think he's testing her as well. I think he wants to see if she really likes him, or if it's just because he's a prince."

"Mm…"

"So far, she's responding very well to gardener Danny and is trying to keep Prince Daniel at arm's length, no matter how much he tries to bring her closer. So, I guess it's working," Tucker looked seriously at Jazz, then back in the direction Sam had run off to. "Jazz, I think you may have just met your sister-in-law."

Jazz grinned at Tucker. "As long as it's not that horrid Paullina…"

Danny walked up to them. "Where'd Sam go?" He asked.

Tucker laughed at him. "To meet you, dude."

Danny's face paled. "What! You were supposed to tell her to wait for me, ghost me!"

The dark skinned boy smirked evilly. "Oops… must have slipped my mind."

"Tucker! I'm going to kill you!"

"No time, she's probably already in the garden…"

Danny began to run off, "Fine, I'll kill you later!" He called to Tucker. Jazz and Tucker just laughed at him. Danny wasn't really listening to them, he had to get to the lilac grove before Sam. She probably already suspected something. He couldn't believe he'd made that slip before dinner… He ran down the hall, to the nearest open window and flew out of it, all the while thanking God that he'd already put up the lanterns. Touching down safely in the lilacs, two rings encircled his torso and traveled over his body, turning him back into his human self. Just in time, too.

At that moment, Sam emerged in front of him. "Hi, Danny…"

Danny noticed how disheveled she looked. Some of the lace on her corset and her left boot had come undone. Her hair was in complete disarray and her face was flushed, but her violet eyes were excited and happy. She had run all the way back to her room… to be able to see him sooner. Him. She wanted to see him. Danny smiled fondly at her. He moved closer to her, stroking her cheek and kissing her softly on the lips.

Sam froze for a moment… there was something familiar about the feel of his lips. Something seductive…

Danny pulled away, eyes shining. "Princess…"

She half glared/half pouted at him. "Please, call me Sam."

He kissed her quickly. "I like calling you princess."

Sam smiled. Danny didn't say it like everyone else. When he said it, it didn't sound like a frivolous title. When he said it, he did so with reverence and respect and… love, like a prayer. "Okay…" She looked around the darkened grove. "Was there something you wanted to show me?"

"Oh! Yeah, there was." He clapped his hands with a resounding slap.

As soon as the echo faded, the garden lit up with a bunch of glowing, floating spheres. They had white light, but for some reason, the lilacs became bluish purple, instead of purple.

Sam was dumbstruck, all she could do was gape at the scene around her.

Danny grinned at her. "If you stand with your mouth open like that, the bugs will fly in."

Sam closed her mouth and didn't say anything for a moment. "It's so… god… I can't even find a word. It's like a fairy land…" One of the baubles of light floated in front of her. "What are these?"

"Lanterns. They float on their own using these electric little fans I think and then they just have lights on them. Tucker actually designed them, he's good at that sort of thing. I have to charge them all the time just to get maybe six hours out of them," Danny closed his mouth, immediately realizing he'd said too much.

"You put them up just for me?" Sam asked, still staring transfixed at the one in front of her.

Danny blushed. "Yeah… kinda… yeah…" He was handsomely rewarded for his honesty.

Sam tenderly pressed her lips to his. "Thank you. No one has ever done anything this nice for me before."

"But you're the princess of your kingdom…"

Sam turned away sadly. "I don't really have any friends and not a lot of suitors either with girls like Paullina around and the ones I do get are real assholes… and my parents desperately wanted a son, but my mom can't have anymore children because of complications that occurred when she had me. They blame me for it and make sure I know they blame me for it. No one's ever gone out of their way to be nice to me before…"

Danny snaked his arms around her from behind, planting small kisses in the nape of her neck. "Princess, you're the most beautiful and amazing girl I've ever met. Anyone else who doesn't see that is such an imbecile they should be shot."

For the first time in her life, Sam felt truly loved.

"But, my lord, he's falling in love with her…"

"Hush, Knight. Everything is going according to plan…" Vlad Masters laughed evilly. He stared at the screen depicting the garden. "And soon, dear Daniel, there will be a twist…"

Tucker was waiting for Danny when the prince returned to his room. The darker boy didn't look pleased.

"What?" Danny asked.

"I don't think you've quite thought this through all the way…" Tucker began disapprovingly. "From what I know about Sam, she'll get really pissed when she finds out you and the prince are the same person."

Danny changed back into ghost mode. "Oh, come on, Tucker, relax."

"She's right, you know. You're pretentious. Pretentious to think that she's going to be so smitten with both sides of you that she won't care that you tricked her."

"She called me pretentious?"

"Your ghost half."

"Tucker, you don't understand… I really like her. I can never get her out of my head… she's amazing."

"And she just happens to like the wrong half of you."

"Not necessarily. Tucker, we aren't really doing anything wrong."

"Yes, but you and me and Jazz are the only ones who know that. What if someone sees her with your human half and gets the two of you in trouble?"

"I'll explain the situation."

"And risk exposure?"

"For her, yes."

Tucker's face suddenly broke into a smile. "Dude, do you ever have it bad… Oh, by the way, how was dinner with Paullina?"

"Awful! She kept batting her eyelashes at me and giggling at absolutely everything I said. And she kept clinging onto my arm… ugh… I really wish she wasn't here…"

"Sam said she has blackmail on Paullina that could get her thrown out of here, but she's not going to use it."

"Why!"

"She's testing you. She wants to see how you handle situations like that."

"Well that's not very nice."

"Why? You're doing it to her."

Danny threw a pillow at him. "Shut up, Tuck."

So, I guess I ended up throwing a little T/V in here too. Thing is, as weird as it sounds, I'm a T/J fan. Not sure if anything will play out. Probably not. I don't do love triangles. Also, next chapter, something about Sam will be revealed that will seem a little random, but I promise that it serves a VERY important purpose!

Next update: Really soon!