Okay, so I wasn't originally gonna post this today, but your reviews put me in such a good mood that I decided to be nice and post it today. I'm still all smiley from the ego boost!

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! Rose Garden twilight, ilikedan, Sam-n-Danny1, Rakahn, the sleep warrior, phantomgirl13, the wicked end, Soccordiva, Mama Agwe, cottongirl619, Galateagirl, and CherryBlossem16. Thank you all so much! (If I missed you, email me and COMPLAIN!)

Anyway... I don't own Danny Phantom. On with Chapter three!

"Sam? Sam?"

Sam awoke groggily and looked at her clock. Two am. "Who is it?"

"Danny."

Sam bolted out of bed and flung open the door, revealing shocking white hair and impish green eyes. "Oh… you."

"Yeah, I said it was me."

"What do you want at two in the morning?"

"For you to come with me."

"To where?"

"It's a surprise."

"I'm tired…"

"You were expecting the other Danny, weren't you? My friend that works in the garden?" The young prince asked suddenly.

"What? No!" Sam lied.

Danny gave her a sad look. The thing that struck Sam about it was that it was sincere. This boy was genuinely hurt by her. "Tucker told me," he replied solemnly.

Sam looked away. "I'll stop seeing him, but please don't hurt him… it wasn't his fault."

Danny took her chin between his fingers and made her look at him. "It's okay. I won't tell anyone. I won't even tell you to stop seeing him. This isn't your kingdom, so the laws don't apply to you," he took her wrist in his hand pulled her out of the room, "besides, I like a little competition," he winked back at her as he pulled her down the hallway.

"Where are you taking me!"

"Shh!"

"Sorry, where are you taking me?" Sam hissed.

Danny laughed. "You'll see." He took a bandana and wrapped it around her eyes.

"I'm not sure how much I trust you now."

"Just give me five minutes."

"Okay. Five minutes."

Danny grinned and turned intangible and invisible and phased both him and Sam down through the floor. He then led her down two flights of stairs, to the deepest part of the castle. Removing her blindfold, he whispered, "What do you think?"

Sam gaped. "This is amazing! I've never seen a library like this!" She exclaimed.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Hmm… would you believe me if I said the entire collection came from my grandfather and sister?"

"No."

"It did," Danny assured her. "Grandpa built most of it and now every time Jazz comes home, she brings a whole bunch of new books. Pick any of them you like."

"You're just bribing me now, aren't you? Trying to get me to like you?"

Danny gave her the most innocent look he could muster. "No," he replied cutely.

"Uh-huh," Sam retorted sarcastically. "But no matter what your hidden agenda," she kissed him lightly on the cheek, "thank you." She darted off among the rows and shelves of books.

Danny fingered his cheek lightly in shock, a goofy grin crossing his features. "You're welcome, Princess," he whispered.

"At the next ball, you get the first dance, okay?" Sam called to him.

"I'm going to hold you to that, Prin- Sam."

Sam awoke again to see Cherry and Madison standing worriedly over her. The moment she opened her eyes, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh Sam! You're not dead!" Madison cried.

"What? What time is it?" Sam asked.

"It's almost two o'clock in the afternoon, you missed the lunch today! When we told the prince you weren't coming, he seemed quite upset."

'Why?' Sam thought to herself. 'It's his fault.' "Oh," she said. "You didn't have to go all the way to the hall and tell him. You should have just let him wonder."

"We didn't go anywhere," Cherry replied. "He came here, looking for you."

Sam blushed a little, but she couldn't help but smile. He really was a very sweet guy and Sam knew she was definitely attracted to him. He made her feel the same way that blue-eyed Danny made her feel, special and desirable. The two boys were so much alike, but so different at the same time. With Danny, she enjoyed being in his arms, submitting to him, enjoyed the smell of lilacs that reminded her of him. With the prince, she liked making him chase her, playing hard to get. She enjoyed teasing him. But she was falling for both of them and that was bad… "He did?"

"Yes, he seemed very worried when we told him that you had been running a fever."

Sam gulped. "I was running a fever?"

"Yes," Madison replied. "That's why we were so worried. Your face was all red and you were sweating and tossing and turning in your bed. When we took your temperature it said 103.2."

"Shit!" Sam swore, "not again…"

"Sam?"

She smiled at the two maids, "It's nothing to worry about. Could you tell me where my mom is?"

"She's upstairs, 3619, the room directly above yours."

Sam went upstairs and didn't have to search too long to find her mother's room. "Mother?"

The panel next to the door started up. "Queen Stella wishes to know who you are."

"Her daughter, Princess… Samantha," Sam replied, annoyed.

"You may enter."

Sam threw open the door. "Mom, I got a fever last night!"

Stella looked worriedly at her daughter. "How high?"

"103.2, it wasn't as bad as it has been."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"What about your medication? Have you been taking it?"

"Yes Mom, except… not last night…"

Stella glared at Sam. "Why not!"

Sam blushed. "The prince woke me up and took me to the library…"

"Were any of the other girls there?"

"No, just me and him."

Stella tried her best to look lovingly at her daughter. "I'm glad you're okay."

Sam glared at her. "No, you're not. You're glad the prince has taken an interest in me. This is such crap. I shouldn't even have told you. It's not like you care."

Stella put a hand on Sam's forehead. "You must still be delirious from the fever, I just hope you'll be alright for the ball tonight."

Sam slapped the queen's hand away. "You're impossible! You know what, don't talk to me for the rest of the time we're here! I'm so sick of you! It's not my fault I was born this way!" Sam stormed out of her mother's room.

Just then, it hit Stella what she'd been doing to her daughter since the day she was born. The noble queen, who was always so concerned with composure, collapsed to the floor and wept. Hard. The complications that had occurred when Sam was born had hurt both of them. Stella was left with a string of miscarriages and one still-born: the son she had desperately needed and lost, and Sam was sick. Of course, Stella and James paid for the best medical care for both her and Sam, but there was no cure for either of them. Both the king and queen had unintentionally blamed Sam for what had happened. As Stella cried, pushing the maids who had just now noticed her, she realized one thing: she'd lost her only daughter, her only child.

Sam glanced down at her bracelet. "Computer: Lilac grove," she demanded shortly.

"Of course, my lady," the feminine voice replied with its perpetual geniality. Today, it only made Sam angrier.

Danny was sitting up in a tree when she arrived, working on something in a sketchbook. "Princess? What's wrong?" He jumped down from the lilac tree and looked at her concernedly.

"My mother couldn't care less about me…" she fell into him and clutched at his shirt, crying.

Danny didn't hesitate for a second in wrapping his arms around her. "Shh… it'll be okay. I'm here, Princess, it'll be okay."

They stood there, Danny petting her back gently, until Sam stopped crying. When she did, he kissed her tenderly and comfortingly on her lips. "Feel a little better now?"

Sam nodded.

"Tucker told me that you didn't go to the luncheon today, is that true?"

Sam giggled. "I slept right through it."

"You had the prince really worried." Danny said, even though he was basically saying that he himself was worried about her.

"If he knew me a little better, he wouldn't have been. And he also should have realized that it was his fault."

"How?"

"He woke me up at three in the morning to take me to the castle library. Granted, it was really cool, but I was up later than normal."

"I heard Paullina was thrilled that you weren't there."

"I don't care about her. I don't care about anyone in that damn kingdom," she gazed at him for a moment. "Danny, when this thing is over, can I stay here with you?"

"What?"

"Yeah. I could be a gardener too, or something. I just don't want to go back home."

"But… don't you think the prince will pick you to marry him?"

"Who says I have to agree?"

Inside, Danny was jumping for joy and grinning like a maniac. She wanted to stay with him! "Well, no one, I guess. Are you saying you'd rather stay with me and live the life of a peasant than be a queen?"

Sam looked away from him. "I want to stay here. Is it okay that I don't know who with?"

Danny smiled at her. Tucker was wrong; his plan was working. Danny's hand stroked her cheek, trailing back into her hair, "Yes. It's okay." Of course, had the prince really been a different person, Danny would have been furiously jealous. He knew that it was horrible and hypocritical of him, but he couldn't help it; there was something about Sam that made him nearly insane with attraction, lust, and something else he couldn't really put his finger on. He pulled her close again, relishing in the feel of her. "You fit so perfectly here…" he whispered.

Sam smiled serenely at him and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Princess Samantha?" Her bracelet chimed. "It is time for you to start getting ready for tonight's ball."

Sam sighed. "Already? Can't you just tell them I'm not going?"

"You should go. If you don't, the prince will really be worried," Danny told her.

"I would also like to remind you," the computer chirped, "that if you miss one of the balls, you will not be eligible to continue in this contest."

Sam glared at the liquid-esque silver bracelet. She silently condemned the thing as evil and wished it a fiery death in the bowels of the earth. "I'm so sorry…"

Danny pecked her cheek lightly. "It's okay. I've got things to do too. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," she replied before disappearing out of the garden.

"Ha ha! Yes! She likes me! She really likes me!" Danny cried ecstatically as he ran off to go get ready for the ball.

Sam appeared in her room grinning wildly.

"I take it you had a good afternoon," Madison said. Sam offered no reply.

Cherry walked in with Sam's dress for the evening. It was black, again, with lime green accents. The body of the dress was black with thin straps and would hug Sam's body once on. At the bottom of the skirt, lime green silk peeked out. There were also shimmering green gloves that would reach past Sam's elbows. The sandals were green as well and the straps wrapped all the way up to Sam's knees and padded with a unique gel that would make the shoes more comfortable. (Because it's the future and in the future high heels won't hurt wink.) A black, green-lined cape hung gracefully from the straps of the dress.

"Wow…" The princess gaped. "I'm going to try and put on my make up. Be back." Sam snatched up her robe and headed into the bathroom.

Paullina was doing her make-up when Sam entered. "Get out, you little whore."

Sam ignored her and started to apply her make-up.

"I said get out!"

Sam continued her ignoring.

"Look, dear, I don't know what chance you thought you had with the prince, but it's gone, okay? He absolutely adores me."

Sam just smirked in her head. 'Yeah, sure, Lady Paullina, that's why he dragged you out of bed last night and took you to the library and that's why he came to your room this afternoon when you didn't go to the luncheon. Oh wait, that was me,' Sam thought, laughing. She delicately brushed glittering green eye shadow over her eyelids, followed by smooth black mascara.

"Why aren't you saying anything!" Paullina demanded.

Sam turned away from the mirror and smiled brightly at the other girl through purple lips. "Oh! Paullina, when did you come in?" She asked with the same sucrose Paullina had around the Prince Danny.

Paullina's turquoise eyes flashed angrily as her face became red. "You stupid little bitch!" She proceeded to rant at Sam, calling her every dirty name she could think of (and there were a lot, believe me) and telling her she had absolutely no chance whatsoever of winning the contest.

Sam just stared at the Latina girl through serene violet eyes. Halfway through Paullina's yelling, Sam finished putting on her make-up and fixing her hair into an elegant bun and she left the bathroom.

The so-called "lady" stopped, blinked at the door for a moment and began to shriek some more.

"She's going to get a sore throat if she keeps going on like that," Cherry observed, fighting back a giggle.

"Let's hope she does," Sam commented, "then Prince Danny won't have to listen to her anymore. I think I've just done him a favor," she grinned.

Cherry and Madison helped Sam into her dress and she went off to the ballroom once more.

Tucker greeted her once she reached it. "Hey Sam, how are you feeling?"

"Much better than I was earlier, thank you," she answered.

"He's probably going to be really mad at me if I tell you this, but Danny, the prince, was really worried about you when you didn't come to the luncheon. The way he was acting you'd think you were on your deathbed."

Sam laughed. "Serves him right for waking me up at two in the morning."

"Oh, how did you like the library, anyway?"

"It was amazing. If the prince is trying to win me over, he's doing a pretty good job," Sam replied almost wistfully. "And if you tell him I said that, you'd better hope that Valerie values more than the physical side of your relationship, get it?"

Tucker laughed. "Not even here a month and that's twice already you've threatened my manhood. You and Danny are a perfect match, you know that?"

"Which Danny?"

Tucker laughed harder. "I'll let you be the one to figure that out. Would you care to dance?" He extended his hand to her.

"Ordinarily, no. But since you're engaged, I'd love to," Sam grinned at him, took his hand, and let herself be led out onto the dance floor.

The song was rather fast paced, so the two friends twirled around until Sam felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me," came the prince's baritone voice, "I believe I was promised the lady's first dance."

Tucker brought himself and Sam to a stop. "Is this true, Sam?"

Sam blushed. "Oops, forgot."

"I'm extremely insulted," Danny began, "that you would rather dance with a promised man than me."

"And I find you extremely pretentious to think that I'm going to remember something I said at two in the morning after being awoken so rudely," Sam countered.

Tucker eyed both of them and then peered off into the distance. "Oh look, there's Jazz! Hi Jazz! What's that! Yes, I'll be right there!" Neither Danny or Sam noticed his departure.

"Perhaps, you will remember this?" Danny inquired impishly before kissing her.

Sam pushed him away more abruptly than she either wanted to or meant to. She glared at Danny sternly. "I'm going to let that slide as more pretentiousness, but if it happens again, I'm going to assume you're just another perverted, aggressive, teenage boy and slap the hell out you, clear?"

Danny smirked at her, taking her slight body into his arms and beginning to twirl her around. "Crystal, Sam, crystal."

"Honest question here, is everyone in this castle insane?"

Danny gazed up thoughtfully for a moment. "Yes," he answered.

"Good, as long as I'm clear." Sam looked around. "They're all glaring at me again."

"So what? Oh, by the way, there's going to be a little challenge tonight. First of all, I would like you to know that it was not my idea. Blame Lord Masters. Second of all, no matter how ridiculous it is, I hope you win."

Across the room, a certain pair of turquoise eyes were on fire with rage.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A suave voice called from in front of the thrones. "Tonight, we have our first challenge! Prince Daniel, could you please come up here?"

Danny groaned and made a face that made Sam laugh and walked up to the older man.

"The young lady who wins the challenge will get to dance with the prince for the remainder of the night."

Danny only silently hoped that the challenge would take a LONG time or that Sam won it very quickly.

"The challenge to all the young ladies in this room," Vlad began, "is simply this: there is an object in the room that the prince has a certain fondness for. Find it. Your clues are simply this, it is vegetable, and it is not alive, but it is not dead."

A buzz suddenly rose over the hall and girls were running about. Sam stood still, thinking.

Vlad smiled wickedly as he placed a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Daniel," he said.

Danny shrugged the older man's hand away roughly and glared at him. "I know exactly what's going on here, okay? I see right past you, Uncle Vlad. Well guess what, it isn't working. I'm not going to be miserable with some random girl for the rest of my life. I found one whose amazing and intelligent and beautiful and there is nothing you can do to mess it up."

Vlad's smile changed. "If you say so, Daniel," he backed off a little. "But I think you are underestimating not only me, but the jealousy of these girls as well…" he muttered inaudibly.

Sam, meanwhile was still thinking. Something that wasn't alive, wasn't dead and was a plant? Something caught her eye, a small sprig of purple sticking out of one of the red bouquets of roses on a table. Of course. A flower in a vase wasn't alive, but it wasn't quite dead, and it was a plant. She plucked it from the vase and walked up to Danny. "Hey."

"Sam!"

She held out the lilac sprig to him. "You looking for this?"

"You're amazing." Danny would have kissed her, but remembered her earlier threat and held back, no matter how hard it was.

Vlad suddenly appeared again. "Ladies, we have a winner! Princess Samantha!"

Sam looked over at Danny and whispered to him, "I had an unfair advantage, my brain."

Danny laughed, but then looked at her solemnly. There was something in his eyes Sam really couldn't place. "Danny told you about the grove, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Hey, Vlad said nothing about using prior knowledge."

"She cheated!" A glucose-coated voice called with anger. The entire hall became quiet.

Danny's face filled with horror. "No… oh, God no…"

"My dear lady, what did you say?" Vlad asked, voice filled with equally false-charm as Paullina.

"I saw her speaking with Prince Daniel earlier, she must have plied him for information!" Paullina shrieked.

"She didn't!" Danny leaped to Sam's defense. "I swear, Vlad, I swear, I didn't tell Sam anything."

Vlad smirked evilly at Danny and leaned close to him. "Revenge, my son, is so very sweet."

Danny growled low in his throat. "May I be stricken dead if I lie, no one cheated."

"However," Vlad began to the entire hall, "there is still the possibility that the contest was compromised and therefore, Daniel, I will have to hear from the Princess."

Sam just shrugged. "Whatever I say isn't going to convince Lady Paullina that I didn't cheat. I concede the contest to her."

Danny gave Sam a look between a gape and a glare. "What are you doing? You won, you know you won, fair and square."

"Yeah, but this is what you get for dragging me out of bed at two in the morning."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Danny sighed.

Sam just gave him an incredulous look. "Hello? I'm a girl," she told him like he should have known already.

"Rest assured, my dear Samantha," he began as he was pulled away from her and toward Paullina, "this means war."

Danny was coerced into dancing with Paullina, an experience which was obviously painful for him, shown by the look on his face.

Sam spent the whole night next to Tucker, watching the two of them and smirking her head off every time she caught the prince's eye and he made sure that was often.

The next morning, Sam awoke to a surprise. Two actually. On the pillow next to the one she was using was a single sprig of lilac blossoms, a hand-written note attached to it with a piece of twine.
Good morning, Princess. Please accept this small, inadequate gift as a token of my affection.
-Danny (the one you shouldn't be seeing)
The other surprise was a vase full of lilacs, dotted with white roses and Baby's Breath sprays. Looped around the neck of the vase was a ribbon with a small, embossed card dangling from it.
Sam,
I would just like you to know that the time I've spent with you thus far have been some of the best times of my life. I look forward to the next ball. Is there any particular song you like? If so, please tell the computer and I will have it played.
-Danny
P.S. I have my own challenge especially for you, if you can find the library on your own, I can guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised. And don't think I haven't forgotten about the previous ball.

Sam stared at both cards for awhile, wishing she didn't feel so strongly for both boys, that she could just pick one. Granted, Sam was extremely flattered to have two very kind and handsome young men competing for her heart.

While deciding whether or not take the prince up on his challenge, Cherry and Madison burst in.

"Good morning, Sam!" The two maids chorused.

Cherry was the first to spot the lilac bouquet. "Oh!" She cried, "How pretty! Who gave these to you?"

Sam smiled and hid the single sprig behind her back, delicately caressing it with her fingers. "Um… the prince sent them to me. I'm still not sure how…"

"Oh! I knew he'd like you!" Madison exclaimed as she began to prepare Sam's clothes for that morning's brunch.

Sam nodded absently as she quickly stuck the sprig from the gardener in the bouquet, to hide it. "Mm…" she stood up and allowed Cherry and Madison to get her ready for brunch.

Sam walked into the dining hall, staring around. There were about twenty less girls this morning.

"Hey Sam!"

"Oh, hey Tucker," she replied absently, glancing around to see who was still there. "Where are all the girls?"

"Lots of them got disqualified or got better offers. And of course, Valerie and I got the letter from her parents this morning," it was only now that Sam noticed he was grinning like a maniac.

"Really?"

"Yup, she went home to prepare for our wedding!" Tucker exclaimed. "She's so amazing… I just hope Danny finds someone to love him like that."

"Which one?"

"Which what?"

"Which Danny?"

"Oh!" Tucker winked at her, "Both of them," he said mysteriously. "By the way, Paullina's still here. And you're starting to permanently smell of lilacs," he observed. "How's Danny been treating you, anyway?"

"He's amazing. But… I don't know… I like the prince too. If only they were the same person or something…"

Tucker just smirked.

"Sam!" Prince Danny ran up to her, hugging her and lifting her up.

"You're going to get me killed!" Sam hissed, looking at all the girls who were glaring at her. "What exactly do you think you're doing!"

Danny ignored her, setting her back down on the floor. "Did you get the flowers?"

Sam stared at him. "Yes."

"Oh good! The messenger I sent them with isn't the most dependable. I was afraid Paullina might have gotten them instead. Did you like them?"

Sam blushed. "Yes."

Danny buried his nose in her black hair, "Mm… you smell like lilacs."

"Please let me go," Sam begged, half wishing she were in the arms of blue-eyed Danny and half hoping the prince didn't let go.

Denying her request, he only squeezed her more tightly. "Oh," he began, "but you fit so perfectly right here."

"What?"

Mwhahahaha! I'm so bad. So yeah, the drama with Sam's mom builds, the plot thickens and Vlad makes his first official appearance as the antagonist of this story! Mwhahahahahahaha coughs haha...