I'm not dead! See! Jeez, guys. I'm so sorry this took so long! I feel really bad and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! (Even the threatening ones! -wink-)

"Danny, where were you yesterday?"

Danny stopped wolfing down his breakfast and looked sheepishly at his mother. "Eheheh… it's um… a funny story actually…"

"You didn't show up at all for archery practice, or lunch, or dinner. Was there a ghost? Because you know that your father and I like to be notified if you fight a ghost."

The prince ran a hand through his shocking white hair and looked over at his sister, who shrugged. "There wasn't a ghost."

"You weren't flying again, were you? Danny, we already risked exposure when you decided you wanted to use your ghost form to be the prince!" Mattie informed him. She remembered very clearly the day they had to announce to the people why there was such a huge change in the prince's appearance. There had simply been an accident in the lab, everything was fine, it was just that her son now had white hair and green eyes. They decided to hide the fact that he was half-ghost; it probably wouldn't have gone over very well. Danny used his human form when he wanted to get out of the palace without being recognized and no one had ever seemed to make the connection that he and the prince were one and the same. Under ordinary circumstances, one wouldn't have thought about it. It wasn't the kind of thing you could tell unless you knew both sides of Danny very well and you knew what to look for. The only other chance you had of figuring it out is if you were extremely intelligent and even then, you still had to know what to look for. Plus, by the time Danny decided to start going around as a human commoner, his appearance had changed so much from the time people had last seen him as a human, it seemed almost no one would ever make the connection. (Hopefully that will explain some things to you guys.) The queen stared her son down, willing him with all her motherly powers not to lie.

"I know, Mom. I wasn't flying," he answered, not literally, anyway.

"Then where were you! I know Vlad has you busy with this contest thing, but honestly, Danny-"

Danny took a deep breath. "I'm in love, okay?"

Mattie completely stopped her reprimanding and Jazz choked on her coffee. "What!" They demanded in unison.

"I… I'm in love," he took another deep breath. "One of the girls who came here for the contest… she met human me first in the garden by accident and then I saw her at the ball and I think I'm in love with her."

"Sam?" Jazz asked.

Danny nodded. "I've been sort of seeing her as human me and flirting with her as phantom me…" he admitted under the scrutinizing, disapproving glare of his mother. "Yesterday, she was supposed to meet human me in the lilac grove… so we could spend the day together. When she didn't I went to see if something was wrong," he left out the part about Vlad, "and she wasn't feeling well. I really didn't want to just leave her there, all by herself with no one to care for her, you know, 'cause all the maids had the day off yesterday, so I stayed to help her feel better. She wanted me too and I swear on my life that we didn't do anything… inappropriate."

Mattie looked her son up and down and determined that he was telling the truth. "Okay, you're off the hook, but just this time. And if you wouldn't mind, could you please explain to me why you're seeing her in both forms?"

Danny stood up and threw his napkin unceremoniously onto his plate. He pushed in his chair and smiled half sincerely and half cheekily at his mom. "Actually, I would mind. I'll see you guys later," he called as he left the family's private dining room.

"Oh, that boy…" Mattie muttered. "What does he think he's doing?"

"Mom," Jazz began, "he's Danny. He moves in ways we can't even begin to understand. It's probably best just to let him be." With that, Jazz left as well, leaving her extremely exasperated mother behind.

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There was, of course, a method to Danny's obvious madness. Even he wasn't quite sure what it was, he knew there was some reason he was acting so insane and it wasn't just because crazy was in his genes.

He walked down the hall in what seemed a casual manner, but in actuality, he was in a hurry. Sam still hadn't been much better when he left and he wanted to make sure she was okay now. Only this time, he would do so in his ghost form.

"Request entry: Prince Daniel," he told the panel of room 2619.

After a few moments, presumably negotiations with Sam, the panel chimed brightly, "Certainly, your highness," and the door swung open.

Sam was being "prepared" for the day by her maids, whom Danny immediately knew to be Cherry and Madison. They looked at Sam, who was sitting in a chair having her hair done, then at him, then at each other and giggled. Sam made a slight face, but Danny just smiled at them for he knew why they were giggling.

Danny then took a good long look at Sam. She had the very strange glow of a sick person when they are getting better. Her face was still pale and flushed, but her eyes were bright.

"Was there something you wanted, Danny?" She asked.

"I heard you weren't feeling well yesterday, I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He smiled with satisfaction when he noticed a blush cross her face.

"I… I'm fine. I'm feeling much better today, thank you," she stammered out, blushing a little more.

Danny moved toward her a little. "That's good," he knelt down in front of the chair where she sat, Cherry and Madison still doing her hair. "I wouldn't want you missing the ball tonight and getting disqualified," he stroked her cheek lightly and kissed her hand.

Sam baulked. Had this boy no shame! (Of course he doesn't! He's in love! 'wink') She inwardly scoffed. Of course not, no matter how amazing he was, he had still been allowed to do virtually whatever he wanted. He was the prince, after all.

Cherry and Madison just giggled.

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Tucker wandered aimlessly into the library, daydreaming and worrying about his daydreaming. He wasn't daydreaming about Valerie like he should have been. He was thinking of-

"Jazz!" He exclaimed startled. Tucker was only half surprised when he say her perched easily among the stacks of books.

Her face lit up when she saw him. "Tucker!" She jumped down and embraced him. "How have you been?"

He gulped as she blew a strand of red hair out of her face. "Uh, fine, mostly."

Jazz stared at him confused. That didn't make any sense to her at all. "Well, I should think you'd be more than fine. You're getting married soon, aren't you?" It pained her to ask him… especially when she really just wanted him all to herself.

Tucker shook his head. "Uh… yeah. I guess. I'm happy… just out of it today. Danny's starting to worry me with this game he's playing with Sam."

"Why? Are you afraid he might accidentally hurt her or something?"

"No, he'd never hurt her, not even accidentally; I think he really loves her… it's just… I'm afraid she'll hurt him when she finds out."

Jazz laughed and Tucker melted at the sound of it. "Danny could use a good swift kick in the ass. Sam's just the girl to give it to him, I think." She unconsciously took a step toward the slightly younger boy. "Are you sure that's all that's bothering you?"

"Well… there is something else."

"What is it? You know you can tell me anything Tucker. We grew up together." It was true. As much as Danny and Tucker had played tricks on Jazz, they had all been really close.

The young lord tried to fight off the blush creeping into his cheeks. "Not this."

Jazz looked at him worriedly. "Valerie didn't do something to you, did she?" She demanded softly, yet possessively. "I'm the princess of the kingdom, Tucker, I can have things done to her. No one would question me," she said it only half jokingly.

Tucker risked a slight laugh. "No, she didn't do anything it's just… Jazz," he began, unsure. "This might sound really stupid… but… have you ever noticed anything… between us?"

The princess looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before her face finally settled on a look of relief. "You noticed it too, huh? That's great, I thought I was losing my mind!"

He half grinned at her. "What… what do you think it is?" He asked almost shyly.

Jazz grinned at the boy she'd seen too long as "her brother's little friend." But Tucker was not so little anymore. "I don't know," she began slyly, moving closer to him. "But it makes me want to do this," she kissed him full on the mouth.

Tucker was surprised at first, but soon found that he liked the feel of Jazz's lips against his and kissed her back, with a lot more force. This was it. This was what he had been aching for, that ache he hadn't been able to put his finger on until now… being with Jazz.

Jazz almost instantly pulled back, blushing and averting her eyes. "Tucker! Oh my God, I am so sorry! You're engaged and I shouldn't have and… Valerie and…"

"I like Valerie, Jazz, otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to marry her… but… The only reason I started pursuing her in the first place was because I thought I'd never have you," he said softly. "I mean… you're two years older than me and you're Danny's sister… and…"

Jazz stopped his babbling by kissing him again.

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"Princess Samantha?" A voice asked from the other side of the door.

"Come in," Sam answered.

The door opened to reveal a man in very sleek black pants and a white shirt, carrying a small bag. A stethoscope was draped loosely around his neck.

"Oh, good afternoon Dr. Li," Sam said gaily when she recognized him. "There's really no need for this, you know. I'm feeling perfectly fine today."

Dr. Li just sighed. "I know, Samantha. I imagine that even if you were stabbed three times in the heart you'd still be telling me 'I'm perfectly fine today, Dr. Li.'" He motioned for her to sit on the desk and Sam unwillingly complied. "So, tell me what happened yesterday."

"Well, I was going down to the gardens, to get some fresh air when Lord Masters came in… and the next thing I remember was waking up and I was sick…"

Dr. Li didn't really like the sound of that, but he let it go. "Was it worse or better than normal?"

Sam looked away. She didn't want to answer that question.

"I see," the doctor nodded. "Well, I knew you were brave Samantha, but the way you're so composed still… I'm amazed."

"Doc, it was just another one of my little sick spells, nothing unusual."

Dr. Li looked at his patient with disbelief. Surely, no one could possibly be so courageous and… dare he think it? Indifferent? "Samantha… it is possible that you could be in denial."

"What are you talking about?" Sam looked at one of the only people she had ever trusted in her whole life as though he were a stranger.

"Didn't Queen Stella tell you?"

"Tell me what!" Sam demanded frantically.

Dr. Li looked at her seriously. "Samantha, over the past few months, your condition has only worsened… In…" he hesitated. "In my professional opinion, you're dying. At best, you have a year."

Sam's violet eyes gazed back at her doctor's brown ones with tears welling up in them. She opened her mouth, but couldn't seem to make any coherent words come out. In the back of her mind, Sam had always known that whatever it was she had was killing her. The doctors had no name for it… they had given her medicine and other treatments to help with her symptoms, which included fainting, vomiting, coughing and other flu-like indications. But now her instincts were confirmed… dying… "Why…?" She didn't really know what she meant by that as she hung her head, but it was the first thing that she had been able to vocalize.

Dr. Li put a hand on her shoulder, not really knowing what to say.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"I'm sure she thought that there wasn't much use in telling you…"

Sam glared, not at her doctor, but just in general. "You don't understand, Doc. You don't know my mom…"

"Samantha, I'm going to keep you on your same regimen of doses, but I will be returning next week to perform a special test, okay? And I'm going to strongly recommend to your mother that you be taken back home to Casper."

When she'd first arrived in Amity, Sam would have been grateful for any excuse to go home, but she didn't want to now. She wanted to spend more time with Danny… both of them. The thought rang through her head again. Dying… all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep some more. She didn't want to think about anything, she just wanted to cry herself back to sleep.

Dr. Li looked at her seriously again. "This isn't the end, Samantha. I won't stop trying to help you. You are not condemned just yet, so don't act like you are. Don't go doing anything crazy."

Sam knew what he meant. Suicide. She'd never go there. Never.

"Make the most of your time, but don't ever give up fighting, okay? I know how strong your will is, use it now, understood?"

Sam nodded weakly and told him goodbye, then climbed into her bed, not caring about the make-up or hairdo that Cherry and Madison had labored over that morning and cried.

Dr. Li gave her a small smile that she didn't see before leaving, quietly shutting the door.

"Ah, the good Doctor Li," came a suave voice the second the door clicked.

Li turned around to face a very eloquent-looking man with gray hair. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've had the pleasure," Li said icily. Instinct told him that this man was not someone to be trusted.

"Vlad Masters, please call me Vlad," the man answered.

"Ah, yes, Samantha mentioned you. You were the last to see her before she was taken ill yesterday. I'd very much appreciated if you could tell me if anything unusual happened while she was with you."

Vlad pretended to look very thoughtful for a moment before smiling at Li. "No, I'm so sorry… why, will she be alright?"

Dr. Li glared at him. "I'm sorry, sir, doctor-patient privilege."

"Well, you see, she is entered in the Prince's contest, which I am overseeing, if there is something wrong, I really would like to know what it is."

"If her mother will for once listen to reason, then Samantha will be pulling herself from the contest quite shortly. She needs to go home."

"Oh my, is it really that serious?"

Li frowned. "I will leave that up to the Queen to tell you. Good day, my lord," he said with definite finality before walking away.

Vlad merely smiled.

It didn't take long before Dr. Li finally found Queen Stella's room. "Your highness, it is Dr. Li, it is urgent that I speak with you." Li refused to use the door panels, claiming that they were impersonal.

"Come in."

Li entered to find Stella seated in a chair, her hair being done by two attendants. "Good afternoon, your grace. I have urgent news about Samantha."

"Really? Oh my, what is it this time?" Stella answered with an air of impatience.

Li baulked. He absolutely despised the Queen's style of parenting, if not the Queen herself as well. He often wished that the Princess were his own daughter. He'd known her since the moment she was born and had done his best to take care of her, but there was only so much he could do. "Well, if you recall, last time we spoke, I told you that Samantha has about a year to live."

"Yes, yes, of course," Stella told him. She really didn't like to be reminded of it; if Samantha had only a year to live, she needed to be married off as soon as possible.

"I'd like to strongly recommend that Samantha be taken back to Casper immediately. Staying her is only deteriorating her health, she needs to be home, where I can keep an eye on her, where she feels comfortable."

"No," Stella answered. "Listen, Dr. Li, I understand that it is your job to keep Samantha as healthy as she can be. That is what I pay you for. You are not paid, however, to tell me what to do with Samantha. She is my daughter. She is royalty. She has certain obligations to her country, to her people, to her father and me and one of those is to marry and have children. She has proven time and time again to me that she is not capable of handling it herself and thus, she will stay here."

"My lady, I would like to offer my vehement protest to this decision," Li stressed to her.

"Duly noted, thank you for coming to see her all the way out here."

"I told Samantha that I will return in a week's time to run a test that might help figure out what is causing her illness and at the end of the month to see how she is doing. If by that time, her health has not improved, I will take her home myself."

Stella shot him a stern look. "Also noted. Good day."

Li left, mumbling bitterly to himself. How could any mother be so callous? Her daughter was dying and all she could think of was Sam's royal duties. He sighed. Why was everything so useless?

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"Sam? Are you decent?" Tucker asked into the door panel.

"Yeah, come on in."

Tucker did so. "Hey, wow, you look really nice tonight," he commented almost immediately.

Sam blushed and looked down at her bright violet dress. It really was very pretty. "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself… and you're glowing."

Tucker looked down. "I am?"

Sam nodded. "Something happen with you and Jazz?"

Tucker blushed. "Wha- what makes you s-say that?" He stammered.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Hello, it couldn't be anymore obvious. So, what happened?"

"Nothing really, I just kissed her. And then she kissed me… and then we kissed each other."

"Good for you. I don't even want to guess how long that had been building up."

Tucker laughed slightly. "A long time…"

"What are you going to do about Valerie?"

"I'm not sure yet…"

Sam smiled at him. "Well, don't worry about it right now. We have to go to the ball!" Sam was truly excited about this one. She hadn't seen either Danny all day and really wanted to see at least one of them.

Tucker lead her down the hallway again. "What's wrong, Sam?" He asked.

Sam stopped dead in her tracks. "Uh… um… nothing. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno, you seem a little off tonight."

Sam gave him her best smile. She would not tell anyone how bad it really was. No one. Not even either Danny. "I'm just a little wiped from being sick yesterday, no worries. Promise."

"Gardener Danny told me to tell you that he really hopes you're doing better and that he wants to see you in the lilac grove tomorrow if you're up to it."

Sam blushed. So now Tucker was helping gardener Danny? What was going on here? "Okay…" she said softly.

Once they reached the dance floor, Prince Danny ran up to them, hugging Sam lightly. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

Sam smiled slightly. "Yeah, you don't have to be so gentle, I'm not going to break," she joked.

Danny grinned widely and took his cue, squeezing her with all his might and, though everyone was watching, kissing her square on the lips. When he pulled back, every girl in the room was glaring at them, or rather, at Sam. He smiled more.

"You're going to get me killed," Sam told him for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Aww, I think you can take 'em," Danny replied. He took her in his arms and started dancing.

Sam followed, feeling the best she'd felt in quite sometime. "Whatever."

Across the floor, Tucker discretely slipped his arm around Jazz. "Hi," he said quietly.

Jazz grinned. "Hey."

"Are you watching them?" He followed her gaze to where Danny was spinning Sam across the dance floor.

"Yeah… I've never seen him look happier than when he's with her… it's nice to see him like that," she sighed.

Tucker hugged her from behind, placing his chin on her shoulder. (It had been a long time since he and Danny had been shorter than Jazz.) "Yeah, it is."

Jazz blushed slightly at what she was about to say. "I wonder… I wonder if we look like that when we're together."

Tucker smiled. "I'm sure we do. Sam told me I was glowing."

Jazz turned around and kissed him lightly on the lips, knowing everyone else was too distracted by Danny and Sam to notice her and Tucker. "Do you really wanna hang around here all night?" she asked softly.

"I have to, I promised Danny I'd keep an eye on Sam. She was sick all day yesterday and he wants to make sure nothing happens to her."

Jazz pouted. "You're a very loyal friend. Maybe too loyal," she said before kissing him again. "But that's okay, I admire it."

Tucker blushed and looked up at the speakers as a slow song came on. "Would you care to dance?"

"But you're engaged!" Jazz reminded him.

Tucker held out his hand to her. "So, to the rest of the world, we'll just be childhood friends, dancing. Nothing unusual about that."

Jazz smiled fondly at him, her turquoise eyes alight. "There is if we're 'glowing' as much as they are," she gestured to her little brother and Sam as she took Tucker's hand.

"So what? Let the world think what it wants."

Amidst a circle of glares, Danny still had his arms tightly around Sam, who had her head against his chest.

"Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to tell me what was wrong yesterday?"

Sam bit back tears and pressed her face further into his chest. "No. Not yet anyway."

"Is it something I need to worry about? I mean, is it really serious?"

One defiant tear slipped down Sam's cheek. "No, it's really nothing you need to worry about."

Danny suddenly kissed her cheek lightly. "I care about you a lot, Sam. And no matter what the outcome of this contest is, I want to know you for the rest of my life. I don't want you to just disappear."

Sam smiled ironically at him. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

Danny's face broke into one the biggest smiles Sam had ever seen, his green eyes twinkling. He spun her out and back in deftly, loving the feel of her in his arms and wishing they could stay on that dance floor forever. Still though, nagging at him was the suspicion that there was more wrong with Sam than she was telling him, but he shrugged it off. She said she would tell him when the time was right and he believed her.

"Are there going to be any challenges tonight?"

"Nope," Danny replied. "Again, I'm supposed to dance with all the girls, but I don't think that's going to happen."

"Well you should at least try. Who knows? Maybe you'll find some girl you really, really love. One who makes you happier than you think I could." She didn't mean it, really, but with the news Dr. Li had given her that very afternoon… she wanted to spare Danny any unnecessary pain. Honestly, she wouldn't have come at all that night… but not only would she have been disqualified, but then everyone would really know that something was very wrong and she didn't need that kind of headache.

Danny smiled down at her. "Why would I ever even consider some other girl? I have you."

Sam rolled her eyes. "You're really pretentious, you know."

"Yeah," he smirked, "but you know you love it," he leaned down and whispered into her ear, "I don't want anyone else but you, Sam."

Sam suddenly felt dizzy, but a good kind of dizzy. She didn't think she was going to lose consciousness or anything, but… oh god, did he really mean that? And did he have to hold her so close to him? Was it absolutely necessary for him to smell so good, or for him to look at her like that with those intense, wonderful green eyes? And who the hell's idea was it to make his lips that damn kissable anyway? More and more, he was starting to remind her of the other Danny, blue-eyed Danny. It was spooky.

Danny suddenly spotted Vlad watching them from across the room, behind Sam so she didn't see. Danny pulled Sam closer to him and glared viciously at Vlad.

Sam was surprised, but soon settled happily against him, both of them still swaying to the music. She momentarily considered telling him about Jazz and Tucker, but… decided against it. She didn't know the relationship between the three of them well enough to gage whether or not Danny would be okay with finding out that his sister and best friend were in love with each other. Sam caught Paullina's eye from across the room and the Latina glared harshly. Sam just smiled smugly, telling the other girl "ha, ha, I'm in his arms and you aren't. Deal."

"So, I take it you haven't looked for the library yet?"

Sam looked at him, confused for a moment before realization dawned on her. "Oh, I haven't really had much time. Why?"

"Oh, I'm just curious." Danny took a deep breath before resuming dancing with her.

They danced for awhile before Danny looked at Sam. "Sam…?"

"Yeah?

"I have something to tell you."

Teehee…. I'm so bad. Sorry for the cliffy guys, but look