Dedicated to: Stephen... I just wished he knew how much I really missed him.
10) My Last Breath
He struggled to bring his breathing to normal, the words of the doctor falling hard on his trembling shoulders. "H-how long?" he whispered.
"One month." The doctor looked down at the teenage boy who was looking up with wide, pleading blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Daniel."
That had been a week ago. Danny stood on the roof of his house, gazing down at the city below him. His parents had allowed him to drop out of school. He was going to die soon; he wouldn't need school where he was going. His friends were confused and ignorant to his condition. He had taken to locking himself in his room, and when they did see him he always looked pale and weak. He wasn't the Danny they remembered.
Danny knew he had to tell them. Tucker and Sam deserved to know…especially Sam. A wind stirred his raven hair, and he closed his eyes clutching his chest. He began to cough, kneeling on the ground. Each cough battered his frail form, and blood spattered onto the ground before him. He wiped his mouth with a trembling hand, grimacing, just as Jazz poked her head out.
"Danny!" She leapt onto the roof and knelt by his side, gently touching his shoulder.
"I-I'm okay," he whispered, though he knew that was far from the truth. The doctor had said this wouldn't happen for almost two weeks.
She took a handkerchief from her pocket and let him wipe his mouth before she wiped the blood from the roof. "Sam's here to see you," she said.
He nodded, looking up at her. "Thanks, Jazz." He hugged her before phasing through the roof to meet up with Sam.
His red-haired older sister remained on the roof sobbing. A young life was being cut off before it had even had a chance to begin. Sam was sitting in the living room with Jack and Maddie, trying to get some kind of clue as to why Danny wasn't attending school. Not even Mr. Lancer would say, though he had excused every absence without a single word on the detentions he usually gave out for unexcused absences. Danny's parents didn't even glance in his direction as he suddenly phased through the roof.
"Hi, Sam," he said, greeting his best friend.
"Hey, Danny. Tucker's waiting at my place; we wanted to know if you wanted to come to a movie night."
He hesitated then looked at his parents. They nodded, and he agreed. He and Sam were walking to her house; he'd offered to fly them, but she had refused. She wanted to talk, and Danny wasn't sure if he'd be prepared to answer the questions he was sure would come.
"I thought your parents didn't know about your powers," she said.
"They didn't…but now they do," he replied, shrugging. "I just got tired of hiding it from them."
She glanced toward him to catch him suddenly grip his chest. "Are you okay?" she asked, catching his arm as he stumbled a little.
"I'm fine." He straightened as a sudden blue mist escaped his mouth. He sighed as the Box Ghost suddenly flew by shouting, "Beware!" I didn't plan on spending my last days fighting the stupidest of ghosts. "I'll be back."
He ran into a nearby alley, and two blue rings moved up and down his body. A black and white jumpsuit replaced his regular clothes; his hair turned white, and when he opened his eyes they glowed green. He flew out of the alley past Sam as he chased after the annoying box that was ranting about boxes and the "cylindrical container" that Danny was going to trap him in.
He shot an ectoplasmic ray at the ghost who was thrown into a tree. Danny cried out as a pink ectoplasmic ray shot him to the ground. He groaned and stood, stumbling slightly, shaking his head.
"You're going down, ghost boy!" the pink jumpsuited girl shouted.
"Wait." He leapt to avoid another of her weapons. "I'm on your side, Valerie!"
"Yeah, right, Inviso-bill!"
He dodged another weapon. "Why can't you go after the stupid ghost behind you instead of me!" He clutched his chest as another coughing spell wracked his form, bringing him to his knees.
Valerie aimed a weapon at him, but it dropped from her shaking had as two blue rings appeared then left a retching Danny Fenton before her.
"Danny?" She pulled back her hood before running to his side. "Are you okay?" She gasped as he heaved up blood. "We need to get you to a hospital!"
His laugh was hollow and quickly interrupted as he coughed up more blood. "So they can do what?" He wiped his mouth. "They've already tried." He looked up at her, his blue eyes glazed by the effort the coughing had taken from him.
"Wh-what?"
"I'm dying, Valerie." He weakly got to his feet. "The doctors can't do a thing to help me."
She was stunned. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" she whispered.
"I told those that needed to know." He smiled wryly. "The last thing I needed was anyone's pity." He coughed again, spitting out more blood.
"So, I guess we don't count," a cold voice muttered from behind.
Danny turned to face his two best friends. Tucker was standing in shock while Sam's eyes were dark with anger and…something else. "I decided against telling you because the last thing I needed to see on your faces was pity."
"Oh, great. So we get to stand here ignorant to the fact that our best friend is dying until one day he just keels over!"
Danny recognized the "something else" in Sam's eyes. It was grief and unspent tears. "No. I mean, yes! I mean, I don't—" He started coughing again, sending him to his knees. Valerie and his friends approached him to help, but he went ghost and disappeared in the sky.
Danny flew into his room, changing to human before falling to his knees in another coughing fit. The doctor had warned him that using his ghost powers would weaken him more, but he wasn't going to leave Amity Park defenseless while he was still alive to help.
hold on to me love
you know i can't stay long
all i wanted to say was i love you and i'm not afraid
can you hear me
can you feel me in your arms
He was dying faster, and he was sure by now that he could count his final days with both hands. (A/N: For those of you that don't know, that means he's got about 10 days to live) He pulled himself to his feet and dragged himself onto the bed, pulling the blankets over his head. He had to talk to Sam; he had to tell her the words he'd been hiding inside all this time.
Sam walked toward the dark, empty mansion alone, tears still streaking her cheeks. She and Tucker had searched for hours, but he eluded them still. Danny, her best friend, her secret love, was dying, and he had hid it from her. She walked slowly to her room and opened the door. She gasped as Danny in ghost form suddenly turned around. He returned to human form as she ran forward to hug him tightly, sobbing as she did. He returned the embrace, holding her close as she cried.
holding my last breath
safe inside myself
are all my thoughts of you
sweet raptured light
it ends here tonight
"I should've told you earlier," she choked out. She needed to tell him now.
He gently pulled her away so he could look curiously into her lilac eyes. "Tell me what?"
"It's not fair. I don't want you to leave me because…I love you," she whispered.
His smile was sad as he gazed at her, tears still falling from her lilac eyes. "I wanted to tell you," he whispered, referring to his sickness, "because I love you, too." He removed something from his pocket and slipped it on her finger. It was a gold band with a blue stone cut in the shape of a heart. "I want you to have this to remember me by," he whispered before claiming her lips with his.
i'll miss the winter
a world of fragile things
look for me in the white forest
hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)
i know you hear me
i can taste it in your tears
Sam wrapped her arms around his neck as they kissed again. Her decision was made; the ring she now wore wasn't the only thing she wanted to remember him by. Two souls united, two hearts beat alike, and two friends became so much more. They lay together on Sam's bed, eyes bright with love, and the sheets were twisted around their forms. Sam reached out a hand and traced his face with her fingertips, memorizing the face she would miss so much.
"How long do you have?" she whispered, lowering her hand to his chest where his doom lay.
holding my last breath
safe inside myself
are all my thoughts of you
sweet raptured light
it ends here tonight
His hand covered hers. "The doctor gave me a month, but I don't think I'm going to last even that long." He brought her hand to his lips, gently kissing it as her eyes filled with tears. "Promise me something?" She nodded. "Promise me that you won't try to kill yourself to join me. Promise me that you'll live until it's time for you to die."
She swallowed; he had known exactly what she was thinking. "I promise," she whispered. "I promise."
closing your eyes to disappear
you pray your dreams will leave you here
but still you wake and know the truth
no one's there
Daniel Jack Fenton died one week later while using the last of his life to save the town from a powerful ghost. The true identity of Danny Phantom was revealed to all as he breathed his last in the arms of his love. Recognizing that Danny Phantom was never evil, the city erected a statue of the hero in the park.
As were his wishes, Danny was cremated, and his ashes were given to all who knew him: his parents, his sister, Sam, Tucker, and even Valerie. Each chose a special place in which to sprinkle his ashes, a place where they could go to be with him in their own special way.
say goodnight
don't be afraid
calling me calling me as you fade to black
His family, Tucker, and Valerie began to adjust to life without him. Valerie and his parents took over his ghost hunting with Tucker to help every once in a while, but Sam was tormented by the promise she'd given him and lived each day by threads. She couldn't sleep, she could barely eat, and her grades declined as her concentration skewed.
But two months later, Sam learned something that gave her a reason to live: she was pregnant with Danny's child. In shame, her parents disowned her, but the Fenton's welcomed her to their home. She lived in Danny's old room; his scent still clinging to the covers and pillows brought her slight comfort.
say goodnight
don't be afraid
calling me calling me
sweet raptured light
it ends here tonight
She changed her name so she could be known as Danny's wife, even if he hadn't lived to say the vows, and when the time came, Sam gave birth to a little boy with raven hair and wide blue eyes. She named him…Daniel.
Danny's Final Letter to SamDear Sam,
If I had had just a little more time, I would've asked you, Samantha Manson, to become my wife. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Just remember that in my heart you will always be mine. I love you, Sam, with everything I am, and just to prove it to you, I'm leaving you one last gift.
Daniel Fenton
A/N: To live a life alone he knew that she could never dare to hope to live as she had promised to. So, Danny gave her one last gift, one last thing to remember him by to help her make it through. And now, dear readers, I ask of you, "What would you do? If you had only days to live, how would you live them through?"