A/N: Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! Dang, this year went by quickly, but I personally can't wait for the new year to arrive. For all my readers out there, thank you for those who reviewed. All I can ask is that you continue these great reviews...that would be a great wish I hope that is answered.

Warning, this chapter contains a bit of D x S.

But here it is...my gift for you this Christmas Eve...Chapter 9!

Chapter 9 - Ice Breaker

"Danny?" Sam asked again, when he failed to move. "Are you OK?"

He wasn't sure himself if he could answer that question...

Though he was glad it was all over, there was something strange going on...no one had touched the thermostat, so it was still over eighty degrees in his room...

So why was he freezing cold? He was shivering...

As Danny kept trying to force all the broken links together, he continued looking at Sam, who now wore a look of suspicion.

"Danny?" she repeated again. "Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Well, considering that he's half of that description, I wouldn't doubt it," said another voice in the room. Danny peered over the side of Sam's head and saw the owner of the voice, which was Tucker, shooting out a joke.

Sam laughed. "OK, Tucker, stop it, seriously..." She turned back to look at Danny. "Are you OK? You look awfully pale. What kind of dream was that? You held perfectly still for some reason..."

Her face suddenly changed from a slight happiness to come concern. "You didn't have another of those...premonitions, did you? Or was it just some weird dream?"

Glad that his wish had been answered, Danny quickly took the other road out. "Yes," he said. "just some strange dream about Skulker."

"Skulker?" asked Tucker aloud, now coming towards Danny. "You're not having any problems with that guy, are you?"

"No," said Danny, quickly. "You know how things are these days with these dreams...I never know what's going to happen."

He was greatly, and secretly, wishing that they would change the subject...especially in Sam's case.

So it was quite unfortunate when Sam asked, "You're not lying to us, are you? Remember, Danny, you can tell us anything...we've been keeping your secret for all this time, you know."

"Yeah, dude," said Tucker. "You can tell us."

Danny was trying to erase the look of disbelief on his face. As much as he wanted to mention the new dream, he knew that it wasn't the best idea...Jazz could understand why, since she was his sister, but he wasn't sure how friends would react...they were the ones who talked to Jazz in the first place...

"I'm not lying," said Danny. "There's nothing to worry about." As soon as that left his mouth, however, there was a part of him that was already regretting the line.

She gave him a slight smile, as though she was expecting him to say that. But it seemed nevertheless, that they were the words that he was going to say. "OK," said Sam, ruffling Danny's already unruly hair.

But as she did that, she noticed something odd...though it was eighty degrees in his room, Danny's hair was really cold...cold as ice, actually...

...and dare she mention it, slightly wet?

She was about to mention it out loud, but then reneged...

Danny was her best friend, after all. She knew, from watching him, that he might be holding something back...his facial expressions told it all. But she also knew his temper...if she kept harping on something, he would get defensive. He'd already been through enough, after she was able to break through to him about Valerie.

And it was even better for an outsider to know that she had no idea about his visit to Valerie at the hospital...he had been through enough.

"I'll ask later," she thought.

"Hey, man," said Tucker. "Sorry we came up here to your room, but when you never showed up, we kind of got worried. Good thing to see that you just slept in."

Danny slightly smiled at the comment as he gazed at the clock, which read 11:20.

Geez...if they were this way if was late twenty minutes, he wondered how they would be if he was late by an hour. But best friends, after all, do look out for each other.

Yet another reason to not tell them about his dream...to look out for their well-being...

...right?

As he searched for some answer to that tough one-word question, Sam interrupted his train of thought again.

"Well, we'll leave so you can get dressed," said Sam, starting out the door, pulling Tucker with her. "After that, we'll head straight for the mall."

"I still have to do some shopping for my Secret Santa," said Tucker. "Or since I already mentioned it, Dash. I guess I'll just get him that assortment of balls I saw at the sporting goods store..."

"Yeah," said Sam, putting on what looked like a spy coat and a pair of sunglasses. "If I'm going to get Paulina that sweater, then I'm not going to be seen in that store out in the open."

Danny internally laughed at her disguise..."Same old Sam," he thought, as he closed the door to change.

But it was true...Sam's individuality was the thing that kind of led them to be friends in the first place...she was a cool person to have around...

But time and time again, there was always that strange thing going around school that they were together. They were best friends, sure, but they weren't together. He remembered the time with Ember where basically everyone was thinking along those lines...

However, the feelings he mentioned from earlier...they were starting to grow. After the nurse's office, it seemed that they were stronger than before...

Maybe this Christmas, rather than the one last year where everything was almost wrecked, he would live up to his promise about being better about it...perhaps he could tell some things he had been suppressing for quite a while...

He was a little scared, though. With all the current problems he had, it was going to be difficult...

And as he changed into his pants, it seemed that the difficulty had increased...

There was a giant bruise on his knee.

Many thoughts passed through his head trying to come up with an answer, but there was only one possible answer.

The dream...tripping over the gravestone...

That familiar creeping chill went down his spine once again.

Were his dreams suddenly turning into reality?

And Spectra...was she...?

"No, wait, back up!"

He had to get a hold of himself...thinking something like that was downright ridiculous...dreams can't hurt you...he probably had that bruise for a while...

...yeah...that seemed perfectly logical...

Danny knew, as he pulled on his shirt, that he couldn't go on like this. There was a breaking point for everyone...even he was starting to lose his cool...thinking up impossible things and suddenly coming to outrageous conclusions...

Hell, look at the way he handled Valerie at the hospital...and plus, he never told his friends about it yet...it was eating away at him, watching them completely oblivious to all the events he was currently holding back...

"These are your best friends," he thought. "Do you think that they'll suddenly turn on you?"

Good point.

But still, now wasn't a good time. They were hanging out today...burdening them with news like this would be rather drastic...

He would tell them...eventually...

As he walked out the door to meet them, he hoped that there would be enough time...both for his confessions and about Sam...

Because unbeknownst to him, it was running out...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Amity Park Mall

"Santa Claus exists!" yelled Jack Fenton through a speakerphone. "He delivers presents to all children around the world at a lightning fast speed! That's why no one could see him!"

"He's a fake!" yelled Maddie, on the same stage. "Science has proved that someone traveling at that speed will burn up and shrivel into dust within seconds!"

"He has a shield around him!" yelled Jack.

"Well, Mr. Know-it-All, what is this shield made of?" she asked.

A silence, as he tried to come up with an answer to that question with a group of kids waiting for him to come up with an answer.

He had been watching them for about five minutes.

"Same old argument," thought Danny, watching them. But at least he found himself smiling and laughing this year at their expense. He knew that his parents had this same argument every single year...and last year his anger was at a boiling point.

It was kind of funny that it took a ghost writer to finally let him see beyond his own problems...and allow others to celebrate in their own fashion. He had finally learned to live with it.

But the same dilemma plagued his current situation. If he can do this for Christmas, why can't he do this for the rest of his life?

"Danny!" yelled a voice.

He turned around, to see that Sam had emerged from the store with Paulina's sweater.

"UGH!" she said. "That store...I think this time they might have found out who I was..."

Danny laughed. "You were in that store before?"

"Yeah," said Sam, sounding a bit ashamed. "I was getting something in there for my mom once." She shuddered at the mere thought of it.

He gave her a pat on the back. "Well, at least it's over, isn't it?" he asked.

"I guess so," said Sam, taking off the spy coat. "It'll probably be another year before I have to set foot in that store again, heaven forbid."

She was waiting for the usual mood that Danny showed around the holidays along with a one word answer, but she got a surprising result.

He was laughing...

"Oh, man, Sam!" he said, between laughs. "Oh boy, that was funny...dang, I hope you never change..."

Sam was completely caught off guard by that remark as one thought went through her head.

"Danny, laughing?" she thought. "During Christmas?"

There was definitely a change in him from last year...

She had always seen him skulking in some corner during the holidays in the mall, and she had grown accustomed to it. Now he was laughing, and even joking about it?

At first she was a little afraid of it. This definitely wasn't something she was expecting.

But as his laughter continued, she slowly found herself enjoying it.

Watching Danny laugh was something rare...very rare. But when he was, she didn't know how to describe it...he just seemed to liven up the area, along with others around him. It was sort of...enjoyable...

And soon she didn't know how, but then she found herself joining in.

Danny wiped a tear from his eye. "Sorry," he said, his laughter dying down a bit, his voice slowly returning back to his usual solemnity. "Don't know what came over me."

"No," said Sam. "That's OK; I...kind of liked it..."

Danny's ears perked up. "What did you say?"

Sam suddenly realized the mistake coming from her mouth and tried to cover it a bit.

"Oh, I didn't mean that...I meant that it was a while that I heard you laugh...and it was kind of funny watching you, so kind of joined in..."

"Crap!" she thought, her head going down, closing both eyes. That was exactly what she meant!

Opening one eye, and looking at him, she waited for the second reaction to her second slip-up.

He smiled slightly. "I don't laugh a lot?" he asked, his head slightly askew, trying to look at her in the eye.

It was as if she lost some control over her words. "You don't. You're always so serious...I mean, when you lighten up once in a while, that's when you seem to be...be..."

"What?" asked Danny, coming closer.

She looked from the ground and directly at him. To her surprise, he was at a pretty close range.

"I don't want to say it," she said. "You'll probably laugh or something."

"My laughing has everything to do with this!" he said. "What were you going to say?"

Sam looked back at him, and saw that he wasn't going to back down. She didn't like the way that he always had to get to the bottom of things.

"I can't believe I'm saying this..." she thought, as the phrase passed out of her mouth.

"You seem to be a person that I really like to have around," she said, quickly, turning around, facing the other direction. At the same time, her cheeks reddened a bit.

Danny's did the same.

"But we're friends," he said. "I didn't know that there were times you didn't like having me around."

"No," said Sam, turning around. "I like having you around...that is the reason why we're friends, why you're my best friend...but I...I don't...I...want...I mean, I feel..."

She was really struggling with her words. Danny knew exactly how that felt when he was at a loss.

"Sometimes," she said, "after what everyone thinks...after all that has happened, I feel that you...that I...I..."

Whatever it was, she was having a hell of a time saying it. But Danny felt as if he knew exactly what she was going to say.

He wished that he could say something, too, but it seemed that he was also tongue-tied. It was a really awkward moment.

But he found himself walking up to her, and putting his hand on her shoulder. The gesture was a bit surprising to Sam, as she looked up the length of his arm and into his face, which was smiling a bit.

Sam had the oddest feeling coming over her as she found herself returning the smile. But the other odd anomaly was when she looked back at his hand, which was firmly rooted on her shoulder.

His hand was warm...which was strange, when the fact about his head being cold when she ruffled his hair that morning.

Danny didn't know what was happening. It was some invisible magnetic force that slowly drew him towards her, his hand still clasped onto her shoulder...and Sam didn't seem to be moving away from him...

In fact, she was moving towards him...he could almost see his reflection in her violet eyes...his parents' argument about Santa Claus in the background seemed to be fading away, as his head slowly tilted...

As his eyes slowly closed, his last remnants of sight witnessed Sam doing the same thing...

"Hey guys!" yelled a voice out of nowhere. "Did you miss me? What's up?"

Danny's eyes shot open at the realization of what was happening. His eyes locked with Sam's, who had the same look of panic on her face.

"Whoa," said Tucker, as he looked more closely at his two friends. "Did I come at a bad time?" His voice was slightly on the preppy tone, and he was thinking, "It's about time!"

Danny, panicking, and trying to come up with some good excuse, suddenly brought his hands up to Sam's eyes, and started inspecting them like a doctor.

"Ouch!" she said, quietly.

"What are you two doing?" asked Tucker, now coming up to them with a broad, sarcastic smile on his face.

"There was something in Sam's eye," said Danny quickly, still pretending to inspect it. "She asked me to see if there was anything inside of it."

"Something in Sam's eye, huh?" asked Tucker, his smile still unfazed. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Danny."

"No!" said Sam, pulling away from Danny, by this time her eyelid painful. "There was something in my eye! I swear!"

"Uh-huh," said Tucker, not believing any word of it. "I might as well go back to the sporting goods store to get Dash some more things..."

"Go ahead," said Danny, desperately trying to get off-topic. "I'll go get my Secret Santa something,"

"Sure," said Tucker. "And I'll rent a room for you two lovebirds,"

"WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!" yelled Danny and Sam at the top of their lungs.

"OK, OK," said Tucker, backing off. "Geez, I was just joking...can't you two ever take a joke?"

Danny's nerves finally went back down as he slowly consoled his other best friend. "Sorry, Tuck," he said. "I should know by now that yelling doesn't solve anything." His memory suddenly switched to Valerie's as he quickly threw that event out of his head.

"No prob, man," said Tucker, offering his fist that Danny could punch against in friendship. "Just giving you a hard time, as usual..."

The half-ghost laughed. "Same old Tuck..." he thought, repeating the phrase once again with a different name. He headed off in another direction to buy his remaining gift. He had gotten everyone on his list, except for one...his Secret Santa.

"See you guys in a second!" he said, disappearing into a department store, with absolutely no idea what he was going to get...minutes passed by, and he still had no clue...

That is, until his eyes rested on something...

"Perfect!" he said, buying it. He knew that the person was going to like it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't easy, but Danny flew them all back to his place, carrying his friends and all the merchandise from the mall.

"Dang, it's cold up there!" said Tucker, rubbing his hands together. "At least you were able to get us home quickly!"

"I know," said Sam. "Is it just me, or are you getting faster?"

"Don't know," said Danny, still in ghost mode and looking towards the heavens. "Maybe that cold air up there is just making me faster for some reason...I have no clue..."

Sam walked up behind him and touched his shoulder. "Well, whatever it is, keep it up," said Sam. "You're probably gonna need it for later, if you know what I mean..."

"Spectra?" asked Danny, changing back into human form, and looking at her.

"Yes!" she said. "We haven't heard from her in a while! Who knows what she's up to now?"

The teen's face suddenly changed to a bit of anguish as he considered his rough dilemma.

"I wish I could tell you," he thought. Danny looked down at the ground, slightly crestfallen...he had to tell her...

"Are you OK, Danny?" asked Sam, noticing the sudden change in her friend. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah," he said, still looking down. "But I don't know what it is...I just keep having this strange feeling that something is going to happen sometime soon..."

"But you'll get rid of her!" said Tucker. "You always have done things like that in the past...she shouldn't be any different..."

"But this is different," said Danny, feeling that now was the time. "She's now starting to specifically target people, especially ones like Val-"

"Who shouldn't be any different?" asked a voice from the Fentonworks door. It was Jazz.

"Oh, no one," said Danny, changing the subject quickly. "Just thinking about random things, as usual." Telling Sam the truth would also involve telling Jazz. And both were somehow involved...

Danny watched with a disguised look on his face as he watched his sister and Tucker laugh at the same time.

Only one person watched the whole thing without showing a bit of emotion. Sam was a little upset that Danny never finished, but for some reason, couldn't find the nerve to be angry at him...

"Just another thing to get out of him later," she thought as she smiled and looked up at the sky.

"Look!" she exclaimed, laughing a bit. "Snow!"

Everyone looked up. Indeed, snow was falling, and it was coming down quickly. It was sort of like magic.

Three of the teenagers started acting like little kids again, having a little snowball fight. Jazz, Sam, and Tucker were laughing as they dodged each other, trying to avoid each others' throws. Danny just remained solemn, staring at his friends and sister with a smile on his face. Just watching their reactions was enough for him.

After a while, Jazz motioned them all inside, not after getting hit with a snowball. "C'mon," she said. "Hot cocoa all around. We can hang out inside until the snow stops a bit..."

"I'm up for it," said Tucker, racing inside, already cold.

Danny was about to ask Sam if she was up for it, but never got the chance to as a ball of white snow smacked into his chest. Sam laughed in triumph, knowing that she had hit her target.

"Oh, you're dead!" said Danny playfully, now scooping up some snow and throwing the snowballs at Sam. She laughed as she countered his attacks with some of their own, dodging and weaving.

Jazz and Tucker just watched and looked at each other with grins as they witnessed the "fighting" pair, as Danny got smacked in the face with a snowball and he chased after her in a rage of fury.

"Hey, no fair!" yelled Sam when he turned invisible.

She waited for a few seconds in suspense, and got her answer when two snowballs suddenly smacked her, one in the face and another in the arm.

"I'll get you!" she yelled, throwing snow everywhere, hoping that some would land on him and form an outline.

When she succeeded, she threw a ball at what looked like the back of his head.

"Ow!" he yelled, rubbing his head and becoming visible once again.

Then it became something that resembled a food fight, where they didn't even bother making the snowballs. They each just pushed as much snow as they could onto each other, laughing the whole time.

"OK, that's enough," said Jazz, when both were almost completely saturated. "You two can stop that fight of yours!"

"Hey!" said Danny, still in competitive mode. "She started it!"

"Well, you were the cheater that turned invisible!" countered Sam, on the same lines.

Danny laughed. "Well, you deserved it!"

"I did not!" protested Sam.

"Seriously," said Tucker. "You two act like a couple sometimes..."

"We're not together!" they both protested, taking their eyes off each other and rounding back on Tucker.

Jazz just laughed at them as she closed the door on the empty street.

And it stayed empty and quiet on the snow-covered street for a while, until one thing made its presence...one thing that had been watching the events from up above, well out of sight.

Well hidden in the now-densely falling snow, a black spirit became visible, a large smile on her face.

"How touching!" said Spectra, now changing into a young female from all the absorbed misery. "A half-ghost playing with his little friends...that's so sweet...it's just too bad that I'll have to end that..."

She was still planning her revenge after what Danny had done to her assistant. Getting Valerie in on it was part of her plan the whole time, because she knew of her capabilities, and her friendship with Danny...

And after what she had witnessed, it was clear that there were others to get a hold of...

"Soon, Danny," she thought, turning invisible. "That waterfall of misery will be mine for the taking!"

Laughing, she disappeared out of sight to look for more tell-tale signs on teenagers.

A/N: Reviews, please, and let there be many! And once again, Merry Christmas.