First of all, I want to apologize to you all. I'm so sorry I disappeared these past five years. A lot happened in my life. Both amazing and terrible. I wish I could say everything that happened, but that would make up its own saga hahaha
I hope you believe me when I say I never gave up on this fanfic, and I won't ever. I still love this story, and I'm determined to see it til the very end. That being said, I don't know if I can keep a consistent schedule with posting updates like I (sorta) used to. I hope to post something maybe once a week, but please understand that my life is still very busy.
Revisiting this fanfiction, I've realized that there are things I would change if I had started writing it now instead of five years ago. What I am going to do, however, is keep the story as I had intended it when I first started writing it. Then, I think I'm going to write an updated version of the story on another fanfiction-type platform, under the same username. I will post the link to that when I finish this story.
Once again, thank you for staying with me, and I hope you enjoy my version of season four of Danny Phantom.
And, of course, this is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Danny Phantom world, which is owned by Viacom. I do not claim any ownership over anything except the storyline and the characters I created. ~Ms. Oregano
xxxxxx
"Okay, you come up to a school bus that's dropping kids off. What do you do?"
"Umm, stop and wait?"
"Right! Let's find another question..."
Sam flipped through the pages of the Driver's Manual, coming to a stop midway through the book.
"Oh, here's a good one: if you get in an accident with another car, what do you share with the other driver?"
"Uhh…" Danny drummed his fingers on his kitchen table and shut his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows together. "One of them has to be your driver's license."
"Right…"
"Then...umm...your car...information?" He gave a long exhale. "Yeah, I don't know."
"It's your driver's license info, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and current address."
"Ugh, dang it! I remember reading it, too."
"Danny, it's okay. Now you'll remember that this was one you tripped up on. Say again everything you need to show the other driver."
"Driver's license, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and current address."
"There you go. We'll run through that again later."
"Thanks again for helping me study for the permit test. I haven't had the time to study with all the ghost-fighting and…"
"And that bomb that our future selves basically just dropped on us? Yeah." Sam put down the book and sighed. "I honestly haven't been able to do much, either. I've been worrying myself to sleep since our meeting."
"Same. I've been thinking about the same things over and over again. Like, where are we going to hide Tara, Megan, and Vanessa? It was hard enough when it was just Tara."
"And now we have three." Sam buried her head in her hands. "Ugh, this is a lot."
"I'm really sorry."
"No, don't be. You didn't choose this."
"I did. In the future."
"We did, in the future."
Danny gave a little smile. "Maybe we're not giving ourselves enough credit. I mean, if our future selves think we can handle it, then I trust them. They do know us better than we do, after all."
"I guess that's true."
They looked into each other's eyes, silently conveying their support for one another, when suddenly, a tall, blue oval appeared in the kitchen.
Out stepped Tara.
"Hey guys."
"Hey Tara. You sound just about as cheerful as us right now," Danny said.
"Yeah, well...Mom and Dad told me to tell you that tonight's the night we're all coming over."
"What? So soon?" Sam exclaimed.
"I know. I'm so sorry it's so last minute."
"No, it's okay," Danny said, looking over at Sam. "We'll make this work."
"Dad says to meet us at the abandoned parking lot from last time. Can you sneak out?"
"Sure, I can pick up Sam from her house."
"You mean my prison."
"Then be there by 11 pm sharp. Dad says we have to do this quickly," Tara said.
"That doesn't sound ominous at all," Sam said.
"I don't know what's going on; they're not telling me anything anymore. Just...be there, please?"
"We'll be there," Danny said. "11 pm on the dot."
"Thanks, you guys." And with that, Tara pressed on her wristband, opening a portal in front of her. She stepped in, and the oval disappeared.
Danny and Sam looked at each other.
"We better call Tucker," Danny said.
xxxxxx
"Sometimes, being Mayor of Amity Park has its perks. And one of those perks is being able to pull some strings to get an AirBnB just outside of town at the very last second."
"I really owe you one, Tuck," Danny said.
They sat on the cold, concrete ground of the abandoned parking lot, staring at the night sky. It seemed as if all of the stars had been chased away by bright lights of their town, but they were not looking for stars.
"It's all good, man. I've got a new number one priority now, and it's their safety."
"Wow, thanks, dude."
"Is there stuff in the fridge for them?" Sam asked.
"Should be. I asked Linda to stock it for me," Tucker said.
"What if they need something? Do they have a way to contact us?"
"There's a main landline at the house, and I'm also leaving an old cellphone of mine."
"But what if-"
"Sam, relax. We're prepared," Danny said.
Sam sighed.
"What time is it?" Tucker asked.
Sam looked at her watch. "It'll be 11 in three, two-"
At that moment, a portal opened just a few feet from them. The trio got up from the floor and walked over to it.
Tara and Vanessa stepped out first with bags over their shoulders.
"Hey," Tara said, smiling sadly.
"Hi," Danny said. "Where's Megan?"
"She's...having a difficult time," Vanessa said.
"Oh."
Future Danny and Sam then came out, with Megan in her father's arms.
"Daddy, no…"
"It's going to be okay, sweetie. Mommy and I will be back soon, I promise."
"No, Daddy, please," Megain said in between sobs. "I'm sc-c-ared."
"Don't be, sweetheart," future Sam said in a soothing voice. "Tara and Vanessa are going to take good care of you. And you'll make new friends too."
"Yeah, why don't you say 'hi' to them?" future Danny said as he put her down.
Megan turned her head towards Danny, Sam, and Tucker, then scurried behind her father.
"Come on, Meg…" future Danny said.
"Hi," younger Sam softly said as she knelt down to Tara's level. "What's your name?"
Megan peeked out. "Megan."
"Megan. That's so pretty. I'm Sam. And this is Danny and Tucker. It's very nice to meet you."
The little girl silently inspected Sam before saying, "You look like Mommy."
"Yeah, we're...distantly related," she said with a chuckle.
Megan veered her eyes towards the ground.
"Can I shake your hand?" Sam said.
Megan looked up, then nodded. She slowly crept out from behind her father's legs and reached out for Sam's hand. She took it.
"Wow, you've got a good grip there, kid! Very strong."
She let go of the girl's hand. Immediately, Megan opened her arms and ran to Sam, colliding. She held on as Sam effortlessly stood and lifted her onto her hip.
"Okay, that's good," future Sam said. "Now, here's her bag...and in there, you'll find her clothes, some of her toys-you know, stuff like that. I expect the girls to stay away from the city, but, you know, if you want to take her out, she loves monkey bread. It's her favorite food. And there's also...you know what, I should stop rambling now."
"It's ok," Sam said. "I understand."
"Just...take good care of them. Please," future Danny said. "They mean...everything to us."
"They're our whole world," Sam said, her eyes glistening with tears that began to spill out.
"I swear, I won't let anything happen to them," Sam said as she cradled Megan.
"They're our world now, too," younger Danny said.
Future Danny nodded.
"Sorry, can I just...can I just have one last hug with the girls?" future Danny whispered.
"Of course," younger Sam said as she put Megan down.
Tara dropped her bag and ran to her father alongside her little sister. Future Danny caught them in his embrace, with future Sam hugging them all as well.
The soft sound of muffled cries was the only thing that could be heard in that abandoned parking lot.
"I love you," future Danny murmured as he kissed the top of each of his daughters' heads. "So, so much."
"We'll come back for you," future Sam whispered.
"I love you too," Tara said.
Finally, they let go of one another, and the girls returned to their places-Megan in younger Sam's arms, and Tara side-by-side with her younger parents.
Future Danny turned and opened a portal behind them. He looked over at his wife, who was still soaking in this last image of her children. He then took her hand, and she looked back at him.
They crossed the portal together.