Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom

AN: This is a continuation of Deathday. A 1250 word Dribble.

Deathday pt 2

"I don't suppose you'd like to hang around to fill out a report?" the officer asked.

Danny glanced to where Sam was glaring at him and briefly considered using the officer's request as an excuse. It was a sign of how much he dreaded the upcoming conversation that he was willing to resort to bureaucracy as a delaying tactic.

Danny thanked the police for their help and bolstering his courage excused himself. Even so he nerves nearly failed him when he saw the way Sam was glaring at him. He motioned for them to move down the street for some privacy and with tightened lips, Sam followed.

The Park was deserted at this time of night and Danny waited until Sam had settled herself on a picnic bench but his own agitation drove him to pace back and forth.

"Explain," Sam demanded.

"It's like I told the Police Chief, ghosts commemorate their deathday by reenacting how they died," Danny said.

"That doesn't mean you have to help someone commit suicide!" Sam spat out angrily.

Danny flinched from her accusation but tried to explain, "He is already dead. It's not like his death could have been prevented."

"He was scared. He didn't want to do it!" Sam yelled.

Danny nodded, and swallowed past the knot that had formed in his throat. "I know. There was nothing I could do but try to ease him into it."

"I don't understand."

"It's something a ghost is driven to do. It confirms their obsession and renews their essence," Danny pleaded with her to understand. "Putting it off only prolongs the torture."

"But…" Sam protested. "It's immoral."

Danny ran his fingers through his white hair. "Not by ghost standards. I tried to stop a ghost once. Danny shuddered. "I tried to tell him he was making a mistake. He was screaming and begging. It was … horrible." Sam could tell by the way Danny's aura dimmed that it was a very upsetting memory. "Then Clockwork showed up and… explained 'the facts of death." His cheeks flushed a bright green. "Very bad things can happen to a ghost without this ritual."

"If ghosts have to do this, why haven't I known about it before?" Sam's challenge was no longer so certain in the wake of Danny's evident horror.

"You have. You just didn't know it. All those sightings of ghosts reliving their past lives as if it were a video tape. My parents call them residual hauntings or remnants. The legends of hauntings that show up on the anniversary of the day they died." Danny's aura brightened as he warmed to his subject.

"How come the ghosts never mention it, if it is so important?" Sam asked.

"It's not only important: it's private. A ghost is vulnerable at that time. If something goes wrong they can be destroyed or worse changed. So they mostly don't want to talk about it. If they have to talk about it, they use euphemisms such as "Birthday" or "Deathday" and then only to someone they trust absolutely."

"So it's like 'using the bathroom'. We all do it but it's considered impolite to talk about it," she answered.

Danny couldn't help smiling at her analogy. "Even more, so."

"So that ghost today…" Sam began.

"Yeah. The polite thing would be to pretend we never saw anything. He was a first-timer or he would have found a more secluded spot," Danny added.

"Still, it was nice of you to help him," Sam said thoughtfully, "I think."

Danny was glad to be back in Sam's good graces. He triggered is transformation rings as if it were a signal to move onto more human things. "Want to take a romantic walk in the park with me?" he smiled.

Sam reached out and grabbed his sleeve to stop him. "Not so fast, bucko. If ghosts celebrate their birthdays by reenacting their own deaths, then do…." Seeing the look on Danny's face Sam's voice trailed off.

"Yeah," Danny said in a voice scarcely above a whisper.

"But, you're only a half ghost," Sam protested.

Danny sank down on the picnic table bench and stared at the dark playground. "It's enough."

"But you're not dead." Sam tried read the expression on Danny's face but the boy had half turned away, ducking his head to hide his face behind his bangs.

"So far, I've been through three deathdays. The first, when I first got my ghost powers. The second when Desiree granted that wish, and the third time during the Disasteroid."

For some time only the small night noises intruded on the silence as Sam thought it over. "They didn't all happen exactly on the same day of the year," she pointed out.

"Close enough. I've wondered if being a half-ghost grants me a little leeway in the timing of if there is usually some flexibility." Danny's voice had a careful eggshell quality.

"Your parents said that what happened to you was extraordinary and idiosyncratic," said Sam

"Which is another way of saying I'm freaky and bizarre," Danny translated.

Sam glanced at him but decided not to take the bait and pursue that line of thinking. "What they also said was that it was risky – really, really risky."

"Which is why we shouldn't tell them I have done it more than once."

Sam was not going to be derailed. "It doesn't make it less true."

Danny hunched over, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Ghost don't have to worry about dying – you do."

"Do you remember Pariah Dark?" Danny asked.

"What does he have to do with anything?" Sam asked.

"By all accounts, he once was a good king: wise and just. Then he decided that he didn't want to get stabbed in the eye during his deathday ritual… well he turned so bad that they had to lock him away forever." Danny paused. "I got a glimpse of what I could become when I saw my future jerky self."

Sam stared at him in horror. "But you could die."

"If it you had a choice between dying and becoming that, what would you do?" Danny asked.

Sam opened her mouth to retort and then shut it again. After a moment she countered. "What about Vlad?"

"What about him?" he asked.

"I bet he doesn't risk his life every year," she challenged.

"Why do you think he has those periodic flare-ups of ecto-acne? He loves himself way too much to risk becoming something different. Besides the ecto-acne is a side effect not the cause," Danny explained.

"I hadn't made the connection before," Sam admitted.

"On the other hand it might explain why he's such a fruitloop. I asked Clockwork about it, but he told me to mind my own business," Danny tried to inject a bit of humor but it fell flat.

The silence stretched and they walked through the deserted park.

"Danny?"

"Yes, Sam?"

"On your next deathday….I know it's supposed to be a private thing, but the way you helped that ghost tonight… would it be easier if you had someone to help you?"

The silence stretched further.

"I don't want you to have to see it again."

Sam linked her arm through his and squeezed it against her side. "The least I can do is be there for you."

Danny stopped and turned to stare into her eyes. Sam, his brave Sam. If he couldn't find the courage in himself, he could find it in her eyes. "I'd like that," he whispered.

AN: yes there is a significance to the highlighted numbers in the word count.