I will thank PhantomShadowKat...again, for being my one and only reviewer for the last chapter.

Sorry for making you wait so long for the update. The good news is that the story is finished save the epilogue so expect regular updates. (Wait it's not supposed to be good news a story is finished...) No, that's the bad news. The good news is the updates...

For any of you guys reading this out there, please hang on through the next few chapters. To me, they are a little boring, but the ending is a lot better (I hope.)

Oh, and I don't like the first part of this chapter...if you do: good for you...

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Chapter Seven: My Conscience Cleared

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...and began to sing.

"I have two heroes, People I can run to, When I need comforting.
And I don't wanna share them, no one could replace them, cause my daddy and mommy are all mine."

To an outsider that song would be a hypocritical jumble of nonsense, but to me and my dad it meant the world. I had made that song up when I was six and sang it to my dad. It was the only time besides mom's death that I'd seen him cry. Come to think about it, I made that song up because of the loss of mom.

Dad had stopped instantly upon hearing the first word of the song, but he hadn't turned around to listen to it. He just stayed facing the opposite direction. I didn't know what was going on.

That was, until I saw him turn and ask, barely above a whisper, "Valerie, are you really here?"

I didn't answer. Like I'd told myself before I came, I wasn't going to talk to him or let him see me. I turned and ran for all I was worth in the opposite direction of the fountain and dad. I heard dad's feet pick up pace as he began running after me.

Then silence.

I was still a good hundred yards away from the exit, but I stopped once I couldn't hear dad's footsteps anymore, and turned to see what was going on. Dad hadn't stopped because he was short of breath or because he knew he couldn't catch me or because he'd had a glimpse of me in the full moon.

Someone had stopped him and was now telling him something. That someone was Phantom. I was too far away to tell what was being said, but I still didn't move.

I barely saw dad shake his head yes and start off in the direction he'd come in. Phantom on the other hand floated towards me. I quickly ducked behind a tree, but I should've known that wouldn't keep him from finding me.

"I see you," he simply stated. Reluctantly, I stepped out from behind the tree.

"Who are you?" I played dumb. Well, you know when you get all uptight and you ask the stupidest thing in the universe when the answer was beyond obvious? That's what happened here.

"Please, you know who I am," he answered without the show of any emotion.

"Right," I whispered under my breath. How was I supposed to tell Phantom that I'd changed my mind about trying to attack him? Wait! Maybe he wouldn't bring it up because...

I saw him hold up a torn boggin. Never mind about him not bringing it up.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"Fenton and I are partners. I saw it at his house and picked it up. I know you were the one wearing it--"

"He told you! He promised he wouldn't say anything!" I exclaimed.

"NO! I-I just kind of figured it out on my own. He didn't say anything," Phantom stuttered. "Anyway, you were wearing it, you attacked me, you're Valerie."

"So what if I am?" I asked back harshly forgetting for a split second I wanted to try and make peace with him.

"So can't you see I'm not evil? After you've been here and seen this place and realized I didn't destroy the it how can you still say I'm evil?" he questioned further.

"Who said I said you were evil?" I asked quietly. The expression on his face at that moment was pure confusion; priceless. "Look, I've come to my senses, so you can laugh in my face or say "I told you so," or whatever. I don't really care."

To my surprise he did none of those things. He retorted with, "And you're hurting your dad. He expected to talk to you tonight, and then all you do is sing?"

"The words in that small song probably mean more to him than I could ever think of saying," I responded. "Besides, I wouldn't have let him see me tonight anyway. He'd be a little too shocked, but I'll tell him...when the time is right."

Phantom arched a questioning eyebrow at my response, but said nothing more. I watched him fly off into the night, leaving me to walk the rest of the way guided by the moonlight.

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Admittedly, it was a short talk with him, but the waters were clear. Everything was headed down the path to perfectness; almost. Nothing would ever be perfect, and in my scenario, I would never be able to tell Danny what I wanted to tell him and should have told him ten years ago. I gave up the opportunity; and I was paying for it now.

It was times like these that I would casually let my thoughts drift off to what might have happened if I wouldn't have ran away. I'd be in Sam's shoes most likely. I'd be the mayor's wife, the housekeeper of the boarding house I was now lying in.

Then again, if I would've stayed and not told Danny anything; I would've just went on about my business secretly plotting to destroy him while he was pretending to be Danny. That would mean I would've been there nine years ago when his heroic stunt was pulled, making him look like he was partners with that other ghost so he wouldn't even be the hero his is today. The more I thought about it, the better it was for me to leave and then come back.

It had given me time to cope with all my confusing feelings. The entire time I'd been here I had been telling myself what a horrible decision it was to leave, but now that I was lying on a comfortable bed thinking things through throughly, I realized that in my absence, Phantom was able to rise to the top and become a hero. While I was in Vina, I was able to pull away from everything I never wanted to think about again.

In doing that, when I decided to come back I had somewhat of an opener mind. Okay, so at first I had convinced myself that Phantom was still evil and everything, but I came around eventually. What was that had made me change mind so quickly though? I had been wondering why dad had joined Phantom. Was it because of him that I'd made up mind that Phantom wasn't all bad?

Ay yi, I was at it again, a mental battle of no apparent end. Maybe if I found out why dad had up and joined Phantom.

It was then I realized how stupid I really was. Instead of arguing with myself over details like that, why hadn't I just asked about when dad had first started working with Phantom. That would've been the smartest thing to do. Of course, I had been blinded by my convinced mind that Phantom was nothing but an evil ghost.

I reached over to the light switch by my bed and flicked the light off and and turned on one of the bedside lamps. I had made up my mind to ask dad about him joining the ghost hunting squad as soon as possible, but for now, I was going to re-read my favorite book: Stravaganza: City of the Masks

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The next day, I was up around six and downstairs by six-thirty, eating a small breakfast. Almost no one was up yet and anyone who was wasn't in the kitchen. So I enjoyed a chat free meal with only my thoughts to interrupt me.

That was, until...

"I've never seen you up this early." I turned toward the voice to see who it was. To my utmost surprise, Sam was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, I have some things to do today," I answered. A moment later I added, "Do you always come here in the morning?"

"Usually. After Danny heads out to work I like to come over here and catch up with everyone. True, sometimes I go out and help him, but I decided not to today." Sam relocated herself to in front of the stove and started fixing a "real" breakfast if you would call it; I was eating cereal; not that I really cared.

"So..." I causally began. "I have a few questions about that ghost hunting squad." I had a feeling since Sam was Danny's friend and wife she was most likely involved someway or another in helping to create the business so she'd be able to answer a few of the over-all questions I had. I could get more detailed descriptions from the other people.

"Like what?" she asked as she turned around momentarily taking her eye of the bacon in the skillet.

"Like how it got started. How Danny and Phantom came up with idea." In my mind I added, How they broke the news to the people of the group that Danny really was Phantom.

"Well," she turned back to the stove. "It didn't happen until Danny was elected mayor about two years or so ago, so this squad hasn't been around very long, but I'm sure it will stay in tact once Danny's gone. Anyway, Danny Phantom, after being declared a hero in pretty much everyone's eyes..."

"Pretty much?" I questioned.

"Yeah, they're were still a few people who hung onto what he'd done in the past, convinced his whole stunt was a conspiracy that him and Plasmius had cooked up to make him look good."

Why did you have to say that Sam...

She continued, "So Phantom came to Danny and, to make it short and sweet, developed a squad of people to help protect the town against ghosts. Phantom's the one who does most of the hunting and capturing, with Danny second in command. But the ones on the squad are eligible to hunt and capture ghosts if they come upon one. Anyone else is supposed to try and contact a member of the group if they think they see a ghost."

"How did Danny and Phantom decide on who to put on the squad?"

"Well, Jack and Maddie Fenton have been at this ghost hunting business longer than Jazz Fenton has been alive. Jazz isn't that big on the hunting, but if there's a call and everyone else is busy, she's there. Juile Yamson was someone Danny met in college. She seemed to be very interested in ghosts and when put up against an unplanned attack with Phantom, she did pretty good.

"Valerie, the girl I've mentioned oh so many times, was a ghost hunter when she lived here ten years ago, so Damon was sometimes, unwillingly, pulled into a ghost attack. He's better with computers and trying to prevent ghost attacks, but he's not too shabby in the field either. Remember Tucker Foley, the T.F., too fine guy?" I nodded. "Well, he's been Danny's friend forever and been pulled into a few ghost fights where his technology can get him out. I'm also one of the members, seeing as how I'm an old friend too."

"Of Phantom's or Danny's?" I asked, curiously.

"Both really, since Danny, being from a family of ghost hunters, was constantly around ghosts," she answered.

"If you two are part of the team, why didn't you guys talk during the ceramony?"

"I don't know. I was basicly there because I'm the mayor's wife, and Tucker...I can't read his mind."

I nodded. I still needed to dig deeper to find answers to some of my questions.

"Oh, Trey. I needed to talk to you about cleaning your clothes," Sam announced as Trey came into the kitchen, looking only half way awake.

Besides, I'd already lost Sam. She'd given me some pretty decent information to work off of though. So I knew dad was almost pulled into this thing...or was he? Sam had told me why he was picked, but why had he accepted?

Well, another question to add to the mountain of questions already established.

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Read and review. Pretty please, with those dark licorice sprinkles, and the black frosting you like, with those little gummy bats on top?!

And remember: next update will be much soooner.