As usual, I am sorry for the delay.

Before I write anything else, I'd like to take a moment for my reviewers. You asked some really good questions. Thank you all for your reviews.

Luiz4200: No, unfortunately not.

Obiwan456: Don't worry, Danny won't forget. :)

tiger002: Thanks for the compliments. I can't wait to get the chapter where Vlad's stopped, so that part is coming.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying that I own any TV characters, shows, etc. . . .

Warm Receivings

"Jack! Long time no see! What've you been up to since high school?" Mr. Long asked, when he saw who was at the door. "And this must be your wife and daughter!"

"Jon!" Jack greeted. "This is Maddie and Jazz. Where's Danny?"

"Jack, aren't you going to thank him for taking care of Danny for us?" Maddie prompted him.

"Right!" said Jack. "Thanks for taking care of our son for us!"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Jonathon asked. "Come in, come in!"

Upstairs, Jake was giving Danny the good news about the plan to return him to Amity Park.

"Yes, I'm serious. Fu just received the speakers and the hypnotic CD today." Jake informed Danny.

"Good," said Danny.

The conversation cut off, however, as they heard voices down the stairs.

"Danny? Well, I suppose he's okay. He seems to be having a few issues though."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Danny has been," someone said. "He must be under a lot of stress, with the sudden changes in our lives."

Danny's face brightened up. "That's Jazz's voice," he said. "My family's here!"

The teen ran down the stairs. "Mom! Dad! Jazz! You're here!" he said. He ran to them, and gathered his family into a giant bear hug.

Maddie smiled at her son. "Oh Danny, we missed you too!"

"You're saying that you want us to put these speakers up around town to make everyone forget who you are, so you can come back to town?" Jazz asked.

The Fentons were driving back. Jake and his grandfather were coming with them, because as dragons, it was their duty to protect the secret existence of the magical world.

"Yeah, that's right," Danny replied. "That is what I need you to do."

"Danny, we won't remember that you're a ghost, will we?" Jazz asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"No, I only wish you guys could. This is worse than the incident with the Reality Gauntlet." Danny mused. "At least that time a few people I was close to could still remember."

"How are you planning on telling Sam and Tucker that they won't know who you are?"

Danny sighed. "They don't need to know about this, Jazz. They'll forget either way. Telling them will just upset them."

"Okay, listen up, y'all. We're almost to your town. Get ready." Jake warned.

"Are those ghost gorillas just off the freeway?" Jack asked. "What are they doing."

Maddie took a look. "I think they're stopping traffic, Jack!" she said. "We're going to have to go around them."

Jack grinned. "Time for some fun!" he said, as he floored the gas pedal.

Danny looked ahead at Amity Park, instead of at the gorillas. He could see some sort of a ghost fight above the city. There was the form of a large ghost, and a red figure that appeared to be getting clobbered.

"Valerie!" Danny gasped. Something inside of him ordered him to save her. After all, he was supposed to protect Amity Park, and all its residents.

"Could you excuse me for a moment?" he asked. "There's something I have to do."

Danny went ghost inside the car, then shot off into the fight.

"There he goes, rushing off to be the hero again," Jazz said, proudly.

Danny was very close to the fight now. He mumbled to himself as he approached, "Val's gonna get herself seriously hurt if this goes on much longer."

"Now, Red Huntress, enjoy your plate of DOOM!" bellowed the Lunch Lady, in her monstrous form. She sent a swift stream of meat at Valerie.

But before she could get buried in meat, a black ghostly streak grabbed onto her and pulled her out of the way. The ghost put her down safely on the top of a building.

"Danny?" Valerie asked, almost unbelieving of what her own eyes were showing her. "You're back!"

Danny didn't stop to chat with her. He leaped back into battle with the Lunch Lady. After being weakened by Valerie, it didn't take much for Danny to defeat her.

He drifted back to the rooftop where Valerie stood, watching.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Danny, I'm amazed. I didn't think you'd dare show you're face around here again, not now that everyone knows what you are. I mean . . . thanks for coming back."

Danny shrugged, and jokingly asked her, "You didn't think I could stay away forever, did you?"

"No, but I was starting to wonder when you'd show up, Ghost Boy," she teased back. But soon she remembered the late nights, school, and all the ghosts. "But I still wanna know, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I WENT THROUGH WHILE YOU WERE GONE?"

Danny flinched, and said softly, "I think I have a pretty good guess what was going on around here that you had to deal with."

"THE GHOSTS SHOWED UP ALL HOURS OF THE DAY, AND NIGHT," she shouted. "BECAUSE OF THAT, I DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO GET ALL MY HOMEWORK DONE, I COULDN'T STAY AWAKE IN CLASS, AND I HAD TO DART OFF DURING WORK AND SCHOOL, BECAUSE OF THE DUMB GHOSTS!"

Danny wrapped an arm around her, looked her in the eyes, and told her, "I know exactly what you've been through, Val. The same things happened to me when I was the one protecting Amity Park. I'm really sorry you had to go through all of that. I hope you forgive me." He flashed her an apologetic smile.

Valerie forced herself to breathe. Once her anger receded, she thought, 'Wow, he's been going through that all along? How does he do it?'

Then she started feeling guilty. 'I've been horrible to him,' she realized. 'I guess ruining Dad's carrier was an accident, and I wouldn't forgive him, or even consider believing him. I tried to destroy him. He should hate me.' Even as strong as a character as Valerie was, she couldn't help but cry, overwhelmed by emotion.

Danny pulled her closer to him, until his arms were around her, until she was close enough to cry into his shoulder. "I'm back now, Val," he whispered to her. "I didn't mean to hurt you by leaving. I'm back now, and I'll handle the ghosts. You can just relax."

Danny let out his breath. "I'm back, and I won't leave you in that position again. I promise."

She was the one who'd been horrible to him, and he was the one apologizing. She had to fix this.

"No, it's not that, Danny. It's . . . "

But Danny already understood. "It's about the way you acted toward my ghost half earlier, isn't it?" he asked.

He smiled at her. "I knew you had good intentions, so I forgave you a long time ago."

After that comment, Valerie melted into Danny's arms. Oh boy, was she glad to have him back. 'Danny . . . ' her thoughts hummed.