Author notes:

1)English is my second language. Forgive me for any mistake.

2)I don't own Danny Phantom.

3)I only own the plot for this AU and the eventual OCs

4)Thanks Truephan, Shaddow the Spirit, DaughterofPoseidon32498 and Christopher Scott for your reviews.

Alphonse had taken a quite long time studying those leaves the boy had given him from that weird tree at the Cave of Beginning. They were very intriguing. That green leaf had begun to redden as soon as they arrived home. The werewolf didn't know much about leaves, he never got interested in botany before.

The lycanthrope had to sneak out at night, hidden even from the boy, to outside of the Dead Forest to grab as many leaves from the trees from the human's side. He took these leaves and studied them.

He achieved two conclusions: that those leaves from the Cave of Beginning were identical to the leaves from ordinary trees and that the leaves from the normal trees took a much longer time to change their color. It was this last discovery that made the werewolf understand that tree wasn't normal.

Alphonse also searched for his books that contained the information about the Cave of Beginning, but he read nothing about a tree, vegetables of anything that made photosynthesis for a matter of fact.

Danny didn't help much either. In fact, he only made Alphonse more nervous. The kid kept asking if he discovered everything already and the lycanthrope had to hold himself all the times to not give a harsh answer to the boy. He had a better result by telling the hybrid that when he had any news about the cave he would be the first to whom he would tell. Danny got pleased with that and left his teacher alone. The boy was confident that the werewolf would discover everything because he was really smart and the boy thought he knew almost everything.

Alphonse only grew very frustrated as he the days passed by. He couldn't get any clue of what that tree meant or even what CW stood for. He tried every combinations of words starting with these two letters and also got the most weird combinations out of it. He intended to go another time at that cave and make sure the boy looked inch by inch inside of the tree chamber. But he had to wait to the next week because Vlad's visit day was approaching and Alphonse didn't want the boy looking tired for no reason.

When Friday arrived, Vlad knocked on the door to pick Danny for the weekend. The child was still packing his things upstairs, but Alphonse was the one to open the door and greet Count Vlad.

"Good afternoon, Count Vlad." Greeted Alphonse with a forced smile.

But, unlike all the previous times, Vladimir had a very saddened expression his face. "Good afternoon…Is Daniel ready?"

The werewolf immediately knew that there was something off with the man. "Your son is still getting ready. Come in."

Vlad accepted the offer and got inside of Alphonse's home. Usually the blue-skinned ghost talked about something the werewolf considered trivial when they waited for Daniel to come, but the Count was awfully quiet.

"Is there something wrong?" Alphonse asked warily. He wasn't doing it out of pity, but also because the boy would find it weird for his father to have such a sad expression while he was hyped. Besides, he also feared that Vlad's current state might have something to do with him. He knew that it was almost impossible for Vlad to have discovered something about him, but one thing the werewolf learned in his life was to never ignore a chance, even if it's very slim.

Vlad turned to the lycanthrope and said with a sigh: "Is it so obvious?"

"Well, you look like something is bothering you. It might do some good if you just let it out…" the werewolf said.

The count then answered: "A very dear friend for both me and my father passed away. His name was Edmund. He died of old age on Tuesday. Well, he was 517 years-old after all. At least he had a peaceful death in his sleep…"

"I see…" Alphonse's muscles relaxed as he heard that. He didn't care for some old ghost who died, but at least that had nothing to do with him. But then he continued: "I don't know how much close the two of you were, but don't you think that you should try cheer up. Don't get me wrong, however I think your son is going to get depressed along with you if you tell him that. You know how he's like."

"You're right about that. But sometimes pretending to be happy is really impossible…" Vlad answered. He didn't want for him son to be sad too, but he couldn't hide it either. Edmond did come to their house some times and even talked a lot with the hybrid. He was one of the few people who knew about Danny being the son of a human female. It was a pity that good souls had to leave the world…

'No. All it needs is years of practice.' Alphonse answered in his mind. "Well, I guess you have to follow your paternal instincts on this one." But the werewolf himself didn't even know what his own words actually meant.

"Yeah…" Vlad said right before they noticed the noise of someone running down the stairs.

"Daddy!" Daniel said happily carrying his bag. The boy was very happy to see his father, but his smile faded when he encountered with his father's saddened expression: "What's wrong, daddy? Did I do something wrong?"

Those words made the parent quickly say: "No, son. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just…Do you remember Edmond?"

The boy just nodded in reply. Alphonse couldn't believe they would have that conversation in his home. But he allowed it. He decided it was for the best, because, this way, the boy would have the entire weekend to get over it.

"You see, son, Edmond was a very old ghost. Much older than your grandparents. He passed away. But he didn't suffer or anything like that." The parent tried to explain.

"Oh…" the boy said looking down. He liked that ghost. He was really friendly and nice to the boy. He remembered some stories the old ghost used to tell him, mostly about his youth. The boy felt a pang of sadness inside of his heart.

That silence was too weird for the werewolf. He hated being dragged to sappy conversations. He didn't care about that ghost. He didn't even know him. He questioned himself why did he had to hear all that and see both 'Plasmiuses' get filled with sorrow. Death is only a natural thing. Everything dies, humans, animals and even ghosts. Why care when they died?

But he said nothing. He wasn't going to make any insensitive remark. He wasn't stupid. He gave a heavy sigh. "Daniel, I never met Edmond before. But as for what I've heard about him, I can say that he really cared about you. He's at a better place now. I know it hurts to have a loved one taken away from you, but that's part of life. You fall down, you see people you care about being hurt or dead, however, the most important thing is always keep going not only for your sake, but also for theirs. If they really cared about you, do you think they would be happy to see you moping for them? Be a strong and smart ghost when you grow up. Live up to their expectations and make them proud of you. That's what our loved ones who are gone truly want for us."

"Professor Alphonse…" Vlad said in awe at the lycanthrope's words.

The boy had a pretty similar reaction to them. He felt a single tear coming out of his eyes. The lycanthrope's words made him remind of his mother. The boy always missed her, but he didn't know why he did even tough he never actually met her. But he also saw truth in those words. He had to live happily not just for himself, but also for the ones he cared about too.

Alphonse wanted to groan. He had just made a big speech about love. He didn't believe in the words that came out from his mouth. He had acquired a quite vast knowledge about what to say to comfort others. The talent to wear several different masks and mimic emotions was an art he took years to learn and master. He couldn't afford others to discover about his true self. Those masks were his protection from the look of the others. That's why he loved being alone, because that was the only time he didn't have to wear any mask.

Vlad smiled and told the werewolf truthfully: "Thank you. I think I also needed to hear that…" then he looked to his son and said: "Come, Daniel, we still have a long way home." Then he looked to Alphonse and said: "Bye, Professor Alphonse. I see you on Sunday. Thanks for everything."

Danny also said his byes to Alphonse and the father and son left the werewolf's home. 'Why do I feel I need to baby-sit both a kid and a grown up man?...' After that he went back upstairs to continue his research about the tree.

The weekends passed by quite quickly. Danny noticed that the time he spent with his family having some fun always did seem to go faster than a whole day of school.

Alphonse also had a quick weekend because he was so focused on his books about the Cave of Beginning that he didn't feel the time passing by.

When the boy came back, on Sunday afternoon, the lycanthrope asked the boy if they could go again that night to the depths of the Dead Forest once more. The werewolf had sliced the leaves the boy had brought him that they were practically useless now, so he needed some fresh samples and try to see if they could bring them home fast enough so he could examine them while they were still green. Last time they practically walked all the way back to the Werewolf Village.

The boy agreed with that. He was feeling full of energy and he also wanted to go back there. That place fascinated him in many different ways, so he wanted to know more about it.

Alphonse also didn't ask the boy if he didn't tell anyone about their secret. His life experience told him that such blunt question would make the boy doubt of lycanthrope's trust. Besides, if the hybrid did tell anyone, what could he do? He would rather leave that situation be than risk a chance of losing the boy's trust.

When they got near the mass amount of fireflies gathering. Alphonse had, once again, told the boy to wait outside of the ring, while he brought the cave up. He unburied the purple box and took it out of the firefly-made spinning ring. As the cave rose again, Alphonse took the gear-like medallion from the box and placed it on the hole to turn it and open the door.

Alphonse then explained: "Look, Daniel. What I want you to do today is try to pick a leaf for me directly from the tree. But before that see if you can spot anything unusual. What I mean is to look for anything that might have changed since the last time you went there, okay?" he asked that because he wasn't sure if the boy's time inside of the Cave of Beginning changed something or not inside of it. He didn't know how that place worked, so he worked with every possibility his mind could conceive.

The boy did as he was told and turned human before going inside of the cave. For some reason, even though that was his second time inside, he still felt like he wasn't supposed to be there. That place was quite intimidating when you're all alone, but the boy noticed something different this time.

The door at the bottom was wide open. He remembered that it was closed when he first got there. As he approached it he remembered that he hadn't close it last time. He carefully got inside of the room and sighed relieved seeing that everything was the way it was when he left.

Danny then climbed the tree. It was quite hard doing that considering that he couldn't use any of his ghostly power to aid him. After some time trying to climb the tree he got on of one of the many branches of the tree and tried to pull it with one hand while he got a better hold of himself with the other.

The boy tried, but he couldn't detach the small leaf from the branch. He then tried with both hands, but that was a mistake. Pulling the leaf with both hands left him only with the legs to sustain himself. The boy then lost his balance and fell from the branch, but kept holding the leaf. Surprisingly, not even with the boy's entire weight, he could take the leaf from the branch.

But the boy yelled when he fell from the branch and now he was dangling one the air yelling for his teacher to help him.

Outside of the cave, the Lycanthrope was wondering why was the boy taking so long. 'Maybe he discovered something…' he thought. But when he heard the boy's pleas for help, he, who was at the very entrance, stepped into to help the boy.

He gave a few steps before he realized what he had just done. He, a ghost, had just entered into the Cave of Beginning. He was stunned. He couldn't do that before. He wondered what had changed. He thought it might have been the boy's presence inside of it, after all he didn't try going inside while he was there before. But his thoughts were pushed aside when he heard Danny pleas once more.

He decided he would take a better look after he saved the boy. So he went to the bottom of the cave and got inside of the chamber where Danny was. He quickly got under the boy and told him: "You can let go. I'll catch you."

Danny nodded and let go of the leaf falling on the werewolf's arms, who gently put him back on the ground.

Now that the boy was safe, Alphonse took a better look at his surroundings. Everything the boy had told him was true. He wondered how could such place exist. He was certain that the place was very special.

But than he remembered the kid near him. He wanted to groan to have to take care of a kid specially when he was at a place he wanted to study inch by inch. "Are you okay, Daniel?"

The boy nodded and then answered: "I'm sorry…I couldn't take the leaf. No matter how much I pulled it wouldn't just fall. I didn't know they were so strong." But then he realized that his teacher was inside of the cave. He thought he couldn't get inside of it. "How did you get in?" the boy asked.

"I don't know…" he answered truthfully. The lycanthrope had seen the boy hanging himself on that leaf. No leaf was supposed to be this resistant. That was another thing he wanted to explore, but he could do it on the next day. The boy obviously had gone through too much for one night, but then he saw a leaf being born on that same branch where Danny was hanging onto.

He wondered what that meant. But he decided to leave it for another day, so he could study for a longer time alone. He thought would try going there alone some other day to try see if he could go inside all by himself again without the boy's presence. That's what he thought that could make him come inside of the cave. "Let's go home, Daniel. I think we did more than enough for tonight."

Daniel left the room and waited for his teacher. Before leaving as well, the werewolf picked up some red leaves on the ground. He wanted fresh ones, but those would have to do. He intended to bring a knife or another sharp weapon to try cut a branch to see if he could get the fresh specimen he desired.

Alphonse then left the chamber carrying the leaves with his right hand and as soon as the lycanthrope closed the door behind them with his free hand, his body started to shine a blue aura as it levitated from the ground. "What the…" it was all he could say before he was thrown at a high speed towards the exit of the Cave of Beginning.

Danny rushed to his teacher and left the chamber. "Professor Alphonse, are you alright?" he asked worried.

The lycanthrope groaned as he stared at the cave. He didn't know what had just happened. He was fine even when he stepped outside of the chamber. If it were the boy's absence he would have been throw the moment he stepped outside of that tree chamber or even just as soon as the boy left.

But then he realized. He was thrown away as soon as he closed the door. He quickly got up and tried to go inside of the cave, but the invisible ghost shield was activated once again. He even forgot to answer the boy's question because his mind was thinking on a certain possibility.

"Daniel, could you please go inside again and just open that door. You can come back right after that." The werewolf asked him.

The boy was still worried about his teacher, but he decided to comply his weird request. While the boy went inside of it, Alphonse kept pressing his hand against the shield.

As soon as Danny opened the door, Alphonse's hand went inside of the cave. The lycanthrope smile went wide because of such discovery. The door was what activated and deactivated the ghost shield. It wasn't the boy's presence there as he initially thought.

When the boy came back to the entrance, he questioned his teacher once more: "Are you alright, Professor?"

Alphonse was in pure ecstasy for the major breakthrough. "I've never been better!" he answered with a creepy smile that scared even Danny.

After the werewolf noticed how worriedly the boy was staring at him he quickly changed his expression to a more friendly smile. "You've done well, Daniel. You've been of great help to me. I really appreciate all your help."

The boy's smile came back with the flattery. He was glad he could help. But he wondered what all that place meant or even, who built it and for what purpose.

"Come, boy. It's time we go home. We have classes tomorrow." Alphonse said as he locked the place and did all the procedures to bury the cave back. After that the two of them went back to the Werewolf Village. But that was a sleepless night for the lycanthrope. He couldn't help but keep wondering the magnificent things he was going to discover on his next visit there.

On the next day, after school time, Alphonse was coming back from a small snack he had made when he accidentally overheard his two maids talking. "Lisa, did you hear that I am now an aunt?" said the white furred werewolf.

"Really? Is it a boy or a girl?" replied the brown-furred one.

"Well, it's a boy and he was born last night. My sister and her husband are really pleased. They have been trying to have a child for some time." She answered with a smile.

Alphonse rolled his eyes. He couldn't care less about their chit-chatting, but then something struck him like a tree falling over his head. 'Wait. Count Vlad said that Edmond died last Tuesday night and that kid was born on Sunday night. Those were the same days we visited the Cave of Beginning and saw those leaves dying and being born. Does that mean that weird tree is connect to our lives?' Alphonse thought.

Then his eyes went wide in horror as he realized: 'If that's true, then Daniel and I could have killed many ghosts if we had succeeded in pulling out some leaves. Many could have died!

End of chapter 12

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you next update. Please review! I love to read your comments!