A/N: Hey everyone! I really wasn't planning to write this... but the idea came to me and I thought I'd share it. I'm having some issues planning out my next longer project (which will also star Danny and Vlad; can you see the theme yet?), so here's another short one-shot instead (for the moment)!

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this? Fine: I do not own Danny Phantom. But the story idea - that's mine.

The lake was still; like a glass mirror gently laid upon the earth, it reflected the warmth of the late afternoon sun onto my face. Only the whispers of the summer breeze in my hair ever-so-slightly broke the serenity of the day; not even the dark dock upon which I sat dared to so much as shift in the water and break me from my reverie.

'I can't believe that it's already been a year,' I thought, glumly.

My own sigh broke the tranquility, and I began to trace circles in the water with my big toe. I watched, mesmerized, as the silver rings rippled away from my foot, growing fainter as they settled back into the water. Yet, instead of exorcising the ghosts of anxiety from my mind (no pun intended) with that calming activity, watching each ripple disappear from existence only fed the phantoms (so sorry) further.

The silence continued to deafen me.

Though I didn't see him approach, I sensed his presence as it drifted in beside me. The dock made no sound as he sat. Without turning to face the old fruit loop, I posed him the question that had held my mind in a prison of unease for many days.

"Vlad, what happens when us half-ghosts die?"

I heard him chuckle beside me. "Why, Daniel," the older hybrid replied. I hated when he called me that, and he knew it. "Technically speaking, us hybrids are already dead. At least, half so. Hence the term 'half-ghost'. Come now, I would have thought that even your teenage mind would have been able to piece that together by now."

I could almost sense the corner of his mouth turning up into that stupid, self-satisfied smirk of his. What a Vlad-thing to say; ask him a serious question, and he still managed to find an opportunity to totally mess with me. "You know what I mean, Plasmius," I said, frustratedly.

No voice replied, and I wondered whether he had simply gotten up and left. I scoffed. 'He probably has more important things to do than to listen to my "ridiculous teenage problems." Like scheming to waste my dad... or buying a box of fruit loops to match his personality,' I thought, rolling my eyes.

"Daniel, I am frankly insulted; I am far more complex than a box of sugar-loaded breakfast food."

'How did he...?' I shook my head. "Ugh, stop reading my mind like that! It's creepy! Not cool," I shivered, feeling as if my personal space had been violated.

"It's not that hard to anticipate your thoughts when they average to about two a minute."

Normally, this would've been when I would have jumped up and dealt him a punch to the face. Then we would have exchanged some more banter, a few kicks and several ghost rays. The fight would have ended with me kicking his sorry ass and him teleporting away with a dramatic wave of his cape, cackling that he had let me win and would be back for another round.

But today, I just wanted my question answered.

"Please Vlad, can you just get back to the subject?" I pleaded, uncharacteristically.

"I wasn't aware that we were on any subject," he answered teasingly, trying to provoke a reaction.

"VLAD."

An awkward silence passed between us. I continued to stare out in the distance. Minutes passed. Then:

"Well, if you want the truth, Daniel, we never completely die."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised at his answer. "So we become complete ghosts, then?"

I heard a sigh from behind, but it did not quite contain its usual air of annoyance. "I never said that," Vlad corrected. "Us hybrids are unique in the sense that our human and ghost halves have merged together; one is not strong enough to survive without the other. So when our weaker human half dies, our ghost half disappears as well."

"Um, so we do die completely, then," I said, feeling a bit stupid.

Again, another sigh; this time more Vlad-like. "Did you not just hear what I said before; are you as deaf as your father is oblivious? Why are you asking such petty questions, anyways? Death hardly concerns a person as young as yourself," the old man replied, scathingly.

I glared at my feet, feeling my eyes burn at Plasmius' quip about my father. Running a hand roughly through my hair, I plowed on. "Everyday, I battle ghosts thinking 'oh man, what if today's the day?'; everyday I'm faced with the reality of death." I threw my hands in the air. "Hell, I'm half-dead already; I'm a LIVING DEATH! I exist wondering what will happen to me if, one day, I lose my concentration in a fight for just one moment, and I'm killed; what will happen to my sister, Sam, Tucker, my family, even Amity Park? It's not a petty question; otherwise it wouldn't keep me up at night! So STOP treating me like I'm a joke, and answer the damn QUESTION!"

Filled with a sudden and irrational rage, I jumped up and punched the air where Vlad's face should have been. But that was it; there was only air. I spun around, confused.

"Just because your human half dies and your ghost half disappears, it doesn't mean that you die completely." His voice came from behind me.

I was seriously beginning to think that the old fruit loop was going senile. I whirled around towards the sound of his voice, the black dock squeaking as I shifted, but again: nobody was there.

Oh man; maybe I was the one cracking.

"Okay, that makes no sense, Vlad!" I called out to the air, to wherever he was. Somebody walking alongside the beach behind the dock gave me a funny look, but I ignored them.

"Let me phrase this in a way that even your tiny adolescent mind will comprehend," Vlad said. This time, I couldn't tell where his voice was coming from. "When us half-ghosts die, we cease to maintain a physical form, so both our ghost form and our human form disappear. But we still exist, you see; our thoughts, our selves remain there."

"But... how?"

"Well-," the older hybrid started, but then stopped suddenly. I raised my eyebrows curiously; Vlad was never at loss for words. "I'm not... quite sure. But think about it this way, Daniel; if our thoughts didn't continue to exist after death, how would I be talking to you right now?"

I finally understood.

I felt a funny lump in my throat, and I swallowed hard. "Are you sure?"

I swear I heard him laugh quietly in the wind, and I thought I felt a comforting presence touching my shoulder. A father-like touch. "Don't worry about things like that right now, little badger; just enjoy being a high-strung teenager for the moment."

I sighed heavily, but I felt a small burden lift off of my shoulders. "Thanks Vlad." 'Please don't go.'

He heard the unspoken plea. "I never really do, son."

And the pressure on my shoulder disappeared. I walked to the edge of the black dock, the water lapping silently at the edges as the weight of my steps caused the dock to bob. The sun had already begun to set. A powerful symphony, the sunset became more beautiful and emotional as it came to an end, the fiery colours painted in the sky with the conductor's instruments of music. A sole teardrop hit the water as the sun coalesced with the lake.

You drove me crazy, you fruit loop. But even after a year... I still miss you.

A/N: ... Please don't kill me.

The whole theory about what comes after death for the two halfas is my own opinion; you are entitled not to agree with it.

Anyways, I'm still pretty new at this, so any reviews containing constructive criticism or feedback are appreciated! And if you guys have any story ideas, I'm open to suggestions!