A/N: Hello again everyone! Hope I didn't scare any of you by taking time off, I can assure you that I'm not leaving you guys anytime soon (as long as I can help it)! As for WHY I took time off, (as I said in the update chapter) it's due to two things. One being that I needed a break from writing. While it's true that I've once again fallen in love with doing this, I (like anyone) can get burned out.

And I'll admit that I struggled with this fic for the first time writing the last chapter. For several hours I sat looking at my screen, wracking my brain with ideas for what I wanted to write, or how I wanted to write it.

But no need to worry! I'm back in the groove of things and more than happy to return to this!

As for the second reason I took time off, I was incredibly sick. I genuinely felt like death. I hardly slept during this time and barely had any energy. Turns out I had a severe sinus infection that was so bad, the hearing in my right ear felt muffled.

Anyway, TL;DR, I AM BACK! And I hope you enjoy the tenth chapter!

"Two quotation marks means speech or emphasis on a word."

'One quotation mark means thought.'

Italics mean heavy emphasis on a word, lyrics/song titles, or written/digital text.

Chapter X: The Purpose of Music

As the last chord of the song rings out, Danny tenses at the inevitable criticism bound to come from the musical expert next to him. But as the minutes drag on and he doesn't hear any words come from her, his eyes hesitantly open to see her staring at him.

He can feel his body relax slightly at the lack of criticism. "Uh… Ember?"

Danny's voice seems to break her out of the stupor. "When did you say the last time you practiced was?" She asks, intrigued by his performance.

"I haven't really practiced for years, not seriously anyway. I mean, I'll sing sometimes when I'm listening to certain songs, but I never really try y'know?" He explains, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wow." He can hear her mutter. "If you can sing like that without practice, I would love to hear how well you sound after getting back into it."

The compliment draws a blush to his cheeks, not expecting the praise. "Thanks. I guess that answers the question I had about how I did."

"You know, I might just have to reconsider my policy on duets." She says, her voice far more serious than he would imagine it being during that sentence.

"Wait, really?" Danny asks, surprised.

"Maybe, babypop. Let's see if you can do good consistently, then we'll talk." She says teasingly. "Well, a deal's a deal. Now I guess it's my turn to put on a private performance, huh?"

"Well, like you told me, you don't have to if you don't want to." He replies with a shrug.

"I don't mind." Ember says, her words betraying the nervousness she felt at performing in front of her longtime crush. "Do you have a specific song you'd like to hear? Or do you want me to choose one?"

"Do you have any songs that you've never played before?" Danny asks.

Ember thinks for a moment, most of the music that comes to mind is either unfinished or something she's not happy with. "Well, I guess there is one. It's kind of personal, it was the first one I wrote after… you know. I've never really played it for anyone before, not even Kitty."

The half-ghost can feel his heart swell at the thought that he was about to hear a song from her that she had never even played for her best friend. He was surprised that Ember would even be willing to let him hear something so personal.

Suddenly Danny is feeling like he's pressuring her into this. "Ember, if it's something you don't want me to hear, you can just choose something else."

If she heard his words, she doesn't acknowledge them as she places her electric guitar on a nearby stand, and grabs one of the few acoustic guitars along the wall. Plugging it into the amplifier, she takes a deep breath and steadies herself, preparing to play.

"Summer has come and passed,

The innocent can never last.

Wake me up, when September ends.

Like my father's come to pass,

Several years have gone so fast,

Wake me up when September ends.

Here comes the rain again,

Falling from the stars.

Drenched in my pain again,

Becoming who we are.

As my memory rests,

But never forgets what I lost.

Wake me up, when September ends."

Danny's breath catches and his chest clenches at the emotion in Ember's voice. He can feel a lump form in his throat as he realizes just what this song is about. He can't believe that she would be willing to share something so personal with him.

"Summer has come and passed,

The innocent can never last.

Wake me up, when September ends.

Ring out the bells again,

Like we did when spring began.

Wake me up, when September ends.

Here comes the rain again,

Falling from the stars.

Drenched in my pain again,

Becoming who we are.

As my memory rests,

But never forgets what I lost.

Wake me up, when September ends."

As the song slows and Ember plays a slow tempoed solo, Danny can feel the telltale sting of unshed tears in his eyes, threatening to spill and display the sympathy and the pain he's feeling for the girl next to him.

"Summer has come and passed,

The innocent can never last.

Wake me up, when September ends.

Like my father's come to pass,

Many years have gone so fast.

Wake me up, when September ends.

Wake me up, when September ends.

Wake me up, when September ends~."

Danny can clearly see the raw emotion on Ember's face and the tears in her eyes. The urge to comfort her is nearly unbearable. So, moves from his chair and kneels in front of her seat, his kneeling height nearly matching her seated height.

She looks at him in confusion, the motive behind his actions unknown to her. Danny gently takes the guitar from her hands. Reluctantly, she releases it from her grip. "What are you-?" Placing the instrument on a stand next to her, he gently but firmly wraps his arms around her.

"I am so sorry." He manages to choke out, as he feels her arms return the embrace. His words don't need explaining, he's apologizing for many things, none of them his fault. The sorrow that she feels, the regrets she must have, and the sadness of the remnants of her last life burning to ash within the same fire that took her life.

Danny can't hear any noise escape the singer within his arms, but he can feel the gentle shake of her shoulders as she silently cries into his. Her small shoulders rise and fall sporadically as her sobs get progressively worse, and he can feel moisture begin to seep through the fabric on his shoulder.

He doesn't keep track of how much time the two spend in that position, at the same time, he couldn't care less how long they were. He can tell that this was long overdue for the girl in his arms, almost as if she had never truly let out all of the emotions she held onto after her untimely death.

There's that thought again. A simple truth that he would rather ignore, but one that he must face every time he interacts with the ghost girl. Ember is just that, a ghost. Someone who is long dead, yet forever stuck living in her teenage form. The reminder that she died so young sends a maelstrom of emotions through Danny, he can feel anger, sadness, sympathy, and many others that make his head spin.

Danny clears his throat lightly as he speaks for the first time since delivering his apology. "Ember," He starts, loosening his hold so that he can look into her now bloodshot eyes. "I'm sorry for what happened to you. Whatever you went through when you were alive, I might not know the details, but whatever it was wasn't deserving of you dying so young."

A single tear escapes her eye, and he gently brushes it away with his thumb. "I know this may not be the right thing to say, but it's the truth." He says, looking into her bright green orbs. "I know that you and I have had our problems over the years. After all, we didn't even start actually speaking to one another without throwing insults or threats around until two days ago. But in spite of that, I may not be happy about it, I certainly don't like it, but I'm grateful that you're here now as a ghost."

The room goes quiet as his words register with her. The toxic green eyes never leaving his blue ones. "Why?" Ember's hoarse voice breaks the silence. "Why would you be grateful that I'm here? We both would've been better off if that fucking fire never happened."

The venom in her voice nearly makes him recoil, and her hair flares, changing from its light color to nearly a dark lapis blue. Danny speaks softly. "That might be true." He says.

"See? That's exactly-" She begins.

"But it also might not be." He continues, cutting her speech short. "Yes, it's true that I might've had an easier time protecting my city if you had never attacked it. But at the same time, it could've been much worse. Instead of it being you, someone like Pariah Dark could've shown up in your place."

He moves from his kneeling position and returns to his chair next to her, taking her hands in his. "Maybe things in your life could've gotten better too. But at the same time, maybe they could've gotten worse."

"What's your point, Danny?" Ember snaps.

"My point." He returns, gently squeezing her hands in an attempt to placate her. "Is that we can't sit here and wonder over "what ifs" or "maybes". You did die that night, you are a ghost now. So what matters isn't what could have been, but what you can do now that those things have happened. Sure, you became a ghost instead of "moving on" or whatever, but I don't see that as a bad thing."

"How do you see it, then?" She asks, her curiosity outweighing her now cooled temper.

"I see it as a second chance. I see it for exactly what it is, a second life. One that has infinite potential to be better than your last one." He says, "Look at it this way: as a human, you were surrounded by other humans, mortal people that would age and one day die. People that, like you, could've been killed in a freak accident without warning. But now, as a ghost, you don't have to worry about those things anymore.

He releases her hands and moves to a standing position, pacing lightly around the small room. "I'm honestly jealous. Sure, there are drawbacks to being dead, I'm not denying that. But I see more benefits than anything. Outside of ghost hunters you guys don't have to worry about dying. You don't have to worry about starvation, disease, exhaustion, or any of those things. You don't have to worry about how many years you might have left with your friends and family, or how much you can accomplish within those years. Ghosts have all the time in the world to do almost anything they want."

Taking his seat once again, he looks into her now understanding eyes. "I know that saying is easier than doing, but you should stop worrying over what happened. Start looking forward to the future, like I said, you have all the time in the world to do whatever you want. So make the best of it."

As she digests his words, her mind tries but fails to argue his point. In the end, she knows that everything he said is true, yet she still has one question left. "I can't believe I'm asking you this again, but why? Why do you care so much about me Danny? I've always been one of your biggest enemies. I should be nothing more than a thorn in your side!"

"I've never truly been angry with you, aside from a few exceptions, I've never actually been angry with any ghosts. I was annoyed, sure, but I've never hated you guys or anything. In fact, you were probably the only ghost I enjoyed seeing in Amity." He explained.

He can see the confusion on her face, as well as the color of her cheeks darken, so he decides to explain before she can ask him to. "You never truly wanted to hurt anyone. It helps that you never wanted to kill me either. I've actually always enjoyed the back and forth we had, how, most of the time, we would always try and one up each other with insults and words rather than physical attacks. On top of that, over the past few days you have become one of my closest friends."

His voice takes on a more somber tone. "I don't have many friends, Ember. I don't have many people I consider meaningful in my life at all. So it wasn't all that hard for you to take up a pretty big place in it."

Danny can see her blush deepen at his words, and this observation makes him question if the feelings he harbors for her could be returned, or if it was just a matter of her not receiving genuine compliments. The idea gives him hope.

"I've mentioned it before, but the lack of friends has little to do with the whole "Danny Phantom" thing. I've always been like this since I was a kid, selective with who I spend time with or get attached to." He says.

"That makes two of us, babypop." Ember says, "It's why I turned to music. I was so sick of people treating me like I was weird, or abnormal, just because I liked things that they didn't. Especially growing up in a very religious family, I was always criticized for the type of music I liked or the style of clothes and makeup I wanted to wear."

"Well that's the purpose of music, isn't it?" Danny asks, "It's an outlet. A way for people to feel understood, to relate."

"One of the many purposes." She says with a fond smile.

He returns her smile, noticing her tears had dried. She stands and motions for him to do the same. Danny complies and he watches as she pulls him into a tight embrace. "Thank you, Danny. For everything you're doing for me."

He can't keep the smile from his face. "You don't have to thank me, Ember."

"Amberlyn." She says, her voice nearly a whisper. "My name is Amberlyn."

Ending A/N: Yeesh. This chapter. Trying to write while sick is SO fucking difficult. Every time I would open up the Google Doc for this fic, I would write MAYBE one or two sentences before I would get the overwhelming urge to lie back down and sleep.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you have a wonderful day! -DraconicAnarkhy

P.S. It might be a week or so before the next chapter is published. I'm still sick and undergoing some unrelated health issues, but I'll try to keep writing as much as I can.