A/N Hello again everyone and welcome to the next chapter. I'm still smiling over the last week's chapter and all the positive feedback I got from it, seems a lot of you agreed with me that it was the best chapter of the whole story so far. Just recapping it in my mind makes me smile and want to go read it again while listening to the songs I picked on a playlist. But it's time to press on with the rest of the story because we're not done yet, so without further ado I'll let it go and we can proceed. I do love this chapter too and it gets pretty exciting and deep, so please enjoy and remember to leave a REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW, lol.
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January 1, 2005
Danny had spent the whole night in a deep peaceful sleep, quite possibly the best night of sleep he'd ever had in his entire life. After an off the charts amazing New Years where Ember rocked out and melted the faces of almost everyone in Amity Park, he'd been able to start the New Year off with his first ever midnight kiss with her right at the stroke of midnight. And it was probably going to be all over magazines pretty soon because cameras had been clicking left and right when it happened. But neither of the two ghosts cared because they were too absorbed in each other and loving the moment. Now Danny was slowly waking up after that amazing night, but as he slowly started to open his eyes he remembered that he wasn't in his own bedroom, nor was he alone in the bed.
With his eyes halfway open Danny looked down and saw his girlfriend under the covers with him, snuggled up against him with one of her arms and one of her legs draped across his body. But even that wasn't the biggest takeaway from the scene. Both of them were in a partial state of undress. Both of their tops were on the floor leaving Danny shirtless and Ember in her bra. Both of them still had pants on though Ember wasn't wearing her huge boots. As Danny pushed the covers down a little and took in Ember's more exposed body against his, he smiled brightly and remembered the passion and heat between them when they got back here last night. Ember had been pretty aggressive once she got him alone, and he loved every bit of it.
"Mmmmmmm, best night ever," Danny mumbled lightly to himself as he hugged his girlfriend a little closer against him, which also stirred her awake a little bit.
"Glad you enjoyed it Baby Pop, because you deserved quite the reward for what you did for me last night," said Ember lightly while lifting her head a bit to look into Danny's eyes.
Danny smiled back as they leaned into each other for a kiss, not wanting to break contact with each other's bodies. As their lips separated Danny couldn't keep himself from sneaking a peek at Ember's chest, which she smirked at.
"First time ever seeing a girl like this I take it," said Ember as she sat up a little higher, not being shy about what Danny could see.
"Other than pictures in various places, yes it is, and the real thing is infinitely better," said Danny trying to sound cool and composed. The more time he spent with Ember the more her hardcore personality was rubbing off on him.
"Well that's certainly a good thing to know, mmmmm, and I gotta say you're not too shabby yourself," said Ember trailing her finger down Danny's bare chest, making him shiver a bit.
"Well I do enjoy having some extra motivation to look good now, gotta keep up with the most gorgeous girl that exists," said Danny lightly tracing his own hands up Ember's bare arm and stomach.
Ember smiled hungrily as she sat up fully, pushing the covers off of them both. Swinging her leg over Danny's body she was now straddling him and laying her hands flat against her chest, batting her eyebrows.
"Well keep in mind we've still only hit second base, there's still two more to go," said Ember leaning down to kiss Danny, who wrapped his arms around her back to stroke up and down her bare skin, grazing one across her butt with a little squeeze.
"I can't believe this is truly where I am right now, making out with Ember McLain who is half naked and on top of me," said Danny in disbelief.
"I know, you've come quite a way from being the goody goody ghost boy," said Ember laying more flat on Danny's chest. "Just look at you, using your powers to trick your parents into letting you stay overnight with your girlfriend and having your best friend help cover for you. Not such a goody goody anymore if you ask me, and I like it, a LOT."
Ember put a little wiggle in her hips on Danny's precious part with her last word, making Danny squirm a little bit in excitement.
"Ugh, I love you, so so much," said Danny in a daze while holding Ember's hips. "Unfortunately though I do need to be getting home so nobody will get suspicious of anything, I'd hate to think that this could never happen again."
Ember hated it but understood, wanting to keep Danny here all for herself forever.
"Well then hurry up and put your shirt back on, don't think it'll look good for you to be walking in the door looking like this, and that's without factoring in the winter temperature," said Ember with a smirk. Despite being winter, the temperature last night had actually been pretty nice, but now the morning after was a different story.
Danny smiled back and got out of the bed, putting his shirt on and grabbing the small bag he brought with him for the night. Slinging it over his shoulders he pulled Ember to her feet and against his chest, looking longingly into her eyes again before kissing her passionately.
"I'll see you later, last night was the best night of my life," said Danny with pure love in his eyes.
"Me too Danny, I love you so much," said Ember with equal love in her eyes.
Letting go of each other Danny slowly floated up and fazed through the warehouse ceiling, flying off towards Fenton Works and doing all kinds of happy spins and twirls along the way.
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January 3, 2005
Winter break was over and all the students were back at Casper High wandering the halls between classes. There seemed to be only one topic that everyone wanted to discuss, Ember's amazing concert on New Years Eve. Throughout the whole school the gossip was all over about how it was an amazing show, how lots of students were so happy that she was back, how Paul Stanley surprised everyone with an appearance, how Danny Phantom was there as well as his new look, and of course how the two shared such an amazing kiss at midnight.
"It was the most awesome concert I've ever been to, my ears are still ringing from it," said one boy with a huge grin while rubbing his ears.
"She looked so hardcore on stage shredding the guitar, coolest girl I've ever seen," said another boy while air playing a guitar.
"I can't believe how cool she looked in those boots, I need to get myself a pair," said one girl while glancing down at her plain sneakers.
"And that kiss she had with Danny Phantom at midnight, it was so romantic, they look so amazing together," said another girl with goo goo eyes while holding up a magazine that had just been released that morning.
Several students were gathering around with their own copy and talking about it. On the cover was a picture of Ember from New Years rocking out on stage for half of it, and the other half was of her and Danny's midnight kiss. There were two captions for the images, one said "Ember McLain making a second attempt at rocking our minds" at the top. And at the bottom the second caption read "a New Years romance for the ages" with a big heart around the word romance.
Lots of students were once again wearing their Ember merchandise. From shirts with her name on them, to wigs of her blue hair, to copying her eyeliner or purple lipstick, Ember was once again all over the hallways of Casper High, and Danny for one couldn't be happier for her as he glanced left and right to take it all in.
"It's pretty crazy how you did all of that for her and now she's once again on everyone's mind, except this time it's all legit and no mind control," said Tucker as he glanced at a poster that one kid was hanging up on the wall.
"She definitely deserves it, she's come so far from where she was, and she always did have the talent to make it without using her powers," said Danny while smiling. He was still on a pretty big high from both the concert and the after party he and Ember enjoyed alone. Tucker could see his dazed expression and smirked knowingly.
"I see you're still pretty worked up about getting to second base with her the other night," said Tucker nudging him with his elbow.
"Oh that night will be forever seared into my memory, and I wouldn't want it removed for anything," said Danny happily.
As they were walking through the halls they passed by one girl who wasn't looking all that cheery about the current scene.
Sam was putting her books into her locker while listening to all the gossip that was going on as kids were passing her by, wishing she could make herself deaf at the moment. As she closed her locker she saw that someone had put a poster of Ember up on the wall beside it, making her sneer. Pulling out a sharpie Sam drew a bad mustache and beard on the image. What she didn't expect was for the voice that suddenly spoke behind her.
"Never thought I'd give a compliment on anything you do, but I do think you've improved her," said Paulina with her hands on her hips.
Sam, groaning at the voice she recognized, frowned at herself before turning around to face the Hispanic beauty.
"Oh really, you and I actually agree on something for once?" said Sam sarcastically. She knew where Paulina was going to go with this and was already annoyed.
"Of course, the boy you like is over there wearing her merchandise right now, and my precious ghost boy has been lured right into that girl's claws," said Paulina gesturing over towards where Danny was standing with Tucker.
Rather than his usual white shirt, Danny was actually wearing a purple jersey style shirt with Ember's name across the upper back. Tucker was still in his usual attire but didn't seem like he was bothered one bit by Danny so obviously in support of Ember, adding onto Sam's annoyance. But that still didn't mean she was about to side with the shallow girl who didn't know half of what she was talking about.
"Why would you of all people care what Danny is doing and whether or not he and I are together," said Sam narrowing her eyes. Of course she knew Paulina was right, she did want to be with Danny, but she sure as hell wasn't about to verbally admit that Paulina was right about something.
"Well everyone in the school knows that you've had a crush on Fenton for a long time, I mean anyone with eyes has been able to see it," said Paulina obviously. "And now he's fawning over that attention stealing Ember McLain like almost every boy in this school. And she's also captured the affections of my precious ghost boy, making him unable to pay any attention to me."
Sam felt like she was losing brain cells listening to Paulina talk like the self obsessed girl she was. It was even more painful due to the fact that Sam knew Danny and the ghost boy were the same person and Paulina was talking about them like they weren't.
"And I suppose you think the ghost boy would be all over you instead if Ember wasn't around," said Sam plainly, wanting nothing more than for Paulina to just walk away.
"Of course, I'm the most beautiful girl in Amity Park, and he's the most handsome boy I've ever seen," said Paulina dreamily. "You clearly don't like Ember any more than I do, so with our combined brain power we could find a way to take her down and get our respective boys back. You of course get Fenton who isn't nearly as handsome."
Sam took a very long breathe and sighed at Paulina's words, feeling like her brain was shutting down, the only functioning one between the two of them.
"I'm just going to walk away now and pretend this conversation never happened," said Sam as she turned to walk away down the hall. As much as she would enjoy Ember not being in the picture, she wasn't about to align herself with Paulina on a task that would be beyond stupid and fruitless. She was still suffering from her first failed attempt at that task. Paulina watched Sam walk away and couldn't believe it, so sure that the goth would want to do something if it meant getting Fenton's attention.
"Argh, I can't believe that bitch Ember has my ghost boy all over her, it should be me that he's head over heels for and kissing," said Paulina while stomping towards her locker. She started turning the lock, wanting to look at the shrine of the ghost boy she'd made inside, her favorite thing to look at when she was at school. Opening the door she expected to see all the pictures of him looking back at her, but that's not what she saw at all. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."
Paulina stumbled back and felt herself step on something behind her, causing her to fall. Landing hard on her rear end she felt her butt splash into something that spattered everywhere, mostly all over her clothes and face. Looking all over her she realized that it was blue paint, and it seemed to be the same shade as Ember's hair. Looking to her side she saw that a couple boys had been painting on a banner and had been spelling out the words "Ember McLain Fan Club" on a banner, which was now splashed with paint. Turns out that Paulina had landed in the paint pan they were using.
"NOOOOOOOOOO, MY CLOTHES, MY HAIR, MY PERFECT FACE," said Paulina in horror as she pulled her compact out of her pocket to observe her face. As she was doing so the entire hallway was taking notice of her and gathering around.
"Ha ha ha ha, hey guys, check out the beauty queen, she's looking a little blue today," said one boy while others joined in laughing.
Paulina looked from one direction to the other while everyone was laughing at her, not used to being on this end of ridicule. Shoving her compact back into her pocket and trying to shield her face, she stood up and started running down the hall towards the school door. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and the school as possible. Unbeknownst to everyone around, an invisible presence had been watching from above and was smirking at the whole thing, quite proud at how everything had just gone.
'I told you I'd get you later, and that was worth the wait,' said Ember to herself in her head while watching Paulina run out the door. 'The only one that gets to have a shrine dedicated to my Baby Pop is me.'
Ember kept watching in satisfaction as all the students took notice of Paulina's still open locker, laughing even more once they saw what was inside. As soon as Ember saw Danny start coming their way she smiled at what he was wearing, making a note to tell him how good it looked on him later. Figuring she should high tail it out of there for the time being she fazed through the ceiling and flew off, chuckling to herself as she did.
"Hey what happened here?" asked Danny as he maneuvered through the crowd to look inside the open locker, making him gasp for a moment but then chuckle.
Inside were several images of Danny Phantom, but they all had been colored on in ways that made him look like the biggest fan of Ember. His hair had been colored blue to match hers, eyeliner had been drawn on his face, and since they were all older images before he got the logo on his chest, the phrase "Ember's #1 Fan" had been drawn in blue on the chest of all of them. A few also had flames and other things related to Ember drawn on them. After a quick shock at what he saw, Danny put two and two together on what must have happened, and smirked to himself while looking up at the empty ceiling, wondering if a certain someone was around right now.
"Alright students that's enough, clear the hallways at once and proceed to class," said Mr. Lancer as he made his way through the crowd. While walking past everyone with a serious face all the students started to disperse, each heading in different directions and leaving the hallway now deserted. Now with the hallway clear Mr. Lancer could see the open locker and the mess that Paulina had made from the paint, making him gasp and clutch his head. "WAR AND PEACE WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"
Meanwhile Ember was flying away from the school still chuckling proudly to herself. Ever since that girl had gushed about Danny right in front of her while she was overshadowing Valerie, Ember had patiently been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Throughout the morning she took it upon herself to follow her around while invisible at the school, and as soon as she saw the inside of her locker she immediately knew what to do. The whole slipping and falling into the paint just made it that much better.
The whole way back to the warehouse Ember couldn't stop smiling as she fazed into her room and landed flat on her back in the bed, sighing happily. She didn't even notice that someone was already there waiting for her.
"So I take it your morning has been pretty good so far?" said Kitty smiling while sitting on her sofa.
Ember now realized that Kitty was there and sat up on the side of her bed to face her friend.
"Yeah, you could say that, I definitely smiled more at Danny's school just now than I did the entire time I was in high school myself," said Ember while crossing her legs.
"So you snuck into his school just to make out with your boy toy?" said Kitty suggestively, batting her eyebrows.
"Mmmmmm, I would have definitely enjoyed that too, but no, I didn't see Danny while I was there," said Ember, making a note to add that to her agenda on a future date. "I actually was making sure this spoiled girl got the message that Danny is taken and he won't be available again anytime soon."
Ember then proceeded to tell Kitty exactly what she did and what had happened when Paulina found the altered photos, as well as the paint tumble she received as a result.
"So she completely fell into a tray of paint and it splashed all over her?" said Kitty with a shocked smile. "Damn I wish you had taken me with you so I could have seen that."
"Well if a situation ever comes up where another girl is thinking of making a move on my man, you can definitely come with me to put a scare into her," said Ember while standing up and bringing her guitar around to her front, strumming a few chords.
"Ohhhh, is that Danny's song you're playing there, the one that's finished and ready to perform for him?" said Kitty happily while standing up herself.
"Yes it is, next week is his birthday and that's when I'm going to play it for him," said Ember, smiling happily as she recapped her plan in her head. "When he's able to brake away from his family and friends to come here, he'll find a little note sending him on a scavenger hunt, and when he finishes it he'll find me playing the song for him."
Kitty put both of her hands to her chest and smiled at her best friend.
"Oh that's so romantic, I bet he'll love it," said Kitty with a hint of jealousy, wishing Johnny was more romantic like that. "Since I'm currently the only one that's heard it I can safely say that I think it sounds fantastic.
"I'm just happy that I actually get to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday, something else I've never done prior to being with Danny," said Ember smiling and looking at her picture of Danny.
"He's about to turn fifteen and he's already crazy cute, just imagine what he'll look like when he gets older and even more handsome," said Kitty nudging Ember in the side.
Ember starting thinking of a more adult Danny. He'd be taller, more muscular from ghost activities, maybe some facial hair, and just so much more mature. Her face started to look flushed while she was daydreaming about him.
"Mmmmmm, I'm going to enjoy every last moment of us growing...up...together," said Ember, her tone suddenly slowing down and changing from cheery to dreary. A new thought was just now occurring to her that she never considered before, and it suddenly had her horrified. "I...can't grow up with him. I'm a ghost, and I can't age any older."
Kitty was now also realizing what Ember was saying, something she also had never really thought about. Since they were ghosts and ghosts and humans being romantically involved wasn't something that had ever happened, nobody had ever had any reason to think of something like this. Now that they did, it was a huge oversight on their relationship and Ember didn't know how to process it.
"Danny is only half ghost, which means he will still grow up and eventually grow old, but I...will always look the same," said Ember suddenly feeling sad at the realization. "How can I have a future with him if I can't grow old with him?"
Ember's hands had fallen to her side from her guitar as she was staring blankly at the wall, no longer wanting to play her guitar or sing Danny's song. Kitty put her hands on Ember's shoulder to try to comfort her.
"Hey, Danny loves you, I saw the two of you at the Christmas truce, and I've seen the photos from New Years, something like that can't be lost from something like this," said Kitty, trying to encourage Ember again. "And couldn't that actually be a good thing? You'll always look young and gorgeous, I doubt Danny is going to complain about that."
Ember wasn't feeling very encouraged by this. She was having a whole new series of thoughts going through her mind and they all had her questioning how long her relationship with Danny could last.
"How will that look, when he eventually turns thirty, forty, and so on, and I still look like a teenager," said Ember looking at Kitty in shock. "What if...he wants to have a baby someday, how will it look with a fully grown man and a teenager? Even though I really am so much older than that, my body won't look any older than now, which is basically fifteen."
Kitty kept both of her hands on Ember's shoulders, trying to calm her down and see reason.
"Ember pull yourself together, Danny fell in love with you, not with your body," said Kitty seriously. "Yes he clearly likes your body very much, but he's not a shallow guy that only cares about that. Even if this is something that could cause issues, that's something that would be years and years away. You should be focused on what's going on now, and right now Danny loves you, and you love Danny. Neither of you have ever been happier than you've been since you both got together."
Ember wasn't exactly convinced by what Kitty was saying about the future, but it was true that the issue she was now aware of was something that would be in the distant future. Maybe for now she should just put a pin in it and revisit it later, preferably with Danny so she could figure out what he thought about the whole thing.
"I also just realized that I want to spend the rest of my afterlife with him," said Ember more to herself than Kitty. "Initially I was only ever thinking about how much I wanted to be with him and if it could happen. I know we've only been together a few months, but I can't imagine my afterlife without him anymore. I want us to be together forever, but I don't know how that's possible now with our separate conditions."
Kitty once again gave Ember a little shake, wanting her friend to stop focusing on the negatives of the best thing that's ever happened to her.
"Hey, just stop thinking about all of that right now," said Kitty a little rougher. "Like I just said, Danny loves you and you love him, for now just let that be enough. He's about to celebrate his birthday and he's going to want to celebrate it with you most of all, so just focus on that for now and blowing his mind with the song you wrote for him."
Ember looked at Danny's picture once again and down to her guitar, strumming her fingers across all six chords once to make a little melody. She managed to form a small smile on her face again as a result.
"You're right Kitty, his birthday is in a week and for now that should be what I'm focusing on," said Ember as Kitty hugged her. "Alright, I've got a scavenger hunt to plan and prepare and I'll need a little assistance from you to put it all together."
Kitty stepped beside Ember and put her arm around her shoulder.
"Alright, so why don't you talk me through what you've got so far," said Kitty as the two of them walked over to Ember's sofa together.
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January 9, 2005
Quite some time had passed since the ghost invasion of Amity Park when Vlad Plasmius had suffered his humiliating defeat at the hands of Danny and Ember. Since then he and Skulker had been planning and scheming tirelessly to extract their revenge on the ghost couple, and the more time went by the more eager they got to carry out their plan.
"Excellent, with this new analysis I'll be able to put my plan into motion perfectly," said Plasmius while consulting some charts on the table of his lab.
"Of course you will Vlad dearest, only a complete genius like you could think of something this amazing," said the Maddie program while looking at her master with dreamy eyes.
"You know that is beyond disturbing how you've programmed that thing to act like that when the real woman she's modeled after despises everything about you," said Skulker with a look of disgust. He'd always found affection and other similar human emotions to be revolting.
"Well once my plan is complete I will have the real Maddie by my side just like she always should have been before that imbecile Jack Fenton caused the accident that ruined my life, or at least my former life," said Plasmius frowning first, then smirking evilly.
"Just remember that once everything is complete I also get the ghost boy's pelt along with that traitor girlfriend of his," said Skulker seriously.
"Worry not my friend, you shall have both of their pelts to mount on your wall just like you boast about twenty times a day," said Plasmius with a hint of annoyance. The way the ghost hunter regularly rambled on about his desired prize almost made it not worth going through with their plan. But their mutual desire for revenge was just enough for it to be worth tolerating.
"With these new and improved weapons and gadgets through your funding, everything should be a piece of cake," said Skulker as he admired his new gadgets on the table that had been constructed over the last month.
"Yes, very soon we'll put the next phase of the plan into motion," said Plasmius grinning.
"Oh goody, would you like me to pack you both a lunch to go for your mission?" asked the Maddie program excited.
"Oh yes please, turkey sandwich with the best Wisconsin Swiss cheese and avocado," said Plasmius in a much more cheerful tone with a raised finger. Skulker smacked his palm against his face.
"She's a hologram you buffoon, she can't physically touch anything," said Skulker obviously.
"Um, oh yes, right, of course," said Plasmius, a little embarrassed that he forgot it wasn't the real Maddie.
Acting like he hadn't just made a fool of himself, Plasmius went back to examining the schematics in front of him, smiling as he visualized his plan to get everything he wanted.
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January 10, 2005
Ember hadn't been sleeping so great over the last week. Ever since she'd come to the realization that she wasn't capable of growing old with Danny, that thought had been haunting her mind ever since. She did her best to hide it whenever they were together because she didn't want to worry him as well for now, but it was a lingering thought that was proving impossible for her to shake. Ever since she and Danny had gotten together she had been thinking of the relationship as two ghosts that could have an eternity together and never change. But now that the realization of Danny's half ghost status would allow him to age while she wouldn't, her mind had been in a state of panic, scared that eventually Danny would realize this too and it could jeopardize or possibly even end their relationship. Even if Danny said it didn't bother him, what would he say ten years later, or twenty years later, and so on? And today was his birthday so the problem was already in motion. Today he was turning fifteen, and slowly but surely the clock will keep aging him up.
"I don't know what to do, how can I keep something like this from coming between us?" Ember said to herself while looking at the picture of Danny beside her bed, wishing he could stay the way he looked in the image forever.
She'd spent the last couple days with Kitty planning out his birthday surprise while he was at school, and then spending time with him afterwards once he could break away to come see her. Now that his birthday had come it was time to put it all into motion once he was able to come see her later. Since it was Monday and he had a birthday celebration with his friends and family set up, she'd have to be patient and wait until later that night. Sitting up and putting her legs off the side of her bed, she tried to force the thoughts of her new realization out of her head and just focus on celebrating Danny. Standing up to grab her guitar, she just held it and looked down at it for a few moments, suddenly wishing she could change a few things.
"What I wouldn't give to be human again so Danny and I could grow old together," said Ember to herself while strumming a few chords. "I could go to school with him, graduate with him, he goes to college to study astronomy, I become a musician, we eventually get married, and I have his child."
Ember's mind was in a complete daydream of the perfect fantasy life she wanted to have with Danny. She was fully aware the future was always unpredictable and plans hardly ever go the way you want them to, but it was still a beautiful image for her to see. To be able to eventually call Danny her husband, just the thought had Ember smiling brightly with a tear in her eye. Without even meaning to she started strumming her guitar to play Danny's song to herself.
"I have to find a way to make it happen, I don't care what it takes," said Ember with pure determination. "Whatever I have to give up, if it means spending an eternity with Danny it's worth it. But right now I just need to focus on tonight."
With that last effort to force the bad thoughts aside, Ember took a piece of paper our of the nightstand that she'd written a note to Danny on, the first clue for him to find later when he arrived.
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Danny had actually been really enjoying his birthday. All day he and Tucker had been enjoying it during school. Valerie had also come up to him to wish him happy birthday and give him a gift, which turned out to be a voucher for Nasty Burger. Since she was working there part time she'd been able to convince her boss that one of their best customers deserved a birthday treat. Jazz was also for some reason sticking pretty close to Danny all day, her eyes for some reason looking all over as if she was watching out for something. Both Danny and Tucker were quite puzzled by this behavior.
"Um, Jazz, I know it's my birthday but why are you acting so weird right now?" asked Danny while Jazz was looking around all the corners.
"Oh, um, no reason, just want to make sure there aren't any incidents that could possibly make you have to miss out on your special day," said Jazz with a cheery expression. She wasn't exactly lying, she did want to hopefully keep Danny from having to do any ghost related activities rather than celebrating, except for whenever he no doubt would sneak off to see Ember later.
"Well, thanks I guess, but I think everything is okay," said Danny as the school day was ending and they were all leaving together.
As they were walking down the school steps together, Sam was walking out a bit behind them and watching them walk away.
"Happy birthday Danny," Sam mumbled to herself while watching them head towards Fenton Works, wishing she was going with them.
For the whole walk home Jazz kept looking in every direction for any possible ghost disturbance, hoping to keep Danny's attention away from it in case anything happened. Surely just for one day someone else could handle ghost attacks. Danny and Tucker were starting to get a bit of a kick out of watching Jazz's antics while walking, thinking maybe she needed a psych eval from herself. As they were approaching Fenton Works the door suddenly flew open before either of them could reach out to grab the handle.
"DANNY MY BOY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY," said Jack ecstatically while waving a flag with Danny's face on it. "Another year older and another year closer to taking on the family business of catching ghosts. Maybe the jumpsuit I got for you will fit now."
As Jack quickly pulled out a large orange jumpsuit and threw it on his son, Danny just stared straight ahead blankly. The jumpsuit was just as oversized and ridiculous looking as the last time his dad tried it on him, which was one year ago when he turned fourteen.
"Sorry Mr. Fenton, still seems to be a bit big on him, maybe next year," said Tucker with a smirk, holding back his laughter. He actually would always look forward to this every year since Jack tried putting Danny in that jumpsuit for each birthday since his tenth.
Danny sent Tucker a death glare, hating it when this happened each and every year.
"Suddenly I don't think you need any cake later," said Danny with narrowed eyes as he walked inside and tore the jumpsuit off.
"Don't worry sweetie, I've made your favorite dinner tonight and Jazz is about to go pick up your cake for later," said Maddie sticking her head out of the kitchen. "Jazz, could you please be a dear and go pick that up now?"
Jazz looked at Danny, her mom, and out the window to make sure there weren't any ghost attacks, thankfully not seeing any.
"Okay mom, just please promise me that there won't be any ghost related stuff tonight," said Jazz with serious eyes. "This is Danny's birthday and he doesn't need any crazy ghost hunting parent shenanigans."
"Don't worry about a thing Jasmine, tonight we're not doing anything but partying with our boy, you just go get the cake," said Jack putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Ever since you showed me the beauty of kiwi fudge I've been dying to get my hands on this cake you requested."
Danny smiled at his dad while looking up at him, actually excited to enjoy his birthday with his family, and then later with Ember once he could sneak out.
"Thanks dad, mom, Jazz, Tuck, all of you, this means a lot to me," said Danny looking at all of them in turn. "I'm just going to go put my bag away and I'll be ready to party."
With that Jazz headed out the door, Maddie slipped back in to the kitchen, Danny went to put his bag away, and Jack and Tucker were left to wave Danny flags around the living room.
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It was getting pretty late and the festivities at Fenton Works were dying down. It had been quite a fun night of family dinner, games, presents, and kiwi fudge cake. Jack and Maddie were heading up to their room, Jazz was doing the same, and Tucker was talking to Danny before heading out now that they were alone.
"So I take it you're about to head off to see Ember now?" said Tucker at the front door.
Looking over his shoulder to make sure they were alone, Danny nodded his head with a smile.
"Yup, I'll just stuff my bed so they'll think I'm still here, program my computer, and head right to Ember to get what I'm hoping is the best part of my day," said Danny happily.
"I should be offended by that seeing as I'm your best friend and we just had a blast together, but I guess since I can't kiss you she does have some advantages over me," said Tucker chuckling.
"Well I could always kiss you too if it'll make you feel closer to me," said Danny jokingly and opening his arms playfully.
"Appreciate the thought, but I prefer my kisses to come from someone with a bit more shine in their lips," said Tucker with a thumbs up. "See you tomorrow dude, have fun."
"Thanks Tuck, see you tomorrow," said Danny as Tucker headed out and Danny headed up to his room.
Stuffing his covers with pillows and a volleyball with a black wig turned away from the bed, along with some pre recorded messages on his computer in case anyone came knocking, Danny transformed into his ghost self and flew out of his room towards the warehouse. Looking up at the stars in the night sky Danny thought about how perfect his life felt right now. It was his birthday, there hadn't been any ghost attacks today, he'd had a great night with his family and best friend, and he was now on his way to see his off the charts beautiful and amazing girlfriend. He couldn't think of anything that could make this day better. As he fazed into the warehouse he found it was empty, but he immediately noticed a note on Ember's bed that was signed with a purple lipstick kiss. Picking it up Danny quickly got excited as he read.
Your journey starts now
but where should you go
head right to the place
our love first started to grow
Come find me Baby Pop *kiss
Danny smiled happily at the purple kiss mark as he processed the poem, and it was pretty clear where she wanted him to go.
"The top of the music store where we first kissed and started dating," said Danny to himself as he folded the note and put it in his pocket.
Taking off back into the sky Danny headed right for the roof of the music store, finding another note there along with a piece of Danny's favorite chocolate that he'd told Ember about at one point. So intrigued at where this was going Danny unwrapped the chocolate and took a bite while reading the next note. This proceeded to take him to another location, the park where Ember had performed on New Years thanks to Danny. After that he was lead to the spot at Lake Eerie where he and Ember had their first date and danced together. From there he was lead to the top of the bowling alley, where he found what would be the last note.
The signature thing for me
is playing my guitar
now come claim your prize
where we once laid under the stars
Danny could feel how close he was to finding Ember, and he knew exactly where she was sending him with this last clue. To the top of the op center where they had star gazed together and he'd taught her about different constellations and his dreams of becoming an astronaut. Putting this last note into his pocket, Danny quickly flew back towards Fenton Works. As the building came into view, Danny could see Ember on top of it with her flaming blue hair. She was standing there waiting for him with her guitar, and something on the ground in front of her. As Danny landed he looked into her eyes and then down at the object at his feet. Ember was smiling at him while lightly strumming a few notes.
"You gave me one when you wrote me your first letter, now it's my turn to give you one along with something I wrote for you," said Ember smiling as she started playing an intro that Danny didn't recognize.
Reaching down to pick up the purple rose at his feet, Danny was smiling so happily while Ember started playing a ballad that she had spent months perfecting for him. It was finally time for him to hear it, and he was so excited as he realized that she was playing a song that she wrote specifically for him. The melody of the intro was so smooth and calming as Danny held the rose up to his heart.
WHEN I CLOOOSE MY EYES
SEEING FLAMES FROM MY PAST
THINKING IT WAS OVER
MY HAPPINESS COULD NEVER LAST
ON MY BED I HAD FROZE
With a short pause to strum another smooth melody on her guitar, Ember looked into Danny's eyes and he could see nothing but love shining in them as she kept singing.
BUT THROUGHHH YOUR LOVE
MY LIFE IS ON THE RISE
BRINGING DOWN ALL MY WALLS
YOU GAVE ME A GREAT SURPRISE
WITH THE GIFT OF A PURPLE ROSE
Increasing her voice a little higher, Ember picked up her tempo and her guitar got a little louder as she went into the chorus.
A PURPLE ROSE
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL ART
SHINING IN THE SUN SO BRIGHT
SO DEAR TO MY HEART
UNTIL THE WORLD COMES TO AN END
OUR LOVE WITH REPEATEDLY GROW
FEELINGS SO UNBREAKABLY STRONG
ALL BECAUSE OF A PURPLE ROSE
As the chorus was ending Ember went into a short musical break on her guitar while shaking her head lightly with her eyes closed. Opening them back up she resumed her singing at a slightly lower volume once again.
EVERY TIME I SEE YOUR SMILE
IT BRINGS MY WORLD TO LIFE
FROM THIS REALM AND THE NEXT
DESTROYING ALL MY FEELINGS OF STRIFE
NOW I ONLY WANT YOU...ONLY YOU
Ember turned away from her guitar to look deeply into Danny's eyes again as she repeated the chorus.
A PURPLE ROSE
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL ART
SHINING IN THE SUN SO BRIGHT
SO DEAR TO MY HEART
UNTIL THE WORLD COMES TO AN END
OUR LOVE WILL REPEATEDLY GROW
FEELINGS SO UNBREAKABLY STRONG
ALL BECAUSE OF A PURPLE ROSE
Ember stopped singing to go into a guitar solo, picking her guitar up higher and jabbing her arms as she struck every chord with complete perfection, filling the air all around them with beautiful music that only she could create. Danny's eyes were so wide as he watched her play he had to hold himself back from lunging forward to kiss her on the spot. This was her gift to him and he wasn't about to ruin it. It sounded so beautiful and she looked so beautiful as she started singing again at a much higher pitch.
I DON'T EVER WANT TO BE OUT OF YOUR ARMS
HOLD ME CLOSSSSE AND SHOW ME THE STAAARS
Keeping her high pitch Ember went into one more repeat of the chorus.
A PURPLE ROSE
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL ART
SHINING IN THE SUN SO BRIGHT
SO DEAR TO MY HEART
UNTIL THE WORLD COMES TO AN END
OUR LOVE WILL REPEATEDLY GROW
FEELINGS SO UNBREAKABLY STRONG
ALL BECAUSE OF A PURPLE ROSE
Going into another short musical break, Ember looked at the rose in Danny's hand as she lowered her pitch once again along with the volume on her guitar, much softer as she brought the song to an end.
TRUE LOVE HAS AROSE
WITH THE GIFT OF A PURPLE ROSEEEE
With one more short strum on her guitar Ember stopped singing and playing, letting the last chord ring in the air as she lowered her arms with her guitar, looking right into Danny's eyes, both of them unable to look away from each other as they took in the moment. After staring for what felt like an eternity, Danny stepped forward and brought Ember into a gentle hug which she returned. They let their heads rest on the other's shoulder for a bit before pulling back to look into each other's eyes again at close range.
"I love you Ember," said Danny as he brushed her hair with his fingertips, so touched by the song and falling even deeper in love with the most amazing girl he had ever known.
"I love you too Danny," said Ember as they leaned forward for a deep kiss, Ember's arms going around his neck.
There wasn't any lust involved in this kiss, just deep and passionate love as they both held each other and kept their lips together to enjoy the moment. Danny was holding her around the waist and stroking her back, Ember was cupping the back of his neck and lightly scratching it with her nails. For a moment it even seemed like the stars and the moon above them started shining brighter as a result of their kiss. When they finally separated their lips they rested their foreheads against each other and smiled.
"Happy birthday," said Ember while stroking his cheek. Both of them were so mesmerized in each other they didn't realize that they were about to have company, and not good company.
"Yes, happy birthday to you ghost child, unfortunately for you it'll be your last," came the voice of Skulker from above them.
Snapping out of their trance, Danny and Ember looked up and saw the ghost hunter was pointing one of his weapons right at them. Before they could properly grasp the situation Skulker fired three poles towards them, but rather than hitting them they went into the ground in a triangular pattern. Not knowing what was going on, Danny and Ember both looked at the three poles in the ground as they opened up at their tips, two spike looking things on each as they started to crackle. Both of their eyes went wide as it dawned on them what was about to happen, but they couldn't react fast enough as they were both zapped from three different angles by a very large amount of electricity.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," screamed Danny and Ember together as their whole bodies were electrocuted painfully.
When the zapping subsided both of them were left motionless, too shocked to move, giving Skulker a free shot at both of them.
"I love it when I can sneak up on my prey unsuspecting," said Skulker as he flew down and landed hard punches on both Danny and Ember, sending them to the ground beside each other. Landing in front of them both with a smirk, Skulker raised his wrist so his plasma cannon could emerge from his suit, firing a wide beam at both of them to add to the pain they were receiving.
"Uuuuuuhhhhhhhh," both Danny and Ember groaned as the blast subsided, each of them struggling to stay conscious. Danny's transformation suddenly fell and turned him back into Danny Fenton, and Ember's hair was flowing very weakly, signaling she was also low on power and consciousness.
"This almost feels unfair with how easy it was for me to get the jump on both of you," said Skulker as he stepped towards Danny, picking him up and slinging him over his shoulder. "Just to make sure you don't try anything during our little trip, this will keep you in check."
Skulker brought out a pair of ecto cuffs from his belt and fastened them onto Danny's wrists behind his back. This made Danny drop the purple rose that Ember had given him to the ground right in front of Skulker.
"Quite a shame that such a touching moment had to be ruined, or it would have been if I had any feelings about that sort of thing," said Skulker as he stomped on the rose. Ember saw it from the ground, weakly looking up to see Danny slung over Skulker's shoulder.
"Danny, no," said Ember in a strained voice, reaching out towards her boyfriend.
"As much as I would enjoy taking his pelt right now, I need to keep him breathing a little while longer for my task," said Skulker while looking from Danny to Ember, picking up her guitar that she had dropped. "You on the other hand have no further reason to exist, so I will very much enjoy destroying you for turning your back on the ghost zone, and I'll be taking your guitar with me as well."
Skulker raised his plasma cannon again and pointed it right at Ember, intending to finish her off once and for all.
In her weakened state all Ember could do was stare down the barrel of the ghost zones greatest hunter before he fired, her guitar and the boy she loved about to be taken from her forever.
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A/N Man oh man things have taken quite a chaotic turn now thanks to Skulker. Danny is out and Ember is at his mercy, how are they going to get out of this one? Even though I know what's going to happen I'm still shaking with anticipation from all of this. I'd say I'm sorry for the cliffhanger but that would be a lie, so sorry not sorry, lol. Couple things I want to address, the biggest being Ember's realization that she can't age with Danny. This has been something I've been very carefully going over for a long time and it's a very very delicate topic in this universe. There have been completely conflicting things both in the show and out of the show that make it difficult to know what is actually true on this topic. The biggest example being in The Ultimate Enemy. A lot of the ghosts seemed like they'd been aged up, particularly the Box Ghost, but it was never confirmed that they actually aged, it's possible just their appearance had changed. Same with Ember, she looked WAY different (yikes), but we didn't have confirmation that she'd actually "aged" so to speak. And then Butch Hartman during his 10 years later video said himself "ghosts don't actually age" which has made this whole topic quite tricky. So with all the conflicting things I eventually just decided to go with my own independent idea for the story on the topic and this is where it's being introduced. The next thing is Danny's birthday. I scoured the internet all over trying to find out when it was, but I found NOTHING. I could not find a single official source from anywhere that indicated when Danny's birthday way, and since it was never in the show I had to create my own idea for this topic as well. Eventually after looking at so many ideas, I ended up realizing that Butch Hartman's birthday is January 10th, and based on where the story was thanks to me always putting dates to keep the timeline clear, that's what I decided to use as a little tribute to the creator of Danny Phantom, which I think worked out pretty nicely. Finally, Ember's song to Danny. I want to emphasize again that I am NOT a writer, let alone a song writer, so coming up with my own original lyrics was a mind crusher. It was the hardest thing I've had to write for the whole story without a doubt, including stuff that hasn't been posted yet. I started writing the lyrics way back around chapter 6 since I knew I was going to use the song eventually, but I'd need a lot more time to come up with something good. And in addition, since I'm not a musician I can't even test the lyrics with actual music, but I do think that what I came up with is pretty solid and could be made into a great ballad. If any of my many readers happen to be musicians, regardless of your skill level, if you want to see if you can put a melody together with the lyrics I wrote by all means do it, and please send it to me if you do so because I'd love to hear it myself. Something I'm also noticing is that I've started to get pretty carried away with these A/N at the end of the chapters. If any of you think I need to cut back on this please let me know when you leave your REVIEW. Please REVIEW, knowing what you all think is what helps me make the story better. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!