Author's Note: I have only a few reviews on this story but I love all of you for your reviews and I really appreciate the feedback you've shared and the kind words you've showered me with. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Also fun fact: I've cross posted this to AO3 and that version has pictures!

Danny felt like he was struggling to wake up from a long nap, his eyes opened slightly, his room a blur of color out of focus and cloudy. He blinked a few times before his eyes closed again, and he snuggled under the covers, pulling the blankets over his head and he groaned and relaxed once more. He didn't fight for consciousness, just let his eyes rest closed as the cool covers enveloped him, his body was weak and tired and he wasn't about to deny it rest. He drifted in and out of dreams, sometimes opening his eyes and taking in the strange green glow in his room, sometimes floating around Amity Park in what he was sure was a dream, never quite fully there.

It could have been hours, it could have been seconds, it could have been days or weeks or years, time passed as he rested, recovering his strength. Dreams came and went, dreams of his family and friends visiting him, speaking quietly in sad voices, telling him about their day. Dreams of his time as a human flitted through his mind, the portal accident replayed a few times the dreams, stealing his humanity from him. He dreamed of his mother shooting him, forcing his ghost half into a parody of humanity, the pain, the slow deterioration of his body and finally his death, surrounded by family and friends in his home. He was glad they were there for him in the end, the thoughts of his family and friends began to rouse him from his sleep. He missed them, he laid in bed a moment longer before he slowly opened his eyes.

He was in his room, but not his room, he frowned slightly, it didn't look right, but he felt at home, the room was his, this place was home. That didn't quite make sense, but he felt safe, he felt at home, and that's all he knew. The window nearby bathed the room in an eerie green light and he wondered briefly what happened to the sky that made it green. He closed his eyes and drifted off again, he felt safe and secure as he laid beneath the covers. His mind wandered, sleep taking him again, dying must have exhausted him he thought briefly before he fell back into dreams.

He woke several more times, awake for a few seconds before falling back into familiar dreams of home, of warmth, of family and friends. When he finally woke fully, his eyes were blurred with sleep still and his body ached. He rubbed his eyes, pushing himself off the bed, looking around, confused by his surroundings.

He was home.

This was his room.

And yet this place was not the house he grew up in, his room was not his childhood room. For starters it was far larger than he had come to expect from his room. He floated out of bed and looked around the room, until something caught his eye. He floated toward the dresser and the looking glass above it, blinking as he took in his reflection. His hand reached out, only his fingertips brushing the glass as his chest filled with sorrow.

His reflection was his reflection and yet not quite the same as before. His eyes were still glowing green, but in their depths was a swirling simulacrum of the ghost portal rather than their normal neon green. His ears had become slightly pointed, and he was unfortunately reminded of his evil future self, as he opened his mouth to speak he caught sight of tiny fangs and his eyes widened.

He was still himself for the most part, but these more ghostly changes caught him off guard. He figured dying had made him more ghostly, changed his appearance the way his feelings about humanity had changed. He hadn't felt very human in the end, despite being in a human form, he touched his face gently and wondered if his death would change him in other ways, non cosmetic ways.

Perhaps most different was his jumpsuit, it was shaped in a similar way but perhaps it was more a memory of what it used to be. His death having changed it, the white collar, gloves, and boots remained more as a sense of their former selves. The dividing line of gloves to jumpsuit no longer remained, but dissolved into the black of his suit as pinpricks of light. Stars seemed to litter his suit, even in places that had been fully black before, the black of his suit seemed blacker than ever before, his body a star field. He looked down at his hands then followed the white of his gloves to their transition on his upper forearm, a finger traced along the inside of his wrist and up to his elbow, taking in the miniature galaxies and glowing planets embedded in his suit. He found the whole thing to remind him a bit of the night sky he'd seen in Nocturne's body, but these were his own planets and galaxies, a whole universe inside of him.

He looked over his suit, finding constellations even as they shifted across the nightscape of his body and he twisted and turned searching through the clusters of stars mesmerized by the change. He still had his standard DP symbol, it glowed in the center of his chest, he touched it gently feeling the hum of his core beneath the fabric. He turned his attention back to the mirror, back to the swirling and shifting green of his irises, and the points of his ears.

He glanced around the room now, taking in the familiar and unfamiliar furniture. His bed was the same, as was the dresser and the desk, but there was a TV and a larger than expected closet, as well as what appeared to be a bathroom. This was home. The thought came from his core, and he realized this must be his lair. He blinked curiously as he floated to the window, looking out at the infinite realms stretching before him. He was a ghost, he had a lair, and of course, that meant his lair was his home.

The window shifted and stretched before him, becoming a bay window with a place to sit and stare out at the realms. He had died then, he had died and formed a ghost in the ghost zone itself. He was something of a proper ghost now. He leaned his head against the window, watching the world outside pass by. He sat there for a good long while before opening the window and floating out into the zone, looking around to get his bearings, he blinked and tilted his head slowly as he realized that he was near where the ghost portal should be. He glanced around, looking for it, but could only see his lair. It was a brick building very much like Fenton works, but without the gaudy sign, it sat on an island, which Danny gently floated down to, resting on the grass, the island was quite vast. It seemed larger than Skulker's island and he toyed with the idea of exploring a bit, seeing what his new home had to offer, but he shook off the idea, he had someone to go see.

He pushed off the island, flying across the zone, passing island and doors, friends and foes as he zipped through the realms. He dipped and dove, enjoying flight, he had missed this. As much as he regretted having to die, he had missed his ghost half. Ghosthood settled into him once more like an old friend and he felt like all was right with him once more. He was who he was supposed to be.

He landed at the doorway to the elaborate clocktower, knocking before entering, choosing to walk through the vast hall until he arrived at the large clock face. The clock showed a scene, people throwing dirt onto a casket, a familiar logo on a headstone.

"Welcome home child." Clockwork said, turning from his position observing the funeral. Danny floated toward him, finding a position next to him where he could watch the funeral alongside him. He watched for a while before putting a hand to his chest, once again feeling the hum of his core.

"So… I've died… just as you predicted." He said softly. "Danny Phantom now has a corpse." He said gesturing vaguely to the viewing clock screen and the headstone depicted within its depths.

"Indeed he does." Clockwork nodded and Danny sighed as he looked at the funeral scene until it shifted back into nebulous shapes and colors. He floated quietly next to Clockwork for a moment, his ghostly tail flicking back and forth beneath him before he finally turned toward Clockwork and spoke.

"Why?" He asked softly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"This was the best outcome, things would have changed if you had been informed." Clockwork said with a shake of his head. "Are you disappointed child? Do you wish to change the past?"

"No." Danny shook his head and sighed as he looked down at his hands. "This is who I'm meant to be… This is how it's meant to be… I may not be happy about it… but even I can sense that." He sighed and looked away, a hand still over his chest, his eyes closing as he felt the sense of rightness inside of him. He felt one with the realms, he had been reborn here after his death, he felt the realms humming in tune with his core. Even if he wasn't in his lair, this place was his home.

"You have learned much in death then." Clockwork said. Danny laughed and then sighed, shaking his head and looking back to Clockwork. He opened his mouth to speak then closed it again, as if he was trying to find the right words. It took a moment before he began to speak in earnest, to try and vocalize how it felt to be a ghost now.

"It's different than before… forming a ghost in the zone… forming with a lair…" He said as he clenched his fists. "It's strange… I feel more in tune with the zone… I could hear the melody of the realms before, it drew me in… but now… I feel that melody in my soul… I'm part of the realms and they are part of me." He closed his eyes. "The realms are an extension of me and I of the realms." He took a deep breath that he didn't need. "My core is in harmony… I'm… as I'm meant to be." He swallowed as his eyes welled with green tinged tears. "It scares me." He admitted.

"That you're scared of this power proves you are the correct person to wield it." Clockwork said with a small nod. "You are as you're meant to be." He agreed.

Danny swallowed and opened his eyes looking over at Clockwork.

"When can I go back?" He asked softly.

"You have much to do here, perhaps a few months if you're a quick study." Clockwork chuckled.

"Studying has never been my strong suit." He said with a heavy sigh. "Let's get this over with then."

"Then let the realms welcome their new king."

Danny leaned into the hug, holding his friends close, he had missed them, he had missed them so much. He closed his eyes and held them as tight as he dared without hurting them. Tears streamed down his face as he leaned into their warmth. Tucker and Sam were both sobbing and sniffling too. He never wanted to let them go again, but he knew he would need to, he would make them too cold if they clung to him for too long, but for now he kept them close to him. When they started shivering Danny reluctantly pulled away.

"You should probably let go before I give you frostbite." He said with a small smile as he wiped his eyes.

"You took months to return! Months!" Sam said as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. "We… We almost gave up." She admitted.

"We thought you were gone for good." Tucker said with a nod, wiping his eyes again. "Or… I thought you were… Sam was more hopeful than me." He said.

"There… there was some stuff I had to do… it took me a while to reform as well." He explained with a small shake of his head. "Let's get you two somewhere warm… somewhere with hot chocolate." He said as he wrapped arms around them, holding them close, wrapping them in his powers before taking to the sky.

The flight was quiet and oddly peaceful, there was so much he wanted to say, but mostly he just wanted to enjoy their presence next to him. He missed them terribly as he stayed in the ghost zone. There had been much studying, books and tomes of ghost zone history, human history, what it meant to be himself. He wished he could share it all, but it was all so much, perhaps it would even be too much. He'd tell them, especially when asked, but for now he just wanted to be with them. He flew with them across town, away from his grave, heading toward the familiar sign of Fenton Works, it was visible for several blocks, especially from the air and he dipped down toward the street and dropped them in front of the house.

The door was locked and he realized that his parents must be out, the GAV was missing from the driveway behind the house, as was Jazz's red convertible. He walked through the door, unlocking it and pulling it open, bowing dramatically and sweeping his arm to the side as he welcomed them in.

"My good sir and lady, welcome to Le' maison du Fenton!" He said. Sam chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"You're still a dork I see." She smiled at him, though the teasing words were tinged with sadness.

"Well… death doesn't always change a person, Time does that more." He shrugged, shutting the door behind him.

"Dude… your parents are going to freak." Tucker said, laughing for the first time in months, Sam rolled her eyes again.

"I don't think they're here right now." Danny shrugged, making his way to the kitchen, floating up to a cabinet and pulling the hot cocoa mix down, then floating back down to the stove and turning it on. Sam and Tucker each took a seat at the table watching as Danny floated around preparing three mugs of hot chocolate.

They were quiet despite the millions of questions buzzing around their mind, they glanced at each other before looking back at Danny who was humming happily as began to warm up the pot of milk. He waved his hand nonchalantly and the can of hot cocoa mix floated over, that was certainly new. While Danny had used telekinesis once or twice in the past, it had never seemed to come so easily to him. They exchanged looks, the same thought on both of their minds, Danny had really become a ghost.

Danny hummed happily to himself as he stirred the powdered chocolate and sugar into the milk that was heating on the stove. He waited till it had dissolved before he poured it into three waiting mugs, carrying the mugs over with a smile and setting them on the table.

"Hot Chocolate!" he announced, he slid the first mug to Sam and the second to Tucker before smiling at his friends. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions… I've got a lot to tell you too… I have a lair now for starters, it actually formed around the portal… I think it must exist in the same space that Fenton Works exists on the mortal plane."

"A lair? Wow…" Sam blinked, looking at him. "And… you're eyes… your teeth… your ears… not to mention your suit." She said, looking him over.

"Yeah… I've called you a space case before, it became a bit literal." Tucker said with a chuckle as he gestured to the nightscape of his suit, Danny laughed at the joke, smiling, showing off his new fangs he he did so before he sighed softly and began to explain.

"Right… when my ghost reformed, I guess it took more of my obsession with space into account, but I also seemed to remember my old form, my old suit, it's pretty cool." He said with a smile as he pulled at the fabric of the suit before blowing on his hot chocolate. "So… dying made me more ghostly… I've got a few more ghostly attributes, which you've noticed, but I'm still Danny. The fangs and the pointed ears were concerning at first." He said with a sigh and he reached up to touch one of his pointy ears.

"You look like a vampire reject." Tucker teased. Danny laughed and rolled his eyes, Sam punched Tucker lightly in the arm.

"Be nice." She said before looking back at Danny. "The fangs are pretty cool."

"I guess… coming back as a ghost… like this… it was very different from the portal accident… it was like my ghost formed inside my human half… this time my core formed a lair then formed my ghost." He said. "This ghost form was truly born from the infinite realms." He looked down at his hand before shaking his head and sighing softly.

"Are you… are you going to live… er… stay in the ghost zone now?" Tucker asked, his brow furrowing with concern, sure Danny was back, but would a ghost stay on this side of the portal? Would that be safe?

"Well… I have to go back from time to time, I… but I had planned to spend most of my time here… maybe going back once a week to take care of business. Since my lair formed around the portal, there won't be any other ghosts able to use it, not without crossing through my lair, and I doubt any of them have a second death wish." He said with a shake of his head. "I can't do much about the natural portals or Vlad's portal. I can tell where they open, but it's not like I can close them. So the ghosts that come through those will probably still be a problem, but I'm guessing you noticed the distinct lack of unfriendlies on this side since my demise."

"I… I had been wondering what that was about… I think we only saw the Box Ghost." Sam nodded. "Is it safe for you to stay in the human realm?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Danny frowned, tilting his head to the side.

"You're a ghost dude… you're not like… I don't know… get weak by staying on this side of the portal are you?" Tucker pointed out, his brow furrowing as Danny took a sip of hot chocolate. How did that work anyway? How did a ghost eat human food? Was the portal letting enough ecto-energy into their realm to sustain Danny for long periods of time? The longer the portal had been open the stronger the ghosts coming through had gotten, looking more substantial over time, becoming more solid and less transparent. Was Amity Park saturated with enough ecto-energy then to let Danny stay with them?

"I mean… I was fine before." He said with a shrug. Sam and Tucker exchanged a look, neither of them willing to point out the obvious. Before was when Danny had been half ghost, not a full ghost like he appeared now.

"Okay." Sam said hesitantly.

"If it does turn out to be a problem, the portal is literally in my basement, I can come and go as I please." He pointed out before taking another sip of hot chocolate.

"Why did it take you so long to come back? Did… did it take that long for your ghost to form?" Tucker wondered.

"It took about a week for my ghost to form… but the past few months… I've been a bit busy." He said avoiding their gaze. "I… there were things I needed to take care of on the other side."

"Things? Like what?" Tucker frowned.

"You know… politics… other things." Danny said, waving his hand dismissively. "Lots of boring things… history of the ghost zone classes, etiquette, and so on." He rolled his eyes.

"History of the ghost zone? Is there a whole handbook that comes with being a ghost?" Tucker laughed. Danny paused then shrugged, shaking his hand back and forth in a so-so gesture.

"That is literally not helpful." Sam said with a frown. Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking into his mug.

"It… it's more about who I am than what… what too but… mostly who." He mumbled. "It's… complicated and kinda embarrassing." He took another sip from the mug and frowned to himself.

"Complicated?" Tucker asked.

"Who you are? What you are?" Sam shook her head. "Embarrassing or not, I think we deserve some answers."

Danny looked up from his mug and sighed, nodding slowly then looking back at the table and tapping his finger against the surface. He didn't want to tell them yet about his connection to the realms, how dying as Phantom and forming in the zone had been a final step in his ascension to King. He didn't want them to know just yet.

"I… I know you do." He said with a small sigh. "I just… I don't want things to change between us… not yet." He said softly, looking guilty as he studied the table.

"Things changed when you died dude, we changed because you died." Tucker pointed out. Danny winced and then nodded, looking at the two of them sadly.

"I … that's true… I know I didn't really have a choice in dying but… it's as it's supposed to be. I'm what I'm supposed to be, who I'm supposed to be… It's hard to explain. I'm… I'm truly part of the infinite realms now, my ghost formed in the realms this time." He sighed, still avoiding looking at them by staring at the table. "I'm the perfect bridge."

"Bridge?" Sam asked, her brow furrowing, Danny looked up from the table briefly before looking back into his mug.

"The bridge between realms… between the ghost zone and the human realm." He said, his finger rolling along the lip of his cup in a lazy circle, avoiding looking at his friends.

"What does that mean?" Tucker asked and Danny sighed again.

"I'm… I'm the bridge, the lynchpin, the one between worlds… I exist in both, tied to both, able to understand each side. I'm kinda a big deal, more than before." He said as he looked up and gave them a small smile.

"You're the bridge? Is it because you were half ghost?" Sam frowned, confused by how this whole situation had come about.

"Were?" Danny frowned, confused by the past tense. Sam and tucker both exchanged a look, but Tucker was the one who spoke.

"Well… you died, you said your ghost formed in the Zone." Tucker frowned.

"I'm still half ghost." Danny said, blinking at his friends. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, both of his friends stared at him, mouths open before they both slammed their hands onto the table.

"WHAAAT!?" the screeched in unison causing Danny to pull back and clamp his hands over his ears.

"What do you mean you're still half ghost!?"

"We saw you die!"

"How are you still half ghost when you died!"

"You said your ghost formed in the Zone!"

"How are you still half ghost!? Why haven't you changed back then!?"

Danny held his hands up in surrender, glancing down at his body as if realizing he was still a ghost for the first time since arriving at Fenton Works.

"Calm down!" He said. "I'll explain… and… well… I guess I got used to being in my ghost form while in the zone… I forgot to change back."

"You forgot to change back!?" Sam squeaked, looking him over incredulously.

"Are you sure death hasn't made you delusional… are you in denial?" Tucker asked, he wasn't sure if he could take much more of this emotional roller coaster. Danny's ghost was back, but he was still a ghost, then he found out Danny was still half human, or at least Danny thought he was. If Danny didn't change back he'd be disappointed all over again, how would he deal with that? He didn't have to worry about that though, bright rings of light appeared at Danny's waist and traveled over his body, leaving behind a mostly human looking Danny Fenton.

"So… um…" Danny rubbed the back of his neck as his friends stared at him in shock. "Reports of my death were… actually 100% true… but… I got better." He said with a weak smile and a wink.

"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU NOT LEAD WITH THAT!" Sam screamed as she grabbed Danny by the sleeve. Tucker stared, his mouth open wide as he saw his best friend for the first time in almost half a year. Danny Fenton stood in front of them, living and breathing with an apologetic smile on his face.

Death had changed him for sure, like his ghost form, his human half experienced changes after dying, a section of hair at the front of his head had turned white, even in human form his teeth were sharper than they had been before, his ears slightly pointer. Tucker reached out, taking Danny's hand, the hand was cold, but warmer than Phantom's had been. He wasn't afraid of getting frostbite from Danny's cold skin when he touched him. His hand trembled as pressed two fingers to Danny's pulse, he almost couldn't believe it as he felt the steady beating of Danny's heart beneath his fingers, it was slow, but it had been slow before too.

"You… you're alive." He said softly in wonder, his eyes filling with tears and his throat feeling choked up. Sam grabbed his other hand, feeling his pulse on the other wrist, his eyes going wide with surprise.

"Well… As much as I can be." Danny said as he let both Sam and Tucker keep ahold of his hands, feeling his pulse at his wrists. He'd had to double check too the first time he'd changed back, had to make sure it was real, he understood them wanting to keep an eye on him, keep feeling the beating of his heart. They stayed there a moment just feeling the slow pulse of blood beneath Danny's wrists.

"Danny… oh my god." Sam said, throwing her arms around him and holding him close, tears spilling from her eyes again. Tucker soon followed suit, nearly tackling him to the ground, crying, this time with relief and joy and possibly pure shock. Danny once again leaned into their arms, his eyes closing and tears started to stream down his own face as he held his friends close.

"You're alive, you're alive… oh my god… you're alive." Sam mumbled, half sobbing as she hugged him tight.

"When you came back… we thought… it was just your ghost!" Tucker explained as he hugged Danny so tight the other boy made a small choking noise before Tucker let go enough to let Danny breathe.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hide it… I just… I really just forgot I was still in ghost mode." Danny admitted softly.

"You're an idiot. You're an idiot and an ass." Sam mumbled.

"I… I'm sorry." He said again, hugging them close. The hug this time lasted much longer, and when they finally separated all three mugs of hot chocolate had gotten cold. Danny wiped away tears, while the other two blew noses and tried to compose themselves as they gathered around the table.

"So… how much homework do I need to catch up on?" Danny asked nonchalantly as if it were just another day and Danny had snuck out during class, like he hadn't been gone for over half a year. Sam and Tucker exchanged looks before bursting into laughter. It was then that the Fentons returned, finding Danny sitting at the kitchen table, his friends laughing, and him smiling happily, his mug of cocoa the only hot one among the three.