Topic: Post Phantom Planet oneshot on Valerie's thoughts on Danny Fenton being Danny Phantom, or a DannyxVal confrontation

Requirements: 500 words or more.

Deadline: September 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, or any of Kelly's songs, much as I love to write about them.

Music: Well, this was inspired by the song Can I Have A Kiss by Kelly Clarkson, as it will be obvious in the ending. But I listened to all of Kelly's new CD, and I think the song Maybe kinda influenced me a bit. LOL. That's not obvious. Not at all -eye twitch-

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If there was one thing that made up for all the bad things that’s happened to me in life, it would be flying.

Oh, not flying literally, though I’m sure that would be heavenly. No, flying on my jetsled, soaring through the night with only my technology underneath me. No protective covers, nothing to prevent me from falling down thousands of feet into the earth.

I didn’t normally get to fly around without my helmet, though. It was imperative for my suit to be on when I went ghost hunting, to avoid unfortunate situations involving my secret identity suddenly losing the ‘secret’ part of it. I already experienced that once, thank you, and I preferred not to do it again. But this night, I allowed myself the small luxury of flying with my face free to feel the breeze pound against the thin barrier of skin.

Besides, the only person who could see me up here already knew who I was, anyway. No point keeping the secret from him.

In the distance, I started to see the shape of something floating around behind the thick clouds of night. Instinctively I pulled my mask over my head to get to business. But as I approached, I saw that the being hovering above the Earth was someone on my side, and relaxed a bit. No need to panic. This unworldly creature was of no harm to Earth. Even if I had just discovered this fact a few weeks ago.

I figured there was no harm in scaring the guy a bit, though.

“Watch your back, Phantom!” I shouted as I revved up the jetsled and barreled towards him. The said being jumped in astonishment—if it even was possible to jump when one was levitating a thousand feet from the ground—and threw a glowing green shield in front of him instinctively.

“Relax,” I snickered at how easily he threw out his ghost shield. He must have had a lot of surprise visitors lately. I could only imagine. “I’m just messing with you, Phantom—er, I mean,” I choked the word out. “Fenton, now, I guess.”

The ghost in question grinned wearily, letting down his guard. “Oh, it’s just you, Valerie. And you don’t have to call me Fenton, if it freaks you out a bit.” He eyed me warily, as if he was suspecting I would pull out a giant ecto-gun and blow him to kingdom come.

Still, even if that sounded a bit paranoid, the guy had plenty of reasons to be suspicious of me. I had only tried to destroy him about a million times.

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay, I need to get used to the idea, so I might as well start now. I haven’t really talked to you since—well, since, you know…”

He did know. “Yeah. Haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to anyone, actually. You know how famous celebrities are harassed? Yeah, well, they haven’t had anything close to what’s happened to me these past few weeks.”

“Saving the world can do that to you,” I joked weakly.

“Yeah, guess that’s expected.” We looked at each other uncomfortably, not knowing how to act around the other when both our deepest secrets had been revealed to the other. We opened our mouths at the same time and started speaking, and both shut up when we saw the other person doing the exact same thing.

“What were you going to say, Val?” Phantom said softly.

“Oh, um—“ I paused, not having a single clue how to start. “You first,” I said lamely.

Phantom fidgeted nervously, something I thought I would never see. Phantom had always seemed so…confident in our fights, almost to the point of being cocky. The nervousness—that was all Danny.

But maybe I’m just now realizing all the Danny in Phantom because I finally discovered the connection between the ghost I had utterly despised and the teen that I cared so much for.

“I just wanted to say I was sorry, Valerie,” he said with a sincerity that I could never picture a ghost having. “I didn’t want to lie to you. I didn’t mean to mislead you like that. You were always a great friend, and it always hurt me to keep my secret from you. And I did not mean to make your father lose his job!” He said desperately. “I never would wish that on anybody. I was a new ghost then, and I didn’t know how to properly handle the ghost dog. I’m so sorry that things ended the way they did.”

I stared at him, utterly confused. He was apologizing to me? Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom, the sweet teenage boy and the savior of the world, was sorry for what he did to me? After I hunted him down and did everything to make his life an absolute hell?

“Danny—I’m over the ghost dog thing,” I forced out a laugh. “It was a bad time of my life, yes, but in the end, I turned out a better person. And why wouldn’t you lie to me? I never gave you a reason to trust me.”

“Well—I always considered you a good friend, and I never wanted to deceive you or hurt you in any way. I’m sorry—I’m sorry for the way things turned out between us.”

All I could do was stare at him. I thought about how much I hated him—how just the sight of his white hair and glowing green eyes could send me into a passionate rage. Why didn’t I see this side of Phantom? Why didn’t I see the caring side, the side that looked out for my well-being, the part of the ghost that was all Danny Fenton?

I had been so blinded by my hatred of ghosts that I didn’t allow anything that didn’t fit into my standards of what a ghost was into the equation. Anytime Phantom helped me out or did something good for the town, I wrote it off like it never happened.

Why didn’t I ever see that ghosts are just like humans—fallible? Why did my rose-tinted glasses of the world hide the glaringly obvious fact that while ghosts can mess up, they can make up for the bad they caused?

My entire life had been wasted. I had been fighting for the wrong cause all the time—like someone who realized that they were on the losing side but it was too late to turn back. I couldn’t turn back the wasted time. I thought about all the relationships I had severed to devote my time to my ghost-hunting—friends I’d left behind, family I had forgotten, and most important of all, Danny. I had given Danny up in vain. I thought I was protecting him, but in reality, all I did was wreck my chance at happiness.

“I really liked you, you know,” I said softly. “I wanted to give up ghost hunting for you.”

“I know,” he slipped. “I mean, I—“

“Yeah, yeah, I can figure what happened,” I rolled my eyes. “Stupid, annoying, eavesdropping, insubstantial ghost.”

He snickered at that. “What can I say, it’s a gift.” Then he became serious again, and commented, “I really liked you too. You have no idea how much I wanted to break down and tell you my secret. It took force from Tucker and Sam to not spill everything.”

“Would have, could have, should have,” I shrugged sadly. “I suppose there’s nothing we can do now, except reminisce about the things we should have done right. Still, I suppose it all worked out for you,” I teased. “So were the tabloids right about your relationship with Sam?”

He flushed dark red, a color I was unfamiliar seeing on a ghost. I didn’t even know ghosts could blush. I guess ones that still had blood pumping in them could. “Oh. Yeah. Remember how I mentioned being a celebrity has many bad things to it? Yeah, having no privacy would be one of them.”

“It’s not like nobody saw that coming,” I rolled my eyes at how embarrassed he was. “I think you were the only person who was unaware of Sam’s feelings for you. I even warned her a couple times that if she didn’t act quick enough, someone else would steal you away.”

“No wonder everyone called me clueless,” he ambled on, not knowing how that statement just reinforced his lack of awareness. So he had just figured out why? I felt bad for Sam.

“Well, regardless of how things turned out, I’m glad I got a chance with you, Danny.” The world was choked out, but I somehow managed to call Phantom Danny for the first time. I could never call him anything that remotely sounded human for as long as I hated him, and even when I discovered his secret, it was still difficult to connect him to Danny Fenton.

But now, talking to him face to face, I was able to resolve my inner struggles I had been fighting with for so long. Danny Phantom really was Danny Fenton. Despite the difference in appearance, despite the ghostly glow and eerie eyes, they were the same person through and through.

I thought about Sam, and how unbelievably lucky she was. Danny Fenton was one of a kind—smart, sweet, caring, loving, brave, loyal, everything a girl could dream of in a guy. But because I had let my ghost obsession take over my life, I had managed to lose the one guy I had truly liked—or maybe even loved. And I would regret that for the rest of my life.

If only I could turn back time, just a few months. Maybe if I had known, I would have reevaluated my priorities a bit more. Maybe I wouldn’t have done everything to isolate myself from everything and everyone I loved.

But maybe if I was lucky, it wouldn’t be too late for me. Despite by how much I had messed things up in my life—maybe I could finally find closure today, with Danny.

“Hey, Danny?” I asked softly. “Can I ask you a weird favor?”

“Of course, Val,” Danny was quick to answer.

“Can I—can I have a kiss?” I whispered.

No, Danny wasn’t mine. He was Sam’s. It was too late for me. I’d had my chance with him. Still, I wanted one moment—one moment when I’d have him for the tiniest fraction of a second. It would probably be more painful for me afterwards, having a small taste of happiness and having it taken away. But—I wanted this one kiss.

Just one.

Danny started, since he had probably not realized how weird my favor really would be. “Oh, Val,” he said sadly. “I—I love Sam. I can’t do that to her.”

“I know,” I sighed, but expecting the answer, since I had subconsciously known what his answer would be. Loyal—Danny was loyal to death.

“I—I won’t kiss you,” he said emphatically. It took me a while to understand the double meaning in the sentence.

“You’re a good guy, Danny,” I tried to smile, but I don’t think it reached my eyes. “I’m sure you and Sam will be really happy.”

I revved up the jetsled a bit, and flew forward until I was directly in front of him. Then, very quickly, I lightly kissed him on his cheek, not wanting to compromise his relationship with Sam. Danny deserved better. The skin was cool, the way I would imagine a ghost’s skin would feel like. But it was just as soft as it was when I had kissed him back when I had ended our relationship.

“Thanks,” I put my helmet back on. “I’ll see you around, Fenton.” Then, I flew away, finally letting go off my past.

There were plenty of things I did wrong, especially concerning Danny.

But from now on, I think I’ll fix up my life.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll find the guy that’s right for me.

And I won’t screw it up next time.

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Excuse me for this

I just want a kiss

I just want to know what it feels like to touch

Something so pure

Something I'm so sure of

What it feels like to stand outside your door

I'm unworthy

I can see you're above me

But I can be lovely given the chance

Don't move

I want to remember you just like this

Don't move

It's only a breath or two between our lips

I know why you left

I can't blame you myself

Must be hard living with ghosts and such an empty shell

I tried to warn you

I've been a mess since you've known me

I can't promise forever

But I'm working on it

If I can't hold you

Can I give you a kiss?

Can I have a kiss?

I see that you're torn

I've got some scars of my own

Seems I want what I know is gonna leave me hungry

All I have

All I can give to you I will

Just promise this

If I can't have forever

Can I have a kiss?

I know why you left

I can't blame you myself

Must be hard living with ghosts and such an empty shell

I tried to warn you

I've been a mess since you've known me

I can't promise forever

But I'm working on it

If I can't hold you

Can I give you a kiss?

Can I—can I—Can I have a kiss…?

Kelly Clarkson's Can I Have A Kiss

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Um. Yeah. Not entirely sure what insanity prompted me to write this for the contest.

But yeah, Val's character is so hard to get! I dunno, I can get other characters easily. Like, for example, Sam. I think I have her character down pretty well, enough that if I do something in a story that's OOC she'll bother me (not literally, but you know what I mean) until I go and change it. This happened in Addicted. I had to go and rewrite a whole bunch of it because it felt like it didn't fit her character. And I generally have Jazz down pretty well. But Val--I don't know, I just had issues writing her IC. I probably totally screwed up this entry. Haha. Oh well. It's uh, unique?

-is shot-

Reviews are awesome, even ones that give me criticism. So feel free to review and be all, uh, yeah, sorry, but this doesn't sound like Val at all! and I will be totally happy. Mostly cuz I will probably agree with your criticism.

Love PhantomsAngel