April Fools, Fool

Happy April Fools.

Author: Neither does Danny phantom or any of the characters or the show itself belong to me. Only the plot itself of this one shot. This one-shot is inspired by Bichi mao on Instagram with their April fools comic and by a Tumblr user's comic that is linked at the end of this. I hope you enjoy and happy autistic acceptance month as well! (Note: autism can not be cured, does not need to be cured, and Butch Hartman is a complete and utter dick. Pardon my language as it is the only cussing I will put in here but I suggest you look up why I think this if you're planning on debating it with me.) NOW! Onto the story! :)

It's been years since he took over the ghost throne. And yet....

"Why did you come here?" My voice is even foreign to me. I went off to college to study more in-depth in advocacy for human, ghost, and animal rights, Tucker became a politician and advocated for social justice, and Danny... Danny stayed and became the ghost king. Apparently. He never said anything to me, and as far as I know, he didn't tell Tucker either.

"Do I need a reason to visit my friend?" His eyes drift off somewhere behind me, glaring at something. The same glare he'd used when an annoying ghost like the Box ghost came. But when I look behind me, nothing but the ticking clock.

"We haven't spoken in years, Daniel. Why now?" My voice stretches thin, while the only part of my humanity remains. Past 10 is when I'd usually be asleep, but something told me to stay up. Was it him?

"I just..." His cheeks turn a shade of green while his hand fiddles with the ring on his finger. The ring of rage? He has both? It made sense but... I'd always thought he'd at least have a partner, someone evenly matched with him so the power wouldn't be corrupted like... like Pariah. "I just came to tell you something." He finally spits out.

"Then tell me?" He was pushing my buttons. Ten years since our relationship ended, ten years since our friendship started to fade, ten years since I left for college, and five years since the last time I'd seen him. People always say time heals the heart, but some things, some trauma just don't.

"I don't know if you'll take it the right way, Sam."

"Then maybe you shouldn't ghost people, Daniel." The name fell off my tongue like a boulder off a cliff. Heavily weighted but without air it doesn't matter how much it weighs, it's all just the same. It was something I'd learned in science all the way back in high school, but that didn't matter it matched exactly how I feel. He bites his lip, and again his eyes dart behind her. What was behind her? She knows there's nothing. Just a blank wall with nothing but a clock. The tired and anger and fear were getting to me the longer he stayed quiet and the longer he was here. "Why can't you just tell me what it is?" The question came out louder than expected, but it got a response. One that I wasn't expecting.

"Because I love you." His voice was soft. Three little words meant so much to me five years ago, but now? But now they meant nothing. They were supposed to mean nothing. They were nothing. But nothing is infinite and infinite is how much her heart swelled at the reminder of a twenty-five-year-old still clinging onto childish dreams of flying through a breezy night and being kissed till dawn, and being in love.... Until that love ran dry, and relationships ended and started. A kiss that didn't belong to me was all it took for trust to be broken.

"Did something happen to Valerie?"

"Sam-" His hand reaches out but I refuse to move closer. I refuse to move backward in fear of what's behind her. I refuse to move. So instead I stay put as his arm drops.

"If that's all you wanted then why bother showing up? Are you going to tell me it was a mistake? Are you going to tell me it was my fault? Because it wasn't. I don't know what's going on between or what was going on between you and Vallerie but... But you should've told me then, Phantom." My feelings are detached. A week after our break up, we weren't together but I thought we were on hold. I thought we were going to wait. I thought. "I thought you loved me. But April Fools."

His breath sucked in as if he really needed it, a laugh sputtered out and eyes darted up. "I guess you figured it out?" His hand rubbed the back of his neck, and an award laugh came out of my mouth.

"Maybe don't look at the clock so often. And thank you for the birthday gift last week. I know you send one yearly." He chuckled and nodded in response. It was all just a prank. My feelings, my thoughts, my heart. A big prank. I'm over him.

And yet... I invite him to talk. To talk about life, to talk about what happened, to confirm what was broken, what had ended, and to confirm that they had both moved on. I had boyfriends after Danny, the longest being three months, the shortest being three hours. I knew I was over him. He had a life with Valerie. One that ended because of the ring. The ring on his finger. He was over it, though not really. The pain in his eyes was still there from when he told me he loved me, the pain in his eyes was still there from when we were toxic and together, the pain in his eyes was still there from every time a ghost had directly come between them. The pain was still there but numbed.

And then a breath. Blue air that I hadn't seen in years floated out of his mouth. "That's my call," he announced. I chuckled, even as ghost king he can't seem to catch a break.

"I guess I'll have to let you go then... again." The word wasn't supposed to come out, but it had. A grimace appeared on his face and from a heroic stand he sat back down with her.

"I can come back once I'm done." He suggests.

"Don't. You probably have king stuff to do." A smile forces its way onto my face. It doesn't reach my eyes but it works for him.

"I'll visit again soon." The words come out soft, softer than I would like, but for five years, they're the best thing in my life.

As he closes his eyes, ready to become intangible, I say one last thing. "I love you." And his eyes immediately open up again.

"April fools," he chuckles. "I'll see you later," he says.

But the only fool is me. As my brain tells my feelings, April Fools. I've never been more in love with him.

Author: Hey guys! I decided to do this thing that I used to do. So short story, I used to write one-shots for every holiday that were related to the main story that I wrote (and is currently canceled). I'm pretty sure most people do this but some of the one-shots were related to the actual plot that I eventually wanted to create. For me, it was basically like a mini spoiler. Anyways, I've been really into Danny Phantom for the past three weeks now (since it apparently comes on weekly on Wednesday from 9:30am-12:30pm, the one school day where I don't actually have school) and I just have had motivation without inspiration for the longest time and BEFOEFLUDSVILHLHUHIDSLJDSKFHHPWPWJDQ

Okay, long story short I have motivation without inspiration and idk how to write the beginning of the actually fanfic I wanted to write for this fandom. But again, anyways, this one shot was inspired by https://aprahnicus.tumblr.com/post/17...​ this piece of work right here for the mlb marichat fans, I first heard it from Kytosome on youtube who dubbed it in 2018. And it was also inspired by bichi.mao on instagram with their own april fools. I'm sorry if the pov isn't consistent when reading this, I recently started to write in third person so sometimes it's hard to switch to first. Finally, I hope you enjoyed this little story.