Seeing Double

Jasmines for Jazz: A Flashback

Normally, he wanted as little to do with Jazz as possible. If they ran into each other in the mornings they greeted each other and moved on. Then he pretended to take the bus and she took her car.

But today he couldn't ignore her.

"H-happy birthday?" Danny could feel the sweat rolling down his back. What if he got the date wrong? He'd already made the messed up by mistaking dad's birthday for mom's.

But Jazz beamed at him. "You remembered?"

"Well, uh, I wrote it down a while ago?" He started inching his way towards his room, wondering when it would be polite to turn around. "So I don't think that counts, but-"

"Aw, c'mere little brother." Jazz pulled him into a bear hug tight enough to rival one of dad's. "Of course it counts! Thank you."

Then she kissed him on the cheek.

He decided to let it slide for today.

"I didn't get you a gift or anything," he admitted. "Sorry, I couldn't think of what you would want? Sorry."

Jazz ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it."

And she smiled that bittersweet sort of smile he'd come to recognize. The one that mourned the loss of something he'd never know.

Normally, she'd try to fill him in on the context. There was nothing she loved more than talking his ear off about their past.

But this time she just pinched his cheeks and then let him slink away. And they went their separate ways.

It was something Phantom had been doing for as long as he could remember. If he could ask Jazz she'd probably be able to pinpoint the exact year it had started, but... well, he couldn't ask her.

It was a goofy thing, really. Stupidly simple. Jazz was named after a flower, so for her birthday one year he talked mom into taking them to a greenhouse so they could "Get Jasmine a Jasmine."

And they went back the next year. And the next. Until he was old enough to buy the flowers on his own. When he got even older he started to feel embarrassed by the tradition so, instead of directly handing Jazz the flowers he would leave them somewhere for her to find.

First obvious places: The kitchen table, her night stand. Then ridiculous places: in her shoes, the fridge, or- one memorable year- inside the birthday cake.

The fact that he had ghost powers for this year's birthday was a temptation too irresistible to ignore.

The trouble was Fenton.

Danny was used to Phantom popping in at random times, visibly or not, just to fuck around. He especially liked whispering nonsense into Danny's ear at the most inconvenient times. The ultimate Try Not to Laugh challenge, he called it.

Despite being used to all that, being suddenly pulled down through the floor in between classes was a first.

"What the hell Phantom?"

They were in a dimly lit basement. Danny didn't even know Casper had a basement. He spotted a staircase and made a beeline for it, but Phantom grabbed his wrist.

"Sorry, I'll take you back in a second," Phantom said. "I just needed to talk to you in private really quick."

"It couldn't wait for after school?"

"No," Phantom tugged at the hair at the back of his neck. "Uh, see Jazz is probably going to talk to you during lunch. I had to get to you first."

As if that didn't already sound ominous enough, Phantom was flickering in and out of view.

"What did you do?" Danny said.

"I should have told you earlier," Phantom said. "But I procrastinated because, I mean, it's not something I've ever had to explain before. Like, it wasn't exactly a secret but it was this unspoken family thing. Sam and Tucker don't even know about it..."

His volume dimmed as he spoke, along with his visibility. Danny leaned in to listen, but somewhere along the way the words were lost.

"Okay, you're seriously freaking me out." Danny felt around the room and was relieved to find Phantom was still solid. His hands landed on what was probably the ghost's knee.

Phantom blinked back into existence, looking confused. "Wow, the whole thing is as embarrassing as childhood photos. I can't even."

"I'm very confused and also probably super late for history," Danny said. "Is this about Jazz's birthday? What is she going to tell me?"

With the intensity of a coach and his quarterback at the Superbowl Phantom put his hands on Danny's shoulders and said, "You have to pretend you stuffed her locker with flowers."

Danny chuckled. "Oh yeah? That's uh... simple?"

Phantom winced. "Just say that you remembered that... that...."

It seemed to physically pain him to get the words out. "Jasmine gets Jasmines."

And as soon as it was said Phantom vanished again. His hands even went intangible.

"Okay... that's the corniest thing I've ever heard," Danny said. "I understand your cringe, but you need to pull yourself together and sneak me into history. C'mon."

Without saying another else, and remaining invisible, Phantom did as he was told.

Jazz shrieked when she spotted Fenton in the cafeteria and tackled him with the most enthusiastic hug Phantom had ever witnessed.

She accidentally crushed some of the flowers between them, but didn't seem to notice. She was bouncing up and down and even crying a little.

Sam and Tucker were confused, of course. Everyone had questions.

Fenton held up well under the pressure, all things considered. "Uh, cause her name... and uh..."

Thankfully Jazz didn't make him actually say it.

"Mom and dad didn't tell you, right?" Jazz said. "I told them not to."

"No, they really didn't." Fenton glanced around. He probably figured Phantom was watching. "It just came to me."

Jazz beamed. "Do you remember the silly places you'd put them in?"

Fenton covered his face with his hands and shrugged.

She turned to Tucker. "One time I went to take a shower and the shampoo bottle had been emptied and stuffed full of flower petals! I didn't notice until my hair was already covered in them..."

In retrospect, leaving the flowers in her locker was pretty uncreative. But Phantom couldn't get into the house anymore without triggering alarms.

Maybe next year Fenton would take the tradition upon himself. Would that be too much to ask?

Or maybe Phantom wanted to keep it. He couldn't talk to his sister anymore, but at least he still had this.

And he had plenty of time to find a better spot for next year.