Worth Its Weight In Gold

By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx

©- Disney

AN: Yay, I'm back!

School has once again started. *sighs* I would like the secret to Phineas and Ferb's seven-year long summer. -_-

Hope you enjoy, and review!

Chapter Seven- Clip-o-Rama 2.0 Part 2

A few days later, Isabella finally managed to finish her portion of the clip-show. (Irving really hadn't been kidding when he said that there was a ton of footage from the last three years.) Of course, she had taken a few liberties here and there to create some digitally edited footage to keep for herself, not to mention taking the time to try and brainstorm a few more ideas, but all in all, Isabella had spent most of her time working on picking and choosing which clips to use, putting them in chronological order, and making sure they worked in context of each other.

Now, she was finally done, and this afternoon, she and Irving were going to set out to edit all of the other discs into one large, movie-like clip-show.

She had to admit; Irving wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be. Sure, he was a little… eccentric, but he had a good heart and he, much like Isabella herself, adored Phineas(and Ferb). Not to mention, he also had willingly given up his free time to make sure Isabella's idea was put into action. So, yeah, Irving was a pretty nice guy.

Speaking of Irving, he hadn't arrived yet, so Isabella jumped at the opportunity to create more "Phineas-land" clips.

Manipulating various words that Phineas had said to create sentences to her pleasure really wasn't as hard as it seemed, especially since Isabella had a list of phrases she wanted to create and a list of where to find the words in her disc. In no time, she had several clips of Phineas pulled up into her editing software, and she set to work.

After about twenty minutes, Isabella sat back and hit play.

The computer automatically flashed to different clips of Phineas, ranging from ages ten to thirteen, saying, "I-love-you-Isabella."

"Nice editing, there, Isabella."

The Fireside Girl jumped up at the sudden interruption, and she turned around hastily, a blush covering her cheeks. "I-Irving!" she stammered. "Whatcha doin' here?"

The younger boy shrugged. "Here to help editing," he reminded, holding up several discs in his hand. "You ready to get started?"

Isabella merely nodded, afraid to say anything that would only further embarrass her. The last thing she needed was Irving spilling the beans to Phineas.

But he merely took a seat in the chair that was sitting next to her desk and set down the pile of discs. "Nice software," he remarked, nodding to her computer.

"Thanks," she muttered under her breath, and that was that. They set to work on editing the clip-show.

After a few minutes of silence, Isabella finally said, "Irving?"

"Yeah?"

"You won't… you won't mention that to Phineas, will you?"

Irving flashed a small smile at the older girl and shook his head. "No, of course no," he reassured. "I didn't before, did I?"

Isabella blinked, surprised that even Irving knew about her feelings for Phineas. "No, I guess not," she mumbled. "Thanks."

"Noooo problem."

If there was one thing Ferb Fletcher was good it, it was watching.

Ever since he was a young boy, Ferb liked to stay in the background and simply watch others. Yes, he would talk when needed, but most of the time, he enjoyed merely observing others and pondering things of life. He prided himself in being rather good at reading people, especially those he was closest to. He could tell when Baljeet was frustrated with Buford, that Buford wanted to be nice deep down inside but couldn't figure out how, and how agitated Isabella was becoming with the lack of reciprocation in her crush.

But better than anyone else, Ferb could read Phineas.

His little brother was actually an easy person to read. Phineas was an extrovert; so, naturally, he always showed his emotions. Most of the time, said emotions were happiness and excitement, but in more difficult times of life, even Phineas became discouraged and sad. These negative emotions weren't as easy to catch on to as the positive ones, as Phineas still kept up his happy mask, but Ferb found himself easily able to catch on to what Phineas was feeling.

So, naturally, when Ferb came back from camp to find his brother with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, he knew something was up.

For the first few days or so, Ferb said nothing about the change to Phineas. They bounced back to their normal schedule, inventing small things here and there. (Strangely enough, their friends had scarcely come over since the news had been broken.) But Ferb made sure to pay more attention to Phineas and how he interacted with the rest of the family, just in case something had happened between them while he was at camp.

After nearly a week of observation, Ferb concluded that something had happened between his two siblings.

Neither Phineas nor Candace could quite look the other in the eye, and the two's conversation had been diminished to mere small talk at the dinner table. Their parents seemed oblivious to the change, but Ferb knew that something had happened.

And he was determined to find out what.

Phineas was sitting at his desk, drawing out the blueprints for a new machine they had discussed earlier this morning, and he seemed so focused on the drawing that Ferb almost didn't want to disturb him.

Still, he entered their shared bedroom, sat down on the edge of Phineas' bed, and declared, "Phineas, we need to talk."

Phineas looked up from the desk, looking at Ferb questionably behind his glasses. He seemed confused, but merely shrugged and said, "Okay. What's up?"

"I think I should be asking you that," Ferb said wryly. "You seem… different recently. Is everything okay?"

"Of course, why would you say that?" Phineas said hastily, flashing a large and rather fake smile. As if on perfect cue, he scratched his ear.

"Phineas, you're my brother," Ferb reminded. "You don't have to lie to me. So, pray tell, what happened while I was gone?"

The younger boy adopted a defeated look, his shoulders slumping. "You're right," he admitted. "It's just… it's Candace, Ferb. She's not moving with us to Springfield; she's staying in Danville with Stacy!"

The news wasn't much of a surprise to Ferb, who already concluded as much. After all, Candace was a grown woman now, and she went to college here. Moving to a totally different state would just be silly.

"Yes, and?"

Phineas blinked. "Ferb!" he whined. "It's Candace. She can't just stay here and leave is in the dust! She's our big sister! Why is everyone so okay with her just staying here?"

"Phineas," Ferb said gently as he could, "Candace is a grown woman now. She attends college here, all her friends live here, and she has a boyfriend here. Try as we might, we cannot force her to move with us."

"That's not fair, though!" Phineas exclaimed. "There are colleges in Springfield, and who's to say that Candace can't just make new friends over there? We're her brothers, Ferb, and she's just willing to let us leave without her!"

"You need to think about this rationally, Phin—"

"I don't want to think about this rationally!" Phineas cried. "I don't want to be unselfish and let her live in Danville with out us. I don't want my big sister to leave me behind! And I don't want to move!"

Once finished with his outburst, Phineas dropped his head, rubbing his eyes furiously and sniffling.

Ferb stood up and put his arm around his brother comfortingly. "I know it's hard to leave everything you've ever known," he murmured, "but I promise we'll be alright."

Phineas sniffed, looking up at Ferb. "I don't want to leave Danville, Ferb," he said softly.

"Neither do I," Ferb admitted. "But we will have each other, and we will be just fine. Just think of it as another adventure of ours."

Phineas cracked a smile. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Ferb opened his mouth to say something when from downstairs, their mom called, "Boys! Candace! Get down here! Your friends have something to show us!"

Phineas automatically perked up at the mention of their friends. "Guess that's our cue, buddy," he said with a grin.

Ferb smiled back. "Yes. Yes, it is."

"Baljeet, Buford, are you almost done with the popcorn?" Isabella poked her head into the Flynn-Fletchers' kitchen, only to see the two boys arguing over what to put on the popcorn. Apparently, neither boy had heard her, because they continued on with their argument.

"Cheese on popcorn is disgusting!" Baljeet said shrilly. "You can put it on your popcorn, but do not put it on all of it!"

"Take that back!" Buford growled. "Cheese on popcorn is the best invention to be thought of. Ever."

"You are friends with two brothers that have made inventions to take us through time, to a different planet, and do other things, and you think cheese on popcorn is the best invention ever?" Baljeet shrieked. "Are you mad?"

"Well, I'm getting there, nerd!" Buford rolled up his sleeves and shot the Indian teen a dark glare.

"Guys!" Isabella said loudly. Both boys turned to her sheepishly. "Look, we need to start the clip-show soon, so if the popcorn is done, just get it out there, okay? Leave any toppings that isn't butter to the side so people can pick and choose what they want."

"Yes, Isabella," the two muttered in unison. Satisfied, Isabella turned and walked back to the living room, taking her place on the floor right in front of Phineas' legs. He grinned at her warmly, and Isabella got the butterflies in her stomach once again.

In almost no time, Baljeet and Buford rolled out the popcorn machine on the wagon and instructed everyone to get their fair share and pick their own toppings. After a few minutes, everyone had settled back into their seats, so Isabella stood up and walked right over to the TV.

"Some of you are probably wondering why we've gathered here today," she began, "so I'm going to tell you. Over the last week or so, we have taken the footage of all the amazing things that happened in the last few years and put it into one big clip-show. Think of it as a repeat of the video we put together for Phineas' eleventh birthday, just with a lot more packed into it. Any questions?"

When no one raised their hand or looked confused, Isabella smiled. "Excellent. Then, without further ado, I give to you: The Phineas and Ferb Clip-o-Rama."

"How come I'm never included in these things?" Candace muttered under her breath.

The clip-show was about an hour and a half long, and it included videos of everything from the rollercoaster built what seemed like forever ago to the rock-climbing wall they'd built out of all natural ingredients to more recent inventions like the incredible zoo they had made for Danville over Spring Break. There were several moments where everyone laughed, and a few where some were even close to crying.

Finally, the footage Irving had taken came to a close, and a video of Isabella, Buford, Baljeet, the Fireside Girls, and several other kids that Phineas and Ferb knew came on the screen.

"You're rolling," a voice that sounded like Irving said from behind the camera.

"I am?" Isabella said. "Oh, okay."

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher!" Isabella said cheerfully. "Oh, and Candace, Phineas, and Ferb. I hoped you all enjoyed the clip-show; it was a lot of fun to put together, even if it did take a really long time!"

"I bet you're probably all wondering why we suddenly decided to compile all these videos of Phineas and Ferb's crazy ideas from over the years. Well, I can explain."

"As Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher can already tell from the very long list of signatures, we don't want you guys to leave Danville," Isabella said. "Your family… you mean so much to this town. And not just Danville, but the entire Tri-State Area!"

"I don't think you guys really, really understand what Phineas and Ferb have done for the people that live in this city. Their big ideas inspire us. They help us want to get off of our butts and do something. Year after year, they've shown all of us that we can do anything we put our minds to, so long as we believe."

Isabella sucked in a deep breath before she continued. "I guess what I'm trying to get at is, if you guys leave… Danville… the Tri-State Area… we won't have that inspiration anymore. We'll go back to being one of those normal and frankly boring towns, and none of us want that. So, all of us have come here today because this is us proving a point. Phineas and Ferb have already done so much for Danville. Why stop them from doing more?"

With that, the screen faded to black, and the credits came up on the screen. For the longest time, the room was silent, and those who had taken part in putting together the clip-show exchanged nervous looks.

It, surprisingly, was Ferb who broke the silence.

"Thank you," he said quietly. Isabella turned to see him smiling widely, eyes shining.

Phineas spoke up next. "I love you, guys," he said with a grin. "You are the best. Hands down."

(And there came the butterflies again…)

Hugs were exchanged all around between the teenagers(and Candace), but the two parents had yet to say anything. Isabella found herself looking at the couple expectantly, her heart beating rapidly. Was prolonged silence usually a good sign?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Lawrence said, "I must say that I'm impressed with how well you kids put together this DVD. You did an outstanding job on it. However…"

Isabella internally groaned as Mr. Fletcher proceeded to again explain to them why they just had to move to Springfield. Phineas and Ferb's happy expressions vanished almost instantly, and it took everything within Isabella not to hug the life out of her two best friends.

Once the explanation had finished, Linda offered to buy them all pizza, and while several of the others stuck around, Isabella found herself declining. She say goodbye to Phineas, Ferb, and some of the others before exiting the Flynn-Fletcher household and glumly walking towards the middle of the city.

It wasn't fair. That was two ideas that the Flynn-Fletchers had shot down. She only had five(technically six) more left that she could try to put into action, and several of them weren't even that good of ideas. Sure, she could use them as last resorts, but if Isabella couldn't figure out a way to up her game, Phineas and Ferb would move at the end of the summer.

She sighed as she walked through downtown, passing all the buildings. She had to come up with another idea. If getting a petition and putting together a heartfelt video wouldn't convince Phineas and Ferb's parents to stay in Danville, then she was in a pickle, because all the other ideas she had were subpar.

Isabella sat down on a bench dejectedly, leaning her head down on her hand. She had absolutely no idea what could keep Phineas and Ferb in Danville. She felt helpless.

Then, a familiar van turned the corner and drove down the street. Isabella looked up as an idea hit her, and her eyes widened.

"Of course," she whispered. "WJOP… Danville for Niceness… It's perfect!"