Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

Note: Well, here it is, the final chapter! As much as I hate to be done, I just couldn't stretch it out any longer. I hope you are as satisfied with the conclusion as I am. So without further ado, I present to you the epic finale. Enjoy!

Danny and Sam didn't have time to think. They didn't have time to react. Before they knew what was happening, Sleep Walkers emerged from the ocean, marching onto the beach around them. They instinctively moved to stand back-to-back, Sam grabbing a flaming log to defend herself, Danny curling his fists and hoping desperately he would be able to fight.

"Don't think you can run from me here, Ghost Boy!" Nocturne sneered as his minions surrounded them.

"They don't know you're not a dream," Danny whispered so only Sam could hear.

"So?" she whispered back, raising her torch above her head. "They look ready to tear me apart anyway!" she pointed out.

"So," he continued, "they won't expect you to FIGHT BACK." He shouted the last two words, as his fists began to alight with a green glow. Sam realized hers were doing the same. Her torch burst to bits as twin rays burst from her hands and Danny's at the same time.

"Oh SO cool," she grinned, punching the air and watching delighted as Sleep Walkers fell before her. Side by side, she and Danny drove the hordes of ghosts back, until they began to retreat and disappear.

"You're enjoying this just a little too much for an ultra-recyclo vegetarian," Danny chuckled, glancing back at her as he blasted away.

"Yeah, well even vegetarians get pissed off!" She smirked, putting all the fear and anxiety she'd been feeling into her punches, relishing the sense of control.

"I wouldn't get so cocky, little hero," Nocturne scoffed. "My game, my rules!"

"Well I'm not playing!" Danny shouted, looking around for the ghost of sleep to attack him personally. But the villain was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, the world went dark, wiping the confident smile off his face as surely as a punch to the gut. He spun around, finding himself alone.

"Sam?" he called, trying to make out a shape in the darkness. "Sam!" He jerked at a muffled sound from his right. He moved towards it, only to find his way blocked by an invisible barrier.

"SAM!" he cried, slamming his fist against the wall.

"Danny!" He heard his name faintly from the other side. And then, screams. Sam was screaming. She was screaming for his help.

He pounded against the invisible wall, shouting her name. She was in danger, and he was helpless.

"Frostbite, I don't think this is going to help," Jazz said as the snow creature drew her blood. He sighed.

"It is possible we could use your genetic material to create a cure for the Great One," he replied, but his lack of confidence was evident.

"We don't have the time," Tucker reminded them. "I've been watching Danny's stats. They looked alright for awhile, but they're plummeting by the minute. I'd say he has less than an hour." Jazz's heart dropped into her stomach. She looked to Frostbite, the dark expression on his monstrous features the confirmation she'd feared.

"What if Sam could still save him?" Jazz asked desperately. "If she kissed him in his dream, would that work? Like you hoped it would before?"

"Perhaps," Frostbite said thoughtfully. "Magic often succeeds where science fails. How would we make this happen?"

"I was thinking we could try using the Fenton Phones to broadcast a message into his dream," Tucker responded instantly. He'd obviously been waiting to offer this theory. "I can re-wire them, with your help."

"We'd better act fast," Frostbite agreed. "I'll have my associates continue work on the cure from Jazz's DNA in the meantime. This is our last chance."

Danny was slamming his entire body into the wall, desperate to break it, focusing all his mental and bodily force on reaching Sam. Her muffled screams brought out a feral side of him he could not control. He was wild with panic, with the need to save her.

"Danny!" She cried. Yet, this was a different voice than the screams, a distant cry separate from them. "Danny! I'm fine, I'm fine," she called over and over. "This is your dream, Danny; you have the power, not him! NOT him!" All at once he realized the truth - Sam hadn't been screaming at all.

Fueled with an incredible mix of relief and rage, Danny released a powerful ghostly wail, shattering the barrier and the darkness. Sam appeared before him, completely unharmed. Danny smiled at the sight of her, until a crushing weight settled over his chest. He collapsed onto his knees, unable to cope with the sudden sensation of weakness.

Sam ran to him, kneeling and placing a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked anxiously. Danny took several deep breaths, trying to regain his balance and strength.

"I'm fine," he assured her after several tense moments. She shook her head doubtfully, helping him to his feet. He took her hand in his, comforting her.

Together, they looked around at their new surroundings. This time Danny's dream had taken them to a dense forest, full of towering evergreens. Rain dripped on them from higher branches, and they could hear the scurrying of hidden animals around them.

"This isn't so bad," Sam commented - just as an enormous, ghostly wolf leaped out of the darkness.

"And now it is," Danny grimaced. He moved in front of Sam, shielding her, and raised his fists defensively. The wolf barred its giant fangs, snarling. Danny managed to summon the energy for a ghost ray, before it sputtered to harmless sparks and disappeared.

"Well?" Sam urged, staring in terror at the beast looming over them.

"We'd better run," Danny admitted, slowly backing them away. The wolf licked his ghostly lips, leaning in.

"NOW!" Danny shouted, grabbing Sam's hand and dragging her out of reach of the gigantic jaws. They dashed through the trees, the growls of the wolf close on their heels. Sam's lungs burned from the effort, tree branches scratching and cutting at her as they ran, but Danny pulled her forward, unwilling to let go. The world was a blur of green and brown and fear as they sprinted on, until suddenly the forest ended. The teens stopped abruptly in the middle of a clearing, the ghost wolf poised above them.

"That's it!" Danny cried, shooting off a double ghost ray. The wolf was engulfed in green, evaporating into nothingness. Sam wiped sweat, blood, and hair out of her face, sighing in relief, but Danny was strangely quiet after his victory. She reached out for him, only to realize he was shaking uncontrollably.

"Danny?" she asked nervously. He tipped over in exhaustion, and Sam was barely able to catch him in time. She strained under his weight, trying to keep him on his feet.

"It's okay Danny, it's okay," she repeated over and over, trying to convince herself as much as him. Was he going to recover this time?

Danny's vision blurred before him as the earth seemed to tilt under his feet. He was barely aware of Sam supporting him as he struggled to hold onto consciousness. His eyes closed against the dizzying pain and he staggered into Sam, nearly toppling over them both.

A clap of thunder signaled a streak of lighting as it made its way across the sky. Sam was startled by the noise, looking up just as a black mass of clouds began to swirl and grow into something more. The green form of Vortex emerged, joined by the distant cackle of Nocturne's laughter.

"This is the end, Ghost Boy," Nocturne's voice echoed through Vortex, amplifying the evil sound. "This is your end."

Tucker tapped urgently at the computer Frostbite provided him, manually reprogramming the Fenton Phones to emit a frequency he hoped anyone present in Danny's subconscious would be able to hear.

"Are we sure this is really going to work?" he asked, last-minute doubts creeping out.

"She must be," Frostbite warned. "We must convince her."

Tucker wiped at his perspiring forehead, wirelessly connecting the phones to a remote microphone.

"Just about done," he announced, fingers working at top speed. In the meantime, Frostbite's associates attached their own last-ditch attempt at a cure to Danny's IV drip.

"There's a very small chance this will work sir," one reported, "but it can't hurt to try." Tucker's hands flew over the keyboard, all too aware that his cure was just as unlikely to work.

"What are you going to say to her?" Jazz asked as he pressed the final key.

"Me?" Tucker balked. "No way man, you're the one talking into this thing," he said, shoving the microphone at her.

She gulped, glancing at her brother as he lay helpless before her. "What do I say?" she asked Frostbite quietly.

"Convince her she has the power to fix him, and she will," Frostbite replied calmly, putting a clawed hand on her shoulder. "It's time."

Rain pelted onto Danny and Sam, pounding their backs and faces and hands as they tried in vain to cover themselves. A flash of lightning struck the ground next to them, tumbling them over. Danny collapsed, barely able to move.

"It's over now!" Vortex-Nocturne cried, shooting more blasts of lighting at the duo. Sam cried out in fear, throwing herself over Danny in a futile effort to protect him. He lay unaware in the mud, unmoving as he was battered by the rain.

"Danny," Sam placed her hand on his face. "Please," she cried, shaking him, "please wake up. Please, I need you." His eyes slowly opened, and she gasped in relief. "You can do this," she insisted, helping him sit up. "You can beat this, I know you can. You've never let anything beat you before." He nodded, closing his eyes in concentration, managing to climb shakily to his feet.

"Nocturne!" he called, summoning the end of his strength as he glared up at the floating monster in the sky. "You need to get out of my dream NOW."

"Or what?" Vortex-Nocturne taunted, booming as thunder shook the ground. Sam nearly lost her balance, but Danny was steady. His features settled into a look of resolute determination as his feet slowly left the ground. He floated upwards, eyes glowing as fiercely green as the orbs in his hands.

"Or THIS," he roared, firing an enormous blast at the villain. Vortex-Nocturne's eyes widened in shock as the blast overtook him.

Sam cheered as the rain and lightning finally ceased. She watched smiling as Danny gradually descended from the sky - but her smile faded as he collapsed against her once his feet finally touched the ground. She wrapped her arms around him, wishing she could give him her strength.

"It's okay," she whispered. "You did it!" He lifted himself up with great effort, looking into her violet eyes.

"I don't think so!" Vortex-Nocturne growled as a forceful wind blew out of nowhere, flinging them backwards. "It'll take more than that, hero!" he mocked, spinning the wind into a cyclone around them.

Sam and Danny staggered to their feet, holding one another for support as the wind whipped around and around them, threatening to tear them apart. The fear in Sam's expression brought back some of Danny's strength. He drew her in close to his body, shielding her from the shrieking force of the gale. Freezing their feet to the ground, he ensured she would not be ripped from his arms. She would be safe. He let his head fall to her shoulder, exhausted, barely enough energy left to hold her.

Sam realized something was drastically wrong with the ghost boy as the wind tore and snatched at them. He was holding her with a vice grip, yet it seemed like he was somehow collapsing. With her feet firmly planted to the ground and arms stuck to her side, she could do nothing to help. Suddenly, she noticed a voice calling to her over the roar of the wind, distant yet familiar.

"Sam!" It was Jazz, she realized. "Sam, if you can hear me, please listen. Frostbite found proof, you can save Danny! He was right about before, Sam. YOU are the antidote! Just try, please, you can save him!" Behind her voice came the distinct sound of a wailing machine. It sounded like those hospital TV shows, when someone died.

Sam's eyes widened in shock as everything clicked into place. The way Danny started getting better when she held his hand. The way her being in danger brought his strength back. Frostbite was right, and if that was true...

"Danny!" she shrieked, struggling to free her arms from his locked embrace. His face was buried in her shoulder; she couldn't reach him, she had to reach him. All the while the high-pitched beeping rang in the distance, driving her to hysteria.

"DANNY!" she repeated, wrenching her arms free and taking his face in her hands. His eyes blinked open, and then closed as he fought to keep his head up.

"Sammy," he whispered, finally letting go.

"No," Sam cried defiantly, "I won't let you die!" She brought his face to hers, kissing him with a forceful intensity that demanded him to live. The kiss was ardent and earnest, full of all the blazing need Sam felt in that moment. She needed him. She needed him in her life and she wasn't giving up without a fight.

Danny opened his eyes, slowly regaining his strength. He became aware of the wind whipping around him, and Sam's lips pressed against his. He pulled back, startled, and they broke apart. But the fierceness in her eyes and her hands on his face reminded him this was the girl he wanted to fight every battle with. This was the girl he could face any nightmare with.

He leaned in, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her as close as possible as he recaptured her lips. She sighed, snaking her arm around his neck and running her free hand through his hair. If she could have spared a moment to look, she would have realized it had turned jet black.

The world spun around them as they stood locked together, oblivious to all else. They could have floated away with the wind like that, their hearts were so light. Gradually, the dreamscape began to fade to white, dissolving Nocturne and Vortex and all else. Neither Danny nor Sam noticed, however. As far as they were concerned, this was one dream that never needed to end.

Jazz and Tucker waited with baited breath as Danny crashed, the vitals monitor wailing. Frostbite and his partners exchanged looks of grim defeat, hanging their heads. Jazz muffled a sob, overcome with grief.

And then, just as all hope was lost, the monitor beeped, signaling the return of vital signals. Tucker stared in relieved awe as Danny's stats began to climb, rapidly approaching normal. They all began to cheer, elated, and Jazz's sobbing turned to shocked laughter. Danny was going to live.

Suddenly, a very disheveled Sam was hurled into the room, coming to a crash against the wall.

"Ugh," she moaned, rubbing her head. "What happened?" She looked around at Jazz, Tucker, Frostbite and the rest in confusion. "Did it work?"

Danny's black hair was all the answer she needed, but watching him stir for the first time in days, opening his piercing blue eyes, was an added bonus. He looked around, dazed, not quite able to sit up. Jazz took his hand and squeezed it.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, baby brother!" she scolded him.

"I'll really try," he replied seriously. Everyone laughed. "What happened? I can't...remember..." He put a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes and straining in concentration. Sam wilted; would he not remember the best kiss of her life?

"We tried several cures at once," Frostbite explained smoothly, covering the awkward glances exchanged between Sam, Tucker and Jazz. "It appears one of them was successful."

"Thank you so much," Danny said to the group at large. "I owe all of you my life." He was appreciating all of them, but looked pointedly at Sam. Her heart lifted.

"There is no need," Frostbite shook his head, "the life debt has already been paid. You are always welcome here in times of need."

"Thank you," Danny repeated softly. Frostbite smiled.

"Now, you need to rest. I recommend remaining in your human form for at least a week before attempting to transform again," he instructed.

"Fat chance," Tucker, Sam, and Jazz said in unison. Danny chuckled.

"I'll do my best, but I can't make any promises," he warned.

"At least three days then. And minimal use for the next week after that," Frostbite relented. "I expect you three will see to that," he said nodding to the other teens. They agreed.

"We have ghost gear Danny," Tucker reminded him. "We can always hunt ghosts the old-fashioned way. You know, with super-high-tech-ecto-plasmic weapons," he grinned.

"I suppose that'll have to do for awhile," Danny smiled.

"And after that," Frostbite inserted, looking happily between Danny and Sam, "you may never have to worry about this happening again."

Several days later, Sam sat on her window seat, staring into the night sky and reflecting on her trip into her ghost boy's dreams. Danny had stayed home sick most of the week, too exhausted to get out of bed. This was for the best, she thought – it meant he wasn't tempted to fight ghosts for once. But he'd finally started feeling better, and had made it to school that day. She suspected use of his ghost powers would soon resume.

Sam sighed. They still hadn't talked about what had happened, and she didn't even know if he remembered. She'd been tense around him all day, not knowing what to do or say to bring it up. He'd been in obliviously high spirits of course, goofing off with Tucker in the halls and even answering a few questions in class.

"I actually had time to do my homework for once," he'd explained, taking her tray out of the lunch line to carry it for her. She'd been a little taken aback at this, strangely reminded of the dream she'd had where they were together. But that was just a dream.

She sighed again, resuming her vigil staring at the sky. After a few minutes of silent watching, she spotted just what she'd been hoping to see: a certain green-eyed ghost boy, floating towards her window. She hadn't realized until that moment just how much she'd missed his nightly visits.

"Hey there," he said, phasing into her room and coming to rest on the window seat next to her. Two bright rings surrounded him as he changed back to his human self.

"You're not supposed to be using your ghost form yet, mister," she scolded softly, smiling all the same.

"I feel fine," he said, brushing off her concerns. "Besides, I wanted to come see you, and it's just a little late to use the door." She chuckled, agreeing.

"Yeah, pretty sure my mom would have a new restraining order on you in a heartbeat if she knew you were here. I guess those ghost powers do come in handy every now and then," she joked airily. They both laughed for a moment, until Danny fixed her with a serious stare.

"You were really weird at school today," he commented, tilting his head the way he always did when he was reading her feelings all too well. She blushed, embarrassed that he'd noticed.

"I don't know what you mean..." she denied feebly, looking away.

"Sam," he chided, moving so she was forced to look at him. "Tucker told me what happened while I was out last weekend, you know. Everything that happened." He stared at her pointedly, fueling her embarrassment.

"Oh it was just a dumb idea Frostbite came up with," she said quickly, still refusing to meet his eyes. "We were just desperate to save you."

"And you did," Danny reminded her, "I owe you my life." Sam scoffed.

"Oh no," she denied, "it was Frostbite's friends who saved you, I'm sure I had nothing to do with it."

"You had everything to do with it," he argued earnestly, taking her hand in his. She finally met his eyes, finding herself transfixed by his serious gaze.

"It doesn't matter what worked and what didn't," he continued. "You kept me fighting. You gave me a reason to keep fighting. I would have given in to Nocturne and his nightmares or the pain way before Frostbite's cure was ready. I never would have made it if it wasn't for you. I'll never forget what we went through, and what you did for me." He wrapped his arms around her then, hugging her close. She returned the embrace, burying her face in his chest, so relieved he was there with her after she'd come so close to losing him.

After a few moments, they reluctantly let go, putting space back between them with a mutual blush. The memory of their kiss was still on the forefront of both their thoughts, and neither knew quite how to handle it.

"So..." Sam started after a few awkward moments of silence, "what does all this mean...for us?" She was surprised she'd managed the courage to ask. He coughed, embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, what do you want it to mean?" he deflected the question back to her. Even after everything they'd been through, he was still too shy to say what he really felt.

For her part, Sam still wasn't completely sure what she thought. In front of her sat everything she'd ever wanted, but she knew how romance could ruin a friendship. She was too afraid of losing him to take the chance just yet.

"I guess we don't have to figure it out tonight," she suggested finally.

"Yeah," he agreed, even though he knew exactly what he wanted them to be. He hoped it wouldn't take another near-death experience for him to get the guts to finally admit it. In the meantime, it was enough that she was there. He knew they'd figure it out.

"Hey, what were you doing, before I got here?" he asked suddenly, remembering how she'd been just sitting, staring at the sky when he arrived.

"I was watching for you," she explained simply.

"You...you do that?" he asked, blushing.

"Of course," she said, taking his hand in hers and smiling. "Every night."

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed the ending! I'm operating in the universe where PP happens not long after this, so they can't get officially together just yet. But they're almost there!

I really loved sharing this little story with you guys. It's made my day every time I get one of your wonderful reviews, and I can't thank you all enough for your kind thoughts. I'd really appreciate it if you let me know how you liked this ending - it means a lot to me! Thanks again for reading and sharing this ride with me. Until next time!