A/N: Sniff and ARRGGH! NOW this is the end! But, anyway, I do not own any characters. And WOW, my longest Epilogue ever! Hope you Enjoy!


His Own Worst Enemy—Epilogue

After a restful and thankful Sunday, the teens return to Casper High the following day. As they look around them when they enter the school, they notice that they are not noticed by anyone.

Continuing down the hall, Danny whispers an aside to Sam, Tucker and Jazz. "Do you feel as weird as I do?"

"Yeah, but it's a nice—and familiar-weird!" Sam utters back.

Tucker agrees, "Yeah! It's nice not to have people ask you for favors from the city anymore."

"I'm fine with it, too! Being the sister of a superhero isn't the easiest thing to be!" Jazz adds, smiling softly at her brother.

Tucker then notices that the hallway looks different. He points and can't help but loudly say, "Hey, those posters aren't for the 'Homecoming Dance' anymore. They're for the 'Spring Dance'!"

A few students hearing him as they pass by give him a wide berth of passage, as they think his announcement is very strange, which, indeed, to them, it is.

Danny whispers back, "Quiet, Tuck! Time was rolled back, remember?"

"And reality was changed," Sam adds with a low voice.

"That's right! But why does it have to mean that I'm still dateless?!" He moans.

"You can still come with us!" Sam offers.

"No, thanks!" he says and then taking in a sad sigh, adds, "I think I'll just take a breather from all that for now. I still haven't explored all the cool programs on this even cooler PDA." He then begins to punch on it and drifts away from Danny, Sam and Jazz.

Looking after him, Danny remarks, "He still really wants to go!"

But before Tucker is totally out of their sight, Danny, Sam and Jazz see Valerie coming down the hallway. But because she's looking down at one of her books and not looking where she's going, she runs—literally—into Tucker, who's looking down at his PDA and is also not looking where he is going.

At their impact, they both loose their grip on what they're carrying, and her book and his PDA are both accidentally tossed into the air. Tucker and Valerie, who both end up flat on their backs, gasp as their prized possessions fly upward. But then, they each react quickly and catch the other's things. Sighing and closing their eyes in relief, they both pause, clutching the caught object.

Finally, they both open their eyes, spy the multitude of Spring Dance posters at the same time, and still slightly dazed, slowly sit up.

Handing her book back to her, Tucker sheepishly says, "Uh, sorry, Valerie, I guess this is yours?"

"Uh, thanks, Tucker," She says, uncharacteristically using his first name. "That book is priceless! It belonged to my grandmother and has our family's entire history in it!" Clutching the book closely to her chest, she then hands him his PDA.

"Wow!" Tucker says, getting up and helping her to her feet. "And thanks for my PDA's save! That is priceless to me, too!"

"Well, looks like we both understand the importance of valuable things!" Valerie weakly blurts out.

They both stand silently at each other and then looking away briefly, glance at the posters and then at each other again.

Tucker then manages to blurt out, "Uh, hey, Valerie, who are you going with to the Home…er, Spring Dance?"

She says with a touch of sadness, "It looks like I may not have a date for this dance, either, because I'm too busy with both of my jobs."

"Oh, I can't believe that! You're much too popular for that!" He answers.

She looks at him in disbelief. "Just where have you been? I've been in the 'out' crowd for several months, ever since that creepy ghost kid loused up my life."

Wincing a bit at her comment, but then thinking about how he would like her to prevent her from ever becoming as bitter as her older future self, Tucker responds, "Well, I never noticed your being anything but 'in', especially when you keep such cool things as your family's book."

"Really?" She asks, totally flabbergasted by his comment.

Just then, Danny, Sam and Jazz walk up to them.

"Are you two OK?" Danny asks, slightly embarrassed at butting in. "I mean, we saw the crash and then you both were just standing there, looking at each other."

"Yeah, we're fine, dude. We were just talking, that's all," Tucker finally says. "Well, then, see ya!" He turns, disappointed at his failure to ask Valerie out, and walks away.

Valerie looks after him and pauses. Then she turns to the others.

"Ya know, I never thought about Tucker's being anything more than a techno geek," She finally says. "Now, I'm not too sure. And if I didn't know better, I would say that he was about to ask me to the dance."

Totally surprising Danny and Jazz, Sam nonchalantly replies, "Yeah, you really don't know too much about him. He's really quite a guy. And he's a very good dancer."

Trying to hide their amazed reaction to what Sam just said—but doing a bad job of it— Danny and Jazz silently look at her.

Sam smiles and winks back at them.

Sam continues, "Too bad, he doesn't have a date to the dance yet."

Danny jabs her slightly in the ribs, trying to get her to be quiet, but she pushes his arm away and, ignoring him, adds, "Yeah, poor Tucker! So many girls constantly bug him to take them dancing all the time that sometimes he needs to use his PDA to help him decide! You know, he spins the girls' names on a roulette and then decides after it stops. But it's frustrating for him; and he told us just yesterday that he's giving it up all together. He finds the 'roulette' thing so demeaning, but he doesn't know any other way to be fair to all the girls. I hate to think that you turned him down to go to the dance just now, because he really doesn't want to use that roulette anymore."

Now Danny and Jazz can't hide their extreme shock of what Sam just said.

"But…" Valerie begins, confused. "But he didn't ask me."

Sam smiles smugly and counters, "Oh, but he did! You got his drift; you said it yourself. Remember, he's not used to asking. Usually he has to fight the girls off."

Valerie frowns a little, trying to sort out everything that Sam just said and how Tucker reacted. She hasn't been able to go to any social event in the past year, was way too busy to socialize, and she usually didn't pay attention to Tucker, so she can't argue the point. Then she looks down at her family's book and smiles. Finally, she says, "Well, I hope he didn't change his mind!"

Jazz, after getting over the initial shock of what Sam was saying, finally understands Sam's intensions, and adds, "Hey! I already asked him and I was supposed to be the next one on his list!"

Now Sam and Danny look at Jazz incredibly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe,…" Valerie begins.

"NO!" Jazz shouts a little too loudly that the other three teens jump. "I mean, I'm sure we can work things out. When you get a free period, can you catch up with me?"

"Uh, sure, Jazz….Well, See ya, guys!" Valerie says just as the bell rings. She and Jazz quickly walk away.

As they head to their next class, Danny whispers to Sam, "And just what were you doing just now?"

"We both agreed that we should help Tucker get a date for the dance, remember?" Sam calmly replies.

"But, not like this!" Danny objects.

"Well, then, how would you have done it?" she counters.

Raising his finger in answer, as if he is about to say something, but knowing that he doesn't have a reply, Danny utters instead, "Uh, good point?"

She smiles in triumph and they enter their classroom.

Finally, the day of the Home-,er, Spring Dance arrives. Hoards of students, dressed for the occasion, excitedly converge on the gym, including Danny and Sam.

Along the way, they run into Dash and Paulina. Dash, always on the prowl to insult Danny, teasingly and loudly laughs, "Well, look who's finally become the real 'odd' couple—the goth and the geek!"

Everyone around Danny and Sam scoff at them. Sam fumes, but Danny says nothing. Instead, he merely pulls Sam away and continues toward the gym with the echo of Dash, Paulina and several other students' laughter still ringing in their ears.

"Maybe this 'reality and time' change thing wasn't such a good thing! Why didn't you say something to him?" Sam demands.

"C'mon, Sam! For once, I just want to enjoy myself with just you and I don't care what anyone says about it. I'm not going to let anyone ruin this night for us!"

Sam, slightly shocked at his response, smiles, squeezes his hand and they continue into the gym.

After several dances, the DJ takes a break and Danny and Sam head over to the refreshments. Sam idly talks to Danny as they drink their punch, but all Danny does is smile and listen to her.

Suddenly concerned that Danny is indeed unusually subdued given that they're at a dance and he wanted to enjoy himself, Sam finally says, "You're awfully quiet tonight, Danny. Are you OK?"

"Uh-huh!" He half-says.

"Danny!" She repeats, now more irritated.

"Oh, sorry, Sam! I'm really enjoying myself. Really. I was just thinking how important you are to me, so I think I'm more content than just having 'fun'."

She smiles, but is slightly worried about his comment.

Just then, who should walk up to them than Tucker, arm-in-arm with Jazz and Valerie.

"Tucker!" Sam excitedly utters, truly happy to see him. "We thought you weren't coming!"

"Yeah, me too! But then, these fine ladies insisted that I escort them both to the dance. And how can I resist such beauty and flattery at the same time?"

Jazz and Valerie smile.

"What gives?" Sam asks Jazz.

Danny, again, says nothing, but is amused by the scene.

"Well, he never did say 'yes'!" Jazz replies.

"Huh?" Danny then responds.

"I asked him as a friend to the, er, dance when we were at, er, you know, out there, —the future—sort of, and he never had the opportunity to give me an answer."

Valerie, clearly and totally flabbergasted by Jazz's apparently incoherent statement, utters, "Uh, what did she just say?"

Danny and Sam are also a little bemused, but Sam quickly answers, "Oh, you know. She was his future date, remember?"

"Oh, yeah,…" Valerie mutters, again still quite confused.

Jazz continues, "Anyhow, I felt that it would be awfully selfish of me to not let Valerie have an opportunity to get to go to a dance, especially with Tucker. And since we both wanted to go, we both asked him and, so, here we are!"

All five teens pause a moment, and then Danny says not all together subtly, "Hey, Sam, could you and the girls ask the DJ for some song requests? I want to ask Tucker something."

Sam looks at him oddly but answers, "Uh, sure, Danny!" And all three girls head toward the DJ.

Danny quickly asks Tucker, "Hey, Tuck, are you all right with having Valerie along? I mean, aren't you worried that she might find out about everything? She wouldn't believe a word of it!"

"No, I'm not worried! You know I can keep a secret…" He stops a moment remembering about some of his past blunders, and adds, "I mean, THAT secret! Anyway, you were able to keep your secret for so long with your parents hanging around you all the time, so my keeping your secret safe will be easy. Besides, she probably won't be around us as much as your parents were to you."

"OK, Tuck if you think so," Danny concedes.

"Thanks, dude." He pauses again, briefly reluctant to confide in Danny, but then decides to do just that. "Don't worry, though, OK, Danny? It's just that I can't help it; but I feel sorry for her. I really don't want her to grow up to be like her future self. You can understand that, right?"

Danny could not be more aware of that. "You know very well I do. I think you're right, then, Tuck. Just let me know if I can help if you need it in the future, OK?"

Tucker smiles but only answers with a nod.

Just then, the girls return. Valerie and Jazz are laughing but Sam is fuming.

"What's wrong?" Danny asks, noticing Sam.

Jazz, stifling her laugh and catching her breath, answers, "Oh, it's nothing!" And turning back to Sam, she continues, "Aw, c'mon, Sam! After all, this is a dance!"

The boys look to them, confused.

Valerie, wiping a tear, continues, "Let me explain. Sam requested goth poetry readings from Padu Tamkur, and the DJ said he didn't have anything like that in his collection."

"Well, that was my request," Sam grumbles, her arms still crossed.

Jazz picks up where Valerie left off, "And so then the DJ offered to play some dumb boys' band's songs, which he thought was close enough to what Sam wanted, and…" But she doesn't go on, because she and Valerie lose it again and laugh. Then the others, even Sam, join them.

Finally, the music starts again.

"Well, lovely ladies, that's our cue!" Tucker announces, still chuckling a little. Then grabbing each of the girls by the hand, he twirls them expertly onto the dance floor.

Finally calmed down, Sam observes, "He really is a good dancer!"

Danny smiles but then thinking about his conversation with Tucker, says nothing.

Sam studies his face, getting more worried. Leading him outside so that she can hear him better, she softly says, "Danny, are you OK?"

"I'm fine. It's just that I've had everything that has happened on my mind lately. I realize how so much more important everything here is to me. And…and I still wonder whether I made the right decision."

She grabs his hand and instantly reacting to his first comment, excitedly says, "I know what you mean. Everything still haunts me, too. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat, having just dreamt of your being lost—or maybe being taken-—and I can't find you. That's the worst feeling in the world!" She then cringes a little, because she suddenly realizes that that's not what Danny had really meant.

But he smiles, puts his arm gently around her and then looking up at the stars, softly says, "And I love you, too!"

She blushes and softly utters, "I know. And you know that I do, too."

And he turns to her and they briefly kiss. But then, he pulls gently away and looks silently up at the stars, still filled with all the emotions of all the events that had happened.

They continue to stand in silence, arm-in-arm, and as they look up at the stars, while the music plays in the background, each of them has the same thought on their minds.

Finally, Sam quietly asks, "Do you think he'll ever change?"

"I don't know, Sam. But I'm never going to stop hoping."

THE END


A/N: That's it! I am so thrilled that you stayed with me along the way, especially Angelus-alvus, DPCrazy, crazyvi, Nicktoons Squad, pearl84,Tomboy601, Netbug009, White Purity, megaphantom, dannyphantom92, 'E.L.P.H.I.E.', Miko in training, Samantha Seldowitz? and all you nameless 1500? Readers who took a peek at this story. Hope I don't sound like I'm crowing too much, but I think this is definitely my best story and the future ones may seem like a let down, but they will still be A LOT of fun, so give them a try! In fact, after cleaning up my previous stories a little (sorry, I am such a stickler!), I'll be posting a very short but sweet story called, "Rumor Has It" very soon. I wrote it BEFORE "His Own Worst Enemy", so if it seems to "back-pedal", just remember that I actually wrote "RHI" first—Uhm, on second thought, you might think that Sam, Danny, and Tucker COULD have just fallen into one of those holes to an alternate time dimensions by mistake and that's why "RHI" happened… Just like a whole slew of other stories out there on FF!...Anyhow, I hope you liked this story and had as much fun as I did! Thanks again for all your input and support, and I hope to hear from y'all real soon.

truephan