Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't care. Writing this for free.

AN: So, I was trying to get on the mood to work on my thesis when Danny Phantom started poking me in the brain with a Fenton Stick, so I had to kick this out of my head so I could go back to being useful. So there.

Now, I never liked season 3 of DP (well, I actually do like it, but I resent it for canon inconsistencies in equal measure), so I'm cutting the snake by the head. This takes place as an AU end of reality trip... also, for plot purposes, Dani Phantom never existed.

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A New Reality

Danny Phantom held the Reality Gauntlet with a sense of purpose: he could return everything back to normal, undo the harm Freakshow had heaped on Earth and make everyone (but Sam and Tuck) forget about his secret identity. And so he did. The world stopped being a giant circus and, soon enough, he was holding a screaming circus master and a thermos with the last loyal ghost to the villain. Danny looked, from above the sea, around to the city team Phantom had saved; he had never been here before, but Sydney's opera house was famous enough for him to know he was in Australia. They had been chasing Frederich Isak Showenhower all over the world, and Danny felt incredibly tired now that the adrenaline was gone from his veins.

"We won!" Sam and Tuck cheered from their the Fenton flying vehicles, but Danny was unable to share their merriment, because, deep down, Danny knew that this might never have happened if he hadn't walked into their parent's portal. And this fight? It had been so different from the others, not because of the difficulty, but for the scale of it. And with the danger being all over the place... Danny came to realize that it would soon come a day when his best wouldn't be enough, and that one day he would fail to save everyone.

"Danny?" Sam prodded, noticing Danny's somber expression.

"We didn't win, Sam," Danny declared, eyes fixed on the gauntlet. The yells of the ringmaster that hing from his other hand were pricking his ears... "SHUT UP!" Danny roared, and the ringmaster wisely shut up. "Listen, guys. This, all this!" he gestured around, and although the circus theme was gone, some buildings had chunks missing and there was debris on the blasted streets of Sydney "should never had happened, would never had happened if I never opened that stupid portal- No, Sam, let me finish. Look, if I hadn't opened that portal none of this would have happened, nor would have all those attacks back at home. I opened the door that let the ghosts in... so I'm the one responsible for them."

"But Danny, you are a hero!" Sam defended.

"Yes, dude! This thing we do? We protect the people, make the world better!"

"No, we don't. All we do is work hard to fix up the mess I started. Don't get me wrong, I love being a hero, to be part of something bigger than me, to do something special. But now? I have the chance to make things right again. To get rid of the ghost attacks and the danger they pose to the people of the world! And I wouldn't be a hero if I didn't take the chance with both hands and did the right thing only because I enjoy being a superhero."

Danny's explanation took the sail of Sam and Tucker's oncoming argument. They knew Danny was right, still, there was one issue left to consider. "What about Vlad?"

"Yeah, about that... I have been thinking. After I saw what happened to him in that alternate future, I realized that Vlad was not the monster I always thought he was. Not just that, all that talk about killing my dad and stealing my mom gets really hard to believe when you realize he has had twenty years to put the plan in motion and never actually did. He might be a fruit-loop, but, I... think I can work a truce with him. And maybe... I will be able to truly save one person."

"I bet that Jazz would be really proud of that," Tuck ribbed with a small smile.

"I guess this is out last ghost emergency, huh?" Sam wondered.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean that we can't do something for the world. The two of you have proven to me that you don't need powers to be a hero."

"I'm going to miss this." Tuck declared.

"Me too."

"As will I."

"Sorry to interrupt the moment, but... would you mind having this talk on the ground?" Freakshow questioned meekly. They had all forgotten about him. It was a miracle Danny hadn't let him fall ten stores into the sea.

"Whatever," Danny rolled his eyes. Danny took in a deep breath and started wishing on the gauntlet "I wish... to go back to the beginning."

And with a flash of light, time rewound and reality shifted.

...

Two months later.

"So... how did your parents' school reunion turned out this time around?" Tucker asked in between slurps of his Nasty Soda.

"Pretty good. Vlad believed me about the whole thing... it helped that the Reality Gauntlet didn't erase my ghost powers, and that I knew about his Maddie hologram -which, is still a 'eww'- and that I told him that I wanted him to be part of the family as an uncle, not as my dad. And that I was happy that I'm not the only one of my kind. Which, I kind of always was."

Sam gave Danny a smirk "And how did your parents take it when Vlad named you his heir?"

"How-?" Danny startled.

"How do I know?" Sam snorted, "This is Vlad, Danny. It's pretty obvious."

Tucker smirked too, "You know guys, as the only one in the group who isn't insanely filthy rich, I believe that all Nasty Burgers in the future should be on you."

"Har, de har har," Danny laughed dryly while Sam rolled her eyes. Tucker sniggered.

...

An hour later.

The sun was setting in the horizon, turning the sky many hues of orange, red and purple. It was an odd feeling still to go back to their homes not to get ready for their next ghost fight.

"See you tomorrow, guys. TF has a date with a very sweet piece of technology."

"Bye Tuck," Danny and Sam replied at once, watching their friend fiddle with one of his many PDAs."

"I guess I will see you tomorrow, Danny."

"Actually, Sam. I was wondering if I could walk you home," Danny admitted with a contagious blush. Sam's cheeks also turned pink as Danny took her hand in his and they walked towards the sunset.

The silence between them grew heavy when they stood in front of the gates of Mason Mansion. "Thanks for walking me home."

Danny remained quiet carefully avoiding her eyes, but never letting go of Sam's hand. Then, he looked up, his blue eyes strong and resolved when he met her purple ones, it was as though he was about to fight a formidable enemy. "Sam," He began "do you remember that time when I thought Paulina liked me, but she was actually possessed with Johnny 13's girlfriend?" Sam nodded, a tad lost. "that time... when I kissed Paulina (well, technically Kitty), it was my first kiss. And, well, since it kind of never happened now, I was thinking, well, that I wanted my first-"

Sam, who had been quietly listening up to that point, understood instantly what Danny was going to say. She had waited long enough for those words... in fact, she had waited too long. So, before Danny finished the very corny line he was going to say, Sam grabbed his front shirt with both hands and pulled him forwards into a searing kiss that made the halfa's knees almost buckle.

"For the record," Sam wheezed, "Since I technically never kissed Trevor, this is my first kiss too."

Danny and Sam stared into each other eyes with the stupid look that only mooning teenagers could pull, that is until a very sharp "Geek love, how gross!" came from their left, where Paulina Sanchez and her satellite Star were standing with half a dozen of shopping bags.

Danny and Sam looked towards them, then back towards each other, and laughed while the two A-listers stomped away complained about their grossness.

And so, their love officially started: with no angelic chorus nor background music, and with no overly dramatic end of the world catastrophe ready to fall on their heads.

Because not even the most clueless needs a giant asteroid to recognize love.

Because there is no need to save the world every night to feel like a champion.

Because even a simple life can be filled with joy.

Because normal lives are never like those in the movies... but, sometimes, they can be much better.

The End