I AM SO, SOOOOOOO, SOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY THAT I TOOK FOREVER TO UPDATE!

I feel like a terrible person.

*hides in shame*

Zatanna: You abandoned us!

Robin: That was a total mini-cliffie back in Chapter 2! You just left me there, and my true love just freaked and ran off! THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR FAR TOO LONG, YOU… YOU… YOU TOTALLY HEAVY-ON-THE-DIS-ASTEROUS PERSON!

Me: I'm so sorry! *sobs*

BUT I AM HERE NOW!

Connected, Eternally Chapter 3 has arrived! I would recommend listening to Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin because it's such a great song plus it kinda fits this chapter.

(I may or may not have written most of this chapter while listening to it)

Also, you'll notice that the entire writing style is changed. There's no more "the girl" and "the boy" and "the father" since you know their names know. Also, more actual conversation. Overall, more normal of a style.

ONTO THE STORY! :D

PS: This chapter starts two-ish years after the last one (so, March 2013, the middle of the timeskip, she's 16 and he's 17).

PPS: Sorry for the super long A/N that probably everyone skipped!


"Why won't you just go away?" she growled. "Tel eht knil ot Drahcir Nhoj Nosyarg eb enog! Sih noitagilbo ot Annataz Arataz si on erom!" Let the link to Richard John Grayson be gone! His obligation to Zatanna Zatara is no more!

Her wrist's tattoo sparked, and pain flared up her arm as if she was being burned swiftly. She cried out softly, cradling her arm against her chest.

While the pain soon faded, the frustration remained. Why couldn't the universe just do her a favor and let her be with the one that she loved, rather than someone she's never even met?


Dick sighed. He was stretched across the green couch in the Cave with the rest of the Team and a few Leaguers gathered around the area, chatting casually while music played softly. The Team's newest member was staring at him in wonder, unable to tear her eyes away.

Troia - no, Donna - he reminded himself, had just joined the Team, and the party was being held to welcome her.

The young hero walked over to Dick, who had not moved from his position on the couch.

"Is the party boring or something?" she asked, tilting her head questioningly as she sat down in an armchair.

"I'm just not really into it right now," he answered, staring at the ceiling.

Donna shrugged and stood up, walking back to the group. As she did, she passed another raven-haired girl on her way to the couches like she had been. "Excuse me," she said, accidentally bumping into the other girl.

"It's fine! I'm just going to try to get Robin to come celebrate,"

"Good luck with that," Donna snorted. "He doesn't look like he'd move for anyone."

"I have my ways," the girl, maybe Zatanna, replied, hair swayed gently as she continued on her way.

Donna sighed and walked quickly over to the table with drinks on it. "So much for having a conversation with the first protege, like, ever."


They breathed heavily, foreheads pressed together. Zatanna's back was against the wall, and they were in some distant secret corner of the Cave. Robin kissed her gently then leaned back.

"This should not be happening." she whispered. "We should stop, now."

"I know." he breathed, then leaned in again, pressing their lips together. She responded instantly, kissing him back fiercely. But just as quickly she broke away, covering her mouth with her hand, tears pooling in her eyes. "I can't do this anymore." she said. "I can't do this anymore!" She moved away from the wall and ran down the hallway.

"I never should done that. That was the Zatanna frowned, glaring down at her wrist. The cursive letters still spelled out Richard John Grayson, elegant as always.

worst idea, what was I thinking?" she whispered to herself, glancing over her shoulder at Robin, who stood stock-still, obviously crestfallen. "Here I am, with the guy I love, but I'm meant for someone else! What is wrong with me?!" she ranted, speeding her walk to a jog, turning down a new corridor swiftly. She stopped suddenly as a realisation came to her.

"Wait a minute! It's not me that's messed up, it's the stupid universe! Why should I be forced to be with someone I don't love? Clearly, the 'higher powers' or whatever got something wrong."

She walked down the hallway with more confidence and bounce in her step than she had in years.


Robin hung his head and leaned against the wall as he watched Zatanna run away. He growled in frustration, punching the wall with a tight fist. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes in aggravation. He sighed, shoved the sunglasses back on his face, and reached into his pocket and pulled out his communicator. He turned it on and it crackled.

"Batman."

"Bats. You have to let me tell her."

"No. Telling someone our identities endangers more than just you me, Alfred and Jason. Anyone who knows us is in jeopardy. If she's captured and tortured and gives us up for her own safety, then we'd all be targeted."

"Can't you just be a human for once and trust someone? She's a good person. She'd never do that."

"There's no way to know for sure."

"You told Catwoman, and she's a criminal! Zatanna's a hero, and you're more worried about her than your cat burglar fiancé! How does that make any sense?"

"Selina is reformed. She's worked hard to gain our trust, but Zatanna hasn't done anything to prove she can handle my secret."

"You mean our secret. I'm in this, too, you know! So is Jason, and Alfred, and Barbara! It doesn't matter what I think, what Jason thinks, what anyone else thinks, no, it's the Batman show every day!"

"Robin-"

"No. I'm done being ordered around by you. I'm my own person, Bruce, not a pawn in your war against crime! You go on and on about how we're partners, equals now, but you treat me like a partner when it suits you and a soldier when it doesn't! Well I'm done. Find another so-called son to push around to your liking."

He clicked off the communicator angrily, tossing it in his hand for a moment before throwing it as hard as he could down the hall. He clenched his hands together frustratedly then growled and slammed his fist into the wall, cracking the stone. He exhaled heavily, both palms now flat against the cool stone, swaying slightly forwards and backwards. He leaned against the wall in one smooth movement and slid to the floor, back now against the wall with his knees hugged to his chest. He covered his face in his hands and wiped away the tears as they slipped out silently.


"But I love him! How am I supposed to live with myself if I have to spend my life with someone who isn't the one I love, not for real? You're the Lords of Order, can't you do something?" Zatanna pleaded, standing before the Council of Order.

Nabu stood angrily. "Your impertinence will not be tolerated. You are nothing but a child in the eyes of the council!"

Amethyst reached out a calming hand to appease Nabu. "Calm yourself, Nabu. The girl is merely distressed."

Nabu sat down huffily once more. "I suppose," he grunted. "But that does not change the fact that while we are Lords of Order, our power is not to be used lightly, nor for petty and selfish demands. If the universe has decreed it so, then it must be so."

All of the Lords of Order turned to face one another, then looked back in a split second. "Your request is denied," they said in unison, voices echoing on the walls.

Zatanna's face crumpled and she slid to the floor. "I understand," she whispered, choking down her tears.

One by one, the Lords of Order teleported away. Soon only Nabu and Amethyst remained, with Zatanna still on the floor. Nabu glanced towards her, sadness in his eyes.

"You father wishes for me to tell you that he is very, very sorry that you feel pain over this. He wishes he could comfort you in your time of sadness." Nabu sighed. "As do I. But who are we to change what the universe has determined is right?" He teleported away through a golden ankh.

Amethyst was the only one who remained. She looked down upon Zatanna's silently sobbing form, sympathy in her eyes. She walked over to her and knelt beside the young sorceress, purple cloak pooling around her. "I am sorry, Mistress of Magic. I, too, thought my soul mate's name was a mistake and I resisted loving him for many years. But now, I am happy with my choice to let him in. You, too, will come to see in time that the higher powers of Order chose wisely for you and all others. Mistakes are never made." She leaned towards Zatanna and gave her a hug, then stood and helped her up. She twirled the air with her fingers and created a purple handkerchief which she handed to Zatanna.

She dried her eyes and exhaled slowly. "Thank you," she said looking up.

Amethyst smiled. "It was but a small act of kindness," she said before spinning around in a circle of purple smoke and teleporting away.

Zatanna watched her disappear, then said a teleportation spell herself and vanished.


Dick stuffed a few more shirts and jackets into his duffel bag then slung it over his shoulder. His eyes scanned his room one final time before he walked out the door and went to Bruce's study and opened the door to the Batcave. He walked down the long stretch of stone stairs, footsteps echoing. He entered the Batcave and walked straight over to his Robin costume display. He sighed and grabbed a sticky note and a pen, scribbling a couple of quick words on it before smoothing it onto the glass case holding the uniform.

He walked over to the storage locker near the back of the cave, opened it, and walked right in to the back. He pressed slightly against the lower right corner of the wall, making the secret door there click open. Inside was another duffel bag, but this one held something much more important than clothes. He unzipped it, revealing a black Kevlar-weave suit with a bright blue bird with its wings outstretched on its chest. He closed the main pocket and checked the side ones to make sure everything was still there: two Eskrima sticks, both with electric shock capabilities, a very large collection of smoke bombs, some modified Batarangs, a grappling hook, a pair of black gloves, one with a wrist holo-computer, a gray and black utility belt, a pair of super-gripping boots, and a mask with a small jar of spirit gum, for attaching it.

Dick closed the bag and left the Batcave and Wayne Manor far behind. The only thing that remained of him was the sticky note on the Robin costume display, saying, "Treat Jason better than you did me."


Zatanna sighed, pacing in front of the zeta tubes in the Cave. She was waiting for Robin to come because her talk with Amethyst had really made her think. She looked up when the tubes shimmered, but the name called out wasn't Robin.

"Recognized - Nightwing B-01."

A young man dressed in a black mask and a black bodysuit with a blue bird on his chest stepped out of the Zeta tube, silent. He stopped short when he saw Zatanna, however. "Zatanna?" he said, tilting his head questioningly and grinning.

"Who are y-" she asked, before she recognized his familiar smirk. "Robin?!" she exclaimed, astonished.

He stepped forward. "Actually, I go by Nightwing now. I'm done with Batman and his stupid rules." He moved even closer to Zatanna, then leaned in and kissed her soundly. She responded quickly, but pushed him away as soon as she realized what she was doing.

"Robin, Nightwing, whatever! I still can't be with you!" she said forcefully.

"Why not?!" he exclaimed, hurt.

Zatanna sighed, and pulled him away from the Zeta tubes to a more private corner of the room. She tugged off her left glove and shoved it into Nightwing's face. "There, see. Because some stupid force of the universe decided that I would be perfect for a rich guy I don't even know!"

Nightwing's eyes widened behind his mask. "You- But I love you! You can't do this!"

"You love… No, you can't love me! You have your own soul mate out there, no one else!" Zatanna said, shocked.

"No…" he said slowly. "No, I don't have another soul mate…"

Zatanna, confused, shook her head. "No… no… you're wrong!"

Nightwing pulled off his left glove slowly. "Zatanna…" he whispered, lifting his wrist into her line of view. "She's you."

Zatanna gasped, stumbling backwards. "How… How is this possible? But my wrist says Richard Gray…" she trailed off, eyes widening. She looked up at Nightwing's face, and the realization hit her.

"You… You… You BASTARD!" she screeched, reaching up and peeling off his mask, then tossing it away.

"All this time, for almost three whole years! You've been here the whole time, and did it never occur to you to say something, huh Mister?! I've been tearing myself apart, wondering what the hell is wrong with me, while you've been grinning to yourself as you watch. Are you some kind of sick monster or something?! I can't believe I ever thought I loved you!" she screamed, stomping around, pacing, before coming to stop before Nightwing. "Well you know what? I'm done! I. Don't. Care." she ranted, poking his chest with each word. "So get the he-"

Nightwing reached down and gathered her up in his arms, kissing her soundly. She responded instantly, wrapping her arms around his neck. They parted a minuted later, panting.

"Secret," she murmured, before being kissed again. "Why," she whispered, swept away again once more.

"Does it matter?" he whispered. "I love you."


Soooo….

What do you guys think? Please let me know in a review! :)

Also!

NEWS: This is going to be a series! The fics will each be focused on a different YJ couple, and will each take place in a different sort of Soul Mate/Soul Bond AU. First, I'll do some of my YJ OTP's, then I'll let you guys decide which of the more mainstream/popular/canon-ish couples to do!

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for new types of Soul Mate/Soul Bond AU's, I'd love to hear 'em! I only have a few more that I can think of, so help from you guys would be awesome!

I've decided that the next couple will be Longshot (Roy/Artemis) my tied-for-first-with-Chalant YJ OTP, and the AU will be one where you and your sould mate are telepathically linked from birth, but they can't reveal their names (and I mean physically/mentally incapable of revealing it through the link).

Hopefully that'll be up soon! XD