here's the epilogue, (it was too short to call a chapter, so, yeah) hope you like it. Hotcakes: "It isn't the classic 'What have I done, I'm so sorry for all I did, I was a horrible person and now I'll become a good guy!' It's sorta like: 'When I say I'm sorry, I'm lying, but I hate him more than I hate you, so I'm gonna fight him. Oh. Volcano. Look what my powers did. You guys might wanna leave.'" wow, I was laughing really hard, thank you for that. I love you bunches. Cheseme463; here it is! imfamous one: yes! yes! read on!
Being encased in stone for 6 months is not fun. I thought the volcano would kill me. I would have welcomed death; after all, I thought Slade was dead, and with Slade gone, I really had nowhere to go except death. I almost died, actually. Several times in fact. I kept feeling myself floating, slipping onto either side of the thin line between life and death. The 6 months seemed to last forever, yet all too soon it seemed I opened my eyes to see a very familiar mask hovering inches from my face. I screamed and he put a gloved finger to my lips, but I refused to let that silence me.
"You!!!! You're alive!? Damn you, you bastard! How dare you treat me like that? I'll make you pay!" I made a lunge for him but for some reason, couldn't move. I looked around at my surroundings and quickly discovered that I was lying in a small room and was hooked up to a number of IVs, each pumping a different glowing liquid into my veins. This distraction silenced me enough to let him speak.
"Now Terra," Slade said calmly, "is that any way to speak to the person who just spent five and a half months trying to bring you back from the dead." His words calmed me, and (though I hated him for it), made me not hate him nearly as much as I did before. He turned and pulled something from the drawer in my bedside table, "these are for you" he handed me a bouquet of dried, red roses. I looked up at him confused, he drew himself up "that boy," he said, "gave these to you weekly, this is the first of all of them. He kept up the weekly ceremony long after I switched you with a statue. It was quite touching, actually. And... I thought you might like to have them. Now..." he paused, and looked at me, trying to think of what more to say, while restraining himself from what he wanted to say, "...get some rest." He turned and started to walk towards the door, leaving me gazing after him from my pillow. He had come back for me, not only that, but had spent five and a half months bringing me back, anyone else would have given up. He still needed me, he still... wanted me. Just like I still needed him. I adjusted my IVs so I could up in my bed,
"Slade." he turned around and looked at me, and I suddenly found myself at a loss for words, "I... um...thank you" I said, "you didn't have to..." he walked over to my bed and sat down, taking my face in his two hands.
"I want you to know I am very pleased to have you back." He said, and he sounded sincerely glad. I knew I had just woken up from a coma, so I tried to ignore the fluttering in my stomach and decided to ask him something I had always wanted to know
"Slade..." I said, "What do you look like under that mask?" I reached up stroked said item and smiled.
"Ah," he said, with the hint of a smile in his voice, "only for you, my dear" he took one of his hands from my face and placed it on top of mine to help me remove his mask. I held the mask in my hand, and looked up at him. He was just a man. A handsome man, but a man nonetheless. He had an eye patch on his right eye, but other than that, he was just a man. I realized that he wore his mask to make people forget that, to make them fear him and forget that he was no different from them. But he didn't have to wear the mask for me, because I knew all along. I looked at him and smiled again as he pulled my face towards his.
Fin.
well, that's the end. thank you to everyone who reviewed, and sob I'm so.. sad it's over! sniff well, I will have a sequel, (I've already started writing it) but (sadly) it's not from Terra's point of view. it'll be called "Raven, Teen Titan" betcha you can tell who's p.o.v. it's from. well, I love you all, and, sniff I already miss this story.