(Disclaimer: You know how people always say stuff about how they don't own the Titans and that things would be different if they did? Well, I don't own the Titans, but if I did I wouldn't change a damn thing.)
-CHAPTER NINE-
Things had finally returned to normal in Titans Tower. The duplicates were gone; the Titans had held an informal little ceremony where they buried their multicoloured clothes, which were all that remained of them. They each got their own little headstones. It reminded Beast Boy of the ceremony they had held at Terra's statue, and he had to try very hard to keep himself from crying. He failed.
That had been almost a week ago. The damage to the basement had been repaired, and it was as if the whole thing had never even happened. The Titans had all returned to their usual business, with only two exceptions: Raven was even quieter than normal, and Beast Boy could sometimes be seen lost in thought, a state that was rare for him. The others decided that it was none of their business, though, and left them alone (although Starfire had required some convincing).
Beast Boy was lying on his bed, just thinking, when he heard a knock at his door. He got up, being careful not to bump his head on the top bunk of the bunk bed, and crossed his room to open the door. Raven was standing in the hall outside his room, looking uncomfortable.
"Beast Boy? Can I talk to you?" she said.
"Uhhh…sure, Raven. What do you want to talk about?" Beast Boy asked. Raven fidgeted a bit—it was disconcerting seeing her look so self-conscious.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what Love did to you," she said. "She was kind of a part of me, so I feel responsible for what she did."
"Oh, don't worry about it, she didn't really hurt me or anything," said Beast Boy. He laughed and rubbed the back of his head, but then suddenly became serious.
"Are you sorry for what you did to her?" he asked. Raven was startled.
"What do you mean? She was crazy, Beast Boy," she said. "Love was unstable and dangerous. She had to be stopped. I just…"
"No, Raven," interrupted Beast Boy. "I mean before that. She told me how you treated her, or how you treat your love personality, or whatever. She told me how you yelled at her. I'm sure she was exaggerating a bit, but still…" He looked into Raven's eyes.
"So, are you sorry for that?" he asked.
Raven looked down at her feet. She hadn't expected this question, especially not from Beast Boy.
"I…I don't know," she said, and turned and walked back down the hall. Beast Boy just watched her go, then closed his door.
ooo
Raven floated cross-legged above her bed. Physically, she was meditating in her room, but her mind was wandering about Nevermore, her personal mindscape. Her emotions crowded around her, but she ignored them. She was looking for one in particular. She found her sitting by a small pond, skipping rocks distractedly. Her violet hair was long, and she wore a white dress.
Raven cleared her throat, and Love looked up at her.
"We need to talk," Raven said.
-FIN-
Author's Note: That was a hell of a lot shorter than I thought it would be, but then it's mostly just a wrap-up anyways. So that's it! Duplomatic is over! Done! Finito! Owarimashita! So, what did you think? I know it was only nine chapters, while some people's stories go for well over fifteen, but hey, this is my first serious one. Plus, I didn't want to give you guys a bunch of fiddly little chapters, nor did I want to spread the story out over more long ones. I'm a big fan of nice, self-contained stories that wrap themselves up nicely, without going through lots and lots of useless filler to make the story look bigger, and that's what I wanted to achieve. Also, this story is pretty focused, centering mainly on the relationship between Raven and Love, so there wasn't a whole lot in the way of distraction and side-plot I could throw at you.
Anyway, I will post one more "chapter" here. You probably recall me babbling about a Director's Cut chapter in the past few Author's Notes, and that's what will be next. It will include an alternate ending, as well as a whole bunch of my notes on how I dealt with the characters, the problems I encountered, the ideas I rejected, and so on. I'll put the alternate ending first, so if you aren't interested in all the other crap you won't have to search through it. I think the other stuff might be interesting for other aspiring writer's though, since it will show you a bit of my writing process. At the very least it will give you some idea of what the hell I've been thinking. It might be hella long, too, so it'll make up for this short chapter. I'll also post a short humour one-shot I have done, either just before or just after the Director's Cut for Duplomatic, but it'll be under its own title (Booby Trap). Now, I have to try to figure out what I'll be writing next…to the Bag Cave!
To My Reviewers:
blackraven2000: Meh. I figured it might be obvious to some people, but then, hey, I figured out Red X was Robin in Masks after only the Titans' first fight with him, and that was professionally written. I'm not a mystery writer. I'm not really a fiction writer for that matter—as I say in my profile, I'm an essayist mostly. But anyway, I'm glad you think it was good other than that obvious bit.
Nevermore Forevermore: Thanks! I'll have to get working on something else soon. I have a few other ideas for some serious stories, and some ideas for filler humour stuff, but nothing I really want to do, in the same way I wanted to do this story. Oh, well.
CloudsHalo: Yeah, Sad is cool. And, incidentally, also sad. That little slouch of hers is sex-ay! Ha ha ha! Slouch. As for her little out of character inner monologue, I figure it's okay since she's not just Sad, she's a duplicate of Raven that tends heavily towards Sad. Although I didn't say so explicitly, I kind of imagine that the new little voice was the part of her that was Brave. I left it open to interpretation, though. Looking over the end of Chapter 8, it does seem a bit anti-climactic, but anti-climactic is avante-garde, right? Right? No, I didn't think so. Seriously, though, I see the problem, but I have no real idea as to how to fix it while still keeping all the elements I want. Oh, well. I'll have to look out for it in the future.
Nightwish13: Yeah, Raven can still love. At least, to the extent she's always been able to love, which, admittedly, might not be much. The duplicates weren't just her emotions pulled out of her head, they were separate entities on their own that just tended towards certain aspects of the original Raven's personality. I really should have made that simpler. My story is Kool? As in Kool-Aid? Awesome. I gotta find me a brick wall to smash through so I can say "Ohhh yeeeaaaahhhh!" God damn, but that's an old commercial. I'm dating myself here.