Hi for the last time on this story. Though my energy is low, I will indeed respond to reviews...don't see how I could avoid it what with this being the final chapter and all.

Tifereth: LOL thanks! I was hoping it would be something of an emotional rollercoaster. Yes, exactly! That's exactly what he was doing. Yes, she loved him, but she denied it and the fear growing inside her...well you'll see about that in this chapter. OH yes you most certainly are worthy! Get to work on Silent Ashes, pronto! Lol. Wow...thank you so much. Your reviews never cease to amaze me, and I'm so glad you like what I write so much. Thank you for everything.

Water81: Nah, I don't flame, so you'll never see one from me. Yeah, I would think it would be very self-explanatory, and yet I still get people flaming me for the pairing. LOL ok I'll do my best to resist.

fallendreamz: Thanks.

Chibi-Ra-Chan: Wow, thanks! I wanted it to be like that...so I'm glad I succeeded. No problem, I understand, and your life is no more boring than mine. Thanks!

finalitylife: Yeah, that's what I figured. No, that makes sense. Thanks!

Aeris-Raven: Thanks so much:)

Al the Pirate: LOL somewhere deep down, eh? Thanks.

Mina: No you don't sound like a girly freak, I'm flattered actually. Obsession loves company. Hope that site was helpful...and good luck. LOL well that explains a lot. Sorry if I seem grumpy...I'm kinda having a hard day...night...morning. Thanks once again.

A Titans fan: Wow thanks, dude.

Umbra Puella: Good, cuz that was the idea. Thanks!

rubianca: Yes yes the happy twist. -rubs head- Sadly, I do. Thanks!

Chica De Los Ojos Cafe: Yup this is the last. Thanks!

alena-chan: Well, if you are, then so am I. Thanks...I was hoping she would be convincing. LOL yes it was darn funny, and I'm sure the next chap will be too. Thanks!

kkkiimiko: Ok, I won't. Yes I do. Since the second book came out. Artemis rocks! Thanks, glad you liked it.

mysti-eyed: Yeah I purposefully left ominous hints to make it a bit more unpredictable. Thanks!

Robinfan: Thanks...but this is the last chap.

dragon: Thank you.

VerticallyxChallenged: So very. Sometimes. Ok, I'll give you a digital cookie every time you perform. Sadly I don't play anything but I want to learn to play acoustic guitar... Sorry dude. Thanks!

ITsYou: Yeah I draw the line...somewhere... Thanks, I try. Glad you liked it.

jambey: Good, cuz that's what I was going for. They actually weren't fighting...Cyborg left to see if the other titans were alright, and BB was hurt but Raven healed him...probably should have specified, sorry. Actually, I wasn't shooting for anything, just trying to explain why the chapter was taking so freakin long. That's reassuring, thank you ;P So I see you're claiming the title...Glad you liked it.

YoukaiTenshi: Yes I did. Ok I will. Thanks.

Lilly: Thank you, I do my best. This is something like an epilogue..hope you enjoy it.

I DO NOT OWN THE SONG FORGIVE ME, BY EVANESCENCE! This takes place the next day.

Robin gently lifted the roof access door, climbing out soundlessly as the cold morning air hit him in the face. He knew exactly where to look...and there she was.

He swallowed, wondering if he had ever seen anything to rival this moment. She stood with her back to him, a gentle breeze stirring her silky violet hair and rippling her deep blue cloak. The tiniest hint of sunrise crept toward her in the form of pale orange fingers, small and surrounded by the light blue of a morning sky. He almost forgot to breathe, but what did it matter? All that mattered was Raven.

"Good morning, Robin. You're very quiet, something bothering you?" She spoke clearly, but her voice did not shatter the silence before dawn, rather blended with it, no more unnatural than the distant sound of waves lapping at the rocks below. Bothering him? Not possible.

She sighed softly, turning to face him at long last, and he seemed to melt beneath her gaze...but hey, who wanted to be solid, anyway? "Imagine that. You look like you actually slept last night."

Yes, he slept...better than he had in months, maybe even years. No nightmares, no tossing and turning, just sweet, dreamless sleep. He half wondered if Raven had something to do with it...

She smiled gently. "Can't get nothin' past you, I see."

"...Thank you."

"Your welcome." The smile vanished suddenly, and Raven looked away, biting her lip. "Robin...we need to talk."

Oh please no. "O...k. Shoot." Nice word choice...

Can you forgive me again?
I don't know what I said
But I didn't mean to hurt you

"Well, about yesterday. There's a few things you have to understand before we...go any further." A hint of pink made her cheeks glow faintly in the semi-darkness.

Robin took her hand and led her over to the edge, sitting down and letting his legs dangle freely in the empty air. He felt so unsure, doubting himself at every corner. Sometimes he was certain that it had all been some terrible and beautiful dream, but pinch after pinch had failed to wake him. He looked up with a hesitant smile. "Hit me." Again with the ominous word choicage!

Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well...I...what I said yesterday, I stand by that. But, Robin, there is still a great risk--Wait," she said, holding up a hand to silence his protest. "There is still a great risk that the both of us--especially you--are taking in this...endeavor. You need to fully understand what you are getting into here..."

The ghost of his cocky smile flitted across his face. "Where do I sign?"

"This is not a joke, Robin. Painful death is far from amusing." Raven's voice was cold, but the worried frown in her eyes told the real story.

He dropped his head, the smile slipping off his face. "I...I'm sorry, Rae. That was a stupid thing to say. I know it's serious, but it's just hard to pretend that anything could possibly change this...feeling. I don't care what happens to me, just so long as I'm with you." He blushed scarlet, but held her gaze all the same.

I heard the words come out
I felt that I would die
It hurt so much to hurt you

As she gazed back at his blank mask, a memory flashed in her mind...eyes, deep dark eyes. The next second it was gone, and Raven found that she sorely missed it. "Well, I do care. If something happened to you, I..." Raven broke his gaze, staring down at her hands as they twisted of their own accord. "I'm afraid, Robin," she whispered, ashamed but knowing that she spoke the truth.

Robin frowned, his eyebrows forming a little peak and his mask wrinkling slightly. An image, unbidden but horribly clear, flashed before his eyes: Raven, hunched over and crying as every enemy they had ever faced lurked in the shadows all around her. No! Heaven help the poor soul that even laid a finger on her. "Raven, whatever it is, I swear I'll stop it! Nothing will ever hurt you, not while I'm here!"

"That's just it!" she yelled, her tone and the tears in her eyes shocking him to the core. "What happens when you aren't, Robin?"

He blinked, eyes wide and completely speechless. That was a factor he had never truly considered; somehow death seemed impossible when it came to him, even though it had been made harshly real to him at a tender age. He always thought of something, there was always a way...until he ran up against that one time when there wasn't.

Then you look at me
You're not shouting anymore
You're silently broken

"You say you'll save me...but can you save me from myself?" Raven's eyes pierced right through him, and it hurt. "I'm not afraid for myself, Robin. I'm afraid for you. If...if I lose control, you will be the one to suffer. That fact terrifies me more than anything ever could. You may be willing to risk the utmost, but I can't."

"Fear..." Robin mumbled, staring blankly at her as the cogs started turning.

"What?" asked Raven, staring at him questioningly, slightly annoyed that "fear" was the only thing he had gotten from that tiring speech. His next move was a surprise as well.

Robin laughed, quiet at first, but growing in volume, slightly higher pitched and hysterical. Truth be told, he looked a bit nuts.

"What, pray tell, is so humorous, Wonder Bread?" she droned, more than a little miffed, not to mention concerned for his sanity.

"Don't you see it? Fear! You're afraid!"

Raven's eyebrow quirked as a vein began to throb at her temple. "Why don't you alert the media?"

"Don't you remember the last time you let fear get the better of you?" asked Robin, all traces of laughter gone from his face.

Raven's eyes widened. Could it really be that simple? "Robin, I don't know about this theory..."

"No, just listen for a second. When we...uh, you know...you were afraid of losing control. In the end, you did lose control, but not because of me. Your fear became your reality."

Raven blinked in shock. That was true, she had been horribly afraid in that moment... It was so simple, and yet it made perfect sense. "This means that...if I can control my fear, I'll control my powers as well...and there would be minimal risk," Raven whispered, saying it out loud as though to make sure it was true.

Robin smiled, the slowly strengthening sunlight playing across his masked face. "Exactly."

I'd give anything now
To kill those words for you

Raven felt amazingly light as an enormous weight seemed to vanish all at once. Not wanting to be fooled, she tried to argue every last possible point. "But...what if we're wrong? Even if we're right, there would still be a risk! What about..." she swallowed, looking away and whispering, "the Prophecy?"

Robin's face became instantly determined, as firm and immovable as a brick wall. "Risk or not, I love you. Prophecy or no, I will always be there for you." A shadow fell over his face as the events of the past few days came crashing back to him. He couldn't survive that again. "It's the only way I know."

Each time I say something I regret I cry "I don't want to lose you."
But somehow I know you will never leave me, yeah.

"Robin..." An unexplainable panic seized her, and the automatic response was to turn and run...

Desperate, he caught her wrist in a gentle but firm grip, one hand slipping up to his mask on a strange impulse.

Raven watched with wide eyes as he took it off, tossing it carelessly at her feet. Twin pools of everything stared back at her, paralyzing her limbs until she couldn't have fled if she wanted to. With a tiny hint of a smile, Robin spoke. "Now it's your turn."

Raven blinked in shock, amazed at how he had pierced through an age-old facade with four simple words. He knew her; she wasn't sure how, but Robin knew her inside and out. It was only fair; he had removed his mask, and now it was time for her to do the same.

Before his very eyes, she changed. That little worry line on her forehead vanished, the nervous lip-biting ceased, her eyes were no longer solid walls but doors, with a handle and hinges. One had only to reach out and turn the knob to find Raven.

Cause you were made for me
Somehow I'll make you see
How happy you make me

"There you go. We're even." Raven smiled, and it wasn't the hesitant, fragile quirk of lips, but full and confident, reaching all the way to her eyes as they sparkled in the early morning sun. This new Raven was even more beautiful than the last had been, radiance beyond anything he could ever have imagined emerging from behind those doors as locks clicked back and entrance was granted. He knew exactly what he was seeing, and he could hardly believe it. Trust. Standing naked before an army of swords without fear.

The warriers regarded eachother silently, concealing nothing and fearing nothing, though there was much in their cruel world worthy of it. They were on equal footing, or rather, the same footing, for on that day they became one.

Moving as a single entity, the two met in eachother's arms, instinct taking over as lips touched in a kiss far sweeter than the stolen one had ever been...now there was nothing to fear and no one to run from. How could something so right ever be wrong?

I can't live this life
Without you by my side
I need you to survive

They broke apart gently, eyes searching for that something wonderful and finding it reflected back at them, as clear as the sun, shining with a peaceful warmth. There was no more room for doubt or hesitation. They belonged to eachother, completely, mind, body, and soul.

"Do what you feel is right, Raven, but know this. If you push me away, if you cut me off...I can't live. Being alone would kill me more than any bullet ever could." The words were not meaningless flattery or empty sentiment. Every bit of it was painfully true, cold hard fact. Yesterday had been a taste of what such a life would be, and Robin knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he could not survive it. The pain was too great, the loss too all-consuming. The mere thought struck fear in his heart as he gazed at her with pleading eyes.

So stay with me
You look in my eyes and I'm screaming inside that I'm sorry

A life without love is no life at all. The words hurt, her imagination supplying the details of exactly what kind of Hell she had put him through. Spiritual death was infinitely more painful and permanent than physical death could ever be. She would not do that to him...or herself.

Raven's answer was not spoken from her mouth, but from her soul as she laid her head against him and closed her eyes, listening to the beating of his heart. Some great need buried deep inside of her was, at long last, satisfied. All that she would ever want or need was right in front of her, giving her more comfort than she believed possible to achieve. True, there would be hard times, there would be struggles and disagreements and risks, but through it all, they would find a way. That emotion, the most important of all, was free at last.

"Forever?"

Robin smiled, truly happy for the first time in his life. "Forever. I promise."

I can't live this life
Without you by my side
I need you to survive

The End! Ok well there you have it. Eight chapters explaining why the pairing of Raven and Robin is not only possible but probable. That last bit was telepathic communication, in case you were wondering. Yeah, BB still has issues and Star still likes him, but he will eventually get over himself and realize that he deserved the punch. Cyborg will continue to be something of their big brother relationship supporter lol. Hopefully you liked this, because I really enjoyed writing it. Review, let me know what you think! -Signing out...Dusty