Many have asked for a sequel. Some…demanded it.
My answer?
No.
Perhaps it was unfair—even cruel—to leave The Weakness That Is Love with such an unhappy ending. But remember the title and the premise: love is a weakness. And weaknesses are either overcome or hidden. Raven, I feel, is someone very adept at hiding. So she buries her emotions once again.
It never planned this story with a happy ending in mind. It would have drawn away from the impact I wanted it to have on readers. If you felt betrayed, felt sorrow for the young lovers, then I've done what I set out to do. If it meant breaking a couple apart, then so be it. It's a lesson that is taken to the grave.
When I began writing this story, I had only a vague notion of what I wanted. I wanted to explore a more mature relationship, one in which love can destroy as well as create. The key? Raven. This story is about Raven. She was the character I had in mind throughout the writing process. Love gave her something special and precious, beyond anything her magic ever could. She laughed. She cried. She fell in love. But love also took away that which made her special.
And so, she leaves Robin.
It isn't fair, nor was it ever supposed to be.
Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish existentialist philosopher, once wrote that faith is absurd, irrational—and that is a good thing, for faith has no meaning if there were a logical reason to have it. This is the view I had on love while writing this story. Love shouldn't be a rational thing, something that can be quantified or reasoned with. Love needs no rationalization for it to happen. Love has no meaning if there is logic behind the feeling itself.
But the same is true for heroism. Logically, why would anyone ever want to risk their lives for the sake of total stranger? Why would Batman throw himself against murderers and madmen? Why would the Teen Titans sacrifice their young lives so very many times?
Responsibility and duty. These may have their reasons, they may have their quantification. But the courage that they draw on does not require reasons. What meaning does heroism have if you have to justify it?
And so, Raven abandons love to continue to be a hero. It saddens her, cuts her deeply, and leaves her wondering about the worth of her powers…after all, they took away the only happiness she found in another human being. But now she can protect others, to ensure that other lovers can be together.
Perhaps that is enough. Perhaps it will never fill the void.
In short, there is no sequel, nor will there be.
This is not to say that I won't write happier stories about the Teen Titans later. But The Weakness That Is Love will remain that—a story about weakness…and heroism.