I know this chapter took a little longer to get up, but it wouldn't come out right, I'm in the middle of exams, and this is graduation party season. Just a few notes- I don't own anything written by J.R.R. Tolkien or Christopher Paolini, both of whom have works mentioned in passing. I'm sorry if sections get a little confusing- I'm not sure about a few parts.

The fight was Raven's. Everyone else was just auxiliary. Her white cape flew around her even while she wasn't moving, almost predicting her next move or suggesting a direction. She had the upper hand in a battle with a much larger opponent, and her constant barrage of attacks was slowing him down. Rage still offered her all the strength she needed, and the other emotions would be easily able to follow.

It still wasn't enough. The giant black dragon was wounded, could only use one forearm if he wanted to keep the one reason Raven hadn't tried a few very painful spells that he had taught her, and the edges of his scales were ragged and cracked, a scuffed gray instead of flawless black. The armor of scales was still unbroken.

"Let her go, Malchior," she said again.

"Why should I? She was mine before."

Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg saw that they weren't needed. Raven was holding him off without any of their help. They hadn't known about the hostage situation. She was busy. There was one person to ask. "B, what is going on?" Cyborg asked, calling on his role as best friend.

"Malchior started taking over Raven's emotions five years ago, right after she left. All she had were Timid, Rage, Rude, and Envy. He set up a giant castle that would fit two dragons his size and froze the emotions he stole. Raven brought me here, we cleared up a few things, she destroyed the castle- well, that was after I completely owned Malchior in a duel while Raven was recovering from some cheap mind trick he did, but he cheated and pulled some spell or other that makes it really hard to change forms."

"You fought Malchior." Robin was checking facts. Beast Boy was a decent fighter, but the dragon was larger than any animal he had seen in his friend's repertoire.

Beast Boy only nodded. "To give Raven time to recover, yes. I would have won if he hadn't cheated, and we both know it."

Robin watched as Raven and Malchior continued a fight unlike anything he had ever seen. Malchior made a weak attack, Raven deflected it. She made a powerful attack, it had no effect. "Okay, something needs to happen. All dragons in popular literature- name and tell how to destroy."

"Nidhogg," Starfire supplied. "Norse mythology, no idea how to defeat him."

"Eragon." Robin shrugged. "That's a guy, actually. His dragon is Sapphira, and she's with the good guys."

"I don't know any names, but knights from the medieval ages fought them with a sword. Those wouldn't have been that monstrously big, though." Cyborg couldn't think of anything else.

Beast Boy grinned. "Smaug. All you need is an arrow and a little bird."

"She's been using arrows, or something like them," Robin reminded him. "And who is Smaug, exactly?"

"She hasn't aimed there." He pointed at a scale on the dragon's chest, borrowing a falcon's vision to see the single gray spot near the left shoulder. "I'm going to tell her." He ignored the second question, already concentrating.

"The dragon could hear," Starfire reminded him.

"Not this way." Ignoring queasiness left over from Malchior's spell, he changed to a small bird, a perfectly innocuous thrush. The bird had helped a hero beat a dragon before, and he could always borrow successful ideas from history.

"Are you feeling okay?" Cyborg asked instantly. He wasn't much into animals, but the green thrush looked particularly listless.

He flapped his wings, a shrug. He usually would snap back to human to answer questions, but doubted he could change again. Whatever the dragon had done, it took more focus than he had guessed he had to keep the form. Staying a bird wasn't painful, but felt more like an itch he would have to scratch eventually. He could do this for Raven. He would tell her, the instant this was over, that she was more than just a friend, and he was (almost, to some infinitesimal degree) confident she felt the same way. He felt something change inside him, and had the strength to fly.

He took flight, going directly to Raven. 'The gray part!' He yelled as loud as he could mentally, hoping she could hear.

'You don't have to talk so loud. I can hear you.'

'Remember There and Back Again.'

'You mean you've actually read Tolkien? I'm impressed. There just might be a brain in that green head of yours after all'

'I read more in college than was probably healthy for my supreme talent at GameStation.'

There was no time to respond. Malchior sent pure black flames directly at Beast Boy, wanting to have at least revenge. He knew that he was defeated, even if he still kept up his façade of bravado, and would leave a reminder of how much havoc he could wreak.

NO. Raven's emotions all had the same feeling, a rare occurrence. Fury. She was mad. Malchior had done enough. He had jeopardized the likelihood of her ever trusting someone. He had made her think that he could love. He had left effects that spread across years. He was not going to mess with love again. She was angry, she embraced it, and she could feel the power filling her to more than her old capacity, shattering barriers. Raven was furious, and had never felt so in control in her life. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when the one to scorn later threatens said lady's new love.

A flash of purple-white light, the color of always-volatile potassium dropped into water, blanketed the area. Raw power covered all of Nevermore, and Raven could feel the landscape changing as it did. Small purple flowers covered the ground, the violets she had always thought pretty. Each emotion again claimed an area for themselves, painting the flowers in their area of Nevermore the desired color. Intellect, acting as two and one, decided that someone should cover blue. Brown and yellow weren't the most attractive of colors, in their opinions.

Robin felt a bruise vanish. A cut from a scaled leg vanished from Starfire's arm. A problem in Cyborg's circuitry no amount of technology could fix righted itself. When the light finally cleared from the directed attack, with the spreading power less concentrated than what she had done, and bright violet spots had cleared away from vision, Raven was standing on the ground glaring at a short, tubby man that had the air of a convict facing the firing squad. He was, and this one-woman squad took his actions much more personally.

"Rorek. You created the dragon shell, as well as the book. You hid inside it, waiting for someone to set you free a few hundred years after you were pursued by all other wizards for dark crafts. The tale was a diversion, and you appeared twice in the same pages through a few very clever illusion spells. My attack was centered on the one chink in your armor. Is there any real reason I shouldn't kill you?" she asked conversationally, as if she was asking if he could bring dessert for a potluck.

The powerful wizard that had been a nearly invulnerable dragon stuttered out some bit of nonsense, obviously expecting nothing but a death sentence.

"You tricked me. You lied to me. You took advantage of loneliness. You threatened my friends. You kidnapped my emotions. You almost hurt Dovey. You broke dragon-honor. But, I'm not going to kill you." She had a different plan.

"Y-y- you're not?"

"No." She traced a small oval with her index finger, creating a larger doorway between them. She saw through it. He saw a jungle. "Get in. There's a village with fairly modern conveniences a mile to your left. Play nice, or the inhabitants will kill you. You have two seconds to get out of Nevermore, and no power left. Any power you may have had, or unwrap from my spell, will be useless in this world."

He was gone before she could even begin counting. She closed the portal, then rubbed her hands on her cloak like she was wiping away something dirty for the last time. He was gone. The dimension she had sent him to would not let him near a spells-book, even if he had the power to use it.

"Where on earth did you send him?" Robin asked, getting the feeling he would not like that place.

"Not earth- a parallel existence, where a certain group of very brave Greek warriors was never discredited. Said group also found horses, through a different distribution of wildlife. They led a conquest of the entire world, and none in their order would backstab to become leader. The few to try were punished by the name of the tribe, or at least the Greek meaning- basically, a mastectomy." The word's meaning escaped everyone else but Starfire. "They're an ingenious people. Besides, they will take no guff from Malchior, Rorek- whatever he calls himself. The more he tries to persuade them, the more likely he is to never have a hope of producing children." Raven sounded a little too happy about that for the comfort of listening males.

"Where is he?" Beast Boy asked.

She smiled. "With the Amazons. Which is where you'll be, if you ever make me too mad." She looked around, still puzzling over something. Dovey couldn't be gone- she still felt the emotion. "Where is Dovey, anyway?"

"She says that you wouldn't really do that."

"You didn't answer the question, and how would she know? I'd ask Intellect about that, or, better yet, check with Rage." She separated, almost a second thought. Her chakra's glow grew less intense, but didn't return to red. Instead, it settled to the shade of a pure amethyst, matching her leotard. "Go on, all of you. I know you want to get settled in, and I'll be back soon. I don't even need the mirror any more." Rude and Rage had already left, the usually hostile emotions getting along surprisingly well, but the rest accepted the dismissal.

"Love knows everything."

"You know what she means." Raven didn't know what to say. In every movie and work of fiction she had ever seen, she would have some eloquent, poignant, and perfect recitation ready. She didn't. "I love you, Gar, Beast Boy- whatever you call yourself. You, by any name, would be just as green."

"I've known. I just never thought that we could really have this second chance, for both of us. Both of us have had really bad experiences with love. I have to say, though, at least my sad tale of woe involved a human." He was crossing his fingers, hoping she wouldn't kill him for a joke.

"Well, how human was she? And besides, Malchior was human- at some point. Furthermore, you are hardly one to talk about being human."

"Neither of us is fully human. Give me a break." Only Raven would use "furthermore" in a mock-debate.

"I guess we're a match, then." She decided that she had to understand a point before anything else happened. "How long have you admitted all this to yourself? The whole love business, I mean."

"Right before I changed for the thrush was when I stopped actively shoving the thought away."

"Dovey's gone. That means that someone else is replacing her. Great," she muttered, knowing the implications. She had just noticed a figure on the distant horizon wading through the flowers and moving faster than humanly possible.

"Is that-" Beast Boy began.

"Yeah. All people have emotions. They just don't split them to visible different forms. It's not usually necessary." She glanced at her emotions, already fading into the distance. Envy was already planning her new dwelling, tapping her foot impatiently that there were intruders in her section of Nevermore.

"Raven? We'll head back to the tower. You two can take your time." Starfire couldn't keep a smile from her face. She loved happy endings.

"Oh. Sure," Raven said after a moment, realizing that they needed a portal. She made an elegant doorway with the effort most people used in blinking. Her powers had surged again, and it already seemed permanent. She could sense emotions more than before. This time, she didn't panic. Instead, she knew instinctively how to sort through them and find the conscious reactions to events. Starfire was projecting like crazy, almost as bad as Cyborg and Robin. To an empath, they were easy prey. No matter how closed-off they appeared to be, the men of the Titans were as emotional as the next macho guy.

Just as they disappeared, the newest emotion came into sight. As predicted, he looked like Beast Boy. Purple uniform, gangly figure, pointed ears, green eyes, and- rainbow-mottled skin, just like the pattern on Dovey's cloak.

"Dude! I thought I'd never get here. Hi, Rae." He was grinning from ear-to-ear. Raven knew already that he and Happy would get along famously, and that the duo would be expressed far more often than a reserved nature would like.

"Why can I hear you?" Gar asked.

The new arrival smiled for a second before answering, with a grin that made the Cheshire Cat's look less ludicrous. "Dovey could have talked to anyone. She just knew that this way, you'd know that he needed to show up. Dovey and I could switch better through Nevermore. This way, there isn't a commute through the thirty-third-and-and-five-fourths dimension. That place is a madhouse."

Raven only rolled her eyes. "I'll take your word on it. It was nice meeting you, Love, but we probably should get to the reunion. I'll see you within a week."

He actually pulled out a comically thick leather-bound date-book from nowhere. "Anytime," he announced after flipping through blank pages.

Raven made a final portal. "Ready to get back to the real world, Gar?"

"Anytime. No offense, but even with all the flowers, this place is more than a bit cr- dreary."

"You were going to say creepy." Her face was unreadable.

"Well, I remembered what happened last time I said that. I'd really rather not bring Malchior back here again to deal with."

"Good point." She held out a hand shyly, Timid lurking in the background. "Ready to go back?"

"With you? Always." He took her hand, and they stepped through the rippling curtain of black energy together, leaving a smirking group of emotions that had observed every single look. They were a part of her. They were already planning the first date, exactly what could go wrong, and the most humorous ways they could all get together and express themselves in the best possible reaction. Her date was toast, but he would at least appreciate the irony of a good joke.

Disclaimer:

I made up the section about Rorek. If that's not the way it was in the television show, I know. I simply drew my own ideas on how to conclusively beat a dragon. If you flame me for that, you obviously didn't read this disclaimer.

The official (and only) up-to-date (sort of) poll results- Four for green, three for violet eyes, one for bi-color eyes (one violet, one green, with a blue chakra), one for a sort of a mix (teal/turquoise), one for violet-rimmed emerald, and one for other (hazel) on a potential child. Question, for those who missed it: If BB and Rae had a kid, what color eyes would s/he have?

Falling- Thanks! I'm glad you think so. I really did use the many irritating little notes as a one-chapter thing. Everybody look- review, and I don't bug you! I like reviews. So sue me. They make me happy. I hope you keep liking the story.

DarkCypher- Don't worry. Battles involving Teen Titans (especially Raven) are never clear-cut. I have a few more twists to pull before it's over. Restraint isn't a virtue, when it comes to tricky little details that can make a story (or battle) more involved. I shan't fail everyone this close to the end. (How many times can you use "shan't" in a sentence? The word's ridiculous. I love it.)

BeastWithin- The chakra did start out red, but all the drama involving it (thrown, dormant for five years, dragon-fired twice, and a power surge) changed the color.

Moonjava- Thanks.

XPhoenixX- Their original plan was simple. Delay as long as possible. Once that was over and Raven started to get angry without having to fear a Trigon-uprising, she became really powerful. Then, Beast Boy decided to show his plan. Malchior's a very stereotypical villain, in an off-kilter way. Basically, he kept one hand out of the fight. I think I'd written that explanation into a later chapter, but most was impromptu instead of based on my long-hand draft, so a few details aren't completely perfect.

Jim Starluck- Nope. My plan for him has been set from the instant he came back. It's just, very Raven, and (if I do say so myself), very fitting. Everything shall be explained at the end. Do you think I'm going to ignore the potential for a dragon walking around Jump City, if they ever make it out of Nevermore? I have a little vignette all ready. Raven will know- she's a patient empath, now, and can take the time to think everything through.

YumeTakato- If I made chapters 20-30 pages long, it would take me four days at the absolute least to update. Shorter chapters, if one bombs, also let the audience be much more forgiving. Besides, it keeps you guessing, which is my job.

The Last- Well, the entire purple-ness is conjectured at later, when she's not as preoccupied with a dragon. The chakra's pretty much an indicator light, to put it without any pretense. For the moment, it's bright. I think of it as looking at the sun through sunglasses- very bright, but it won't damage eye-sight.

teenRAVENtitan- I have to end somewhere. As much as I'd like to do nothing but write all day, I still have other things to do, like go to school, study for exams, and sleep, not necessarily in that order. Cliffhangers are a necessary evil, sorry to say.

Ripdos A.K.A The Bad Ash- They do not do that. The entire point of that section was to lessen the seriousness of what really had to happen. Comparatively, she could pretend to not mind at all. Just a kiss, that's all. I try to never let pure emotional drama run for too long, or non-stop action with no base in character. A balance of the two is more entertaining for me.

Celsie- I love writing this story.

Jaime Snyder- thankfulness

greenbean1- Yet another person falls prey to the guilt tripwire! Thanks for reviewing. Feedback is addictive, you know- it's as bad as writing. Once you start, it's really hard to stop. Luckily, that doesn't seem to be a problem.

FirefliesWish- Thanks. The other times. . . eww. They didn't deserve to be posted. This finally came out as what I wanted, instead of some fill-in. Anyone can be a writer. All you need to do is read so much that all words give you a certain feeling beyond the meaning, connotations that tell you why being called tenacious is a compliment and stubborn an insult.

Kit Aurora- Thanks for doing so this time. Really, I don't bite people for not reviewing. . . that hard.

Nya the koneko- Affection had a purple cloak. I used artistic license, and decided that having all the colors would be more interesting. I just had to be different, of course. Well, the other reason comes up a little later- it adds a certain uniqueness to a later scene. I'll keep this up until the story's over. Then, it's off to Cyborg for his beautiful story, then back to Raven and Beast Boy.

They-Call-Me-Orange- My computer goes nuts all the time. Luckily, it wasn't the computer that I use for writing. The story's getting close to the end, but I have no idea how many chapters are left. It depends on how the ending (I haven't written it yet) turns out, where I end it, and exactly what happens. I'd say- three-ish chapters, maybe more, maybe less. I think I've covered all bases, now.

D- I'm planning on a sequel-of-sorts- eventually. I'm not promising anything. My Cyborg story (AU from this, with BB-Rae in the background) is going up first. I'm not disappearing from TT fanfics. They're too fun to write.

Teleportal- He's slowing because Robin chucked freeze-disks at him. Dragons would be at least partly cold-blooded. Cold-blooded animals cannot keep their body temperature steady. If body temperature drops, motion slows. That's basically what happened. That, and he was getting tired.

Tattooed Goddess­- Your sins are forgiven. Go, and don't review no more. Hey- technically, I'm allowed to say that. I'm a confirmed Catholic. It's fun to write- thanks for reading.

TheUbu- Thanks. I try to make the fighting as close as possible to how I imagine it.

Toughfront- About A Satire- I'm thinking that they (probably) didn't have the many drugs available now, so they did it the old-fashioned way. It's possible. Well, someone had to take his line- he made Cyborg promise not to. Cyborg didn't. He really should be more specific.

Aclahayr- Thanks. I have always advocated that Disney has horribly wrecked good stories. (Case in point- Little Mermaid, rewritten on this site as Sunrise). There aren't that many more chapters in here, but a story about Cyborg (with much of the wondrous BB-Rae fluff in the background) and eventually another about Rae and BB's kid will follow.

KTHunter- I'm sorry about the wait. I had an extreme case of the chapter not coming out right, and I wanted to have it to my standards before I posted. I love Raven. She is one of the best characters to write ever. She's half-demon, the emotions are a blast, and you can play off of Beast Boy. If I'd been around for twenty years and read the comics, I would have been a fan for far longer than the six months I've known about the show's characters.