Yay! My first alternate ending! I'd come up with this a long time after I'd finished writing (not uploading) the RND story, so here's a historical one-shot. Enjoy, and please review!

Alternate Ending: Guy Talk
Daniel stood on the roof to watch the sunset. His robe was yellow, and he wore it untied so that it billowed in the wind. He also wore yellow baggy samurai pants with the ankles loose and no shirt under the robe.

He stood quietly, thinking back on their adventure in Paris. He remembered grimly how Tobias had attacked Lina by rendering her helpless. If Dan hadn't shown up...Then he smiled as he remembered carrying his sister out of the Notre Dame cathedral, how supportive their friends had been...What would he and Lina do without them?

His thoughts were interrupted when Starfire popped up in front of him and flew into the house. Daniel thought, 'Now where has she been?' and looked down to see Robin sitting on a rock. Daniel jumped off through a green ring of light that landed him behind him. Robin turned and said, "Hey."

"Hey," the wizard responded, sitting on the rock next to his (on Robin's left), "What's up?" He put his hand near the water and magically fiddled with it.

"Not much," Robin said, watching him, "How do you do that?"

"I'm a wizard," he answered matter-of-factly, almost dully, "I can bend nature, to a certain extent." Robin noted his voice and looked at the blonde sadly.

"Is it hard?" he asked. The water ball Daniel made split into lines and swirled all around his hand. He was slightly annoyed at Robin's aloofness.

"I'm not an idiot, Robin," he patiently said, "Just because I'm blonder now doesn't mean I'm stupid. I know what you're thinking, and no. (He dropped the water back into the ocean.) I'm still not quite over what he did to her yet. (Incidentally, Daniel's hair now has a few paler blonde streaks as a result of his outburst.) Merlina's meditating it away, but I'm not quite over it." He put his head in his left hand.

"Neither is Starfire," Robin said, "She was just down here asking me what Tobias had done to Merlina in the street." Danny blushed.

"What did you tell her?" he asked. Robin sighed and kneaded his forehead with his fingers.

"What else? The truth," he answered, "As much as I wish I could protect her from it, I had to tell her. (He picked up a flat stone.) I guess you can't protect them forever." He skipped his rock and watched the water ripple. Daniel didn't very much care for Robin's "I guess." It sounded too fatalistic.

"Maybe not from the truth," he said, "but we can keep it from happening to them." Daniel skipped a rock, and Robin nodded.

"She also asked me why he'd done that," he continued, "and I ended up trying to tell her about the different variations of human nature. I didn't do so well." He skipped another rock.

"There are really only two kinds of human nature, with a million branches to them," Danny explained, "Good and evil. No human is ever born evil. A lot of people simply choose to become evil. Only when we learn to control our feelings, thoughts, and actions can we determine whether we are truly good or evil. Tobias clouded himself with hatred and his own selfish wants. He chose evil, and that was his downfall. No amount of evil will ever truly triumph in the end." (Rock-skip) He magically handed Robin another rock. Robin fingered it thoughtfully.

"That's just the trouble with today," he said, skipping his rock, "It doesn't take much to lose your innocence." The two young men watched the rippling spot where the rock had fallen. Their reflections wavered. Daniel picked up another one and gazed at it. After a while, he said

"It doesn't take much to keep it, either."

He skipped his rock, and the two thought silently.

"There's one more thing I don't get," Robin asked, "I know brothers should always protect their sisters, but you protect her more passionately and with more loyalty than I've ever seen. Brotherhood aside, what drives you to be this way about her? Who made you her protector?"

Daniel closed his eyes. Images swam across his memory...The orange glow of a fire; pitchforks in silhouette; his father pulling on his shirt; a beautiful woman's terrified face among the angry ones that were holding her back; her smile telling him telepathically that somehow, everything would be all right; her final commandment before his father grabbed his arm, like a whisper in his heart:

"Look after your sister, and be strong for her...I love you."

As his mind's ear remembered her piercing scream, tears poured from under his eyelids. It was like listening to an angel die.

"The most wonderful person in the world," he whispered so Robin could barely hear, "before the people led by Tobias' father murdered her."

Robin already knew.

"...Your mother."

THE
END
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Well? What do you think? Now, nobody likes flames, but on this fic, I will not accept flames from anyone. This is Daniel's mother we're talking about. Even for a fictional character, we should be respectful. But please tell me what you think.

Yours forever,
-samuraistar