Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, but I do own the plot line and a Joules Elephant Polo shirt.

Chapter 23

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The Polo Match

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Richard and Kori found seats with their friends, sitting down just as the Color Guard presented the flags of India and the USA.

"I cannot wait to see the Elephants! I have heard of Elephant Polo, but I have never seen it." Kori said with obvious enthusiasm.

Dick leaned over and kissed Kori's cheek. He whispered in her ear, "You are so adorable, have I told you that?"

Kori's eyes flashed wide open in surprise as she felt a thrill through her body when Dick whispered in her ear. She loved the feeling, but it was overwhelming. Maybe she would talk to him about it, not to discourage him, but maybe that was something they should save for when they were in private. Could everyone see how much it affected her when he did that? She knew he had an idea of what it did to her, and she wondered if he was using it to his advantage. Yup, probably. Oh well, she thought, maybe she wouldn't say a thing and just have to get used to it.

He chuckled as he watched her deliberate with herself.

"The Elephant Polo exhibition is in the middle of the match, after the fourth chukka, Kori. Each chukka is only 7 minutes, but the match doesn't move that fast. They have to rotate the ponies to rest them, so like other sports, the play time will be drawn out. It'll be a while yet."

As the match began, Dick explained the sport for a short time, making sure she knew the basics. Kori loved when he explained things to her, he was so kind to her and never talked down to her. She knew a little bit about polo and had attended matches as a child. In fact, her father, who had been the King of Tamaran, had his own string of polo ponies. Not that he let her near his prized steeds, but that was another matter, and anyway, that was when she had a completely different life. Even around the Tamaranian Embassy, her royal status was never acknowledged. As far as she was concerned, Princess Koriand'r died when her parents did.

As the match began, a nagging feeling intruded on Dick's good time: the feeling he needed to explain his situation with Barbara to Kori sooner rather than later. He probably would have explained it to her eventually anyway, he knew that he wanted to be completely honest with Kori about everything. He was with her now, and planned to be for a long time. But there was an urgency. Something was telling him he had to tell her now.

And what was it with Babs anyway? She was a mess, he had never seen her that way. Why was she drunk? Why was there that level of incivility toward Kori? As Babs had pointed out, she was the only woman that Dick had dated that he ever loved, it had never bothered her before when she saw Dick out with other women.

Babs must have sensed what most everyone else had, that Kori was different, special, and that Dick and Kori were connected. There was no way he wanted to have anything endanger their new relationship, and it appeared that Babs was a threat. Barbara Gordon was no angel. She wasn't even all that nice and could be vindictive, and her being drunk made her almost dangerous. It just hadn't ever occurred to Dick that Babs would ever try to hurt him, and he was very disappointed in his long time friend.

As the polo match continued, Kori's attention was mostly on the field and she would occasionally be pulled into conversation with one of her friends. It was obvious to her that Dick was lost in thought. Other than giving him a concerned look every now and then, which her responded to with small reassuring smiles, she did not to intrude, knowing intuitively that it was best just to let him be alone with his thoughts.

After some time, Dick had considered the pros and cons, deliberated over the timing of it, and finally decided he should explain to Kori right then and there about his relationship with Babs. Kori had been so incredibly understanding about Barbara so far, just as she had the previous night at the Seward Inn, and he knew he owed her full disclosure for having given him the benefit of the doubt in both cases. He also knew that for all her understanding, she was no pushover. He just really hoped his past would stay in the past from now on.

He took a deep breath and leaned over, "Kori, can we take a walk. I... I need to talk to you a bit about Barbara."

She couldn't help but get a visceral response of dread, and tried to shut her mind off from negative thoughts.

"Alright," she responded with a nod.

He stood up, took both her hands, and pulled Kori to her feet.

"Hey Vic, we're going to walk around a bit."

"Sure thing, Dick." Fortune shown on Dick, if ever there was a time when he didn't need Vic to tease him, it was then.

Dick held Kori's hand as they walked away from the field. Kori's mind ticked through the possibilities of what Dick wanted to say to her about Barbara and she began to strategize. What would she do if he changed his mind about being Barbara's escort? Did she really have the right to ask that of him? Barbara and Richard were only friends, right?

"Kori, I just wanted to give you a little more background about me and Babs, I mean Barbara."

She nodded to encourage him to continue.

"Well, Barbara and I have known each other since we were kids and then we dated seriously when I was in Med School for a couple years. I did care about her, but we eventually broke up, and she and I agreed to be friends. Since then, we have been stayed friends, and would step in for each other if either of us needed a date to one function or another."

He deliberated over whether or not he had to explain the whole 'friends with benefits' part of it.

Kori listened intently, trying to read Dick's eyes, trying to keep her facial expression neutral.

"Anyway, you said you saw the picture of Barbara and me in the paper right?"

"Yes."

"Well, as I recall, the picture was taken at a party was the day after I met you. I didn't go to the party with her, Kori, I actually went with Bruce and ran into Barbara there."

"Okay," Kori began to wonder why he was even mentioning this, things seemed benign enough.

"Kori, I want to be completely honest with you. I did go home with Barbara that night," Dick began.

Kori felt a lurch in her stomach, "Dick, I really do not want to hear this..."

"Please, I want to explain. You were on my mind. I had already gotten your phone number after breakfast. But then I had a ridiculous run in with Kitten,"

"Which I partially witnessed," Kori interjected.

God, maybe this wasn't a good idea. I am just hurting her... "I'm sorry." That was lame, he thought, although he was sincere.

"I'm not trying to make any excuses, I was frustrated by the situation with Kitten and I had been drinking, but when I went home with Barbara..."

"Dick, I really do not think I can bear to hear this..."

"Kori, I need to explain, please." I would feel better if she called me Richard.

Kori just nodded, her eyes welling up a bit.

"All that happened between Barbara and I was that we kissed,"

"That's all?" Dick wasn't sure if Kori sounded relieved or if she was being sarcastic.

"I actually was thinking about you, I was wishing I was with you." He said honestly.

Kori considered this – was it offensive or flattering? "I see," was all she could say, not sure what to feel.

"Kori, I messed up. I should never have gone home with Barbara. It was wrong, and I regretted it immediately."

Kori paused as she analyzed his face, and believed he was sincere. "After I saw the picture in the paper I did wonder why you would have asked me for my phone number the same day as you had a date with someone else. I see now it was not the situation."

"It wasn't like that."

"I'm glad." She smiled slightly. "Thank you for telling me." Kori said, still getting her mind around what she had been told. She really didn't want to deal with these kinds of complications, but apparently, they were part of the territory.

"Kori, I am with you and only you now. I'm so sorry we ran into Barbara today, I wanted this day to be perfect."

"I certainly had a wonderful time earlier, when we were alone," she told him honestly, finding she wanted to bolster him up again, he seemed a bit defeated. "However, I am glad Vic found us and we got to spend time with our friends."

"Yes, it has been fun. I like everyone even more when I'm with you," he said with a chuckle.

His face turned serious again, "Kori, are you alright with everything?"

Kori didn't answer. "We better get back to everyone, I do not want to miss the elephants."

She started to walk and then it occurred to her – Dick didn't have to tell her anything! He was trying to be completely honest with her. He trusted her, trusted them enough to risk everything by telling her the entire truth!

Kori then halted and turned to him and kissed him fully in the mouth.

"Thank you Richard."

He gave her a confused look as a smile returned to his face. "For what?"

"You did not have to tell me the details of the last time you were with Barbara. We were not together yet, in fact we had literally just met. Thank you for trusting me, trusting us enough to be completely honest."

Relief washed over him. How could he have possibly gotten so lucky? Along with everything else that he realized he loved about her, how could she be this understanding too? She certainly proved that she could be very understanding.

"I think I should be thanking you. What you just said means more to you than you will ever know," Richard said with complete sincerity. "Now why don't we get back to our seats so we don't miss the elephants."

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The elephant polo demonstration was a big hit with the crowd and Dick enjoyed watching them even though he had seen them before, although he found that he literally had to peel his eyes off of his date to watch them. He marveled at Kori's beauty, her enthusiasm, her kindness, everything.

When the regular polo match resumed, Kori excused herself to go find the bathroom. Dick offered to walk her, but she adamantly refused. He was having a discussion with some of the guys about baseball, and she didn't want to interrupt that. She was never one to gather other women to go to the bathroom in a group, and she honestly needed a few minutes to recompose herself, so she went alone.

Kori thought about Richard. While she was processing his situation with Barbara and his former playboy ways, what she really needed to get her head around what she was feeling about him. She was getting completely swept away and she felt things and wanted things she knew she shouldn't, at least not this soon.

She negotiated the crowd easily, a bit lost in her thoughts and feelings. She walked by a large tent, clearly "VIP Area". It was overflowing with men neatly dressed in sport coats and seersucker suits and women in dresses and hats, dressed similarly to the way Barbara had been.

She found the line to the ladies bathroom, having opted against the row of port-a-potties. The line moved surprisingly fast, and Kori soon found herself finishing up, washing her hands, reapplying her lip gloss and mascara, and brushing her hair.

Kori stepped into the sunshine and couldn't help but smile a bit. It was such a beautiful May day, there was plenty of sunshine, a light occasional breeze and low humidity. The cherry blossoms were long gone but the world was lush with green grass and foliage and plenty of flowers.

In the back of her mind, Kori felt that someone was looking at her, but didn't really worry about it. She wanted to get back to Richard and the match, but the vender's tents caught her eye and she stopped to look at some promotional items for the charity for abused elephants which the Elephant Polo team supports. She looked over the trinkets and took copies of some of the literature. When she turned to leave she came face-to-face Barbara Gordon.

"Hello, Barbara," Kori said cordially. She noted right away Barbara's pinpoint pimples, noting that was not consistent with her being drunk as Kori had thought she had been before.

"Oh, Kori," Barbara started, her speech pressured but thankfully not too loud. "I'm glad I ran into you. We need to talk about Dick."

"We do?"

"Oh, yes we do. You see Kori, Dick and I belong together."

"I believe that is for Richard to decide."

"Richard, you call him Richard? No one calls him Richard!"

"I do."

"Well, Kori, let me tell you something about Richard. I was with him only a couple weeks ago. He was all over me, like he always is." Barbara put a self-satisfied smirk on her face. "He may have said your name, but it was me he was kissing."

He said my name when he was kissing her? "Barbara, Richard told me about the last time he was with you. But I have to ask you, was it truly preferable to be the woman he was with rather than the woman that was on his mind?"

Barbara heard what Kori had said and she was speechless. Kori was right and Barbara didn't know what to say.

Kori took the opportunity to take her leave. "Take care of yourself, Barbara. I need to get back to my date."

All Barbara could do was stare at her, mouth agape, as Kori walked away.

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"There you are." Richard said warmly, walking up to Kori. He looked at her expression, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, Richard I am fine. But I did run into Barbara."

"Are you okay? What did she have to say?"

"We can talk about that later, but Richard, I am concerned about her. You have been friends for a long time, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, earlier this afternoon I was certain she was drunk, but then when I saw her just a few minutes ago, I think she appeared, well, high."

"Really? That really isn't her style. What was she like?"

"Well, her speech was pressured, her pupils were pinpoint. Perhaps you should talk to her, make sure she is okay."

Richard was once again bowled over by Kori. He was sure that when Barbara had just "spoken" to Kori that it was likely a confrontation and here Kori was, worried about Barbara

"Kori, I can check in with her later. We're here together, and I..."

"I do not mean to interrupt Richard, but what if she is driving? What if she has no one else looking after her? I think you should check with her for her own safety. I would go with you, but I doubt I am her favorite person right now..."

"I will go find her in a minute if you think I should, but can I hear what she said to you?"

"We can talk of it later,"

"Please, Kori"

"Oh, well I think she was trying to do the egging of me on, she brought up the last night you were out with her."

"The night that I just talked to you about?" Thank heaven I did that.

"I do believe so yes." Kori paused. "Barbara wanted to make sure that I knew that you were doing the kissing of her that evening, although when she told me you said my name..." As repulsive of a thought as it was, Kori did allow a tiny smirk to come across her face, "I, uh, I pointed out that perhaps it was better to have been the person on your mind rather than the person you happened to be with."

"You didn't." Richard said with a laugh, blushing a bit, and nervously started to rub the back of his neck.

"I did. I do not think she appreciated me pointing it out, however."

"I bet she didn't." Dick pulled her into a hug, looking her in the eye. "Kori, you are the only one on my mind. You are the only one I want."

Kori smiled, feeling a little uneasy because as happy as she was to hear that, she was a bit concerned over the implications of the term want.

"I believe you want to be true to me, Richard."

He pulled her close and kissed her softly on the forehead. "I promise I will be," he assured her.

"But I really think you should check on Barbara. I will return to our friends."

He let her out of the hug, looking her in the eye and taking her hand. "Let me walk you back."

"No, Richard, I'll be fine. Please find Barbara so you can help her. Last I saw her she was near the VIP tent."

Kori leaned up and kissed Dick softly on the lips. He looked at her, searching her face to be sure she was alright. She gave him a soft smile, but there was sadness in her eyes.

"I'll hurry back."

Kori responded with a nod and turned to go back to the stands.

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Dick watched Kori leave. There were no ulterior motives, Kori was that selfless. Barbara had been nothing but rude and horrible to her, and Kori looked past that, worried about Barbara's health, or the wellbeing of an innocent bystander. Dick saw it as unbelievably attractive. He smiled slightly as he felt a new depth to the feelings he had for Kori. Wow was it going to be hard not to act on those feelings.

Once Kori was out of sight, Dick took a deep breath and turned toward the VIP area to deal with Barbara.

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Almost 3,500 words, not bad. A little bit of a cliffhanger, the next chapter will be up very soon! I wonder what is up with Babs. Did Kori do the right thing, and will it cost her anything or will it instead pay off?

Thank you to all my readers and a special shout out to my reviewers! The more people review, the more incentive I have to write. I hope to update twice a week at least, probably with longer chapters.

LJ