Regardless of how many stories I have, I finally have decided to keep on going with this story. I have been thinking of deleting this story for a while, but I got my creative skills going. I've even got a sequel planned out for this already. I know I am weird, say so in your review if you think I am. Anyways, for those who are a fan of my story Bitter Rose, I have updated it recently, so feel free to check it out. As well, just as I updated this, I posted the second chapter of Pernicious Deception, my Beast Boy and Raven pairing story. Please check that out.

Thanks to all that reviewed last chapter, and for the overall answer to most of your questions: Richard isn't out of the story just yet. In fact, his role just started to play in this story. You'll all find out as the story progresses.

This story, unfortunately, won't be very long, maybe only 5-7 chapters. The sequel wouldn't be very long, either.

Enough of my rambling and on with the chapter! Please review when done reading.

Chapter Three

"Anything on Kori yet, Vic?" The gentle, feminine voice erupted in my ears. My mind seemed to barely pick up whatever was going on. My eyes were shut, and I couldn't move my body. I was half-asleep, and had a throbbing headache. I didn't know where I was but at the moment in my half-conscious state, my ears were picking up two people talking next to me. Everything seemed a blur on what had happened to me and to why I had this enormous headache.

"She's still in the unconscious state, Toni. Don't worry, though. She should be coming around in a short while." A deep, manly voice replied with hope and optimism. I'm not unconscious, I wanted to shout out, but being unable to move my body didn't help.

"This was why we didn't tell her of the…accident. We knew that she wouldn't be able to handle all this shock in such a short notice." I immediately knew why I was in this wretched state. I had fainted a short while after I found out that Richard and Rachel were dead. Why did I have to be so emotionally unstable? Now, everyone was worrying about me unnecessarily. No one had to worry about me like my friends did. Even though they accepted Rachel and Richard's union, they understood my problem and knew what I was dealing with. Nothing I knew could keep me away from them, especially my dear Rosemar'i or Toni.

"Should I wait outside, or will she wake up soon?" asked Toni. I could recognize her accent anywhere.

"No, it's alright. You can stay in here with me, while we wait…" Vic was halted by a squeal, which sounded like a car screeching in my ears. I wish I was able to see who it was, but my body was still in no mood to move.

"MAMA! Why sleeping right now?" I gasped slightly, or so I tried, when I figured out who he or she was. It was Rosemar'i; my precious Rosemar'i. "Why are you sleepy when everyone is having so much fun?"

I felt a tear fall down my cheek, and I knew it was because my daughter didn't know why I was like this. Vic cleared his throat, before speaking to my daughter, "Rose, honey, your mommy is very tired now. She will wake up very soon. Why don't you go play with Ella and Nick, while your mom sleeps?"

"Mama no sleep on vacawon." I couldn't help but smile slightly when she said that. Her sh sounds still haven't come yet to her. "Mama wake up. She have fun like me."

Toni's gentle voice was brought down to a whisper, "Rose, do you want mommy to wake up when she is very tired? She drove all the way here, and she is very tired. You got to sleep, but mommy didn't. Do you think it is fair that you got to sleep, but mommy didn't?" Suddenly, I realized how much Toni was good with children. I shouldn't take her for granted. She chose to stay with me, and deal with my problems as her own. If only I could do something in return, everything would be perfect. Well…almost perfect.

"You right! I wait for mama, and now I go pway with Nicky and Eleanor!" I could almost hear her skipping her way out the door.

I heard Vic say, "You'd think the girl would be able to say Nick right, if she could say Eleanor right."

Chuckling slightly, Toni answered in between giggles, "Don't you know Nicky is a pet name for Nick. Don't you know that Rose has a crush on Nick? I have to say that I'm disgusted that you don't even notice things like these, especially since you are a parent."

In response, he just choked on what he was going to say next, and started to hyperventilate in means of short breaths. Right after his breathing returned to normal, he replied, "Since when were you the better parent? The last time I checked you don't even have a kid."

Toni, I thought, seemed surprised because she took quite a bit of time to answer. When she did, I never knew the extent of her dedication to my daughter and me. "I don't know. I guess, ever since I moved in with a Kori and her newborn, I learned a lot about parenting, along with Kori. I would always go with her to parenting sessions. I feel as if it was my responsibility to help Kori and Rosemar'i in all situations: bad or good. I guess I feel like they are family until I know Kori go live on her own with Rose. She has gone through way too many heartbreaks; I feel as she needs help."

Vic was astonished, I could tell, by his silence. "You sacrifice your life just to help Kori. Man, Kori is lucky to have you regardless of what she has been through. You will keep her going on in life, and prevent her from looking back in life."

Whispering, as if embarrassed, Toni replied, "Thank you, Vic." Before they were able to continue on their conversation, my eyes flew wide open and I immediately sat up.

Toni and Vic were startled by my impromptu wakening. After a few seconds of gathering in of what had happened, Toni rushed over to hug me.

"Oh my god, you're alright! I thank God you're alright." Toni embraced me tightly as she kept on ranting in my hair on how she was glad to see me awake.

I haven't realized the extent of her love for me until now. If anything had happened to me, she wouldn't have been able to handle it. That's the exact reason why I need her to be happy with someone. She would take care of me and sacrifice her life for me. That's exactly why I need to get her on a date. Maybe there was someone out there who was a past Titan, and who was still single. However, who was out there? Vic, Wally, Garth aka Aqualad, Gar and Xavier aka Red X were taken. Yes, I know Red X was an anti-hero, but he decided to become a hero and became an honorary titan. Vic was with Karen, Wally was with Jen, Garth was with my sister, Koma, Gar was with Tara, and Xavier was with Slade's daughter, Rose (she's good, don't worry). Who else was there? The only person left was…Roy, who was apparently dating Jade. Maybe, I could set up a date for Toni with a person who already had a girlfriend. The only thing I had to do was to break up Roy and Jade, and Roy was all Toni's.

"I'm fine, just tired. I heard all the talking from Rosemar'i talking in the room, to Toni confessing that she felt it was her duty to help me out, when I was half-conscious." I grinned slightly when I saw Toni blush and when I heard Vic whistle a familiar tune.

I knew why Toni was blushing, but why was Vic whistling? He didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, other than the fact he didn't know that Rose had a crush on Nick. "Vic, why are you whistling? Is there something else you haven't told me?"

Vic's eyes bulged out as if they were pulled out. "How did you…guess…that…I-I-I…" Vic stuttered over each word, while I rolled my eyes, a trick I learned from…Rachel. Even saying her name made me want to vomit because of all she did to me.

"Spit it out, Vic and Toni for that matter. I know that both of you aren't telling me something." I threatened with my glowing green eyes. However, I was never successfully able to threaten someone after the Titans disbanded with my glowing green eyes.

"Gar…Tara…dead…" Toni stuttered as well over the words.

It took me a few minutes to understand what she was trying to say. When I did understand, I almost screamed, "GAR AND TARA ARE DEAD?! HOW?"

Vic sighed deeply before answering, "Only Tara is dead. She died in a car accident on the Interstate I-5 when she was driving to Seattle. It happened on the same day Richard and Rachel died."

"Poor Gar. Do you think Richard, Rachel, and Tara's death were coincidental that they were on the same day, or do you think it was done intentionally?" I asked my detective skills and instincts kicking in. I couldn't help but let few tears roll down my cheek. Even though Tara was a traitor, she apologized for her mistakes and asked if we could take her in again. Tara was a good friend, and I could never let a good friend like her go past in my memories and from my life like that.

Vic answered this time, "They were both accidental, we know that for sure. How they died, we might never know."

Next, Toni replied to my question, "Like Vic said, it was accidental, but how is the question. We thought you wouldn't be able to take it. That's the reason why we didn't tell you as soon as you woke up. I couldn't even take it, even though I don't know Tara that well. It felt as if I lost a good childhood friend."

I knew exactly what Toni meant. However, the death of Tara hit me more because I knew her ever since she became a member of the Teen Titans. On the other hand, I need to let everything go and leave the past as the past. Nevertheless, I still had a question roaming my mind. "What about Brad? Is he fine? Is Gar fine? How is he coping with this? Now that I mention it, where's Nightingale going to live?"

"Gar and Brad are coping fine. In fact, they're both coming today for dinner to see you, and receive comfort from you. As for Nightingale, she's going to live with Richard's adoptive father, Bruce. Because Arella is in such a condition, they thought the custody of Gallia." Vic answered with a sigh, as if he knew that Gar didn't take the death well.

"So he's the visitor you said would be coming to surprise me? And Nightingale's real name is Gallia? I thought Nightingale was her real name." I asked with hope and somewhat question.

"No, he isn't. There is a special someone I would like you to meet. He will also be coming for dinner. As well, Gallia is Nightingale's real name. Rick wanted a name for his daughter associating and similar to her future fighting name. He didn't like Gale, so they chose Gallia." Vic answered once again, while Toni looked irritated.

"Why don't we just let Kor rest while we get ready for dinner? Besides, she needs the rest. Kori, you go to sleep, while I try to drag Vic out of this room." Toni replied, while glaring daggers at Vic.

Vic was very persistent in staying to make sure I was alright, after my faint, but Toni kept on pushing him out the door. Once they were out of my room, I flopped onto the bed and tried to sleep. Drowsiness eventually clouded my eyes and one eye closed as the other eye followed without delay.

Being nervous couldn't even explain how I was feeling right now, as I waited in the living room with everyone else patiently. We were all waiting for Gar, Brad, and the special visitor to arrive for dinner. As soon as I woke up from sleeping, I started to get ready for dinner. Though I dare say, I did have a good sleep. Maybe one of the best sleeps I had in a long time. Here and now I was with the others waiting for my dear friends, in one of my ugliest dresses. I wore a princesse, with a black sash from the hem to my waist, a very beautiful ruby fitted top, and a black gently flaring skirt. I wore red ruby high heels. I wore minimal make-up, just ruby lipstick and blush. My hair was crimped, which I then put it in a half-pony tail. Star earrings daggled from my ears, a gift from Toni.

Everyone else said I was absolutely fabulous, and that the visitor wouldn't be able to resist me. Therefore, I concluded my visitor was male. I wanted to say that no male would be able to resist me, because of my rotten attitude towards single men, but I strained from saying so. I'm just glad Rachel wasn't here with us, and then she would have found out what I would have wanted to say.

Busy chattering among my friends clouded the room's atmosphere, and it almost allowed me to scream, and they still would have never noticed. I wanted more than ever to meet Gar and Brad and see how they were after all these years. I never had seen Brad; I have to admit, other than from pictures Tar always sent me via email. From what I have seen, Brad was so cute; I wanted to bite his cheeks out of his face. His platinum blond hair was from Tara's side, which really complimented his sea green eyes from Gar. Now that I thought of babies, Nightingale's – I mean Gallia's – picture formed in my mind. She had jet-black hair from Richard, and damask (dark purplish-blue) eyes from Rachel's side of family. She was cute beyond belief, but no one would out shine my daughter, my little bumglorf. Her biological father might've been him, but no one could ever take my place as her parent. Rosemar'i, at the moment, was in the playroom with Nick and Ella. Before I was about to open my mouth to talk to Toni, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get that!" Karen said enthusiastically as she whipped across the room in such speed, my hair flew in the air. I waited eagerly for the visitor, hoping it was Gar and Brad. However, when the visitor came into view after Karen, I thought I was delusional. There stood a tall, slim, jet-black haired, blue-eyed man, who I could've sworn was a spitting image of Richard. How was that true? Richard was an only child, and Richard himself was dead. How could someone look so much like him, other than his hair style.

"I know what ya thinking, Kor," Vic answered to my astonishment, "He's not Richard, but his adopted brother, Timothy Drake. Tim, meet Kori. Kori meet Tim."

'Tim' leant forward to reach for my hand, while I hesitated to shake his hand. When I did, he whispered, as if he didn't want the others to hear, "I'm Tim. I'm looking forward to know about you."

I was astonished because that's how Richard talked, and he had the exact same tone of voice. Only one question swirled my mind that minute: Who was this man?

That's it! Please review this chapter, Bitter Rose, and Pernicious Deception. I am desperate for reviews!

As well, I have a challenge for you all. I am holding a contest for Beast Boy and Raven one-shots. These are for the people who are hardcore Robin and Starfire fans. This is a little challenge for all those RobxStar fans to see if they can write about Beast Boy and Raven and their relationship.

If you have a submission, please say so in your review, NOT IN A PRIVATE MESSAGE! I'll check your profile and read all the submissions. The deadline is March 30, 2007, so start writing!

I will announce the winners in the fourth chapter of Close to the Heart.

For the first three winners, they can tell me what to write for my next three oneshots.

So happy writing and please review, when you are done reading this!