Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long… but I like it.

Love is giving someone the power to destroy you, and trusting them not to.

-Unknown

A Bittersweet Symphony

Self-Loathing's eyes flashed, transforming Beast Boy into a fish.

"And that is why you must die, my little green friend."

…

Looking about her realm, Timid felt a slight twinge of satisfaction. The courtroom had been replaced by a very steep and very grey hill with a small clump of very tall and very grey trees at the top- a perfect spot to hide from view and still see everything for miles.

The twinge of satisfaction was soon overwhelmed with a desperate need to see Beast Boy again- after all, she hadn't finished apologizing to him yet! She still had 143,478,137 insults and injuries to beg forgiveness for, and if she waited too long it would become 143,478,138! Steeling her jello-like resolve, Timid dashed into the ground…

..and reappeared behind Self-Loathing. She was about to launch into her list of crimes committed when her mind registered the scene before her. Her jaw dropped as she saw Hope recklessly (and hopelessly) charge the dark emotion, tiny fists swinging furiously only to hit air. Then, she saw the weakly struggling green goldfish suspended by a dark tendril, and her eyes bugged out.

Self-Loathing turned her head in surprise as she heard someone inhale behind her.

"Umph!" grunted Brave, as she lifted a heavy punching bag off the ground.

Her training room had been mostly repaired, although there were still some cracks in the floor that needed to be taken care of, and the door to Intelligence's library was still a little crooked.

Suddenly, Brave heard a sound that made her drop the hefty bag onto the floor.

A book flew through the air haphazardly, as a woman in yellow jumped in surprise at the piercing noise that assaulted her eardrums.

An avalanche tore down the side of the mountain, triggered by the unforgiving cacophony echoing through the realm of a very startled Wisdom.

Rude sleepily stretched, puzzled at the very notion of being woken up by a noise while she was under her sleeping tree.

A floating strawberry exploded, leaving a large crater in the recently repaired Happyland Roadway. Happy giggled at the smell emitted by the fruity hand grenade before moving to investigate the trigger.

Throughout Raven's mind, five emotions looked up from what they were doing, the same thought in their head.

'Only two people in this world can scream like that- and Starfire isn't here!"

06:30

"Robin, I'm frightened of the scary camera people!"

"Me too Star, me too… but there isn't anything we can do about them- they've got us surrounded, and we can't attack civilians!"

"I could… try flying… again."

"Are you feeling up to it?"

"… Truthfully? I am much too nervous to get very far, especially carrying someone."

"Well, you-"

"No Robin, I will not leave you in the scary camera people's clutches!"

Suddenly, the Boy Wonder got an idea. Grabbing Starfire's hand, he leaned over and gave her a soft peck on the cheek.

"Will that h-ELP!"

The pair were in the clouds before he could finish his sentence.

Back down in the woods below, a man grinned wildly behind his telescopic camera lens.

Beast Boy lay on his back, gasping for breath. A very dazed Self-Loathing stood to his left, her ears still ringing from the auditory assault launched from Timid's mouth. On his right kneeled Hope, who was desperately trying to drag him to his feet.

"If you die Beast Boy, so help me God, I'm going to kill you!"

The girl made a very convincing argument. Beast Boy jumped to his feet, tripped, landed on his face, then jumped back up again. He was about to make a run for it when five emotions materialized before him.

"What the hell was that, scaredy-cat?!" shouted Rude.

Happy giggled at the rhyme. "You're a poet and don't know it!" she quipped, before getting smacked in the back of the head by Wisdom.

The new arrivals immediately began quarreling among themselves, until an impatient Intelligence put a stop to the bickering.

"QUIET!" she shouted. Seeing that her outburst had the desired effect, she turned to Timid, who was cowering behind Beast Boy.

"Would you mind telling us why you decided to pierce our metaphorical eardrums, Timid?"

The frightened emotion lifted a quivering finger and pointed at the still dazed Self-Loathing. "She- she- she-"

"She's trying to kill Beast Boy," finished Hope, "and you all know why."

Beast Boy didn't have a clue as to what his white-robed friend was talking about, but the others appeared to understand the message immediately. As one, they turned to Self-Loathing.

"Sister, that was a… most unwise decision."

"You coward- how about picking on someone your own size?!"

"I don't think you've quite put the necessary amount of thought into this course of action."

"I'm think I'm going to really enjoy this!"

"Meanie! Now I'm up to 143,478,140!"

"We're gonna fuck. You. Up."

Seven emotions and a changeling turned towards the last speaker with a questioning look on their faces.

"What?" shrugged Rude. "We are, aren't we?"

06:45

Cyborg twitched in his sleep, his recharging slightly disturbed by the miniature mushroom cloud floating over Raven's mirror.

Self-Loathing grinned to herself as she threw the unconscious body of Happy onto the pile of emotions beside her. It had taken a lot out of her, but the dark emotion had overcome her assailants, leaving her alone with her prey.

Beast Boy saw the four red eyes focus once more upon him and steeled himself for the inevitable assault.

"You idiot- run, Beast Boy!"

The changeling shook his head and stood his ground.

"You know," hissed Self-Loathing, "you're smarter than you look."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. Personally, he thought he was being pretty stupid.

"You know that you can run, but you'll only die tired."

'Oh.'

Without further taunting, Self-Loathing launched her tendrils at Beast Boy, who braced himself for impact.

The impact never came- a small white shield blocked the green hero from the attack. Of the three, none was more surprised than Hope at the stream of energy coming from her hand.

Of the three, none recovered from the shock as quickly as Self-Loathing.

THWACK!

The diminutive emotion fell unconscious to the ground, knocked out by a well aimed shot to the temple.

Beast Boy watched, frozen in horror as Hope collapsed onto her face. Suddenly, all he could think of was what would happen to Raven should Hope be defeated. She would be… insane, and he could think of no worse fate to befall the half-demon than the loss of herself.

The very idea drove him into a nearly maniacal rage.

Beast Boy felt the changes come, and he put up no struggle against them.

Cruel laughter echoed through his ears, as Self-Loathing taunted him.

"You really think that you can save her with that? Do you actually believe that you have the slightest hope of saving this miserable girl's mind? You're absolutely pathetic, you realize that?"

Her eyes flashed, and she focused once more upon the form of a fish.

The Beast still stood before her.

"Oh. Shit."

Raven felt as though a great weight had lifted off her shoulders- the pain, the agony… all of it was gone. She looked around, and found no sign of her alter ego. But she did see the Beast- bloodied, bruised, and beaten.

She ran to his side, shouting his name.

"Beast Boy!" cried Hope. She flung her arms around the enormous wolf-thing in front of her, the pain of her recent concussion all but forgotten. She continued her embrace as he lapsed into unconsciousness, shrinking back into his human self.

Raven threw her hands in front of her, desperately willing the healing energy to flow through her into the broken body before her.

Nothing happened.

And she despaired.

In the blasted lands of Nevermore, a small girl wept over the barely breathing form of Garfield Mark Logan, oblivious to the slow darkening of her garb.