Be(lieve in) Yourself

*SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH*

"Hnnnnn," Ace whined as he sat in front of Zatanna's door.

He looked over to Pocus who sat next to him. Frustrated, Pocus hopped back a bit, then rushed full speed lowering his head. He headbutted the door with a thud but only recoiled back with mild dizziness. Ace placed a paw on his friend's head to steady him a little. The pets looked at each other with concern. Pocus placed a little paw on the door while Ace continued scratching it.

*SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH*

"Ace! Stop that. You know how upset Alfred gets when you scratch up the door like that."

"Hnnnn," Ace whined as he looked back and forth between Diana and the locked door.

"Both of you go on. I'll try my luck with her."

Reluctantly Ace and Pocus walked away giving Diana a chance to open the door. She turned the knob a little, but nothing budged. Quickly she looked around to make sure Alfred wasn't nearby.

"I'm about to be very hypocritical, but hopefully Alfred understands," Diana told herself as she gently pushed into the door breaking the lock.

She entered the dark room. The AC was on full blast causing her to shiver. She gently closed the door behind her. An empty glass of water and a plate with some crumbs scattered on it sat atop the end table. Evidently, despite being very upset, Zatanna still couldn't rebel against Alfred's insistence upon eating something. Carefully, Diana tiptoed towards the bed. On it was a large curled up blanket sushi roll. From the hitched breathing she could barely hear, Diana assumed that Zatanna was indeed awake. The Amazon sat down on the edge and placed her hand on the giant sushi roll rubbing back and forth soothingly.

"Y'know. The Knights beat the Monarchs today 9-2. Swept the series."

"Hmmm."

"Yep. Their next series is against the Red Sox. In Boston. I'm sure Bruce could get us tickets to Fenway Park."

"Hmmm."

"I've heard the funnel cakes are great there. I also want to try a lobster roll. We may need a guide. Do you know someone who could help us up there?"

"Stop it. I know what you're doing."

Diana laid down to hug the sushi roll from behind.

"I'm just asking if you want to go watch a baseball game. Nothing more."

"We both know there's more."

"Well, come out and prove your theory then."

"Sigh"

Reluctantly, Zatanna unfurled from her cocoon and sat up with Diana. Zee's hair was oily and unkempt. Her eyes watery dripping tears down her puffy cheeks. She leaned back against the headboard with Diana joining beside her.

"Zatanna, it's been four days. You can't keep hiding here forever."

"Yes I can! I can't go out there. How can I ever face him again after what I said?"

"We both know Dick isn't one to hold a grudge like that," Diana reassured as she wrapped her arm around Zatanna's shoulder pulling her into a small hug.

"But, I've never hurt him so deeply like that before. Diana, you didn't see the look on his face when I mentioned his parents. I could see the color fade from his cheeks. His blue eyes looked so gray and hurt."

"You were angry. And quite frankly, I'd be lying if I said I didn't share Dick's skepticism of your new study group. However, I also know what it's like to be alone in the world. I miss my home of Themyscira. I don't really have anyone to talk to about all the contests of strengths my sisters and I partook, or the grapes gifted by Dionysus himself, or even the stars you could see from the highest point on the island. I know how you and Dick love your stars."

"I guess..."

"The point is, I understand the temptation of wanting so desperately to connect with someone who shares your own interests and history. And that's ok. But sometimes, we just need to be wary about the people we let into our lives. I don't know these other magicians well enough like you do, but I trust your judgement. And Dick does too. We just want you to do your due diligence that's all."

"Thanks, Diana," Zee sniffled as she leaned onto Diana's shoulder.

"As for Dick. I'm sure he'll forgive you."

"I don't know. I can feel his heart up in Boston. He's in so much pain and anger right now."

"Then, based on my understanding of that magical vow made between you two, he can also feel your sorrow and regret."

"Yea….probably."

"Then you know he'll want to patch things up. When you are ready, I think a trip to Boston will do you good."

"Yea you're right. Despite our fight, all I want is to be in his arms."

"What are you talking about? I meant go to Fenway Park for the funnel cakes!"

Finally, after nearly a week in solitude, Zatanna cracked a smile and let out a laugh. She pulled Diana into a bear hug. As Diana stroked Zatanna's hair, she leaned in and gently whispered.

"Fight for him, Zatanna. Even through the bad, push through, because he's worth it. And because you are worth so much to him."

Zatanna pulled back and looked at Diana with skepticism. She tilted her head and squinted her eyes. Diana simply smirked feigning ignorance.

"I've heard that before. You've been talking to Selina haven't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Why on Earth would I talk to my boyfriend's thieving ex?"

Diana got up taking the empty glass and plate with her. Just before she left the room, she turned around and sent Zatanna a cheeky grin.

"We text and share secrets," Diana teased as she stuck her tongue out.

Walking down the Gotham street, Sebastian stopped in front of a building window that was just reflective enough to double as a mirror. He slicked his hair a little trying to make himself look neat. He popped his collar and straightened out his jacket.

"Alright big boy. Time to make some magic happen."

Sebastian made his way to the café and spotted Zatanna waiting for him at a table. Putting on his best smile, he walked over.

"Hello there, Zatanna! How are you?"

"Hi Sebastian, I'm uh ok."

Sebastian waited a little awkwardly thinking he'd get a hug. After a few seconds, he quickly sat down hoping Zatanna didn't notice.

"Y'know, Pia and Davit were getting worried. You pretty much ignored all our calls and texts."

"Uh yea I'm sorry. I've uh been going through a tough time. Luckily, I didn't have any shows planned this week."

"Oh? What's the matter?" Sebastian asked leaning a little too closely.

"Well, see my boyfriend and I got into a huge fight, and he stormed out and…."

"Say no more Zatanna!" Sebastian exclaimed putting both his hands on hers, "You are going to be ok. I will help you through this and be there for you. I am always here to be your shoulder to cry on. You'll forget about him in no time."

"Uhhhh actually," Zatanna answered as she uncomfortably yanked her hands away, "I was gonna say I need some time away from Mystik U."

"What? What are you talking about?" asked Sebastian a little too harshly.

"I need some time away, Sebastian. I need to reevaluate a few things and I would like to fix things with my boyfriend. My still very current BOYFRIEND," Zatanna firmly stated emphasizing the word boyfriend.

"I-uh I'm sorry, Zatanna. That was very presumptuous of me."

"Yea, not very sumptuous at all."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Either way, I just need some space. That's all."

"Look Zee…."

"Zatanna. To you and everyone else, I am Zatanna."

"Zatanna. The reason I'm so uh insistent on having you in the group is because, well I need your help."

"What are you talking about?"

"I-Well we haven't been very honest with you."

"Go on," Zatanna grumbled as she crossed her arms

"We've been trying to get you stronger so you'd act as an anchor for a ritual. You see, my father has been afflicted with a curse. He's weak and he's been suffering for so long. With your help, I think we can free him."

"I don't know about this. What kind of ritual are you thinking of?"

"It's an anti-binding ritual. Designed to break most bindings holding anyone hostage. I thought we could use something similar to free your father, but I didn't want to get your hopes up."

"Oh I uh, didn't know."

"Yea. The curse isn't as strong as the helmet of Fate, so I figured we could free my father first as a test run."

"But what about your own father? We can't risk him like that!"

"No, it's ok. He's been through so much pain he'll be happy whether he gets out or passes on."

"I uh wow. This is a lot, Sebastian."

"Please, Zatanna. Help us."

"Sigh, ok. But after this, I need a break."

"Deal. We'll set things up for tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Ok. Tomorrow."

Zatanna and Sebastian parted ways. He arrived back at the abandoned apartment building he had been sharing with the rest of Mystik U.

"And where have you been?" Pia asked aggressively

"With Zatanna."

"Hmm?"

"She's having boyfriend troubles."

"Hmmmmm..." Pia glared

"Calm down, nothing happened."

"You'll forgive us if we don't believe you, Sebastian," Davit grumbled.

"Nothing happened! But we have to move up the timeline."

"WHAT!?" Pia and Davit exclaimed

"Are you out your damn mind?! She's not ready yet. If we go through with this, she will die!" Pia warned

"She wanted to leave Mystik U, Pia! If she goes, we lose all that we've worked for! Davit, can you prepare the Ruby for tomorrow?"

"I can, but Pia is right. The toll it will place on Zatanna will most definitely be fatal."

"Bah that's fine. Pia can just reanimate her."

"Asshole, necromancy like that is dangerous territory. For once, think with your horny brain. She dies, you get nothing!"

"I wouldn't say nothing!" chimed in an old frail voice.

Everyone turned to a dark corner of the room.

"If Pia is too scared to partake in necromancy, I shall bring your whore back to life Sebastian. Remember, I hold the key to all your riches and wealth. As long as I am stuck in my condition, I cannot reward any of you with unlimited power."

"Yes, of course, Father."

"Sebastian, you have scheduled to have Zatanna meet us tomorrow?"

"Yes, Father."

"Perfect."

The next day, Zatanna arrived at the meadow with Pia, Davit and Plop. There was a five pointed star drawn on the ground. Pia and Davit stood at two corners while Davit placed the Ruby of Life in the center.

"Ok, Zatanna, your place is at the top of the star," instructed Davit

"Sure. Ok. So what do you guys need me to do?"

"Just sit tight. Sebastian will come with his dad to iron out the details."

"Alright gang, let's get this show on the road!" announced Sebastian.

Zatanna turned around to greet Sebastian but was left stunned by who he wheeled in.

"You!" she cried.

"Hello, bitch. Lovely to see you again," cackled Sebastian's father.

In a floating chair, sat a shriveled old body of Felix Faust. He still wore his blue robe but nearly all his skin had shrunken tightly to his skeleton. He was almost all bones and wrinkles. His hair and mustache were gray and faded. His teeth yellow and cracked.

"Sebastian! Your father is FELIX FUCKING FAUST?!"

"Last time I saw you, you were nothing but a cold, soulless body. Shame boy blunder had to ruin everything," Felix growled

"Don't call him that!" Zatanna snarled readying her magic.

Unfortunately, red mystic bindings wrapped around her and held her down to the ground.

"What the?!"

She looked around and saw that Pia and Sebastian each held an end of the binding restricting her movements.

"Let me go! Let me go now!" she screamed

"Son, shut her up."

With a snap of his fingers, Sebastian took away Zatanna's voice. She cried and cried with all her might, but no sound came out. Suddenly, the meadow's façade began to fade showing its true colors. The green grass slowly died and dulled becoming a lifeless brown. The bright blue skies darkened with a glow of red painting the air. Wind started howling around the clearing. Even Plop began to change. Gone was the lovable clear green flubber. His goopy body became dark and opaque. Arms with claws popped out and a giant eye appeared at the top. Sebastian knelt down close to Zatanna's face. With one hand, he lifted her chin up.

"Don't worry, Zatanna. It'll all be over soon. Then, we can finally be together."

He leaned in to kiss her but instead she spat in his face and headbutted him.

"Argh. When this is over, I'll show you what a real man is truly like!"

Sebastian took his position on one of the star's points while Felix wheeled himself to the bottom.

"I've been waiting three years for this you know," Felix began, "Ever since that bastard bird boy destroyed the Phurba, I've plotted my revenge. I saw the way he looked at you when you collapsed lifelessly on the floor of that temple. He cares for you. Imagine the look on his face when I drop your once again lifeless body in front of him."

"Father! You said I could have her!"

"Silence boy! In due time, she will become your bitch. But until then, I want the Robin to suffer as much agony as possible."

Zatanna struggled hard against the bindings. She so desperately needed to break free.

"Stop resisting girl. From what I've heard, you don't really have anything to live for. Your father is trapped under Nabu's thumb and according to Sebastian, you and your boyfriend aren't on good terms. Face it, Zatanna. You're all alone. Oh poor, Zatanna."

Zatanna froze. She felt exhausted from all the struggling. She lowered her head in shame. Doubt crept in her mind all of a sudden. Maybe he was right. Maybe she didn't have a true family to come home to. The two most important men in her life were out of her reach. Silently, Zatanna began to sob.

"Pathetic. You!" Felix gestured to Davit, "Begin!"

Davit raised his hands and began chanting something in Sanskrit. The star below them started to glow bright red. Red lightning crackled around them. A beam of light emerged from Zatanna and fed into the Ruby in the center. Another beam shot out from the Ruby hitting Felix.

"Yes! Yes! I can feel my youth and vigor returning to my veins!" Felix exclaimed as the wrinkles began disappearing.

His skin began filling out. His hair grew back blacker and fuller.

"UNLIMITED POWER!"

Finally, Felix stood up stretching. He admired his now young again hands. Something was still amiss though.

"The power transfer is not optimal. Something is wrong. Boy! What's going on?"

"She's argh she's still resisting the Ruby. She's blocking the flow," answered Davit

"Why resist, girl? I told you! You are weak. You are alone. You cannot win. You have no one. No one will miss you when you die," teased Felix.

Zatanna closed her eyes and began letting go. She could feel her energy seeping out of her. However, in the back of her mind, in her darkest and lowest point, she started remembering a single moment. A single moment of light.

Three Years Ago

"Come on! Come on! Tlobrednuht dna gninthgil!" (Thunderbolt and Lightning!) Zatanna strained focusing on the target dummy in front of her.

"That's ok, Zee. Try again."

"Tlobrednuht dna gninthgil! Tlobrednuht dna gninthgil! Tlobrednuht dna gninthgil!"

Zatanna kept trying to force the magic from her hands but only little sparks came out.

Frustrated, she tried once more. A large lightning bolt did fire from her hands, but she wavered on her aim and missed the dummy entirely.

"Whoa!"

Dick leaned back as he just narrowly dodged the stray lightning which just barely singed the tip of his hair. Frustrated, Zatanna collapsed on the ground exhausted and sobbed. Dick carefully approached his girlfriend and hugged her from behind.

"I can't do it, Dick! I just can't! It's hopeless."

"Hey hey, no it's not. It's ok," Dick cooed as he kissed her cheek, "Nothing's impossible."

"I don't even know what I did against the Queen of Fables. It just happened. I just lashed out."

"Hey c'mon now. You saved me, right?" Dick tried to reassure her by nuzzling her neck.

"But what if it was just a fluke? What if we got lucky? I don't have the strength to control it. I almost burned your face off just now!"

"I don't believe that for a second. Zee, you are the strongest person I know. You can totally do this."

"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend. You don't have to flatter me."

"Ok. Let's try this then. I'll tell you what I see as your boyfriend."

"Yea yea I'm beautiful and sexy blah blah blah."

"No. You're scared."

Confused, Zatanna turned around in Dick's arms. To get comfortable, she wrapped her legs around him and hugged his neck while he held her waist.

"What do you mean?"

"You're holding yourself back. Can I tell you a story?"

"Ok?"

"So, you know that I come from a family of acrobats, right?"

"Yea?"

"Well, while I was able to perform with my family, there was one act that I couldn't really partake in. There's a move called the Grayson quadruple backflip. My mom would hang by her legs on one trapeze while my dad would swing towards her on the other. The tricky bit though was that he needed to gain enough momentum so that when he released and flew through the air, he could lean back and flip at least four times while airborne. My mom would then catch him and swing him across. It was one of our biggest crowd pleasers. My parents were trying to teach it to me, but I just never got the hang of it. I kept overthinking it. I worried that I didn't run back far enough or pushed off hard enough to get my momentum. I thought that I'd miss the arc of the swing and wouldn't let go in time. I thought that I didn't flip enough times and that I'd miss my mark and cause my mom to drop me. Over and over again I fell into the net below during practice. Finally, my dad pulled me aside. He told me that not everything had to be so technical. Sometimes, you just need to believe in yourself. Sometimes, you just need to jump and feel the natural flow of things. Trust in your ability and just jump. For one final practice run, I did just that. I closed my eyes, ran from the platform, and flew. I could feel the air blow by my ears. I didn't even count how many times I flipped. Finally, I just reached out and felt my mom grabbed my wrists. Next thing I know, we're swinging together, and she lets me off at the next platform."

"Wow. That's really amazing."

"Yea. I finally pulled it off. The signature Grayson move. I-I never knew that would be the last practice session I'd ever have with them though…"

"Dick, baby, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I'm ok. Point is, now I'm the only one in the world who can pull that move off flawlessly. Sure, I got there with a lot of practice and trials and errors. But sometimes, you just need to run off the edge and fly. That's all it is, Zee. A leap of faith."

"A leap of faith, huh."

"Yes. You're holding yourself back just like I did so many years ago. You're thinking too much. Probably stuff like 'what if I can't aim it?' or 'what if it gets out of control' or 'what if I scar my boyfriend's beautiful kissable face? How could I ever survive'!...OW!"

At that last remark, Zee playfully smacked his arm. She pecked him on the lips before he got up. Standing above her, he reached out his hand.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

Smiling, she took it and he pulled her up.

"Better question. Do you trust yourself, Zee?"

"I-I think so."

"Alright. Focus on the dummy. Forget all your worries and doubt. Just feel the flow of the world around you. Just, let it out and let it go. Don't hold back anymore."

Zatanna closed her eyes and stretched out her hands. She took a deep breath and let it out. When she felt calm and stable, she opened her eyes, and aimed directly at the target.

"Tlobrednuht dna gninthgil!"

A full lightning bolt shot out from Zatanna's hand and tore right through the dummy's head. Zatanna let out the biggest smile and squeal jumping around with glee.

"YES YES! I DID IT! DICK, I DID IT!"

She jumped into his arms as he spun her around!

"See! I told you! You just gotta believe in yourself. That's all it takes."

"A leap of faith…."

Present Day

"Yes! Yes almost there! I'm nearly at full strength and then some! Oh, the feel of UNLIMITED POWER!" declared Felix

"Uhhh ssss-ssomething is wrong!" stuttered Davit

"What? What do you mean," asked Felix.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Small snippets of blue lightning appeared mixing in with the red.

"Davit! What's going on?" asked Sebastian

"I don't know. The Ruby! It's becoming unstable."

"Uhh Sebastian, little help here!" Pia alerted.

The bindings were growing weaker. They began to tear as the air around Zatanna began to swirl. The energy flow suddenly just stopped.

"My power! I don't have enough yet! What's going AHHAHAHRG"

Felix suddenly felt pulled forward and fell to his knees. The energy beams turned bright blue and began reversing their flow out of Felix, through the Ruby, and back to Zatanna.

"No! No she's draining me now! Stop the transfer! Stop the ritual!"

"I-I can't. I'm stuck!" cried Davit.

"Plop! Distract her!" ordered Pia

Immediately Plop sprung into action and enveloped Zatanna into his body. For just a moment, the ground became stable and there were no more beams of energy going in or out of the Ruby.

"Is-is it over?" Davit shakily asked.

"Davit! The Ruby!"

Cracks started to form all around the Ruby of Life. Everyone just stood frozen unsure of what to do or how to fix it. Oddly, Plop started to vibrate and bubble.

"Plop? Are you ok?"

In the blink of an eye, Plop exploded sending his goop everywhere. The bindings Sebastian and Pia were controlling were ripped to shreds. The Ruby of Life shattered into millions of pieces.

"Noooo! The Ruby! MY POWER!" cried Felix.

With the Ruby and the failure of the ritual, Felix shriveled into an old man once again. Exhausted, he collapsed onto the ground and fell unconscious.

"Father!"

Sebastian got up and surveyed his surroundings. Davit knelt in front of the pieces of his broken Ruby. Pia held a whatever remaining goop that was left of Plop in her hands. Finally, he turned to where Zatanna was last seen.

She was upright and stood tall. Her fists clenched tightly by her side. Blue lightning crackled around her. Wind continued to whirl around her billowing her hair. She opened her eyes which now flashed bright blue. Pia and Davit pushed their grief aside and readied into a battle stance.

"You'll pay for what you've cost us!" Pia shouted.

"We taught you everything we know! Don't think we can't beat you," challenged Davit.

"Is that so?" Zatanna coldly answered as she tilted her head.

Everyone was taken aback at how Zatanna regained her voice, but they quickly regained their composure. Pia waved her hands and skeletons rose from the ground. Wielding swords and shields, they are charged at Zatanna. Unphased, Zatanna slammed her fist to the ground.

"Kcohsrednuht!" (Thundershock)

From her fist, blue lightning emerged and ripped through the ground below. The bolts traveled towards the skeletons and exploded upon impact causing all the skeletons to shatter into bones. Davit pushed his hands forward and made a motion to grab Zatanna. From the ground, two large rock hands popped up and held Zatanna above the air. Coldly, Zatanna almost didn't react. She just continued to glare at her former classmates.

"Guys! I can't hold her!"

"Smra, elbmurc" (Arms, crumble)

Instantly, rock arms exploded sending rocks flying. The others ducked for cover trying to avoid getting hit. When they looked up again, they saw Zatanna still floating in the air. She raised her arms, pulled them back, and in one swooping motion she clapped her hands together.

"PALCREDNUHT" (Thunderclap)

A huge shockwave came bursting from her hands. It tore up the ground in front of her and knocked all three Mystik U members back. Pia and Davit were knocked out cold. Only Sebastian remained. Slowly he got up to confront his attacker.

"We coulda hand something special, Zatanna! But now. Now, you just had to be one crazy ass bitch!"

"How dare you!" she exclaimed floating forward towards Sebastian.

"You lied to me.." she shot a lightning bolt to his shoulder

"You manipulated me…' she shot another at his knee

"You kept coming onto to me when I repeatedly rejected you…" out went another towards his stomach

"You tried to drain my lifeforce to revive your father and then make me your slave!"

Finally, she got close to him and grabbed him by the throat lifting him off his feet.

"C'mon Zee! Be reasonable!"

"For the last time, only my boyfriend calls me Zee. And right now, I am being reasonable," Zatanna glared.

Forcefully, she slammed Sebastian straight into the ground while multiple bolts of lightning crashed down on his body. Finally, the smoke cleared. Zatanna wobbled and took a few steps back. The sky cleared up showing its brilliant blue. The grass turned back to green with a few burnt marks here and there. She fell to the ground and sat upright. She leaned back on her hands and looked to the sky. Taking a deep breath, Zatanna just soaked in her huge victory. A bright gold light flashed before her. The ankh of Fate shined brightly in front of her before Dr. Fate stepped out.

"Nabu? What are you doing here?"

"I was sent to provide you aid, but given the scene before me," Nabu gestured around him, "you clearly have everything taken care of."

"But how did you know I was in trouble?"

"Richard called. Please remind him he owes me multiple chess matches. Fate is not one to be called upon like a common canine."

With a wave of his hand, Dr. Fate's ankh enveloped the remnants of Mystik U. Zatanna found herself sitting in the middle of a boxing ring. Looking around, she realized that Nabu had pushed her out of the pocket dimension and back into Paco's Gym. She got up and dusted herself off.

"But how did Dick know about…"

Smiling, she touched her heart realizing that their bond was still there and very strong.

"A leap of faith indeed."

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Oh. Hey Zatanna! Nice to see you!"

"Hey, Ned, is…"

"Oh, are these flowers for me? Yoo they're so pretty!"

"Huh? Um actually…"

Ned interrupted her by snatching the bouquet of red and yellow tulips. He walked back into the dorm room rummaging for a vase to put the flowers in. Confused, Zatanna entered the doorway.

"Um Ned. I'm really sorry but those are actually for…"

"I know," Ned answered before stuffing the tulips into a spare vase he found, "I just wanted to avoid telling you that….well, he's not here right now."

"Oh. Um, could you tell me where he is?"

Ned paused a little not looking at Zatanna. Finally, he turned to her.

"You guys gonna be ok?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

"Ok. Then he's at…."

He wasn't entirely sure why, but somehow, Dick always felt at peace when his legs were dangling tens of hundreds of feet above the air. When he was a kid, he sat atop the trapeze platform to cool off after a temper tantrum. As Robin, he didn't share Bruce's affinity towards brooding on gargoyles. He preferred to hang out on a ledge and just listen to the city below him. Such a habit followed him even to Boston. High atop the Boston Customs House Observation Tower, Dick gazed out into the bay. The sun was starting to set and painted the sky in brilliant yellow and orange. He leaned back a bit wondering if he should address his new visitor. Before he could make a decision, she sat down next to him on the ledge. She kept a small distance between them, still unsure of where they stood. As a peace offering, she waved a blue ice cream stick in front of him. He turned to her, gave her just a hint of a smile, and accepted the ice cream.

"Sea salt. Your favorite," she smiled trying to seem friendly.

"Yea."

"The view is beautiful."

"Yea. I like to come here at sunset. The glow of twilight hitting the bay makes everything shine."

"Hmmm"

The pair sat in comfortable silence slowly working their way through the ice cream.

"I can see why you like this flavor. It's sweet. Almost like vanilla. But then you get that hint of salt."

"Hmm."

Dick stopped eating his ice cream and looked down onto the streets below him. Zatanna fidgeted uneasily. Neither really sure how to continue. Finally, Dick broke the silence.

"I'm sorry. I know how hard it can be when you feel like no one understands you. It's pretty enticing when you meet a group of people whom you relate to so well. And honestly, I probably wouldn't have been able to resist either given the chance to bring back my parents. I'm sorry if I was overbearing."

"Sigh. No. Turns out you were right. They were just using me for my energy to revitalize Felix Faust via some dark black chaos magic or whatever."

Dick smirked and resumed licking his ice cream.

"But you knew that didn't you?" Zee asked

"I knew you were in trouble. I felt it. Didn't know where you were though. Or how you were in trouble."

"Just say it."

"I don't really want to."

She scooted a little closer leaning her head onto his shoulder. She linked her arm around his.

"Birdy, I'm sorry. I never should have lashed out like that. You were only looking out for me. I should have listened. I didn't mean a single word of what I said that day."

"I know. I know you were just saying things out of anger. But still. There was a part of me that felt jealous."

"How? No one could ever compare to you."

"But he knew so much about magic. He and the others were teaching you so much. I just thought that, well, they'd unlock your potential more. I felt like I was holding you back because he could relate to you so much more than I ever could. Selfishly, I didn't want to let you go."

"You're wrong. Do you know who I relate to the most?"

He turned to her as she intertwined her hand with his. She lifted it up and began kissing it.

"I relate to the boy who refuses to be constrained by the English language."

*KISS*

"I relate to the Jedi knight who firmly believes Han shot first."

*KISS*

"I relate to the skillful chef who can make a Michelin-starred meal out of bacon and eggs."

*KISS*

"I relate to the birdy who used to be the smallest member of the team but always had the biggest heart."

*KISS*

"I relate to the heartbroken child who used to laugh loudly and smile brightly to hide his pain."

*KISS*

"I relate to the hero who wrapped me in his arms night after night and let me cry in his chest when Fate took my father," Zatanna whispered as she shifted up to kiss his cheek

*KISS*

"I relate to the leader who worked countless hours to train me, hone my skills, and bring out the best in me."

*KISS*

"I relate to my biggest supporter who instilled so much confidence in me to be both a superhero and a headlining show magician."

*KISS*

"I relate the most to my lover, to the man sitting here at the edge of a clock tower holding a melting ice cream that cost me six dollars."

"Six dollars!? Zee, where the heck did you mmmmph."

To shut him up, Zatanna pulled his chin down to her for a long-overdue sweet kiss. After breaking apart, she rested her forehead onto his.

"No one could ever replace you, Dick Grayson. No one could even compare. I'm with you till the end of the line. You're stuck with me."

"More like you're stuck with me. Hehe"

"Either way, I'm right where you want me. Beautiful soul, mind, and body."

She rested her head on his shoulder again and squeezed his arm tightly. They continued cuddling as the sun slipped past the horizon. Night fell upon the City on the Hill. For just a brief moment, before all the city lights lit up, the stars in the sky twinkled.

"Finally," Dick breathed out, "the skies felt empty without you."

"Oh, don't you start! God, Selina was right. You are corny"

"Hey! I had the phrase engraved in our rings! Besides, you love it."

"…I do. I really really do."

They finished off their ice creams and shifted back to lean against the clock tower wall. Zatanna curled into a ball and wrapped her arms around Dick as he held her waist.

"Y'know, Dick. I'm kinda cold. You think we could get a hotel room for the night?"

"Hotel? Why? We can sleep on my bed back at the dorm."

"Baby," she purred kissing his jaw, "who says we're renting the room so we could sleep?"

"Hahahhaha," Dick burst out laughing, "I guess Ned would really appreciate that."

"I gave him flowers. He should appreciate how nice I'm being!"

"Shall we then?"

"In a minute. I want to savor this a little more."

The couple hugged and cuddle closely together. Neither really wanted to move from each other's comfort, but the wind was starting to pick up. Zatanna shivered a little.

"Zee."

"Yea?"

"…I told you so."

"Oh fuck off!"