Begin Again
She looks in the mirror finishing up a hint of eyeliner. Smoothing out her hair, she gives herself one last look over. She's not completely satisfied with her look, but this is probably the best she can do. Zatanna walks to the door and opens her shoe closet. Beside each other are a pair of heels and some sneakers. Her mind drifts back and forth wondering which footwear she should pick. John didn't like it when she wore heels. He didn't like it when she towered over him. Luckily, she wasn't going to see John today. If she had it her way, she'd never see John again.
As she leaves her apartment, she plugs in her headphones and presses shuffle on her phone. The beginning piano beats of Cafe by BigBang starts to play. John never understood this song or really any of her musical tastes. Kpop was always something she shared with...him.
She arrives at the cafe opening the door. To her surprise, he is already sitting at the booth, their booth when they were together. He sips his steaming cup of coffee as he laughs at a YouTube video on his phone. She honestly expected him to be late. He was always late when they were together. His eyes look up to meet hers, and he stands up as if a drill sergeant called for attention. He flashes a shy smile giving away how nervous he is. She approaches the table, and he takes her hand guiding her into the booth. She blushes. John was never this nice.
He orders her an unsweetened iced tea with a wedge of lime. She's surprised he remembered. They talk about the Team, about their friends. Artemis seemed to be coping well and moving past the loss of Wally. M'gann and Conner have moved in together. Raquel sadly divorced Noble, but they maintain an amicable partnership for their son, Amistad. Kaldur has found a new beau in a warrior named Wyynde. She updates him on her new students and how nervous she feels about teaching magic. He tells her she's the best and those kids will become the brightest magicians in the realm thanks to her. He doesn't understand why she seems shy today. But she knows why. She's scared to ask about his life. She doesn't want to hear about him and Barbara. Instead, he tells her about his new gig as a personal trainer. He seems really happy and enjoys helping people get fit. She relaxes when he talks about needing extra cash now that he's living alone again...without Barbara.
Suddenly she feels at ease with him like when they were kids. Memories of a mischievous little boy flood her mind. She smiles as her mental image of a young cheeky smile and mop of boy band hair grows and morphs into the clean cut, broad shouldered, chiseled man sitting before her. Hoping to distract him from the flush appearing on her cheeks, she tells him a cheesy joke about a piano and a fish. To her surprise, he throws his head back laughing like a little kid. John never thought her jokes were funny. But he did. He always shared her sense of humor. It is at this point, this moment right here that she realizes she wasted the past eight months. She wasted them on that fool John who made her think that true love was unattainable as it just breaks and burns people. Instead, in this very cafe, with Dick Grayson sitting in front of her flashing his Chalant smile, she watches true love blossom again. With her first love, on a Wednesday, in a cafe, she watches it begin again...
Begin Again-Taylor Swift