Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 15: Que Sera, Sera

Several seconds passed, but to Raven it seemed as if time had come to a halt. She eyed the clock on the cable box just to make sure her world had stopped spinning. Who was this woman? This person she had started considering a friend suddenly stepped out from the shadows, aware of their secret all along.

Aware that she and Garfield were strangers to this alternate reality seemingly painted especially for them. The tick tock of the clock in the kitchen cut the silence into pieces of unmanageable eternities. Raven sighed. She knew it was no use to feign ignorance. Mia obviously knew more than she was leading on.

Raven crossed her arms over her chest and stood, opting to speak before these eternities drowned her. "Who are you?"

"I am not an enemy, if that is what you are thinking," Mia said. Her back straight, hands clasped on her lap. Mia's eyes bore into Raven's, a small smile on her lips. It had been so long since she had been with the Titans that Raven did not even consider the fact that Mia could have been a threat. She stood firm, eyes narrowed, surprised how easily she let her guard down.

"Why are you here? What do you know?" Beast Boy said, his voice a whisper.

"I am Mia Laveau, daughter of Madame Laveau." Mia's smiled wryly, her grin a shadow of a fox's.

Raven felt the anger churning inside her, shaking her to the core. "So, you could have helped us, but you chose not to. You knew we were here from the very beginning, stuck in this fantasy land your mother concocted."

Mia shook her head and placed a hand to her temple. Slowly, she stood and took Raven's hand in hers. "It is not a fantasy, it is my home. It is home to many people. Who is to say your world is not the fantasy, Miss Roth? My mother does not have the power to create worlds, only ideas. She brought you here for a purpose, to prove to both of you that the idea of love does not have to be a foreign one.

"After what happened last night...well, I cannot bear to see either of you in any pain. I felt it necessary to come forward after what that excuse for a man did. I have been watching for a long time you see and, well, I adore both of you very much. Mother wanted you to realize love, to see that it surpasses the magnificent and the mundane. I am certain both of you wanted to realize this, as well. My mother may have brought you here, but it is my duty to bring you back. That is, if you want to go back."

Raven looked at Beast Boy, Mia's final words sinking in for both of them.

"What will it be like, if we return to being Titans?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, you will remember everything. You will be able to recall what you learned here, but it will feel as if you never left your home. Your friends will not know you were gone. Everything will be as it was. Except for the memories you will have of this place, of this moment. What happened here will remain with you for the rest of your lives."

They could go home to their friends. Their powers would return and life would continue as if nothing happened. If they chose to do so, both of them could pretend like this was a dream, just a dream of a place of a life of a love.

"What if we don't want to go back?" Raven said before she could stop herself. She felt her face begin to warm. Beast Boy stared at her, his eyes wide.

"If you do not go back you will continue to live this life as it is now. Simple as that—but I do need an answer and there is no reversing what path you choose."

"When, when do you need to know?" Raven tugged her hand from Mia's and went to stand near Beast Boy. He latched onto her arm both of them waiting for the statuesque woman to tell them their deadline.

"Let's give it a few days and I'll return. How does that sound?" Mia bowed her head slightly, her mouth in an unreadable line. "I am confidant you will make the right choice." With those words lingering in the air, Mia headed for the door and left the small apartment.