Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans™, You've Got Mail (starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan), or any of their respective characters. I also do not own the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. However, I do own this story in its non-profit entirety. Similarities to other works are merely coincidental.
Author's Note: I do not own AOL™ or the screennames I have chosen for this fanfic. In fact, I don't know if the screennames exist. If they do, I apologize to their users for using them.
Also, The Puppy Song is used in the movie. It's expressing the wishes of the two main characters to have a special friend—which is what they gain from emailing each other. And I use some quotes from the movie, which I think everyone should see.
I made up the name for the video game Cyborg and Beast Boy are always fiercely playing. If it exists—which I seriously doubt—I apologize to the creators. The same goes for Beast Boy's weird magazine.
You've Got Mail
Written By JMPchick
1. Secrets In Titan's Tower
Dreams are nothin' more than wishes
And a wish is just a dream
You wish to come true
If only I could have a friend
Who'd stick with me
Until the end
And walk along beside the sea
And share a bit of moon with me…
"The Puppy Song"
It was a beautiful morning in Jump City. The rippling turquoise sea carried a fresh breeze, gently caressing the faces of the metropolis's citizens and bringing a sigh of contentment.
Raven was not a morning person. Nighttime was her domain; often she read a book as the long hours of the evening passed away like water between one's cupped hands—hours in which she should have been asleep. When the morning finally came, she was usually found (well, she found herself; she allowed no one in her bedroom save for her best friend Starfire, who knew better than to enter without permission in the morning) sprawled quite ungracefully on top of her bed, with a book lying open on her floor to the last page she had read before slumber claimed her.
In spite of all this—and the fact that she had been reading The Writings Of Eireden The Odd—Raven, the Goth Titan, woke up with an extremely strange air of bliss upon her very person. She should have been shell-shocked. She should have yelled for all the Heavens and Hells known to man to hear. But instead, she happily heaved the same sigh that everyone in Jump City was heaving, and swung her indigo cloak around her shoulders, clasping it with a red alien gem, the only adornment in her rather plain outfit besides her belt.
On the way to breakfast, she should have been completely ashamed of herself. She, Raven, the emotionless one, was cheerful! And nothing was breaking, no splintered shards of lightbulbs or vases lay among shattered remains of various objects on the carpeted floor. Heinous!
The double-doors to the common room whooshed open as expected, and she smiled as she floated to the breakfast bar. A few cupboards and a drawer shot open as they were enveloped in black, without the usual BANG!, and a spoon, mug, and teabag flew over to her. Raven caught them with her free hand and began making tea. She attempted to wipe her face of all feeling as some sense returned to her, but in vain.
The other Titans had been affected by the wonderful breeze also. The moment the sweet scent reached their nostrils, their best humors had been put on, but still, even they could tell Raven had been swept away by the wind. "Gone With The Wind", Raven thought with a mirthful smile.
"Uh…good morning, Raven," said Robin tentatively, as though expecting her to explode before his very eyes. "Did you—er—sleep well?"
Sleep well, thought Raven, feeling tickled with humor again. I never sleep. If he knew, he'd probably think me a vampire. "Yes. As a matter of fact, I slept very well." And with that parting statement, she seized her now-finished mug of tea by the blue China handle and floated through the doors, ignoring the whoosh, up to her room, still in good spirits.
:TT:
Raven sighed again when she reached her chamber. What a beautiful day. What a beautiful breeze, she thought and smiled again. Unbeknownst to anyone, not even Starfire, Raven held a rather large secret. And the fruit of this secret lay in…
Raven reached for her laptop, which was safely out of sight underneath her pillow, where it recharged when she wasn't using it. But now, she was securely alone in her room with the door locked. She seated herself on her bed, propped up by the fluffy lavender pillows (Starfire had forced her to buy something at least slightly girlie), and pulled her notebook computer out of its hiding place. She twiddled the mousepad below the keyboard until her screensaver, a large picture of a violet-colored ravens in flight, cleared and then she clicked on an icon. Its name was: AOL.
Raven typed in her username and password and waited impatiently for it to connect. She drummed her pale, slender fingers upon the sides of the keyboard, unwilling to admit even to herself that she admired the French-style manicure Starfire had whisked her off to the Jump City nail salon to get a few days ago. Starfire herself had selected bright magenta polish. Raven remembered the day well. The girl who had painted her nails had been a bigger Goth than she was (perish the thought!), with a nose ring and claw-like black-painted nails that reminded Raven uncomfortably of vulture talons. She shuddered at the vivid memory, and her reminiscence was thankfully interrupted by the male computerized voice that said calmly, "Welcome!" Raven's breath caught in her chest as her eyes automatically flicked to the mailbox icon—was it possible it was here?
It was.
The mailbox's little red ticker dropped into place with a click and Raven mouthed the words with the voice, "You've got mail", hardly able to contain her eager delight. Keenly, she opened her inbox, and there it was. She clicked on this too and settled back into her fluffy pillows (she wouldn't confess that she was beginning to like these, either) to read the message, smiling in anticipation.
To: whimsywings
From: veggiezoo
Dear friend,
Don't you just love Jump City in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies, even though I do not attend school. Fall in Jump City will do that to you. And I like the feeling.
I would send you a bouquet of sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms. Bouquet of sharpened pencils. There's fall in Jump City for you.
Raven's smile grew broader, one of pure pleasure. She almost laughed. A major lapse for her. The wind in effect, no doubt. She never laughed. She clicked on 'reply' and began to type.
:TT:
Beast Boy was having a very good morning indeed. Firstly, there was that lovely breeze coming in from the sea, and it had put him in a permanently happy mood for the rest of the day. Then there was the fact that Cyborg had been so caught up in the merry spirit that he hadn't picked an early-morning debate with him over what kind of bacon they would have this morning, tofu or real meat. So they had been able to, for perhaps the first time, consume what they wanted. And no one had complained when he burnt the tofu, either! Normally, when he did that, Cyborg would yell from the smoke and stench, but nothing happened. No sirens, no electric malfunctions, nothing. And, he had actually won a race against Robin himself in Grand Mega Ultra Prix 8000! Could the day get any better?
Beast Boy found the answer sitting in his laptop. He pulled out his swivel chair (it was green, of course; Robin had told him he needed something mature enough to fit his age, and if Beast Boy wasn't mature enough, an inanimate object in his room would have to fit the bill—for now) and sat down in it, supporting his legs and feet inelegantly on his desk. He set his laptop in its clichéd place—his lap—and cleared his animated screensaver, a motley crew of green animals flying, crawling, and doing whatever animals do. He clicked on his AOL icon and entered his username and password. While AOL connected, he lamely amused himself by changing his feet into a pelican's, a beaver's, a frog's…and so on.
"Welcome!"
Beast Boy hurriedly sat up a little straighter and focused on the mailbox. The red ticker clicked in place, and he grinned widely as he said along with the voice, "You've got mail." In his inbox, he scrolled past his renewal of subscription to the rather eccentric magazine WILDlife Unlimited and an email containing pictures of African animals to see it. And there it was. He opened it and his eyes traveled down the sentences as his smile grew larger.
To: veggiezoo
From: whimsywings
I like to start my conversations with you as if were are the oldest and dearest friends…opposed to what we really are. Two people who don't know each other's names or occupations, etc., etc., and met in an online chatroom we both claimed we'd never been in before. A big, useless fib. The obviousness of it all is still screaming at me even now.
Yes, I love Jump City in the fall too. The once-proud trees stand tall and bare, feeling naked and exposed without their decorative leaves, which are a mass of swirling red, orange, and yellow on the streets, on buildings, on taxicabs brimming with edgy customers. You said you would send me a bouquet of sharpened pencils if you knew my classified contact information. If I knew yours, I would send you a bundle of gluesticks, complete with a red ribbon around the middle. Now that's Jump City autumn in action for you.
Beast Boy laughed and tried to formulate a comeback response, but none came. She was clever, that was certain, and for the millionth time attempted to think of who she could possibly be, this enigmatic pen pal with a better sense of humor than him. But it was pointless to try to figure it out, because every time he tried, there was another email adding to the mystery and confusion. Perhaps, someday if he met her, he could attempt to straighten out the perplexing layers of her personality, but how stupid that would sound. It was almost as if her were falling in love with someone he didn't know, but that was impossible. Wasn't it?
I'm sorry if you think I stayed with Raven for most of this chapter, but don't worry, Beast Boy will have his fair share. Please review and tell me what you think!
I'm one of those writers who will write something and decide they despise what they wrote later. I guess you could say I'm fickle. But if I get enough reviews, maybe I'll be persuaded otherwise—hint hint.
Also, did you think this was too long? It's nearly 5 pages in Microsoft Word™. Usually, I don't write so much, but I want to stick with this story and think the chapters have to be a little longer than I usually type.
To sum this up, this is basically my first romance, and I would really appreciate tips and reviews. So, please review!
JMPchick