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Epilogue.

About a month later, the book came back.

Apparently, it had been left behind in the warehouse where they had fought the Brotherhood of Evil. The French press had discovered it and held onto it for a while, but they ended up deciding it had no connection to the battle and let go of it. It had wound up in a second-hand bookstore, where it was bought by a collector, and eventually resold in America—to Raven's favorite antique book store.

The same bookstore where she had found it the first time around.

Bound to me by magic, she thought when she found it, her fingertips brushing across the white leathery cover. It will always come back to me, no matter the turns it takes. She had bought it and taken it home all over again.

Just for kicks, she re-read it.

For a long time, after Malchior happened and before Rorek turned up, she had theorized that she'd felt so drawn to the book because it oozed magic. Now she knew the real reason she'd gotten so hooked on the words—they were her own.

As she held it now, empty for the first time in millennia, she could perfectly remember writing it. If she closed her eyes, she saw herself in the middle of it—with Rorek trapped inside, and Malchior meddling with her writing and messing with her head.

She could remember other things, too. She remembered Ansel proudly telling his comrades to go back without him, that he was staying in Vanlanz, the day after Oriel changed the course of the river so it wouldn't flood the capital ever again. She remembered the day Lilja met Rorek; how he'd helped her off a carriage and she'd nearly fallen over when their hands touched. She remembered the life after Samson and Delilah, where they met as children; the first time they knew it had worked.

If she had nothing else, she had this. Memories.

"I got to meet you twice, fall in love with you twice," Rorek had said to her on their last day. "Who else can say that?"

Me, thought Raven. If life was fair.

A knock on her door interrupted her musings.

"Rae?" Beast Boy said through the door. "We're going off to the pizza place now. You're still coming, right?"

"Be right there," she returned.

Pizza was the hook her friends used to coax her out of the Tower. Lately it had gotten into their heads that she needed to get out—and maybe they were right, who knew. Raven could only guess what they thought of her by now. For a girl who prided herself on reserve and self-control, her romances sure seemed to be dramatic, all the way down to their short-livedness.

She usually agreed to go out with them, because she suspected if she didn't, someone –probably Beast Boy- would soon resort to drastic measures the force her out of her room. Saying yes was an act of self-preservation.

However, as they were eating, trouble decided to happen. Robin had tensed up when the first police car raced by. He didn't say anything, but the rest of the team knew that look in his face, and began to rush their meal just in case. When two more police cars dashed by, Cyborg asked for the check. By the time they got the call, they were ready to sprint to action.

To their amazement, and because all stories must come to an end, it turned out to be the witch hunters. Even Robin had stopped expecting them at that point.

The hunters had decided to attack the police precinct where their companions were held. And Raven had been so sure they would keep targeting magic users; she was glad she hadn't bet Robin anything on it. The police had managed to immobilize a portion of them, by which Raven guessed their magic-repelling talisman probably wouldn't work against actual bullets. Remembering the last time she'd gone against them, she used telekinesis and patience to bring the enemies down.

They were nearly subdued when an explosion came from around the building—but a quick head count told Raven all her friends were in other places of the battlefield, which baffled her. The hunters could only repel energy. Could one of them have used an actual bomb to try and get in the station?

Going around the corner, she saw them: two hunters advancing on a group of three teenagers. She snuck up behind the foes and knocked their heads together, taking them out. Then she turned to the kids, ready to deliver a scolding on civilians meddling in superhero business, and the world slid to a stop around her.

There was a boy who had fallen on the pavement, and two more around him trying pull him up. All three froze in place when Raven turned to them.

But the boy on the ground she knew in an instant. She had never seen him before. He had jet black hair, pulled back and pushing past his shoulders, longer than hers. A bulky scarf all but covered his mouth and nose. Icy blue eyes with specks of yellow locked into hers when they felt her gaze.

Raven breathed in deep relief. Of all things, she felt peace.

The boy's friends edged slowly backwards in contained fear and amazement when the most elusive titan pulled down her hood and began to walk towards him.

"You okay?" she asked the boy. She could barely keep from smiling.

The boy nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, I… They told me this town had superheroes, but…" He trailed off. Raven could tell he was trying not to stare, but at the same time he couldn't help it. She remembered what that déjà vu felt like. He was probably telling himself he only felt like he knew her because he'd seen her on TV a bunch of times. "I'm not from here," he finally made out. "I'm only here 'cause I missed my train back."

Of course you did. A zany coincidence sounded about right for them.

He grabbed self-consciously at his scarf, as his pale cheeks colored. Raven guessed he was kicking himself over having fallen down. Maybe he was wishing he'd tried harder on whatever spell he'd pulled to resist the enemies. She would have to tell him all that didn't matter. But first things first.

"Here." She reached her hand out. "Let me help you up."

He complied, not taking his eyes off her as he reached out to grab her hand.

Then their fingers touched.

The End