I do not own the Teen Titans. Nor do I own the rights to the song, "Too Young"

Too Young – The Final Moments

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They tried to tell us we're too young, too young to really be in love

They say that love's a word, a word we've only heard

But cannot comprehend the meaning of

And yet, we're not too young to know

This love will last, though years may go

And then, someday, they may recall,

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Dick stood in front of Kory, staring at her, she staring at him. Both of her sons in the background stood at the ready, waiting to see what actions needed to be taken. They would not dishonor their mother the Empress, but they also would not dishonor Garfield Logan. So they waited.

As did Kondar, standing in the doorway, waiting either for a sign from his Empress or some action by Him, that would impel him to take action.

Dick continued to look at Kory. Then, he went down to his knees, bowed his head and cast his arms straight out at each side.

"Jaccle con konn'le wre, Jaccle con konn'le fryn, Jaccle con konn'le quant" Dick began intoning.

Starfire was stunned. This was the Tamarean ritual of Blame, Humiliation, Subjugation and Forgiveness. Richard was asking for forgiveness from her. His phrasing was atrocious and his syntax was abominable. Was her's in English that bad? Behind her, her sons had a combination of surprise and insult on their faces. This was the young child's version of the ritual. How dare he give the short version!

Roughly twenty minutes later, after much intoning, a little hesitancy over verbiage, a number of missed words and backward phrases, Dick stopped. He remained on his knees, head bowed and arms out. Kory was still stunned. Where had he learned the ritual? Now what to do? Her turn in the ritual was next. She had three options, she could say she forgave him, she did not forgive him or, given that he used the children's version, demand he do the full ritual.

Well, the full ritual was out. First off, it took eight hours to perform and he would have to stand on his left foot, on his toes for the first four, then switch to his right for the final four. Humans simply didn't have that stamina. Second, she didn't think they had eight hours left before Beast Boy journeyed on. She didn't want to waste those last precious moments in petty revenge.

Did she want to forgive him though? She looked at the green man lying in bed. This was her friend, her comrade through the years. She knew what he would want, with his great heart. Could she deny him this last request? Could she find it in herself to forgive Richard?

Koriand'r thought back over the years, to her years with the Titans. They were good, fun, full of life and friends. This was a rarity for a princess and an Empress. She wanted it back.

"Tal Mach." (I accept)

As was the next step of the ritual, Starfire got up, stepped over to Nightwing and grabbed him under the arms, raising him to his feet. She lowered his arms and lifted his head (which still remained in the bowed position). While this concluded the ritual, it did not conclude the interaction between the two. Kory promptly hugged Dick, who hugged her back, each of them muttering in English, "I'm sorry".

Around the room, despite the gloom of the situation, spirits lifted. Cyborg was practically in tears himself. Rita and Mark, who knew some of the background, if not all, had small smiles on their faces. As befitting the heirs and the royal consort, the Empress's decision was final, so they accepted her decision. She had forgiven Richard Grayson; therefore, he was decreed to be an accepted acquaintance of the Empress. Their feelings were irrelevant.

The two former partners moved over to the bed where Gar lay. Cyborg moved next to them.

"Gar, we're here. All of the Titans, we're here for you," said Nightwing in a soft voice.

All the while, during the ritual and afterward, Raven continued to watch Beast Boy's chest slowly, ever more slowly move up and down as his breathing slowed.

And so at last, the Titans had reunited. After many years and many trials, the five were together again, one final time. There to say goodbye to their friend, to think about the past, remember the good times, and there were plenty of good times, and comfort each other as one of their number passed on.

And steadily, Beast Boy's heartbeat grew slower and slower, his breathing shallower and shallower. Until finally, sometime in the very early hours of the morning, when all was still dark, Garfield Logan's chest ceased to move, the monitors showed that his heart had stopped.

As his chest fell for the final time, Raven looked at the green man who had been her husband all those many years. The smallest of tears formed in her left eye and made its way down her cheek. Putting her left hand on his chest, she lay her head down on his breast and closed her eyes, as if listening for the last echoes of his heart.

The three other Titans closed in on one another, Victor and Kory quietly crying, Dick with his arms around both, eyes wet with tears unshed. Once again, the leader there to supply direction and support to his teammates, his friends.

Rita began to cry silently as well. She had lost a teammate and was losing a husband, but to lose her son, this was different. Mark moved over to his grandmother to give her support.

After several minutes, Dick finally roused. "Well, I guess it's time to let the doctors and the others do their business. Come on guys." Dick, Kory and Vic began to move towards the door.

Breaking away from his grandmother, Mark moved over to his mother. "Mom," he said softly, "it's time to go." Raven didn't move.

"Mom," he said more loudly. He nudged her shoulder.

Raven's hand fell from her husband's chest.

"MOM!"

Dick rushed over to Raven, feeling her forehead, which was rapidly growing colder. He checked the pulse in her neck. There was nothing.

"She's…she's dead."

Mark, Rita and the remaining Titans stood stunned at the pronouncement.

Back when they were young, Garfield would never leave Raven alone, following her, pestering her, annoying her, loving her. They had traveled through life for 35 years. Raven would not leave her husband. Where ever his spirit would go on the next stage of his journey, she would be by his side. Whether to heaven or hell or somewhere else, she would go with him. Life, existence without Garfield was intolerable, inconceivable. She would do anything, go anywhere, risk everything to be with him. She would always be with him, at his side, no matter what.

She loved him.

We were not too young at all.

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And now, it's time to leave our lovers, for lovers they truly are. My thanks, as always, to the people who have read, and enjoyed, I hope, my small tale of young love grown old. My thanks and appreciation to those who have been reviewing this story as well:

TheForceIsStrongWiththisOne – Thank you. As you can see from here, the impassivity was more of anticipation. Yes grief, but more love and determination.

CrazyFlakes – I appreciate your review. No such thing as a 'too long' review, especially when you're being complementary. You are correct, within the concept of teenage superheroes, without believability, the entire story concept falls flat. Unless some motivation for characters acting OOC exist, then the story lacks that believability you refer to. I'll just avoid OOC entirely (I hope).

ChicoMagnifico, Mors101, Somewhere in Time – Sigh, once again I'm being rude and not answering you individually, but together. Here's the finale, hope you enjoyed it. (And yes, I thought it would be cool for them to have a normal son, just needed an explanation why.)

Novus Ordo Seclorum – As always, I'm grateful for your kind words. That was the one chapter I was concerned with, Beast Boy and his son, because it was such a departure from the theme of the other members, does she love him? I will admit, this final chapter was designed to pack an emotional punch, first the reconciliation of Dick and Kory to get hopes up, then, in contrast, the final moments. As for Raven's powers, it seemed logically to me, Raven's black energy gets out of control as a result of strong emotion, therefore, strong emotion needs to be suppressed and managed. Sounds like the Freud's Id concept.

The Flying Frog – Glad you've enjoyed the trip. Hopefully, that final paragraph showed Raven's thoughts without using Memory Lane. Glad you liked the Beast Boy humor, something this story, out of necessity, has sadly lacked.

Wolvmbm – It is the final chapter. I actually had the small tear written in from the beginning. Glad to know that there are others who believe she would shed a tear. Thanks for your appreciation, hope the final chapter merited it.

Raven of Alaska – Yes, despite a…distant…mom, Mark is a devoted son. I tried to show that here as well.

CraneLee – Thanks for the review. You were extremely close to the reality, well, the story's reality, she was waiting, but to not to save him, to join him.

I don't know how soon yet, but another story has been brewing in the back of my mind, a horror story. I think it will be fun. I will be taking a small sabbatical for a couple of weeks. While I always adore my wife, this tale of young love makes me want to spend a little more time with her. Plus, I need to get in the mood for a good horror tale, so until then,

Thank you, my friends, for your kind attention.