Disclaimer: I so not own the Teen Titans, or the Christian religion. Obviously.
A/N: Hi, all! I know what you're thinking. "What is Draco Blade doing writing another story, when he should be finishing the Beast of the Opera?"
Answer: I really don't know. I just had to write this. It's both romantic, and exceptionally spiritual. Also, I'm gonna be basing this story off the Christian religion, which I am a member of, and proud of that fact. So no flaming the religion. You no likey, you no ready. Easy as that.
Also, it's gonna be BB/Rae pairing, mostly Raven-centric. Read now!
A NEW FAITH
If you know me, you know that I'm not generally a religious person. At all. Being half-demon can do that. It's hard to believe in one as great and glorious as God when your own father is a servant of the Dark One. How could the daughter of Trigon ever be religious? It was unthinkable.
And yet, here I am today. Touched by an angel, and changed by God. For the better. I have a home in a wonderrful city. I have great friends. And I'm still alive. I savor that last fact as much as I do the rest.
From the first day of my birth, I was told I would end the world. I was told I would die two months after my fifteenth birthday. I was told that Trigon, the eighth demon, my father, would come to this world by me. And I would die in the process.
And yet, here I am today. Completely alive, and still breathing. And Trigon is gone, forever I pray. The Dark One has lost his favorite servant. And yet I still asked myself...why?
Why was I still alive? Trigon's emergence should have killed me. But I was saved. And by someone I would never have expected. God himself.
The Holy Spirit saw fit to spare me, and give me life. I did not die, but was kept alive. Despite the decay and ruin of the world around me, I was still alive. And so were my friends. All of us were saved by the glory of God.
I wasn't always like this, obviously. I was cold, dark, and sarcastic. I prided myself in being atheist, and following no such religion. Even after the 'End of the World.' That is, until I saw the light. I was touched by an angel.
An angel with green skin. This is what happened:
FLASHBACK...In other words, the actual story!
"Has anyone seen BeastBoy?" Robin asked. All of the Titans, minus BB, were sitting in the common room, on the couch. Robin was standing up, looking over them all. It was late Sunday morning, and rain was gently tapping the windows, giving the day a very gloomy look.
Starfire looked up at Robin with her wide, green eyes. Cyborg was playing a video game on the TV, ignoring them all completely. Raven was reading a book, but looked up when Robin asked the question.
"Yeah, where is he?" she asked. "He hasn't bugged me all day. And it's almost noon. I've usually thrown him out of the tower twice by now."
"Truthfully, I have not seen our friend," Starfire said, growing worried. "Do you believe he is alright?"
"Have you checked his room?" Cyborg asked, still playing his game.
"And the rest of the Tower," Robin said. "He missed combat practice, and he's going to be late for lunch. Where is he?"
It just so happened that at that particular moment in time, All four of them heard the automatic doors of the tower up. They hissed close as their newcomer walked into the tower. They could even hear whistling coming from the bottom.
"BeastBoy?" Starfire asked them. Robin shrugged and lead the way. All four of them zoomed down to welcome/strangle the late Titan. They all four reached there at the same time. And all four were very surprised at what they found.
"What?" BB asked, seeing his four friends stare at him. He was dressed in civilian clothes, nothing any of them did anymore. He had on a pair of jeans and a white shirt. A brown jacket was over that, with a white and red baseball cap to top it all off. The only thing he wore of his old costume were his boots and gloves.
"Why are you dressed that way?" Raven asked, pointing pout his fashion statement.
"I just...wanted to go out, that's all," BB said, shifting his eyes around frantically. "Nothing big. Just...taking a stroll?"
"Okay..." Robin said, not convinced at all. He dropped it, however, and instead became angry. "BeastBoy, you missed combat practice today. And what would we have done if the city was under attack? You left your communicator here! How would we have reached you?"
"Sorry..." BB said, looking down a bit. "I didn't mean to make you guys worry. I just...had something to do, that's all."
"Well, see to it that it doesn't happen again," Robin said, walking away. The rest of the Titans followed behind him. Raven stopped to take one last look at BB, who still had his head down. She made a mental note to herself to ask later and then walked away.
TEN MINUTES LATER
BeastBoy looked up as he heard a knock on his door. He was dressed in his uniform now, as usual. He got up and jumped over the many piles of discarded clothing that dominated his room. Stuffing a stank ball under his bed and securing it, he answered the door.
"Raven?" BB said, looking surprised. She never came to his room, never! But here she was, floating a few inches above the ground, hood up. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No," Raven said. "I wanted to ask what you were doing. It's not like you to go away for hours, not bothering me at all."
"Feeling ignored?" BB said, grinning. He stopped as Raven made a motion to reach for his neck, then stopped. "Sorry."
"I want to know where you wee," Raven demanded. "Robin may buy your lame story, but I don't. Tell."
"I...can't," BB said, looking slightly worried.
"Why not?"
"Because everyone will make fun of me?" BB tried, laughing nervously.
"I won't make fun of you," Raven persisted. "I haven't even called you Garfield yet, though I must say it is an incredible piece of blackmail."
"Riiiiight..." BB said, not really sure he wanted to know what she was planning to do with his name. He sighed. "If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone else?"
"Uh...sure?"
"I...uh," BB muttered. He sighed. "I went to church?"
"YOU go to church?" Raven said, her eyes wide.
"Every week," BB admitted. "But Robin just never caught me 'til today. Kinda weird of him really..."
"I didn't know you were religious," Raven said.
"Kinda," BB said, shrugging. "My parents were Christian, so I am too. It's the way I was raised. I just never got the chance to go to church til I came to America. And now that I have time...I go every week."
"I didn't know that," Raven admitted. "It never really occurred to me that you would be the religious type."
"Like I said, I was raised that way," BB said. He looked up at her with his emerald eyes. "Have you ever gone?"
"To church? Are you kidding?" Raven said, a smirk almost appearing.
"Uh...no, I wasn't," BeastBoy admitted. "I was really asking."
"Oh, well...no," Raven said. "I have never been to a church service, or any other kind of religious service for that matter. I'm atheist."
"You are?" BB replied. He actually looked saddened by this. He slouched slightly, and his ears drooped. "So...you don't believe in God?"
"Not really," responded Raven. "It's kind of hard to believe in someone that has never been there for you. And the fact that I'm half-demon should explain itself."
"What does that matter?" BB asked. "Being half-demon doesn't matter. It never has before."
"It will in this case," Raven told him. "I don't even want to think what my demon half would do if I started worshiping. But it really doesn't matter what my demon half will do...because I never will worship. I told you, I don't believe in Him."
"Why not?" BeastBoy asked, curious. He stared back up at her, awaiting her answer.
"He has done nothing to prove himself to me," Raven said. BB looked shocked.
"How can you say that? After all that's happened?" he asked, dumbfounded. "Remember the whole Trigon thing? How can you say God wasn't there?"
"He WASN'T there," Raven insisted. "He did nothing. We five did everything. We were the only ones left. The Teen Titans stopped Trigon, not Him."
"And how exactly do you think we were there in the first place?" BeastBoy asked.
"My powers saved you," Raven said.
"Right," BB said. He smiled, revealing a small white fang. "Then just one more question," he said, grinning.
"Who saved YOU?"
And for the first time in her life, Raven was speechless. She didn't know the answer.
NEXT SUNDAY
BB looked around wildly. Making sure no one was around, he slipped out of the tower, unnoticed. His civilian clothes were back on, and he was going to church. Whether Robin allowed it or not. the green boy transformed into a great hawk and took the sky.
The green boy arrived at his church, the bells ringing loudly. He smiled as he saw the large crowd filing into the religious building. You never see this many different people all together in one place outside of church. People of all races, genders, and ages, all gathered together for a few short hours once a week. It always made BB smile.
He walked in and took a seat in the back pew. It was far from the rest, and rather lonely, but he didn't care. Even being in a church didn't save him from the occasional stare. Green skin will do that.
And even if others did see him, he was welcome here. No matter who you were, the church accepted you. The house of God never turned you down.
Just as BeastBoy was getting ready, he heard a soft thump next to him. Turning, BB saw a girl sitting next to him. The girl was about his age, and dressed in dark clothing. A black shirt covered her torso and arms, with matching black pants. Black jeans matched th shirt. She had on black boots with that, and had on purple eyeliner.
It was Raven. Even with the civilian clothes, BB would have recognized her beautiful propel hair and eyes. She turned to him as the rest of the guests continued to arrive.
"Before you say anything, I'm just here to sample it," Raven insisted. "I'm not changing faith, and I'm not believing in Him. This is just a sample."
"Whatever you say," BB whispered back, smiling.
AFTER THE SERVICE
BB grinned as he looked over at Raven. They were repeating the last prayer, and both their hands were clasped together. However, Raven had her eyes closed as well. She had a solemn look on her face, and she was taking the prayer VERY seriously.
Both looked up as they finished the prayer. Raven stared that at the reverend, waiting patiently for the next part of the service.
"May the power of God be with you until we meet again!" he proclaimed.
"Thanks be to God," said the congregation. As they finished, everyone broke the silence. People picked up their coats and prepared to leave, and children ran from their seats towards the door. BB and Rae stood up and walked towards the doors, where the reverend was waiting to shake hands with everyone.
"Good morning, thanks for coming," he said as he shook hands with the person ahead of them. They smiled and returned the greetings, then left. The reverend then turned to see BeastBoy, smiling.
"Why, good morning, Garfield," the reverend said, shaking BB's hand. "Glad to see you here again!"
"Good to be here," BB said, smiling.
"And who is this young lady?" the reverend asked, looking towards Raven. She slowly offered her hands and he shook it gently. She blushed slightly.
"This is Raven," BB said, looking over at her. "She just came to...try it out."
"Well, I do hope you enjoyed the service," the reverend said, still smiling.
"Yes, I did," Raven said, still blushing. "Thank you." The reverend gave her one last smile and then turned to the next person. BB and Raven left the church, walking down the stairs of the building.
"So..." BB said, turning to Raven. He grinned from ear to ear. "Same time next week?"
And, to his enjoyment, Raven smiled back ever so slightly. "And every week after."
A/N: Well, I hope you liked it. I'm a HUGELY religious person (couldja tell?), so I'm very proud of this. I want you guys to feel the same. Please tell me what you think, I want your opinions! Review!
Also: this is dedicated to my reverend, Father Genever! Thanks for teaching me, and leading my way. Rock on, dude!
And yeah, Review!
