DISCLAIMER: Don't own, don't sue.

I hadn't planned on uploading this just yet, I wanted to finish another chapter or two first. But I saw that The Shadows Are Dancing had exactly 15000 hits. So, this is kind of a THANK YOU for that.

A/N: Here's the significantly darker version of "The Shadows Are Dancing."

Comatose

He drifted in and out of consciousness, only his determination keeping him moving against the rain and wind pushing against him. He'd swam across the lake to this island with the giant T-shaped tower on it, before that he had been traveling with little to no rest, just trying to get away from the people he knew were after him.

He paused for a single moment, staring at the entrance standing before him, and he turned in a circle, letting the wind buffet his rain-soaked shirt, and he looked out over the dark turbulent waters.

They were after him, he knew, for the secrets he held and had uncovered while working for them. He knew they were out there, but he also knew he had lost them. For now.

It would be several days before they could track him again, but he hoped he could at least spend some time with her first. That was all the mattered to him at that moment. He needed to see her and make sure he wasn't going crazy, that she was real and he wasn't in love with someone who had no idea who he was.

He knew he had known her before her status as a super hero in Jump City, the problem that stood before him was the fact that he wasn't sure anymore. The mind games, the manipulation, they had all taken their toll on him, and he was sure he was near the brink of something. Insanity maybe. Possibly a nervous breakdown where he would end up in a massacre, surrounded by bodies.

The introspection lasted a single moment, but by the time he'd returned to reality he saw the rain turn red, a dark blood red. He panicked, it was happening again, he needed to get to the door, get to safety.

He needed to see her and reaffirm his own sanity.

----- ----- -----

The knocking had started with three raps on the door in quick succession, but the longer she took to answer the door, the more urgent they became, like something was chasing whoever was out there.

The urgency was what had her walking quickly to the door. The others had been busy, that's why she was answering the door. And she would have answered it agonizingly slow to torture whoever dared interrupt her reading time on a perfectly rainy day, had she not sensed the urgency from this someone who might possibly be in danger.

She opened the door and it swung open under the combined force of the wind and the body that had been leaning against it, she suddenly realized the banging had stopped shortly before she opened the door. She almost panicked, but held her emotions in check; five years of constant meditation had given her mastery of her emotions and powers.

Or so she'd thought.

She gasped when she turned the fallen body over and recognized the face of the stranger. His eyes opened and those piercing blue-gray eyes assaulted her with memories she had almost forgotten.

"Hi! Wanna be friends?"

"Rae-chan, let's play tag!"

"What's this word, Rae-chan?"

"I-uh…um…is it alright if I kiss you?"

"Rae-chan, I think I love you."

"Rae-chan."

"Rae-chan."

"Rae-chan…"

His lips parted and a light sparked in his eyes, "Rae-chan…" Those were the only words he managed before passing out with a content smile on his face.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking a tight reign on her emotions and keeping them in check. She stood and closed the door, before turning and walking into the living room and tapping Cyborg on the shoulder. She would have moved the body herself, but she didn't trust her control over her powers at the moment.

Cyborg turned around and looked in the direction Raven pointed, he was shocked to find a comatose body lying in front of their closed door. He raised an eyebrow at Raven as if to say, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Carry him to my room," Raven said. It was not a suggestion, or a favor being asked for kindly. It was a demand, plain and simple.

Cyborg didn't hesitate to even pause the game he had been playing with Beast Boy, he dropped the controller and jumped over the couch before moving to pick up the body. He'd learned to listen and listen well when Raven used that tone of voice. It was not pretty when you didn't move fast enough for that tone of voice.

He followed Raven to her room quietly, it was useless asking questions when he wasn't going to get any answers, but…

Cyborg laid him on her bed and moved to leave, only pausing outside her door for a single question, "Who is he?"

"Ranma Saotome."

And the door closed in his face. He sighed and moved on to Robin's room, he wasn't going to trust this complete stranger until he knew more. He could get the information on his own, but Robin deserved to know they had a surprise guest in the tower.

----- ----- -----

Raven stood at the edge of her bed, staring at the young man that now lay on her bed. He had changed over the course of eight years. His form was more muscular, but in an athletic way. His ponytail looked shorter than it had been, his shoulders broader, his face more angular, and he had more scars. She could barely make them out through the shirt he wore, but they were there.

Her eyes focused on a scar that peeked out from under his t-shirt sleeve. It was familiar, all too familiar. Her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk as she was once again assaulted by memories, but this time ones that she had tried to bury and forget.

She dropped to her knees, suddenly overwhelmed by the torrent of emotions the memories caused. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her power manifested as flames writhing about her form.

"No, he left willingly, damn it!" She shouted, her eyes were clenched shut, "The romance wasn't there!" A sob slipped through her lips and the flames writhed more violently, reacting to the turmoil she faced.

"He didn't love me!" She screamed trying to defend herself against the pictures she unwillingly viewed behind her eyelids and the relentless emotions battering against her strained emotional walls.

----- ----- -----

Ranma drifted weightlessly through the abyss of his mind. It was always dark, always chaotic, and always painful. But not this time, it was simply dark and empty, calming yet exciting.

It was the first time in years he was sleeping without those hellish eyes staring at him, mocking him. The demons of his present could never touch him in his sleep; it was the demons of his past that frightened him to the point of hyperventilation. They only appeared when he was alone for long periods of time, when his thoughts lulled and he mental walls weakened.

But they were gone, temporarily kept at bay by the comfort of those lavender eyes. The same eyes that had haunted his dreams for years, taunted him and agonized him until he awoke with such a pain in his chest that he could do little more than lay there and stare at the ceiling until it faded into that familiar dull ache.

Now he was comforted by the fact that, although shock had been the original emotion found, recognition had come quickly after. Comforted by the fact that he would more than likely see those eyes watching over him with a caring that his entire existence had lacked.

He was elated to find that the darkness was thinning, signaling that he was approaching consciousness.

Ranma found his lips curling into a small smile, something he hadn't done in years, as he began to register things in mind. The feel of the sheets beneath him, damp from his rain-soaked clothes, were cool against his exposed skin. The smell of lavender permeated the room, a soothing smell that comforted the soul.

The smile was gone the moment he heard the anguished pain in her voice, "He didn't love me!"

Then and there, he knew he would do all in his power to keep her from ever feeling that pain again.

----- ----- -----

To Be Continued…

Reviews welcome. Flames will be used to fend off lawyers.

-Lov3the3vil