I've decided to republish this story from the beginning so you can all enjoy it as if it was new. Don't be shy to leave reviews, any feedback will be appreciated.

Chapter one: That old-fashioned nostalgia

She felt it again. It had been some time since this started; since Beast Boy's encounter with the amnesiac Terra, to be more precise. She first didn't pay too much attention to it, after all, it was just like the former Titan said: things change. Besides, she believed in change, in the constant turning of everything, and eventual eternity, endless circles that repeated themselves over and over again. She kind of liked it, that idea of everything being eternal and never, ever, coming to an end. Constant, but changing.

But what if she was wrong?

As a half-demon, Raven did hold some knowledge about the afterlife, but she could never be sure. What if things did come to an end, and once it was over, it was just over?

Then something caught her attention. It was the chicken plush that Beast Boy had won for her at the Jump City festival. After saving Starfire that night, she went back to retrieve it once she was sure no one would notice. She took the plush and the feeling returned.

The good old days, when everything began...

She was just seventeen and yet she felt much older. It could sometimes be disturbing to see how everything changed in just a couple of years. She was starting to understand her green teammate's feelings.

Memories of her life, how it was in Azarath, poured down on her. The skyscrapers, bright like gold and silver and precious stones under the soft sunlight, always floating in that sea of clouds that was her dimension. People there wore robes and practiced extreme diplomacy that she was also taught, since her being an Azarathean meant she would have to embrace their pacifist ways. She didn't complain, though.

Then she met the Titans. At first she was scared; scared of all the emotions she started to feel. Earth was frenetic, moving, dangerous but alive. And people were just the same, and her teammates were no exception. They made her feel as if she was just the same. As if they were flames in the dark. But she couldn't just let go; she was too dangerous. So she secluded herself from their warmth, neglecting the growing feelings inside of her... until they could be denied no longer and she just restrained their intensity so nothing bad happened to her newfound friends.

They lived all sorts of experiences together. The initial awkwardness of meeting someone for the first time. The fights. The laughs she refused to share. Friendship. Worry for her friends' well being. Her first crush that she immediately turned into her punching bag, afraid of what she might do to him if she came to terms with her feelings for him. Anger, sadness, joy, betrayal, fear, fun...

But mostly happiness.

So many things changed, little by little... At first they were just a bunch of kids that people considered as freaks, then they started to like them when they saw what they could actually do. But the Teen Titans had to earn people's trust, specially since Terra's and Brother Blood's incidents, that made civilians wonder if those kids would actually remain by their side and protect them. They could have become living legends due to their fight against Trigon, weren't it for the world missing it completely. But with their actions against the Brotherhood of Evil and their later travel to Tokyo, they finally achieved glory.

Glory, that was exactly what had changed Raven's life the most. More than their new matter-absorbing enemy, more than Slade's return, more than amnesic schoolgirl Terra, more than her growing love for Beast Boy, more than their favorite pizza place closing. More than anything she had known before.

At first she was a creep and suddenly everybody loved her. Of course they liked her friends too, but she became unexpectedly popular. Girls in Jump City dyed their hair violet. Guys sent her love letters. And then that letter... That letter that could definitely change everything and put her life upside down...

She took it from her table. She would show it to the others; she really felt that she had to. After all, they were her friends; they deserved to know. So she got out of her room, ready to say the truth. She crossed the door to the common room. All her friends were there. All of them seemed happy to see her. As usual. She thought of the possibility of never seeing those happy expressions again and her heart skipped one bit. She was being offered something she had secretly desired all her life, but it would mean that she would no longer be a superhero, at least not temporarily. She wouldn't see her friends for a long time...

...Just when that thought reached her mind as she was about to speak, the familiar feeling of that old-fashioned nostalgia for a bright past struck her again. It took her a while to recover and be able to talk again.

"I think you should all read this" Raven said in a low voice.

She went to the couch where her friends were gathered for one of Cyborg and Beast Boy's usual gaming competitions. The girl handed the letter to Robin, who cleared his throat and proceeded to read it aloud.

Dear Miss Raven;

My name is George Stewart, talent scout from Jump Up Records. I was assigned to Tokyo at the same time you were there in order to search for some new talent that matched my company's needs for an exotic new singing star. What I did not expect is that I would find the right person in a Harajuku karaoke bar. I am talking about you, Raven. I am sure you noticed how everybody froze in the moment you sang your song. Your voice is everything I had been looking for: sweet but powerful, nostalgic yet brand new, all in accord with your appearance. And your technique, while still far from perfect, is already quite good, with no false notes. I could not help but record your singing and show it at Jump Up's headquarters. The company is really interested in working with you, and so I am writing now this letter to offer you a chance to become a living legend. Please let me discuss this proposal with you in a personal meeting in the Carmen café there in Jump City, the 8th of June. I have chosen that date so as to give you some time to reflect about this letter's content. I really hope to receive a positive answer.

I look forward to see you in person.

Yours sincerely,

George Stewart.

Everyone in the tower went dead silent. A silence that was quickly broken by Beast Boy's laughter.

"Dude, I can't believe what I've just heard! Raven, a pop star? Hey, Rae, take me with you to your meeting with that dude, I can't wait to see you sending him into another dimension!"

"Actually... I still don't know what to answer"

The silence came back.

"WHAT?" was everything Cyborg could say.

The girl blushed lightly.

"I know this is stupid, but I had always wanted to be, you know... a singer. I remember how much I loved the Azarathean chants when I was a child... I would always sing along, hoping that one day I would be the one singing for the people... I guess I never really gave up hope..." she whispered, the slightest trail of nostalgia in her voice.

She remembered the choirs in Azarath. They got together and sang at the streets. There were also soloists. Their chants were magical and angelic; she was always hypnotized by the beauty of their voices and secretly wished hers was that brilliant.

The voice of one of her friends pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Raven, you do know that if you choose to work for Jump Up Records you'll have to give up being a Teen Titan, don't you?" Robin asked, frowning a bit.

"I know... That's why I have to give it some deep thought. I'll answer Mr. Stewart in our meeting" the appointed replied "Don't worry, that won't interfere with my duties as a Titan; I will still go on missions, especially now that we have a new enemy"

"But friend Raven, that may only last until the 8th of June. If you decide to devote your life to singing, we will not see each other again... am I correct?"

The Azarathean looked at her alien friend. Her green eyes full of sadness were on the verge of tears. Guilt struck the empath as she answered.

"Of course not! We would keep in touch and I'd visit you whenever I could. And don't forget I haven't decided yet, so please don't act as if I was going to leave for sure"

Starfire shook her head.

"Friend Raven, it is a dream what we are talking about... For me, it is sure that you will leave"

The Tamaranean couldn't bear staying there looking at how her best friend was slipping away from her life. She ran (since her sadness wouldn't let her fly) out of the common room. Any verbal attempts from her friends to stop her went on deaf ears.

The one who provoked that reaction in the girl sighed deeply.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room"


The three male Titans just stood, unable to say a word. They didn't imagine something like that could happen, not after Starfire's almost-wedding with Glgrdsklechhh. So used they were to see each other as family that they failed to realize there were no real boundaries between them, and that any day, their union could come to an end. And now they had to face the possibility of something like that coming true. From that point, the thoughts of the three youngsters went different ways, drifting away from each other's.

Beast Boy was the one who, again, broke the now excruciatingly painful silence.

"Dudes... What do you think she'll do? Is Rae going to leave us?"

The other two looked down, not daring to answer.

"Well..." Cyborg started "I must say I didn't expect this, I mean, who would have thought our Raven would want to be a singer, especially after watching how you, BB, had to drag her to the karaoke bar's stage?"

"I know... I guess that was because of her shyness. Hey" the changeling said, now with an enthusiastic expression "What if she doesn't dare trying it out? Maybe there's a chance that she'll stay with us after all..."

Robin frowned, not sure of what to say.

"Let's hope so... I understand that her interests may go beyond us, and I will respect her decision whatever it will be, but I won't be happy at all if she chooses to quit; she's not only a really valuable teammate, but also a friend I really trust..."

The Boy Wonder sighed. He didn't look like his usual self, confident that everything would be okay. He didn't know how things would turn out anymore.

"I'll go check on Starfire"

The two remaining teens remained silent for a bit, lost in thought.

"Hey, B" Cyborg finally muttered "do you think Star's right? Is Raven going to leave us?"

The changeling shook his head.

"I have no idea..."

More silence that was becoming heavier and heavier.

"Hey, do you think this could be, you know, the beginning of the end?" the tall man asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember that alternate timeline in which we all split up because of Star's disappearance? What if it now happens again?"

Beast Boy jokingly punched his friend's arm.

"Come on, dude! You're being paranoid! I don't think that'll ever happen, we learnt from that, didn't we?" he exclaimed, suddenly confident "Besides, we still don't even know if Rae's leaving or not, and even if she did I'm sure we'd keep in touch. There's no reason for any of us to quit"

"I don't know, grass stain... Until now we all thought Raven had no reason to quit either"

"She just has a childhood dream she wants to make come true now that she has the chance... I don't think that would happen to us; think about Rob for example, do you think he'd want to be anything more than a hero?"

"I don't know, BB..." the half-robot replied, unable to share his best friend's optimism.


Meanwhile, Robin silently entered Starfire's room. As he had predicted, his girlfriend was there, lying on her bed with her back to him. He heard faint sobs.

"Star..."

She slowly sat up and turned to see him. Indeed, her tearful face gave away her feelings.

"Boyfriend Robin... Are you going to tell me off for my behavior?"

He crossed the room to get by her side and knelt down beside her.

"No. I was just worried"

The princess looked away.

"For what? There is nothing you can do to revert this situation"

"I know, but I still want to make you feel better"

"Feel better?" she replied with anger "There is no way that I could feel better about losing my best friend!"

He raised one of his gloved hands and caressed her tanned cheek in a comforting manner.

"I think you're anticipating too much. What if she says no?"

"She will not say no, boyfriend Robin"

"Why wouldn't she?"

The one named Koriand'r finally looked back at her beloved, tears running down her face once more.

"Because of the same reason I did not stay in Tamaran when I became the Grand Ruler"

The hero looked intensely at her, and then did something she didn't expect: he took off his mask so she could stare into his blue eyes. He obviously had already told her everything about his secret identity.

"Listen" he firmly said "Raven is Raven and you are you. You may have some things in common, but you're definitely not the same. I won't lie to you: I also think it's quite possible that she leaves. But even if she does" he sat on the bed by his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her "it won't be the end of our friendship. If she didn't abandon us when she became the Portal, she won't do it now"

"Are you sure?" the alien girl asked.

"I've never been so sure" Robin replied, smiling warmly at her. Starfire hesitated for a moment, then threw herself into his arms. As usual, her embrace almost strangled the Boy Wonder, but he didn't let go of her.

"You are right... I have been blinded by my fear of losing her, and I have been unfair with her. I shall now go to apologize..."

The girl didn't finish the sentence, since her boyfriend pulled her back down when she was about to get up from the bed.

"That's a good idea Star, but before that, could you stay here with me for a while?" he softly requested while wrapping again his arm around her shoulders "I was worried about you"

The Tamaranean just smiled at him and they leaned in, kissing softly. Make out sessions with some sweet words always worked wonders on the couple, no matter if they had had an argument or if it was something else, like it was now happening. Caresses and kisses took their worries and fears away like nothing had before. Cyborg and Beast Boy would always joke about the pair, who were officially named the "love birds" of the tower, but being on the beginning of what they hoped it would be a life-long relationship, they couldn't care less.


Raven was sitting on her desk, trying to read one of her ancient books. It was of no use, she couldn't concentrate on it, so she decided to meditate before her overflowing emotions made her blow up the whole tower. It was then when she heard a knock on the door.

"Friend Raven? I would like to speak to you"

She immediately opened the door, instantly recognizing the voice. Her best friend stood now in front of her, waves of regret emanating from her, hitting the empath's mind.

"Yes?" she quietly asked.

"I would like to ask for your apologize for my rude display when talking about the proposition from Jump Up Records" the red-haired hastily said. She was noticeably nervous.

"Uh... it's okay"

"No, really, I am very sorry" she insisted "and I profoundly regret my behavior. I understand that you have not yet performed the 'making up of the mind' and that whatever your decision will be, it is my duty as a friend to respect it and wish you the best" she solemnly finished.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, saying nothing. Starfire didn't easily get troubled, but her friend's eyes had the most piercing look she had ever seen, it was as if they could reach into her soul and scan it. The princess wasn't uncomfortable about her friend knowing about her emotions, but it still felt strange... her empathy made her imposing to her green eyes.

"Is that all?" was everything the Azarathean said. And it was more than enough to make her sister-friend spill the beans.

"No... Friend Raven, I already told you; I am scared of losing you" she replied, not daring to look again into the violet eyes in front of her "If you choose to follow your dreams, I do not know if I will be able to feel happy for you"

"I understand" the other girl finally said, her expression warming up a bit "I don't know how I'd feel if it was you who was leaving... but if I don't stay, I'll make sure to keep in touch with all of you, I promise" she offered the alien girl her pale hand.

"Friend Raven..."

Starfire's tanned hand took Raven's and she pulled her into one of her bone-crushing hugs. The tallest girl was sobbing lightly.

"Even if we are galaxies away from each other, you will always be my best friend, I promise!"

They stayed like that for a while. Being heroines didn't give them the time to make many new friends, so they had grown really close to each other. None of them would ever forget what the other meant for her. Their friendship was strong enough to overcome any obstacle they may face, even their feared "drifting".

That night, Raven had a strange dream. She was wearing a white lacy dress and singing at the Harajuku karaoke bar. Her audience consisted of Slade, who was clapping politely, and a tall gothic girl with a silver ankh necklace sitting beside a girl with brown dressed in blue. Then everything exploded, blinding her... and then she saw nothing.


The next day the Titans went into regular crime fighting and once again they encountered the matter-absorbing creature. Once again, nothing they used against it worked... until Raven hit it with a dark energy blast. It clearly damaged the creature.

"Of course!" Robin exclaimed, realizing what they had been missing "It can't absorb an energy blast, only the matter surrounding it! Titans, hit it with all you've got!"

Starfire mercilessly threw starbolts and eye beams, Cyborg shot his sonic cannon, Raven chanted her mantra and threw another dark blast, and Robin threw two of his explosive disks. The coordinate attacks coming from different directions were impossible to avoid, even for that fast shape-shifting being. It resulted visibly damaged by the assault, and Beast Boy took this opportunity to morph into a T-Rex and make a slide attack with his tail. Thus, the mysterious creature was destroyed. The five heroes cheered to their success. The leader's expression quickly darkened. He got close to the remains of their foe. It was disintegrating.

"What was this thing? Where did it come from?"

Neither the celebration of their victory nor the peace and quiet that followed calmed the Boy Wonder, and his thoughts remained with that strange enemy. And thus, the days passed without him noticing, while his partners got more and more nervous, not only for the dreadful 8th of June coming close, but for his more and more reclusive demeanor that much resembled the one he showed when Slade was around.

And finally, the day came. The first thing Raven did was to tell her friends about her decision. Then she flew out of the tower, heading for Carmen café. She knew the place, since it was one of her favorites. Contrary to what her teammates thought, her depressing cafés were not gothic; actually, the music that played in them was blues. This specific café was named after one of the girl's favorite blues singer, an old diva called Carmen Garland.

She entered the place. It had that fancy vintage look from old cafés. She stood up, waiting. She didn't know how George Stewart looked, but she figured he would recognize her even if she was wearing civilian clothes. Her taste in clothes through time had changed as much as herself; at first, like Jinx once pointed out, everything she had was blue... or just dark. She wore really sober clothes, and always used either dark blue or black. Slowly, she incorporated white to her wardrobe, and then some colors and more feminine forms, even getting to put on some skirts and dresses from time to time, for Starfire's delight, though nothing too bright or fancy. On this occasion, she matched the place she was at quite well; with a black dress with some discrete flower patterns. Her hair also looked different: she had been convinced by her best friend to grow it longer, and now it reached past her shoulders. The reason for her not wanting to let her hair long was that, due to her metahuman nature, it grew up faster than normal, so she had to cut its ends every week to avoid it getting too long.

She was about to pick a seat when she heard someone calling her.

"Miss Raven?" the waiter called her from behind the bar "That man over there asked me to tell him when you arrived. Excuse me, sir, she's here"

"Wonderful, thank you! Please, Miss Raven, come and sit with me"

The man who talked to her was in his late forties, or maybe his early fifties. He was tall, and he appeared to be in quite good physical shape. He was wearing an elegant gray suit. But the most noticeable thing about him was the wooden cane he was carrying and his black sunglasses covering his obviously blind eyes.

She sat down beside him and shook hands with him while they said hello and introduced themselves. After some other brief and void formalities, they started the talk they were there for.

"I'm glad to see you here. For all this time since I wrote that letter I feared you wouldn't come. I must say I'm still a bit nervous now. But let's get straight to the point; please, tell me your decision. Will you work for Jump Up, or will you resume your activities as a heroine?"

The girl took a deep breath before answering.

"I accept your offer, Mr. Stewart"

I'm making some minor changes to the story, but none will truly affect the plot. In this case, I've fused the first two chapters together. I hope you like this story and that you follow it until it's done. See you!