Raven hovered uncomfortably by the far wall watching him sleep, as she did nearly every night. The ground should covered in dirty clothes and old food. Signs of not leaving the room often enough, or just plain laziness. For several weeks, however, it was.. Clean. Admittedly, there was the occasional stray sock laying about, but something was definitely up. And Raven knew.

He hadn't told the others yet. He kept his feelings bottled up, putting on his mask of cheerful comments and bad jokes. Who everyone expected him to be.

But she knew. Deep inside, he was angry. He was hurt. His heart was broken. Again. It wasn't bad enough that girl broke it the first time, but then she just had to go and give him hope again, just to snatch it away again.

Raven watched him sleep, curled up on his bed, his arms clutching his chest. His face was strained, and his eyes darted around behind his eyelids. Not even she knew what he was dreaming, but she could take a pretty good guess.

Slowly, she drifted over to his bed. This would have been impossible before, what with all the debris, but lately.. He almost never leaves his room. Probably ran out of things to, and turned to cleaning.

As she neared the bed, she saw his expression in more detail. He wasn't just sad and angry, he was.. Furious. Betrayed. Hurt. He needed help, but it was obvious only to her, no one would ever be able to get close enough to him to help. What she did was too painful.

They all trusted her. They welcomed her into their home, even given her her own room. And what had she done with it? Thrown it all away. They called her a hero for saving the town that one last time, but Raven what she was. A scared little girl, too immature and naive to handle things the way she should have at her age. She was stupid. In all honesty, Raven didn't see what he had seen in her.

And then.. She returned. He was so happy when he saw her again, it was heartbreaking. He was the happiest he'd been since she left. But she didn't know him, at least outwardly. The reopened wounds radiated off of him. The others tried not to get into his business, and neither did Raven. But she knew.

But the fact remained, she had broken his heart, and it needed fixing, and soon.

Raven tentatively reached her hand out, and stroked his face. His skin felt cold and hard. The warmth of her skin made him shiver, but he unclenched his body. His muscles relaxed, and he moaned as his body unfolded.

She closed her eyes and placed her right hand on his chest, her left on his forehead. He stirred vaguely at the touch, but was in too deep a sleep to wake up. Raven allowed herself a small smile, then sobered up, and concentrated.

She chanted the ancient words in her head slowly, many times over. Azarath Metrion Zynthos.. Azarath Metrion Zynthos.. Azarath Metrion Zynthos.. While doing this, she thought of the consequences of her actions. She couldn't erase what had happened, it would damage his mind too greatly. But she could soften the blow, make the scars fade, if only a small amount. Anything to get him closer to the friend she had known and loved.

The healing process was taxing, and Raven knew, it would take a lot out of her. But she cared enough about him, it was worth whatever price she had to pay.

As she inwardly chanted, Raven could feel the memories moving to the back of his mind. They were fading into what they should be.. Memories, and nothing more. The pain was still there, she could tell, but.. It wasn't as severe. As it should be.

Her energy drained quickly, and after only what seemed like a moment, she had to stop. Panting, she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. After laying there for several minutes in pain, she stood up and staggered over to the door. Raven no longer had the power to fade into the walls, as she had done to get in.

When the door slide shut, closing with a soft beep, the boy pain had turned into a man stirred. His eyes remained closed, but he felt the warmth on his head left over from her touch.

And for the first time in weeks.. He smiled.