"Please, please, please with cherries on top?!" Beast Boy begged me. I turned away. "ABSOLUTLY not. Sorry BB." I reply slyly. Robin comes in, followed by Starfire. "We're going somewhere special today guys. There's a kids hospital for kids with special powers and the doctors were wondering if we could come and visit the kids."
A few minutes later, we're in front of a large building. Once we walk in, everything is freakishly bright and sunny. One of the doctors comes up to us. "Teen Titans, thank you so much for coming, the kids are so exited." She leads us to the first room. A little girl sits playing with a doll. She had green skin and blue eyes, with blonde hair. She looks up when we enter, her face breaks into a broad grin. "Hi! I'm Nikki! Thanks for coming! Not many people visit me."
"Why not?" Robin asks, surprisingly upbeat. The little girl shrugs. "I dunno, maybe it's me." We play with her for a few minutes. She loves when BB turns into a fainting goat. After we leave, the nurse explains that Nikki has bone marrow cancer and is dieing, because there isn't a cure. It pains me, unexpectedly to see that little girl, so full of life, and knowing she's dieing.
Our next stop is a room with three girls; they are all small and weak. Their names are Zia, Amri, and Emily. They're very funny, and quickly recovering from brain tumors. Zia is quick witted, while Amri is calm and centered, while Emily is fun-loving and giggly.
We visit other kids, some dieing, and some recovering. We play or read to them, they love us. I usually just stand back, because I can sense most of the kids are kind of scared of me.
Then, the doctor leads us to the last room. "This is Caroline's room. She's very excided to meet Ms. Raven." She looks at me kindly. "She looks up to you so much." This takes me by surprise, most kids like Robin or Starfire the best. Me? That was the last thing I expected.
A little girl that looks to be a were-cat sits on the bed. She has black fur and purple hair, with red eyes, not evil red, but like two tomatoes, and very absorbed in a comic book, she doesn't even notice us when we walk in. "Caroline? The Teen Titans are here to see you." The doctor says kindly. She looks over, her eyes wide with surprise. "Whoa! I didn't think you guys would come!" She says her voice is loud and mischievous, much like a cat's.
"Why don't you show them your power?" The doctor asks. She nods excided. She reaches out with her hand; black energy reaches out and moves a toy around the room. I almost gasp with surprise, that girl's powers are almost EXACTLY like mine. "Raven! She's got almost the same powers as you!" Beast Boy points out the obvious. I smack him upside the head, annoyed. Caroline laughs, Beast Boy yelps and runs away from me.
Most of the other Teen Titans go back to other rooms, except Robin and I, he turns to talk to the doctor, and I walk up to Caroline, she looks at me in awe. "I have a question Miz. Raven, why are you so serious all the time?" I hesitate before answering. "I can't let my emotions get in the way." Once again, she surprises me by nodding, as if she understood. She looks me in the eye, her red eyes FILLED with emotion.
"Well, I used ta kinda think like that. I can't walk; I'm paralyzed from the waist down, except for my tail. The doctors say my spine was infected." I nod. "But, I figured out that, if I wanna control my powers, I can't block out emotion, I gotta keep it close, cuz pushing people away don't help at all." She smiles, "Maybe the reason you DO sometimes loose control o' your powers is cuz you DON'T show emotion."
I think about this for a second. "Maybe, maybe your right." She laughs, not at me, but just to lighten the mood. "You are SOOOO lucky to have a team, a family." She lowers her voice. "Can I tell you a secret?" I nod. "I don't ever tell the nurse what happened, they think I dunno, but I do. I had a family, friends, but, a bomb hit my neighborhood and it killed my mommy and daddy, crippled me, an' killed my buddies."
I simply look at her in shock, this little girl, only about 9, has gone through about as much trauma as I have in 16 years. "I'm so sorry." Is all I can say. She just grins, a happy-go-lucky grin and simply says. "I don't let the past haunt me." Soon, it's time to go. "One last thing Miz. Raven. Just remember, having emotion isn't the problem, having NO emotion is."
I get word about a month later, Caroline died from the infection. At first, I don't know how to take it, but then I remember how unemotional I used to be, and how she changed , that night in my room, I cry, I cry for the little girl that taught me that power doesn't come from pushing away, but rather from pulling in.