Chapter Two: Raven's Confessions of the Past
Beast Boy was gone most of the day. The only trouble was a minor bank robbery where Raven took care of it swiftly. "No need to call Beast Boy, I took care of the issue." Everyone was just staring at Raven. She had done that so fast like she almost didn't want Beast Boy to be part of the fight.
"Oh Joy, Friend Raven you have done the kicking of the butt well. Let us celebrate with pizza!" a chorus of screams followed, Raven however started to fly away. "Friend Raven, where are you going?"
"Yeah Raven, don't you want pizza?" Starfire and Robin asked. Raven turned back to look at them,
"No thanks guys, I just want to go for a walk and go home. I'll see you all when I get back." With that Raven turned and flies towards the park. It wasn't a long flight to the park, only a few minutes long from the downtown area they were at. Once Raven arrived at the park she walked to the lesser known area. It was heavily wooded area that the trees grew so close it nearly blocked out the sun. She had not been in this area yet and wondered what was back here.
'Wow, this is almost like one of my books. A girl walks through a forest path alone only to discover she's not alone.' Just as she thought that she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.
"Who's there?" She was a little frightened now unsure of what was going on. The trees were too thick to have any person in them running around with that kind of speed. Raven sped up her walking she knew she could have just as easily soared out of there were the tree tops was the thinnest but what fun would she have if she didn't get a little jumpy out here. She continued to walk till she came upon a small clearing. In the middle of this clearing was a fairly large pond, a little stone house or maybe a church? She concluded it had to be a church with the small graveyard behind the building. Raven approached the small church wondering if this was the one Beast Boy had been talking about. Just as she thought that a man dressed in priest clothes and a tall green man walked out.
"Thanks for standing with me Father Parker. It… it meant a lot to me. I don't know if I could have taken just standing there this time unsure of what to say."
"It was my pleasure, Garfield. Remember your parents would have been proud of you. I should know I knew them well. I only wish they had more time with you. Oh and Garfield I do believe we have company." With that said he nodded his head towards Raven and she blushed but walked over all the same, wondering slightly if she was going to burst in flames being near such a holy man and place. "Do not fear child, I know of your heritage but it is your heart that is judged not of where you come from. The Lord loves all even those of a demon." Relieved to hear such a thing walked to stand next to Beast Boy.
"Thank you Father. I'm glad to hear that I'm not invisible to God. If I was I wouldn't be able to comfort my friend when he needs me most." Beast Boy just looked over at Raven with a look of shock. He had no idea Raven would want to comfort him. True they had been getting along much better since the trip to Tokyo and the years after. Raven turned and gave him a true smile for the first time in a long time. This knocked Beast Boy out of his thoughts and smile back.
"I will leave you two now, I have many I have to attend this afternoon. Garfield be sure to say good bye and go have a good day they would have wanted you to be happy on this day too." With his final words Father Parker walked away from the two down another path. He soon tuned a bend and disappeared from view.
"Well Raven you heard him I have to go say good bye, first to the yard." With that he graved Raven's hand and took off to the back of the church. They raced through the graveyard towards two large grave markers. "Raven, meet my Grandparents, Garfield and Joe-Ann Logan; my uncles and aunt, Matt Logan, James and Sarah Logan; my cousins James, Jana, June, and Matt Logan; and last but not least my parents Mark and Marie Logan." Raven look at Beast Boy and saw his eyes were glossy with unshed tears. "I'll be back soon; I promise I won't stay away that long again." Beast Boy turned to Raven and saw her bow her head and watched as her lips moved in what looked like a silent prayer. When Raven was done she looked up to see Beast Boy smiling at her. He took her hand again and led her to the back door of the church.
"I told Father Parker that I'd say good bye to them before I left. I hope you don't mind." He led her through a back hallway to a small door at the end. He knocked once and turned the handle. As they entered he let go of Raven's hand. She was filled with a feeling of disappointment and emptiness from the loss of contact, however, before she could dwell too much on that thought Beast Boy was knocked over onto the floor.
"BEAST BOY!" two small children had jumped on him as he entered the small room. A small girl and boy now sat on his chest bouncing up and down. "We thought you left BB, but I told Josh you'd never leave without saying good bye." They stopped bouncing on his chest and looked up to see Raven smile slightly.
"Emma! Emma! It's Raven and she was just smiling at us. Can you believe it she smiled?" Beast Boy gave the young boy a stern look as if scolding him for not doing something. "Oh yeah, I am Josh and this is Emma. We are orphans like Beast Boy. Well not completely like Beast Boy we don't have powers." The boy beamed at Raven and got off Beast Boy. Raven looked around the room. It was small with two beds in the two corners and two small dressers. It was only furnished in what was truly necessary however, it had some comforts. The room had some posters here and there of the titans and other people, a couple dolls or action figures lying round. Both children looked to be wearing second hand clothes, upon closer inspection she saw that Emma the girl was wearing some of Star's and Raven's old clothes and Josh was wearing Beast Boys and Robins old clothes.
"Okay you too, I want you to study hard, do all your work, and most important make sure to have some fun along the way. I'll be back soon to check up on you all." Beast Boy kneeled down and hugged the boy and patted him on the back and the girl was given a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek making her blush.
"Yes Beast Boy! Bye Raven Thanks for coming to see us!" they chorus together. Just as they turned to leave Raven felt someone pull on her clock, she turned to see who it was.
"Raven will you come and see us again?" It was young Emma still red in the face but look hopeful. Raven look to Beast Boy silently asking if it was ok. Seeing no rejection she turned to the girl and answered.
"Yes Emma. I will come back and see you both when Beast Boy comes." She gave the girl a swift hug and walked out the door following Beast Boy out into the bright Sun light. Raven and Beast Boy walked down the path in silence enjoying the company. Raven watched him out of the corner of her eyes and saw he looked lighter, and happier than he was that morning and this made her smile slightly. Beast Boy saw this and looked over at her.
"Hey you smiled! You should smile more often you look even more beautiful with it. Besides you never know who will fall in love with it after all." Raven looked over at him shocked did Beast Boy just call her beautiful? If so he doesn't seem to have noticed it yet or he really means it. They continued to walk for a little bit till they came to the end of the path. "So going home or continue to walk for a little while?" Ra
ven considered this for a moment she wasn't really sure either stay with him and risk spilling part of her life story or going home and wasting a good evening walk.
"I am going to continue walking; you can go home if you like." Beast Boy just smiled and continued down the side path. They continued to walk in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable but it wasn't exactly comfortable for Raven. She kept thinking of her past, wanting to share it but at the same time wanting to bury it away never to think about it again. "Beast Boy I can tell you anything right. You're not going to freak out or be mad or run away would you?" Beast Boy looked over at Raven a little shocked before answering.
"Of course Raven, your one of my closest and my best friend you can trust me." Beast Boy flashed a small smile, well small compared to his big goofy grins he uses most of the time. She smiled back and took a deep breath.
"I grew up in an alternate dimension called Azarath. However, you knew that already, what you didn't know is my people are peaceful. We use our minds to end things instead of war or a fight. Brain verses brawn we tend to go for brain. Well that explains why I'm so smart I had to use it more often to get out of being hurt. I was teased and bullied by others often. Now being smarter than another wasn't always a good thing, made them feel stupid so the resort to what any child would do they start a fight. One day around the age of five I came home bloody and bruised but the other kid, a boy no less, I sort of broke his arm using my powers on him." Raven laughed nervously unsure of how Beast Boy would react.
"Wow, was that your first experience with your powers then?" Raven nodded and continued on with her short story.
"I never understood till then why I had to lock my emotions away I just did as Azar, the spiritual leader and leader of the planet, told me to do." Beast Boy looked over at her; he had a questioning look on his face.
"Was that your mother Rae?" Raven looked at him with a blank face but answered.
"No, my mother was Arella. I never connected really with my mother. I knew her simply as the woman who gave birth to me. One day I just stop seeing my mother all together and stayed in the temple with Azar. I learned how to control my powers, and my emotions. To control my emotions, I was to block them to hide them away and never to feel them. I'm only half demon, my other half is human there is temptation all the time to show my emotions. As a small child the temptation was all around. Finally when I turned ten I was able to come out of the temple and see my mother. I was gone only one day and Azar had died. I lost the closest to a family I had. I was sent away from the temple after the ceremony for Azar death. I went and lived with my Mother and started to form a bond." Raven smiled and Beast Boy saw this.
"So did you form a strong bond with your mom?" Raven looked up at Beast Boy and nodded.
"Yes, I did form a strong bond. Maybe not as strong as it would have been if I had spent most of my life with her but I did form a bond. Even though I could not show it and she knew I couldn't I loved her very much. It was then I met my father. I was eleven when I did and it was one of the most horrifying days of my life." Raven looked away from him. He turned her face toward his own and smiled a comforting smile.
"Raven, you don't have to continue if you're not ready to talk about that fully." Raven nodded in understanding and gave Beast Boy another small smile.
'Wow two in one day' Was the only thing Beast Boy could think before he felt a pair of lips touch his cheek.
"Thanks Beast Boy, your right I'm not totally ready to talk about that day. I hope I will be ready one day soon. I want to tell you about it." With that the two started their track home with smiles on their faces.