Sorry, I know it's a day late. But I DO get it done on time, I just need to get it check by my editors who ALSO have lives . All I want to say is that I'm so sorry that the last three chapters have been a little depressing. And throughout the whole series there hasn't been much BBxRae fluff that I know you have been all hoping for. I PROMISE that next chapter is going to be turned into the right direction. I'm going to make it more happy and playful. There's going to be a lot of fluff in this series from here on out! I'm so sorry if I have been disappointing you guys with this, but it's going to be better from here on out. O and at the end of the chapter, I'm going to post the winner of the contest! Here comes another kinda depressing chapter………
The Past Can Really Explain Things
Chapter 11: We Miss You, Homesick
Breakfast was quiet at Titans tower. It was never a sunny morning; it never was since he came back. But it was quieter than usual. Not everyone was up yet but it was still too quiet.
Cyborg had put the boat load of food he made every morning on the table. He knew when all the little monsters woke up, they would eat. He sat down at the table diagonal from Nightwing.
"It's just too quiet here," he said in the emptiness.
"Tell me about it," Changeling said as he walked in and sat at the table with the two of the other Titans.
"I never thought I would say this but, I miss her beating my butt all the time," the dark blue Cyborg said longingly.
"You should see what Rae and I are going through. We're worried out of our minds! We almost miss her like there's no tomorrow but, she has to do it. On top of all of this, Collin can't sleep through the night at all! He wants to see her, but he can't and I guess he's worried like the rest of us," he explained putting his head in his hands.
"It has been quieter, and that worries me," Nightwing said, joining the conversation.
"What?!? You always wanted them to be quieter! Now that you have it, you want more noise?" Changeling said throwing his hands up in the air.
"I guess you don't know what you have until it's gone," Nightwing explained as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Where's Beast Girl Jr. when you need her?" Cyborg murmured, but everyone still heard.
"Well there's a bright side..." Changeling said. "At least she's kicking your butt in video games in the past right now," Changeling smirked at Cyborg.
"You say it as if you're kicking my butt! Not her!" Cyborg exclaimed.
"Hey! I'm half her creator and I can't be any more proud than I am now with my beautiful butt kicking creation," he grinned and laughed at his own joke.
Just then Raven walked into the common room and rushed to the kitchen. "Changeling! Damn that's a mouth full! Gar! Can you please calm Collin down!? I really need to get some sleep," she said tired but in a threatening manner.
"Sure Rae," he said, walking into the kitchen to see what she was doing.
"Hey Gar! Where do you think she got the butt kicking from?" Cyborg laughed as he asked. Even Nightwing chuckled under his breath.
"Very funny Vic!" he shouted over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen.
Raven was rushing around with her white cape, turning gray with stress and sadness, following her as she rushed.
Changeling stopped her. "Rae," he said getting a grip on her shoulders. "What are you looking for?" he asked.
She put her hands over her eyes and they slowly slid down her face until they dropped back to her sides. "I really don't know," she whispered stressed out. "Collin won't stop crying and wining. And I'm worried to death and, and……I miss her Gar." She said sadly and quietly.
Changeling took her into his arms and she fully accepted, wrapping her arms around him. He was now just about 5 inches taller than her and she fit in his arms nicely. He kissed her forehead. "It's going to be ok Rae. I miss her too. She's going to be back." He whispered comforting words to her as she was on the verge of crying with so much stress.
He released her after a minute or so. He held her shoulder's firmly. "Rae, take a deep breath," he instructed in a very kind way. She did so without questioning it. After she released he began to talk again "You know she's fine. She always is. She's safe with us. Also think about how happy you'll be when she comes home. Think of how much fun she's having with us. Think of all the things that she's doing right now to make things right. You know she's responsible and she'll be back as soon as we know it." He said the encouraging words soft to her. He cupped her cheek and gave her a smile.
She smirked just a little bit, but her eyes told him she was still a little upset. "Thank you Gar," she whispered, looking into his emerald green eyes and him looking back into her violet ones.
He took her back into his arms and hugged her close. She snuggled into his chest where she fit perfectly. It was like they were meant for each other. He released her after he felt she calmed down a bit.
They looked into each other's eyes once again. They got closer until their lips connected. It only lasted a second or two, but it was still sweet.
After they parted she remembered what she needed. "I need a bottle," she said as she moved to get it. He beat her there and got a sippy-cup out of the cupboard. He handed it to her. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out some soy milk. For some reason (you all know the reason) he didn't like to drink regular milk. He was just like his dad, as they knew so far.
After she poured it in and screwed the cap on, she gave it to Gar. "I really need a break," she said tiredly.
"No problem Rae. You look like you need some sleep," he indicated as he turned her towards the door.
They walked down the hall towards the parent's room in a conformable silence. They reached Raven's and Changeling's room. They walked in the room adjacent to each other.
Raven climbed into the green with purple vines bed spread and snuggled in. Gar sat down on the edge of the bed. "Night Rae," he said as he kissed her forehead.
"Thank you, Gar. I love you," she murmured into the pillow as she closed her eyes.
"I love you more than anything. Pleasant dreams," he said as he caressed her cheek and then walked towards the door. He turned the lights off as he stepped out into the hallway.
He heard whimpering from a room nearby. He turned in the direction of the sound and walked up to Collin's door.
The door swished open revealing the youngest Logan's bedroom. Of course it was all green. From the walls, right down to the sheets.
Changeling walked up the edge of Collins crib. As soon as the tiny version of himself saw him, he immediately flung his arms into the air, which is the signal that he wanted to picked up, and gave him a puppy dog face similar to his own.
"Alright, alright, I'm picking you up!" he laughed to his son. He picked him up in a smooth movement. As soon as they got situated, Collin snuggled into his chest. Gar gave him the sippy-cup. He took it without a second thought and guzzled it down.
"Man, you do really like soy milk, don't ya? Becoming like your old man," he laughed as he cradled his son.
Collin was finished with the bottle in less than 2 minutes. As soon he was done, he dropped it in exhaustion. Changeling caught it before it hit the ground while still cradling Collin. He placed the plastic cup on the top of Green Bean Jr.'s dresser.
Collin snuggled in as far as he could go into Gar's chest. He had his tiny little eyebrows scrunched together with his mouth in a straight line. He also took his tiny fist and clutched a part of Changeling's uniform. He almost seemed frustrated.
After a while, his small features softened, his fist loosened. Then he whispered, " Sissy."
The normal human ear would only hear a murmur, but to Gar heard it loud and clear with his sharp senses.
He hugged Collin close to him, his face buried in his green hair. "I miss her too Call, (btw that's the only nickname I could think for him. When you pronounce it, put more emphasis on the 'a' and I should sound right. I didn't know how to spell Call or Coll…..Please correct me if I'm wrong.) I miss her too," he whispered softly into his tiny rounded ears.
"So much," he murmured so low under his breath that not even Collin could hope to hear him. He closed his eyes as a tear fell down his cheek.
***
Later in the day, the second generation titans were sitting in their 'recreation room' so to speak. Nightwing and all the other Titans agreed that they should have their own area to hang out in. So Cyborg built a room just for them.
Ever since the three youngest came along, they had to share the room with them. There was a toy box in the corner where they kept all the toys. But the four oldest didn't really mind. The three of them where actually really good about putting away their toys…Ever since Raven hurt her foot on one of them. After that they decided to keep their toys safe from Raven before she destroyed them.
The room was a lot like the common room, but on a smaller scale. There was a large TV which was flanked by bay windows on each side. A large "U" sofa that was the same width as the TV. In the back corner is where the little ones kept their toys. On the parallel corner was a mini-fridge that held some soda and some random little things to munch on. There were some cool murals on the wall. Moonfire was the one who enjoyed drawing, so they all agreed and let her paint on the walls. They're pictures of all them on there. On the blank wall to the right of the bay windows was a mural of their parents from when they first meet each other. Standing side by side as the new protector's of Jump City. On the wall above the mini-fridge was a mural painting of the four older Titans from a couple of years ago from when it was painted. Lily, Moonfire, Tech, and Shawna were all smiling while making funny faces. On the portion of the wall where the 3 young boys' toy box sat, was a mural of all three playing, smiling and giggling. On the opposite wall from the picture of the original Titans was a more recent mural of all of them all scrunched together. They're personalities clearly showed in the picture. Changeling and Cyborg were looking straight at each other in a playful word battle. Raven was next to Changeling and rolling her eyes. Bee had an aggravated playful smirk on her face as she pointed to Cyborg. Nightwing and Starfire were to the left of Cyborg and seemed to be in their own world. Starfire smiled widely. Nightwing seemed to looking at Starfire and the others, smirking as he saw all of them. On the ground was the three youngest. Spencer was tickling Tyler wildly who looked like he couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. To the side of the devious two was Collin who seemed to be spraying soy milk out of his nose; he had a shocked look on his face. Lily and Moonfire had 'I seriously can't breathe because I'm laughing so hard' look on their faces; they were laughing at what happened to Collin. Tech was grinning widely as he wiped a tear from his face at the sight of Collin. Lastly, Shawn stood next to Tech with a devious smirk on her face as her finger was close to touching Tech with yellow sparks coming out of it.
They absolutely loved the room. It had all their personality in it.
Tech and Shawna were sitting in the room tiredly as they watched cartoons. They were bored out of their minds and had nothing better to.
Suddenly Moonfire walked into the room ranting. "It's official! This place sucks without Lily!" she ranted as she flopped down on the couch next to Shawna.
"Tell me about it. It's been SO quiet around here without her! It's almost like she gives this place a heart beat!" Tech agreed.
Shawna sighed. "I miss her too. It's almost depressing without her bubbly behavior," her face fell.
"One of the worst parts is that Collin can't sleep because he misses her too much," Tech said sadly.
"Imagine how Aunt Raven and Uncle Gar feel. Aunt Raven has been looking like a wreck since she left!" Moonfire exclaimed.
They all fell silent as they watched a little more of the random cartoon they turned on.
"Hey guys?" Shawna asked. Moonfire and Tech looked at her to let her know they were listening. "Do you wonder what she's doing right now?" she asked as she imagined.
***
Back in the Past…………………………..
It was a pretty boring day at the tower. It was one of those average days. Raven was reading on the couch. Beast Boy and Cyborg were head to head in video games. Robin would play winner. And Starfire would be cheering them on.
Lily just laid next to the bay window and looked up at the ceiling. She was thinking about home. She had been very homesick lately. She had been for the last 4 days. Ever since that day she taught her dad how to shape shift into other things, she thought more and more of how she missed home.
She wanted to touch that time again, but she couldn't. She wished she could just look at them.
Suddenly a look of realization appeared across her eyes. She swung her legs back and then thrusted forward, landing on her feet.
She walked around the back of the couch, with none of the titans even noticing her. The common room doors swished open and closed as she walked through them and into the hallway.
She basically ran to Raven's room. She skidded to a stop when she reached the door. She rushed into the open door and closed it quickly as she ran towards the corner of the room where her tan backpack was placed after she came into the tower more than a week before.
She slowly unzipped the backpack and pulled out a dark green texture photo album.
She lowered herself to sit on the ground with her back leaning on the wall. She placed the album gingerly into her lap, as if it would break if she didn't handle it carefully. She stared at the plain green cover for a moment. This was the only way into her time. This was everything she couldn't have at this time, but in the future, they were real.
She slowly flipped the cover over and revealed the first page. The first page she loved. It was just a single in the middle of the page, white surrounded it. It was of a tired looking women, with purple hair sitting in a bed in gown over her slim frame, and she seemed to her looking down at a bundle she was holding in her arms. Her face was filled with so much genuine happiness that anyone could cry for being so happy for the strange women. A green arm was sling around her shoulders. That arm lead to a man that seemed to be bending over to also look at the bundle. The side of his head was touching the side of the women's head. She was also leaning into his head. He was looking down at the bundle with a genuine look on his face. Then Lily's eyes followed the hero's gaze and it landed on a soft gray face. The face seemed to have a small smirk on its face as it snuggled closer into its mother. She had soft velvet looking hair and pointed ear's peaked out easily from behind.
Lily loved this picture because it always reminded her how much her parents loved her. It gave her just as much hope in the past than it did the future.
She flipped to the next page. There she saw a picture of her and Tech playing at a young age. They were both laughing and giggling at their toys.
The next couple of pages were of her as a baby, somewhere with the Titan she was playing with at the time. But the one who was mostly in her baby pictures was her dad playing with her and making her laugh.
About a dozen pages in, was the first picture of herself and Moonfire. The next pages were full of the trio playing. They were all happy kids.
About another dozen in, Lily started to see pictures from one certain day. That was the day she stole the camera and learned how to use it. That day she went all around the tower and took pictures of all the Titans. Many didn't even notice they were getting their picture taken, so some of their faces were caught in the most hilarious poses you've ever seen.
There was one of her dad laughing at uncle Cyborg for some random reason. One of her mom listening to music off of an Ipod nano, 20th generation. She was actually singing along to the songs and singing them in a hair brush! Raven couldn't believe that Lily caught her doing that after she found the pictures she took that day.
Lily laughed and smiled as she flipped through the pictures. Some she vaguely recalled, some she just laughed at the pictures because they were funny. She started to get into the more recent pictures…
Many were just random pictures taken on random days with the team. Lily had also put a lot of random pictures of herself and Moonfire when she was bored. Now she was glad she took the pictures. She had never really been outside of home very much. She was glad she could look on those memories now when she needed them the most.
Went she got up to the most recent six months, she was smiling happily, but was a little sad at the same time. It was the first picture that was taken of her little brother Collin. He was smiling happily in his sleep. Next was two dozen pictures, all with Collin in them, with Collin playing with her, Moonfire, Mom, Spencer and Tyler, and her dad.
He was the happiest kid alive to all of them. She would miss a lot in the two month's she would be gone.
The second to last picture wasa a picture of their family. All four of them stood there and smiled happily as they gazed into the camera. Even Raven gave a full lip smile.
Lily reached down and stroked the picture. Yes, she missed them. But by this picture album, she would see them and play the memories in her mind. Her heart felt stronger, more durable from breaking down. Seeing them even in pictures gave her the will power to stay and change the future for the absolute better. An annoying pain, the kind that won't let you forget anything you want to, was still gnawing in her soul, but it was more under control. She could now survive her mission, and she wouldn't break down.
In the Future…………………………….
It was late into the night. 2:23am read the alarm clock in Changeling's and Raven's room.
That's the time Raven walked in the bedroom. Changeling could see she was tired again. Her nap did give her more energy, but after shushing Collin again, she was once again exhausted.
"Tired?" Changeling asked lying in the bed as Raven unclasped her cape and hung it on the hook on her side of the room.
"Like you wouldn't believe," she said falling onto the bed.
"You know….your kinda cute when you're tired," he said, trying to brighten her up.
She groaned as she pulled herself under the covers. He slung his arms around her mid-section affectionately. This was routine. She snuggled into his chest and tried to fall asleep. But the problem was... she couldn't. Her mind was zooming around with motherly worry.
"Gar?" she asked into the darkness.
"Yes?" he answered her back softly into her ear.
"Do you think Lily's alright?" she asked for his opinion.
"Rae, you need to stop worrying so much. You know she's fine. I know us and the other Titans would be there for her if there was any trouble. I remember+ how protective you where with her when she was with us," he tried to soothe her just as he did this morning.
"I know she's fine. But the motherly instinct is still eating away at me," she explained.
"Rae, it's normal that you miss her. We all do. I talked to Cyborg and Nightwing this morning and even they are missing her. The whole tower misses her. And it's ok to miss her, but you can't live for the next two month's just missing her. She'll be home, keep that faith, but don't let in dominate you.
"Also, with that motherly instinct, if the world didn't have it then most of the people here wouldn't be. It saves us all", Changeling responded to her and was proud that he could give her enough reasons to ease the biting jaws of motherly instinct.
Raven let out a deep breath. "Your right," she admitted. "Tomorrow will be different without her, but I can't dwell on that, she'll be home soon," she assured herself more than her husband.
"I'm glad Rae. Just to let you know, my fatherly instinct was giving me the same vibe," he laughed once.
"I think we should join a 'worried parents club'."
Changeling laughed, "Yeah, then we'll see that we're not so bad!" he exclaimed with a laugh.
Raven gave a weak laugh. It was silent for a while. The pair just sat there and thought.
Raven broke the silence first, "Gar?" Raven said, asking of him again.
"Yes?" he asked tiredly, but not in aggravated way.
"I love you and our kids," she said.
He hugged her closer, "I love you and our children too, Rae," he responded. He yawned. "We better get to sleep," he said tiredly.
"Yeah, another day goes by, but another day is closer to Lily's return," Raven reassured herself.
"Another day to keep your hope," Gar added as they both went into an exhausted slumber.
"Goodnight Rae," he whispered into her ear as he fell unconscious.
ANNOUNCEMENTS………………………………………………………….
A little depressing, yeah. I PROMISE IT WILL GET BETTER! Also it might be a little longer until the next update because I'm trying to get some better idea's for the next coming chapters. So don't kill me this time if I don't update by the end of the week!
ALSO THE OFFICAL COVER FOR THIS STORY IS UP ON DEVIANTART NOW!!!! I'll post a link on my page.
I ALSO MADE A COMIC ABOUT THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN CHANGELING AND CY IN THE BEGINNING. IT'S CALLED 'MY BUTT KICKING CREATION' I'LL POST A LINK TOO!
LASTLY! The winner of my contest is……………………….drum roll plz!.................. NightHowl462!!!!!
WOOOHOO! Her entry was: 'i will... hit you with a banana that has george bush's head on it that's name Mr. BananamanFredricksonberger. :D'
IT WAS SOOO RANDOM I COULDN'T IGNORE IT!!!!
NightHowl462, private message me so you can give me your idea . If you happen to not read this then I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN!! Haha jk! But I will private message u! Count on it!
Thanks you all for your entries I laughed at them all SOOoOO hard you'd think I was hysterical!
Next Chapter…………………
I'll think about it! You won't know until I POST IT! MWWHAHAH!
