Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.

Chapter 21:

Day 25

Tugging her robe over her tighter, Raven shivered. The night air was cold as it was silent which was surprising for the city. The cold, firm ground stayed solid underneath her bare pale feet as she followed Logan through the night. She sighed, letting the warm breath dance within the night as a thin cloud. She looked up to the sky and glared at it. She damned the cold and its bitter hold over her body. Giving it one last glare, she rubbed her arms in attempt to warm herself. She looked up to Logan and wished he had told her about the cold.

Or at least, try to keep me warm, she thought. Suddenly, she thought about all of those nights that he had lied in her bed. All of those nights where she had asked him to be her blanket and wrap an arm around her. How warm his body was.

She shook her head of the thought. Where did that come from? She wondered. She looked back up at Logan again and sighed silently.

Although…it would be nice…

Logan walked all the way up to the base of the tree and stopped. Raven watched as his shoulders slumped and his ears drooped as if someone knocked the air clear out of him. She waited behind him, watching him slowly bare out his true colors. His past. For a moment, he did not say anything nor even move. He just stood. His shoulders slumped, head down, and completely and utterly vulnerable.

"Logan?" she asked after a moment or two.

He breathed in, letting it fill him like a balloon, and looked up to the dark heavens above.

Releasing the breath, he said finally, "I…I was normal once. I had cream skin, sandy blonde hair, blue eyes…just like my hologram thing made me out to be the other night. But uh…I was hardly called normal back where I used to live. Africa. In a small village called Upper Lamumba. Tall grass, dirt floor, jungles, deserts all living right next door to each other there. Beautiful place," he smiled sadly as he envisioned his old home, "Anyway, it was the perfect place for any kid to be. You know, running around, playing, exploring, and all that. It was great. Wonderful, really. Scared my mom half to death though when I got "lost"."

He let out a little chuckle at the thought, "My mom was one of those mom's who would put down everything just for me. I got a scrape, she'd get a band-aid. I wanted to play, she'd play with me. I did something…she'd be there for me. And she'd always smell like shortbread cookies."

He rested an arm against the tree to keep him from falling over. This story was harder to tell than he thought. He continued on, despite all of the pain and turmoil within him.

"My father though, he was different," he said, "He was always dedicated to his work. But he made time for me, you know? He made sure I was okay and we would…do the "manly bonding" type stuff that fathers and sons always do. Like go hiking or camping. Play sports…learn how to throw a ball…"

"Make smores late in the night," Raven added.

Logan turned and looked at her with sad, tearful eyes. He smiled sadly at her and nodded. Raven's eyes travelled to the ground beneath her once again, as if it interested her, to avoid his eyes.

His eyes were the portals into his soul and that was something she could not bear…yet.

A gush of sea breeze fleeted passed them, shivering Raven to the bone. She cuddled her robe closer to her body in order to keep warm but quickly found it to be no use. Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her frame and pull her into something warm. She opened her eyes and saw Logan pulling her in close to his chest, warming her throughout her body. He pulled her over to the tree and slid down to the ground, dragging her down with him.

"Better?" he asked as he shifted a little.

She nodded, "Yes."

He smiled a little and said, "Sorry about taking you out here, it's just…"

"It's harder for you to reveal this indoors. Fresh air makes it easier for you," Raven finished.

He looked down at her and into her amethyst eyes. Her eyes sparkled like precious jewels in the moonlight, shimmering with understanding and wisdom and yet, held a certain indescribable innocence in them. God, how he loved her eyes.

He nodded and held her a little closer to him, rubbing her arm a little. She rested her head on his shoulder, her hair brushing against his unshaven cheek. He smiled gently and rested his head on top of hers, enjoying the feel of her in his embrace.

She sighed, "So are you going to finish?"

He closed his eyes, tilting his nose a little closer to her, smelling that shampoo that he loved so much. He slowly nodded his head and sighed, "Yeah."

"You can take your time, you know? Now that I'm no longer freezing," she said.

He chuckled a little, "Thanks. But if I take my time, I won't get anywhere with this so I can't."

Cuddling up closer to him, she sighed, "Okay. You stopped at your father by the way."

"Thanks," he chuckled, "I was just about to ask you that too."

She shrugged, "Looks like I know you quite well."

"So it seems."

"And now you're avoiding."

"What ever happened to, taking my own time?"

"Whatever happened to, "if I take my time, I won't get anywhere"?'

He paused for a second, "Touché."

"Thank you. Now continue."

He chuckled a little again, his chest vibrating against her shoulder blade. She liked it when he laughed. It gave her this warm, pleasant feeling all throughout her body. So comfortable and inviting. It made her feel happy and safe.

He exhaled and leaned closer into her, "Okay, you win. Uh…so one day, I was wondering in the jungle and uh…there was this monkey."

Raven looked up at him. He was looking back out at the ocean. His jaw set and locked, his gaze hard, his face twisted in a disgusted way.

"And I," he dragged, "I was curious. I tried to play with the monkey and…it bit me."

His eyes lowered to the ground, "I got really sick after that. I didn't go outside that much anymore. My mom always told me to stay inside. I saw dad less. The only time I saw him was whenever I snuck out of my bed and went to the living room or he came in for…blood samples or something."

He paused as he thought back to those days. Replaying his memories all over again in his head- reliving those days as a child again. He shut his eyes tight as if it was to fend off the past thoughts.

"My mom," he coughed, "was always worried. She always, always made sure I was okay. Every five minutes it was, "what do you need?", "can I get you anything?". She was just so worried and tired and…pale."

He paused again, taking the time to swallow the huge lump in his throat that had built.

"I would have done something if I wasn't so sick myself. I would've helped. It…killed me to see her like that. But what was worse was when I saw my dad for the first time in, I don't know, weeks- months, maybe. I was so sick when I saw him. I didn't have the strength to move or speak clearly. I barely had the strength to open my eyes even. But I saw him and he…"

His lips pressed tighter together, forcing all of this truth to come out. Raven wanted to tell him to stop and that he didn't need to do it anymore. That it was alright. But she could not muster the strength to tell him so. So she continued to sit there and listen to his story.

"He looked so weak. So tired and defeated and…sad. He was never sad. Out of all of the things my dad was to me, sad or defeated was never what he was. Except during that moment. He just looked like…everything was hopeless. Like…death right before it hits you. And it hurt to see, not only him but both of them like that. I never saw my parents that way until then."

His eyes glistened with tears, "Just by the way they looked…I thought that I was going to die. And soon." He sniffled, pulling back the stinging tears behind his eyes down further into his lids.

"After that," he exhaled deeply, "it gets really fuzzy. I must have been asleep or something throughout it because I barely remember anything else. I don't even remember waking up from it all. I just remember seeing myself in the mirror and…I was green and I could change to a swallow.

"Anyway, I started seeing my dad more. I never went into the jungle without at least, one of my parents. I was even pulled out of public school in my village and was home schooled, which was something that my parents weren't too fond of. Or at least, I think they weren't. And it was great. You know, I got to be with my mom. My dad and I always played and went out together. I wasn't teased in the village anymore because I was rarely seen. I loved it."

His eyebrows crinkled as he another memory came to him, "Some years later we went on this boat trip and that's where things went wrong."

He then, proceeded to tell her about the boating accident. Telling her about how it started and how it ended. Everything. Raven watched as he battled with himself to finish. She felt him shake against her as the hand wrapped around her shoulder tightened and loosened. She watched him bit down on his lip again, turning it into a deeper greenish-red, fighting those tears that were so evident in his eyes.

"I can still see them, in my head," his voice creaked, as he closed his eyes tightly, "I can still hear their screaming as they went down those falls. And…and I still feel like I'm on that tree, watching them just…float away."

That was it. He couldn't it hold back anymore. The tears poured and poured out of his eyes, streaming down like rivers alongside his cheeks. He shut his eyes even tighter as he fought against the loud sobs within his throat. Without thinking, Raven wrapped an arm around his mid-section and leaned into him. He was hurting- breaking right in front of her. Something she had never seen on him before. She curled into him, almost climbing into his lap and rubbed his back, comforting him. He leaned his head down on hers and held her closer to him, needing to feel close to someone. Needing to feel close to her.

"I just keep thinking over and over again," he said through his tears, "Maybe if I had stayed on that boat. If I had used my powers. If I could have done, I don't know, something, maybe they would still be here. Maybe if…I hadn't been on that boat…"

He never finished his sentence for Raven shushed him.

"No, there was nothing that could've been done," she said in a calm and comforting voice.

He shook his head and moved away from her, unwrapping his arm from around her, "No, there could've been something. Anything. Instead of sit there and watch them die."

Moving closer to him again, she said, "You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"How can I not?" he shot back, "I sat in safety while they floated down river. I had powers that could have saved their lives and I didn't do anything. I just sat there like an idiot."

"You sat there like a child," she responded, "You were a child who had no idea about how to use their powers because you had no one to help you. To turn to."

She placed her hands on either side of his shoulders and gave them a light squeeze. She leaned her head against his hair, feeling his silky green tresses against her cheek.

"You were just a child, Logan," she whispered, "No one can blame you for what happened."

His body shook with feelings of sorrow as another round of tears came pouring out of his eyes. He hunched over and buried his head in his lap with his hands on either side of his head. Raven bit her lip as she watched him rock himself back and forth. She cringed as she heard his sobs escape from his throat and into the night air. She knew a little bit of his past but she had no idea about its extent. She had no idea about how tragic it was. To know this. To be reminded of this every day. To feel guilt for something that was out of his control. To live with this tragic tale and smile and pretend that nothing is wrong. She had absolutely no idea.

She reached out a hand for him again but before she could get to him, he had turned back to her and pulled her to him. He buried his face within her bosom, his tears soaking her night slip underneath her robe and wrapped him arms around her small frame. To say that Raven was shocked was merely an understatement. She froze instantly for a moment, unsure of what exactly to do. But she relaxed and did the only thing that felt right. She wrapped her arms around him, bringing him close to her. She began to rock back and forth trying to hush him, stroking his hair and caressing his face, soothingly. Absentmindedly, she began to hum her lullaby that she sang to him earlier that month, slowly calming him.

He hadn't cried like this in so long. He hadn't cried like this, period. All of the suppressed memories and feelings he had gain over the years, had finally caught up with him and was finally coming out. As he sobbed and gasped from his lung spasms, he listened to Raven's humming. To her breathing. To her heart beating. And found a wonderful melody with all of it put together. So soft, gentle, and soothing. He felt at peace with the sound.

After a few moments of holding each other, the cold finally got to them and reminded them of its bite. Finding the strength to let go of her, he pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. So wide. So open. So sincere.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, sweetly. She raised her hand to his face and wiped one of his free falling tears away.

He smiled at her and nodded, "Y'know, my parents would've loved you."

She smiled a little, leaning her forehead against his. "Right, you're parent's would just love a filthy, little demon spawn like me," she said, sarcastically.

This made Logan frown. He pulled away slightly and looked at her, "No."

She furrowed her eyebrows at him in confusion.

"My parents wouldn't have cared about that. As long as you're good at heart, they wouldn't have cared. And you, you Raven, have a heart as pure as gold," he said, sternly, "And I don't ever want to hear you call yourself that again. Ever."

Raven stared at him, finding herself at lost for words. He was looking at her in disapproval- disgusted, maybe, that she would dare even say such a thing about herself. And he was. She looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed underneath his cold stone gaze.

"Promise me, you'll never say that about yourself again," she heard him say.

She nodded her head a little at him, biting her lip, too afraid to speak. She felt his finger flutter underneath her chin and lift her head up to face him. She closed her eyes- again, too afraid to even look at him. She hated his looks of disapproval. It was as if he could see right through her.

"Look at me," said Logan.

Swallowing her pride, she fluttered her eyes open to once more see his jaded eyes staring back at her.

"Never call yourself that again," he demanded, his voice sending chills throughout her, "Promise me."

She nodded at him again but he simply shook his head.

"I need to hear it," he said, "Promise me."

She said nothing.

"Promise me, Raven."

She opened her mouth but nothing came.

"Promise me," he said, louder with more authority and a sense of urgency. He needed her to promise that she would never even look at herself as that again.

"I-I promise," she whispered. She mentally cursed herself. Wondering on how Logan could easily have this effect on her. He did it that one day at the café. He did it the first day they started. He did it a lot. And every time she felt two feet tall. Maybe even shorter than that.

"Good," he muttered, his eyes growing soft. He pushed back a piece of her long hair behind her ear and gently caressed the flesh behind her earlobe.

She shuddered at the touch and leaned a bit towards his hand, slowly closing her eyes. Azar, did it feel good. But there was something she needed to say. Something she had to say to him.

Opening her eyes a bit, she looked at him, "But."

"But?" he inquired, still caressing her neck.

"Um," she breathed, trying to gain her focus, "I will only promise this, if you promise to not blame yourself about what happened to your parents."

He looked up at her and saw her looking back at him.

"Promise me that you won't beat yourself up about this again," she said, "and you will never keep something like this hidden away from me again."

She placed both of her hands on either side of his face and whispered, "Because it bothers me to see you in pain. Trust me, I can see it."

Logan stared for a moment, feeling himself cut open like he had done to Raven before. Completely vulnerable and out there for her and her only to see. And he wasn't exactly sure if he liked it. sure, he wanted their relationship to be open and honest but dang; he didn't know that this was how you felt when someone can see right through you.

He nodded his head at her but like he had done to her, she shook her head.

"No, I need to hear it," she said, sternly, "Promise me that you won't do this again."

He nodded his head, lips quivering, "I promise."

She smiled as one of her hands stroked his hair and down to his cheek, "Good. You see?" she said with a slightly nervous smile, "Now, the walls are down."

He let out an airy chuckle, "Scary isn't it?"

"Yes," she laughed, "Quite."

He hummed and held her close to him. Another gust of wind came by and chilled them, despite how warm they were in their current position.

"I think we should go inside," Raven said with a soft smile. He nodded and she quickly wrapped them in her magic and teleported them back into the tower.

When the black aura faded, they found themselves back in Raven room, sitting on her bed, wrapped in each other's arms. They smiled at each other and stayed like that for a while. Having a silent conversation that only they could possibly understand.

However, they reluctantly separated and decided that they both needed their rest for tomorrow.

"So uh," Logan said as Raven climbed into her bed, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes," Raven said, more to herself than him, "Actually, Logan?"

"Hmm?"

She bit her lip a little before saying, "I…you would mind staying here…again? The bed…it's kinda…empty without you."

Taking aback by this request, Logan said, "Are you sure?"

Raven took a moment to ask this question herself and then said, "Yes."

Logan smiled as he walked back over to the bed and climbed in. He sighed he sunk into her plush bed. He swore to himself that he would get a bed like this one day. He turned to his side and faced Raven, who was also facing him.

"Good night, Rae," he smiled gently.

She didn't say anything as she turned on her other side and wrapped his arm around her. And then, with a pleasant sigh, she said, "Good night, Logan."

Logan smiled to himself as he scooted a little closer to her, burying his face into the nook of her neck before drifting off into a comfortable sleep. The walls were down now and he was becoming her rock. And she, his.

Day 25 continues.

A/N: Finally, I'm done with this chapter! My goodness, it took forever! But it's not entirely my fault. I would've had this done sooner if my flash drive hadn't been erased. And for me, when that happens, a part of my mind is lost and I have a bit of a down time. Honestly, I could not work on anything because of it. When I finally could start writing my schedule got hectic and well, you get the idea. To be honest, I'm sorta glad it got erased because I think my original idea didn't have this much fluff. I mean, it had a little but not this much. Oh well, maybe it was meant to be. Oh, and just to let you all know, this is as far as Day 25 goes. I don't know where to go from there for the rest of the day, honestly. Anyway, for those reading Lucky Charms, sorry for the no updates. Again, I put this before that because I have to write this down as it comes the other is already written for the most part. I see myself adding things here and there that makes the updating take longer. So yeah. Um…hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon and I hope you like this chapter. Well, that's all for now. Please review! Peace!

Bleeding Writer