Terra stood at the top of steps leading down into the common room, her daughter resting on her hip. She made direct contact with her former rival's eyes. This couldn't be happening. Zatanna herself said that Raven was trapped in Hell for all eternity. How had she escaped? She undoubtedly came back to claim Garfield as her own.

I'll be damn if I'll give him up without a fight. He's been mine for three years and I bore him a daughter. What has ever she done for him? They were only married a few months when she disappeared.

Raven stared up in disbelief. The child, he had a daughter. No, this couldn't be happening. She looked at him. He looked stunned.

"You didn't wait for me. Why didn't you wait for me?" Raven screamed. "I would have waited for you, I would have waited forever!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Raven, he did wait for you, even when Zatanna said you could not return. Even when your Azarathian Marriage certificate said you were dead." Starfire informed her. "Eventually we convinced him that he should move on. He mourned you for years, even after he married Terra. She has been living in your shadow, Raven. And she honored your memory."

"Maybe so, Starfire, but where does that leave me now?"

The alien Princess sighed. "I do not know dear friend. All I know is that you have returned to us, against all hope. And for that I am grateful."

By this point the common room was full of heroes; more than a few were not familiar to Raven. Five years. She had been gone 5 long years. It was unreasonable to expect the world to stop and wait for her. Countless thousands of people died every day and the world did not stop for them, so why should it be any different for her?

"Where is the certificate? I want to see it. Do you still have it Gar?"

He looked at her with remorse. "I'm sorry Raven, I should have waited. The certificate is packed away in the basement, I'll go and …"

"I'm on it green bean, I'll be right back."

Cyborg appeared to be the only Titan who had not changed. Raven recognized Robin's new identity as Nightwing. Starfire's figure had also filled out, much as Terra's had. Raven felt very plain and ordinary next to the two now older female Titans. And it didn't help that Terra was balancing hers and Gar's daughter on her hip. She had given Beast Boy the one thing Raven could not.

Suddenly a look of alarm blanketed Terra's face. She handed the child to Beast Boy and ran off without saying a word and was gone before anyone could say a word. Raven slowly walked up to Beast Boy and caressed the girl's head. She was his daughter, and even though she was also Terra's daughter she felt no animosity towards her, in fact she realized that she loved the child. She looked up into her beloved's emerald eyes.

"Her name is Raven"

"You named her after me? Terra let you do that?"

"It was her idea."

Raven rubbed her forehead. It was a noble gesture. But the pain remained. It was a reminder that she couldn't give him a child. Not now, not ever.

Cyborg and Terra returned to the common room at the same time. He handed her the familiar cardboard tube that contained the parchment to Raven, who slid it out and examined it. A small smile appeared on her lips. She walked over to the table and unrolled it until it was flat on the table, for all to see. The red markings where gone and Garfield was once again hers. She saw Terra out of the corner of her eye, and she had a grimace on her face. Beast Boy pulled the California wedding certificate out of her hand. It had the word "Annulled" stamped across it. According to the law they had never been married. Azarathian magic was indeed powerful.

"It's not fair, he was mine." The Geomancer sobbed. "I gave birth to his daughter; I waited two years while he mourned you. Why did you have to come back?"

Raven looked very solemn. This did not feel like a victory to her. They were a family and she returned to break them up.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't expect this to happen." She droned. "I think I should go to my room." She stood and paused. "That's right; I don't have a room anymore now, do I?"

Cyborg piped up. "We saved all your stuff. It'll get it out of storage and set it all up for you in one of the guest rooms."

She nodded gratefully. "Thank you Cyborg. That would be nice."

It was only now that she noticed the unfamiliar faces surrounding her. Nightwing stepped forward.

"I guess some introductions are in order … "

-( - )-

It was now late and Raven was alone in her room. Cyborg had even saved the old bed which looked so cold to her, knowing that she would be sleeping in it alone. She still could not believe the circumstances. Gar would not be able to share a bed with the woman he loved just as she would not be able to share hers with him. Her door chimed, snapping her out of her funk, even if it was just for a moment.

"Come in, its open." She called out.

Cyborg and Starfire entered, carrying baskets of freshly laundered clothes. Her old clothes that had been in storage for 5 years and smelled stale.

"Thank you, friends. You're too kind." Cyborg nodded in acknowledgement and left the women alone in the room.

Starfire sat down next to Raven on her bed. She wrapped her arms around her old friend and kissed the crown of her head.

"So what's new with you, Star? What have you done these years while I was gone?"

The princess gave Raven a small smile. "Well, we eventually had the wedding on Tamaran. Oh I wish you could have been there, it was so beautiful. Galfore ceded the crown back to me and I was proclaimed Empress of Tamaran. Richard was crowned as my consort and Crown Prince."

Raven chuckled. "I'll have to practice my curtseys" she joked.

Starfire snickered. "I appointed Galfore as my Regent and he continues to rule in my place."

Raven's eyes began to well up. "And they all lived happily ever after." She choked backed her tears.

"Oh I wish it were so my friend."

Raven stared at her friend. Her amethyst orbs were demanding an explanation.

"Richard and I cannot conceive either, our genomes are too dissimilar. We even had scientists at S.T.A.R.R. labs try to help us, but in the end they said it could not be done."

Raven bit her lower lip before answering. "And I came back to break up the only fertile couple in the Tower." Now it was her turn to embrace her friend. "At least I still have you Star, after spending an eternity in Hell with my father it's good to see your friendly face."

"I am most sorry for Beast Boy. I can only imagine the turmoil he is going through right now."

"And Terra as well." Raven replied. "She must really hate me now, and I can't say that I blame her. She can't even kiss him good night without risking the curse's wrath." She cradled her head in her hands. "Why did I insist on the Azarathian ceremony? We could have had a judge marry us and it wouldn't be a problem now. The civil marriage would have stayed dissolved and we wouldn't have this head ache now."

"I don't hate you Raven." Terra was standing at the door, which had never been closed. "May I come in?"

Raven nodded as she beckoned her to come in. Terra closed the door behind her and walked slowly to the bed, sitting down next to Raven, on her other side.

"I think he should be with you, Raven."

"Are you serious? But what about you? It wouldn't be fair to you." Raven replied. "And is that what he wants anyway?"

"I can't have him Raven, not with the curse. But I'm not being left empty handed. I have my daughter."

Raven didn't look convinced.

"C'mon Raven, we all know he still loves you. I was just a replacement for you. Don't get me wrong, those were the three best years of my life. He missed you terribly and I was privileged with cheering him up."

"No, Terra." Starfire interrupted "You were more than a replacement. He truly loves you."

"Starfire's right, you had a child together. That is something I will never share with him."

"Maybe, but he needs someone, and right now that someone can only be you."

"This won't be easy. We'll be living here together in the Tower. We have to; I can't separate him from his daughter. And when I'm alone with him, I'll always wonder if he's thinking of you."

"He will sometimes. He thought of you all the years you were gone. It wasn't easy competing with your ghost, but in the end I accepted it. We even have a picture of you in our apartment, framed and hanging in the living room."

Raven turned and embraced her former rival and the two broke out in tears.

-( - )-

Garfield was playing with his daughter in the common room. "Raven Logan" he thought to himself. Now there were two Raven Logans in the tower and while they were both related to him, they were not related to each other, at least not by blood. He rubbed the back of his neck wondering how he was going to explain to his daughter that he was not married to her mother while the she shared her name with the gray woman he was married to.

He picked her up and kissed her. Maybe someday the two Ravens would develop a bond. He could only hope so.

Cyborg walked into the room and smiled as he saw his friend, the "grass stain", play with his daughter the "sweet pea".

"They're talking in Raven's room." He reported tersely.

"I feel like a pie being sliced up. I feel so torn, Cy. I love both of them. I know it sounds creepy, but I think of myself as married to both of them. And at the same time no matter what I do, I'll feel like I'm letting them down."

Cyborg nodded. "I understand, but right now Raven is you legal wife, and with that Azarathian curse hanging over your head they couldn't time share you even if they agreed to."

Beast Boy gave the tin man a look that said 'my life sucks'.

"So, do you need me to get you a bed for tonight?"

"No" he replied blankly. "Terra has already told me that I'm moving back in with Raven. She says it's too dangerous for us to live together and I think she's right." He sighed "I just wish there was a better solution to this."

"I can bring up a single bed to Raven's room if you'd want that."

"She's my wife Cy, I think I should sleep with her. She's literally been to Hell and back. She deserves my comfort."

And so does my poor Terra.