Ch 46

At the doorstep of her mother's house Raven felt Changeling's nerves. She smiled. "It will be ok Garfield. I want her to get to know us. I just didn't feel right leaving things the way they were when I left. I want to be able to leave here again feeling at peace."

"I understand Rae," he nodded as she knocked on the door. The door opened, and Arella was surprised to see her daughter and Changeling at her door. "Hello mother," she smiled.

"You look so different Raven, and I see you've brought your boyfriend with you I see. What are you doing here?"

Raven could sense her displeasure of him, but she put that aside for now. "I want you to get to know Garfield and I. I believe you'll understand our relationship better. I'm very serious about him, and we plan to be with each other for the rest of our lives."

"Come in I'm sure your grandparents would love to see you," said Arella as she let the couple inside.

"Raven!" exclaimed Azar as she hugged her granddaughter. "Oh my how you've grown. Well you look just lovely."

"Thank you, it's good to see you. I brought Garfield with me this time," she said as he walked forward.

"Wow, he's certainly grown to," she smiled. "I can see that he is the one for you dear. I've never seen you so happy, and your cloak, it's white."

"Well I'm able to show my emotions freely without worrying about hurting anyone."

"Oh congratulations Raven I'm so happy for you," said Azar.

"So that's why you look so different?" said Arella. "How were you able to gain control?"

The couple blushed. "Intimacy," said Garfield.

"Although I'd rather you two were married before you became one, I can see that it was for the best," said Azar.

"How can you possibly think that mother?" asked Arella. "She threw away her virginity for some beast. She's made the biggest mistake of her life just to feel. Well it's not all it's cracked up to be. I'd rather be emotionless then be—

"Happy," said Raven. "The past is gone, and the present is now. You need help mother because if you never get over the past, you'll be stuck in it forever, bitter, alone and sad. I don't want that for you. You deserve happiness. You did nothing wrong. You did the best you could, but I can no longer let you stand here an insult the man I love.

"Arella you should be ashamed, hurting your daughter like this," said Azar.

The couple found a hotel to stay in while they were in Azarath. Changeling had to admit it was nice as he unpacked his clothes, putting them away. Looking towards Raven, he frowned. He wished more than anything that her and her mother could improve their relationship because he knew how much it pained her to leave things unresolved.

"You know in a way your mom reminds me of Mento. Nothing I did was ever good enough for him. I tried so hard to to get his approval but all I ever got from him was insults. Maybe it was his way to motivate me but it didn't work for me. I accept now that that there's nothing I can do. He's just a difficult guy, but I know he cares about me even though he doesn't say it."

"So I should give up then?"

"No I'm not saying that. You do what you think is best for you," he said as he sat on the bed.

"I just can't believe the things she says sometimes. It's like she's trying to hurt me, to push me away. I can't believe after all these years she can't find some peace," she sighed, "but what if I'm the problem? What if by me coming here, I'm causing her pain? She's probably a lot happier without me here."

"I can't believe that but maybe it's because I'm a little bias because I love you. I know I'm a lot happier with you," he smiled. "None of it is your fault. It's her issues that she has to face. It has nothing to do with you. She has to want to change and no one but her can make that decision."

"You're just full of wisdom all of sudden."

"No I've been hiding it from you, didn't want you to feel intimidated," he joked.

Raven laughed. "It feels so good to laugh without destroying something."

"I'm glad," he smiled. "It's nice to see you enjoying your emotions."

"I'll admit it will take some getting use to, but it's exciting at the same time."

Their clothes had lied on the floor as they made out heavily on the bed. When Raven sat on top of him, straddling his waist, he smiled. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her by his side. He watched her breasts move up and down as she moved inside him. Her face was pure ecstasy as she moaned his name so loudly as he gripped her hips and met ever thrust she made.

She looked down at him to see his eyes boring right into hers, and she blushed but she couldn't look away. She kept her eyes on him as they came together on the bed. She lied on top of him as they caught their breaths. She loved when their hearts beat in sync, and she smiled when she felt his soft, warm hand rub her back in a circular motion. "Mm that feels good," she moaned.

"I aim to please you Raven," he said as he kissed her bare shoulder.

"Oh," she moved her head to face him and smirked. "Maybe you want to please me more tonight," she said as his eyes lit up and she found herself below him.

Raven had met her grandmother the next morning, leaving her Changeling lover to sleep in. It had been hard to leave his warm arms early in the morning, but Azar had wanted to speak with her. They walked the Azarathian Gardens, observing the beautiful yet exotic flowers.

"Since you've left, your mother's been in therapy. She even has her own healer, but I'm not sure any progress is being made. My daughter has always been hard to get through and because of what she's been through, I don't know that she will ever recover fully. I can't help but blame myself Raven. I didn't know how to raise her. She was a difficult child like my husband. They're so alike you know."

"Why not have grandpa talk to her? Surely he understands her better like you say."

"You're right. I think he's distanced himself from this situation because he doesn't like drama. He never did and having to confront this might not be easy, but it must be done. I should have thought of it."

"You think if we're all there to support her, it would be a good thing? We can even bring her therapist and healer along."

"Great idea. Come on lets get to the house. They should be there now. We figured it would be more comfortable for Arella to have her sessions at the house."

They came across Craven in the backyard, reading. When he turned to the two hurried women, he became curious. "What's going on Azar?"

"It's time to talk to your daughter Craven. We'll be there for support with the therapist and healer."

"Azar, you know—

"It's for your daughter's soul!" exclaimed Azar.

Arella heard the commotion outside and came out. "What's going on out here?"

"We all need to sit down as a family and talk. We should have done this from the beginning with your therapist and healer. Now is the time Arella and besides your father has some things to say."

Raven could feel the tension in the room as she looked around at her family. "It's all right. Don't be afraid. This is a safe place to talk," said Raven.

Craven looked at his granddaughter and smiled. "You're right Raven," he said as he looked at his daughter. "I know life hasn't been easy for you since the beginning. You were my first born and a daddy's girl. We were practically attached at the hip. You were hurt at such a young age, and I didn't protect you the way I should have. I was scared, but it's no excuse. You distanced yourself from me, and I let it happen. I let you go.

"Then your sister came and she was a bubbly baby that brought light back to our household. I forgot about you. You seemed so mature at a young age, but your sister followed you like a shadow. When she got a little older, she drifted away from you, and you were alone again," he said wiping the tears from his face. "You ran away from us, from home. I knew I had lost you forever and then I find out you were hurt again. A child was the result, and I blamed you. I told you to get rid of it, but you defied me. You kept the child even though you were hurt, and you distanced yourself from her like I left you behind."

"Raven became everything that Trigon was not and sure she fell into a dark period, but she came out from it. She became a hero, a Teen Titan, a friend, and she found love. You did something right with your daughter Arella. You should be proud of how strong she is. I know I'm so proud of you. I love you. Please don't shut Raven out anymore. She loves you. All she ever wanted was her mother. Now you just have to figure out if you can get past the pain and hurt and become healthy."

"Wow, he's quite insightful," said Raven.

"Yes well he's been silent for so long. He notices things now that he didn't in the past," said Azar.

Arella wiped the tears from her eyes as her father sat beside her and let her cry. The scene made Azar teary eyed as she held onto to Raven for emotional support.

"I believe a breakthrough as occurred," said the therapist.

"Perhaps it wasn't my healing she needed after all," said the healer. "It's quite clear her father's words pierced her heart. We will leave now. It is clear that her father's love and acceptance is what she needed all along to heal."

The door closed as Arella moved out of her father's arms, wiped away her tears, and stood up to see her daughter comforting her mother. It made her smile. Raven had always been a caring soul. "Raven." Raven stood up before her mother. "I'm so sorry what I've put you through. You deserved a loving and caring mother who nurtured you, but I turned you away because of my own past. You are your own being. It doesn't matter who you came from. I still love you," she said as she offered her open arms to her daughter.

"Mother!" she cried as she came into her arms, feeling her mother's arms around her. It was all she ever wanted, and it made her feel safe, like everything was going to be all right. "I—I love you to," she said as she cried in her mother's embrace.

"I—I'm so proud of you my daughter. You made a happy life for yourself on earth, something I wish I could have done. You made friends that have become your family for life. You even found love when I thought it was impossible."

"Well," she smiled, "to be fair he was quite persistent to have my heart."

"I would like to meet him, apologize for my behavior."

"That would be nice. All right. Well I sense him in the gardens," said Raven as she walked with Arella out of the house together and as she looked at her daughter, she saw her smile and knew somehow it was because of the Changeling.

In the gardens they saw a bunch of children playing with a green kitten. Raven could see that the Changeling was a bit overwhelmed, so she decided to help him out as she used her powers to float the kitten into her hands. She pet his fur to relax him, and he purred loudly as he nuzzled her hand.

"My mother wishes to talk to you Garfield," she said as the kitten hopped out of her hand and landed on the ground, becoming himself.

"It's nice to see you again Arella," said Garfield.

"I'm sorry for my behavior Changeling. It was unbecoming of me. I know you are the perfect one for my daughter. You make her happy obviously. I see it in her. She's not the same scared, insecure girl she was on Azarath. She's a strong, confident woman, and I know some of that is your doing."

"I can't take all the credit. Nightwing, Starfire, and Cyborg influenced her as well. I just wanted her to let go and see what the world had to offer her."

"Modest I see. I can see why she chose you."

"And I can see why you choose to keep her. I'm grateful for it everyday. I know it caused you pain, believe me I know pain but sometimes out of pain comes something so beautiful and Raven is. She's so—Raven's lips covered his own in passion as he grabbed onto her for stability.

Arella smiled at the lovely couple as she felt familiar hand on her shoulder and looked to see her sister. "Violet, Haven you're here, how?"

"Raven brought us here early in the morning. She thought we might be needed," she said as Arella hugged her. "I've missed you sister."

"I've missed you to Arella," said Violet as Haven smiled at the two sisters.

"Are they going to come up for air anytime soon?" asked Haven as he looked at his niece and Changeling.

"I hope so, for their health anyway," said Arella.

"Oh come they're in love. Obviously they're crazy about each other," said Violet.

"We use to be that crazy about each other. Of course we got in trouble for it more often then not," said Haven.

"Oh I'm still crazy about you hon," Violet smiled as she pecked his cheek, making Haven blush.

"All right you two that's quite enough," said Arella as she looked to her daughter and Changeling. "Besides I'm sure mom's cooking up something to eat by now. We should head home." Walking back to the house, she saw her daughter and Changeling holding hands. She felt genuinely happy for the two. She was glad her daughter was deeply cared for.