This was what I did have written for the next installment of the original fic, posted as a treat to a dear friend of mine:

Chapter X

Kane prepared himself as Cyborg, Changeling, and Nightwing came into his sight. He sighed and tried to keep his cool as the taller girl approached the men that were standing in a sort of semi-circle, talking among themselves.

It was here that Kane finally got a look at his mother's found family, and his father; Gods, his father. He was taller than Kane had expected, and he had a mellow and scruffy look to him. His father had not been what he was expecting, but everything he had hoped for since he first understood the concept of fatherhood.

"Dad, I found this supposed ally sneaking around the garage, says he was looking for you," the dread locked object of Kane's current attentions spoke, addressing Cyborg. The large demi-mechanical man turned to Kane, and never had he felt so small.

Cyborg's voice boomed, "And what were you doing sneakin' around my shop?" Kane shrunk, and if that wasn't embarrassing enough, the red-head from before chuckled at his visible intimidation.

His voice meek, Kane chirped, "Starfire said I could find you there, I- um, asked in the hallway. Raven is awake, she asked me to come get you." Cyborg was silent for a beat. Two. Then nodded.

He cleared his throat, "For Raven? Anything," he looked over to his long-time compatriots, "I'll see y'all later, Raven needs me." In one fluid moment, the group shifted to allow the man through.

A little more than a minute of awkward silence later and Nightwing addressed the three teenagers in front of him, "Izzy, Helena? Good work, you can go about your day," the girls, apparently named Helena and Izzy (though Kane couldn't tell which was which) straightened, nodded, and walked out of the room. This left Kane, Changeling, and Nightwing in the room. Alone. Boy, was Kane totally not panicking at this uncomfortable situation. Instead of talking, Kane whipped around and briskly walked out of the room without a word, before Nightwing or Changeling could say anything.

Kane speed-walked through the hallways, using his memory of the layout of the Tower to arrive as quickly as he could to his mother's side. As he arrived, he could see the mecha-man checking over his mother quietly.

He knocked on the frame of the door, and cleared his throat, "How is she?"

Cyborg looked up from the small screen he was analyzing to meet Kane's eyes, "Her vitals are fine. Seems like all this stress just got to her at once. We're gonna keep an eye on her, but she should be just fine," Cyborg smiled at his old friend, "As long as she stops sassing me every time I try to help her."

Raven snorted loudly, a sound Kane was not sure he had heard before, "Like waffles and video games are an actual piece of medical advice."

Cyborg chuckled loudly, a sound Kane was definitely sure he hadn't heard before, "Hey, girl, don't knock it till you try it."

Kane almost felt like an intruder in this one moment of closeness between what he could only assume is what a long lasting sibling bond looks like, as he and Azar hadn't been together as long as he would've liked.

Gods, Azar. He hadn't thought of his older sister in a while. She had meant everything to him, truly. He always wondered who she would've been or what she would've looked like if she hadn't…

Kane cleared his throat quietly as tears started to form. The day that he heard was the day part of his soul died. He cried for weeks and weeks, screaming to his mother every night that he had some notion that Azar was still alive. Eventually, the sobs calmed. And eventually, he could sleep through the night without crying. And admittedly after, he forgot.

It wasn't like he wanted to it's just… time just-

Kane shook his head in shame, and looked up at his mother again. She was still jesting with Cyborg as if no time had passed between the two of them. In another world, in a different time, that would have been he and Az.

Raven spent her day recuperating, and Kane spent the hours at her side, trying to make her as comfortable and happy as possible. Eventually, Raven's stomach began to growl, and both she and Kane had noticed.

"I can get you some food," Kane offered, beginning to unravel himself from his seat in an attempt to get up.

Raven shook her head and chuckled, "I'm not an invalid, Kane. I can get my own food, thanks." She pushed the blankets off of her, and made her way to stand up. When her feet hit the ground, she wobbled a little, but ultimately she was standing after a long day of not moving.

Kane watched her closely, but did not make a move to assist her, knowing that if she needed help, she would ask. She made her way to the kitchen by memory alone, feeling the days of memories past flow like waves around her.

She was home. She was finally and irrevocably home. Alaska had been beautiful, but it never brought the same energy that this old tower had. It wasn't until she happened to glance herself in the glare of a window that she realized she had been crying. She smiled, touching her face.

Emotions; she hadn't been able to show them when she left here, and how she hated it. It had taken her years, but she could embrace some semblance of them now. Pain, joy, happiness, so on and so on. She was about to lament on the time she lost while she was gone, but she heard a loud chuckle in the entryway before her.

Apparently with all this time in her head, she had made it to the Common Room without realizing it. She sighed shakingly, but head held high, she walked into the last room she had been in in this T-shaped Tower.

At first glance, Garfield and Victor were obnoxiously playing video games against each other while Nightwing seemed to be playing referee begrudgingly between the two. Starfire was quietly humming while making food that admittedly smelled pretty good. The Common Room doors closed loudly, making the boys look up from their game, and Starfire looked up from her concoction. They all stared as Raven walked to Starfire and leaned near her delicious mix of food.

"Whatcha making Star?" Raven asked quietly, bringing a large smile to her childhood friend's face. Starfire took the spoon out and gave Raven a taste.

Raven, surprised by the explosion of flavor attacking her taste buds, asked excitedly, "No, seriously, what is that? It's delicious!"

Starfire's smile grew even brighter, "It is my vegetarian chili! It is my specialty, Raven!"

Raven's eyebrows drew together, "Did you just say Raven?"

Starfire chuckled, "Well that is your name, is it not?"

"Well yes, it is, but you've never said just my name before," said Raven, still confused

"Ah yes, well; after kissing Richard over many years now, I have learned the language a lot more fluently," Starfire blushed, and two distinct shouts of teasing praise came from the couch as a now much redder Nightwing had become Cyborg and Changeling's new source of attention.

Raven rolled her eyes at the childishness, "Anyway, when that chili is done, I'd love to have some." Starfire nodded, and smiled once more before going back to stirring and humming.

Without turning around, she called behind her, "Son of Raven, would you like some of my chili as well?"

The only way to describe the room in that moment was, well, more frozen than a car windshield in the middle of the Midwest during the Winter.

Kane's mouth was dry, he helplessly looked at his mother for any clue of what to do. His mother had a far off look on her face and he awkwardly cleared his throat to bring his mother back from wherever she journeyed to in her head.

Raven took a deep breath, and without looking at anyone else, she faced her female companion, "How did you know?"

It seemed all the air had left the room with that one statement. If it had been cold before, now it was the arctic tundra during its peak chill period. Starfire hummed in response, continuing to stir her chili. A minute of silence passes, everyone too afraid for their own personal safety, before Starfire turns off the heat for the food, puts a top over it, and rotates around to face Raven.

"He looks like you," she starts, breaking the quiet, "he talks like you, and most of all, he holds such knowledge and fear behind his eyes, just like you did when we were kids." The awe-struck audience began to look back and forth between Kane and Raven at varying paces, all slowly trying to understand how none of them had seen it before.

Starfire continued, "Or perhaps you could call it, what is the Earth term, a mother's intuition?" She glanced at Kane who looked like he wanted to run away, but couldn't seem to move his legs.

Starfire looked into her friend's eyes inquisitively, "But you hold so much more hurt in your eyes than before my friend, what causes it so?"

To say that there was a palpable hanging tension in the room would be an understatement. And then, a laugh. A watery, and if to say, relieved laugh rang wall to wall across the empty room. It wasn't to say that Raven wanted it to come about this so soon, or like this at all, but it felt so freeing that it was here, that she no longer had to keep her son a secret anymore.

Raven laughed and laughed, before wiping her teary eyes and sighing shakily, "You always were looking out for me, Star, even before…"

Starfire clicked her tongue and gently grabbed Raven's face; normally Raven would flinch or pull away, but Starfire's hands were warm and comforting.

Starfire's hands continued to support her face as she gently wiped away her tears and looked into her eyes, "What happened, my sister?"

Another loud, watery chuckle. It meant the world that despite Starfire already having a sister, Raven was that for Starfire. A sister.

"I had a daughter," she croaked, soothing her sobs finally, "I had a son and a daughter. She was- she died, many years ago. It's been Kane and I ever since."

Starfire smiled in an almost motherly fashion, "Tell me about her," she looked at Kane, "Tell me about the both of them."

Raven shook her head sadly, "She wasn't with us long. She was so smart, and she had such potential," she swallowed, "He reminds me of her, often, even though he doesn't mean to. They were twins, after all. Sometimes he'll scrunch his nose or laugh and I swear it's like I'm looking at the both of them."

Nightwing, who had been silent through this entire exchange chose this moment to ask, "What was her name?"

Kane, who also had not spoken, chose this time to answer for his distressed mother, "Azar. Mom named her after her mentor, and her middle name was my Grandmother's name, Arella," Kane seemed to begin to speak to himself, "Azar Arella, my big sister."

Nightwing locked eyes with Kane, "And you, were you named after your father?" Kane looked at his mother, who he found was already looking at him, and she nodded.

Kane cleared his throat and slightly shook his head, "No, I- no. Not really. My mom, she named me an old irish word, Kane. It means warrior."

Kane continued,"My middle name, though- my middle name is my father's name."

Kane looked like he wanted to turn into a mouse and scurry away, not really meeting anyone's eye and beginning to nervously scratch the back of his neck, playing with soft hairs that his fingers come across. He began to smile nervously and chuckle awkwardly as the silence once again became palpable.

Cyborg, who had been relatively mute during this whole debacle glanced at Changeling, who had been sitting at the edge of his seat for relatively the entire time, had visibly sagged when the kid (who mind you, neither he and or his best friend had said more than 10 words to) had said he was named after his father in some semblance of a way. He had more than just suspicions that Changeling had previously had feelings for Raven's when they were kids. But now, in this moment, he knew; he knew that his friend had, and it seemed, always will have, feelings for her. He watched as his friend scratched the back of his- no... No. No, that doesn't- but they hadn't.. Had they?

But, come on. That may be Raven's nose but that was BB's smile. How had he not seen this all before? That kid was literally the perfect mix between his teammates from his teenage years. He had to say something, anything.

"I'm hungry, is that chili ready?" Well, it was something. If looks could kill, Cyborg would have been dead a thousand times over, it seems, as he was met with glares of varying degrees.

He raised his hands in surrender and an embaressed laugh spilled from his throat, "I'm sorry, it hasn't been this tense since-" He quieted himself, regretting his words immediately.

"Since what?" Kane questioned, confused. Whatever tenseness that had wade into the room was now replaced with a hollow sadness that ate at Kane's insides.

"Since your mom left, kid." Kane's head shot up, as the voice that answered him was not, in fact, Cyborg.

It was, in fact, the one person who Kane hadn't spoken to this whole encounter; the one who he had come here for, Changeling. Changeling cleared his throat, trying to stop the sobs from coming out. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to die.

"Is this why you left with no notice? You know we would have supported you, right? That I would've-" he sighed, frustrated.

Raven guffawed, "Oh that's a great idea! Have a bunch of teenagers raise a child when none of us had a great upbringing to begin with. You wouldn't have wanted to help anyway." The adults in the room, excluding Changeling and Raven grimaced at the statement; it wasn't too far from the truth, after all.

The green man's voice began to rise, "So instead, you just leave? Come on, I was in love with you, I would have done anything for you!" He huffed, and puffed… and waited for Raven's response. It never came.

A quick look over at Raven gave him all he needed to know. She was blushing, something no one has seen in nothing more than fleeting moments. Though Changeling reddened, his entire being showed no ounce of regret, and he puffed out his chest in defiance. The two were at a standstill, staring at each other, not a lick of anger between the two of them. Starfire stepped back to her chili, and picked up her spoon. She turned to face the others and smiled.

She spoke in a motherly tone, "Well than, now that we have worked ourselves into an appetite, it is time to commence dinner!"

She turned to Kane, "New friend, would you help me pass out food?" Kane nodded and silently began following instructions as Starfire continued, "We can continue this conversation while we fill our stomachs." It took a few minutes for everyone to shuffle over and grab food and find their spots. Kane ended up squeezed between Cyborg and the redhead from earlier. Raven sat next to Starfire, and ended up being parallel to Changeling, who couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her; it was if he believed that if he stopped looking at her, she would be gone.

Starfire cleared her throat between bites of food, and calmly spoke, "So, Kane, where did you grow up?"

Kane smiled fondly, "Alaska. It was...peaceful. We lived in a cottage surrounded by trees and wildlife. During the night, stars lit up the sky. And even though I knew that to someone else in that sky that I was just another star, it didn't even matter, it was comforting."

Cyborg snorted into his bowl, "Wow, kid, you really are Raven's son. You two have that same cheeky outlook on life." A slow uproar of laughter finally spilled from the found family unit. Even Raven couldn't help but roll her eyes playfully at the much taller man. Casual conversation erupted from the laughter, and for a moment everything was exactly how it was nearly 18 years ago. Raven and Kane were finally introduced to Helena (the red-head with the daddy issues, according to Kane), who was Nightwing and Starfire's daughter, and Izzy (the prettiest girl Kane had ever seen, but don't tell his mother), Cyborg's daughter. Kane was happy to have names for the faces of his temporary would-be captors instead of just "Red-head" and "Dreadlocks". Raven was awe-struck at how quickly she became "Aunt Raven" for the two teenage girls, like they had known her for their whole lives. And just as quickly as the storm started, it calmed. Laughter was a regular sound as the dinner jovially went on without much fuss.

Over the course of the meal, Kane finally got to see simple characters from his childhood bedtime stories laugh at his stupid jokes. They were real. And they… liked him. They actually liked him, not as Raven's kid, but as Kane.

As the night died down, so did the energy of the room. The teenaged girls had long since gone to their rooms when Kane felt his forehead touch the table silently. In his sleep-addled mind it felt like a goose-feather pillow, and he tiredly cuddled into it and purred. A few snickers sounded around the room as he quietly groaned, cutting off some of the quiet chatter around the room. Raven smiled as her son began to softly snore, completely unaware of the rest of the world.

Raven glanced down around the room at their amused faces, "He can always fall asleep wherever he lays his head."

Cyborg crossed his arms and nodded sagely, "A true gift." The seated group quietly snickered. They all had missed each other's company, and it was nice to feel at ease in their completed group after all these years.

During their continued quiet chatter, Nightwing swallowed and awkwardly cleared his throat, "I need to tell you all something." In nearly the blink of an eye, all eyes were on their leader.

His face grew stern, his voice serious, "Slade is moving a convoy out in 3 days." It wasn't the immediate laughter that followed that threw Raven off, it was the blasè attitude to the most difficult foe that the team had ever faced, whether he had been dead for decades or not.

She was mortified, "Why are you laughing? This is serious!"

Changeling wiped the tears from his eyes and huffed one last laugh, wheezing through his words, "You really almost had us that time."

Nightwing frowned, but before he could speak again, Changeling turned to Raven, "He has this big speech in 3 days, and he's been trying to get out of it for months."

Cyborg smacked NIghtwing's shoulder, "I just think he's trying to get out of a real suit."

Starfire dramatically yawned, "I think it is time for bed," she turned to Raven, "It is positively amazing to have you back, my sister." She could see how visibly upset her husband was getting, and Cyborg and Changeling never knew when the jokes should stop. She glared at the duo as she passed by, before leaving the room entirely. "Don't be long, Dick," she called as she left.

Cyborg clapped his best friend's shoulder, "We should go to bed too, bro."

Changeling nodded, making sure he met Raven's eyes before leaving the room with Cyborg at his side.

The only sound left in the room was Kane's soft snores.

Then, Nightwing sighed softly, sounding more defeated than Raven had ever heard him before. He quietly took off his mask, and rubbed his eyes. He leaned back in his chair and ruffled his hair. Raven quietly gasped, bringing Nightwing's attention back to his teammate. It had been years, and yet she had still never seen Dick Grayson's face in private company. Sure, a quick internet search would've given her the exact same face, but it didn't affect her in the same way.

"Oh yeah," he said quietly, "I do that now." Raven laughed through her nose; he was the same Robin, just a little taller, and a little more hair.

He smiled an intimate smile, and then frowned again, "I lied to them, Raven."

Raven's smile cracked "I know. You did it to protect them, and now they don't believe you." Raven understood, she always understood. He had lied about being afraid of some speech so much that they no longer believed him when he was telling the truth, and it hurt. Now Raven was the only one that believed him; no, even worse, that believed in him.

Dick nodded and smiled, "I forgot how good you are at understanding me."

Raven tapped her temple, "That's because I've been in your head."

Dick chuckled quietly, and then cocked his head to the side, contemplating. Earlier, that telepath; the more he thought about it, the more he was reminded of his mental connection with Raven.

"Hey Raven," he chimed.

She hummed, "Hm?"

"Can you do it again?"

"Can I do what again?"

"Get inside my head?"

Raven crossed her arms and mirrored Dick's head movement, "Why would you want me to do that?"

Dick looked down, "Because-" Kane snorted in this sleep, and shifted his body loudly, nuzzling even further onto the table. They both smiled at his antics, and Raven rolled her eyes at the timing.

Dick sighed and knocked on the table before standing, "Let me show you where he'll be sleeping." He gestured to the Common Room doors, before realizing that Kane wasn't responding to Raven's gentle nudging, and was still snoring softly. He shook his head in jest, and moved towards Kane. Dick quietly offered to help, and then effortlessly picked Kane up over his shoulder. He nodded at the door for Raven to open it, and all three of them slipped through. Through each twist and turn, Raven remembered the boy that once stood in front of her and how proud she is of the man that stands in front of her now.

She didn't realize that she was smiling until Dick lowly chimed, "What's so funny?"

She shook her head, "Nothing, just thinking about the good ol' days." When we were a family; she wanted to add 'when we were happy'.

Dick quietly guffawed, "Ah yes, when we ran around in dated costumes, ate pizza, and understood absolutely nothing about each other."

She continued, "When the only responsibilities we had were kicking bad guy butt and following a chore chart," she rolled her eyes, "that no one ever followed."

Nightwing made a face, "You know, Starfire originally thought that you and I.. were… you know..." Raven wrinkled her nose, shook her head, and then very visibly cringed at the thought of anything romantic revolving her and Dick Grayson. He had been a grounding force, but the thought of him in any way other than that platonic grounding force made her want to vomit.

She shook her head again, "No, come on! You're lying!"

He laughed, "No, I'm actually 100 percent serious. We talked about it after Tokyo. She thought our bond was," he shuddered and lowered his voice, "romantic." She started audibly laughing, and Dick had to hush her, holding back his own laughter as best as he could. He stopped in front of a door suddenly, and the smile dropped from his face. If Raven had been paying less attention, she would have walked right into him. She followed his gaze to a door that didn't look any different from the rest, but through memory knew exactly what that door was shielding from the rest of the world. Dick lowered his head and clenched his jaw, did a 180, and walked into the door opposite of the one he had stopped at, not saying a word. He unceremoniously dropped a still very unconscious and snoring Kane onto the bed.
The room itself was plain, nothing different about it than any other guest bedroom in the Tower, (not that you could see much of it in the dark). Kane snuggled into the first solid object he could, and with an iron grip he nuzzled into it. Luckily for the two adults, his victim of the hour was a pillow. He audibly snorted, kicked his legs, and then the soft snores continued. Dick and Raven both snickered, and tiptoed quietly out of the room, and the hydraulic door hissed quietly closed behind them. Now once again facing the door from before, Nightwing's mood grew grim.

Grabbing gently onto his arm, Raven pulled him towards it and hit the open button. With bated breath, Raven watched the door hiss open to reveal her old room. It was exactly the way she left it, with everything perfectly preserved under the cover of dust. She gently rubbed Dick's arm as she began to pull him into the room, flicking a quick wrist to light the candles in the room. When she glanced over at Dick, he once again had his eyes to the ground.

In a voice smaller than she had ever experienced from the man, she heard, "We didn't touch anything after you-" he sniffled, and cleared his throat to stop the pain in his voice, "Nobody came in. I made them promise." She let go of his arm and took a step away, before opening her arms to allow him in for a hug. He very slowly and almost reluctantly allowed himself to be calmed by her physical touch. She felt his body relax against hers and raised her hand to rub his back, comfortingly. Without really thinking about it, she began to delve into his emotions and ease his mind fully. That's when he felt it..

That same warm feeling in his brain.

His head shot up, nearly knocking the back of it with her chin. His mouth went dry, and trying to speak became a hassle as he croaked, "Raven, I think your daughter is alive."

Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes misty, she gulped, "Show me?"

Dick nodded, and he felt that warmth cover his entire brain. He showed her how he snuck out of the Tower to meet Terra, only to throw knives at a mysterious figure in the shadows. The figure was covered in black, and their voice was masked as well. She heard the conversation, and then-

Oh my gods.

OH MY GODS.

An audible sob ripped through Raven's throat as she continued to watch his memories until the end. As Dick grounded himself back to reality, he saw Raven racking with sobs. He grabbed her closer, squeezing her in comfort.

"Three days," he whispered into her hair.

"Three days," she echoed.

He gave her one last squeeze before pulling away. It all ended with a silent 'Goodnight' and understanding between the two of them that hadn't been there before. Dick nodded his head, and stepped out of the room silently, leaving Raven alone in the candlelit room she used to call home. Raven opened the window to alleviate some of the dust that was stagnant in the room. Looking around what used to be her sanctuary, she could see the remnants of her past: a book on the Dark Arts in a long dead language, with a small cluster of rune stones sitting on top of it. There off to the side, on her nightstand, her old cloak that she tossed the side the day she left.

She grabbed the dusty piece of clothing that meant so much to her, and fingered the edges and small repairs that it had. She shook it out, coughing as nearly two decades worth of dust now circulated the room and briskly flew out of the window. Not caring about her clothing that she had on, she threw the cloak around her shoulders, and how she melted into the comfort of its weight. It was then she realized how exhausted she actually was, and without another thought, she ripped off her old comforter and layed on the old (much less dusty) sheets underneath, cloak and all. Raising her hands in a different motion, she whisked away all the flame of the candles.

In the pitch black, in the silence, she allowed herself to cry; her Azar, her baby, she may be alive. How happy she was to have held on.

What wakes Raven is not an alarm or the sun, but frantic knocking on her door. The knocking grew louder and louder within the seconds that Raven lifted herself out of bed and began walking to the door.

"Alright! Alright… I'm coming. Jeez," she grumbled, still only half awake.

As she opened the door, sleepy purple eyes met wild and panicked green ones. Not a breath later green arms slipped around her waist and pulled her in. She stiffened, not ready to be physically touched without mental preparation. But what stopped her from snapping was not only years worth of parenting experience, but the violent shaking that Changeling's body was going through.

"Garfield," she croaked, and after no answer, "Come inside." Raven felt a miniscule nod, and that was enough for her to begin to move both she and Garfield into the room. As the door shut, Raven for the second time that night flicked her wrist to allow calming candle light to dance through the room. Raven stopped moving just before the edge of her bed and nearly collapsed with how quickly Garfield let go and stepped back, still shaking.

"You're real," his voice cracked, "You're still here." The shaking did not seize, but did lessen as he gave her a once over for reassurance, causing Raven to blush and put on her cloak's hood (something she had not done in a very long time). Somehow, after all this time, Changeling still made her feel like a blushing teenage girl, not that she minded.

"I'm sorry," his voice broke through her thoughts, "I'm sorry." Garfield shook his head while looking back into her eyes. He never vocalized exactly what he was sorry for, whether for his physical outburst earlier or for something else entirely. He dropped to his knees, never breaking eye contact with her. She noticed that not once has he ever let her out of his sight, like if he looked away and tried to find her again, that she would never have been there at all.

"Please don't leave me again," he whimpered, "please." Raven was very aware that the last time that she had seen Garfield this vulnerable is when Terra "died". She quietly sighed and sat on her bed, and silently tapped the spot next to her, and without a moment of hesitation Garfield scrambled up from his knees and ungracefully plopped down next to her.

Without prompting, Garfield continued rambling, "I still love you so much. You and I could get married, and I can adopt your son and be the best dad I can be for him because I know how important that is to you." Raven grabbed his hand that was closest to her and began to play gently with it, not meeting his eyes. She started to fight back tears when she realized the shaking had completely stopped.

He squeezed her hand gently and closed his eyes, before sighing softly, "I would move the stars and the earth to make you happy. I never want to be apart for that long ever again." He squeezed once more before opening his eyes again, meeting hers. The relief in his eyes that she was still there was nothing that could be described in words. She had heard his innermost thoughts during a very bad time mentally for him, and not only was she still there, but she didn't look disgusted or move away when he finally told the truth to her. She continued to play with his hand, avoiding eye contact.

"What brought this on," her voice no louder than a whisper, but filled within so much emotion that it made Garfield hesitate before answering.

"When I first saw that you were back, it was like the sun finally rising up through the clouds. And then you passed out, and I realized that if I lost you again without telling you how I really felt, I would never forgive myself," he began to slowly rub circles with his thumb onto the back of her hand, "And then God, Rae, I found out that you had to raise a son all by yourself, after losing a daughter. And I knew that I would never let that happen to you, because I would be there for my kids no matter what and not leave you hanging like their piece of shit deadbeat father did. Never." His voice grew bitter, and Raven could see how upset her being alone had left him. Raven wanted so bad to tell him that he was already a great dad, and how much she had wanted him to be there with her to see every monumental moment in his kid's lives. She swallowed that dream the minute her mind started to blame him not being there as the cause of her daughter's death.

He continued his speech, "And then I thought, man, what I wouldn't give to be a role model for that kid, not that he needs it from me," his voice grew quiet, "I had a nightmare after I went to sleep tonight that you were leaving me again, and I couldn't risk not telling you exactly how I felt. And now I'm here.." He trailed off, still rubbing that same pattern into the back of her palm.

She pulled her hand away and began curling into herself, "Garfield, I'm so sorry." He looked at her confused as to what he had done wrong, She sobbed before bringing her lips to his in a shaky embrace. And so she showed him everything. His honest confession made her realize that even if she would lose him after he knew the truth, keeping the secrets that she had from him would either blow up in her face if she continued to keep them, or eat her alive knowing that he had every right to know the truth. With a mental connection in place, she started showing him everything that she remembered of that night.

Her mind whispered, "Please don't hate us. Please don't blame yourself," over and over as she showed the first time they kissed, the first time they, well… anyway; she pulled him closer and held on as she showed him how she panicked, and the vision that she was shown. The kiss grew salty as they both had started crying, not that either of them had noticed. She showed her packing, the note, and her running away to the farthest place she could think of. She showed him the birth of their son and their daughter, and how quickly they grew before her eyes. She shows him the day Kane shifted and how subconsciously she was so happy to see her little boy not show signs of being anything like the monster that she felt she was.

She shows him when she found out about the fire, and the anguish of hearing about her child's death. He sees Azar's funeral, of their daughter's casket being lowered to the ground much too early in her life. He sees the sleepless nights and the breakdowns and the comforting of a small child who is certain that his sister had not left them. She shows him the first time Kane smiles after all that had happened, and he watches as she breaks down in bittersweet tears when she is alone that night.

He watches as his son slowly comes out of his shell again and thrives, graduating the top of his class every year without fail. She shows him the quiet stories she would tell their son about a monster falling in love with a boy with green skin who could see past her flaws and thought of her as a princess. He sees how excited their son is at the prospect of meeting him as his father, and he feels the nervous energy that she carried with her all the way until they both were reunited. How happy she was to be with him again. How badly she wanted to tell him everything.

And then, she pulls away, not saying a word. She scoots her body away from him, not meeting his eyes. Raven wiped the tears from her face and waited for the storm to-

He lifted her chin, leaned over, and kissed her again without hesitation. When they pulled away, their foreheads stayed attached and they both giggled, like actually giggled.

"We have a son," he breathed. It was in that instant that every hardship that ever occurred to Garfield Logan, Beast Boy, Changeling, had brought him to this moment. Where every triumph, every victory, every heartbreak, led him to being the happiest man in the world.

That was until reality came crashing down, "I'm a dad." Every doubt, every flaw flew through Garfield's brain as he realized that he now had the responsibility to shape a person the way his parents didn't get to after they died. Raven could see the panic on Garfield's face and smiled. In her opinion, anybody scared to be good will work above and beyond to not be bad.

She nuzzled into his chest, "You'll do great," she yawned loudly, "Can we talk about it in the morning?" Garfield started to argue, but felt his adrenaline wear off and couldn't help but agree.

He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her head, "You mind if I stay here tonight?"

She pushed both of their bodies back into the semi dusty sheets, and yawned a second time, "If you move, I will send you to my father's hell dimension." She scratched her face against the material of his shirt and felt her eyes close without much fight.

He put his hands up in surrender, "Alright, whatever the lady wants." It's not like he was planning on going anywhere anyway. With as much crying as she had done today added to the warmth of Garfield and her cloak, Raven passed out in a matter of minutes. Hells, at this point she deserved it. Garfield looked at the girl of his dreams and now his reality, the mother of his children, and felt at peace. Sleep came to him not far after that, and it filled him with dreams of his children, and dreams of what his new tomorrow may bring.

It occurred to Raven that last night did not clear as much air as she would have liked it to, but when emotions run high and there is sleep exhaustion involved... Well, beggars can't be choosers.

When she finally came to full consciousness, she felt like she had slept for years, but also like she only went to sleep 5 minutes ago. Crying before bed is always a fun time.

Her eyelids felt heavy, even as she had yet to open them. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, before slowly opening them. Her half-lidded eyes adjusted to what little light there was in the room and she was reminded of the human pillow that she had procured.

Garfield still had his arms wrapped around her, and he and Raven's legs had tangled together. Raven couldn't remember the last time she felt this calm and safe when she woke up with another person near her. Her eyes wandered from his chest slowly, making her way up until all she could see was the bottom of his chin. She silently listened to his heartbeat and his even breaths. The rhythm of the rising and falling began to draw her back into her sleep state.

"You snore," his voice rang out as she reached to the edges of unconsciousness. Purple met forest green as he peeked down at her with one eye open, a grin wide on his face She hadn't even realized that she closed her eyes.

She smacked him in his chest without any real force behind it and guffawed quietly, "I do not."

He laughed, "You do! It sounds like a broken motorcycle!" He started to mimic what he heard multiplied by a million decibels, scrunching his whole face up and leaning down closer to her ear. She poked and prodded at his face like a cat testing its boundaries, and using the most serious face she could, she begged him to stop. He peeked at her once more and looked down at the girl he had been in love with for as long as he can remember, as she scrunched her nose at him and continued to bat at him.. He grabbed her hand gently and brought it gently to his face. He hadn't realized how touch starved he'd been, not until he began basking in the warmth of her hand, rubbing his stubble gently across her palm. She leered at him with a small smile on her face, before curving her fingers and began gently scratching his 5 o'clock shadow. He'd never seen her act so… human

"You're so different," he voiced his thoughts aloud, "I thought I would never get to see you smile at me.

And that is the end! Make sure to read the note on the next chapter!