Teen Titans Chapter Three

The Only Way: So nice and warm

Disclaimer: Not mine. Ever. Happy?

Raven, Robin and Cori sat up until a little while after midnight just talking about everything and anything. The other titans returned home around 12:30 and were shocked at the sight that had greeted them. It took almost an hour to explain everything; Cori did most of the talking, which did not surprise anyone, considering Raven rarely talked and when she did, it was never for long periods of time. At the end of the night, all the titans went to bed and Robin set up the guestroom for Cori. Everyone kept wondering how Raven and this new girl could be related; yeah, sure they looked alike and their voices both had that monotone sound, but there was something about Cori that seemed different. She was less harsh than Raven and her emotions were free to be expressed; the titans had seen Raven express her emotions before with Dr. Light and that was the only time. No one wanted to ever encounter that again. Robin was the only one who had noticed any slight change in their dark friend; she seemed a little more relaxed and a little less reserved, almost like her walls had started to come down.

Everyone enjoyed a long night of sleep, but around five A.M. Raven woke up, like usual, and went to sit on top of the roof. The only other person ever to be awake at that time was Robin, once, and he just figured that she went up there to meditate, but he was wrong. Raven woke up early in the morning everyday because it was a time when she could just relax and could watch the sunrise. She found serenity and peace in the early morning hues; it calmed her and prepared her for another emotionless day, sometimes it was more cathartic than meditating for her. Today was no exception, and Raven took the time to think about everything that had happened in her past, including last night's surprise visit from her twin. A few times a couple of rocks lifted into the air and exploded, but other than that, Raven kept her emotions in check quite well.

Around 9:30, she came down to the kitchen as she smelled pancakes and toast wafting from downstairs. "Mmmm. Smells good," mumbled a still half-asleep BB as he practically floated past Raven. When she reached the kitchen she saw none other than Cori cooking at the stove and Robin was helping to set the table. Cy, Terra, and Starfire were right behind her, ready to be fed whatever it was that smelled so good. "I hope you don't mind me cooking," Cori said to her new housemates. "I was up early, saw you had no food in your fridge, and so I decided to go shopping and make some breakfast. It was the least I could do for you guys letting me stay here." "Hey," yelled Cy as he sat down quickly. "Family of dark girl's is welcome to cook for us anytime!" "Cy!" Scolded Starfire. "That is no way to speak to the sister of dear Raven. We are not trying to use her!"

"It's ok Star," Cori replied as she put all the pancakes onto the plate on the table. "I did not take any offense. As long as everyone likes my cooking, I would be obliged to cook for such wonderful friends of my sister." With that she sat down with everyone else as they enjoyed this very good meal. When they all were done, Raven offered to help clean up, so BB and Cy took up their usual spots at the gamestation with Terra and Star watching and cheering them on. Robin offered to help as well, but Cori would not hear of it. He had helped her enough his morning, she argued. And so he did not need to help her again, he had already been of great service to her. With that she used her powers and lifted him up to the gym, forcing him to practice like he usually does after breakfast.

"It really was a good meal," commented Raven while the two were washing the dishes. "I think everyone enjoyed it. Even BB was full, which NEVER happens!" Cori chuckled a bit as she put the dish she was drying off back into its rightful cupboard. "Rae," she asked, turning to face her purple twin. "Can we go somewhere and talk? I think it is better that you know now what it is that we must accomplish, rather than later." Raven merely nodded and the two headed into her room to talk. When they were in there, Cori took a spot on the floor and folded her legs like she was ready to meditate; Raven simply sat on the edge of her bed and waited for her twin to start talking.

After a few minutes of silently mulling it over in her head, Cori was ready to speak of her mission. "Rae," she began slowly. "I am here, as you know, to help you control your emotions and, in the process, control your powers. I think it is also only right that you know who sent me." Raven waited for her sister to find her courage to speak and was not prepared for her sister's next words. "It was... mother who sent me," she said at last. Raven let out a small gasp as behind her, a pillow silently exploded and feathers were sent flying around the room. Neither of the two girls noticed them as the feathers danced around for a moment before softly landing on the floor around them. Raven slowly slid off the bad and sat next to her sister. "You- you saw her?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes. "She is still... alive?" "Yes, she is," Cori answered quietly. "And do not worry, if everything goes as planned then you will see her too. Soon, I promise." Raven simply nodded and looked off into a corner, not really focusing on anything but the idea that her mother was still out there somewhere.

Raven and Cori continued to talk about their plans to help Raven control herself, coming up with a schedule that had them meditating for almost twelve hours everyday. "You must be prepared," Cori answered when her sister questioned the amount of time that would be spent. "Your body and your mind must be able to withstand the pressure of your emotions. By meditating often, you will slowly gain a little control of your emotions over time, keeping them from taking complete control and allowing you to express your feelings little by little. Also, the extreme meditation will help you to recover after your... catharsis, so to speak, which will be the ultimate cleansing and will be the turning point in which you shall be free, like myself."

Raven took all of this in with eagerness and hope in her eyes. She still didn't know what her "cathartic event" would be and Cori was not willing to discuss that at the moment. "But why won't you tell me?" Raven asked for the third time as her sister got up and looked at her bookshelf. "Because," she answered turning around to face her. "I do not want to discourage you from the task at hand. Your cleansing, like mine, will be a quite serious step in your life and I want to make sure that you are ready and willing to take it. In time, I will give you that information, but, for now, you will accept what I tell you and we will drop this point of matter, end of discussion." Raven looked a little forlorn, but agreed not to bring up the subject anymore; the two girls then agreed on the schedule and hugged to officiate it.

They walked out of Raven's room around one o'clock and were just in time for lunch; BB, Cy and Robin had made PB&J sandwiches, lemonade, and a little apple pie for dessert later. Starfire and Terra had gone out to the mall for awhile and would not be back until dinner, so until then it was just the five of them. Well, after Cy and BB decided to eat while playing their video games, it just left Cori, Robin and Raven to converse while they too ate the delicious lunch prepared by the teen titan boys. Cori, though, seemed to have a different agenda and excused herself, saying that she promised her boyfriend she would call him around lunchtime. She walked off into her room as Raven and Robin sat there in silence, each one waiting for the other to say something. "So, Rae," Robin began, finishing off his sandwich and taking a drink of his lemonade. "I, um, I really had a, a good time last night. It was kinda fun hanging out, ya' know, just the two of us and all." Raven pinked slightly as she replied back rather shyly. "Yeah. We don't spend enough time together, just the two of us. It was nice. I had a wonderful time." She said all of this rather quickly and softly, making Robin practically strain to hear his friend's words.

The two cleaned up lunch and went to watch BB and Cy compete in their fighting game. Raven surprised Robin by not sitting on the far couch with a book like she usually did, but instead she came over and sat down next to him, so close that her exposed thigh was resting lightly against his. Robin normally would not have noticed this close proximity, even if it was Star, but the heat protruding off of Rae seemed much warmer, more inviting and, he felt oddly comfortable. Man this feels so right, he thought as he tried his hardest not to stare at the beautiful girl touching him. I wish I had the nerve to make a move. Gosh, I just wish I could run my hand up her thigh and caress her all over. His thoughts turned rather graphic as he fought to control the blush that was starting to inch its way onto his cheeks. His hand was resting on his leg and was ever so slightly touching hers, but she did not seem to notice all that much, or so it seemed to him. Oh my Gosh! She thought, her mind swirling with some, uh, slightly sexual thoughts about her fearless leader. He feels so nice and warm, and that is just his hand! Imagine how warm he would be if it were his WHOLE body touching me, without our uniforms... Her thoughts trailed off and a small shriek could be heard coming from the room down the hall, but everyone was so wrapped up in their surroundings, that they failed to notice the shriek or even the small fit of laughter that followed shortly after.

Cori was minding her own business while finishing her lunch and talking with her boyfriend on the phone. "Of course I haven't told her what she'll need to do in the end, once her emotions are ready to be tamed. What? Do you think I am a fool?" Cori questioned, half-angry, half-joking. "No, no, of course not," came the reply from her boyfriend. "If anyone is a fool, it must be me for even thinking you would do something like that!" Cori grinned at his rather endearing words, as she imagined the goofy grin she knew was plastered on his face back in Metropolis. Suddenly, her thoughts turned to her last night back home and their last moments together before she left. "Charlie, Honey," she asked, suddenly sounding rather serious. "Do you remember when I was able to control my emotions for the first time?" "Of course I do," he answered, hearing the grin and obvious amusement in his voice. "We had our first real date that next day. A picnic in the park, I believe."

Just as Cori was going to reply, she abruptly noticed that the radio in her room was starting to levitate, surrounded by a black aura. Instantly, without warning, the device exploded and showered her with bits and pieces of the electronic music box. "Ahhh!" she shrieked as she threw her hands over her head to shield herself from the falling scraps. Charlie immediately thought something was wrong and sort of half-screamed into the phone, hoping that everything was all right because he hadn't heard anything after his lover's scream. Before Cori answered him, she got up off her bed and stuck her head out the door, looking for the event that had caused this tiny blast. Seeing the rather nonexistent space between her sister and the Boy Wonder as they sat on the couch watching the video game, both attempting to hide the creeping flush that struggled to consume their faces. Cori shut the door and, at that moment, let out a string of laughs and flopped back down on the bed, brushing off the leftover bits of the broken radio.

"What the hell was that?" Charlie yelled, as he started to laugh himself, as her giggles were quite contagious. "You scared the living crap outta me!" "It was nothing," Cori giggled back, half laughing at her sister's obvious thoughts and half laughing at her boyfriend's out of place serious tone. "Raven just, um, she, well, um. Well, remember the first time we watched that movie together, that Monster's Ball?" "Yeah," came Charlie's reply as he regained his composure. "I remember that at the one scene, with the two people doing the you-know-what, you suddenly looked over at me 'cause you had read my, um sorta R-rated thoughts and noticed that my hand had started to slide off your shoulders and onto your very luscious, perfect breast." Charlie paused as he grinned remembering the moment VERY well. "I thought it was the perfect moment to kiss you, but then all of a sudden the stove exploded and our moment was ruined!" The two of them remembered their unfortunate misfortune and started to laugh a bit at the situation.

"Yeah," Cori said remembering how her thoughts had wandered that night. "Well, the radio in my room just exploded so I had to check on my sis. Obviously it doesn't take as much to rile her up, because she was only, like, slightly touching Robin's leg with hers. Boy, her thoughts really must've roamed!" Charlie paused on the other line for a moment before slyly responding. "Robin, eh?" he asked, a slight mischief in his voice. "So that's who you think your sis has the hots for. Good choice, I must say. He definitely fits her profile type." "Wait," Cori asked him, growing curious at her boyfriend's statements about Robin. "How do you know Robin? And how do you know that he is just Rae's type? You don't even know her." Charlie only chuckled rather mysteriously. "Oh, I have heard about this Robin guy, that's all. We tend to run in some of the same crowds. But it wouldn't take much for me to figure out Raven's taste in guys; I mean, she is your twin, so I can only imagine she is EXACTLY like you in her choice of men!" Cori just nodded on her end and accepted his cryptic response as him just being a guy. They talked for a few minutes and then said their good-byes; Cori decided she was going to ask Robin at dinner if it was all right if Charlie visited for a few days.

If it only takes a little touch to get my sister going, she thought after she had hung up with Charlie. Then this is going to take a lot more work and a whole lot more time for her to control those impulses she has. Although, when it comes time for her epitome of control, those easily brought out emotions will help out greatly in the long run...