Teen Titans: The Only Way
Chapter Thirteen: Welcome back
Disclaimer: Don't even get me started.
WHUMP! Raven cracked one eye open as the familiar sound penetrated her meditative state. She slowly lowered herself back onto the ground and reached over to see if her sister was all right.
"Cori?" she asked softly. "Are you all right? I mean, this is the fourth time this week you've fallen out of position. Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine," Cori replied, rubbing her tailbone and sitting up to face her concerned sister. "You know everything isn't okay, though. I can't help it; it's so hard to try and concentrate with everything that happened still on my mind." She paused and took a deep breath. "I know he just got caught up in his emotions and he would probably have come to talk to me about it but we had to leave. And now I might never get the chance . . . "
Raven pulled her twin close as the tears fell once more, an event that seemed to happen much lately. They had been in Azareth, training, for a week now and everyday Cori seemed to lose a little more of herself. Raven knew she missed Charlie incredibly, but there was nothing she could do to change that. Their mother wanted them well-rested and thoroughly trained for the great mission they were to undertake in the next three days. Mother, she thought, letting her mind drift for a moment.
When they arrived here, in her old home, Raven was amazed by all the dark, desolate landscapes that existed; Azareth used to be such a peaceful, beautiful place that she dreamed about almost every night after she had been forced to leave. Her mother sent her away when she was only three, letting a human friend of hers take care of Raven on Earth. She supposed her home had been destroyed by her father and his demon minions, looking for her and Cori, the next rulers of the underworld, the only possible threats to his takeover.
Cori led her to the old temple, the only thing that had survived any attacks, protected deep down by the ancient magic that resided in its very foundation. It was here that Raven got the chance to see her mother, the temple priestess, after all those years alone, thinking she surely had died along with her sister. But a part of her had died, and it was only her soul that Raven got to see; Trigon had nearly destroyed her after he found out she had shipped his daughters off somewhere and so Arella had used the ancient powers of Azar to save herself and to entomb the terrible demon in his own world. But Arella was getting tired after so many years of only half-existing, and any day now Trigon would gain enough power to break through and completely rule over Azareth and his daughters as well.
Raven had nearly cried when she saw her mother, for she was just as she remembered her, down to her flowing black hair and intense purple eyes. She longed to reach out and touch her mother, to hug her and cry on her shoulder, but she knew she could do no such thing, since her mother was almost transparent, hovering over the stones that guarded the portal to the underworld. Her mother quickly explained to her daughters what was expected of them and she answered all of their questions, apologizing profusely for not being able to help them with their task.
She then asked for them to send Robin in, for she wanted a word with him; Raven was reluctant, ever since the guards refused to let him enter the temple with them, but in the end she abated and went to fetch her love. Arella spoke to him alone, and when they were done, neither would reveal what they had spoken about, but Robin reassured Raven that it was nothing bad and so she relented once more and gave up trying to pry.
Every day she and Cori spent countless hours meditating and the rest of their time doing battle simulations; preparing themselves for the physical fight Trigon was sure to include. Raven rarely got to see Robin, and when she did one of them was usually already asleep, so there wasn't much communicating going on between them.
According to her mother, though, the great ruler, Azar had taken quite a liking to the young Boy Wonder and was giving him a personal tour of the now dilapidated Azareth and all of its previous architectural wonders. After their mediation session that day, Raven expected to launch right into their physical training, but instead Arella sent them to a large open room in the temple and told them to just sit there and wait. Cori just sat there by the window, looking out at the receding waters and dying landscape.
Raven felt a twinge of pain at seeing not only her home crumbling but her sister as well. She was just about to say something to her when the door opened up and a friendly face popped in.
"Robin!" Raven exclaimed, a small smile playing about on her lips.
Robin just smiled in return, rushed up to her and stole her breath away with a passionate kiss. After what seemed like an eternity, Raven pulled away for air and smirked up at him.
"Hello to you too," she responded seductively. He gave her another quick kiss and walked over next to Cori, Raven's hand wrapped in his and waiting next to him.
"Hey Cori," he said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder. "How's it going?"
Cori just turned around and stared at him with tiny tears in the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Robin," she replied meekly. "Hey. I guess I'm hanging in there. How about you?"
"Oh, I think I'm doing pretty well," he smiled. "Considering that I just got some really good news."
Cori's eyebrows shifted up in wonder. "And just what kind of good news did you get?" she scoffed, a smirk fighting its way to lay claim to her lips after so long.
"Well," Robin joked around, folding his arms and using his spare hand to scratch the back of his head. "I don't know if I should really tell you. I mean, it's kinda of classified information, ya know? Direct orders from Azar herself."
Cori had now fully shifted to face the Boy Wonder, completely caught up in his ruse. Raven silently thanked her love for making Cori forget about her troubles.
"Oh really now?" she questioned, standing up and placing her hands firmly on her hips. "Direct orders from Azar, huh? ... I think you're bluffing."
Robin just grinned at her and stole a glance at Raven. "Oh you think I'm bluffing now?" he laughed. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Cori turned to glare at her sister, "Don't even tell me that you're in on whatever pretty boy here is lying about!"
Raven held up her hands, including Robin's hand that was still holding on to hers, in mock surrender and shook her head.
"I'm innocent," she replied blankly, then smiling just a bit. "....Well . . . not all that innocent."
Robin and Cori chuckled at the Goth Girl's dry humor and Raven joined in, reveling in her sister's joyous tones once more.
"It's good to hear you laugh again," Robin said in between chuckles, as if reading Raven's mind. "It's been awhile. Welcome back."
Cori just smiled at him and sent a telepathic thank you to her twin for making her laugh. "Thanks Bird Boy," she said. "I guess I just needed a good laugh after all that happened."
"If all you needed," he began slyly, looking back at the door he had just come in through. "Was a good laugh then I would have had Azar let me bring this good news sooner!"
At the tempting twins' looks of confusion, Robin let out a loud whistle and the door opened and out stepped the best news the girls had ever received in the past few weeks.
"My Dark Identical type of Family Sister Friends!" screeched the ever-optimistic Tamaranian as she bolted into the room, nearly knocking the two girls over as she attempted to squeeze the very breath out of them with a strong hug.
"Starfire!" Cori exclaimed, truly grateful to see her happy-go-lucky alien friend. "I am so excited to see you! I thought you guys would never show up!"
Within a moment, Beast Boy and Terra came rushing in, enveloping everyone in warm hugs as the girls eyes began to tear up at the sight of all their good friends. Cori stood there stock-still as the door was once again full and she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Cy!" she said, rushing over to give him a hug and then hugging the person he had walked in with. "Aqualad! I thought Cyborg said you were staying behind to watch the Tower? How come you're here?" Aqualad just shrugged, said his hellos, and then made his way to his overexcited girlfriend.
"Cori, maybe you should come with me for a second," Cyborg murmured as realization dawned in Cori's dark eyes.
"He didn't come with you," she whispered, tears running down her cheeks as he lead her down the hallway and outside by the shoreline.
"Well," Cy huffed. "Charlie and I had us a long talk, and I mean a good, long one at that. I found out a lot of stuff about everything that went down between you two and we even discussed the possibility of coming here to Azareth with the rest of us."
Cori took a deep breath as silent sobs racked her body. "He didn't want to come with you," she managed to cry out. "He really didn't want to see me or talk to me, did he?"
"Not with everyone else hanging all over you," whispered a voice in her ear.
Raven stood there, only half-listening to Terra and BB talk about how bored they were waiting for the guards to come and bring them here. She turned around as she heard the door creak open and a smile overtook her face. She quickly excused herself, giving Robin a quick kiss and leaving him with Terra and BB as she walked over to their new visitor. Without hesitation she flung her arms around his neck and gave his a small peck on the cheek.
"Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "Thank you so much. You don't know how much this will mean to her." She paused as she backed away for a moment and gave her classic deadpan facial expression. "She's been absolutely insufferable."
"Anything for my ass-kicking Game Girl, "he chuckled, placing a hand at the small of her back and walking her back over to her boyfriend. "Anything to make her happy."
A/N: Ok, ok. I know it is incredibly short, but I am kind of stuck at the moment. Writer's block and what-have-you.... I promise the next chapter will be way longer and with much, much more action. But until then, do any of you know what happened in the end? I decided to leave with a little cliffhanger while I stoke the fire burning at my creative juices here. Hopefully I can update sooner rather than later, but, alas, college can be such a great place if only the classes didn't get in the way! Sigh The things we do for education these days...