By Nyassa Kaiba
Chapter 4
And if you want me to come with you
Then that's alright with me
'Cause I've been oh so lonely
Loving someone is a better place to be
A Better Place to Be, Harry Chapin
Feralae woke the next morning, feeling utterly refreshed. She had been dreaming, of a hospital bed, and a shadow that she couldn't see the face of, and lips she couldn't trace kissing hers. Something was wrong outside. Then she realized, it was the silence outside the tower that had woken her. "Raven, Raven wake up! The storm."
"It's just the eye of the storm." Raven said sleepily. "It will come back after an hour or so."
Feralae sighed as the Lady Titan yawned and stretched. "Raven, you said that I seemed familiar to you."
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Do you know any way to bring the memory back?"
She paused, thinking for a moment. "I could go into your mind, into your memories, and look for what happened." Raven suggested. "But it would take total trust, you'd have no secrets, none."
Feralae gulped. "I… I trust you enough. Let's get to the bottom of this once and for all."
"Okay." Raven sat down next to her on the bed. Feralae scooted over for her to sit. Raven placed a gentle hand on Feralae's forehead and closed her eyes. Then she began to chant. This was nothing new. Feralae had managed to cast Dragon Spells by chanting before. Only this was in a language that Feralae had never heard before.
The world faded out around Feralae as she fell into a sleep of memory.
Feralae was in the hospital. She had woken up from the surgery to repair her body and found Nidon nestled in the crook of her arm. And she had remembered her parents. Feralae growled when she remembered that it was the Joker who had planted the bomb in her parent's car.
"So, you're awake."
Feralae looked over and just about cried out in shock. Raven was there, with her leg in a cast. Her hood and costume were hanging on a hook near the door, along with Feralae's robes. Feralae sniffed back tears. "Who are you?"
"I'm Raven." Raven replied. "You were out for a long time. What happened to you?"
"I got burned." Feralae replied. "And cut. My parents were killed when somebody put a bomb in our car."
"That's rough. Don't worry, the Batman will get whoever did it and send 'em to Arkham!"
Feralae wiped at her tears. "Or he'll kill him or her." Pointed out Feralae.
"Naw, Batman never takes a life, even a criminal like the Joker or Two Face. It's in his records. Batman has caught a lot of crooks, but he never kills anybody."
Feralae sobbed. "Mom, and Dad, and Duel, all dead, the three people who meant the most to me in the world!"
"Shh! It's okay."
Several months passed in an eyeblink, and now Raven was allowed to go home and Feralae would be packing up to go to her Aunt and Uncle's house. "I… I know we won't get so see each other again." Raven said shyly as she pulled on her cape.
"Yeah… um… Raven?" The girl had come awfully close.
"hm?"
Feralae couldn't stand it. She pulled the future Titan into a long, passionate kiss. Raven responded, gently pinning Feralae against the wall. Her cape fell over them, like a blanket of night. Feralae kissed back, opening her mouth to the other. Their tongues twined in both joy and sadness. Panting, Feralae pulled back to get a breath, only to be kissed again, this time her hand boldly wandered the future Titan's frame. Feralae felt hands on her own body as well. Their mouths pulled apart, even if their bodies didn't.
"I'm… I'm sorry that we won't see each other again." Feralae whispered.
"It's a small world for a Super Heroine. Maybe we will see each other again." Raven said with the faintest hint of a smile. "Until then."
"Definitely."
Together the future Titan and the Dragonsinger walked out, with an arm around each other's shoulders. Commissioner Gordon was waiting for Feralae. "There you are. I'm supposed to take you back to your house. Batman and Nightwing are waiting to see you off. And your belongings have already been packed and sent to your Aunt and Uncle's house in Metropolis."
Raven had fallen back. "Until our hands meet again." Raven said as Feralae got into the car.
"Ja ato, de!" Feralae called as the car pulled away.
Feralae woke from the trance with a cry of shock. "No, fucking way." Feralae cried.
Raven shook her head, trying to shake off the power of a recovered memory. Finally, unable to stay upright she fell, right on top of Feralae. "That's… that's why you… you seemed so familiar." She shuddered.
Feralae wrapped her arms around the lady Titan. "You confused?"
"A little, but, I was never really attracted by any of the boys in my group." Said Raven with a small smile. "There were other Teen Titans before us. They searched us out one by one. Now it's our turn to search you out. Feralae, is this… is this bond we share enough to… to make you stay here? With me?"
Feralae looked out the window and saw an enormous shadow against the sun coming through the clouds. It was easily a thousand feet long, blue, with vestigial wings, clearly a dragon. Feralae knew that description, even if she had never seen the monster that answered to it.
It was Seiryuu, the King of all Dragons. The dragon coiled around the tower until it's one monstrous eye rolled outside of her window. Raven didn't see it, which suggested that Seiryuu had come as invisible as the wind that was his chariot. Feralae, do not be sad. Your parents are safe, now it is time for you to be safe. Let them go! As you love life and the lives of those around you, let them go.
Feralae smiled up at Raven, and she sang.
"The little man, looked at the empty glass in his hand,
And he smiled a crooked grin,
He said, 'I guess I'm out of gin, and I know we both have been, so lonely
And if you want me to come with you,
Then that's alright with me,
Cause I know I'm going nowhere, and anywhere's a better place to be!"
The Titan of Darkness's eyes widened, and Raven smiled for the first time in her LIFE. "Oh thank you! Thank the Goddess!"
Feralae looked outside for Seiryuu. But the dragon was gone. I shall watch over you Dragonsinger, for now and for always. If you ever need me, use your mother's pendant and call.
Feralae sat up, and her head didn't hurt. She didn't feel drowsy, and her nose wasn't stuffed up. "Hey, I think the fever went away."
"Good." Raven pulled Feralae into a kiss. Feralae flushed, feeling pleasure coursing through her at the touch of another. She remembered now. Right when Feralae had needed it most, Raven had been there to help her. And even when she had forgotten Feralae had felt like there was something that she'd left behind. That something had been Raven, who even then was being searched out to be a Teen Titan.
There was a knock on the door. "Hey you two! We have an hour before the storm comes back." Beastboy called. "If you want to go outside Raven now's the time."
"Beastboy I'll be out in a minute." Raven reached out to stroke Feralae's cheek. "Let's not mention this to the others."
"You've got that right. Although maybe mentioning that we knew each other and forgot would be okay."
"Sure it would." Raven replied. "Robin probably heard about it from the Bat. I mean he DID rescue you. I figure Batman would probably have kept tabs on you at some point."
"You know, I wouldn't be surprised." Feralae chuckled.
"So Feralae, what's your Super Hero name going to be?" Raven asked.
"Well, a long time ago I identified myself to any fellow superhero as Dragonsinger. I wouldn't mind using that name again." Feralae told her. "But, YOU are to call me Feralae, unless we're in public."
"Alright, Feralae it is."
Feralae followed Raven out of the room. "Hey, look who's awake!" Cyborg said cheerfully.
"Hi you guys. Um… Raven invited me to stay." Feralae said shyly.
"So what's your Hero name going to be?" Asked Beastboy hopefully.
"Dragonsinger!" Feralae rolled the name around on her tongue.
"I did a memory probe with Feralae. It turns out that we met YEARS ago."
"Yeah, I heard from Batman, but he said that you two had to figure it out on your own. But you know, it's good that Feral… I mean Dragonsinger decided to join us. I mean, her mother was a Super Hero so…"
"WAIT A MINUTE?" Feralae said a word in Japanese that was NOT polite. "You said that my mother was a superhero?"
"Yes, Batman said that that's why the Joker went after her." Robin explained. "Batman gave me a rundown on your history. He said that your mother was a Super Heroine named Wild Wing."
"Then that's where my name comes from." Feralae said thoughtfully. "From Latin 'Fera' meaning wild and 'Alae' meaning wings. I remember at the end she tried to tell me that she was something… and she never even finished the sentence." Feralae sat down, trembling.
"Oh dear, perhaps your fever?" Starfire asked.
"No… no I'm fine… I guess the mystery is solved then." Feralae put her head in her hands.
"Now, we are going to try and get you a costume, besides your robes you'll need something to wear under it." Starfire tried to drag Feralae off.
Raven chuckled softly. "Somebody's being fussy."
"I think Starfire's enjoying being a mother hen." Said Robin as Starfire placed a concerned hand on Feralae's forehead.
Raven growled and calmly removed Starfire's hand from Feralae before sitting down next to her on the couch. "Feralae-san, o genki desu ka?"
"Hai…" Feralae sighed. "Hai."
"That's good." Raven sighed in relief. "So what's wrong?"
"I… when my parents died I… well… I don't exactly remember much of what happened for the months afterward." Feralae replied. "And I don't remember much of what life was like before then."
"I'll help you get your memories back." Raven almost smiled.
The other Titans gawked. "Okay who are you and what have you done with Raven?" Demanded Cyborg.
"I AM Raven, stop fooling." Raven growled. "But I knew Feralae WAY before I'd met any of you. And when you share a hospital room for fourteen weeks you tend to get kind of close to somebody."
Feralae nodded. "Raven even then you were kinda, standoffish."
"You have a penchant for understatement." Said Beastboy with a laugh.
Raven responded to this by getting up and walking out of the room. Feralae hung out for a little while before following her to the kitchen. Raven was sipping herbal tea and munching thoughtfully on a piece of toast.
Feralae'sapple greeneyes, Raven wanted to drown in them. She swallowed a bite and Feralae gave her a peck on the cheek. "Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah." Raven nodded. She reached out to kiss Feralae delicately on the lips. Feralae leaned into the kiss and Raven felt her body respond so strongly that she just about melted into Feralae's arms. This was NOT good. Something else was at work here, but who? Or what?
Raven pulled back from the kiss, panting lightly. She tried desperately to regain her self control, which was the only thing keeping her from pinning Feralae to the wall and ravaging her then and there.
"Finish your toast." Feralae said with a chuckle at Raven's dazed expression. "I need somebody to show me around, are you up for giving me the fifty cent tour?"
"Um… I'm not exactly feeling too well. Maybe you can get Beastboy or Starfire to do it." Raven finished off the last bite of her breakfast and walked out.
Feralae watched, clearly hurt.
Raven needed to clear her head, that meant meditation in a quiet dark room. Raven closed her eyes and focused, chanting her usual mantra. After about a half an hour Raven had regained control over her emotions. Now she had to try and think what it was that was dragging her over the edge. Clearly there was more to her new girlfriend than met the eye. Was it something to do with Dragon Power that was drawing her. That was when Raven heard the mental voice, Look a little closer to home little one. Raven grimaced. Her mother had called that voice a Deva, a spirit that watched over a person or place as long as they lived or existed. She said that not everybody had one, so a Deva was a creature to be cherished, patient and wise spirit guides.
Okay, she'd think a little closer to home then, Raven decided.
Then she remembered something she'd been taught a long time ago. "Oh no." Raven groaned. "This CAN'T be happening. No way. I'm WAY too young for something like that." If she were right, what was happening to her would leave her vaunted self-control in tatters.
Breaking out of her meditation Raven flopped on her bed and did something she hadn't done since she'd first come to the tower. Raven cried.