Chap. 11
Broken
(lyrics by Seether)
I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
The heroes went back to the Tower, and put Raven in her bed. After some time, the Titans and the BRATS went back into the city to help with the recovery effort. But the Knights stayed. They pulled up some chairs and stayed at Raven's bedside. Neither one of them left it for the next week. Occasionally, one of the others would come into the room and watch with them. But neither Brett nor Sara left Raven completely alone. Actually, that's not true. They did leave once, to go into the city. But they were back within an hour at their vigil. Once, Robin tried to convince them to take a break, before they lost their minds. But they only looked at him with their haggard eyes and he gave up. For them leaving was madness, and doing otherwise was the only thing keeping them sane.
I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
"Do you think she'll wake up soon?"Sara asked after the eighth day. "She has to." Brett said. "Do you think we did the right thing?" he asked, looking down at Raven's sleeping form. "She looks so peaceful. Think of what we're bringing her back into." "No one's life is simple Brett." The fox answered. "If we could bring in without that, there wouldn't be any point to bringing her back at all." As she finished, the doors opened and Beast Boy walked into the room. "Any change?" he asked. "Nothing." Brett answered. The changeling sighed and said, "Why won't anything happen?" "Maybe if you didn't spend as much time here as we do." Sara said. "I-I… just have to know." "I understand Greenie." Brett said. "So do we."
Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Beast Boy nodded and walked over to her bedstand. It was then he noticed the stack of papers laying on it. Curious, he picked it up. It was stamped with the seals of Jump City and the state of California. As he looked it over, he saw Brett and Sara's name filled on a form that said 'parents'. Suddenly he realized what he was holding. "Why do you guys have adoption papers?" he asked. "Why do you think?" Brett asked, as he looked at the sleeping girl in the bed. "But, how.. can you even…." "Yes. You may not realize this, but Raven doesn't have any official family. Hell, neither do you or Star. If it wasn't for your powers, you'd all be wards of the state." "That makes it a bit easier." Sara added. "Besides, saving the world from demons is always a good motivator." "Yeah, but why?" Beast Boy asked.
"Because she wants us to." Sara answered. "When we were in her mind, at first we had no powers or anything. Trigon beat the living crap out of us. Then somehow, we saw one of Raven's memories. She was saying that when she had been attacked by Bongo-Bongo, she had subconsciously dreamed up someone she wanted to replace her father. Someone with red eyes." "Brett?" asked the green one, for once understanding immediately. The bat nodded. "She wanted both of us actually, but she was too ashamed to ask. She felt her demon side made her unworthy. But now…. Beast Boy, we have to do something good for her. Raven's just lost the biggest battle of her life. Her father was destroyed and it was only by the grace of God she was able to survive. She needs something good to happen."
As he spoke those words, there was a sigh from the bed. Everyone turned to see Raven gingerly shake her head. "What happened?" she asked the overjoyed group before her. "We'll tell you about it in a minute." Brett said. "We want to appreciate the fact you're alive first." "I'll get the others." Beast Boy said, as he headed for the door. "Can you wait a few minutes first?" Sara asked. He nodded, and left the room.
The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
Raven drew herself up and said, "Brett, I do remember the dream. Did my father…." "Yes." The bat said. "Oh God." Raven breathed. "What did I do?" "Nothing we didn't fix." Sara answered. "I let him out." Raven whispered, as her eyes began to water. "I must've hurt you. Tell me what happened. Everything." Slowly, the Knights told Raven everything that had happened over the last two weeks, except for what they had seen in her memory. When they finished, Raven was in utter shock. "I-I can't believe that you gave all that up for me." she said. "We're your friends. What did you think we would do?" Sara asked. "But I was evil. I hurt you. I almost destroyed the world…" "No. Your father almost destroyed the world. You helped save it."
"What are you talking about?" "Raven, we never would have been able to become the Almagan if you hadn't helped us." With that, they told her about what they had seen. "But how? I couldn't have controlled anything that happened then." "It doesn't matter how. What matters is the fact you're alive now, and that your father can never come back. But there is one other thing, that we'd both like to talk to you about."
"Rae, you've been alone your entire life. If you'll let us, we want to change that." Brett said, as he handed her the papers. Raven looked them over, her eyes widening as she realized what it all meant. "But, I can't do this. I'm still…" "Raven, forget all that." Brett said. "Forget the part of you that's demon. Forget everything that's happened. We will not do this unless you're sure it's what you want. Now put all that angst aside, and ask what you really would like us to do." "We've wanted another child for a long time." Sara said. "If you want that too, then there is no one we would feel prouder to call our own." Raven felt a lump grow in her throat as he looked at both of them. These two people, who had almost died saving her, had risked everything for her. As a tear began to fall down her cheek, she put the papers down and gave her answer….
Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
As the sun set, the waters turned to liquid gold. The three children of magic watched it happen from the top of the Tower. They sat there, emotions running through them. Not a one of them knew what awaited them. None of them knew how their lives would be. But it didn't matter. They would always have each other. As the girl put her arms around her new parents, they wrapped their arms around their new daughter. The darkness was behind them, and now they could finally look into the sun.
You've gone away
You don't feel me here anymore
THE END