A/N: The last chapter, understandably, confused some people. So here is an explanation—the majority of the chapter (until the 'X's) was a hallucination/nightmare of sorts triggered by the chemicals Raven inhaled. The last few paragraphs were what really was happening. I hope that unconfused people. Thank you!
"Friend Raven has gone missing!"
Starfire had been the first to wake the following morning, and so had been the one to discover Raven's absence. The male Titans, hearing Starfire's exclamation, came running to the dark girl's room, only to find the room's owner gone.
"Where…?" Beast Boy started, but his mind was slow at waking.
"Cyborg, see if you can locate her communicator," Robin was quick to order.
"Right." Cyborg tapped a few button on his arm. Suddenly a look of confusion came over his face. At questioning looks from the others, he said, "According to this, she's still in the Tower…in Terra's room."
They ran to Terra's room and knocked. A few seconds later, the blonde opened the door looking as if she had just woken up.
"Friend Terra, is friend Raven in your room?" Starfire asked, trying to peek behind Terra into the room.
"Uh, no."
Cyborg stepped past Terra into the room, his eyes remaining on the screen in his arm.
"She's not in here. I think I would have seen her if she was," Terra protested slightly.
Cyborg walked over to the bed. "No, Raven's not in here. He picked something up off of the pillow. "But her communicator is."
"Why is Raven's communicator in Terra's room?" Beast Boy asked.
"That's a good question," Robin said quietly.
Terra's eyes widened slightly. "You know, I still haven't gotten my new communicator…"
"What are you saying? That doesn't explain why Raven gave you hers," Robin said.
"But add that to the way we've treated her recently…" Cyborg stated.
"Raven ran away?" Beast Boy inquired disbelievingly.
"Yeah, and I still don't know the exact effect of those chemicals. They could have had something to do with it, too," Cyborg added.
"Let's go back to her room, and make sure there aren't any signs that tell us otherwise," Robin suggested. "Then we can decide on a plan to find her."
The Titans made their way back to Raven's room, and searched for hints to her sudden disappearance.
"Man, look at all of these old books," Beast Boy commented. He pulled one off the shelf that looked like it had been hastily shoved back into its place.
"Beast Boy," Robin reprimanded, "We're looking for clues as to why Raven's not here. This isn't the time to—"
A small cry of pain brought their attention to Terra, who was on her knees and clutching her head between her hands. Suddenly the blonde passed out.
Terra regained consciousness a few minutes later to see the faces of her friends looming over her. She sat up slowly with their help.
"Terra, are you all right?" Beast Boy asked worriedly. She nodded.
"What happened?" Robin demanded.
"I…I remember," Terra said quietly. She leaned forwards and reached for the small box she had been looking in before she fainted. Inside sat a small bowl, crystals, and candles. "I was looking at these…and I suddenly remembered." She looked up at all of them. "Raven's the one who brought me back."
"So she really did do it," Beast Boy remarked quietly, almost reverently.
Terra looked at him and nodded. Then the book he was still holding caught her eye. "I think I might remember this, too," she said, indicating the book. She gently took it from him. "I know there was an old book." She opened it to where a piece of paper marked a page. The words written on the page itself were cryptic and not of their language. However, the bookmarker also had writing on it. After skimming over the contents, Terra nodded. "I remember hearing these words."
The others read the powerful words over her shoulder as she continued to stare at the frail paper.
"Terra, can you tell us what happened that night?" Robin requested.
She nodded. "I heard a voice, speaking these words," she began, eyes never straying from the paper before her. "I think I heard a storm, too. Then there was a bright light. I'm pretty sure that a lightening bolt struck me, shattering the stone I was trapped in." She paused in thought.
"The force must have been amazing," Cyborg observed. "I'm surprised Raven wasn't injured—" That was when they remembered, she had been.
"Yeah," Terra continued. "Right after the blinding light, it must have been Raven that I saw. She was against the far wall of the area. She must have been blown back when the lightening struck."
"Then what?" Beast Boy encouraged her to go on.
"I'm not sure, I passed out."
"You did have a bruise on your temple. You probably hit your head when you fell."
"Why did friend Raven not use her powers to keep you from falling?" Starfire inquired.
"Why did she not use her powers to carry Terra back to the Tower? Or simply teleport both of them back? Carrying Terra must have put a strain on her shoulder." Robin countered. "She must have used all of her power to cure Terra."
"And that would explain why she was especially reserved with her powers when we fought Delano. And why she needed to rest," Cyborg stated.
"Why? Why did she do it?" Terra had to ask, even if no one knew the answer. "I would have thought that, out of all of you, she would hate me the most for what I did."
"Perhaps friend Raven did not bring you back so much for your sake, as for ours," Starfire speculated wisely, surprising everyone. "Though I'm certain friend Raven missed you as well, we most certainly did. Since Raven is our friend, she probably did not like seeing us so unhappy."
Once the other Titan came out of their shock at Starfire's sensible conclusion, they nodded in agreement to her words.
"We've got to find her," Terra declared.
"She's done so much for us," Robin said.
"She's our friend," Beast Boy added.
"And we have much to thank her for," Starfire asserted.
"Well, then, let's get working on a way to find her!" Cyborg proclaimed. The others nodded, and they reconvened soon after to discuss how to locate and retrieve Raven.
Skye: Thank you! Hope you continue to enjoy the story!
Inuyashastwin: Thanks very much! So far, no definite parings. I'm glad you like it.
Poopy Penguin: Thank you so much! I'm happy that you're happy with it
VashTheStampede7123: Don't worry about not being able to review. It just meant that you had more chapters to come back to, right? Thanks so much!
Defafaeth Mechqua: Yup! You got it! Thanks for the review!
DarkGoddessRaven: I completely forgot to mention Raven's powers! I guess I was used to her having them gone from the spell that I forgot to show when they came back. Something probably should have blown up when that tear fell in the last chapter. Thanks for reminding me, and thank you for the review!
BlackShield: No problem about the wait, thanks for reviewing! I'm just happy you like!
nevermoretheraven: lol, if you're looking for non-romance this is probably a good fiction to choose. Thanks for the review!
AlwaysWrite: I hope the Author's Note at the beginning clarified the last chapter for you. I'm glad you said something, I want my writing to make sense Thanks for reviewing!
papersak: Yes, I almost decided to end the chapter with Raven's deliriousness, but then the reviews I would get scared me, lol. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it! Thank you!
Sparrowing: Did the Author's Note in the beginning help you? I've had a decent holiday, thank you. I hope you enjoyed New Years as well. Thank you for the reviews!
Taiba: I did not care for her much at first either, now I'm more neutral. But for this story, she's good.
Secretly Dark: I hope the Author's Note in the beginning explained the last chapter for you. If there still something confusing, let me know, okay?
'Surprised': Thank you! I had been considering ending the chapter with just Raven's dream, but I predicted the not-so-happy responses I would get if I didn't explain in the same chapter, lol. Anyway, I hope this was soon enough for you!
disappearer/Syani: Thank you for the evaluation! I definetly have to agree with you, at least to some degree, on the Cyborg-Raven relationship. Thanks for the review!
Lexi The Writer: lol, they'll get nicer. Guilt is an interesting emotion, no? Thanks for reviewing!
'hey': Thank you! I will!
Tigerfly57: I'm not sure about pairings. In all likelihood, there won't be a pairing. I'm no romance writer, I'm afraid. I'm glad you like it! Thanks!
Pikachu: Did I update soon enough? I'm happy you like the story. Thank you!
The Eccentric CheezySquirrel: Thank you very much! I hope this was quick enough for you!
Moony Luver: Thanks so much! I hope you like this chapter, too!
To my very anonymous reviewer: Thanks very much! I'm so glad you like the story. I will be sure to continue with it.