I am having writer's block right now... I only have a few more stored chapters. Every time the hits reaches 10 for the latest chapter I submit another one... or something like that... Anyway, enjoy.
As the titans woke up one by one they looked around and found themselves in their living room. At first they were confused but then Beast Boy noticed Terra and everyone, startled at her sudden appearance back in the world of the living, greeted her with joy. When they were all satisfied with their greetings they sat down and Terra explained what had happened. She explained about the little boy she had seen when she escaped the statue; and how she knew she had to help the titans. As she explained how Timothy pulled her towards the screen and collapsed the others began wondering why and as she told them how he had acted when he was in the other world they began to understand.
"He knew we were in trouble." Robin said. "He wanted to help us even though going into that twisted world hurt him."
Raven knew even more, she remembered how the teen had tried to save her from the shadows. He must have succeeded, but where was Timothy now? Didn't he make it out? Was he still in that other world? The screen was still static, did that mean that the portal was still open?
Raven stood up and walked over to the television screen; as she neared it the static began to move towards the center leaving a blank screen where it had been. Finally as she stepped up next to it there was an electric jolt and Timothy fell out of the portal and Raven caught him. She looked down at the sleeping little boy and smiled.
"Wow, are you being motherly?" Terra asked looking over at Raven. "Who is that boy?"
"We found him a few days ago." Robin said and began telling the story. "When we discovered he had no memory we decided to take care of him until his memory returned. Since we didn't know his name we had to come up with one and Raven decided on..."
"Timothy." Raven said. "His name is Timothy."
---
Later that night, after Terra became reacquainted with her room and everyone had gone to bed Raven left her room and walked to the infirmary. She walked to the bed that Timothy was on and gently placed her hand on his cheek. As she did so he continued to lie as still as he had been when she had entered the room. Raven stepped back and moved into a meditative stance: floating in the air, her legs crossed and arms relaxed on her knees.
Within a few seconds Raven was meditating in the image she usually did, dark space with a number of asteroids floating nearby. It was what she was use to but this time she wasn't meditating to gain control of her emotions. She had remembered the last time she had meditated it had been with Timothy and they had met in another image, somewhere in the mountains. She wanted to go there again; she wanted to be sure that Timothy was ok.
She opened her eyes and found herself again in the mountains. Quickly she stood up and began walking around looking for Timothy, or the older Timothy. As she walked around she noticed that something was different about the small lake she had noticed the last time. Floating in the center of the lake was an island of jagged stone. On the stone were two statues one of a tall man who looked like the older Timothy but his face appeared darker, more harassed. The second statue was of a woman who looked oddly familiar to Raven but she hadn't ever seen her before in her life.
Raven walked to the edge of the water and lightly placed the toe of her shoe onto it. It was solid, or as solid as it had been the previous time. Raven stepped out onto the water and walked towards the island. She wanted to get a better view of the statues and see why they looked so familiar. As she walked closer to the island she realized that one of the stones was far too smooth, and lumpy to be part of the rest of the island. Raven began to hurry and was quickly on the small island and looking down at the young Timothy curled into a small ball at the feet of the statues.
"Timothy?" Raven asked. "What's wrong?"
Timothy jumped and uncurled to look at Raven. His eyes were full of tears and it was obvious he had been crying for a while. He opened his mouth to speak but no worlds came from his lips, not even a sound managed to escape. Frustrated Timothy beat his hands on the stone ground and tried again; still he was unable to utter a single sound. Finally he fell into a heap and continued crying.
Raven gently bent down and picked Timothy up. She placed him in her lap and gently placed her right hand on his head to stroke his hair. With her left arm she brought Timothy's body closer to hers in a warm, comforting hug and began to coo. "It's ok... it's ok." Even though she didn't really know what was wrong she felt she needed to do something, and that wasn't from Timothy's form of communication.
"Timothy, it's ok now, I'm here. Tell me... what's wrong?"
Timothy looked into her eyes, his eyes shining with tears; then he looked over at the statues. Raven followed his gaze and noticed something different about the two. Raven could tell that they were special, to Timothy at the very least. The woman had a very strong impression in his mind and the man seemed almost like a protector. She could sense that the man had gone through horrible things, but they only made him stronger. The woman had been there for Timothy almost from the beginning, and yet not. Raven couldn't explain this feeling, but it was as if Timothy knew that these two had a great importance to him but he didn't know why.
"They are trapped." Raven said suddenly, surprising herself.
Timothy nodded slowly and turned to face Raven. She got the overwhelming sense of helplessness and she wasn't sure if it was coming from Timothy or from herself. She knew that Timothy could help the people in the statues, like he did for Terra, though she hadn't really known that before now, but he didn't know how. She also knew that Timothy would ask her for help except there really wasn't anything she could do.
No, Timothy may not think so but Raven disagreed. She could at least Try and help them. Gently Raven put Timothy on the ground and stood up. She faced the statues head on and began to say, "Azarath, Metrion, Zynth-"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A familiar voice cut in behind her. "You could do yourself more damage than you know.
Raven turned around and saw the older Timothy standing behind her, or rather floating just above the water. He was holding what looked like a stave in his right hand. The stave started at a point at the bottom but broadened as it moved up. When it reached shoulder height it cut off into two pairs of wings. Around the wings were a number of circular cylinders that were bent in curves from one side of the stave, around the top, and back to the center on the other side. Each cylinder started and ended just below the wings and wrapped around a crystal that was hovering in the center at the top of the stave, just between the wings. Raven thought that the stave was very beautifully made, but poorly designed because it would break easily.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked. "How could I hurt myself by trying to help them?"
"In essence they sacrificed themselves to save Timothy from eternal darkness and malice. When he was in that space that Control Freak had created using the remote he had found the darkness found its chance to take over once again. Fortunately two... good friends were contacted almost directly after we arrived in this universe and they arrived just as the darkness was taking over..." the older Timothy said. "They fought back to darkness and in the process helped Timothy temporarily regain part of his memories and power. He, well let's say he transformed at that point, something he has done before in this universe I believe..."
Suddenly Raven began to understand the truth. "The teen..." she said.
"Yes. As his powers are returned to him his body matures. He will not be able to remember everything until just before the last memory is returned but he will remember enough for his mind to be level with his body." The older Timothy said. "I told you before that I am him, but that is only partly true. I am part of him. You see over the years he has managed to create five individual personas to fit needs that he had. I am one of the three original parts of his personality."
"That would explain a lot." Raven replied. "If his memories were removed you could still retain yours."
"Yes, and most of my power as well, but you see I am a deep part of his 'self', and though I am sometimes able to come out on my own I usually reside deep within his mind. Many of his abilities are derived from me but when he doesn't know what they are and cannot summon them I loose most of my power." The older Timothy said. "He is able to create physical bodies for his different persona but he usually chooses to keep me with him... regardless our minds and spirits are so closely linked that what ever happens to him happens to me as well. When he lost his memories I lost some of mine... part of him left, but part was also stored within me."
"It sounds to me like he controls you." Raven said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"Please, don't take it that way. Even the true him is a good person, and our feelings are true..." the older Timothy paused for a second. "And he doesn't use me. Though I was part of him since he was born I wasn't really awakened until recently. For him and I to be apart is like separating twins who share a heart..."
"Oh... I'm sorry." Raven said. "I didn't realize..."
"That's ok." The older Timothy said moving closer. "You can't know everything about the boy you have taken in... not yet at least." He took another step closer. "Originally we came to this universe for one reason." He told her stepping onto the island. "But when we got here someone good was dying, we had to save them. When we took their soul to keep safe until we were able to restore their body the universe rejected us and we were forced out. Recently we tried to return, for a necessary reason but when we entered the universe it remembered us and tried to strip us of our power. That is what really happened that day; that is why he cannot remember anything."
The older Timothy was now on the island, the stave in his was burning with a golden, blue, red and white flame. Raven noticed that the ribbons that were attached directly below the wings were moving on their own, even though there was no wind. The older Timothy stepped to one side and looked at the ground, Raven followed his gaze and saw that the young Timothy was still there, curled into a ball and apparently asleep.
"I can't allow you to help them..." the older Timothy said. "But I can."
He raised the stave and struck it on the ground, the burning light focused into a beam and flashed outward into the statues. The statues illuminated with an intense green light, and as they did so archaic symbols began to illuminate around them. The older Timothy held out his left hand and rotated it in a circle; as he did so a small white ball appeared. He stopped rotating his hand and snapped and the ball split into eight parts: red, green, brown, silver, dark blue, very light blue, blue, and yellow. The eight balls split into halves and reformed; finally they shot to the statues.
"There," The older Timothy said. "I have done all that I can, now it is up to them what happens next." He turned to look at Raven. "I'm sorry. When you came in here you expected to find the same man who you had been speaking with the past few times. I am not really him since Timothy's and my mind are not one at the moment. When you return the next time I believe we will have returned to who you had expected."
The older Timothy began to turn away but stopped and turned his head back. "I wish for you to do me, to do us a favor. Please, teach Timothy how to speak." He said. "You know that you can come hear during both sleep and during meditation, so please teach him, not just how to speak but as much as you can. I believe with your guidance he will regain what he lost much faster."
Raven opened her eyes and saw that she was still sitting in her meditative position. The sun was rising so she knew that it was morning already. She must have slept in the stance all night. After lowing herself to the floor she got up and walked closer to Timothy. Even after what she had seen, which she still didn't know how to react to, she still felt a deep adoration towards the little boy. She had once thought it was motherly, or like she was his elder sister, but now she was not so sure... Raven gently reached forward and stroked Timothy's head, pushing his hair out of his face.
---
After Timothy woke up he and Raven went to the common room. The sun was still rising and it illuminated the entire room with a deep red shine. There were only a few clouds in the sky and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. As Raven prepared breakfast for them Timothy gazed out the window over the ocean. Every so often he would glance up and then his head would follow something through the sky and into the ocean.
Just as Raven finished making them food, she had begun to become quite good at it actually, Timothy walked over to her and tugged on her cape. She understood almost instantly, probably because of Timothy's method of speech, or she just understood him better. They took their food up to eat on the roof.
As they stepped out onto the roof they found Terra sitting, one leg over the side, her arm around her head resting against the other. She had a small pile of stones next to her and she was tossing them off of the roof and over the water. Raven wasn't that surprised when she sat Terra sitting there, nor was she much surprised when she saw Timothy walk over and gently tap on her arm.
Terra was still wearing the suit that she had gotten from Slade but it was obvious that she had made a number of attempts to remove it. It had been torn before but it was more so now and she had scratch marks on her arms and legs. When Timothy tapped on her she jumped slightly and turned to see who it was. When she saw Timothy's innocent smiling face she smiled back weakly.
Timothy gently moved his hands over the scratches on her arm and a small blue light passed between them. As his had moved Raven and Terra saw that the scratches were gone, completely healed. Terra was stunned but Raven smiled; she knew that Timothy was being kind and trying to be helpful.
When he had passed his hand over the rest of Terra's arm he took her by the hand and pulled her over to where Raven had placed their breakfast. Raven noticed that she had somehow managed to bring more than she remembered making and she assumed that Timothy must have somehow done that.
"Ok, ok, I'm coming." Terra said laughing. "Hello, Raven."
"Good morning, Terra." Raven replied. "I see you and Timothy are getting along well."
"Yes." Terra replied. "Does he really not speak?"
"I have only heard him say one word." Raven said. "And it was very difficult for him to say it."
"What was that?"
"Love." Raven told her, blushing slightly.
Terra smiled and looked at the little boy who was busying himself with his food. Raven glanced at him as well and noticed that he was also making another plate, for Terra probably. Then, when he had finished with the first two he prepared a third. Finally he handed out the plates full of breakfast and they started eating.
After a few moments Raven paused and said, "You should know, Timothy hasn't been very social with the others."
"Yeah, I know." Terra said, still eating. "Beast Boy told me about him last night..." she trailed off and started blushing.
Timothy paused for a second and looked over at Terra, then he turned back to his food smiling; nearly grinning. Raven wondered what he had sensed but didn't do anything to find out for herself. It probably wasn't anything; it was obvious that Beast Boy loved Terra and before she left with Slade it had seemed that she had started to love him as well.
"Anyway," Terra said finally. "Beast Boy told me how you found him in a little more depth than Robin did, he also added some of the events that had happened over the past few days." Terra paused and took another bite of her food. "What I don't understand though, is why he seems to like me so much... almost as much as he likes you."
Raven remembered what had happened while she was meditating. Was the person that that older Timothy had been talking about Terra? Was that why Timothy seemed to like her so much? Then what was the other reason they had wanted to enter this universe? Could it be... could it actually be...
"I don't really know either." Raven said. "But I believe the reason you found him when you came back was because he had helped save you."
"Really?" Terra asked. "Yeah, that would make sense. It did feel like I was being led..." she paused and there was silence for a moment.
Timothy had finished eating and was sitting where Terra had been. The girls looked over and saw that he was tossing the stones that Terra had gathered off of the roof. The two got up and walked over to sit by him. It seemed that somehow Timothy was the thing that finally brought the two together in friendship, or at the very least normalcy. As they sat down they realized that he wasn't just tossing them but he was giving them such a spin that they continued going until they hit the water, and even then they skipped a few paces. The girls laughed and the three of them began having a contest to see who could skip the furthest.
After about half an hour, the sun was further up in the sky, and the three were feeling very content. Terra and Raven got up, remembering their plates, and began to walk back to clean up. As they turned their backs Timothy began to rise into the air, four stubs growing on his back. The stubs grew and flexed and two pairs of wings spread from under his cape. Timothy opened his eyes, a new light in them, his cloths draining of color, and he rushed forward. As he moved he pushed out both of his hands, which had suddenly grown gloves, and pushed into Terra's back.
As Terra fell forward, obviously surprised, two rings of light appeared beneath her. She stumbled into the middle and was held in place as she began to levitate into the air. At first Terra panicked and struggled, as anyone would have done, but slowly her body relaxed and her eyes closed. A white light with light blue overtones began to illuminate within the circles and a golden red flame began to burn around Terra. As Raven watched in astonishment the flame licked away all of Terra's scratches and any sign that she had ever tried to remove the suit.
When it was over and Terra was finally let to the ground she opened her eyes and looked over her body. She was pleased to see that she was completely healed but, at the same time, disappointed that the suit was still on. She stepped out of the circle as it faded and Timothy returned to the ground. Slowly she approached Timothy, a very pleased smile on her face and as Timothy's eyes opened Terra began to say, "Thank you," but just as she did so the fabric and the metals of the suit disintegrated. So what ended up happening was this, Terra walked towards Timothy as he opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was... needless to say he spun around, his face burning.
After she got over the shock Raven began laughing. It was honestly funny, Terra's look was more than priceless as she tried to cover herself, and figure out what happened. Quickly Raven walked over, taking off her cape, and handed it to Terra. "Here," she said. "I believe we still have some cloths you can use."