AN: Nope, no ownership yet… deal with it

The Book of Scraps

It felt so good to be in her room again. She knew that they hadn't entered it since she left, for the air was stale. That or they hadn't been in there for at least a year without opening the window. She did a quick dusting and then unpacked all of her possessions. Once she was satisfied she decided to go see her friends again. She felt so light hearted and happy, something she never felt before. This whole 'being pure' thing was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She was quite glad for the demon puberty.

After dinner, which was actually quite good even if Starfire had a hand in it, Raven went up to the roof to meditate for a little while. She was so happy to be welcomed back so warmly by her team. She wasn't sure what to expect when she returned. She was glad they were accepting that she had to leave.

As she meditated she felt another presence near her. "I see old habits die hard," said Raven. "You haven't forgotten how to interrupt my meditation."

"Hey, I come up here every night, just so you know," said Beast Boy, walking over to the edge of the roof. He took a seat and dangled his legs off of the edge. "It just happens that tonight you're up here too."

"I'll have to remember that so I don't intrude on your roof time," said Raven, opening one eye.

"Eh, I don't care," said Beast Boy, shrugging. "It's not like you're annoying or anything. Though, you could be now. You've certainly changed over the years."

"Not as much as you," said Raven. "I barely recognized you."

"I could tell when you said 'Oh my god!'," Beast Boy laughed. Then he went quiet for a moment. "Uh, when you said that, was it a good 'oh my god' or a bad 'oh my god'?"

"Don't worry, it was good," said Raven, chuckling.

"Wow, you're laughing," said Beast Boy with a smile.

"I know," she said with a soft smile. She descended from her place in the air and took a seat next to him. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yeah," he said, softly smiling back. "Yeah, it is." He had never seen Raven like this before. It was almost like this wasn't her at all. Before, when she was close to him he felt a tinge of fear in his stomach and anxiousness. Now she truly did seem at peace. In the two hours she had been home he had yet to see her without a smile on her face. She seemed to glow now. Yes, she had certainly changed.

"So why do you come out here every night?" asked Raven.

"I like to either watch the sunset or take a look at the stars," said Beast Boy.

"I don't recall you doing that before," said Raven.

"Yeah, well, the tower began to get a little too stuffy for me," said Beast Boy. "Not to mention the fact that my sudden surge in hormones made me a little… aggressive at times towards Cy and Robin."

"I'm certainly glad I wasn't here for that," said Raven. "I can only imagine the stories they have."

"Uh, yeah, I kinda made them promise to forget about those couple years," said Beast Boy with an embarrassed laugh. "I really made a jackass out of myself."

"Well, that's nothing new," said Raven with a smirk. She then leaned back and lay down on the roof, looking up at the darkening sky above her. "It's been so long since I've seen the stars."

"They're not out yet," said Beast Boy. "The sun just went down."

"I can see a couple," said Raven, then she lifted her arm to the heavens. "There and there and there." Beast Boy lay back and looked up to see if he could see any stars. She had been right, there were a couple, but they were faint.

"Wow, I never would have seen those," said Beast Boy.

"Well, if you just take the time, you can see things you'd usually overlook," said Raven.

Beast Boy chuckled and said, "You have no idea how much I've missed your little pearls of wisdom. I really am glad you're back."

"I'm glad I'm back, too," said Raven. Then she sat up and got to her feet. "Well, I'll leave you to your stars. I have some catching up to do with the other Titans. I'll see you later, Beast Boy." And with that she headed inside.

Beast Boy turned his head and watched as she left. He couldn't believe his wish for Raven had come true. He had wishes for all of his friends, as do all good friends have for their friends. He wished that Cyborg could be human again. He wished Robin would not be so serious and would actually enjoy life. He wished that Starfire could grasp Earthling living well enough so that she wouldn't stand out in a crowd. And he had wished that Raven would be able to feel all of the emotions he felt everyday without a second thought. And, now, she was.

"Oh, Raven, I must show you!" said Starfire, grabbing Ravens hand and bringing her over to the couch. "I have made a book of scraps to show you for when you returned. Please take a look!"

Starfire dropped the seven inch thick scrap book on Ravens lap. Raven gave a startled sound as the heavy book was dropped onto her, but did her best to ignore it since Starfire was staring right at her.

"Wow, thank you so much, Starfire," said Raven as she opened it up. She found that there was a collection of newspaper clippings from all of the Titans missions and photographs of various outings they went on with little captions written by Starfire. Raven slowly took her time and looked through every single page. As she read Starfire pointed out various clippings or pictures and told the story behind it. Luckily, Robin and Cyborg were there to help decipher Starfire's mixed words.

Eventually, Beast Boy came down from the roof and joined the group in telling Raven everything that had happened over the past five years. They had had some close calls and a met a few new villains, but luckily it was nothing they couldn't handle.

"Wow, it looks like you guys have been fine without me," said Raven with a sad smile. "Maybe you don't need me."

"Trust me, we need you," said Cyborg. "Just because our missions were successful doesn't mean they were easy by any means."

"Yeah, we definitely need you," said Robin.

"Well, it's nice to feel needed," said Raven.

"Oh, this is from when we did the defeating of Mumbo Jumbo!" said Starfire, pointing to a newspaper clipping. There was a photo on the article and it showed Cyborg laughing hysterically while the other three Titans were clad in only balloon clothes that Mumbo Jumbo had made. Starfire seemed quite happy and free, while Robin and Beast Boy were screaming at Cyborg and doing their best to cover their… private areas… that could be seen through the plastic of the balloons. Raven actually let out a laugh that wanted to get out of control, but she subdued herself. She couldn't show that much emotion.

"Jerk," said Beast Boy, crossing his arms. "You know, we never did find our uniforms."

"Is that why you have new ones?" asked Raven, trying to hold back her giggles.

"No, we have our growing spurts to thank for that," said Robin. "This was still before our new suits."

She continued to look through the scrap book, happy to hear any stories they would tell her. This really astonished her teammates. Raven had never been a people person and would always choose to be alone in her room rather than hang out with them. But slowly an hour passed and she wanted them to continue to regale her with tales of the past years.

Finally, three hours later, the scrap book was closed after she had gone through every single page. "This is really wonderful, Starfire," she said smiling. "I'll make sure to look through it again."

"I am so very glad you like it," said Starfire.

"She worked really hard on that thing," said Cyborg. "Really, she took pictures and notes every day to put in it."

"I can't believe you went through all of that trouble," said Raven.

"Oh, it was not of the trouble," said Starfire. "I knew that if I worked on the book of scrap every day I would not forget about you."

"Not that we could forget about you anyway," Beast Boy added.

Raven smiled and stood up, the heavy book in her arms. "Well, I think I'll go to bed," she said. "This has been a very exhausting day. I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Have a goodnight's sleep," said Starfire sweetly.

"Yeah, goodnight," said Robin.

"Don't let the bedbugs bite," Beast Boy added.

"And if they do, it's probably BB, so just squash him," said Cyborg.

"Hey!" said Beast Boy.

"Goodnight everyone," said Raven, shaking her head and suppressing more chuckles.

She made it to her room and placed the book on her bureau. She then slipped her cloak off and felt the weight of the cloth lift off of her shoulders. It always felt good to take that bloody thing off. She grabbed her hair brush and began to brush her now long hair. She was glad that it was silky smooth and straight, unlike when she had Starfire's hair when they switched bodies. She had always thought that if she grew her hair out it would be unmanageable. It was actually quite easy to tame. She put it in a long braid, to keep it from tangling in her sleep, and went to bed. It felt so good to be home.

"Okay, how different is she?" asked Cyborg as soon as Raven left.

"Yes, she is quite changed from when we last saw her," said Starfire.

"At least it's for the better," said Robin. "I mean, I've never seen her so happy before. She's definitely different."

"She's actually not all that different," said Beast Boy. "We were talking and she easily slipped in a sarcastic remark here and there. But, she's definitely happier."

"There is something I am confused about," said Starfire. "What is a baptism and what is an exorcism?"

"You don't know?" asked Robin. Starfire shook her head innocently.

"You can look it up online," said Cyborg.

"Or Robin can tell you everything you'll need to know," said Beast Boy.

"Oh, I would rather Robin tell me," said Starfire with a smile.

"Okay, have fun," said Beast Boy and he quickly got out of there before Robin could glare at him. He walked down the hall to his room with his hands in his pockets, whistling. As he passed Ravens room he smiled. He was so happy she was home. Right at that very moment she was right on the other side of that door. Just knowing she was in the tower made him feel safer.

He would never tell her or anyone else that she was the only person he felt that could keep him safe. Sure, Robin was the leader and all, but he got too obsessed with the missions and his priorities were definitely out of whack sometimes. Starfire was a little too spacey to rely on, that was for sure. And Cyborg, as strong as he was, wasn't exactly a cushiony surface to land on if he was knocked out of the sky. Raven had the power to keep him safe and the mind to keep focused. She was always aware of her surroundings, something few people, and that included superheroes, have.

He took his belt off, which he did still have, since it was very uncomfortable sleep in and climbed up to his top bunk. He didn't care that he still had bunk beds, he liked to sleep elevated off of the ground and a bunk bed was much better than a hammock or something. It never occurred to him that he could get a bed specially made. But, this was Beast Boy, and he didn't like change. Well… most of the time.