Ch 18

"Wh—where am I?" asked a confused and frightened Raven, seeing only black before her.

"You are home my child," said the voice through the darkness.

"I—I can't. I don't see—

"You will see soon Raven."

"Wa—wait! Who are you?"

"All in good time my child."

The darkness faded away as Raven opened her eyes to see a snoring Gar beside her. Her eyes met the window to see the rain was gone and in its place was the sun. Somehow the light didn't comfort her this morning. Her dream still very much fresh in her mind. She sighed. 'I really wish my dreams didn't have to be so cryptic,' she thought.

"Raven?" said Gar as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"I had a dream. It's telling me something, but I don't know what," she said as she sat up in bed, feeling Gar's hand rub her back.

"I'm sure King Twabwa can help. He's pretty good with interpreting dreams," he said as he watched Raven get up from the bed. "There's a bathroom right across the way if you want to use it."

"Thank you Gar," said Raven as she looked at him. "Did you sleep all right?"

"I shifted a lot, didn't I?"

"Yes and I tried to calm you down. I couldn't and then I tired to enter your mind, but I couldn't do that either Gar."

"Mento taught me a few mental tricks. I didn't want anybody to see what I went through in the past. I guess it's harder to let go then I thought."

"Everything doesn't have to be revealed at once. When you're ready, you'll tell me."

Gar smiled. "You've always been so understanding Rae," he said as he kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you Gar," she said as she hugged him.

"I love you to Rae," he said as he held her close, taking in her scent.

"I'm going to have to get use to this, aren't I?"

"Sorry Rae I'm addicted to your scent. It calms me, makes me feel more at peace."

"I'm glad I can make you feel that way Gar," she said as she gave him a brief kiss on the lips and headed towards the bathroom.

Raven and Garfield made their way to King Twabwa's hut to see him coming out of it, looking in the couple's direction, and Raven had a feeling he knew why they were coming.

"Let's go inside," said the King as they followed him into his hut. "You want to know what your dream means."

"Yes, I believe it's telling me something like most of my dreams do," said Raven.

"You are correct. Azarath, the place you were born, has been reborn. The beings who were not there when it was destroyed have rebuilt. The question is do you want to see your home again?"

"It's not my home, not really. With everything that's happened, I'm not sure I could back, even to something that looks similar to where I was born," said Raven.

"Garfield never wanted to come back here to Africa, but he felt it was important for you to know where he came from," said the King.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she has to go back to Azarath," said Gar. "Just by looking at you Rae, it seems like there's a lot of pain in your eyes."

"I have to go Garfield. You need to know what happened, and I need to face my past."

Gar smiled. "Well you know I'm with you Rae," he said as she smiled at him.

"I was hoping you were Gar."

The couple packed their things, and Raven followed Garfield to a large clearing where Raven could open a portal.

"So, you're sure about this?" asked Gar.

"I know it won't be pleasant, but it's not forever. I need to do this for you and for me."

"Ok, I'll let you concentrate now," said Gar as he stood back.

Raven closed her eyes, connecting with the King's vision of the planet, and its people. Opening her eyes, a portal formed. Raven reached out her hand to Garfield, and he took it strongly but not tightly. "Hold on and don't let go," she said.

Gar smirked. "Always, couldn't get me to let go if you tried."

"Here we go," said Raven as they stepped into the portal.

Garfield's eyes had been closed as soon as they stepped into the portal. Curious, he opened his eyes to see him and Raven traveling in what looked like a wind tunnel. "Wow, so this what it looks like?"

"Only when I'm traveling to another dimension."

"So how long will it be like this?"

"Well from Azarath to Earth, it was about a couple of days. I'm thinking about the same amount of time."

"Garfield," said Raven's voice softly as she shook her boyfriend from his slumber.

Garfield woke up to see Raven kneeling down before him. "Are we there?"

"Yes," Raven said as the portal started to open.

Gar stood up and waited for what was next. He felt Raven's hand graze his as he looked to see her standing right beside him. Smiling, he took her hand delicately in his. "Just a feeling," he said as Raven looked at him.

Stepping through the portal, they came upon a platform. The portal disappeared, leaving the couple in Azarath. Raven's eyes widened at what she was seeing. It looked exactly the way she saw it before Trigon destroyed Azarath.

"How is it possible?" said Raven out loud.

"What's wrong Rae?"

"This isn't right. How can Azarath look the same before my father destroyed it?"

"Does anyone who lived on the original planet have any kind of magic that would be capable of doing this?"

"I don't know why I didn't think of that before."

"So someone comes to mind then?"

"There was a doctor who's wife practiced witchcraft. She is definitely powerful enough to do this. I sensed it as a child, and I remember how nice she was to me. They were the few people who didn't see me as a monster."

"So you think they're still alive?"

Raven focused as she tried to sense the doctor and his wife. Raven's eyes opened in surprise. "They're alive."

"Well that's a good thing, right?"

"I don't know, but I'm feeling tired from traveling," said Raven. "Let's rest for the night and see them in the morning."

"Good idea," he said as he followed Raven.

Walking into town, Gar noticed all the looks they were getting as they walked hand in hand. Some were confused, disgusted, hateful, or curious. "I'm guessing you're also use to the looks people give you."

"When I was younger, it was harder to keep my emotions in control so when I looked at someone and felt their emotions towards me, I lost control. Now it just seems normal as weird as that sounds."

"I'm sorry," he said as he squeezed her hand in his.

She smiled. "It's in the past."