Chapter 17

January 3rd, 2018. 10:24 AM.

Damian stood on the edge of the roof of Titans Tower, looking out over the river. It was a new year again, although he didn't really acknowledge it the way everyone else did; everyone around him was making resolutions, parading around like the turning over of the date had triggered some profound change in their lives. Damian didn't buy into this notion. An arbitrary assignment of timekeeping couldn't cause any more of a change in a person's behavior than the relative alignment of the stars at the time of their birth. New Year's Day was nothing more than a sentiment crafted to comfort people who attributed misfortunes to the year in which they occurred.

The wind was so heavy on the roof, Damian almost didn't hear the air shift as Jonathan flew up to him from behind.

"Hey D!" the Kryptonian chirped as he lighted onto the roof beside Damian. "Sorry we couldn't make it back in before the snow hit. Did your Christmas turn out okay?"

Damian smiled, turning to his friend. "It did, actually. Raven and I had a really nice time."

Jon cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Hold up… I thought you said your dad came by to visit. Didn't he?"

"He couldn't make it in either," Damian explained. "It ended up being just Raven and me."

"Ohhhh…" Jon crossed his arms and smirked. "So you had a reeeeal good time, didn'tcha?"

Damian shook his head and chuckled. "Jonathan, please. You're thirteen, that's far too young for you to be so crass."

"I'm just jokin' with ya, man," Jon laughed as he pat Damian on the back. "But for real, did everything work out? What'd you two do while we were gone?"

"It was actually really nice," the older Titan looked back out over the river. "We just… spent time with one another. Walked, talked… went ice-skating…"

"You ice-skate?"

"I'm a quick study. Then we watched It's A Wonderful Life, which I actually paid attention to this time… it was good."

Jonathan kept his eyes on Damian for a moment, then smiled. "… you really do love her, don't you?"

Damian nodded. "When I first became Robin, I was set in my grandfather's ways. I'd been groomed to lead humanity… but my father asked me something that I didn't really understand until much later. He asked me how I was supposed to lead humanity if I had never really been a part of it…"

Damian's eyes were filled with something that looked like hope. "Raven makes me better. She makes me more human. I may never be the leader Ra's al Ghul wanted me to be. But thanks to Raven, I can be so much more than that."

Jonathan put a hand on Damian's shoulder. "… you've grown a lot since I met you in that alley, y'know that?"

Damian looked back at the Superboy and smiled. "So have you, Jon."

Jon smiled back at Damian before turning to go back inside. Before he went back inside, he looked back over his shoulder and smirked. "… so how was it?"

"How was what?" Damian cocked an eyebrow.

Jon's smirk spread into a grin. "How was it when you kissed her?"

Damian paused for a moment, still smiling. "It felt… it felt like freedom. Like feeling the sun on your skin for the first time."

Jonathan smiled at Damian's response. That was… genuine. Real. This is what love looked like when it was first born. He turned and descended back into the Tower.

Raven sat suspended in the pair, perfectly still, deep in her meditation. She hadn't done it intentionally, but it had become a sort of custom to spend the first three days of each year in communion with the goddess Azar. Not direct communication, of course, because the only direct connection with the Mother of Azarath she had was the use of Her magic, which came as a holy gift to Azarath's people. But Raven made a point of honoring this blessing whenever she could. The gift of Azar was a privilege, not a right. One had to be chosen by Azar Herself in order to tap into Her spirit. The only person outside of Azarath she had ever known who had wielded the power of Azar had been Damian… and even then, Damian only used that power once to defeat her father. In all likelihood, Raven was the only Servant of Azar left. But it comforted her to know that Damian had felt Azar's touch. In a way, Raven liked to think it deepened their connection to one another.

"Mother of Azarath, hear the words of Your servant…" Raven began her prayer. "I offer You my eternal thanks for safeguarding my companions and I through our trials thus far. Thank You for bringing our new brother and sister into our fold. Their strength and light have given us all hope that we can continue to push back against the darkness that perverts the hearts of this world's people.

"Thank You for the blessing of Your power which You've given me. I pray that my heart is never tempted to misuse these gifts, and thus fall from Your grace. I ask that You embolden my heart to continue bringing Your light to this world, no matter how great the challenges I face become."

Raven paused, taking a moment to collect herself.

" … and… and I thank You for Damian's presence here. His heart is weary, but his spirit burns brighter and hotter than any I've met here. He's helped me to become more connected to this world and its people, and it was through him that the chains that bound me to my father were broken. He… he makes this world feel more like home. I implore You, please continue to watch over him, and allow this connection between him and I to grow further.

"Above all else, as always, I ask that You protect my brothers and sisters as we face the darkness ahead, if it be Your will. In all things, I will continue to press forward to be worthy of my place as Your Handmaiden, as my mother did before me."

As Raven opened her eyes, a knock came on her door. There on the other side was Jon, who waved excitedly when Raven opened the door.

"Hey, Rae!" He grinned at the mage girl, who waved back smiling. "Hope I'm not interrupting. Mind if I come in?"

"Sure, come on in," Raven stepped to the side and waved the boy inside. Jon strolled in and sat down on the edge of her bed, and she closed the door behind him, before floating in and sitting cross-legged in the air across from him. "What's on your mind?"

"I wanted to say sorry about not being able to come back in time for Christmas. I heard the snow hit pretty hard," Jon said, holding his head up on his hands and propping his elbows up on his knees. "I heard it was just you and D here in the Tower."

"Yeah, Damian's dad couldn't make it either," Raven replied with a small nod. "But it was actually really great. Seeing the park in the snow was really interesting, and we just… we talked. We had a really good time."

"I heard you two went ice-skating!" Jon grinned with a wink. "That musta been a riot."

Raven let out a little laugh. "He was actually pretty good at it. We put on some of my music, and it was just… it was just really good."

Jon tilted his head to the side, his grin softening into a gentle half-smile. "Y'know, you seem a lot more open since you and Damian became a thing. Have you noticed that?"

Raven nodded. "I mean… I've always felt kind of lonely. Never really had anyone to talk to when everything sort of came down on me… but Damian knows what it's like. He's been through a lot of the same things I have. He makes me feel like I'm not so alone."

They sat in silence for a moment before Jon stood up to leave.

"So how did it feel?" The Kryptonian asked. Raven could tell he was asking about the kiss, and her cheeks began to turn red.

"… you know that feeling when it's pouring down rain outside, and you come in out of the cold and wrap up in a blanket by the fire?" She closed her eyes, still smiling as she thought back to that moment. "It was kind of like that… it made me feel safe. Like I was home."

Jonathan's eyes softened. It made him glad to see how much his friends grew with one another. He wrapped Raven in a hug before making his way out of her room.