Chapter XV - Two Moons in the Sky
I was quite breathless when he finished speaking, evidently taking a short break as if to recuperate emotionally. "What—" I gasped. "What is this? You—you—" He only nodded as if in agreement. "You sick bastard!" I cried aloud. "Who does this? How could you have done that to her? You horrible… freak!" I didn't know what made me become so overcome with indignation, but at that time I didn't pay much attention towards it. I was too angry.
"Yeah, you're right," the man replied simply. "I am… a horrible freak." He looked down at his feet, afraid to even catch a glimpse of my face.
"Raven rightfully left you!" I found myself saying. "How could you have done that to the person you loved? How could you have slept with—with a man—in her body? You violating her body like that. In a way, that's just like rape!"
Garfield was silent, until he finally said, "Now that you know who I truly am, you must be repulsed, am I right?"
"Yeah, I am." I shook my head. "I—I can't listen to this anymore. I don't feel comfortable around you. Not anymore."
The green man gave an almost heartbroken sigh. "I was worried you might react the way you are now. I guess I shouldn't blame you."
A question suddenly presented itself in my mind, one that I had wondered in passing a few hours back but didn't bother to ask. "Why are you telling me this, Garfield?" I asked him. "Why are you telling me this story? Why would you tell a complete stranger like me about this—this horrible thing?"
His bright green eyes wandered at me, searching for an answer to the question as if it was hidden somewhere in my face. "I don't really know," he admitted at last. "I—I think that by telling someone… I'd finally be at peace inside. By telling someone what I had done… by confessing my sins… somehow I'd be forgiven. I want someone to know about Raven and her story, about Garfield and his sins, with the hope that I could be redeemed and that Raven's memory would live on." He again dropped his gaze down to his feet and said apologetically, "My story's not over yet, but I'd understand if you don't want to hear it anymore."
I didn't understand his words, nor did I want to. I just couldn't take it anymore. And so I left.
The sky was dark and blank—not clear, but blank—with a few clusters of black clouds here and there. The rain had long cleared up to the point where I almost forgot there had been any. It was no longer cold, but I found myself shivering. Funny, I thought. It seemed warmer when I was next to Garfield.
I didn't know exactly how long or how far I wandered around Jump City after leaving Garfield. For all I knew, I could have been walking around in circles. The streets were empty, but I found that everyone was in one of the buildings. Whether it be in a restaurant, a movie theater, a hotel, or a store, there was a place for everyone and everyone was in their place. Everyone except me, that is. Me and Garfield.
More than once on my brief pilgrimage alone I had caught myself thinking about the strange man with the even stranger story. Why he had chosen me of all people to tell his tale, I couldn't fathom. It was a remarkable one, for sure, but utterly tragic. A love story gone wrong in the worst way. At least Romeo and Juliet died knowing they loved each other.
Didn't Garfield say that there was more to the story? What would've happened next? As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was very much intrigued in the story. But more than my curiosity for the tale, I found that I wanted to comfort Garfield. He was hurting and had recounted the events of his relationship with Raven not for my amusement or entertainment but for him to have catharsis. Though his deed was a horrible one, every man deserves catharsis if they seek it.
Wouldn't it then be the right thing to do to go back and help him achieve that catharsis? According to him, all that had happened when he was 21 years old, and he looks much older now. If I was the only one whom he could tell his story to, and I was the only one who could help him have peace inside after so many years of hurting, isn't it in my responsibility as a decent human being to help him?
I found myself retracing my steps, eventually returning to the same place I had left him.
We were at the beach of Jump City and I found him sitting on one of the benches looking out at the sea. Waves were formed in the distance before crashing gently onto the shore.
"You came back," he spoke suddenly. I was startled for a moment, but then remembered this man was a former superhero with superhuman powers, and therefore probably had heard the sound of my footsteps.
"I—I didn't come here to help you feel better or anything," I stammered. "I just wanted to hear the rest of the story, that's all. Don't think for a second I'm easy enough to fall for a sob story like "I want to be forgiven" or something…"
I think a part of me already knew he saw through my lie. Whether he knew I was lying or not, he didn't show, because he was already happy enough that I had returned. He gave me a smile, one I hadn't seen in a while that night, and beckoned me over to the ferry. I followed like a disciple.
He paid for two tickets and handed one to me. "Where are we going?" I asked him as he boarded a small boat and motioned at me to follow.
"I want to show you a place," he said with his same mysterious smile. "I'll tell you the rest of the story on the way there."
I clutched the ticket in my hand and hesitated for a moment. "You're only here for the story… you're only following him for the story…" I said to myself. But I couldn't force myself to believe it.
I walked onto the boat, which immediately jerked into motion, starting its trek away from the mainland. "It was a long time until I saw Raven's face again after she had left," Garfield said. "I had one or two girlfriends for a short time before that, but I ended it quickly. I found that I couldn't quite forget about Raven. I thought that she and I were over and would never see each other again. It seemed Fate had a different plan in mind."
I looked over the boat onto the waters below. But the currents were too strong and I couldn't see my own reflection.
"Where are we going now though?" I asked.
Garfield paused for a moment, then answered, "The place where this story started. The place Raven and I once called home." He raised his finger, pointing towards a large tower shaped like a 'T' that was looming in the distance.
"Titans Tower," I breathed.
…
– Five Years Later –
Beast Boy ran after the girl in the blue cloak. She was fast—very fast. The blur of blue was always ahead and out of reach no matter how fast his legs could take him. He called out her name. She didn't answer. Didn't even slow down. Kept running. So did he.
He panted, feeling the heavy weight of a thousand pounds dragging his legs and pulling him back. The air became dense and thick as if he were running in water. He called out her name again.
Eventually she did stop, and he finally caught up to her, gently grabbing her hand and squeezing it in his.
"Raven…" he gasped.
She turned around halfway, unable or unwilling to catch his face in her gaze. He barely managed to catch a glimpse of her gray cheek, but could see what he thought was a teardrop sliding down her face. He let go of her hand and she ran away, disappearing into the darkness.
He didn't run after her.
Garfield Logan awoke with a start. He clutched his blanket and was panting heavily. Feeling a dampness on his face, he realized he was sweating profusely. Soon the rhythmic pattern of his gasps slowed and he calmed. Laying still in his bed, he wiped away his sweat.
"Another dream about her…" he sighed. Closed his eyes, afraid to fall asleep again. "Stay in my dreams where you belong," he whispered as if Raven could hear him. "Even if it hurts me to see you… come again tomorrow night, and the night after that. Stay with me, at least in my dreams."
He fell into the clutches of sleep once more.
…
Garfield dreamed he was walking on a solitary, unending path. He looked up and saw that the sky was had green lights like the aurora borealis. He suddenly felt a blow to his chest like a force, knocking him back slightly. Dazed, his attention was caught by the lights in the sky, which suddenly burst from green to blue like tidal waves of illumination crashing against each other. The ground morphed and shifted underneath him, with the path replaced by train rails.
In the distance, he heard what sounded like the blowing of a train horn. Seeing the locomotive machine appear, he stepped aside and off the train tracks. The train rushed past him, and he could see that it had a very old design like the trains of the 18th century. It had a grayish-blue tint that seemed effervescent and ethereal. He felt compelled to look up and into the windows of the train as it rushed past him. He saw faces, pale white and deathly.
Garfield Logan awoke with a start. He clutched his blanket and was panting heavily. Feeling a dampness on his face, he realized he was sweating profusely. Soon the rhythmic pattern of his gasps slowed and he calmed. Laying still in his bed, he wiped away his sweat.
What time was it? The man swung over to his side and pulled open his eyes. To his surprise, he didn't see the red numbers of his digital alarm clock. Thinking nothing of it—for he was very sleepy—he shifted onto his back and resumed his sleep. Strangely, he found himself slightly uncomfortable. Picking up his head and feeling his pillow, he noticed it was very flat, which was strange considering his pillow had always been very fluffy.
Sitting up on his bed, Garfield then became aware of how low he was. Sticking out his legs, he was about to get off of bed before finding out he was already on the floor. "What the?" he mumbled as he began searching for his light switch. To his surprise as he fumbled blindly around his room, he found that nothing was where it should be. He was tripping over things that were normally not in his room and empty space at places where he was sure the wall was. Eventually he managed to find the light switch. As soon as he flipped it on, his questions were answered.
This wasn't his room.
What he saw before him was what seemed to be a one-room apartment that seemed no larger than the average American living room and consisted of a small section designated as a kitchen with a single sink, some drawers containing a couple plates, bowls, spoons, forks, and cups, and a foggy glass window that had cracks covered up with duct tape, a living room of sorts that doubled as a bedroom with a single mattress on the ground for a bed, one dusty mirror, some cardboard boxes, a lamp, and a tiny desk with no chair, and a door at one corner leading presumably to the bathroom. This stood in stark contrast with his Manhattan apartment.
"How did I get here?" he wondered aloud, before nearly jumping and covering his mouth with his hands. His voice—it was different. Slowly, he brought his hands down and breathed out an "ah". Again he gasped in shock and surprise. His voice was lighter—definitely lighter than before. It was… familiar. Looking at his hands, he saw that they were no longer green.
Could it be?
Eying the mirror, Garfield slowly crept towards it, shutting his eyes and standing directly in front of it. The man clutched his hands tightly and steadily opened his eyes once more. He saw his reflection—a woman with gray skin and blue hair—staring back at him.
Raven.
He didn't know how long he stood there, gazing at his own reflection. His mind was in a state of complete, utter shock. His first thought, of course, was that this was another dream. Raising his hands and gently stroking his gray cheeks, however, he felt that it was not a dream. Somehow, someway, this was reality. This was all so very, very real.
He felt a tear emerge from his eye, which he did not care to wipe away. Instead, he wrapped his arms around himself, hugging Raven's body tightly. "Oh my God," he gasped. "I'm—I'm Raven… I'm in her body again."
He let out a smile and a laugh, and almost immediately drew it back. Seeing Raven's smile had a slightly chilling, haunting feel. Still he shook his head and forced a smile. All the time Raven was in his dreams, she was always sad. This would be the first time in five years he could see her smile again. And so he smiled, and nearly started crying as the pain of their separation came back to him once more.
Garfield took to looking over Raven's body, finding out every minute detail of what had changed from the twenty-one year old Raven. The first thing he noticed was that her hair was longer—reaching just past her shoulders now—and curled slightly at the tips. Her gray skin was all the same, but her cheeks were a bit hollow and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her hands were nearly identical, and her fingernails were as short as ever—for Raven had always favored function over fashion. She had grown a bit taller than before, and seemed to have lost some weight. Additionally, she was no longer wearing her blue leotard, but rather normal civilian clothes.
Raven's body felt weak, though it was difficult for Garfield to attribute that to her female body, her lack of exercise due to her retirement as a superhero, or merely the fact that he had just woken up. The man in the woman's body began walking around in circles, adjusting to the change in sex. It was like reliving a dream—the absence of an Adam's apple and the disappearance of a certain male genitalia, coupled with a thinner midsection and larger chest.
Walking some more in order to adjust to the new body structure, he decided to examine Raven's home, which was in the sorriest shape he had ever seen. It was dirty, as if she never truly bothered to clean, and seemed to be the home of someone very far below the poverty line. Everything seemed like it was taken from a dumpster rather than bought. The bathroom, in particular, was like that of a very cheap motel. Garfield wondered why Raven would live in such a degraded home as this. He then realized that—as she no longer was a superhero—she must have had some kind of job, and judging by her living conditions, it probably wasn't a very good one.
"How did this happen?" Garfield wondered. "How did we switch bodies again? I need to find her. I need to find out where I am." He walked towards the door of the apartment, opened it, and walked outside. He thought he should lock the door behind him, but it was an older fashioned lock with a bolt from the other side, so he decided simply closing it would suffice.
The changeling in the sorceress' body walked around aimlessly in the streets of what appeared to be a slums area of town. There were many tiny apartments like Raven's all clumped together to form what could barely pass as an apartment complex. The streets were dirty and littered and the air had a polluted feel. His eyes darting from trash can to trash can that littered the ground, it wasn't long before he found a rusty quarter neatly wedged between an empty box of cigarettes and a broken bottle of beer. A pay phone which he spotted down the street suddenly gave the coin some purpose.
Logan made his way to the pay phone and carefully inserted the quarter in. He was about to enter his phone number in but suddenly hesitated. What if Raven was still asleep and wouldn't hear the phone? He would've wasted his only available phone call. More importantly, he wasn't sure whether he was ready to talk to her again so soon. He decided to call Victor instead.
The former Cyborg, Gar knew, had a tendency of not answering his phone to unknown numbers the first time they call. Therefore, he prayed with all his heart that he'd pick up this time. Fortunately, his prayers were answered.
The initial confusion and elation upon hearing Raven's voice for five years was slowly controlled as Gar quickly informed his former teammate that this was not Raven, but Garfield speaking. He explained the whole ordeal of how he had woken up in Raven's body and figured they somehow must have been switched again. Nevertheless, Victor related that since Raven was in Gar's body now, once they switch back they can keep her from leaving again. Gar simply told him to take things one step at a time and track the location of the pay phone he was using to pick him up as soon as possible, not hesitating to add how hungry he was.
It took a little more than half an hour for Victor Stone to locate and travel to Garfield's location on the T-Ship 4.0—now completely redesigned as a sleeker and more powerful version of the old one the Teen Titans had used in their youth. The changeling awed at the sight of the old jet, having not seen it in years. Likewise, the cybernetic man piloting in awed at the sight of Raven, whom also had not seen in years.
As Garfield boarded the T-Ship, Victor instantly marveled at the sight of Raven's body. "Wow," he gasped. "I can't believe Raven's grown so much."
"I know," Gar nodded. "It's amazing seeing her again."
"Well then… are you prepared to really see her now?" Garfield was silent. "I've called Dick and Star already. They're on their way to visit Raven right now." Again, Garfield was silent. "Eventually it's gonna happen," Victor said, reaffirming the inevitable.
The changeling gave a hard sigh. "I know…" he said. "I just—I've always thought about seeing her again for the past five years. And now I can but… it's just so sudden. So soon."
"So soon? You've waited five years for this. We all have."
"You guys weren't the reason she left."
"Green Bean, don't get started on this again."
"But it's true, isn't it? What would she say when she sees me again? She won't forgive me. I know she wouldn't."
"Don't make Raven into someone she's not," Victor said as he started the jet. "Don't make her into an unforgiving person."
"Don't make me into someone I'm not," Garfield countered. "Don't make me into someone who deserves forgiveness."
…
A knock on the door signaled Gar and Victor's arrival. The apartment door was opened by Star, who could barely contain her smile. "Friends!" she cried exuberantly. "Come in, come in. She's in here, resting. Oh my!"—she gazed at Garfield—"Raven has gotten so beautiful over the years."
"It has," he attempted a smile. "Is—is she awake?"
"Oh yes, she's eating some pastries we have bought for her on the way. This way," she motioned the two towards the kitchen of Garfield's apartment.
As they stepped inside, Garfield suddenly grabbed Victor's shoulder. The cybernetic man understood and placed his hand on Gar's reassuringly and led his friend towards the kitchen. Garfield felt his heart racing.
There she was—the green skinned man sitting at the table and chewing a pastry. She swallowed and upon seeing the two newcomers, glanced at their direction. Her eyes settled on Garfield's and lingered, drifting throughout his body. Her face was emotionless and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't read what she was feeling. Was it surprise? Shock? Happiness? Sadness? Anger? Discontent? Begrudging acceptance? Hatred? Unforgiving disappointment?
Her expressionless face betrayed none of these emotions. Instead, she stood up and slowly walked towards him, his heart pounding against his chest with every step she took. When she was so close to him that he could feel her breathing, Raven reached down towards his pants and pulled something out of his right pocket. He nearly jumped back in surprise but found that she was pulling out a small golden orb. Had that always been in his pocket?
All eyes on her, Raven casually clasped the orb—no bigger than a golf ball—in her hands and whispered to it, "Captain Etzel, it is Raven. I need another one of your body-switching potions. I trust you still have some of those emergencies I had sent years ago? Also, please create a portal to Earth from this location as soon as possible. Thank you." Finishing her message, she opened her palms as two hair-thin wings sprouted from its sides. The five former Titans watched as the orb fluttered its wings, flew straight out of Raven's hands and disappeared in a small portal.
Raven nonchalantly sat down and continued eating her pastry. The rest of the morning went silently.
In due time, a loud crack like a gunshot could be heard as a similar orb propelled out of thin air, landing directly into Raven's hands. A whirring sound emitted from the orb as the top hemisphere began to rotate and detach itself, floating slightly into the air as a familiar voice reverberated from the machine.
"Raven! Is it really you? Have you switched bodies again? Oh dear. Oh my! I cannot believe it! Why haven't you contacted us in so long? We nearly thought you dead! I'm making a portal right now. Come right away!"
Indeed, in that very moment, a shadow appeared in the middle of Garfield's living room, morphing and distorting before forming a portal. Raven instinctively headed towards it. Just before stepping inside, however, she stopped and turned her head just enough to see the others behind her. "Just Garfield and I will be fine," she said in her deadpan voice.
The others looked at each other and relented. Garfield gulped as he followed her into the portal.
…
His first breath of Azarathean air suddenly brought him back to eight years ago when he and Raven had first switched bodies. Technically, he thought, the last time he and Raven were in Azarath was after he nearly perished by the magic of the gated transport sphere. But since he was unconscious most of the time, there was hardly anything worth remembering from that event. And so, as he stepped onto the Azarathean ground once again, all his memories of his first visit to the strange, wondrous land flashed back.
This time, however, was much different. He and Raven were switched, yes, but this time there was no bond of friendship between them any longer. This time, Raven acted as if he weren't there. The entire day, she hadn't even directly spoken to him yet.
The portal brought them immediately into a workshop lit by a lamp-like object hanging from the center of the ceiling. Immediately, they were greeted by the familiar figure of Etzel Giles, Captain of the New Azarathean Guard, whose excitement upon meeting Raven after so many years was rather hard to calm. For a while, Etzel and Raven spoke solely to one another while paying little (in Etzel's case) to no (in Raven's case) attention to Garfield. In this respect, he felt like an outside observer watching from a distance. No one there really acknowledged his presence much and he did nothing to attract any acknowledgement. Much of the afternoon went along like this.
Before long, Garfield began to feel very dizzy and enervated. As if all the energy had been sucked out of him, he took to a sofa and nearly collapsed onto it. Etzel asked if anything was wrong—surprisingly he was actually noticed for once—and Gar replied that he was probably just tired. Raven looked away as if to hide something.
"I think it's best we switch back now," she said briefly. "I feel more comfortable talking in my own body."
"Fair enough," Etzel agreed as he turned to his cupboard and began searching through a few vials of varying potions.
Gar, meanwhile, felt a pang in his head that slowly made its way throughout his body. He felt like vomiting.
"Here it is!" the captain exclaimed as he lifted two small red vials in his hands. He handed one over to Raven and another to the Garfield who lay on the sofa. "A—are you sure you're alright, Changeling?"
He nodded as he took the vial. "It—it's Garfield now. I don't really go by 'Changeling' very much anymore."
This evoked some attention from Raven, who proceeded to lift her head and gulp down the potion. Garfield unscrewed the vial and did the same. Etzel's workshop was briefly illuminated by flashes of green and blue light.
"It's like the Festival of Lights came for five seconds," Etzel chuckled as Garfield rose in his own body again, rubbing his head as he did so.
"Easy for you to say," he groaned. "This isn't your sixth time switching bodies…"
The captain grinned and turned his attention towards the woman on the sofa. His smile turned into a frown as he saw her shivering. "Are you alright, Raven?" he asked.
"I—I'm fine," she answered quickly. "Just—not used to switching bodies after so long, that's all. Where were we?" She stood up and continued her conversation with Etzel.
"But—but can't we go home?" Garfield found himself asking. Neither of the others answered, leading him to crash onto the sofa in boredom.
Raven and Etzel spoke for over two hours as he explained to her what had been happening in New Azarath since she disappeared and cut off all contact from everyone. All the while, the green man could do nothing but sit and catch a few inconspicuous glances at her. How much she'd grown. Her longer hair. Her slender body. Her cheerless voice.
Just as Garfield was going to get up and ask Etzel to create a portal to transport him back to Earth, Raven suddenly started losing her balance. "What's wrong?" Etzel asked as Raven clutched to a table for support.
"I—I'm fine," she muttered as she held her head. "I just… I just…" Raven fell. Garfield's quick reflexes helped him catch her before she hit the floor, and he helped her lie onto the sofa he had been sitting on.
"What's going on?" Etzel clamored as he felt Raven's forehead. "Is she alright?"
"I don't know," the changeling answered. "I think she passed out because of exhaustion. I felt really tired when I was in her body." He felt her breath with his hand. She was breathing regularly, but was unconscious.
"Okay. I think it's safe now," the Azarathean captain said.
"Safe for what?"
"I don't mean to pry, Chang—I mean Garfield. But I'm not a fool. You two have not said a single word to each other since you came here. Now, I'm not one to judge of you two broke up—hell, I went through the same thing watching her and Raphael separate—but I know Raven, and she wouldn't have completely ignored you unless she had a good reason to. So 'fess up. What happened? And is it the reason why we haven't heard from her in five years?"
"Etzel…" Gar sighed. "You're smart up to the point that it's getting annoying."
"You don't have to tell me the details. But I need to know what happened."
Garfield stared at the sleeping Raven. "The truth is… I hurt her. A lot. And she—she couldn't take it."
"I see…" the older man nodded. "It must have been something very big for her to have cut off all contact from everyone."
"It was," the Earthling agreed. "It was. I—I don't deserve her to acknowledge me."
"Then what do you suppose we should do?"
Garfield shook his head. "I don't know. I guess… it's better to leave her here and take me home alone. Whatever she wants to do from there, whether it's to go home and live in secret again or stay in New Azarath is her choice."
"I can do that," he said as he got up and poured himself a cup of water. He sat down and took a gulp. "I can do that if that's what you want."
"Okay," the changeling nodded as he got up to leave. "Thank you."
"Do you love her?" Etzel called after him. This caused him to stop and turn around. "Do you still love Raven?"
He paused for a moment in hesitation, as if assessing his own feelings. "I do," he eventually replied.
Etzel drank a few gulps of water. "I am nearly forty years old. My hair is graying in some places and balding in others. I'm about to retire from my position as captain and take on a more administrative position. But in all my years I've only loved one woman—Raphael's mother. I had cast away everything I had in my pursuit of her, and indeed I'm probably better off now than I would have been. But in the end, I decided to give her up. Why? Because it was not good for her. Rather than Etzel Giles, rising officer of New Azarath, she was in love with a poor, simple farmer. With my increasing prosperity and social standing, I could have given her everything. Everything except a man she could love. So in the end, I gave her up."
Etzel smiled. "Because love is not about satisfying your own desires. Love isn't about doing whatever you can to make someone happy. Love is wanting what's best for the other person. So let me ask you now—if you do truly love Raven, what do you think is best for her right now?"
Garfield stood in silence. The older man's words affected him greatly and he took time to digest it all. His eyes shifted to Raven, who lay sleeping on the sofa. "I—I do love her," he admitted. "But it's been hard to be with her, knowing what I had done. It would be easier on me to leave her here." He paused and sighed, walking slowly towards Raven. "But I've seen what kind of home she's been living in. I've seen what kind of life she's had. And I know she'd just condemn herself into that hellhole again if I leave her here."
"Yes," Etzel nodded. "So what are you going to do?"
Gar made his way to the sofa and kneeled down next to her. "She won't be happy if I'm around, but she will be if her friends are. The best thing for her is to give her her life back—her life with her friends. But without me. She can't keep on living alone because of me. She can't continue suffering because of my mistake." He gently brushed his fingers over her cheek. "I'll give her the life she deserves!" he declared.
A crack of a smile appeared on Etzel's face. "I placed a spell on the transport sphere just outside in the courtyard to create a portal to Earth. Go now; it'll only be open for a few minutes." He watched as Garfield lifted Raven onto his back piggyback style. "I wish you both well," he said to them. Gar thanked the man and left, carrying Raven on his back.
He traversed up the stairway and out onto the open air. It was nighttime, and the moon-filled sky cast a faint, but growing light onto the two former lovers. There were clouds present, but formed a hole where the two moons of New Azarath were placed in the night sky, as if they were being repelled away by the light of the moons. A soft wind was blowing and began changing direction.
Garfield spotted the transport sphere about a stone's throw away and began the trek towards it. He felt Raven shivering. Suddenly she began to stir into a half-awake, half-asleep state. "Garfield…" she murmured. He couldn't help but feel his heart leap for a split second. It was the first time in five years that she had directly spoken to him. He allowed her to continue. "Gar…" she muttered in her sleep. "It's… cold…"
"Yeah, it is," he found himself saying.
"I've been… so cold…" The mostly unconscious woman gave half a sigh. "Your back is so warm."
They were halfway to the sphere now. "I'm sorry, Raven," Garfield blurted out. "I'm sorry I put you through so much pain."
He waited for a reply. Slowly, one came: "Despite that… your back is still warm…"
Gar's hands slipped for a split second. He immediately caught her, but the shock was enough to jolt Raven awake. Suddenly becoming aware of what was going on, she nearly jumped off of him. Regaining her balance and recovering from the shock of a sudden awakening, she yelled at him, "What are you doing?"
Garfield was speechless and didn't know what to say. "I—I—" he stuttered. "I was just taking us home."
"You—why was I on your back?" she demanded.
"Well, you were asleep and—"
"And what? Why would you think I'd let you carry me like that?"
"Well I—"
"Well, what?"
He was shaking his head and feeling his heart dropping. "I just wanted for a moment to be with you. I wanted to be with you just once while you were asleep so when you woke… so when you woke I could leave you satisfied."
"L—leave me?" Raven seemed taken aback.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Of course I would. That's why you ran away five years ago, isn't it? You hate me and—and you want me gone. Out of your life. That's what's best for you anyway. If I'm with you, I'll only make you miserable. So I'll leave."
"G—Garfield…"
"I've never imagined I'd love someone as much as I'd love you. That's true. But I can't live knowing that every time you look at me, you're reminded of what I did and you only hurt more. Raven, I still love you but I can't do anything now but hurt you. So that's why I'm leaving." Garfield began pouring his heart out, let go of everything he'd been holding back all this time. He felt his eyes begin to burn as he continued, "Listen to me, I beg you. In case I come to find you, don't accept me. Even if we run into each other, you ignore me first, cut me off first. Act like you don't know me, like we've never met. A hundred times a day, thousands of times, I resent it and resent it even more. Why did I have to meet you? Why did it have to be you? You make me resent… and blame myself. You are someone who makes me smile and someone who makes me regret. You're like a nightmare I don't want to remember but also a dream I don't want to forget. But I can't live knowing how much I hurt you. So go back to the time before we've met. Go back, and meet a man better than me and live happily every day. Forget a horrible, horrible man like me and live."
Tears were dripping out his eyes. Despite the darkness, he could see Raven's eyes were wet as well.
She panted as her heart raced. Swiftly she shook her head and declared, "No!" She blinked out a teardrop. "I can't," she cried. "I won't leave you, Gar. I can't leave you. I can't!" Then she ran forward towards him as fast as she could.
Raven kissed Garfield with all the passion of five lost years and a million pieces of broken hearts.
~Difficult Words to Say~
Well, there you have it. Our former lovers are now... in a complicated relationship? Time to update that Facebook status. What, oh what will happen next to our beloved Raven and Beast Boy? Anyway, to set the time frame, it's about five years since Raven's disappearance and eight years since she and Beast Boy first got together, meaning the Titans are approximately 25-26 years old. The next chapter will have the backstory on what's happened to all of them (including Rift and Malcolm Crowe) in the five year time gap. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and please FOLLOW, FAVORITE, and REVIEW. (although if you're fifteen chapters in and haven't followed or favorited already, I'd think that's kind of strange... Until next time.
Thebookthief18 - Sorry for your broken heart! Hopefully this one has mended it? :) I can't promise you that I won't break it any more in the future though...
Kaarlinaa - Thanks. It's continuing, alright. :)
Bluedog197 - Slade's dead, but that's kind of a "finally" thing, isn't it? And I felt it was best to show that Slade does have some humanity in him. Even big ol' Sladey boy has a heart.
JasonVUK - Things will get better, definitely. That's not saying the rest of the story will be very happy... But read on to find out!
Lulu - Thanks! Hope this chapter was just as good if not better!
gabylokita41 - Thank you. This chapter is starting to pick up the pieces left behind. Hope you liked it.
BartWLewis - Yes, they were broken. Now it's time to pick up the pieces and fix what was shattered. Things will get better for them. Keep on reading!
tatsumarusmith - Thank you. The future is definitely foggy for our ex-couple and I won't say that it'll be all good from here. However, they are heading towards the right direction and hopefully in the end their love will prevail.
LilRDashie - This is just the tip of the iceberg. (Well, that may be exaggerating a bit. Point is this is only part of the iceberg) There is still so much of the story yet to come. Keep reading! :)
DarkPhoenix - Well, I hope you're not because the story's ending is pretty far away. This story will have a good length before it finally concludes.
Guest - Well... The story's not over... And after the story's finally complete I really don't think I will make a sequel. It wouldn't serve this story justice, if you know what I mean.