Hallelujah, a teen titans fanfic

Crap, I was trying to get this out yesterday, but then editing took longer and I was packing and cleaning for my Spring Break Vacation.

Oh well. Better late than never.

Here we are. I hope you all enjoy this last songifc I wrote while on my mission years ago.

The version of the song to look up on Youtube is by Canadian Tenors. You can't miss it. I will leave an Author's Note at the end.

Hallelujah

(Bagpipes begin playing)

The scene was of a long, lonely highway road. The ocean ran along the horizon far down on the right side. Hills went up on the left side of the highway inland.

The sun was setting beneath the horizon in the distance. The waves lapped at the rocks far below, and a soft breeze blew through the air…

A white-cloaked figure appeared, walking along the highway on the bay side. Her violet, shoulder-length, blue-tinted hair moved with the breeze. The light of the setting sun shone off her pale skin, along with a glint on her left hand.

Raven stopped and turned to face the setting sun. Her face was more mature, and yet her violet eyes looked the same in the fading light…

Vrrrrroom!

A car blocked her out for a moment as it drove by. And then Raven was shown again, looking straight ahead.

She took a deep breath and released it.

'I still have a while to go… to think about everything…'

'About us… about him… about what I have to do…"

She continued to walk on. Her white cloak rustled in the breeze behind her as she became smaller and smaller in the distance.

(Piano plays)

The scene moved to show the sky up above. A flock of seagulls flew by overhead.

They continued on, heading towards the bay in the distance.

As the seagulls flew on, the scene down below was shown. It was of the young Titans sitting around a round table on a platform by the bay. Each of them had an open pizza box in front of them and looked to be chatting with each other.

Their mouths moved, yet no sound was coming out of them.

Raven was sitting silently in her chair. She had a book in her lap, and a pizza slice floating in the air by her head.

She wasn't looking at the book though, or at the pizza slice. Nor was she taking in what her friends were saying.

She was silently observing her green friend across the table. Whom she had only met just weeks ago.

Beast Boy must have not noticed, as he continued to talk with the other Titans like nothing unusual was going on. He must have said some random pun about his pizza or something because all of the others except Starfire groaned. She looked confused instead.

Beast Boy laughed at what he'd said, and the same carefree smile still remained on his face. He and the others continued to talk happily from there in the silence of the silent observer.

'How can he be so happy and carefree all the time?' Raven silently wondered.

It was something she'd never be able to experience for herself…

…

Her eyes returned to her book, and the conversation she was missing out on proceeded without her.

I've heard there was a secret chord

Thmmm.

A set of doors slid open. Raven quietly walked through them.

The scene was the Common Room. Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Robin were on the couch playing a game together. Starfire was in the kitchen, making some weird food creations that involved pudding as well as a strange purple-skinned tentacle creature.

Raven walked over to the kitchen towards her teapot. She poured the hot water into a cup with some herbs arranged carefully in it.

"Ha! Beat ya again grassstain!" Cyborg yelled happily on the couch.

"Wait a moment! You cheated dude!" Beast Boy yelled back indignantly.

"Just like how I cheated?" Robin questioned with an upraised eyebrow.

"Yeah, you dudes are both cheaters." Beast Boy accused them.

Cyborg laughed at that. "Man, you wouldn't know the difference if I was cheating or playing," Cyborg said in a light tone.

Beast Boy still appeared to look mad, but the smile on his face said otherwise. It was like he was happy to be messing with them like that.

Robin began to chuckle as he punched his teammate lightly on the shoulder. "Maybe this is a sign that you need to get good."

"I'm already good! You two are just too terrible for me!" Beast Boy crossed his arms as he turned his face away from the pair.

Raven finished stirring her tea and picked the cup up.

She walked for the exit of the room again, but she could still see Beast Boy pretending to be angry. Even though she could tell he was actually happy as the three guys delved into an argument over their gaming skills.

'How weird.'

Thmmm.

Raven left without saying another word.

That David played and it pleased the Lord

The scene was of a hallway in the Tower.

Raven was walking down it, reading a book that was floating in front of her thanks to her powers.

She began to walk around a corner of the hallway when she suddenly stopped. Her empathy powers had alerted her just in time, and she lowered the book to see who was in front of her.

It turned out to be Beast Boy, who was hard at work with some weird contraption. It looked to have a pulley system, a tripwire, a catapult, and several other different things attached to it.

"Heheheh, oh man that Rust Bucket is going to get it this time with this prank." Beast Boy said evilly to himself.

Raven rolled her eyes to herself and walked silently down the other intersection of the hallway.

"All that work… just for a prank?" She muttered to herself.

Her teammate only seemed to make less sense with each passing day.

Pow! "Ahhhh!"

She paused, turning around again.

By the sound of it, it was likely his prank had just backfired on him. And Raven's thoughts were proven correct when Beast Boy appeared running down the opposite end of the hallway where she'd just come from.

He had oil covering his whole face.

"Dang it!" He yelled. "It was so close to being done too!"

Yet… despite what'd happened, Raven still sensed a happy demeanor about him. He was… happy the prank had backfired?

Raven's eyebrow could only go up so high from confusion.

But you don't really care for music do you

Raven was sitting on a couch with the other Titans.

Robin and Starfire were at one end of the couch. They weren't together, but they weren't that far apart either.

There was so much tension between the two. Raven almost wished that they'd get together already so she wouldn't get a headache blocking the pair out each night.

Cyborg was sitting in the middle of the couch, with mountains of snack food all around him as per usual for movie night. No surprise there.

Beast Boy was next to his own mountain of snacks, loudly munching off of it too.

And Raven was sitting at the other end of the couch.

They were all watching some random horror movie Beast Boy had chosen for movie night. It had been either this or meditate for hours on end. And while her teammates had convinced her to spend time with them, she'd also thought that, maybe, she could forego a couple of hours of meditation just this once.

…

'I should have just meditated instead.'

At least she'd brought a book with her. She could just read from that whenever the movie got incredibly boring…

…

At last, the end credits came onto the screen in front of them. Signifying that the movie was over. Raven was looking down at her book at that moment.

"Hey Rae, what did you think of the movie?"

Raven looked up slowly from her book. Beast Boy was smiling at her, even as the others got up off the couch and yawned tiredly.

Robin and Starfire looked a lot closer than they'd been earlier. Despite the movie already being over, fear was coming off the Tamaranean girl in waves. Robin, while not scared, was incredibly nervous in trying to comfort Starfire without crossing some boundary line or whatever.

As for Cyborg… he was packing away what he hadn't eaten for next time. Only Beast Boy was paying attention to her right now.

Raven got up, still holding her book open in front of her. "It's Raven, not Rae." She said monotonously before she started to walk towards the doors. "Clean up your mess before you go to bed." She gestured to his end of the couch, where a mountain of wrappers and trash was at.

"Sure thing, Rae." Beast Boy said behind her.

However, he started to talk excitedly to Cyborg instead while Starfire and Robin left together down another hallway.

Raven turned her head to glare lightly at him. She was going to have to deal with his mess tomorrow, wasn't she? She shouldn't be surprised, given the state he keeps his room in.

…

And he still had that ridiculous smile on his face too.

"Everything good, Rae?" Beast Boy suddenly called over to her. "Don't tell me the movie scared you that much now." He and Cyborg began to giggle together.

Raven suppressed herself, but she still felt a vein bulge in her forehead. "Whatever." She turned and walked for the doors again.

'I really hate… dislike that nickname. It's so immature.'

…

Yet, the nickname also seemed to make him really happy for some reason.

'Who am I kidding? Anything could make that idiot happy.' Raven allowed the sarcasm to drift through her mind.

It goes like this the fourth the fifth

Raven was standing in the kitchen. Around her, Beast Boy and Cyborg were going nuts with all sorts of different breakfast foods.

French Toast, blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns, tofu eggs, and a bunch of other things.

She was simply at her teapot, just watching the mess unfold.

'To think, just an hour ago, we were all inside my mind taking on Rage. And look at them now…'

"Yo man, you're taking up too much room on the stove with your hash browns!" Cyborg yelled at Beast Boy.

"That's because I'm keeping you from having too much room for your bacon Chrome Dome!" Beast Boy yelled back.

"Why you, I'll show you what happens when you get between me and my MEAT!" Cyborg yelled as he pulled a grill from out of nowhere behind his back.

He had row after row of bacon sizzling on it within seconds.

Raven was almost tempted to laugh at the look of surprise that appeared on Beast Boy's face.

But she was more curious though about something else. It was like looking at a different side of him compared to before.

She recalled what'd happened inside of her mind. When she'd been so hopeless about stopping Rage when she grew out of her control.

And yet, Beast Boy and Cyborg had not only stayed to help her out. But the green teen had reminded her that the other emoticlones in her mind were a part of her as well.

And that she didn't have to do everything on her own.

…

'He actually threw off the immaturity he presents himself with for a moment and said something wise…'

She continued to study him.

Beast Boy was yelling something at Cyborg now, and along with the stove, he had a camp-style roundabout propane oven going in front of him. It had everything from pancakes to tofu eggs cooking on it.

Cyborg was also yelling back, as he had five different grills (imagine the gas bills) going all at once with sausage, eggs, and lots and lots of bacon all around him. It was any meat-lovers wet dream and any vegan-lovers worst nightmare.

Despite the argument and fight they were having, Raven could still see a hint of a smile on Beast Boy's face.

'He's still strange… but maybe there's more to him than I realized…'

It was too bad she didn't have the heart to tell Cyborg then that she was a vegetarian thanks to her upbringing in Azarath.

Then again, he probably didn't mind too much when she ate what Beast Boy had cooked for the Titan's breakfast dinner.

The minor fall the major lift

Thmmm.

Raven entered a plain room with stars on the ceiling. She looked around herself at the dreary environment.

A green dog lay sadly on a bed. Next to it was a heart-shaped box.

Raven sighed to herself. 'I know he's been kind of a jerk these last couple weeks while Terra was here…'

But her senses could see plainly the waves of darkness and depression coming off the poor changeling. She couldn't bear seeing him like this.

She let the door close behind her.

She walked up to the bed and sat down next to the green dog. The dog lifted its head up a little to see her, and then it rested it back on the box. It looked so sad.

Raven's hand gently scratched behind its ears. And the dog didn't react, other than to move its head so her hand would have easier access.

Raven looked down into its sad-looking eyes. It was then that Raven could picture the human face hiding behind the dog's face.

She imagined it looking just as gloomy as what she was seeing now.

"Beast Boy..." Raven said down quietly to the dog.

…

Then, in a move that surprised her, she went from scratching behind his ear to shifting closer and hugging the dog to herself.

The dog just stared up at her for a moment at the action, before it looked back down at the box.

Raven felt her gut clench. But the dog didn't push her away. While the sense of sadness and depression deepened, a sense of comfort also began to emanate from her teammate.

Raven didn't say anything, falling into a sort of meditative trance of her own while helping her friend out.

…

'I never knew something could make him feel so unhappy. After the way, he's acted around everyone since knowing him…'

…

'I didn't think anything could make him unhappy...'

…

As strange as it felt to think it, she found herself not wanting him to feel unhappy ever again.

The baffled king composing hallelujah!

Raven sat down next to her friend on the beach. He was looking down at the surf below, as his lips moved with the ocean breeze.

He was speaking of how he felt with shame and regret. With having a Beast in him that could come out at any time. He just seemed so lost by it…

'What can I say to help him?' She thought as he finished speaking.

She didn't want him to feel unhappy, yet she didn't know how she could help him.

Which was why it was a surprise that when she opened her mouth, the words came so quickly, so naturally. It almost couldn't have been from her.

"Good."

He looked up at her in surprise. "That Beast saved my life. It doesn't matter what you have in you. It's how you use it that makes you a man." Raven said plainly to him.

…

His face turned thoughtful. "Hmmm… so you're saying..."

Beast Boy got up and put his hands on his hips. "I should go by BeastMan from now on." He said proudly.

He had probably the cheesiest grin ever on his face. Raven felt a hundred times better seeing the smile and the surge of happiness that came from him, though she didn't show it.

"Don't try to ruin the moment we're having here." She said plainly.

Beast Boy immediately sat back down. He still had the familiar smile on his face though, and his happiness didn't ebb even as he opened his mouth again.

"Beast, dude?"

That got a real groan out of her.

Hallelujah

'Arghhhh!'

Raven felt immense pain flowing through her. It was as if she was on fire as every atom in her body was changing to form the portal that would release her father: Trigon the Terrible.

Raven's head raised up in agony. Only, it wasn't compared to what she now saw down below, behind her ethereal shield.

Robin, her trusted leader, and friend, was hugging Starfire close to him. The two of them couldn't bear to look up at their disappearing friend.

Cyborg had his arm over his face. He might have been shielding himself from a possible explosion. But he also couldn't bear to watch what was happening to her.

…

And then she saw Beast Boy, staring up at her.

She almost wanted so desperately for him to smile at that moment, so she could see it one last time. Yet nothing was on his face but pain.

Pain at being unable to help her. Pain at seeing her slowly disappear and being unable to do anything about it.

They all felt that pain, but it was coming off the changeling in strong thick waves. She didn't need her empathy to tell her how her friend was feeling at that moment.

It was like watching him be destroyed even as she was destroyed.

A tear formed in Raven's eye. One that would turn into the portal with her.

'I'm so sorry, Beast Boy.'

Her pale hand opened just as the portal reached it, and the penny he had given her fell slowly to the ground far below.

Hallelujah

Raven came out of the ground.

In front of her, Terra had a large pointed rock poised above Beast Boy.

"Terra. Please." Beast Boy said as he tried to keep the rock back with his hands.

Raven was ticked, as her other friends appeared around the two in front of them from the shadows.

"Stop!" Robin ordered.

"Don't do it, Terra!" Cyborg yelled.

"It'll be the last mistake you ever make," Raven promised with a tint of fury in her voice.

'I don't care how annoying he is, no one is taking a good friend from me!' Raven thought as dark ethereal energy covered her hands.

'Especially one like him…' The thought went through the back of her mind.

One she hardly noticed in the heat of the moment.

Hallelujah

"Way to go man."

"Good job Beast Boy."

"Thank you for taking the lead against the Brotherhood of Evil."

Raven stood silently in the Common Room next to the couch. Hero after hero walked up to Beast Boy in the center and congratulated him for earlier in the day.

Raven stayed back though, silently observing the scene.

Beast Boy was soon surrounded by many others. And he was talking to a couple of them, smiling and laughing in the process.

He looked very happy at that moment. Happier than she'd seen him in a long time.

It almost put a smile on her face watching it. After what he'd done and overcome, he'd earned it.

"C'mon, I seriously need to know dudes. Who honestly thought that using brain freeze at the end was a little funny!?" Beast Boy asked.

All he got was silence from the others.

A cricket was heard. Raven took the chance to burst his bubble. "I think you could use a better joke book."

The others in the room laughed, and Beast Boy pouted. "Thanks, Rae." He said sarcastically.

Raven smirked. "No problem." She replied in the same tone.

Beast Boy was still smiling as he laughed, and Raven almost wanted to chuckle along with him.

Almost.

It'd take her a while before she felt comfortable enough to do that around her friend.

Halleluuuulluuuuuuujah:

The scene showed a different part of the highway from before.

A small peninsula was now visible, jutting out into the ocean. The highway continued inland, but a dirt road led out onto the small peninsula that was maybe a mile long.

Raven walked up to the fork in the road and then stopped.

She silently observed the highway, and then the dirt road. A look of recognition came onto her face, and she pulled out a piece of paper from a pocket in her cape. Written on it were the following:

6500 Long Lane Dr.

She looked up at the street marker for the dirt road. It said Long Lane Dr.

Up above, the light of the sun was disappearing, and the stars in the sky started to glitter as they began to appear.

…

Raven sighed to herself. Then she wrapped her cloak more tightly around her to protect herself from the coming chilly night air.

'Still a little ways to go.'

She put the note in her pocket and walked onto the lonely dirt road.

…

'Still some time to figure out if I can go through with this or not.'

She could have used her powers to close the remaining distance… yet she feared what'd happen if she rushed herself then.

So she continued walking. Quietly making her way onto the dirt road before her.

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

Raven sat at a round table, with her chair facing out. She was dressed in a nice purple dress, with her A-Cut hair falling around her head like it normally did.

She looked a little older, with her face a little more filled out. Yet she still looked almost the same as before. Maybe she was a little more self-conscious of the blue tints in her hair that'd become more pronounced, but she wasn't that different.

Besides… the obvious purple dress, of course.

The other Titans, both her old friends and some of their new friends, were dancing on the floor in front of her.

If she could recall correctly, this was some Superhero Ball the mayor of Jump City had made for them in honor of all their work. It was set up under a large pavilion in the City Square.

A few civilians had been thrown into the mix, a few people rich enough to buy their way into this kind of event. But it was mainly only the heroes dancing together on the floor right now.

Raven lifted her teacup off the table and brought it to her lips. Over the rim, she could still see Beast Boy, or Changeling as he was known by now, dancing with one girl after another.

First, it was Argent. Then it was Jinx (Kid Flash came in really quick to steal his girl back). Then Starfire (who was dating Nightwing, plus, the two were more like siblings than friends lately), then Wondergirl, and so on, and so forth.

Raven tried not to think about it. He was smiling and happy about the whole event anyways. And he took a break from dancing with girls every now and then to do the robot with Cyborg.

It was actually pretty funny. Those two had only grown closer as best friends since they were teenagers. Seeing the two laugh at each other to see who could do the robot more ridiculously than the other warmed her heart unlike anything else…

Still… she was sitting alone at the table. An occurrence she realized was happening more and more to her lately.

Not being alone at a table at a ball of course. But being alone in general.

'I thought he'd at least take the chance to pester me to dance with him…' Raven thought as she took another sip of her tea.

'Not that I would have accepted it, of course, since I don't have that kind of interest in my friend…' She then thought to stave off a whole other onset of thoughts.

…

Raven set the teacup back down and shrugged to herself.

'Oh well, at least I brought a book along to read. Good thing I haven't thrown away that habit since being freed from Trigon's control.'

She pulled said book, which was a rather thick fantasy book about a guy who found a dragon egg in a forest while hunting, out from her cape. It had a blue cover on it.

Garfield had gotten it for her last birthday. She hadn't taken him for a book reader, but he'd said it seemed like something she'd like when he was browsing for books to get her online.

She then opened it up to read where she'd last left off…

Yet her eyes were inadvertently drawn back up to Changeling once more.

He was dancing with Wondergirl again and looked even happier at that moment dancing with the slightly immodestly dressed blonde heroine than he had at any other time during the entire event.

…

Raven forced her eyes back to the pages. 'Nope, I'm not going to watch. He can do what he wants if it means me getting a few minutes to read.'

…

Despite how good the book was, to her surprise (given her dislike of dragons), she couldn't tear her eyes off Changeling and Wondergirl as the night dragged on.

You saw her bathing on the roof

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

Raven was back in her normal leotard and cape again. She was sitting cross-legged in the air above the roof. A fantasy book with a red cover sat unopened next to her.

She didn't know why, but her emotions were getting really edgy with her lately. It was really annoying, and it was requiring more and more time for her to meditate without having something blow up on her.

"Azarath, Metrion-" Raven was saying again.

"Hehehe! C'mon Gar! Nobody will be looking for us up here!"

Raven's focus was instantly shattered, and she fell down onto the roof in surprise. "What the-" She slapped a hand over her mouth as her powers encased something nearby.

She reined her emotions in, and then looked over the side of the roof where the shout had come from.

She had to strain her eyes to look all the way down below at the bottom. Then her eyes widened in surprise.

Down below, Wondergirl and Changeling were out in the water of the bay.

Ever since the dance, Wondergirl had been staying with the Titans in Jump City for brief periods of time.

She seemed like a bright girl, and she was a great hero if Raven was being honest. But it still hadn't settled right with Raven for some reason.

She swore it wasn't because of her being blonde.

As she watched though, Beast Boy turned into a dolphin. Wondergirl then got on top of him.

She laughed as the green dolphin swam across the bay. He jumped out of the water every now and then and dived into the water as well.

It looked like the two of them were having a blast.

…

Raven shook her head and stood back up. "I guess I won't be able to meditate with those two making so much noise." She spoke in annoyance. Seriously, she was at the top of the Tower for crying out loud! How were their voices carrying all the way up here?!

She picked her book back up off the ground and turned to walk into the T-Tower.

…

She then paused. "Why am I so mad about this? They have no idea what I was doing up here… it's not like I should be blaming them for interrupting my meditation…"

…

She tried to ponder on it. The suggestions coming to her mind were too absurd for her to consider though.

"I'll just try to meditate in my room. There's no way those two can bother me there." She spoke to herself before she walked inside.

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

Thmmm.

The doors to the Common Room slid open.

Raven quietly floated in, another thick book with a yellow cover was held in her hands.

She looked up in front of her and saw a movie playing on the screen. She almost wanted to throw up when she saw a couple kissing on it, and another couple on the couch kissing along with the movie.

'Gross, I just had to walk in on another one of Starfire and Nightwing's date nights… ugh, I'll just make this quick and get it over with.'

The half-demoness hurried over to the kitchen area to make her tea and get out of there as fast as possible.

Her hand was grabbing for her tea kettle when it was like something finally clicked in her mind.

'Wait… Nightwing doesn't have green hair… and Starfire doesn't have blonde hair!'

Raven looked again at the kissing couple on the couch.

Sure enough, it wasn't the 'star' couple she'd been expecting. Instead, it was Changeling… and he was definitely smacking face with the very pretty gorgeous Amazonian Goddess.

The two were definitely lost in each other, as neither of them had even taken notice of Raven ogling them from the kitchen right now. Her jaw had fallen all the way to the ground in her shock at what she was seeing.

…

Okay, it wasn't 'literally' hanging on the ground. It might as well have been though with how she was gaping.

'What… the… &^%$...'

She couldn't even think for several minutes straight. Her mind was a mess of emotions and thoughts all trying to vie for her attention until one thought finally pushed its way through the mess.

'Those two… are boyfriend and girlfriend?!'

Boom!

The tea cup in her hand exploded.

Raven shook her head quickly and set the teapot back down noisily. She had to quickly rein in her powers, which had already destroyed several utensils and appliances around her (including Cyborg's beloved WaffleMaker 5000, RIP).

But when her eyes landed on the scene playing on the TV, they widened drastically, and a bright red blush filled her face. She didn't even attempt to stop her powers from cracking the TV screen so the sex scene that'd begun to play out on it disappeared as quickly as she'd noticed it.

However, despite the noise and destruction her powers had caused, the couple on the couch hadn't even noticed.

In fact, they looked ready to enact what'd just been happening on the TV prior to its destruction.

Raven quickly pulled her hood over her head and rushed to the doors. Leaving her book lying on the counter behind her.

As soon as she was out of the room, she rested her back against the wall of the hallway and put a hand on her chest.

She was taking deep breaths. Trying to calm herself before she inadvertently destroyed her home.

Yet… it still felt like something was dying inside her. Something important she hadn't even realized she had until now.

'I need to get some air!' She quickly realized.

She formed a portal and walked into it. The couple in the room was left unawares as they advanced physically in their relationship.

She tied you to a kitchen chair:

Raven dodged the two of them in the hallway again.

She had just been about to round a corner when she heard the two laughing together. They were appearing around the corner, holding hands, and smiling at each other.

She portaled into the wall faster than a speeding bullet. She came out the other end into the Common Room.

The portal closed behind her, and her hands became fists at her sides.

She couldn't believe it! She'd been so distracted that she hadn't even been paying attention to her empath powers! What was wrong with her?!

"Have you seen what's been going on with Changeling and Wondergirl lately Dick?" Cyborg asked in the kitchen.

"Yeah. I guess the two of them finally decided to try and date each other." Nightwing responded over his newspaper. He took a sip from the cup in his hands after he said so.

"Huh, I never would have thought the green bean could hook such a pretty girl." Cyborg responded nonchalantly.

Neither of them saw Raven, or how her hair was starting to go over her head in anger.

'Is it that obvious that they're together now to everyone else too!?'

Thmmm.

Starfire came in through the sliding doors. She had a big smile on her face. "Oh friends, isn't it the wonderful that we have another couple in the Tower with us now?" She asked joyously.

Tweeeee!

Steam came out of Raven's ears, unbeknownst to the other Titans. Her eyes were slowly starting to turn a dark shade of red.

"Maybe we could organize a date night between us and them?" Nightwing suggested.

'Maybe you two could both go to hell along with that two-timing lowlife jerk-' Raven was on the verge of saying her thoughts out loud.

…

Raven's anger drained from her features, a look of surprise plastered on her face. She put a hand to her head in confusion.

'What's wrong with me? Why am I getting so angry over this? It's not like I really cared about Garfield's love life before…'

…

Thmmm.

The doors slid open then, and Raven looked up.

It was them, again.

They immediately moved over to Nightwing, Cyborg, and Starfire. They started to chat with them.

The two were still holding each other's hands.

Raven looked away and sighed. 'Maybe I just need more meditation.' She thought before she sat cross-legged in her place by the window.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She floated up into the air and began to say her mantra under her breath over and over again.

She was gradually able to focus on her center once more.

The others in the room slowly began to fade from her mind.

…

And yet…

She found herself wishing for once that Changeling would come to bother her during her meditation.

She broke your throne she cut your hair

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Raven was angry.

Actually, she was beyond angry at this point, as the four red eyes on her forehead clearly indicated.

Changeling still looked surprised. Raven had just burst out in front of him and literally exploded with rage.

He slowly raised his hands up defensively. "Raven, what did I do?" He asked carefully.

"You know what you did! What you've been doing to me lately! You've been doing it all along!" Raven bellowed.

There were stares of surprise from the other Titans all around. And a few people in the distance in the green Jump City Park.

Changeling kept his hands up in defense. "Alright. If it's about the dyed cloaks. That was Cyborg's doing. I had nothing to do with that."

"Yo, why'd you have to rat me out like that man?!" Cyborg yelled angrily at his best friend.

Changeling shrugged at him. "I tried to talk you out of it. But I'm not going to take the fall because you felt like playing a prank on Rae-" He was saying.

Raven grabbed Garfield by the collars of his uniform, bringing him down to face level.

Damn it, he'd really grown in height over the last few years. It only pissed her off, even more, how he'd grown up and she still looked more or less the same.

"That isn't what this is about!" Raven said in a dark tone.

"..." A sweatdrop slowly appeared on the green guy's forehead. His hands grasped Raven around the wrists though and slowly made her let go of his uniform. "Rae. What did I do?" He asked seriously.

"What did you do!? What did you do!? Do you seriously have no idea what you've been doing to me lately!?" Raven yelled as dark energy came off her frame in waves.

It was a good thing they'd chosen a clear area for their picnic. Her powers were, at best, only flattening the grass around them.

Though, any pipes running underground might need repairs after this.

Changeling was beyond confused. It was like Raven was mad for almost no reason. "But seriously, what did I do?!" He asked hopelessly. "I honestly have no idea what I've done to bother you lately! What's bothering you, Raven!?"

…

The dark energy that had been gathering around Raven slowly dispersed. Her four red eyes molded back to two glaring violet eyes.

"You really don't know?" She asked, her voice a dangerously icy monotone.

…

Changeling and the others still looked confused.

"No, that's not it. None of you know…" Raven's fists fell at her sides in defeat.

"Raven?" He asked again.

He… wasn't even calling her Rae…

"Fine. I have no idea why I bothered coming out here anyway." Raven said flatly.

She turned around and stormed off from the shocked Titans.

Well, most of them looked shocked. Wondergirl simply shrugged.

"Feels weird for her to throw a tantrum and suddenly run off like that. Why'd she even come with us in the first place if she wasn't going to enjoy being around us?" Raven heard her say as she walked away.

Raven gritted her teeth and portaled away.

She never heard Changeling's response to his girlfriend.

"Cassie… Rae wouldn't be this angry if it wasn't for a good reason...

"I seriously wonder what it was I did to make her so mad." He said sadly.

And from your lips, she drew the hallelujah!

"Aza, Azarath, M-Metrion, Zi-Zinthos. Aza, Azarath..."

Raven was in the corner of the Common Room again. She was focusing on trying to meditate like every other time.

Only, she kept on stumbling over her words, and she was struggling to keep her powers straight as it was.

Behind her, the different Titans were on the couch, watching some random movie.

She could barely hear what it was, although there were some explosions and other things she heard coming from it. It was supposed to be based on the book series she'd been reading, but the green-covered book she'd been stuck on for weeks lay almost forgotten on a nightstand in her room.

It was the last one in the series that Garfield had gotten for her too…

"Az, Azarath, M-M, Metrion… oh Azar."

Raven finally came down out of the air and sat cross-legged on the ground. She rested her head in her hands.

She knew why she couldn't get herself to focus on anything lately. It was more than obvious to her at this point…

She turned her head and looked at the Titans from the side.

They were all focused on the TV, watching a scene that was butchering the book series she'd come to love. She was able to take a nice long look at her friends.

Changeling sat in the middle of them all, with Wondergirl next to him holding his hand. Only he wasn't squeezing back, and the smile which had been on his face was gone.

Raven looked back in front of her at her hands again. 'I shouldn't feel guilty for confronting him. He had it coming...'

…

A fresh wave of guilt flowed through her frame. It was almost too much to bear and it made her scowl.

'I'm not apologizing to him for what I said! He hasn't even tried to talk to me or called me Rae since that blonde bitch came into the picture and-'

Raven's line of thinking immediately stopped. 'What the hell is wrong with me?! Why can't I just accept what's happening?!'

She pitifully looked down at her lap, unable to pretend that she was even meditating as the movie reached its blasphemous conclusion on screen.

Hallelujah

"Raven!"

Raven looked around herself in surprise. She recognized where she was. Based on the red rock, the lava stream, and the toxic gas high up in the air.

She was standing on a plain of Outer Perdition.

"Raven!"

"Please help us friend Raven!"

Raven turned around, and finally found the source of the yelling. "No!"

Nightwing, Starfire, and Cyborg were shown fighting an endless sea of her Father's servants. Huge, rocky, and fiery demons from the lowest pits of hell.

And her friends were losing, badly.

"Urgh!"

As she watched, Cyborg took a spear to his shoulder. His arm fell off, and he tried to use his other sonic cannon to fight back.

Raven immediately ran over to help.

"Raven!" Nightwing reached out towards her as he and his girlfriend began to get swallowed up by the mass of demons before them.

"R-Richard! I'm coming! Hold on-"

"Raven."

Raven turned around again. And her heart stopped in her chest.

A look of horror came onto her face.

Changeling was lying belly-first on the ground.

He was reaching out to her, with a demonic lance sticking out of his back. Tears were falling from his face.

"I'm so sorry, for whatever I did to you…"

"N… No… No…" Raven took a step back, and then another. Her eyes were wide with terror and disbelief.

She couldn't even register anything else happening around her. Nightwing's screams of pain. Starfire's howl of grief. Cyborg being ripped piece by piece.

Only his broken green eyes, his lifeblood spilling out over the hot rocks, everything concerning him mattered at that moment. And nothing more so than his final words.

"Please… forgive… me..."

Changeling's face fell to the ground. His outstretched hand fell beside him as his last breath escaped his body.

"N-No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-" Raven started to scream as she ran forward.

Poof! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Raven immediately sat up in her bed as her pillow exploded beneath her.

She looked around herself in shock, tears falling from her eyes as she realized her room was now a maelstrom of energy surrounding her.

She put a hand to her face, and it came back wet. A sob escaped her throat as she held her arms close to her chest.

"No, Gar… I'm so sorry, Gar..." Raven whimpered to herself as she cried on her comforter.

She was so sorry for a lot of things.

For yelling at him.

For not trying to talk to him.

…

For not telling him that she liked him sooner.

She cried herself back to sleep, for once, not caring about the destruction caused to her room.

When she awoke the next morning, the only thing that hadn't been harmed was the book series he'd given her. As well as the stuffed chicken he'd won for her at that fair.

Hallelujah

Raven stood in the kitchen area of the Common Room. She looked tired and defeated as she tried to make her tea.

She hadn't been sleeping well lately. The now cool cup of tea in front of her only paid tribute to how absent her mind had become. As well as the fact that the spoon she was holding continued to stir it absentmindedly.

She pondered using her powers to do it for her, but then shrugged the thought off.

It seemed so pointless. Especially when she was going to throw the cup's contents in the sink anyway. She obviously wasn't in the mood for drinking it right now.

…

She didn't know why she'd made herself tea in the first place. Maybe she'd thought the familiar actions would have awakened something within her besides the constant depression she was under.

Or maybe it was just a force of habit from doing it almost every morning for the last few years?

…

Or maybe… it was the only thing keeping her from breaking down and crying out about the heartache she was going through?

…

She eventually looked down and realized that she had put too many herbs into the cup anyway for her to drink it. It looked like a dirty grass lawn on the inside.

It probably would have tasted pretty vile too, since she smelled that she'd accidentally put vinegar into it instead of honey.

She must have really been out of it that morning…

Raven sighed to herself and threw the tea down the sink. "At least this morning can't possibly get any worse." She said darkly to herself as she grabbed a clean glass to poor herself some water.

Unless Wondergirl and Changeling came in at that moment, announcing that they were pregnant.

…

She swore, if that actually did happen, she was going to pack her stuff. Go to another dimension where nobody else lived. And let her powers loose until the might of her fury ebbed and she was capable of coming back and living amongst society again and-

Thmmm.

"Gar, just tell me what's going on?!" Wondergirl yelled.

Raven looked up in surprise as Changeling and Wondergirl came into the room.

Changeling had the biggest scowl on his face. And, after briefly tapping into her empath powers, she was shocked as she was slammed by the waves of anger and betrayal coming off of her friend.

"What's going on? What's going on!?" Changeling yelled, getting into his girlfriend's face. "How about the fact that you've been cheating on me with Superboy when you're not at Titans Tower!?" Changeling yelled angrily.

Wondergirl backed away in surprise. Raven also stared, completely floored by the statement that'd just left Garfield's lips.

"H-Huh?!" That was all the blonde Amazonian Warrior managed to get out.

"Don't think I didn't know about that little sideshow of yours! I didn't want to believe it when I first heard about it, but after seeing the videos Kaldur sent me!..." Changeling trailed off, yet his balled fists leaked blood from his claws digging into his fingers.

"Gar, I swear, I didn't mean to-" Wondergirl tried to say.

"You didn't mean to have two boyfriends you were shagging in bed?" Changeling angrily replied. "Well guess what, I've had enough! We're through!" Changeling yelled, before he continued angrily down one of the side hallways.

…

Wondergirl stood in her spot for a moment more, looking absolutely destroyed.

But then, she angrily huffed. "Fine, I guess I'll just go to Superboy then! At least he can be funny when he wants to be!" She yelled after him, before she flew out one of the front windows, tears falling down the sides of her face.

…

Raven slowly blinked in surprise, and she pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

She had to have been hallucinating there, right? There was no way that'd just happened, after how in love those two had been over the last few months and…

…

The emotional strain of what'd happened was still hanging in the air. With one part going all the way out the window, and the other part going down the hallway.

It hadn't been a dream. It had really happened.

"Garfield," Raven said worriedly.

She immediately set her cup down and went down the hallway after her friend.

Hallelujah

Thmmm.

Pow! Pow! Whack!

Raven walked into the workout room. She was trying to hide her anxiety behind a calm face, but it was hard to do that when she looked at the destruction around her.

All the weight bars had been torn in two. One of the treadmills was smoking at 200 miles an hour. And a series of decapacitated dummies laid on the floor.

The last dummy was currently being mauled by an angry green wolf.

…

Raven took a long, deep breath, and then she finished walking into the room.

Thmmm.

The sliding doors closed behind her.

The angry green wolf finally looked up at the sound. It looked ready to tear apart whoever was going to disturb it in the middle of its tantrum.

But then it saw that it was Raven who was approaching… clearly looking at a loss for words.

The angry tint in its eyes disappeared almost instantly, and the green wolf morphed back into a sad-looking Changeling. He sat on the ground facing her, but his head didn't look up at her as she stopped in front of him.

"Garfield?" Raven asked unsurely.

"Rae-, Raven…" Changeling started, his voice shaking with sadness. "I'm so, so sorry for whatever I did to offend you before.

"I still don't know what I did wrong. And I know I haven't meant to make you think I wasn't your friend or anything. But I'm sorry, for whatever it was that I did." Changeling said sadly, looking to be on the verge of tears.

…

Raven stared down at him. It was almost as if she could barely recognize the words he had spoken…

At last, she sat down in front of him, and one of her hands gripped his. He looked up to her in surprise.

She had tears coming down the sides of her face too.

"How… can you apologize to me, after learning the girl you loved was cheating on you?" Raven asked softly.

…

"H… Heh." Garfield chuckled. "So, you saw that?"

"You're not the one who needs to apologize Gar," Raven said, her voice tinged with sadness. "You did nothing wrong, and you didn't deserve to have me yell at you before. Especially… especially after…"

Her grip on his hand tightened. And then, she pulled him in for a hug.

Garfield's form tightened in surprise, and then his arms wrapped around her as he allowed himself to cry. Raven also allowed herself to cry onto his shoulder.

She hadn't wanted him to be unhappy… and yet she'd been so unhappy these last few months… it almost felt selfish being able to find peace with her friend at this moment when he was hurting so much.

…

And yet, thanks to her powers… she felt that same sense of comfort filling him, just like before.

Nothing was destroyed in the room this time… at least, nothing that Garfield hadn't already destroyed beforehand.

"So… Friends?" Raven asked.

…

There was a moment of silence.

The two of them separated, and Raven saw his face again. Although he still looked sad about earlier, he had his smile back on his face. "Yeah." He replied. "We're still friends, Rae."

Raven felt a small, upward curve of her lips to the nickname. "It's Raven." She flatly responded.

"Sure thing, Rae." His upward curve turned into a grin.

She hugged him close again. "As long as you don't go back to pestering me with your jokes while I'm reading, I can live with that."

Changeling chuckled. "No promises there." He said humorously.

Raven chuckled a little at that. "Dork." She muttered.

…

Garfield was shocked at eliciting a chuckle from her, and then, he began to smile for real.

While she still felt sad that he'd had to go through such a harsh betrayal all over again… she felt beyond happy to have her happy friend back again.

Halleluuuulluuuuuuujah

The scene showed a hilltop, with a dirt road going over it.

There was a space of about a few hundred yards on each side, with the ocean down below after that. Trees dotted the peninsula here and there. But most of it was wide open turf…

Raven crested over the hilltop and looked behind her. The highway was still visible about a half mile back, as the light of a car's headlights illuminated where it was at.

Raven then looked in front of her.

A lone house stood in the distance down below from the bottom of the hill. It was surrounded by trees and was near the edge of the peninsula.

It was the only house in sight. A single light was on behind a window in the upper story. Indicating that its occupant was still awake.

Raven shook in her cloak, though it wasn't from the chill. 'Maybe I could just teleport, and leave him at peace with his life…'

…

She shook her head and looked ahead again.

'I didn't come this far to turn back now.' She thought to steel her mind against her fear and anxiety.

She walked down the dark, lonely dirt road. Heading towards the light of the dark and lonely house.

The starry night sky glittered beautifully up above.

Baby I've been here before

Raven was walking down a hallway. Her hair was still in its standard A-Cut fashion, though she now looked more like an adult than ever before.

She still wore her cloak, but her hood was down, revealing a more mature face. She wore a different uniform underneath it to account for her more curvaceous body.

Yet the Azarathian girl could still be found reading a book floating in front of her with her powers. And she was deeply into it.

She couldn't help that she found fantasy so interesting, after reading and rereading the book series Gar had given her a while ago. It was amazing how one author could make a whole world you could immerse yourself in.

…

She walked around a corner, not even noticing as her leg connected with a tripwire.

Twang!

She did lower the book though when she heard a loud sound in front of her.

Splat!

A balloon full of light blue transmission fluid hit Raven square in the face. It splattered all over her, her book, and her clothes.

…

She appeared as calm as a summer breeze as the nasty stuff dripped off of her chin onto her ruined book.

Changeling poked his giggling head around the corner, and then his eyes boggled to the size of dinner plates. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Rae! That was supposed to be for Cyborg!

He ran out, pulling a washrag out from his pocket while approaching her. "I thought that you were the Chrome Dome coming around the corner and didn't even think to double-check the cameras and… and..." He trailed off and got a strange look on his face.

Raven didn't even appear angry. In fact, she had a very noticeable evil smirk on her face.

She threw the ruined book, which she could restore later with her powers, to the side into a dark portal. Then, she lifted her hands in front of her, and dark ethereal energy covered up her friend's prank contraption.

It had been a simple catapult tripwire system with a balloon on the end of it.

After a moment, she let the energy disappear. Changeling's eyes boggled in their sockets at the sight before him.

The one catapult had been turned into several different catapults, with dark ethereal wheels on them. They were not only loaded with more balloons full of transmission fluid, but oil, honey, paints, and other things which Raven portaled in from around the tower.

More balloons were filled and placed in a box behind the catapults, making an automatic loading system with her powers that was like a gacha of fun surprises.

"Sorry? Oh, you're going to be sorry… Gar." Raven said, almost a little too evilly.

The catapults turned on their wheels and aimed at Changeling. They were each drawn back by ethereal strings of energy.

…

"Uhhhhhhhhhh…" The green man lifted a hand as if to ask a question.

Then, wisening up, he turned around and ran for his life.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang!

Raven followed behind with her catapults rapidly firing balloons after him.

'Now I can see why he thinks this is so fun.' Raven thought in amusement to herself as she painted his back and the hallway all around in all sorts of different colors.

It would take two days of showering to get the smell of transmission fluid out of her hair. And at least a week of scrubbing under the glaring watchful eyes of Nightwing and Cyborg for the two to clean up their little 'mess'.

But it was more than worth it thanks to the fun they had together.

I've seen this room and I walked this floor

Raven sat on the couch with the other Titans. Unlike before, Nightwing and Starfire were right next to each other.

Almost on top of each other actually.

Cyborg… was still surrounded by his mountains of snacks that he munched loudly on. He weighed a good 800 pounds for a reason.

As for her…

She turned her head and looked up from the green shoulder of her friend. He was watching the movie with a wide smile on his face. It was like she could see the happiness illuminating his eyes.

Raven turned to face the movie again and smiled a little. She hadn't felt this free before in a long time, and it almost felt like a burden was lifted off her shoulders at that moment.

She wasn't even paying attention to the movie, she was simply feeding off the good emotions of her friend.

At last, the end credits for the movies started to roll up the screen. The other Titans got up off the couch and yawned to themselves like before.

"Well, I'm off to bed," Cyborg said groggily before he took his mound of snacks with him in his arms.

"I am too. Good night." Nightwing said tiredly before he walked off. A sleepy-looking Starfire trailed behind him, with him holding onto one of her hands to lead her.

Raven still had her head resting on her 'friend's' shoulder. She looked to be about to go to sleep herself.

"Hey Rae, what did you think of the movie?" Changeling asked her.

Raven moved her head to look drowsily up at him. He was smiling down at her, though he appeared a little nervous. "I thought it was better than normal." Raven dryly replied.

Changeling bit his lip at that, and the nervousness increased tenfold. Raven almost found it humorous. She could already guess what he was going to do due to the way his emotions fluctuated.

"Would you… possibly want to see another movie… together?" He asked at last.

…

Raven hid her smirk. "In the Tower, or at a movie theatre?"

Changeling blanched. "Well, um, uh, it could be in the Tower if you wanted, unless there was a movie in the theatres that you wanted to see! Or, um, maybe you'd prefer going to a nice quiet cafe, or, um, uh..." He was already blubbering. And she couldn't hold it back anymore.

She chuckled, catching him off guard. "Anywhere is fine Gar.

"I'll consider it a date either way." She said before she smiled her small smile up at him.

…

Whump.

Changeling passed out in shock on the couch.

Raven rolled her eyes and lifted him up with her powers. "How he and Wondergirl ever got past first base is beyond me." She said flatly as she lifted her future date into the air and moved them both towards the exit of the Common Room.

'I guess I'll have to get the specifics from him tomorrow. If he still remembers what happened that is."

I used to, live alone before I knew you

Raven stared up at the night sky above her. She was sitting back on the roof of Titan's Tower, and just gazing up peacefully at the sky up above.

Even after reading so much about each individual star that she could see, it was still mesmerizing even to her to see a work of art portrayed so beautifully by the hand of a great Creator up above…

…

Kkkkkk.

A door opened behind her on the roof, and Raven sat up. She turned her head to see who it was.

Changeling poked his head out of the door. "Hey, um, Rae? What are you doing on the roof so late at night?"

She raised her eyebrow at him. "How did you know I was up here?"

…

He looked nervous again. "It's my turn to keep watch over the security cameras. And I just spotted you like ten minutes ago, dude." Beast Boy said nervously. "Can't sleep tonight or something?"

…

Raven stared at him for a moment more, and then looked back to the sky. "I was just up here because I wanted some time to myself." She responded.

Changeling looked a little relieved, and then a little sad at her response. "Oh, okay then." He said quietly. He turned around to go back in.

"You can stay here with me if you want." Raven then said.

Changeling looked at her in surprise. "I thought that you said you wanted time to yourself-" He was saying.

Raven cut him off by grabbing him with her powers. She forced him from the doorway and sat him down on the ground next to her. She then rested her head on his shoulder.

"I've had enough time to myself now." She whispered softly to him.

Changeling still looked confused. "What?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Just be quiet and hold my hand doofus." She said dryly.

…

He didn't say anything more and followed what she ordered to the letter. Raven again smiled gently at the warmth he provided on the roof.

'You know what… I can see why I like him now…'

'He's the biggest klutz in the whole world.' She started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Changeling asked.

"Nothing," Raven responded.

"Come on, Raeeeeeee!" The green man whined.

It only made her chuckle more.

I've seen your flag on the marble arch

Thmmm.

Raven walked into her room. She was dressed in her purple dress again, but her hair was done back in an unusual ponytail. Her small smile was on her face again, where it seemed to fit more comfortably as of late.

'Tonight… was actually pretty fun.'

It was like Happy had taken the controls for the night and Raven had been along for the ride.

She went to her bed and laid back on the comforter. She stared at the ceiling above her.

She couldn't believe that only an hour ago, she had been at another Ball Dance the mayor had arranged. She honestly didn't like them very much, but this one had been one of the best she'd ever attended.

The memory of her dancing on the floor with Changeling went through her mind again. She didn't really get girlish about it, but it did leave her happier than normal. It was like she was soaking in the happiness she felt at that moment.

The best part though had to be at the end. When he had surprised her by kissing her good night in the Common Room.

She hadn't expected it, and she doubted that he had planned it like that either due to how his emotions had suddenly spiked prior to the action. Yet it had happened, and it left a series of butterflies jittering in her stomach.

'Nothing could make this night better…'

…

Boom!

Raven immediately sat up on her bed. Her theatre statue had just exploded. Many other objects in the room were covered in black ethereal energy and looked to be about to explode on her too.

'What the- My powers! &^%$!'

She got in a cross-legged position on her bed almost on instinct.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath Metrion Zinthos," She started to chant quickly.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Raven winced at each smaller explosion but continued in her hurried meditation as she tried to recenter her mind.

…

After another moment, her dark ethereal energy was finally reined in. She opened her calm eyes then and looked around her room.

It was like a tornado had hit it. Some of her pictures were ripped or torn, her nightstand and dresser were laying on their sides, and a series of her different statues had been blown into pieces.

Even her headboard behind her had been damaged. If she had continued in her daydream, it would have fallen onto her.

'I… I didn't even realize I was losing control there. I was just so… so…'

A feeling of dread, and then fear started to hammer at her emotional walls then. 'What if… that happened again while I was with Gar… and then…'

Boom!

Raven had to force the thought from her mind and continue meditating well into the night before she was able to fall asleep again.

And love is not a victory march

"… what?"

Raven took another deep breath. She tried to keep her nerves firm as steel as she stared down her green boyfriend in front of her.

It was tougher than she had ever thought possible. It was almost like she was trying to disconnect herself from the sun.

"I said I'm sorry, Gar, but I'm going to need my space again for now." She said in a calm monotonous voice.

Changeling's eyebrow perked up. "I heard that the first time Rae. What I meant was why do you need space again? Wasn't I giving you space before?" He asked. "Hell, you're the one that's been pushing me to spend more time with you lately."

Raven was still trying to appear calm. She had never been in a relationship before, and she didn't want to give him the wrong message. She was also trying to not picture him being hurt or mangled by her powers in her mind.

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. I just think we might be going too fast Gar. We need to slow things down a little bit." Raven tried to say as calmly as she could.

Changeling immediately looked alarmed. "Oh crap, it wasn't because I kissed you without asking last night, was it?!" He quickly asked.

A blush tried to fight its way onto her face. "No, the kiss was great Gar. Everything has been great! Better than I could have ever dreamed…

"It's just… it's all a little too much for me to handle right now."

…

Changeling looked confused for a few seconds, but then he started to grin widely. "Ahhh, you're just scared about us moving too quickly to the bedroom, aren't you?" He asked in a joking voice.

"Wh-Wha-" Raven clamped a hand over her mouth, completely shocked at the words that'd left his mouth.

The blush she'd been fighting earlier began to spring up on her cheeks. She had her bedroom pictured in her mind, yes, but it definitely wasn't for that reason!

The thought of Garfield and her making love on her bed came to her mind, and it almost made her smile shyly. But then her headboard was covered in her powers, and it pierced Garfield through the chest in her imagination.

Her blush immediately disappeared as her face blanched from fear.

"I'm serious, Gar." Raven forced herself to say monotonously. "I just need some space from you for now." She said before she quickly turned around to walk away.

Changeling lost the smirk behind her. "Can you at least tell me what's bothering you?" He asked. "Maybe I can help."

Raven only shook her head and continued to walk away from her boyfriend.

'I wish you could help me with this...'

It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

"Rae! Wait!"

Raven walked angrily away from the couch in the Common Room. She had black specks of energy coming off her body.

Changeling got up from the couch.

"Rae, please! I didn't mean to-"

"To what?! Get into my personal space when I asked you to stay back!" Raven said bitingly to him. "I told you to wait until I'm ready before we continue!"

Changeling looked apologetic. But something about her anger made him raise his voice as he didn't think that he should feel sorry for trying to sit next to her. "Come on, Rae! It's been several weeks since you asked for space! And I've tried to respect that even if you won't tell me why!"

"I don't care how long it's been Gar! I still haven't told you that it's safe to be close to me again!" Raven yelled at him once more before she turned around.

Changeling's eyes widened, but then he snarled. This time, he really did look angry.

"What do you mean safe!? Every time I see you in the hallway you retreat from me! Every time we eat dinner with the others, you sit as far away from me as possible at the table! It's like you're treating me as some sort of disease!"

Raven was still mad, but she was also scared as she tried to keep herself under control. She realized then that she still hadn't meditated that day, and it was a fine line she was walking now.

"I'm not trying to treat you like a disease Gar. I'm just trying to keep you safe-" Raven was trying to say.

"From what though!? What's happening that you're not telling me about!? Or is there something else that's going on!?" Changeling yelled furiously as he gripped her shoulder and turned her around to face him.

It was only at that moment that Raven realized just how furious he was. 'Oh no.'

"N-Nothing is going on, Gar. I swear I'm only doing this because-" Raven began to admit what was happening fearfully, realizing by the spike in her boyfriend's emotions the line of thought he'd begun to travel onto.

But it was too late.

"Don't lie to me! You're asking me for space because you're cheating on me just like Cassie did, aren't you!?" Garfield roared furiously.

BOOM!

Despite seeing where his emotions had been traveling, Raven was still so shocked by his statement that she instantly lost control. Her powers exploded and slammed into him with the force of a bulldozer.

Pow!

He slammed into the windows, and then he fell to the floor down below with a groan of pain.

Rage stood in Raven's spot, and her four red eyes were seething. "I would never cheat on you! How dare you compare me to that disgusting blonde whore! Of all the dirty, nasty, rotten things you could have possibly said why I oughta-"

"Ughhhhhh..." Changeling groaned in pain. His arm was bent at an odd angle.

Rage immediately stopped. Realization crossed her face at what had just happened. And then Rage quickly retreated, and Raven retook control.

She stared in shock at her worst fears come true.

"Gar!" Raven yelled as she ran up to him. Her hands were immediately covered in a layer of blue, and she bent down next to him to try and heal him.

Before she could do anything though, his good arm pushed her away. "Gar, please, I'm sorry-" Raven tried to say.

"Stop it."

…

She stared, pained as he got on his knees. And then he stood up, holding his injured arm close to him.

His eyes were shut tight in pain. She stayed on her knees, looking up at him. "Gar, let me heal you."

He finally glared down at her. "I think you've done enough, Raven."

He walked to the Common Room doors.

Hurt, both physical and emotional, came off him in waves as he exited the room.

Hallelujah

"Heh… Heh..."

Raven was gasping on her comforter. She was trying her best to not break down.

Yet the look on his face seemed to be imprinted in her mind like he had used a searing hot iron on it.

All around her room, it was nothing but a mess. Things were flying everywhere, the carpet was being pulled up. It was just utter chaos.

"I hurt him… I tried to push him away… and I still hurt him…"

Another wave of guilt, stronger than anything from before crashed through Raven.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

She didn't even bother trying to calm her emotions. Tears were flowing freely down her face.

She hadn't heard anything from him since yesterday. She could understand why.

Cyborg had asked her why Changeling was suddenly sporting a dislocated arm and several broken ribs. All she could do was say it was her fault.

Cyborg, thankfully, hadn't pressed. And neither had any of the others. They tried to treat it like all was still normal.

Raven wanted it to all be normal again…

But in her mind, things could never be the same.

She looked down at her lap in shame. "I can't do it. I can't stay here like this.

"... Not when I could hurt him even worse next time." She spoke quietly.

…

It was then that her emotions finally calmed, as she came to a decision for what she needed to do.

Hallelujah

"Gasp!"

Raven's head was bowed down in front of her. She had expected their reaction, which was why she had spent the last few days meditating to strengthen her emotional walls for this moment.

She looked back up at their sad faces again and briefly wondered if she should have meditated for another day or not.

"But, friend Raven, why are you the leaving?" Starfire asked sadly.

"It's because… my powers are becoming too unstable. I already hurt one of you… I can't do that again." Raven forced herself to keep her monotonous tone as she addressed her team of friends.

…

Cyborg looked like he was about to cry. "My little sis… leaving the Titans..." He said sadly.

Raven nodded. "It's for the best." Raven again said monotonously.

Nightwing's face looked as calm as ever. Even though Raven could tell with a quick check of her powers that her leader was anything but calm at that moment.

"Is there anything we can do to help you out?" He asked in his serious leadership tone. Though she imagined his concern for her as his younger sister also leaked out into his voice.

Raven wished they could help. She knew it was something only she could do though. And the only safe way was to do it alone.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. But as I said, it'd be best if I did it on my own." She said monotonously. "That way, no one else would have to risk getting hurt because of me."

She finally looked from them to Changeling, who was at the back of the group. He had a look of calm on him that almost seemed unsettling.

She checked with her powers and was briefly surprised when she came across a wall surrounding his mind. For once, she couldn't tell what the green man was feeling at all.

He simply shook his head at her again and turned around to leave.

Raven's heart broke inside her chest. And she almost started to speak to try and get him to understand.

"When will you be leaving then?" Nightwing asked.

…

Raven sighed to herself. "If I told you, you'd try to stop me."

Nightwing shrugged. "I, we, just want what's best for you Raven." He said sadly and defeatedly.

Raven turned around. "This is for the best." She said before she walked away from her saddened teammates.

Changeling's hands became fists at her words, but he still said nothing.

She wished that he'd said something…

Hallelujah

Raven closed her last suitcase, and then looked around herself.

It was so weird to see the room she had been in for so long look so vacant now. Her hooded headboard and bed were still in the same spot, along with the nightstand, statues, and other furniture.

The rest though, her clothes, mirror, and everything else of value to her was packed away in her two suitcases.

Raven looked around herself again, making sure that she had everything she needed. 'I can't say goodbye to them… I have to separate myself from everything. For the good of everyone.'

Her eyes stopped at her bed though, and she looked confused. "That wasn't there before…"

On the bed was a small box, with a little note next to it. She picked up the note and read it.

This was my mom's. It was the only thing I ever found left of her. It's yours now if you want it.

I'll miss you, Rae.

-Garfield Logan

…

Raven looked from the note to the little box, and then back to the note. She reread it, and then picked up the little box and opened it.

Inside was a simple gold ring. The inscription on the inside of it read, 'To My Guardian Angel.'

Up above, where she couldn't see, a green mouse was watching through the vent. It saw her look at both items again before she pocketed them in her cape.

She then breathed deeply and calmly walked over to her suitcases. She looked around the room one last time.

Seeing nothing else out of the ordinary, she enveloped all her stuff in a black portal and disappeared from Titan's Tower.

…

The green mouse fell from the vent and landed on her bed. It then grew and changed, until Changeling was sitting in its spot.

He looked sad. She hadn't even said goodbye to any of them.

"Goodbye Raven… I hope you'll be happy now." He said sadly.

Halleluuuulluuuuuuujah (Guitar solo):

"No..."

Raven found herself in a snowy climate.

She had her two suitcases in the air behind her, and a heavy winter cape was wrapped around her. Despite the cape, she was still freezing. It must have been the Arctic or somewhere.

"I can't be here." She said to herself. She'd never survive long enough to gain mastery over her powers.

She quickly opened another portal and jumped into it.

The problem she had, with jumping into portals with no destination in mind, was that they could drop her off anywhere in the world. And so she found herself not surrounded by snow anymore, but by thick fresh jungle.

"Maybe..." Raven muttered.

Boom!

Kckckckck!

Lightning boomed above, and then a downpour of rain fell onto Raven. Within a few seconds, she was drenched.

"No..." Raven sighed again to herself.

A thick long snake appeared in the undergrowth in front of her. It eyed her like she was its next meal.

"And nope."

She immediately made another portal and jumped into it with her suitcases behind her.

The snake lunged, but its head hit the ground where she'd been standing.

'Come on, just give me somewhere where there's hardly anyone, and where I would survive!'

She came out of a portal on top of a skyscraper. She looked around herself, seeing nothing but skyscrapers all around for miles. Desert was on the outside of the city, but still, she could sense millions of people hustling and bustling all around down below.

She groaned to herself again. 'This is ridiculous.'

She formed a dark black portal again and jumped into it.

She formed several more portals after that. Coming out in random places around the world. Each was disappointing in its own way.

A countryside… next to a firing range.

A forest… famous for camping.

She became frustrated with each failed attempt. A bit more of her powers slipped out each time.

She even appeared in the spot next to where the snake from before had hit the ground. And her powers wrapped it up into a bowtie before it could even blink and comprehend what was happening.

'Come on! Just give me SOMETHING!'

…

She stepped out of her portal onto a patch of rock.

She looked behind herself and saw a cave opening behind her. Then in front of her, was a large mountain.

Raven looked around and saw she was in the middle of a mountain range. One that she couldn't recognize. Probing with her powers, she found nothing living for miles around.

She nodded her head to herself. "Perfect."

She turned around and walked into the cave.

Her new temporary home during her exile.

(Guitar solo continues)

"Friend Changeling!"

Starfire beat on the doorway. Dents formed on it, but the door still didn't budge.

"Yo, c'mon man! You've been in there for weeks!" Cyborg called next to Starfire.

"Go away." A sad voice said on the other side.

"Friend, please come out and join us." Starfire pleaded.

"Locking yourself away won't help you B!" Cyborg called, slipping into the old nickname he had for his best friend.

"Please, just leave me alone," Changeling said.

…

The two looked like they were about to try and tear down the door in frustration. "Leave him."

Nightwing appeared at the end of the hallway. The two Titans looked at him in surprise. "But Night, you know how long he's been in there! It ain't healthy for him man!" Cyborg protested.

Nightwing sighed as he approached. "I know Cyborg… there's nothing we can do though."

The inside of Changeling's room was a mess. He was laying on his bed. His bunk bed was gone since he had outgrown the dumb thing at last. Junk was still piled up in a couple of corners, but the room looked a lot cleaner than when he was younger.

"But why boyfriend Richard? Why can't we do the helping of him?" Starfire asked behind the door.

Changeling stared sadly up at the picture he had put up above his bed months ago. It was a selfie he had taken of himself and Raven. She looked a little surprised, and he was smiling widely and without a care in the world what happened to him afterward. He could still picture that day so clearly in his mind.

"Because a broken heart has to heal all on its own," Nightwing said grimly behind the doorway.

A tear went down Changeling's face. "Raven… if you had just told me why..." He said sadly.

(Guitar solo ends)

The scene showed the lone white house up close. The light was still on in the second-story window. A small garden was on both sides of the doorway.

Raven appeared from the darkness, and she pulled her hood back as she approached the doorway.

She got up close and was able to see the words etched into the door.

Home of Garfield Logan. All others stay out, or else.

Raven read the sign, and then she pulled out her hand from her cape. On her ring finger was a familiar gold band.

A single tear formed in her eye at the sight of the ring. 'Why did it take this long for me to realize it?'

She looked to the doorway again. She could sense the unwelcomeness of this dark and lonely place. She shuddered to think that he would ever live in a place that felt like this.

It had been too long. Far too long on her part.

'I guess this is it.'

She steeled herself, and raised her hand into the darkness to knock…

…

I did my best it wasn't much

"Zinthos… Azarath..."

Raven sat alone on her rock, facing the light of the setting sun. She had been in that position all day, just straight meditating.

'Come on, I just want you all to lock into a pattern that I can control…' Raven thought to herself as she continued to speak out loud to focus.

…

At first, it seemed like she was finally getting a couple of her emotions to line themselves into a familiar frequency for Raven to handle.

But then, the others quickly followed suit, and Raven's concentration was immediately ruined by the addition of so many all at once. It was like they were vying for her attention.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Raven started to chant quickly, trying to recover the ground it had taken her all day to claim. But the frustration boiled over on her.

Boom!

A rock nearby exploded into pieces, and Raven opened her eyes. Several other rocks were encased in black and were thrown far out into the valley between the mountains.

She sighed to herself and got up off the rock.

"I guess today wasn't the day either." She muttered to herself.

The sun was almost finished setting in the distance, and stars were starting to appear overhead. It'd be dark soon.

Raven turned around and walked into her cave.

And so went her now average day of existence.

I couldn't feel so I tried to touch

Boom!

Kckckckck!

Raven stood at the entrance of her cave, even as the storm pounded outside of it. Luckily the roof of her cave jutted out a little bit so the overhang kept any rain from flowing in.

Still, she wouldn't be able to meditate that day with all the noise the storm was making.

Raven sighed to herself and leaned against the rock wall. 'Another day of trying to get control… wasted.'

She took note of the rock she was leaning against, and looked at it with a sad countenance. 'Why couldn't I be born like this rock? Firm and unyielding to my powers?'

She then pictured Terra and realized even then it might not have been so simple. It had been that way for her too, after all…

…

Raven stared at the rock a moment more, even as images of her friends went through her mind. One of the last being of him poking at her while she tried to read on the couch.

'Because he would have still been stubborn enough to try and break through a rock wall.' Raven thought sarcastically to herself.

…

The little bit of happiness from the image was short-lived. Raven sighed to herself.

She took a sharp rock from the ground in front of the wall and etched another line to it. With that, she turned to walk deeper into the cave.

Boom!

Lightning lit up the wall behind Raven for a moment. Showing the new line Raven had made along with what looked like hundreds of others next to it.

I told the truth I didn't come to fool you

"Azarath… Metrion… sigh..."

Raven floated back down with a sigh onto the rock below her. The cave was somewhere else, as she had decided to wander for a bit before she tried meditating in a different spot.

She was hoping the new location might be more relaxing for her…

She put her head into her hands and held it there. "This is useless..." She muttered in defeat.

A fine layer of snow was on the ground all around, with a light flurry falling still from the clouds up above.

'I just want control… I just don't want to hurt anybody…'

…

After another moment, a beam of sunlight lit up Raven's face, and she looked up.

Though there were clouds above her, the sun was now peaking out below the clouds as it set in the distance. The beams of sunlight danced off of the snowflakes and made the scene look like a beautiful portrait.

'It's so… beautiful…' Raven thought, seeing the streaks of gold in the air…

Raven suddenly had a thought. She quickly shuffled through the pocket of her worn cape and pulled out the note and ring box. She formed a shield of ethereal energy up above as she did so to keep the falling snow away.

She didn't know why she was doing this. It had been since she got the note that she'd last looked. But now she found herself looking closely at it as if something was driving her to do so.

It still said the same things as before…

'What am I looking for-' And then she finally noticed it.

Several years of being alone in a random pocket had worn the paper away a good bit. But the visible circles showing along some of the writing were still there. As if the person who had written it was crying tears onto it.

…

Raven looked in shock at the note, and then at the ring. The sun was still setting in front of her, and the light of it shone on the ring in the open ring box.

'Garfield…'

Raven had some of her own tears fall from her face onto the precious note. And then she finally took the ring out and put it on her finger.

'Oh, Gar… I've failed us both.'

And even though it all went wrong

Raven sat on the floor of the cave. The cave that had been her home, and prison, for the last several years.

She couldn't even count the lines she had made on the wall anymore. She wasn't sure how much time had passed…

'My life fell apart… and I let it all happen.'

Her hair, now unkempt, went down past her shoulders. Her clothes were all worn. She had definitely lost weight. And worst of all, she hadn't heard anything about her friends, or about Changeling since she had left.

She found it ironic. She hadn't said goodbye so Nightwing or one of the others could put a tracker on her to know where she was at. And now she was wishing that one of them had put a tracker on her. And tried to stop in every now and then against her wishes to see how she was doing.

Now she was completely, and utterly alone.

Indeed, her life had fallen apart before her eyes.

Raven looked with downcast eyes in front of her. 'Is there nothing I can do to gain control of myself?'

Years of constant meditation. Years of focus, of trying to learn of herself, had done nothing.

Indeed, it seemed like she was doomed to always be struggling for control.

…

Just at her darkest hour, a thought came to her mind. She looked up at one of her suitcases.

'Maybe…'

She quickly moved towards it and pulled out the only thing she hadn't taken out since getting there. Her mirror.

She looked into it and took a deep breath. "Maybe… this was the only way all along."

After another moment, Raven disappeared into her mirror, which sat itself gently down on the rocky ground.

I'll stand before the Lord of Song!

Raven stood up on the rocky ground. She was in the center of her mind. The dark mess of Nevermore.

Almost within an instant of her standing up, the landscape around her changed. And soon, she found herself in the middle of a large room.

Seats rose up high out of the ground, and on them sat her various emoticlones. From Knowledge to Rude to Brave to Timid and even Rage and all the others.

Raven stood tall in the middle of them all. The grand council of her mind. "It's about time you showed up." Rude said rudely.

Knowledge leaned forward in her seat. "What do you want from us, Raven?" She asked.

Raven looked up at her emoticlone. "I want control. I want to be able to be myself without… hurting those around me." Raven said stoically.

The emoticlones looked at each other. "That would require us having to be combined together." Wisdom said.

"And some of us would rather not be bound together!" Rage bellowed angrily.

"That comment goes both ways, sis!" Rude bellowed back.

"Can't we all just try to be a little happy that Rae finally came to settle this?" Happy asked happily.

"But… we've been away from people so long… how could we possibly fit back in..." Timid said timidly.

Knowledge looked back down to Raven. "I'm afraid that we still wouldn't be able to combine with you at this time Raven. We are too divided on the subject as it is." She said plainly.

Raven looked desperate. "Please, isn't there any way?" Raven asked, her tone pleading to her various selves.

This caused them all to look at her. Raven breathed in deeply, but tears had formed in her eyes. "I just… I don't want to anyone… I don't want to hurt him."

"Haven't we already hurt him by leaving though?" Timid asked sadly.

…

Knowledge put a hand to her chin. "Why do you want to do this, Raven?" She asked pointedly.

Raven stood there confused. "Why?" She asked.

"Yeah! It's not like it's freaking obvious at this point!" Rude yelled.

"It's something even I feel!" Rage added angrily.

Raven looked at them all. 'Why do I want this?'

She looked from emoticlone to emoticlone of herself.

With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah!

Then her eyes rested on the purple version of her, sitting between Timid and Happy.

The purple version said nothing, but the content smile on her face spoke volumes to her soul.

It was almost like she was telling her it was all fine, that she could admit it now.

Raven finally understood. And tears formed in her eyes, as she looked back up to Knowledge again. "Why I really want this… is so I can be with Gar… so I won't have to fear accidentally hurting him ever again… because… because I… I..."

She hung her head, as the other emoticlones looked curiously from their seats. There was a short pause…

…

"Because I love him." Raven finally admitted to herself.

She had no idea how long ago it'd started or where the feelings had come from. But they'd started somewhere, and grown and grown until she exiled herself out of fear that she'd hurt him, or worse.

She'd gone through all of this pain the last several years, worn herself down to the bone physically and mentally, all for a chance at happiness with him… because she truly cared for him that much.

…

The emoticlones all looked at each other then. Each of them had a smile like Love's resting on their face.

"Ata girl." Love finally said.

"Is that agreeable?" Wisdom asked the council.

"Yes," Timid said, in a not-so-timid voice.

"Indeed." Knowledge replied.

"Heck yeah!" Brave said proudly.

"Agreed." Rage grunted.

Raven looked up then, hearing as each emoticlone said yes one by one. Even Rude seemed happy about it and readily agreed.

"Agreed." Love spoke last for them all.

Then they all looked down at her. "Then, the time has come at last." Wisdom said with a smile on her face.

Suddenly, Raven felt herself get lifted up into the air. And the emoticlones all lifted up from their seats around her. They all gathered around her in the air, and started to swirl around Raven.

Raven saw them all flash before her eyes. Brave, Happy, Knowledge, Wisdom, Timid, Rude, Rage, and Love. The room around them disappeared, and the landscape of Nevermore reappeared.

And then, they converged on her form in a great white light. And Nevermore disappeared forever.

"Go get him." Love's voice spoke one last time to her mind. Before Raven felt her and the others disappear forever into her soul.

…

She landed on her hands and knees on the rocky ground of the cave.

Crack!

Her mirror to her mind cracked into pieces next to her. And Raven looked up with a feeling of peace on her face.

At last, she was free.

Hallelujah

Raven's feet landed on the roof of the newer-looking T-Tower. She was dressed in a white version of her leotard and uniform. Her hair still fell to her shoulders, but it looked far better than it had before, along with the rest of her.

You couldn't even tell now that she had spent the last five or so years alone in the mountains.

Almost immediately after landing, the doors to the roof burst open. Raven was almost caught off guard to see someone in a different version of the Robin outfit come flying out. Along with a different Speedster, a girl who could have been Superman's daughter. And several other different heroes.

They all looked ready for a fight but stopped when they saw her. Their jaws went slack in awe.

"Is that one of..."

"The Original..."

"Teen Titans?" Three of the heroes said in awe.

Raven walked forward and stopped in front of them. She looked confused at not being greeted by her friends. "Where did my friends go?" She asked.

The lead Robin immediately shook his head to clear it. "I'm sorry Raven, but they moved out of this place four years ago." He said.

"Do any of you know what happened to Changeling?" She asked immediately after that in worry.

"No. I'm afraid we don't know." Robin replied again.

…

Raven focused on him. "You're a Robin… You're part of the Bat Family too. So you must know where Nightwing is, at least." She said dryly.

The young Robin shook his head. "I'm afraid he keeps his location secret from most of us. Can't blame him for the secret he's keeping from the public lately… I do know where Cyborg is though." He added at the end.

…

"Where?" She asked.

…

After he told her, she immediately took to the air.

She could have teleported, but she felt the awed heroes down below deserved to see how an Original Titan did it.

She flew high up into a cloud, and then made a portal and disappeared while she was inside it.

The Titans down below never saw just how she managed to do that. Rumor would spread that she had turned into an eagle, or had ridden off on a dragon into the sunset.

But no one would ever know how she truly disappeared from Titan's Tower that day.

"She really is as mysterious as they claimed." The new version of Kid Flash said.

Hallelujah

Raven stepped out of the elevator of the Watchtower space station. It had been a hassle finding a connection to the place, but she had done it. And now she was walking alongside Superman and Wonder Woman to a room of the Watchtower.

"How has he been doing here?" Raven asked.

"He's loved it since the day he moved in." Wonder Woman said with a smile on her face.

"You Titans really have been a big help to the JL. We could always use someone like you if you want." Superman offered as they neared the door.

"No thanks. I don't think it would make Zatanna very happy if she found out I was here." She said.

The two older heroes shrugged and opened the door.

Cyborg, an upgraded version of him, had just been about to walk out the other side. He looked up in surprise, and then he smiled really big.

"Rae!" He yelled boisterously, as he dropped the invention in his hands to the ground and hugged Raven. She gratefully hugged the crying man back.

"Aw man, I haven't seen you in so long?!" He said happily before he examined her again. "Did you… manage to do it?" He asked in bewilderment.

Raven smiled her small smile. Not one single burst of power came out of her. "Yes… and now I'm trying to find Changeling." She said, her smile dropping to a serious frown.

…

Cyborg's smile slowly fell. "I'm sorry Rae… but I haven't heard from the green bean since we left the Tower."

Raven felt a pit form in her stomach. "Does Nightwing know where he is? I really need to find him." She asked, almost pleadingly.

Cyborg smiled again. "Of course, he knows, he knows everything." He said happily.

Raven breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you tell me where he is now? I would have asked Batman, but I wanted to at least see you first." She asked.

Cyborg immediately pulled out his old T-Comm from his pocket. Superman and Wonder Woman looked at it in surprise. "Hey now, I'm allowed to keep past ties and everything. Remember?" Cyborg said to them.

The two heroes shrugged. And Cyborg opened it. "He and Star are currently in… BludHaven-" Cyborg was saying.

Raven immediately hugged him, cutting him off. "Thanks, Cyborg, I'll be able to find him from there. It was nice seeing you again." She said quickly, before running away back down the hall.

"But Rae, you don't have the address!" Cyborg called after her.

Wonder Woman gripped his shoulder, keeping him from moving forward. She had a smile on her face.

"Something tells me that she won't need it." She said to him.

After taking a second to ponder it, he began to laugh. "You know what, you're absolutely right."

Hallelujah

Raven smiled as she set foot in the secret penthouse suite of Dick Grayson and Kori Grayson.

The surprised Kori ran up to her and gave her a big hug.

"Friend Raven!" Starfire said happily. Her hug was a lot softer than Raven expected.

Then again, Starfire's belly was poking out a good few inches from her. Maybe holding a baby made her weaker or something?

Starfire put her back at arm's length and looked curiously at her. "How did you manage to do the finding of us!?" Starfire asked happily.

Raven smiled softly at her. "Cyborg told me which city you two were in. And I tracked your emotional signatures from the streets to here." She said before she faced Nightwing, who looked shocked.

Raven smirked. "Yes Nightwing, that means others could track you down that way too if they had the power," Raven added.

Nightwing immediately shook his head. "Alright, I'll have to talk with Batman about developing something for that. I don't want any villain sneaking in to harm the baby when it arrives… But why are you here?" He asked curiously.

…

Raven lost her smile, and a look of trepidation came onto her face. "I… I'm trying to locate Changeling. But none of the others know where he is. You're my only hope." She said pleadingly.

…

Nightwing put his hand to his chin in thought. "Maybe..."

He went behind him, and quickly pulled a pen and note out. He wrote quickly on it, and then turned around and handed it to her. "It's the last place I know where he settled down. It's up in Northern California along the coastline. He moved in two years ago, and I don't know if he's moved out since." He said.

Raven studied the note, and then looked up at him. "Do you think… he'd want… to see me?" She asked.

…

Nightwing stared her in the eye. "That's for me to know, and you to find out." He finally said.

…

Raven nodded and gripped the note. She then hugged Nightwing, and then Starfire. "Thank you, I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer." She said.

Starfire smiled warmly. "You will always be the welcome in our home friend Raven." She said. "I do hope you'll visit when my little bumgorf arrives."

Raven smiled. Even though it had been years. Her old teammates still said they were her friends.

'I only hope Garfield will be the same as them.' She thought before she teleported out near where Nightwing had directed her.

…

Starfire looked curiously at her husband. "Why didn't you do the telling to her of the note friend Garfield sent to us the year ago?" She asked.

Nightwing smirked and pulled out said note from his pocket. "I think she'll find out eventually that he hasn't forgotten about her after all this time." He said happily.

It also went to show he'd gotten a lot better at hiding his emotions from his former teammate… though not well enough, apparently, as she'd still managed to track them down to here.

He was going to have a serious talk with Bruce about that.

Halleluuuuluuuuuujah

Raven was still on the doorstep of the house. Her hand poised a few inches from the wooden door.

She looked to be fighting an internal battle inside herself.

'What am I supposed to do?'

'It's been years since I dropped the ball and left.'

'What if he doesn't like me anymore?'

'What if he hates me for leaving?'

'What if he fell in love with somebody else?'

'What if he's moved on with his life?'

"What if my showing up hurts him again?'

All these and more were going through her mind. It was like an endless tirade of nervousness that almost made her shrink away.

"But what if he still loved me?" She voiced to herself.

…

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Raven hit her hand against the door five times and then stood back.

She waited for what felt like an eternity…

Hallelujah!

Raven was standing next to Beast Boy. He had just been hit by a stankball from Cyborg. Cyborg was cheering at the end of the hallway.

"Woohoo! Stankballlll!"

He sat up off the ground, looking clueless as to what had happened. And Raven, for some reason, maybe because of what he had said. Or that he had been honest with her. Or maybe it was something else altogether.

Whatever it was, it made her grab the stankball off his head.

'He's going to pay for ruining our moment.' She turned to look at Cyborg with a smirk on her face. The stankball was covered in black.

"Wait, now Rae!" Cyborg said fearfully.

She threw it down the hallway at Cyborg. It hit him right in the face with an 'oof.' She could sense Beast Boy smiling beside her, and the thought filled her with happiness.

The game took off from there.

Halleluuuuuuujah!

She and the other Titans were standing in the Common Room facing the setting sun. She was still stunned at what they had told her. Even though they had learned what her destiny was… they all still cared for her.

Raven couldn't put it in words. It was too wonderful a feeling to describe going through her at this time. To have her friends supporting her, and not wanting to give up on her… It was unbelievable.

For the first time in her life, she actually felt… hope.

She wondered briefly if it would always be like this. If she would always have her friends to support her. Then she looked at the hand on her shoulder, and down to the green Titan with a determined face beside her.

Yes, she truly realized then that she would always have her friends to be with her.

Always.

Hallelujah!

Kkkkkkk.

The front door of the lonely white house opened, and Raven held her breath.

On the inside, it looked neatly furnished. Pictures of the Titans hung on the walls. Along with pictures of victories over different villains. One of the most visible ones though was of the two of them, asleep on the couch in the Common Room.

A picture she thought she remembered making Cyborg delete. She'd have to visit him about it one of these days.

Then she saw the green Titan himself. He looked older, but surprisingly the same. He stood a little above her height still, had a receding hairline on his head, and had a deep frown on his face as he looked to see who it was that was bothering him at this time of night.

A look of surprise came onto his face. Raven was nervous if it was a good sort of surprise or not.

She said nothing and just stood there under his gaze.

"Raven?" He asked. Almost in that same voice, he used when he was younger. Yet deeper, and almost hoarse from misuse.

Raven nodded her head. And Changeling stepped slowly out of the doorway.

It looked like he was still studying her face. She couldn't tell what he was going to do next.

Or rather, she was too nervous to use her powers. To check and see what he was feeling. Because she was scared of what she'd see.

"Gar… I'm… I'm so-" Raven started to say.

And then Changeling embraced her.

Raven was shocked by it at first, and then she felt him start to shake. Tears were landing on the back of her white hood.

"You're back… you're finally back," Changeling said in a cracking voice.

Raven reached out with her powers then… and she couldn't stop the tears that fell from her eyes as she embraced him back.

He loved her… he still loved her.

"Yes Gar, I'm back."

She was finally back with him.

Halleluuuuuuluuuuuuuu...Ujah…

A couple of months passed.

The two of them sat on the plain brown couch in his home. A movie was playing on the TV, and they were both dressed in nice comfy clothes.

Raven, for the first time in a long time, looked relaxed, as she lay in front of him. His arms were wrapped around her, keeping her close.

Changeling looked from the movie down to the girl in his embrace. 'I still can't believe it. It's been so long… I had almost lost hope.'

He studied the back of her head for a moment more. The smell of her lavender shampoo was like heaven to him. He breathed it in deeply.

'I almost thought she'd never come back.' It had been five long, lonely years without her. Years without almost anyone else really.

He had almost thought that he'd have to give up and try to find someone who would ignite the same feelings that she did.

Yet she was here now. And here she would stay. For hopefully a long, long time.

The movie became background noise to him. He had a smile, one he had almost thought he had lost, resting on his face. 'I'm never going to let go of her again.' He promised himself.

…

At last, the end credits rolled up the TV screen. He realized that the movie was already over.

"What did you think of the movie Rae? Was it a good one?" He asked her.

There was no response from her.

…

"Rae-" He was asking again.

"Hawwwwww!" Raven let out a loud snore, cutting him off. And then before he could try and say anything else, she shifted her position by turning around to cuddle up into him. She continued to rest peacefully in her sleep with a soft smile on her face.

Changeling chuckled to himself and adjusted his arms to the new position.

"Love ya too Rae. Love ya too." He said before he kissed the chakra on her forehead. He rested his head on hers.

Within a moment, he too fell asleep.

The light from the TV illuminated the two figures on the couch. Along with the two glistening gold rings on their fingers.

'To My Guardian Angel.' It said on both of them.

(Bagpipes playing) Hallelllllluuulllllllllujahhhhhhhh…

The End

Author's Notes:

Okay, is everything good? I really hope so. I still can't believe I forgot I wrote this over five years ago while in Alpena, MI. Really makes me see how time has flown by.

For those who don't know (which I assume to be almost everybody, since my Season Six fic doesn't have a lot of readers), this is my last story for the Teen Titans fandom for a good, long while. I've been here on and off the last seven years, but well, this time, this is really going to be goodbye.

It's not that I'm going to stop writing. Far from it, actually. After I take this week to relax for Spring Break, I'm going to go back to work on my Shield Hero fics. I really want to finish those up and get to work on my main Shield Hero fic again. But well, before I did that, I wanted to finish the major fics I had worked on in Teen Titans for the last few years. These were Justice League Vs. The Beast and I Am A Teen Titan (Season Six). I hadn't planned on this one-shot, but while pulling up old docs for the former, I came across this one. And I knew it'd be my last upload to this fandom for a few years. I'm sad to say, but any other fics that I haven't finished yet for this fandom will remain unfinished for a very, very long time.

Hell, those fics probably need rewrites anyway, since those unfinished fics are likely from when I first started out in the fandom seven years ago. And man, I've come a long way since then.

This goodbye won't be forever though. I have some notebooks from my mission with ideas for Teen Titans one-shots that I wrote down. And I imagine once I'm married and have kids of my own, I'll inevitably be drawn back to this fandom to see if I've still got what it takes.

To the thousands of you who've read my work over the years... thank you, for everything. For giving my life purpose. For giving me something to look forward to during the week. For giving me friendship and camaraderie. Can't say this landed me a girlfriend or a wife, so I can't thank you readers for that yet, lol. But this has seriously been amongst the best experiences of my life. Serving a Church Mission and helping out the people of Michigan directly being above that.

I pray that everything will be well for you, whatever your circumstances may be, and yes, even if you aren't a fan of Teen Titans or BBxRae (because let's face it, I will never grow tired of this ship).

May God Bless each and every single one of you.

Till Next Time

Allen