I'm back! Sorry it took me so long to update. My health is definitely not on my side these days… But as I said before, the story must go on.

Once again, I would like to thank my reviewers. You guys make me smile every single day, even when I'm feeling sick, and I'll keep the story going for you.

Disclaimer: If I owned Teen Titans, I wouldn't be writing this fan fiction. I'd be writing episodes, and in these episodes, Beast Boy and Raven would finally become an item. But, unfortunately, I do not own them, and the series was cancelled. So now, I'm writing this story for everyone that still wants Beast Boy and Raven to be together.

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Chapter 12:

There Will Always Be Risks

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After many explosions inside the medical room, Raven finally had to give up. Her powers were out of control, slowly draining what little energy she had left. She decided that she would rest for a while, and then think about the current situation at hand later. She drifted off to sleep, the bright red rose and penny lying next to her on the pillow. She felt safer with them by her…

"It's been awhile, Raven."

She shot up. She instantly realized that she was no longer in the hospital wing. No, she was definitely not in the hospital wing. Golden buildings gleamed in the sunlight. Out of pure habit, dark masses formed around her fists. She cringed in pain at the power she had to use. Raven whipped her head around, looking for some explanation. She found it, and she gasped at what she saw.

The white-cloaked woman let the bird that was perched on her finger fly away. She turned to face the girl.

"Mother…" Raven said with what little voice she had. Arella nodded and placed her loving arms around her daughter. It had been so long since Raven had hugged her mother. She felt safe in her arms… just like she did in…

"Why have you brought me here to Azarath? I thought it was destroyed by… by Trigon." Raven asked, feeling the prickling sensation of the pain she felt as she sat. Yes, she was in another dimension, but Earthly pain had stuck with her.

Arella sighed. "Raven, as you know, your powers are fueled by your emotions. And, sometimes, you are not able to control them. But I give you a caveat. You cannot let the fear of your emotions rule your life, dear child. You cannot be afraid to feel and you cannot be afraid to love."

Raven's eyes widened at the mention of the last sentence.

Arella continued. "Just because there is a possibility that something will go wrong does not mean that you shouldn't try," she gazed into her daughter's eyes. "That is what you have chosen to do with your life as one of the five guardians of your city. Every time that there is a call for help, you do not ignore it. You respond to it, no matter how much danger comes along with it. You risk your lives for others because you are immediately put into the same danger by responding. There will always be risks."

Arella paused, choosing her words carefully.

"Now the cry for help is coming from your own mind, Raven. Your emotions are calling to you. You have pushed them back as far as they can go because of the danger that could possibly happen. But, in doing so, you have tried to make yourself unfeeling. But you can't do that, dear child."

Raven sighed. "Mother, I understand what you are trying to say. I really do. But, I'm afraid that my emotions will go out of control and I would hurt… someone." She said carefully, avoiding his name.

Arella put her arm around her child.

"I know what you have been through because I am a part of you. I have felt everything you have felt, Raven. I know that sometimes it hurts more to love, and it hurts more to care. (AN: credits to Avatar: The Last Airbender.) I know that sometimes you get hurt from the trust that comes from love if the person it is directed towards does not feel the same way. But there are those once-in-a-lifetime occasions when the feeling and the trust is mutual, and the relationship is solid."

Raven wiped a lone tear from her eye and sniffed. She leaned into her mother's shoulder. She knew exactly where this was going. "But how do I stop the outbursts?" she asked, trying to calm herself.

Arella smiled, and lifted her daughter's head off of her shoulder, forcing her to look into her the wise woman's eyes.

"Sometimes you have to ask yourself if the person is worth the risk."

She carefully removed her daughter's hood, revealing Raven's scars and bruises. Her mother closed her eyes and placed a hand on Raven's cheek. Raven felt a tingling sensation throughout her face, like rain sliding down her profile.

Arella removed the hand and took her daughter's arm and stood. She walked her over to a small golden water fountain and had her sit on the pool's edge.

"Raven, look into the water and tell me what you see."

Raven turned and looked into the fountain's clear, blue water. She saw her reflection, or someone who resembled her. There were no scars on her face, and the reflection was smiling. She was happy. She was beautiful.

Raven looked at her mother, and her mother pointed back down to the water. The picture changed.

The girl was now standing next to a man unlike any other man in the world. The man had his arm around the girl's waste, and the girl had her head on his shoulder. The bird that Arella was holding earlier suddenly flew past the reflection, dropping a feather into the pool. It landed on the man's reflection and the ripples began to distort his green skin.

"Beast Boy…" Raven accidently said out loud. She quickly realized what she had done and blushed furiously. Her mother laughed softly.

Arella stood up and offered her hand to Raven, realizing by now that she was in pain after sudden movement. Raven took it, the blushing finally ceasing.

"Mother, you know what I saw. What does this all mean?" she asked Arella. Arella either chose to ignore her or did not hear her, as she continued to make her way to their destination. They came to a street in the outskirts of Azarath, and they walked in silence. Finally, they entered a thicket full of lavender. In the center of the thicket was a giant tree, much larger than the trees of Earth. The tree was missing its center and the hole resembled something along the lines of a doorway. They waded through the thicket and reached the tree.

Arella stopped short.

"Daughter, I do not need to answer that question for you." She finally answered. Raven was confused for a brief moment, but then she remembered that she had asked her what it had all meant. She was about to protest, but she decided against it and followed her mother to the base of the tree.

Arella placed her arms around her daughter one last time and kissed her cheek. Then, she gestured for Raven to go through the hole in the tree.

Raven smiled at her mother one last time before stepping into the passageway. Then, everything vanished.

(*)

"No. NO! Not again!"

"Beast Boy, calm down! She'll be okay!"

"Please, friend Beast Boy. You must calm down!"

"RAVEN!"

Raven's eyes slowly opened. She gasped and sprung up from hey lying position. She was back in the medical room. And the four healthy Titans were gawking at her.

"Oh, thank god!" Beast Boy said, throwing his arms around the girl. The sudden embrace caught Raven off-guard and her face turned red from the blush that formed on her cheeks. Beast Boy then realized that the others were still in the room and reluctantly released the empath, his face matching Raven's hue of red. The others looked from Raven to Beast Boy and from Beast Boy to Raven with confused looks on their faces. Raven quickly changed the subject.

"What happened?" Raven asked, feeling scared. From the looks on the other Titan's faces, something had gone terribly wrong. She bit her lip.

"You were not responding to us for approximately… three hours." Starfire said, leaning on Robin.

"We tried to wake you up, but no matter what we did, you wouldn't budge." Beast Boy added.

"We thought you went back into the coma or… worse." Cyborg said, taking off the extra equipment that had been attached to Raven during the whole commotion. "But, it turns out you were just in a very deep sleep."

Raven sighed and relaxed. She barely even noticed the fact that for the hundredth time in a month, Beast Boy was grasping her hand again.

Cyborg turned back to face Raven.

"By the way, what happened in here? When we got here, your room looked like something exploded in here. What happened to all the light bulbs?"

(*)

Thus concludes Chapter 12. There's going to be a lot of confusion from this chapter, but it'll be answered in due time. Also, like I stated before, some of the ideas from this chapter came from different shows/movies. Credits to "Avatar: The Last Airbender" for one of the lines, and "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" for the whole tree thing.

Once again, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Being sick is horrible. But, slowly but surely, it'll pass.

PLEASE REVIEW! :D

Love, Liz.

(AKA flightlessraven.)