Chapter 33 – Crack

January 9th 2012, 2:04 pm

Terra left the infirmary quietly right after Starfire. She ran to her bedroom, a million thoughts crossing her mind.

She entered her room and closed the door, lying in bed, trying to calm down.

She was afraid. And bad things happened when she was afraid.

Thick tears ran through her face to her chin, as she realized what was about to happen.

Raven would find out what she did.

She and Beast Boy would get back together, and she would be kicked out of the team.

For months she feared this moment. Sobbing, she fell asleep.

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Raven blinked, looking around. She was in her spectral form, being only a shape with eyes in the dark. She knew she wouldn't land in earth or find any kind of personification of Beast Boy's mind like her own mind – this kind of organization, with division and different personalities were a privilege of being half demon.

The human mind didn't had such features, being disorganized and, most important, in general governed by the moment's main emotion. When she went inside Robin's mind, for instance, all she could see were his memories and thoughts about his obsession for Slade. That's why, going inside someone's mind, she usually found the problem quickly.

However, she was standing on front of something she never saw before. Just as she anticipated, Beast Boy's mind was extremely overwhelmed. She was before some kind of colorful swirl, build of images and memories. She hesitated.

Raven knew she had to go to the center to find the problem's source. But she was afraid of getting lost in the middle. After she enter, it would be hard to come back. She could be buried by the great amount of memories and emotions she would experience in such speed.

She needed something to focus in order to not forget. An anchor. She decided it would be Caleb. Summoning her adorable baby's image, she went inside the swirl.

She faced herself in a pink cloak, openly laughing.

"Sure! I've always thought you were funny, BB!"

A warm feeling took all of her body, making her feel happy, although she wasn't sure why.

A tall and brunette young man was talking confidently and, in the back, she saw herself, next to Starfire, with a dreamy look.

It was like needles were spiking at the bottom of her stomach, rage and frustration together…

Now she saw Terra, in a way she never saw before, much more pretty than the real Terra and with a kind of glow around her… Even in the sloppy clothes she was wearing.

Raven felt a stride. Like she was driving and suddenly went through a particularly deep hole in high speed. It was good, she was almost losing herself. She kept the image of Caleb biting the green dog's ear in her mind and continued her way through the swirl.

"Beast Boy… If you knew something bad about me, would you still be my friend?"

She was in a place she had never been. A room filled with mirrors. All of them reflected Slade's image. Terra suddenly had lost her glow.

The room dissolved and Jump City appeared. She watched herself and her friends fighting against… Terra. A lofty, terrible Terra, like she never saw before.

They now stared at a statue of Terra. And she felt a deep sadness, ripping her heart apart.

Another stride. Before she could recover, images surrounded her again.

A happy feeling of excitement took her while she watched Beast Boy and Terra's heads coming closer…

The excitement quickly turned into a different feeling, of regret and impotence, a bitter taste in her mouth. Beast Boy was standing in front of a door written 'Raven'.

A black dragon's image brought up a blinding fury.

The fury persisted, but now it was a bestial creature she faced, a creature that threatened her unconscious body, lying on the ground.

A white and gray room appear, and Beast Boy put a penny in her hand. A serious determination took over.

Now everywhere was sunny and she saw a long haired Raven dressed in white hugging Robin. A feeling between hope and those needles in her stomach spread…

She was in a forest now, Beast Boy was looking down and a tall man stared at him with a disapproving look. She felt like she was wrong, unqualified, not good enough…

The unpleasant feeling remained, but now Beast Boy was in a closed and gray place, in front of a blonde girl in a student outfit.

"Things change, Beast Boy…"

Another stride. Raven was confused. Were there memories of a parallel future?

Terra holding her hand. Terra at the movies. Terra fighting. Terra training. Terra eating pizza. Terra dancing.

She recognized these images. This time, the glow around Terra started to fade… fade… until it was gone.

That's why when she watched the scene of Beast Boy finding his girlfriend kissing someone else, she felt very a low degree of rage. What was stronger was the disappointment.

So she was floating in a starry sky. Looking around, she saw the scene of about two years ago, when a villain kissed her. The rage she felt was so intense she almost forgot she was Raven inside of Beast Boy's mind, feeling Beast Boy's feelings in a past memory.

Until the rage was gone, she didn't see anything. When she realized, she was watching from the outside her first kiss with Beast Boy at the ice rink.

A cold feeling in her stomach, at the same time she felt her lips getting warm and sensible. Once again, nothing else existed, nothing was important, except for that moment. When the kissed ended, she saw herself, now wrapped by a luminous glow.

Now she was the one reading, eating, sleeping, embarrassed, serious, upset, hiding a laugh or pushing him away, and at each scene, the glow grew stronger.

Something warm and comfortable slid from her chest to her whole body, and this time, it was something constant and reliable. Love.

Beast Boy was now in a jewelry, and she followed his search on the showcase, until he pointed at a specific ring…

Her vision changed…

Now she was in Beast Boy's bedroom. This scene was different from all of the others. The colors were stronger and they seemed to be trembling, like a sketch.

Terra was holding an hourglass that seemed extremely old. She recognized the runes carved in it, and they seem to vibrate with power. The sand was the most stable thing of all, almost like it didn't belong in there.

In the moment Beast Boy touched the clock's glass, the colors exploded.

Raven had reached the hurricane's eye.

All she could feel was emptiness. The void she left after she was gone.

If she could, she would cry.

In there, in the center of Beast Boy's mind, was an enormous crack, dividing two mirrors that reflected different images. Standing in front of them, she faced herself in one, exactly how she reminded to see herself that very morning. In the other side, however, she had a expression less tired, a bigger smile and a ring in her finger.

Raven felt that one, and saw Beast Boy with a gigantic smile and tears in his eyes, holding a baby with greenish skin in his arms.

She kept walking, and saw herself in a simple white dress, holding a sunflowers bouquet, the eyes sparkling, a smile and the glow around her.

She sighed, going back to the crack's location. She understood that the mirror reflected what should had happened, if Beast Boy had never touched the hourglass. And she knew that if she went between the two mirrors, she could see images of both futures.

But she wouldn't do this. She knew exactly what she should do right now.

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January 9th 2012, 4:02 pm

"It's been quite a good time, isn't it?" said Starfire with an anxious voice, rubbing her hands in one another.

"Hm…" muttered Cyborg, looking at the display in his arm "Almost two hours… But they both seem stable"

"I just hope this works out…" commented Robin, leaning against the wall with a raised foot and his arms crossed "If it doesn't…"

Silence fell between them, nobody wanting to express in word the worst that could happen.

The three of them startled when a loud whistle echoed in the room. Pi-pi-pi-pi-piiiiiii…

Cyborg ran to the devices that monitored Beast Boy. The changeling started to move, unquiet.

"Something's happening…"

"To Raven too!" yelled Starfire, looking to the empath, who was frowning like she was in pain.

"Let's trust Raven and wait a few…" started Robin, but before he could say anything, the spectral raven came out of Beast Boy's body and flew to its owner.

"Ah!" Raven panted, opening her eyes and falling down. She accepted her friend's help to stand again and went to Beast Boy's side, looking anxious.

"Did you do it…?" mumbled Robin.

"We're about to find out" she said, focusing on the changeling, who was still moving in bed.

"Beast Boy…" called Raven in a whisper, holding his hand.

Beast Boy's emerald eyes opened. Everyone held their breaths, waiting for his reaction.

"Raven!" he whined, finding her violet eyes, and the both hugged.

"I'm sorry Raven, I didn't want to, I…!"

"Quiet. I know" she mumbled with a crying voice, but smiling. Beast Boy released her suddenly and held her to his arm's length. Robin and Cyborg got prepared to sedate him again.

"Star!" he called, looking around, and the Tamaranean smiled and stretched her hand, giving him a little blue velvet box.

"Raven…" he said, and she took her hands to her mouth, trembling "Since you saw it in my mind, it's not exactly a surprise, but… Will you marry me?"

"Yes" she answered, nodding and letting a single tear ran through her face.

"Glorious!" exclaimed Starfire, floating again with wet eyes. Next to her, Robin smiled satisfied and Cyborg looked up, apparently very interested in the white ceiling, his human eye sparkling.

"So, what happened?" asked Robin after some seconds in which Raven put the beautiful ring on her finger.

"It was Terra. She's got a crazy clock that made me go back in time…" told Beast Boy, annoyed.

"I think she didn't had the intention of damaging your mind like that" said Raven "But she does have an object of great magic power, Robin. That she can control with her powers."

"Hm… Where is she?" asked Cyborg, looking around. No one knew the answer. Suddenly Raven got up, fully alert.

"I have to go" she declared, to what everyone protested "Not forever, but I…"

"Raven" called Beast Boy's steady voice "Was it true… What you showed me?"

The empath nodded with a smile.

"In order to show your mind which reality you are, I showed a piece of my reality while I was gone" she explained "I fixed the crack and gave you an anchor of the present. Our son."

Beast Boy opened a big smile and got out of bed, holding her hand.

"We have to go, Robin" informed Raven, the smile fading "I have a bad feeling…"

"I want to meet the baby too!" demanded Starfire, holding Cyborg's body, who had been turned off of shock.

"We need to find Terra" said Robin, looking in his communicator "It says here that she's in the Tower, but…"

That was when a huge quake shook the Tower and knocked all the Titans to the ground.

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January 9th 2012, 4:15 pm

Caleb didn't understand what was happening.

First, he was taken from the place where everything smelled like his mother, where the birds were and where was the sleeping song. He was taken to a place where everything was different and there was a loud noise that never stopped.

So they went to a new place, where the smell was different, but nice, there was several little bird and a funny woman.

Then he realized that his mother was gone! That was extremely desperate. He cried and called, but his mother didn't came. The woman swung him again and gave him the milk that smelled like his mother, what calmed him a little bit.

Now he was lying in a comfortable soft, with images he didn't recognize above him, missing his mother and the little birds. It was hard to sleep with all those lights around him. At home there was only one light, his mother's. Here, there were a lot of lights. He didn't even know there could be so many!

He whined, hoping his mother would hear him and appear above the bars, like she always did. But she didn't. He tried to move his clumsy arms, trying to do like the big people, and the images he didn't recognize started to spin like his birds. That was a little comforting. The colors were nice.

When his eyes started to close, he missed the Green. The Green smelled like his mother and was beside him when he slept. To his surprise, the Green appeared above the bars and went to his side. Feeling his mother's scent, he fell asleep.

He woke up with a startle when the whole world started to shake.

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