Chapter 4

After another peaceful night of dreamless sleep (mainly because the two were sleeping right next to the object of such flights of fancy), Garfield and Raven woke up considerably earlier than expected. After a silent breakfast, the two went to Raven's room to meditate. Raven had stated that she had prepared something special for Gar.

"So what is the surprise? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Garfield begged excitedly.

"Whoa, easy Simba! Rome wasn't built in a day!" Raven giggled.

"Okay, I'll try."

"Good. Now, I need you to close your eyes and try to find your center." Raven watched as the changeling gathered himself into a lotus position and did his best to calm himself. Meanwhile, she was busy prepping Garfield's gift. She had given serious thought and consideration into it and she honestly hoped that he would enjoy it.

As she watched Gar meditate, she attempted to measure his chakra flow. As a chakra user herself, she could examine chakra flow to the vital organs. In addition, it also gave her an in-depth sense of physiology and made it easier to determine the extent of injuries. While Raven most certainly wouldn't explain what she was looking at right now, (at least not in public,) she did have great potential as a medic.

Her train of thought was swiftly interrupted by Garfield shivering. It was now mid to late autumn and the temperature drop was nothing, if not noticeable.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah Rae, just a little cold."

"Here, let me help. OK, is that better?"

"Yeah, actually. It's really warm." The changeling snuggled into the newfound warmth.

Raven giggled a little.

"You can open your eyes now, Gar."

The changeling did so…

Less than 6 inches in front of him was Raven, her arms wrapped around Gar's shoulders and back. A small beam of sunlight shone out from her window, illuminating the room's inhabitants. Raven's soft purple locks were now done up into a tiny ponytail; not particularly necessary, but cute nonetheless. Her trademark leotard and cloak had changed from a deep indigo to a light blue, barely lighter than the November sky outside. All in all... Garfield was caught off guard.

"My god..." He said as he and Raven inched closer and closer...

"You are... beautiful." The two touched foreheads...

... and at that moment, Raven and Garfield's lips met. While there was nothing outwardly passionate about the kiss, it was still incredibly sweet. Raven decided that she could stay there with Garfield for an eternity, just laying all her troubles down by the wayside.

Garfield's thoughts weren't too far off on that idea either. As much as he enjoyed Raven's company, he had to say, things didn't get much better than that.

Sadly, since oxygen is a thing that exists, after a few moments, the two had to break the kiss. Raven, who was too content to move, leaned into Garfield's embrace. Finally, after a long, cuddly silence, Garfield spoke.

"I love you, Rae."

The empath's response was to lean over and kiss her green counterpart again.

"I love you too, Gar. And I'll never let you forget. So..."

"Yeah Rae?"

"... Ready for your gift?"

"That wasn't a gift?" The changeling laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes." Raven giggled back. She pulled out something from a drawer next to her bed. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be her meditation mirror.

"Ah man, not the claw aga-aaaaaaaaaa!" Garfield was cut off as the new couple entered Nevermore via crash landing in a pink meadow.

"Well, now I know how a TV dinner feels. No more flying coach for me." Garfield joked.

"And I need to stop standing in the runway." A giggly voice came from under Garfield.

Garfield jumped back at the sound of the voice. Laying where he just was a pink clad version of Raven.

"Hannah!" Garfield stated as he rushed to aid the gleeful emotion.

"Hi Garfield!" The pink doppelganger cheered as she bear-hugged the changeling.

"Hannah, come on! Don't hog all the fun!" A green clad doppelganger called out flanked by a gray hooded clone.

"Oh, don't fret, Brittany! He just got here!"

"Um...guys?" The small timid clone inquired. After the second Malchior incident a week ago, Raven had decided on naming the emotions, thus making them slightly easier to identify. The three currently present were named Hannah(Happy), Brittany (Bravery) and Tina(Timidity).

"Tina's right. We have to take him to meet the others." Brittany stated. "Hannah, you know this realm better than all of us. Will you lead the way?"

"You got it!" The bubbly clone guided ahead, making airplane noises along the way. The motley crew marched on in silence. After about ten minutes of walking, they reached the top of a medium-sized hill. Atop the hill was a lone sakura tree, surrounded by Raven clones of various colours. From what Garfield could see, there was an emotion at the base of the tree that acted as the leader.

The group made their way into the clearing, the trio of sisters making their way towards the back while Garfield went to meet the other emotions. He decided to meet the leader first.

"Hi there." The changeling extended a greeting.

"Hello Garfield. It's nice to finally acquaint ourselves face to face. I am Kenzie, Raven's personification of factual intelligence." The clone now known as Kenzie stated.

"It's nice to meet you, Kenzie. Is it possible to meet the others around here?" The sagely emotion adjusted her spectacle and nodded, gesturing towards the gathered emotions.

"Since you have already met Hannah, Tina and Brittany, we should start from there. My intellectual counterpart here is named Willow (Wisdom), the one next to her is Rue (Rudeness), this is Roxanne(Romance) and this piece of work is Layla(Lust)."

"You seem to have too many people to get to know well in just a single day." Beast Boy stated.

"You needn't worry, dear Garfield. Time is not a factor here. This place was made in an alternate channel in space-time, a wormhole in the fabric of the universe if you will."

"Oh, okay. So, you're saying that Nevermore is sort of like a deviation from the tangent of time and space where time is completely stopped?"

"That's…correct. Anyway, you should have ample time to greet the emotional residents." Kenzie stated, astonished that Garfield managed to give a flawless example of the Nevermore equation. "Oh, look, an emotion is already familiarizing herself with you."

"Huh?" Garfield inquired. He noticed that every set of eyes from Brittany to Willow was on him.

And then he felt it. A small caress that almost felt like…

A human tongue. He smelt sweet carrion on the emotion's breath. He turned his eyes.

Standing directly behind him was the darkest of Raven's emotions, the sum of her rage, malice and hatred. And yet, something was different from the last time Gar saw her. Her eyes were the same as Raven's, her hair was visible, and, oh yeah, she was licking a small cut on Gar's neck. She did so for about 5 minutes or so, before noticing the others.

"Satisfied, Annabel?" Willow asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did any of you want a taste?" Annabel asked.

"Well, duh! God, so careless sometimes." Layla spoke up.

"Nevertheless, while everyone here does share a bit of the same feelings for Garfield, we are getting tremendously off topic. Annabel, since you have shown such an interest in Garfield already, you get to show him around your realm for a while. After that, take him to Hannah, then she'll choose who to take him to next." Kenzie states, then smiles at Garfield "Have fun, Garfield!" The changeling waved as he and Annabel disappeared.

Garfield had to admit, when he had heard that he was going to Annabel's realm, he expected something akin to a hellish domain. Fire everywhere, screams of pain and lamentation, maybe a few volcanoes.

Annabel's realm was… a metalhead's paradise. Posters hung from everywhere, paying tribute to Dio, Venom, Exodus, Megadeth, Behemoth, Dissection...it was just so much to take in.

"Uh, Annabel?"

"Yeah?"

"When did your outfit change?" He asked. Annabel now wore a maroon spiked leather vest and black cargo pants with matching boots.

"Right after we entered my realm. Everyone has a choice in what they want in their realm."

"Ok. Kinda surprised by the change though. I thought that your realm would look…"

"Like some sort of hellish prison, right?" Annabel finished.

"Um...yeah." Said the changeling, flinching away from Annabel.

"It's all cool. After all, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for dear old daddy." Annabel reassured, her hastily spiked hair dancing around her head like a beautiful purple halo.

"Really? But I thought…"

"That you might be the cause of my extended existence?"

The dejected changeling slumped down slightly, yet nodded.

"Garfield, look at me." He did so. "While the things I hate are infinitely many, you are not one of them." Annabel looked deeply into his eyes.

"How?"

"While most of your jokes are lame, you at least try. If I really hated you, I'd just snap your neck and be done with it." Annabel smirked. "Besides, just look at yourself. You're strong, insightful, and who could forget your fanged smile. Although, I'll admit, it looked even better in Beast mode."

Garfield blushed a little.

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue on here, you do have a rather tight schedule. Ironic, considering there is no such thing as time here." Annabel smirked.

"Do I have to go?"

" 'Fraid so, green bean. Don't worry, you'll see me again soon enough." She gave Garfield a quick peck on the lips and opened a portal.

"See ya round, Annabel."

"Later." She gave a wink before the portal to Hannah's realm closed.