Gone to the Place of Foggy Dreams

At the Nightmare's End

The portal fizzled shut behind them, and the titans collapsed in their living room. Robin sat wearily on one of the couches, gazing down at the package in his hands, not willing to open it front of his teammates and break down himself. Standing around were Cyborg and Starfire, sobbing together as they tried to move towards their rooms. Beast Boy was gazing away from them, still stunned, and still weeping silently.

"Um...if anybody needs me, I'll be in my room..." Cyborg muttered quietly, and he hobbled away, wiping away his tears.

Starfire floated after him, whispering "So shall I...", and quivering from her grief.

Robin and Beast Boy were left alone in the living room. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin could see that his teammate was now glaring at him, his fury palpable through his teary eyes. Beast Boy huffed and puffed with the anger building inside of him, and Robin waited with bated, tense breath for him to finally let loose.

"You knew!"

The harsh words made Robin bow his head in shame, as Beast Boy started to scream at him.

"That whole time, you knew that Raven was going to die, and you didn't even tell us! When she revealed that this was our final moment with her, you weren't surprised one bit! We went in there thinking that we were gonna save her and bring her home, but you refused to warn us ahead of time! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Robin couldn't bring himself to speak up. He continued to look down at the white package, knowing that Beast Boy was completely right, and that the accusation was justified.

"You basically lied to all of us, Robin! Why didn't you tell us?!"

All Robin did was bite his lip, and softly say to Beast Boy, "Because her mother told me not to."

Beast Boy gawked at him, his rage dissipating for a moment, and muttered, "W-what?"

Robin grimaced, and told him, "Just before you three were guided back to the center of the city by those doves, I was pulled aside by the spirit of Arella, Raven's mother. It was she who healed me, it was she who opened the portal to Azarath. All this time, she guided us around Azarath, helping us find clues on what happened, and how to help Raven. At the end of my talk with her, after she told me that Raven was meant to die as a result of that ritual, she begged me not to tell any of you, because you would lose hope. And...she begged me especially to not tell you, Beast. She said...she said that your grief would be the deepest out of all of us, because of reasons...that I can't...see..."

He finally looked Beast Boy in the face, and asked him, "Beast Boy...did you...?"

His teammate glared at him again, and managed to whisper through his tears, "Of course I did."

"Raven stood by my side when I let out the monster in me. Even when I nearly endangered her life, she defended me, because she knew that my base desire was to protect her through any means necessary. She never lost faith in me, and after helping her heart heal after she was lied to by that piece of shit Malchior, we bonded deeply. And now...she's gone..."

Beast Boy shuddered with his grief and said "Every time I...they..." and let out a long wail of unspeakable agony, as Robin could only watch.

For a few moments, all that transpired between them was Beast Boy sobbing loudly, and Robin unable to think of something to say that would comfort his wounded friend. He fumbled around with his hands, desperately trying to come up with something.

"At least...she's at peace," he sheepishly muttered to Beast.

His teammate merely threw his hands up in the air helplessly, and walked away towards his room, his sobs echoing behind him. Robin was left alone with the package, which he knew was bound to make him weep as well. He looked down at it, and bit his lip in hesitation. After he waited a few minutes, ensuring that Beast had left the immediate area, Robin put a tentative hand on the covering.

"It's time. They're gone for now, and they won't have to hear me..."

Robin unfolded the soft white covering surrounding the package, and let it drop to the floor.

***

In his room, Beast Boy sat in his bed, his tears slowly starting to dry as he breathed slowly. The reality of their loss was fully sinking in on him, and all he wanted was to reverse time and bring his best friend back.

"She said that I didn't fail her. She really was at peace. So...I guess Robin is right. But still...I wish it didn't have to end like that. I know that she's happy, wherever she is. Just like she is happy now, too. I know they wouldn't want me to keep beating myself up like this. I just...I wanted happier futures for both of them. And Raven...if only I could've been there to help her during her time on Azarath...I..."

As he continued to dwell on her, animalistic wailing was suddenly heard from the living room, making Beast Boy bolt upright. He yanked open his door and fled down the hall, with Cyborg and Starfire in close pursuit.

"Is that Robin?!" Cyborg asked them as they ran.

"It has to be!" Starfire told them. "There is no other person in the living room! But for him to cry like this? It has to be something very bad indeed!"

They ran, and came back into the living room, where Robin was curled up on the sofa, waling and covering his face as he wept. The other Titans stood over him in shock as they registered how upset he seemed to be.

"Dude, it'll be ok," Beast Boy said to him as gently as he could. "It's like you said, she's at peace. Just let it all out like we did."

Starfire raised her head and quirked an eyebrow at something next to Robin. She jumped over the sofa, and seized from the table what looked to be their group photo. She turned to them, and looked back down at Robin with a very confused look on her face.

"Robin, were you reminiscing over our group photo? Perhaps it would be better right now for you to look away. Maybe in a few days you can..."

Cyborg and Beast Boy gawked as her face changed from confusion to immense grief again, and she nearly dropped the photo in shock before Beast Boy jumped over the sofa and caught it. He placed an arm around her shoulder, and tried to comfort her.

"Star, what's wrong?!"

Cyborg also jumped over, and leaned in, trying to get a look as he said, "Guys, it's just the group photo, why are you-"

And then, the two boys realized why Robin and Starfire were now both sobbing profusely. Their own tears started to flow thickly again, as they placed tender hands on the photo. They hadn't noticed the difference until they had peered closely at the image.

Where Raven had once stood emotionless in the corner of her photo, wearing her stereotypical blank expression and robed in dark blue, a new form had replaced her. Instead of the Raven they had seen for years, a gently smiling face beamed up at them, with her empowered white robe slightly glowing in the background. And at the bottom of the photo, emblazoned in a glowing blue script was the following words:

"Forever and Always"