Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ You Don't Have to Be Alone ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

You Don't Have to be Alone

Chapter 5

A/N: Well, folks, I can't believe it but I finally made it to the end of this story. Yep, this is the last and final chapter! And yes, this is the chapter with the lemon in it. ^^ So if you don't like lemon, I don't recommend this chapter, but I personally think this chapter is really good so maybe you could just scroll past the lemon. ^_^ lol Well, I hope you like it! ^_~

**Just a little note: OK, you know that song "All the Things She Said" by TATU? Well, I love that song and I looked up the lyrics to it, and I realized that that song kinda fits Raven and Sara. Actually, it would fit Raven and anybody. lol OK, I know that song is about a girl starting to have feelings for another girl, but if it was about a guy starting to have feelings for a girl, then it would be so Raven and Sara. lol Cuz you know, in the song, it says "Yes, I've lost my mind" and if you think about it, if Raven was ever in love, he would probably think he lost his mind. lol But I'm serious! I think the song would probably be from Raven's point of view, though. OK, if you still think I'm crazy for thinking that song fits them, then just go to www.tatu.us/lyrics1.htm and see for yourself. ^_~

*************************************************************** ********

**The Next Morning After Where Chapter 4 Left Off**

Sara awoke to the sun shining in her eyes. She looked over beside her, but Raven wasn't there. She sat up and looked around the cave, but he was no where to be found. She got a little worried but then she spotted him outside by his Genosaurer, so she stood up and started walking towards where Raven was.

He was putting some stuff inside the Genosaurer. She walked up behind him and then stopped. "Hi, Raven."

He didn't respond. He didn't even turn to look at her.

~Okay...what's the matter with him?~ she thought. "Raven...what's wrong?"

Again, he didn't respond.

"Raven, will you just talk to me?"

He turned around to face her. "Talk to you about what? About what happened last night? Well, forget it because there's nothing to talk about," he said angrily.

"Nothing to talk about? Raven, I don't know if you realized it, but we made out last night! OK, you don't just do that!"

"Well, obiviously, you do. Because we just did. And it didn't mean anything," he snapped.

"You told me that it was real."

"Oh, come on, I was half asleep, for god's sake! I didn't know what I was saying!"

Sara shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"What?"

"I don't believe you. You knew what you were saying. You know you did. You're just trying to make an excuse. That's all you do! Every time something between us happens, you always make up some excuse to make it seem like it didn't mean anything! You just don't want to accept what's happening between us, do you?"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, I do," she said firmly.

"No, you don't!"

They were both silent for a minute but Sara finally said something. "OK, fine. You're right. I don't know what I'm talking about. I guess I was just stupid to think that you could actually have feelings for someone. Yeah, that was a stupid idea. I mean, it's obvious you can't. You're just too scared to be in a relationship."

"Too scared? I'm not scared."

"Then what is it, Raven? You know what happens between us means something. I know you know it! But if you're not scared, then why do you keep running from it?"

"Because--," Raven started as he slammed his fist against the Genosaurer. "Because..." For some reason, Raven couldn't say anything.

"Because you're afraid." She slipped her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her waist.

He sighed deeply before saying quietly, "You're right." He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her away from him so he could look at her in the eyes. Then he ran his hands down her arms and took her hands in his.

"Sara...," he started, "I can't stop thinking about you. I can't get you out of my mind. OK, and it drives me insane. I've never felt like this about anyone before. And you're right...it scares me."

Sara didn't know what to say, so she leaned in and kissed him softly. "Don't be afraid," she whispered. "Because I'm feeling exactly what you're feeling. You're not the only one."

He wrapped his arms around her and took her into a strong embrace once again. "Stay with me. Will you?" he whispered in her ear.

"Of course I will. Because if I don't, I'd probably go crazy. I want to be with you, Raven."

(a/n: I hope Raven wasn't too OOC in that scene. I tried to keep him in character, but it was really hard. If he is a bit OOC, I'm sorry! Hey, I tried my best.^^)

They stayed like that, in each other's arms, for a few minutes but then Raven pulled away and said, "Come on. Let's go." At that, they both climbed into the Genosaurer and then, they were off.

A little while later, Sara realized that the Imperial Army base wasn't that far off from where they were. She knew she had to tell everyone there that she would be traveling with Raven from now on, and she also knew that she needed to get some of her possesions to take with her.

"Raven? The Imperial Army base is not too far off. Do you mind taking me by there so I can get some of my clothes and tell the others that I'm going to be staying with you?" she asked.

"Fine," he said.

Not too long after that, they arrived at the base. When Raven's zoid marched in, everyone around looked frightened, but then Sara climbed out and told them that they weren't going to hurt anyone and that she was just going to get some things, and then they'd be off. They all calmed and went back to what they were doing, although, they still kept an eye on Raven.

"I won't be long, Raven," said Sara. Then she walked off to the little place where Van and Fiona stayed.

When she walked in that room, Fiona rushed up to her.

"Sara! Are you alright? What happened? I waited and waited for you and you never came home! But then Van kept saying that you were with Raven but I didn't know if I should believe him or not and--" Sara cut her off.

"Fiona! Fiona, it's okay, I'm alright."

Just then, Van walked in the room.

"Sara! Where have you been?" he said.

"Well, yesterday, after Fiona went back home, these guys came up to me and starting messing with me. I was so scared. I thought they were going to rape me or something but then Raven showed up and saved me."

"See, Fiona? I told you she was with Raven again," said Van.

"Well, I've got some news for you both. From now on, I'm going to be traveling with Raven so I'm here to get some of my clothes and say good-bye."

"What? You're leaving? Raven's allowing you to stay with him?" questioned Fiona.

"Well, yes. I'm sorry, it's just that...I really want to be with him."

"Yes, well, I understand, Sara," said Fiona, "Although, I am going to miss you."

"So will I," said Van. "I mean, I'm happy for you and all. You're getting something you wanted that seemed almost impossible to have, and I'm happy for you for that, but I will miss you, all the same."

"I'll miss both of you, too," she said. "Well, I better go get my stuff together."

"I'll come help," said Fiona. The two girls went to Sara's room and started gathering a few garmets.

As they were both placing the clothes into a small bag, Fiona decided to ask Sara something that had been on her mind.

"Sara? What's going on with you and Raven? I mean, for him to let you stay with him like this, something big must have happened last night. What was it?"

"Well, he kissed me...again. But this time, it was alot more than just a kiss." As soon as she said that, Fiona's eyes grew wide. "No, no! Don't get any ideas! It wasn't anything like that!"

"Oh, ok, good," said Fiona. "I just can't believe it. I mean, I think Raven really likes you."

"Yeah, I think so, too," said Sara with a smile. "Or at least, I hope so."

"Well, why else would he let you travel with him?"

"I guess you're right," she said as she put the last garmet into the bag. "Well, I guess I'm ready to go."

Sara and Fiona headed for the door when Sara noticed something on her dresser. "Oh, my favorite necklace," she said as she grabbed it. "I don't want to forget this." The necklace was a silver chain with a blue "S" outlined in silver. The "S" stood for "Sara", of course.

Sara bid everyone farewell and then she was off to start her travels with Raven--a person she never thought she'd be basically living with. She was a little nervous about staying with him all the time, but at the same time, she was excited and happy.

The next few weeks with Raven were fairly enjoyable for Sara. Of course, Raven did lose his temper sometimes and say some mean things, but Sara knew that he never mean it.

Shadow actually put up with her okay. He never once tried to hurt her or anything. She was grateful for that because at first, she was a little apprehensive about being close to Shadow. Although, after a while, she had no problem with it.

Usually, they would stay in one area for a few days. During the day, Raven would go off to train. Sometimes he would take the Genosaurer with him, and sometimes he wouldn't. Sara learned alot about the Genosaurer and how it worked, so whenever Raven didn't take the Genosaurer with him to train, she would check up on it and make sure everything was in working order. Also, she would watch Shadow and sometimes walk to a nearby village to pick up some food. After a few days in one area, they would travel to somewhere else.

One night while Raven and Sara were sitting around a fire in a cave(a/n: always a cave! lol), Raven said something that was very striking and made Sara feel a little uncomfortable. Somehow, the topic of killing came up and Sara was asking Raven how he was able to just kill people like it was nothing.

"I don't know," he said, "Some people's lives just don't seem important to me."

"I still don't see how you can say that. I could never kill anyone. I wouldn't be able to stand it," she said.

"Such innocence," he said and with a smirk, he added, "But not for long."

"Huh? W--What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you won't be so innocent for long. Soon, something is going to happen, and then, well let's just say that you won't be so innocent anymore."

What he said definitely made her more nervous and cautious around him because she knew what that "something is going to happen" meant. Yes, she knew what that "something" was. (a/n: ^_^ lol Ok, I'm gonna stop with the little author's notes.^^)

She spent the next few days wondering if Raven was really serious. If he really meant what he said. A person really can't tell if he's serious or not because his facial expressions don't change much, so Sara didn't know what to think. But then one night, a few weeks later, he confirmed her suspicions...

They were sitting by the fire, as usual, just talking. But then there was this awkward silence between them. Sara was staring at the fire, just thinking, when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Raven was looking at her. She turned to him and their eyes met. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds, and then, Raven slowly leaned in and kissed her softly. The kiss was brief and when he pulled away, he stared into her eyes once more. They were silent for several more seconds, but then, Raven leaned in again and kissed her once again, but this time it was more firm.

Sara shyly wrapped her arms around his neck as he grabbed her by her shoulders and gently laid her down on the blankets. He moved to where he was on top of her and their lips parted for a brief instant, but they soon met once more. Raven let his tongue slide across her lips as if waiting for her to let him in. Not wanting to keep him waiting, she parted her lips just enough to allow his tongue to slip in, exploring and teasing the inside her mouth.

As this was happening, Raven's hands decided to do a little exploring themselves. Sara was so caught up in their extremely passionate and wild kiss that she didn't even notice when all of their clothes were removed, and truth be told, she probably didn't care.

Raven traced his fingers across her smooth skin; his touch sending shivers down Sara's spine. His hand slowly slide down her sides, but stopping to take the time to caress and feel her ample breasts, but then continuing on down her abdomen. Just as they broke their kiss to catch their breath, his hands stopped at her hips, and he then pushed her legs apart.

Sara inhaled sharply as she knew what he was going to do next. Sure enough, he plunged into her and she moaned loudly in pain. She began to whimper, but then he softly caressed her cheek and whispered comforting words in her ear to calm her.

Soon, the pain subsided, and he kissed her again just as he began to move in and out in a motion that's not even explainable. Again, she moaned loudly, but this time, it was in pleasure. Her vision began to blur and became fuzzy as she lost all sense of what was going on around her and went through her first climax.

Then, the immense pleasure she was feeling soon began to die down as he rolled off of her. Now laying beside her, Raven wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. They were both panting, and he gave her, as well as himself, some time to catch their breath before saying something he had been wanting to say.

He lifted her chin up so that their eyes met. "Well, what did I tell you? You're not so innocent anymore, now are you?" he whispered.

She stared deep into his lavender eyes for a moment, but then she smiled and closed her eyes as she drifted off to sleep. Soon, Raven fell asleep as well. They were both drenched in sweat, but it didn't bother them. They were in each other's arms...and at that time, that was all that mattered. The world could be coming down around them, but they wouldn't even notice because they had each other...and right then, that was all that mattered.

The next few days went by and they were pleasant. Sara kept thinking about that night. She couldn't believe that she had slept with Raven. For some reason, it just seemed so impossible. It's just that, in the beginning, that's not what she wanted. She just wanted him to care about her the way she cared for him. ....Oh, who am I kidding? You know that secretly, that's what she wanted. I mean, we are talking about Raven here. What kind of girl wouldn't want a chance with him? ^_~

One night, while Sara was sleeping, Raven was awake reflecting on the past events and how he really felt about Sara. He looked over at her and for some reason, her necklace with the "S" on it caught his attention. Sure, he had noticed it before but this was the first time he ever just stopped to look at it. He thought it was so strange that she had a necklace like that because he had one that was similar. Of course, his was a guy necklace, he wore it under his shirt, and his had a "R" instead of a "S". Also, his looked a little bit different because it was on a black string and the "R" was black outlined in silver. He pulled it out from under his shirt, removed it from around his neck, and looked at it. He remembered when he first got it. Prozen gave it to him when Raven was about 13 years old. He still doesn't see the point in getting the necklace, but Prozen said that Raven should have a trademark and the necklace would be perfect. Of course, the necklace never became Raven's trademark because he thought it was stupid, but he still kept it for whatever reason.

Raven's thoughts soon went back to Sara. He knew that soon, there would be some rough battles going on and he didn't want her to be a part of it. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to tell her to leave, and knowing her, she probably wouldn't anyway. Then a thought came to him...a thought saying to leave her. But no, he couldn't do that...could he?

He thought about it more and decided that maybe it was the best thing. But what about when she wakes up and she's all alone? What then? He thought about that, too. He decided that the Imperial Army base wasn't that far from where they were now and maybe she could get a ride there.

That's it. He made his decision. He was going to leave and he was going to that very night. Quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping Sara, he got up and gathered his belongings. Of course, he did leave the blankets Sara was sleeping with.

He was just about to leave when he thought of something. He looked at his necklace in his hand and looked back at Sara. He sat his stuff down and walked over beside her. He knelt down and carefully slipped her necklace off from around her neck and then put his necklace around her neck. He figured that this way, she wouldn't be so upset when she woke up. Then, he softly kissed her cheek, stood up, and left with her necklace in hand.

The new morning, Sara woke up and looked around. Of course, she was alone. When she finally realized that he had left her, she felt tears form in her eyes. They began to slide down her cheeks and she did nothing to stop them. She buried her face in the blankets and just cried.

Why did he leave her there all alone? What had she done? Was he just sick of her or did he do this for his own reasons? All these questions raced through her mind, and the worst thing was, she had no answers for any of them.

She didn't really know what to do, but she did the only she knew to do. She walked. She had no idea where she was headed, but at that time, she didn't care. More tears streamed down her cheeks as she walked, and she probably was a mess, but she didn't care. She was so upset, she didn't care about anything.

She walked for days, but of course, stopping every once in a while to rest. She had no food and she was starving. She would ask passerbys for a lift to the Imperial Army base and some food, and no one ever gave her a ride, but sometimes she would get a little bit of food. It wasn't ever much, but at least it was something.

A few days later, Sara was rescued. She had just been walking when all of a sudden, by either a miracle or just plain luck, a very familiar Gustav pulled up beside her. She looked over at it and was overcome with joy when she saw Moonbay, Fiona, Van, and Irivine inside.

As soon as they all noticed it was Sara, they immediately stopped and jumped out of the Gustav.

"Sara! Is it really you?" said Moonbay as she ran up to her, along with everyone else.

"What happened? Why are you out here all alone?" questioned Fiona. Sara could tell she was filled with worry.

"It was Raven, wasn't it?" said Van, anger already building up inside him.

"Everyone, please, just calm down a second and let me explain," said Sara, and trying to hold back her tears, she explained what happened.

"That bastard!" exclaimed Irvine at hearing that.

"I can't believe Raven just left you like that!" said Van.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Moonbay to Van. "But, if you think about it, that is very Raven-like."

Fiona looked at Sara and noticed that her head was bent down and her bangs covered her eyes. Fiona knew Sara was very upset. She walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her for comfort. Sara leaned her head on Fiona's shoulder and silently cried some more.

"It's going to be alright, Sara," she said reassuringly. Fiona sure was a good friend. "Come on, let's you get you back home."

"Back home? You mean to the base?" asked Van.

"Yes. Is that ok? I just think she needs to get cleaned up and get some rest."

Van understood. "Sure, Fiona. That's fine."

When they all got to the base, Sara got cleaned up, fed, and even got a good night's rest. And although her normal human needs were satisfied, her heart definitely was not.

The next day, while they were all riding in the Gustav, Sara had on a headset and was listening to the song "Angel" by Amanda Perez. She had become very fond of that song because it really described how she felt. (a/n: For the lyrics to that song, copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/amandaperez/angel.html )

Fiona glanced over at Sara and noticed something. "Hey, Sara."

Sara, seeing that Fiona was trying to tell her something, took off the headset.

"Where's your necklace?" Fiona asked.

"What do you mean? It's right here around my neck," she said as she pointed to her neck.

"That's not your necklace."

Sara became confused so she touched the necklace, and noticing that it was string and not a metal chain, she quickly took it off. Her eyes grew wide as she examined the necklace she was holding in her hand.

"You're right. This isn't my necklace. Look, Fiona. It's a 'R'," she said showing the necklace to her friend.

"You don't think...?" She didn't finish her sentence.

"No. It couldn't be...could it?"

"I don't know. I mean, he did leave you pretty abrubtly(sp?) and without a trace. But maybe...maybe he left you this."

"Do you really think so? But wait a minute! Where's my necklace?"

Fiona shrugged. "Maybe he took it with him."

"How dare he take my necklace!"

Fiona laughed a little. "Now, wait a minute, Sara. Look at what he did. You have this necklace with a 'R' on it, which must stand for 'Raven', which means that this is his. And your necklace with a 'S' for your name is gone, which means he must have taken it with him. Don't you see what he did? He took your necklace to remember you and left you his so you would remember him."

"Really? Do you really think that's what he did?"

"Well, there's no other possible explanation for it."

"Hmm...maybe you're right," she said as she took the necklace back and put it around her neck. "Well, I'll certainly remember him."

A few weeks later, Sara started having what she and the others believed as morning sickness, which was definitely not a good sign. Fiona took her to the doctor for a pregnancy test, and to everyone's dismay, it turned out positive. At first, she wondered how she got pregnant, but then she remembered that night and that Raven probably wasn't wearing protection. You know, he's kinda irresponsible. (lol)

She couldn't believe it. She had no idea what she was going to do. Sara was so upset that she spent the next few nights crying herself to sleep. There she was, pregnant, all alone except for her friends, and to top it all off, she was young. She was only 18, and in her book, that's too young to have a baby.

Several months had passed and Sara's pregnant stomach was growing larger and larger. No one had seen or even heard anything about Raven. They thought they should contact him and let him know what was going on, but no one could come in contact with him.

Finally, the day came where Sara had to go into labor. They still tried to locate Raven, but had no luck in finding him.

Well, Sara gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She had actually wanted a boy just incase Raven came back. She thought he might want a son to follow in his footsteps or something like that. But alas, she had a little girl.

She was scared. She had no idea how to raise a baby, but Fiona and Moonbay reassured her that they would do all they could to help. Yes, she really did have great friends.

The next few weeks were pretty tough. The baby, whom she named Amber because of her beautiful amber colored eyes, cried every night, waking them all up. Thankfully, little Amber was usually a good baby and only cried when it was absolutely necessary. ^_^ Therefore, she wasn't too much of a hassle to everyone.

Well, a few weeks later, the final battle against Hiltz and Prozen began. Of course, Van, Irvine, and Thomas were fighting. Sara, Fiona, and Moonbay watched on from a distance. Sara was suprised when Raven showed up and even more suprised when he started fighting on Van's side.

(a/n: OK, I can't remember if Thomas fought in the final battle or not. I believe he did but it's been a really long time since I've seen those episodes, so forgive me if I'm wrong.^^)

That's when a little ways off, closer to the battle than where Sara was, she noticed a woman sitting atop a very familiar organoid. The woman had short, blue hair and the organoid was black. She knew instantly that it was Shadow, but she wondered who the woman was. Sara decided she wanted to go find out. She asked Fiona and Moonbay to watch over little Amber while she went to go talk to that woman.

"Hello," said Sara when she came up beside the woman.

She didn't respond.

"Um...I noticed that you're sitting on Shadow, Raven's organoid, and I was just wondering if you know Raven."

Finally, the woman turned to look at her. "Yes, I know him. I've been traveling with him."

That statement definitely took Sara by suprise. ~Oh my God,~ she thought, ~Does Raven love this woman?~ "Traveling with him? What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, I've been traveling with him," she said, but then she quickly changed the subject. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Sara."

The woman's eyes grew wide. "Sara! You're that girl! I can't believe it! You're the girl that Raven has so much feelings for."

"Wha-? Wait, 'has so much feelings for'? You mean, you and Raven aren't together?"

"No. I just travel with him. But to tell you the truth, I did try to hit it off with him, but whenever I tried, he always either pushed me away or avoided me," she said.

"So Raven's talked about me?"

"Well, yes and no. You see, I saw the necklace with the 'S' on it, and knowing that his name certainly didn't start with a S, I asked him what it stood for. He told me it stood for Sara. I asked him who Sara was and he said, and I quote: 'She's a woman I know. A woman who showed me a completely different side to everything'. Then, I said, 'So you're in love with her?' And he replied with, 'You could say that'. That's when I knew why he always avoided me whenever I tried anything. He already had feelings for someone else."

Sara was speechless. "Wow...I can't believe he said that."

"Yeah, well, I'm not making this stuff up," she said.

"Well, I need to get back up there where my friends are," said Sara, and then she added with a small laugh, "There's a little baby girl up there who's probably pitching a fit right now. See ya!" Then she started walking off.

~Baby?~ thought the woman. ~Raven never mentioned a baby. Hmm...well, maybe it's not even her baby.~

Just then, Sara stopped and turned back around. "Hey!" she called to the woman. "I never even got your name."

She smiled and said, "Reese. It's Reese."

"OK, well, I hope to talk to you again, Reese! Bye!" With that, she went back to where Fiona and Moonbay were.

Well, the battle went on and it was long and strenuous. There were times when they almost didn't think Van and the gang could win, but they always had hope. When finally, after many long hours, the winners prevailed. They were Van, Irvine, Thomas, and of course, Raven. Prozen and Hiltz were finally defeated!

Everyone was filled with joy. Even Raven wore a genuine smile. Fiona and Moonbay rushed to the others, but Sara stayed behind a little ways. She was very excited over their victory, but for some reason, she just didn't want to be a part in the big commotion that was going on.

Reese came up to Raven and congratulated him. Then she told him what had happened during the battle.

"I talked to someone very interesting," she said. "She said her name was...Sara."

Raven's eyes grew wide. "Sara? You talked to her?"

"Yes. She's still here; I know she is. See? She's standing right over there," said Reese as she pointed to where Sara was. "I really think you should go talk to her. I mean, on the outside, she looked happy, but I could tell that she was very upset on the inside."

Raven, then, took off running over to Sara. She was probably very upset at him and he wanted so badly to explain everything to her.

"Wait! Raven! I didn't finish!" called Reese. Seeing that Raven wasn't stopping, she ran off after him.

"Sara!" he said when he finally got to her. "Look, I know you're upset, but let me explain."

"Oh, Raven...look at what is in my arms."

"A b-baby?"

"Yes, a baby. Your baby! Our baby, Raven!" Tears started coming to her eyes.

Just then, Reese came up beside them. "Raven, I think she has a baby!" Then she looked to Sara who was about to cry and the small baby in her arms. "Oh...you already know?"

"Wait...are you sure?" Raven asked Sara.

"Yeah, Raven, there's a baby in her arms, but you know, it just appeared there one day! Yeah, let me tell ya about it!" Reese blurted out sarcastically.

"Shut up, Reese. You know, I'm looking around and I don't see anyone who asked for your opinion," Raven snapped.

"Yeah, well, no one has to ask my opinion! I can say whatever I want and whenever I want!"

"You guys! Please!" exclaimed Sara. Raven and Reese both stopped arguing. (a/n: lol, Raven and Reese always argue. I mean, it's like another Bulma and Vegeta(dbz) ^^ lol)

"Sara...is this really...my child?" asked Raven.

"Yes," she said.

"Hmm...well, I can see you two need to talk this through, so I'm just gonna go over there," said Reese as she walked off.

Raven put his hands over his face but then pulled them away. "I can't believe this."

"Yeah, well, neither could I. But I do now because this baby is real! She's not an illusion! She's a real live baby and she's ours."

"She?"

"Yes, it's a girl and I named her Amber. I hope that name is ok with you," she said, but then suddenly, her attitude changed. "No, you know what? I don't care if it's ok with you because you weren't there when she was born so you have no say-so in her name whatsoever. Let's see, where were you...oh that's right. I don't know because you left me! All alone!"

Raven could tell she was mad and he figured she was very mad because he had never heard her talk like that before. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "Listen, I know I left you. And maybe that wasn't such a smart thing to do, but at the time, I thought it was. I thought it was the right thing because I knew there were going to be some tough times coming up and I-I...I just didn't want you to get hurt."

More tears formed in her eyes. "Raven, I understand that you just wanted me to be safe, but all you had to do was tell me. I mean, maybe you thought that wouldn't work, but you should have at least tried instead of just leaving me by myself."

Tears began sliding down her cheeks and her voice became shaky. "I was so afraid...and alone. I had no idea where I was, and the worst thing was I didn't know why you left me. I thought...I thought you didn't want to be with me anymore. And then when I found out I was pregnant, that made everything worse. We tried to track you down and come in contact with you, but we always failed. That's when I thought that maybe you really didn't want to have anything to do with me."

He placed his hands on the sides of her face and wiped away one of her tears with his thumb. "No. No, that's not true. Why else would I have traded our necklaces? I did that so you wouldn't forget about...about me. And so I wouldn't forget about you. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I-I'm...sorry."

She looked at him through her teary eyes. "Well, I forgive you, but it's the worst feeling...being alone. Thinking that you were never coming back. You don't know what it's like to be all alone, do you?"

He took her into a strong embrace. "Yes, I do," he whispered in her ear. "And don't worry, I'm not going anywhere now. You don't have to be alone."

She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him. "And neither do you, Raven. Neither do you."

THE END

*************************************************************** ********

OMG, it's over! Yes, folks, it really is over. ;_; I'm just gonna miss writing it! lol...Anyway, I hope Raven wasn't too OOC at the end, but if you remember that at the end of the series, Raven really does settle down a bit and change his attitude. I mean, after the battle, we only see Raven for a few minutes but I could still tell that he was changed. I mean, he smiled, for god's sake! lol Well, I hope y'all enjoyed this fic! Thanks so much for all the great and nice reviews! ^_~ I really appreciate it! Also, a big sorry for the amount of time it took me to post each chapter and for keeping y'all waiting so long to read the next chapter each time. ^^;;; I really am sorry! Anyways...until next time, ja ne! ^_~