The Hybrid

The Pain of Healing

They finally got to a nearby stream with flat dry smooth rocks in the water. Po jumped onto one of them from the bank while Raven used her flight powers to gently sit on it. Po and Raven crossed their legs as they breathed in and out. "Now, this is maybe difficult for you. It was for me when I was learning it," Po explained. Raven nodded. "In order to know what healing is like, you have to first deal with all the pain you've been through in your life," Po said, touching her head, causing her to see visions of all the heartache and pain she went through. Raven shook Po's hand away from her. "Wow, you need some counseling," Po explained. Raven rolled her eyes.

"So what do I do in the meantime?" Ed asked.

"Why don't you go to Tigress. I think she's going to need someone to 'vent' with?" Po said, throwing up quotation marks. Ed sighed.

"I'll get my armor ready," Edgar groaned as he flew away. Po sighed with a nervous sweatdrop.

"Now, what I'm going to do is give you some visions of your past. Each one we'll try and get through. But first, let's try the obvious one. The first one that I struggled with. Who are you?"

"I'm Raven?" Po sighed in slight defeat, making Raven's lips curl a bit in amusement.

"I mean, who are you? Are you a girl or a woman? A hero or... a creepy monster?" Now she knew he was serious, "A friend, a demon, or... a friend?"

"How much did you see?"

"Not much, but... lucky guess?" Po grinned in a cheesy manner. Raven rolled her eyes in irritation. "But enough to know you've been through some major stuff. We have to make sure that there is one thing you realize is significant: Your identity. Who do you think you are?" Raven looked on past the flowing stream to the point where it dropped off. Her thoughts race and flowed as she tried to find words to pick out from the stream of thought.

"I...I was trained to keep my emotions in control. To not emote more than a fraction of what others could. I thought I was a demon. But... that was an unintentional lie that I told myself... and that others told me."

"How did others tell you that?" Po asked.

"They would say that I needed to be secluded from everyone else. That I needed to be alone for what felt like a century. I thought I was a cursed child from the start."

"But?" Raven looked up to the sky. Clear blue, contrasting the blind bright sun.

"If I were a cursed child, I wouldn't be doing the things I am doing. There were people who were supposed to be 'saints' that were the complete opposite and were worse than criminals themselves. But I wanted to save people. I didn't want to hurt them. From my powers, I thought I would only cause harm."

"But you didn't harm anyone."

"No, I didn't. And I'm... glad," Raven silently said, a small tear coming down her face. She heard sniffing and saw Po wiping some tears away.

"What? It was touching," He said in a dramatic way. Raven shook her head with a smile. "*Coughs* now. How about your friends? How have they helped?" Raven gave a small chuckle.

"They have given me so much... help. When my father came to try and destroy the world, they still gave me hope. Even when I thought it would never happen, they believed for me. Especially,... my closest friend. My... lucky friend," Raven said, referring to the penny that Beast Boy gave her on the day Trigon came. "I never want to see my friends in harm."

"But they will." Raven jerked her head over to the panda with a confused and slightly angered look. "Well, it's only natural. Trust me, I've tried keeping my friends out of harm's way all the time. But there's nothing that you can do about it. Don't let the fear of losing your friends overcome you because it will happen. Instead, enjoy their company and the memories they give you now in the present," Po explained. Raven sighed, breathing in deeply. "Good. Now, the next one. What do your enemies teach you about yourself?"