Dear dudes and dudettes! Yes, I'm back! But I won't promise how frequently I'll upload, I'm on bad terms with deadlines... So enjoy what you get and have fun. Oh, and always remember: SMILE!

Love – that difficult thing

For once, it was silent in the Logan house at Jump City. Mother Raven was out with the eldest daughter Jewel for shopping (once a month the fifteen year old managed to drag her beloved Mom into the shopping mall, sometimes accompanied with her aunts Jess and Kori and her friend Iris, but today they were alone). The three other children were somewhere in the back garden, probably inside the tree house, with their friends Jai, Vince and Lian, while father Garfield (for once content with the silence) was washing the dishes from lunch.

But silence never lasted long in this household, not with the changelings' heritage…

"Dad! Please! Tell me you don't hate me!" his youngest child Aurum shouted in despair as he stormed into the kitchen through the back door, standing frozen in the entry. Some black energy waves emitted from the green haired boy with the purple eyes, pushing the kitchen table and the chairs back into the opposite wall. The light bulb exploded like so many other times, so it wasn't of the man's concern. Although his son's emotional state was.

He dried his wet hands, leaving the dishes to themselves and turned towards the boy as he asked in a calming voice: "Cub, why should I hate you? You know your Mom and I love you, no matter what."

"I… I'm still… I'm sorry if I disappoint you, Dad!" the eight year old uttered heavily breathing with the first tears in the corners of his eyes, but at least the black energy swirled less around him.

" I don't know why I should be disappointed in you; there is no reason for me. So please just tell me what's eating you" Garfield demanded softly, kneeling down in front of his son.

"But you must be! I haven't the same powers as you! I only got the enhanced senses like you, nothing more! The others… the others said… they said that every parent wants, that their child is like them and… and…" the green skinned boy started to sob with his last words.

"Come here, Cub" his father said and pulled him into a hug, comfortingly petting his son, "I don't know how you came to believe the others, but it doesn't ever matter to me, nor to your mother or their parents, which powers you have or you haven't. It's already difficult enough for you all to grow up in our care, to learn how to master your skills and to carry the burden that comes with your powers, so you shouldn't worry about such stuff. And you, Cub, surely are doing great with your powers. Not two years ago you used to blow up anything electrical whenever you got emotional, and now, even when you are very upset like today, no more than a single light bulb had to bite the dust. You worked so hard and made such big progress; your mom and I are both very proud of you."

Very slowly Aurum calmed down and he whipped his tears away. He wriggled himself out of the embrace and curiously glanced at his father, wondering: "You… really aren't upset that I can't change into animals like you?"

"No, I'm not. Why should I? You're doing great without, so what's the big deal?" Gar replied with a reassuring smile.

"I don't know anymore" the youngest Logan child returned the smile, "Somehow it made sense when Jai started to talk about it, but now I don't really see it like that at all."

The changeling realized immediately the true problem. Jai was the son of Wally and Jess West, better known as Flash and Jinx. But he was slow. His elder sister Iris had inherited their fathers' speedster powers while he had bad luck powers like their mother. And being the slow son of the overprotective Flash wasn't that easy, even if the boy could hex every danger in his path into oblivion…

"What'cha think if the two of us talk some sense into Jai? He may have misunderstood something" Garfield inquired.

"I think that's a very good idea, Dad" the boy smirked and led his father by the hand, straight towards the tree house.

"What's wrong, Jewel? And quit telling me that you are fine. I'm an empath, I know you are not" Raven stated in her usual monotone.

They had scoured through five different clothing shops without buying anything. This fact alone would have been enough proof that her eldest daughter had a problem. But sensing the emotions of others could be useful too. Right now the girl emitted waves of distress and shame. Never a good combination, if you ask a mother.

Jewel's green eyes – beside the pointed ears the only outside trait she had inherited from her father – guiltily glanced for a few seconds at her before she admitted to a coat rack: "I think Xand'r hates me…"

Her mother lifted an eyebrow. "What makes you believe this?" she probed. Xand'r, her daughters' best friend since childhood, only four hours older, son of Richard and Koriand'r Grayson aka Nightwing and Starfire, was head over heels for the eldest Logan child for more than a year now as far as Raven knew. Something must have gone terribly wrong if this had changed, especially since they only had started dating a month ago.

The girl sighed: "He didn't talk to me since our mission yesterday. And maybe he never ever will again."

When they had turned thirteen, Jewel and Xand'r had been allowed to form a team with their speedster friend Iris to fight crime from time to time, as long as they wouldn't neglect school. They were rather successful as Corvidae, Nightfire and Kid Flash, but apparently something had gone wrong last night.

"Let's have a tea break so we can talk in peace" Raven proposed and laid an arm around her daughter's shoulder to lead her to a nearby tea house.

Aurum led his father to the tree house, the favorite place of the children in the entire family property for secret conversations. He wasn't surprised to not only find his twin kids Gem and Diamond but also Vince and Carla, the adoptive children of Victor and Karen Stone (also known as Cyborg and Bumblebee), Lian, the adopted child of Roy Harper and Garth Ayers (formerly called Speedy and Aqualad, nowadays usually working under the names Arsenal and Tempest) and of course the aforementioned Jai, slow speedster son himself, all of them looking rather depressed.

As soon as he entered he was almost overthrown by a green cat that cuddled into his arms, burying its face into his chest. He sighed inwardly, knowing that the task before him – convincing all the children in the tree house that they were loved by their parents – would not be easy. Especially in Jai's case…

"Shh, Filly, calm down, it's okay…" he softly cooed. The green cat was of course his young daughter Gem, he lovingly used to call Filly while her twin brother got the nickname Colt.

"Okay, kids, come over here and let's talk about that funny stuff Aurum told me you were discussing before" he demanded patiently as he sat down next to his son Diamond, his daughter still cradled into his chest and his youngest son at hanging at his arm.

After a few exchanged looks, Lian edged closer, followed by Vince and Carla, but Jai remained in the opposite corner, curled together in a ball displaying pure misery.

Gar waited for them to start, he knew those kids well enough to know their need to destroy silence in any way. And like often, the spirited Lian was the first of the group to speak.

"I never thought about it before, but maybe Jai is right, maybe Pa doesn't love me like Dad does, because I'm nothing like him. Sometimes… sometimes he looks at me and there's something in Pa's eyes I can't define… It's, I don't know, maybe it's disappointment..." she explained, lowering her head at her last words. As daughter of two fathers, she had learned to call them different, although it usually took her surroundings a while to understand, that Roy was her Dad and Garth her Pa or Papa.

"I know, what you mean… In quiet moments, when they think you don't notice but you actually do, there is this look, they get into deep thoughts and look kinda sad and stuff" Vince added, putting an arm around his sisters shoulders as tears run silently down the girls face.

"No one can love someone who is the complete opposite of himself, not even a parent" Diamond stated in sad monotone, slightly shying a bit away from his father, pulling the hood of his hoodie a bit deeper into his face.

This was the moment, when Garfield had to follow his nature and laugh out loud. "Colt, are you really living under the same roof as your mother and me? There never have been any other two people who were more opposite than we are! Don't tell me you never noticed?"

"That's… different" he tried to argue while slightly blushing. "You're married, not the parent of each other… If it's children and parent…"

"Waitwaitwait! Son, you know your mothers father, you know how they are partly similar to each other and you also know very well how much she hates him. Or Uncle Dick and his foster father Bruce, how much are they alike and how much do they dislike each other?" the green man asked with a broad smile.

After a moment of thinking, Diamond lifted his head slightly and said quietly: "Yeah, you're right. Similarity doesn't mean affection…"

"Mom once said, that affection is liking someone despite the fact, that they are not exactly the same as you" Gem added, now back into her human form, but still cuddled up on her father's lap, what made her sound a bit muffled.

"You see, your Mom is always right. Love is a rather difficult thing, no matter if it's between man and woman or parent and child" Gar grinned. At least his children were calmer now…

"But I'm absolutely different from Pa, I got no powers like him…" Lian insisted.

"Girl, if you had to guess, who is the person your Pa loves probably the most in the world? Watcha think?" Garfield inquired.

Without a wink she replied: "Well, Dad, of course."

"And does your Dad have any powers?"

"No… He… he's like me" she answered, a smile slowly spreading all over her face.

He mirrored her smile, adding: "There you found your answer."

"But this look…" Vince started again, not partaking in his friend's revelation. Both his parents had special powers…

"I think I know what kind of look this is" the adult interrupted. "You see, everyone has a special way to deal with problems, and superheroes even more than other people. This goes so far that they mostly can't imagine how another person with different abilities should master the same problems in a different way. So, per example, what would your mother do, if she would be stuck in traffic?"

This time, it was Carla, who answered: "Mommy just gets out of the car, lifts it with her strength and flies it to a free street."

"Good. But you don't have powers like your mother and when you will be grown, you will have to deal with it without powers, something your mother can't imagine. And this doesn't only concern traffic. What if there's a villain attacking the city? What if there's an earthquake? Or a fire? What will you do? So what do you think, how does your mother feel when she thinks of the problems you will face in future?"

The Stone children looked at each other with big eyes full of understanding before Vince answered almost happily: "She's worried! Maybe even afraid!"

"Exactly!" Garfield Logan grinned. "And now think about your father, who was a normal teen until his accident. Parents are always afraid of what might happen to their children, especially when they imagine that the same would happen to them that they already went through. When they look at you in this thoughtful way, it's not because they are disappointed in you, but because they love you so much they are afraid to lose you or see you hurt!"

In the small circle of six children and one adult everyone started to smile in relieve at each other just from the clearing up of a misunderstanding.

"Sure" Jai bitterly snorted out from his corner. "There's never disappointment, of course not, not when a parent looks at his child who doesn't meet his expectations…"

After mother and daughter were seated in a comfortable small and rather hidden tea house, both a cup of freshly brewed tea – of course from high quality tea leaves – in front of them, they retook the conversation from the clothing shop.

"So, what world-changing events occurred yesterday that I missed?" Raven asked calmly.

Jewel sighed several times, her ears slightly hanging from sadness making her look depressed like a kicked puppy.

"Mom… was there ever a villain… courting you?" she finally managed to ask.

"You could say that, yes. Even if he wasn't serious about me and didn't give away that he was a villain in the start. And there also was this other one, but no one with common sense would call his harassing courting" her mother stated calmly.

"W-what?" Jewel stuttered in shock.

After a calm sip of her tea Raven wondered: "We told you about that Dragon coming out of a book, don't you remember? Your father insisted in telling you that one when you girls started to notice boys. What did you think how Malchior tripped me into freeing him?"

"He – he was courting you? Seriously? And you fell for it?" the girl asked flabbergast. She always had thought her father had told them the story to keep them from reading too much…

"Well, he could be charming as long as he lied about everything…" Raven admitted.

"Urgh, really? But he was a dragon! And you said something about a guy who harassed you? I heard from him before too?"

Raven smiled fondly as she replied: "Oh yes, you have. The bad guy in your favorite bed time story. You remember, 'The Beauty and The Beast' in Mommy-Daddy-style your father had to tell you countless times?"

"That Adonis-Bloke really existed?!" her daughter exclaimed.

"Of course. All of the stories your father tells have a certain true event they are based on."

Jewel frowned: "I always thought at least some of them had to be invented. I mean, seriously, who would play a game called 'Stank Ball'…"

"Your father and Uncle Vic invented it and used to play it frequently in their youth. After a few years their love for the game faded, especially since it became harder to find enough dirty socks for the ball – Karen and I 'accidentally' washed them every time before they would meet to play…"

"Boys can be so disgusting! How could you probably fall for a guy like dad…"the teen snorted.

"Oh, love is a rather difficult thing, Jewel, you should know. Or you wouldn't ask about it every now and then. So tell me, which villain is courting you?" Raven smirked at the embarrassed expression of her daughter. She knew her too well to not get the hint...

"Teddy Rancid, that stinking pest" she spat. "Yesterday, we went out, because he robbed a bank. But when we three arrived, instead of running, he stood there with tons of metallic roses around him, singing – or rather violating – a love song for me. I have never been more embarrassed in my life and I just couldn't move out of shock. I mean – why should I feel anything for such a clorbag? The thought alone… brrr, no, thanks…"

"And then?" her mother waited patiently.

"Then Xand'r freaked out and beat the idiot into pulp… Iris had to hold him back so the police could bring Rancid to the jail ambulance… Afterwards Xand'r just gave me a look, then flew away without another word. And since then I didn't hear a thing of him…" she finished sadly.

Raven placed a hand on her daughters shoulder as she consoled: "Give him time. He probably isn't mad at you, but rather at himself. And I suppose he is too ashamed to talk to you right now…"

"Why should he be ashamed, Mom?" the girl inquired disbelieving. "He isn't the one who has a villain admirer…"

"You know what his father's highest credo is: Never lose control. Xand'r is probably angry with himself because he didn't follow it due to jealousy; and ashamed because you, his beloved Jewel, have witnessed it. I don't think he blames Rancid's actions on you, it's not your fault anyway."

"You think so?" Jewel piped.

"Yes, I do. Come on, let's go home. Maybe he has called already to apologize. I bet he talked to his mother about it already so the chances are high…."

"Sure" Jai bitterly snorted out from his corner. "There's never disappointment, of course not, not when a parent looks at his child who doesn't meet his expectations…"

Garfield knew, that Jai was hard to convince since he and his father argued often. "There are parents like that, but your father isn't one of them. You know, some parents are better in imagining how their children will deal differently with the same problems than others. Your Father, well, he's my friend, but he isn't a very flexible thinker. You know him, if there's a wall, he runs through and can't understand, why everyone else doesn't do it the same way…"

"So you want to say, that he loves me veeerry much, but he doesn't trust me to survive?" Jai questioned angrily.

"Let's approach this differently, because you won't believe anything I say anyways… You remember the night when you first used your powers?"

"Yes" he scoffed, then slightly began to grin. "I hexed Iris' hair away because she wouldn't stop running around me shouting 'Catch me, Slowpoke'…"

"You did what?" Diamond deadpanned. He never had heard of this happening, and the only two in the tree house who knew before exchanged uncomfortable looks. It was an open secret that Diamond was in love with Iris as long as he could think. If anyone dared to lay a finger on her he better prepared to face the young quarter-demon partly animal sorcerer, even if it was his best friend Jai.

Garfield cleared his throat and got on like there was nothing and said: "Maybe you also remember that I was there that evening; your Mother had invited me to talk sense into your Father. Wanna hear the story?"

Jai nodded and edged slightly closer to the group. Everyone loved the Logan's storytelling, not only they were talented in doing so but they also were honest even if the story was embarrassing for themselves.

It had been a few months after Aurums birth; Jai had just turned four a week ago, when Jess had called him.

"I know Rae needs you now more than anyone, but I already tried everything else. No one could calm him… He's not sleeping, barely eating, he's more aggressive against his foes…"

"Don't worry, I'll come over tonight. Kori spends the night with Xand'r at our place while Dick is on his mission, so Rae isn't alone" Gar had replied.

Around eight o'clock in the evening he rang the bell at the West's door, which was opened before he could lift his finger from the button.

Seven year old Iris greeted with a quick hug: "Hey Uncle Gar!"

Then the younger brother came running down the stairs.

"No fair, Iris! It was my turn to open the door!" he complained.

But before he reached the entry, she teased: "Come and catch me, Slowpoke!" Then she ran off in her speedster way, only a blur of red hair and yellow dress, her normaly running brother after her, shouting: "Just you wait when I catch you!"

"Hello Gar" Jess came greeting him and led him into their house. "He's in the living room, pretending to read… Whenever someone tries to talk with him about, he just says, they don't understand because they were never that fast… And to Màs and Menos he said they were to young and not fathers, so maybe he'll listen to you. You're a father and in cheetah form you're rather fast…"

"It's okay, Jess. We'll see" he calmed the ranting woman. She gave him an excusing smile and left him on his own to get to her husband.

Wally West, the Flash in person, fastest man alive, sat unusually quiet and still in an armchair, reading a book titled "Life of Pi".

"Pi's life must be pretty interesting…" Garfield mentioned casually.

Like waking up from a deep sleep, Wally slowly lifted his head and eloquently responded to the green man: "Huh?"

"The book" he pointed out while taking a seat next to the speedster's. "You wouldn't write a book about a boring life, right? So how is it so far?"

Wally frowned, threw the book aside and rubbed his front absentmindedly. "Don't know, can't concentrate anyways…"

Gar let him time to sort his thoughts and put his sorrows into sentences. Just because someone could run and react fast, it doesn't always mean that they were as fast to bring order into their thoughts. That was the fault most people made when talking with Wally. But not Garfield, not him, that was why they had become such good friends over the years, that when something was so off, even Jess couldn't reach him anymore, they would call Gar. He was Mister Fix-It for Wally.

"Have you seen my son?" the redhead finally sighed.

"Yes, he was arguing with his sister when I came. He has grown another few inches; he'll soon be taller than her" Gar answered still in a very casual tone.

"Have you… have you seen how… slow he is?"Wally asked, a slight fright could be detected in his voice by a sensitive ear.

"To me it looked pretty fast for a normal boy of his age" the visitor shrugged seemingly indifferent, but in reality carefully approaching the problematic subject like a mice would triple quietly through a sleeping lion's cage.

And apparently he had touched a nerve. Wally gave him an appalled look as he stuttered: "A normal… he isn't… he's my son… nothing normal…"

Then he finally broke, his head lowered into his hands he said with a shaking voice: "What if he is just a normal boy? What will I do? How will he even be able to grow up around me?"

"Hey, come on, what would be so bad if he was normal?" the changeling asked softly.

"Gar, are you serious?" Wally straightened and for the first time this evening he looked straight into his friends eyes. Garfield Logan saw the panic in this man's gaze he never thought to see there. "Weren't you relieved when you're kids showed hints of power the very first days after they were born? I mean, they're your children, with your heritage, what danger would they be in if someone finds out? What if they get attacked, just because they are yours, and they can't defend themselves? You would be responsible for their death if you can't save them. Could you live on with that guilt? Could you continue like before, knowing, that if it weren't for you, they still would be alive? What if they get injured and they can't forgive you, could you live on being hated by someone you love so much you'd die for? What if…"

He had gotten more and more hysteric, panicking more with every word until Gar interrupted.

"Wally, stop it! It's no good to think like that! If he's normal he'll face the dangers like any other normal person, with the strength and the means they are given. Look at Dick! He has no powers at all, still you have to find a villain able to seriously mess with him!"

"I know, I know" the speedster sighed, more collected this time, the panic fading by knowing there was someone understanding but still dissipating his fears. But there was more. "I know I can train him so he won't be vulnerable. I can make him stronger and better than Richard, but still I'll be responsible for him."

"You have to trust more in him. You trust Jess and Iris enough to not worry your mind off, so why not your son who is so much like you?"

"It's not that I don't trust him… I mean, yeah, Jess is the kind of woman you don't go and mess with, and Iris has a lot of her personality, and they are both powerful, but still I worry a little about those two, and I would be a broken man if I'd lose them, I imagine. But I can't see me losing my son. He's… he's so much like me, he's so clever and talented, he could become everything and survive anything, but certainly has the same talent of getting into trouble… He's just too precious to me. I don't think I could live on if anything bad would happen to him. So, believe me, I trust him, maybe even more than my wife. But I don't trust myself. I can't keep him safe enough and I can't go one if I lose him. I guess that's what frightens me. And I don't know what to do…"

For a moment, there was silence between the two men; both thinking about all there was said. Wally probably wasn't expecting a solution from his friend; still Garfield tried to give one.

"There's just one thing you have to do: You have to be his father. Be there. Prepare him as good as it is in your might. And then you have to let him go his own way, no matter how much you love him and care for him, no matter how afraid you are. You're his father and as such, you have to be the strong role model. Show him how to live, and support him on his own way of living. You can't give up on him just because you don't trust yourself."

Wally sighed deeply: "You're right. But it would be much easier if he had powers. I would sleep better if he would…"

"Ask your wife, she'll hex you to sleep if you don't learn to deal with it…" Gar stated drily and they both started to laugh.

As they calmed down, Wally smiled: "Thanks, buddy, it's a relieve to talk with someone who understands and can give you advice… Besides, when have you of all people become the wise guy?"

Gar began to explain grinning: "You know who I married, kinda had to keep up…" but was interrupted by a very shrill shriek.

The Flash, white as a sheet, immediately got up and was gone before the changeling could blink, then he followed him as a green cheetah.

At the second floor, Gar was met with a strange sight: a slightly smirking Jinx was scolding her children for being so mean to each other – her son looking slightly guilty and her bald daughter – heck, where had her red hair gone – who silently cried, was thoroughly examined by her perplex father.

"No more hair… Just hexed it away… all of them… Just like that…" he kept muttering in disbelieve.

"Wally, love, please stop it! Yes, Jai has cursed Iris' hair away, and it's a great day for him to find his powers, but I already told you I was a late developer too, and I'm trying to put some reason into those children of us, so please, let me do my job as mother! Do yours as host and take care of your guest or you'll be the next hexed speedster in this house!" his wife now chided him too.

Gar grinned: "Don't worry about me; I think I leave you to celebrate or something and go home."

Wally, still dumbfounded by the latest development in his beloved family, accompanied his friend to the door, muttering to himself about powers and baldness.

"I guess you'll sleep better from now on" the green man smirked.

"Well, yeah, I think, so, yeah…" he said absentmindedly grinning, apparently too absorbed into his own business and happiness.

After a short goodbye, Gar left to join his own special family, fighting down his own worries of loss, for their sake.

"So… Dad… wasn't disappointed? He… he doesn't hate me for my powers?" Jai inquired still slightly in disbelieve.

"It was one of his happiest days when he found out that you would be able to defend yourself with superpowers. He just worries that you might be too slow one day, because he only knows how to fight fast" the tale-telling adult clarified.

Jai lowered his head with the tiniest smile on his face whispering: "Yeah, maybe you're right…"

With all the children cheered up again, Gar had the feeling they should change topic so the message could sink in. "What'cha think about an ice-cream-feast?"

The children answered cheering, only Diamond asked shyly with a hint of worry in his voice: "Can I have some made of real milk?"

He earned a laugh and a hug from his father, putting a smile on his own face and dissipating his last fears of being unaccepted due to their differences. He only could transform in some carnivore animals and his personality, well, kinda clashed with his fathers. But still he was loved by both his parents. That made things a lot easier.

Raven and Jewel returned in a very noisy home. It sounded like some kind of a party had started in the kitchen.

As they entered they could barely see the table, it was so filled with cups and bowls of ice cream, sprinkles, toppings and spoons. Around it sat Lian, Vince, Carla, Diamond and Gem laughing their heads off (in Diamonds case of course more collected than the others, but still very outgoing for him) and cheering while watching Aurum and Jai letting their fathers Gar and Wally float through the kitchen and feeding them with ice cream in high speed with their powers.

When Wally's cup was the first to be empty, he shouted through his stuffed mouth in delight: "We're done! We win! See, my son is faster! Told ya!"

"O-kay, do I even want to ask?" Raven deadpanned in her signature monotone.

Aurum let Gar fall to the floor in shock as he noticed his mother, the bowl of ice cream spilled over the green hair of the man. For a moment the kitchen went silent.

"Hey love! How was your shopping day?" the Logan father asked smiling carefree. He got up, put the bowl into the sink and walked over to her.

"Go on, guys, enjoy the ice cream before it melts. And, Rums', next time we'll beat them, you did a great job! Come over love, I'll explain. Oh, and Jewell, Xand'r called. At least I guess it was him, I just could hear some stuttering before he hung up that sounded like your name…"

Jewel left for the phone in a blur as Garfield led his wife into the living room.

"Sorry for the ruckus, Rae. We had kinda situation that asked for an ice cream feast. Then Wally came over panicking and asking if we saw his son – for a non-speedster he can disappear pretty fast it seems and apparently he didn't tell his father where he went – and I could calm him and somehow we ended in a food-eating-competition-thingy and, well, that was when you entered. But I promise I will clean up everything in the end…"

With a movement of her hand Raven cleaned her husband from the ice cream stains and cuddled into his arms. Ice cream feasts were only declared by her husband after a serious crisis concerning their children's feelings, she knew.

"It's okay. I guess I just got a bit surprised, that's all. We'll do it together later."

"Had a long day?" he asked, softly stroking her head. He knew how tiring shopping days were for his empathic wife.

"Love matters. Don't ask…" she sighed.

"Ah, that difficult stuff. I think you deserved an ice cream too" he smiled.

As they entered the kitchen again, they came right in to witness how their son Diamond, turned into a black panther and swirling black energy around him, menacing the present West family members.

"Sorry, folks, gotta go, your son doesn't like my daughters picture from the day Jai hexed her bald… See you, and thanks for the ice cream!" and in a blur Wally disappeared, carrying his son with him.

Diamond turned back human and growled: "One day, they will pay for the humiliation they caused Iris…"

"I'll never fall in love, so much trouble for nothing…" Aurum stated headshaking, earning a lot of laughter.

Diamond pulled his hood up and sat down again, remaining silent. His twin sister Gem gave him an encouraging smile and communicated through their telepathic bond, cheering him up again a bit, and they continued their ice cream feast.

"So, where's the ice cream you promised me? " Raven asked.

"Coming right away!" her husband cheered.