Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Evermore ❯ Princess Charming ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: Princess Charming

Silence consumed the whole of the room once again, along with the minds and hearts of each girl. Only the very quiet sound of their restrained breathing filtered though the air, but neither truly heard it. Raven waited, apprehension growing in her with every moment that Starfire stared at her with those wide, uncomprehending eyes. In her chest, even her heart beat slowly, as if bated to defy Raven's wish for time to speed up, for the agonizing moment to end. And in Starfire's mind, she was unsure of how to respond. She knew, simply from the very way that Raven was looking at her with fearful eyes, that Raven did not mean the kind of platonic love that she knew she held for the other girl.

In a small part of the very back of the Tamaranian's brain, a large portion of the puzzling events of the last week suddenly became clear. Raven's increase in power, the unusual behavior around her, Raven's destruction of Titanus just before she had been about to kiss Robin. All of it had happened because Raven had feelings for her and had been trying to hide them. Ultimately, the revelation fell on deaf ears, as the rest of Starfire's brain was more concerned with trying to sort out the alien girl's now jumbled feelings, and come up with something, anything to say to her friend. When the mess of thoughts finally became too great to be contained in Star's head, they simply spilled forth, coming out as vocalized words from the crimson-haired girl's mouth.

"Raven . . . you . . . I . . . we are . . . Robin . . ." And with that, Raven's tiny, fragile hope that Starfire would simply reply in kind to her declaration of love right then and there was shattered. Worse, the mention of Robin's name brought a cinder of burning jealousy into Raven's heart, and that cinder grew into a flame, one which tempered the dark magus' heart into an impenetrable steel fortress.

"Of course, I nearly forgot that you . . ." Perhaps "impenetrable" was too strong a word to use, as the emotional weakness in that armor showed through in her hesitation to finish the sentence. "Love, Robin." Without bothering to say another word, Raven simply looked down from Starfire, and the shadow beneath her began to rise up in the form of a bird.

"Raven, wait!" Starfire cried, reaching out with surprising speed to take hold of Raven's arm, in hopes that doing so might keep her from leaving.

For a moment, the ashen-skinned girl stared down at Starfire's hand holding her arm in shock, the raven-like manifestation of the teleportation stopping in its rise and wavering, as if unsure. Then she returned her gaze to Starfire's face, sadness deep-set in her violet eyes, and let the symbol of her magic vanish back into the shadows beneath her. After another few seconds of silence, over which Star assured herself that Raven would stay, she let go of her friend, bringing her hand back to place it in her lap before speaking.

"It is true that I have feelings for Robin, but I have feelings for you as well. It makes me sad to see you in pain . . . there must be something I can do for you." Starfire looked to her friend with pleading eyes, and Raven knew even as she looked into them that what Star said was true, that she was upset because of what was wrong with her. She looked away, and hardened her features into a mask of emotional neutrality, and letting the lids of her eyes droop far enough to obscure their emotional depth, and suddenly she became the Raven that Starfire had known for far too long.

"I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do, Starfire." She said in her usual monotone, though her eyes went very wide when the Tamaranian fairly leapt off of the bed and grabbed her about the shoulders, forcing Raven to look at her.

"But I want to help!" The dark magus simply looked aside again, her eyes narrowing in an almost bitter manner.

"There's nothing you could do, it's not as though we could date like normal people or anything." The words rolled off-handedly from Raven's tongue, born from resentment of her situation, but the utterly unexpected answer she received from the object of her affections blew all such emotions completely away.

"Then that is what we will do!" The alien girl smiled widely, her eyes closing in her joy at finding something she could do to help her friend, and therefore causing her to completely miss the shocked look plastered across the ashen-skinned girl's face.

"What?!"

"If that is what will make you happy, then I will try!" Starfire nodded in that "oblivious," and happy way that Raven knew so well, the way that she always nodded when her mind was made up and would not be changed.

With a sardonic, self-mocking sigh and a shake of her head, Raven smiled just faintly, and spoke.

"Well then . . . I suppose we could date a little, to see how things go." At that point, the dark magus was not quite sure of what was going on, the very scene existed as some sort of surreal joke on all that should have existed, of all reality. So, she decided she might as well give up on trying to keep a level head and just go along with the insanity.

"Glorious!" Starfire shouted joyously, shifting her hold on Raven from clutching at her shoulders to hugging her tightly. "But I must ask, though . . ." She said, pulling away from Raven slightly to look her in the face. "What exactly does human dating entail?" The question caused the ashen-skinned girl's spirits to fall just slightly, as she realized that the "too good to be true" scene had been created by Starfire's ignorance of human customs.

With a heavy heart, Raven spoke, moving to dispel the illusion of happiness that had formed.

"Dating is a thing that is done on earth, when people do things together to become closer, generally in hopes that they will grow to love one another. They go to movies, spend time together in natural places, talk, eat together, and do such things to enjoy themselves together." She watched Starfire, but was again surprised when Starfire simply smiled.

"This is wonderful! If dating is as you say, then we may date while we work together to return your powers to your own control!" Yet again, Star managed to catch the dark magus off-balance, bringing her to a pause.

"My powers . . . what do you mean?" Almost sadly, Starfire let go of Raven to allow her to look around, to take in the devastation her powers had caused.

And, even before Raven could speak again, the Tamaranian reached out to gently take her friend's arm in hand, bringing it up; and, more importantly, her wounds; into Raven's sight.

"Though I am not entirely sure, I also believe that your powers did this to you." The dream realm Raven felt like she was existing in became a little more real, Starfire's comment bringing her sharply into focus on the facts of what had happened.

She briefly looked over the whole of her own body, at the many bandages and scratches all over it, most only barely hidden by the large, baggy shirt that was draped about her form.

"Your uniform was destroyed yesterday, and more open clothing made taking care of you easier." Starfire commented as she noticed Raven looking at her unexpected dress, causing Raven to realize that Star had been and was quietly and patiently waiting and watching the dark magus examine herself and think. With a faint blush, Raven also suddenly became aware of exactly how "open" her current state of dress; or rather, relative undress; and had to suppress a number of less than pure thoughts that rose in the back of her mind. For another few moments, Raven and Starfire only looked at one another, not really sure of what to say. Eventually, Raven could not stand to let it go on any longer, looking away from the lime and emerald eyes of the crimson-haired alien when she couldn't contain the feelings building in her from staring into those orbs.

"Raven?" Starfire asked, leaning slightly to the side and forward to get a better look at her mysterious friend's face.

"I'm fine, Starfire, just a little weak still . . ." Raven murmured in response only lying in the faintest sense, as her body did ache immensely, and it was obvious that her will was not up for emotional control yet.

"It is understandable, I can only assume from your grievous injuries that these last few days have been very arduous for you, friend." Raven nodded in response, then took a few breaths to strengthen herself, and straightened.

"They were, and thank you, Starfire, for taking care of me through it." Starfire smiled again, and nodded.

"You are very welcome, Raven, I am proud to have been able to aid you in what small way I could." Again, the silence pressed in on the two, crushing them with its terrible weight, which only felt even greater for Raven, as she no longer had anything left to say to break it.

So, instead, Starfire spoke.

"Perhaps we should inform the others of your wellness now, I believe that they arrived back not long ago." Starfire stood, already intent on doing just that, since there seemed to be no logical reason for why Raven would not want to tell the boys that she was alright. But, as Raven was finding out quite painfully, there were a number of hidden complications to trying to have a relationship with Starfire.

"Starfire, wait." Raven said, not really looking at Starfire as she did so.

The alien stopped dead in her step and turned back around, just a little apprehensively.

"Yes, Raven?" The dark magus did not answer for a long time, as a hundred different ways of phrasing her thoughts shot through her mind. All through it, the Tamaranian simply stood and waited, the only visible sign of her hidden worry being her tightly clenched hands. Finally, Raven decided, and spoke.

"Can we not tell the boys about our dating, Starfire?" Still, she did not actually look to the other girl, keeping her eyes to the floor, and her face hidden by her hanging bangs.

Notably, Star's hands unclenched considerably, but every bit of trepidation she lost was replaces by confusion in her odd eyes, as her head titled to the side.

"Why should we not tell the boys, Raven?" The ashen-skinned girl jerked her head up to look at Starfire, her prepared answer scattering from her mind like a flock of pigeons before a rambunctious child.

Starfire really did not know, did not understand what was happening, had not been on earth long enough to know about the myriad prejudices that existed. But with her strong sense of morality, if she found out, if she thought it was wrong . . . the concept was far too heart-wrenching to even consider. So what reason was she to give to Starfire, one that would not imply that there was something immoral about them being together, but which also wasn't a lie? She did not want to lie to Starfire, almost more than anything else, both out of fear of betraying the girl's trust and simply out of respect for her. Which only left one thing which Raven's scattered mind could come up with. It diverted the focus from the homosexual content of their relationship, and wasn't technically a lie, though it wasn't the whole truth either.

But, as Raven saw Starfire's apprehension returning to her body language, the desperate girl knew she didn't have time to find a better answer.

"Star, what is our job?" She blurted out, just a little lamely, catching the crimson-haired alien quite off-guard.

"Our . . . our occupation?" Starfire asked, gazing at Raven quizzically as her violet-haired friend quickly composed herself.

"Yes, what do we do?"

"I do not understand, friend." Star shook her head, as if hoping to right whatever had gone lop-sided in her brain and was causing such confusion in her thoughts. "Do you mean helping those in danger?" Raven nodded sharply, doing her best to hold her illusion of normalcy.

"Exactly. We work together, Starfire. That's why we have to keep our dating a secret." She gestured in the direction the main living area of the tower; and most likely, the boys; lay for emphasis. "The boys would just worry, needlessly, about us. That's what happens when co-workers date, people talk and worry." She looked her teammate directly in the eye, doing her best to bury the guilt and misgiving in the deepest parts of her violet eyes. "But if we don't tell them, then they won't have to worry." Starfire blinked a few times, and then slowly nodded.

"I suppose that is true, but . . ." Raven didn't let her finish the objection.

"Please, Starfire, let's just keep this secret." At length, Starfire considered Raven's words silently, not entirely sure of how to react to her friend's proposal. With time, she nodded once again, this time more assuredly.

"I defer to your greater wisdom, friend." She bowed slightly, respectfully. "May we now visit our friends and bring them the joyful news of your recovery?"

"Yes, just let me get dressed . . ." Raven murmured in response, getting to her feet and heading for her closet with deliberately slow steps, silently worrying about all of the many issues she now faced, and dreading them.

* * *

". . . And that is what we have decided to do." Starfire finished, leaving Robin and Cyborg still looking at her with a certain amount of uncertainty.

"So, Raven is okay, but she isn't ready to come back to duty?" Robin asked without moving from his position, one side of his mask raised higher than the other, in the manner of an eyebrow.

"Yes, she has both injuries to recover from, and her powers are still not completely under control yet." Starfire answered, nodding a little sadly at the mention of Raven's wounds.

"So this is all related to her powers." Robin stated with a certain cynical lilt to his voice, obviously a little tired of Raven's power issues, and Starfire nodded in response, though a little hesitantly.

"Yes, it is, but please do not blame our friend for this, it is not her fault." Robin did not acknowledge Starfire's request, simply remaining silent as he cupped his chin in his hand in contemplation, and so Cyborg took up the mantle of questioning instead.

"So, you're going to stay with her while she recovers, and leave the rest of us to fight everything short-handed?" He paused only for a moment, until Star nodded in confirmation, and continued. "Alright then, but you and Raven are going to owe us big time after this is over." Cyborg smiled good-naturedly, and the Tamaranian returned the gesture whole-heartedly.

"Oh, certainly!" She clasped her hands together before her happily. "As soon as all is done, I will make a feast to rival that which is served on the greatest of Tamaranian festivals!" Cyborg blanched just a tad, and quickly brought his metal hands up in a placating manner while shaking his head nervously.

"Actually, I was kinda hoping that you could promise not to cook anything for a couple of weeks." Starfire blinked, and for a moment her expression fell into utter despair, but it returned to a normal, if a little hurt, arrangement quickly.

"Of course, any thing to make you happy, friend." Cyborg looked a little guilty at having hurt Starfire's feelings, but not really knowing what to say in order to fix the damage he'd done, he had little choice but to leave.

In the taller Titan's absence, Robin spoke once again.

"You're up for doing this?" Starfire looked a little confused at the query.

"What do you mean, Robin?"

"You told us yourself that these last few days have been really difficult for you, are you sure you're ready to take care of Raven again, knowing that she might well fall into another coma at any time, or even worse?" The boy wonder watched Starfire closely, his gaze locked firmly with hers, but Star only smiled lightly.

"It is not an issue, friend, because Raven is fine now, she simply needs time to rest and recover." Robin maintained his stony stare for another few moments, trying to ascertain whether or not Starfire truly meant what she was saying.

Eventually, satisfied, he broke sight and looked aside in thought.

"If that's what you want to do, then do it, and we'll handle the rest." He confirmed before walking off toward where Raven stood against the wall, who was currently being bothered by Beast Boy, obviously too absorbed in his own considerations for pleasantries.

Starfire watched him go, and though her lack of worry had been true before, the seed had been planted and was already beginning to grow and fester.

* * *

Meanwhile, Raven stood silently by the wall off to the side of the living area in full dress, form almost completely hidden within her cloak, save what little of her face was not consumed by the shadow of her cowl. Presently, she was doing her absolute damndest to ignore the little green and black mutt that was prancing about her feet energetically.

"Come on, was it some kind of weird, alien brain slug that slithered into your ear while you were sleeping, or a crazy, invisible ghost that attacked you and possessed your body?" The diminutive shape shifter asked at a mile a minute once he gathered enough concentration to revert to his normal form.

Raven gave no answer, remaining adamantly resolved to ignore the green pest until he simply went away.

"Or-or maybe it was a mind control chip implanted in your brain when you were born by insane techno-druids that finally turned on!" But, as the jokester of the Titans only continued in his antics, Raven's patience ran thin, her eyes opening and already glowing white, ready to- . . .

"BB, just leave the girl alone and go play some video games, you're even starting to annoy me." Cyborg said playfully, though with an undertone of utter seriousness, as he grabbed the smaller boy by the shoulders and immediately moved him away from the dark magus.

The light faded from Raven's eyes, and she looked to the cybernetically-enhanced youth questioningly, locking eyes with him as he looked to her as well. Something imperceptible passed between the two, a certain base understanding, and both nodded. Without another word spoken, Cyborg led Beast Boy away from the ashen-skinned girl, giving her the space she desired. That is, until Robin walked up before her.

"So, you really are alright?" He asked easily, despite the stiff, formal way his body held itself then.

"More or less." He nodded in acceptance of her response, and moved right on.

"What happened . . . will it be a danger to the rest of the team?" Raven took no offense at the question, knowing that Robin did not mean it as any form of insult, that he simply wanted to know whether or not precautions were necessary for the safety of everyone.

"I . . . hope not." Raven said just a little lamely, and received yet another nod of approval from Robin.

"And you do know that you can always come and talk to the rest of us if you need to, right?" He asked, gently placing a hand on the dark magus' shoulder as he spoke, reassuringly.

"Of course, I've always known that." She responded in kind, smiling just a little at the gesture.

The team's defacto leader nodded one last time, and returned the smile.

"Alright then, you and Star should try and get some sleep then, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and I can take the late watch."

"We'll do that, and . . . thanks."

"No problem."

* * *

Through the halls the two walked, Raven just a little ahead of Starfire, due to the Tamaranian's slightly slower walking pace. They traveled in silence, a normal thing for the generally anti-social dark magus, but much less so for her talkative companion, who was too consumed by the fear Robin's words had put in her to think about anything really. Eventually, they came to the door to Starfire's room, and stopped.

"Here's your room, Starfire." Raven said, simply to say something and not let the silence choke the air, and Starfire nodded weakly in response.

"Yes . . ." Raven looked forward again, away from Starfire, and nodded herself.

"Goodnight." Then she began to walk away, leaving the other girl behind, Star looking unsure and clutching her hands to her chest.

Finally, just as Raven was about to turn the corner at the end of the hall, Starfire spoke her wish.

"Raven, wait . . ." The ashen-skinned girl stopped in mid-step, and slowly craned her head to look aside and at her desired.

"Yes, Starfire?"

"Perhaps . . . maybe I could . . . should sleep with you tonight, friend." she was flustered, tripping over her own feelings and worries even as she tried to form the thoughts that guided her words, and so by the time she was finished, her whole face was fairly burning with embarrassment at her incompetence.

With her hood up as it was, it was impossible to see what kind of emotions crossed the girl's face at Starfire's request, but after a moment of contemplative thought, Raven answered.

"If you want to, Starfire." She waited, and after a little hesitation, Star flew over to where Raven stood, alighting gracefully on the ground beside her friend, and then following once the Dark magus set off.

Once again, silence consumed the pair, smothering Starfire as it grew so thick that it almost seemed palpable, pressing in on the crimson-haired girl from all sides and crushing her with its immeasurable weight. When she could no longer stand it, she blurted out,

"Are you very tired, Raven?" The cloaked girl paused for a moment after Starfire spoke, and then slowly pulled her hood back from her face, turning her head to look back at the Tamaranian with gentle, smiling eyes.

"Extremely, I'm barely keeping on my feet as it is, what about you?" Star put on her smile, though it was a tad false, and answered.

"A little, but I am fine." Raven nodded, and the two continued on, even if they did so quietly, it did not bother Starfire now that she knew her friend was happy.

It wasn't long before they reached Raven's domicile, Raven entering first by virtue of walking ahead of Starfire, but the red-haired alien girl was only a moment behind. The room was much cleaner than before, as Raven had made it a point to remove the destroyed remains of her things from the floor after Star had nearly stepped on a number of shards of metal. Her hesitance finally manifesting, Raven slowly crossed the length of her room to her bed, sitting down nervously on one edge, and in a similar manner, Starfire took her seat on the opposite side. Both stared at the expanse of bed between them without saying a word, causing the room to fall into a hush. So quiet, it was, that the distant sound of a bird cawing snapped both girls to full attention.

In their haste, both almost spoke at the same time, but their eyes met as their mouths opened, and Starfire snapped hers shut, letting Raven speak first.

"We should just sleep like this, I'll take this side and you can take that side, the bed's large enough for- . . ." Starfire shook her head, becoming more composed as Raven seemed to grow more agitated.

"No, you are frightened, Raven." The Tamaranian looked down for a moment, making an internal decision, and then slowly crossed the bed to where Raven sat.

For a time, they only sat and watched one another, Raven's fear becoming much more evident in her violet eyes as she remained in the situation. Slowly, and with utter and complete gentility, Starfire reached out to Raven, at first only touching the girl and ceasing when she shied away from the contact. But, eventually, the red-haired alien girl managed to wrap her arms completely around the dark magus, at which point she pulled Raven close to her, carefully setting the other girl's head against her chest, one arm held across Raven's back, while the other cradled the mage's purple-haired head.

"I remember my nurse holding me like this when I was frightened, and how it always caused me to feel better." She looked down at Raven, into the wide eyes of the other girl. "Perhaps it will achieve the same effect with you?" Raven attempted to speak, to object in some manner to what was happening even as she fought her shock.

"Star- . . . Star- . . . fire . . ." But, stronger than her will to object or her distress, apparently, was her fatigue, as demonstrated by the drooping of her eyelids even as she spoke.

It was not even a full second after her voice trailed off that Raven's eyes closed completely and her breathing grew even, signaling that she had fallen asleep. The truth behind Starfire's actions was that they were only half done to allay the perceived fear in her friend and the other half was to soothe her own worries. The comforting hold, though, didn't work as well for Starfire as it had for Raven. Despite her total exhaustion, Starfire couldn't let her own eyes fall closed, as Robin's cautioning words echoed through the back of her mind.

". . . knowing that she might well fall into another coma at any time, or even worse?"

She was afraid, immensely so, that the nightmare of the last few weeks would begin anew, that at any moment then, Raven would burst out in phantom wounds again and that she would be powerless to help her friend all over again. She dreaded that if such a thing were to happen, so soon after the last, that Raven would not survive it. So great was her anxiety that she barely even blinked as she continued her vigil over the sleeping girl for hours, watching with morbid anticipation for the first sign of discomfort.

And, before Starfire even knew it, the sun was shining on her haggard face, bringing warmth into the skin of her drawn, fearful features. As the golden rays filtered in through the window and slowly change the angle at which they came in, they illuminated the pale skin of Raven's face with a brilliant, almost angelic halo of light, making her to stir slightly in Star's arms, causing the Tamaranian to go stock-still, fearing the worst. Then Raven's violet eyes fluttered open, looking almost lavender as the intense morning sunlight shined into them. With a soft sigh of relief, the tension slipped from Starfire's body, going virtually limp in but an instant.

"Starfire?" Raven asked, just a little sleepily, looking up at the face of the girl holding her.

Life, as it were, returned to the alien's form, and with only a little difficulty she managed a smile for her friend.

"Yes, Raven?"

"Do you want to go for a walk around the island a little later in the day?" Starfire nodded, only allowing a slight amount of tiredness creep into the action, and Raven smiled wider in return.

"Certainly, that sounds like a wonderful activity, friend."

"Perfect."

* * *

The sun was quite brilliant in the almost clear blue sky, besides the distant clouds on the horizon, even though it had fallen from its zenith some time ago. It blazed down on the white, rocky landscape that the pair moved across, baking the stones to a burning temperature. Somehow, though, the day seemed almost perfect to Raven, despite all of that.

"It's been a long time since I've seen the sky this blue." She said, looking straight up into the cloudless reaches, and therefore entirely missed Starfire's struggles.

"Yes, it is . . . wonderful, Raven." The Tamaranian added weakly, as her body quickly became immensely tired, due both to the exertion and the heat.

Intentionally, she stayed a distance behind Raven, because her friend finally appeared to be enjoying herself, and Starfire did not want to destroy that happiness with her own petty problems. But she was so very, very tired, her whole body felt a hundred times heavier than usual, as if the clothes she wore were actually weights to restrain her movement, and the lids of her eyes were constantly slipping lower and lower. The only thing even keeping her awake at all was the fact that she was following Raven as they took their little jaunt around the island. But even then she was still not fully awake, and the problems with that situation quickly became apparent when she tripped over a small rock, almost falling flat on her face before Raven caught her.

"Starfire, are you alright?" Raven asked worriedly, holding the fallen girl close to her form as she tried to get them both standing again.

"Of course, I simply did not see that small stone that I tripped over, that is all . . ." The crimson-haired girl murmured quietly before lifting her head and smiling weakly at her friend, the deep-set bags beneath her eyes betraying her deception.

"Is something wrong, Star?" Raven questioned as she finally got the Tamaranian on her own feet, slowly moving away to see if the alien could stand alone, without her aid.

Starfire managed the feat, but only barely.

"Certainly not, I am perfectly fine, friend . . ." She hesitated a moment in her speech, noticing a young tree growing a short distance away, one which would provide a lovely, shaded and cool place to sit. "But perhaps we should rest for a moment or two, before continuing our walk." Without even waiting for a response from Raven, Star began walking, just a little unsteadily, toward the tree, and Raven followed, a concerned look twisting her soft features.

The instant that Starfire walked into the shade of the young tree, she fairly collapsed on the ground beneath it, falling in a heap at the base of its trunk. Raven shook her head guiltily, before crouching down beside her love's form.

"You should have told me you were too tired to do this." She whispered, before carefully slipping her arms underneath the other girl and gently lifting her up from the ground.

With only a small amount of help from her powers, Raven managed to get Starfire back to the tower without taking too much time, which was deserted due to the boys still being out on patrol. Starfire's room came not long after, into which Raven went, thoughtfully laying the Tamaranian out in the way that she normally slept, head draped over the edge of the bed so that it bent backward a considerable amount. Then she went to leave, but paused even as she did so. She had the power to heal Starfire, to remove whatever fatigue was sown deep in her muscles, which was so abundant that she had fairly fallen asleep on her feet even as they were walking. But Raven feared, greatly, the information she would gain by taking Starfire's pain unto herself, feared to know what Starfire had been feeling over the last few days. Regardless of such conditions, the part of her that loved Starfire so much mobilized her body, causing it to act and return to Star's bed, the dark magus' hands going to gently hold the Tamaranian's shoulders. That was her greatest mistake.

As the violet-haired girl's power began to slip and twist through Starfire's body, all the pain, sadness, anger, and anguish that the alien had felt over the last few days coursed into Raven, and suddenly she understood, so terribly well. She felt Starfire's terror at the strange, deadly-serious happening occurring around her friend, the impotent rage and sorrow at not being able to do anything besides sit and watch as Raven's body destroyed itself. And, most of all, her agony, her pain, and her utter suffering that emerged from all of that, as well as the fact that someone Starfire cared about was dying.

The very moment that Raven had collected the last of the Tamaranian's trauma, almost completely removing the effects of the past ordeal on the girl, she wrenched herself away from Starfire, falling to the floor with a loud crash. Immediately, her hands went to her head, clutching at it in a futile attempt to numb the throbbing pain in her skull, the price she paid for erasing Starfire's suffering. But there was more to it than that, as became evident when Raven tore out of the room at top speed, leaving behind her a small trail of splattered tear drops.

* * *

The worldslowly slipped into focus as her eyes drifted open. A familiar wall, painted a moderately dark pink appeared before her, one she could remember seeing often. In fact, it was the very wall that Starfire always saw when she woke up, the wall across from her bed in her room. Normally, the alien girl wouldn't have taken this as an odd thing, if it weren't for the nagging little thought at the back of her mind, one which she could not fully bring to mind but knew was important enough to warrant doing so. As a great boom of thunder rocked through the tower, Starfire unconsciously wondered if the storm was coming from the clouds she'd seen earlier in the day.

And, with that stray wonder's appearance in her mind, the thought that had been nagging at the back of her brain snapped violently to the forefront of her mind. She shouldn't be sleeping in her own bed in her own room, alone, she should be sleeping with Raven, making sure she was all right and not fallen into another deadly nightmare! She had been with Raven earlier in the day, walking the island, but it was obvious from the way her memory failed her at that point that she had fallen asleep on her friend. Without wasting even another moment, Starfire rocketed from her bed and out the slightly open door of her room, flying through the halls of the tower at top speed to get to Raven as quickly as possible, fearing the worst to have happened due to her weakness and slip in vigilance.

She reached the other's room in only a handful of seconds, fairly breaking down the door in her haste to get in. Inside she found the room dark, as always, and could see the rain pouring down on the large windows at the side in waves, as well as hear it quite well. But she was more concerned with the tiny sound she'd caught as she entered, so quiet that it was almost completely lost among the noise of the storm, the sound of stifled crying. Lightning flashed, illuminating Raven's small, curled up form on her bed, and Starfire approached, speaking as she did so,

"Raven . . ." Before the super-powered alien could go any farther, though, Raven's strained voice rang out.

"I'm sorry, Starfire." More suppressed sounds reached Star's ears, and she slowly moved closer, her worry only growing, despite knowing that her friend was sound (physically, at least).

"Why do you apologize, Raven, you have done nothing wrong to me."

"Yes I have, I've done more than enough to you." The dark magus sat up on her bed, back turned to Starfire. "I've been too weak to take care of myself, forcing you to do it for me, I put you through a living hell these past few days with what happened to me, making you worry constantly about my well being and whether or not I'd survive." She looked back at Starfire over her shoulder, eyes still clouded with tears. "And worst of all, I've been forcing you to care about me, even though you don't." Brilliant, blinding light filled the room as another bolt stuck down particularly close to the tower, and the Tamaranian hesitated for a moment, stalling in coming up with a response to Raven's accusations against herself.

But, it was not long before she continued her approach, sitting down beside Raven and drawing the other girl into her arms, though the ashen-skinned girl's eyes immediately fell to the bed beside them, not looking at Star.

"It is not your fault that you are too injured to completely take care of yourself, Raven, and therefore you are not to blame for my burden in having to assist you." She gently stroked the dark magus' hair, comforting her. "Though I will admit that your nightmare period was very difficult and painful for me, I refuse to believe that you entered your coma on purpose to hurt me, leaving you without fault for the pain that event caused me." Softly, she slid her hand down to cup Raven's chin, gently urging the other girl to look at her face. "And, more than anything else, you are wrong about me not caring for you, because I care deeply." Raven gazed into Starfire's eyes almost slack-jawed for quite some time, the emotion running through her wide eyes unreadable, but eventually a recognition sparked deep in them and she looked away, expression bitter. "Please, do not look like that, it saddens me when I know that I have made you feel that way." Star whispered, her own eyes falling in shame at having upset Raven.

"It's . . . not your fault, Starfire, it's mine." The alien girl shook her head, crimson locks flashing in the air just enough to catch Raven's eye, and she looked.

"I do not care, I want to make you happy, and I will do so even if it is the death of me." The proclamation was at once both defiant and comforting, and it gave the dark magus pause.

She smiled then, if only faintly.

"Well, considering how late it is, sleeping would be nice." Starfire blinked, looking off to the side and out the window for a moment, before realizing that the storm clouds were not blocking out the sun, that it was, in fact, already night time.

"Yes, I suppose resting once again would be a well advised course of action." Starfire moved, intending to lay the both of them out for their rest, but found Raven resisting the attempt.

"Only on one condition, though." Raven said, looking Star square in the eyes as she did so. "You have to go to sleep first." The Tamaranian bristled, indignance rising in her at the mistrust Raven was showing her.

"I do not believe that is necessary- . . ." Raven's gaze did not waver, though.

"I don't want to hurt you in any way, more than anything else, I don't want to do that." She took Starfire's hands in her own, holding them tightly. "So please, just believe me when I promise you that I'll be fine, that I'll always be right here beside you when you wake up." With the rain stopped, the occasional drip of leftover water was everything, all the sound that existed for a time.

Then Starfire nodded, accepting the terms and the promise, and Raven smiled.

"Thank you, Star."

"No, I must thank you, for being concerned about my well-being when I was not able to be."

"It's nothing, Starfire, now let's just go to sleep." Without further delay, the alien girl laid herself and Raven back, and with less hesitance than before, Raven lay her head on Starfire's chest, though she notable kept it craned far enough back to keep her eyes on Starfire's face.

The crimson-haired girl finally allowed her eyes to fall closed once she saw the adamant resolve in the other girl's eyes, and in not more than a few seconds she was fast asleep. Raven followed her but a moment later, letting the strong, steady beating of Starfire's heart in her chest lull her into a comforting, restful sleep.

The clouds parted, the moon bathed the pair in silvery radiance, and they were as angels.

* * *

The footsteps in the sand that covered much of the rock layers on the island went in a straight, easy line. Then they became a meandering mess, quickly dissolving almost completely as rough-housing and play became the agenda of the traveling pair. They appeared once again a yard or two away, indicating the end of the play, though the shorter spacing between each showed a slower pace, indicative of speaking while walking. This continued until the tracks tell on the actual beach, at which point they burst into wide, erratic steps that a mad, racing dash would have created. A considerable distance away the tracks were obliterated completely, removed by the brief wrestling match that had ensued, wiping wide swaths in the sand as the two vied for domination. And, finally, a few last steps led to Starfire and Raven, quietly meditating to the soft sounds of the surf washing over and up the beach.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos . . . Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos . . ." They intoned in unison continuously, finding the meaning hidden in the nothingness at the depths of their minds and souls.

Then Starfire's eye popped open, glancing over at Raven beside her.

"Raven?" The dark magus' own eye closest to her partner in meditation opened, similarly looking over at Star.

"Yes, Starfire?"

"The island is a wonderful place to spend time, but we have been here for days, could we not go to a new area, like the park in the city?" Both of Raven's eyes opened then, and she looked away briefly, toward the area in question, right near the heart of the metropolis that the Titans were charged with defending.

In the city, there were so many people, and worse, the boys would be patrolling as well. But, even as those grave considerations ran through her mind, she saw Starfire's desire to spend time in the park in her expression, and she couldn't muster enough willpower to deny her love.

"Alright, we'll go tomorrow, after we wake up." Starfire smiled form ear to ear in response to Raven's answer.

"Glorious!" With only a small movement, the Tamaranian managed to snatch Raven's smaller form up in her arms in a tight hug, evoking a smile from the ashen-skinned girl, but it was not fully there, as the world at large loomed on the dark, and frighteningly unsure, horizon.