Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or any of its characters.

I only own the plot and the wish that Raven and Starfire had been better friends.

Also, if anyone is confused, this is a slight AU in which Raven felt she was abandoned by her mother, and therefore felt hurt, or even abused. Just a little clarification: in this, her mother never cared for her like a real mother would. TBH, I'm not even sure if that is canon or not. Oh well. Also, Child!Raven is much more emotional than the Raven we know. All right, I've talked long enough. Enjoy!

Sleep, My Darling

"Raven!"

A young girl with short-cut purple locks was playing in a peculiar field of grey flowers. She laughed and sang and danced and ran, racing with the wind. Then she stopped and turned. A voice had called her. A sweet voice. Raven waved happily at its source, which was standing by a dark tree with curving branches on a gravel path through the field of grey.

"Mother!" she called, still waving, and looking overjoyed. She's come to pick me up! She's never done that before. "Mother!"

"Come, dear. It's getting late," was the reply.

Raven smiled as she skipped towards her mother.

"Raven, my sweet…" The voice laughed lightly – a sound like a delicate silver bell, thought Raven. It made her want to laugh, too. But she knew her laugh was not as sweet as Mother's.

An extended hand came into her vision. The little girl grasped it between her little fingers and smiled up at her mother, who pulled the little girl down the path.

"Mother, where are we going?" she asked. "Home is that way…" She pointed behind them, down the other end of the path.

"You'll see, dear," the mother replied, still pulling Raven behind her. "Come along."

Raven pouted and stops walking. "Aw, but Mother—"

"Come," her mother repeated, more forcibly. She tightened her grip on Raven's hand. The little girl cried out at the action.

"Stop it! Mother, you're hurting me!"

At this the mother dug her nails into her daughter's skin, making her cry out again.

"Stop it! You're…you're hurting me! Help…help!"

Her mother seemed to ignore her cries, but she let go of Raven's hand and her slender arm went limp, hanging by her side.

Raven took a hesitant step back. "Mother?" she asked.

"Raven dear," a voice said airily. It was not her mother's voice. It was a deep, dark voice, and not only one: it sounded like multiple voices all speaking at the same time, singing speech out of tune.

Raven looked up. The figure that had been her mother seconds before was now a faceless being in a black cloak. The sky turned dark with storm clouds rumbling overhead, and then showed its sorrow and fright in drops of black liquid. They fell in droplets like rain, but they burned Raven's skin, and all the flowers in the field. They all wilted immediately, releasing black gasses that made the valley dark and misty. The sunshine was gone for good.

"Ra-ven..." the figure sang in that inhuman voice, not at all sweet like her mother's. "Sleep now, my darling. Go to sleep..."

The figure reached out two pale, bony hands and clasped them around the little girl's neck, muttering "sleep, now, sleep," under its rotting breath.

Raven opened her little mouth and screamed, and screamed, and screamed...

THIS IS A DIVIDER

Raven's eyes snapped open. Her ears pricked up at the shrill sound of a voice screaming. High-pitched and blood-curdling, it continued and she wondered, in shock, where it came from.

Then she realized it was her. She was screaming.

Raven stopped and breathed heavily, her eyes wide in terror.

Almost immediately reality came crashing down on her shaky figure. It was all just a dream. It was just a nightmare. She's not really here. She was never here.

She had just about calmed herself down and reassured herself it was all just a nightmare. Just then, her bedroom door opened and a certain redhead poked her head through the doorway. Raven didn't know whether she was relieved somebody else was there to remind her of reality, embarrassed for Starfire to see her in such a state, or angry because the alien girl had just entered her room.

"Raven?" Starfire asked hesitantly, her green eyes wide. "Who is hurting you?"

Raven remained silent, her breathing slow and steady. She stared at Starfire to show her confusion.

"You screamed 'Help! You're hurting me!'"

Again, the purple-haired girl did not answer. Starfire hesitantly walked into the room and sat down at the end of Raven's bed, looking worried.

"Raven, if anything is wrong, you can tell me," she said quietly. "I am your friend. Is that not what friends are for?"

Raven did not answer, but she nodded after a while, averting Starfire's gaze.

Starfire smiled, her green eyes sparkling. "Good! Then you are all right now?"

Raven looked at her friend again, and, for the first time in a good while, smiled. It was small and needed a lot of work, but it was a smile, and nothing else.

This overjoyed Starfire. She had hardly ever seen Raven smile, and certainly not at her. She leaned forward and gave the purple-haired girl a tight hug.

"Starfire, you are hugging me—" Raven protested, but let her anyway. She closed her eyes and sighed, returning the embrace.

It's all right now. It was just a dream.

Hope you enjoyed, my petites croissants!