(A/N) This story is not for the weak of heart. It is the sad story of a friend of mine, and I am writing it for her, though I hope she never reads it. WARNING! Character death.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.
Chapter 1: The Funeral
Raven's hood was up, hiding her eyes. She didn't want the others to see that she was crying. She hadn't cried since her mother died. At this moment, she was feeling so much pain. A weight was resting in her heart, making it hard to breathe. Her shoulders started to shake as she sobbed.
She was sitting on a folding chair at the funeral home, attending the funeral for the lost Titan. He died from wounds after he killed Slade for the last time. None of the Titans was able to help him, but not from lack of trying. Raven poured her powers into his wounds, trying to heal them, but there was nothing she could do. There was nothing any of them could do. So he died.
She stood up with the others to go look in the coffin. As the line moved forward, Raven tried to dry her eyes, but it was no use. She was still crying, and as soon as the old tears were wiped away, new ones would take their place. Her cloak was the deepest of blacks in colour, because of her immense sadness. Finally, it was her turn to look into the coffin and say some last words. Everyone else had already gone to the reception.
There, with his hands folded neatly on his chest with a peaceful expression on his face, was Robin. He had his mask on, even in death. 'It would seem like he's still alive,' Raven thought, 'if his chest wasn't so still and his skin wasn't so pale...' she started weeping uncontrollably, and things around the room started to explode. No one else was there to notice. She knelt there by the coffin for several minutes.
She thought to herself, 'Why am I crying so much? He was just the leader of the Titans, nothing more. I didn't even know him that well. But we had a connection...'
Unable to bear looking at him any longer, she teleported back to the T-Tower. She entered her room, in the only place she could ever truly call home. She fell onto the bed and cried herself to sleep.
When she woke up, it was about midnight. The pain in her chest was unbearable. She crawled across her floor to a small box she kept. She opened the box and took out the beautiful knife inside.
'It would be so easy...to just end it here and now...' she thought. She turned the knife over in her hands thinking about death. 'The pain would go away, and I could escape. No one would ever bother me again.'
But this led her to think about the other Teen Titans. They had always been there for her in her times of need. They supported her when she needed help. She couldn't let them down. With one last doubt, she set the knife back in the box and shut the lid. She set the box back in the corner and made up her mind to cope with Robin's death.
Gradually as the months passed, the pain in her heart dulled. The other Titans joked with her and brought out her good side. They defeated criminals and played video games. Whenever she remembered Robin, which was very often, the pain in her heart sharpened again and she felt depressed all over again. Her only escape was through music. Avril Lavigne, Linkin Park, Eminem...these were the outlets for her pain. She depended on music to save her from herself.
One day a new villain came and took away the music. He kidnapped Raven and the Titans and brought them to a different planet. They had everything they needed except freedom. And music. There was not a single note of music to be heard in the whole planet. Raven suffered tremendously.
Then one day as she walked out of her room in the Titans' new house on the planet Tnemhsinup, she heard a sound that made her ears celebrate. She could hear singing! The music was, well, it was music to her ears. Literally. She walked down the hall, trying to find the source, and saw Starfire in her room. She was singing a song by Avril Lavigne, but Raven didn't even wonder where Starfire had heard it. She lost herself in the music.
Na-na, nanana na-naI miss you,
Miss you so bad,
I don't forget you,
Oh, it's so sad.
I hope you can hear me,
I remember it clearly,
The day, you, slipped away,
Was the day, I found it won't be the same.
Oh-oh!
Na-na, nanana na-na
I didn't get around to kiss you
Goodbye on the hand
I wish that I could see you again
I know that I can't
Oh-oh-ohhh
I hope you can hear me
Cause I remember it clearly
The day, you, slipped away,
Was the day, I found it won't be the same.
Oh-oh!
I had my wake-up
Won't you wake up
I keep asking why
And I can't take it
It wasn't fake, it
It happened, you passed by
Now you're gone!
Now you're gone!
Now you go
Now you go
Somewhere I can't bring you back!
Now you're gone!
Now you're gone!
Now you go
Now you go
Somewhere you're not coming back!
The day, you, slipped away,
Was the day, I found it won't be the same.
Oh-oh!
The day, you, slipped away,
Was the day, I found it won't be the same.
Oh-oh…
Na-na, nanana na-na
I miss you….
As the song ended, Raven found herself staring wide-eyed at Starfire, who was crying.
"I didn't know you could sing so well. That song really moved me," Raven told her. She walked over to where Starfire was on the floor, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I miss him too, Star."
The alien nodded, and embraced Raven in a hug. The two were like sisters, and they had grown really close after Robin's death.
"You're like the sister I never had, Star. I hope you know that. You know, after Robin died, I…" she swallowed. "I considered suicide."
Starfire gasped.
Raven continued, "I was so lost. There was so much pain…I couldn't bear to live. Or so I thought. I remembered you guys, how you're always there for me. How we always joke around. You, my friends, were the only thing keeping me alive. Music was an outlet for my pain. I thought I'd die when that villain kidnapped us and took us here, where there is no music. But when I heard you singing, I realized there is still music."
Raven smiled for the first time since Robin's death. "I just have to listen for it."