Quote to consider- "It is so hard to leave- Until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world." –John Green, Paper Towns.
The Tower was silent. Absolutely silent. Today, there would be no playing of video games, no loud bass pumping through the living room, no clang of pots and pans in the kitchen, no clink of tools in the basement. The only thing that was heard were the footsteps of the violet-haired girl, and the heartbeats of the oddball teenagers standing behind her.
They were a strange assortment of spandex tights, miniskirts, and masks: contrasting greatly with the black jeans and loose purple shirt the girl was wearing. It was obvious now. It had always been obvious internally, that Rachel Roth wasn't meant to be a Titan. She didn't think like the others, she didn't feel like the others. But most importantly, she didn't care like the others. The silence was broken, like someone had driven a knife through it. It was the boy with the mask, Robin, they called him. Dick Grayson, he had been born.
"Raven?" He was reaching, not realizing that she wasn't in reach. Well, her physical body may be there, but her heart and soul had been gone for months. She stared blankly at him. He pressed on. "Why?" Why? Why was he asking, when he already knew the answer? He was asking because they pretend. They all pretend that they only know the information the others volunteer, that they never heard so-and-so singing in the shower, or saw whoever's diary. There was no true privacy in Titans Tower, and therefore a few of the Titans had been preparing for this. The misfit shrugged.
"Because." The blasé answer shocked everyone into silence once more. Was she able to dismiss four years of memories with one seven-letter word? It seemed to even surprise Rachel, that a short lie would suffice. Maybe the blow would be easier for them then she thought. She nodded her head at the group. "Well, it was fun." She started to walk towards the door, a promise of freedom, before being stopped once more.
"But who shall do the girl talk with me? Who will venture to the mall of shopping with me? Who will-" The stunningly beautiful redhead bowed her head, letting tears escape instead of words. She wasn't able to express how she would miss her only girl friend in Earth language. If they were on Tamaran, she would recite the 425-stanza Poem Of Departure. Then again, if they were on Tamaran, maybe she wouldn't be leaving at all.
"I think you'll find that Jinx is happy to help you there. And she's probably better at it then I was," Rachel explained shortly. She pressed her lips together. It was harder to leave Starfire then she had predicted beforehand. But this was for the best, she reminded herself. She was doing this for the good of the team, whether they liked it or not. After she was gone, they would all see why she had done it. Then they would forgive her…right?
Starfire stepped aside, drooping like a picked flower. Rachel turned her head subtly. Nothing was going to make her stay. Steel yourself, this is for them, not you. She took another few steps towards the piece of metal that would allow her to exit, wishing with all her heart that they would spare her the pain and just let her go.
"Rae?" Stopped her in her tracks. Cyborg looked down at the girl who he had considered his little sister. The only one who would care about the T-car, the one he could always count on to give him a hand in battle, or a witty remark in peacetime. "You're really not… You can't!" She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the awful thing she was going to say next.
"Watch me." With every harsh remark that came out of her mouth, the Titans shrunk back a little, a little more hesitant, a little less willing to save her. Or was it disbelief that they could be losing a member of the team? Of course, they would get Wonder Girl, or Kid Flash, or Argent, or Jinx to replace her, but it would never be the same. They weren't just losing a fighter, they were losing a friend. How long would it be before others followed her out the wooden door? This was the beginning of the end of the Titan's reign over Jump City. The team was crumbling like a croissant left uneaten on the counter for too long. Rachel was so close to leaving now, forever being Rachel instead of Raven. Only three steps left.
"Rae-Rae?" A heartbreakingly sad voice whispered. The weight of what she was doing suddenly pressed down on Rachel/Raven. She was leaving him. She, who had been his human bandage after Terra had smashed his heart, she who had slowly gotten him to love again. Sitting on the roof of Titans Tower, pointing out constellations to each other. Making tea and tofu next to each other in the kitchen, not always talking, but just being. Watching Edward Scissorhands together for her, and then Animal House for him. Talking in his room, about hopes and dreams and pasts and futures. There was so much the two of them shared, including a deeper relationship then anyone else on the team could ever dream of. She turned to him, seeing the fear in his eyes, and whispered the only true thing she had said to them so far.
"I'm so sorry." Her voice cracked on the last word, and she looked around to make sure nobody had noticed the slip in her calloused façade. Only Beast Boy had, and he subconsciously reached out to hold her, to take the pain away. As if maybe she would change her mind if she hugged him. She turned away, knowing that she very well might drop her suitcase if she looked at him another minute. He was her only love, and she would never forget what they had. Even if she did someday marry a What's-His-Face, she would never truly love again.
But she was a daughter of Azarath. She was born as a sacrifice, and she would have to sacrifice her happiness for the happiness of her loved ones. It was what she was born for. It was what her kind were expected to do.
One foot in front of the other carried her out the door. A slamming of the door announced the end of Raven. Starfire fell to the floor, Cyborg reaching to comfort her. Robin stole away to the evidence room, where he would remain for days after. Beast Boy leaned back against a wall, his head in his hands, feeling as if she had reached through him and torn his heart out.
If the remaining, heartbroken Titans had looked back at the couch, they would have noticed a purple and black mess of fabric, and a glittering gold belt laid carefully on top. But no canary yellow communicator. Because if they ever needed her, if there was ever a real emergency- She would be there. There was no need to say goodbye.
Well guys, that's it. Just needed to vent a little about leaving, which unfortunately, I've had to do a lot recently. It is based off the Regina Spektor song, The Call, which I highly recommend. I dedicate this to Galt64 and iheartlink, the reasons I finished this story, which has been sitting unfinished in my Fanfiction folder for over 6 months. There's also a Green Day reference in here- It's not very obscure, so let's see if y'all are up to the challenge. I hope y'all enjoyed it, and remember- It's a Fanfiction crime to read and not review!