Sihaya
Her heart is a fortress
Raven held her arms around her torso, hugging herself. Her emotions roiled, yet she slowly breathed, her mind desperately looking for something else to focus upon.
hidden from the light
In the darkness of her room, candles flickered slowly, as they always did, the vague scents of cinnamon, citrus and coconut mixing, filling the room. Yet, their faint light, somehow, reached into her heart, even as the scent assailed her.
shrouded in darkness
In the darkness, she felt tracks of moisture release themselves from her eyes. Briefly, she wondered why she cried...
alone in the night
Loneliness. The concept, it terrified her. She thought she was resilient. She thought she could take it. How wrong she was. The years has passed, and even with her friends, her family, she still felt the fear. No one to hold her, to one to warm her, to tell her that everything would be alright. No one had told her how cold her heart could be...
Out in the shadows
Richard Grayson, the one formerly known as Robin, now called Nightwing, stalked the halls of the tower. The strips of fluorescent lighting created an environment that threw bars of shadow and light onto his face. Somehow, he ended up outside the room of his friend, Raven...
I hear her heart beat
He leaned against her door silently, breathing in deeply, in a regular interval. He imagined that he could hear the faint beat of a heart, through the cool steel of the door, as if it were a chamber to the hidden heart within. Raven, mysterious as the depths of the ocean. Raven, whose heart was hidden to him. He desired to help her, the one who understood him most, his closest friend. She had been inside his mind, and ever since, they shared a powerful bond, yet now, she had closed herself of to him..,
against the winter chill
Both were lonely, both suffered hearts that were pierced with ice. She secretly yearned for the one she could trust, the one who had always had faith in her, the one who had sacrificed for her, accepted her unconditionally, despite her heritage, her friend. He sought one who could understand his drives, his needs, of the boy still within, who would accept him, could choose him, love him, despite his darkness.
holding back the tides of darkness
They rushed into battle, as they always did, the sound of steel upon steel reverberating as Nightwing threw himself into the fight. Deathstroke the Terminator, known to him as Wilson Slade, leapt back, casting grenades before him to cover his escape. His android bodyguards rushed towards Nightwing, their computers directing them to distract the hero of the night.
As all heroes, Nightwing was mortal. And mortals do make mistakes. So it was then, that he miscalculated a jump and ended falling into their midst. He felt vicelike grips encircling his limbs, metal appendages digging into his biceps, as he saw a grenade being brought towards his face, clasped in a steel hand...
She is there
He suddenly found himself floating in the air, propelled by a dark energy that could have come only from a single person. It shielded him, warmed him, cast aside the enemies that sought to end him. The sound of the explosions were muffled by the barrier that encapsulated him. He looked, to see Raven, her face cast in stone, throwing around the robots with her telekinesis, while a green tyrannosaurus barreled into the midst of the group. He was set down safely at the side, only to extend his staff and enter the fight again. Beside him, Starfire and Cyborg fought back to back, their strikes tearing apart the robotic enemies with ease.
waiting for me
As they stepped into the tower, Nightwing headed for the infirmary, while the others headed variously to the garage, kitchen or respective rooms.
Entering, he was surprised to find Raven waiting for him. "Are you injured as well?" he inquired, concerned for the welfare of his team mate and friend, though other feelings stirred slightly within him as well, a slight anger and protectiveness. Puzzling, but he suppressed it. Why did he feel anger, if she got hurt, yet felt no such stirring for the others?
"No" she wordlessly intoned, as she quietly began to attend to the numerous gashes on his arms, courtesy of the night of crime fighting. She applied the peroxide, before gently cleaning out the wounds with cotton, applying a honey base, and wrapping it in gauze.
"That will prevent any infection. Go get some rest." were the only words to escape her mouth at the end. Nightwing obeyed, even as her robes flowed around her, her form rising through the ceiling, back to her room.
A touch of love
Raven gazed at the photographs in her collection. Since the team had formed, when they were all teenagers, they had been a family, enduring strife and peace together. She fondly traced her fingers over the picture of Richard in his old Robin uniform, the small mask covering his eyes.
The one who had been her pillar in the darkest times, who had gone through demons to save her, who had believed in her when she had lost faith in herself. Her best friend. Her closest friend. The boy who was the adopted son of Bruce Wayne. The boy who had seen his parents die beore his eyes. Someone she could never have.
She put on a brave face, trying to be happy for her friend, Starfire. Her other friend, Robin. Yes, it was right they married each other. They belong together. Anyone could see it. Even now, it was Starfire that was with him, their bodies enacting an ancient dance through the night, not her, not Raven.
Outside of her room, the corridor lights flickered and blew out, even as muffled sobs rose in a short crescendo that subsided within minutes. The source; Raven's room.
A scent of rose
Rose-scented smoke rose from Starfire's funeral pyre, as Raven stood there, holding her emotions in check. She felt moisture in her eyes, but blinked it away. She had to be strong. For the team. For Nightwing. For Richard. Her friend.
Standing to the side, dressed in a black dress suit, an orangeorchid clasped in one hand, Richard Grayson stood. He cast the orchid onto the embers of the pyre, watching as it smouldered in the ember of the flame. His final farewell, to Starfire. His friend. His lover. His wife. As he watched the smoke rise into the cool air of Argentina, one of Starfire's favourite places, he watched the sun set, and day turned to dusk. However, life would go on, even as he grieved. Starfire would have wanted that for him. For him to be happy.
Even as he stared towards the horizon, he felt someone hug him from behind, a warm body pressed against his back. His friend, his companion in grief. Raven.
Her arms embrace me
Richard sat upon the beach, staring at the sun as it sank slowly into the ocean, the ocean seemingly devouring it, dousing its rays in the concealed depths. From behind, he felt slender arms encapsulate him. Hands that were so familiar, fine and beautiful, yet concealing a tremendous strength. He looked down, to see hands with fine fingers, one of them decorated with a diamond ring, encircle his chest.
The hands began a slow journey up, caressing his neck and face before stopping over his eyes, preventing him from seeing. He smiled, already knowing who it was.
The darkness lifts
A familiar voice, sensual and feminine, teased him, asking for an identity. He lifted the hands from his eyes and tilted his neck back, to see familiar violet eyes, set in a heart-shaped face he had explored many times, with hands and lips. Swiftly, familiar lips brushed against his before opening to take in the entirety of his lips.
her hair teases my cheek
Long, dark, luxuriant hair smelling of coconut brushed his face, tickling his nose. He pulled away and sneezed, before a split second of silence and throaty chuckles poured from Raven's mouth as she sank to her knees and hugged him.
My eyes open
He closed his eyes again, as she brushed her lips across his eyelids, before he opened them and stared into her smiling face. The face of his companion. Even as she had died, Starfire had wanted him to be happy, wanted the best for her friends. She had left a gift, a ring, for the next companion in his life, when she had known that the cancer would take her.
He had been devastated by her death, and lost himself to his work, but had found a reason to love again, when Starfire had come to him in his dreams, telling him to move on, to find love and companionship.
In his grief, one of his closest and oldest friends had been there for him. Raven. It had been platonic, at least for him, but as months passed, and then a year, a romance between them developed. It had been a surprise to discover, ever since their adolescent years, that Raven had loved him. To him, it had been a simple friendship. Yet, how it had turned out to be so much more...
Her face is light
Raven though of how her life had turned out so far. She felt the ring that fitted so well onto her finger, a symbol of Richard's love and devotion to her, a sign of their bond and companionship as lovers. The ring that allowed her to feel, to let her emotions loose. The final gift prepared by her friend Starfire, with the foresight of a dying person and the intuition of a woman who knew when another was in love.
Staring down at the man she had fallen in love with over time, her lips began to curve into a smile.
her lips curved to smile
She smiled as she looked down at Richard, and she knelt down to whisper in his ear; "I'm pregnant!"
She felt the new life kick within her. Twins. The result of the honeymoon. She was sure of it. She blushed slightly at the remembrance of their need, physical and emotional, for the other, of the things they had done to fulfill that need. Two more children to add to. Nightfire, Richards other daughter, would be ecstatic to know that she was receiving a pair of new siblings. Of course, she would have to adjust, having to deal with a new mother and new siblings. Yet, two years had already passed, and life moved on.
So I take her to me
Richard stared at his wife in shock. Within seconds, he regained his composure and pulled her down to join him in the sand, holding her close, cradling her in his arms as he protectively caressed her abdomen, still taut, not showing the signs of pregnancy yet. As she turned to him and stared into his cerulean orbs, he wondered what his…. their child would look like.
and we love for a while
Raven looked at her husbands face, studying his reaction. She was glad he was pleased. He whispered sweet nothings into her ears as she contentedly let him hold her, happy to lie in the sand and enjoy another sunset cuddle with her lover. Finally, she could forget her heritage, look forwards to the future, to a beginning, to be a woman, a girl, in love with the man, the boy of her dreams.
Ricard looked down at the woman who had become his sihaya, the wellspring of his soul, his oasis in the desert, and thought of how he could meet any threat, from Trigon to Deathstroke, how he could endure anything in life, as long as she was by his side.
As the sun sank into the ocean, and the two lovers held each other on the beach, a cool land breeze blowing out to sea, he whispered into her ear….
My sihaya and me...
Adapted by Manthor
Disclaimer: Teen Titans and associated entities are the intellectual property of DC Comics.
OOC: A one shot poem/story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Once I saw this poem, I just felt inspired to write a story related to it and ended up staying awake the whole night simply typing it.
It is derived from the poem 'Sihaya' by Jory M. Earl.
Sihaya is also a term used in the novel 'Dune' by the character Paul Atreides to refer to his lover, Chani of the Fremen.