On the outside, they have a happy marriage. On the inside, they are dying slowly. Raven cries when no one is watching while Robin is unable to move on, consumed by a memory of Starfire. In the end, there is no winner to the pairings war, only tragedy.
Continually inspired by ChocolateCurlz, my ideas taking form off her fabulous story Cookie Dough though if not slightly darker, sinisterly and all things angst.
Oh yes, assume Sunfire is Robin and Raven's daughter as it will make your head hurt less from the confusion, hopefully.
Sunfire edged closer towards the door, careful to trek soundlessly towards her mother's bedroom. Mommy rarely slept these days; she grew too tired for story time, for playing dress up and the many other things they used to do. She rubbed her eyes blearily, brushing against the wall as she approached. Mommy was crying again, she thought dimly, but she couldn't seem to remember a time when Mommy wasn't crying.
Raven was crying again, lying on the floor. Her crumpled dirty nightgown slid noiselessly in Robin's hands as he pushed his mouth against hers. He knelt beside her, admiring how thin she was and how her translucent skin was like porcelain.
Sunfire passed Daddy's office and was surprised to find it empty. Maybe he went to comfort Mommy, she thought. She knew Daddy cared deeply for Mommy, he always brought her the most expensive gifts whenever he went away. Sunfire thought of the emerald necklaces, bracelets and earrings her mother kept on her dressing room table. She knew Mommy loved Daddy and that was why she cried. Mommy cried because she missed Daddy and he was gone for a long time.
Robin pressed harder against her lips, the lips that parted and swallowed his intricate lies. His touch startled her, unwanted memories resurfacing before his hand left her cheek. Robin brushed his mouth against her skin, smoothing the rippling waves that fell to her waist.
But he's back now, Sunfire thought and smiled. Mommy didn't need to cry anymore because Daddy was back. Maybe now Mommy would get better again, maybe she would even read stories again. Sunfire remembered all of the of times she had awaken to find a nanny at her bedside instead of Mommy because she was sick, the times when Doctors had visited the house because Mommy was too weak to go to the hospital. But everything was fine now, they would be happy.
Her flawless skin was unmarred by imperfections, but blemishes existed if one knew where to look. He traced Raven's face to the point of her chin and the emerald necklace she wore around her throat. Robin wondered sometimes if her heart was as hard as the jewels he loved and if he made her that way. Sometimes he wished they could stop playing the game and tell each other their feelings. But they can't because he doesn't have the right to feel anymore, he gave everything to Starfire.
"Daddy?" Sunfire asked tentatively, squinting in the dark. It didn't occur to her to turn on the light. Mommy hated the light and the kiss of flame that was the sun. Mommy hated it when things were plainly visible for the whole world to see, she preferred things to be in the dark so only she could see them. Yes, Sunfire thought, Mommy kept secrets from her and Daddy, she kept her precious treasures and anguishes for herself to admire and to scorn.
Raven kept her veil of lashes lowered onto her cheek, exposing her liquid eyes to the night, the eyes that spilled her darkest secrets. She lay bare in the darkness, eyes full of crystalline tears that no one was supposed to see.
Mommy wasn't lying in her bed, her sunken eyes weren't staring at her. Mommy's wasted body wasn't buried in the silk pillow. Sunfire remembered her mother's fingers curled around her necklace like a princess who wore pristine jewels. She was so beautiful, sometimes Sunfire pretended that Mommy was her doll. Yet in the months of her sickness, her mother was a limp lifeless doll. But now Daddy had come to take Mommy to his castle. He would protect her, Sunfire knew.
Robin crushed her frame in his arms, stroking her bone-white face. Her body collapsed gracelessly, his hand supported her, resting at the small of her back. She was slowly unraveling, her fragile frame nestled close to him. 'You don't love me,'Raven wanted to scream, but instead she let Robin kiss her. She let him live in his carefully construed world with its inconsistencies. She let him believe for the faintest moment that she was Starfire. And in return, she could believe for the faintest moment that he loved her.
Sunfire's eye caught the glimmering emeralds pouring over her mother's dressing table. On impulse, she grasped one of her Daddy's favorite and wore it around her neck. She wondered sometimes if Mommy was happy, the way she carelessly tossed the jewels aside and left them lying in her room. Sunfire could hear her mother crying still, was something terribly wrong, why couldn't Daddy stop Mommy from crying? He was back with her, wasn't that what Mommy wanted?
Raven felt like a painted doll, the invisible tears streaming down chipped at her china face. Robin wasn't supposed to see her cry, to feel the slick tears fall from her trembling cheek. But she had been crying for most of her life, from the day he brought her the first piece of jewelry to the day he named their daughter Sunfire. Their marriage was a silly game of pretend, something Sunfire and her used to play. Only with her daughter, when bedtime came, the game stopped, but with Robin, it could never end.
She saw Mommy's silk dressing robe lying near her bed. It was her mother's favorite, surely she was cold without it. Sunfire draped the silk over her arm, remembering how Mommy had let her wear it on occasion. They used to play dress up in her mother's fancy gowns, rummaging through old chests of drawers and wardrobes. Sunfire frowned as she found something lying beneath the robe, it was a picture frame of some sort. Strange, she had never seen it before.
Her hair rested against the nape of her neck, spilling over her necklace. Raven shivered as her fingers brushed against the piece of jewelry. She shut her eyes, hating the emerald and Starfire, who it reminded her of, who Robin thought about every time he saw the necklace hanging around her neck. But she could never take it off because Robin lived for the emeralds, he lived for his memories.
Sunfire studied the photograph under the glass. There were five smiling teenagers, she recognized Mommy almost immediately. Her mother's expression was one that Mommy wore she had a headache or grew impatient with her antics. She had no idea who the others were but the other girl looked like a sun goddess with her fiery hair and golden skin. Were these her friends before Mommy had met Daddy? Sunfire picked up the picture frame, deciding to ask Mommy about it.
Robin shut his eyes, knowing that someday both of them would pay for the game they played. 'But please,' he thought, 'Let this last a little longer. Let me see Starfire on more time'. He would gladly pay any price so long as he could see his love again. God, Starfire had been so beautiful. Hair that flowed from scarlet to a flame shade of burnished gold. Her brilliant green eyes had been so innocent and full of life. Eyes nothing like the sickly woman who lay at his side. 'She's like that because of you,' a nasty voice in his head told him. 'You made her that way.'
Mommy's face was streaked by tears. Daddy was hugging Mommy, he had his arms wrapped around her. Sunfire frowned, was it her imagination or was Daddy not looking at Mommy at all? And what was wrong with Mommy? Her eyes were vacant, horribly empty almost as if she had become one of the many dolls in Sunfire's collection, whose eyes and face always remained the same, unable to laugh or cry. But that was impossible, Daddy and Mommy loved each other.
Raven stared with dark malnourished eyes, "Robin. Tell me—Tell me that you love me."
There was a long painful silence.
"I'm sorry, Raven. I can't." Robin said, seeing her tears for the first time and hating himself for it.
"Please. Y-You wouldn't have to mean it. Please, Robin." She said. "Please, just tell that you love me."
"Raven. I love—." But he couldn't even finish the sentence. "I love Starfire. I don't love you."
"But you love each other! You're lying, you're all lying. Why—why would you say those awful things?" Sunfire screamed, blindly pushing the limp hair from her eyes. Her mouth hung open in horror as Mommy's expression suddenly became unreadable. The picture frame and silk robe were flung from her hands as she stood there not believing. The dressing robe fell slowly as the picture frame crashed to the floor, the pieces of glass scattering everywhere.
So this was the end, the end of their game, of everything around her. Raven's world was crashing down like the slivers of glass littered on the floor. Like her life's worth of crystalline tears taking form beside her. She didn't know she had cried so much, the pieces of glass were too many to count. No doubt the pieces of the broken picture frame were worth more to him than she is.
"Daddy?" Sunfire asked, "Is—Is Mommy alright? Is she sick?" The little girl wore her hair loosely so that it fell to her small shoulders. Her voice was small, her nightdress trailing behind her. Mommy had been dreadfully sick but never had it been like this. Never deadened, her entire body rigid and numb. Sunfire's throat tightened as hot tears pricked her eyes, threatening to fall from the curtain of lashes. "Mommy? Mommy, what's wrong? Say something, please."
Nothing lasted forever, not the Teen Titans, not Starfire, not even his relationship with Raven. They so willingly used and fooled each other when all they wanted to fool was themselves. It was never supposed to end this way, no one should ever have seen their lies pulling the strings behind them. But nothing lasted forever, they couldn't pretend for any longer.
Daddy cradled the broken picture frame. It shattered, crashing to the floor where it broke into a million pieces. The shards of glass cut into his hands but he did not let go. Daddy's hands were bleeding but still he held it, the smear red across his palm matching the flame shade of hair, covering the other girl in the picture. He must have been hurting, Sunfire thought, but what about Mommy? What about their family and everything that mattered?
In the times that followed, Sunfire learned that Mommy and Daddy played a dangerous game, and finally, they were paying the price. It was more than the pain Mommy never spoke about and hurt more than the glass cutting into Daddy's hands. And then Sunfire realized, she was the price among other things. Mommy would never tell stories again and she would no longer be Daddy's little girl. Weeping bitterly, she wondered, if the price was worth it.
Must confess, wasn't sure what to name Robin and Raven's daughter. But seeing as how the sun is a star, well, there you go, Sunfire.