Californian Sunset

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans

A.N: Sorry guys, but I only like this story as a one shot, therefore I deleted chapter two and am just going to leave 'Californian Sunset' with one chapter. Thanks for the reviews, enjoy the story and sorry about the whole deleting chapter two thing...LittleGirlInLove xxx

Light pastel colours painted the once dark, navy sky and the sun was shining so brightly that it dimmed the sparks of the stars. Richard and Kori's 14th anniversary had taken place about two weeks before and still, Mar'i smiled at the events that had taken place at that time. She glanced over to her alarm clock; only 5:38am. Jumping out of bed and slipping on her fluffy slippers, she pulled her curtains and opened the window. She breathed in the fresh, summer air and smiled as she quietly made her way down the oak stairs, taking the silk dressing gown off it's hook. She opened the door, trying to make as little sound as possible and took the key with her. She placed the gold object into her dressing gown pocket and made her way across the street because Mar'i didn't live opposite a street of small supermarkets or a park or anything like that; she lived opposite a beach.

Flashback

"Do you like it here, Mar'i?" asked her daddy, bending down to her height. A girl of five years looked back at Richard, a quizzical look on her face.

"But, daddy, why are we moving?" Richard placed Mar'i on his knee and began explaining the concept of having a new house. After all, it was getting a little cramped, having to share a house with Gar, Rachel, Jack, Ricky, Vic and Karen, but the little girl didn't look convinced. Richard thought for a little longer and had an idea.

"Plus, we're by the beach," he added, picking Mar'i up and showing her the golden beach right in front of the house. Mar'i's eyes grew wide in excitement; she adored the beach. Her parents and godparents often joked that she should have been the daughter of Garth, both of them sharing a great passion for the beach and the sea. Mar'i wriggled out of her father's grip and began running into all the empty rooms.

"If we get this house, I get this room!" she shrieked, picking a rather large room with a built in cupboard. Her parents sighed; good thing she hadn't chosen the one with the en suite bathroom. Just then, her little sister, only two years old, barged into the room and tried to push Mar'i, succeding in only nudging her as Mar'i was nearly double the size of her. However, Mar'i ran to her mum.

"Mummy, Roxy tried to push me!" she wailed, pulling on her mother's dress. Kori chuckled and stroked Mar'i's hair. Mar'i, satisfied by her mother's actions, began chasing after her little sister, laughing at the fun she was having. Richard walked over to Kori, placing his arm around her waist.

"My little girls," she cooed, placing her head onto his shoulder.

End Flashback

Mar'i got up from the warm sand, smiling at the memory she had just had. She continued walking along the beach, making her way to the caves, her favourite place to be when she wanted to be by herself. Her parents allowed her to go to the beach by herself now. In fact, they allowed her to do anything she wanted, just as long as she was back on time. She stopped as she reached a small circuar cavern, overlooking the rock pools. She clambered into the shelter and looked up at the walls. She traced her hands over the certain inscriptions that were written on the walls. She smiled as she read over one that she hadn't seen in a long time.

Flashback

"Catch me if you can!" she shouted, running along the warm sand in her shorts. Mar'i, now eight years old, was playing catch with her best friend, Jack and he was the catcher. Her mum and his mum had finally allowed them to go to the beach, as long as they were back within an hour. Only ten minutes had passed, but the two had already enjoyed their time with throwing pebbles, paddling and now catch. Mar'i continued running, drifting further away from her house, but she didn't care; she didn't want to be caught. Jack finally got her, barely having enough breath to say, "Tag! You're it!" It was only then that the two children realised just how far away they were. They decided to explore the new land, peeking in all of the rock pools and occasionally seeing a crab or a starfish. Jack quickly got bored.

"Mar'i! Come on! What if our mums come looking for us?" he whined, but Mar'i didn't listen. Instead she carried on walking. The sun had disappeared behind grey clouds by now and Jack was starting to get annoyed.

"Mar'i! Can we go now?!" he complained. Mar'i turned around.

"But I want to see what else there is!" she replied. Jack groaned; she always was adventurous.

"But what if it starts raining?" he asked. Just then, droplets of water fell onto their heads and more followed. Mar'i and Jack anxiously looked around for any shelter; they both knew it was dangerous to be by the sea when it was raining. Soon, Jack spotted something and grabbed Mar'i's arm.

"Where are we going?" she asked. It was then she spotted the cave, small, circular...dark. Mar'i had never admitted it, but she was terrified of the dark. Nobody knew, not even Jack. The only exception was her family and she stiffened as they approached the cave.

"Come on, Mar'i! What are we waiting for?" asked Jack, trying to protect his best friend and him from the pouring rain.

"I don't want to go," she replied, hanging her head down. Jack looked at her.

"Why?" he innocently asked. Mar'i started sniffling.

"Because...I don't like the dark," she admitted. She started crying, but stopped when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Jack staring at her, smiling his cute smile.

"Don't worry, Mar'i. I'll protect you," he assured, pulling a sort of superhero pose. Mar'i chuckled and wiped her eyes, while Jack put his hand out for her again. She took his hand and followed him into the tunnel. She shivered slightly; it was starting to get cold.

"Hey! Look what I found!" exclaimed Jack, holding up something white. Mar'i raised an eyebrow at him.

"What is it?" she asked him, touching it. It was hard, but crumbled easily.

"It's chalk, silly! Watch!" explained Jack, writing 'Jack is cool' onto the wall. Mar'i tsked and took the chalk away from him, crossing out the 'cool' and replacing it with 'smelly'. Jack nudged her, trying to take the chalk away from her. Mar'i laughed and started running away from Jack. This carried on for a few moments, until Mar'i ran out of the cave.

"You're going to get...Wait a minute. How come you're not wet?" Jack asked. Mar'i looked up at the sky to see the sun shining brightly down onto them. Mar'i smiled and pulled a face at Jack.

"Ner ner, bet you can't catch me!" she teased, dropping the chalk onto the sand, whilst starting to run away. Jack scowled, trailing after Mar'i.

"No fair! I'm always catcher!"

End Flashback

Mar'i actually chuckled as she remembered that day, the day when she had lost that fear of darkness. She walked over to the other side of the wall, looking at a more recent one. It's a miracle these are still here...she thought.

Flashback

Mar'i and Jack walked hand in hand down the beach, each looking away from each other. Jack had finally asked her out after her parent's anniversary party. Well, if he didn't, Mar'i would have been offended. After all, they did kiss.

"So, where do you want to go?" asked Jack, finally plucking up the courage to ask her. Mar'i thought about this for a moment. Suddenly, she had an idea and grabbed Jack's hand. She raced along the beach, running being the only sport she did. I mean, she couldn't keep her beautiful figure by doing no sport now, could she? The only sound she heard from Jack was "Woah!" She glanced over at her boyfriend, his green eyes sparkling in the setting sun and his surfer styled, blonde hair blowing in the wind. He looked just like his dad, except with a more toned body and for a guy in about his 30's, Gar's body was still pretty toned. After about two minutes of non-stop running, they reached the small cave.

"Wow, haven't been here in a while..." announced Jack, in his deep voice. Mar'i smirked and dragged him into the cave. Now being 16-years-old, the cave definetly seemed a lot smaller than she'd remebered it. She hadn't been here for about five years now. Guess I should have expected it to be smaller, she thought, walking into the space. Jack followed behind her, glancing at the walls.

"Hey! I remember this!" Jack exclaimed, looking at a drawing of...something. Mar'i turned her head to the right.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, standing behind her. She turned her head up slightly, watching him gaze down on her.

"I can't see what it is!" she responded, turning her head to the left.

"It's blatantly obvious what it is!" Jack replied, pointing to the 'drawing'. Mar'i smirked.

"OK, then, Picasso. What is it?" Suddnely, Mar'i noticed Jack's cheeks turning a shade of cherry red. He started fumbling and Mar'i giggled. Just then, she felt something being thrown at her and see turned around to see Jack with a clump of wet sand in his hands. Mar'i gasped and tried to throw a mixture of wet and dry sand at him, unfortunately missing. Jack did a lot of sports, so he was extremely fit, much to Mar'i's disappointment and enjoyment. Just as she was about to throw her fifth one, she saw Jack about to rugby tackle her. She screamed, but didn't move, resulting in her landing on the floor. He lay on top of her, their faces inches away. Mar'i looked into Jack's green eyes. She didn't know what to feel; it wasn't awkward like most people thought it was, but it wasn't pleasing like people said it was. Just then, she felt Jack kiss her on the lips, his hands combing through her hair and the sand. She closed her eyes and kissed him with just as much passion, feeling his tongue try to push open her lips. She agreed after a few seconds and began exploring unknown land. The sun set on the two, making a shadow of them appear on the side of the cave. The two finally let go of each other, both gasping for breath.

"I love you," breathed Jack, giving her an eskimo kiss. Mar'i smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I love you, too"

"Ready to go?" he asked her, jumping off her and holding out his hand. Mar'i was about to grab his hand, but suddenly she picked up a piece of chalk. There always seems to be chalk in this cave...she told herself, writing something on the walls. Jack approached his girlfriend, peeking over her shoulder. He smiled at what she had written and both left the cave feeling happy at the new inscription: 'Mar'i 3 Jack 4eva'

End Flashback

A warm feeling filled her as she heard the church bell. It was 7am now. Well, that went quickly. She pulled herself from the floor of the cave and dusted sand off herself. She walked along the edge of the beach again, taking in the smell of the sea water, the sound of the waves hitting the rocks and the feeling of peace that took over her body. She reached the front door of her house and opened it, not caring whether it made a loud noise or not. It was 7am; people needed to be up, like Roxy. She creeped into the kitchen, where, sure enough, her mum was standing there, cooking her breakfast. She creeped to the common room, peeking into the room. Tyler sat in front of the TV, watching some show, but her dad was nowhere to be seen.

"Want anything, angel?" came a voice from behind her that scared the living daylights out of her. She turned around to see her dad staring at her, his blue eyes filled with curiousity. She hugged him and replied back.

"Nothing, dad. I just came back from the beach that's all" Richard kissed his daughter and made his way into the common room. Mar'i smiled as she heard Tyler shriek, most likely from seeing dad. She took a seat in the kitchen, watching her mum cook.

"Morning, mum," she said, picking up an apple and polishing it. Kori turned around to face her daughter.

"Morning, honey. Want any breakfast?" Before Mar'i took a bite out of the apple, she watched her mum trying to cook four things at once. Mar'i put the apple down and went over to her mum.

"Need any help?" she asked, taking a spatula and cooking some more eggs. Kori smiled and took the spatula off her.

"Don't worry, darling. Sit down. I'm fine," she replied, but Mar'i took the spatula back again.

"Mum, it wasn't a question. I'm cooking breakfast, so go to the common room and sit with dad and Tyler," responded Mar'i. Kori sighed happily and took her apron off, hanging it onto the hook on the door. She walked into the common room, taking a seat next to Richard.

"Hey, honey. Who's cooking breakfast?" asked Richard, looking away from the show that Tyler was watching. Tyler had said it was called 'Teen Titans' and Richard was starting to enjoy it.

"Oh, Mar'i's cooking it. Do you know why she's in such a good mood?" Kori asked, placing her head onto Richard's chest. He put a strand of hair away from Kori's face and explained.

"I think she went to the beach" Kori made an 'Oh' sound and continued watching the TV program with Tyler and Richard. Roxy soon came down the stairs, obviously still tired and not in a good mood; morning always put Roxy in a bad mood.

"Is there any juice?" asked Roxy, walking into the common room. Kori tutted.

"Check the fridge then, dear," she replied. Roxy mumbled and the group in the common room listened as she made her way towards the kitchen. Just then, a shout was heard from Roxy and a comeback from Mar'i.

"What was that?" asked Kori, rushing to the kitchen. There, on the floor, was a shattered glass and a puddle of orange juice. Mar'i and Roxy looked at each other and pointed at each other.

"It wasn't me, it was her!" they both replied at the same time. Kori frowned and ordered them to get ready for school. The two girls sulked up the stairs, backs hunched over. As soon as they were out of the kitchen, Kori smiled and began clearing up the mess with Richard.

"My little girls never change," she whispered, putting the glass into the bin and continuing to cook breakfast.

"Neither does my darling," replied Richard, kissing Kori on the neck.

"EW! Mum! Dad! Don't make out in public ever again!" shrieked Mar'i, picking up her apple. Kori smiled and turned to face her.

"Now, we all know you do it with Jack" At this response, Mar'i dashed up the stairs and Richard and Kori laughed. Richard stopped laughing and looked at Kori with a serious face.

"They don't really do that, do they?" Kori chuckled at her husband's comment and began preparing breakfast.

"Now that would be telling," she whispered, before calling her daughter's for breakfast. Richard grabbed Kori from the waist and turned her around to face him.

"Now, now, you don't want me to torture you, do you?" he teased. Kori smiled flirtingly.

"And what would the torture be?" she asked, seductively. Richard then kissed Kori hard on the lips, both enjoying the moment.

"Ew! Mum and dad are making out...AGAIN!" announced Roxy. Mar'i went to stand at the doorway with her siblings and shuddered.

"Twice in less than two minutes? I'm not hungry anymore..." she replied, shuddering.

"Me neither, mum. I'm going to get ready. Ricky's coming soon," added Roxy, running up the stairs. Kori smiled again.

"They grow up so fast," she whispered. Richard smiled and looked over at Kori.

"But they'll always be my little girls," he replied, kissing her on the lips.