Two Roads
This is Raven's story. The one that could've and would've been.
She would've arrived at Earth and met no one. No Teen Titans and especially no boy wonder.
She would've walked alone in her path of no redemption, living off the streets and fearing any living being.
She would've seen the mistreatments and the misdeeds done to those deemed lesser. The poverty and violence would color her perception of the planet she was currently on.
She would've started to see no redeeming value, no reason for her to even try to change her course of destiny. Why give attempt and hope to those who didn't even give a shit about saving their own?
In this what-if universe, there were no last minute saves and especially no heroes.
The day of her birth would arrive. Those who've heard about her and her destiny would try to defeat her, even kill her before the prophecy have a chance to come to pass.
There would be a team of teen superheroes who discovered her existence. They would've tried to stop her in the months leading up to her day of her birth. It would not work. Her father made sure of that.
She wouldn't trust anyone, let alone a team of freaks. She would not let them get close to her. She would not let them touch her. She would not let them control her.
She was already being controlled by her faith.
There would be nightmares, of course. Dreams about the horror to come, the loneliness and despair. She did not care for those emotions anymore.
Like it was said before, Earth had no redeeming value. She would've seen rape, murders, corruption and war. Babies killed and men committing horrid crimes. Women, too.
Even the team of superhero freaks had no redeeming value. They were narcissistic and ignorant. They saw her as a demon, therefore should be killed. They only see the damage done by her powers. They would not try to get to know her. They think she wants the prophecy to pass.
They were wrong. Everyone was wrong.
She would be tired. Tired of being someone's pawn. Tired of trying to see the good and the light when darkness so easily welcomes her.
She would've had no one in this what-if universe.
Her father would be right. There would be no one there to care for her. To teach her from right and wrong. To give something for her to give a damn.
She so desperately wants to see the good and the light, but the darkness is always there.
The day of her birth would come. She would've become the portal.
Sure, there were some trying to stop her.
They would fail. They all do.
She would've not care. She would've not give a damn. She would've allow her father through, without fight and without forethought. There would be nothing for her here.
She would've died and she would've taken humanity's last chance with her. Though that isn't fair.
Humanity never had a chance.
This is Raven's story.
However, this is a could've. A parallel universe of what ifs and different paths.
This what really happened.
Raven met a boy and with that boy, friends.
Her friends allowed her to be herself and gave her guidance. They teased. They had fun. They even cried. Raven knew the importance of friendship because her friends did not let her suffer alone. They experienced joy and tragedy together.
Raven saw the beauty of humanity and the ugliness of humanity. Still, she wants to save it. To know happiness, one must experience sadness and Raven knows sadness.
Raven knows the prophecy must come to pass. That could never be stop. However, she knows that this is not the end. She held on.
She held on as the world descended to red and black and madness.
She held on as her friends tried the impossible.
She held on as Robin, the first person she met when she arrived here on Earth, traveled to the depths of hell with the very person he despised with every fiber of his being. He faced evil just to save her.
He was the key difference between the what-if universe and this one. He made her feel. He made her be someone, her own self, and not just her father's pawn. He gave her back her identity.
He was the failsafe to the prophecy.
Her father could've not have imagine one lone human boy capturing her heart and her soul. Someone who didn't care that she is a demon and utterly different from himself. Her father could've not have seen it. Could've not of seen him.
She held on. She did the impossible. She made sure that she did not die a useless death.
In this reality, she would not go down without giving a fight.
Robin knows this, so did her friends. Beast Boy, the one who always tried to make her laugh. Starfire, her only and best female companion one could ever wished for, though do not tell her that. Cyborg, the one who always made sure she was included and acted like her big brother.
But Robin always made sure she was safe. If she wasn't, he made it so. He cared for her and she cared for him.
The prophecy did not stand a chance.
What a difference one person makes. A universe in which he was there and a universe in which he was not.
There are two roads to every situation. One must make a choice.
And, on that day, the day Raven arrived on Earth, she made a choice.
She saw the boy staring at her from across the street.
She saw his eyes.
She reached out and decided to walk beside him to the end of days.
However, it was not only her choice that faithful day. It was also the boy's. And the boy wanted to save her.
He could've stayed back at mansion with his surrogate father. He could've went out with Alfred on his day off. He could've done a bunch of other things.
But he didn't.
He doesn't care for what-ifs and could'ves, only what was done. And what was done was him meeting her and that all he cared about.
Meeting her changed his destiny as much as it changed hers.
There was never a second chance. He believes in the first, the one that matters. He wouldn't dare dream about another reality in which she wasn't in his life.
He cares about her, so much so it frightens him. He wants to see her smile. He wants to know that she is safe. He wants to be there for her.
She also wants to be there for him.
And, she is.
When Robin walked the depths of hell, she is there. He was the one who guide her out. But it was her team that allowed her to face her fears and fight her father.
She couldn't of done it without them. She especially couldn't of done it without him.
Who cares about what-ifs? She is here with them now and he is here with her now.
As it should be.