A fragile wind combed through her hair. Her hair, each inch built with strong keratin, every lock grew past her shoulders like a lustrous, violet curtain. The demon-hybrid allowed her hair to grow past her shoulders. She had an experience with long hair once, years ago—that time where she defeated her demon lord of a father.
In her younger years, she maintained her signature short, triangular-cut bob. She kept it that way in the dislike towards longer hair, as longer hair was harder for her to manage, and seemed to clash with her aesthetic.
Now, Raven was older. She gave her tresses permission to grow long and free, seemingly as a symbol, that yes; Raven has lived this long.
The evening sun baked a palette of colors into the sky. The glow from the sun spread a layer of light under the crawling, gentle clouds. Streaks of blue, lavender purple, and rose melted into the orange and yellow of the skies.
The water ahead withdrew, dragging back broken sea shells and rich minerals. Then, the tide would relax, moving up to kiss the shore before it returned to the sea. Additionally, the sunset painted an iridescent path across the sand.
Her dark, mysterious gaze absorbed the world in front of her. The fading of daylight burned against her violet gaze, creating a contrast.
He got a handful of warm sand in his hand, and let the gold grains filter through his fingers.
His mouth bent into a precious smile. This smile, he had every since he was a baby. Parts of his pasts may have altered the gesture; such as the human teeth turning into animalistic fangs and canines. Even so, the same sunny, pure smile kept to this day.
The same traits attached to his smile, the threads of light scintillating through his jade eyes. The thin film of pink that colored his basil cheeks, the lone fang that made the smile all the more genuine.
And of course, his laugh.
Surely infectious, it never failed to lift the spirits of whom he was around.
He even had that inner child intact, as he now played with the sand, and observed the sea shells in awe.
It was so real, they could barely fathom it.
She survived.
She made it past the dark prophecies that were conceived before she was. She managed to carry not the world, but hell on her shoulders, back, and in her head. She manifested her own destiny, and used that "end" in her teenage years to shape new beginnings.
He survived.
He preserved through the abuse, both mental and physical, the neglect, and the transformation that changed his life forever. He handled with his beast, that creature that helped him protect the world, but the monster that hurt him.
They didn't have crowns of grey, loss of eye color, or creases in their skin: those human signs that showed aging.
Beastboy's unstable genetics granted him age deceleration. His facial hairs were well-barbered, but he kept his hair in the most messy-neat fashion Beastboy would wear.
Raven's demonic heritage bestowed her with longevity. For a demoness that had the power to end the world and stop time, it was a given that age wouldn't have much of an effect. The Azarathian conserved her beauty and grace, neither her or her partner had aged a day over forty.
The team disbanded decades ago. Even after their separation, the team had kept in touch. They grew families of their own and lived an enjoyable post-superhero life.
Though, in the current day, the Teen Titans wasn't what it was.
Robin and Cyborg had passed on. Starfire,
was fortunate enough to have a de-aging factor, thanks to her Tamaranean genes (which means she was alive as well).
Raven and Beastboy had kids of their own, and those kids had their kids, and more generations were sure to come. The two have created a lineage of super humans, all with a mixture of broken, powerful DNA, and that hellish, magical inheritance to match.
Aforementioned, the couple did not have a trace of human aging.
What they did have, were these:
Psychological scars, both mental and emotional from what life has placed upon them. They were still in a timeless healing process from traumas inflicted on them ages ago. Beastboy had calloused hands with thick-jagged scars. Raven's marks from hell; the ones from her dark, teenage history—scarred faintly on her back, some on her forearms, a few on her torso.
The two had endured the unbearable.
Even so, they moved to a place of healing, self-acceptance, and self-love.
Beastboy learned to channel in his beastly traits in healthy ways. Raven comprehended the full of her demon. They never truly mastered those inner beings, but they learned to nurture them and forgive them.
Even as the demon and beast clashed every now and then, love still reigned. The demon would pour out her deepest sentiments, which the beast was strong enough to handle. The beast unleashed the wild within him, and the demon was dark enough to help him cope.
Raven and Beastboy were complimentary, they were each other's counterparts.
Even as time continued to elapse, their love never dissipated.
"Sometimes... I just think..." Raven begins, that monotone has never left.
"What's up, Rae?"
Beastboy studies Raven's expression.
Her eyebrows are furrowed, her lips are in a straight line, her eyes gaze to the distance ahead.
He puts down the sand and shells, then tends to his lover.
"I've been with you for years, Gar. It's hard to believe it sometimes you know? That we actually met by fate, and we worked out."
"I know. I'm surprised we made it this far without you "Azarath Metrion Zinthos-ing" me to the farthest part of the galaxy." he chuckles.
"At times, I question why I haven't." she jokes.
"Riiiight."
Raven checks her hands involuntarily.
She can't tell if she's checking for those traumatic, red lines from her past, or for wrinkles.
A warm tear leaks out of her eye.
"Hey..." he brushes her tear away with his thumb.
He doesn't know exactly what to say. His hand moves to caress her cheek. Her grey, soft flesh comforted his rough palm.
If he was given the choice of gold and silver, he would pick silver, because she made silver look absolutely gorgeous.
"We could have given up. We could have given up on ourselves, or each other. But, we've reached those days. The golden ones, full of laughter and joy. We weathered through all of those dark patches, where there seemed to be no end in sight." Raven sniffles, leaning into his hand on her cheek, putting her hand over it.
"You're absolutely right. Who knew that we would happen? Everything we went through rewarded us with each other. Every moment, every action, every word. It all worked out just for us to be together."
Beastboy's eyes warm with tears, then he kisses her red gem.
"I had such a broken relationship with my home, Azarath. All because of who I was. You never really had a home, Africa and your sufferings caused you to have to search, search, and keep searching. Most of our lives we spent looking for a purpose, we were so lost emotionally and mentally as well," she takes in another shaky breath, "Our first home was in Jump City, the first home of many... and we never knew. All of this is making me realize, my home was never a physical location. It's right here."
She smoothly traces her hand to his chest, taps it.
"You. My home is you."
The changeling smiles as tears fall from his emerald eyes.
"And you are my home as well," he affirms, his fang-ish smile makes Raven smile.
"We're at that brighter day, Raven. That light at the end of the tunnel. Our love is outgrowing time, and we're at our peaks," his hand shuffles to the nest of her hair.
Her hand strokes the corner of his mouth, the apex of his cheekbone, she affectionately presses her lips there.
"I'm so proud of you, and of us. We've fought countless battles, the ones for justice and truth, and the ones with ourselves. We fell in love, and never fell out. Girl, I'm so down for you, I mean, I'd have to be with you. There's no other way. Me not being with you is like not putting peanut butter and jelly together."
"You can never say something heart-felt without mentioning food." Raven scoffs, taking his lips in hers.
"You know food is essential to every living thing, especially me." he whispers against her mouth.
She giggles softly, that youthful streak is alive as ever in her partner.
"That deep longing, that irrational sensation. It finally makes sense. It was you all along, it always has been you. I don't... I don't know what was before you... or how there was even a time before you. You're my first, my last, my forever." her voice cracks beautifully.
"You're my darkness, my light, my everything, my one and only," he kisses her nose once more, "The "Teen" to my "Titan"." he chuckles.
He's holding the darkest angel, and she's holding the wildest beast.
"I know what we're experiencing, Raven. I know what we are." he comments, tasting his tears and hers on his syllables.
The sun sets, but the couple maintain warmth and color. The last colors of day dip into the darkness of night. Another day Beastboy and Raven would end together, and the many tomorrow's to come; would they be together, too.
Endless.
"And what is that?"
"Hiraeth."