Chapter 9
The past few days have been hectic at the Titans Tower. Explosions, breakings, and smoke. All caused by: you guessed it, Raven. Things didn't get better after all. The next day(Sunday), she caused the stove to explode.
"I guess we'll have to stick with ordering out."
"Can we get pizza?!"
Monday, she caused windows to open and close with a hard slam, causing the glass to break.
"A little fresh air isn't so bad."
"A little? You mean a lot!"
Tuesday, the furniture was thrown against the wall.
"If we were going to redecorate the living room, why didn't anyone tell me about it?"
Wednesday, th-
"No! Not the Game Station! Please! Spare the video games!" pleaded Beast Boy, holding the Game Station tight.
"Beast Boy, get off the Game Station, man!" yelled Cyborg.
Anyway. .On Wednesday, Raven never came out of her room all morning. No one had seen her at all that day. She ignored her growling stomach and laid in bed, staring at the ceiling.
"If I stay in here, no one will get hurt. .I've caused too much damage already.."
Raven was losing energy by the moment. She payed no mind to the knockings on her door. 'Stay away. .You'll be safer.' It was about 6:00pm now. Raven was still gone from sight. She was starting to creep into depression more and more. Her heart became heavy and weak. Raven felt like a lifeless body. 'I'm a disaster on two feet. .My emotions are dangerous. .I'm better off alone. .I must get out of here, now.'
Raven slowly rose out of bed and walked to her closet. She took out a set of clothes and put on a long-sleeve, navy blue shirt with a v-neck, and flare black pants. She slipped on boots and tossed her uniform in the trash. 'I won't need that anymore. .' She took a last look at her room, a gloom expression planted on her face. She opened her door and walked through that lonely passage into the dark hallway. Raven quietly floated through the halls and stopped when the Titans came into view. Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing "The Simpsons: Road Rage" on Nintendo Game Cube ("Yes! Go Bart!" "D'oh!") while Starfire watched in excitement ("What does 'D'oh' mean?"). Robin was sitting on another couch. A tired expression formed on his fair face. Raven looked hard at them all. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire. . .and Robin. She sighed and mentally payed her goodbyes. She floated towards the stairway to the roof. Telekinetically, Raven swung the door open and slammed it shut as she passed through.
A noise brought Robin back to reality, and he looked around hesitantly.
"Did any of you hear that?" he asked.
"No, why?" said Beast Boy, while trying to concentrate on winning.
"I heard something, I know it."
"Maybe it was Raven," said Cyborg, yelling in frustration as his car bumped into a wall.
"Nah, Raven locked herself in her room."
"Raven has not been in our sight all day. It is like she disappeared," said Starfire.
"I'll go check up on her just to make sure. She has been a little moody in the past few days."
"Rob, are you crazy?! If you go anywhere near her she might blow you up."
"Beast Boy, that's not funny."
"I wasn't trying to be funny, yo. I'm serious, you see what she did to the stove?"
"And the windows," Cyborg added.
"And the moving of the furniture as well," said Starfire.
"You think I care? I'm going to check up on her, I'm not afraid of her power."
Robin rose from the couch and made his way down the hall and towards Raven's door.
"Raven! Are you in there?"
Robin started to bang his fist on the door.
"Raven!"
Robin was losing patience, so he opened the door himself. Gone. She's not in her room.
"Raven?"
Robin looked everywhere, fear rising up in his stomach as his searching began to fail. His eyes fell upon her uniform, which was laying in the trash. "What? She can't be gone. .She can't be gone. ."
Robin ran out of the room at high speed and rushed over to the stairway. He ignored his team mates questions of where he was going and pulled open the door, nearly breaking it off the hinges.
"Raven!"
Raven was at the edge of the roof, ready to take off in mid-air, away from this place.
"Raven, what are you doing!"
"Stay away from me, Robin," she said in a monotone voice, "You'll be safer that way."
"Raven, I'm not leaving. What is going on with you? What's wrong?"
"It is nothing!"
The roof began to shake slightly as she yelled. Robin remained calm and stood his ground.
"Raven-"
"Farewell."
Raven jumped off in the air and started flying away from the island.
"Raven! Raven, get back here!! Raven!!"
She ignored his pleas as tears flowed down her cheeks. 'You won't get hurt, Robin. I might kill you if you come closer to me. .My emotions are out of control.' Robin quickly took out a hook from his utility belt, pinned it on the edge, and slid down the rope to the sand. He ran to the near-by row boat and jumped on, rowing as fast as he could to reach the city before Raven did. He called out to her more, only to get no response. His arms started to ache, but Robin kept on rowing down the ocean. 'Almost there.'
He reached the dock and leaped out of the boat. Raven was still in sight in the sky.
"Raven! Come down, we can talk about it!"
"There's nothing to talk about!" she yelled back.
Robin ran down the streets to catch up to Raven. He's not going to let her out of his sight again. His breath increased and his muscles ached, though he still kept running. 'This isn't working. Need a new plan.' He stopped and took out an extending claw. Robin aimed it in the air at Raven and pushed the button, releasing the claw into the sky. The claw gripped Raven's ankle, pulling her down slightly. She ignored it and continued flying forward. Robin, who was still holding the handle, rose from the street and was being pulled forward. 'Damn, this girl's strong.'
Robin tried as best as he could to pull her down, but to no avail. This lead all the way down to the Gotham City park. With a hard tug, Robin pulled Raven down towards the ground. She managed to land on her feet and pulled off the claw that hugged her ankle.
"Raven, wait."
"Why are you following me?!"
"Because you can't just run away from your problems! What is driving you so crazy that you need to hide from it?"
"You wouldn't understand."
Raven's dark eyes began to glow as the trees started to rustle their leaves. A gust of wind blew against their bodies.
"Will you let me try? Raven, I want to help you. I don't want you to just run off. .We can try and solve whatever's bothering you."
"It can't be solved! I'm born with a power that runs on emotions. If they get out of control, I can cause danger to anyone you passes my path. I can't feel anything. Day after day I have to keep emotionless in order to even be around people. I can't afford to feel anything!"
Robin stood still as a statue as Raven yelled out at him.
"You're lucky, Robin. You can feel anything you want and not cause any harm to anyone. You're free of this curse."
Robin slowly approached her. Raven backed away.
"Stay back, I might hurt you."
"You won't hurt me. I'm not afraid of you."
She hesitated as he came closer and closer.
"Raven, it's ok for you to feel emotions. What triggers your power is making a big deal out of them. Don't be so afraid to have emotions."
He spoke in a calm voice, hoping that his words would help Raven relax.
"I can't have them. I can't control them anymore! Didn't you witness what has happened in the past few days?! I'm becoming weak!"
"Will you stop putting yourself down!!"
Robin grasped her shoulders and shook her as he raised his voice.
"Raven, you're better than this! I know you can overcome this! You can do it!"
The nearby benches began to levitate as Raven was filled with anger and frustration. She felt sick to her stomach and felt like screaming. Tears began to form as she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"I can't! I can't do it, don't you understand?! I'm weak! I can't-!"
Raven's sentence was cut short as Robin slapped her across the face.
"Raven, get a hold of yourself!"
Robin froze as he realized what he just done. Raven looked up at him as tears flowed down her pale cheeks. Robin's heart broke at the sight of Raven crying.
"Jesus Christ. . .Raven, I didn't mean to slap you. I'm sorry. ."
Raven buried her face in his chest as she began to sob. Her arms wrapped around his waist tightly, her tears dampening his uniform shirt. She sunk down to the grass, Robin bending down with her. He held her in his arms protectively as he lightly stroked her head.
"It's ok, Raven. .Just let it out, don't hold back. ."
He spoke in a soothing voice as Raven continued to sob. The trees stopped swaying in the wind, and the benches were back on the concrete.
"It's ok. .It's ok," he said, as he stroked her hair like you would to a crying child.
Raven's sobbing was decreasing as her breath was slowly returning to normal, and her tears stopped flowing. Robin continued to speak to her soothingly, telling her everything is going to be ok. Robin lifted her chin up with the tips of his gloved fingers. He stared in her eyes, now slightly red from crying. "Are you feeling a little better?"
Raven nodded, and deeply inhaled and exhaled.
"Do you want to go back home?"
Raven shook her head.
"Not yet," she managed to croak out.
"That's fine. .Do you want to talk about what's been bothering you now?"
"I guess so."
Robin nodded and helped her up on her feet. Putting an arm around her shoulder, he led Raven to the nearby bench and they both sat down. He took his arm away and gave Raven some space.
"Ok. .Now. .First of all, what is causing you to become so emotional all of a sudden?"
Raven took the time to collect the right words to explain.
"Take your time, answer when you're ready," he reassured her.
She nodded. Raven opened her mouth and started from the night of the dream.
"On Friday night. .I had a nightmare about. .what path I should choose."
"What do you mean?"
"What path, like Dark or Light. ."
"That's easy, go for Light."
"No, you don't get it. If I say this, I'm afraid you'll think less of me."
"Just say it. I won't think any less of you."
"Ok. .I'm half. .Well. .I'm half human and half demon. .My Mother was a mortal, while my Father was a demon."
Robin nodded as he tried to suck in this new information.
"Ever since I was a child, I would have nightmares of my Father haunting me and manipulating me to 'become one with the Dark.' He wants me to be full demon, just like him. I don't want to be full demon. I don't want to be evil like him. In my dream, he was back to haunt me about 'It's your blood, you should be evil.'
All of my childhood, I was trained in a place called Azareth to control my power and emotions. I was trained by Azar, who saved my Mother from committing suicide. She gave birth to me in Azareth. The reason why I've always been. .emotionless. .was because of my power, and that the fact that the evil within me would conquer. .Do you remember when I nearly sucked the life out of Dr.Light?"
"Yes."
"That was a time when the evil almost took over. It wasn't as serious back then. Deep down, I want to have feelings. I want to feel joy, warmth, sadness, anger, etc. But I can't. ."
"I've never. .experienced that but I can understand where you're coming from. It seems hard, I'm sorry you have to go through that."
Raven half -smiled at him.
"You didn't cause this. Don't be sorry for me."
Raven swallowed hard at memories of her past and present. She just told Robin everything about her: her childhood, parents, inner feelings and fears. She shook her head and smirked.
"What?" asked Robin.
"Nothing, it's just. .I never imagined myself telling you about my history. I've never been this close with anyone. With you."
"Yeah. .I admit, we haven't exactly been 'buddies' in the past, have we."
"Not really."
"To be honest, I've always wanted to be close with you. I didn't know anything about your past, so when you would demand to be alone, I just thought that you hated me."
"Robin," she said, looking shocked, "I've never hated you. Maybe I was a little upset with you at one time, but I don't hate you."
"Really?"
"Yes. .I mean. .You do a lot for people, even for people you don't even know. You always stick with morals, you're always looking out for everyone without looking out for yourself. .Face it, you're like. .the perfect guy."
Robin blushed at Raven's comment.
"C'mon, I'm not perfect."
"You're close."
"Thanks," he said, still a little flushed. "But you're the one with the cool personality."
"What?"
"You don't let people push you around, you're funny when you're sarcastic, you're not afraid to do your own thing, and you help people out when they really need it."
"You really think I'm fine the way I am?"
"Yeah."
"I've always thought that you hated me, and you didn't want to be around me."
"It's not like that at all. I never hated you. I understood that you wanted to be alone and I just wanted to give you space and not burden you-"
"That's another thing. You always know when to leave me alone. How?"
"How? Are you kidding me? When I lived with Bruce Wayne, he was exactly like you. He was very secretive and wanted his privacy and space. So, I guess I kind of understand that you prefer to be alone sometimes. But, I guess I kind of over-saw that fact. I was too afraid to bother you, I didn't want you to think of me as a pest or anything. I didn't mean for it to seem like I didn't like you. I'm sorry if I made you feel like that."
"That's alright. And I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't want you around."
"That's ok. Well, uh, I'm glad we got through that. This is nice that we're understanding each other more."
"I agree."
"So, is your Father still alive?"
". .I don't know. I think maybe, but I really don't know. I hope not, I want him out of my life for good."
"If he ever tracks you down or something, I'll do everything I can do to protect you from him."
"Thank you, Robin. .But I don't want you getting mixed up in my problems."
"I don't mind. I won't let anyone hurt you."
'Is this guy for real?' she thought. She sat closer to him, indicating that they were actually becoming closer in their friendship.
"So," she started, " do you have anything against your parents?"
The life was nearly sucked out of Robin's face after hearing "parents". He turned away and swallowed back some pain from the past.
"My parents are dead," he managed to say after clearing his throat.
"Oh. .I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mention it."
He shook his head.
"It's not your fault. You didn't know."
He tried to smile through watery eyes. He didn't want Raven to feel bad. Too late. She already felt bad for him. He's done nothing wrong to deserve the death of his parents. She put her arm around him and gave him a light hug. He leaned his head on hers, and closed his eyes. The sun was beginning to fade from the sky. It was aligned with a purple and orange splash of clouds. Raven felt very comfortable for once in her life. She wasn't concerned about her emotions or powers or anything. Just being with Robin made her feel right.
"Rough day, huh?" said Robin, trying to break the silence.
"That was random."
"I know."
Robin stood up from the bench and faced Raven.
"We should hang out more often like this. After this experience I really do have a better view on you.'
"Same here."
Raven stood up and walked alongside Robin.
"Robin. .?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for being there for me through it all."
At that moment she hugged him with both arms wrapped around him warmly. Robin was a little surprised to see raven so sweet with him. 'I've never seen this side of her before. .I knew she was sweet underneath all this toughness.' Robin hugged back and gave her the best bear hug he can give.
"You're welcome. Now c'mon, let's get home, everyone's worried about you."
"Are they afraid of me?"
"Well. .they're a little spooked out, but they still love you no matter what. Like I've been saying, we're a team, we stick with each other no matter what. Friends forever?" he asked, holding out his hand.
Raven looked up at him and smiled.
"Friends forever," she said, as she placed her hand in his.
They walked home, hand-in-hand, knowing each other better and feeling closer with one another.
'I hope we can become more than friends one day, Robin. .How can I tell you how I really feel about you?'
Author's Note: Whoo, it's nice to update, isn't it? I hope you're satisfied with chapter 8 and 9. I have new ideas for future chapters, I just need to figure out how to write them the way I want it. I know I've said this many times, but I really do appreciate the reviews. Most of you have encouraged me to continue writing and continue this fic. I have no shame in writing this story. I'm glad people like it. And if I've said "Thank you" too many times, just ignore me. I've always been taught to be polite all my life so yeah. I hope you continue reading and hopefully I can get later chapters written up and posted. Ja Ne!
The past few days have been hectic at the Titans Tower. Explosions, breakings, and smoke. All caused by: you guessed it, Raven. Things didn't get better after all. The next day(Sunday), she caused the stove to explode.
"I guess we'll have to stick with ordering out."
"Can we get pizza?!"
Monday, she caused windows to open and close with a hard slam, causing the glass to break.
"A little fresh air isn't so bad."
"A little? You mean a lot!"
Tuesday, the furniture was thrown against the wall.
"If we were going to redecorate the living room, why didn't anyone tell me about it?"
Wednesday, th-
"No! Not the Game Station! Please! Spare the video games!" pleaded Beast Boy, holding the Game Station tight.
"Beast Boy, get off the Game Station, man!" yelled Cyborg.
Anyway. .On Wednesday, Raven never came out of her room all morning. No one had seen her at all that day. She ignored her growling stomach and laid in bed, staring at the ceiling.
"If I stay in here, no one will get hurt. .I've caused too much damage already.."
Raven was losing energy by the moment. She payed no mind to the knockings on her door. 'Stay away. .You'll be safer.' It was about 6:00pm now. Raven was still gone from sight. She was starting to creep into depression more and more. Her heart became heavy and weak. Raven felt like a lifeless body. 'I'm a disaster on two feet. .My emotions are dangerous. .I'm better off alone. .I must get out of here, now.'
Raven slowly rose out of bed and walked to her closet. She took out a set of clothes and put on a long-sleeve, navy blue shirt with a v-neck, and flare black pants. She slipped on boots and tossed her uniform in the trash. 'I won't need that anymore. .' She took a last look at her room, a gloom expression planted on her face. She opened her door and walked through that lonely passage into the dark hallway. Raven quietly floated through the halls and stopped when the Titans came into view. Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing "The Simpsons: Road Rage" on Nintendo Game Cube ("Yes! Go Bart!" "D'oh!") while Starfire watched in excitement ("What does 'D'oh' mean?"). Robin was sitting on another couch. A tired expression formed on his fair face. Raven looked hard at them all. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire. . .and Robin. She sighed and mentally payed her goodbyes. She floated towards the stairway to the roof. Telekinetically, Raven swung the door open and slammed it shut as she passed through.
A noise brought Robin back to reality, and he looked around hesitantly.
"Did any of you hear that?" he asked.
"No, why?" said Beast Boy, while trying to concentrate on winning.
"I heard something, I know it."
"Maybe it was Raven," said Cyborg, yelling in frustration as his car bumped into a wall.
"Nah, Raven locked herself in her room."
"Raven has not been in our sight all day. It is like she disappeared," said Starfire.
"I'll go check up on her just to make sure. She has been a little moody in the past few days."
"Rob, are you crazy?! If you go anywhere near her she might blow you up."
"Beast Boy, that's not funny."
"I wasn't trying to be funny, yo. I'm serious, you see what she did to the stove?"
"And the windows," Cyborg added.
"And the moving of the furniture as well," said Starfire.
"You think I care? I'm going to check up on her, I'm not afraid of her power."
Robin rose from the couch and made his way down the hall and towards Raven's door.
"Raven! Are you in there?"
Robin started to bang his fist on the door.
"Raven!"
Robin was losing patience, so he opened the door himself. Gone. She's not in her room.
"Raven?"
Robin looked everywhere, fear rising up in his stomach as his searching began to fail. His eyes fell upon her uniform, which was laying in the trash. "What? She can't be gone. .She can't be gone. ."
Robin ran out of the room at high speed and rushed over to the stairway. He ignored his team mates questions of where he was going and pulled open the door, nearly breaking it off the hinges.
"Raven!"
Raven was at the edge of the roof, ready to take off in mid-air, away from this place.
"Raven, what are you doing!"
"Stay away from me, Robin," she said in a monotone voice, "You'll be safer that way."
"Raven, I'm not leaving. What is going on with you? What's wrong?"
"It is nothing!"
The roof began to shake slightly as she yelled. Robin remained calm and stood his ground.
"Raven-"
"Farewell."
Raven jumped off in the air and started flying away from the island.
"Raven! Raven, get back here!! Raven!!"
She ignored his pleas as tears flowed down her cheeks. 'You won't get hurt, Robin. I might kill you if you come closer to me. .My emotions are out of control.' Robin quickly took out a hook from his utility belt, pinned it on the edge, and slid down the rope to the sand. He ran to the near-by row boat and jumped on, rowing as fast as he could to reach the city before Raven did. He called out to her more, only to get no response. His arms started to ache, but Robin kept on rowing down the ocean. 'Almost there.'
He reached the dock and leaped out of the boat. Raven was still in sight in the sky.
"Raven! Come down, we can talk about it!"
"There's nothing to talk about!" she yelled back.
Robin ran down the streets to catch up to Raven. He's not going to let her out of his sight again. His breath increased and his muscles ached, though he still kept running. 'This isn't working. Need a new plan.' He stopped and took out an extending claw. Robin aimed it in the air at Raven and pushed the button, releasing the claw into the sky. The claw gripped Raven's ankle, pulling her down slightly. She ignored it and continued flying forward. Robin, who was still holding the handle, rose from the street and was being pulled forward. 'Damn, this girl's strong.'
Robin tried as best as he could to pull her down, but to no avail. This lead all the way down to the Gotham City park. With a hard tug, Robin pulled Raven down towards the ground. She managed to land on her feet and pulled off the claw that hugged her ankle.
"Raven, wait."
"Why are you following me?!"
"Because you can't just run away from your problems! What is driving you so crazy that you need to hide from it?"
"You wouldn't understand."
Raven's dark eyes began to glow as the trees started to rustle their leaves. A gust of wind blew against their bodies.
"Will you let me try? Raven, I want to help you. I don't want you to just run off. .We can try and solve whatever's bothering you."
"It can't be solved! I'm born with a power that runs on emotions. If they get out of control, I can cause danger to anyone you passes my path. I can't feel anything. Day after day I have to keep emotionless in order to even be around people. I can't afford to feel anything!"
Robin stood still as a statue as Raven yelled out at him.
"You're lucky, Robin. You can feel anything you want and not cause any harm to anyone. You're free of this curse."
Robin slowly approached her. Raven backed away.
"Stay back, I might hurt you."
"You won't hurt me. I'm not afraid of you."
She hesitated as he came closer and closer.
"Raven, it's ok for you to feel emotions. What triggers your power is making a big deal out of them. Don't be so afraid to have emotions."
He spoke in a calm voice, hoping that his words would help Raven relax.
"I can't have them. I can't control them anymore! Didn't you witness what has happened in the past few days?! I'm becoming weak!"
"Will you stop putting yourself down!!"
Robin grasped her shoulders and shook her as he raised his voice.
"Raven, you're better than this! I know you can overcome this! You can do it!"
The nearby benches began to levitate as Raven was filled with anger and frustration. She felt sick to her stomach and felt like screaming. Tears began to form as she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"I can't! I can't do it, don't you understand?! I'm weak! I can't-!"
Raven's sentence was cut short as Robin slapped her across the face.
"Raven, get a hold of yourself!"
Robin froze as he realized what he just done. Raven looked up at him as tears flowed down her pale cheeks. Robin's heart broke at the sight of Raven crying.
"Jesus Christ. . .Raven, I didn't mean to slap you. I'm sorry. ."
Raven buried her face in his chest as she began to sob. Her arms wrapped around his waist tightly, her tears dampening his uniform shirt. She sunk down to the grass, Robin bending down with her. He held her in his arms protectively as he lightly stroked her head.
"It's ok, Raven. .Just let it out, don't hold back. ."
He spoke in a soothing voice as Raven continued to sob. The trees stopped swaying in the wind, and the benches were back on the concrete.
"It's ok. .It's ok," he said, as he stroked her hair like you would to a crying child.
Raven's sobbing was decreasing as her breath was slowly returning to normal, and her tears stopped flowing. Robin continued to speak to her soothingly, telling her everything is going to be ok. Robin lifted her chin up with the tips of his gloved fingers. He stared in her eyes, now slightly red from crying. "Are you feeling a little better?"
Raven nodded, and deeply inhaled and exhaled.
"Do you want to go back home?"
Raven shook her head.
"Not yet," she managed to croak out.
"That's fine. .Do you want to talk about what's been bothering you now?"
"I guess so."
Robin nodded and helped her up on her feet. Putting an arm around her shoulder, he led Raven to the nearby bench and they both sat down. He took his arm away and gave Raven some space.
"Ok. .Now. .First of all, what is causing you to become so emotional all of a sudden?"
Raven took the time to collect the right words to explain.
"Take your time, answer when you're ready," he reassured her.
She nodded. Raven opened her mouth and started from the night of the dream.
"On Friday night. .I had a nightmare about. .what path I should choose."
"What do you mean?"
"What path, like Dark or Light. ."
"That's easy, go for Light."
"No, you don't get it. If I say this, I'm afraid you'll think less of me."
"Just say it. I won't think any less of you."
"Ok. .I'm half. .Well. .I'm half human and half demon. .My Mother was a mortal, while my Father was a demon."
Robin nodded as he tried to suck in this new information.
"Ever since I was a child, I would have nightmares of my Father haunting me and manipulating me to 'become one with the Dark.' He wants me to be full demon, just like him. I don't want to be full demon. I don't want to be evil like him. In my dream, he was back to haunt me about 'It's your blood, you should be evil.'
All of my childhood, I was trained in a place called Azareth to control my power and emotions. I was trained by Azar, who saved my Mother from committing suicide. She gave birth to me in Azareth. The reason why I've always been. .emotionless. .was because of my power, and that the fact that the evil within me would conquer. .Do you remember when I nearly sucked the life out of Dr.Light?"
"Yes."
"That was a time when the evil almost took over. It wasn't as serious back then. Deep down, I want to have feelings. I want to feel joy, warmth, sadness, anger, etc. But I can't. ."
"I've never. .experienced that but I can understand where you're coming from. It seems hard, I'm sorry you have to go through that."
Raven half -smiled at him.
"You didn't cause this. Don't be sorry for me."
Raven swallowed hard at memories of her past and present. She just told Robin everything about her: her childhood, parents, inner feelings and fears. She shook her head and smirked.
"What?" asked Robin.
"Nothing, it's just. .I never imagined myself telling you about my history. I've never been this close with anyone. With you."
"Yeah. .I admit, we haven't exactly been 'buddies' in the past, have we."
"Not really."
"To be honest, I've always wanted to be close with you. I didn't know anything about your past, so when you would demand to be alone, I just thought that you hated me."
"Robin," she said, looking shocked, "I've never hated you. Maybe I was a little upset with you at one time, but I don't hate you."
"Really?"
"Yes. .I mean. .You do a lot for people, even for people you don't even know. You always stick with morals, you're always looking out for everyone without looking out for yourself. .Face it, you're like. .the perfect guy."
Robin blushed at Raven's comment.
"C'mon, I'm not perfect."
"You're close."
"Thanks," he said, still a little flushed. "But you're the one with the cool personality."
"What?"
"You don't let people push you around, you're funny when you're sarcastic, you're not afraid to do your own thing, and you help people out when they really need it."
"You really think I'm fine the way I am?"
"Yeah."
"I've always thought that you hated me, and you didn't want to be around me."
"It's not like that at all. I never hated you. I understood that you wanted to be alone and I just wanted to give you space and not burden you-"
"That's another thing. You always know when to leave me alone. How?"
"How? Are you kidding me? When I lived with Bruce Wayne, he was exactly like you. He was very secretive and wanted his privacy and space. So, I guess I kind of understand that you prefer to be alone sometimes. But, I guess I kind of over-saw that fact. I was too afraid to bother you, I didn't want you to think of me as a pest or anything. I didn't mean for it to seem like I didn't like you. I'm sorry if I made you feel like that."
"That's alright. And I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't want you around."
"That's ok. Well, uh, I'm glad we got through that. This is nice that we're understanding each other more."
"I agree."
"So, is your Father still alive?"
". .I don't know. I think maybe, but I really don't know. I hope not, I want him out of my life for good."
"If he ever tracks you down or something, I'll do everything I can do to protect you from him."
"Thank you, Robin. .But I don't want you getting mixed up in my problems."
"I don't mind. I won't let anyone hurt you."
'Is this guy for real?' she thought. She sat closer to him, indicating that they were actually becoming closer in their friendship.
"So," she started, " do you have anything against your parents?"
The life was nearly sucked out of Robin's face after hearing "parents". He turned away and swallowed back some pain from the past.
"My parents are dead," he managed to say after clearing his throat.
"Oh. .I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mention it."
He shook his head.
"It's not your fault. You didn't know."
He tried to smile through watery eyes. He didn't want Raven to feel bad. Too late. She already felt bad for him. He's done nothing wrong to deserve the death of his parents. She put her arm around him and gave him a light hug. He leaned his head on hers, and closed his eyes. The sun was beginning to fade from the sky. It was aligned with a purple and orange splash of clouds. Raven felt very comfortable for once in her life. She wasn't concerned about her emotions or powers or anything. Just being with Robin made her feel right.
"Rough day, huh?" said Robin, trying to break the silence.
"That was random."
"I know."
Robin stood up from the bench and faced Raven.
"We should hang out more often like this. After this experience I really do have a better view on you.'
"Same here."
Raven stood up and walked alongside Robin.
"Robin. .?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for being there for me through it all."
At that moment she hugged him with both arms wrapped around him warmly. Robin was a little surprised to see raven so sweet with him. 'I've never seen this side of her before. .I knew she was sweet underneath all this toughness.' Robin hugged back and gave her the best bear hug he can give.
"You're welcome. Now c'mon, let's get home, everyone's worried about you."
"Are they afraid of me?"
"Well. .they're a little spooked out, but they still love you no matter what. Like I've been saying, we're a team, we stick with each other no matter what. Friends forever?" he asked, holding out his hand.
Raven looked up at him and smiled.
"Friends forever," she said, as she placed her hand in his.
They walked home, hand-in-hand, knowing each other better and feeling closer with one another.
'I hope we can become more than friends one day, Robin. .How can I tell you how I really feel about you?'
Author's Note: Whoo, it's nice to update, isn't it? I hope you're satisfied with chapter 8 and 9. I have new ideas for future chapters, I just need to figure out how to write them the way I want it. I know I've said this many times, but I really do appreciate the reviews. Most of you have encouraged me to continue writing and continue this fic. I have no shame in writing this story. I'm glad people like it. And if I've said "Thank you" too many times, just ignore me. I've always been taught to be polite all my life so yeah. I hope you continue reading and hopefully I can get later chapters written up and posted. Ja Ne!
