Disclaimer: I do not own Robin/Nightwing/Richard, Starfire, Terra, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, or Slade. Now do the process of elimination and figure out which single character I do own.

For a picture of Rae: Go to my profile and click on the link to see a picture of Rae I drew. (Copyright Jncera aka ME!) The picture is so, well, you can picture her better in your head.

P.S She's 10 years old in that one...

P.S.S My first attempt at a decent person... .

F.Y.I...Ages:

Rae: 10; Robin, Starfire, (and Raven): 31; Beast Boy and Terra: 30; Cyborg: 32

Thanks XxNirvanaChickxX for help on BB's present. You rock!

Chapter 11

Nine years slowly passed. For the past few years, each titan, including Rae, learned to slowly cope with Raven's sorrowful departure.

Even though Raven never did laugh once at his jokes, or tasted his tofu, or played video games with him, Beast Boy still missed her terribly. After all, she was part of the team and part of the family. He'd walk pass her room, and remember how he and Cyborg, well only Cyborg, knocked down her door. They stepped in awaiting the blast of fury, but in the end, wound up in Raven's mind. It was only then did he fully understand her.

Cyborg himself would sometimes sit in the garage after polishing his T-car for the umpteenth time and let his mind wander to when he and Raven built the car together after the first version was wrecked. He remembered it was then that Raven flashed her rare, genuine smile during her mid-teen years. It occurred to him that the only other person who understood his car was Raven herself. How he missed her...

Starfire would sometimes get stressed out and tried to meditate, like Raven, but it was no use. Without the dark titan next to her chanting, she couldn't find her focus, or ease her mind. She missed her sarcasm during the mall trips and the way she'd cringe at the bright colors. She missed the times when Raven actually bought something other than black, blue, or purple. And then, it hit her: she never did hate Raven; she just envied the wonderful she had. And now, she missed her best friend.

Terra gazed out the window and sighed. She re-played the day when she and Raven learned to trust each other in her mind. They had both worked together to save the tower from being one with the Titanic. From that day on, they became great friends and would talk about how silly Beast Boy was. Those days of jokes were long ago now, but the thoughts would still come back to bring some tears.

Even though he chose not to show much sorrow around Rae, Robin's heart was the slowest to mend. One night, he was shifting through his bookshelf and came across a photo album, full of him and Raven. With much pain, he looked into the happy faces of the two in Hawaii, during holidays and the wedding, and of their honeymoon. He set the album down and let the memories wash over him, accompanied by tears. Drying his eyes, he looked up the ring in his finger and read the inscription: Raven and Robin Forever. And for forever will he love his dear sweet Raven.

The day before Slade's attack was the day of Rae's first birthday. It was bittersweet, as it was also the date of Raven's death. They had celebrated the birthday first, and then went to visit Raven. Robin had knelt down before the gravestone and placed Rae down. She had stared curiously at the marble, and then with a delicate finger, stroked the carved raven. Even though she knew nothing of whom this person was, Rae could sense it was someone important and near. Years later when she did finally understand, Rae would gaze mournfully at the stone, and wonder why, out of all people, her mother was the one to be taken away. At night, Rae would stare into the picture of Raven, the same picture that Robin had given her when she was a baby. Those violet eyes would just stare back and the soft smile would tug at her heart.

Today, the bittersweet moments would begin once again. Today was Rae's tenth birthday.

"Hey come back here Rae! I'm not as young as I used to be!" Cyborg careened around a corner and ran into Terra, who was helping him catch a giggling Rae. Behind him, Beast Boy ran face first into his metal back, yelping in pain and surprise.

"Yow! Cyborg!" The blond grabbed her foot and hopped madly around. "You're not going to catch her if she can hear you before she can even see you!"

"And do you come with some break lights?" Beast Boy straightened his mouth and neck with a slight crunch.

"So Terra, what do you suppose we do? I kinda have to get that new video game back!"

Terra lowered her voice into a whisper. The other two titans leaned in to hear her. "The silent tactic. Someone will chase her, and when she rounds the corner where the other two are waiting, we—"

"Hi friends!"

Beast Boy screamed and leapt into Terra's arms, who fell into Cyborg from the added weight. Starfire stopped in mid-wave and frowned curiously.

"And what are you three doing? We must be planning for Rae's party!"

"If you really want to know." The half-robot shoved Terra off him and stood up. "We're trying to catch Rae. She somehow snatched a new video game from my room, and unknown to her it's supposed to be her—oomph!" Cyborg teetered forward from a push and was stopped by Beast Boy before he could turn Starfire into an omelet.

Rae laughed mildly and floated away again, her ebony hair and dark purple cloak flowing behind her like the breeze. She waved the video game and disappeared behind a corner. "You guys are so quiet that I have no clue what you're all planning."

"Rae! Gimme back that video game!" Cyborg stumbled and ran after the girl, followed by Terra, Beast Boy and Starfire.

The young girl sniggered and backed into a darkened room. As she heard the four titans round the corner, she jumped out and yelled, "Boo!"

Beast Boy and Starfire screamed and Cyborg made a leap for the video game. Rae backed up and the half-robot found himself enveloped in a black orb.

"Yo! This ain't fair!" He started pounding on the dark walls.

Rae giggled, her light indigo eyes flashing with a joker's tint. "Not until you tell me what this is for." She held up the game, still packaged in plastic.

"If you let them finish planning your party, you might actually find out." Robin walked out from the living room door and smiled.

Rae gasped a little in surprise and the black orb holding Cyborg vanished. The robotic titan fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Gee Rob, nice timing." Cyborg got up and dusted himself.

"Daddy!" Rae ran over to Robin and hugged him.

He stroked his daughter's hair and plucked the package from her small hands. "Now, why don't you give this back to Cy and head for the living room?" He handed the video game back to Cyborg, who headed back to his room. The rest walked over to the living area.

There were holographic streamers hanging from the ceiling and dark purple balloons lining the walls. On the dining table sat a huge cake that Cyborg and Starfire, who is better at cooking now, baked. Ten dark blue candles bordered the top layer which had "Happy 10th Birthday, Rae!" in shiny purple icing.

"Ooo, finally there isn't any pink or neon green. I was wondering when you'd catch up."

Robin chuckled and sat Rae down in front of the cake. Cyborg came back with a wrapped gift and lighted the candles. Since the girl despised the birthday song like evil itself, they went straight to the candle blowing and wish making.

Rae stared at the bright mesmerizing orbs and closed her eyes. She prayed for the same thing she had wished for during all her other birthdays: I wish for Mommy to come back. I wish she were still alive. Rae paused for a few seconds as she concentrated on Raven's face, imagining hugging her. Opening her eyes at last, she blew out all the candles in one breath.

The cake was scrumptious. It had chocolate and vanilla and the cream tasted like Oreo cookies. In between the layers was a level of mint frosting, insisted by Starfire. It was either that or mustard.

After the cake, it was time to open presents. Beast Boy gave her a collection of horror books and Starfire had given the girl a hoard of stuffed animals, ranging from wolves to birds. Terra had given Rae the new CD of their favorite band. The video game Rae took from Cyborg was actually her present, and she couldn't wait to play it. Even though she loved all the gifts, her favorite was the one her father gave her.

It was a silver heart locket with an etching of Raven's symbol on the front: a black raven with its wings widespread. A single ruby was embedded as the bird's eye. Inside, one heart held a picture of Raven while the other was a spiral strand of her lavender hair.

Rae silently gasped. "Daddy, I-I...thank you."

Robin grinned and placed the necklace around her neck. "The locket used to be your mother's."

Rae gazed silently as the heart. She was lost for words and couldn't tell her father how wonderful this gift was. She felt even closer to her mother now.

Robin cleared his throat and Rae snapped her gaze away from the necklace. "I have an announcement to make. After much deliberation for what is best for Rae, I have decided to move into the city with her."

The other titans gasped, with Rae as the loudest. A nearby slice of cake blew up. "Why?"

Robin bent down on one knee and tried to put it as simple as possible. The truth was, he didn't want Slade to get his filthy hands on Rae again, and wanted to start out a new anonymous and safe life in the city. "Well Rae, this is a bit hard to say. You are in danger from a bad guy, and if we move to the city, he won't find you."

"But you will all protect me. And I can protect myself. I'm not a baby anymore."

Her father stood up and gazed out the window into the cloudy sky. A tiny wisp of blue was suddenly visible, but disappeared. Robin sighed. "I made a promise to Raven to protect you, Rae. I can't break that promise."

"But you won't! Everyone can look after me here, but in the city, it'll just be just you!"

"In the city, it's less obvious where we live and who we are."

"But if this bad guy finds out, it wouldn't be too obvious."

"If we change our names, he won't."

"I like my name!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but if you want to be safe, we have no choice!"

"We do, and it's to stay here! I like it here! Mother would want me to stay here!"

"And it's not right to raise a kid in violence!"

Rae scoffed. "It's not like I'm fighting."

It was obvious that father and daughter were both equally stubborn and determined. And it was this determination that caused Robin to finally lose some patience and the volume of his voice rose sharply to a shout.

"Rae Grayson, listen here. We will move! I am your father and I know what's best for you!" He glared at her with a commanding and stern look.

Tears appeared in Rae's light indigo eyes. "No you don't! I wish you died instead of Mommy!"

Robin was startled, but yelled back, "Oh yea! I wish I did! That way I wouldn't have to put up with a brat like you!"

The little girl stared at her angry father with teary eyes and ran out sobbing and popping light bulbs along the path to her room. After a while, the distant slamming of her door echoed through the tower.

Shocked by what he had just said, Robin just stood there dumbfounded and frustrated. He debated on whether or not to follow Rae, but with a huff, headed for his own room.

The rest of the titans stood there in silence, not knowing what to do. They looked at each other and went their way to clean up the wrappings and crumbs of cake. Those two needed their time alone.

Rae entered her dark room and without turning on the lights, slammed her tiny body down on her bed and wailed. Things around her room enveloped in black energy and exploded. After a few minutes, she dried her eyes with her sleeve and headed for the window. It was windy outside as a storm was brewing. Thinking the freezing air would calm her, she threw open the window and stared out into the ancient churning sea. Rae kneeled down on a chair and propped her elbows on the inner ledge, sighing and hiccupping now and then. She took out the locket and stared at the upside down picture of Raven and more tears fell.

"I wish I could talk to you, Mommy." Rae closed the locket and stared out the window. A black feather floating in the air caught her eye and she watched it perform aerobatic moves in the air. Without warning, a gust of wind blew into her face, and the feather was caught with the breeze. Rae stepped off the chair and followed the feather's path into her room. It finally landed on the top level of a bookshelf that Rae never touched. Curious, she grabbed the chair by the window and set it beside the shelf. Getting on, she reached for where the feather was, but instead felt something hard with thick swirling designs. It seemed to be a handle. She lifted it and was surprised at how heavy it was. The girl turned on the light and gaped at the item she held.

It was a blackened mirror twice the size of her little palm with a silver border. This item was no doubt, her mother's. Most of the objects in her room were. A huge scarlet jewel crowned the mirror and a smaller one was at the base. If you ignored the two horns sticking out on the top and bottom, it would have been a lovely treasure. Rae headed for her bed and sat down. She peered over to see her face, and the mirror suddenly turned reflective. Rae gasped and dropped it onto her bed, but a swirling vortex suddenly grabbed her and sucked her in unmercifully. She screamed to no avail, and soon her body hit solid stone. Rae stood up slowly and gazed at her new surrounding with amazement.

The sky was all black with tiny red stars, and the rock she stood on was soon joined by others to form a large flat island. Everything was silent. Fearful as to what would happen to her, Rae headed curiously towards a large stone arch that contained thick swirling silver mist. Maybe that's the way out

Suddenly, a voice came out from the fog in the arch. It seemed to echo inwardly, and wasn't too clear. Rae almost thought she imagined it.

"Rae..." There it was again. She was defiantly not imagining things. It was a soft female voice, and a little to the monotone side. I think this place drives people mad when they enter. What was it doing in my mom's possession?

Boldly, the girl stepped closer to the arch. Dark shadows were forming a figure in the center of the haze. When they stopped, the misty outline of a cloaked woman came to view.

Rae squinted towards the shadow. It didn't seem it could come any further. "Who's there?"

"Rae, I've been waiting for so long for you." The voice paused. "I am your mother."

(Gasp)

Next Chapter: Rae talks to the "shadow/memory" of Raven.

Review and I will love you like fudge cookies with milk. (Now I'm hungry...)