Raven looked at the Terra at Starfire for the first time, and actually had to bite back a laugh. They had attempted to put on makeup, 'attempted' being the key word. To say the least, the cosmetics did not seem to agree with them. They almost looked like clowns.
Raven swallowed the laugh that had risen in her throat again, forcing her face to remain neutral. "What happened to you?"
"Neither of us know how to put on makeup, okay?" Terra complained.
"That I can see," Raven replied. "But I saw you with makeup on the day I came to get you," she said to Terra.
Terra looked down, like a child caught in a lie. "Yeah, I have to get it professionally done. I never could do it myself…"
"Okay, but why did you pull me in here? What makes you think I know how to put that stuff on?"
Starfire's eyes widened. "You mean, you do not know? What are we going to do now?!" Raven couldn't believe that Starfire was beginning to panic over something like cosmetics.
She sighed. "I didn't say that." Taking a tissue, she began to carefully wipe off the damage Starfire and Terra had done to themselves, then carefully reapplied, in lighter amounts, the makeup to match their dresses.
Terra had chosen a pure white spaghetti-strap dress that cut off above her knees. The neckline and straps were decorated with white flowers that had a pearl in the center of each. Her shoes were white platform sandals. Raven applied gloss to Terra's lips, a pale skin-colored eye shadow to her eyes, and a hint of blush to her cheeks.
Starfire was in a rose red satin dress with a slit on both sides so she could walk. It was strapless and fell to her feet. She wore simple red high-heeled shoes. Raven used a dark red lipstick for Starfire, a soft pink eye shadow, and used a lotion to make her cheeks shine.
As Raven was applying the cosmetics, Terra asked, "Okay, how do you know how to do this?"
Raven gave her a sad smile. "I used to watch my mom put on her makeup when I was little. A couple times she put some on me, though I didn't like it much."
"Oh," Terra said quietly. "Sorry to bring it up."
"That's okay. Sometimes it's nice to remember the better times without the bad."
Raven helped Starfire put her hair into a bun, leaving two bangs hanging down to rest against cheeks. They then helped Terra curl her hair into loose ringlets.
Searching through the large jewelry box in the room, Raven pulled out two necklaces. For Terra, a single pearl teardrop on a thin gold chain. The other, for Starfire, was a string of small rubies. Raven put them on and led the girls to the mirror.
"Thank you, friend Raven! We look most wonderful thanks to you!" Starfire said gleefully, looking at herself and Terra in the mirror.
"Thanks, Rae. I can't say I'm not surprised that you could do…this!" Terra agreed.
"I'm a bit surprised myself." Suddenly a thought came to her. "Wait here," Raven instructed, and left before they could say another word.
Walking down the hall a short way, she stopped in front of Robin's room, where she knew the guys would be putting on their suits, and knocked.
"It's Raven," she said.
"Uh, come in, I guess," Robin replied.
All three boys looked surprised to see her. Raven surveyed their ensembles. All wore tuxedos. Robin's was brown, Beast Boy's black, and Cyborg's white.
Raven approached Beast Boy first, ripping off his clip-on bowtie, and grabbed a real one that lay on the ground, probably thrown there after numerous failed attempts. She swiftly tied it, deliberately making it a bit tight. When he opened his mouth to ask where she had learned to tie a tie, Raven promptly cut him off. "Don't ask," she said.
Robin was next. Raven held out her hand. When he looked confused, she ordered, "Give me the belt." Despite his attempts to hide it, his utility belt was still blatantly noticeable. Robin handed it over.
Raven then tossed both of them a comb.
Cyborg appeared suitable, though when she glanced at him he looked nervous that she would correct something about him as well. Raven only smirked.
"Come," she directed them out of the room and into the hall. "Wait here."
Raven then returned to Terra's room and retrieved the two girls, leading them into the hall. She was pleased with the reaction of the guys, whose mouths hung open. When they had mostly recovered, they began to stammer out compliments.
"Thank friend Raven," Starfire said proudly.
All conversation stopped as their heads turned towards her. She shrugged, mildly embarrassed. "I already told you not to ask."
"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Robin said, cautiously taking Starfire's arm in his.
"But friend Raven has not changed," Starfire protested, blushing at Robin's touch.
"Yeah, Rae, you promised," Terra reminded her.
"You guys go ahead. We shouldn't all be late. I promise I'll be there as soon as I can," Raven suggested, putting up a good argument.
"She has a point," Cyborg stated.
"All right," Terra agreed. "We'll see you there."
With that, they left, and Raven reluctantly went to get ready.
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As Robin and Beast Boy sat next to their beautiful dates, they silently thanked Raven for checking up on them, thinking how unworthy they would have felt if they had come looking like they had planned to.
"Raven better show up," Terra mumbled. Things were not going as planned with Beast Boy. Everyone at the table seemed to be feeling awkward.
"She will come," Starfire said with certainty. "She promised, did she not? Friend Raven would not break her promise."
"Yeah, I guess your right."
As if called, Raven approached their table through an ever-quieting crowd. Many jaws dropped, including those of the Titans.
Raven's dress was of an unknown silky material that was a blend of dark greens, blues, and purples, as if the dress couldn't decide which color it wanted to be. It wrapped around her neck in a high collar, but had a small diamond-shaped cut out above her chest, and a larger one that revealed some of her flat stomach. The length of the gown concealed most of her knee-high black boots. Similar to Starfire's dress, a slit ran up one side of the gown.
She had used the small amount of her mother's makeup she owned to outline her lips a dark crimson, and had added only a touch of light purple eye shadow, only adding that much to feel close to her mother again.
She left her hair down. It was too short to do anything with, anyway.
Starfire broke the shocked silence that had formed from seeing the usually cloaked Raven looking divine in a dress. "Friend Raven! You look magnificent!" Starfire cried, launching herself at her friend.
"Um, thanks," Raven said, relieved as the room resumed conversation, though with many awkward laughs and glances in her direction.
"Wow, Rae, you really went through with it," Terra said. Raven shrugged.
"Raven? Is that really you?" Beast Boy joked, though he was still in awe of her complete transformation.
"Dang, Rae. Must say, I wasn't expecting this," Cyborg said.
"Yes, it's quite a surprise," Robin added.
"Well, now that they're all here," Bruce announced into a microphone on a small stage, and the music that had been playing died down momentarily, "Let us toast to the reuniting of the Teen Titans!" Cheers and the clinking of glass followed the statement. Everyone, including Raven, drank to the future. "Now, let's eat!"
Platters of every type of food imaginable were brought out, even vegan and tofu dishes for Beast Boy.
Raven sat between Terra and Starfire, so they could sit by their dates. Noticing the strained atmosphere, Raven whispered a suggestion to Terra and Starfire. Both, following her advice, asked their dates for a dance. The boys accepted with relieved countenances.
Cyborg was soon asked by one of the many women for a dance as well. "You'll be alright, Rae?" he asked as he was being dragged to the dance floor. Raven nodded.
She politely declined all of the offers she received for a dance, of which there was a surprising amount. Near midnight Raven went out onto the balcony. She had started to feel faint, and had hoped some fresh air would clear her head. But she was forced to grip the railing hard as another wave of dizziness, worse than the last, swept through her. "Damn," she muttered under her breath as her vision stopped swimming.
A chill wind brushed against her skin, making her shiver involuntarily, but it still felt nice.
"Hey, Raven?" Raven nearly jumped at the sound of Robin's voice.
"Yes?"
"You look cold. Here, take my jacket." He started to remove it.
"No, I'm okay. It feels good." When he still looked concerned, she added, "I'll be going back inside in a minute."
"Oh, okay."
"So, how are things going with Starfire?"
"All right, I think," he said, his mood lightening. "She can't really dance, but neither can I." He smiled slightly.
"Then maybe you two ought to learn together," Raven suggested.
"Yeah." His smile faded into a thoughtful frown.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. Well, I guess I'm starting to question how much I really care about her. As if, now that we're together, maybe she's not what I was really looking for. Sorry, that probably sounded confusing. I just can't put how I feel to words."
"I think," Raven said, looking at the stars, "that your just having second thoughts. People have second thoughts about lots of things, relationships included." She looked at him with a small smile, then turned to head back inside. Suddenly she turned back around. "I'm sure everything will work out between you two."
Robin stared at her as the moonlight reflected off her pale skin, making it glow. "You know, you really do look pretty tonight, Rae," he spoke before he realized what he was saying.
Raven gave a small, soft laugh, one of pure humor. "Don't get used to it," she said, the small smile still playing on her lips as she disappeared into the crowd inside.
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To my reviewers:
fiddler jones: Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it!
002(): I'm glad you liked the last two. Hope you enjoyed this one, too!Violett Witch(): Thanks!! I hope you liked this one as well!TeenTitansGirl14: Thank you! The book you mentioned sounds interesting… Anyway, I hope Raven's dress met up to your expectations. Thanks again for all of your input!Raven777: Thanks for reading! I hope you like this chapter, too.DelofDani: Was the cliffhanger what you thought it was? lol. I'm glad you like my story. Thanks for the review!MirandaOtto: Sorry for the torture of waiting. It might not be too much longer before they find out, so don't worry too much. Thank you for R&R-ing! Arrendi: I'm so happy you're enjoying my story. Don't worry about the spelling, but I did have fun creating her, even if she didn't have too large of a part. I'm still debating the ending, but I'll try not to make you cry. That aside, thanks for reviewing!Aya Sadaka(): I was a bit worried that shopping was OOC for Raven, but I hope her reluctance helped with that. Anyway, the BB/Rae was partially intentional, but BB was also the worst hurt. I hope you enjoyed Star and Terra's 'emergency.' Thank you very much for the review.