Lunatic: (sighs) I liked it as a one shot fic, it had that nice kind of ending where you guys have to speculate on your own what happens next. I don't know. I'll see how the plot goes. If it starts being forced, then I'll return it to being a one shot. If it actually keeps flowing, then I'll let it keep flowing and write another one shot. HAH either way I win. Nyah.

Must I say this every time? I don't own them.

Raven awoke the next morning to the sound of pounding on her door. She hadn't slept for three days. Consequently, by the time that she did allow herself to return from the world of dreams, it was well past noon.

The incessant pounding that had woken her continued, and she could hear Starfire's voice calling pleasantly behind the sheet of metal that separated them. Raven crawled out of bed and stood for a long moment behind her door, staring at it.

Did she really want to go out there?

She'd become so accustomed to the solitude, letting herself indulge in the lack of humanity around her. She had left because her control was on the edge of breaking. She had left because she needed time alone to regain that feeling of isolation that kept her, and everyone around her, safe.

The door opened with a soft shushing noise. Starfire stood behind it, with her hand raised in preparation to knock again.

"What?" Raven grumbled ominously. Starfire seemed slightly nervous, given Raven's reputation when it came to being disturbed.

She put her hands behind her back. "Uhm, the others and I would like you to join us for a Feast Of Welcoming." She said nervously. Raven had no doubt that the others had forced her into going to get her for their little welcome back party, rather than risk injury themselves.

She sighed. She was overwhelmingly tired, having spent the last three days battling incessantly within her mind. One of her emotions, she had found, had been completely outside of her control.

She began to say no, that she would not join them, but the pleading look on Starfire's unerringly happy face stopped her. Grudgingly she nodded and followed the now overly exuberant Tamaranian to the living room.

"Welcome back Raven!" Cyborg and Beast Boy cheered happily as Raven entered the room. A banner baring a similar message was strung across the center of the room, along with various streamers and balloons. They all looked exhausted.

She stared around her with an eyebrow raised. "You stayed up all night doing this?"

The two boys shuffled somewhat. "Well, sort of."

"We awoke as the earth sun was rising in order to prepare the festivities." Starfire concluded brightly.

Raven glanced outside. She guessed that it was around four in the afternoon.

A door opened on the other side of the living room, and Robin appeared. He glanced around, in a distracted manner before spotting Raven.

"Oh."

She kept her face as emotionless as possible, glad to see that the one rampant emotion that had been giving her so much trouble was settling down. There was no tingle of longing, no nervous flutter in her heart. Instead there was a slightly scornful heat behind her eyes. How could he be speechless now? And why was she angry with him for having nothing to say?

"Come, Robin and join in the Feast of Welcoming!" Starfire floated over to him and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the kitchen where the other Titans were gathering.

Raven followed Cyborg and Beast Boy, a little apprehensive about what the 'feast' might contain. She sat beside Cyborg and Starfire, carefully avoiding Robin's eyes.

A large cup of herbal tea was placed in front of her. She turned in surprise to see Beast Boy beam at her. "Figured you might want some."

She smiled slightly. "Thank you."

The feast turned out to be a large chocolate cake along with a pizza. The pizza had one half of the toppings being vegetarian and the other full to the brim with meat toppings. In other words: the usual.

Though Raven didn't generally like sweet things, she allowed them to give her a slice of the cake. Robin handed it to her, holding on longer than he should have. He was trying to catch her eye, trying to make her look at him, and she stubbornly refused to do so.

She stared pointedly at the wall behind him. In her peripheral vision, she saw his eyes narrow.

"Uh…" They had held on too long. Robin quickly released her plate and she took it quietly. Beast Boy looked from Robin to Raven in quick succession. Even he could see the vastly different expressions on their faces.

The entire table was silent as Raven began eating her cake as if there was nothing going on. Robin glared at her a moment longer. It was a determined expression, devoid of hatred. To her relief, he finally turned to Cyborg and asked him about the new game he'd gotten.

"Uh… yeah its great." His one human eye was doing the same double take as Beast Boy. He didn't want to press the matter in front of either Starfire or Beast Boy, so began talking animatedly about the new level he'd unlocked.

"Friend Raven, you are enjoying your cake?" Starfire inquired politely. Raven nodded mutely.

In reality, she was simply eating to distract herself. In her head she was chanting rhythmically and trying to ignore Boy Wonder.

Raven had always felt isolated from the Teen Titans. Her emotions were dangerous; she was forced to suppress them in exchange for their safety. This gave her the outwardly appearance of being cold and unfeeling. In return, it kept her friends from being close to her, because they never had any idea what she was feeling.

Friendship, she knew, was based on more than just trust and loyalty. One had to understand the person that they were befriending, and none of the Titans, despite knowing her predicament, truly understood her. You have to know a person's heart before you can understand it, and Raven's heart was an enigma.

Now that an emotion had been born within her that was stronger than any other, she found herself exposed to an even deeper isolation. She was constantly in pain as she longed to be close to the inspiration of this emotion. Her exclusion from emotion had always been a grave sacrifice that she recognized and accepted. Occasionally it had caused her pain, but never like this. Knowing that her friends were ignorant to this pain and unable to help her with it only deepened the hurt of it.

She had never felt so alone among company.

Beast Boy was eagerly attacking a third helping of cake when she finished her first. She gave him a look of monotone incredulity, one eyebrow raised. He grinned at her, chocolate around his mouth and said, "Hey, I'm a growing boy."

She shook her head and stood, bringing her plate and empty glass to the sink. She hadn't said a word since arriving at the table. The others watched her surreptitiously and she was aware of Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanging a glance.

She headed for the door, and knew that she would never make it back to her room.

"You aren't leaving now are you Rae?" Cyborg's tone confirmed her suspicions. His hand came from nowhere, grabbing her hood and dragging her back to the living room, past the kitchen where the others were just cleaning up.

"Cyborg-" She started, but he dropped her on the couch. She gave a small 'oof'. He grinned at her.

"I know: I'll regret that won't I?" She glared at him and straightened her hood.

"What else do you have planned?" She asked resolutely. It seemed she'd have to wait until they were all busy to sneak off to her room again. She felt strangely exposed beneath all their attention and she wanted nothing more than to return to the solitude of her room where she didn't have to think about worried glances or fiercely determined team leaders.

Cyborg looked at the ceiling and feigned a nonchalant impression. "Oh nothing."

She continued to glare at him as he returned to the others in the kitchen, stuffing the cake and the extra pizza with the rest of their blue, moldy food. She sighed and slumped into the couch, staring out the large windows to the world outside. It was still stunningly bright, being summer time. There was another hour before sunset.

Music flooded the room, the loud variety that Robin usually listened to when Cyborg and Beast Boy were arguing over the remote. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that all three were already arguing over what to play. Starfire was failing as a mediator.

If she left now, they wouldn't notice her. But they would all be hurt by her disappearance. Sighing, she pulled her hood up around her face and walked to the stereo system. The music ended abruptly as she turned it off.

The other Titans took a second to realize that the thing they were arguing over was silenced. They all turned to look at her, except Robin, who glared at the far wall instead.

"Why don't we just go out?" Raven suggested wearily.

An hour later, she regretted saying anything at all.

They ended up at the club that Blackfire had once taken them to. The place was still loud and boisterous, crowded with enthusiastic teens and flashing lights. Raven winced at the noise, the shadows of her hood obscuring her revulsion.

"All right now this is a party!" Cyborg said, running off into the crowd to join a group of girls who began fawning over his metallic body. Beast Boy chased after him, saying something about sharing the love.

She had no idea where Robin went.

"This party does not require shovels?" Starfire inquired nervously.

"No, Starfire. Just dance." Raven said coolly. She was in no mood to stay amongst the sweaty bodies of so many twisting and jiving teenagers but she wasn't going to abandon Starfire.

Except, Starfire was pulled into a group soon afterwards, leaving Raven alone to stand grumpily in the center of the crowd. She watched the happier, brighter girl smile softly as the group taught her how to dance. In a way, she envied Starfire for her freedom, her ability to express joy. Raven wasn't allowed even that simple luxury.

She scoffed at her own self-pity. She was wasting time here.

Using her powers, Raven teleported to the roof of the building, the music throbbing in the soles of her feet from below. She took a relieved breath of fresh air and tried not to choke on the smog. She would catch up on her meditation here while the others celebrated her return without her. The irony stung.

She settled into her floating Lotus position. "Azarath-"

"Holy-!" Someone jumped around to face her, caught off guard. Raven, for her part, was equally startled and fell to the ground with a painful thud.

"Raven. I didn't know you where up here." Robin offered her a hand, smiling reluctantly.

"Ditto." She grumbled. She ignored his hand and stood, brushing the dirt from her cloak. She pulled the hood up around her face, obscuring her expression from him.

They stood there in silence for a while. She could tell from the turmoil in his aura that he was debating with himself. She didn't need to ask about what.

"Raven… about yesterday- " He began. She held up a hand and stared levelly at him.

"Don't. There's no reason to discuss this." She turned to the stairs, intending on finding Starfire. She wanted to make sure the alien girl wasn't having any trouble, if only to distract herself form her heart, which was pounding far too fast against her ribs.

His hand shot out and grabbed the back of her cloak, succeeding in stopping her. She turned around and gave him her darkest glare.

"Robin, we've been through this. You know why I left. Now I'm back. There's nothing more to say." She said coldly. Her hood had fallen from around her face, exposing her eyes.

"Yes," he said angrily, "there is."

"No," she replied with an equal amount of anger, "there isn't."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"Is"

"ROBIN there is NOT!" She shouted. Her fingers had curled into fists and she jerked out of his grasp. She stared at him, breathing heavily as she struggled to keep her powers from breaking her control.

"Then why wouldn't you look at me?" He said softly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, chanting softly.

"Because Robin, you obviously wanted me to. And I didn't want to see what your eyes had to say." She concentrated on the back of her eyelids, focusing on the calm exterior. Her anger subsided.

When she allowed herself to see the world again, Robin was still standing in front of her with so much confusion on his face that she almost pitied him.

"Go back to the party, Robin." She said wearily, returning her hood to its rightful place around her features.

"I can't." He said quietly.

But why Robin? Why?

She flinched from her memories of the night before. He noticed.

"Raven, I'm sorry that I kissed you, I didn't mean to take advantage of you like that." He said too quickly.

For some reason his words bit into her like fire. She felt her heart cry out in pain. He'd done it on a whim then, not because he felt the same.

It wouldn't have mattered anyways. She told herself angrily Even if he did share these feelings, I still wouldn't be able to express them. How fair would that be?

None of this is fair. Said a soft voice from somewhere in her head. She sighed, and opened her eyes. She hadn't realized that she'd closed them again.

"I forgive you Robin." She said bluntly. "Now will you return to the party? Starfire will need you to explain what people mean when they ask her if she's 'digging' it."

He stared at her a moment longer, and she thought for a terrifying moment that he might stay. The idea didn't completely repel her.

Then he nodded. His sense of authority made it seem like he was giving her the order. She turned to watch him disappear down the stairs. Raven felt within her a deep sadness.

What had she really forgiven him for?

Robin took a moment to adjust to the cacophony of noise and multi-colored lights. He might as well follow Raven's advice, and find the innocent Starfire. He didn't worry about her being hassled; the Tamaranian could handle herself. He worried more about her being made fun of. She was sensitive, and didn't really comprehend a lot of the slang that teenager's used on earth.

He couldn't help letting his mind linger on the dark girl above him, standing alone on the roof. She had forgiven him, but he suspected it was just to get rid of him. He hated the idea that he was causing her any pain, but he didn't know how to change that. He had finally decided that the best decision was to give her, her space, as always.

It didn't take long to find Starfire. She was dancing with Cyborg and Beast Boy. It seemed she was enjoying herself a lot more than she had their first visit. She smiled when she saw him.

"Robin! I am glad you have joined us! I met the most wonderful friends!" The rest of her words were drowned out by the loud music.

"What?' Robin yelled. Cyborg put his mouth to Robin's ear.

"Just watch her, man. Somebody out there taught her some very interesting dance moves."

Starfire demonstrated, doing something interesting with her hips. Robin felt himself blush. He noticed other guys around them looking at her with interest too.

She held out her hand to him. "Robin, you will dance with me?" He nodded slightly, if only to keep the other watching males around them from doing anything suspicious.

Of course the prospect of her doing that little dance move again didn't hurt either.

Lunatic: Ah boys, always thinking with their – OW! Ok no more Bo staff for you!

I liked this chapter.