I really hope you guys have liked my story so far and you weren't just being nice. My last chapter may have been slightly hard to read but I'll try and change things. Note: Bold is Carmen Italic is Victor. I'm terribly sorry if it doesn't show up like the previous chapters.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ch4
Cyborg stayed in his room for most of the day. He had cried himself to sleep on his floor and didn't feel like letting the rest of the Titans know he had been crying. He would describe it as a pride thing. He always had to be strong growing up, so he felt very self-conscious about what people thought of him. Carmen was the only person in the world he could think of that had ever seen him cry. They were both eleven, Victor grandparents got into a car accident. His grandfather died in the car and his grandmother died in the hospital. At the funeral, Both of Victor's parents cried. Carmen sniffed a little in sympathy for the family members, but she believed that there was an afterlife and that's when people were the happiest. Victor and Carmen left the funeral early while his parents stayed and grieved with the other family members. The two walked in silence for a while.
"Hey Victor, why didn't you cry with your family?"
"Why should I cry?"
"I don't know, just asking,"
"I have to be strong, if I cry people will think I'm a sissy," They walked under the bride that they played under as small children. The same bride Carmen thought or would think up Rain's Lullaby.
"You know, you don't have to be so strong around me, I know you're not a sissy. I think that if you cry when you need too it makes you a lot stronger," Victor turned and looked at her curiously.
"What do you mean crying makes you stronger?" She walked around him and sat on a small bench.
"Well, every person has their limits to how much they can hold inside. Crying let's all of the pain, sorrow, loss, and even the unbearable joy out of the body. We're all like buckets. All of the emotions we keep piling up inside will eventually overflow. You need to let it out once in a while or it can kill you from the inside out. If there's someone who can understand that, they'll help you let out more. You'll feel brand new, and that always feels good, understand?" She looked up at him with the most trusting eyes anyone could imagine. Once all of that had sunken in, memories of his grandparents had popped into his head like a waterfall pouring into…a bucket. He suddenly realized how much he held inside and tears began to flow. He didn't cry franticly, just tears and sniffs. It was enough. Carmen smiled at him and he rested his head on her shoulder as she held him. She was so warm; he wanted to fall asleep being held by the one person he truly trusted and the one who understood him best. Soon to be the person to confess her feelings for him and the one regret he had.
"Why did you have to die? Why you? Why not someone else? Why not… me?" Cyborg sat at the desk in his room. "I wasn't ready for you to go. Why couldn't my father just let me die? I could be with you right now in that spirit realm you said you believed in," Cyborg closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He remembered the day she told him about her beliefs in a spirit realm, where people went when they died and became part of a different world without all of the separation and hate the made the Earth a corrupted place. They were twelve and walking home from one of her soccer games. They walked under the same bridge and found an infant kitten in their path. Carmen set down her things and jogged over to the motionless animal. A crow was by the kitten and pecking at it's tail.
"Oh! Shoo Shoo! Go find a different meal!" Carmen flailed her arms at the bird. It cawed and flew into a near by tree. Carmen picked up the poor kitten and sat on the old bench.
"Carmen, I pretty sure it's dead,"
"Are you so sure?" She sounded almost angry.
"I'm just saying what I think. If the crow was going to eat it, and it does sure does look dead,"
"Looks can be deceiving, you know," Victor sat down by Carmen and took the kitten from her as gently as he could. "It's sad, if the poor thing is dead it won't have much to say to the other spirits," Carmen looked at the ground and sniffed back a tear. Victor raised an eyebrow and stroked the kitten softly with the side of his index finder. He had seen his father do it to a puppy when it wouldn't breathe when their dog had a litter, so it might work on cats too.
"Wadda ya mean?"
"I've always believed that when things leave this world they go to a sort of spirit realm where all the spirits go. They're all happy and laughing. They share with each other the things they experienced on Earth. Good and bad. It's really sad when something dies so young, because they won't have much to share." Victor thought for a moment of what Carmen said. A spirit realm would be fun. Just talking to other dead people about their life and all the things that they endured. As Victor stroked the kitten in deep thought, it began to stir. The once lifeless kitten squeaked its infant meow for mom and Carmen's eyes filled with tears of joy.
"Would ya look at that, it worked," Victor stared at the tiny thing and smiled as Carmen wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Victor, you're wonderful! Now this little one will tell the other spirits what you did for it," He smiled sheepishly.
A knock at the door made Cyborg jump and jerk you his head.
"It's open," he called. Raven entered the room.
"Hey Cyborg pizza's here. You hungry?" She asked trying to be nice. Memories were a hard thing to get rid of, especially painful ones.
"Thanks, but I ain't hungry," Cyborg said avoiding eye contact. Raven looked down at her feet then walked over to Cyborg. She crossed her legs and levitated.
"Something's bothering you," Raven stared at him straight in the eyes.
"Nothing's bothering me, I'm fine," Cyborg crossed his arms and rocked in his chair. Raven glared at him.
"Liar. I can tell, a mood swing that fast gives the whole charade away. You can't hide it from me," He felt her stare seeing right through his mask.
"Look nothing's wrong, I'm just having an off day that's all," Cyborg countered.
"So, you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"So something is wrong. If you keep it bottled up inside you like that you're going to hurt yourself. I know…memories can hurt Cyborg, but if you talk to someone about it you'll feel better. Discussing my problems is hard for me too, but maybe offering to listen to your problems will help me learn to discuss mine," Raven blushed slightly to admitting such things, but maybe it would make Cyborg feel less alone and talk to her about this. She didn't like seeing her friends hurt and suffering alone because they're too stubborn or self-conscious. Cyborg looked at her wide eyed. How did she know it was a memory? He chuckled softly. "What's so funny?" Raven raised an eyebrow.
"The way you said that, I almost thought you were her," Cyborg stood up and walked over to the framed picture of him and Carmen.
"Thought I was who?" Raven walked over to him.
"Her," Cyborg showed her the picture. She took it from his hands and scanned it over.
"Who is she?" Raven asked admiring the picture.
"My very best friend, Carmen," Cyborg said proudly.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ok that's chapter 4!!!!!!!! I know it's a little short, but it's still good yes? R&R I'm trying to get the stupid bold and italic thing to work.