Chapter Nine: All My Soul Within Me Burning
'Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting-
'Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!-quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'
And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!
Robin found himself staring into the violet pools of Raven's eyes. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You saved me, even after what I did to you and Starfire. I should be the one apologizing."
"But, Raven... I can't love you. I'm sorry."
"I know. Starfire needs you more than I. YOu BELONG with her." Raven said, the old ache still in her heart, the old sorrow still in her eyes. Suddenly, it all disappeared; Robin had finally gotten her to stop loving him. She looked away, unsure of how to feel. "What do you say we get out of here?"
"Okay... Wait. Where's Starfire?!"
"She was sent back. All she will remember is waking up from a really bad dream." Raven sighed. The twinge of jealousy she usually felt whenever Robin spoke of the alien girl was gone. Robin got up, and nodded in answer to her previous question.
"I'm ready to get back to Titan's Tower. Lead the way." Raven got up, and walked toward a single gateway, glowing with the pale aura of a blue moon. As he walked, Robin noticed a rather drastic change in his surroundings; beneath the ruby-strewn velvet of the void overhead, all of the facets of Raven's personaltiy had fused and melted into one plane of existance, and the various peronalities could be seen, roaming the newly-formed world.
Raven looked back at Robin once they reached the smooth arc of lunar beauty. The gold edges of her cloak sparkled, and the azure fabric reflected the light in such a way as to mimick the ocean's warped mirror of the night sky. Her eyes, shining as they watched him from beneath the dazzling golden edge of her hood, seemed to emit a violet aura all their own. Robin found himself tracing every feature of her body with his eyes, every gentle curve, every highlight the soft moonglow made on her ashen skin. She was beautiful.
...Beautiful? Robin mentally slapped himself. Raven turned, and stepped through the portal. Robin followed, and found himself in the Med. Lab. of Titan's Tower.
"Welcome back, dude!" Beast Boy yelled, grinning.
"Yes, welcome! We were wondering if you would ever be returning!" Starfire bubbled, squeezing the air out of Boy Wonder with one of her bear hugs. Robin smiled. It was good to be back. It was great to be in her arms. He let his mind wander for a split second to what it would be like to be in Raven's arms in this manner. Robin caught himself, and tried to return to reality, but the things he and Raven had gone through still lingered in his mind.
"Aww, very nice! I say we celebrate with waffles. Rae, what do you think? Soud a'ight with you? ...Rae?" said Cyborg, his grin fading a little as he realized the dark girl had vanished. 'Probably went to her room. She must be exhausted. I better leave her alone.' he decided, against his better judgement. He and the others began to make their way to the kitchen. As they walked down the hall, Beast Boy felt as though something was missing. It hit him as he passed Raven's door with the others.
Beast Boy felt a pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach. Robin wasn't the only one whose life had been in danger. He lingered in front of Raven's door as the others continued down the hallway. Against his better judgement, he knocked on her door. "Raven, are you okay?" he asked uneasily. He was about to leave when a very disdraught Raven answered her door. "Wanna talk about it?" All she could do was nod. He walked in, and found himself in Raven's arms as she sobbed into his shoulder.
A few hours later, after the two other Titans had bid him goodnight (he had awoken at around two or three), Robin walked down the hall to his room. Raven was still on his mind, as she had been all night. He paused outside her door, and debated knocking. He realized he would probably make things worse, and decided against it. He continued on to his room, at the end of the hallway. As he was about to close the door, Robin saw Beast Boy walk out of the dark girl's room, followed shortly by Raven herself. "Thanks Beast Boy. No one's ever listened to me like that before. You're a true friend."
"No prob. Just let me know if there's ever something you wanna, you know, talk about." Robin felt his blood boil with envy as she hugged him. After a moment, she released him from the embrace, turned, and retreated into the shadows of her room. Beast Boy smiled, thought to himself for a moment, and continued down the hall, his back to Robin's door.
Robin was well aware that he shouldn't have been watching, that it was none of his business. He couldn't stop the inexplicable anger rising in his throat, burning like bile. He had no right to be angry. He had no right to feel the way he did for her---feelings?! "I won't let this happen." Robin muttered to no one, shutting his door.
A.N. Hullo all. Finished!!! YAY! Well, I hope you like. I'ma start on a sequel now, okays? Also, I should have a new story soon. Look for it. I think I'll call it Silent Witness. Take care, all!
Julia-Nevermore