Glow

By: Tina the reviewer

Rating: G?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, nor will I ever, unfortunately... (runs off sobbing)

Start:

It was a quiet summer night in Jump City. The stars were out to play and the full moon was in clear view. In Starfire's mind, she could not help but be fascinated by its pale surface and pondered if it really was made of cheese.

It was also freaking hot, but that was just Robin's humble opinion. Despite being dressed in a simple t-shirt (ironically showing off the Batman symbol) and a pair of baggy knee length shorts, he was sweating like there was no tomorrow. Around him, amongst dense patches of long grass, the other Titans were similarly dressed, but were obviously not made uncomfortable by the heat. He heard Starfire squeal in delight not too far from where he was sitting.

So, you may be wondering, why are the city's heroes practically frolicking in near darkness amongst long grass on the water bank of their island home, in the middle of Jump City's river?

It was simple really...

They were catching fireflies.

Earlier that summer, Starfire was utterly delighted to discover the existence of fireflies while watching an insect documentary with Beastboy. While it sounded strange for Beastboy to be watching something other than the cartoon channels, it actually made a lot of sense. In order to use his morphing abilities at its fullest potential, he had to learn about as many animals as he could, should he find it useful to morph into it in battle someday.

So anyway, ever since chancing upon the 'delightfully whimsical creatures', Starfire was completely smitten by the hue of the fireflies' green glow, which perfectly matched her own starbursts, and could not wait to meet them later that summer.

Which was why after dinner, all of them had changed and gone outside. Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg as well as Robin, were crouching on the ground, trying to cup little green lights within their hands. Raven was with them too, but had prefered to observe from afar, sitting upon the the front steps leading into their home. Next to her, sat a large jar with its lid punctured with tiny holes. Inside, there was a total of twenty-six fireflies. Cyborg and Starfire so far had caught ten each. Starfire, despite her lack of experience, had managed to catch them using her own glow to attract the fireflies. Beastboy had caught six only, preferring to morph into a firefly and buzz around Cyborg's ears to annoy him.

Robin, however, despite all his battle prowes, keen reflexes and what not, had failed to catch a single firefly. If he wasn't feeling as uncomfortable as he was now, he would have remembered to have been properly ashamed of himself.

In fact, Robin wanted to place sole blame on the insuffereable heat, but he knew better than that. He knew that tonight his eyes were unusually drawn towards the most reclusive Titan, currently looking out towards the dark waters surrounding their home. Her expression, as per normal, betrayed no emotion, but tonight they seemed at least more at ease. She appeared to be simply lost in thought; Perhaps she was reminiscing some non unpleasant memories or possibly even daydreaming.

'Who really knows what she's thinking?' he mused idley, half heartedly wrenching his gaze away in an attempt to look for and catch a firefly.

He felt gladness in his heart as Raven seemed more at peace than she ever had been in quite some time, but knew if he didn't catch anything soon, he'd probably never see the end of it from both Beastboy and Cyborg.

He desperately ignored the fact that, so quickly after making that decision, the gaze from the corner of his eyes was more than willing to follow Starfire because she was going towards where Raven was sitting. Upon seeing Starfire deposit another firefly into the jar with help from Raven, Robin became more resolved to catch one himself, in hopes that he perhaps he could approach Raven too. He was puzzled as to the reason why he was currently so fascinated with her this evening but he was fascinated nonetheless. Maybe it was her eyes, or the way her hair fanned slightly as a small breeze teased it as it went by...

Robin shook his head and set himself upon his task once more.

About an hour later...

Robin felt like an utter dork, for no other word came as near as to what he felt at that moment, with the exception of the word 'moron'... His hair and clothes were clinging to his face, neck and body, because of all his sweat; his mask was becoming nearly unbearable on his face AND the grass beneath him was starting to make him itch. He was lying spread eagle on the grass and was stupidly thinking through the heat that this was pretty much a pathetic way for the leader of the Teen Titans to die – from heat stroke and then drowned in his own perspiration. He began to mentally say goodbye to everyone he ever knew, even Slade, and that he would be waiting for him in hell.

What was worse, he thought with a slight frown, was that he did not have any firefly to show for all his efforts.

'Stupid little things... who'd wanna bother anyway?' he sulked inwardly.

And suddenly, Robin's view of the dark sky was cut off and his masked eyes met that of Starfire's green. He noticed, with mild irritation, that there wasn't so much as a bead of sweat on her.

"Friend Robin, friend Raven is about to release the flies of fire. Will you not watch?" she asked her best friend. Enthusiasm and excitement laced her words and shined in her eyes.

Yes, Robin and Starfire were best friends. Both had decided that the feelings between them were truly platonic, at most, affectionate as between a brother and sister. Strangely enough, the conversation that brought this up was initiated by Star herself. At first, it was a little awkward, but eventually they had gotten back to the 'activity of hanging' as best friends as they had before, and were as thick as thieves.

"Star," Cyborg called out, "what have we told you about talking to corpses?"

"Don't?" Starfire answered coyly, smiling slightly at the joke that was directed at their nearly comatose leader.

"Haha..." was all Robin said, but sat up and turned around to face Raven. She was now standing in the middle of all of them, with the glowing green jar in both her hands in front of her. She looked calm and relaxed, and all remained silent as she released the fireflies back into the night air. The fireflies flew out in a small torrent, casting their light upon Raven's features with a gentle glow as the Teen Titans watched them fly away.

And at that same moment Robin barely breathed. He blinked even less. Robin watched her, his eyes drinking in a sight that had seemed nothing out of the ordinary to him before. But now... Clad simply in a t-shirt and jeans, Raven appeared to him a vision that was almost painful to look at, but impossible to look away from.

It was on this night that Robin, Boy Wonder, realised that he had fallen for this dark enchantress.

All too soon the fireflies were gone, their light fading into the distance. A rare sense of tranquility washed over the Titans, and all simply stayed where they were for a little while longer, each trying to ingrain this night into their memories and enjoyed each others' company.

Beastboy was the first to move, being the first to notice how late it was getting. He changed into a cat and started to head towards the tower. Soon after he started to walk, he was scooped from behind into the warm arms of Starfire. Beastboy could hear her steady heartbeat in his ears and purred in comfort as he felt her resume their way to the tower, all the while stroking his soft green fur.

This soon turned into a hiss when Cyborg pulled his tail as he walked by them, also heading inside. The cute cat was attempting to scratch the eldest teen, but he had gotten too far to reach. Cyborg gave out a short laugh, the deep, rich sound breaking the silence, but by no means ruining the peaceful atmosphere.

The thought of a cool shower and heavenly air conditioning went enticingly through Robin's mind, and made a move to stand up, when a hand appeared in front of his face. It looked pale and delicate, but Robin knew there was power and strength within that hand, and that it's owner truly was a force to be reckoned with.

With a smile he took Raven's silent offer of help, and felt a little goofy as a tingling sensation shot through him from the contact. He knew that the night would cloak the blush he felt spreading through his cheeks, so did not worry about it too much. What he did not know though, was that he was wrong and that Raven COULD see that his cheeks were tinged with an endearing shade of pinkish red.

She wondered whether he knew how cute he looked tonight, even if it was in a dorky sort of way. Smirking inwardly, she silently followed Robin inside, the two of them walking side by side.

End.

A/N: Ahhhhhhhh!! Finally got this finished! So how was it? Was it okay? Was it bad? You MUST tell me what you think! Review/Comment!

...Please?

....Somebody?....