A Lament of Love and Discrepancy

by-Desiree L. Wallen

Chapter One: Newfound Emotions

"Hello Raven. Guess who," said Slade as he walked through the flames.

"I-It can't be. We drowned you!" screamed Raven while she was backing up.

"Well, I didn't feel like dying, now did I?" asked Slade, eerily calm as he grabbed her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. With his other hand, he hurled a fireball. Raven shut her eyes, quickly, only to open them agin, realizing it was a dream. She sighed and thought to herself;"Silly me, it's only another nightmare. Raven, dammit, get a grip! Ever since I killed off my father, my emotions have been going wild. But why have I been dreaming about Slade? Is it my fear of him coming back?But he can't! He just can't!" Raven slowly got out of bed andwalked over to her closet. She got her cape on and went out of her room. The doors to the main room opened automatically, and she strolled over to the Titans, who were eating breakfast.

"Holy shit Cyborg! could ya at least try my tofu ommlette before feeding it to Silkie?" Beast Boy screamed, pointing to the Titans' pet silkworm, who was chowing down on Cyborg's breakfast. Raven took a seat and smiled weakly at Beast Boy. "I loved him once," she thought, reflecting on her past with the Titans,"but Terra stole his heart, and possibly his virginity too..." Her train of thought was suddenly broken when Starfire scooped up Silkie and yelled, "No more mean talking in front of my bumgorf!" She then proceeded to hug Silkie tightly and sing it a soft lullaby. Robin, the team leader, put his head in his hands and murmured, "Its like this every freaking morning. Why?"

"Tell me about it," Raven responded, unusually giddy, "Its giving me a splitting migraine."

"Yeah, me too," Robin smiled at Raven. She immediately started to blush and said, "Umm, excuse me!" As she flew out of the main room, Cyborg wondered aloud, "What the hell is wrong with her? Since we stopped her from ending the world, she's been really nutty, dawg."

"Well, she is not used to her newfound emotions. We've been through this before, team, yesterday and the day before that," Robin explained, slamming his hand on the table, "When she destroyed her father, his presence left her soul, enabling her to feel emotions for the first time. She isn't used to feeling happiness or sadness. You guys HAVE to understand me this time!"

"Dammit, Robin! You're making my brain hurt! All this talk about emotions and souls is confusing me!" Beast Boy whined loudly.

"And besides, Raven was never meant to feel unbridled joy! I cannot 'get used' to the new Raven," Starfire added, including her best use of Earth lingo, "she is starting to 'freak me out'."

"AARRGGHH!" Robin screamed, "You'll never get it!" He stormed out of the main room right then and there, leaving the other Titans horribly stunned at the table.

Meanwhile, Raven locked herself in her room and had attempted to meditate, but couldn't bring herself to do it. "Okay, three days in a row now, something has been causig me to spazz out at breakfast and lock myself in here. But what?", she thought, pacing around her room. As she was walking, her eyes fell upon a photograph. It was of the Titans' first days as a superhero team. Raven smiled as she looked at herself back then. She was uncomfortable and uneasy next to the smiling and overjoyed Titans. She started to glance over them all:Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Robin. "Robin...", Raven spoke dreamly, 'he's the only one who ever understood me, about my father, about Terra, about Slade. Starfire's a really lucky girl. I'd die to go out with him...". Raven gasped, realizing everything she said and how she's been acting. She walked silently to her bed, sat down, and exclaimed,"Oh, sonuvabitch! I've fallen in love... with Robin!" She did not have time to dwell on this sudden matter, however, for a knock erupted from her door.