Chapter Five
Disclaimer: Still don't own them.
(Titans Tower)
(One month after Chapter Four)
Raven twirled in a circle in front of the full length mirror in Jinx's room. Behind her the pink haired girl clapped
"I like it. You needed a change of uniform. I mean your eighteen so that means you should do something special." Raven smiled in response and looked over her new outfit.
It was a sleeveless silver dress with had a long V neck and spilt in the side all the way up to her thigh. A pair of flared black pants kept anyone from seeing anything when she flew in battle. Over this she wore her traditional blue cloak. Her boots had been changed as well. They were now blue with black and silver buckles. Her hair had also been cut. The length was a bit shorter and her bands were a bit more ragged looking. It gave her a look of confidence and made her look much different but a good kind of different
"Thanks Jinx. I couldn't have done it without you." Jinx just waved the compliment away then looked at her watch
"Well, should we go and see what the others are up to?" Raven nodded and they left the room.
Starfire bustled around the main room putting the last touches on decorations. Black, purple, blue and white balloons and streamers decorated the area and in the kitchen Cyborg was putting the last touches on a large birthday cake. Who's birthday is it? Well… I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.
The doors opened and both teens looked up. Jinx was standing there with a shocked Raven. Her violet eyes looked around the room and they filled with tears
"Raven! You are not supposed to be back yet!" Starfire exclaimed in dismay. Raven smiled and laughed into her hand
"Jinx! You were supposed to keep her at the mall for as long as possible!" Cyborg said angrily with an undertone of whining in his voice. The girl laughed slightly
"Cool your spark plugs buddy, just be glad I didn't actually tell her what you all were planning. I was ready to go crazy carrying that secret around all day."
"Well I really am surprised. I didn't think you'd go to all this trouble." Raven said lowering her hood. Everyone's mouth dropped then she remembered her hair
"Raven, you look… amazing." Cyborg breathed. Jinx elbowed him in the side and he made a face at her. She retaliated by thumping him in the head
"Yes, Raven you look wonderful." Starfire said smiling. Raven blushed at all the attention and looked around the room. Her face fell slightly. She didn't think Robin would forget her birthday. She really didn't care much but it hurt all the same. Starfire noticed her look and her mood darkened if only for a moment
"Robin said he had something important to do but he would be coming later." Raven nodded then from somewhere on her left music started pounding out of the speakers
"Come on everyone! Let's dance!" Jinx yelled putting her hands in the air and swaying her hips in a circular motion. Cyborg's jaw dropped and Raven closed it for him
"Yes, come Raven. You must dance. This is your eighteenth birthday!" Starfire squealed grabbing her friend's wrists. Raven gave a little sound of surprise as she was dragged out onto the living room floor. The sofa had been moved to make a small dance floor. Along the walls there were tables of food
"What's all the food for? There's only four of us." Raven asked. Cyborg grinned evilly and pressed a button on his arm
"Did you really think we were the only guests?" he spoke into his arm communicator "Okay guys, come on out!" the doors on the side of the living room opened and the Titans East pored in along with several other honorary Titans members including, Kid Flash, Hot Spot, Wildebeest and several Raven barely knew
"You look very nice Raven. Save a dance for me?" Kid Flash asked kissing her hand and winking. Raven blushed lightly and smiled
"Sure… Wally." the teen's face fell and he glared at her
"That isn't fair."
Raven laughed and said hello to Bumble Bee who had recently hooked up with Speedy (I really don't like this pair, it's just for the fic) and Aqualad. Mas and Menos both gave her a large bouquet of flowers and gibbered something in Spanish that Gizmo translated as: A wonderful eighteenth birthday to a wonderful friend and teammate.
Gizmo and Mammoth both hugged Jinx until she looked like her head would pop off. When they finally set her down she elbowed Raven
"Show everyone your new uniform." Raven flushed a little but unbuckled her cloak and set it in a corner. When she emerged from the shadows everyone looked up. Her dress caught the flashing lights of the disco ball (Cyborg had to have one!) and her violet eyes shined in the light of the dance lights.
Soon everyone went back to dancing and Raven gave Kid Flash his dance. She had to admit dancing was one thing he could do without speeding through it
"You look nice Raven. I haven't seen you in some time." Raven smiled and glanced around the room. Robin still had not showed up. Kid Flash lifted her chin slightly
"Hey… I was sorry to hear about Beast Boy. He was a good friend. And personally I think Robin needs to get his head out of the evidence room once in awhile. That place gives off fumes that aren't healthy." Raven smiled a little bit more. Kid Flash might be a little bit of a klutz but he was a nice guy (NO he does not like her!)
"That you. I really miss him though." Kid Flash nodded and let her go as the music stopped. Cyborg was standing in front of the cake with a large knife
"Okay everyone! It's time for cake! And Raven, you have to cut it." the empath sighed in fake annoyance then walked over and took the knife. Quickly slicing it into neat even squares she used her powers to pass them out. Everyone waited as she got her own, Starfire wiggled as she took her sweet time taking the first bite
"Come on Rae! We're hungry!" Gizmo whined. Jinx shot him a glare and he quieted. Raven smirked and quickly put the fork in her mouth. Everyone dug into their cake about half a second later.
The evening was almost perfect. After the other heroes left the Titans gave Raven her presents. Starfire and Jinx chipped in and had gotten her a large collection of candles and incense for her room. Cyborg had gotten her a couple of new books and a blue and black iPod. Raven smiled as she scrolled through the songs her friend had already downloaded.
Robin still had not appeared. An hour passed and the Titans watched a short funny movie together. He still had to make an appearance. Starfire and the others started to clean up with Raven helping them with her powers. Suddenly the doors slid open and Robin walked in breathless. He looked crestfallen when he saw the clean up party
"I missed it?" he asked. Everyone nodded and he looked around. Raven was sitting on the couch which she had just replaced
"Raven? I am so unbelievably sorry that I missed your party. I was out looking for a gift and I guess I lost tract of time." Raven stood and looked down at the hastily wrapped present in his hands. Then she looked back up at her leader with small tears in her eyes. He smiled trying to figure out what was wrong. Starfire watched, not in the least jealous. She understood the deep friendship Raven and Robin shared. And she also knew that Raven would never even consider taking Robin when Starfire mad it clear she liked him
"T-Thank you." she whispered opening the gift. Everyone gathered around the couch as she undid the ribbon carefully.
Inside lay a plain white book. She looked at the book then at Robin in confusion. He hurried to explain
"It's a diary. I know you're always writing poetry but I thought maybe you'd like a diary instead." he rubbed the back of his neck. Raven smiled and looked up at him
"Thank you Robin. Thank you very much." the Boy Wonder smiled. It was the first time in over a year that Raven hadn't acted totally hostile at him.
Raven sat in her room flipped through songs on her new iPod and reading the instructions at the same time. The set of candles and incense had been placed around her room and the extras had been put in storage in her closet. The evening had been almost perfect. Almost being the key word. Everything would have been perfect if Gar had been here. All she had was his letter that she had read hundreds of times and could probably recite by memory now. But at least she knew he was alive and well.
Raven sighed and got up to undress. She started to pull down the zipper of her dress when she heard a loud tapping noise outside her window. The half demon whirled around and to her surprise saw Gar sitting on the bed behind her. He was grinning slyly at her from under his green hood. Raven's mouth dropped but in a moment she was hugging him for all she was worth
"Nice to see you too Raven, but can you put me down?" Gar said in a hushed tone after a moment. Raven blushed when she realized the two of them were floating in the air
"I missed you so much." she whispered throwing her arms around his neck. He smiled and returned the hug as tight as he could
"I've only got about fifteen minutes before I need to get back." Raven looked up at him with confused eyes
"Get back? Back to where?" Gar smiled and pointed out the window to the small mountain range where he was hiding out
"To the others. Remember I wrote to you about Jessica and her friends? Well one of them is Red-X and the other is a geomancer."
"Red-X? I thought he was a thief." Raven commented. Gar shrugged slightly as if he didn't want to think about it
"I think he wants to play the hero now. But I want to tell you something and give you your birthday present." Raven sat down on the bed with him and watched as he looked over her dress
"It's my new uniform. Jinx helped me pick it out." Gar smiled slightly and looked up at her. Raven's eyes watered as their eyes met
"It looks very nice on you." Raven smiled a little. Somehow this was not Gar. It was a person she knew next to nothing about. But he knew all about her and it made her nervous
"So, what did you want to tell me?" she asked tucking a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. Gar smiled again and squeezed her hand
"That you might be seeing a little more of me in the next few weeks. Once we get settled into our new place I promise I'll tell you where we are so you can visit."
"How long will that be?" Raven asked softly as Gar rose. He shrugged
"I don't know, a week maybe."
Raven bit back tears and hugged her old friend once more. He ruffled her hair gently then walked over to the window. Raven followed, he opened it and prepared to step out but he turned back towards the Gothic princess behind him
"I'll be seeing you Rae." he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before jumping out of the window and turning into a bird. Raven watched as he did several flips in the air on his way across the cove. She pressed a hand to her cheek and sighed slightly. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out Gar's lucky penny. She slid it over her head carefully. It rested in the hollow of her collarbone perfectly. She touched it lightly then crossed the room over to her closet and undressed then slipped into bed. Her sleep was peaceful and dreamless. But a small smile crossed and stayed on Raven's pale face.
In Nevermore a silver emotion smiled at several others. Green, Pink, Gray, and Yellow were all watching the event with dreamy eyes
"He really likes us. Doesn't he?" Timid whispered. Knowledge nodded and patted the emotion's head gently
"Yes, I think he truly does."
(Okay First off I know in the first chapter I said Raven was already eighteen but I changed it. Third of all I want to thank all of you for your reviews. They help me keep going even when I feel like this is all pointless. Fourth off I need some help with Life Changes. If you have any ideas or encouraging remarks please R and R that story. Thank you. Merry Christmas. God Bless America and the World!)