The Gift
By Misty Fortner
A Robin/Raven story
I don't own Teen Titans, just borrowing the characters.
Sorry about this update taking so long. I had a bunch of papers due in my college classes. Hope you all like it. As always please read and review. Next chapter will be upwithin the next two days.
To my reviewers:
Alena-Chan: Thanks again,
Enkaiame Katina: Thanks. Hope you still are enjoying the story,
Exile115: Thanks. I have another idea for a story based on a dare someone gave me. It will be a one shot, but should be funny to say the least. Will be posting it after done with The Gift,
Delirium24: Thanks, hope you like the update,
dennisud: I see it as she's been falling him for a while. I tried to make that a little clearer in this chapter. Hope you are enjoying.
Tecna: NO THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE STAR BASHING. I hope its not coming across that way. She will be hurt, but she will move on quickly. Star will have a happy ending (though I still have to figure out if, and with who I want to pair her with. If this does seem Star bashing, please let me know where so I can correct it. I love Star's character, just not paired with Robin.
Wicked Azar: Thanks, hope it was worth the wait
RAVEN0909: Well I will let you guess as to whether Raven and Winter are related. Though it won't be long till it is discovered who Winter is and why she's in the story (probably chapter 5) Hope you like this.
Oracle: Thanks
Chapter 4: Winter Wonderland
"Gone away is the blue bird, here to stay is the new bird.
He sings a love song as we go along, walking in a winter wonderland."
Raven looked in her closet. She had no idea what she should wear tonight. It's not like Robin and her were actually going out on a date. Still, she wanted to look good. Finally she decided that she had nothing to wear. She decided the easiest thing to do would teleport to a boutique downtown. She had seen some outfits that wouldn't look out of place on her in the window displays. After arriving she quickly found something she liked, made the purchase and returned home to get ready.
They weren't wearing there costumes tonight, because Starfire insisted on Robin cheering up, Raven, in a setting where they would not be interrupted by their super hero duties. Star was a wonderful soul, but she was naive. She didn't see anything wrong with sending her best friend and boyfriend out alone together. Raven hated that her feelings for Robin were growing from friendship into love. Raven knew this had been happening for a long time now. Her love for him is why she had told him of the bad things supposed to happen on the day of her birth, before she told the others. These feelings deeper than normal friendship had allowed her to willingly form the mental bond with Robin when he was seeing Slade no one else was.
Raven has been surprised today. The team had also loved the idea of having little, Winter, at the tower for Christmas. Beast Boy had even suggested that they make a trip to the orphanage before hand and take all the children toys. That suggestion had surprised Raven for some reason. She liked it, but it didn't seem like the suggestion was right coming from BB. Raven and Robin were to pick out the toys tonight during their outing. Cyborg was even letting them take the T-car, because all the toys wouldn't fit on Robin's moped. Raven left her room with a smile. She was nervous about being alone with Robin, but she was looking forward to the Christmas activities that, Starfire was mapping out for them to do. She hopes some of the activities would be fun to take, Winter, on.
Raven walked out of her door and went to the main room. The rest of the Titans were already there. The eyes of all the male titans opened wide. They had never seen Raven dressed up. Her hair was swept up in with a rhinestone comb. She had a corset on that enhanced and emphasized her breasts. It was a purple steel color. She was also wearing a black miniskirt covered with a sheer ankle length skirt.
Beast Boy spoke up first, "Damn Raven, you look SIZZLING! I changed my mind Robin, I will take Raven out tonight. Raven rolled her eyes and glanced at Robin for a reaction.
Robin had a flabbergasted look on his face. BB was right, Raven looked awesome. She looked so good he wasn't sure he trusted himself to be alone with her all evening. He sighed, why was Star making him do this. Raven was fine now that Winter, was coming for Christmas. Though the excitement and draw of this child was bringing out a glow in Raven, that took his breath away. Robin had never seen her this excited about anything.
"Friend Raven, you look glorious. I hope you and Robin have a good time tonight. Here is the list of places, Robin, is to take you."
Raven glanced at her friend, and took the list. "Look Star, I still think you should come with us."
"No friend Raven, I shall not go. I will stay home and prepare a list of foods for our Christmas Dinner." The room got silent at that comment. Robin, not wanting to listen to the discussion about dinner plans grabbed their coats and pushed Raven out the door. "Bye, we'll be back later tonight."
BB grinned and said in an impression of an old fatherly man, "Make sure you have her home before curfew; I'll be here polishing my claws waiting on you two."
After Raven and Robin walked out the door, Cyborg shook his head. "Raven cleans up well. Real well!"
"Yeah" said Beast Boy, "Tell me something, why is it that the dark haired mysterious ones get the girls. It's so not fair that Robin has both Titan women want him as a boyfriend. What's so special about him?"
Cyborg's wanted to bop BB over the head, as he watched Starfire's facial expression change. "Raven, is interested in Raven as a boyfriend. Do you mean the friendship way or the way that is a pleasant and special association including the sharing of enjoyable recreation and occasionally the buying of bountiful floral arrangements?" (Yes I know this is a rip off of a line, but it just seemed fitting to add here.)
BB and Cyborg looked at each other, than began to stare at the ceiling. "I think I'm gonna go make some burgers, " Cyborg said as he started to get up.
"I'm hungry, I'll come with" said BB
Star just glared at the guys, and they sat back down. The Tower was quiet for what seemed like ions, but in reality was only seconds. Finally, Cyborg spoke up. "Look Star, its nothing to worry about. Raven would never go after Robin. She knows that you two are together. She cares about you, and wouldn't want to hurt you that way. Raven has a bond with Robin. She willingly linked her mind to his during the incident with Slade. As far as if she wants him as more than a friend, not right now. She wouldn't do that to you. Though, if things don't work out between you and Robin, Raven will probably go after him."
Star sat down on the couch. This was difficult for her to digest. Looking back over their many adventures fighting crime, she could see Raven's feelings growing stronger. What scared Starfire more was the fact that Robin seemed to have a strong bond with Raven also. Raven and Robin had a connection with each other that Star couldn't duplicate. That connection gave them a very strong friendship, but Star wondered if they were really the roots for something deeper than friendship.
Raven smiled at Robin as they drove towards downtown in the T-Car. "Look, I understand if you want to skip this whole Christmas outing deal," she said. "I have no problem with separating now and meeting back up before we go home. I know that you didn't really want to spend the evening with me. You just lost the race against Cyborg and Beast Boy."
Robin kicked himself; hearing about the wager must have really stung. "Raven, it is not that I don't want to spend the evening with you." As much as he wanted to avoid the temptation of being alone with the dark hared enchantress and take Raven up on her offer to separate, he refused. He was bound and determined that Raven would enjoy herself this evening. Though glancing at Star's list of must do's he planned on improvising some. Somehow he didn't think Raven would enjoy going Christmas Caroling or watching Christmas cookies be decorated.
Raven looked into his unmasked eyes; she could see that there was something he wasn't saying. "If you want me to believe you Robin, tell me the rest of what is going through your mind."
"Raven, I'm scared to be alone with you. I'm scared of emotions that stir inside of me when I'm near you. These feelings are so strong and feel so good, that it's hard to remember the fact that I'm with Starfire. I don't want to hurt her."
"Oh,"
"We're going to spend the evening together. It should be fun, especially with all the snow we got last night. We are friends and I want you to realize how special you are. You need to stop thinking of yourself in such a negative manor. I'm going to convince you of this in one way or another."
Raven gave Robin a little smile. "Alright, so what do we want to do, Robin?"
"Have you ever been ice skating?"
"No"
"Have you ever been on a horse drawn carriage ride."
"No."
"Alright, we'll go ice skating."
"Alright," said Raven. "What should we do first?"
Robin thought for a moment, "Lets go on a carriage ride, grab some dinner, followed by the ice skating and end our evening with shopping for the children. Depending on the time we may drive around the residential areas and look at the displays families have put up. "
"Sounds good." Robin drove the T-car towards Downtown. After arriving downtown, they walked along the road till they spotted a carriage. Robin flagged the driver down. Robin helped Raven into the carriage, and then went to pay the driver.
After paying, Robin climbed into the carriage and handed Raven a long-stemmed single white rose.
"The rose is beautiful," Raven declared. "It's as white as the winter snow."
"I'm glad you like it."
The horses started galloping. They rode mostly in silence for the first five minutes. Robin then asked her, "So how do you like your first carriage ride."
A slight smile escaped Raven's face, "It's nice," she said softly.
They rode for a few more minutes pointing out the different sights to one another. Without realizing what he was doing, Robin reached out and took Raven's hand, continuing to point out beautiful light displays to her. When he took her hand, she closed her eyes and repeated her meditation phrase in her head. She couldn't let her emotions go out of control, just because Robin had touched her. Finally their carriage ride came to an end. Raven started to slip as Robin was helping her out of the carriage. Robin's arm slipped around her with a quick reflex and he gently eased her down.
"Thanks, Robin." Raven said slightly blushing.
"No problem."
Leaving the T-car where it was, they walked to a nearby seafood restaurant. They were escorted in and sat at a quiet table in the back. During the meal they got to know each other a lot better. They talked about their childhood and where they wanted to be in a few years. They laughed discussing stories about their friends. They also had small talk about music and movies. It was a very enjoyable dinner.
Leaving the restaurant, they took the scenic walk back to the T-car. They walked in silence for a while just enjoying the peaceful evening. Sometime early in the walk they found themselves holding hands again. Neither was sure which of them had initiated the hand holding, but neither of them felt the urge to break it. Raven was holding the rose Robin had bought her in the other hand. It was the first flower she had ever received. She would press it in one of her favorite books and keep it forever. She loved the flower, it was her winter rose.
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P.S. If anyone knows much about the comics and Robin's childhood or future as Nightwing. I'd appreciate if I could ask you a couple questions. You can e-mail me at cthulhumistress (at) yahoo (dot) com
