Surrender

Chapter Three: Difficult decisions, StankBalls, and Sneaky Slades

Raven braced herself while staring Slade down. "Yes, Slade I've thought about what you said. And irregardless of what you say to me I will never betray the Titans."

Slade's smirk only seemed to widen as he strode over to her dresser and comfterably situated himself against her vanity table with his arms crossed.

"Not even for dear old Robbi-poo." Raven's eyebrow arched. "If you become my apprentice I will tell you all about Robin's past so that you and lover-bird can do your frivolous hormonal bonding and other insipid emotion led shit. However, you must swear total and complete loyalty to me and become a double agent for me against the Teen Titans."

"I will no-"

"Don't be so quick Raven. I'm sure with a little time you could see how this could work to both our advantges. Besides I'm sure you could put all the information about Robin too good use." Slade tilted his head towards her. Raven fisted her hands and shook her head no. Slade extended a gloved hand towards her face and slide a finger softly across her jaw and lips. "And if you ever give up on Boy Wonder I'm sure that we could work something else out." Raven turned her face, and began to chant her infamous words.

"Azarath Metri-"

"No, no Raven I can't allow that," stated Slade as he tightly wrapped his fingers across her delicate mouth. He pressed a kiss to the other side of his hand as if pretending the hand across her mouth was not there. "You have a month." Slade disappeared right before her very eyes.

"Tick-tock Raven." His gray and cement-like voice resounded through her room.

Raven walked out her room and straight into a stankball.

"Aha ha ha ha..." Beastboy's dolphin laugh echoed in cohesion with Cyborg's deep apologetic chuckles throughout the hall. Starfire's blushing red face was seen zooming in towards Raven at full speed.

"Dear friend, I am so sorry. The evil ball of stank was not intended for you at all. Maybe I can make it up to you with an outing to the mall of shop and that store of tea that you most prefer, my treat as earthans would say." Her bright friendly green eyes stared hopefully at Raven.

Raven's soft expressionless voice was heard resounding through the corriders despite how low she responded.

"That would be nice." She then smiled. "But first this." Starfire's scream was heard throughout the tower as Raven socked her in the face with Beastboy's radioactive underwear. The four teens continued to wreak havoc on the tower with small yet deadly articles of clothing crumpled into life-threatning balls.

"Friend Raven are you ready to out with the go?" Starfire's voice echoed across Raven's windowless room.

"Yes, Starfire." The Titan stepped out of her closet in a fresh leotard, cape and ankle boots and followed the other girl to the elevator.

"Tell me Starfire, what did you feel when you found out you had to return home?"

The floating alien girl clad in purple halted in front of the Tower exit. Through the giant plate-glass windows the clouds shone and orange sparks of sunlight luminated the corridor. She turned towards Raven before beginning to speak.

"Friend Raven I do not know how to correctly express my feelings in human terms." The girl hesitantly engaged the security measures on the automatic door before stepping out.

"Well why don't you talk to me in Tamaranian, considering that we're intergalatic neighbors and fluent in each other's languages I'd say it's safe to talk to me in Tamaranian." Both alien girls began to fly across the harbor while speaking in rapid alien tones.

"Well sadness above all because I had to leave the Titans behind. But that wasn't as important as my sense of responsibility considering that I was suppposed to be next in line to the throne. Furthermore I felt guilt at having left behind everyone that I grew up with, loved and knew since I was young. I felt like time had passed and I had forgotten about my home and it was my fault because I had let it happen. I hadn't of done what was in the best interest of my people despite the fact that it was not my utmost responsibility as the second born princess." The red-haired alien smiled at her freind completely understanding Raven's curiosity about her life on Tamaran.

"Thanks Starfire. Is that why you chose to return when we you were summoned to marry? I mean weren't you not obligated to go back since you had left Tamaran and if you had requested could have become an Earthan citizen. At least that's what my knowledge of Tamaranian law allows me to believe." The girls flew across the river at a leisurely pace.

"Well, yes I know what you mean.I think it was not only my guilt at having neglected my duty but a strange feeling of homesickness that in the end made me decide to return. And well things might not have turned out the way I believed them too I do not regret having gone back."

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

After a nice soak in the indoor jacuzzi with a delicious bar of soap and a huge sponge Raven went looking for Robin. His usual haunts-the obstacle course, weight room, swimming pool, roof, bedroom, sea shore and living room- were empty so Raven glided towards the other possible location in the tower where he most likely would be found.Raven phased through the mahagony two-story doors of the large library in the tower and began to fly past the heavy tomes in search of her love. The library had been a gift added to the tower after the Titans various international political explorations. It was large and spacey, decorated in rich tones of burgandy and brown and one of the most at home luxious places that Robin could find a refugee in while not leaving the tower. The various fireplaces crackled in the winter, and the comfterable nooks and crannies provided cool air in the summer.

Robin's desolate figure was found in the lower left corner of the sixth row towards the south of the library clutching a heavy tome in-between his stick legs.

"I'm sorry. I was rather rude earlier." His apology while sincere seemed to be done more out of necessity than pure willingness. Robin was not apologizing because he was actually sorry (although he was) but more because it was the right thing to do especially considering his reputation as Boy Wonder perfect gentleman and ladies man extraordinare.

Raven sat down next to him in the lotus position facing the bookshelves. Robin followed her gaze to the stacks of endless volumes that covered the oak bookshelves.

"Let me tell you about my past Robin." Raven glided her finger through his, and leaned against his shoulder with a wistful smile. "As you know I'm from Azarath. Well, I happen to be the only surviving member of the Roth demonic line that has an actual claim to the throne. So in simple terms, I'm the princess and ruler of Azarath. Similar to Starfire I choose to leave my home planet out of free will and not banishment, only for vastly different reasons, mainly the prophecy. As a little girl I grew up in the palace. I spent most of my days in the temple studying to be queen." Raven smirked, "And a good one at that if I do say so myself." Her wistfull expression returned. "Or I was bonding with my mother. You see contrary to popular opinion I too know what it's like to have a happy childhood. My mother made sure of that before she passed away. In fact she did her utmost best to make sure that I had the best childhood anyone could possibly ask for until she passed away you know." She looked up from staring at the tomes directly across from her face. "I was devastated the day that she left me, but I too knew that it was going to happen. In fact it was what I had been learning to deal with until my early days. Especially considering that it was all planned out in the master plan of what was my destiny." Her voice had turned bitter and her grip hard but Robin did not interrupt her. He listened with a faithful ear and open heart.

"I studied in the temple with the best priest and scholars in Azarath. From day to night I spent hours pouring over scrolls with them, analyzing things to the point of no return. But in the end no matter how much preparation they had tried putting into me I was still devastated by my mother's death. Here I was alone in the world, after losing the only parent that I had known. I was supposed to take the throne, face my father, protect the people of Azarath and so many other things that I had no clue what to do." Raven withdrew from Robin's embrace and began to pace the long space between the wide shelves.

"On top of that I could no longer express emotion, something that I had been doing to the extreme my entire life. This whole new set of powers had just barreled into me with no warning. Well if you call years of intensive religious training no warning at at all."

"Yep, no warning at all." Interjected Robin with a light smirk.

"Also along came this radical set of rules, responsibilities, and I did what I thought was best. What any other teenager in my position would do. I fled. I threw it all away left my home planet and made my way here to earth, and from then on you know the story."

"Raven." Robin stood, wrapped his arms around her body and pressed his fingers into her soft stomache.

"Anyway, I guess my point was I know how you feel. You don't have to pretend around me, I don't want you to be perfect or even normal because then you wouldn't be Robin and that's what counts." The sorcess princess kissed him softly while pressing herself against his embrace. "Robin I know that I said I would help you focus entirely on finding your parents, but I need to return to Azarath. And I will, wether the Titans come with me or not."

A/N: Sorry for the delay I had to do some intense SAT training. It seems that everytime I say that I'm gonna devote time to my writing I do the opposite and vice versa. So I can't say that I will be working on this for a long time (even though I will, especially considering that I know what the next chapter will be).

P.S. I just got a brand new wireless internet access on my comp. so I can update more quickly.