A/N: Remember that I said that these do not relate to each other. Otherwise, if you don't remember that, you might think that this one and (01: Ten Years Ago) contradict each other. They do contradict each other, but because they're not in the same universe or have anything to do with each other except that they're both dealing with the same characters, then they don't really, you see?

I dunno what to say about this one. It's another one that had a different beginning originally, but then I thought of this way of starting it and it just went entirely from there. The only thing that stayed with me from my original idea for it was the point of view. For some reason, this one HAD to be written First Person Robin. ((shrug)) I never write first person, but oh well.

Oh, and yeah, it's another future bit.

Not beta'd.

Thanks: I will be posting those on 'emsscraps'.

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Echoes
by Em

"A beautiful sunset that was mistaken for a dawn."
- Claude Debussy

Meetings
(07: Sunset)

The day I met her, the sun was setting in one of those blazing shows of light and shadow against the foreground of reflective skyscrapers. It's an incredibly funny thing to remember so clearly considering that I don't think I can really remember any sunset or sunrise before that moment. Had I ever really seen a sunset before I saw one standing a few feet away from her? I couldn't tell you, truthfully. I'm certain one must have caught my attention at some point during my youth and I like to think that I might have even shared one with my mother or father while they were alive, but my first clearly distinct memory of experience a sunset, of just standing there and letting the sight of it completely fill up my consciousness, is the one I saw on the day I met Raven.

I'm sure it didn't leave quite the same sort of impression on her at the time. When I approached, she looked at me as if I were some unwelcome intruder into her inner sanctum, even though she was standing on the roof of the Justice League building and if one of the two of us didn't belong there, it would be her.

Not that I belonged much at Justice League central, to tell the truth. I was just Batman's sidekick, and a kid at that. I always felt the other members of the League looked down on Batman for having me around, which made perfect sense to me considering he never really took me with him when he went to see them.

But he had taken me that day. That fateful day. The day that Raven had been refused help by the Justice League, the sect of heroes bound together to help the very people she herself was asking them to help.

And they said no.

When I found out what it had all been about (because of course, I hadn't been allowed into the meeting room while she plead her case and only found out later when Batman told me of it) I had felt ashamed at the thought of having looked up to these men and women for so many years. They had let me down and I would never quite look at them the same. How could they possibly deny to help a child who had traveled so far and was asking, not for some way to save herself, but for help to save the Earth from the fate she knew awaited it.

And they had said no.

It was beyond my comprehension.

And I hadn't even met Raven yet.

I know now that I probably made my decision right that very moment, as soon as Batman had finished telling me what the League had decided. Batman knew it too, even though it wouldn't be until the next day that I told him of it. Of course, I hadn't given that decision weight, even in my head, until later – after I had spoken to Raven myself.

I know Raven thinks I joined her and left Batman because I wanted to break out on my own, because I wanted to be free of the 'sidekick' moniker, but that isn't true. I left Batman because I knew, as I heard her story in Batman's monotonous voice, that if the League wouldn't help her, I would. I had to. But I myself didn't know that until after I spoke to her, of course.

I had felt outraged at her denial and at Zatana's dismissal from my first learning of it, true, and I wished there was something I could do for her even then. But it wasn't until I saw her on that roof as the sun set brilliantly in the background that I knew I wanted to help her myself. That I would use every inch of my resources and abilities to bring her some form of peace. Not until that moment, did I realize that it wasn't just about helping Earth and defending against a threat, it was about helping her.

Well, frankly, it wasn't right at the exact moment I saw her that I came to that conclusion. No, actually, at the exact moment I saw her I was sort of blown away by the mere sight of her. Certainly too enthralled with her unexpected beauty to think of much at all. I was too young then to understand that sudden awareness of her I felt even then, but I did know that I was struck dumb and immobile by the mere sight of her because I had never seen anyone who drew my gaze the way she did.

Even at my young age, I had seen plenty of beautiful women and I knew enough to recognize that hers was not plain beauty of the kind seen in magazines and the silver screen. It was more than that.

Maybe it was because she was staring at the sunset as if she'd never seen anything quite like it before. As if she were awed and amazed and humbled by such a simple thing that I for one had always taken for granted. The sun set every day, rain or shine, and here she was gazing at it, almost slack jawed, like it was something she would never see again.

And then, she must have felt my presence, for she turned and for a brief moment, I was struck by the focus of those dark purple irises directed to me. Struck like some sort of physical thing that didn't hurt, but wasn't pleasant. Like something hummed to life within me. I still can't describe it, truthfully.

She must have thought I was someone else, or that my purpose was something other than it was, because at the realization that I was staring right at her, she took a step back. "I was only resting for a moment," she spoke.

I was as shocked to hear her voice as I was by the words she was saying. I must have looked as confused as I felt because she narrowed her eyes and regarded me more closely.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Robin," I answered. "I'm Robin." I brought a hand intelligently to my chest, and realizing how stupid it was, lowered it.

"Well, they needn't have bothered to send you, I was just leaving."

She turned to go and I said the first thing that came to my head, (A habit when dealing with her, that I'm sad to say, I have never completely mastered) "Don't leave."

And maybe it wasn't such a bad choice, because she stopped and turned around to look at me and her eyes were considering. "What do you want?" she asked carefully.

"I want to help you."

"Why?" Such a simple, straightforward question that anything other than a simple straightforward answer was unacceptable.

"Because someone should," I said, determination in my voice. "They should have." I shook my head and my hand curled into a fist. Batman insists I had made up my mind to help her as he told me the story, but for years, I had always thought it was at this point. "The Batman told me of your plight and I want to help you."

"What can you do?" she asked and there was absolutely no emotion in her voice, no chiding or disbelief, nothing to indicate that she was trying to insinuate he was unworthy, only a question.

"Probably not much," I admitted honestly. I thought about it for a few moments, "But if the Justice League won't help you..." I paused for a moment as the plan started forming itself in my head. I met her eyes, those shocking points of purple, "Well, then we'll just have to find ourselves our own team who will, won't we?"

There was a moment when she regarded me with absolutely nothing showing in her expression. I was, of course, completely unfamiliar with her non-expressions and could hardly be expected to read her then and no matter how hard I try even now to figure out what she was thinking of in that moment, I cannot fathom it. She won't tell me either.

So now, even 11 years later, I still have no idea what she considered or what she thought, no clue whatsoever as to why she said, "Yes. We will."

Later, I would learn that Raven never had seen a sunset before that one. That the sect of priests and priestesses who raised her taught meditation at sunset and so she had never looked upon a sunset before. As she explained that, I remember realizing then how I couldn't remember every really seeing a sunset before that moment either and I think I told her how funny it seemed to me that we had both truly experienced a sunset for the first time on the day filled with new beginnings.

Raven's only response, after a careful few moments of consideration was a half-breathed, "I wonder what the dawn will bring?"

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A/N: Okay, so here I go again, messing with the Titans History. I can't help it. It just hit me this way. And I told you I'd be all about messing with their established canon in this series, so there you go. Sue me if you want. You won't get anything. ((sticks out tongue))

Honestly, I don't exactly like this piece. I don't know why. I don't hate it either, though, so I feel kinda weird about it. I think it has some merit, but I'm not particularly proud of it. I don't know how to explain it.

What do you think?

I'll be posting the alternate starts and bits in emsscraps too. Eventually.

Spoiler: Next theme is 'Figuring'