Hey guys, I'm really sorry about not updating for a while. I started school again…college is a lot of work, so yeah…I know this chapter isn't very long but it's the best I can do for now! Sorry!

Chapter 23: Okay

The glimmering sun had fallen half-way behind the endless sea. The waves, folding upon the shore so delicately were branded by the simmering sun, setting off an astonishingly pure, yet harsh reflection. This exalted beauty was ignored, however, as triumphant shouts of victory rang out.

"We sure kicked his butt!" Beastboy cried, then proceed to morph into a kangaroo and with elegance that seemed to exceed him, bounded up the jagged rocky shore into the T tower. The rest of the team followed, a glowing aura of victory surrounding them.

"Yes, we should now order the pizza!" Starfire replied her smile as beautifully elated as ever.

"I'm already on it!" Cyborg yelled from the kitchen as Starfire, Raven and Robin entered the tower.

Raven heaved a sigh. Although she wished to celebrate with her friends, she felt as though she needed a moment, a moment to just digest the blur of recent events. There was so much to think about. Now that the dark veil of lies and self-doubt had lifted she could see plainly for once, not being bound to the dark shadow of her past and seeing for the first time how deliciously bright her future could actually be. She found it odd to be thinking why she had even attempted to do what she did in the first place. Perhaps she had been thinking about it for years, unable to admit that somehow it had been her destiny all along. That doesn't make any sense, my destiny is to not have a destiny? That's not right. Perhaps it had only been a spur of the moment decision, one that, for the time being, had needed no thought, just execution. The evaluation of the recent incident was beginning to weigh her down, like every time she pondered her childhood, or lack thereof. Many times she had let the darkness overtake her, but this time it was different, she could now distinguish things more vividly than ever before. The decision to put the recent occasions out of her mind for the time being came almost immediately. Though she needed a minute, she had told Starfire the truth, she did genuinely want to celebrate with her friends. But she needed to concentrate first, to block out the memories to be able to enjoy herself somewhat. She tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, but as invisible as she wanted to be at that moment, she did not have that much power, and regretted so when Starfire's deafening voice blared throughout the room.

"Raven, do you not wish to eat the pizza with us and play the games of the video?" She asked innocently, gathering the other's attention.

With all eyes pinned on her, she swallowed the hard lump in her throat. "N-no, I do," she stammered unsure why she was so nervous, "I just need a minute." As she turned her back to them their gazes resumed to where they had been previously…all but one that is.

The door to the roof flew open and a fresh wave of salty air stung her senses. The cool breeze mixed with the serenely radiant sun felt refreshing as she leaned against the unyielding steel railing, staring into the abyss.

"What happened back there?" A calm voice rang out from behind her that even she, having great focus of her surroundings, couldn't hear coming.

Raven took a deep breath, knowing that this moment would come. "It's nothing." She lied, knowing that it wouldn't end there.

"It seemed like something to me." He replied thoughtfully, coming up slowly beside her. From the corner of her eye she could see Robin's masked face also turned towards the sea. This fact comforted her somewhat, it seemed less like a confrontation and therefore she would be less likely to get defensive, mechanism that usually won her arguments but was completely unnecessary now for this non violent explanation.

"Really Robin, it's fine, everything's fine now." Raven replied, but she couldn't stop the unconvincing inflection resonating throughout the comment.

"If everything's fine then why won't you tell me? Why won't you let us in? Why won't you let me in?" He sent the barrage of questions a little harshly, but the meaningful tone was still there.

Her eyes began to tear slightly at the sincerity in his voice, something that she had rarely heard in her past. A vision of her mother flew through her mind, but she pushed it away, not wanting to bring back those agonizing memories. "You don't understand. It's too hard."

At these words he turned his body towards her unresponsive one. "Too hard? You have come from the darkest past anyone's ever seen, destined to do horrible things and yet here you are, saving an entire city every other week. What could be harder than what you're doing now?" He asked a slight twinge of urgency in his voice. Little did he know what she was actually doing behind his back, behind everyone's back.

Eyes still shut tight, Raven thought about getting it all off her conscience. Tell him about Red-X. All the times she had seen him, and maybe even how she secretly liked it. She didn't know how this was even possible, but her emotions could not be corrected. Though she did feel something for X, her feelings for Robin had grown stronger. Obviously so, he was around all the time, he wanted to talk to her, he was the only person in the whole team that could actually relate to her on such a close level. Then her brain caught up with her frivolous emotions. It was simply out of the question. Her friends would turn on her, justifiably, kick her out of the team. She wouldn't be able to bear the look of hurt and betrayal on Robin's face. The bond between them had become even stronger, even she could feel that. He believed in her and would continue to do so. But the guilt of her dirty secret spiked when she felt a warm hand overlap hers. Struggling not to look at him or her hand, she strained her eyes, staring hard out into the sun set. Her clasped hand became sensitive, soaking in every pulse of his blood. She almost leapt in surprise when his hand squeezed hers ever so slightly.

Robin, seeing that this was going nowhere, sighed audibly, disappointed in the fact that he had thought that she was actually going to reveal something about herself, a fantastic feat for any person. Rubbing his forehead he settled on a conclusion. "All right, you don't have to tell me. But at least let me know one thing…Are you going to be okay? You can talk to me about anything, I want you to talk to me. You know you can right?"

At this she smiled. It was small and frail, but it was something that he could enliven in her. "Yeah, I know Robin," she finally turned around and their eyes met, "and I'll be fine, really I will be." Robin returned her smile and then turned to leave lifting his hand from hers, a longing for it to be replaced swept over her immediately, but she would never act on the desire, not in a million years. Her gaze returned to the sea, the water and the sky had turned bloody with the fervent smoldering of the setting sun. A sight that would normally intrigue her so passionately and leave her outside until the blackness of night encompassed the landscape. Yet as she continued to stare at the momentous sight she was blind to it, as her hearing trumped all her senses and focused on the fading thump of Robin's feet. However, the aggregated silence of Robin's footsteps resulted in an instantaneous response. She turned around, the salty breeze catching her hair, and saw Robin looking at her intently.

"Are you coming?" He asked, his emotions revealing nothing of the unwillingness she bestowed upon him during the conversation

"Yeah…Yeah I'm coming." She replied taking one last look at the bloody sea.

END OF CHAPTER 23!

Ok yeah it was short, but hey I warned yeh!! Well anyways thanks for all the support that I'm still getting, I love you all!!!