A/N (07.15.15): This chapter has been edited and altered as of today.

AH! Such a long time to update! :O I'm terribly sorry! But high school has been killer as a freshmen with adjusting. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!

Well this was one of the hardest chapters I've done so far in this story I must say. The alterations were difficult and not knowing if I was taking it too far was difficult to tell. But you all are antsy so I just had to do this. You all couldn't wait to see a kiss scene so I gave you the most minimal/major thing I could think of without killing the two's relationship! ;)

To answer some anonymous reviewer questions… Rob, please just do it already! It will make your life a whole lot easier and happier. Mitchie, Rob doesn't hate you. Trust me. Derek uh…? XD

Disclaimer: I do not own the Titans or anything else in this story besides the twins.

Chapter 23: Transformation

"AHHH!"

Starfire's scream was heard echoing through the halls of the Tower and in every room. Raven picked her head up from her book and over her shoulder to the opening doors of the Main Room. Suddenly, Starfire flew in at high speed, a hat over her head and tears in her eyes.

"Star, what's wrong?" Raven asked in eyes showing slight concern, closing her book and putting it aside. Starfire sniffled.

"I fear something is wrong with me," she whispered.

"Well, what is it?" Raven asked. Starfire took a deep breath.

"I come to you friend Raven because I think you shall be the most understanding… and as we are girls and do the 'bonding'," Starfire told her, hesitantly leaving her hands on the rim of the green hat. Raven nodded and Starfire took it off.

"Oh Star, it's just a zit," Raven said, exhaling

Starfire's face turned puzzled. "What is a 'zit'?"

"Something everybody gets during their teenage years."

"But I have never seen you get one, friend Raven," Starfire insisted. Raven shruged.

"I guess I'm just lucky."

"Oh, I see. Will this… go away?" Starfire asked.

Raven nodded. "It should be gone in about a week or so. Don't worry."

Starfire sighed. "Thank you, dear friend. I am most relieved to be able to consol myself to you. Will you… I mean… could you please help me through this tough time? Perhaps we could do the 'hanging out' a bit more later…"

Raven cringed at the words 'hanging out'. Usually that meant excruciatingly long shopping trips, make overs, and sometimes even a sleepover in the Main Room. But of course Raven couldn't just leave her one and only girl friend in her time of need when she saw the look of hope in her pure, green eyes.

"Of course, Starfire."

Starfire's hesitant and sad face turned to one of pure joy. "Thank you, friend Raven! We will have such fun in various girl activities. But for now I will let you return to your book."

With that Starfire flew out of the room, probably to her own to find clothes to put Raven in and make up to put on her. Raven sighed and a small smile appeared across her lips. This was going to be an interesting evening.

"Is this sleepover not fun, Raven?" Starfire asked, smiling. She was in her pink, kneelength night gown,

Raven looked up at her friend. She had on a black cami and midnight blue bottoms. "Yeah. This is nice."

She truly did feel sorry for her friend, or else she would never had agreed to this. They had just started their 'sleepover' in the Main Room half an hour ago and were beginning to get everything ready for a make over that Starfire would not stop insisting upon. She was very excited, even with her hat still in place.

"Would you like me to give you the make over first?" Starfire asked sweetly.

"Sure. Whatever you'd like, Starfire."

Starfire knew what Raven liked and didn't like. For example: Pink eye shadow and red lipstick. That was a big no-no. So she pulled out a mascara wand and applied some to Raven's lashes. She got some dark eye shadow and put some lightly on her lids. Starfire also put on some faint lip - gloss to make Raven's lips abnormally shiny before going to her friends hair. She brushed through it so it was silky smooth, putting some glitter into it for a finishing touch. She smiled at Raven when she opened her eyes and looked herself over in the mirror provided by Starfire. Raven blinked for a moment, quiet.

"Wow," Raven breathed, surprised to see her own reflection in the mirror. She smiled faintly before looking up to her friend. "I just don't get one thing."

Starfire frowned. "Oh, is it not to your liking."

"Of course it is, Star. I was just wondering… why do girls do this at nighttime when they're going to do nothing but sleep in a couple hours?"

"Oh!" Starfire exclaimed with a laugh. "That puzzles me as well."

"Hey, I want to get the movie we're going to be watching tonight before I do your make over, is that ok?" Raven asked Starfire. Her friend nodded. Raven's sweatdropped slightly, whispering lightly, "Also, sorry in advance if I don't do this right, I don't know how to use make up very well… or at all, really."

"Do not be ridiculous! I will love whatever you give me! Now, what movie will we be viewing?" the alien asked.

"I was thinking something like… Mean Girls?" Raven asked. It had the girly things that Starfire enjoyed, yet was hilarious and mean, which satisfied Raven.

"Lovely! I look forward to it." Starfire said with a smile on her face. Raven returned the gesture and left the Main Room to her room to get the movie.

"Dead Silence… Halloween… Texas Chain saw Massacre…" Raven was saying quietly, reading off her movie titles as she searched for the one she desired. "Ah, Mean Girls."

As soon as she picked it up there was a knock on her door and she sighed, ushering it open with her aura. It was probably Starfire.

"I'm coming with the movie, Star, but what is it? I have to put these all back where they were…"

"It's not Starfire, it's me," Robin said from her door, walking in and shutting it behind him. Raven blinked in surprise, glad her back was facing the Boy Wonder with the current expression she held on her face. She got up from her crouched position on the floor when she felt her features relax and faced him. He was right in front of her before she could say anything, wearing just a plain white t-shirt and red shorts.

"Oh, what are you doing here?" she asked him quietly. Ever since that night at the dance, she found it hard to look him in the eyes.

"I was just wondering something…" he trailed off, changing gears. "I see you're spending the night with Starfire, having one of your famous 'girl nights'."

"Yeah, she felt like it so I can only comply. It's difficult to say no when it comes to her sometimes," Raven mussed.

"Well…" Robin said, walking closer towards her. Raven took a slight step back, resting up against the bookcase now with a puzzled expression. "Can you say no to me?"

Raven felt her breathe hitch, eyes unwavering as the two held each other's gaze. What was Robin doing?

"Well?" he repeated, his voice lowering as he thrust his hands in his pockets, leaning slightly in towards her. Raven looked up at him. She felt her voice catch in her throat, nothing coming out of her parted lips. Before she could even attempt anything further, she watched as his face came closer to hers slowly, until the sudden sensation of warmth was upon her lips – his own lips – taking her by surprise and making her eyes fly wide open.

"R-Robin," she managed in a murmur, hands gripping behind her on the bookcase shelf for any form of support. She felt Robin grin slightly against her lips, before planting a gentle kiss on them. Her hands clenched on the shelf tighter, eyes slipping shut as she felt her emotions begin to bubble out of control, trying to silently reign them in.

"Friend Raven?" Starfire's voice could be heard outside the closed door. "Is everything alright?"

Raven felt Robin pull his lips away swiftly as he cursed under his breathe, the space finally allowing her leverage to focus enough to open her eyes and muster a response.

"Yes, Starfire," she managed to say in a stable voice, loud enough for her friend to her. "I'm sorry, I'll be out in a minute, alright?"

"Yes, I shall wait for you on our blankets in the Main Room, then!" With that, Starfire was gone once more. Raven glanced away from her door to peer over at Robin, who had taken a step away from her and was leaning into the bookshelf as well.

"I'm sorry, Raven…" he muttered, looking away from her and to his side.

"What the hell was that about, Boy Blunder?" she asked, regaining her full composure. He sighed and ran one hand through his ebony hair.

"Clearly a mistake," he whispered, the hand rubbing the back of his neck now, watching as she stooped down to pick up the movie she had been holding earlier. "You hate me now, don't you?" he whispered. Raven shook her head.

"I should," she said. "But I don't. I could never hate you, Robin."

With that he once again looked over at her, noticing the blush her cheeks had. She gave him one last glance before exiting her room, leaving him to his jumbled thoughts.

"That was a most hilarious and comical movie," Starfire stated with pure delight. She yawned once and laid back on her pillow. It was 1 in the morning and they were still up after finishing giving one another the make over, manicures, and of course by request by Starfire, 'singing' some karaoke. The alien girl was exhausted, falling asleep quickly.

Raven sighed and laid back against the couch, her blanket draped across it. She did feel truly sorry for her friend on the floor, who had now also sprouted horns on her neck and grown oddly colored finger nails now. She wished she knew what was wrong with her…

Suddenly, the empath's thoughts shifted from Starfire to Robin. What had gotten into him? Did he like her? Suddenly out of nowhere he'd come into her room, and so confidently. 'How could he? He… He…'

She brought a hand to her lips, fingertips touching them softly. He'd kissed her.

She sighed and laid down on the sofa, eyes slipping shut as the thought sunk in. She didn't know how to feel, and before she could let it consume her further, she allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

Robin walked into the Main Room later that night, in hopes of catching Raven still awake so he could apologize once again for earlier and get the chance to talk to her. When he went in though, he saw the TV screen silently fuzzy and the girls passed out.

He noticed Raven asleep sitting up on the couch with her head tilted up towards his face while he peered down at her, looking chilled and tense. He smiled and walked around the couch, picking her up with one arm gently and taking the blanket in the other so he could put it over her. As soon as he set her down she shifted slightly, eyelids twitching as she dreamed.

"Don't leave..." she whispered. "Please..."

Robin's eyes blinked behind his mask as he watched the dark girl, sighing as he sat on the ground beside her, leaning against the couch. He took her hand in gently and smoothed over her fingers, watching as her face calmed and her breathing evened. He smiled, himself falling asleep minutes later.

Raven's eyes fluttered open to see sunlight streaming into the heavily windowed Main Room, stretching slightly and yawning. She rolled to be on her side and was surprised when she saw Robin beside her on the floor, snoring softly. Her eyes furrowed in confusion and then shock when she saw Robin beside her on the floor, hand holding hers loosly as he continued to sleep.

She surpressed the screech of surprise from her emotions in Nevermore that was building up inside of her and slipped her hand away stealthily, before poking him awake. When he woke up he was met with Raven's irritated gaze. He gulped.

"You… you asked me not to go," Robin whispered finally, hoping she wouldn't kill him. Raven's hard glare turned soft and she exhaled in frustration. Had she been talking outside her dreams?

"Oh," was all she could manage before getting up off the couch and exiting the room, clutching her blanket around her, unable to speak to him further. Just then Starfire too woke up and looked to see Robin. She shrieked and flew out of the room, terrified if he would see some of her new appearances.

Robin's eyebrows knitted up in confusion. He would never understand women.

"Titans, trouble!" Robin's voice echoed throughout the Tower and moments later the team was in front of him.

"Who is it?" Cyborg asked.

"Plasmus. He's terrorizing teenagers at a high school football game," Robin explained.

"Well then, lets go!" Beast Boy exclaimed, heading for the door.

"Where's Star?" Cyborg questioned.

"I'll get her," Raven offered. She wondered if Starfire was alright. As the team left to take on Plasmus, Raven made her way to Starfire's room.

"Starfire, it's Raven. We have a mission."

"No, I cannot exit the chamber of rest. I am not presentable at all," she refutted back. Raven sighed and phased through the door, disregarding her friend's privacy for her well being. When she came in her brow furrowed. She saw Starfire curled up in a ball, her head on her knees. She still had on the green hat and scarf, but now that was added to with mittens, rain boots, and a rain coat.

"Starfire, what's wrong?"

"I am hideous… I cannot exit this room until I am… well once more."

"We have to help the team," Raven spoke, approaching the alien girl. "Come on, I'll transport us there. It can't be to bad. We have a duty."

Starfire's eyes widened with fear, but then she solemnly nodded, realizing Raven was right as the dark girl transported them there quickly.

Raven and Starfire appeared on a football field in seconds, seeing the last remains of rushing kids fleeing the scene, and the Titan boys trying to take down Plasmus.

"Raven, Starfire! Come on!" Robin ordered as the two girls flew at Plasmus and began blasting at him immediately with their power. When the smoke cleared they saw the goo monster slipping into a sewer with green liquid glowing from it. The boys turned to the girls.

"Great job! … Starfire… why are you wearing that outfit?" Beast Boy asked her.

"I… I feel the chilliness," Starfire stammered. Suddenly the ground shook, and what seemed to be Plasmus came out of the ground, only now with green goo spots all over him and a whole different body style. Everybody cringed.

Just then he shot them all with his purple goo and covered them all. Raven glanced over to Starfire and bit her lip when she saw all of her extra outfit pieces off. All of the guys took notice, too.

Starfire's eyes turned wide as if she was about to cry, and before anybody could even comment she flew up into the night sky, fleeing to space.

"NO, Starfire wait!" Robin cried out.

"I have to go after her," Raven suddenly said, turning to the stunned trio of boys. This revived them and they all shook their heads.

"Sis, you can't go up there! How will you get Starfire in time to come back? Don't you need like oxygen or something?" Cyborg asked worriedly.

"I'm not like you guys. I have a special ability that allows me to breathe with a lack of oxygen for periods of time," she explained quickly.

"I'm not liking this…" Beast Boy put in seriously.

"I don't either," Robin said, rushing in front of Raven. "We can't put you in danger like that Raven. We can all go looking with the T-Ship."

"No, Robin," She interrupted. "I have to do this. I'm the only one she'll listen to and I'm the only one that can fly up there after her fast enough."

"Raven!" Robin repeated, now taking her shoulders in his grasp and holding her tightly. He knew he was invading her personal privacy, and he knew she was not fond of him right now. But he didn't care. She needed to understand how strongly he felt about this. His voice lowered as he spoke now so only she could hear him. "I don't want to lose you."

Raven's eyes widened slightly, only to soften as a look of confidence came over her. "I'll be fine, Robin. I promise," she whispered.

He sighed and reluctantly let go of her. She stepped back and looked at them all for a split second before she flew up swiftly and was out of sight.

Robin looked up after her, eyes fixed to the sky. Cyborg patted him on the back and he finally turned to look at his friend.

"You want us to ready the T-Ship, man?" the cyborg asked stoicly, eye stern.

Robin nodded. "I don't want to wait very long for her… if things take too long, we're going in. Now let's take Plasmus downtown and lock him up."

Raven breathed deeply once she got high up into space. She hated lying to them all like that… especially Robin.

She really had no idea if she could make it in space.

It was true; she could last longer, but for how long she didn't know. She needed to get back into Earth's atmosphere as soon as possible. Where could Starfire have possibly gone?

"It's been two hours," Beast Boy told the two boys roughly. "We have to go after them! What if something happened?"

"Dude, stop psyching yourself out. That isn't going to help us or her. All we can do is wait and listen to Robin. Have faith in, Raven," Cyborg put in. Robin sighed.

"I can't wait like this… wondering if she's alive… it's hard." he whispered almost inaudibly into his hands as he shook his head back and forth. How much longer could he give her?

Raven had been on a couple of planets now in the galaxy and was loosing some of her faith in finding Starfire. She couldn't even sense her clearly up here. It was bad enough that she couldn't use her powers to the best of her abilities, since everything she had was going to focusing on the energy bubble of air she'd put around her head. She'd never be able to feel her friend's presence or hear her thoughts at this rate, unless she became very close.

Suddenly a shrill high-pitched girl cry was heard, echoing nearby. Raven spun around in all directions, trying to decipher where that could possibly have come from.

"Starfire!" she called at the top of her lungs. he knew she wasn't going to be able to do this for much longer.

Another scream was heard and she looked to her left. There she saw a giant white planet. She had a gut feeling telling her if she went there, she would find Starfire, and so quickly took off in that direction.

"Starfire?" Raven called once she had landed on the strange place. It had green life growing everywhere around a single path she'd spotted and began walking upon. She had no idea where this was leading her, but once she heard a scream coming from a cave up ahead, she darted towards it.

"Starfire?" she asked again, and once she was in the cave gasped. There was Starfire, wrapped almost completely from her feet to her neck in a green cocoon. Over here was a white and purple spider-like creature that almost looked like a praying mantis. It looked up at Raven once it heard her utter her friend's name.

"Why hello deary, but I'm afraid you can't stay for dinner as well," it hissed. Raven quirked an eyebrow before looking at Starfire's terrified face. Finally, it clicked that this thing wanted Starfire as a meal.

"Give me my friend back!" Raven cried out before flying towards the monster. It hissed and made its way towards Raven, who jumped over it and kicked it in the back. The monster recovered quickly and grabbed Raven's leg with her claw, dragging her down and bashing her into the floor. Raven winced and used her power to get control of the monster and bash her into a wall, before managing to sit up and run over to Starfire's cocoooned frame, trying to rip it off her to no avail.

Just then, the monster attacked her once again and she put up a shield quickly. it banged on it, and Raven began losing concentration as she tried to get Starfire out with her bare hands. She just wasn't strong enough…

One final bang was all it took for the shield to go down and for Raven to fly back into the wall. She saw the creature going for Starfire, its teeth bared and panicked. With all the strength she could possibly summon she cried her words out and around Starfire's kacoon and threw it towards herself. The creature was met with dirt to the face and a bunch of rocks from Raven, which fell from the ceiling. Raven sighed and slowly levitated back to the ground, utterly exhausted. With the little power she had left she managed to crack open Starfire's 'prison'.

"Oh, friend Raven, I do not wish to come out, for I am most hideous," the alien girl cried. Raven peered in and one of her eyebrows rose.

"But Starfire… you look the same to me," she said and took a crystal from off the cave floor. She put it into Starfire's hands and the girl looked at her flawless reflection with a smile.

"I am normal!" she cried excitedly and flew out. She admired herself, just as her eyes shot out green beams, reflecting off the crystal and zapping the creature already knocked out on the floor, frying it. Starfire blinked in surprise at her sudden new ability before laughing lightly. "Why thank you, dear friend! Let us return to the boys."

The two girls walked out of the cave and back outside where they could see billions of stars. They took off and made their way towards Earth, which was just a simple blue dot in the distance.

After a couple of minutes Starfire turned to her friend, only to notice that she had fallen a bit behind and rushed to her.

"What is wrong friend Raven?" she asked worriedly. She saw the transparent, energy bubble around her head was beginning to fade.

"I used most of my power to get out here on that planet… I can't focus anymore… and I'm losing," she breathed out slowly as she stopped flying, just floating idly and downwards. Starfire gasped.

"Do not say such things! I will make sure that you will make it!" she promised. The alien princess scooped Raven up in her arms and flew at the speed of light towards Earth, Raven's eyes shutting and her breathing going weak.

"STARFIRE!" Cyborg shouted once he saw the alien girl flying up to the shore of the Tower. He and the rest of the boys had been outside preparing the T-Ship, and once they caught sight of her ran. Robin's eyes widened when he saw Raven's pale body in the girls arms.

"What happened?!" he inquired shortly, looking at her frame worriedly. Starfire frowned.

"I believe she is weary from the traveling, and used all of her energy and power. She knows better than to strain herself like that, and yet she risked herself to come comfort me…" she explained, smiling sadly, hugging Raven tighter.

Just as she finished saying this, Raven's eyes slowly fluttered open and she was met with the surprised and worried faces of her teammates. She groaned and Starfire gasped. "Friend Raven!" she put her on her feet, allowing her her space.

"It's good to have you girls back," Beast Boy said with a smile as his friend gave him one of her signiture bonecrushing hugs. Once Cyborg saw him turn purple he decided to intervene.

"Raven," Robin breathed and wrapped his arms around her, putting his face in her hair and sighing. "I… thought I'd lost you. I mean, I'm just… so glad you're ok."

Raven sighed and loosely wrapped her arms around him, too. "Robin," she whispered as he let her go now at arms length. Suddenly a mischevious grin spread across his face as he scooped her up in his arms bridal style and swung her around. Raven gasped and hung onto her cloak, clutching it around her body. "What are you doing?!"

Soon they had landed in the water and Raven glared over at Robin. She was soaked to the bone while he was relatively dry. She wasted no time in conjuring her power over the water and splashing it down over the Boy Wonder, earning a playful glare from him back. Soon, all of the Titans were in on the water fight, the panic from earlier forgotten.

And the whole time, Robin never looked away from the girl he was falling for.

End Chapter

Good lord that sucked on ice.

Please excuse the horrible piece of a chapter we call literature. I was under pressure and school was getting to me and I just didn't know what you all wanted… you all keep wanting them to kiss so I made it happen TWICE in here. Please be happy for a while. XD

Next time…

Terra returns to Titans Tower, and this time, she's ready to join the team. But after what happened the last time they saw her, the Titans aren't sure that's such a good idea. When Slade unveils his latest diabolical plot, Terra gets her second chance. Can Terra win the Titans' trust and become a full-fledged member of the team? Or will Raven's uncertainty about her make Robin a bit iffy as well? And as soon as Robin's life is getting in danger due to Terra, Raven might just have to start getting rough…

DarkGirlRavenGrayson