A/N: I know I said this was a one-shot but I couldn't resist turning the tables so here's a follow-up chapter reversing rolls and giving Starfire her chance to play the 'Big sister' role she claimed in the initial chapter.

Raven awoke and sat straight up suddenly, gulping air. Her amethyst eyes took in her surroundings to remind herself that what she had seen was a mere nightmare and not real. She curled back up to try to return to sleep but the images and sounds in her mind wouldn't leave her alone.

After several minutes lying there trying to get her mind to focus on anything other than what she had just witnessed she got up. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed while using her magic to summon her cloak to herself before leaving her room. Her intentions were to go to the kitchen to see if a cup of chamomile tea would help her calm her mind but somehow she found herself in front of Starfire's door instead. Her feet and some rogue emotion guiding her there instead of her intended destination.

How had she ended up here? Why was she going to the over cheerful Tamaranean with this problem? She started to walk away when the door opened and the red head stepped out, acidic green eyes filled with concern.

"Sister, what is wrong?"

"Nothing… I…"

"Raven…" Starfire interrupted gently, "I believe you would say it is my turn to ask you not to do the lying to me… you would not be at my door at two thirty in the morning if nothing was wrong."

Raven was immediately taken off guard when Starfire not only realized but pointed out she was blatantly lying. Though she had to admit they were all guilty of not giving Starfire enough credit especially where her emotional awareness and maturity were concerned.

"Come, we will talk in my room." Starfire suggested stepping aside to let Raven pass her into the room.

Raven stood there for a split second then obliged her and entered the room. She was there, she might as well.

"Please, sit… tell me what troubles you…"

Raven sat on the edge of Starfire's bed her eyes briefly coming to rest on Silkie sleeping peacefully on his bed before finding a spot on the carpet that kept her from looking into Starfire's green eyes and see the worry in their glow.

Starfire sat down with Raven. She had never been visited by Raven this way and it was clear the sorceress was disturbed by something.

"Starfire I'm not even sure why I came here… but when I woke up…"

"You had the bad dream too, yes?"

"Yes…" Raven looked at her hands "Usually I can go back to sleep after those dreams but… I can't forget this one… I can't… I can't let it go."

"Then tell me… what did you see… perhaps if you tell me you will be able to let it go and go back to sleep." Starfire suggested rubbing gentle circles on Raven's back in an attempt to be soothing.

"It couldn't hurt." Raven sighed. This wasn't her usual forte… she never gave others her problems.

"Raven… I am here to listen… you do not have to keep your pain to yourself, that is what a sister is for… to help with your problems."

"I know… it's just… Starfire…" she paused "You remember how you had the dream where Blackfire targeted you… mine…" Raven hated how her voice broke but she pushed through.

"Perhaps you can show me…" Starfire suggested "you saw my dream through my eyes… maybe you could show me through yours what your dream was."

"Starfire…" she trailed she wasn't sure it was a good idea to show Starfire the dream that way there were so many ways things could go wrong, so many ways she could end up seeing so much nobody should see of her mind.

"Do not forget… I am a warrior I have seen a great many things you would not believe…" Starfire reminded her gently.

Raven sighed as much as they all looked at the Tamaranean as being sweet natured and perhaps naïve it was easy to forget her people were strong warriors with more fortitude than one would ever believe someone so sweet to have.

"Starfire… are you sure…"

"Yes…" the confidence in Starfire's voice was enough for Raven to push aside her own doubts about this.

"Okay…"

Starfire watched as Raven levitated over her bed and flew up to join her both in lotus position.

"Keep your mind open…" Raven instructed "and know what you will see is disturbing."

"I am not afraid" Starfire replied.

Raven began her mantra her eyes glowing white as she drew Starfire into her mind.

Starfire closed her eyes and soon found herself looking through Raven's eyes. She looked around herself and soon realized this reminded her of how Robin had described Trigon's lair.

Suddenly she saw a vertical wall and a sound drew her attention to the wall to see the four of them strung up on the wall very much still flesh and blood. The sound was her own moan of pain.

"Dear daughter… its funny how you think these pathetic mortals can fill the void in your life! Brothers, a sister… a lover… it is cute that you think they love you" Trigon's voice echoed in the space and Starfire's heart hurt as she listened to the words. If this were anything compared to what Raven had heard her entire life she understood why Raven was the way she was.

Starfire found herself looking up at Trigon, she could feel Raven's fury as she looked at him.

"You are not real… I vanquished you" Starfire heard Raven growl in rage.

"I will always be a part of you, dear daughter… I am your father!"

"You might have created me… but you are not my father!" Raven spat "Like I told you fathers protect their children, fathers raise their children you did neither for me, so you have no right to claim the title of my father!"

"Seems like I need to remind you of my power, daughter dearest." He laughed sadistically.

The sound of screams filled the space and Starfire saw the wall begin to catch fire engulfing the four of them in the flames. Their pained cries echoed in her ears as the flames took each one of them slowly burning them alive.

Starfire came back to herself with a gasp.

"Now you know why I didn't want to show you." Raven sighed looking away settling back onto the bed.

"No… sister I am glad you showed me." Starfire flew over to Raven and embraced her gently "That dream is most horrible, but sister… you know none of that was real… Trigon is gone… you vanquished him yourself… he will never return."

Raven was taken aback for a moment then without thinking returned the embrace tears burning at the back of her eyes that she refused to let fall.

"Do not forget I am here, sister… nothing you saw will ever happen… Trigon is no more." Starfire assured her gently. "If you need to cry let it go I will not judge you."

Starfire made a soft sound from the back of her throat as, at her last words, the proverbial dam broke, and Raven could no longer hold back the anguish the dream pulled forward. The idea of losing the only four people other than her mother she ever truly loved hurt more than Raven would have admitted to just anybody, but Starfire wasn't just anybody. She was, for all intents and purposes her sister and in front of a sister it was okay to be that vulnerable, to let the walls fall, stop hiding behind intellect that would say it was irrational to let a dream affect her so negatively and just feel and express all the negative emotions that coursed through her heart and mind.

Starfire felt her heart breaking at the sound of Raven's sobs and all she could do was hold the smaller girl in her arms and let her express everything and take that rare moment to just be broken.

She had heard Trigon mention something about a 'lover' but as far as Starfire knew Raven wasn't in a romantic relationship with anybody. All she could figure is he was talking about a crush that she had yet to reveal to anyone and Starfire wasn't going to point out the detail she had left unclarified. She figured Raven would reveal this truth in due time, when and only when she felt ready for that person to know.

Robin felt distress over the bond between himself and Raven. He had no idea what was going on but when he got to Raven's room he was horrified to discover her bed, her room was empty. He checked the restroom and the main ops room to find all vacant. He was about to activate her beacon when something told him to check other bedrooms. First was Beast Boy's room, no Raven, then he got to Starfire's room. He wasn't sure what pulled him there but when Starfire answered the door and he saw Raven's cloak draped over the dresser her boots neatly set on the floor and Raven herself curled up in the Tamaranean girl's bed sleeping he became instantly even more troubled. This behavior wasn't normal for her, but clearly Starfire had taken it in stride.

Cyborg had told him about what he'd seen the other day and through the course of the recent days Starfire and Raven had told him of Starfire's nightmare and what had led to the moment that Cyborg walked into. Robin's gut clenched with worry that perhaps rolls had been somehow reversed and Starfire cared for Raven in a time of sisterly need.

"Star… what happened?" Robin asked as she stepped out to the point where her door closed behind her so the conversation wouldn't disturb Raven. This put more red flags in the air that something had happened to Raven during the night.

"I do not know why she came to me… but something woke me up and when I came out of my room she was walking away. I knew there was a reason and after some of the talking I was able to learn of her dream" Starfire explained looking down "When she began to fall asleep I placed her in my bed… I did not think it would be a good time to leave her alone and that was easier on her than transporting her back to her own room. So, I just helped her by removing her cloak and letting her take my bed to sleep."

"I'm not going to ask you to detail the dream… I'll see if she'll tell me tomorrow." He sighed. "Just please take care of her Star… I don't know where I thought she'd go but… I'm glad she turned to one of us after this."

"I am glad as well." Starfire agreed.

"Get some rest… and please Starfire, take care of her."

"I will, Robin… she is my sister, I do not know what the relationship between siblings here on Earth, but on Tamaran I was always taught an older sibling was supposed to take care of their younger siblings." She replied, "I was just unlucky enough to have Blackfire for a sister."

"And Raven is lucky enough that you stepped up to be the sister she never had before."

"This is true… good night Robin, do not worry, I will take care of my sister."

"Thank you, Starfire."

"You are most welcome" she replied getting a quick hug from Robin before returning to her room to see that Raven had not noticed she left.

Starfire started to join Raven in the bed, but decided against it and ended up sleeping the rest of the night in her desk chair which was surprisingly comfortable. Her mind wandering back to what she had seen in Raven's dream. She was unsurprised that Trigon still haunted Raven's nightmares even after his demise but that also left her with the lingering question of how they could help her overcome these dreams. The last thought that crossed Starfire's mind before she drifted off to sleep was the question of did she do the right thing by not telling Robin exactly what Raven's dream had contained?

Raven woke the next morning, later than normal and a bit puzzled at first at the bright lilac purple that surrounded her. Then she remembered that she had gone to Starfire's room after her nightmare, and they had spent a while talking before she had begun to fall asleep, and Starfire encouraged her to just lie down where she had been. She had been bewildered because she expected Starfire to take her back to her own bedroom, instead she had just left her to sleep.

"Good morning… sister" Starfire said with a smile.

"Morning…" Raven replied. "I don't know why but I was expecting to wake up in my own room."

"No, after a dream such as that I did not think it was good for you to remain alone. So, when you fell asleep I decided to let you sleep." Starfire explained "Robin did come looking for you, but you were asleep, and he did not wish to wake you."

"Great… what did you tell him?" the 'great' held a truckload of sarcasm that was surprisingly not lost on the Tamaranean.

"I did not tell him about what you showed me… I thought that it was better if you told him than me." Starfire sighed.

Raven used her magic to summon her cloak from the dresser to herself and put it back on before putting her boots and belt on as well as making sure her belt fell as it should before they went to the main ops to face the rest of the team. Raven was certain word had spread about her nightmare by now and all three would want answers since Starfire had been tight lipped on the whole issue only telling Nightwing enough to get him to go away and nothing more.

At first none of them approached her and she assumed that Robin had not told Beast Boy and Cyborg what had happened but when Cyborg stopped her before she could get into the cabinet for a tea bag she realized she wasn't going to be so lucky. Robin had spread the word of what had happened, and they wanted answers.

"Look… it isn't that big a deal." She said her hand still not leaving the cabinet door even though with his in the middle of said cabinet door there was no way she was opening it.

"Not that big a deal… Raven you never tell any of us about your dreams. This is the first time you have turned to any of us after a nightmare." Robin pointed out, concern evident in his voice.

"Just come to the couch and tell us about it, okay… we want to help you, but we can't unless you tell us what happened.?" Cyborg added.

"Fine…" she spat realizing she was once again outnumbered by her friends, and it was best to cave instead of continuing the argument. "But can I make my tea first?" she asked glaring at Cyborg.

"Okay… that's fine" he backed up so she could get to her tea bags as the kettle began to whistle obnoxiously.

Robin turned the heat off under the kettle and stepped back so she could finish the process.

Raven watched as the boys gathered on the couch waiting impatiently for answers. They hadn't hounded Starfire this bad but then Starfire was always open, always wore her emotions on her proverbial sleeve, the fact that she had admitted this dream had been so greatly upsetting was a new thing to them.

She joined them on the couch and found herself sitting between Cyborg and Beast Boy, Robin stood nearby not wanting to crowd her too much but wanting to be close so he could hear exactly what was said.

"Raven… what happened… you've never acted this way about a dream." He sighed leaning on the back of the couch.

She looked into her tea, that was still too hot to drink and sighed.

"Look… it's really… I'm fine" she insisted.

"No, Rae, you clearly weren't fine, or you wouldn't have ended up where you were." Cyborg interjected. He was turned so his left arm was behind her head and he was turned to look at her, Beast Boy was in much the same position but mirrored. He was closer, his arm was over her shoulder not on the back of the couch where Cyborg's was.

It was clear the more she tried to duck the question the more annoyed the three guys were getting. They were right though; she was a very private person so her turning to anybody, especially Starfire, for support was cause for concern.

"Okay, fine…" she said taking a sip of her tea then laying the events out before them cringing as the emotions welled again in her heart and as she told them of how they had burned she couldn't look at any of them as her voice broke. She had omitted the part about the 'lover' she had yet to tell any of them of her feelings for Beast Boy and she was certain the feeling wasn't mutual, so it was easier to keep it a secret than put it out there and face the pain of rejection.

She heard Beast Boy growl, a strange, inhuman sound coming from the young man who was still in human form. Cyborg and Robin didn't react much better but there was nothing any of them could do.

"What brought this on now… Trigon has been dead for what… almost a year?" Robin asked pacing the length of the back of the couch not going more than a few feet from the rest of them.

"He still haunts a lot of my dreams…" Raven admitted "but usually those dreams don't cling… don't haunt me so vividly…" she sighed taking another sip of tea.

"Did that dream… have you ever had it before… what he said to you in that dream…" Robin asked.

"No…" she lied but under Robin's glare she changed her answer "Yes… back when he was still alive… he showed me that vision one night… I didn't go back to sleep that time either." She admitted finally caving in and telling the truth.

Robin came back and leaned on the back of the couch directly behind her, Cyborg obligingly moved his arm to allow the Boy Wonder the space.

"Raven… why didn't you tell us you were still having dreams like that?" Robin asked.

"Because there isn't exactly a whole lot any of you can do about what I dream." She replied leaning her elbows on her knees to put more space between herself and Robin, who had gotten just the tiniest bit too close for comfort.

"That's true… we can't change what you see in your dreams… but we can be here to help you deal with them once you wake up." Robin replied "Raven that is what friends do; they help each other… they listen to each other when one needs to talk. You have a habit of taking every burden of ours but not sharing your own burdens with us…" Robin pointed out.

"You've done that since the day we all met… you don't have to do that, Rae… we are here, let us help you." Cyborg added.

"Yeah, Rae, we're all here for you just like you've been here for us." Beast Boy added. When she leaned forward he moved his hand to the middle of her back where he had started rubbing slow, gentle circles.

"Like I told you last night…" Starfire said floating over to the group. "I am here as well… I do not mind if you wake me up."

"None of us do." Robin said looking between Cyborg and Beast Boy

"He's right…" Cyborg said.

Robin looked to Beast Boy who agreed as well. That was when Robin realized something wasn't quite right. He knew Raven well enough to know when she omitted something from an event, but he didn't say anything. Someone would likely find a way to pry it out of her. He made full eye contact with Beast Boy and realized he wasn't the only one to notice the hiccup that marked the omitted detail. He also looked at Starfire, the sad look on her face told him that she knew what Raven left out, but he knew from experience if Raven didn't tell Starfire she could tell him, Starfire was going to keep her mouth shut and not tell him."

They separated out figuring they had said all that could be said on the issue. Robin embraced Raven who just stood there and tolerated it, she didn't like hugs. He let her go and she left the room, she wasn't running but she didn't stick around either. He picked up her cup of tea and was going to take it to her but realized it had gone cold during their conversation and he knew once it got cold she wouldn't drink it. That was when he noticed Beast Boy wasn't around and he could only assume that he'd followed Raven. He poured out the tea and placed the cup in the sink to be washed later then went to the training room in hopes that, while training, he could figure out a better way to help Raven.

Raven was caught off guard when Beast Boy stopped her halfway to her room.

"Raven what did you hide?" he asked coming to stand in front of her.

"What do you mean?"

"You hesitated… like you were considering saying something but decided against it… what did you leave out?"

"It isn't important…" she said and started to push past him, but Beast Boy stood his ground much to her chagrin.

She couldn't believe that less than a year earlier he had been small enough that she would have been able to push past him, now she looked him straight in the eye, well actually she was an inch shorter than him and with. the muscle he'd put on from training he outweighed her as well, meaning she could no longer move him once he planted his feet and set his mind that she wasn't going to move him.

"Damn it, Beast Boy… get out of my way!"

"No, Raven, I'm not moving, clearly what he said meant something to you, something that scares you otherwise you wouldn't have omitted it when you told your story." He retorted gently pushing her to stand where she had been before. "Raven please… we can't help you if you don't tell us everything!"

Beast Boy felt his gut clench at the look on her face, pure, unadulterated fear. It reminded him of the grey clad 'timid' Raven he had met during his unplanned excursion to Nevermore.

"Rae… what is it…" he asked, "What could he have said that could possibly be that bad?"

She turned her back not wanting to look at him as she said this… maybe that would make it easier… but nothing would make his rejection less painful. He wasn't going to give up; she had honestly expected this from Robin not Beast Boy.

Beast Boy watched as she put her hood up trying to force herself to say what she had chosen to omit.

"Beast Boy when he was listing the way I looked at you there was one other term he added, I omitted it because I have never told the person he was referring to how I felt about them and didn't want to hear a billion questions from the three of you when I told you…" she sighed looking at the floor and pulling her hood up.

He said nothing letting her reveal the truth in her own time, at her own pace.

"For a long time, I have had a crush… and I've never told him because I was afraid he would reject me and…"

"Rae… any guy would be a fool to let you go…" he said softly.

Raven was stunned by the level of sincerity in his voice, was his rejection not as forgone a conclusion as she had thought.

She leaned on the wall and felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Please, tell me… I won't tell anybody… Rae… I promise" he begged.

Beast Boy squeezed her shoulder in an encouraging gesture praying he'd have the strength to own up to the idea he would hear someone else's name, sure her circle of friends was smaller than any of the rest of them he was certain she had to have met someone in the city that shared her interests, that stole her heart even after Malchior.

He watched her bite her lip and look back at him and his heart sputtered to a halt as she muttered what sounded like 'you'.

She looked away, assuming his lack of reaction was rejection, but in reality it was shock as he realized that was exactly what she had said. The dream had been referring to him.

The next thing Raven knew she was in his arms, his right hand at the base of her skull and his lips pressed to hers. She went stiff for a moment then allowed herself to melt into his arms, into his kiss. Her arms found their way around his chest as kiss intensified slightly. He broke the kiss, his eyes finding hers before he pulled her closer.

"I don't understand why you were so scared to tell me…" he said.

She clutched him tightly afraid that this was just another dream… a sweet, beautiful, torturous dream from which she could wake at any second.

"I love you… Raven… I have for ages, but I've always thought you could never love me back…" he said as he feathered his fingers through her hair.

She was still stunned, the kiss, the confession.

"Rae… please… promise me you'll come to me if you ever have another dream like that… I will be here… I love you, there is nothing that anyone can say that will ever change that."

"I love you, too" she said into the skin of his neck as they stood there in each other's arms.

She was certain she would have other horrible dreams but at least now she knew she could go to them, to him, if she needed to.

The End