Hope

A/N: Chapter four! :)! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Please, keep it up!

There's some slight foreshadowing in this chapter. See if you can catch it and figure out what's going to happen next. Try to guess what's going to happen in the next chapter in a review. I'll let you know if anyone's right. Think of it as a sort of test of your observation and predicting skills...


Hope

Chapter 4

"Hey."


Raven turned to see Robin sit down beside her on the roof of Titan's Tower. "What're you doing?"


"Watching the sun set," Raven responded, observing the fiery sky.


"Okay," Robin said simply. There was a moment or two of blissful silence, before Robin remarked, "You watched the sun rise also, didn't you?"


Raven looked sharply at Robin. "Yes..." she said suspiciously.


"Why?" Robin asked simply. Raven relaxed somewhat, and turned back towards the setting sun as she replied.


"It helps me to sort out my thoughts sometimes," she confided. "It's comforting."


"How so?" Robin prodded.


"It's peaceful and quiet - most of the time." Here she shot Robin a dark look. "It's just nice to watch when you're reflecting on something."


"Look," Raven said, gesturing toward the vibrant sky. "The sky's like chaos. It has so many different colors, and they all look to be fighting. It's like it's unsure of whether to let night fall, or whether to remain daylight. And then once it comes to the conclusion to let night fall, it doesn't seem to realize what it should do next until the darkness forces the sunset away. It's kind of like how I feel."


"Bright, colorful, and fiery?" Robin questioned.


"No," Raven said, rolling her eyes exasperatedly.


"Oh, the part about being chaotic?" Robin asked.


"Of course, you idiot," Raven snapped. "When have I ever been bright and colorful?"


Robin shrugged, and tactfully changed the subject. "Why do you feel chaotic?"


"I just do," Raven said coldly. Robin turned to look at Raven with an injured air that she would not open up to him. Raven sighed.


"I just learned something about myself and my emotions, but I don't think if I can do anything about it," Raven said softly. "I'm an internal mess. My emotions are so messed up right now it's frightening."


"Your emotions about Terra?" Robin asked gently.


Raven sighed heavily. "Yes," she replied.


The two sat there silently after this pronouncement, simply watching the sun set together. After a minute or so, Robin gently broke the silence.


"Do you want to talk about it?"


Raven continued looking straight ahead at the brilliant sunset as the sun sank lower behind the horizon. After a moment, she took a deep breath, and began speaking softly, answering a silent 'yes' to Robin's question.


"I miss Terra. She became my best friend in the short time she was a Titan. And now she's gone."


"That must be really hard for you," Robin consoled her, trying to be emphatic.


"I don't need your sympathy," Raven snapped sharply. As she realized she had just snapped at the one who was trying to help her, slight tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry," she apologized. It just cuts me so deeply that I don't know what to do." She sat there silently after this pronouncement.


"Raven?" Robin asked cautiously. "Why's this affecting you so deeply now?"


Raven hugged her knees tightly to her chest as a chill wind blew by. When she spoke, it was in a voice laden with emotion, as if she were about to break down into sobs but was holding back.


"I'm not quite sure," she said, quietly. "Maybe it's because a year ago today was when she turned to stone. Maybe it's because I still haven't gotten over her. Maybe it's because she still haunts my thoughts with growing frequency every moment. Maybe it's because I just recently realized my emotions towards her."


"What emotions?" Robin prodded gently.


Raven paused, reflecting. When she spoke, it was in a softer tone, more quiet and meek.


"A long time ago, when Terra first came here, Terra and I hated each other fiercely. Remember?" Robin nodded silently, and Raven continued.


"All that passionate arguing and yelling between us drove everyone nuts. Then we became friends. While we were on much better terms, that passion we had when we were arguing didn't exactly disappear like everyone presumed. It just... changed."


Robin inhaled sharply as he realized where this was going. Here, Raven finally turned to look at him. Tears were streaming silently down her face, illuminating her sad violet eyes.


"I loved her, Robin," Raven said brokenly. "I still do. I just can't stop. And she's gone forever. I didn't even realize it when she was here. I never even got the chance to tell her. And now she's gone!"


A generator blew up behind them at Raven's emotional outburst. Robin instinctually grabbed Raven and held her tightly. Raven cried gently against him, her emotions being absorbed by Robin's closeness.


"She's gone," Raven murmured brokenly. "I'll never see her again. She's gone forever."


"Don't say that, Raven," Robin said, looking down at her. "There's always hope. Cyborg said that there's a possibility of reversing the effects."


"In the future, after technology evolves enough," Raven sniffed. "There is no hope, Robin. She's gone."


"Raven, without hope, we have nothing," Robin said gently. "There's always hope, no matter how hard it may be to see it."


"How can I find hope, then?" Raven asked, pulling back, impatiently brushing her tears from her eyes. "How can I find it?"


"I don't know, Raven," Robin soothed. "It just sort of comes to you. Try talking to Star. She's a pretty upbeat person, and full of hope."


"Star?" Raven asked confusedly, not following his train of thought.


"Yeah. Talk to Starfire. It'll help you sort things out," Robin said. "You and her were always pretty good friends. God knows what all you did locked up in her room all that time..."


A faint niggling feeling edged at the corners of Raven's mind, as if she should be remembering something, but she impatiently pushed it away.


"Okay," Raven said. She looked up at Robin, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Thanks, Robin, for everything." She levitated over to the door leading down into the tower, in a much lighter mood than she had been in when she had come up.


"Anytime, Raven," Robin responded, smiling. "Anytime."


Raven smiled back at him, before disappearing into the stairwell.


Robin leaned back against the roof and smiled. Raven was quite a character. He'd always enjoyed their little verbal spats, and her personality meshed well with his own. She was always looking out for him, making sure he didn't go overboard with his obsession for catching criminals. She gave him advice on what to do on his feelings for Starfire. She was always a great friend to him.


Robin smiled off into space. He was glad he had been able to return the favor for once.

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Raven does get emotional, so this is realistic. Remember her hugging Beast Boy in 'Spellbound'? Everyone needs to talk to someone sometimes, and Robin seems like the best choice for Raven to confide in. He'd certainly understand her feelings better than the others, at any rate.

Again, please review!