In My Dreams

She had that elusive, magical touch that could heal his injuries and wounds.

She had that mysterious, dark aura about her that gave her a dangerous edge when battling villains in Jump City.

And though he was a little afraid to admit it, he liked her.

Since his amicable breakup with Starfire, Robin was...falling in love with Raven. The other practical, mature member of the team, the two had been very close friends ever since the formation of the Teen Titans. But in the weeks that followed the breakup, he noticed, they seemed to be getting closer than they had ever been before. They talked to each other more, they spent more time with each other...

...and slowly, ever so slowly, he began to love her as more than a friend.

Though Star had told Robin shortly after their breakup that she would be happy for him if he found someone else he could love and be happy with, still...he was reluctant to admit it to himself. Starfire had been an easy girlfriend to please. Raven...well, it was kind of hard to explain her. She was some sort of an enigma that couldn't solve itself. Knowing Raven, he didn't want to end up making the same mistakes he did with Starfire if he was going to pursue a relationship with her.

But as he drifted into the realm of sleep that night (or morning, because sometimes he ended up staying awake past midnight working on cases) he thought of Raven. She somehow made her way into his dreams, which tonight consisted of a battle between them and Trigon. The scene seemed all too familiar to him as he heard Raven's voice screaming and crying into the night. But for some odd reason, he couldn't open his eyes, yet could still see the scene taking place in front of him. Nor could he move his body, which lay stone-still.

"Robin! Robin! Please come back!" Raven cried, hugging him close and shaking him. Unlike the Raven he had helped to save the world, this Raven, clad in a bright white cloak different from her usual blue garb, seemed to be around the same age as Raven was now. Her hair was the same as usual, cut in her distinctive bob. "I need you. I can't do this. I'll never defeat my father. He's going to take over the whole universe. I don't even have my powers, so it's pointless to even try. He's won, and I've murdered everyone - every single, living, breathing human being on this earth - already. I can never be good. I was destined to bring bad luck. That's why the monks of Azarath named me Raven. I'm an omen, a burden on the world."

Clenching the fabric of his uniform tightly with her hands, her blood-stained tears soaked into the threads that held them together. "I can't hope any more. What's the point in hoping when you know your fate is certain? I told you I could never do this. I tried. I tried to hope. But it's all - gone." And in an even softer voice, she continued. "I know it's useless - to even try talking to you any more, but I'm going to die. And - and I don't even care that I'm dead any more because I know my father will take over the universe. Because of me."

"Because of me."

"Because of me." Her words reverberated in the still, hushed air of the dream, shattering the silent consciousness of his thoughts.

Gasping, he woke up with a jolt and turned to see Raven standing in his doorway in her soft, lavender nightgown. Her short, dark violet hair, usually neat and combed in place, was completely messed up and there were obvious bags under her swollen eyes, red from so much crying. It was pretty clear to Robin that Raven had not been able to get any sleep that night.

Sapphire eyes met shocked amethyst ones. Raven, realizing that Robin was awake, froze dead in her tracks.

"R-Robin," the girl stuttered, shocked to see Robin awake, let alone maskless. "I-I'm sorry for coming into your room in the middle of the night but I needed to talk to you -"

"Raven," he said quietly, getting up from under his sheets and walking over to her. "You don't need to tell me. I know. You had the same nightmare. I felt it through our bond." He grabbed one of her hands by the wrists and took it in his.

"Look, it's not what it seems, Robin -"

Robin put a finger to Raven's soft gray lips, silencing her. "No need to worry. I know what you're thinking and feeling. I completely understand. And -" he said, as Raven tried to shake her hand free of Robin's and turn to go back to her bedroom "- you can stay here for the night, if you want."

Raven faced Robin again and smiled weakly, one of her small, rare Raven smiles. "Thanks, Robin. That means a lot."

She plopped herself onto his bed, climbing into the warm sheets. They spent several minutes together in silence, Robin's arms wrapped around Raven's small body. As their thoughts turned to other things, Raven's troubled mind was calmed by Robin's soft breathing and the steady lub-dub that pounded beneath his chest. At the same time, the blood running through her veins felt electric as she was caged in his tight embrace. Never had she been this close to anyone else before. Never had she had so much contact with someone else. Never had she known how good it felt to feel protected knowing that there was always someone there for her. Safe. As if nothing in the world could harm or hurt her.

And all this time she had never known how good it was to feel someone. To feel the charged static in the air and still feel as if you could fly.

It was strange, indeed. She felt happy being in so much contact with Robin.

And it was at that moment, she realized, that she had come to love Robin as more than just a friend. And that she had loved him that way for a long, long time.

She had been able to deny those feelings, those secret, almost unknown feelings that bubbled up in her heart whenever she had seen him for the past few weeks. But now, it was impossible to deny them now. They were flowing out of her so fast that she could feel her dark energy threatening to break the glass of the windows in his bedroom. But somehow she managed to keep it all under control.

After a couple minutes, Raven decided to break the silence.

"Robin? You still awake?"

"Yeah." His voice was a little lower and slightly more tired, but he was still awake.

"I want to...tell you something."

"What is it?" he asked, his voice a little more hushed.

"Robin...I just wanted to say thank you, for being there for me. For giving me the hope to keep on going even when it seemed nearly impossible to defeat my father. For giving me a reason to stay. For giving me a reason to go on and live.

"At that moment, all I wanted was to die. I know what death feels like, trust me. It's painless. I felt so unloved, so unwanted by the world. If you had abandoned me, if you hadn't taken me in as part of the team, if you hadn't given me reason to hope - I would have had no place to go. No place to belong.

"Before I joined the Titans, I had never been wanted. My mother didn't want me. Azarath didn't want me. Nobody wanted me because I'm a dangerous half-demon freak that has the potential to become a portal for one of the most powerful demons in the world. And it wasn't exactly easy living a life where everyone wanted you dead just because you existed.

"But here, I've made friends. Here, I have people who actually care about me. I have a family. And here..." Raven trailed off.

"What is it, Raven?" Robin looked into her amethyst eyes.

"...I've realized that I..."

"Tell me."

"...I've realized that I can't be...without you. And that, had you never cared enough about me, I can't have survived. I probably would have been dead by now."

They'd had all those intellectual conversations on the rooftop in the early morning as the sun would rise. They'd chat casually about villains in the city while Robin sipped a cup of warm coffee and Raven a cup of hot tea.

They had their good and bad times, no doubt. And though they were bound to disagree with each other, they had understood each other's point of view perfectly, even before their mental bond had been created. No words needed to be said.

They just understood. It was just that way.

From the moment that she, Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg had teamed up and become the Teen Titans, they'd always had a special connection. They'd always had a special friendship.

The two fell into silence once more. The only sound that could be heard in the still room was their calm, even breathing.

"You know, Raven," said Robin, after a moment, "you've saved my life countless times. And I owe you."

"I couldn't have done it if you hadn't saved mine," Raven whispered. "Saved my soul from an existence in hell."

"Yeah," Robin agreed, "but I wanted to say that I...share the same feelings as you do for me. And that I've felt these feelings for a while. Raven...?"

"...what?"

"...I don't know if you want to move on to this step yet, but...would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Raven pondered in silence for a while. "Would Starfire be okay with this?"

"She is. She's gotten over it already. She would be happy if I was happy."

"Then...sure, maybe, probably in the not-so-distant future. But not right now. I'll tell you when I'm ready." She smiled softly.

"Are you ready for this?" And Robin pulled her head to this, letting their lips touch. Taken completely by surprise, Raven's emotions washed over her like a tidal wave, possessing her soul and her body. Time seemed to freeze in place as her heart did somersaults in her chest and looked to the sky.

The only thought that Raven had as Robin kissed her was that she was by his side and that was all that mattered.