"Evermore"

A Fanfiction by Lemonfresh

Disclaimer: This story is about homosexual love, that of the yuri/femmeslash variety, so many people might find its content objectionable, especially the graphic description of sexual relations between the two that will come in the epilogue. Also, I do not own the rights to Teen Titans or any of its characters, and do not claim to be using any of these things with the consent or approval of anyone who does own their rights.

Author's Notes: First of all, I'm warning everyone right here and right now: I am really not in the mood to deal with homophobic idiots considering what is happening in my country right now, so any review posted for this story which is nothing more than gay bashing idiocy will be deleted. If constructive criticism of some kind is included in the review, it will be allowed to stay. Similarly, any reviews that are nothing more than you saying that I'm wrong and it's actually (insert couple here) that are together and not StarfirexRaven will be deleted as well. I am aware that this couple has no factual support in the show, that's why I'm writing a fic that diverges from the series where they get together. So, please, leave coupling arguing out of this as well. What I would like is to keep those kind of things out of the reviews and just stick to actual rating of my fic's worth as a story. Feel free to also inform me of any mistakes I have made about the series itself in your review as well. Lastly, I hope you all enjoy reading this, it is my gift to everyone with an open mind and heart.

Chapter 1: Lenore

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there worked a group of heroes in a city, fighting for the good of the people.

"You're going down, Mammoth!" Robin; the martial arts trained one-man army, a dedicated and driven boy who thought defending the people from evil was as much his right as his duty; shouted at the huge Hive Agent, throwing several disks that exploded on contact with the gargantuan's body just to make sure his point was understood loud and clear. With a sound like the roar of a wounded bear, Mammoth came barreling out of the smoke completely unharmed, shoulder lowered for what would be a devastating tackle. That is, if he hadn't been met by a charging rhinoceros before he could even reach Robin, the impact of the two musclebound beasts causing a huge "SNAP" to echo through the air, sending both of them flying backwards. A moment after it landed, the huge, green rhino shifted and changed to become a small, green-skinned boy, eyes spinning in little swirls within their sockets.

"Did someone get the number of that bus I just hit . . . ?" Beast Boy; the comedic relief of the group, had the power to transform into almost any animal in existence at only a moment's notice, as well as the ability to crack a bad joke at the most inopportunemoment possible;asked, stumbling about for a few seconds before he shook his head and regained his senses. Mammoth, growling angrily as he climbed back to his feet out of the rubble of what had been a telephone booth, glared darkly at Beast Boy, and then gave a huge bellow and brought both of his arms back over his head in a hammer hold. Before he could bring them back down in a blow to the ground that would probably have caused Beast Boy great pain, the pavement around him exploded in burning, green plasma bolts, the asphalt beneath his feat boiling under the assault.

High above the smoldering crater that lay where Mammoth had been standing, Starfire; the Tamaranian super girlwith a number of unusual powers, along with her own unique awkwardness and naiveté; cried out in glee at what had to have been a decisive strike against the genetically engineered bruiser. Her curiously emerald and then lime green eyes grew quite large, though, when she heard a grunt of incredible effort, followed by the crunching of pavement beneath the pressure exerted by impossibly strong arms. The smoke cleared from around Mammoth as he hurled a huge piece of asphalt and the supporting concrete straight for Star, laughing maliciously as the girl could only scream and pull her body in close to hopefully ward off a little damage due to her decreased surface area. The bone crushing blow that Starfire morbidly anticipated never struck her, stopped just before it would have impacted with the alien girl by the telekinetic magic of the fourth Teen Titan.

Raventhe mysterious cloaked sorceress of the group, quiet and serene but cold and aloof at the same time, an enigma if there ever had been one; glowed with the black energies of her magic, gestured at Mammoth before calling out her often used magical phrase,

"Azarath, metrion, zinthos!" This sent the huge mass of solid rock flying right back at the wild warrior, the force of Raven's emotions propelling it forward. He caught it in his hands, just barely managing to halt its momentum and keep it from crushing him. With a growl, the Hive agent dug his heels in and started to push against Raven's control on the boulder, trying to press it back and give himself some breathing room. But there was still yet more power burning in Raven's now absolutely black eyes, and with another two quick gestures, Mammoth found his balance destroyed as the pavement itself rolled up in a wave beneath him, and then snapped up from the normal road just a few feet back from him. The road came crashing down on the top of his headwith the force of a falling building. The monstrous humanoid's eyes rolled back in his head as he stumbled backward, his impermeable defense against the possessed boulder of pavement and concrete faltering with his consciousness.

When the whole of the giant rock chunk blew apart, Mammoth was a little glad for not having to hold against its force anymore, despite the cuts and burns he suffered due to the explosion. But he wasn't as happy when a steel-plated fist came flying through the cloud of smoke the mass had left in its wake. With another grunt of pain, Mammoth toppled over backwards, unconscious, and out of the airborne cloud of carbon stepped Cyborg; the super-cybernetically enhanced powerhouse of the Titans, he had a body which was virtually a walking toolbox, and was also the mechanic and technology man of the group; smiling triumphantly.

"Booyah!" He yelled out, firmly planting one foot on Mammoth's barely-breathing chest, signaling his victory.

"Don't be so cocky, Cyborg, if it hadn't been for Raven, Mammoth would have laid you out before you ever could have gotten off that punch." Robin reminded Cyborg in a somewhat chastising manner as he came up behind the tall humanoid, the other Titans in tow.

"That was awesome!" Beast Boy cried with his usual energy and enthusiasm as he looked to Raven. "How did you do that thing with the powers and the road and the . . . the WHAMMO!" Raven only answered his question with a cold glare, clenching one of her hands tightly beneath the folds of her blue cloak. Starfire, almost unconsciously sensing the beginning of the celebration's death in Beast Boy's interaction with Raven, quickly interjected.

"Yes, that was wonderful, Raven, and I am sure that you saved me from the agonizing pain of many broken bones, so I must thank you." Starfire hugged Raven, smiling, as she finished speaking, but it only lasted for a few moments before the purple-haired girl made a small sound of annoyance, and slipped out of the embrace. As soon as she was out of the hug, Mammoth's body became engulfed in the black energies of Raven's telekinetic powers, and lifted slowly into the air.

"Let's just get him to the authorities and get back to the tower, alright?" There was a note of both annoyance and anger in Raven's voice then, but the other Titan's mostly dismissed it as one of the girl's "moods." But the faint blush that colored her ashen cheeks as she walked in the direction of the nearest police station ahead of all the other Titans showed that there was more to the events than just the superficial.

In a dazzlingly bright flash of light, the vehicle that had been struck exploded, sending debris flying outward in all directions, ultimately leaving nothing behind but a scorch mark on the road. With a triumphant cry, Beast Boy's hover vehicle roared past the remains of Cyborg's destroyed car, the front end of the shape-shifter's still smoking from the missile he'd fired.

"Oh, it's on now, you little green cheat!" Cyborg shouted at the Titan beside him, his human eye slanted to an angry set, but Beast Boy seemed to care little, leaning so far forward that his nose was almost touching the screen. Just as he was about to let forth yet another cry as his car crossed the finish line, a small red and yellow motorcycle shot past his car and crossed it first, winning the race. Beast Boy's jaw nearly did hit the floor as he stared in disbelief at the screen.

"What?! How could I have lost?!" He looked over to the third Titan seated at the game, Robin, who just happened to wear a rather smug and self-satisfied smile.

"You really need to remember that I'm playing this too, Beast Boy, and that changes the whole game." The green-boy's features grew rather dark at Robin's words and without so much as looking away from the other Titan, he said,

"I want a rematch." He nearly toppled over onto the floor from the hearty "pat" on the back that Cyborg gave him, and then Beast Boy's eyes grew rather wide as he realized what he'd just gotten himself into.

"Double team!" Both Cyborg and Robin shouted the phrase at the same time, and Beast Boy let his posture slump in defeat.

"No fair, guys . . ." With a sigh, Raven, who was seated about ten feet away from the three gaming Titans, looked away from the spectacle and back to the rather large, tome-like book opened before her, though it looked like she was battling her urge to just get up and go to her room more than actually reading it. Normally she wouldn't have tried to resist the urge at all, but due to present circumstances, she didn't really have a choice. With a growl of annoyance, the cloaked-girl slammed the book shut and looked over to the kitchen, which was situated just a little ways back from the round couch on which she sat, back turned to the media center and the boys. Flitting about its expanse like a humming bird that had drunk just a bit too much nectar was Starfire, making good on her promise to cook a Tamaranian feast for Raven, somehow managing to handle at least four separate cooking-dishes without even breaking a sweat. She was even smiling widely and humming to herself as she did it, looking like she was happy just to be doing it for Raven.

After heaving a soft sigh and shaking her head for a moment, Raven opened her book back up again, intent on actually managing to read a little bit of the story that night. When she found herself trying to read through a platter stacked with steaming; and in some cases, wriggling; food, Raven knew that Starfire was finished making the meal.

"That looks . . . appetizing." She muttered quietly, one eyebrow raised incredulously, but Star seemed unfazed by Raven's unenthusiastic manner, only continuing to smile.

"This is a traditional Tamaranian feast of friendship and thanks, it includes all of the foods of plenty that have been eaten on my planet for millennia." She pointed first to the small, slug-like creatures; greenish in general coloration, but also bearing a number of brown spots across their bodies, and a film of slimy yellow, almost pus-like substance; that had been piled in a pyramid-like configuration on one corner of the platter. "Those are Lorzion Nemnar worms, boiled to seal in their spicy flavor." Next, she indicated the curious, slurry-looking bowl of red goo. "That is a bowl of Zeran Slourghar soup, spiced with your Earth 'mustard' and Telzanian sauce." Her finger shifted again, now directed toward several purple, speckled beetle creatures arranged on their backs as if they had just died. "Those are Glorka young steamed to- . . ." Raven chose that point to interrupt the alien girl, the name of the last meal item ringing a bell in her memory.

"Didn't you have a musical instrument with that name too?" Starfire blinked once at the question, but then smiled.

"You mean the Glorka Pipes." She asserted, somehow producing the item in question out of thin air so that she could show Raven. "They bear the same name because the Glorka pipes were originally made from the major intestinal track of the adult Glorka beetles." She held the pipes out for Raven to feel. "They are now made of a synthetic material, because it is more sanitary and durable." Yet again, Raven raised that one eyebrow in question, looking to the inch-long beetles on the platter.

"But those are- . . ." Now it was Starfire's turn to interrupt.

"The adult Glorka beetles grow quite large." Raven looked at Star's utterly unperturbed face for a few more seconds, and then heaved a small sigh, giving up on actually comprehending the alien girl's unusual ways. In a moment, the pipes were returned to whatever weird, extra-dimensional pocket they were pulled from, and Starfire was pointing to the last dish on the platter, five round discs of meat that looked remarkably similar to hamburger patties. "And these are Mirainian Klipticor ma- . . ." Star's description was cut off, not by Raven speaking up this time, but by the fact that one of the indicated patties had suddenly sprouted wings and insectile legs and was currently flying across the room. "Ah!" She screamed, firing off one starbolt which neatly; or rather, explosively' destroyed the escaping food. The boys, too caught up in their proverbial contest of, "who has the bigger penis," did not notice the not-so-well-cooked creature's destruction, and continued to play their game. On the other hand, Raven was painfully aware of the occurrence, and winced when Starfire, her back turned to Raven, let her shoulders slump into a defeated posture.

"I have failed to keep my promise of making you a feast of friendship and thanks, Raven." She looked very sad, even with her back turned to the other girl, and she was also horribly still, considering Starfire's normal inability to sit still and stay in one place. "I am sorry . . ." Everything was still, the boys and their raucous competition forgotten, until Raven reached a hand out to the platter, snatched up a Glorka beetle, and popped it into her mouth, chewing it as loudly as she could without actually opening her mouth. The sound made Star's head jerk up, and slowly she turned about to look at Raven, who then promptly swallowed the small repast.

"I think your feat is just fine besides those, Starfire." She gestured to the remaining four patties, by then surrounded by the dark glow of Raven's power, and they slowly lifted into the air, lazily making their way across the room to the garbage disposal in the kitchen. "And that doesn't mean we can't just enjoy the rest of the feast without them." She let a small smile tug up the corners of her lips, watching for Starfire's reaction. It was as if someone had flipped on a light switch and sent a thousand volts of pure energy right into Star, the way her eyes lit up and her smile beamed forth at Raven's words.

"Oh, Raven!" She cried, fairly hovering off the ground then, due to how happy she was. Raven's smile became more substantial, and a single thought flitted through her mind. 'I made her happy . . .' The walls trembled ever so slightly, causing a pair of monitors on them to short out, and the four "bugburgers" hanging over the garbage disposal crushed into a pulpy mass of meat that slipped easily into the machine, but no one really seemed to notice. "Raven, are you going to start eating again?" Star asked curiously, peering at Raven's faraway eyes, but the question snapped the dark-haired girl's gaze back to the present.

"I am, but not without you to help." Starfire shook her head.

"I could never do that, this is your feast, Raven." Raven smiled again, but raised a hand to point a single finger at the red-haired Tamaranian girl.

"But you said it was a feast of friendship, and now I want to share it with a friend." Starfire giggled, blushing as she raised her hands, palms outward in a gesture she'd learned from Robin.

"I concede, you have won, friend." She smiled even wider for having said the word to Raven, the emerald of her eyes sparkling like the true stone. "I will share the meal with you."

The food was gone in not too long, and Raven had not lied, it was quite well prepared, and very good to eat. They had eaten it mostly in silence, though it was not the cold, nervous silence of not having anything to say when things needed to be said. Rather, it was the warm, comfortable silence of not needing to say anything at all to one another. Afterwards, Raven had gone to the kitchen to put a kettle of water on the stove to boil, and while she did that, Starfire occupied herself by inquisitively examining the gargantuan tome Raven had left behind on the couch, the one she had been attempting to read before Star had brought over her feast. It was quite large in just plain size, being not only very tall and wide, but thick as well, containing easily a few thousand pages, by Star's reckoning. It was bound in surprisingly soft and supple leather, and despite being a little bit dusty from disuse, it appeared to be in very good condition for its age. The title of the volume, which had once probably been boldly emblazoned on the cover, was worn away, leaving Starfire clueless as to the contents of the book.

Not one to lose interest easily or to give up, she flipped the book open to one of the pages a little ways into it. She came face to face with a simple title, written in flowing, archaic script. "Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf," and the name left Starfire staring in puzzlement, for even she knew that to be the title of a child's fairy tale, rather than a collection of dark poetry or a novel.

"It's fairy tales, a collection of almost every traditional one in existence." Raven explained, having finished preparing the tea while Starfire had been engrossed in her investigation. Star looked back at the other girl, not really surprised by the girl's sudden reappearance at her back.

"But, these are stories for children, why are you reading them, Raven?" Star tilted her head a little to the side as she looked at the cloaked girl, awaiting the answer to her question. Raven smiled, having been expecting that question since she had left the book behind on the couch while she made them tea.

"Because I enjoy fairy tales, Starfire." She handed the Tamaranian her cup of tea, a relaxing herbal variety that was faintly flavored with honey, and took a seat across from her, the book laying between them on the couch. "They're very simple and innocent, they don't have the same pretension and smug self-importance that other kinds of stories do, and no matter how bad things look during the rising action and climax, they always have a happy ending." Starfire took a sip of her tea and smiled at Raven.

"I am glad that you can enjoy simple things, I had thought that you would believe your self to be above children's amusements, Raven." The dark-haired magus paused before retorting, recognition of something flashing through her eyes for a moment.

"No, Starfire, I've never thought that, simple things are good because they're easy to understand, and because they fit with many different ideas." She looked away from Star just a little, her features ever so slightly drawn. "Most of the time, at least . . ." The Tamaranian cocked her head to the side again, peering at Raven curiously.

"Is something wrong, Raven?" The question seemed to go unheard by Raven, but the other girl did snap out of her sudden anxiety when Cyborg's shout of triumph rang forth.

"Booyah!" He had jumped to his feet; strangely causing a rather sharp crack for how padded the floor of the media center was; with Beast Boy sulking beside him and Robin looking ever so slightly annoyed, but he returned to his sitting posture a moment later to continue the game, and Star looked back to Raven, smiling as she always did at the foolishness of the boy's machismo. Curiously, Raven's tea cup was gone from her hands when Star laid eyes on her again, and worse she was smiling again. Normally that would have been a good thing, but the smile rang false in Star's eyes, a smile that was not really felt by the ashen-skinned girl, and that worried Starfire.

"No, everything is fine. I'm just a little tired." Raven stood up from the couch, heading rather swiftly toward the stairs to the hall which ultimately lead to her room. Starfire blinked, surprised by Raven's sudden retreat, but called out to her before she could escape the room.

"Raven?" The cloaked-girl, her whole body hidden by that very object, stopped in the middle of her walk up the stairs, not turning to look at Starfire before answering.

"Yes, Starfire?"

"What about your book?" The red-haired girl asked, holding up the item in question, but Raven still did not turn about to look.

"You can have it, I've already read it a hundred times, and I think you'll like it." Starfire looked down for a moment, blushing a little.

"Thank you, Raven, but . . ." She looked back up to the steps and stopped speaking when she realized that Raven had vanished into the shadows of the hallway as soon as she had looked down. Starfire lowered her gaze again, pulling the nameless fairy tale collection in against her chest with one hand, while the other set itself on the couch to her side to help her stand. She was surprised when she felt wetness under just the tips of her fingers, and looked over to find a small, wet spot on the couch, the area it encompassed littered with the shards of Raven's mysteriously shattered cup. "Raven . . . ?" Starfire whispered quietly, unsure of what exactly was going on, and more than just a little worried.