"The Final Dance of the Fallen Dove"
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 eighth chapter or so. 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. I also do not own the rights to any of the songs that will begin each chapter, they are instead owned by the individual bands who will be credited at the end of the lyrical listing.
Author's Notes: First things first, I'm going to warn everyone right now that this piece of fiction is going to be a shade darker than even Evermore, so it would be best if you prepared yourself for a bumpy ride. If I do this right, there are going to be times that are so horribly sad that you will honestly want to just cry your eyes out and stop. But don't, just as in life, the thing you must absolutely never, ever do is stop. With that, read on, and enjoy the finish to the story that Evermore began.
P.S. for the FF.N readers - Since these guys apparently aren't fans of you using song lyrics, even with proper attribution, the names of the chapters are going to fall a little flat. A little trick I took from a writer I rather like, naming the chapters after songs appropriate to them and then posting the lyrics at the beginning. Obviously, though, this ain't going to work, so I'm instead just going to change the chapter names to include the Artist, that way you can find the lyrics on your own.
Prologue
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Two months have passed since Starfire and Raven's relationship became official. At first, Beast Boy and Cyborg were rather surprised at the announcement, so much so that even Beast Boy couldn't come up with a comment or quip. Over time, they both became accustomed to it, much as Robin already had. Although "fly on the wall" Beast Boy had to be crushed a few times before he learned the meaning of "private time." Things were shook up considerably by the return of, and subsequent betrayal by, Terra, but Starfire and Raven's relationship only made weathering the tragedy easier, and even provided a focal point of strength and determination for the rest of the team. After Terra's sacrifice and Slade's defeat, things returned to relative normalcy, for a time, and the two young lovers continued dating, growing closer with each and every one. But, when a shock from the past reawakens a sleeping evil, what will become of them?
This is that story.
It was a weapon formed of Raven's black, telekinetic energies. Straight-bladed, rather than curved, for greater utility and usability, and also thin, to make it lighter and faster, even though the ethereal stuff it was made of weighed nothing at all in her hand. It had a simple cross guard that extended two inches out to each side from the blade, enough to allow it to effectively block attacks without actually hindering the wielder. A simple, straight hilt beneath that, lacking anything even resembling a true pommel. It was an utterly utilitarian device, made specifically to kill and nothing else, devoid of any frills or ornamentation, totaling the same length as Raven's arm.
It cut through the air with barely a sound, despite its lightning speed, and due to its nature as a manifestation, it fit perfectly in Raven's grip, as it if were meant to be in her hand. She swung again in a cross-cut pattern, and marveled at the perfection of its adaptation to her needs. With the sword, she was strong, she truly had what she needed to protect that which she cared about. Before that day, that fight with Anbu, she could not recall ever having held a sword of any kind before, and yet the use of such a weapon was almost instinctual to her. It was a peculiarity, but one that she did not complain about. She swung yet again, dipping her blade into a fluid, s-shaped slash that would have killed an unguarded opponent several times over, without remorse or mercy.
As she watched the weapon slide through the strike pattern, Raven briefly considered printing the image of her raven shadow on the blade or cross-guard of the sword, but the idea was quickly thrown out. Raven had never been one for vanity, and the sword itself could attest to many of her other virtues and values by association, due to its nature as a manifestation of her will.
"Raven, please hurry, we are going to be late!" But it was also notably a weapon, a tool of combat and combat alone, making its assessment of her personality only viable in the context of combat.
"Coming, Starfire!" Raven called as she dismissed the sword, before rushing to her closet, realizing that she had spent far too long considering her manifested weapon, and had not yet changed.
The restaurant was quite "ritzy," as most would call it, almost too much so for Raven's tastes, but she had not been able to come up with a much better place to have a romantic dinner. Certainly, a waffle house just wouldn't do, not for Starfire. Still, it was obvious that neither of them was entirely comfortable in their seats, nor with the rich ornamentation of the small, intimate room. It was lit by candelabra scattered about the room, hung in delicate scones high on the wall, and a beautiful, crystal chandelier that flew from the ceiling, with soft, on-site piano music drifting through the air.
It gave the place a wonderful atmosphere, but it was that very thing that upset the two, halfway. Despite being together, there was still nervousness at their place in the public eye, even after the months since they had first come together. Sometimes they felt as though everyone that saw them knew, and were judging them because of it. The oppressive pall of gloom that fell over the pair as they stewed in their own insecurities and worries was lifted slightly, though, as the tuxedo-clad waiter approached.
"Hello, I am Jean, and I will be your waiter tonight." He handed them a pair of menus and continued seamlessly. "Our appetizer tonight is a delicious stewed duck with a side of fresh picked greens." Even as he spoke to them, the man did not open so much as one eye, much less look at Raven and Starfire. "Our special is a seared and sliced side of fine filet mignon beef smothered in a creamy, freshly-made mushroom sauce, and accompanied by a delicate helping of garlic mashed potatoes." His speech was neatly clipped, giving off the feeling that he did not really care to be doing what he was. "What will you be having?" The girls looked to one another, both struck by a bout of nervousness as they were put on the spot.
"Umm . . . I'll have the special . . ." Starfire looked incredulously at the menu, not recognizing anything even vaguely familiar in the many dishes listed on it.
"I will . . . have that as well . . . with some mustard, please?" The waiter did not even appear to dignify Starfire's question with an answer, instead simply taking their menus and then saying,
"Excellent choice." And with that terse, and far from truly polite, answer, he left them.
"He was very . . . nice." Starfire said lamely, trying to keep levity in the situation, but Raven only laid a level look on the Tamaranian.
"No, I don't think he was." Their food arrived in not too long and they ate in silence.
Despite the fact that it was more than flavorful and quite well-prepared, they simply couldn't enjoy it with the dark, seething energy that permeated the establishment, hanging over them. So, with a semi-loud slam of her hands on the table, Raven simply up and left, her powers leaving a small fold of bills on the table even as she went. Perplexed, Starfire followed after a moment's hesitation, and caught up with her lover just outside.
"Raven, what is wrong?" She asked, placing a hand on the dark magus' shoulder.
"Everything." Raven answered as she turned about to face the other girl, frustration plainly evident in her features. "This is a date, we're supposed to be enjoying ourselves, you're supposed to be enjoying yourself." She pointed accusingly back at the restaurant. "But we couldn't enjoy ourselves in there because we could feel it. They hated us, Starfire." The Tamaranian only looked at Raven in silence for a few heart beats, and then gently hugged the dark heroine, laying her head against Raven's chest.
"What upsets me far more than that, is you being like this, Raven." She shifted just a bit to bring herself closer to the violet-haired mage. "You must not let it get to you like this, it makes you bitter, and it hurts me when you are like that." Raven did not answer for a time, simply breathing as Starfire clutched herself tightly against her.
Then, lovingly, she slipped a hand up to hold the alien girl's head, easily lacing her fingers in Star's soft, crimson hair as she did so.
"Alright, you win." A kiss was softly lain atop the Tamaranian's head. "But I'm not going to let this date end in failure, so where should we go next?"
"Perhaps to some form of motion picture?"
"Alright then, let's do that."
The movie theater was dark, as was normal custom while a movie played, and also surprisingly devoid of patrons, which meant that Starfire and Raven could relax, and truly enjoy themselves. They held hands even as they sat apart, as they had the whole row to themselves, even the ones just before and behind them. The movie was just a little slow and boring, but still quite romantic, although neither of those facts really mattered to Raven. She wasn't there for the movie, she was there for Starfire. With that thought, she turned her gaze from the flickering screen to lay her eyes on the Tamaranian girl beside her.
Starfire was dazzling, as always, her long, crimson hair trailing out behind her, her angular yet soft features that touched pleasantly on the eye; even more so as the alien girl stared with rapt attention at the events unfolding on the screen, her emotional investment obvious; soft, joyous voice, silky, just slightly moistened lips . . . Raven blinked and shook her head, only then realizing that her admiring reverie had left her leaning in to kiss the other girl. She blushed, and shifted back into a more normal sitting position in her seat, thankful that Starfire was paying too much attention to the movie to notice her aborted attempt at a lip lock.
To the dark magus' surprise, Starfire turned to her at that exact moment and spoke.
"Is this not a wonderfully romantic motion picture, Raven?" She looked to the screen again and smiled widely. "It makes me so very happy!" Raven blinked, and looked at the screen again.
"Oh Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou, Romeo?"
"Uhhh . . . Starfire . . ." Raven began, a little worried about having to break the bad news to her lover.
It had taken a fairly long time to get Starfire to stop bawling over the tragic end of their movie, but after that was done, Raven managed to convince the saddened alien to come to a fair with her. That helped immensely. The flashing lights of a hundred different games and rides lit upon Starfire's face, and it was as if she'd been charged with a thousand volts of electricity. She wanted to go everywhere and do everything all at once, and Raven could barely keep up.
They rode the Ferris Wheel, going up and down, around and around, in a way that vaguely reminded Raven of clothing tumbling in a dryer. But she couldn't fault it, because of the way that the moon shined down on the car; and by extension, Raven and Starfire inside of it; at the zenith of the rotation, making her and her lover beside her glow with a pale luminescence.
They rode the roaring roller coaster, an exhilarating experience, if nothing else, which made Starfire laugh with glee and Raven smirk in amusement as everyone else in the car screamed in terror while the car plummeted down the sloped track.
Prizes were won, by Starfire and Raven both, in many of the games, a shadowy competition fomenting between them to see who could win the better prize for the other. Starfire almost won with a large, stuffed chicken, the irony of the gift not lost on Raven, but the dark magus managed a bit of selected "luck" when the lotto balls mysteriously came up her ticket number, winning her a giant plush bear, which also won her the competition and its prize, a kiss from Starfire.
"I am sorry, that I could not provide you with a prize other than this, something that you can have any time that you want., Raven." Starfire commented afterwards, just a little bit upset with herself for her lack of creativity.
Raven only smiled.
"Your kisses are worth more to me than gold, so I'm happy to have every little one I can get." Before Starfire could react, the mischievous little Raven stole another one, a quick peck that lasted but a second. "So I'm greedy, sue me." She said quietly, smirking, before she pulled Starfire into yet another, savoring every last second that she could have the alien's girl's lips against hers.
The moon was even higher in the sky then, almost right at the very top of the sky. It cast the beach and its soft, wet sand in a gentle, silver light, while the waters of the bay shimmered and sparkled with its reflection. The two, walking barefoot across its length, basked in the beauty of it all, for the most part in silence. Until Starfire spoke.
"Perhaps we could go for a swim, Raven?" She looked hard out into the darkness of the quiet night. "I do not believe there to be any boats out at this hour, so it will not be necessary for you to break your arm again." The alien commented after, and Raven simply looked at her with a cold, emotionless expression on her face.
"That isn't funny, Starfire." The Tamaranian, taken aback by her love's seriousness, let worry sink into her expression.
"It is not?" She asked, perplexed.
Raven smiled then, deviously.
"No, but this is." In that instant, both of them ended up in the water, Starfire at first screaming in surprise, but that quickly changed to glee as the water splashed all around them.
They wrestled for a time, bubbles filling the water about them almost completely, enjoying themselves to almost no end, but finally they returned to the surface.
"That was a very under-handed trick, Raven." Starfire whispered, as the two floated placidly on the surface, quietly catching their breath.
"You don't want me to do it ever again, then?" Raven asked wryly, looking sidelong at the alien girl.
"Did I say something to that effect?" Starfire asked, smiling, and Raven returned the expression easily.
They swam after that point, enjoying the cold embrace of the waters, and not even caring about the horrors it was probably inflicting on their dresses. They weren't wearing the ones they'd worn to Brendan and Sophia's wedding, so it was no big deal. They chatted off and on, the off points generally occurring when one took a dive under the surface, as they continued their swim.
"I think it went well, once we got out of that horrid restaurant."
"I agree, though I cannot decide whether the movie or the fair was more enjoyable."
"Well, the movie did end tragically . . . but there was that disgusting, prehistoric mustard you got a hold of at the fair."
"Please, do not remind me, the very thought makes my stomach ill."
"You know what, though?" Raven asked, just before dipping beneath the surface, cutting off Starfire's response.
A moment afterwards, she fairly appeared before Star, slipping her arms about the other girl's shoulders before pulling them close.
"I think this was the best of all." Starfire smiled in kind to Raven's, before giggling as the dark magus nuzzled her.
"You are right, Raven, this is the best."
They had separated some time back in the hall, Starfire going off to drop her things off in her own room, while Raven went ahead to hers. Starfire knew that Raven always felt a little badly when they had to do that, because it reminded her that Starfire had still not moved from her own room into Raven's, she could see it in her love's eyes when they parted. But Starfire dreaded the conflict that would occur when she and Raven attempted to integrate the single space of her room into partially each of theirs, and to an extent, didn't want to lose her own room that was just hers alone. Guilt was the emotion that rose inside of her at that thought, that there were some things that she simply didn't want to share with Raven, no matter how much she loved the cloaked-heroine.
Regardless, she slipped through the halls at a quiet hover, trying to avoid waking the others, partially out of courtesy, and partially because her still damp, silken dress left little to the imagination of the viewer. As she entered her room, though, she was surprised to find that it was not cast in total darkness, as she had expected. Instead, it was lit periodically by bursts of red light which came on and off like clockwork. The bursts emanated from the top drawer of the night stand beside her bed, and that could mean only one thing: a message from Blackfire.
Normally such a thing would cause joy to rise in the girl's heart, because of how few and far between the communications between herself and her estranged sister were. But, because of what had happened when Blackfire had finally come to visit her on her adoptive home, Starfire had a terrible feeling of foreboding, that nothing good would come of the message. Tentatively, she drew the drawer open, and pulled out the small, almost archaic-looking device, tripping a switch on the side with her thumb to bring up the message.
The words that appeared on the screen then shattered her heart.
"No." Starfire whispered mournfully, before her legs gave way beneath her, and she slumped to the floor beside her bed. "No . . ."