A Heart to Heart: by jackmustard99
It was 11:15 P.M. and a cold, silent night for Jump City, even colder and more quiet for the Titans tower far off. Not a single soul was awake, except for one; Raven. For she could not sleep. The reason behind this was due to her constant thoughts of her horrible past. Thoughts of her abusive father, Trigon; who, when she was young, had burnt down her childhood home. Thoughts of her loving mother, Arella; young and afraid, destined to die along with their home. The sound of her father laughing at the sight of the burning building, torch in his right hand. The sound of her mother crying and wailing, pinned under the large, wooden beam as she received her slow painful death. And finally, the image of her mother's slightly charred face, fear in her eyes, as she was burned alive before her. These thoughts were forever attached to her memory, never to be forgotten.
So here she was, constantly replaying the images in her mind, thinking of ways she could've saved her, knowing now that it was impossible. And, in the back of her mind, in the farthest, smallest corners, she had been secretly wishing that she had someone there to comfort her. Someone who could relate to her and understand her pain. Little did she know that there was someone else in the tower, someone else who had a dying family and an abusive foster family. Someone who had in all of his childhood life, been avoided, picked on, and physically abused due to the color of his skin. And, little did she know that he was nearly awake.
"No! No, No, No, Stop! I don't wanna be baked into a pie! Let me go!" Are the last things Beast boy said before waking from his dream with a yell. "Aw, man what time is it?" He asked himself, leaning to the side of his bunk bed in order to see his clock. During this action, he hadn't noticed how close he was to the edge until, "aaaah!" Thump. "Well, I'm awake now" "Might as well get me some soy milk while I am" he said, completely forgetting to check his clock. He groggily made his way to the kitchen and then to the fridge. But before he could open it he heard a soft sobbing coming from the common room. "Now who could that be?" Slowly and noiselessly he shifted into a small cat and approached the currently unknown figure standing by the common room's window. As he neared, he noticed, through his heightened eyesight and sense of smell, that it was "Oh, it's just….Raven!" he whispered loudly, although not loud enough for her to hear.
This time he quickly, but still silently approached her, wondering why Raven, the stoic, unemotional, untouchable, reclusive, Goth, of all people was crying. It was then, after some thinking, that he decided to speak. "Raven?" "Oh, Beast boy, what are doing up?" "I had a nightmare, are you okay?" "I'm fine." she replied a little too quickly. "You shouldn't lie, Rae. I heard you crying." A little annoyed, she replied "First, Don't call me "Rae", second, I said I'm fine." Now, it was his turn to be annoyed. "Come on Rae..ven, you know that I know most people don't cry for no reason at all, especially you." Giving in, she sighed. "Alright, if you must know, I was thinking about my parents, my past." Now the rest of the Titans would know not to continue when she speaks of her past, but with Beast boy being as persistent as he is, he chooses to continue cautiously. "What about your past?" he asked. "You wouldn't understand." she replied. "Try me." Another sigh. She looks away. "I was seven when it happened, when my mother died. It started as any other day, wake up, eat, go to school. When I came home though, my mother and father had a fight. He hit her and she pointed a gun and threw him out of the house. Everything was fine until a week later, when he came back at night. I woke up to the smell of smoke and so I ran down stairs to find my mom blocked by fire. I used my powers to get her across but they weren't fully developed yet, I couldn't stop the flames. My mother and I had rushed towards the door, but before we could reach it, a wooden beam had fallen on her. I tried to use my powers but they wouldn't work. Then, I tried to lift the beam, only to receive burnt hands and find it to be too heavy. I looked around and saw the house almost entirely aflame, so I ran. I barely made it out of there alive." Then she started to sob violently as she continued. "I wish I could go back, to try and save her at least once more. I still see her face when I sleep, hear her cries. I don't know what to do."
The entire time she spoke, Beast boy stood there awestruck, but when she finished, he turned her around tenderly, and hugged her. Holding her softly, he began to speak soothingly. "It's okay, you did nothing wrong, and….I understand what you're going through." At this, she faced him, eager to hear what he had to say. "When I was 5, my mom and dad had been working a job as genetic engineers in Africa. I got a very rare disease that would have killed me that day. Luckily for me though, my parents were able to tamper with my DNA, allowing me to survive, with green skin, and receive shape-shifting powers. A couple weeks later my parents and I were floating down a Fast river, when the boat had started to sink. I wanted to save them but I could only turn into a small bird. I couldn't do anything but watch them drown to death. I couldn't save them. Then I was stolen from Africa and put into a foster family. They were selfish and cruel and stole any savings I earned while acting. So I ran away. Out on the streets, I was avoided, picked on by other kids, and beat up by a lot of bad guys and gang members, all because I'm green, I've got pointy ears, fangs, and claws. That's when you saved me, as Garfield, not Beast boy ."
She listened intently, and couldn't believe what she was hearing. Beast boy, the happy-go lucky teen, who did nothing but smile, tell jokes, and enjoy life on his free time, the one and only person she knew that would kiss himself if he could, had gone through so many traumatic experiences on his own, survived them, and still had the strength to move on and be happy. And so she asked "How is it that you could go through these things and still be happy…..still smile?" He thought for a while and she waited. Finally, he answered, ending the long, awkward silence. "The reason I'm happy, the reason I can smile, tell jokes, and enjoy life in general is because I still have a family to love, and they love me back, but more importantly, in my opinion, I've got someone I love. I don't know if she loves me the same way, or if she ever will, but I do know that I'm happy because of her." Raven was taken aback by what she heard. 'Beast boy loves someone, but who is it?' she thought. She secretly harbored a crush for him….well, more like she loved him, or at least Really liked him. 'I can't take it anymore, I have to find out who it is.' "Who is it?" she asked. "What?" he asked, not understanding her question. A third sigh. "Who do you love?" she asked again. Hearing this, Beast boy blushed, tilted his head downward, and mumbled something incoherently. "What?" she asked, unclear of what he said. He mumbled once more. "I still can't hear you." "Aaaagh fine, it's you. I love you. See, I knew it," "Beast boy?" "I knew you wouldn't love me," "Beast Boy." "You probably hate me now and" "GARFIELD!" He shut quiet and listened as if speaking would kill him. Finally, after checking to see if he would interrupt her again, and finding that he wouldn't, she spoke saying "I love you too" and before he could say anything else, she brought her lips to his in a sweet, but short, kiss. Needless to say, they both slept peacefully that night.
The End.