Smoke & Mirrors
By Nikkel
(c) to Glen Muramaki and David Slack

"All that I've known, buildings of stone, fall to the ground without a sound." - Imagine Dragons

A fine layer of ash settled over the city when the earth finally stood still and silent. The grey dawn cloaked the shoulders of the forlorn heroes, victorious but weary, as they walked the rest of the way home.

With the heaviest of hearts, Beast Boy limped in the rear, the pain in his chest greater than the one in his leg. Only two hours ago, he had screamed Terra's name, begging her to fight the good fight, and in the end, he had still lost her. He wiped his tears away with the back of his dusty gloves, smudging his face with dirt, and trying to tell himself that her sacrifice was not in vain.

Reality felt like a thick haze when they finally returned to the Tower. The doors slid open at Cyborg's command. On autopilot, Beast Boy followed them inside, and collapsed in the nearest chair.

"You're hurt."

He looked up with reddened eyes at Raven. Like the others, her cloak was torn and her legs bruised, but she gazed down at him with half of her face hidden in the shadow of her hood.

"Oh, yeah, you're right," Beast Boy replied, rubbing his leg. "I didn't really notice while we were escaping."

He watched as she kneeled down with her hands glowing. The hot, sharp pain in his leg subsided with cool numbing.

"That's not what I meant," Raven said without looking up.

Beast Boy's ears twitched. "It's not?"

"No," she replied, her work done and standing up again. This time, she removed her hood, her eyes not red, but just as dark and cold. She chose to look at the slowly rising sun peeking through steel doors. "I'm an empath. I feel everything you do. And right now, I can feel that you're in a lot of pain."

Beast Boy sighed. "I just… I just wish I could tell her that she made the right choice. I wish I could tell her how proud I am, how happy she always made me feel, how much I…"

He buried his face in his hands and his sorrow rolled off of him in waves. Raven bit the corner of her lip, but stood her ground like heavy stones in the storm.

Beast Boy sniffled. "You shouldn't have to wait for me like this. I'll be okay."

"Doubtful," Raven replied, glancing sideways at him with her arms crossed close to her chest.

"Hey, I can take care of myself, okay?" he said, his voice hardening. "You don't need to be here."

"You're right, I don't."

"Then why are you staying with me?"

"Because I need you to believe that Terra not only made the right choice in the end, but that she also genuinely cared about you."

Beast Boy tilted his head. It wasn't the response he was quite expecting. "What do you mean? I know how Terra felt about me. I was her best friend, despite everything that went down."

"If you keep focusing on her betrayal, it's all you will remember. While we cannot change the past, we have to see through the smoke and mirrors that stand in the way of understanding the truth. And the truth is… She never wanted to give up."

"How did you know?"

"I could feel it. But, like darkness inside me, I could feel the darkness inside her. That kind of darkness could consume you whole, but each time she saw you, it lifted. You made a difference to her, Beast Boy. From the very beginning."

A calm, early morning sea breeze accompanied the silence afterwards, the fog of the night before beginning to lift like the grief in his chest. Much of him still felt confused and shell-shocked, but somehow, it began to make sense. He stood up.

"Raven?"

"Yes?"

"You make a difference to me."

He threw his arms around her in a hug. She stiffened in surprise, but just as he was growing too close for comfort, he released her.

"Thank you for talking with me," he said. "I don't know how long it would have taken me to think of things that way."

"You're welcome."

"I guess we should go upstairs with the others, shouldn't we?"

Beast Boy turned, took three steps, and cringed on his leg. Raven came up alongside him and draped his arm over her shoulder.

"Your leg isn't fractured, but it will still take time to heal," she explained. "Perhaps some tofu waffles with extra chocolate chips can fix that?"

Finally, the signature smile that she had been looking for returned. "I would like that. I would like that a lot."