"Dude, I think I'm gonna be sick." Beastboy clutched at the place on his square yellow costume that would have been his stomach; his normally green face had turned a nasty shade of puce.

"Yes, I feel like I have eaten the live grubs of a glorbuggle beatle," Starfire gasped, overcome by nervousness as well. Beastboy digested her comment for a moment; "Oh man, now I know that I'm gonna be sick!"

"Star, why did you say something like that?" Cyborg groaned, wiping sweat off his forehead, "Just what I needed to hear..."

Raven thought that she should say something, but she didn't trust herself to open her mouth. She had never experienced stage fright before, and intensely disliked the clammy, shaky feeling that spread from the back of her neck all the way down to her knees. She sighed. The director had explained that they would experience nervousness before the show started, but she hadn't been prepared for this.

Robin struggled feebly on the floor, entirely encased in his Gary-the-Snail costume; he managed to get into a slightly more comfortable position.

"Well, at least you can breath," he said, his voice muffled by the costume, "And feel your legs..."

Cyborg adjusted his dark cloak; he was going to play the role of Squidward in the play. "Ya know, I really hope this goes well... It sounds like there's hundreds of kids out there!"

"The director of the hospital said that there would only be about sixty or seventy tonight," Robin gasped, struggling again.

"I don't know if I can do this..." Beastboy was clutching at his head now and weaving slightly on the spot, "I'm not cut out for theater. What was I thinking?!"

"My friend, do not give up now," Starfire cried, throwing her arms around the little green guy, "I know that your performance will be wonderful for the children; do not let the nerves stop you!" Cyborg nodded in agreement, and Raven would have joined him except that her head felt remarkably light. There was a strange buzzing in the air, the air was warmer than was comfortable, and she was just feeling like the floor was tilting when the director came hurrying around the corner toward them.

"Places! Places everyone," he gasped. Up close he didn't look so good, either. "The show is about to start! Raven, Starfire, remember to sparkle up there. Cyborg, Beastboy, Robin, be your normal manly selves. I'll be cheering from the back."

Robin said something that got almost completely muffled by his costume, but Raven thought that it had something to do with it being hard to act manly while you're wriggling on the ground. A strange, hysterical laugh bubbled up inside her, but she squashed it before it surfaced. She knew how they all were feeling; why had they agreed to do this?

"For the kids, guys; for the kids," Cyborg whispered, as if he had been reading her thoughts, "They sure need this more than we know."

The sound from the auditorium diminished suddenly as the lights went down; the moment of truth had come. Raven fought nausea as she moved to her place at center stage. She was vaguely aware of the movements of her friends behind her, getting ready for the music to start.

There was a pause, which to Raven seemed to stretch on forever...

A single note sounded from the piano, the dim spotlight came on, and Raven's body took over as she sang,

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

The stage lights burst into life, and her companions were ready, singing with all their might.

- - - - - - - - - -

The dark sky seemed more full of stars than it had ever been, and the cool breeze that blew up from the bay felt refreshing. The five titans were sprawled out on top of Titan's Tower, exhausted after the evening's proceedings.

Cyborg broke the silence.

"Well, was it worth it? Do you guys think we made a difference?"

Robin chuckled darkly; he probably wouldn't be volunteering for any more theater in the near future unless convinced that he would get to wear a costume with the freedom of a tent.

Starfire piped up, "My happiness was overflowing when we greeted the children; their joy was like a sunrise on Blardop Prime! I wish to feel that experience again..."

"Dude, seriously?" Beastboy groaned, rolling over on his side to face her, "I don't think I'll ever be able to do that again! At least, not the acting part. Talking to the little kids afterward was pretty cool, though; I could do that again."

"Hey, maybe we could do that again sometime!" Cyborg said, sitting up.

"Yeah," Robin agreed, "we could. Maybe in a couple of days we can go back to the hospital and visit the kids again. You know... it might do them some good... give them something to look up to."

"That would be joyously wonderful!" Starfire cried, waving her arms happily in the air.

"And what about you, Raven?" Robin continued, "Do you want to go see them again?"

Raven still lay on her back, gazing up into the stars. The breeze felt good on her face after having been under the hot stage lights.

"Yeah," she mused, "I could." She thought for a moment, then continued softly, "There was one little girl... She had no hair... but she was smiling so happily like it was her birthday or something. I guess she just wanted to say hi, but then she told me that she wanted to be just like me when she grew up. And I thought, it takes a lot to say something like that when you're so sick." She sighed, sitting up. The others looked at her in astonishment; they hadn't heard her talk like that in a long time.

Raven stood, straighten her cloak behind her. Noticing the looks on her friend's faces, she said, "Come on; isn't that why we did this?" Smiling slightly, she turned away from them and headed toward the stairs which would lead down into the tower. Beastboy, Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire followed after her, and Cyborg placed his large metal hand on Raven's shoulder.

"You know," he said, "I think you understood what we were doing more than any of us. You're pretty cool, you know that?"

"Hey," Raven replied, gently shrugging off his arm, "I know I couldn't have done it alone."