Beast Boy was on his bed staring at the ceiling again. A few days ago, he would've been thinking about Terra. Now, he was thinking about Terra AND Raven. Raven didn't kiss me for love, thought Beast Boy. She kissed me because she was mad. So, why can't I stop thinking about her? He looked over at the clock. It read 5:54. He decided to get up and go for a walk. When he left his room, he was caught by Starfire who was walking by.
"Friend." she greeted the changeling. "Has your mood changed for the better?"
"Not yet." Beast Boy said. "I just need to clear my head." He started to walk down the hall. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in a little while."
Meanwhile, Raven was still in her room thinking about what happened earlier. She was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. Ok, she thought, just remember all the reasons you don't want to be with Beast Boy. She closed her eyes and started to recall all the moments when Beast Boy told a stupid joke or forced Raven to do something she really didn't want to do. But at the same time, she remembered all the good times with Beast Boy. She remembered when she healed his leg after their first encounter with the H.I.V.E students. Then she remembered how Beast Boy and Cyborg helped her fight her anger inside her head. Then there was the time when she hugged him after their fight with Malchior. Next, it was the moment when she sat by Beast Boy down by the shoreline when he had that beast inside of him. She remembered other times with him too, but the last one she remembered was when Beast Boy hugged her, after finding out she was all right after Trigon's reign. She started pulling her hair at the fact the good times out-weighed the bad ones. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Beast Boy was one of her closest friends. She laid back on her bed and started thinking to herself. It can't be like this. She then stared at the ceiling, and thought of what to do next.
Later, Beast Boy was at the docks, watching the construction of the carnival. It was suppose to be ready in an hour or two. The top part of the sun was still visible over the horizon with an orange sky. Beast Boy walked around the boardwalk looking for something to do. He remembered Cyborg saying he was going to go to the carnival tomorrow, but Beast Boy still wasn't sure if he was going to go with him. He still had problems thinking about Terra and Raven. Raven, Beast Boy stopped and was lost in his own thoughts.
"Hey Beast Boy. It's been awhile."
A familiar voice broke Beast Boy's trance and he turned around. He didn't recognize the man at first, but Beast Boy was able to tell it was his old team leader.
"Mento!" Beast Boy blurted out. "Uh…I mean, Steve." He looked around seeing if anyone noticed. Mento wasn't in his regular Doom Patrol attire, so he had to call him by his real name. Mento was wearing a normal tan T-shirt with jeans and was wearing a brown trench coat. It was kind of funny to Beast Boy seeing his old team leader without his mask on. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd wonder around before I come visit you at your tower. Although, I didn't expect to run into you here."
"Where's the rest of the Doom Patrol?" Beast Boy asked.
"There not here." Mento replied. "There back at the base. The reason I'm here is that I was on an errand and thought I stop by and say hi."
After a little while, they both were sitting at the edge of the boardwalk with their feet hanging over the water. Mento was holding a hotdog and Beast Boy had a pretzel they got from a nearby vendor.
"So," Mento said after he and Beast Boy chatted for a while, "anything interesting happened here lately?"
This sent a jolt through Beast Boy's head, and he started thinking about what happened earlier. Raven, he thought again. He was staring down at his pretzel. Despite not having breakfast or lunch, he suddenly lost his appetite.
"Ok," Mento finally said. "What's wrong?"
"Huh?" Beast Boy was broken out of his trance again. "Oh…nothing's wrong. Just daydreaming."
"Come on, I don't even need to read your mind to know something's wrong"
"Seriously, it's nothing." Beast Boy tried in vain to hide his problem.
"Beast Boy," Mento said. "If you have a problem you should talk to someone about it. And since there's no one else here, and I have nothing else to do, then I think you should start with me."
This built Beast Boy's confidence a little, and he took a deep breath. "Ok." He said. "Have you ever known someone for awhile, for like a year or two, and then one day, all of a sudden, they just seemed different? Like, you're looking at them in a completely different view."
"You mean like from behind?" Mento joked, causing Beast Boy to sigh. "Garfield, if you want me to help you, you gotta be more specific. It'll help you a lot more to explain it to me than to just letting me read your mind."
"Ok…You see, there's this girl named Terra…"
"Ohhh." Mento said in a sly tone. "Girl troubles, eh?"
"Actually," Beast Boy said, not even showing a hint of embarrassment. "it's a little more complicated than that." He then looked up and asked, "You know who Raven is, right?"
Mento looked up, trying to remember. "Raven…Raven…Oh! Isn't she the girl in your team with the hood and blue cape with dark powers?"
"Yeah. You see, it's like this…" Beast Boy started, "there's this girl named Terra, and…"
"Say no more." Mento interrupted. "I see where you're getting at."
"You do?" Beast Boy looked up with a puzzled look.
Mento nodded. After a few seconds of silence, Mento finally said, "…you're trying to date two women at the same time, aren't ya?" The father figure grinned.
He's was obviously joking, Beast Boy figured, but the changeling wasn't in a laughing mood and just stared at his mentor with a serious glare.
"I've warned you about stuff like this, Gar." Mento went on, pretending he didn't notice Beast Boy's look. "Dating women's fine, but if you pull something like this, you're just asking for a world of-"
Beast Boy started to lift himself up and said, "Look, if you're not gonna take this seriously, then just-"
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry." Mento started to laugh and urged Beast Boy to sit back down.
Beast Boy plopped down and asked, "What is wrong with you?"
"Me?" Mento looked surprised. "You're the one who's claiming to have a problem."
"Yeah, but…you're acting really…cheerful, instead being all serious like you always are."
"Well, you were the one who told me that I should lighten up."
Beast Boy couldn't argue about that any further, so he instead looked downed sighed.
"Whatever this is, it's putting you under a lot of stress, isn't it?" Mento stated.
Beast Boy didn't answer.
"Beast Boy, let me help you." Mento voice was filled with concern. "Just tell me what's bothering you. No more wise-cracks, I promise."
"…Alright." Beast Boy finally said, and started explaining who Terra was, his time with her, and what happened with him and Raven that very morning.
Meanwhile back at the Tower, Raven was meditating trying to clear her mind. All of a sudden, a familiar voice pierced her thoughts.
"Raven. It's been a long time."
Raven opened her eyes and scanned the room to see who was speaking to her. No one was there. It took a second for her to realize the voice came from her head. She then instantly remembered whom the voice belonged to.
"Mother?" She asked with her mind. "What…?"
"Well since Trigon is gone, and there's no longer any threat to Earth by him, I thought maybe we could catch up on a few things."
"Uhh…sure. Ok." Raven knew something was up. The spirit of her mother, Arella, didn't just stop by to talk. What did she want? Especially at a time like this? Putting that aside for now, Raven focused her energy, and her soul-self left her body. She then found herself in an astral plane. It was a huge empty space with eternal blue. No ground was visible, yet she was standing on something. In front of her stood the white-cloaked figure of her mother, Arella.
"Now, let's be seated." Arella said, and a chair materialized behind both of them. They both sat down, and Arella asked, "Would you like some tea?"
"Sure." Raven said with an uneasy tone. A small, round, marble table suddenly appeared between them. First, two dishes materialized, then two cups appeared on the dishes, and finally a teapot appeared. The tea wasn't real. None of this was. This was more of an illusion to the mind, a way for Arella to communicate with her daughter. The setting was more of a way to make things more comfortable. Arella poured the tea into Raven's cup. Raven picked up the cup and studied the tea in it for a second. She then sipped it and enjoyed the taste. Even though it wasn't real, the tea still tasted pretty good.
"Thanks" she said.
Arella smiled.
"So," Raven continued, "why exactly do you want to talk to me? This isn't really one of the normal things we do together." If they did do anything together that is.
"You don't believe that I just want to finally talk after all this time?" Arella said, pouring her cup.
"No."
Arella's smile vanished. "Down to the point, aren't you? Well, if you must." She took a sip from here tea. "Recently, I've been sensing that something's been troubling you. I wanted to speak with you to find out what it is and help you with it."
Raven couldn't hide the surprised look on her face. Crap, she thought, I never could keep anything from her. "Well, it's…kind of…hard for me to say."
"Hm, I see." Arella said, "If you don't want to talk about it that's fine. I do think though, that it's normal for a daughter to talk her problems out with her mother." Arella wasn't annoyed at her daughter's neglect to talk. She knew Raven would open up. Arella was the only person Raven could go to. She started to get up when Raven stopped her.
"Wait!" Raven said. "Ok, there is a problem."
Arella sat back down with a triumphant smirk. "Alright then. Proceed."
"Well…" Raven began explaining who Beast Boy was and the incident that happened that morning.
Later, Beast Boy had just finished explaining the situation to Mento.
"So…" Mento said. "You're saying that this Terra girl appeared recently. She says she's not Terra, but she looks like her, and you're sure it's her. You felt depressed for a while. Now, there's the incident with you and you're friend Raven."
"Yeah." Beast Boy said hoping Mento could help. "A while after that, we both apologized to each other. We put that whole thing behind us, but…"
"You're confused." Mento said. "You like Raven too don't you?"
Another jolt went through Beast Boy's head. "I'm…not sure." He said looking down.
"The way I see it," Mento said, "is that you don't know who you like. Terra or Raven."
"I don't know." Beast Boy said. "I mean, with Terra it was love at first sight. But Raven…I've hung around with her for a long time." He looked up at Mento. "Why do I…feel like this about her now?"
"Well…" Mento paused, thinking what to say. "Beast Boy, love at first sight doesn't apply to everybody. Sometimes, it takes time just to start caring for the person. For all we know, you probably had feelings for Raven the entire time. You just couldn't see it until now."
Beast Boy was surprised at the thought of him and Raven being together. He couldn't believe the fact that he actually liked her. Although, he had been thinking about her a lot lately.
"Ok," he looked up at Mento, "how do I know if I like her? In fact, how do I know if she even likes me?"
"Hmm…" Mento thought for a moment. "Well, one way you could find out is wait for her to do something special for you. But that might mean she's just being nice. You'll have to pay attention to your own feelings and how she reacts around you at the same time. You have to pay attention to her to find clues to see if she really loves you or not, and at the same time, pay attention to yourself to see if you love her or not."
The word "love" sent a chill down Beast Boy's spine. The thought of them being together…it never crossed his mind. He didn't know what to expect. Still, he did think about her a lot. He then remembered what happened that morning with Raven. Maybe, he thought, it wouldn't be so bad. This thought put a smile on Beast Boy's face, but it disappeared at another thought.
"Wait." He said. "Let's say we both do…like each other. How will it work out? Her powers run on emotions so…it'd be kinda hard for her to be with someone…" Beast Boy looked down again. "Especially me."
Mento thought for another moment. He remembered Beast Boy talking about Raven's power and how it worked, and Beast Boy's history with her. In fact, from an outside point of view, they were completely opposite from each other in personality. Maybe opposites do attract? He put that thought aside for now and continued giving Beast Boy advice.
"Well…emotions are tricky, dangerous even, especially in her case. But emotions can still be overcome. From what you told me, she's been living with this power for years. Now, if you do find out you both do like each other, and if you really care for her, you'll help her overcome it so both of you can be together."
Beast Boy still wasn't use to the idea of them being together. Then again, it didn't really sound like a bad thing at all.
"Now, if you're really serious about it, you'll help her even if she doesn't want help." Mento continued. "Because if you let her go, she's just going to keep living with the fact that she can't be with anybody. Who knows? Maybe she had feelings for you all along too. She just couldn't see them until now. Like I said, it takes time."
Having this talk with Mento really boosted Beast Boy's confidence. "I see." He thought out loud.
Mento pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch. "Well," he said, "I better get going. They're gonna start worrying about me if I stay out too late. By the way, they wanted me to tell you they said hi." He got up and started walking away.
"Thanks." Beast Boy said with a big smile.
"Good luck." Mento said and walked away.
While Beast Boy was talking to Mento about his problems, Raven was talking to Arella in the astral plane about her problem.
"I see." Arella said, taking much thought in Raven's story. "And you do not know the reason of why you have kissed him."
"No…I mean…" Raven grunted. "At first I thought it was because I was mad, and that I wasn't thinking straight." She then let out a deep breath. "But the whole thing just kept coming back to me all day. So yes, now I don't know why I kissed him."
"Could it be because…you wanted to kiss him?"
"I'm not in the mood for jokes." Raven said dryly, and started to sip her tea.
"Who said I was joking?" Arella smiled.
Raven, however, nearly spat out her tea when she heard this. "What?!" She shouted, after some difficulty of swallowing her tea.
"Well, maybe you didn't want to embrace him on purpose, but deep down I'm positive you-"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Raven slammed the table with her palm.
Still calm, Arella merely chuckled and took another sip from her cup. "I'm only saying that, on some subconscious level of yours, that you desired to be with him.
"Look," Raven exclaimed, "you of all people should know why I can't have feelings for-" She stopped mid-sentence, seeing her mother's smirk of triumph on her face. Raven realized that she had just answered her own question. Though Raven did not admit it, she didn't deny it either, and, to Arella, not denying something was the same as admitting to something.
"So" Arella sat her cup down, "you're telling me you're afraid of being in love with Beast Boy."
Raven hesitated for a moment. "I guess…I mean, I don't know if I really "love" him, but…"
"You're afraid of being in love with him." Arella calmly repeated.
It took Raven a lot of effort just to get the words out. "Y-…Yes." She said looking down. "If I do like him, then it wouldn't work. I can't be with anyone without risking the fact that I might end up hurting them with my powers." Panic began to rise in Raven's voice. "And even if I stay away from him, I can't ignore the fact that I…like him. It would cause complications with me, Beast Boy, and the rest of the team. I may even have to leave the team-."
"Stop." Arella simply said to keep Raven from exploding from worry. "What if you found out Beast Boy liked you in the same way you liked him? What would he do for you?"
"I don't know!" Raven thought for a moment, and then spoke. "If I know Beast Boy then he…would probably try to help me."
"So why don't you let him?"
"Because I don't want to risk hurting him." Raven looked up at her mother. "Besides, I'm not sure if I do like him or not, and I'm also not sure if he really likes me the same way back."
Arella thought for a moment. "You said Beast Boy was depressed over the loss of his former love, didn't you?"
"Yes, Terra." Raven answered. "I tried to help him get over it, but…" she looked down again.
"Then you should try helping him again." Arella said.
"What?" Raven looked up. "But…"
Arella lifted a hand to keep Raven from speaking. "If you want to know if you love him or not, then you should try to help him. Observe his feelings as you help him, as well as your own. Eventually, you will know if you love him or not, and if he loves you or not."
This made some sense to Raven. "Ok, but what should I do exactly?"
"What ever you think will make him happy." Replied Arella. "You should know him better than I."
Raven still wasn't sure if she liked the idea of her and Beast Boy being together. But the again maybe, she thought, it will work out.
"But still, what about my powers?" Raven asked. "I'm not sure if I can be with him without blowing him up or something."
"Raven," Arella said, "if you care for Beast Boy, then you will not allow your powers to hurt him. But if you trust him, then you will allow him to help you."
This didn't make sense to Raven. She didn't want to hurt Beast Boy with her powers, but to do that she would have to avoid having a relationship with him. But if she trusts him and let him help her, she'd risk hurting him. This confused Raven, but she was sure there was some wisdom to it. She just didn't see it.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked.
"That," Arella said, "is something you have to find out for yourself. I'm sorry, but it is time for us to depart." She got up and was about to leave.
"Wait!" Raven said getting up. "I have to ask you something else."
Arella stopped and looked at Raven. "What is it?"
"I've…been with Beast Boy for over a awhile now, but only saw him as a friend. Why do I feel this way about him now?"
Arella stared at Raven for a while before answering. "Raven, you probably had feelings for Beast Boy since you first met him. You just couldn't see it until now. This kind of thing happens to a lot of people. The same thing may have happened to Beast Boy as well. It takes time for these kind of things to happen."
Raven stood still for a few heartbeats before speaking up. "Thank you, Mother."
Arella smiled and walked away. As she was walking away, Raven heard her mother speak again. "Good luck in finding the answers you seek." After that, Arella disappeared in a white light. Raven smiled, then closed her eyes and concentrated her energy. In a few seconds her spirit was back in its body and she found herself sitting on her bed in her room.
Beast Boy was in his room staring at the ceiling again. The clock read 8:45 p.m. So I just have to wait and see if Raven does something. He was still thinking about what Mento said to him. But that won't mean she likes me if she does it. I have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, Raven was standing outside of Beast Boy's room. Okay Raven, she thought to herself. You're just going to see if Beast Boy's any better. If he's not, then…Raven still didn't have a plan for that. She was hoping Beast Boy was already better so she wouldn't have to do anything. She wouldn't know unless she asked though. She took a deep breath and knocked on Beast Boy's door.
Inside, Beast Boy heard the knock and then heard Raven. "Umm…Beast Boy? It's me, Raven." Beast Boy's heart skipped a beat. "Is it alright if I come in?" Now Beast Boy was panicking.
"Um-…er-…uhh…sure."
Raven opened the door and walked in. Beast Boy's room was a mess as usual. She ignored the crud on the floor and stared up at Beast Boy who was looking back.
"Hey," she said nervously, "are you feeling any better?"
Fear started to rise in Beast Boy. "Ummm…you mean about Terra?" Beast Boy knew this could be his only chance to find out if he really liked Raven or not. He had a feeling she was going to do that special thing Mento mentioned for him. But he was afraid, and wanted to back out. "Uhhh…yeah." He lied. Terra was only half of the problem he was facing right now. But he didn't want Raven to know that. "Yeah, I uhh…need some more time to think."
"Beast Boy…" Raven began gathering courage to say this. "If there's something you want to do…to cheer you up then…I'd be happy to help you."
Now Beast Boy was starting to panic out of his mind. "No, no…uhh…I think I'll just…stay in here for a while longer."
Raven wanted to say Ok and leave, but she knew she had to find out.
"Beast Boy, you're not going to get any better just staying in your room all day. You have to get out and do something."
If Beast Boy were any more worried, he would've gotten a nosebleed. "No, it's okay. I'll just…do something later. Yeah. Thanks anyways though."
Raven was getting annoyed. "Beast Boy-."
"No, that's alright. I'll just…sleep on it. Yeah, that's right. I'll-whoa!?"
Before he could say anything else, he was engulfed in a black aura and floated off his bed towards Raven. He was hanging upside down looking at her.
"Raven!" Beast Boy yelped. "What are you…?"
"Look." Raven said with an angry glare. "I tried helping you, but you're not accepting it. Now you can't just sit in here moping for the rest of your life. It's not good for you! We're both going to go out, and find something to do," her eyes started to glow red. "and you're going to be HAPPY!"
"…okay…" Beast Boy said in a tiny and scared voice. What's gotten into Raven? He thought to himself. He wasn't sure if this was suppose to be the special thing Mento talked about, but either way, Beast Boy was afraid of Raven.
"All right then." Raven said calmly, eyes no longer glowing. "Let's go." She turned around to leave.
"Umm…"Beast Boy was still hanging in the air upside down. "Any idea on what we're gonna do?"
Raven still didn't have any idea. "I don't know. What do you usually do to lighten up?"
"Well…" Beast Boy looked up thinking (or down, considering he's upside down). "Sometimes, if there's nothing to do here, then I'd just take walk and see if-"
"Alright then. A walk it is." She walked out of the room, using her magic to make the floating Beast Boy follow her. On her way out, she was caught by Robin, who was perplexed at not only seeing Raven out of her room, but a floating Beast Boy too.
"Uhh…hey." Robin said with confusion. "What's going on?"
Raven looked at Robin. "I've tried talking to Beast Boy, I've tried leaving him alone, and he still isn't himself. I don't know what else to do. So, I'm going out to find something in the city to lighten him up."
"Sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Robin asked.
Beast Boy was about to say something, but Raven spoke first. "Don't worry, we'll find something to eat while we're out."
"Okay then." Robin said. Raven was about to turn around, but stopped when she heard Robin again. "Raven. About this morning…if you two don't really want to talk about it, that's fine with the rest of us. We just want to be sure you guys are all right."
Raven smiled. "Thanks. And don't worry. We just had a fight this morning. Nothing unusual."
Robin smiled. "Okay then, have fun."
"Uhh..." It seemed everyone just forgot Beast Boy was hanging in midair. "Raven, could you put me down? I think all the blood's rushing to my head."
"We won't be out too late." Raven said to Robin, ignoring Beast Boy. "Goodbye." She was about to turn around when she added, "Oh, and sorry about that whole wall-thing this morning."
"It's ok. Don't worry about it."
Raven nodded, then turned around and headed towards the elevator, with the floating Beast Boy following her.
As they left, Robin smiled. "Maybe," He said out loud, "everything's going to be all right after all." He turned around and headed to the main room to join Cyborg and Starfire.