Author's Note: In this chapter, Charlotte, who was introduced in the last chapter, finds herself making the trip to Titans Tower and then setting up for the party. If you're lost, check the title of this story. We're getting closer. Anyway, I said last time I'd explain Charlotte, so I will. There's a band, Good Charlotte, I was listening to back when I came up with the idea of Bumblebee and Cyborg's daughter. I thought, well, of course Cyborg would listen to something like this. It's pretty metal-oh, I'm so punny. Anyway, she got the name from that band. Good Charlotte.

Disclaimer: I don't own TT/Mar'i Grayson(does she count as Batman or Teen Titans? I don't know) and I don't own "Say What You Need To Say" and "Half of my Heart" by John Mayer.

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We leave for Jump City at about four am, Daddy's reluctance to leave his sick friend holding us back. And then he decides he's going to drive the whole hour long trip himself, Mom asleep in the passenger seat. I'm too excited to do the same, so I start watching the skyline and the cities in between Wayne Manor and Titans' Tower. Gotham, Dami's city, followed by Crimson City, the place belonging to Spark. Jump City, that mecca where Briar-Rose, Mar'i, and-oh.

Sometimes, when I'm half-asleep, even now I forget that they're gone. I don't have the tiredness to dull the pang of missing them this time, simply the distraction enough to make me think that. I sigh, wishing that Destiny and Prem hadn't gone away, and I look out at the unique red colored lighting of Crimson City. Spark's place, I remember, and his costume the color to match. His father's hair, passed down to him, is the blood-color, too.

So is Uncle Roy's and his daughter Alex's. Alex, my sister through our ragtag family in the Steel City tower. Yes, the girl joining us in two days-one, now, because it is early Thursday and the party is late Friday. I settle into my seat and sigh, causing my father to look back at me and smile. "Tired, Char?"
"Little bit. I slept on the plane, remember?"

"Me, too. Your mom, on the other hand," he says, and we both shoot glances at her. Her long lashes are closed, decorating her gold-yellow painted eyelids. Her nails are the same metallic color, and I flash my eyes to my lap where mine sit, the same color. Her half-bee physique was passed down to me, wings folded under my sweater. I can't fly yet, but I will learn under her mentorship.

"Can you put some music on?" I ask quietly. My father shoots a questioning glance at me in the mirror, turning onto the on-ramp for the freeway. "Are you okay?"

He knows me too well, as I almost never listen to music. "Yeah. I was just thinking."

"The twins again?"

Of course. He knows all. "Yeah."

"Why do you dwell on the past? You need to move on at some point." He says, his single eye a blue grey. I nod, sighing, as he focuses on the road. "Des was one of my best friends. And I loved Prem, you know that."

"He gave you your first kiss." Like my father needed to remind me, like that day doesn't always make its way into my mind before I sleep at night. It was snowing and we were all in Steel City, waiting for the blizzard to clear off. We were watching some Disney movie, Cinderella, I think, and I made a comment about the princess's love affair. He simply leaned over and kissed me, stopping my words, and I kissed him back.

We were three and just barely four.

"I remember." I shake my head, resting my cheek on the glass. He resigns from our conversation, turning on the radio, twisting the dial until the static stops and a song begins. I recall this song in my memories of Destiny. She'd sing for me, Briar-Rose, and Mar'i, our little four-girl group against the harsh world, and we'd wonder what the world meant when it sang those lyrics with the backdrop of piano, or guitar, and sometimes silence. A Capella.

And now, listening to one of her melodies as it was at first, I understand. I think of losing my friend and almost-boyfriend to a world I still don't understand, to someone that was never discovered. I understand what the words mean.

/I was born in the arms of imaginary friends/Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been/Then you come crashing in, like the realest thing/Trying my best to understand all. . .. All that took you away from me. . .. /Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation, half of my heart takes time. . . Time to understand why I lost Des and Prem... /Half of my heart, half of my heart/Half of my heart's got a really good imagination. . .. It can see us together in that band we made up of all of us kids, when the days wore on with us young and wild and imagining a future never coming true. . ..

I wake up in Mar'i's bedroom, my friend rolling over and slapping me across the face. "Yow! Oh."

I shake her a thousand times before she wakes up, muttering until I whisper her name. She's awake instantly. "Char! When'd you get here?"

"Don't know. Fell asleep in the car and now I'm here." She laughs, dragging me out of her bed and knocking the blankets over. "Come on. There's a lot to do today."

The music starts up and so does the day.

/Take all of your wasted honor/Every little past frustration/ I dress, share cereal with Mar'i, and then the preparations begin. The party for Spark and Briar-Rose is always a big one. /Take all of your so-called problems/Better put 'em in quotations/

/Say what you need to say/ My head starts to spin. Kori and Raven pin up streamers on the ceiling, and we tie up bunches of balloons on every available surface. Eventually, Damian joins us on our venture. /Say what you need to say/

/Walking like a one-man army/Fighting with the shadows in your head/ We sit at the kitchen counter for a late lunch of grilled cheese and soup. Mar'i and I decide on the schedule of the party-which includes an hour to open presents, something she insists must happen. Dami backs her up, saying it's the present Spark got for Bri that will need so long. I leave it be. /Living up the same old moment/Knowing you'd be better off instead/

/If you could only say what you need to say/ We clean up Mar'i's room, knowing that we will end up there, even though the party will go on in the common area. It has for the past four years. I call Briar-Rose on the phone, wishing her an early happy birthday and asking her if we forgot anything. She requests a movie. /Say what you need to say/

/Have no fear for giving in/Have no fear for giving over/ Austin arrives, on his way back to Metropolis after taking his brother to the airport. His almost-sister is feeling better, so he is free to head home, but Aus wants to check in. We decide to get two movies - Maleficent and Sleeping Beauty, so that Bri can pick if need be. /You better know that in the end/It's better to say too much than never to say what you need to say again/

/Even if your hands are shaking/And your faith is broken/ Mom runs out to get the cake from Jennifer and the rest of the snacks from Trinity, and I am recruited to come along. I get to hang out with Spark for twenty minutes, and he seems especially excited. This party is going to be better than we thought it would, he says. /Even as the eyes are closing/Do it with a heart wide open/

/Say what you need to say/ Damian is gone by the time I return, and I set up the counter as a snack bar. Mar'i and I put on our pajamas and then start a movie, painting each other's nails at the same time. Alex joins us and we decide to take a curling iron to her hair, that runs halfway between her shoulders and waist. She is treated to a face mask and the promise of makeup in the morning. /Say what you need to say/

/Say what you need to, say what you need to/ We click off the boom box and TV only when our parents order us to, only when it is nearing tomorrow. I feel as if I have something good coming with the sunrise, and I suppose it could be the party with all of my friends. But still, Spark's words linger in my mind. "This party's going to be better than we thought it would be."

/Say what you need to say/Say what you need to say/Say what you need to say/