The next morning, Starfire awakened, but for the first time since she came to earth she didn't want to get up. The party had been her idea and she had let the boys convince her that Raven would be okay in the back room with that stranger. Feeling like all of this was her fault, Starfire drew her knees to her chin and softly began to cry all over again. Before long, there was a quiet knock at her door. Starfire used her bed sheet to dry her eyes and walked to the door. When it opened, the last person she expected was standing on the other side.

"You and I usually meditate at eight o'clock. I...I just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Starfire glanced over at her bedside clock. It was just after nine a.m.

Raven's usually emotionless voice was tinged with quiet fear today. It was as if she was afraid to talk to her friends for fear that they might be angry for her causing so much trouble.

"Everything is...all right. I will join you," Starfire replied. Raven nodded once and Starfire followed her to the living room. Robin looked up from the plate of scrambled eggs in front of him in surprise. He hadn't expected Raven to be out of bed today.

"Raven, good morning," Robin said uneasily. He failed to hide the note of surprise in his tone. "I thought Dr. Ivanova said to stay off your feet for a while." When he said this, Starfire flashed him a look of sudden anger, her eyes becoming bright green for a second and then fading. She shook her head as if to dispel the spontaneous reaction and rubbed her temple with a free hand before replying, "We intend to be 'off our feet' momentarily," Starfire stated plainly as the girls easily hovered into the air near the living room windows, facing the pouring rain falling outside. They tucked their feet beneath them and closed their eyes, ignoring the looks of shock on the boys' faces.

"Dude, did she just...?" Beast Boy started, but he didn't dare finish. Robin downed the rest of his eggs and then his orange juice before silently heading back out the door. He needed to go in the gym for a while. Beast Boy was still in the kitchen cleaning up when the girls finished their meditation. By then, Beast Boy himself had started to mutter the mantra under his breath as he washed the dishes. He looked up at them just in time to see Starfire offer Raven a quiet hug. After just a moment's hesitation, she relented and firmly embraced her Tamaranian friend. Beast Boy tried to concentrate on the sink. He was thrilled that she was feeling better, but he had hoped the he would have been the first one she came to. Shaking off the twinge of jealousy, he reached to place a wet plate in the drying rack and shrieked in surprise when another hand took hold of it first. Turning, he saw Raven there, her blue eyes darker than he remembered. They were the color of the sea after a storm.

"I thought you could use a hand," she said softly, not looking up from the plate she was drying.

"Thanks," Beast Boy replied sincerely. The silence that hung in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Minutes passed with the only sound in the kitchen being the sound of clinking plates and silverware.

"Beast Boy, I..."

"Raven, I've been meaning to..."

"Sorry, you go ahead,"

"No, you go first,"

The two Titans stood silently in the kitchen, looking at one another as if they were both suddenly lost for words. In the months that had passed since Beast Boy and Cyborg found their way into the mirror in Raven's room, she had taken a more active approach to pacifying her dangerous angry streak. She knew that too much of any emotion all at once was dangerous, but with the practice she had been getting lately, she was trying little by little to let her emotions out, testing how much she could really allow herself to feel before her control snapped. Right now was as good as any for such a test.

Raven dropped the towel she was using, Beast Boy dropped the washcloth into the sink, and both reached for each other in a kiss worthy of any of Starfire's romance movies.

"I was so afraid I was gonna lose you!"

"I thought you would feel I had betrayed you!"

"Betrayed me? Oh, man, Raven, you couldn't betray me if you tried! And even if you did, I wouldn't like you any less. You're the best thing that ever happened to me," Beast Boy gushed, still holding her close.

"You're not mad at me for all of this?" she stammered.

"Of course not!" he replied. "You didn't do this to yourself!"

"But I could have stopped him sooner. If I hadn't taken that drink I might have been able to fight him off! I wasn't strong enough; wasn't smart enough! Azar, how could I have been so stupid?" Raven replied. Beast Boy tucked a finger beneath Raven's chin and forced her to look at him. Tears brimmed in the corners of both of their eyes as Beast Boy spoke.

"Now, just you wait a minute. That guy was only after one thing and he would have gotten it one way or the other. If you hadn't taken the drink, he'd have found another way. What happened has happened," Beast Boy said. "You know, a very wise person once told me that we can't change the past no matter how much we dislike it."

Raven smirked. She was the one that told him that and now she would have to take her own advice. She reached up and ran one hand through Beast Boy's hair, gently tracing the shape of his ear with her fingertips. Quietly, Beast Boy smiled. "That tickles!" he giggled. Laughing a bit herself, Raven kissed each of Beast Boy's cheeks, stealing away his tears and then kissed his lips again.

"You know, I don't know how I ever thought you were an immature pinhead," Raven teased. Both Titans laughed a bit, and Beast Boy walked hand in hand with Raven upstairs to her room. She stopped him outside her door for one more hug.

"This team is the best thing in my life. But more than that, you are the best thing in my life. Thank you, Beast Boy," Raven whispered in his ear. Beast Boy kissed her forehead and then watched as she retreated to her room.