Disclaimer: As was the same last time, I do not own the Teen Titans. 'Cept for Aira. She's mine. .

The whole team had come out to see my practice. We were in an area of Titan Island I hadn't seen before. It was an obstacle course, with tons of really scary-looking killer objects I had to get past. Joy. There were also 'enemies' to destroy in another section.

"All right," said Robin. "Just try to summon something – anything. A light wind, even. The point is that YOU are summoning it. Not your emotions." I nodded, and he went up to join the rest of the team in a box-like thing.

I breathed deeply and licked my lips nervously. I thought hard, sinking into my brain. I thought hard about the wind blowing hard, moving the solid trees under its might, stealing the leaves from the branches. I thought about hair being whipping back, uncontrollable. Nothing happened, so I tried harder, closing my eyes to concentrate.

Nothing.

I sat down on the dusty ground and held my head in my hands, my eyes tightly shut. I thought as hard as I could, concentrating on the wind. But nothing happened, no wind tickling my skin or making my clothing billow. Why wasn't it working? Was Raven wrong? Was it, as I had always thought, just a curse?

I was aroused from my thoughts by a light touch on my shoulder. I looked up, and there were the Titans, gathered around me. They looked disappointed and grave. I swallowed and stood up, brushing myself off. "Sorry," I whispered.

"Next time," Robin assured me. He turned and went back to the Tower. Cyborg and Beast Boy followed him, arguing about who would beat who in Speed Racer 2005.

"You will succeed very soon, possible new friend Aira!" said Starfire brightly. I smiled at her and murmured a thanks, no feeling behind it. A lump was forming in my throat from my disappointment. Starfire gave me a bone-breaking hug, then caught up with Robin.

"Nice try," said Raven. That was it. She then turned and went back to the Tower, leaving me alone. I watched them leave sadly, feeling somehow abandoned. They expected me to follow, I knew, but it didn't feel right. I had failed them. They had been working with me and being nice – especially Starfire – but I had still failed them. I hadn't gotten a reaction from this strange power that I was supposed to control.

Failure. The word rang in my head as I numbly watched them disappear into the tower. They were all heros and heroines, saving the city from the bad guys daily. And they had tried to take me in, to help me. What did I do? Nothing productive. They had put their trust and hope in me, and I let it go.

That's how I felt, at least. I don't know how they felt. The part of my brain that thinks tried to reason with me, telling me that the Teen Titans probably didn't feel that way. I didn't care.

I hadn't been cast out this time, but it didn't matter. I turned and ran.