Chapter 4: To love her was to curse her

Raven stole a glance at Beast Boy who shuffled along, obviously preoccupied. She remained silent and gazed up at the darkening sky. Perhaps, she thought, she did have feelings for Beast Boy…there was nothing good to come of denying the inevitable. She found herself actually enjoying the boy's company, even in the silence. In fact, she enjoyed it more because of the silence.

A tiny smiled played on her lips and she felt a warm blush creep up. She pulled up her hood. She gazed softly at Beast Boy, she felt unusually vulnerable walking now at his side, and yet, she liked it.

He had changed as well, not much, but a little. His eyes were now a mix of green, grey and blue; mimicking the color of the sea. He was taller than her now, by perhaps an inch or so. He remained thin and willowy but none the less older, and now under her close examination, wiser. Indeed his look was not all clownish and utterly clueless anymore, but looked, in a way, a little secretive; mysterious. Beast Boy, mysterious? Raven shuddered at her dreamy thoughts. She was in love, and she was quite frankly, getting sick of herself. Somewhere deep in her mind, pink Raven was giggling madly and swooning at the sight of her 'beloved' prince Beast Boy. Raven involuntarily gritted her teeth. Beast Boy now looked at Raven.

"Rae, do you think it's wrong to have feelings for another person, before, during, and, well, now after, someone has said they were in love with someone else?" he spoke carefully, slightly confused by his own sentence. Raven was quiet.

"Well, I… really don't know, I mean…" she sighed. "You're asking the wrong person Beast Boy, I am not the best person for love advice." She tilted her head to the side. Beast Boy seemed to be… contemplating something. This was just getting weird. Beast Boy was contemplating something. She inwardly shook her head. They reached the tower in silence and she briefly laid a hand on his shoulder before trudging off to her room. She lay unhappily on her bed and fell asleep.

"Titans, Trouble!" the all too familiar phrase jarred Raven from her bed. The titans arrived at the crime scene in record time. They were at a night club where a teenage girl and boy were creating havoc.

"Teehee, I, love, it!" giggled the girl as her accomplice handed her a ruby ring. The girl had Pink hair that was in high pigtails.

She wore a white halter dress with little red hearts everywhere. Her partner had White hair and a pink body suit with little red hearts everywhere. They were flying about the club grabbing people's jewelry and giving it one another. Raven nearly puked.

"Dude, is this guy gay?" asked Beast Boy, who was obviously disturbed.

"I don't know but this Cupid is being really stupid," said Robin. (Why do they always give him cheesy lines like that?) Star grabbed his hands and flung him into the air. Robin soared through the air towards the strangely clad duo and knocked them to the floor.

"Romeo!" cried the female jewel thief.

"Juliet!" he answered as they regained their footing.

Again Raven felt nauseous. She picked up one of the speakers from the DJ table with her powers and flung it at Juliet. For some reason Raven felt a burning hate for the thief, much more so then a normal villain. She levitated up and sent black energy disks at Juliet. Perhaps her distaste was fueled with jealousy. Juliet was a thief and yet she had a lover. Raven was a good-guy and she had no one. Meanwhile Beast Boy had turned into a horse and Robin was riding him and chasing after Romeo. Star flew behind Juliet and shot star bolts at her but Juliet whirled around and shot at Star with her bow and heart shaped arrows.

"Feelin' the love?" Juliet cackled. Star's escape was cut off by Romeo punching her hard in the stomach while attempting to dodge Cyborg's laser cannon.

"Booya!" he shouted. "Score!" he pumped his fist as Romeo's arm was struck with his cannon. Romeo scowled. He was about to shoot an arrow at Cyborg when Robin leapt up and began to strangle him.

"Don't ever hurt my Star." Robin hissed while taking a rope from his utility belt and tying the fearful Romeo up.

Meanwhile Raven continued her vicious assault on Juliet. She grabbed anything and everything in the room and hurled them at Juliet with her powers. Juliet struck Raven with one of her arrows. Raven fell to the ground.

"No!" Beast Boy turned into a Rhino and plowed Juliet down. He had her pinned but she took an arrow and thrust it into the changeling's chest. Raven struggled to her feet and seeing Beast Boy injured she levitated into the air and floated dangerously in front of Juliet. Juliet began to shoot at Raven but each arrow glanced off of her as she put up a shield around herself. The bleeding wound in Raven's leg healed itself in front of Juliet's terrified eyes. Juliet took one last arrow out. It was gold and shimmered strangely. Juliet aimed and fired directly at Raven's heart. It hit its goal and fizzed and crackled as it seemed to be consumed by her body.

"Teehee, little Raven's got a broken heart!" she cooed. Raven grabbed the girl's wrists and bound her with handcuffs made of her black magic. She let the girl fall to the ground and she stalked off to Beast Boy who was being attended to by the other Titans.

"I'll heal him, you guys get these two idiots to jail" she snarled. The Titans obeyed, they could tell Raven was NOT happy. They edged off and soon she and the green boy were alone.

"Rae," he croaked. She put a finger to his lips and then placed her hands over his chest, they glowed a bluish white and soon his wound was healed.

"Thanks," he said. He smiled at Raven softly. She felt a small prickle of pain shoot through her, it was odd but she didn't show it.

"Raven," he said, sitting up. "Would you be mad at me if I said I loved you?" he asked. Her eyes became wide.

"There's no way I could be mad at you for saying the one thing I've always wanted to hear…" she suddenly gasped and fell to the ground. She writhed in pain. Raven had just been about to loose control of her emotions, she expected something to break but hadn't cared as long as she could tell BB she loved him, but instead of something breaking she had been filled with the most excruciating pain she pushed him away, her eyes wild with sheer anguish. He backed off and as he did the pain began to end. She soon got to her feet.

"Rae, are you ok, I was so worried" he inched towards her but the pain began to return as he did.

"Stay away," she gasped. He reeled back, hurt. First she was saying she wanted to hear that he loved her and now he wasn't allowed near her? His eyes pleaded for explanation .Raven mentally strained to understand Beast Boy's effect on her. The golden arrow; it had struck her directly but she'd felt no pain so she'd ignored it. Perhaps… what was it Juliet had said. She had said Raven had a broken heart. It dawned on her. No, she thought. Just when she'd found love, not moments after, she was realizing a curse had been laid on her. Now Raven had no worries of breaking things when she lost control of the emotion love, instead she would feel pain. Her powers had been turned in on her.

"Beast Boy," she whispered, tears ran freely down her cheeks now, her long hair plastered to her face, the realization that she could not have him turned her joy at hearing his confession into bitter sorrow.

"Beast Boy, you cannot love me… and now I cannot love you," she whimpered as a surge of emotion and pain sent her hurling to the ground again.

"Why?" he pleaded. This was not the effect he had wanted.

"That stupid girl cursed me," she spat as anger replaced her sad and dreamy thoughts of love. She stood as the pain disappeared.

"Beast Boy I won't break anything now if I love you but, well I won't break anything except myself," she murmured as pain began to pulse through her again. She stared at Beast Boy,"If you really love me don't come near me," she said. Her violet eyes searched his; she needed to know he understood.

He would not loose Raven… he barely even had her. Tears ran down his cheeks as he turned and walked away.

"I understand Raven… but I will find a way to change it, I swear," he called over his shoulder. As his words drifted to her ears she was filled with love, and admiration, and another wave of pain. She watched him leave with bitter thoughts. Just as she found love, it had been ripped from her finger tips. In her mind Sad Raven went about crying her eyes out and Pink Raven stood, head bowed, her hands and feet bound in shackles made of twisted golden arrows.

Author's Notes: Review!