Chapter Six: A Titan's Confession

The next day was rainy and considerably chilly for mid-summer. The Titans were milling around the Tower doing whatever suited them best. This basically meant that Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing video games, Robin was in the training room, and Raven was reading to Starfire. The morning was, more or less, peaceful.

Raven had awoken that morning feeling wonderful and happy to be alive. She only remembered her dream vaguely, but those few words were still swirling through her mind. 'Raven, you are free.'

The girls had, by now, gotten to the book of Mark, and were working quite well. Starfire seemed to understand most parts, and always waited until a proper interval to interrupt Raven's reading. They were very constant with their studies, and Raven thought that they covered enough information in one sitting to be a small group, but without the circle of friendly church-goers you'd normally see.

"… They nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes. It was about nine o'clock in the morning when they nailed him to the cross. On it was a sign that told why he was nailed there. It read, 'This is the King of the Jews.' The soldiers also nailed two criminals on crosses, one to the right of Jesus and the other on his left…"

Starfire listened carefully, but did not look up at Raven. It was obvious that her over-emotional friend was fighting off tears, but she wasn't going to mention it to her. She kept on reading, her steady, monotonous voice piercing the overall quiet of the room and everything near it.

"…The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses also made fun of Jesus. They said to each other 'He saved others, but he can't save himself. If he is the Messiah, the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross! Then we will see and believe.'"

"Raven, why did they not believe Jesus? Did they not trust their eyes?" Starfire asked her voice watery.

"They thought he was a false prophet," she answered simply. She was, for some reason, unusually irritable this morning, and would rather be meditating in her room or engulfing herself in her books than sitting in the alien's pink and fuchsia room right now. Although she had been trying to involve herself in her friends' lives, old habits died hard.

"Friend, I believe that you seem…'edgy' and think it may be best if you resettled yourself in another location to feel better. I am grateful that you have helped me, but I am sure that if I have further questions I may ask Robin." Starfire understood people all too easily.

Raven smiled, feeling slightly relieved. "Thanks, Star," was all she said before she closed her Bible and exited to her room.

After she closed the door, she laid her Bible away and sat in her normal position on her bed, chanting. She felt a peace unlike any she'd ever felt before in her life. She was freed of her prison cell she'd once thought was going to hold her for the rest of her life.

A knock on her door aroused her from her thoughts. Opening it, she saw a note taped to the wall across from her door.

'Go to the common room.'

"What on earth do they want now?" she asked aloud. She thought a moment. What could they possibly want with her that would not allow for them to simply ask her to go with them in person?

Going along with it, she walked into the main room to find a blue cake, blue and black balloons, and all of her friends grinning at her.

"I thought we agreed after my birthday that there would be no surprise parties," she said, staring at them. "What's this about? Is there something I forgot?"

"Well, we thought that, ya know, we'd throw you a party to show that we're appreciating all you're doing for us." Cyborg grinned, and Raven starred back blankly.

"What do you mean?"

Starfire now stepped forward. "You are teaching me the words of Christ Jesus, you have brought the light and bounty of God into our lives, and you have proven yourself to be a most valuable friend. For this we have given you a party."

"Err… well, thank you," she managed awkwardly; "You do know that this is going against your promise, right?"

"Oh, come on, Raven, just this once can you have fun?" Beast Boy asked her.

Raven had to smile at that. "All right." The Titans cheered.

They had a very nice party, though Raven was still uncomfortable about being the center of attention so much of late. The cake was delicious, they talked and laughed as if they'd not a care in the world, and Raven herself was found to be grinning or laughing outwardly. After the party, though, Beast Boy dragged Raven up to the roof.

"What is it?" She didn't want to sound impatient or annoyed, even though she felt mild cases of both.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that the party was my idea. I pretty much bribed Robin to let me do this, and I had to sneak in the decorations and ingredients for the cake." He spoke with fully enforced sincerity, and she knew he expected her to be angry by the way he was now staring at the ground. And then it came to her; the noise last night that had spooked her (thought she'd have never admitted it) had only been Beast Boy. Before she realized it, Raven was laughing uncontrollably. Beast Boy didn't know what was so funny, and even more so he didn't know whether to be frightened or relieved, so he simply stood in utter shock.

"Beast Boy," she managed when she finally controlled herself enough to speak, "I had thought I heard something breaking into the Tower last night, and here I find out it was you with party gear!" she said. Beast Boy stood a moment, and then he laughed, too.

They finally quieted, then Raven straightened, looking up at the afternoon sky. Beast Boy looked at her, and he looked down.

"Raven?"

"Yes?" she asked.

"Do you think God would still accept me after I rejected Him?" he asked.

Raven looked at him, startled by his question. "Of course! He's always waiting for you to come to Him. He's got a room for you waiting in His kingdom, and He wants to give you every chance to see it one day."

"So, does that mean I'm still candidate to be a Christian?" He looked at her this time.

"Beast Boy, in God's family, there is always room for one more."


Hi everyone!

I'm only planning one or two more chapters more, and then I won't be writing very much or very often because I'm trying to write a BOOK to be PUBLISHED and it will take me a while. Wish me luck!