Disclaimer: My 3 wishes that will never come true: 1) Rule the world, 2) Own all the chocolate in the world, and 3) Own the Teen Titans.
I will answer all reviews in the end of this fic. It takes up too much room otherwise. Oh, & I apologize for some missing or misspelled words, I don't have spell check. Sorry!
On the trip home, Raven's thoughts kept turning to Beast Boy, who was walking a little closer to her than she would've allowed anyone else to be. She was still wondering why nothing had blown up at the theater, but she wasn't complaining. She really liked him, but there was a bit of mystery about why she could feel this much. She decided that when she got back to the Tower she would check up on something.
"Hey, Rae! Where are ya goin'?" Beast Boy asked as he flopped down on the couch. She looked over at him with sparkling eyes.
"I've just got to do something, and then I'll come back downstairs," she said, smiling a little. Beast Boy felt like his heart had stopped when he saw her smiling a real, unrestrained smile at him. He never thought anything could be that beautiful.
'Wait! No! Stop! You can't keep thinking about Raven...Actually, you probably can,' he thought to himself. He smiled to himself, wondering what she would look like if she laughed.
Raven landed roughly on the dark ground. She stood up, brushed herself off, & looked around. Her emotions were playing hide-and-seek.
"That's just great," she said to herself. Raising her arms, she summoned all her alter-egos. (I didn't know what else to call them! Sorry!) "Knowledge, can I talk to you?" she asked, addressing the yellow-clad version of herself.
"I suppose," the nerdy version of Raven sighed. The other emotions left.
"I want to know why nothing exploded in the theater earlier," Raven said. Knowledge smiled smugly. (Try saying that 5 times fast! )
"I won't tell you."
"Why?" shouted Raven.
"Because our mother can tell you that," Knowledge said, a sad smile crossing her face. Raven stuttered for a moment, her eyes wide.
"B-But...mom's...dead," Raven whispered sadly. Knowledge's superior, righteous, self-satisfied look came back.
"Why do you think she gave you that crystal ball before she died?" the nerdy side of Raven asked. Comprehension dawned on Raven's face as she was shoved roughly out of her own mind. She ran over to her closet, dug out her crystal ball, & focused. She immeresed her entire being into the little glass orb, thinking nothing. Finally, a glimmer deep within the crystaline sphere caught her attention. The glimmer grew brighter, more distinct, & began to take shape. Within seconds, Raven was staring at her mother's face.
"My dear little girl," Arella sighed, tears of happinies on her pale cheeks. "How I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too, Mommy,"Raven whimpered. For almost all of her life, Arella had been the only glimmer of hope in Raven's life. She was always there to protect little Raven from Trigon, she was always there to make Raven feel better, she was always there to light the way in the darkness which was Raven's past. When Arella died, Raven felt like she'd died, too. She'd felt like there was nothing left in the vast face of time which could ever make anything even remotely better. But all of that had changed when she'd met Beast Boy... "Mommy, I have a question," she whispered. She didn't feel at all immature in calling her mother 'Mommy'. She would always refer to her deceased mother that way, no matter how old she was.
"Yes, dear?"
"I-I... I'm...in love," she said, blushing a little. "But every time I'm around him, & I feel all happy, nothing blows up. Why?" Her mother smiled and shook her head.
"Oh, dear. I'm sorry I didn't explain to you before I passed on, but I felt you were a bit too young to understand. You were only five when it happened, after all. I'll bet that everone on that wretched planet told you to supress your emotions, didn't they?" she asked angrily. Raven nodded a little. "Well, they were lying to you. Your father was their ruler, so they had to lie. Besides, I think they wanted it to happen. You see, dear, when you suppress your emotions, they build up like steam in a tea-pot. When you can't hold any more emotion inside of you, they force themselves out in the only way they can: your powers. You feeling has nothing to do with losing control. Not feeling does."
"So...all this time...I've been doing the wrong thing?" Raven asked, devestated. Her mother, almost a mirror image of Raven herself, nodded.
"They lied to you. You can feel, darling, you can. Besides, you inherited your powers & your strength from your father, so why shouldn't you inherit a few things from me?" Arella asked, laughing happily. Raven smiled through a haze of tears. "I love you, Raven. Don't ever sacrifice your own happiness without a reason," she said, her shimmering form fading quickly.
"I love you, too, mother," Raven whispered.
Beast Boy was sitting on the couch, thinking about Raven, when a dark spot appeared in the middle of the floor. He yelped & cowered behind his hands until Raven appeared. He laughed, embarassed.
"H-Hey, Raven," he said, his face red. She smiled again, but this time, it was different. It was a truly happy smile that made Raven look even more beautiful.
"Hey," she said in a tone that strangely resembled happieness.
"So...what were you doing up there?" he asked, staring at her. She wanted to tell him what had happened, and how she felt about him, but she was afraid to. She knew that he still probably liked Terra, and, even if he didn't that there was almost no chance of him liking her back. Her smile faltered a little as she sat down next to him.
"N-Nothing," she said, blushing a tiny bit. She wanted to run away & hide until she could work up the courage to tell him, but a larger part of her needed to be near him. "So," she asked, "what's next?" He looked over at her, a little surprised that she wanted to spend time with him.
"I dunno. Wanna go get some pizza?" he asked. She nodded, smiling a little.
(A/N: Once again, I'm going to skip the scene where they cross the little lake thingy & jump to the scene at the pizza place. Sorry!)
The pizza place wasn't very crowded, seeing as it was about 5:00 on a Thursday afternoon. They found their usual table & sat down, waiting for the waitress to take their order. A few minutes later, yet another prep strolled up to them.
"Like, hello! Can I like, take your order? Ahaha!" she squeaked in a voice that made Raven long to murder her.
'Calm down,' Raven thought. 'Don't surpress anything.'
"Yes you can. And then you can leave & take your annoying voice with you," Raven said. Beast Boy looked over at her in shock.
"Yeah, like, whatever," the prep said.
"B.B., you can order," Raven said. "I really don't care." Beast Boy's jaw dropped, but a moment later he recovered himself enough to order.
'Why is she being so nice to me?' he wondered. He thought on it for a moment more before realizing that he didn't care. He smiled & looked over at her. She was staring off into space with a calm, dazed, happy look on her pale face. He felt his heart skip a beat. He just could't believe how beautiful she was. A few minutes of staring later, the prep came by with their pizza. Beast Boy forked over the cash, not wanting to "wake" Raven. She did notice that the pizza had arrived, however, & snapped back to reality. She looked down at the veggie-covered pizza in front of her, hesitated for a moment, & then shook her head & laughed. Beast Boy wasn't sure what the sudden change in her manner was for, but he did know that he liked it. She just looked so free. He smiled & grabbed a slice of the pizza.
"You are so predictable," she sighed, smiling as she grabbed a slice for herself. They ate the meal in a contented silence that was broken only the laughter of a family on the other side of the building who had two small toddlers, who were trying to run but kept falling on their diapered behinds. Beast Boy smiled to himself as he watched the mother & father help the children off the floor.
'I want me & Rae to have a family like that. WHOA! Where did that thought come from?' he asked himself. But as he watched the couple smile & laugh with their adorable babies, he knew it was true. Little did he know that Raven had read his mind and was thinking the exact same thing. Before long, she let her joy overtake her as she laughed happily. Beast Boy looked over at her in total shock. She hadn't just chuckled as she had been doing, she really truly joyous laugh. The sound made him smile, & he knew that, regardless of his utter terror of rejection, he had to tell her...tonight.
The pizza, along with the adorable family, was gone, & Beast Boy seriously wanted to talk to Raven alone.
"Uh, Rae?" he asked. She looked over at him, a faint smile at her lips. "Do you...um...wanna go to the park?" he asked. She smiled wider.
"Sure," she said, getting up. They left the pizza place, walking a wee bit closer than was necessary, & headed towards the park. They chose a spot in the back, as far away from the street as they could get, & sat down beside a fountain. B.B. cleared his throat nervously & looked at Raven. The sun was setting (it's 6:30), & the colors from the sky behind them reflected in her violet hair. 'God she's beautiful, he thought, before remembering the purpose of this excursion.
"Um...Rae? Can I talk to you about something?" he asked, his voice getting rather high & squeaky.
"Sure, Beast Boy," she said, looking concerned. He looked down, unable to face the rejection that might show in her gorgeous eyes.
"I...I've been wanting to tell you something for a long time now," he said, his face reddening. "I...I really like you. A lot more than a friend. B-But, I understand if you don't like me back...I mean...I am kind of a pest," he said. He heard Raven gasp slightly & cringed, expecting to hear her rejection.
"Y-You're not a pest," she whispered, her voice breaking a little. "I-I'm the pest. I lock myself in my room & never come out, & whenever you try to be nice to me I always shoot you down. But...I don't want it to be like that. The turth is, Beast Boy: I like you too. A lot more than a lot. But...I could never show you that because I would lose control and...and hurt you," she whispered, sounding appalled at herself. He looked up at her & was surprised to find tears sparkling in her deep purple eyes. "But I hurt you anyway. And I didn't even stop to think that maybe, just maybe... Goddess! They lied to me! All of them! All of the people in that stupid planet told to hold back my emotions so that I wouldn't lose control and I believed them! They were lying to me! They knew that if I tried to contain my feelings that I would lose control. They wanted me to lose control in the hope that I would join my father! And all those times when I broke your heart, I thought I was protecting you when in truth I was endangering you even more! And I-I love you, Beast Boy," she said, sobbing. He was stunned, but he knew that Raven needed him now more than ever. He sat closer to the weeping girl & wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry on his shoulder.
"Shush, now, it's all right Raven. It's okay. You did hurt me, but you didn't want to. You're not a bad person, Raven. That doesn't make you a bad person. You did it because you cared. You sacrificed your whole life because you cared, but now it's my turn to care about you, all right? It's gonna be all right, Rae. We can make it all right. I can teach you how to express your emotions so that you don't get hurt, & then everything'll be all right. Okay? It's going to be okay, Raven, because I love you, too," he whispered, running his hands through her hair. After a while, her tears receeded & her sobbing stopped, but neither of them bothered to move. They were content to sit there, safe in eachother's arms.
Over the next two weeks, the two Titans grew closer & closer, falling even more deeply in love. But their change wasn't the only change happening. Rapdily, the temperature in Jump increased to a summer climate. (It was only spring, so it was, by definition, a heat-wave. Hah! Heat-wave. Where I live, the eldery are advised to stay indoors during a heat-wave because it's so easy to die of heat-stroke. Heat-waves here get to 120 degrees. Ugh!) We join them precisely two days before the others are due to arrive home.
"Raaaaaaaveeeeeeeeen!"
"Ugh! What is it?" the Goth called, not wanting to move from her position on the couch. Beast Boy was the man of her dreams, all right, but that didn't stop him from being annoying.
"Come here, would ya? I've got a great idea!" he called from upstairs. (A/N: I'm sorry, but I have no clue to the architectural structure of their T.) She rolled her eyes & got up from the couch, seriously wishing that their a.c. was working. She teleported herself through the floor & up to his bedroom, where a strange sight greeted her. Beast Boy was in a pair of purple swim trunks w/ pool toy around his waist. She raised her eyebrows & tried to muffle her laughter to avail. Finally, she burst out laughing until her face was red. A vein in B.B.'s forehead throbbed & he scowled lightly. She finally managed to stop laughing & he decided to explain his idea.
"Let's go to the beach!" he shouted, throwing his arms out. Her jaw dropped.
"The beach! Are you kidding? I don't tan! I BURN! If I'm out in the sun for than a few minutes, you might as well break out the ketchup because I'll be fried! Even with sunscreen!" (I'm that way.) His face fell slightly, but he did 'the face', knowing full well that she would give in. He was right. After a moment of staring coldly at the little kitty, her resolve failed. "I don't even have a bathing-suit," she protested weakly, but she was already heading towards her room.
"Sure you do!" he said, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration. A moment later, a purple bikini appeared out of thin air into his outstretched hands. "I love that trick!" he said, smiling. She frowned & rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she said, snatching the bathing suit of his hands. "Stupid magic bikini. Stupid Cyborg for teaching him that stupid trick. Stupid Robin with his stupid pole-thingy," she muttered as she walked to her room. Immediately, B.B. began gathering up the necessay supplies: a change of clothes for each of them, sunscreen, an umbrella, a filled picnic basket, & a dark blue beach towel. A few minutes later, Raven stepped out of the bathroom in her cloak. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow.
"Uh...Aren't you gonna wear your 'stupid magic bikini'?" he asked playfully. She rolled her eyes, unable to hide a smile, & pulled her cloak back a little to reveal a rather skimpy bikini on her unnaturally pale body. Beast Boy whistled playfully, causing Raven to blush & look down. "C'mon! Let's go!" he said, heading out the door.
(Yet again, I'm skipping that stupid scene where they magically cross the stupid bay.) About an hour later, they arrived at one of the best beaches in town. It had soft golden sand, cool clear water, and absolutely no tourists! (A/N: I'm not fond of tourists.) Beast Boy picked a spot away from the water to set up while Raven drenched herself in sunscreen. When Beast Boy finished, he ran into the water, shouting "catch me if you can!" Raven smiled demonically and started to step into the water. Immediately, however, she recoiled and retreated onto the sand. Beast Boy chased after her, concerned.
"What's the matter, Rae?" he asked, sitting down beside her.
"I just remembered that...well...I can't swim," she said, looking down.
"You're kidding, right?" he asked her. She looked up at him angrily.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" she asked. He shook his head.
"No. I'm sorry, Raven. I was just surprised. I can teach you, though. How 'bout it?" he asked her hopefully. She smiled & nodded.
"Just a warning though, if you let me drown I'll haunt you for the rest of all eternity," she said, walking to the edge of the water. She hesitated, causing Beast Boy to scoop her up into his arms & wade out into the ocean. She wrapped her arms around his neck & stared at the water nervously. After a moment, though, the fear faded as she wondered how she hadn't noticed the fact that he had a nice body. She shook her head as if to rid herself of the thoughts. Beast Boy used that opportunity to dunk her in a little. She yelped & clung tighter to his neck, staring at the water as if it was about to rise up & kill her. He chuckled (I hate that word, it sounds so ignorant) to himself at her dilemma.
"Okay," he said, trying to calm her down. "I'm going to shift you around so that you're lying on your back, but you'll still be in my arms, okay?" he asked. She nodded, shifted herself around, & lay still in his arms. Slowly, he lowered her into the water. She started to strugle a little, so he shifted his arms to remind her that he was still holding her. She calmed down & put her trust in him. "All right, you need to arch your back just a little & stay still so that you can float, all right?" he asked. She nodded & did as she was told. After a moment, he slowly slipped his arms out from under her. Raven didn't seem to notice, so he backed up a few steps. After a minute, she opened her eyes & looked up, obviously expecting to see him standing there. When she didn't, however, she started to panic.
"Beast Boy?" she asked, not daring to move.
"I'm right here, Rae," he said, walking back over to her.
"Pick me back up! Right now!"
"All right, all right! Jeeze, don't have a panic attack," he said playfully. She rolled her eyes & waited for the feeling of his arms on her back. "Okay, now that you know how to float, I'm gonna teach you how to actually swim. All right, I'm gonna hold on to your waist & I want you to kick your legs, all right?" he asked, holding her waist. She nodded & kicked her legs. "Good, now I want you to sweep your arms. Here, grab on to my neck and watch how I do it, okay?" he asked. She wrapped her right arm around his neck & watched him as he moved his arms. She nodded to show that she understood & he held her by the waist again. She copied his movements exactly & kicked her legs at the same time. She still looked a little wary of the water, but he could tell that she was ready to try on her own now. "Okay, Rae. I'm gonna let you go, but I'll be standing right here. I want you do exactly what you've been doing." She nodded again & he let go. She started to sink a little, but got the hang of it within a minute. He beamed. "Woo-hoo! Way to go, Raven!" he shouted. She smiled & started to swim towards him, but he swam a few feet away.
"Hey!" she shouted, pouting slightly. "That's no fair! Get back here!"
"Gotta catch me first!" he shouted, laughing as he swam away. She swam towards him as fast as she could, but was no match for his experience. She growled a little, swam as fast as she could in his direction, & then chanted something under her breath.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" With that, Beast Boy was trapped in a bubble of black energy.
"Hey! That's not fair! Lemme go!" he shouted as she swam up to him, laughing. She dropped him, grabbed his shoulders, & laughed.
"I caught you!" she said, smiling victoriously. He grinned.
"Oh yeah?" he asked, and then plunged into the water. She looked around for a moment, worried, and felt a tug at her ankle. All of the sudden, Beast Boy dragged her under. She screeched & clawed her way back to the surface where Beast Boy gathered her up into his arms.
"Evil hydrogen/oxygen compound. You must die!" she sputtered, coughing up seawater. Beast Boy laughed at the expression on her face. "Oh, you think it's funny do you?" she asked, splashing water onto his face. He laughed & ducked back under the water. She looked around & held her breath, preparing to be pulled under, but was instead suddenly lifted a little way out of the water. She yelped & looked down to see a green dolphin swimming under her. She laughed, amused at the changeling's insane antics, & sat horse-back style on the green dolphin's back.
'Hold on!' Beast Boy said telepathically, surprising Raven. She quickly looked around for a place to grab hold on the dolphin's back, but, finding none, she squeezed her legs against his side. Almost immediately afterwards, Beast Boy shot forward through the waves, drenching Raven in sea-foam. She laughed and realized that this was probably the most fun she'd ever had in her whole life. For once, she felt free. Elated, she screamed in exileration as Beast Boy shot forward again. 'Having fun?' he asked playfully.
'Duh!' was her answer. He headed out way beyond the shore, taking her far out to sea. She laughed some more, his laughter echoing in her mind. Finally, he turned back and Raven was surprised to a handful of tourists littering the beach. She didn't care, and just kept on screeching with laughter. She could almost see Beast Boy laughing at her in her head. They stared, & a few of them took pictures, as B.B. approached the shore. Suddenly, he morphed back into human form with Raven sitting on his shoulders and walked up the beach, laughing with her. She wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling as a small crowd of people ran up to them. When he reached their towel, he dropped her gently on the ground and collapsed next to her, laughing. A guy that looked to be in his late 20's ran up to them.
"Aren't you guys the Teen Titans?" he asked, causing the others to stare even more. He had to wait for them to quit laughing before he got his answer.
"Yeah, why?" B.B. panted, looking at the guy.
"Why aren't you protecting the city?" he asked. Raven glared.
"We have lives you know," she said. "Besides, there's nobody attacking."
"How do you know?" he asked. B.B. and rae grinned, concentrated for a moment, & watched as their mini crime-detector thingys materialized out of nowhere. "How'd you do that?" the guy asked. They smiled at each other before B.B. gave his answer.
"A Teen Titan's secret," he said, causing Raven to laugh. A middle-aged woman in the back of the crowd spoke up next.
"Are you two dating?" she asked. This raised a few eyebrows, including those of the two Titans.
"Do you honestly think that we're going out?" Raven asked the lady. Beast Boy looked a little bit hurt.
"Um...yes?" the lady said. Raven looked over at Beast Boy, as if to ask him what to say. The look in his eyes was all the answer she needed.
"Yeah," she said, shrugging. "I guess we are." She smiled at B.B., who smiled back at her. This time it was a really old guy in a dark blue tuxedo who asked a question.
"Have you two done anything...inappropriate?" he asked, his grey mustache bristling. Rae & B.B. looked over at each other & suddenly burst out laughing.
"Yeah right!" Beast Boy managed to gasp out.
"Like that would happen!" Raven screached in between fits of laughter. (In truth, they hadn't even kissed yet.) The small crowd looked incredibly disappointed & left. The two laughed for a good ten minutes before deciding that it was time to go. It was, after all, almost sunset. Beast Boy started to pick all the stuff up, but Raven, who had already slipped her cloak back on, picked it up with her powers. She created a little black portal in the air, through which the main room was visible, & started throwing things into it. Realizing that she was hungry & that the picnic basket was still full, she left that & the blue beach towel. "Care for a trip to the park?" she asked Beast Boy. He nodded cheerfully and they set off (after he put his normal uniform back on, of course).
By the time they'd finished their little picnic in the park, it was night. It wasn't cold however. In fact, it was rather hot and humid in their little spot by the lake. A warm breeze stirred the branches of the trees above them as they sat on a dark blue beach towel upon which the remnants of thier picnic was scattered. The stars were shining unusually bright, and, all in all, it was a beautiful scene. Raven's head was resting on Beast Boy's shoulder & his right arm was wrapped around her. Raven looked up and saw him staring down at her, straight into her eyes, giving her a clear view of his. They were the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen, exactly the color of the leaves of the trees around them. His normal goofy aura had washed away, leaving only the steady pulse of love. His emerald skin looked smooth in the moonlight and his soft features were glowing. She'd never loved anyone more in her entire life. Slowly, she brought her face closer to his, & he did the same. Time seemed to stop almost entirely & it seemed to take forever. Finally, her face was only inches from his. She could see every detail of his gorgeous face in breath-taking detail. One thought was stuck in her mind: he's going to kiss me! She closed her eyes, moved even closer to him, and, finally, they kissed. It wasn't a dream, and they didn't wake up.
