Chapter Six: Silence and Motion

"Just a little further…yeah…that's it…keep going Rin…you can do it…" I whispered to myself, tiptoeing along the silent hallway toward the kitchen. Out of the kindness of my heart, (and to avoid a repeat of the pool incident), I'd decided to wake up extra early and prepare breakfast for the Titans.

"Alright…no one's awake…got it…yes!" I cheered quietly, reaching for the pancake batter. I stirred the batter happily, whistling a soft tune to myself. Once the pancakes were frying, I added chocolate chips and sprinkles, arranging them in various cute shapes. Little chocolate hearts and rainbow snowflakes smiled up at me. I flipped them over, grinning.

Once the pancakes were complete, I reached for a bag of lemons, squeezing their juice into six glasses. I added the sugar and water hastily, sensing that the other Titans would awaken at any moment. I happened to spot a carton of soy milk in the garbage can, and that's when I remembered that Beast Boy was a vegetarian. I closed my eyes, attempting to remember a breakfast recipe suitable for a vegetarian.

Hmm…cereal? Nah, there's no soy milk left. Bacon and eggs? NO WAY he'd eat that…too many animal products. I'll probably need to use soy for anything I make, but seeing as he consumed the last of the soy products last night…fruit will have to do, I guess.

Satisfied, I reached for a container of various fruits and began to slice them. Apples, pineapples, oranges, blueberries, pears, bananas, mangoes, and watermelon…I was greatly tempted to consume the entire salad. I topped the arrangement with a single chocolate-covered strawberry, pleased by my handiwork. If this doesn't satisfy him, I have no idea what will…hmm, they should be getting up by now.

Suddenly, my eyes focused on a gloved hand that was now reaching for a blueberry. I turned my head and spotted Beast Boy standing beside me, his face fixed in concentration. "Um…. BB?"

"Yeah?"

"I can see you, you know."

"I know! All I wanted was a blueberry!"

"It's your breakfast, so take one!"

"Mine? Oh…nice!" He glanced at the glasses and silverware arranged on the table. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now go ahead and sit down, no need to wait for everyone. Say, what are you doing up this early anyway?"

"…I was thinking."

"Thinking? About what?" This was certainly an interesting twist. According to Raven, Beast Boy never really thought about anything, and was rather brainless in some respects. But…I'd seen another side to him when I'd brought up the subject of Terra. They had been close; there was no doubt about that. He'd probably give anything to see her smile one more time, or hold her tightly once more. Does Squall feel the same about me?

I closed my eyes in an attempt to rid myself of that particular thought.

"Terra…"

"What?" My head snapped up at the sound of that name.

"I-said-that-I-am-thinking-about-Terra!" Beast Boy shouted, pronouncing each word clearly as if I were deaf.

"Shh." I hushed him, praying that we wouldn't awaken a grumpy Raven. "I heard you, I was just thinking about something else. What about her?"

"Do you know her story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, I'd better explain first. Terra was a special girl with the ability to control rocks. We met her a little while ago, and she was great. We hung out with her for a while, and she was offered a spot on the team. It would have been awesome, but then Slade's goonies attacked."

"Slade?"

"Oh yeah, Slade's a psychotic loony that had a run-in with Robin a while back. Those two kept butting heads every time they met, until the day Robin tracked him down. Slade had implanted little explody things in our bodies, so he said that either Robin could become his apprentice or the rest of us would die. I guess you can figure out which option he picked."

"The thing is, Slade's really creepy. He's more powerful than us, and he's got this army of loonies to back him up. Any crime he commits usually goes undetected. So with Robin on his side, he'd be unstoppable, right? Wrong. Slade could never suppress Robin's feelings, so Robin fought back after he was pushed past the breaking point. We got him back on our side, but Rob still beats himself up about what he should have done or said."

"Back to Terra's story, she tried to fight Slade with us, but her powers spun out of control. We took her back to the tower with us, and she was really worried about her inability to control her powers. I promised her that I'd keep her weakness a secret, but later Robin revealed that he knew it too. She thought that I'd broken the promise, and she ran away. Slade used her confusion to his advantage, and lured her into becoming a spy."

"Later, she came back to us, asking if she could join the team. We agreed to let her tag along, and she could join once she proved herself worthy of being a Titan. She helped us save the tower from one of Slade's plans, and we inducted her as a member."

"After that, she was happy with us for a few weeks. I liked her more and more every day, and we became best friends. I guess it was because we both felt a little like outsiders in the group. When we were hanging out at the carnival one day, she tried to tell me her terrible secret. Before she could finish, Slade came for her. I'd promised to always be her friend, but I couldn't believe that she'd turn to Slade, and I kinda yelled at her. She went with Slade."

"A few days later, she was sporting a Slade-style uniform and destroying the city. We had to fight her, and it was rough because Slade was making her powers stronger. She almost killed us, but we came back for Round 2. In the end, I managed to get past the wall she and Slade had built around her heart. She sent him hurtling into a volcano, and I knew she'd always be my friend."

"Unfortunately, the rock she'd pulled out of the earth to kill Slade had triggered a volcano, and Terra was the only one who could save the city. I hugged her one last time, and then I escaped with the other Titans while she stopped the eruption. It's great that the city was saved, but Terra ended up imprisoned in that rock."

"…I guess I really miss her, and I'd do anything to be with her again."

He buried his face in his hands, and I sighed silently. So it was true. Operation Terra was immediately moved up on my priorities list. If I could make him happy…that would be worth so much.

By this time, it turned out; the rest of the Titans had already awakened. As I glanced at the empty pans and missing carton of orange juice, I realized that they'd already eaten my carefully prepared meal. I also noticed Starfire downing the last of the fruit salad I'd slaved over for Beast Boy. I made a mental note to take him out for lunch today.

"Er…so how's breakfast?" I asked cautiously, glancing at my new friends.

"Not bad." Cyborg replied, stretching his mechanical arms over his head.

"Okay." Raven stated, in a slightly more than toneless voice. I shrugged and smiled appreciatively, not really expecting anything else.

"Most wonderful." Starfire quipped, grinning like a lunatic.

"Thank you." Robin shrugged, a half smile on his face.

"Er…I asked you to rate the breakfast, not to thank me." I smiled back, noting that his plate was sparkling clean.

"Um…you get an 8.5 out of 10, I guess."

"Thank you, kind sir."

"You're welcome."

"Where's mine?" Beast Boy asked, suddenly reverting to his old self. Apparently, the aroma of fresh food had brought him back to our reality.

"Er…sorry BB, but it appears that the others ate your food."

"Oh…the salad of fruits was intended for Beast Boy? I apologize." Starfire blurted, embarrassment in her voice.

"No, don't worry Star!" I assured, hoping that she wasn't too upset. "It's my fault for forgetting to put his food on the table, there's no way you could have known! Besides, I doubt you consumed the entire thing yourself." I glanced at the others, not accusingly but questioningly. Cyborg coughed, Robin shook his head, and Raven silently gestured to a mass of tanish-pinkish blob.

"Oh, my little bungorf is most sorry as well!" Starfire shrieked, grabbing the blob.

"What is that?" I asked, glancing at what resembled a little maggot. I noticed that he wore a collar around his neck area, with the name "Silkie" engraved on a tag that was attached.

"Oh, that's Star's pet worm. His name's Silkie, and he loves weird food." Cyborg commented, glaring at the thing as if it were his worst enemy.

"How does a fruit salad qualify as weird food?" I asked.

"I don't know, but how does MY LEG qualify as food, period!" Cyborg ranted, continuing to send invisible laser rays of doom at Silkie.

"Um…Cy? Do you wanna play on the Gamestation now?" Beast Boy asked hesitantly, fearing the robotic one's wrath.

"Maybe."

"I bet you can't beat my record at Hung Chock Fooky!" Beast Boy teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, can't I?" Cyborg looked up and met Beast Boy's eyes for a second. I can't say for sure what silent words passed between them, but I think it might have been something like:

"Chill dude, that Silkie-eating-your-best-leg thing happened practically a million years ago! C'mon, you haven't had enough fun yet today!"

"And what exactly do you mean by fun? Chinese water torture? And don't steer me off subject!"

"Dude, I've got to steer you off subject! If I don't, you'll end up blasting a hole through Starfire or something!"

"What do you mean by that!"

"I mean that you've got such a thick skull that you don't know when you're diving off the deep end! That anger problem of yours will kill us all!"

"What problem?"

"Exactly!"

"BB, I don't think you want to continue down this road."

"Why not? If you don't face this now, someone could get hurt! Let go of the anger, dude!"

"…BB…just shut up, okay?"

"No!"

"AARGH!" (cue large dust cloud as BB and Cy tear each other apart)

Oookay, maybe not. I can't let my twisted fantasies get in the way of actual life. Anyway, here's how Cyborg actually responded.

"You're on."

Beast Boy whooped with delight, and the buddies started another round of video games. If only all conflicts could be resolved so easily…or better yet, why can't we just end our wars altogether?

A/N: Woohoo, 6 finally went up! So sorry for the mega-huge update drought, I got lazy over the past few weeks. I'd like to take this moment to thank my loyal reviewers, and to get you rallied up for Chapter 7, starring Squall, his gang, and the latest threat to universal peace!