Ok so I lied again. You can see where my priorities stand. Anyway, this is about Terra. Another idea that I wanted to write. This I suppose explains Terra's disparity on promises. Why she was so insistent on Beast Boy swearing he wouldn't tell about her powers. So this is the origin of that.


The road was before them. Everything behind would remain tightly wound in memory.

The car's air conditioning had broke forty miles back. They had cracked their widows, but the hot air was little relief. Her thin arm hung outside the window, swimming along with the wind. Up and down. Up and down. Her mother whistled along with the static radio. She watched as her mother fiddled with a butterfly clip that was in the mother's hair. It had been passed down from great grandmother to grandmother to mother and someday to her. But for now it held her mother's hair in place, while her own strands whipped furiously in the wind.

They had been traveling for a while when her mother suddenly pulled them over to the side of the road. Her mother grinned with anticipation. The woman took her hand excitedly, pulling her across the seat.

"I wanted you to see this. To appreciate it."

When the door was open, the girl immediately threw her hand across her face. The smell was more than a person could bear. She looked up at her mother who had begun to giggle. Her mother took her hand and led her across the road.

She let her mother take her all the way to the shoreline. The water was still as was everything around it. Kissing the top of her head, her mother smiled at her.

Then her mother bent down on all fours. She saw as the woman waved for her to come down as well. She hesitated and then joined her mother on the ground.

"What are we looking for?" She said almost in a whisper.

Her mother cupped hands around her face, and brought their faces close to one another. It felt like they were in a cave or a tomb discovering treasures not seen by human eye for thousands of years. Her mother's hot breath hit her and she noted the sparkle in her mother's eyes.

"A skipping stone. A perfect skipping stone is what we seek my dear."

Her mother then released her and they both scoured the ground searching for the prize.

Suddenly her mother shot up and shouted with joy. She grinned and wandered over towards the woman. As quickly as the outburst had came her mother now stood still. Then turning the woman focused attention out towards the barren lake. The mother's eyes narrowed and then with a flick of a hand, the rock went soaring across the lake. The girl cheered and wrapped her arms tightly around the woman. She then felt her mother take her hands away from what they grasped. She looked up to her mother. The eyes she saw that usually sparkled with mischief and excitement now held hesitation. Like a question was being rolled over in the mother's head. It made the girl let go completely. They stood for a moment and then the mother smiled.

'Hey baby, now you try."

A stone was dropped into her hand. She clasped it with tiny fingers and then unclasped it. She sighed and then walked carefully up to the water. Her bare feet met with the water, her toes kissed by the small ripples caused by the wind. She closed her eyes and bit her lip in uncertainty.

She gave it a toss. It plopped into the placid water. She frowned with frustration. Her mother laughed.

"It's in your wrist sweetie. Here let me help you."

With her mother's arm holding hers, they moved in one motion. Releasing the rock, it sped across the water, until it was no longer in sight. She looked up to her mother, a wide grin across her small face. The mother looked back down and the back out to the water, as if trying to trace the rock's path.

"We will do so much traveling Terra; like rolling stones. This is just the beginning. I want you to see Mammoth cave. Oh and the Ozarks. And will go up to Alaska to see the Northern lights. However, before we do, I know this great place for pie. Best place for apple. Then we can visit the amusement park my friends own."

She took her mother's hand and they walked back to the car.

The road bounced beneath the tires. She had lain her head in her mother's lap. Her feet dangled off the edge of the seat and she wiggled her toes freely. She saw her mother look at her and stick a tongue out. She returned the gesture by crossing her eyes and sucking her cheeks in. They laughed as her mother pulled into a parking space in front of the giant glowing sign that read in red lights BENS.

She ran ahead to open the door. Her mother bowed graciously and then took her hand. Some folks nodded at them as they walked in. A man winked at her as he gave the cue ball a hit. It knocked into the number five hitting it in to the pocket.

They seated themselves at the bar. A tired, young waitress approached them.

"What'll it be for yah two tanight?"

"The usual Pam."

The server nodded and then disappeared into the back room.

The girl spun on her stool as her mother primped by looking into a spoon. The girl giggled. Her mother set down the utensil and looked at her.

"What, may I ask, is so funny."

"You're using a spoon as a mirror mommy when there is a mirror right in front of you."

Her mother straightened up and sniffed proudly. "When we're at this home, this is the mirror I use to check on myself. It reminds me where I am and where I could be going." Her mother then held the spoon in front of the girl's face.

"You're my daughter and will do so also."

A contorted visage smiled back at her. She felt something slid up beside her and as she looked down, a gorgeous apple pie was before her. She looked up to her mother and grinned.

"It's also magic too! It brought the pies to us!"

Before long, the pies had vanished. Two very satisfied customers smiled at one another as they left the restaurant. They loaded themselves into the car. She slid across the seat to be closer to her mother. Her mother wrapped an arm around her and started the car up. The headlights glared out into the darkness as they guided the travelers' back on to the road. She snuggled her face into her mother's stomach. For moment, she held her breath. The action had reminded her of when her mother had made her rest her ear to the ground. Her mother had turned towards her.

"You are part of the earth. You must become in tune with it. No matter what happens, you will never be lost. Everywhere is your home."

She had looked back to her mother; the intensity revealed startled her slightly. She dug her hand into the dirt, letting it be manipulated by her fingertips.

This had happened right before her mother had taken them away. Right before he could have the chance to find them. Not that he would want to, but there was always the possibility.

She felt her eyes grow heavy and she waned off in to a slight doze.

Her mother jabbed a finger into her side. She motioned with her hand to leave her alone, but her mother grabbed her and propped her up. Her eyes were met by a bedazzlement of lights. Screams could be heard as a roller coaster descended from the sky. Music from the carousel drifted lazily around the park. Pink clouds of cotton candy floated by.

"What shall we do first?" her mother asked.

"Everything." She replied.

They stumbled over to a bench. Literally, they must have been all over the park. From winning games at a plethora of booths, to riding the roller coaster ten times until they puked, the park had treated them.

Her mother fiddled with her blond strands, weaving them in and out to form a loose braid. She liked the feel of her mother's fingers between her long hair. She sighed and thought to herself out of all the places they had been to recently, this was the best home yet. Just her and her mother. And it would be that way forever.

She felt a tug on one of the braids.

"You should go on the Tilt-A-Whirl. It will be the last ride."

She smiled at her mother and then took the hand that was on her braid and led her mother over to the ride. She ran ahead and then waited for her mother so she could escort the woman up the ramp. But her mother stayed back. She walked over to where her mother stood. Her mother placed a hand on her head.

"Baby, your still hunger aren't you?"

She shook her head, which made her mother laugh lightly.

"You're always hungry. With the appetite you have, you could out eat at least a whole foot ball team of grown men. Now go on and I'll be back with three cotton candies; one for me and two for you."

She hesitated, delicately playing with her mother's hand. Her mother squatted down and cupped her face with a hand.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back. I promise."

Taking the clip from the hair strands it held the mother pulled back the girl's golden locks and snapped the clip into place. Her mother kissed her head as she was escorted on to the Tilt –A-Whirl. As the bar was brought down across her lap, she watched her mother fade into the crowd.

The ride started up with a creak. Slowly, her compartment spun, like a batter taking a swing at a ball. Everything became an impressionistic blur. The lights made her head spin. She clung tighter to the bar as if this could keep her grounded. Shouts and squeals swarmed the air. She too would have been having more fun if her mother had been there with her. All that this could suffice was confusion. The ride would be over soon; however, and then she could rejoin her mother.

Her eyes started to register actually figures instead of smears. The shouts became less, and a creak singled the stop. She fidgeted in her seat. A man had started to come around lifting the bar up for people. He was at least three away from her. She tapped lightly on the bar. It wouldn't matter how soon he came or not. Her mother would be waiting for her with a tall mound of cotton candy. Moreover, after they finished, they would continue their trip. Maybe they could even go back to BENS for a second pie. Perhaps pie for breakfast.

She felt the tension on her lap released and immediately jumping out of her seat she raced down the ramp. Flinging herself into the crowed, she searched for her mother. It was like walking through a forest, the people towering over her like red oak trees.

Suddenly, she spied a lean figure standing at the snack bar. She grinned and raced over, throwing her arms around her mother's legs. She waited for her mother to kiss her on the head. Instead, she was shoved to the ground. The adult stared down at her with menacing eyes.

"Get away from me you little brat. I'm not your skank of a mother."

She backed away from the person. She should have realized it wasn't her mother; the woman reeked of cigarettes and booze.

She was tired. The park was starting to empty. She shivered slightly. She didn't know what time it was. A growl from her stomach disrupted her thoughts. Clutching her stomach, she wandered over to the bench her mother and her had been sitting on earlier. Maybe that's where her mother expected to her. As she lay down she watched the lights snap off on the Ferris Wheel. A wind whipped up some dirt, spinning it around in little circles. She reached up and touched her head. She felt the clip and pulled it out. It had been handed down for generations her mother had explained to her. Fingering it, she sat up and placed it back in her hair. It was now hers.