Chapter 3: Birthright

A/N: This chapter includes an instance of corporeal punishment. If this is something that bothers you, please proceed with caution. You've been warned.

The Titans gathered in the meeting room soon after the children were found. Terra remained in her room, but the others felt that perhaps this was best for now. It was getting late, and the parents gathered around the table each held a dozing child in their arms.

"Is Olivia okay?" Robin asked gently. Raven nodded silently, still holding Olivia close.

"What are we going to do?" asked Jinx. "Has anyone talked to Terra since we got home?"

"I tried, but she insists that it's something she has to deal with on her own. I tried to talk to her about not taking it out on the kids, but she wasn't in a mood to listen to me," Torque replied.

"We need to do something and talking isn't working. Any ideas?" Robin asked.

"A leave of absence could be beneficial," Cyborg said. "It might give her time to think and sort stuff out." Beast Boy took a deep breath before answering.

"I think she deserves exactly what she gave Olivia," Beast Boy said, looking down at little Emily cuddling sleepily in his arms. Toby, one of the only kids still awake, looked at his father and then at the rest of the Titans before speaking up.

"But, Daddy, would that make it better? Would we be good friends if we did that?" Toby asked. The others remained quiet. Toby was right.

"Toby, we've already tried. Auntie Terra isn't interested in talking. What would you have us do?" Robin replied. Toby lowered his eyes, at a loss for words. Calm discussion had always worked for he and Olivia and the other kids in the past.

"What does Olivia think?" Speedy asked. Olivia looked up from her mother's shoulder, shifting her gaze from one side of the table to the other but remaining silent.

"Do you think Auntie Terra should have the same punishment that she gave you?" Raven clarified for her. Olivia thought about this. She tried to remember what she was taught in school. She tried to remember what her teacher would do. She was a first grader now, and occasionally, her teacher was forced to remove recess time from troublesome students or to place them in the corner. In harsher cases, the teacher would remove them from the room entirely. Since that wasn't an option in this case, Olivia pondered the proposition.

"Yes," Olivia answered. The other Titans nodded solemnly but Toby wasn't satisfied.

"Livie!" he cried. "That isn't right!" Olivia's blue eyes filled with tears as she turned to face her twin brother.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted. "No one's ever hit you!" The Titans bowed their heads at this as Olivia buried her face in Raven's cloak and cried a little more. Robin looked at his teammates in desperation.

"If anyone has a better idea, please say so. Making her leave the team for a while would only be a temporary solution. The problem will still be waiting when she returns. Olivia's right: we have to show her what it's like," Robin said. "It's getting late. Do we want to deal with this in the morning?" The Titan parents nodded. The kids had been through enough for one night.

The Next Morning:

"Robin, I do not advise this course of action," Starfire murmured seriously to her husband as he stood at their bedroom window the next morning.

"I know, Star, but if I don't—if I don't uphold a decision that the team made together—I could never ask them to respect a decision that I make. I couldn't ask them to respect my authority," Robin replied, crawling back up onto the bed and stroking Starfire's hair. Starfire rolled over and went back to sleep. Robin dressed and went to find Terra.

"You what?" Terra shouted when Robin found her in the kitchen with a few of the others. "You took it upon yourself to make this decision without me?" Terra's face turned pale as it dawned on her that Robin was actually serious.

"You can't do this!" Terra screeched incredulously.

"How many times did you strike Olivia yesterday?"

"This is crazy! You can't be--"

"How many times?"

Terra lowered her head and murmured almost inaudibly, "Ten…"

Robin slowly produced a paddle from beneath his cape. He explained that the trainer that worked with the acrobats and tumblers when he was a youngster used to beat the younger performers if they made a mistake in a performance. Robin and a handful of other performing teens had suffered it several times as they developed their skills. Robin had stolen it one day when the trainer was ill and had been hiding it all these years.

"I don't take any pleasure in doing this, Terra. You're our friend. But the team has made a decision and I have to respect it. We set boundaries and limits for the kids, but they don't mean anything unless we also set boundaries and limits for ourselves and each other."

"Robin..."

"Let's go, Terra," Robin says softly but firmly. Terra drags her feet accompanying him to a nearby work room.

"Robin--please--"

"Bend over, Terra. Hands on the desk...." Robin's heart was pounding. He really did not want to do this to her, but he was afraid she wouldn't understand if he didn't. Terra was shaking, but she complied. She was short of breath, her heart was racing, and she was already starting to cry, even though Robin hadn't even touched her.

"Rob..."

"This is for your own good, Terra."

Robin took step forward and hesitantly pulled down the lower half of her uniform. Terra gasped and jerked but Robin placed a hand on her back for a moment and she steadied herself. She resumed her position, nearly hyperventilating. Robin stepped back and prepared for what he was about to do. Terra heard the soft hiss of air as Robin wound up and swung.

CRACK!

Terra screamed and collapsed to the floor, shaking and sobbing. Robin dropped the paddle, now cracked in half, fell to his knees, and pulled her into his arms. Robin rocked her and murmured comforting words as he stroked her hair. He hadn't even touched her. He had purposefully hit the edge of the desk instead. Robin himself was near tears, too.

"Do you see now? Look how scared you were, and you're a grown woman! How afraid do you think Olivia was when you spanked her and then left her there all alone to get sick and lose consciousness...all alone..."

"She what?"

"You didn't even realize you hit her so hard, did you?" Robin said gently.

"Oh, my God..." Terra wept. "She'll never forgive me!"

"Sure she will," Robin said, reassuringly, still holding her and stroking her hair. "It's going to take time, but she will."

"What have I done?" Terra sobbed, wetting Robin's uniform with her tears.

"You made a mistake, Terra. It's human to make mistakes. Could you have done worse?" Robin replied.

"I don't see how!" Terra wailed.

"If you had been any angrier, you might have killed her. Wouldn't that be worse?" Robin suggested. Terra nodded.

"All right. I agree. Let's make it right," Robin said, firmly kissing Terra's temple and continuing to hug her tight. She was still clutching his sleeve and her hands were shaking.

"Even with everything I've been through, that's the most terrified I've ever been in my life!" Terra wept, still brushing away tears.

Robin helped her up and he let her straighten her uniform. He then offered another hug--an embrace that Robin allowed to linger until nearly all of the blonde Titan's tears had dried away.

"You didn't do this for no reason, Terra. You've been upset about something for a long time but you're not telling us what's wrong. Let us in. What's going on?" Robin said, smoothing Terra's hair.

"You'll think it's stupid," Terra sniffled.

"No I won't," Robin replied. "I promise."

"Well, you see, it's just that…"

Before Terra could utter the words, the front door of the Tower opened and shut, setting off the alert light in the work room.

"Company?" Robin wondered.

Aqualad walked into a very quiet Titans Tower and began to wonder what was going on. Olivia's fish had told him that there was trouble but now everything was quiet.

"Did I miss the party?" he asked the fish through the protective water-filled bubble he held it in. Speedy slid down the banister and met him at the door.

"What's up, gill breath?" Speedy said. "We didn't expect you back so soon."

"I got a message saying there was trouble here," Aqualad replied. "What's going on, dweeb-boy?" Speedy patted him on the back and draped an arm around his shoulder.

"You have no idea, fish-lips. Not a clue," Speedy replied.

"Care to fill me in, Robin Hood?" Aqualad shot back. "Where's Terra?"

"You better sit down, guppy lover," Speedy said, finally getting the last word as he led Aqualad to a chair.

"Uncle Aqualad!" Olivia squealed as she ran to hug him. Aqualad smiled as he deposited her fish back into its aquarium.

"Thanks for alerting me, kiddo. I'm glad the system works," Aqualad said, hugging each of the twins and then the other kids. He stood again and looked behind him. Several of the Titans were entering the room; among them was just the woman he needed to see. He knew about the trouble she had been in the previous night and that morning, but he had something so pressing to talk to the team about that he put it aside for a while.

"Hey, Aqualad," said Robin, shaking his hand. Aqualad returned the gesture briefly and then turned to take Terra into his arms. He kissed her soundly on the lips and then looked into her eyes, relief shining in his own. He was so glad to be back.

"You're a sight for sore eyes!" he sighed. Terra nearly cried. She felt she didn't deserve this affection after her behavior the day before. "I have fantastic news. After I negotiated that treaty for the Atlantians, I had a talk with the Regents. I've been offered the throne."

The Titans reacted in shock. The throne? As in they would make Aqualad their king?

"I'm the only remaining descendant of the royal family. This is my birthright. I have some time to decide but I had to come back and tell you all. But most of all, I came to ask you a question. Terra, I love you. If I choose to ascend the throne, will you be my queen?" Aqualad asked. All motion in the room ceased. Terra looked at Aqualad and then felt wearily for something to support herself on. Had she heard him right?

"Garth…I can't be your queen. I can't breathe under water!" Terra cried, raising her voice with each successive word. "I'm thrilled that they've given you this opportunity, but I don't see any way that we could be together if you took it!"

"We'll find a way! Please, Terra, I love you so much! I don't think I can do it without you beside me!" Aqualad pleaded.

"You should have thought of that before!" Terra shouted. "If you do this—if you choose to take the throne—that's your decision, but if you do go, you go without me!"

Aqualad took a shocked step back. This was an ultimatum he had not counted on.

"Terra…" he whispered, his purple eyes gathering heartbroken tears.

"You heard me. Go back to your people. Rule them wisely and well. But you'll do it without me," Terra replied through gritted teeth. She was holding back the sob that begged to rip free of her soul.

"Fine…" Aqualad said after minutes of tense silence. He turned about and immediately left the Tower, returning to the sea without another word.

Terra watched from the high Tower windows as he dove gracefully back into the seas and finally released her sob. Still frozen in their places, stunned by what had just happened, the other Titans watched as Terra fled Titans Tower, running in the opposite direction of the bay. Though they tried to stop her, Terra fought the other Titans off and continued to run. There was nothing left for her here. Once again, Terra was running away, leaving a wake of tears behind her.

The next day, at 12:30 in the afternoon, to the shock of everyone, there was a pounding on the door of the Tower. Aqualad had returned. He was out of breath and weak, having come as fast as he could possibly swim.

"Where…" he gasped. "Where's Terra?"

"We lost track of her about 3:30 this morning. She left our tracking range," Cyborg answered.

"I thought you were going back to become King of Atlantis?" Raven stammered.

"I gave it up…I told them…if it was going…to cost me the love of my life…that I wasn't interested. They got along without me this far…let them keep going…" Aqualad replied, steadily catching his breath.

The other Titans looked at one another in helpless regret. They couldn't stop Terra—she had been so upset—and now that Aqualad had returned for her, she was nowhere to be found.

"Which way did she go?" Aqualad cried.

"You're going alone?" Beast Boy cried.

"Not a chance in hell," Robin added.

"Friends are friends forever. We are going with you," Starfire added.

"Call a sitter!" Torque shouted. "We've got a radar blip on our little mover-and-shaker! Let's go!"