The watchtower turned out to be more maze-like that one could have guessed from the outside. Every hallway looked the same, and there were many doors. I wondered what was behind all those doors. After all, only five people lived in this gigantic place—how many rooms did five people need?

It took me about 10 minutes to find my way to where the food was. The place appeared to be some sort of common room, with a giant monitor and semi-circular couch in the center of it all. Toward the right was a sink, stove, and under-counter refrigerator. There was also an island-countertop with a plate holding a large stack of golden pancakes, smothered in butter.

The Teen Titans were also there. Beast Boy and Cyborg sat on the couch, playing a game on the giant screen. Starfire was gathering up dirty plates and glasses to wash. Robin was sitting at the island, a half-eaten pancake on the plate in front of him.

I took a deep breath and quietly began to walk down the steps. I swear I didn't make a noise, but everyone turned to look at me right away.

I froze, feeling extremely uncomfortable under the gaze of all those eyes. I didn't know what they were expecting of me—of Raven. I cleared my throat, smiling softly. "Uh, good morning," I said.

Starfire rushed to my side. "Good morning!" she beamed. "We are very happy to see that you are feeling well today." She grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the counter. "Robin has made mass quantities of pancakes." She pushed on my shoulders, forcing me to sit on a barstool. In the blink of an eye, she set a plate in front of me with a stack of four pancakes.

It was a lot of food, but I was starving.

"Thank you," I said.

Robin, who sat across from me, smiled softly. "It's good to see you," he said.

"Believe me," I said, "it's good to be seen." I picked up my fork and cut off a piece of pancake, placing it in my mouth. The flavor was indescribable. I had missed food soooo much. I wonder if pancakes had ever tasted this good to anyone in the entire world. It was all I could do to keep from moaning.

The other guys shut off their game and came over to join the conversation.

"You look like you're feeling better," Beast Boy said. Then he lowered his voice. "We were really worried about you."

"You were asleep for a long time," Cyborg said.

I paused before asking the question that I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to, "How long?"

"You have been unconscious for a week," Starfire answered.

A week? Wow. Well, I was determined not to sleep like that again for as long as I could. Sleep could be saved for when I was dead.

"Well, I do feel much better," I said. "Thank you all for taking such good care of me." I took another bite of pancake, chewing it as slowly as before to savor every bit of the food.

Everyone smiled. Cyborg and Beast Boy turned to go back to their game; Starfire resumed her dish washing. And I realized that Robin was staring at me.

I squirmed a bit in my seat. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

He continued to scrutinize me. "You just seem different."

I almost choked on the food in my mouth. "Different?" I asked with a mouthful of food. "How so?"

His gaze relaxed a bit. "Well, for one thing, what's with your makeshift skirt?"

I swallowed. "Oh, uh…my legs were cold this morning and since I didn't have any pants, I decided to just use my skirt. I think I may go to the store today to buy a pair."

There it was again. I could feel everything grind to a screeching halt as everyone stared at me again.

"Raven wants to go shopping?" Beast Boy spoke incredulously. He exchanged glances with Cyborg before they returned to their game.

"Oh glorious!" Starfire exclaimed. She seemed really excited. "After you have finished eating, you and I will venture to the mall of shopping!"

"Um, okay," I said, quickly putting another forkful of food in my mouth so I wouldn't have to say anything else.

Robin polished off the last of his breakfast and chased it down with some milk. "Just one more thing," he started, "what about your voice? It seems a bit odd."

"It does?" I didn't know how I was going to explain this one. I had no idea what Raven sounded like. Did I not sound like her? I didn't exactly sound like Morgan, but I was using a stolen set of pipes.

"Yeah. Not quite as…dispassionate as usual."

Dispassionate? What did that mean? I shrugged. "I guess I'm just in a really good mood today."

He didn't say anything after that. I'm not sure if he bought it. I was already wondering how I was going to keep up this act. I'd been downstairs for exactly five minutes and I already felt like I had been failing my test as Raven.

Maybe I should tell them who I was—let them know that I wasn't Raven. But then what would they do? Lock me up? They certainly had every right to.

But today was my first chance in years to be alive—to experience all the things that I had been deprived of for two years.

I'll tell them tomorrow, I promised. I just need one day.

Starfire was certainly an interesting shopping partner. The girl got excited by everything. It was almost exhausting. I'd struggle to get her away from the testers at the makeup counter, and then she'd spot the jewelry and get fascinated by all of that. I finally dragged her up to the clothes and piled lots of things into her arms to keep her busy.

I had no idea what Raven's size was and I had no idea how various colors would look with her skin tone, so I grabbed pretty much everything in sight. When Starfire's arms were full, I took her into the dressing room and began to try on everything.

Surprisingly, a lot of things looked good with gray skin. I finally chose a couple of pairs of pants and some tops. I pulled a pair of black pants on over my leotard to wear on the way home. Starfire seemed overjoyed by my purchases, rambling about how she was so glad we had gone shopping together. But as we left the mall, I couldn't help but think back to Raven's closet and the lack of any variety in it. Was I already blowing it by buying these clothes?

Well, it didn't matter; I just had to get by for one day.

By the time we made it back to the watchtower, the sun had disappeared behind a veil of gray clouds. Starfire went inside, but I remained outside by the beach. I sat on the rocks, slipping off my shoes to so that I could feel the sand and water on my toes. Everything smelled like sea mist.

Maybe I was just as silly as Starfire had been at the mall. Everything seemed to hold a simple pleasure for me now. I lied back on the rocks, which were still warm from being in the sun all afternoon. I watched the clouds move overhead, smiling softly.

"Uh, Raven?" came a soft voice.

I sat up quickly, turning in embarrassment. Beast Boy stood on the rocks a few feet above me. "Oh, hi," I said.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Um, no," I said. "Not at all."

He came down and sat beside me on the rock. I was too embarrassed now to lie back down, so I sat with my hands in my lap, moving my toes in the water.

"I was wondering if we could talk."

Uh-oh. Talking. That meant more questions that I probably couldn't answer. What was the solution? Make him talk instead.

"Actually," I began, "I was hoping I could ask you a question."

"Shoot," he said.

I paused for a moment, scratching my head. "I'm afraid I don't actually remember what happened the day I was hurt. Can you tell me anything?"

"Sure," he said. "I didn't actually see it happen, but Star did. She said that you were in the middle of casting a spell and then you just seemed lose consciousness. You fell out of the sky and landed on top of a pile of rubble."

I let his words sink in for a moment. That certainly explained the massive bruising on the right side of my body.

"Do you remember what happened?" he asked.

I quickly shook my head. "No, no. Nope," I rambled. "I mean, I was casting a spell like Star said, and then…nothing." As I thought about it, I remembered the SUV and the baby in the car. Had I actually saved the baby? "Beast Boy, there was a convenience store nearby, and an SUV out front. Do you know if..? I mean, was any of that destroyed?"

He looked at me like I had grown another head. "I don't really know what you're talking about, but I don't think so. Cyborg and Robin blew that guy into pebbles super-fast after you fell. Then we got you home and put you in the infirmary. It took you a lot longer than usual to heal yourself, though. It was just all weird."

"But I'm better now," I offered.

He smiled softly. "I'm glad."

Droplets of rain began to pour from the sky, and I tilted my head up to feel them fall on my face. The drops were few and far between at first, and then began to come faster.

"Uh, what're you doing?" Beast Boy asked.

I smiled. "Enjoying the rain." He said nothing, still giving me that odd look. "Come on, don't you know how to enjoy the rain?"

"I'm Beast Boy. Of course I know how to enjoy the rain." And suddenly he turned into a duck.

I jumped at the sudden transformation. But then the duck hopped off the rock and waddled into the water, quacking happily. There was just something very humorous about watching the green duck paddle in the water, and I had to giggle. It felt good to giggle.

So I lied back on the rock again, and we both enjoyed the rain in our own way.