--Chapter 2--
Disclaimer: Instead of making a 'disclaimer' note in every chapter, I'm going to make this disclaimer signify for every other chapter as well. Ok? Ok. So…I don't own anything except the idea and the plot.
Hazel-specked green eyes stared at the calendar pinned roughly to the green coloured walls of the room.
June first, 2005.
One year.
365 days.
8,760 hours…
525,600 minutes.
He was still waiting.
She'd laugh at him right now if she was here, he'd never been the 'deep' type, in her opinion.
He chuckled.
"If only you knew, Rae…"
The green changeling turned his gaze to a lone, silver framed photo by his bedside.
A picture of Raven, taken just a day or so before she left.
She was smiling, a rare sight that he reveled in every night, just before bedtime.
The picture would have been surprising to anyone who took a look.
She was dancing freely in a torrential downpour, looking as elegant as ever in her leotard and cape. Pale, long arms extended to the heavens, as if she was begging for more, as the rain fell down mercilessly.
She never knew that he ever snapped the picture to begin with.
She had been tending to her garden, her own, private place, although it was open to fresh air, next to the rooftop.
It shocked everyone to know that she could ever care for something.
Blue and purple dominated the little secret garden, with an occasional white and red here and there to liven things up. She went up there almost every day to tend for her 'babies', caring for them better than any famous gardener ever could.
That day was a sunny day, and she had decided to visit her garden. All of a sudden, it had begun to rain heavily and Beast Boy had decided to call her back, holding his camera, though he never knew why.
He found her twirling silently in the rain, her cape, instead of being waterlogged and heavy with rain water, billowed behind her, mirroring her graceful movements whilst being blown helter-skelter in the wind.
Ironically, all the flowers in her garden had a washed-out look except for the violets, which, being one of the smallest flowers in her garden, seemed to bloom their hardest and their most beautiful during this gloomy rain. They seemed to tower above the other plants in their own way, blowing this way and that in the howling gale but never snapped or broke.
Her short, straight, violet-coloured strands of hair whipped wildly around her, enhancing her sharp yet delicate features of her pale face, matching the dark, alluring hue of the purple flowers surrounding her. Her eyes, a similar violet-purple, gleamed with rare happiness, putting the vibrant colour of the flowers to shame.
He summed it up with one word:
Beautiful.
Anyone else who never knew her would think she was just crazy.
But, after all, he was the one who met her, (or was it the other way round?) before they joined the titans.
He could say that he knew her the best out of the others.
Saying goodbye…
Is never an easy thing,
But you never said…
That you'd stay forever
So if you must go,
Darling…I'll set you free,
But I know in time…
We'll be together…
Love will lead you back…
Someday, I just know that,
Love will lead you back to my arms…
Where you belong,
I'm sure…
Sure as stars are shining,
One day you will find me again…
It won't be long…
One of these days, oh…
Love will lead you, back…
xxxxxxxxxx
"One large, double-decker, meat-a-licious cheese and barbeque sauce burger, coming right up!"
"Dude! You know I'm a vegan, right! And, tofu rules!"
"Uhh…I'll just have to agree with Cy on that one. Sorry, BB."
Beast Boy pouted stupidly, his green lip sticking out in a 'cute' puppy dog pout.
"You're just jealous 'cos tofu is healthful and your fatty, greasy, meaty burger is not!"
"Hey, BB? When did you ever learn to speak such big, long words?" Cyborg grinned, making sure to emphasize on the big and long.
The changeling puffed out his chest.
"I-
He stopped short when he realized what Cy had actually said.
"Hey!"
"And, why would I be jealous of a cold, soft, tasteless lump of tofu when I've got my delicious, scrumptious, delightful, heavenly-tasting burger?"
"Well, might the fact that I've been most of these animals bother you?"
"Hmm…" Cyborg paused, mock thinking about it. "Nope."
Hearing the commotion, Starfire smiled.
Maybe they had all forgotten what day today was.
"No way!"
"Yes way."
"Star? Would you prefer the tofu or my special, homemade, yummy-tastic meat burger?"
"Umm…meat burger."
"Aw, c'mon!"
Robin rolled his eyes at the immature pair, asking in a cool tone.
"Have you forgotten what day it is today?"
An uncomfortable silence settled uneasily in the room. Star glared at Robin, making him wince and turn red.
"Uh…forget I said that."
"Don't worry dude, I'm okay with that."
"…Yeah." Cyborg managed to ease the tension in the room with a robotic half smile.
They were a team... how could they possibly forget? Lord knows, losing Raven was like losing a part of the family. They were best friends, sharing secrets with one another.
Maybe…even more?
xxxxxxxxxx
The day was relatively quiet.
Not a beep from the security system, not one jailbreak, no robberies.
The villains seemed to understand the significance of today.
Even Slade hadn't shown up since that day.
Not even a finger.
"Whose turn is it to go grocery shopping again?"
"Mine," piped Beast Boy who had just entered the room. He grimaced. "I shouldn't have said that."
"Well, too bad, BB. Here's the shopping list." Cyborg handed him a roll of paper. "Off you go to the mall of shopping!" he sang in a sing-song voice.
"Yeah, yeah, take it all out on the little green guy," he mumbled good-naturedly.
xxxxxxxxxx
He sighed, bringing the already-loaded shopping cart to a halt.
"Okay, um…what's after the eggs…"
He mentally crossed out what he had already taken, somewhat lazily, from the various shelves around him.
"A big box of mustard." He said with a tinge of laughter. Definitely Star's doing, he mused.
"Hmm…urgh, meat for Cy."
He shook his head. Oh, the things he did for friends…He gave a little half smile as he made his way to the meat section, shaking his head in disgust.
xxxxxxxxxx
As he neared Titans Tower in Cy's T-Car, he thought he saw something flash behind him.
He narrowed his eyes. Must have been a trick of the light, he concluded.
He could have sworn the flash was of a familiar dark blue of Raven's leotard ad cloak.
Just a trick of the light.
He shook his head and smiled goofily.
I've gone insane.
He pulled into the garage noiselessly, efficiently as no-one thought he ever could, and whistled a meaningless tune as he unloaded the plastic bags of groceries from the boot of the car.
No, he definitely wasn't the tiny, puny, little 'grass stain' that he was originally when he first joined the titans.
As opposed to what everyone had thought, Beast Boy actually had muscles hidden behind the black-and-purple- whirl of his tight spandex suit.
It just took years to develop them.
He had definitely grown taller, surprising everyone including himself with his sudden growth spurt. Instead of being tall and lanky, his muscles were toned, hard and firm, probably paying off from the training that Robin was obsessed with.
Everyone but him had noticed.
He frowned, head whipping backwards as he noted another flash of the same midnight blue behind him.
This was getting to be frustrating.
Squinting outside, he noticed that it was raining, just like that time when he snapped that picture of her.
He somehow had an uncontrollable urge to go to her special place, her garden.
It's not like anything could happen. Right?
xxxxxxxxxx
He stared round at the flowers, bending in the breeze the rain had whipped up. Star had been tending to her garden since she had left, taking care of it with the same ferocity Raven possessed.
But it wasn't quite the same.
Star had added her own plants of her choice to her gardens, making it…somewhat un-Raven like.
Somehow, though, the violets seemed to beam at him today, much like that time when the picture was taken. They seemed to drown the other, more vibrantly coloured flowers in their relaxing hue of a deep purple. They smiled at him, beckoning, whispering…almost as if they were telling him…
Today's different.
He couldn't help but agree. Something felt…different in the wind today.
He hoped it was something good.
He frowned. Why were the violets encased in black?
Black…
Something in his mind clicked.
No…
He didn't want to know…
Could it be?
He considered the possibility that…
It could…
He turned around, slowly, slowly.
"Rae?" He half whispered.
She was thin. Bruises ran up her arms and legs, with scars here and there.
He face was as pale as ever. Her chakra stone glinted, mouth curved upward in a small smile.
But most of all, he noticed the light glinting off an amethyst stone, set into a gold ring on her right third finger.
They melted together in a silent embrace. No words needed to be said.
"What took you so long?" He mumbled, burying his head into her shoulder.
She gave a short, cynical laugh, but the smile never left her face.
"Stuff." She replied in her usual, monotonous voice.
He felt deliriously giddy, happy with an unknown relief. He never felt this happy before, not even when riding his moped. This feeling…was new.
He wasn't sure whether she remembered what they had said when she decided to leave.
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do, Rae…" He whispered. " I love you…"
"Then BB, if you love me…"
"Let me go…"
"Raven…"
Beast Boy gathered her into a hug. No words….
No words…
"BB…I love you too…"
He wasn't sure of anything anymore. Was there even a 'we' to start with? A possibility of more-than-just-friends? Was there…
More?
He wanted to know.
But he definitely was going to give her some time first. She needed it.
xxxxxxxxxx
Raven leaned heavily onto Beast Boy, blinked, and sighed.
"Do you mind? I'm a bit tired."
He shook his head in a gesture she took as a 'no'.
His warmth once again flooded her body, making her skin, bruised and cut as it was, tingle with an emotion she wasn't sure of. What was it? She breathed in sharply, inhaling the musky smell of his cologne, spicy and intoxicating.
He wears cologne?
Mmmm…
Whatever it was, he smelt good. She felt his arms snake around her petite waist, supporting her as she stumbled down the steps, half aware of her surroundings.
The two of them blinked in the bright light that flickered in their eyes as they entered the Titan's living room.
Robin and Star noticed them first.
"Why hello friend-
The glass of mustard she was holding dropped to the floor. Starbolts shot out of her eyes, rocketing off the tower walls, nearly blasting Raven out of the tower and destroying Robin's outrageous hairstyle. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
Robin just shook his head, unbelieving, his interesting chat with Star forgotten.
"What…who…how…Raven?"
He looked as though his tongue had forgotten how to coordinate its movements with his lips and mouth, producing a number of unknown sounds as his mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.
"Booyah! I just beat BB's score on the game station, who's the man? I'm the man!"
Cyborg stopped short as he saw the two figures by the steps. He rubbed his eyes, both robotic and real, and fell back with a loud 'thud' to the floor.
"Dude…if you're haunting me for beating you…I'm sorry!." His voice floated up weakly from the floor.
"Eheh…erm…I guess this means we made a good entrance?"
Starfire's tiny 'eep!' was Beast Boy's only reply.
"Uh…"
A/N: How do you like it so far? Tell me, please:) A million thanks, hugs, kisses, chocolates, sweeties and cookies to everyone who reviewed, especially my best friend, Fen!
L(ots) O(f) L(ove),
Lilyandjamesrox.