Beast Boy was in a good mood. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing sweetly and the sky was the purest of blues; with the exception of Terra's breathtaking eyes of course.

She was his girlfriend. Oh yeah, Beast Boy got himself a girlfriend. He felt like singing and dancing but on the account that he would die of horror and humiliation if anyone caught him doing so, he restrained himself. But just barely.

He made his way down the corridor, with a spring in his step and a happy grin on his face, whistling all the way. The kitchen was calling him and there was just absolutely nothing that could go wrong on such a wonderful day…

"AIYYEEEEEEEEEE!"

Beast Boy clamped his mouth shut, cutting off the high-pitched girlish scream emitting from his person in mid shriek.

"Raven! What are you doing in the middle of the hallway?" he squeaked.

The darkness divided and a shadow stepped forth into the light, revealing a slight girl no taller than he. Beast Boy cringed with embarrassment. Imagine being freaked out by a girl. Well, in his defense, her pale face had looked very ghostly in the shadows. And her vehement glare...he shuddered. Furthermore, Raven had the most disconcerting and annoying habit of appearing out of thin air.

She gave him one of her significant looks as she passed him; though strangely, Beast Boy felt that it lacked its usual venom. Her eyes looked worn and tired and there were dark circles under them. He could have sworn that she had been crying.

The concerned friend in him kicked in. "Raven? Erm…are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Came the usual deadpan answer. Maybe now he would go away and leave her alone. She really hated it when her friends acted all concerned about her. It meant having to lie to them…and then came the guilt.

But this time Beast Boy didn't just nod and go away, as was the expected response.

"You sure? Cause… if you need anything…uh… I mean…. if you need somebody to talk to…" Beast Boy gulped. What in the world was he saying? "I'm always here…because…I'm your friend and…um…you can talk to me." There. He'd said it, and he had actually meant it. Go figure.

His pained little speech was met with a long awkward silence.

Then a miracle happened. Raven, THE Raven, Raven of all things gloomy and not happy, gave him one of her rare smiles, then walked off leaving him completely speechless.

'She should really smile more often' Beast Boy thought, relieved that Raven hadn't decked him, 'It makes her look less scary.' He resumed his cheerful walk to the kitchens and just as he turned a corner…

'Wham'

He felt like he had walked into a brick wall.

"Wow Beast Boy, I had no idea your vocabulary was so colorful! And in four different languages too! "

"What the hell are people doing, loitering around in the freaking hallway?" Beast Boy said irritably, tweaking his nose carefully to see if it had broken.

"Cheer up BB, I was lookin' for you. Wanna go grab some breakfast? I'm thinking bacon and eggs."

Beast Boy winced. He never understood his metal buddy's love of meat. "Yuk Cyborg. It's like eating me! I've been a chicken! And a pig!"

Cyborg laughed, "Yeah, you're right about being a pig. I mean, BB, seriously, when are you going to clean up your room! I swear I've seen a mutated pizza slice in there!"

"I'll clean it up when Beyonce becomes your girlfriend."

"She wishes…but speaking of girlfriends, what's this I hear from Robin 'bout you and Terra?" Cyborg grinned at the lovesick expression that appeared on Beast Boy's face upon hearing Terra's name. It was about time those two crazy lovebirds got together. All that flirty bickering was driving him up the wall. Now if only someone could something about the other two…

"She...said yes, then we…it was …sigh…so good!"

"I hear you man." Cyborg was happy for Beast Boy. After all the painful rejections and put downs from countless girls, the guy had finally gotten himself a yes.

They entered the kitchen to see Robin hunched over the table top, staring unseeingly into a huge mug of coffee. Then when Cyborg went to pour himself a cup, he found that the coffee pot was empty.

"Robin! How much coffee have you had?" Cyborg asked as he made a fresh pot.

Robin lifted his head and frowned, like he was trying very hard to remember something. "This should be the fourth? I'm not really sure…"

Cyborg and Beast Boy shared a worried look. It wasn't like Robin not to be sure about something. The guy noticed every bloody thing. He never missed a single detail. That was what made him so successful at detective work. He always knew everything there was to know about anything or anyone.

"Hay Rofvin, ish shomefing wong?" Beast Boy asked through a mouthful of tofu and bean sprout sandwich.

Robin grimaced at the sight of Beast Boy's open mouth and looked back down at his coffee. "It's nothing. I was just up really late last night." Let them think it was about Slade, he thought tiredly. In actual fact, Robin couldn't sleep because his thoughts kept on being straying to a certain violet eyed sorceress sleeping only a few bedrooms away from his. But he wasn't going to tell Cyborg and Beast Boy that.

"K, just don't work too hard. Superheroes need R&R too…"Cyborg said as he switched on the coffee machine.

The kitchen door flung open and in walked Raven. She froze at the sight of Robin and swallowed hard. If she did a transportation spell now, she would be gone before he even thought of looking up.

"Hey Rae!"

Damn, she thought. There were only two other people in the world other than Robin who dared to call her Rae. And the only one at Titans tower was Cyborg. As much as she loved and respected Cyborg, Raven felt she could have quite willingly strangled him at that moment.

At the sound of her name however, Robin's head instantly flew up. He tried to catch her eyes but she deliberately turned her back to him and went to the cupboards. No doubt to get her damn tea cup. He scowled at her back and leaned forward, studying her, his tiredness momentarily forgotten. He felt as pissed as hell. How could she let a kiss come between their friendship? Well, aside from the fact that it was a mind blowing, earth shattering, damn good kiss, but still?

Cyborg watched with amusement as Raven made her daily cup of tea. For Raven, making tea was like performing a ritual. Everything had to be done slowly and painstakingly in an exact order to produce one steaming hot cup of tranquility.

However, Cyborg couldn't help noticing that today's tea making ritual was rather hurried. Raven's hands jerked when she titled the kettle, sloshing hot water onto the counter top. Then after she had hastily cleaned up the spill, Raven grabbed her cup and practically flew out of the kitchen, totally forgetting to put any sugar in her tea. And Raven never drank tea without sugar.

Immediately after Raven left, Robin got up, placed his mug in the sink, got a tin out of the cupboard, and excused himself.

Cyborg smiled to himself. Dark girl's strange behavior probably had something to do with the fact that Robin had not taken his eyes off her from the moment she walked into the kitchen. He had stared at her the entire time…and man did the poor boy look angry, or was it hungry…

Cyborg looked over at Beast Boy to see if he had noticed Raven and Robin's unusual performance. But of course Beast Boy was oblivious to anything outside the world of him and his sandwich.

Some things never change, Cyborg thought humorously, but then again, some do.

People were so easy to fool. Maintaining a façade was easier than he had ever imagined; after all, people only saw what they expected to see. Didn't they? He was bursting with excitement and anticipation. He could see the signs and oh how he wanted to begin the party. But he had to rally the troops first and show them the plan. It was time to party! But why? Because Robin had it coming.

The minute Robin was out of the kitchen; he broke into a fast sprint up the many floors of the Titan tower to the roof. And he didn't even break a sweat. Slamming the roof door open he looked around for Raven. She had better be there, he thought grimly, because he had something very important to say.

There was a cup sitting on the ledge; it was full. Robin smiled to himself and placed the tin of sugar he had grabbed in the kitchen beside the cup. Where was that woman? He dipped a finger into the tea, judging it to be near lukewarm. And Raven always took her tea very hot, so that would put her here at least… 9 minutes ago. Looking round at his surroundings, Robin searched for a dark cape flapping in the wind, or the slender form of his sorceress. Where the hell was she?

Raven couldn't remember when she had really felt completely at peace with the world. The music of the waves soothed her frazzled nerves and the warmth of the sun seeped into her tired bones. And there was no need to worry about getting sunburn as her skin never tanned. It probably had something to do with her being half daemon and all. Anyway, her skin had been pale from birth and she had never once gotten a freckle in her life.

Besides, Raven thought gloomily, freckles are for happy people. Not a half daemon with a manic sociopath for a Father that wants to destroy all life. She sighed, absently tracing ancient runes in the silky sand.

"Hey"

Raven looked up with an angry scowl on her face, ready to ward off any unwanted company. But when she saw who it was, she smiled welcomingly. "Hey."

"You ok?"

She replied with a shrug.

"So what are you doing here all by yourself?" He said, sitting down beside her. "I thought you weren't the sun and sand kind of girl."

"Humph. So according to you, what kind of girl am I?"

"Uh…" he ran long fingers through his black hair, "definitely not outdoorsy."

She gave a small laugh. "Huh, you'd be surprised how much time I spend outdoors. I like being outside. It's…liberating."

"That is precisely the reason why I don't understand why you humans like to stay in those concrete things. Don't you ever get claustrophobic?"

"It's called a building." She said dryly, "And no, we don't get claustrophobic…well some do. But only under special circumstances."

Seeing the confused look on his face, she decided to change the subject. "Well, don't you ever feel like the ocean is too overwhelming?"

"No."

"Really? Not even once?"

He shook his head vigorously, showering her with droplets of salt water.

"Hey! Watch it fishboy, you're getting water all over me."

"You see, definitely not the outdoorsy type." Aqua Lad said with a smug grin.

"Excuse me, but I don't see what does getting splattered with water have to do being outdoorsy!" Raven said haughtily.

"If you were an outdoorsy person, you wouldn't mind being getting dirty… or wet."

Raven gave him her ever famous raised eyebrow glare, to which he countered with a superior smirk.

Then she waved her hand lazily and engulfed him in a magical spray of golden sand, allowing herself a self satisfied smirk at the sound of his outraged yell.

"Argh! Yuk. That's disgusting." He turned to his side and spat onto the sand, "What was that for?"

"If you were an outdoorsy person; which you obviously are, you shouldn't mind getting wet…or dirty."

Aqua Lad glared at her for so long that she started to wonder if he was actually angry at her, but then a heartwarming smile appeared on his handsome face and she couldn't help but smile in return.

"You better get back to the ocean."

"What?"

"Your skin looks rather dry…"

"But you still haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"I asked you if you were ok."

"Yes, I'm fine" she sighed. What was with people and their never ending questions?

"I'm just concerned about you." Aqua Lad took her hand. "Something's obviously disturbing you. And I'm not going to let you go until you tell me what."

Raven bit her lip, trying to think up of an excuse.

"And don't try to come up with some pathetic excuse Rae, they may work on the Titans, but not on me."

"They don't work on Robin…" She corrected.

"Yeah well that's because he's a paranoid nutcase."

Raven laughed softly.

"So it's about him again isn't it?" Aqua Lad said softly. It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement.

"He kissed me yesterday."

"What?"

"Then I threw him out of my room. And told him never to touch me again."

"Oh Rae…"

"Garth, I think I have developed an emotion for him."

Aqua Lad looked into his friend's eyes and saw through her icy façade into the sadness and frustration inside her. She was so lonely and sad. He gave her a hug.

Normally Raven would have shunned such an intimate act, but this was Garth, her oldest friend in the world. They had known each other since childhood.

"I don't know what to do. I'm so lost." Raven suppressed the slight quaver in her voice and threw an extra mental hold over her emotions, "I don't know why, but I want to…feel this new emotion. But then the prophesy says….Oh I'm so confused!"

She made a noise of frustration, causing Aqua Lad to smile. She was so cute sometimes. It was too bad that not many people saw this side of hers very often.

Aqua Lad pulled away and looked deep into her eyes, his gaze serious. " Whatever happens, you should always follow your heart."

"But…"

"You can't let that old bastard ruin your life Raven. You are stronger than him no matter what you think. You have to fight back. This prophecy's going to happen one way or another and when it does, I don't want to loose you. Maybe this new emotion is a good thing, but you'll never know until you find out. You have to trust in yourself…and in Robin. Tell him the truth."

Raven looked at her friend and confidant. Her mother had once said to her that the Atlantians were very wise and any advice given by them was well worth following. But what he was asking of her was too hard.

She opened her mouth to answer him but stopped. There was someone approaching.

Pulling her hand out of Aqua Lad's, Raven stood and waited. He was coming.

Robin could not believe his eyes. What the hell was Raven doing with Aqua Lad? He ran swiftly down to the beach, grabbed Raven by the waist and pulled her firmly to his side. "I've been looking for you."

Raven tried to free herself from his tight hold but he was too strong. "What do you want Robin…"

"I've got to talk to you." He growled, glaring murderously at Aqua Lad. "Now."

Raven rolled her eyes at his over-dramatized tone and looked pointedly at Aqua Lad.

Who, from the moment Robin came tearing down the beach, had gotten up and was standing there with an amused smile on his face, gave her a shrug.

"Just do what I said, ok? Everything will be alright, trust me" said Aqua Lad to Raven, and with a cheeky salute to Robin, dived into the waves and disappeared.

Robin's jaw clenched and said, more loudly than he had intended, "Now you better tell me what was all that about, or so help me, I'll…"

"You'll what? Make me go into the naughty room?" Raven drawled sarcastically. "You're not my mother."

"Raven. Don't try my patience. Tell me what you and that creep were doing together!"

Raven snapped. She had been under enough emotional strain lately; she didn't need this from him. "Listen to me Boy Blunder, no one tells me what to do; especially not some birdbrain superhero that prances around in green tights."

And with that, she vanished, leaving Robin grasping thin air.

Robin took some controlled breaths, calming himself. He had to curb his anger. And jealously... The green eyed monster had sunk its claws into his heart when he saw Raven with Aqua Lad on the beach. How could she kiss him senseless one day and spend the next alone with some other guy?

Robin glared at the ocean and its dancing waves and for a moment, could have sworn he heard a mocking laugh. Then with a tired sigh, he strode back to the Tower, determined to have his talk with Raven. She could try and hide from him, but he would find her, it was only the matter of time.

Hey all,

I've decided to thicken the plot and take 'Matchmakers matchmade' into deeper waters. And don't worry. There's absolutely no romantic connection between Aqua lad and Raven. I've decided to call him Alvin though, it means noble friend in elvish…anyway, want to know about the prophecy they're talking about?

Well then, you'll just have to wait for the next chapter, don't you!

Don't you just hate me!

Hope you enjoyed the story!

theLilyLady