Terra Nostra

Part Four

Celine was the only one making an effort on all fronts to keep everyone happy. Maybe that's why she was so distracted from her work… maybe that's why she wasn't making as much progress as the AGU would have liked… maybe that was why she was drifting further and further away from Cyborg…

Maybe it was because he had gone so long without her; he had grown accustomed to laying in bed alone with just a memory. But wasn't absence supposed to make the heart grow fonder? Cyborg spun a coin along the table. Or was the saying, 'out of sight, out of mind'? Even as he loved her, even as he held her in his arms, when she waited for him, like eternity in every breath… He watched Celine moving about the kitchen, fixing lunch. Her red hair was pulled up, she rarely did that, he had always liked to watch her hair fly in the breeze. And she knew that. Cyborg reached up absently and touched the spot on his metallic build that hid where a small, half heart shaped tattoo used to be. It had been a long time since Cyborg had touched his parts and felt cold… Cyborg knew the spark was gone.

Cyborg's head slammed onto the table. Beside him, Beast Boy collapsed as well. "Man! I'm so bored! There's absolutely nothing to do!"

Celine shook her head at the darling changeling and continued to prepare lunch. She had a suspicion that Cyborg was watching her, but he was always difficult to read. "Beast Boy, if you're so bored why don't you read a book? I've got a new one on the principles of quantum mechanics. I just got it yesterday and I'm almost done."

"Umm… Celine, I want to lessen my boredom. Not all of us are huge ner---"

Before Beast Boy could finish his sentence, but long after Cyborg had taken cover, a flurry of kitchen utensils and food stuffs were thrown at Beast Boy. Some missed, but most hit dead on. After three seconds Beast Boy was covered in more tofu dishes than he could identify.

Flames seemed to spontaneously generate behind Celine's figure as she towered over Beast Boy. Beast Boy shrunk to the size of a newborn puppy under her wrathful glare. "I am not a nerd! Nerds are socially awkward and target to reticule by their peers! I'm gifted! People like me!" Celine stormed out of the room leaving a speechless Beast Boy covered in what was supposed to be his lunch.

Cyborg slyly leaned over, shielding his mouth with one hand. "Did I forget to mention that being called a nerd is one of Celine's buttons?"

"Yeah… Thanks."

As Celine stormed down the hall, she passed Sakura and Robin who were walking towards the common room in an animated chat.

"So you trained with the true master too?"

"Yep." Robin replied.

"How long did it take you to realize it was the old woman?" Sakura asked.

"When she told me… you?"

"After the snake. There was no way that Chu-hui was going to make it up that mountain unless she was exceptional."

As the two rattled on, Starfire approached them in the opposite direction. Her head was in a stack of papers. She wasn't looking where she was going and caught her shoulder against Robin's. The Boy Wonder was thrown off balance; Star's strength was not limited to her limbs.

"Starfire! What's wrong? You've been acting a bit strange the last few days." Robin stated, pointing a finger in her direction. That finger went limp and his face deflated when Star continued walking as if she hadn't heard him.

"Robin! What did you do to her?" Sakura asked, just as surprised by Starfire's display as her younger brother was.

"Me? I didn't do anything to her!" Robin protested.

"That's right… you haven't said or done anything to her in days. I know you and Raven are becoming very close, but you have to have realized the way Starfire looks at you."

Robin felt a tremor run up and down his back. He turned slowly to face Sakura who waited with her hands on her hips.

"What are you talking about? I know that I haven't been spending as much time with Starfire as I used to but that doesn't mean Raven and I are becoming… close…. We're just…"

Sakura was not buying it and Robin knew it. His shoulders slumped, arms dangling limply at his sides. "It's that obvious?"

"Oh yeah. I think the Dark Bird is the only one who doesn't see it."

Robin sank to the floor. "She's supposed to be extremely sensitive to this… why doesn't she know?"

Sakura squatted down beside Robin. "Because you haven't told her."

"I don't want to tell her!"

"Yes you do." Sakura replied.

"Yes I do… Sakura, help."

Sakura sprung to her full height. "Me? What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know… help?"

"With what experience? I spent the last five years in a monastery!"

"But you're still a girl! What do I need to do… to let her know… ya' know… that I'm alive."

"I'm pretty sure she's got that much down. Start simple, be yourself and don't get all awkward. Right now you have a pretty good thing going; just keep it moving in that direction. Randomly buy her flowers. Do you know what kind she likes?"

"No."

"Snapdragons.¹" Sakura pressed on. "Get her a CD! Music is always good! Do you know her favorite song?"

Robin shook his head in the negative.

"Unintended! How about her favorite band?"

"Umm."

"Muse, you jerk! Don't you know anything about the girl?"

"I know that she deserves a wonderful future, I know that despite what she says she dreams about the rest of her life. I know that she's capable of feeling something good and I know how I feel… Doesn't that count for something?"

"I wish it did." Robin face vaulted. Sakura took up her squat again, poking Robin with her index finger. He brushed her away, but he didn't remove his face from the carpet. Sakura sighed.

"Start with the flowers. I'd suggest you work into the rest a little at a time. She's probably just as nervous in this dance step as you are."

"I know she can't dance." Robin offered, voiced muffled by the carpet.

"Yes she can… just play the right song."

"Sakura, I've danced with---"

"Metaphors are lost on you, aren't they?"

Robin pulled his face from the carpet and thought for a moment. Sakura walked away.

…

"Does Raven talk to you?"

The question caught Blackfire by surprise. She turned to Terra, her face unable to hide her confusion.

"Why would Raven not wish to speak to me?"

Terra crossed her arms over her small chest and regarded the black haired alien. She was going to ask her more, but at that moment Starfire entered the room and ruined whatever privacy Terra was hoping for. Blackfire stood up and approached Starfire.

"Sister… Is something bothering you?"

Starfire slowly lowered herself to her knees, laying the packet of papers against her bed. She had been searching, for days and days and days for something about the Grugdindorf that would tell her anything about what had become of her sister. But everything that Celine had given her only told her what she already knew. Blackfire had chosen to have her memories thieved away, had given up all her rights to herself and left her remaining self vulnerable to everything and everyone. There should have been a key somewhere; a message that would remind Blackfire of what she wanted to do after encountering the Yinti people. But Blackfire didn't have it, didn't ever recall getting one and couldn't be coerced into remembering no matter how forcefully Starfire requested.

"Where is your key?" Starfire asked.

"My key? We do not have keys to the towers… were they given out when I was away?"

"Do not make jokes!"

Terra watched the conversation unravel, or not unravel as was the case, and couldn't ignore the urge to creep away unnoticed. She had made it all of four steps, three more from the door, when the alarm went off. Whatever bad guy it is will be a million times better than an alien princess throw down.

All Titans present raced to the center of the downtown area. Cyborg, Terra, Starfire and Aqualad rode in near silence as Robin's R-cycle kicked into gear. Sakura held onto Robin's waist with one arm, the other securing her weapon to her back. The motor purred as their dash took more and more ground. Blackfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Bumble Bee took to the sky, listening for Celine's commands as she readied her station.

"The Jump Science museum, home of one of the world's largest magnifying glasses, had their security alarm tripped. Most villains would have knocked the lights out to make their escape unnoticed. This one turned them all up."

"Dr. Light." Robin replied. He turned his eye to the sky and saw that Raven's hood was pulled up. It was too far away to tell if she was grimacing, but he knew she was. Dr. Light was her own personal Scarecrow².

Finding Dr. Light was easy. He was lumbering, trying to carry the fragile machinery. The lens was easily nine feet tall. From his slow steps, it was apparently very heavy.

"But it will all be worth it!" Dr. Light exclaimed. "This lens will allow me to magnify the Sun's energy and destroy every trace of shadow in the world!"

Raven landed two feet away from Dr. Light and wrapped her energy around the lens, pulling it from his grasp. Dr. Light seemed confused until he watched the lens float to Raven's side. "This is really getting old." She stated.

"Raven!" Dr. Light screamed aghast.

"Did you NOT think we'd show up?"

Dr. Light laughed. "Of course I did!" Dr. Light pushed a switch and Raven could only watch in shock as the lens' protective sheath opened and shot a net out, catching Raven in it. Her energy retreated but a slick white beam wrapped around the lens and pulled it back to Dr. Light.

"Light beats Dark every time."

"You haven't beaten us yet Dr. Light!" Robin yelled as he turned his motorcycle, the back wheel spinning. Sakura leapt off the back of the bike, turning her body so she could throw her weapon. The boomerang chased Dr. Light, running a path of controlled destruction. Dr. Light swallowed hard, eyes wide with terror. He dropped to the floor and the hiraikotsu flew over his head. Beast Boy, in pterodactyl form, swept in and retrieved the lens. Cyborg charged then, forgetting the fundamental quality of a boomerang: no matter where it goes, it always comes back. The giant boomerang slammed into the mechanical Titan, hurling him back and throwing the hiraikotsu off its path. Sakura turned her head for a moment to watch the path of her weapon. Dr. Light leapt to his feet and used his light whip as a snake, throwing it underground. The end of the beam emerged, wrenched around Sakura's left ankle and sunk the girl into the ground nearly half a foot. Sakura let out a surprised shout.

"A little help!" Sakura called to the geomancer at her side. Sakura's voice broke Terra's stun. She pulled the earth in a giant mass, lifting Sakura and the earth away from the street. Blackfire's blackbolt³ crumbed the mass and Sakura fell to the ground.

Robin and Aqualad charged forward, Robin attacking with an aerial front kick and Aqualad with a diving drop kick, aimed to take out Dr. Light's footing. Dr. Light leapt out of the Robin's path but was still skimmed by Aqualad's kick. Caught off balance, purple eye beams that had dragged several feet of the street in front of him collided with his chest.

"Alright Blackfire!" Bumble Bee yelled. The dust began to settle and the celebration ended. Dr. Light's shield had reacted in time. The purple energy barely brushed the shield and the delay allowed him to send his own energy clasp back, knocking Blackfire into Beast Boy who dropped the lens.

The team scurried to catch the lens. With all their attentions on the falling glass, no one was watching Dr. Light. The energy beam hit the lens at just the right angle to refract in a million different points, at least one striking every Titan. Robin and Raven struggled to their feet and listened for Celine's advice. The rest of the Titans stalled and Dr. Light's energy whips coiled around the lens and pulled it back to him.

"Even outnumbered, Light topples all obstacles." A huge boulder quickly shut him up. It was only by a hair that the rock flashed across Dr. Light's face rather than into it.

"Terra! Be careful! We don't want to hurt the lens!" Celine yelled through their communicators. "Titans, we need to get the lens away from Dr. Light and somewhere safe. Star, Blackfire get the lens. Robin, Aqualad and Raven take down Light!" Celine ordered.

In theory the assault tactic was perfect. As the Tameranians swept in, Raven took to the sky. The dark matter collected around her fists. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" An energy field collapsed around Dr. Light and pulled the flaying evil doctor off the ground. Starfire and Blackfire had made it all of twenty feet when two lines of light energy struck them in the back. Both girls collapsed and only by luck did Bumble Bee and Cyborg save the lens from crashing into the earth below. Another line of light spiraled around Raven's force, traveling up the cylinder of energy that connected her to the might she exerted on Dr. Light. The energy constricted around the dark wizardress. Raven screamed in pain.

"Sakura! Terra! Take down Light! Cyborg get Raven!" Celine's fingers dashed across her key board. Dr. Light wasn't a difficult opponent, why was this battle so difficult? Why were the strategies failing?

Sakura dashed to retrieve her weapon as Terra pulled the Earth under her and rode it straight to Dr. Light. Noticing her approach, Dr. Light released his hold on Raven and shot a beam at Terra's boulder, shattering it under her feet. Raven and Terra hit the ground at approximately the same time. Terra got up immediately; her eyes took their yellow fury. A swarm of rocks rose around her, spinning in a frightful pace. The turning created a tornado around her, expanding the closer she came to Dr. Light.

The backlash knocked the Titans to the ground. Cars were mangled; light posts were ripped from the cement. Dr. Light stepped back in shock. "Who are you? What are you doing?"

"I'm ending this!" Terra replied. She unleashed her power, the efflux making a crater under her feet. The tornado's power flexed and waned. Beast Boy shielded his eyes and stood. She can't control her powers!

"Be careful! Terra! Stop!" Celine called. She didn't register the command and continued to stalk forward, one hand extended to do harm on Dr. Light.

"Terra!" Beast Boy yelled, trying to get the girl to listen. The boulders and stones flung about hazardously, smashing windows and into the bodies of Robin and Bumble Bee. Raven took to her feet and unleashed her Soul Self, the dark form of her body⁴ entered the whirlwind on Terra's power and approached the geomancer. The black energy wrapped its arms around Terra and the blonde girl's power flexed than disintegrated in a matter of seconds. The winds cooled and the earth returned to its place. The swift strike of the giant boomerang cut down an off-guard Dr. Light.

Sakura caught her weapon, breathing hard. All the Titans were. Raven stepped forward to where Terra was laying flat on her back. The blonde girl struggled to sit up, tiny stones split in half with her exertion. Terra gasped and turned around when she felt a heavy shadow over her. Her eyes couldn't conceal her freight, even though it was Raven's shadow, Terra was terribly afraid. Raven's long hair fell over her left shoulder. The wind was perfectly still, perfectly prepared to deliver Raven's words. Gain Control. Terra swallowed hard and bit back tears. Raven offered out her hand and, shaken, Terra accepted it. The blonde girl dusted herself off. The other Titans gradually pulled themselves together. Cyborg assessed the lens; it had a few cosmetic damages, nothing he couldn't fix.

"Titans, what happened?" Celine asked as the Titans returned to the tower. The Titans saw the damage their fight had done to Celine's control center, one machine looked totally fried. It was the energy gauge. Terra and Raven's powers had been too much for it.

"Oh man! That looks nasty!" Beast Boy commented. He touched the panel. A random arch of electricity shocked him. The green changeling 'eep'ed and dove behind Celine.

"It's not as bad as it looks…" Celine said, turning her body to face the team. "But that battle showed us something. We need to work on how we use our abilities together. If we're going to fight as a team, as a functional team, we need to work better together."

"Agreed." Robin said. "Tomorrow, eight AM, we're going to train."

The team nodded and left to retire. Terra followed Raven back to her bedroom, trying to work up the nerve to speak to her. She fretted until just before Raven stepped forward to command her door open.

"Raven!" Terra called. The purple haired girl stopped. Her pale face turned slightly in profile to let Terra know she was listening. "I… I wanted to say thank you… thank you for helping me… And I will… I'll get better."

Raven said nothing. Her head dropped in a smooth nod. She continued walking forward. Terra couldn't take that to be the end.

"Raven! Stop! Listen to me!"

"I've done that enough for a lifetime." Raven replied, still refusing to look at her.

"But! You've got to give me another chance!"

"I am… I could have taken away all your strength Terra. I could have forgotten what you mean to Beast Boy and hurt you. But I didn't. I took control of my power--"

"I know I have a lot of work to do, but!"

"There are no buts Terra. You were dangerous. You could have seriously hurt someone."

It was that same line. The same sentiment from the first time they fought together after Terra's absence. It was still Raven better than Terra; it was still Terra needing to prove herself. Terra wanted to scream at Raven that she wasn't being fair; that she didn't have enough time, that she didn't have enough opportunity to practice. But she knew that would fall on deaf ears, even in her mind it sounded like a weak argument.

"I can do better." Terra finally admitted.

"I know you can." Even though the words should have been of encouragement, in Terra's ears she heard a sneer, heard disbelief, she heard distrust. And she couldn't take it for one more second.

"Where's the warm compassion I was promised?"

"Look somewhere else… you won't get it from me." Raven still did not turn to face Terra.

"Raven… I know I did terrible things and I'm sorry. I want to do better and be a part of the team! Why won't you-"

Raven turned, faster than Terra knew a person could, and stared at her with hard purple eyes. Terra leapt back in freight, slamming backwards into the wall as Raven glared at her. The anger was etched into her face, dark power determined to escape.

"Trust you? Was that what you were going to say? You're asking me why I don't trust you? You tried to destroy us! You deceived me! You hurt Beast Boy and Robin! You betrayed us!" It was almost a scream. Terra could tell that she was endanger of being struck down by Raven's rage. But at least Raven was talking to her; at least she had something else besides cold disregard. Terra stepped forward and met Raven toe to toe.

"What about Blackfire? Star told me how she betrayed you, but you forgave her!"

"Blackfire is different."

"Why? Why is Blackfire different?"

"Because Blackfire proved that she's capable of regret."

"What do you want from me? To go to some other planet and erase my memory? To pretend that nothing happened? To make you responsible for all our memories? I said I was sorry! What more do you want?"

"I want you to act like you mean it!" Raven turned away from the smaller girl sharply. She pulled her hood up, leaving her fingers at the edges of the material. "Do you think I can just forget everything?"

"No... but… could you try?"

Terra watched Raven's back, wishing she could see through that dark cloak. She wanted to run and stand in front of Raven and force her to look her in the eye. But she was afraid of what she would find there. Finally Raven spoke.

"I want you to prove that I'm wrong in my doubts about you."

"How… How do I do that?"

"Tomorrow before the training session, Sakura and I are going to meditate. Be there and be ready to give it all that you've got."

You're going to throw me into the water and see if I can swim…Terra thought.

"No," Raven replied. Terra flinched in surprise. She knew that Raven could read her mind; she just didn't know that she did. Raven's door slid open. "I'm going to throw you off a bridge and see if you can fly." Raven stepped into her room and the door slid closed behind her. Terra stood in that exact spot for a few minutes, just staring at the door. Finally she gave up, not sure what it was exactly she was waiting for, and went to bed. She had a world of work ahead of her. Raven would make sure of it.

End of Part Four

A/N

¹A reference to my personal favorite fan fiction "To Take A Dare" by Serena4. If you haven't read it, READ IT!

²Refer to IGN's best and worst Batman villains. This will all make perfect sense.

³Starfire has Starbolts, so I guess Blackfire has Blackbolts.

⁴Just like she did in The End Part One