Say Your Name

Part Three

"So you do dream of the future then?" Sakura asked, repeating Terra's question. Sakura sat Indian style, clutching a pillow to her chest. On the floor to her right, Terra and Bumble Bee were sitting, all three of them looking at Raven. Raven sat on the floor next to Celine's chair. Celine had turned her head to hear Raven's answer, Blackfire stood behind the other girl, running a brush through Celine's long red hair. Raven had the feeling she was being ganged up on, but she had brought it on herself, she had agreed to attend the slumber party.

It had been Celine's idea, rounding up all the girls to have some time together without thinking about the boys or their conditions outside that room. They were going to be friends, if only for a little while, if only in that room. The girls had convened in Sakura and Celine's room, spread out in the comfortable space. Except for Starfire, who had gone to gather more unhealthy snakes for their consumption, all the girls sat in that room and waited for Raven's answer.

"Ever since Slade returned… I realized that I had to look forward to the future if I was going to be able to fight for it. So, more and more I've been dreaming of the future. I'd like to think I'm capable of a happy ending." Raven pulled her knees to her chest.

"What's your happy ending?" Celine asked. Behind her, Blackfire continued to pull the brush through her hair. Celine didn't have siblings and, besides Bumble Bee, before joining the Titans she didn't have any girlfriends. The slumber party had been just as much for herself as for Terra: Celine wanted a day as well where she could just be one of the girls.

"I dream of being a mother." Raven replied. She laughed gently when the rest of the girls gave their "awws". "I have this dream, where I'm with my daughter. We're picking flowers and she finds a bright flower and brings it to me and says 'Mommy, look how pretty.' And I'd say 'not as pretty as you my darling.'…" The 'awws' returned.

"What's her name?" Bumble Bee asked.

"Choris. It means dear to the heart. In some languages it also means Hope." Raven replied.

"That's very pretty." Terra whispered. It was more to herself than to Raven. Terra didn't know before, when she had first met the Titans, what Raven was born to do; all the bad things she was going to do… But she's still one of the good guys…

"Does she look like you or the father?" Sakura asked.

"She looks like Robin." The room filled with a quick silence. Raven gasped when she realized what she let out and slammed her hands over her mouth as if blocking anymore words would take back the ones she already said. To the right of Bumble Bee a pillow exploded.

Celine and Sakura snickered. Terra's eyes widened and pointed a nervous finger at Raven. "You…. like Robin?"

Raven's frantic eyes darted across the room. "You can't tell Starfire!" Raven's breathing was coming quickly.

Sakura shook her head. "Somehow, I think Starfire already knows."

"I know what?" Starfire entered the room, Loberos trailing behind her. The door slid closed behind them. If was obvious from her vacant expression that she hadn't heard Raven's omission. Raven turned stark white, her body stiff as a board, hoping for some minor catastrophe to strike so that no one would answer the question.

Bumble Bee spoke up. "Don't tell you that… Celine was actually the one who ate the last of your mustard and Beast Boy was just covering for her!"

Blackfire gasped. "You told!"

Celine threw a pillow at Bumble Bee. "How could you?"

Starfire placed down the snacks. "I suppose when tomorrow comes I must give the apology to Beast Boy. Celine, it is not nice to lie."

"You're right Star. I'm sorry."

Raven sheepishly whispered an apology to the three girls who allowed her to escape a very difficult situation.

"Hey! I thought this was supposed to be a girls' night out! Loberos is a boy! He can't be in here!" Bumble Bee shouted.

Celine laughed as the timber wolf snorted. She rubbed the beast under its chin. "Sorry boy… but she's right… You and your little tag along have to go."

"Tag along?" Raven asked.

In a quick move, Celine seemed to pinch Loberos, but the beast didn't flinch. Celine opened the jar that had contained the peanut butter fluff and dropped something small and green into it. She closed the lid and shook it, the green flea bouncing around.

"Beast Boy!" The girls shouted.

"Now Beast Boy, you're going to have to do better than that. Loberos, take this back to the boys and tell them they really need to work on their spy technology." Loberos snatched the jar between his teeth and exited.

…

Speedy had no idea why the tower was so quiet. He knew that the girls were all in Sakura and Celine's room… but where were the boys? The TV was off and there was no pizza being consumed in the dining room. No one was training and no one was on the roof. Four crime fighting superheroes didn't just disappear. They were in the tower; he just had to find them.

Loberos jogged past Speedy, carrying a jar in his mouth. He watched the blue haired wolf turn into Cyborg's room. Raising an eyebrow, he followed.

He hadn't expected to find all the other guys in there, standing around Beast Boy who appeared to be covered in peanut butter. "You know, I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know." The agile archer crossed his arms over his chest.

Aqualad turned to Speedy. "The girls are having a slumber party!"

"I know."

"Don't you know what girls do at slumber parties?"

"Paint their toe nails and watch girly movies?"

"NO!" Speedy shrunk to half his size when all the other Titans yelled in unison.

"Girls at slumber parties tell secrets." Robin replied. He stepped to the side and Speedy became aware of Cyborg leaning an ear against the wall, a satellite dish protruding from the other ear.

"You're spying on them?" Speedy asked.

"YES!" "Of course!" "Obviously!"

Speedy's eyes shifted behind his mask. "I don't know how I feel about this."

"We wouldn't do it if we didn't care." Aqualad replied in a hushed whisper.

"Robin, how can you go along with this?" Speedy asked.

"At first I was against it, but then Cyborg told me what kind of secrets they told at slumber parties."

"Those being?"

"Who they like."

"Who they like?" Speedy repeated.

The other boys nodded.

"What are you guys? Five? And don't you all pretty much have respective girlfriends?"

Cyborg hushed Speedy and the group waited for a second. Cyborg adjusted his listening devices. "I got something… I think they just asked Sakura who she likes."

Speedy knocked over all the other Titans to stand ear to ear with Cyborg's speaker. The other Titans all crossed their arms over their chest with the exact same expression of assessing a hypocrite. Even the dog raised an eyebrow. Speedy sweated nervously and laughed. "I only spy because I care!" Then he turned back to the speaker.

…

"So suspending reality for a minute, pretending that none of us is tied down, who would you date? We all know who Raven chooses… What about you Sakura?" Bumble Bee asked.

"Speedy, I suppose." Her air of nonchalance wasn't fooling anyone.

"I said suspending reality, Sakura! Choose someone that you aren't already seeing." Bumble Bee replied.

Sakura's eyes widened like a dear in headlights. "What are you talking about? Speedy and I are just friends!"

"Yes," Celine replied, "you're friends of the girl and boy variety."

"Nani?"(What?) Sakura shook her head in the negative.

"You know Sakura," Raven smiled menacingly. "D'nile isn't just a river in Egypt."¹

The pillow bounced off of Raven's head and landed at Celine's feet. The girls laughed. The question was soon turned to Celine.

"Well… I suppose I'd go with Beast Boy."

"Beast Boy? Really?"

"Yes. He makes me laugh and he's very sweet."

"He is, but he's also a spaz!"

"To you, but he's grown on me."

"Like a fungus." The pillow at Celine's feet missed Bumble Bee and smacked Terra in the face.

Celine laughed behind her hands. "Sorry Terra. Causality of war. So, who would you pick?"

Terra didn't hesitate. "Speedy." She would have been terribly afraid at that moment had she turned around and recognized the glare set in Sakura's face. The other female Titans were scared enough for her.

"Okay… how about we move to safer ground before someone loses an eye..."Celine suggest.

Bumble Bee nodded in agreement. "So… Blackfire, has Aqualad kissed you yet?"

Blackfire froze in place.

…

Aqualad blushed and stepped away from the rest of his team. The others turned to him all smirking, knowing the answer without having to hear Blackfire's response. It was Robin who rescued Aqualad from a bombardment of embarrassment.

"They didn't even ask her! How am I supposed to know if she likes me?" Robin slumped over.

"Get over it Rob. If Starfire likes you half as much as you like her, you're solid." Cyborg said.

Robin was not going to correct him. Beast Boy slinked beside Cyborg and nudged him with his elbow.

"You know Cyborg, I'd be careful if I were you. I make Celine laugh and girls always go with the guy with the great sense of humor."

Cyborg drew his beam cannon. "I'm not a jealous man BB, but I do have my limits. Celine's my girl."

Beast Boy "eeped" and hid for cover behind Speedy. "You don't really need to worry about me anyway Cyborg! You should be concerned with Speedy! He's the one that all the girls are going for."

It was then that Beast Boy realized that Speedy wasn't moving. Speedy hadn't moved a muscle sense he backed away from the speaker. Sakura… likes me too? Each of the Titans took their turns trying to coax Speedy from his comatose. Robin stared Speedy up and down. He made a mental note to talk to Speedy in the morning when he was more receptive to the outside world. Robin retired to bed.

Deep into the night, when the entire tower was silent, Terra turned in her sleep. She was sweating and her face tight with pain. It was a nightmare; it was the nightmare… the only thing that ever kept her awake at night.

She could feel it. Every inch of her body was being taken over. From the ground, from that hard space under her feet, the earth rumbled and cracked, splitting and smashing together like waves crashing against the beach. Terra tried to calm it, but her powers weren't strong enough. She couldn't find the source of the tremors until the quaking finally stopped. The earth slid up, inch by inch, covering her boots, wrapping around her ankles. She tried to pull herself free, but couldn't. It wasn't the earth wrapping itself around her… it was her becoming the stone again. It was the petrifaction claiming her, the earth calling her back to what she was.

The cold, cold feeling was running up her veins, following the path as more and more of her body submitted to the will of the world. Terra's heart pounded, drumming in her ears the most terribly sound she knew. Her lungs trembled with the exertion of her breath until the final sweep of the land closed in to devour her.

This was the part where she would wake up and scream. When the seal was finally complete and she was lost again in the dark, unkind space between animation and the other side. But the seal didn't finish. Her eyes shot open instead. Terra's eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly, everyone was still sleeping; everyone she could see from her position on the floor, staring up towards the ceiling. She would have sat up, except for the slight weight she felt on her head. It has a hand. It was Raven's hand.

"Raven?"

"You can go back to sleep. I can calm your nightmares."

"Why…"

"Just sleep Terra. Dreams should be the one place where we're free…"

Terra closed her eyes. She didn't dream again that night. Raven closed her eyes as well and didn't move a muscle.

…

In the earliest of hours, Robin rose. He stepped out of his bedroom after a shower and a series of morning stretches, turning to the roof. He found the plants had begun to sprout; only the tiniest of color was present.

"They should bloom by tomorrow." Celine's voice startled Robin. He put down the tiny plant he had been observing.

"You really don't sleep do you?" Robin asked.

"You know, every time you ask me that, you aren't running on a full night's sleep either."

…

Sakura decided to make dinner that night. Raven and Terra decided to help and Robin decided that today, even without the help of the flowers, he was going to show Raven that he existed, as more than her leader, as more than her friend. Acting on that decision was harder than he had first thought.

Sakura had set Terra and Raven to chopping vegetables while she tended her sauce. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Robin approaching Raven. If she looked past that, she could see Speedy staring off into space. Sakura stirred the pot as Raven slid in her work. Speedy hadn't said a single thing to her all day. She tried to think of something that she might have said that might have made him angry at her, but in the weeks she had known him, it was always Speedy laughing off an insult or defeat. Speedy didn't do moody… but today he was.

Strange kid…

Terra wasn't exactly sure how it had happened, but she had a front row seat when it had unfolded. Robin came and stood next to Raven, putting himself between Raven and Terra. He had said something like "smells good" or something along those lines.

"Sakura has me cutting vegetables again. Its not really something I can mess up." Raven said, watching the Boy Wonder cross to the other side of her to snatch a chunk of cucumber.

"You're not such a bad cook." Robin said.

"You're right, I'm a miserable cook. But we all have our talents."

"Right. My sister cooks to balance out her crippling lack of personality." Robin ducked and the wooden spoon sailed over his head. Raven laughed and used her energy to return the spoon. The next throw connected. The spoon bounced formlessly off his forehead and onto the counter where it laid still. Robin had a smear of red sauce on his face. Raven smiled behind her hand. She was doing her best not to laugh out loud.

"You think that's funny?" Robin asked. Raven nodded. Robin laughed too and grabbed Raven's wrist, pulling her towards his side of the counter. With his free hand he reached across and stuck his finger into the bowl of salad dressing and smeared it down Raven's nose. "I think that's funnier."

It was likely a food fight would have started if Cyborg and Celine hadn't come into the kitchen.

"What's for---" Celine stopped mid-sentence. "That's a good look for you Raven." Celine stated.

Raven blushed and levitated a towel to her from the sink. Robin intercepted it and wiped the sauce from his forehead before pressing the towel to Raven's nose, removing his mark. Raven almost missed Sakura's request. She was looking into Robin's masked eyes, trying to figure out just what emotion he was showing, without sneaking into his mind to do it. Robin readied himself to make himself known.

"Raven, can you pass me the spoon and the peppers?"

Sakura's voice broke their gaze and Raven and Robin both moved to complete Sakura's request. Unfortunately, no two objects can occupy a single location in space at the same time, so when Raven stepped over to deliver the spoon, her foot tripped Robin's knocking her off balance and straight to the floor.

Her eyes opened when after three seconds she hadn't hit the ground. She looked, indeed, the floor was still in the general direction of down, but she wasn't. An arm was wrapped around her middle, just under her chest, just beneath her heartbeat. Raven turned slightly in the embrace and found concern written clearly on Robin's features. He held her close, pulled her closer to him.

For a few seconds, the rest of the world stood perfectly still as Robin stared at Raven and Raven stared back up at Robin. She blinked just once and in the moment Robin leaned forward and kissed her, just once on the lips.

The kiss was brief, but just long enough to take away every inch of reserve Raven had in her mind. It was brief, but long enough to shock Terra and nearly knock her out of her seat. It was brief, but long enough to make Cyborg's jaw drop. It was brief, but just long enough to say everything Robin wanted to say.

Robin pulled back and waited: waited for a smile, a yell, a blast of energy… something. Raven's eyes wavered. He had never seen that look before. Inches away, just enough space to give her the chance to run or tighten the embrace… and Raven moved. Her slender hand reached up and her delicate fingers traced Robin's lips. She smiled… that smile that took Robin's breath away.

In that instance, a lightning bolt struck and Raven was gone.

Robin fell to the floor. "What happened?" He turned his head frantically looking for the girl. Sakura was missing as well, her spoon crashing to the ground. Cyborg jumped back when both Terra and Celine vanished in a blast of lightning.

…

The girls froze where they were, wherever they were. Starfire's eyes darted from face to face. "Where are we?"

"WELCOME CHAMPIONS ALL TO THE TOURNAMENT OF HEROINES!"

The End of Part Three

A/N

¹My favorite cheesy line of all time.