(Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.)

After seeing that her cousin was fed, Raven tried to pull her back onto the roof. Starfire prevented this with a sudden, bone-crushing hug.

"Come, friends! Robin says we are going to the park to do the 'picnic' and play the ball of foot!"

Moonlight looked over at her cousin, confused. "She means play football," Raven muttered.

"Oh."

"You are friend Raven's cousin, so you, like Raven, are able to fly, yes?"

Moonlight stepped back from Starfire's embrace. "Actually, I can't. I flash."

Starfire looked confused. "Please, does 'flash' not mean light up?"

"Yes, Starfire, it does. Where we come from it also means move from one place to another instantly," Raven explained with little patience.

"Oh, I see," Starfire murmured. "We shall go now?"

Raven and Moonlight both groaned.

The cousins were sitting under a tree. Raven looked over at her relative and noticing the light reflecting from Moonlight's eyes. She remembered playing hide and seek at night as a child with Moonlight and Firestorm. Raven had been the best at hiding. Moonlight had been the best at seeking. Her eyes gave her a sight advantage in the dark. Firestorm was too impatient to be very good at either.

Moonlight brushed her black hair back from her face. A knife glistened in her hand. She picked up a stick and began whittling, humming an old song from their home world. The knife flashed with each rhythmical stroke. Moonlight had a beautiful, haunting voice. Raven found herself forgetting all about the noise of her fellow Titans and the book in her hands.

"Mother always said you should have been named Siren," Raven murmured.

Moonlight looked up and smiled. "Yeah, well, I prefer the light of the moon to singing anyway. Maybe, though, I'll name my daughter Siren. It is a pretty name."

"You are planning on having a daughter?"

The knife strokes paused. "I'm not planning on anything but running for my life any time soon."

Raven could see the pain in her eyes. She decided to change the subject. "Tell me about the magic of the knives, Moonlight."

"That's forbidden."

"You've already broken the law," Raven replied. "Start talking."

"They are really very simple. They are moonlight forged in hellfire."

"A specialized weapon made up of your dual nature... I suppose you're able to make them almost instantly."

"Yeah, almost. It burns some," she murmured, holding out her hands. Thin scars webbed across her palms. "It also requires a little blood each time."

Raven examined her cousin's palms. She looked up and met Moonlight's silver eyes. "Moonlight... You know, here this would be considered cutting."

Moonlight looked away. "I don't cut myself with the knives. The silver moonlight that makes up the blade has to come out somehow. I can make anything I want, but something too big would rip me open."

"Forbidden magic was forbidden for just that. It will eventually destroy the wielder."

Raven's cousin drooped slightly. "Rae, I need to go back to the Tower now. I'm not feeling very well."

Raven's eyes narrowed with suspicion. She did notice Moonlight's unusual paleness, though, and nodded. "Fine. I'll be there in a little while."

Moonlight nodded and flashed back to the Tower. She arrived with a hand pressed to her head. Her vision doubled. She saw Shadow. I must not have been concentrating hard enough... Her knees gave way and she collapsed next to Shadow's clear cell.

Shadow stared at the girl in surprise. She just...fainted? He wondered what he should do – assuming he could do anything. "Moonlight?"

Moonlight's fingers twitched. She groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position. "What...happened..."

She looks so defenseless. What did happen to her? "You fainted," he retorted shortly.

"Shadow..." The unfocused daze was gone after Moonlight closed her eyes for a moment. Color rushed into her pale cheeks. She stood steadily, more or less.

The Titans had rigged lights all round a large, clear, plastic box and called it a cell. The lights eliminated all but one shadow: Shadow himself. Moonlight had never seen him out of the dark before.

Shadow had black hair maybe two inches long that was slightly unkempt. His eyes were black, and his skin was darkly tanned. He was in excellent physical condition and was somewhat handsome. Shadow leaned back and put his arm behind his head to cushion it. Moonlight saw the hole in his shirt from her knife, but the skin underneath was unbroken.

"What?"

Moonlight blinked, realizing she'd been staring. "I know I cut you!"

His reply was a smirk.

"You were bleeding. How can you –" Moonlight shook her head. "I felt it bite your flesh."

Shadow straightened warily. There was bloodlust in her voice. Shadow wondered if she was about to turn demonic.

Raven melted out of the ceiling. "Moonlight, you shouldn't be here alone."

"Did you heal him, Raven?"

"No. Why?"

"He's healed himself," Moonlight muttered. With a growl, she attacked the cell with a knife in each hand.

Raven watched impassively. "Are you done?"

"Temper tantrums don't become you, Moonlight," Shadow said flatly. Moonlight's knives had sliced the plastic of his cell as if it was paper. Sections of it fell out. Shadow smirked mockingly. "Mind cutting me a door?"

"Sure, straight to hell," she growled. She had four red, glowing eyes when she glared at him. Shadow didn't doubt she could.

"Enough, Moonlight," Raven said firmly.

Moonlight took one last, savage swipe at Shadow's cell before turning to face Raven. Her eyes returned to normal.

Raven sighed. "Go upstairs and make me some herbal tea, will you?" Moonlight nodded and left Raven alone with Shadow. Raven met his black eyes. "Tell me why you're chasing my cousin," she ordered.

Shadow sat back against the wall across from her. "They said you three were close," he murmured.

"We were. Now answer my questions. Who are 'they'? Why are you chasing her?"

"Why should I tell you anything? What can you offer me?"

"Protection. Answer me and I'll keep my baby cousin from slicing you up. If you don't, next time she turns I won't stop her from carving out your heart," Raven said darkly.

"Ooh, I'm scared," Shadow sarcastically retorted. Raven's eyes turned red. Two more opened. Shadow held up his hands. "Moonlight is part of a prophecy. It involves all three of you."

"I know about Trigon."

"Not Trigon. His father."

"What's the prophecy?"

"Short version: you bring darkness. Firestorm brings fire. You two spend eternity in a trance."

"What about Moonlight?"

Shadow sighed, remembering how very childlike Moonlight had seemed when she had collapsed not even an hour earlier. "She will be forced to make your grandfather's sword. It will be able to cut through dimensions."

"What will happen to Moonlight," Raven repeated insistently.

"Forbidden magic always requires blood. A weapon like that..."

"Would kill her," Raven finished coldly.

"Yeah."

"Why are you after Moonlight? What interest do the Mendai have in her?"

"It's in everyone's best interest that she not make the sword."

"So they ordered you to kill her?"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "I'm not ordered. I'm paid, and I'm not an assassin. They want her alive."

Raven glared at him. "What do you think they'll do to her!"

"My job is to take her in. After that, it's not my problem."

Before Raven could get any angrier, Moonlight walked down the stairs.

"Rae, your tea is getting cold," she said with a smile.

Moonlight was the youngest of the three cousins. She had a knack for getting herself in trouble, but Raven and Firestorm were good at getting her out of it. As Raven looked into her silver eyes she saw the same little girl she used to play with in the woods. Raven gave Moonlight a rare smile. "Thanks. Just a moment." She turned to Shadow. Her fondness was replaced by four angry, red eyes. "I love her, Shadow," Raven whispered so Moonlight wouldn't hear. "I will protect her."

"That's what Firestorm said," Shadow retorted just as quietly.