Chapter 4: A Morning Walk

Beast Boy and Raven stood outside in the cool morning air. Steam rose gently from their cups and dissolved in the soft morning breeze. Waves broke dully against the island's rocky shore as the morning sun rose quickly above the hazy city skyline.

Beast Boy took a deep breath of salty air then raised his mug and slurped his coffee. He smiled in relief then let the pent up air rush out of his lungs. Raven watched and noticed some of the tension thankfully exit him.

"Thanks for the coffee Raven. And for getting me out of there before it got ugly," Beast Boy said to her.

Raven smiled thankful that she had provided him with some relief. The pair began to slowly walk away from the Tower contentedly absorbing the scene in front of them. Raven's heart raced in her chest as she savored every second of their time together. It was not often they shared moments like this. She missed Beast Boy's once annoying attention.

"Rough night?" she gently questioned him.

Beast Boy raised his cup and took another long slurp of coffee. "This is really good Raven. I thought you were only into tea but you make a fair cup of Jove, you know that?" Raven felt herself blush hearing his complement. Beast Boy paused then looked down trying to brace himself.

"I dreamt I went back to visit my parents' graves," Beast Boy dully announced. He hadn't discussed this topic openly since their confrontation with Gregory the necromancer. It was still something he hadn't fully faced. The emergence of Terra had distracted him; his whole life had been a distraction, an excuse not to confront the pain the death of his parents had caused. It was much easier to be a jokester than to confront the bitter reality that faced him.

Raven stepped towards Beast Boy and gently ran her hand across his back. She wished so much to hold him in her arms and comfort him. How long had she done that at the city's cemetery gates? Perhaps that was when her feelings for him fully came to her.

"I know something that will cheer you up," she gently prodded him. "Let's go take a look at our garden."

Beast Boy looked up and smiled lightly at his companion. Raven felt her heart melt. Both of them turned and slowly walked around the tower to the small plot they had been tending. They were both silent as they made their way around the island lost in their own thoughts. When they arrived at their garden plot both of them froze in horror.

The orderly plots had been turned to chaos. Plants and vines had been pulled up and strewn everywhere. Raven's heart sank; all of their work had been ruined. She turned to Beast Boy knowing he would be absolutely devastated.

Beast Boy cautiously stepped forward and surveyed the damage. He angrily scuffed his foot through the ground launching several green tomatoes into the air. "God damn it!" he growled in frustration. He raised his hand and massaged the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"It's OK we can try and salvage some of this," Raven offered.

"There's nothing left to salvage," he said bitterly. "Damn gophers."

Raven doubted that possibility. She walked along the garden's edge looking for clues as to what creature was responsible for this. Beast Boy stood in the middle of the garden and continued to sulk.

Raven halted as she spied something black in the dirt; it was in the shape of a horse shoe. She bent down to inspect it more closely. The print was burned into the ground. She ran her finger along the print and raised it to her nose. A sickening smell of sulfur filled her nose. She quickly lowered her finger and frowned; only a Nightmare could leave a mark like that and there was only one person she knew who had rode one onto the island.

"Morpheus," she lightly whispered to herself in disgust. Raven was sure the young immortal had returned to exact his revenge. But why would he destroy their garden? She stood up and looked over towards Beast Boy. He remained in the center of the garden. Raven stood up and quickly ran her foot over the hoof print destroying the evidence.

Beast Boy unexpectantly shouted in rage. Raven jumped at his sudden outburst and saw him slam his mug into the ground. The contents splashed out upon impact spraying Beast Boy's legs with scalding liquid. He jumped up in pain. "Ahh shit!" he cried out in anger then stomped on the offending mug crushing it into useless pieces of plastic. He stormed out of the garden then stopped and took a deep breath.

He turned around and looked at Raven who stood silently watching him. "I'm sorry," he paused and took another breath trying to settle himself down. "It's just that we worked so hard on this."

Raven carefully made her way back to the spot Beast Boy had vacated then bent over and began picking up the broken pieces of his mug. Beast Boy walked back then bent over to help Raven clean up his mess.

"We'll try and salvage what we can," she said to him. "It'll be all right. We'll get something out of this if we work together."

Best Boy sighed and looked around at the tangled remains of their garden. He looked at her and smiled. Raven looked up sensing her friend was staring at her. "Since when did you become the positive thinker around here?" Raven returned his smile then looked down to make sure she had picked up all of the pieces of Beast Boy's shattered mug.