Disclaimer TEEN TITANS and all other related characters and material are the property of DC comics and Cartoon Network, I claim no ownership.

Chapter 29: The Last Few Steps

By: Ansa

Saturday 1:45pm, 15mins until Wedding

Beast Boy stood at the end of the aisle, staring down the number of chairs that sat before him, one by one being filled by a number of quests giving him approving nods and smiles. The cold sea air was salty and slightly moist, almost like a mist as the waves crashed against the rocks below the cliffs at which the alter was placed not even 10 feet from. The alter of course, was only by name seeing as neither of them was particularly religious, and was rather a white fenced arch with roses curled up all around the different spindles provided. Behind the arch lay nothing but the open horizon, the sea, and their future together for the rest of their lives.

The more he thought about this the more her smiled, the minute hand on his watch taking its sweet time as it rounded the bend towards "12." Beside him Stood Cyborg looking into the crowd nervously, counting every single one of his blessings that the rest of his team had either not seen Jynx sitting in the second row, or simply decided not to make much of an issue out of the fact…yet. He was quite sure that sooner or later he would have to deal with things, and even though he wasn't sure whether or not he was ready, the one thing he was sure of was that no matter what, this time he would stand by her, even if it meant his expulsion from the team.

"You see their car yet?" Beast Boy broke into his Best Man's thoughts, his eyes scanning the road down at the bottom of the hill, his leg bouncing impatiently. A nasty habit he had picked up who knows when, as "Seinfeld" would classify him, he was now a "leg-jiggler."

"Calm down there buddy, she'll get here. I mean, Dick's not even here yet." Cyborg smiled, this had to be the only time he has ever heard of a groom that had anything but cold feet on his wedding day. I was quite amusing in fact.

"Right…sorry…just kinda anxious you know?"

"I know man, I know. I'm happy for you."

They both smiled, one of the prime moments in their friendship. Only once in your life do you ever get to be your best friend's Best Man, and only once in your life do you get that chance to have one. There were of course divorces and second or third marriages, but Beast Boy didn't happen to think of those at this time. To him, at this moment, such a thing didn't exist, only bliss.

"Come on, you've never gone under the speed limit once in your life, why are you doing it now?"

"Well if you hadn't slept in we would have had plenty of time now wouldn't we?" Susan turned back to keep her eyes on the road, a playful grin on her face as she deliberately slowed the car as she headed up the backwoods road that led to the hills and cliffs. Barely even two minutes before they would arrive, two and a half tops, but she wanted one last bit of fun at Raven's expense before the wedding.

"Ugh, just get us there ok? I don't want to be late to my own wedding."

"Oh please, we've still got fifteen minutes before they start, even then we've got a twenty minute grace period before you're considered a runaway bride."

"Not funny…"

Raven turned her head to glance out the window, anxiously watching as the trees gave way to an open field, the dark greens and brown opening wide to a bright green with a brilliant blue horizon. It was all so beautiful, she was so close now, her heart beat heavily in her chest so much so it left an empty feeling with each thump. Minutes from now she would step out of the car and make her final preparations in a small makeshift tent erected at the bottom of the hill and at the end of the aisle. There she would meet up with Dick, who would walk with her up to the alter, and present her to her future, her new life.

A break in the blue and green formed at the top of a small hill, just high enough for a decent view of the ceremony. Standing atop it was a figure wearing a long flowing coat, and long brown hair trailing slightly in the breeze. Raven blinked once, just to make sure she saw it, and there it remained, plain as day.

"Hey Susan, stop here for a minute?"

"What? I what happened to being late?"

"It's just up the road right? Just let me out for a second, it won't take long."

Puzzled, Susan slowed the car to a stop, pulling over to side of the rode so that the bride might step out safely. She watched, still quite confused as her friend made her way up the hill across the street, only now noticing the figure standing atop it.

Raven watched as the figure stirred at her approach, though slow and careful it may be in her infernal high-heeled shoes. Never before had she worn them before, and never again would she either. The closer she got, the more sure she was at who exactly it was poised and ready to watch from a distance. However, the closer she got, the more agitated it seemed to get until finally the flowing coat flared back as the figure turned to flee.

"Wait…please, Terra." No response was given. Instead the figure only ran faster, Raven stumbling this way and that in the awkwardness of her heels. "Dammit, do you know how hard it is to run in heels and a wedding dress?"

"…I'm sorry, I'm leaving."

"No, you don't have to leave..." Raven paused, but still kept her stride as best she could, not quite believing what she had just said herself, especially such a day as this. "I just want to talk to you."

Ever since that one night, when their old friend had disappeared into the stormy night while they fought over such petty things that those so truly sure of their love would never question, Raven had occasionally wondered about her. Where had she gone, would they ever see her again, and had they have to have treated her in such a way to drive her off? Yes, what she had done was not anything to be taken lightly, but she knew how unstable the girl was, how shaky her emotions could be. During that time, Raven herself was unsure and unstable in her feelings, for the first time experiencing something she would never have expected to feel in her life…love, and she was quite protective of it. Then again, her soon to be husband had his own hand in things, which Raven expected to be more damaging to Terra than anything she, herself had to say.

For some strange reason Raven found all of these things flowing through her mind, when normally she would have shrugged it off quite easily without any second thought. Somehow, on this day, when everything that she had once thought unimportant, once ignored for not being able to experience such things for herself was about to be given to her, she had become less cold, more open than usual. Perhaps now…that her life was about to turn on end and become something new, something better, she is now allowed to care for others. Or at least, that's how the usual stories on television and cheap harlequin novels would suggest anyways. The real truth perhaps being that Raven had seen too many re-runs of Friends, and that she needed to make sure Terra was not about to pull a Rachel on her wedding.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be here…I just…" Terra stopped in place, not daring turn to face the bride when she spoke to her, the night which seemed like years ago still fresh in her mind.

"No…it's alright, really." Raven slowed in pace, finally able to catch up, leaving the dammed high heels abandoned some feet behind her. "I know…we didn't really leave things on the best of terms."

"…" Terra didn't answer, only hugged herself, her long brown hair blowing in the wind, the few traces of her natural color glowing in the sunlight.

"But…you were…are our friend, and you…should be here." Raven hesitated for a moment, the one episode of Friends all too present in her head, but this was not TV, and she of all people should know the importance of second chances.

"No I'm not…I…I don't deserve your trust again." Terra finally turned, her face looking slightly tender and traces of bruising around her eyes were still evident, no matter how hard she tried to hide them with make-up. Over her eyes perched a set of wire rim glasses, the lenses quite thick even though not appearing so. Only recently had she found out just how drastic the damage to her vision had been, luck was the only thing that kept her from a pair of dark sunglasses, and a white cane.

"What…what happened to your eyes?"

"N-nothing…" Immediately, Terra turned away still ashamed at the cowardly attempt to take her own life out of grief. She now knew better than to try something so stupid again, she now knew that no matter how hard things got, there was always another chance to try again. Unfortunately, such a lesson had only been learned recently, and her first chance at trying again was right in front of her. Even with this new outlook on life, she found it hard to forgive herself for that stolen kiss. "I had…an accident scuba diving…" A silly excuse, almost laughable if not possible, somewhere she had heard about diving accidents where people return to the surface with black eyes. It may be silly, but it was the only thing she had at the moment.

"Scuba diving?"

"…yeah."

It was quite obvious to Raven that she was lying. Even though she never dove before, she also had heard of such occurrences. Those occurrences only bust the capillaries, not cause any kind of damage to vision. Nevertheless, she would rather not push the matter.

"Oh…well, you really don't have to go."

"No, it's ok…I know you really don't want me here anyways." Terra shifted in place, pulling off her glasses and rubbing out a smudge on the lens with her t-shirt. Being fairly new, she still had to learn to be careful when touching her own face, lest she have a rather large fingerprint glaring her in the eye.

Meanwhile Raven was looking for just the right words to come back with. Her comment hurt, but mostly because it was true. As much as she knew how important a second chance is, she would rather not have her here at all, just to be safe.

"Go on; tell me I'm wrong…"

"sigh Terra…I…" Words failed her, what was there to say? She couldn't tell her she was right, and there was no way she would believe it if she said otherwise.

"See? I'm right aren't I? Well, it's ok. I'll just congratulate you and be on my way." Terra turned forward, her eyes starting to mist behind the frames. She knew today would be hard on her, but she had promised herself that she would try and force it through her thick skull that Beast Boy was no longer hers…she had lost him so long ago…and nothing was ever going to change that. "I hope you two will be happy together…"

"Terra…" Raven stood there, wanting to say more, now wanting to actually convince her to stay for whatever reason. Was it just out of guilt, or was she actually trying to make good on the second chance? No matter what it was, she wanted to say more…but knew there was no way to convince her to stay. Besides, time was running short. "Thank you…I hope…things between us can be better soon."

"I…don't know if they can…it's up to Beast Boy…and I know he hates me."

"Terra…he doesn't hate you."

"Of course he does…I mean, look what I've put him through. I even showed up, un-invited to his wedding."

Raven opened her mouth, but decided to wait and chose her words carefully. For as strong of a point Terra had made, she couldn't agree with her.

"…He…doesn't hate you. You should know him better than that, Beast Boy doesn't hate anyone."

"…Raven…it's ok, I know he does…now go on…I'm sure he's waiting for you."

"Why are they just…stopped there?" Beast Boy's leg was working overtime, shaking his entire body in place, sweat starting to form on his forehead as the time ticked by. In the distance Susan's car sat at the bottom of a small hill, too far to see the figures on the grass.

"I don't know…maybe they needed to fix her dress or something. Don't panic, they've still got a few minutes before things start." Cyborg stepped up behind the groom, trying his best to calm him down while secretly keeping an eye on his teammates and Jynx in the crowd.

"B-But what if she's having second thoughts? What if they're on the side of the road trying to talk her out of bailing?"

"I wouldn't worry." Seemingly out of nowhere a familiar voice suddenly sent calm through Beast Boy's body. Although late, it seems that he who was about to give away the bride, had arrived. "You know Raven, always has to dramatic about everything."

When he turned Beast Boy met the smiling face of Dick Grayson, his eyes hidden behind the bandit mask provided for all…extra-ordinary guests. Behind him Batgirl made her way to her seat in the third row, giving a polite wave. Even though she barely knew anyone else besides Dick here, especially the bride and groom, she was invited along for her help in finding Starfire. Batman as well received an invitation, along with Bruce Wayne. Although they half expected Batman to ditch, Beast Boy and Raven had at least thought that Mr. Wayne would join them, after all, he was providing for their honeymoon arrangements.

"Dick…did you happen to see what was going on down there?"

"Sorry I'm late…and thank you, I wouldn't miss this for the world." Dick laughed softly, letting BB's comment go as out of a moment of frantic worry. "Yeah, she was just getting back in the car when we pulled up alongside. She should be along any minute now."

"Good…good…."

"Beast Boy…I know this may not be the best time but…there's something I want to talk to you about." Dick scratched the back of his head nervously; looking over his shoulder to make sure Barbra wasn't listening.

"Hmmm? Oh yeah, sure what is it?" Beast Boy only paid him half attention, his eyes following the small car in the distance as it once again pulled onto the road and made its way towards them.

"About the honeymoon…"

"Yeah…uh-huh…what about it?"

"There's still something about it…that's not feeling right to me, and…I just want you guys to…"

"Quick, they're here! Go, go! You're not supposed to be here, get down to the other end of the aisle." Before he could finish, Dick was quickly shoved hard down the pathway between the small sea of chairs, the car finally pulling up beside the small tent for the bride. Not too long now, only a few minutes to go, and probably his last real chance to warn them again before it was too late. He still had the reception, but with the rest of the guests surrounding to congratulate them it would prove difficult. No matter how much he tried to push it the back of his head, it always seemed to disturb him. Why? Why was this so important and where was Bruce after all? Batman may be a cold, heartless, demon, but Bruce was not the kind of man to miss something like this. What the hell was going on?

Ok guys, here's the update. I know this was a long wait, but the next few will most likely take just as long, hopefully shorter. Firstly, there's Thanksgiving vacation. Secondly, it's the end of the semester which means the classwork is piling. Finally, there are finals to think and prepare for. But do not fret true believers, I promise you this, my Christmas gift to you will be at the very least, the wedding ceremony. But most likely, by then I will be at the reception, which will prolly take a few chapters due to character development and such. If all goes as planned, I will have Part II finished before my trip to Florida at the end of January and will have the first chapter of Part III for you guys sometime at the beginning of next semester. For now…Later Days!

ANSA