Cowboy boots aren't made for trudging through sand, I'll tell you that right now. But that doesn't make the task any less enjoyable. The sea whispers beside me, and you know how I love the sea. Besides, after my singing-fest, I felt at calm. Not exactly bubbling with happiness, but with peace with myself.
I stopped. Up ahead, a few hundred yards away from Titans Tower, is a silhouette against the full moon. Soft oceans breezes ruffle the long hair and fragile, petite body.
Terra.
Lately, she's been very different from the girl I was introduced to when first coming to Titans Tower. To me, she'd seemed the most open and...real...of all the Titans. Her face never seemed to hide anything. She hadn't constructed any walls around herself like many of the others, especially Robin and Raven, seemed to have. She'd been true and laid back and fun-loving, ready to give out a smile or a high five at any moment. She'd been the only one to be able to match Beast Boy's awkward exuberance.
But that had changed. Without meaning to, I had watched her become a totally different person. Quiet. Reserved. Melancholy. All the things the old Terra, or at least what I knew of her, was not.
I watched as Terra stood still on beach boulder, trying to squeeze out some kind of hurt. The moment was infinitely intimate and private. It felt wrong to intrude on it...but it felt like a sin not to.
I walked up and leaned against the chest-high boulder, leaving the rocky territory hers and hers alone. I propped my elbows up on it.
"You're a little late to see the sunset, darlin'."
If Terra was surprised, she didn't show it. She started to let her arms drop, but then she seemed to change her mind.
"No...I already saw it."
"Well, I missed it. Was it a good one?"
"...I dunno. I didn't really see it..." She shivered.
"Here," I said, taking off my poncho and throwing it up to her before she could object. "Wear this. It's cold."
Terra finally looked at me.
"T-thank you." She wrapped the garment around herself, making it look like a blanket around her narrow frame.
My tongue worked inside my mouth as my brain thought of something to say. I considered more small talk, slowly getting to the heart of the matter. But that seemed ingenuine, especially with Terra. I cut right to the chase.
"What's bothering you, Terra?"
Terra lowered herself to a sitting position on the rock, huddling even deeper beneath the poncho.
"I'm scared..."
When she didn't go on, I spoke up.
"We're all scared every once in a while. Folks are always scared, really. Afraid of dying. Afraid of living. Afraid of the dark. Afraid of the light...you name it." I paused. "What are you scared of, Terra?"
"I'm scared of..." She turned to me, and the trust in her eyes was as gratifying as it was surprising. "I'm scared of being frozen. Scared of being trapped in stone again."
I blinked and leaned forward slightly.
"Again?"
I'm not sure she even heard me.
"I...I betrayed them, Bard. The Teen Titans...they were so good to me and I stabbed them in the back." Her eyes teared up. "Beast Boy finally made me see, but it was too late. I still had to be punished."
I listened silently.
"My powers...they overloaded. I couldn't control them. My body turned to stone. I was trapped in a prison of my own making." She took in a deep breath. "I was like that for months before, somehow, I regained control. I still don't know how I did it."
"That's all in the past now, Terra."
She shook her head, her hair fluttering from side to side.
"No...my betrayal still haunts me. I can feel my blood solidifying. It's coming back. I'm going to be stone a-a-a-again."
She finally broke down, crying. I slid up on the boulder and hugged her, offering any comfort, if any, she could feel. After a few minutes, her shaking and sobs slowed.
"Does Beast Boy know?"
Terra nodded against my shoulder.
"Y-yeah. But I try to keep it from him as much as possible. He's been so good to me, and I don't want him to worry."
"We're not gonna let that happen to you, ya hear?"
"Y-yeah." She slowly disentangled herself from me and put my poncho in my lap. "I guess we should go back to the tower now, huh?"
I nodded.
"If you want to."
She hopped off the rock and started to walk away, but then she turned back to me.
"Thanks, Bard. Sometimes it's good to talk about our fears."
She turned away before she could see me stiffen at that. I looked down at my palms, at the black spots the fire staff I had conjured up early left behind.
Yeah...
I looked up and watched her leave.
Sometimes...
