Chapter 4: Paint the Town

Aurelia stared out at the sea that surrounded Titan's Island, her legs hung off the side of the roof. It had been two weeks since she'd come to stay with Raven and her friends. She knew that they were all trying, but she could tell it was a strained trust. The one who seemed to trust her the most was Starfire, she was grateful to have another female friend who was interested in more girly things. She was even able to go shopping with the alien, who bought her a few new outfits.

The door leading out to the roof opened, she glanced back and was surprised to see Beast Boy coming out. "Oh, I didn't know you'd be up here," he said in surprise.

"Yeah, the sea air calms me down," she said glancing back out. "Not to mention the city life."

"Yeah, sometimes I wish I could go out and about without gaining attention everywhere I go." He sat down about a foot away from her.

"Yeah, mines more subtle," she smirked at him.

"Hey, I rock the green skin," he struck a funny pose, fists on his hips. She laughed and shook her head.

"So is there no cure?" She wondered, hoping she wasn't prying to far.

"Only known cure died with my parents," he said with a shrug. "I suppose I could ask Cy for help, but I don't know."

"You should be able to go out incognito," she said, her face lit up then. "Does Cyborg have anything that could possibly help?" Beast Boy looked at her, his brows raised.

"Well he has these holorings, they made him look normal once," Beast Boy said thoughtfully. "Why?"

She stood up, pulling him up with her. "Cuz we're going out!" She dragged him back inside. They made their way to Cyborg's room, she knocked.

It took a second, he opened the door surprised at who was standing before him. "Something wrong?" He raised his brow at their hands, Aurelia blushed lightly and dropped the other boy's hand.

"Um I was wondering, we want to go out without being noticed, ya know paint the town red?" She gave him a small pout. "And Beast Boy mentioned some rings?"

"Oh, yeah those," he rubbed the back of his head. He stared down at the short girl and her pleading eyes. "I have two sets, they'll make you look regular, but don't let Robin know I gave em to ya."

"He won't know, I promise," Aurelia said excitedly. Cyborg disappeared and when he got back he handed them each two silver rings.

"Ok when you put them on, just twist to the right," he instructed. "Just wait until you're away from the tower, please."

"Thanks Cy," Beast Boy fist bumped the robotic teen. "We'll bring em back in good shape." They sprinted down the hall. "I can't believe that worked!"

"I am pretty awesome at persuasion," she winked at him as they made their way to the front door.

"Going out?" They stopped dead as Robin spoke.

"Yeah, just for a couple hours," Beast Boy said trying to keep his composure. Aurelia nodded beside him.

"Make sure to keep your communicator on," he nodded to Beast Boy. The changeling nodded back, and they continued on their way.

"That was close," Aurelia giggled as they cleared the main doors. "I was sure he'd know something was up."

"Nah, I'm too cool to lose it," Beast Boy puffed up his chest. They headed to the edge of the island. "Can you fly?"

Aurelia looked at him, a smirk lighting her face. "See if you can keep up," she rocketed forward, leaving the green teen in her dust.

Beast Boy turned into a falcon and shot forward, he caught up with her quickly. Aurelia laughed as they sped towards the mainland. As she landed she realized she was going too fast, and crashed into the sandy shore. She rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. The falcon landed next to her, turning into Beast Boy squatting by her head.

"Nice landing," he smirked at her.

"What I can't always come to a gentle stop," she said with a laugh. "That was really fun though, Rae never liked to race with me."

Beast Boy shook his head, helping her stand. "Let's change before we get spotted, what with your amazing landing skills." They placed their rings on and twisted. Beast Boy's skin turned tan, his eyes blue and his hair became blonde.

Aurelia's hair became orange, her eyes a pale blue and her ears looked like human ears. She pulled a small mirror from her pocket. "This is really weird," she said eyes wide. "I look like I do on the night of the full moon."

"You turn human?" Beast Boy asked surprised.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's apparently a trait from where I'm from."

"Azarath?" He asked a brow raised. "Raven doesn't-"

"No," she shook her head. "According to my mother, I'm from a realm called Surda, which hasn't been spoken of for fifteen years now." She sighed. "Rae doesn't even know about that, my mom hid me a lot during that time."

"Oh," he said, it was a small shock to him that she was sharing a piece of her past with him. "Should we go?"

"Yeah," her smile returned as they set off into the city. Neither of them noticed the figure that was watching from a distance.


Aurelia and Beast Boy sat in a cafe, they were having something sweet while chatting. "This is the most fun I've had since coming to this realm," she said as she ate some frozen yogurt.

"I'm glad you're having fun," he said munching on his cake. There was suddenly a crash, followed by profuse apologies.

"I'm so, so, so sorry," they looked over to see a blonde girl walking backward, her hands up. She was wearing a black top and dark wash jeans. The girl ended up bumping into another person behind her, she turned another apology on the way, Beast Boy's sharp intake of breath alerted Aurelia that something was wrong.

"Do you know her?" She wondered as he tore his eyes from the blonde.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter, she won't remember," his voice had dropped as he spoke. Aurelia glanced between the two, and a thought came to her.

"Why wouldn't she remember?" she asked. He looked like he was trying to figure out the best way to tell her. "Never mind, why not just talk to her?"

He glanced back and saw that the blonde was now walking toward them, there was an empty table right next to theirs. She sat down and put her face into her hands. "That was so stupid," she muttered.

Aurelia motioned him to talk to her, she felt like it was maybe the wrong move to have him walking back into his past, but she couldn't figure out why that was.

Beast Boy took a deep breath, turned and tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Hey, is everything ok?"

The girl jerked and looked up at him, her eyes were wide, almost disbelieving. "Beast Boy?"

"How did-you remember?" Aurelia could hear the lightness in his tone. The girl nodded, her look melting into a smile. "Terra, how-when…"

"Wow, you look different," she smiled in a flirty manner.

Aurelia felt like a foreigner as she watched the two of them interact with each other. "I'm just gonna…." she trailed off, when she realized neither was paying attention. She knew he wouldn't notice her slip away.


Aurelia made it back to the tower, just after landing she took the rings off going back to normal. She couldn't figure out why it felt so weird that she'd just left Beast Boy with that girl Terra. As she walked into the tower she plastered a smile on her face and entered the main room. She found Raven and Starfire meditating together, she found it refreshing to know that Rae was close with another female.

She sat down quietly on the couch, so she didn't disrupt the flow of energy. "Where's Beast Boy?" Aurelia jerked slightly when she realized she'd spaced out. She realized both girls were looking at her now.

"Oh," she shrugged. "He ran into a friend."

"A friend?" Starfire asked floating over and sitting down. Raven went over to the kitchenette and busied herself making some tea. "May I ask whom?"

"I believe he called her Terra," there was a tinkling crash from Raven's direction, Starfire's eyes widened.

Aurelia stared over at her surprised. "Raven is something wrong?"

"Did you say Terra?" Raven asked in suppressed shock.

"Yeah, she was really friendly," Aurelia shrugged. "I don't even know if he realizes I left."

"Did you leave him with her?" Starfire wondered, after the shock wore off.

"Yeah, why is something wrong?" Aurelia asked, getting tired of the runaround.

"You remember when he told you about that teammate that betrayed us?" Aurelia nodded. "Well her name was Terra, she was a wild card from the start, but we thought she was our friend."

"She hurt us all, but none as much as friend Beast Boy." Starfire said softly. "She tried to kill us, and we couldn't fight back, because she was our friend."

"She ended up sacrificing herself to a volcano beneath the city," Raven said, her expression turned hard. "One day her statue disappeared, and Beast Boy said he'd found her, but she didn't remember her previous life."

"Was she dangerous?" Aurelia wondered, hoping she didn't just doom a possible new friend.

"Up until the end," Raven sighed. "But I don't think she could really hurt anyone."

"Besides, we do not even know if she has her powers," Starfire tried for a reassuring tone, but she sounded unsure.


"So you don't remember what happened after you turned to stone?" Beast Boy and Terra were now out at a park.

Terra pushed some hair behind her ear, "no, I remember you guys running away, and even then the time leading up to it is fuzzy."

"When did you remember? Did you try to find us?"

"To be honest, no," she sighed. "I figured you guys would still be upset about my turning on you."

"I never gave up hope," he said softly, his cheeks flushing lightly.

"Who was that girl with you?" She wondered.

"Oh, Aurelia?" Terra smiled and nodded. "She's a new potential recruit."

"Ah so it's not official yet?" Beast Boy shook his head. "Do you all trust her?"

Beast Boy was struck silent for a bit. He thought back to when they first landed earlier, she'd shared something of her past that even Raven didn't know. "I do," he affirmed. It was the first time he'd really actually thought that, but he realized it was true.

Terra glanced at her wrist, then jumped up looking alarmed. "Shoot I promised I'd be back by now," she gave him an apologetic look. "We should try this again sometime."

"Yeah," he nodded as she took off at a run. He sighed and leaned his head back staring up into the sky. He then closed his eyes. He knew he probably had offended Aurelia when he started talking to Terra. It had taken him about ten minutes to realize she had left.

He looked out over the bay, staring at his home. He stood up and stretched deciding that he would get Aurelia something to apologize.


Aurelia lay curled up on the couch in the pajamas Starfire had bought her, she was listening to the alien's iPod, her eyes closed.

She jumped when she felt something brush her nose, she ended up falling off the couch. She glared up at the offender to see Beast Boy doubled up laughing.

She pulled the headphones out, "that was so not funny," she ground out.

"On the contrary," he pretended to wipe away a tear. "It was VERY funny."

She climbed back on the couch, crossed her arms and refused to look at him. "Jerk."

"Aw c'mon! You have to admit, if it wasn't you, you'd be laughing." He sat on the couch about a foot away. She still refused to acknowledge him. "Hey I know I kinda got caught up in talking to Terra, but I got you something to make up for it." He received the barest of glances. He pulled it out of his pocket.

When she saw what he held out to her, she felt her pulse race, blood rushing to her cheeks. It was a necklace, it was a small silver cat pawing at a jeweled heart, sitting on a crescent moon.

"Why?" Her voice was slightly strained, trying to figure out why he felt the need to make it up to her.

"Because I also wanted you to know, I trust you," he took her hand and put the necklace in it, closing her fingers around it. "I saw it and thought of you."

She stared down at her hand, still enclosed in his and felt a warmth she hadn't felt since before her mom died.

"Did we just become friends?" She turned her eyes up to meet his. She was struck then how attractive he was.

"Yeah," he grinned at her.

She smiled back, the first genuine smile he'd seen that wasn't directed at Raven or Starfire. The thought that he put the smile there made his heart squeeze in a funny way, the way it had only one other time.

"Ok, well since we're friends," she turned her back to him. "Help me put it on."

He took the necklace back and clasped it for her, his fingers left goosebumps in their wake.

"Thank you," she turned back a smile on her face. She stood up then. "I'm gonna go," she hurried out of the room.

Beast Boy sat there staring at his hands.

"One day you will meet someone special, it may not be all at once but once you find them, they will be all that matters."

He'd felt this when he first met Terra, but this was slightly different, less awkward. He couldn't figure out what it meant, so he decided to head to his room.


AN: Well I hope everyone enjoys the latest installment of Destiny. I know it's been awhile. As always give a favorite, follow or review, BUH-BYE!