Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Teen Titans
Chapter 15
Night had fallen and the visitors to the village were fast asleep in Beast Boy's hut. Well, all but Raven who couldn't fall asleep. She lay on her soft bed on the floor, wide awake. Finally, she couldn't take it any more and got up to walk around. As soon as she went to stand up a voice came out of the darkness.
"You're not asleep?"
She turned and saw the outline of Beast Boy in the moonlight, sitting on his own bed in a crouched position. His body looked absolutely beautiful in the soft, pale moonlight.
"You startled me," she admitted, grabbing her racing heart for a moment. "No, I can't seem to fall asleep. I was going to take a walk."
"I'll go with you," he said, standing up. "You shouldn't walk around alone at night around here. You never know what's stalking the village."
"I think I can take care of myself," she said, making it to her feet. "I've fought off far more dangerous creatures than lions. But you can come to give me company."
"That works, too," he said with a soft chuckle and the two exited his hut.
The night air was warm, but compared to the heat of the day it felt cool. The village was quiet and dark. Had the moon not been full and the sky clear they'd have trouble seeing anything; well Raven would. Beast Boy's eyes allowed him to see exceptionally well in most conditions.
"So, what do you think of the village?" asked Beast Boy, trying to strike up a conversation.
"It's very nice," said Raven. "I think I can understand why you feel so comfortable here."
"Yeah, sometimes I wonder why it took me so long to come back," said Beast Boy.
"Because you knew you'd feel guilty for leaving the rest of us," Raven said plainly. "It wasn't until I assured you that we'd be alright that you even considered coming back here."
"True," said Beast Boy. "Hey, you want me to take you to that spot I told you about? It's really quiet and calm, so it might help you fall asleep."
"I doubt falling asleep in the middle of the jungle is a good idea," said Raven.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," he said with a smile.
"I doubt you could protect me from a sore neck," said Raven with a soft chuckle.
"Then I'd carry you back," said Beast Boy. "You wanna go or not?"
Raven sighed and said, "Might as well. I doubt we'd have any other time to go alone. And once I know the way I can go on my own."
"Cool, let's go," he said with a smile. Raven softly smiled in return, but made sure she looked away so it couldn't be seen.
The two began to walk out of the village, but Beast Boy's sensitive ears picked up the sounds of someone running towards them. He swiftly turned and saw Aiyana running after them. Once she reached them she stopped and attempted to catch her breath.
"Where're you going?" she asked in her own language.
"Just out for a walk," Beast Boy replied in Swahili.
"Where're your other friends?" she asked.
"They're all asleep," said Beast Boy. "Speaking of which, why aren't you?"
"I was just up to get a drink of water," said Aiyana. "You shouldn't take a walk this late at night, you know."
"Yeah, I know," said Beast Boy. "Go back to bed, we'll be fine."
"You shouldn't be out alone with her!" said Aiyana, pointing at Raven.
"Why not?" said Beast Boy.
"Because going out to be alone with a girl when you haven't completed your trials is looked down upon," said Aiyana, crossing her arms.
"She's my friend!" said Beast Boy. "And I'm only one trial away from being done. Besides, you're alone with me all the time."
"That's different," said Aiyana.
"I don't see how," said Beast Boy.
"Garfield, if you leave with her I'm going to tell King Tawaba," Aiyana threatened.
"Go ahead!" said Beast Boy, grabbing Raven's hand and walking away from her.
She was so stunned that he was leaving she stood there in shock. She then frowned, turned on a dime, and stomped off. She couldn't believe he was going to go off to be alone with… her! What was so great about her? Oh well, no matter. Aiyana knew he was going to be hers in the end.
Beast Boy, still quite steamed, walked quite quickly and angrily. He still had a tight hold of Raven's hand and she was starting to grow uncomfortable.
"Beast Boy, are you okay?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah," he said, slowing down. "Sorry about that. Aiyana just told me I couldn't leave with you because it'd be frowned upon or something."
"I know," said Raven.
"You know?" he said. "How could you know? We were speaking Swahili."
"I've been learning Swahili for the past two years," said Raven. "I'm very good with languages."
"You already learned it?" he asked. "But I was supposed to teach you!"
"Don't worry, I'm not very good at it," said Raven. "You can help me become more fluent. Does that sound okay?"
"Well, I guess," said Beast Boy. "Anyway, do you see what I mean about Aiyana never leaving me alone?"
"I don't understand why you haven't told her to leave you alone," said Raven. "If you really have no romantic feelings for her you should let her now. She certainly has them for you. Oh, and you can let go of my hand now."
"Oh, sorry," he said, letting her hand go at last. He was glad it was dark out here Raven might've seen his blush. Not that that mattered since Raven could feel his emotions anyway. "So, speaking of romance and all that, how're the two couples doing?"
"Couldn't be better," said Raven. "Robin and Starfire are finally over the honeymoon period of the relationship and actually treat each other like real people instead of being sickeningly in love. And Cyborg and Sarah have a good thing going that we're all hoping doesn't end any time soon. All in all, everyone seems happy."
"What about you?" he asked, boldly. "Any romance yet?"
"No, not yet," said Raven in an even tone. "And I doubt it's anywhere in the near future. And you? Any girls here you like?"
"Not really," Beast Boy, shrugged. "I've kinda been too busy to check out the girls here. And if Aiyana saw me looking at any other girl I'm sure she'd get all jealous."
"Well, that shouldn't matter since you don't like her," said Raven.
"I know, but she's my friend," said Beast Boy. "I don't wanna hurt her feelings."
"At some point it's going to come to that," said Raven. "So you should get it over with."
"Yeah, I know," he sighed.
The two continued to walk and soon reached the jungle. Beast Boy walked through it without a problem, in bare feet no less, but Raven couldn't help but trip and get caught up on nearly every branch, vine, and bush. She couldn't understand how he could move through it so quickly.
"You certainly know your way around here," said Raven as she tried to free her foot from the grasp of a vine that had caught her.
"After two years? Yeah," he chuckled. "Do you need some help?"
"I'd appreciate some, yes," said Raven.
"No problem," he said and headed back to her. He grabbed her hand, again, and carefully led her through the thick vegetation of the jungle.
Raven couldn't believe how slow and patient he was being with her, helping her through many tricky areas. The Beast Boy she knew would never have been like this; he'd tell her to hurry up and that if he could do it she could do it. His maturity was actually starting to scare her. And his hand, though tough and calloused, held her own hand with a gentle touch. She'd never had any man, one not made of paper, hold her hand before. And, though it was only to help her get through the jungle unscathed, she felt herself blush.
After what seemed miles and miles they made it to their destination. Raven was shocked to see a small waterfall in front of them. And, above, the canopy of the jungle seemed to forget to cover this area and there was a beautiful view of the stars and moon. There were beautiful flowers all around and they were illuminated in the moonlight. Raven was quite speechless.
"So, what do you think?" he asked, nervously.
"This is beautiful," she said, awestruck. "You really thought of me when you saw this?"
"W-Well, yeah," he stuttered. "I mean, I thought that this would be the best place for you to meditate. It's quiet and away from everything. But, I have to show you the best place. I hope you don't mind getting a little wet."
He walked around the small pool the waterfall fed into and Raven was right behind him. He reached the small cliff face that the water spilled over and began to scale it, going closer and closer to the water. Raven chose to levitate up and follow him, rather than climb. Once he reached a certain point he moved right into the waterfall and then disappeared. A bit confused, Raven looked below to see if he'd fallen. Suddenly a green arm reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her through the falling water.
On the other side lay a cavernous area that was pitch black. Raven, now quite wet, couldn't see a thing and tried to feel around.
"And this is the best place, because?" she asked.
"Just wait a second," he said. A few seconds later a familiar little lamp Raven had sent him for his birthday a few years back was turned on and all could be seen. "Welcome to my home away from home."
Raven looked around and saw many of the things the Titans had sent him over the years were here. Pictures Starfire had sent had been glued to the rocky wall, empty bags of chips that he'd gotten once in a blue moon when he'd really been craving them were in a nice pile, three empty notebooks, dozens of useless pens, and a stack of letters. And the floor was covered with soft leaves to cover the dirt and stones.
"Wow," she said. "This definitely looks like you."
"Isn't it great?" he beamed. "Take a seat." He sat down himself and she followed.
"You made yourself such a big hut, why come here?" asked Raven.
"Because nobody can find me here," said Beast Boy. "This is usually where I come to think and write."
"Are those the letters I sent you?" asked Raven, pointing to the stack of letters.
"Yeah," said Beast Boy.
"You kept them?" she asked. "All of them?"
"Well, yeah, of course I did," said Beast Boy. "They helped me keep track of what was going on outside of Upper Lamumba."
"Oh," said Raven. She got a bit more comfortable and watched as the light reflected and danced on the ever falling water. She loosely held her knees and rested her back up against the rock wall. She let out a soft sigh and relaxed a bit.
"Getting tired?" Beast Boy chuckled lightly.
"A little, yes," she said. "I wouldn't mind spending the night here instead of in the hut. I don't exactly sleep well in a room with others."
"You slept well when you and me were in a hotel room," said Beast Boy.
"That was just one other person," said Raven. "Two or more and I don't feel comfortable."
"Ah," said Beast Boy. "Well, I'd let you sleep here, but I'm sure the others would wonder where you were in the morning and soon everyone would know about this secret spot."
"I know," said Raven, closing her eyes.
He watched as she slowly began to breathe deeper and her head began to grow heavy. Soon she was fast asleep. He sighed and went to her. He gently helped her to lie down on the soft floor of leaves. He tried to put her in a somewhat comfortable position and moved a few stray hands of her violet hair behind her ear. He stayed there for a moment, looking upon her quiet sleeping form. As he looked at her he felt this odd feeling in his chest and in his stomach. He hadn't felt this way in years and it scared him a little.
He moved away and lay down, as well. He knew he was going to be awake far before the others and that would give him time to get Raven up and go back to the village, before the others knew they were gone. He turned the little lamp off and settled in for a few hours of sleep.