Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Teen Titans
Chapter 19
Raven stood beneath the waterfall, allowing the cool water to drench her body. It was quite a relief to the hot, humid air of the jungle. She pushed her hair out of her face and then walked out from beneath the falls. She squeezed the excess water from her hair and grabbed her towel, wrapping it around her body. She heard footsteps approaching and quickly turned. She could barely make him out, since he blended in with the jungle, but she saw that it was Beast Boy.
"Oh, hi," she said shyly, making sure her body was covered up.
"Hey," he said sullenly as he made it out of the jungle and into the small clearing.
"I was just taking a quick shower to cool off," she said, explaining why she was standing there in only a towel. "How was your meeting with King Tawaba? What's your final trial?"
Beast Boy stood with his hands in the pockets of his shorts. "You should get dressed," he said. "You can have privacy up in the cave."
Raven looked at him oddly, but did as he said. She grabbed her clothes up and went to change behind the falls. While she did, Beast Boy took a seat near the river and went into deep thought. He let his hand search for stones and then would toss them into the water. When she was done she came back out and approached him. He didn't move.
"So, how'd it go?" she asked.
"Not good," he said.
She took a seat beside him and asked, "Why not?"
"Because… my final trial is that I gotta marry Aiyana," he said, throwing a stone into the river, harshly.
Raven was quite taken back by this and could only respond with a, "What?"
"You know, just when I thought things were finally gonna be right and perfect everything blows up in my damn face," he said, throwing another stone. "I hate my life."
"Wait a second," she said, still feeling confused. "What's going on? You have to marry Aiyana?"
"My final trial is that I gotta marry a girl from the tribe that has completed her Trials of Womanhood and it's gotta be someone that the king chooses," said Beast Boy. "And, traditionally, I've gotta marry his daughter, which turns out to be Aiyana."
Raven's mind raced and her chest felt heavy. She then sighed and tucked her damp strands behind her ears. So much for this little romance.
"I don't know what to do," he sighed, hanging his head.
"What do you mean you don't know what to do?" she said. "You've got to marry her."
"What?" he said, his head snapping back up. "How can you say that?"
"How can you not?" she said. "You've put a lot of hard work into this. You can't just give up now."
"Raven, I can't marry her!" he said. "I don't love her!"
"Then what're you going to do?" she said. "Not marry her and get kicked out of the tribe? You can't do that, Beast Boy, not after two years of trials."
"But what about us?" he asked.
"What about us?" she said, turning away from him.
Beast Boy was shocked by her reaction. "Raven, I thought you liked me," he said. "And I like you. How can we just abandon the beginning of something?"
"Sometimes there are more important things than the here and now," said Raven. "Like the future."
"What kind of future am I gonna have if I've gotta be married to a girl who I don't love?" he asked. "I don't even like her as a friend, now."
"You'll learn to like her," said Raven. "Maybe, someday, you'll even learn to love her. I mean, it took a few years and we… learned to like each other as more than friends. I'm sure the same can happen for you and Aiyana."
"No, it won't," he said, shaking his head. "I won't let it happen. I like you, Raven. I wanna be with you."
"Beast Boy, I'm going back to Jump City tomorrow," said Raven. "And you're staying here. We can't be together."
"Then I'll go back with you," he said.
"No," she said, firmly. "I'm not going to let you give up after all you've done to get to this point. Not for me. I'm not worth it."
"Yes, you are!" he said. "You're totally worth it."
Raven sighed and became quiet. She focused on the water and it was clear she was going into deep thought. Beast Boy stared at her for a few moments, then returned his gaze to the water as well. He grabbed another stone and tossed it away in frustration.
"Look at this place," she said, suddenly looking up and around. "Isn't it beautiful? You can be here and forget that there's a world outside of here. There's a village full of people who love you, Beast Boy, understand you. The respect and honor you've been working for your entire life is here, where you've proved you deserve it. I assure you, I'm not worth this." With that she stood up and proceeded to leave the area.
"Wait!" he said, jumping to his feet. "H-How can you say all that?"
"Because, I care about you," she said and continued on her way.
"Care about me?!" he shouted. "If you cared about me then you'd fight for me! Instead, you're just gonna let me go like I don't matter? Is that it? Was I just a quick fling or something? From what I know you need any fling you can get! Well, go on then, leave! At least Aiyana's been trying to be with me! I don't like her or her actions, but it was flattering, you know? Well, if you wanna just toss me aside then, fine, go ahead! Turns out I really did only like the idea of you, cuz I wouldn't wanna be with the real you, ever! You're right! You're not worth it!"
He stood there, seething, and watched as she walked deep into the jungle. She never looked back. He growled angrily and kicked the ground. He then took a seat and tried to collect his thoughts. As soon as the anger faded away he felt empty and regretful for what he'd said, or rather, yelled.
Raven knew she could easily fly above the jungle and make it back to the village in no time, but, at the moment, she just wanted to be alone where she could release her emotions. After walking in a random direction for a good hour she felt she could let loose and no one would get hurt. And so, she fell to her knees, and began to cry.
Her heart had never felt such pain before. The pain spread through her entire body and made her ache. She trembled uncontrollably as the tears poured from her eyes and she sobbed. Again, her emotions had gotten the best of her; played her for a fool. She'd been stupid enough to follow the path they laid in front of her and it had only led her to more heartache and suffering. She thought back to that morning and how wonderful it had been. That had only been hours ago. And now it meant nothing.
When she'd finished she stood and looked around to see what the damage was. All of the vegetation within a quarter of a mile of her had been flattened, plucked out of the ground, and/or torn apart. She regained her composure and then took off into the air. She flew high above where the canopy had once been and looked around. Off in the distance she could see the only clearing there was and assumed that was where the village was. So she began to fly towards it.
Beast Boy decided to go see how Cyborg and Robin were doing on the T-ship. He really didn't know what else to do with himself, at the moment, and knew that being with his friends would at least take some of the sting out of the day.
"I didn't touch it!" said Robin.
"You must've because it wasn't like that before!" said Cyborg.
"How do you know?" said Robin. "There are thousands of wires all tangled together. You can't possibly know which one was in what place!"
"Uh, hello? Computer brain!" said Cyborg, pointing to his shining head.
"Whatever! Just fix it," said Robin.
"I'll fix it when I get to it," said Cyborg. "Just don't touch anything."
"How can I help you if I don't touch anything?" said Robin.
"Just cheer me on, I don't know!" said Cyborg.
"Sheesh, I don't remember you two fighting so much," said Beast Boy.
"Well, without you around, we had to start picking on each other more," said Cyborg as he crawled back into the bowels of the T-ship to continue fixing it.
"Yeah, we don't really take what we say to each other to heart," said Robin. "We've got to let off steam somehow. I'm sure you do it with your friends here."
"Uh, no, actually," said Beast Boy. "I think cuz I'm always working on some project I've got no steam to let off."
"Speaking of which, you find out what your final trial is?" asked Cyborg.
"Oh, that," said Beast Boy, his ears drooping. "Well, yeah, kinda."
"What is it?" asked Robin.
"I don't really wanna think about it, much less talk about it," Beast Boy sighed.
"Ooh, that bad, huh?" said Cyborg. "What is it? You gotta move the whole village to a less hot area?"
"I wish," said Beast Boy. "Anything would be better than what I gotta do."
"Well, come on, tell us," said Robin.
"I gotta marry Aiyana," said Beast Boy, leaning against the T-ship.
There was a clunk followed by an, "Ow!" from within the ship. A moment later Cyborg crawled out of the T-ship, rubbing his head. "You gotta what now?"
"I've got to marry Aiyana," Beast Boy said again as clearly as he could.
"Wow, that's definitely a big final trial," said Robin. "When do you have to marry her?"
"Within the week," said Beast Boy. "I don't know what to do."
"Well, you're gonna marry her, aren't you?" asked Cyborg.
"I really don't want to," said Beast Boy. "I'm not even friends with her anymore and now I've gotta spend the rest of my life with her if I wanna stay in the village."
"Ooh, tough deal," said Cyborg.
"Do you have to marry Aiyana?" asked Robin.
"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "And I don't wanna get into why I do."
"Wow, our lil grass stain getting married," said Cyborg. "I didn't think it would happen so quickly."
"You think I did?!" said Beast Boy. "I thought I'd have to pierce my lip or get a tattoo or something; I didn't think I'd have to get married."
"But, you're going to do it, right?" asked Robin. "I mean, if you don't, you won't be able to be in the tribe anymore."
"Yeah, then what're you gonna do?" asked Cyborg.
"See? This is why I said I didn't wanna think or talk about it!" said Beast Boy.
"Well, you've got to think and talk about it because you've only got a week to accomplish it," said Robin. "And if you don't do it then we've got to come back and get you, unless you want to live on your own in the jungle."
"Maybe it's time you came home, B," said Cyborg.
"But I love it here," said Beast Boy. "I'm not ready to leave."
"Beast Boy, did you plan on coming back, ever?" asked Robin.
"To be honest, no," said Beast Boy.
"Then you've got to do whatever it takes to stay here," said Robin.
"I…I guess you're right," said Beast Boy.
"So, are you gonna marry her?" asked Cyborg.
Beast Boy sighed and said, "It doesn't look like I have a choice."
"Well, I'm sure you and Aiyana will bond with time," said Robin. "She does like you, after all."
"And it's not like you've got another girl out there you really like," said Cyborg. "Unless…"
Beast Boy felt his heart stop as Cyborg paused for a few micro seconds.
"… you still have feelings for… Terra," Cyborg finished.
Beast Boy released a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding in. "No, I don't have feelings for Terra," he said. "That ship sailed a few years ago."
"Then you've got no reason to try to get to know Aiyana better and have a relationship with her," said Cyborg.
Beast Boy grew quiet and looked down into the crushed leaves and trees that had been left in the T-ship's wake. He knew very well he had a reason to not get into a relationship with Aiyana. His heart still belonged to Raven, no matter what he'd said.