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Chapter 12: Carnival Confessions

When Raven finally landed next to Beast Boy, now in human form, he was staring in awe at a spectacle of lights, colors, music, and metal. The carnival had come back to town. He didn't even have to say anything. When he turned toward Raven with a huge smile on his face, she knew what was on his mind.

"No, Beast Boy," she said firmly.

"Awe, come on, Rae! It'll be fun!" he implored.

"No. The last time we went to the carnival, I didn't like it, and I'm pretty sure I won't like it now. Besides, we should really be getting back to the tower." She glanced toward the ocean almost worriedly, as if she was expecting Robin to call them home any second.

"You only didn't like it because you didn't even try to have fun! Come on, just try it!" Raven shook her head resolutely. Thinking quickly, he switched gears. "Look, just try it this one time. If you don't like it, I swear I won't ever ask you to come again!"

Raven's determined glare faltered a bit, now she seemed to actually be thinking about his offer, which told him he was getting somewhere.

"Beast Boy, I really don't want to…" she began.

"Tell you what, think of this as payback for saying you hate me," he said with a sly grin. That did it. Most of the time when Beast Boy tried to lay a guilt trip on Raven, it didn't work, but now was an exception.

Groaning, Raven finally gave up. "Alright. Fine. But we can't stay to long." Inwardly, she scolded herself for giving in so easily. Her newfound affection for the changeling probably was a big part of it.

But did she really love Beast Boy that way? She loved all her teammates the way any friend would love another. Was Beast Boy really…more than a friend?

She didn't have much time to think, for the changeling grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the entrance. Her cheeks flushed red again at his touch, and she tried with all her might to keep her emotions in check.

"Beast Boy wait! Hold on!" she said.

"What?" he asked, looking back at her. Raven held the bag of books in front of his eyes to remind him.

"Oh…what are you gonna do with it?" he asked. She most certainly couldn't take it on a ride, and he was certain Raven wouldn't leave it out in the open.

"No problem," she said. With a wave of her hands, she opened up a small black portal in the air and dropped the bag through it.

"Wow, that must be handy," Beast Boy said as he watched the bag disappear. His wide grin reappeared and he grabbed her arm again. "Ready?" he asked eagerly.

Raven rolled her eyes, not believing she had actually agreed to this. "Let's just get this over with."

"Yeeeehaw!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he threw his arms in victory. After winning at the squirt gun challenge, you'd think he'd just won the Superbowl. The changeling smiled widely as he was handed a large, stuffed…fish? "Here ya go, Raven!" he said as he handed it to her. The stuffed doll was a mix of pink and purple.

"Beast Boy, what exactly makes you think I'd like a stuffed fish more than the stuffed chicken?" she asked.

"It's the thought that counts, right?" he said with a wink that made Raven uneasy. Nevertheless, she held on to it as they continued through the amusement park. They had been there for over half an hour now, and Beast Boy still had plenty of places he wanted to go.

"Let's see…where next?" he pondered. Then, he snapped his fingers. "There!" Raven turned to see that he was pointing the bumper cars. "Come on, Raven!" he said eagerly.

"No thanks," she said.

"Aw, why not, Rae? It'll be fun?" he asked. "Besides, you haven't even gone on a single ride yet!"

"Beast Boy, I just don't like carnivals much, okay?" she said, hoping he'd drop it. Beast Boy however, was feeling confident.

"Why? You never even try to have fun when we come here!" he replied.

Raven glared at him. "I just don't like them, Beast Boy. In case you didn't know, I'm not a big fan of crowds and loud noises."

"Only because you've lived your whole life away from that stuff." He shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, I took you here so you could have fun, too! I can't really have fun if you're standing there, being all gloomy and stuff! You can feel emotions now. It's about time you had some fun. I mean, you can't just sit in your room your whole life. You gotta try something new for once!" He lightly tugged on her shoulder. "Come on, just try it!"

She still glared at him wordlessly. Sighing, Beast Boy let go and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Look, would you just try it once? If you still don't have any fun, I promise we'll leave. Okay?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. Just this one."

"Alright!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Come on, I promise you you'll like it!"

"I highly doubt it," she droned as he led her on. After a few minutes of waiting, the two heroes were allowed in. Beast Boy took a green car (surprise) near a corner, and Raven took a purple car (surprise again) a little further away. At last the circuit started, and the cars whirred to life. Like beetles, the cars zipped back and forth, slamming and knocking into each other. Beast Boy was obviously having fun, laughing and giggling wherever he went. Raven however, was a much different story. After struggling to control the car, and being bumped into several times by little kids, she finally gave up and rested her elbow on the steering wheel.

"This is childish," she said as she glared off into the distance. She scanned the area for Beast Boy, but couldn't find him. Just then, something slamming into her car jolted her awake, and she looked frantically around to find the culprit. Surely enough, she found Beast Boy in his green car, connected to the side of her own car, and laughing at the look on her face.

"Boo-yeah! You can't handle this!" he said through his giggles. Raven was not amused, and glared at him murderously.

"Stop it, Beast Boy," she ordered. He didn't seem to heed her, for he backed up his car and slammed it into her again. Raven gave a slight cry in frustration, and Beast Boy laughed again.

"I said stop it, Beast Boy!" she said more loudly. Once again, the changeling backed away and slammed into her car, this time harder than before.

"BEAST BOY!" she yelled. The changeling gave her a mocking grin, and backed his car away.

"Come and get me, Rae!" he teased, and stuck his tongue out at her as he drove off. Raven gritted her teeth and tightened her hands on the steering wheel.

"Oh, you're dead now, you little grass stain," she seethed. Her foot slammed onto the pedal, and she sped off in hot pursuit.

"Oh man, Raven, those were some mad driving skills!" he said, smiling widely as they walked away from the ride.

"Thanks," Raven said simply. Even she couldn't help feeling a little proud after managing to slam into Beast Boy many times over. The changeling didn't even seem to mind, though. He was just happy he had gotten her to play along.

"So?" he asked hopefully. Raven sighed.

"Alright…we can stay a little longer," she said, not believing she was doing this.

"Sweet!" he said ecstatically. He couldn't believe his luck. It was almost like a dream come true. "So, any ideas on where you want to go next?" Raven looked nervously around her surroundings.

"Well…"

"Here's a seat right here!" Beast Boy said, pointing. He and Raven walked over to the empty park booth and sat down. By now, they had been in the amusement park for over two hours, a whole lot longer than Raven had even intended on staying.

"So, what do ya think?" he asked hopefully. "I bet this sure beats sitting around in your room all the time, right?"

Raven looked up at him, faint traces of a smirk visible. "Okay, I'll admit, you were right for once."

"See? I knew you had it in ya!" he said triumphantly. "Maybe now you'll try listening to me more often, huh?"

"Don't get your hopes up yet," she said teasingly. However, she did find it rather amusing to see Beast Boy act this way. That was one of the strange things about him – sometimes he could be very timid, yet other times he was annoyingly confident. Oddly enough, she found that was one of the things she liked about him. Not that she would ever tell him, of course.

Beast Boy's muffled giggling awoke her from her thoughts. "What's so funny?" she asked.

He stopped and looked at her with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Raven. It's just your face did look pretty hilarious back at the bumper cars."

Raven scowled at him, but it quickly turned into a smirk. "Oh really? Almost as funny as your look when you got scared at the haunted house?"

Beast Boy blushed angrily. "Hey, I wasn't scared!" he said defensively.

"Oh, so what was with that girlish scream I heard when the plastic skeleton popped out of the walls?"

"I, uh…I stubbed my foot!" he said, not sounding remotely convincing.

"Oh, so that makes you scream like a girl?" she said with a mocking grin.

"No, I…!" The boy snorted and folded his arms. Raven almost laughed at his childish fit. After a second of sitting there in silence, he and spoke up.

"So Raven, did you have a good time?" he asked hopefully. After a nervous pause, she slowly nodded.

"Yes. I had a great time," she said, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Beast Boy's heart leapt into his throat.

"Thanks," he said with a wide grin.

"Beast Boy?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably, but she never looked away from his eyes. "Not to sound sappy or anything, but…thanks for bothering with me for so long."

Beast Boy didn't gloat, nor did he even look very shocked. He merely smiled softly. "No problem. I gotta admit, I'm glad you finally started hanging out with me willingly. I never really did like all that fighting anyway."

"You just liked being an annoying green elf?" she asked. Right after she did, she instantly regretted it.

Beast Boy frowned. "Thanks a lot, Raven."

Raven sighed and clenched her fists in self-loathing. "I'm sorry, Beast Boy. I don't know why I said that. It seems all I can do is insult you."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not okay!" she said angrily. "You're always trying to be nice to me and all I ever do is throw it back in your face! I'm…I'm a bitch, aren't I?" When Beast Boy didn't respond, her heart sank even further. "See? Even you can't deny it!"

Beast Boy glanced up nervously. "Raven, listen to me." She looked up to acknowledge him. "I'm not going to lie and deny that you act like one sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time." He grinned sheepishly at her, not sure if she was going to kill him or not. "But it isn't who you are. I don't think you want to do it; you just do as a defense mechanism. Sort of the way I tell jokes and act goofy all the time."

Raven blushed and shifted in her seat. She didn't say anything at first, but her faint smile told Beast Boy enough how thankful she was.

"Beast Boy, why do you do it?" she asked. "Why do you try so hard? I mean, it's not as if I'm very nice to you about it," she said this with a small amount of guilt.

His smile remained fixed. "I like being with you Raven. I wouldn't try so hard if I didn't."

"But why? Why keep trying when I'm constantly pushing you away?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I admit, I thought you were a bitch at first, but later on, I saw a glimpse of what you were really like. And you know what? Beneath that wall of yours, I saw a sweet, caring, wonderful person."

Raven could feel heat in her cheeks. Did he just call her what she thought she said? "Beast Boy, I…"

He cut her off. "Besides, believe it or not, I know how bad it can be to be alone. I was an orphan once." Raven looked up at him in sheer shock.

"You were an orphan?" He nodded. "Beast Boy, I, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay," he said. "I know all about your past, so it's only fair you know about mine."

Raven didn't know how to respond. She wanted to leave it at that, but she was curious. "How…how did you become an orphan?" When she saw Beast Boy frown, she felt like she had overstepped her boundaries. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you want to."

He shook his head. "No, it's okay. I wanna tell you." He sighed, and went on. "My parents were both biologists. Back when I was a little kid, we went on a trip to Africa. While we were there, I was bit by this rare African green monkey. I caught a disease and I almost died." He gulped before going on. "My dad discovered a serum, and injected it into me. But it messed with my DNA, and turned me green, plus it gave me my powers. I first found out about them when I turned into a mongoose to kill a snake to save my mom. Anyway, one day, we went canoeing in the river, and we came to a waterfall. My parents told me to get out and save myself. I could have helped them, I could have turned into some kind of fish and saved them. But I was scared, and I didn't really know how to control them yet. So, I turned into a bird, and I just…flew away."

As he finished this story, he felt tears tugging at his eyelids. He tried to blink them away, but the memories of the horrible incident were too painful. He felt moisture run down his face, and he couldn't force them back. It was just then when he felt a warm hand close around one of his. He snapped his eyes open in shock to see Raven's hand wrapped around his, firmly yet gently. His gaze darted up to her face, and her expression was one of sorrow.

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy," she said, not really sure what else to say. Was this why he was so desperate to prove himself all the time? He felt guilty?

"I'm sorry," Beast Boy said. "It's just that…I could have saved them. I could have saved both their lives, but I didn't. I ran away like a coward, and now they're dead. All because of me." He lowered his head in shame.

"Beast Boy, look at me," he heard Raven say. He slowly lifted his head to meet her. "I know you feel guilty. Believe me, I've been there before." And she certainly had, being the daughter of a demon prophesied to destroy the world. "But you can't let yourself be overwhelmed by this, and you shouldn't place all the blame on yourself."

"I could have saved them!" he said angrily. "And it's not just them, either. Whenever I think about Terra, I can't help thinking I could save her, like it's all my fault she almost died. And now, she's out there, but doesn't even remember me, or at least chooses not to. Everything I do is a failure! It's like I'm doomed to lose everyone I care about," he said sadly.

"Beast Boy, you didn't even know how to control your powers. And who knows, if you tried to save them, you might have died too, and I know your parents wouldn't have wanted that," Raven said calmly.

"Besides, you're not a failure. You're always the one telling me not to feel guilty about Trigon almost destroying the earth. Granted, I still feel guilty about it too, but I want you to at least try to follow your own advice. As for Terra, she chose her own path. Where and what she is now is a result of her own actions, not yours. So do me a favor, okay? Leave the doom and gloom stuff up to me. The Tower will be pretty depressing with two Ravens walking around."

Beast Boy almost chuckled at her comment. "Did you just tell a joke?"

"Well, you were the one being depressing, so I thought I'd have to fill in your role." This time, Beast Boy did chuckle.

"Thanks, Rae" he said warmly. After a pause, he eyed her curiously. "What, nothing?"

"What?" she asked.

"I just called you Rae," he said.

The empath rolled her eyes. "So we don't ruin the moment, I'll let you slide this once."

"Gee, thanks, Rae," he said.

"Shut it, Garfield," she said with a smirk. Beast Boy responded by grimacing. She knew he disliked that name. "What?"

"Nothing," he said. "I just never really liked the name 'Garfield'. I guarantee ninety-eight percent of people in this country associate that name with a fat orange cat."

"And it suits you perfectly," Raven teased.

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out. "Meh. I just don't like it. It must be nice having a cool name like 'Raven'."

"But it's not my real name. My name's…" Raven stopped, realizing what she had almost said. Beast Boy shot up in his seat like he was about to be told an earth-shattering secret.

"You have another name? I thought you were just plain old 'Raven'!" he exclaimed.

Raven sighed and shook her head. "No, I have a 'real' name, I just never use it. My name is…Rachel. Rachel Roth." Beast Boy stared in awe at her. Knowing her name was like seeing a whole other side of her, as if he was seeing her in a different light.

"Rachel?" He tested the name on his tongue. "That's a nice name." Raven, or 'Rachel', rolled her eyes. "What? It is a nice name! A lot better than Garfield, at least. But why tell me?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I knew your real name, so I figured you deserved to know mine. And you should feel honored, I've never told that to a single soul."

"Even Robin?" Beast Boy asked hopefully. Raven rolled her eyes yet again.

"Yes, even Robin. And this'll be our little secret, okay? If you tell anyone, I'll throw you out the window," she said with a playful smirk.

"No worries, then! Your secret's safe with me!" he said confidently. On the inside, he felt proud that she had told him this. That had to have meant something.

Settling down in his seat and leaning in, he smiled warmly at her. "You know, Raven…you're one of the best friends I've ever had."

Raven's pale cheeks turned pink for the hundredth time that day. "Thank you. You're…one of the best friends I've ever had, too." And it was true.

And then, he saw it. It wasn't just a grin, or a smirk. It was a smile. A full-hearted, genuine smile. Raven's smile. And he loved it. He felt like he had just seen a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and perhaps it was. It was something to be treasured. That smile reassured him, and in this moment, he knew what he had to do.

Raven slowly withdrew her hand and looked at the sun. It was getting low, and it would be dark in less than a couple hours. She had ended staying out a lot longer than planned.

"We should be getting home," she advised.

"Not just yet," he said. Raven looked at him curiously.

"What?"

Beast Boy stood up, smiling. "Raven, come with me."

Raven looked at him uncomfortably. "Beast Boy, what-"

"Just follow me," he told her. Not giving her time to object, he transformed into a green eagle and flew into the air. Going against her judgment, Raven clutched her ridiculous pink fish, and cautiously flew after him. A short flight later, Beast Boy touched down on the beach, with Raven landing close behind. She took a moment to scan her surroundings. This part of the beach was pretty much deserted, and the only sound to be heard was the waves rolling onto the shore. Beast Boy stood, looking out toward the horizon. He was acting very strangely, and had a very peculiar look in his eye. Slowly, cautiously, she approached him.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, referring to the setting sun. Raven looked upon his face. The cool wind ruffled his hair, and the sunlight reflected off his deep green orbs, making them almost glow.

"Beast Boy, what's going on?" she asked, feeling more uneasy by the minute. She could feel her heart starting to beat frantically in her chest, but she didn't know why. Slowly, he turned to her. His face, surprisingly, was one of calm, though his eyes seemed to contain a raging storm of emotions. He stepped forward so they were merely a foot from each other.

"Just please be patient with me. There's a lot I want to say," he told her. Slowly, he cracked a smile. "You should smile more often, Raven," he said. "You look so beautiful when you do." His words pierced her to the core like a hot knife. Raven could feel the heat inside her building up as his words echoed over and over in her.

"Beast…wha…?" she tried to speak, but she couldn't put any coherent words together. All that came out were choppy words.

"Raven, we've known each other for years now," he said, not looking away from her eyes for a moment. "When I first met you, we were practically enemies. But even then, I could tell there was something unique about you. Something...special."

"I, I…" Raven was still unable to say anything remotely intelligent. For once in her life, she was acting like a flustered teenager instead of overly-mature Raven.

"We didn't even get along at first," he continued. "But then, I got to know you, and you got to know me. And then I slowly realized that there was a lot more to you than I had ever thought. You're one of the most amazing people I've ever met. You're smart, brave, caring, funny…and you're beautiful. On the outside, we're as different as black and white, but deep down, we're not so different. We've both been through similar things, and we both have the same fear: being accepted by others."

Tried though she did, Raven couldn't bring herself to look away. His eyes almost had some hypnotic affect which kept them locked. Inside, Raven could feel a raging hurricane of emotions surging inside her. She was sure that in the distance, her powers were creating havoc upon some unsuspecting place. She could feel her affection, or lover, whatever it was called, straining to break through.

The shape shifter sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, though we're different and fight a lot, we both care about each other. When I was with Terra, I thought I loved her. Maybe I did, but there was always something in the back of my mind, but I didn't know what it was. When I thought I lost you, I was so scared. I thought I would never see you. Suddenly all your insults, all our fights didn't matter. I just wanted to be with you again."

"Beast Boy…"

He stepped forward, so they were mere inches from each other.

"And then, I realized something. I realized why I was so scared. I realized why I was so jealous of Robin. When I was with Terra, my mind was on someone else. The person I was thinking about was someone I never would have suspected."

'No, please…' Raven pleaded in her mind.

"That person was you," Beast Boy whispered.

The moment the words hit her, Raven felt her chest tighten and her world go into a daze, like someone had just hit her over the head with a crowbar.

He forced a nervous chuckle. "It was you who was always there for me, not Terra. It was you whom I had cared about since the beginning, not Terra. I'm sorry. I'm sure this is a lot for you to take in. But I just had to say it, I couldn't hold out any longer! Truth is, Raven, I have…"

'Please, don't say it…'

"…feelings for you. I think I've had them for some time. I just didn't realize them until recently."

Finally, Raven averted his gaze by squeezing her eyes shut and lowering her head. Beast Boy frowned as he looked down at her. Almost reflexively, Raven folded her arms around herself, pressing that ridiculous stuffed fish to her chest.

"I like you, Raven, a lot. I think I might even…love you. I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you, but I had to tell you."

"Beast Boy, I…" Even still, Raven couldn't figure out what to say. She wasn't sure if she should be happy, sad, scared, or what.

Slowly, gingerly, he reached out and took her hand. "You don't have to say anything, Raven. Just answer me this question. Do you, do you feel the same way?" He was hopeful, but he was prepared for anything.

Raven turned so her back was facing him. She just couldn't bear to look in his eyes. "I don't know, Beast Boy. This is so hard."

Sadly, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Just say yes or no, Raven. I promise, no matter what you say, I'll understand. But I need to know. Don't worry about hurting my feelings. Just tell me the truth."

"I…" Raven opened her eyes and look straight ahead, over the beach. "Yes."

All at once, Beast Boy's world seemed to stop. He should have been ecstatic to hear those words, but Raven's tone made him even sadder.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I, I'm sorry, Beast Boy. I can't."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his chest starting to hurt.

"I can't be with you, Beast Boy," Raven said sadly. She squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears from forming. Raven could practically feel his heart breaking as she said this.

"But why?" he asked. "If you feel the same-"

"Beast Boy, look at me!" Raven spun around as she said this. "You know what I'm like! I can't afford to feel emotions!"

"But Trigon's dead! You're supposed to be free now!"

"I know!" Raven yelled, gritting her teeth. "But my powers are still controlled by my emotions. I could hurt someone! I could hurt you! If my emotions go out of control, I could end up hurting everyone! We'd cause nothing but pain if we got together!"

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed. "I don't buy that, Raven. I've seen you feel things before without anything bad happening. Besides, you certainly didn't hurt anyone when Malchior came. In fact if I remember correctly, you were even more in control than before!"

"Malchior was…odd," Raven said. "Yes, my emotions were under control, but that was because they combined instead of going crazy. How am I supposed to know that will happen with you? How do I know these feelings are even real? How do we know we'll even stay together? Loads of couples get together only to end up breaking each other's hearts!"

Beast Boy threw up his arms. "Well, you'll never know if you never try! That goes for your powers, or your emotions, or even our relationship! That's kind of the point of going out, you know? I may not be your soul mate, Raven, but at least we'd know if we tried to find out!"

Raven looked away. She couldn't bear to see the pain and frustration in his eyes. "I can't. I'm so sorry."

Beast Boy's frustrated expression was replaced again by one of sadness. "You won't even give this a chance?" Raven slowly started walking away from him, back still turned. Beast Boy sniffed as his heart tore in half. "So that's it, huh?" he called, sorrow pouring out of his voice. "You're just going to walk away from me?"

That caused Raven to stop dead in her tracks. She hated him. She hated herself more. She hated him for making her feel this way, and she hated herself for having to do this to him.

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy. I'd be lying if I said I felt nothing for you. But I just can't get into a relationship now."

"I know why you're doing this," Beast Boy said as he approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's Malchior, isn't it? You're afraid of the same thing happening again."

This time, a single tear did fall down her cheek. "It hurts…" she whispered. "It still hurts."

He knew exactly what she meant. Beast Boy, not even caring if she protested, turned her around and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace. The goth rested her head on his shoulder, her arms still wrapped around herself.

"I know it hurts, Raven, believe me. Terra still hurts me, too, but I've moved on. I know it's easy to try and live behind a wall your whole life, but it doesn't help the pain. You have to move on. Only then will you really be able to heal. And I swear, Raven, I would never hurt you. I would never do what Malchior did. Please, I'm not asking you to marry me or anything. I just want you to try. Will you give this a chance?" he asked her sincerely. Raven sniffled, blinking back the tears.

"I don't know, Gar…" she didn't intend to use his real name, but it slipped out. "I like you, I really do. I just don't know what to do." She gently looked up at him. "I need some time. I need to think about this."

"Fine."

"It might be a while, Beast Boy."

"Then I'll wait for you," he said resolutely. "Think as much as you need to. If you really do love me Raven, and you really want this, I promise we can make this work. I swear we will. If you don't want to…I'll understand."

Raven nodded weakly. "Okay. I'm sorry, Beast Boy."

"It's okay. I understand," he said sympathetically. After all, he did prepare himself for this. She was an already emotionally reclusive person who had her heart broken once. He shouldn't have expected her to just welcome him with open arms. "Even if you decided not to, I promise we'll still be friends."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," she said, smiling weakly and clutching the stupid pink and purple fish.

"Thank you," he replied back, thankful she was at least giving him some sort of a chance.

"I promise I'll have an answer soon," she said. He merely nodded, smiling faintly despite the situation.

Just then, the moment was interrupted by a loud beep. Raven's communicator was going off.

"Yes, Robin?" Raven asked, adopting her deadpan voice again.

"Just checking up on you guys. Don't stay out for too long," he said over the communicator. Ever the nanny, as usual.

"Okay, Rob. We'll be there soon. Raven out." She quickly put it back on her belt, then looked back at Beast Boy. "Well…"

"We should be getting back," he finished for her. The mage nodded, and gave him a look that clearly said 'thank you.'

"This will be between you and me for now," she said.

"Right. Thanks again, Raven."

A few seconds later, the mage and a green falcon lifted off the isolated beach toward Titans' Tower.

Beast Boy was disappointed, to say the least. Nevertheless, he felt…hopeful. He felt happy, and strangely enough, he felt optimistic. Maybe she would say yes. For once, Beast Boy felt secure, like nothing could go wrong.

Or so he thought.

I'm sooorrry! I know you probably hate me, but it's not over yet! Thus ends the first half of the story. Wow. Anyway, I'm sorry they didn't get together just yet, but I didn't think it'd be too realistic to have it happen this early. Don't give up yet! Be prepared, though, things are about to take a big turn for the worse! (evil laugh)

By the way, normally I don't like polls, but I wanted to see something. Which one of the five Templar is your favorite, and why? I know you haven't seen that much of them, but I wanted to get an idea. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks as always to those who have been reading and reviewing! Keep them coming, they make an author happy! See ya next chapter.