Ch. 8: Nightmares And Tutus

"Wow, it looks exactly the same! You weren't expecting me were you?" I asked Raven jokingly, as I stepped in to my new humble abode. My room still had its light brown curtains and beige ceiling with star shaped lighting, but the location was different than before. Starfire, for some reason, had thought it be a good idea to put my room down the opposite hallway from BB. I'd be on his right and Rae on his left. As I started to move some of my boxes of clothes into my closet, Raven plopped down on my bed, causing some dust to make a tiny cloud.

Without so much as a thought, that familiar tingle escaped my fingertips and any dust in the room was piled into one cloud, only to be hardened into a rock that I'd get rid of later…or keep just to toy with when I got bored. Raven laid herself lazily across my bed. I had started going through boxes and unpacking, when she responded to my question. "It was Star's idea to recreate your room. She had Cy help her after you had met. It was also her idea to put you near Gar's room opposite mine. That girl and her need to keep friendships strong."

I nodded, hanging up my clothes into my closet. We both sat in the silence, until something crashed into a box and instantly scurried under my bed. I turned around slightly to see Raven lying on her stomach and put her head near the gap between my bed and the floor. "Gar," She said, "Will you please come from under her bed? We already talked about how pointless this is. You're going to have to talk to her eventually, especially since she lives here now."

The dark girl plucked a green wolf cub from under my bed by the scruff of his neck, raising him eye level. I heard a whimper, so I assumed that she was giving him one of her most deadly glares when she told him, "Turn back now or I'll do it myself. Don't look so surprised! I memorized just in case you attempted to pull off something like this." I heard the wolf sigh (or was it pant?) as it shifted back into the team's Changeling. She ruffled his hair a bit with a smile, "Good boy."

I stopped what I was doing once I saw his head droop. "Rae, remember the nightmares I've been having?" Raven's smile dropped instantly, as she nodded slowly. "But you haven't told once what they've been about though." I walked over to them, seeing Raven placed a hand over BB's gloved one. He looked down and then towards me. "They've been about you, Terra…" Great. What a wonderful coming home present.

After Beast Boy told Raven and I about his nightmares, they starting to become mine later that night-the images of me whipping a defenseless Beast Boy jogged my mind awake. My hearing was the only thing to wake up as, since I could hear someone speak clearly. "Silence my friends! Do you wish to wake Terra?" There was a pause from the other two presences hovering near my bed, and then- "Star…that's the whole point of us coming in here in the first place…" Cy's deep voice cut the silence short.

And then I heard a voice that caused the rest of me to wake up with a jolt- "Yea, it's our goal to wake Sleeping Blondie." It was BB, sounding much more upbeat and relieved now that he had Raven to help him keep reign with his dreams. I sat up forward quickly, my eyes popping open but I instantly was forced to squint at the sudden intake of light. Covering them with my hand, I groaned, "Ugh…What guys doing at-" I tilted my head to glance at my clock, the machine blaring 7:30 am.

"We are here to do the reinstating of your Titan status, Terra!" Star gave a bright smile, to which I sleepily gave back. Is that all! I flopped back onto my mattress. They just came to revive my place as a Titan, how nice of them! Wait a second….I jolted upright again, finally noticing what was wrong with this scene. All three of my friends had the same maniacal smile, which could only me one thing: Cyborg held up a bright pink tutu and a unicycle. I gulped, feeling my eyes widened out of fear. "Guys, you can't do this to me!" I cried in protest, not wanting to have to do that again. "I don't think I should have to be subjected to this! It's cruel and unusual punishment!"

Starfire grabbed my wrist, yanking me out of bed-damn her and her alien strength-and shaking her head. "You must, friend Terra. It is tradition that when a member leaves the Titans they are put through this most," She let out a giggle, "Amusing trial. We have done it with Robin and Cyborg, and you did it once before. Now you must do it again! You did leave us, no?" She stopped yanking only to turn and give me Bambi eyes worth of Kitten BB. I sighed with an exasperate groan, "Fine, let's just get this over with…"

After doing the most embarrassing thing in the world for a second time, I trudged down to the common room for breakfast. Running a hand through my mess blond hair as the T doors slide open, I yawned tiredly. Upon entering, I found our two Birds, the ex-Boy Wonder drinking his coffee, paper in hand, while Raven sat the a counter across from him, sipping her tea. I smiled as the phrase 'birds of a feather…' came to mind.

"It looks like Star and B really do have an effect on you two," I said as I walked around the corner to the fridge. Opening it and grabbing the first thing I saw-which happened to be one of Star's many creations-I found them both giving me raised eyebrows of confusion as they looked away from their stories. I giggled to myself at how identical they looked, stalking over to lean on the back of the couch. I poked the glob on my plate with a fork I had gotten when no-one was looking, taking a bite from the dish. Huh. Taste like key lime chicken and black licorice…

"I remember how you two were always in your uniforms, ready to go and fight by the crack of dawn. But now look!" I pointed my fork towards Nightwing, who wore a white muscle tee and with blue and black plaid pajama pants. Raven's morning attire was in a black tank top with lavender sleeping shorts. "Before either of you get your feathers ruffled-" I had to smile at Night's mask narrowing and Rae's look of slight confusion. "I'm just saying that you too look so much more relax and happier, now that you have those two in your lives. Even Cy's cybernetics seems to glow brighter at the mention of Bee."

I draped my left arm against my waist while gripping onto the dish and silverware as I rested my opposite elbow my flat left wrist. Placing my hand against my cheek, I sighed. "I wish I had somebody to love." As if on cue, Beast Boy walked into the room, his grin wider than usual. I shot him a sweet smile, but busted out laughing at what happened seconds later: Raven jumps from her stool and literally tackles Beast Boy to the ground.

I covered my mouth to stifle my laughing, as BB gave a yelp! Topping the changeling as his back is against the Ops floor, our favorite empath starts giving him a great reason not to want oxygen. I start laughing so hard at the scene that I flipped over the couch's side and land with my head on the cushion. And then that familiar red light soaks the room with emergency. So much for training…