Thanks for everyone who waited for this story...I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long.

I'm not sure if this chapter is as good as the last though. Will try to improve, I promise you.

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Prologue Part II

Broken Wings

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-Terra-

Terra stood on a rocky outcrop at the outskirts of the desert, gazing across to the small harbor city nestled between the sea and the mountains. This was it. This was the edge of the United States. She felt a weariness settle inside her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She was so tired, so tired of running away and the sparkle of the waves were so inviting. She wished, no she hoped, that maybe, just maybe she could stay there, call it home.

She skidded down the rock and started running, the slight hope still lingering in the innermost chambers of her heart.

When she saw the Tower, she couldn't help but think, T for Terra, and she wondered who lived there.

It was Beastboy who met her first, when she used her powers to stop an attempted store robbery. There were no Teen Titans. It was only Beastboy and Cyborg now. Most of the high-security prisoners had been moved elsewhere since the Titans weren't there to keep them in check if ever they broke out.

They were almost instant friends. Her natural cheerfulness was like a beam of light in the darkness, a draught of the Elixir of Life to his dying spirit.

She was intoxicating to his despairing state.

Later, he would be ashamed to admit that he lived for her, that he existed for the moments they shared. Because with her, he could forget that he had ever had a close-knit circle of friends that were more like family. He could forget about what he had lost, and he had lost so many things. When he was with her, he could pretend that the only things that existed were himself and her radiance.

He began to neglect his duties as a self-proclaimed superhero if only he could be with her for a little more time, forget that the world existed.

But oddly enough, he always returned to Raven's run-down little room on the outskirts of the fading city at night. He needed her darkness to be there when he faced the harsh reality in the absence of Terra's light. Raven never said anything when he'd come stumbling in through the door, throwing himself onto the worn sofa that stood at one edge of the room. She didn't need to. After a while, he'd have a little small talk with Raven then walk out the door.

Terra was flattered by his advances. No one had ever cared about her so ardently. And she honestly did enjoy his company and the accompanying jokes. It felt good to laugh so wholesomely and without bound.

But Terra had heard about the Teen Titans from around the city. There came the inevitable day when she asked about the subject. Beastboy immediately clammed up. The scars were too fresh and bleeding. It had only been a couple of months since the whole world had come crashing down for him.

Terra had been the only sanctuary away from reality, but now she was dragging the real world into their relationship. She wanted to know too much, wasn't satisfied with his terse remarks about the subject.

Then she began to tell him about herself. About all the things she had done, all her scars. She trusted him enough to show her entirety. But Beastboy was hurting too. He was the one who needed comfort. He wasn't strong enough yet to hold other people's problems along with his own. He tried, valiantly, but two broken wings cannot make a bird fly. He broke down and they both fell, spiraling down from the sky.

Terra ran, just as she had done all her life. Ran away from another person she had tried to welcome into her life. Some say that her brother caught up with her, took her back to her country. Some say that she grew up as a normal teenager at the next city on the West Coast. Beastboy never found out.

He poured himself into his work for a while after that. In the end, it was Raven who sought him out. She sat with him, talked with him. When he cracked a weak joke, Raven left, knowing he would be all right.

-Robin-

The moment the Titans disbanded, he disappeared off the face of the earth. That's what he had wanted. If he had the nerve, he would have disappeared from this plane of existence. But that faint glimmer of a hope remained, that sometime she'd come back. Even if he was dead and gone when she finally returned, he wanted her to remember him with pride. He didn't want her to discover in history books how "The Boy Wonder" had deserted everyone. He didn't want her disappointment, even in death.

But he couldn't look at that Robin costume without his insides feeling like they were being freshly torn apart. He couldn't wear it without hearing her voice, her disembodied touch upon every wind.

-Raven-

Beastboy was stepping into trouble, and she could see that. But she knew better than to interfere. It was enough he came to her from time to time, seeking comfort and solace, although he claimed to be doing it for her. She knew better.

She had shed away her obligations as a teen superhero. She still helped people in trouble if she ever saw them in the streets, but she didn't go out of her way to help them. She still meditated, knowing she wouldn't be able to function properly if she didn't, but she didn't want to go soaring round in her leotard and cloak any longer. Too many memories…and her memory was exceptionally accurate. The prophecy still weighed on her mind, but she pushed it away. She no longer cared much. What would come would come, and she would meet it when it did.

She pretended she didn't care when Beastboy's visits became increasingly infrequent. He was getting on in life, getting over the Titans. Good. She still pretended when he had stopped coming altogether. Fine, he was living his own life now.

She buried herself in her books, now with nothing to tie her down.

One night, she decided to return to Azarath. Her days there had not been enjoyable, but it was a better option than sitting here, turning into an odd-jobs woman. At least there she could use her magical prowess for the people of Azarath. At least there, Arella would not refuse refuge to her only daughter.

But Azarath was gone. Only a brief vision of her mother remained before it lifted to reveal the burning buildings.

She sped back to Earth, broken completely. All were lost – friends, family, all.