Hey guys! I'm very glad that you're really getting into the story! (:
Thanks to my beta grlwithapen!
Read, comment, enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE TEEN TITANS! …or girl scout cookies… ):
Once Terra was done gathering all the other Titans back into the infirmary, they all started flooding Beast Boy with questions.
"Friend!" Starfire exclaimed "Are you alright?"
"What did Slade tell you?" Robin said trying to get down to the point.
"How was school for the first time?" Cyborg said trying to lighten the mood.
"Did you talk to Terra about coming back yet?" Raven said quietly in his ear.
"Can you forgive me, Beast Boy?" Terra said sitting next to him.
Beast Boy held his head with his non-bandaged hand and tried to make the headache that was developing go away. He honestly didn't have an answer to any of them; he'd have to give them all a bit of thought.
"GUYS!" Beast Boy tried to shout but stopped because his throat was soar. "I can't think with all of you talking at once!"
They stopped talking long enough for Beast Boy's headache to stop throbbing.
"Alright," He said opening his eyes. "One at a time, ask me what you need to ask me."
He looked at Robin. "I just want to know what Slade told you. We need to know everything if we want to figure out what he's up to."
Beast Boy looked at him with a blank expression. "I…I can't…I don't remember."
"He said that he was going to get back at Terra." Raven said butting in on a conversation she wasn't a part of. "He said that he was going to make her pay for what she did to him. And he told Terra that this was only the beginning."
Everyone just looked at Raven with pale faces, and then shifted their site to Terra whose blood had left her body completely.
"How do you know what happened? You weren't there!" Beast Boy said speaking for Terra.
"When I was healing your hand," she said pointing at his hand. "I held it, and it was like I had a front row seat to the fight. I saw everything."
"Oh…" Beast Boy said with a sigh of defeat.
Everyone was silent, so Beast Boy took advantage of this golden opportunity to talk to Terra because when he woke up, she ran out quickly to get the rest of the team.
"Hey," Beast Boy began. "Can you guys go figure out a plan of what we're going to do next? I want to talk to Terra."
Robin shook his head. "No, Beast Boy. Terra is a big part of what's going on; we need her with us when we plan our next move."
"Well than we'll all plan later! I just want to talk to her!" Beast Boy said with a slight hint of anger in his voice.
They all took the hint and left leaving Terra and Beast Boy behind in awkward silence.
Beast Boy looked at Terra who was blushing and looking down at the floor. He didn't really know where to begin.
"Terra…"
"There's nothing to talk about Beast Boy, we need to be planning with the others." Terra said getting up to leave.
"TERRA! YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM ME EVERYTIME I WANT TO TALK! I'M PART OF YOUR LIFE, PART OF YOUR PAST! YOU CAN'T CHANGE THAT!" Beast Boy screamed.
Terra turned around in shock and anger filled her eyes. "You don't think I know that? You saw the drawings in my journal! When my sister can't sleep I rock her to bed with my…OUR story! I try so hard every day to not come back to Titans Tower and leave my family! Don't you know that I miss my old life! And now Slade is back and he's ruining it again! He's burnt down my home, threatened my sister and now, he's coming after me!" Terra screamed back at Beast Boy with tears in her eyes. "I MISS MY OLD LIFE! I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO BE A TITAN AGAIN! But I have a family now and it's not that simple! I can't just get up and walk away!"
Terra sobbed with sadness and rage fueling her tears. "I miss you! I miss Cyborg! I miss Starfire! I miss Robin! HELL! I even miss Raven!"
Beast Boy stared at her as she knelt on the ground crying at the foot of Beast Boy's bed. "Terra…I"
"No! I have questions that need to be answered with honest answers!" Terra said getting up and dragging a chair next to his bed.
"Alright." Beast Boy said not wanting to make her any angrier.
Terra calmed herself then began. "Why did you and Raven disguise yourselves and try to blend in at my school?"
"Because after you told me things change, I just couldn't believe it, and wouldn't accept it! I was determined to have you back in my life and back in the Titans! So I hid in plain sight and slowly became your friend!"
"But why? I already told you to your face." Terra paused. "Your real face. I told you that I wasn't the girl that you were looking for; can't you just except that and move on?"
"No! I can't!" Beast Boy said sitting up and ripping out the cords that invaded his body. He took off the bandage from his hand and sat up slowly. "Terra, can't you get this through your head?"
Terra said nothing as the green changeling discarded the used bandage and shifted his broken leg around his bed with a wince.
"Do you remember what the last thing you said to me was?" Beast Boy said looking serious.
"What do you mean?" Terra said slightly confused, but she knew where he was going with this.
"The last thing the REAL you said to me. You said right before you sacrificed yourself to save us all that I was the best friend you ever had. But obviously you didn't know what you were saying! Because a real best friend wouldn't hide! They would stand beside their friends! But you didn't Terra; you hid from us and tried to keep your life with us a secret! What if someone else put the pieces of the puzzle together and figured out that you were once a Titan? What would you do then?"
Terra didn't respond.
"Terra, you said I was your best friend, and I never told you but you were my best friend too; but this girl who's looking at me right now, that's not Terra. You aren't Terra. The Terra I knew was kind, funny, and hopeful! You…you just have none of those!"
Tears started to slide down her checks. "Beast Boy…"
"No Terra let me finish! If you want to hide from us and spend of your life wondering, go ahead I won't stop you anymore."
She stared at him in disbelief. "Beast Boy. I may not be the girl I was, but she's in here somewhere…" she said pointing to her brain and then bringing it down to her heart. "I just need help finding her."
Beast Boy just looked at her and said nothing. She had put his life through hell, and made him cry for weeks on end. He didn't know what to think anymore.
"Please Beast Boy! I'm…" She paused and let a smile appear on her face and she laughed silently.
Beast Boy was beyond confused. "What's so funny?"
"I'm just laughing at the irony." Terra said sitting down on the side of the bed next to Beast Boy. "You say that I'm not the same person I was, but what about you? The Beast Boy I knew was happy all the time and always trying to make people laugh. He never gave up and was loyal to everyone!"
"Terra, I'm still the same me!" He said protesting against her statement. "I've just been so lost, and sad, and confused, and lonely…since you told me that things change. Didn't you know that you were hurting more than one person? Not only did you hurt me, but you were hurting yourself."
"I know," Terra said looking at his green eyes and taking his hand. "I know. And I'm so sorry for that."
Beast Boy looked at her eyes that were looking down at his hand refusing to meet his gaze. He smiled and let go of her hand and brought his up to her check. He was slowly getting his true friend back.
"Beast Boy…" Terra said looking into his eyes only to be cut off.
"Terra, I know that you've had a troubled past, and that I was a little selfish thinking only about me, and not about what you wanted but…I just miss you so much." He said not breaking his gaze.
She smiled and hugged him making him grunt in protest at the squeezing of the gash on his chest, but he ignored the pain and hugged her back.
"You really are the best friend I ever had Beast Boy. You know that right?" Terra said holding him close.
This was the real Terra, and he almost had her back. "Yeah, I know."
They stopped hugging and just looked at each other. "Uhh…Terra?"
"Yes?" She replied.
"I have one more question for you, but you don't have to answer it if you don't want to…"
"Go ahead." She said letting go of his hand and sitting back on the chair next to his bed.
"That night…on the Ferris wheel, when we were about to kiss but Slade showed up…I just wanted to know…"
"Yes?"
"Were you really going to let me kiss you? Or were you just trying to distract me to let Slade get closer to the Titans?" Beast Boy said looking at the foot of his bed now afraid to meet her gaze.
"Beast Boy," Terra began only to be cut off by Beast Boy hugging her tightly.
"I don't want to know the answer. We just made amends; I don't want to throw it all away."
Terra pulled out of the hug and smiled at him; then slowly leaned closer to him and her lips met his for the second time that week.
He didn't move as he let Terra move her hand over his pointed ear and wrap around the back of his head. He then moved his scraped hand onto the lower of her back and pulled her closer not wanting to let go. They stayed like this for what seemed like forever, until they heard the door slide open and looked up to see who was looking at them.
Raven.
Raven was shocked to say the least. She just went up to see if they were done talking and they're making out on the bed? She just didn't understand.
She stormed down the hallway and into her room. She lit all the candles and shut the blinds she sat on her bed and stared into the darkness that occasionally flickered with the light of the candles. Wanting to get the images of them kissing out of her head, she decided to transport to the roof. Her energy swirled around her and took her to the top of the tower. She opened her eyes and saw the skyline all lit up with night life of the city folks. Not wanting to any sources of light, she turned around and saw the deep blue water crashing on the rocky shore of the beach. The only light that could be seen was from the sliver of the crescent moon which would vanish as soon as she got deep into meditation.
Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos.
The darkness washed over her to the point of calm. She was surrounded by what she was used to, evil and dark. No light, no comfort, nothing.
Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos.
"Raven? Can we talk?" Said a familiar voice from outside of her peace. She opened her eyes and saw the water. She turned to see a skinny girl before her with blonde hair that lit the night on its own.
"There is nothing to talk about. Now go away I am meditating." She said closing her eyes once more.
"Alright," Terra said sitting next to her. "Mind if I join you?"
"With every being in my body," Raven said in a harsh tone.
Terra sighed in protest. "Look Raven. I know you still haven't forgiven me for what I did to you guys, and everyone else has…" Terra said. "But that's not the point. What is it I can do to gain your trust again?"
Raven took off her hood and stood so that she towered over the blue eyed girl. "Leave us and never come back."
Terra smiled, stood up and dusted off her school uniform that still had traces of Beast Boy's blood. "That's what I was going to do."
"What?"
"You do remember how my dad was moving us to New York right? Well I forgot that the house was already paid for by his company and that all we need to do is clean up what's left of our house and get out of Jump City." Terra said looking at the skyline while Raven refused to look at anything but the sliver of moon above her.
"But before I do leave you guys forever," She said walking in front of Raven. "I'm going to stop Slade. It's me he's after and I don't want the rest of you hurt because of his actions. I'm going to ask my parents to move to New York ahead of me and I'll meet them there once Slade is done for. And no matter what you say nothing will make me leave before he is stopped for good."
"You stay for a year as long as I care; I just don't want to see you anywhere near me or my friends." She said leaving Terra standing alone in the corner of the tower.
"Fine by me!" Terra shouted back friendly. "Just say that you'll bring me food so that I won't starve!"
"No promises." Raven said vanishing from the roof.
Terra was left alone on the roof to gaze at the beautiful view in front of her. She sat on the edge of the roof and started swinging her feet. She looked down at the rocky shore and smiled. She raised her hand and a rock flew up to it. She started crushing them in her hands turning them to dust. Once they were a neat pile of rubble, she began forming it back into one triangular rock. Not satisfied with her creation, she began sharpening the point of the rock until it drew blood just by looking at it.
She did this to ten more rocks and then stood and raised both of her hands and summoned a large boulder to the top of the tower where she was working. Once it was seated in front of her, she got to work. First she flattened the bottom and used her hands to carve out features. Then she began molding it like it were clay. She stopped when the boulder took the shape of a tall, muscular, skinny man. She then began using her hands to shape the features once more. Using her finger tips, she traced in lines and an eye into the man. She stepped back to admire her art and saw an almost perfect statue of Slade looking back at her.
She raised her hand and brought a sharpened rock into her hand and started throwing slightly above her hand before catching it again.
She felt an evil smile creep onto her face and almost laughed. "I'm definitely going to enjoy this."
She raised all the rocks into the air in one swift motion of raising her arms. She thrust one arm at the front of the evil faced statue sending half of the rocks plunging through him. She then raised her other arm around twirled her hand sending the rest of the rocks flying through the air and forming a small circle above the statue that was barley standing. She thrusted her arm down with much force sending the rocks down like speeding bullets on the statue. They slammed into the statue with a loud crash. Dust disguised all that was left of the statue.
She walked over and picked up the fake Slade mask from the pile and crushed it in her hands so it matched the rest of the statue. Dust.
The rock was weak and gave out easily; the real Slade wouldn't give up so quickly or easily. She smiled and wiped the residue from the rocks off of her already dirty uniform. Once finished, she summoned a rock to the roof of the tower and she stepped on top and started flying towards the city. She began picking up speed when she smelt smoke.
It was dark now, and it was harder than she thought it would be to find what was left of her house, but once she did she wished she hadn't looked for it at all.
She let the rock fall to the ground as she jumped off of it and landed on the burnt roof. She walked over it being careful of weak spots caused by the flames. After a few minutes she found a hole in the roof and looked through it; it was what was left of Grace's room.
She jumped down and landed on her once white carpet. She stood and looked around, the room was covered in ash, rubble, and items that were still hot to the touch. She walked over to her sisters bed and looked underneath to see it what she had come for was still there.
She felt around on the floor until she heard a creak in the wood. She lifted the carpet that Grace and herself had cut earlier on in the year and lifted the secret compartment to find all of Grace's favorite things in a box. She gently lifted the box out and opened the lid to find that everything was either burnt or reduced to ash; everything but a framed picture of Grace in Terra's arms in Princess dresses, that was the day Grace had finally gotten the princess dress up kit she had been wanting for a long time. Terra was in a light green sparkly dress with white gloves and a golden Tiara in her hair. Grace was in a dark blue dress with a white ribbon around her waist, she had a silver chain around her neck that Terra let her borrow and a silver Tiara in her dark hair. They smiled and laughed, back when everything was simple; she tucked the photo under her arm and grabbed the dark box.
Terra closed the box and put it back underneath the bed; then stood and walked out of the room not needing to open the door because it was on the floor in front of her burnt and cracked. She walked slowly to her room because she was afraid of what she would find. She pushed open the door that was still slightly hot and gasped with tears in her eyes.
Her room was dark and covered in rubble and ash. She walked over to her bed and pushed it over with all her force; which wasn't very hard because her bed frame was made of wood and mainly burnt. She felt around the floor until she heard a creak and lifted the loose floor board. She found a box similar to the one in Grace's room except that it wasn't as blackened by smoke and ash from the fire. She lifted the box and much to her surprise, everything was intact. She put the photo of her and Grace in the box and looked around her room to see if anything else wasn't burnt. She shifted through books and boxes but only found ash. She looked on her desk and found a blackened book that was once her sketchbook of memories and photos. She flipped through the pages to find that some of them had been seared through by the flames but others were as if they hadn't been touched but just dumped into ash.
But Terra didn't care if it was almost ruined, she could re-draw the pictures and fix the news clippings and photos, she was going to keep it anyway. She tucked it underneath her arm and ran down the stairs only to fall through one of the steps that had been completely burnt through, sending her to her destination. The basement.
She stood slowly ignoring the pain that shot through her body and looked around, everything looked pretty normal, the room was a little dusty and had rubble covering the floor but the things on the shelf were still untouched. They held precious photos and some of Grace's favorite stuffed animals and books. She grabbed the bag on the top shelf and started packing it with the items that weren't affected by the fire.
Once she had finished she began climbing the stairs back to her burnt house and walked through a window that had been broken and found herself outside with memories of what was left of her house. She swung the bag onto her back, shifted the box and sketchbook so that it was underneath the under arm and lifted her arm making the rock that she had flew her on reappear. She stepped on and went to take all the items back to her room and her sister.
8181818181818
Terra laid the items out on the floor and let her sister gaze at what she had recovered. She picked up what was hers and walked over to her bed. She opened the box and set it down on the covers so she could lift out the picture that belonged to her sister.
"Grace?" Terra said holding out the picture. "This was the only thing that I found un-harmed in your box…"
Grace ran over and smiled at the sight of the picture but frowned when Terra's words sunk in. "Are you sure? Did you double, no TRIPLE check?"
Terra frowned and hugged her sister. "I'm sorry Grace; a lot of my stuff was lost too. Same with mom and dads."
She let go of her sister so that she could get back to her stuffed animals, books and baby bunny which was now chewing on a pillow on the sofa.
Terra sat on the bed and pulled the box onto her lap and started removing the items one by one. First was a photo album. It was purple and had a beaded star on the front. It was a goodbye present from Miss Jackie when she got adopted; it had some pictures of her helping the younger orphans and one of her and Miss Jackie. The rest were pictures of herself, her best friends, her school, her family, buildings in the city, and postcards. She flipped through them, smiling and laughing at the memories.
Next was a snow globe that her friend Tiffany brought her back from New York. It was small and made of plastic, but Terra cherished it as if it were gold. She shook it once and set little fake snowflakes dancing around the little golden model of the Empire State Building. Once the flakes had settled, she set the plastic globe down next to the photos and reached for the next item.
She pulled out a doll that Grace had bought for her because it looked almost exactly like Terra if you didn't count the fact that she was in a black and golden ball gown and had a little dark mask covering her face. Terra just looked at it trying to recall why and how Grace bought this for her.
"Hey Grace," Terra said holding the doll up. "Do you remember this?"
The little girl gasped and dropped the pink elephant she was hugging. "Yes! I gave this to you the day you came into our family!"
Terra smiled. "But you never told me why you gave it to me."
"It was my favorite doll and when we adopted you, I told mom that you looked just like her and that I wanted you to have her! So I ran up to my room and gave her to you as a present from me!"
"Well, now that I know I think that was a very kind thing to do for me Grace, mom and dad are lucky to have a daughter like you." She said setting the doll next to the snow globe.
"They're lucky to have you too!" Grace said jumping off the bed and back to her things that her bunny was chewing on.
HA! Terra thought. Yeah right.
She pulled out the next item from her box and held it up so she could see it. It was a purple covered book of quotes that her parents found and thought she might like. She flipped through the pages and read some of the quotes.
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and sings it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
Live today like it's your last, because you don't know when your last day will be.
When you run from something, it only stays with you longer. If you fight something, it only makes you stronger.
I don't regret the things I've done. I regret the things I didn't do when I had the chance.
Take a chance because you never know how perfect something can turn out to be.
Be strong now, because things will get better. It might be stormy now, but it can't rain forever.
They all spoke the truth. She closed the book and set it on the covers and reached for the next item. It was her wallet with the money that she had earned working at the orphanage. She opened it and began counting the bills. $217.00. And she had sixteen cents in the coin pouch. That would be enough to help her through finding Slade on her own.
She placed the money on top of the quotes book and reached for the last item in her box. It was her yellow Teen Titans communicator. She felt the familiar ridges and bumps that made the shell. She turned it on and listened to the hum of static indicating that no one was on the line.
She turned it off and re-packed everything into her box and capping it with the lid. She set it underneath her bed and reached for the sketchbook to place beside it.
When she pulled herself up she found herself face to face with Starfire.
"Hey Starfire," Terra said to the girl floating over her bed.
"We are ready to talk about the plans yes?" She said looking at Terra with hopeful eyes.
Terra jumped off the bed and walked out of the room followed by Starfire and Grace. "Yes. I have an idea."