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“I saw her!” Beast Boy shouted with a grin, turning away from the T-computer and holding his arms out.
The other Titans had their arms crossed as they asked why he left mid battle, letting their enemy get away.
“Who?” Starfire tilted her head.
“Terra! She's back!”
The room went quiet, so quiet you could hear the birds outside. Everyone stood there, confused, did they hear right? Did Beast Boy really say that or did they get some sort of head injury from the battle.
It had been Years since Terra's sacrifice, since she was sealed away in stone in order to stop the volcano from destroying Jump City. They were still trying to move past her death, it was obvious out of all of them Beast Boy was still struggling to move on.
Raven spoke up, cocking her eyebrow, “How. She’s been gone.”
“Well I mean- I’m not exactly sure how- But she’s back!! I saw her downtown!” Beast Boy fidgeted with his hands as his smile widened.
“What did she say?” Robin questioned, sternly with his arms crossed.
Beast Boy scratched the back of his head “Well I didn’t actually get to talk to her, she was across the street..A-And when I looked back she was gone!”
“Are you sure it was her?” Raven asked.
“Oh! I’m sure!”
“Maybe you just thought you saw her.” Cyborg stated.
Robin placed a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, “Sometimes.. You want to see something that isn’t there..I know what that’s like.”
“I did see her! She was real! And her statue was gone!” Beast Boy pushed Robin's hand away.
Confusion once again fell through the room, how could a statue be gone? Stone statues don’t just walk away
“How can that be? She was turned to stone, you can’t just come back from that.” Cyborg stated.
“Well she did!” BB shouted, he couldn’t understand why the Titans didn’t believe him. He saw her, why couldn’t they understand that?
“That just doesn’t make sense, how could friend Terra come back? Why wouldn’t she come meet with us if so?” Starfire clasped her hands together, her voice full of worry.
“It doesn’t have to make sense, she’s back and I’m gonna go find her!” Beast Boy shouted again, this time not letting the others try to talk him down, instead he stormed out.
Starfire instinctively tried to follow after her friend but Robin placed his hand on her shoulder, “Give him a moment. Once he calms down we can go talk to him, okay?”
Starfire nodded to Robin's plan, it was wise to give Beast Boy some space. They had just hoped Beast Boy wouldn’t do anything rash or get lost.
……
The bell rang as Beast Boy had just left the old dinner Terra used to like, he had been walking around Jump city ever since that conversation with the Titans, but no matter where he looked there was no sign of Terra.
He tried going to all her favorite spots, the park, the arcade, the movie theater, the now abandoned amusement park they went to on their last date before everything went bad..
But she was nowhere.
He looked down at the to-go container he got, inside was an Apple pie, one of Terra's favorites. It reminded him of their date where they had some together, he had called it ‘the greatest pie, in the history of pie’, that was before things went bad..
Beast Boy sighed, where could she be? Were the other Titans right? Was it a girl who just happened to look like her? No.. no. That had to be her. Who else would it be?
He hung his head low and dragged his feet.
“I really miss you Terra.. things haven’t been the same without you..” his voice cracked a bit as he spoke to himself.
Bee-deep!
His communicator beeped, hoping it was about Terra he reached into his pocket and took a look at it. His ears drooped once he realized it wasn’t about Terra.
It was just some message from the Titans asking if he was alright, BB knew that he should probably let them know he was okay but he honestly didn’t have the energy to talk to them right now. So he chose to ignore it.
Beast Boy sighed, “Things have been so rough without you Terra, there’s so much I wanna tell you..Like I wish you could’ve seen me take down the Brotherhood of Evil, and see me save all the other Titans butts!”
After more talking to himself he looked back up, his eyes widened and his ears perked up.
Across the street staring back at him, was Terra.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, this meant he was right, she was alive. She looked just how he remembered, Her faint blonde hair drooped around her face as her icy blue eyes peered at him.
“Terra!” He gasped, dropping the to-go box on the ground.
His back straightened up.
“Terra! It’s you!!” He smiled and held out his arms, but Terra did not respond.
She just stared at him like he was a stranger or almost like he did something wrong. She looked both emotionless and disappointed at the same time. Her outfit was the same when they first met, light grey under shirt with a medium grey and black crop top over it with blue shorts.
“It’s been awhile since we spoke, hasn't it?” He awkwardly chuckled.
He looked at her a little longer, waiting for a response, but none was given. She just continued to look so disappointed with him, did he do something wrong?
Beast Boy looked down at the pie and picked it up to hold it out to her, “I got one of your favorites, Apple pie from Ben’s Diner”
But when he looked back up at her, she was gone once again.
……
A flashlight flickered through the dark null cave, the only sounds came from Robin's footsteps as they echoed throughout the cave walls. Robin had to see for himself, to see if what Beast Boy said was true, that her statue was really gone.
He tried to reason, there was no possible way she could’ve just.. Come back alive??? I mean they’ve fought Trigon-and won, Raven uses all kinds of magic, Starfire's an alien..But bringing someone back from the dead..just didn’t seem possible. Even with magic, Raven said she couldn’t bring Terra back. So how could she be alive?
It had been awhile since Robin had visited her resting place, he’d been busy with taking down the Brotherhood of Evil, they all had been too busy for a lot of things.
They all wished they could visit more frequently, especially Beast Boy but unfortunately life moves on and gets busy.
As his light moved around the cave, sleeping bats and other critters would squeak and make small noises, reminding Robin to still be quiet in case someone else was here. Robin doubted anyone would be here, but it felt like Robin could never be too sure nowadays especially with Slade still being alive after being revived by Trigon.
Robin finally made it to the spot where she was turned to stone, where she sacrificed herself to save them and the whole world.
As he raised his flashlight up ahead of him he couldn’t believe his eyes..
Her statue was still there.
Around the statue were about 12 bouquets of now decaying roses, most of them being placed there by Beast Boy. Her plaque was the same, if not a bit dusty.
Robin got closer to her statue, brushing the dust off the plaque.
So Terra’s still here, how come Beast Boy said she was gone?
He looked all around for any sign of it being moved, but there weren't any new cracks or anything. Everything was how it was last time one of the Titans visited, which was when Beast Boy visited for Valentine's day.
There was no sign of anyone else being here other than the Titans, there was no sign of her moving, so why did Beast Boy say she was gone? It made no sense.
The only way she’d be gone would be if Beast Boy were seeing things.
. . . . . .
The Titans minus Beast Boy, sat around in the main room as Robin relayed what he saw.
“And when I went down there to check, she was still there with zero signs of her moving or the statue being touched.”
“But how can that be? Beast Boy said she was gone” Starfire questioned.
“Yeah, Robin, that don’t make no sense.” Cyborg agreed.
“I’m not sure. I just know there was no way she disappeared and then came back.” Robin responded.
“What if she never disappeared.” Everyone looked over at Raven, who was peeking over from her book.
“But if she never disappeared, why did Beast Boy say she was gone?” Star tilted her head as she pet Silkie.
“Maybe he thought she was there.”
Robin looked at Raven, “Sorta how I thought Slade was really there?”
Raven nodded, “Could be.”
“But why would Friend Beast Boy think that? Did he get another concussion?”
“I don’t think so, Star. I didn’t see any bumps on his head last medical checkout” Cyborg added.
“Maybe it is the new injury?” Star asked.
Cyborg crossed his arms
“I doubt it, If he was injured we’d all hear about it.”
“Where is our friend now?” Starfire floated up, her voice was full of concern and worry.
“Last I checked he was down by the shore” Cyborg answered.
“Then we should perhaps do the checking up on him?”
“I’ll check up on him.” Robin said, already heading out to meet up with their smaller friend, causing the other Titans to look at eachother.
……
A rock skipped along the water, the moon's light shone against the ripples.
Beast Boy sat on the rocky shore on Titans island, his pointy ears drooped.
He had spent all day looking for Terra, and once he saw her again she disappeared before he could even blink.
His head hurt, he was tired both physically and mentally but he just wanted to see Terra again.
He tossed another rock, it hit the water with a ‘Plop!’ instantly sinking to the ocean floor.
If Terra was here she’d laugh and show me up by skipping her own rocks.
His head shrunk further into himself as he moped.
Behind him he could hear crunching of boots, which caused Beast Boys ears to twitch. When he lifted his head up and looked behind him he saw Robin.
Robin waved, “Mind if I sit?”
Beast Boy nodded.
Robin sat next to him, looking out on the shore watching the water.
“How are you holding up?”
“I just don’t get it.. It’s like she's avoiding me! Every time I see her she disappears..” Beast Boy hung his head low, his knees to his chest.
Robin nodded, “I went back to her resting spot”
“And?”
“She was still there.”
Beast Boy's body shot up, his ears perked up and his eyes widened, “What? But she was gone!”
“Well me and the others have been thinking about it, as much as i hate to say it, I don’t think Terra is really back.”
“But I saw her!” Beast Boy raised his voice a bit.
“I know, but maybe you really wanted to see her that you thought you saw her.”
“She looked real..”
“So did Slade when I thought I saw him..”
“She’s not like Slade” Beast Boy said defensively at the comparison.
Robin nodded, “she’s not like him, but what I’m saying is that I was so sure I saw Slade. That he was here and a threat when he really wasn’t. It was just cause I was so caught up in stopping him that I couldn’t realize there wasn’t anything to do. Maybe in a way, the Terra you saw wasn’t there either.”
Beast Boy looked over at Robin. “Are you saying that she's a hallucination or something?”
“It’s possible. We have been going through some stressful stuff recently, maybe it’s your body reacting to that.”
“But I don’t think I inhaled any toxic hallucinogen or whatever thingies”
“Well the human body can do some strange stuff when under so much stress, not counting how your DNA is unstable.”
“So you're saying that my body is doing that because I'm stressed?”
Robin nods, "That's my theory anyway. Though stress alone might not be the cause, stress usually just amplifies or brings up underlying issues.”
“Sooo it might not just be stress?” Beast Boy leans back on his palms. “What else could it be?”
“That's what I’m not sure of Beast Boy, I'm no doctor.”
“You sound like one”
There was a pause between the two of them, the waves hit the rocky shore, crickets chirped and there were sounds from the still lively Jump city.
Robin turned back to Beast Boy, "What's been some stressors for you?” he asked, trying to get some clues for what's going on in Beast Boy's head.
Beast Boy thought for a moment, there had been a lot going on as of late. Between Trigon and The Brotherhood of Evil, Slade being alive and back, there were a lot of reasons to be stressed.
“Well, since Terra.. There's been the whole Trigon thing, Slade returning-which he while hasn’t done bad yet but he's still out there. Seeing the Doom Patrol again..Which I don’t mind seeing…Some of them it was still stressful.. Then the Brotherhood of Evil’s attacks.. And I guess watching them freeze my friends and family was stressful. Then seeing a lot of my favorite places being gone which isn’t as bad but still makes me sad.”
Robin nodded along, noting everything in his head and beginning to connect the dots.
“Maybe seeing us be frozen triggered all this”
Beast Boy tilted his head, “huh? Why would that be it?”
“You’ve been hallucinating Terra, which from my knowledge you didn’t start doing that till after the fight with the Brotherhood of Evil. You also said that, them freezing people caused you stress, which I can't help but notice was at least a bit similar to how Terra.. Well went out.”
Beast Boy thought about what Robin said then nodded, “Yeah.. that could be possible.” he said looking at the shore in front of them.
“I wish she could’ve been here to see me beat the Brotherhood of Evil.” Beast Boy shrunk into himself again.
“We all wish she was still here. And I'm sure she’d be proud of how you took them down.”
Beast Boy nodded.
Robin continued, “But don’t you think the times we had with her here were nice?” Robin tilted his head.
“Most of them. I wish we could’ve done more with her.. I wish we could’ve saved her..” BB lowered his head.
Robin nodded, “I know.. I wish that too. ‘Wish we could’ve changed her fate..”
The waves hit the rocks by their feet, Beast Boy grabbed another rock and tossed it in the water, It skipped across gracefully before falling in and sinking.
“I miss her.” BB’s ears wilted again.
Robin carefully placed a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.
“I miss her too.”