LOVE WRITTEN IN STONE

‘Dear child, you don’t have any friends.’ ‘We trusted you! We gave you everything and you treated us like dirt!’ ‘Terra, you can’t.’ ‘Earthquakes, avalanches, mudslides. Everywhere you go you try to do good and everywhere you fail.’ ‘Look at yourself, Terra! Is this who you really want to be?!’

‘Terra..

Terra…

Terra …!’

“Tara!”

With a start, Tara flung upward from her slumber. Her chest burned as she breathed deeply and she felt her body tremble with beads of sweat dripping down her back. She threw her legs over her bedside and wrapped over her red velvet robe around her body, dashing down the stairs following the source of her name being called from below.

With her messy locks swaying as her body stopped in the foyer of their home, she was met with her smiling mother holding a black spatula in her hand standing in front of the kitchen entrance.

“You’re going to be late for school! Hurry up and get dressed, breakfast is almost ready.”

Tara stood gaping with her eyes wide as her mother turned back into the kitchen to continue cooking. Feeling her body grow heavy as the adrenaline seeped out of her system, Tara leaned back on the wall pressing her hand against her forehead. Her eyes darted to her bare feet as she breathed deeply to calm her nerves. The memory of that dream was fading fast. She thought she heard voices but she couldn't understand what they said. It felt like the words were on fast forward and she couldn't piece together where one sentence ended and another began. Near the end, she thought she could hear her name being screamed at her with the same voices in unison. It was terrifying.

“What... Was that?” whispered the blonde to herself. “I can't.. Remember..but it felt important somehow.” her crystalline eyes slowly lifted to glance at the top of the stairs. "And now I've got a headache." She pouted.

Unable to come to a conclusion, Tara brushed it off as a crazy dream before hustling up the stairs to start the day. She had to act quickly so taking a shower wouldn’t be an option. She washed her face, slipped on a clean uniform, and jumped back down the stairs, skipping a few along the way, before tripping into the kitchen. With her plate already made for her, she thanked her mom for the breakfast and scarfed the delectable spread down.

With food still lodged in her mouth, Tara bounded from her chair and ran to the entrance of the house to slip on her shoes and grab her bag she had left on the coat rack. Barely having the shoes over her heels, Tara waved goodbye to her mother with quick succession to closing the door and booking it for the school.

As she came to the crosswalk she felt a surge of pain in the front of her head causing her to wince and hunch over, cradling her forehead. With a hiss of pain, she felt her brain pulsating a few times and, before she knew it, the pain vanished. With the lingering feeling of the headache shocking her, Tara stared at her hand unable to process it.

“That was .. weird.” she scoffed. “Whatever, I’m going to get an earful if I don’t get to school on time!” with a couple of tardies already under the young sophomores belt, she knew what dread awaited her if she were late again. Knowing that she quickened her pace once the light for the crosswalk turned green.

She flew by the crowd of people feeling like a stallion with how quickly she was running. It was a small thought in the back of her mind that she decided to pay no heed to since she was just grateful that her legs were going all out in her time of need. She couldn't have possibly realized that the cause of this hot-footed speed was due to small slits lifting from the pavement with each step that bounded from the ground sending her farther with each stride. The rocks were left in perfect outlines of her black dress shoes until she was within the school perimeter gates. With that velocity, she made it to the campus barely in time without noticing the breadcrumbs her unrealized powers had left behind.

….

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Beast Boy groaned with annoyance, flicking his ears as he went down the corridor and into the Titan’s main hall. Along the red carpet lined chairs in perfect parallels with a large clock hanging over the door loudly chiming away.

As far as the young Titan was concerned, he was hell-bent on not counting down the seconds anymore. He had his resolve. He had his motivation. He had his city to protect. What he didn’t need was the thought of her weighing him down anymore. He just wanted to be free of it all and feel like himself again. He was so tired of pretending everything was okay. He knew his friends understood his pain and they understood that he wanted to be left alone, yet somehow it wasn’t enough to get him through this bump in his life.

Robin said it would take time, but Beast Boy was through with counting down the seconds.

As he neared the door, a cautious voice broke the constant throb of the clock. “Beast Boy? Where are you going?” Robin inquired.

Beast Boy halted stiffly in his tracks. His face contorted to grimace knowing he had been caught. With a slow turn, he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, gingerly.

“Oh! I was just going on a walk!” it was the truth, yet he felt dirty for saying it out loud.

Robin crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head, “A walk.” he repeated.

Beast Boy nodded firmly," Just to clear my head.” he replied trying his best to seem alright.

He just had to keep smiling and, soon enough, the smile would seem real, at least that's what he told himself.

Robin sighed through his nose and allowed his arms to hand on his sides as he spoke with a reassuring tone.

“Right, just be back soon, Cyborg is cooking for us.”

Beast Boy nodded once again and turned on his heels to continue on his way. As he did, Robin called out once more. “Be safe,” he said.

Beast Boy raised his hand and waved once to replace words as his foot-falls fell in line with the stirring clock.

...

First period came and went, the second period was over within a flash, and with each passing second Tara found herself becoming more and more distracted. Once it was time for third period she was staring at her reflection in the window she sat beside with a blank expression. She didn’t feel like herself, especially now that she was in her literature class and the teacher was talking about the projects assigned the day prior.

The memory of yesterday’s discovery still made her feel sick. The more she thought about it the more the drums pounded the inside of her skull. With a groan, Tara rested her head down on her desk.

‘Why do I have such a horrible headache?’ she thought, steadily lifting her head to look at the whiteboard. ‘Every time I think about her I get so frustrated and pissed off. Why does she make me so uncomfortable?’ unconsciously Tara barred her teeth and clenched her fist.

“Alright, that concludes the overview of the project. Your first draft will be due in two weeks.” Miss. Thompson turned her green eyes to the clock perfectly in the center of the back of the room and sighed. “Looks like we have some time left over. Go ahead and start writing your drafts until the bell rings." With her usual sweet smile present on her face she continued, “I have to go to the faculty room for just a moment. Please keep the talking down.” she waved to her students before shutting the door of the classroom. And as soon as the latch clicked into place, the classroom began to buzz with chatter.

Tara heard the soft whispers of the students around her as they took out their laptops to begin work. Some students scooted their desks together and started a conversation. Three boys directly neighboring the young blonde started laughing.

“Dude, I know I picked Starfire because she’s a flaming cutie, but I had no idea that she was a princess of a whole planet.'' The boy that had said some questionable things about Terra yesterday, Jason, was scrolling through the article he was reading on Starfire. His friend beside him hummed with a nod.

“Oh, I think I remember reading about that somewhere. It’s cool and all that she was a princess, but Jinx is still more interesting than any of the other Titans. She went from being an agent of the Hive to being a leader of her own villain team, to joining the Titans after realizing her mistakes.” Jason’s friend who sat beside him, Carter, said as he lightly smirked at Jason who definitely crossed his arms.

“Whatever man, if you like purple chicks with witch-like powers that’s your business.”

“Well if your type is airheaded princesses, then that’s cool with me.” The two boys laughed aloud as their third, more quiet friend, Jaired, hunched his shoulders feeling shy about discussing his pick.

He didn’t really have a reason why he liked Bumblebee. She was just cool to him. But as the other boys’ laughter died down, they turned their teasing eyes onto him in which he felt the weight of their gaze as he sunk in his seat.

“What about you Jin?” Jason asked as he leaned forward over his computer and put his arm around Jin. Jaried had turned His desk around to face the other two before the conversation had started, now he was starting to regret that choice. With a snide grin, Jason chuckled. “Why did you pick Miss Bee?”

“I-I just ..” feeling his glasses start to slip down his face from the wetness gathering on his face he quickly forced Jason off and pushed his glasses back up his nose with a timid laugh. “I mean, she's a leader of her own team and the first team to be a direct branch off from the Titans. Also, she's a badass.. So.” feeling a tinge of blush over his cheeks he cleared his throat. “What’s not to admire?”

Jason and Carter exchanged glances before darting back to Jaired with a sly smirk. “That really all?” Jason asked, poking Jaired in the shoulder.

Jaired shrank back slightly unable to come up with an answer. He looked like a lost puppy about to get run over by a bus. The sound of Tara’s chair scooting loudly against the tiled floor snapped the three out of their little bubble as they focused the attention on her instead.

“Oh, sorry. I didn't know that would be louder than your ridiculous jocularity. Bummer, I wish I had done it sooner." With a skip in her step, Tara tilted her head toward the dumbfounded teens as she snickered.

She was going to the back of the class with her laptop in hand to work in the quiet corner, but as she turned her back to pass them, she heard the intimidating squeal of a chair skid across the floor. She was halted in her tracks.

“You know, after I got home, I looked up at that wanna-be Titan. Come to find out you and her look scarily similar.” with the threatening deepness adding to the tenor of Jason’s voice, Tara unconsciously clutched the laptop to her chest. She became thoroughly aware of the pulsing vein in her neck as her heartbeat accelerated. Her knees buckled and she tried her best to stay calm as his penetrating voice became the only thing she could hear as he stepped forward. “I always thought you were a weirdo. Always keeping quiet and never really talking to other people. And having your nose stuck to that window every day in class.” with each word, Tara flinched.

“Hey, leave her alone, dude,” Jaired uttered.

“Yeah, Jay. she’s just minding her own business,” added Carter standing by his chair with a slightly anxious air. By now the other students had trailed off from their own conversations and turned their full attention to the flame in the room.

“You guys obviously haven't seen the photos. The resemblance is ridiculous! Be honest. You’re her, right? You’re the one that destroyed the city and tried having the other Titans killed.”

“No.” Tara forced out, shakily cutting him off.

Now directly behind her, Jason put his hand on her shoulder, “Just admit it already! You’re the monster!”

“...How would you know how she felt?..” the air around her voice was jagged, cutting the air with a razor-sharp tone. Jason flinched and slowly backed away as he felt her shoulder tremble and, somehow, he could sense the fury gathering there with his hand so much so that it burned. With a quick motion, Tara turned to face him with narrowed eyes of pure hate.

“How could you possibly know what was going on in her life, or her mind, when this all happened! You didn’t even remember Terra existed until yesterday! She died for sorry lowlives like you and this is how you repay her sacrifice? The only monster I see is you!” as she yelled, Tara got up in Jason’s face with heavy steps toward him making him step back to push the gap farther between themselves. In doing so the delinquent tripped and fell back on his ass with a loud thud.

Carter knelt down and offered his hand to Jason who indignantly tossed his head away and hastily stood up, brushing himself off. “I’m fine! Geez!” he turned his angry eyes to Tara, “What the hell is your problem?!”

With a glare shaped with daggers, Tara pushed by Jason with a hard brush of her shoulder. He growled, feeling rage consume him but before he could do anything rash, Carter grabbed hold of his arm.

“Let it go, man!” he pleaded as Jason lightly struggled against his friend's hold.

With a loud, gruff breath, Jason jerked away from him. “What the hell?” he muttered bitterly as the sound of the door slamming shut from Tara’s exit. Her middle finger proudly flicking off the entire class.

Jaired softly snickered and felt a soft flutter of his heart resound in his chest. With a quick glance between Carter and Jason, he hastily stood up and announced his departure for the bathroom to them, but Jason briskly brushed him off with a nonchalant grunt and Carter gave a light nod.

Jaired hurriedly scuttered from the classroom and glanced around before his dark eyes spotted Tara stomping down the tiled, blue halls. “Tara!” he called instinctively.

The young blonde halted momentarily and then continued at a brisker pace. “Leave me alone!” she insisted.

Jason followed after her, but left several feet of space between them to give her room. “I’m sorry about Jason. He can be a real doofus sometimes and he’s definitely not great with picking up on social protocol.”

“Tch, gee! You think?” sarcastically replying, Tara made it to her locker and started frantically inputting the combination to gather her things.

“..Are you going somewhere?” he asked, keeping his distance.

“Yeah. I’m sick of this! Being compared to someone like her I didn’t even know existed, who looked exactly like me, is pissing me off so bad I could just-!!” with a grunt of frustration at the lock not opening Tara punched the door to her locker. She knew she would regret it later, but she needed to blow off steam somehow. “..I only wanted to do my project on her because of -.. An experience I had with someone who knew Terra. Knowing that people think she's a monster.." tossing herself against the locker, Tara held her laptop and books close to her chest before letting out a deep sigh. "It makes me sick." She pressed her hand against her forehead with a grimace. Her headache throbbing through her skull.

“Well, I don’t think either of you are monsters at all.” Jaired replied sheepishly. “I don’t know much about Terra, and I’ve only talked with you in passing, but I know that neither of you are bad. I mean, Terra took down Slade and saved the city by sacrificing her life, right?. And you’ve never hurt anyone. Pretty much everyone likes you and never has a mean thing to say. Plus.. I really appreciate what you did for me back there when they were teasing me.” he smiled sheepishly and turned his shy gaze down to the side with his hand brushing the back of his head.

Tara smiled timidly and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear that fell over her eye. Turning to face the slightly dented locker again, Tara carefully imputed the code for the lock and the click of its opening helped to ease her. She carefully set the lock aside and began to grab her things. She closed her locker and snapped the lock into place.

“What are you going to do for the rest of the day?” he asked as she passed him by.

 “I’m going to finish that project.” was her reply.

 …

...“Or, I was..”

Tara, standing in the middle of the sidewalk with her notepad and pen in hand, glanced at the barren landscape that was the first page. Having been on the street for two hours now, Tara wondered if there wasn’t some freak accident that caused these dense citizens to forget Terra. It wasn't just limited to her school mates. This was some kind of pandemic.

Every person she would stop, ask, and inquire about a fallen hero named Terra, who died to save the city and took down all the Titans: that just so happen to look exactly like her, people would kindly tell her to get lost, politely tell her they don't know about her, or would only remember when she was a villain that worked for Slade.

That wasn’t what Tara wanted to know. She wanted to know who Terra was when she was a hero, and was Beast Boy’s friend. It was hard enough trying to avoid having to talk to him about this topic. It would probably get his hopes up again and he might resume harassing her.

No, she couldn’t do that. He made her feel.. Weird.

Unbeknownst to Tara though, something stared at her just beyond an alley. This figure was standing still, letting the darkness lay over him like a blanket. 

'You know what you must do.' a voice in his head, or rather the earpiece in his ear, spoke to him lowly. 

The man breathed shakily, hanging his head before suddenly moving, vanishing without a trace.

Grimicating to herself, Tara sighed helplessly. That was when she felt a presence. It was chilling, meant to do harm, and coming right for her. She froze in disbelief. Certainly not.. she wasn't about to get mugged, right?? She felt it right behind her, forcing her to turn sharply ready for a fight, but she was dazed by the face greeting her. He smiled warmly with a friendly, “Hello!”

She gapped, blinking twice. Before her stood a tall man with dark, red hair and black glasses that added volume to his chestnut eyes and under-eye bags. She recognized him immediately, “Dr. Peterson?” with her eyes round with surprise, the man himself tilted his head to her with his large grin ever-present.

“The very same! It’s wonderful to see you! I see your ankle is doing better.” he motioned to her leg with a friendly wave of his hand.

Tara nodded, “Yup! Good as new.”

“What are you doing here in the middle of town?..” he glanced to his sides, then leaned in close, with his hand cupping around his mouth as if to whisper a secret. “Skipping school, are we?”

With a giggle, Tara crossed her arms with a cheeky quirk of her brow. “..Perhaps,” she replied.

“What blasphemy!.. I like it.” sharing in her laughter, he placed his hand in his pocket, then with the other pushed his glasses up his nose. “What are you doing instead?”

“Well, I was trying to get some information about--” she paused and resumed with more cation, “.. a project. I’m doing a report of Terra, the Titan.” she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone with a picture of the girl in question.

Peterson leaned down with a hand on his hip, gazed over the picture before he bluntly replied, “That’s a picture of you.”

“No! It’s Terra, TERRA” with more emphasis she hurriedly pulled up another picture of Terra as a statue. “This girl!”

A spark of realization crossed his chestnut eyes. “Terra, huh?.” replied the young man. He placed his hand over his chin, thoughtfully. “Yes.. Yeah. I think I know of her. The girl who saved the city and turned to stone?’’ Peterson poked his bottom lip out as he aired with a question.

Tara whipped her head around to face Peterson. “Tell me EVERYTHING you know!” she blurted loudly causing people who passed by to stare as they went.

With a grunt of shock from her outburst, he laughed and adjusted his glasses, “Alright then. There's a book store down the road I was just heading to. Would you like to come with me? We can talk at the cafe they have next door.” pointing farther down the street, Peterson smiled.

“Yes. let’s go then!” 

No.. He couldn't have made that ominous feeling. Her instincts must have been lying to her. It was just the summer heat getting the better of her. 

The two walked to the cafe together. Once seated, Peterson flipped open the little menu and skimmed through. With a friendly wave of his hand he smiled, then said, “Order whatever you want, on me.”

“Thanks but I only came to listen to what you know. Also, I’d rather pay for myself.” Tara replied, shoving her school bag under her chair and scooting close to the wire table with determination in her eyes.

He paused, then nodded. He reached up and removed his glasses with a gentle motion, then closed them inside a case he had in his pocket, and laid them on the table. He then wrapped his hands together and leaned in.

“Right. So, I don’t actually know much. The thing is, I moved to this country a year after she turned to obsidian.”

Tara glumly hung her head with a short groan. “Then I need to find someone who does know. Thanks for wasting my time.” she began to reach for her bag as she forcefully scratched the floor with her chair to leave.

“Uh! But I know her story! That’s what I meant before when I said I knew about her.” with his voice raised slightly he reached out to her hoping she’d listen.

Tara hesitated. With a gruff cross of her arms, she plopped back into her seat and crossed her legs, disamused. “Tell me, then.”

 “Right. Let’s see. She was a tomboy living life on her own. No one really knows where she came from. I believe she was fourteen at the time the Titans met her and took her in. She had incredible ability; she could move any type of rock with her mind. With her name being ‘Terra’ it felt quite fitting since in Latin that means earth. Anyways, she had tremendous powers. She could make earthquakes, avalanches, mudslides, and she could start and stop a volcanic eruption. Truly, she was amazing, and so young..” with a frown, the man sighed, a wave of sadness etching his features.

Tara started to relax as he had explained. “Yeah, she was powerful, so what happened? Why did she betray the Titans?”

“..That’s the question, isn’t it?” he replied, picking at the button on his collar as he looked off to the busy street beside them. “No one really knows. When it happened the Titans didn’t say anything about it. One day she was one of them, then as suddenly as she had joined, she left and went with the supervillain, Slade. In the end, though, she did what was right. She killed Slade and saved the city from being decimated by a volcano.. At the cost of her life.”

Tara gulped. She felt her heart throb in her chest and for a moment the world spun. His words felt so familiar, like rewatching an old movie from childhood but from memory.. She could picture blurry images of his words like they were her own. She dryly replied after a moment of silence.

"I knew most of that stuff already. I just .. I need to know why she did it." Tara gripped her hands, hanging her head. Stands of sunlight doused her face, hiding her frustrated expression.

Peterson gazed at her with wonder. He had his mouth open to say something but he kept hesitating. Finally, he forced it out. "You seem more interested in her than what's necessary for a school project."

"...."

"..Tara, why is this so important to you?"

"He said I looked just like her. Even down to the voice and mannerisms.. I didn’t believe him. But he was obsessed with her.." She muttered. The other across to her tilted his head, puzzled.

"Who?"

"...Beast Boy."His brows furrowed with intrigue.

"..He thought you were her then.”

"I humored him by hanging out. But after a while of him trying to paint me the way he remembered her I got sick of it. I told him to get lost.” her hands trembled, "He made me feel angry. But it wasn't at him, it was at myself. I hated it. I didn't know why I felt like that so I said what I could to get rid of him."

"But he saved your life regardless of the things you said. Even coming to the hospital to see you and make sure you were okay. Sounds to me like you are important to him." He responded carefully choosing his words with an understanding tone.

"No. She was important to him, and he was probably more than just ‘close’ to her.”

"...You know," as he began to speak, Tara lifted her head to look at the tender expression on his face. "When I talked to him that day in the hospital, he was really concerned for you. He wouldn’t really elaborate about it or anything, but I could definitely tell he cares. Perhaps the person you really should be talking to get the answers you need would be him.”

“..I..” how could she? After all the things she said to him? The hurt expression on his face when she told him to leave her alone? He even saved her life, and after making sure she was okay, he respected her wishes and distanced himself from her. She needed to make a choice. For his sake, and hers. “..I need to get going.” she finally said as she stood up with her things. Her expression was shadowed with emotion that seemed unreadable to Peterson. “Thanks for the talk.”

He worriedly blinked his eyes. As she laid down some money for the pastry she had ordered while they talked, he hastily replied in a soft tone, “Give it some thought. I’m sure the two of you can talk things out.” As his voice carried along with the wind, he watched Tara’s back as she faded into the busy streets walking away without a reply. He heavily sighed and glanced at his dirty reflection in his coffee..

Tara couldn’t go home quite yet. She found her absent mind carrying her to a park just outside of town riding along the coast of Jump City. The gentle splashes of water colliding with the earth and the chirping birds were calming to her. She wasn’t sure how long she had been out by this point. She was lost in her thoughts, mulling over what the good doctor had told her.

‘I’m sure the two of you can talk things out.’

“‘Talk to him,’ huh?.. I guess.. If I ever see him again, then maybe I’ll talk to him. Fad chance of that happening though--”

As if karma bestowed her on a silver platter, or maybe like a punch in the face, a green crow’s shadow casted overhead of Tara until the bird came down in a swoop. With a strange swish, the crow morphed into a male teenager wearing a shirt with black sleeves with a purple body and midnight jeans. When his perfectly white shoes collided with the sidewalk of the park, small puffs of dust clouded around his feet.

Beast Boy was just a few yards away, yet Tara felt like he was breathing down her neck. She was paralyzed with fear quite unlike her. Perhaps she should have expected this. After all, the universe had not been too kind to her. Losing fourteen years of her life, getting chased around and harassed by some guy that insisted she was someone else, and then even getting attacked by the villain, Cinderblock. It was like the world was out to get her.

Yet through it all, he had been the same constant in her life. She wondered, ‘Maybe this is the time. I need to face this.’ with a deep breath in through her nose, Tara pressed her lips together and exhaled with her first step.

‘He hasn’t noticed me yet. I’ll just ask him my questions, then split.’ but as she approached she couldn't help noticing, ‘Why does he look.. So sad?’ her expression wavered from a game face to an uncertain one. ‘Should I turn back?’ she shook her head and clutched her bag's straps around her shoulder with both hands. ‘No! You’ve already come so far! It has to be now.’

Now just a few feet away, Tara came to a stop and bit her lip. Beast Boy kept his eyes focused on the horizon, lost in his thoughts. He hadn't registered the footfalls headed his way. His mind was elsewhere; lost in a daydream.

Until..

“..Beast Boy.”