Ok, couple of firsts here. 1) My first story about, or even including, Terra. 2) First story about Terra and Robin (nervous laugh). 3) First Valentine fic. 4) First challenge story (Yes, this be for Furubafun24's challenge). 5) First thing I've written in...a very long time. Sorry guys, really bad writer's block, and the end of the year is drawing near so...teachers are being brutal. Just a note, this takes place a while after Things Change.

Terra sighed deeply, tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ears and making her way back to her apartment. When the principal had heard about her...questionable living arrangements, he had offered to get her a small one bedroom apartment close to the school. Terra wasn't sure how she felt about being so close to the city and its people, but at this point, she didn't have much of a choice. There was no way she could hike all the way from the cave to her school before the bell rang.

She was just turning the corner on 5th when someone in the milling crowd grabbed her arm. Adrenaline pumped in her veins, pressure building in her head as her constant sense of the earth increased rapidly... No! I don't do that anymore!

Terra whipped around, ready to flip off whatever jerk had grabbed her...only to stop mid-curse. "Robin?"

The slight smile on his masked face had her cringing internally. Great...way to blow the cover.

"Hey," he replied, nothing in his tone indicating that he was in the least bit surprised that she recognized him. "Headed home?"

The blonde shrugged uncomfortably, fixing her skirt with hands that trembled ever so slightly. "Actually, yes. I've got a big test tomorrow, so I really need to--"

"Let's just stop in here for a second." Robin indicated the café on the corner, taking her arm gently and leading her towards the double doors. "I'm sure you could use a snack, what with a long day of school."

Terra had every intention of arguing, but the second she opened her mouth, Robin put the tiniest bit of pressure on her arm. The message was immediately clear; she was going into the café, and if she resisted, Robin would make her go into the café. A deep frown, close to a scowl, marred her face. Being bossed around by Robin was a thing of the past...she didn't have to take this... And yet, she was.

Robin waved his hand at a passing waitress and ordered two coffees as smoothly as though he was James Bond, then lead her over to a table in the back. Once they were sitting and she got the chance to get a decent look at him, she immediately noticed that he was not in costume, though the mask was still in place. He smiled pleasantly at her, letting out a small sigh as he rested his gloveless hands on the tabletop. His odd behavior was enough to make her stomach twist nervously. The last true conversation she had with Robin...had not ended well.

She half thought he was reaching for his bo-staff when the hands disappeared from the table...but in the next instant, they reappeared...cupping a single white daisy. "First of all...Happy Valentines Day."

Her clear blue eyes stretched to their limit, her mouth open in complete shock. A flower? She had expected an all-out brawl!

When she failed to respond, the Boy Wonder laid the daisy gently on the table in front of her. He still had that strange smile on his face...an expression that certainly didn't belong to the Robin she had known.

"Beast Boy told me you were back...so I thought I'd come see how you were doing."

In a desperate attempt to avoid the coming conversation, Terra tried to salvage her loss of memory act. "That kid? I told him that I don't know any of you!"

The smile faded from Robin's face, his head tilted downward, studying his hands. Silence, then...

"I know what it's like."

Terra stared at him warily. She maintained the facade, but couldn't keep the tremor from escaping in her voice. "W-what?"

Robin's face clouded, his expression becoming darker and darker until it was hard to believe that it had ever smiled before. His voice was hard and cold, chipping away at the air like stone on ice. "When everything with...him was said and done, all I wanted to do was forget. To push it all to the farthest corner of my mind, so that I'd never have to remember. Maybe, if I didn't remember, it would be like it never happened. Like he never existed."

Her pupils dilated in horror, a cold sweat trickling down the back of her neck. Pushing her chair back, Terra did her best to glare at Robin. "I don't have to listen to this, I--"

Robin's hand stopped her, holding hers firmly as the white gaze locked onto her face. The words died in her mouth, and in her mind, any thoughts of leaving were dashed. Somehow she couldn't make her legs move, not when he looked at her like that.

After a torturously long pause, he released her hand, sliding back into his seat. A deep breath... "I thought I could make it go away by denying it, but I couldn't, Terra. The harder I tried to push it away the more it consumed me, until every waking moment was spent in trying not to think about him. I didn't eat or sleep for days...and then..." He stopped, mouth set in a firm line as his "eyes" stared at something she couldn't see. "Then I had to find him. It became my sole purpose, to find him and make him pay for what he had done to me. If I could just do that, it would go away."

Terra was shocked and ashamed to feel the hot prick of tears in her eyes, as Robin's words stirred so many thoughts and feelings she had sworn she no longer had. Scrubbing at them with the back of her hand, thoughts of leaving darted through her mind once again...but they too soon died out. Robin...somehow she could see that Robin needed this as much as she did. She couldn't leave, darn it, no matter how much she wanted to.

As though sensing her desire to flee, Robin looked up, paralyzing her with the empty gaze of his mask. He cleared his throat, and Terra watched wide eyed as he swallowed hard, Adam's apple bobbing. This was no easy thing for him to admit...she knew it.

"That attempt...it almost killed me. If it wasn't for my team, I would be dead right now...dead, because I was too afraid to face what had happened head on. Denying it could never change the facts, pretending does no good, and revenge brings only pain. All I can do...is face it, little by little, day by day. All I can do is live, one day at a time, and hope that it will eventually mend itself."

Tears slipped down her cheeks unnoticed as Terra stared at him in awe. Robin had been Slade's apprentice...Robin had survived it...Robin was still here, still a hero, still fighting for what he believed in. Somehow she had never truly realized that. He had suffered, just like she had. He knew, exactly, the Hell she had been put through...because he had experienced it as well. Here was someone who could help her, more than Beast Boy, more than any of the Titans. Robin knew.

Ignoring the crowd around her, the giggling teenagers worrying about what they'd wear for their stupid date or who had a crush on who, Terra pushed back her chair and stood, while Robin did the same. In the next instant, she forgot hesitation and did the one thing she had never imagined she'd do. She wrapped her arms around the Boy Wonder, hugging him tightly as tears continued to fall and flashes of memory burned into her subconscious. She didn't want to remember...but she trusted Robin. After so many years, she trusted someone.

To her surprise and relief, he returned the hug genuinely, tucking her into a comforting and protective embrace as one hand gently stroked her hair. Yet another thing she had never believed him capable of...

"It's so hard," she whispered, half sobbing half laughing as she pulled back and hastily wiped the tears from her eyes.

Robin's expression was comforting, empathetic. "I know." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, placing the flower in her hand with a small smile. "That's why I'll be here...whenever you need me."