The sun shone down on the Bay at Jump City. The waters reflected the crystal clear blue sky with scattered diamonds of light. White, puffy clouds scudded across the sky in the chill morning air. The friends gathered in the common room after breakfast as Robin reviewed the police blotter from the night before. Cyborg was at a computer console, checking the software updates for some of the Titan Tower systems. Starfire gazed out the window over the city while Raven read quietly on the couch. There could be no better example of a routine morning in Titan Tower.
Starfire broke the silence. "It is almost three years to the day that Friend Beast Boy left on his quest of the spirit. Tell me Cyborg, you are a human male. How long do these quests last? For what is he looking? When will he return home?"
He swiveled around to face her. "Star - I don't know. Not all guys do this, but some feel the need to make a change in their teenage years. In Australia, they call it "going walkabout." In England, there some young people take a year between school and college to travel. They call it a 'gap year.' Some Native American men went on what they called a 'spirit quest.' For most guys, it's a little later, and not so extreme. But it's usually about trying to figure out who they are going to be."
Robin joined in. "At the end of adolescence, many humans go through a transitional stage. Most of who they are going to be is already built inside of them by how they were raised. But as they become adults, the sometimes need to get away from the people who think of them as children, and treat them as such, so that they can . . . sort of integrate all of that stuff into who they are going to be as an adult."
"Yeah," said Cyborg, "Most of them return to their old lives, but it won't be quite the same. We've all grown and changed."
"Well," said Raven, "Beast Boy sure had a lot of room for growth."
Starfire lowered her voice. "Robin - are you also going to leave us while you do the 'finding of yourself?'"
Robin looked up from the police reports and arched an eyebrow.
Before he could speak, Cyborg interrupted. "Don't worry about that Star. If there's one thing Robin knows, it's who he is, and where he's going. I've seen power stations less grounded than he is. He might go tearing out of here in pursuit of a crime boss, but if there's one thing he doesn't need to figure out, it's who he is."
She smiled, reassured, and turned back to the window. Suddenly, she squinted and leaned forward, pressing her nose against the glass.
"Large green sea birds are not common to this area, are they?"
"What - you see something?" said Cyborg, standing up abruptly.
"I think Beast Boy is coming home!" she replied happily.
Unnoticed by the others, Raven dropped her book, her face taking on a momentary look of shock.
Robin jumped up from his seat. "I'm going up to the roof. If it's Beast Boy, I want to welcome him home."
Raven watched as the other three Titans hurried from the room. She slowly stood and phased to the roof ahead of them getting there first. All four of the team looked upward, scanning the western sky, Raven standing a little apart, by the door to the stairs.
High above, an emerald albatross circled once then wheeled over and began to descend. As it fell, it changed shape, wings shrinking, and chest drawing in. Faster and faster it stooped. When it seem as though it couldn't fail to impact the roof of the tower, it flared its wings, revealing an emerald falcon. Without quite touching down, the bird morphed again, and Beast Boy stood before them, his feet making a soft crunch as they gently touched the roof.
