TT- Jewel - The Gift

“What happened there?” asked Beastboy in the infirmary. “Why’d she just keel over out there?”
     “She ran out of strength. It’s that simple,” Raven explained. “She used up everything because we weren’t helping her.” She glared at Robin. “What a nice big brother you’re turning out to be.” He blushed.
     “The good thing is she’s put Cinderblock out of commission for good. He’s hurt real bad,” said Cyborg. Starfire nodded in agreement, looking troubled.
     Valerie lay in a bed surrounded by the Titans. She was pale, and still dressed in the jumpsuit. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but she hadn’t gotten up since the fight, which had been many hours before.
     Robin walked over to her, and held her hand. “Wake up, sis, I have something for you.”
     Groaning, Valerie woke to find the Titans clustered around her. “What? Where? Oh, my head…” Grabbing her head, she tried to sit up, only to fall back down again. “Oh, the infirmary, right.”
     “Here. This is for you.” Robin handed his sister a small simply wrapped package, “It’s from all of us.”
     “A present? For me?” she seemed shocked at the very idea. She then grinned. “Awesome!” She ripped off the wrapping paper to find a communicator with the Teen Titan logo on it. She turned to her brother, shock clearly showing on her face. “You mean…”
     “Yep,” said Raven.
     “Welcome to the Titans,” said Robin.
     “Put’r there, kid!”
     “Congratulations, friend!”
     “Nice going, Valerie!”
     Valerie smiled. “You can call me Jewel.”

* * *

     “Jewel? Why Jewel?” asked Beastboy, “If you ask me, it sounds kinda lame.”
     “Yeah, I know. That’s why you’re Beastboy, instead of Garfield Logan,” she mocked, “You hated your name, didn’t you? He nodded and sighed. They were walking back to her room. This didn’t mean anything to them, because Beastboy’s heart was elsewhere and Valerie didn’t care for boy’s much. They walked along in silence.
     “So what’s your power then?” Beastboy asked, desperate for conversation.
     “It’s basically alchemy. I can change the elements-”
     “Like water, air, and earth?”
     “No, like Carbon, Oxygen and Sodium. Anyways, I can change the elements into other elements, and combine atoms and molecules in different ways. I can even turn lead into gold!”
     “So you could be the richest kid in the world, and you dress in raggedy sweaters and worn sneakers all the time?” She nodded. “Cool!”
     “Not cool. This means that I have to memorize the molecular make up of everything I come in contact with. This also means I have to concentrate on my molecular structure, and that of everything I’m touching, or I’ll accidentally turn everything into water or something.”
     “Sounds sorta like Raven. She’s always meditating to keep her powers on check.” They arrived at her door, and the door opened automatically to show a pitch-black room.
     “I do something like that… I create objects, and this calms me when I’m too emotional. I’ll show you sometime,” she smiled, “see ya later…” She walked into her room, and the door closed behind her.
     “Yeah, sure,” he smirked, morphing into a fly and flying into her room.