LOVE WRITTEN IN STONE

Chapter Eighteen:

Epilogue 

'Local high school student is no ordinary girl. Tara Markov, more commonly known as 'Terra', has been living under the radar ever since her heroic comeback and petrification attending Murikomi Highschool under a new alias. Having no memories of her past fourteen years, Tara had been living life as an ordinary girl until reuniting with the Teen Titans. Now an official member herself, she lives a double life that everyone knows about, attending school and when needed saving the day with our heroes…'

"Turn that off, dad!" Terra rushed by the open foyer as she struggled to put her shoe on her right foot. 

"I like hearing about you on the news!" Her father aired between chomps of his egg sandwich. He waved the remote in his hand while turning back in his recliner to watch his adopted daughter frantically pulling her belt through the loops of her yellow shorts. "I'm making sure they don't say anything rude about you." 

"It's weird hearing them talk about me. I already have people at school treating me like some kind of elite, I don't need my parents to do the same." Finally closing the buckle in place, Terra sighed and straightened out her pixie hair. 

"I think it's cool!" Evelyn, the newest addition to their family, spoke0. after coming down the stairs in her school uniform. "The whole city appreciates your accomplishments." Evelyn was a shy girl. She always spoke in a fragile whisper and had had a difficult adjustment to high school life after the ordeal with the alien. 

Terra sighed and nodded, rubbing the back of her head with a pout. "I know, it's just weird to me. I miss when people treated me like a normal person."

"But you aren't a normal person, honey." Across from them, their adopted mother spoke in the kitchen entrance to the left of the main door. "You're a superhero."

"I know. But I'm a girl too." Muttering that last bit to herself Tara snatched her school bag from the coat rack next to the door while Evelyn slipped on her black, shiny, dress shoes. As soon as she and Tara were ready to walk out the door, three knocks resounded from the other side. 

"That must be booger-boy." The father griped, standing up in his seat, then dusting off the crumbs from his scraggly beard. 

"Beast Boy!" Simultaneously, Tara, Evelyn, and their mom corrected sternly. 

The father shrugged his arms and waved them off with a roll of his dark eyes. "Whaaaatever." 

 With a curt puff, Tara shot a glare at her father and unlocked the door to open it, revealing the boy in question. He was standing on the bottom of their steps that lead to the tiny porch of their rectangular house with his hands in his pockets. When he heard the familiar sounds of the creaking hinges, he shot to attention and nervously chuckled. 

"Hey!" He greeted the girls standing in the frame. 

"Sup!" Tara excitedly replied, "Ready to go?" 

"Ready when you are!" With his fanged smile brightening, he relaxed as the girls rushed down the three steps. Tara came to the young hero's side and planted a kiss on his cheek as was routine. "What? That's all I get?" He teased, gazing lovingly into her eyes. 

Blushing, Evelyn covered her eyes between her slender fingers and turned around bashfully, "Oh, god, they’re doing it again." She squealed under her breath. 

"You're lucky that's all you get, son." With a twisting frown, the tall, imposing father stood in the door with his deep voice sending chills down the boy’s spine. 

"Ah!" Yelping, Beast Boy’s body poofed into a turtle hiding in his shell. Tara managed to catch him from falling onto the hard concrete and she snapped a dangerous look at her father. 

"Papa." She strained, her bottom lip poking out. 

Relaxing, her father gruffly turned his nose up and walked out of frame. When he was back in his chair, he smirked to himself proudly. It was a guilty pleasure to torture the poor Beast Boy even though, deep down,  he liked him just fine. He just enjoyed giving him a hard time. 

"Oh dear.." Her plump mother shook her head and sympathetically turned her soft expression to the three of them below. "Have a good day, girls. See you when you get home!" She waved. 

"I love you, mom! See ya!" Terra replied, waving her whole arm before turning to run down the sidewalk with her boyfriend tucked safely under her other arm. 

"Ah! B-Bye, Miss Markov!" Bowing, Evelyn stated in a nervous breath before hurrying after Terra and Beast Boy. 

Miss Markov blew air from her painted lips and shook her head with a warm quirk of her smile. "She's my daughter now, she doesn't need to call me that." She giggled to herself before calmly shutting the door.

"Oh god, we're so late!" Terra rasped between pants. She tossed the green turtle into the air and when it returned to the Earth, he had regained his human state and was running by her side. 

"What's the rush??" He gasped, having to begin running as soon as his feet touched the ground, "You've got plenty of time! School doesn't start till 8! It's like.. 7:50-- god it's so early!" He gasped, throwing his head back. 

"Terra has a presentation today at the school assembly!" Called Evelyn who seemed just fine and not out of breath at all.  “The faculty asked her to give a speech for the last day of school!”

"The whole school is attending, and I need to be there early to set up my PowerPoint!" 

"I have no idea what that means, but it sounds serious, so why don't we go a bit faster!" Winking, the boy's body twisted and grew into a magnificent stallion. Both Terra and Evelyn skid to a stop before climbing onboard. Reaching down, Terra grasped the other’s hand and pulled her onto Beast Boy's back. 

Leaning over, Terra called, "Getty up!" She grasped hold of his flowing hair and the other behind her threw her arms around Terra’s waist with a frantic cry as the horse whinnied, reared his head, galloping at full speed. 

People on the sidewalk jumped frantically out of the way and some even shook their fists in anger. Terra could only apologize as they went by. The wind was so intense, she had to slip her goggles over her eyes just to see. 

"Beast Boy! There's a traffic stop up ahead!" Terra warned. 

 He snorted and blew air from his large nostrils, picking up the pace seemingly ignoring her. 

"Ohhh, Goooodd!" Screamed Evelyn, hugging Terra tighter as Beast Boy leaped several feet in the air, just barely making it over the crowd of people gathered at the light, and the line of cars driving past. 

"Whooohooo!" Terra screamed, throwing her arms up, the wind twisting her short locks everywhere before they landed onto the other side of the sidewalk. "That was awesome!" She complimented, "A bit showoff-y, but awesome!!"

With a proud count of his hoof over the concrete, the stallion neighed before turning down the path toward their high school. By the time Beast Boy had reached the campus, there were seven minutes to spare. He skidded to a stop at the entrance of the academy, allowing Terra and Evelyn off his back as his nostrils flared heavily. 

As soon as they were safely off his back the horse fell to the side as Beast Boy’s human form. Foam dripped from his mouth and he panted vigorously. 

 "God, I'm never running ever again." He managed to wheeze as beads of sweat raced off his head. 

"We should get him inside." Evelyn suggested, kneeling beside the boy to dab his forehead with a handkerchief from her breast pocket, "It's too hot, he'll hyperventilate in this weather."

"You're right. You didn't need to push yourself so hard." Scolding him lovingly, Terra dipped down and pulled his limp arm over her shoulder and tried lifting him up. She felt his muscles pulsating and throbbing against her as she did, struggling all the while. 

"No, you'll be late for your thingy, I'll be fine!" Protesting, Beast Boy hung his head. 

"Shut up, I'm going to help you whether you like it or no--"

"Tara?" Jason walked up to the group with a gruff expression, hand in his pocket, and holding his bag behind his shoulder, "What are you doing? And what's up with him?" 

"Jason! I need you!" 

"Mm!" Blushing, the orange-haired boy jolted back, "Y-You what??" 

"You're strong, right?" 

"Pish, yeah, obviously!" He flipped his hair, proudly putting his hand on his hip. 

"Great, because I need you to carry him." Terra trudged to Jason who blindly held Beast Boy up against him. 

"What? Hold on a sec--!" He called as Terra rushed into the building yelling. 

"Thanks, Jason! I owe you!" And then she was gone. 

"Ugh.. If she wasn't so cute I would have drop-kicked this dude." He glanced down at the barely conscious Titan drooling over his shirt. "Hey, watch it! Ah! Damnit!" 

Evelyn blew a gentle huff and came to help carry the other side of Beast Boy’s body. With Jason’s help, they both helped Beast Boy inside the school and into the nurse's office where they placed fans and several ice packs over his face, chest, and behind his neck.

The assembly went off without a hitch and due to this being the last day before their summer vacation, the students were allowed to leave early at noon after receiving their over break homework from their teachers. Beast Boy had been resting in the school infirmary since being dropped off by the unwilling Jason and Evelyn. 

It had been peaceful, the window’s slightly open nearby the gurney he was upon continued to help cool off his overworked body. It also didn’t help that he was terrible about going to bed early so having only gotten four hours of sleep had him worn out. 

However, when his eyes peeled themselves open, they came back into focus in this strange environment, and then to the side where he felt a presence with him. It was his girlfriend, Tara. She was sitting there at the stand next to his bed working on something. She looked adorable there as she scratched the side of her head, deep in thought. He slowly hoisted his body up and off from his head fell a mostly melted ice pack into his lap. He cocked his head to the side with a hum of curiosity before hearing her speak. 

“Oh! You’re up.” She sounded startled, yet happy. “You were starting to worry me. What? Didn’t you sleep last night? I told you that if you were gonna walk me to school every morning you needed to be in bed by ten, otherwise you’d get tired during battles.”

As she went on, Beast Boy only eyed her with an innocent grin on his lips. He could have listened to her voice for hours upon hours at a time, and he could have stared at her beautifully pale face until his eyes popped out. She was his treasure and he had to continuously remind himself that he was never going to take these precious moments for granted. 

“I love you.” he blurted softly, interrupting the girl's speech about taking better care of himself. The silence that followed, along with the ever-growing redness on her cheeks made Beast Boy itchy. “Ah! Sorry! Shoot, I didn’t mean to make it weird! Why did I say that??” he fidgeted, holding the sides of his head as his own cheeks colored a different shade other than green. 

 “...” Tara watched on, feeling her heart beating madly in her chest, so much so that she could hear it in her ears more than she heard his worried woes. “I love you too.” she softly aired, forcing her crystalline eyes to meet his. 

When they paused again, they shyly averted their gaze and allowed the moment to sink in. Unable to hold it, Beast Boy mildly chuckled to himself, quirked his body forward, then planted a kiss on her nose. “Are you ready to go home?” 

The kiss was enough to make Tara giggle, snapping them out of the awkward muck they had made. “Yeah, let me gather my things,” she said, standing up to scoop her books back into her bag. 

“How did the speech go?” The changeling asked, standing to his sore feet. 

“Well-- I think. The students seemed to like it, and I got lots of praise from my teachers.” 

“Sweet!” Grinning, the fang that usually showed just over his bottom lip became more visible. “So, now that this school stuff is over with, you’ll be able to hang out more, right?”

“Totally. Of course, I still have my summer homework to finish. But I’ll be at the tower more.”

“As long as you’re with me, I’ll be good.”

 Walking arm and arm, the couple exited the infirmary and mosied down through the spacious halls of Murakami High.  “By the way, you should take a shower when we get back.”

“Ahahah..”

...

It was one week into the summer break. With the influx of young people out and about, the city suddenly became a hotbed for crime. Not to say that it was the 'crazy teens' to blame, villains just love to cause a panic. So, to the dismay of Beast Boy, he found it even more difficult than before to see Tara when they had a moment to breathe. While she was at the tower more often, most of her time was taken up by the girls, or training, or that pesky homework. And the fact that Evelyn, despite being academically gifted, still needed Tara for more basic needs as a guardian wasn’t helping either. 

He was also growing worried. 

Terra had been through a lot. He knew she was a tough girl, and that she could take care of herself, but she had been through trauma, after trauma, after trauma, and things still weren't letting up. She was doing hero work with them 24/7 and even though she was trying to stay strong, he could see the darkness seeping through the cracks. She hadn’t had the chance to properly let what happened to her sink in and allow it to scab over and heal. It was almost like ..

“She’s distracting herself.” a string on his guitar broke after strumming it too hard. He winced and breathed a sigh. “Damn, I just fixed it too.” with an immature whine, the young man left his instrument to sit against the wall of his bedroom and turned to gaze out at the moon. “..Tara.”

She needed an escape. She needed a break from it all. She needed a rest from all the hero stuff and school and all her obligations. She needed a moment where she could be a normal girl..

And so he got to work. 

Starfire softly hummed to herself a Tamarian lullaby as she went about her room fixing her messy closet. With her lengthy hair tied back into a beautiful, fireball bun, she had almost finished when she heard a polite chime at her door. She gracefully turned to gaze at the metal frame separating her from her visitor and brightly grinned, floating over quickly to answer it. 

“Yes?” She greeted, expecting to see Tara, or Raven, or maybe even Evyeln, but was happily surprised to see none other than her short, green friend, “Beast Boy!” she stated. 

“Hey, Star!” he greeted, waving. “Can I come in for a sec?”

“Certainly! What troubles you?” gliding to the side, she allowed her friend inside her very pink interior as the door shut on its own. 

As the boy stood in her room, he gingerly twiddled his thumbs, “See, the thing is that I was wondering if you had any beads or old jewelry you aren't using.”

“Huh?” she sounded quite perplexed as this wasn’t a request she had expected, “What for?”

“...Well..” 

… 

“Do you think you get it now?” Tara asked with a gentle air. Sitting at her desk within her loft bedroom she now shared with her adopted sister, who was also sitting on the bed next to the desk, Terra observed the other tentatively. 

“I believe so..” still wary, poor Evelyn reached to scratch her head with knitted brows. 

“Let’s try reading it over again and then look at the questions.” 

With an exhausted heave, Evelyn nodded reluctantly as Tara recited off the poem assigned by their teacher. The task was to answer certain literary questions and then write a paragraph about how the poem made the individual student feel. Tara knew for a fact how brilliant Evelyn was. Her brother was also very intelligent, after all, he was one of the most influential scientists in the U.K. before his spiral into madness over Eveylyn’s abilities suddenly surfacing and potentially uprooting his career. She was just as gifted with such brilliance when it came to mathematics and the sciences, however, when it came to literature, she felt as dumb as aboard. Tara was trying her best to tutor her, as literature was her best subject, however, it wasn’t going so well.

“‘... I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice .’ Okay, so the first question is asking about the theme of the poem. What is it about?” When Tara looked up from the page containing the poem and questions she noticed that the girl’s soul was leaking from her body. “Right.. Maybe we should take a break then.” she sheepishly suggested, placing the packet down on her desk. “I’ll go get us some snacks and we can watch a movie or something.” when she scooted her chair, Tara stood to her bare feet and gradually came to stand just over her new sister.

“..I miss him.” 

“What?” Tara halted, thinking she heard Evelyn say something just under the line of hearing. 

“..Wilbur.” with sullen eyes, the redhead casted her gaze out the window, “I miss him.”

“...” Left unable to think of anything to say, Tara could only stand there with her hand over her chest, unsure.

“It was his birthday today. I wish I could have visited him, but I know he’d be cross with me if I had. He doesn't want me anywhere near that place.” putting her sapphire eyes down on her lightly clenched hands upon her lap, she continued with a half-smile, “I hope he had a good day.. At least..” 

“..I’m sure he did.” Tara cautiously placed herself to sit just a foot away from the other girl on the bed with her hands between her thighs, “And once he gets out of prison, you two can see each other again. I’m sure Gar’thra will be excited to come back and see you both too.” 

After Wilbur had been confined to the federal penaterary in Gotham City to face his full sentence for his crimes against the city, and Terra specifically, he wasn’t punished nearly as harshly thanks to the arduous convincing from Terra herself, but nonetheless he was a criminal meant to serve his time and reflect on his actions. The only communications he received were from handwritten letters that were read aloud to him from his prison guards. One such letter was received not long after his incarceration from Terra. 

She wrote that Starfire had located the alien plant that the white creature had come from. It was in a sector near her own planet and through her palace connections contacted their rulers. It turned out that the creature was part of a species called, Scr’thra. 

All their names ended with ‘thra to pay respect to their god of the same name. The aliens were able to speak the same language as Starfire’s people and thankfully got in contact with the creature’s parents. The white creature, or Gar’thra, had accidentally escaped the mother ship after running away from it’s parents and into a space pod where it ultimately crashed into Earth. However, the space pod had lost signal with the mother ship, and tracking it was impossible. They explained that the creature is only a baby, or 'youngling' as they called it, and had not the ability to produce sounds or speak until it’s sixth Earth year of being alive. 

Tara also wrote that shortly after contacting Gar’thra’s parents, they had made arrangements to deliver the child to them on earth and now Gar’thra was back on it’s own planet safe and unharmed. She also said that they would allow Wilbur to see their child again, and wanted to thank him for taking care of it. Now that it was learning how to speak, it only wanted to talk about Wilbur. 

Thinking about it now, Tara found herself smiling. She was glad everything would work out for all the parties involved. 

“Yeah, and he’ll be really surprised to hear them speak for the first time.” seeming more hopeful, Evelyn lightly kicked her legs that hung over the bed. “By the way, you mentioned you had a brother before, where is he?”

“Oh.” The question was unexpected and it unnerved Tara. A darkness faded over the usual brightness of her sky blue orbs and she soberly lowered her expression to the floor with her bangs shielding her upper face. “I don’t actually know where he is… and I don’t even know if he’s alive or not.”

“Hmm?” leaning forward, The other girl tilted her head, “What was he like?”

Flashes of the past made Terra flinch, yet she managed to keep it concealed from the other girl next to her. “He was.. Very kind.” The image she remembered of Brion filled her mind’s eye as she described him, “he was innocent, and yet acutely aware of all that happened around him. Very noble also. He vowed to protect me, and he did. He sent me far away to save my life..”

“..Terra.” Evelyn tensed her shoulders, feeling the atmosphere around her sister grow dim. 

“He promised to come for me, but that was three years ago now..” she lifted her eyes to stare at the propped open skylight on the roof displaying the starry night as the moon’s raise illuminated her pale features.  “I worry that he might not have made it. But there isn’t any way to get back to where we were from, and even if I could, I don’t think I’d be welcome there.” 

“..Sounds like it was hard for you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” 

“No! Don’t be sorry. It’s okay, I’m not too sad about it anymore. Besides, it was all a long time ago.” shaking her hands, Tara tried to smooth over the tense atmosphere before it got too heavy. 

‘Still.. I wonder what happened.. I’ll probably never know..’

…

The evening was quiet. Alone in her room was the blonde hero herself reading an assigned book upside down on her bouncy bed. She reached over on her sheets and took a handful of chips into her mouth, crunching away as she skimmed the pages. Tonight she was spending the night in her Titan bedroom. Tomorrow was going to be their weekly volleyball match and she wasn’t about to miss that. But this particular night, something kept her from focusing on her school work. She groaned and tossed her book to her pillow, sitting up. Something was gnawing at her. A weird feeling of something growing closer.. Something.. Impending. 

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

She nearly leaped out of her skin. Letting her heartbeat calm itself down, she rolled off her bed and cautiously made her way to the door before hearing the voice of her visiter. 

“Hey, Terra. Uhm, are you still awake?” 

It was Beast Boy. She chuckled to herself over her near heart attack. Without thinking much more of that weird feeling she had bubbling inside her gut, she opened the door invitingly. 

“Gar! What’s up?” she asked. 

Immediately, his jaw slacked and a growing tinge of blush befell his cheeks, traveling all the way up to his ears. He shyly averted his eyes, hoping that the burning in his nose wasn’t an oncoming nose bleed as he threw his hand over his face. Tara immediately reared back in stultification.

“What the heck is wrong with you?” 

“Y-you’re robe!” he shakily pointed, slightly peeking through his fingers. 

“Huh?.." When her eyes trailed down to her bathrobe, she instantly saw the disaster that befell her. Her chest was slightly exposed down her cleavage. Her face flushed over a beet red color like a thermometer as she quickly pulled her robe over her body, covering every bit of her. "Sorry! I just got out of the shower and got distracted and I wasn't paying attention!" 

"I-It's okay, I don't mind really.. " he released a shaky breath before continuing, "Can I look now?" 

"..Uh huh.." Shyly, Terra averted her eyes and kept herself hunched over. 

The awkwardness was so thick it could be cut with a knife. To smooth it over, Beast Boy started with another ice breaker. "So, what got you so distracted?" 

"I'm reading for a school assignment.." She mumbled, pouting. Keeping her fingers tight around her robe, she continued, "I have to write a report on it before the vacation is over. 

"That sounds like a lot.." He faltered. Will he continue with his plan?.. No! He had to. She needed a break. "I-if you want…" He stuttered, holding out his hand timidly, "Uhm.." 

Terra eyed him curiously. "Hmm?" 

"..Ah.. Nevermind." He clutched the box he had been hiding behind his back slightly as he stepped away. 

"Wait!" Terra reached and grabbed his arm. The sudden jolt made him accidentally drop the small box decorated in a blue ribbon. 

"Ah!" He cringed knowing full well his secret was blown. 

"What's that?" She pondered, "Is it yours?" 

"Hum.. Not exactly.? " reluctant, he bent down to retrieve the box and dusted the brim. "I was going to give it to you, but you seemed busy and stuff so.." 

"Oh!" Blinking, Terra widened her eyes then slowly grinned, shyly. "I have the sneaking suspicion that this has happened before."

"Hahaha, yeah. " He shrugged, bestowing her the gift. When their hands touched, he felt the familiar stab of electricity being exchanged. "Open it."

Tara ran her teeth over her bottom lip as she carefully lifted the lid of the box revealing the surprise inside. With her delicate fingers, she plucked a shining, silver necklace from the box. The centerpiece was a delicate Butterfly with detailed wings surrounded by three, green gems on the tips matching the three beads of the same color on either side of the string. Immediately Terra felt herself become enthralled. 

"Oh, Garfield.. It's beautiful." Was all she could manage to say. "Where did you get it?" 

"I made it." He sheepishly scratched his cheek, "With Starfire's help and materials. I felt bad because you can't wear your comb anymore now that your hair is short. I figured you could wear this instead." 

"It's wonderful. Would you help me put it on?" She giddily handed him the necklace and turned around as he wrapped it around her neck. 

"If you want, you could wear it out on a date with me." 

"A date?" 

"Yeah. There's a new amusement park that opened for the summer. I thought we could check it out. It would Technically be our second date, but our first as an official couple." 

"That sounds awesome! Let me just get my costume on and then we can--"

"Actually!" Beast Boy curtly interrupted, throwing his hand up, "I was thinking we could ditch the costumes for tonight."

It was obvious Terra wasn't expecting that as she curiously raised a brow. She giggled, "But what if there's trouble?" 

"There won't be. Robin has exempted us from the line of duty."

"We can't be exempt from being superheroes."

"Tonight, we won't be superheroes." Beast Boy casually snakes his fingertips through her own, leaning forward with an innocent lower in the tenor of his voice. "We'll be two normal teenagers going out on a perfectly normal date." 

The blonde couldn't help but blink her eyes as an ever-growing awe sparkles in her eyes. She understood now, he was trying to help her feel better; to feel Like a regular girl. It was incredibly sweet and she could only feel the tinge of pink blossoming relentlessly on her pale skin. 

"..Okay." She finally managed to reply before receiving a quick kiss on her forehead from her boyfriend.

"Awesome!" He cheered.

"But I don't have anything to wear here at the tower. I'll have to swing by my house to get something more .. 'Normal''" she giggled, motioning quotation marks with her fingers.

"That's even better! I'll pick you up from your place." He seemed way too into this whole 'normal' thing, but Terra was happy. "How long will you be?" 

"Mmmm...maybe thirty minutes or so?." Poking her cheek, she nodded in finality at that assessment. 

"Sweet, thirty minutes it is!" 

"Just don't be late," Tara smirked, pulling away from him to shut the door. 

"When have I ever?" He jokingly feigned innocence as her door initially shut. When he heard the latch close, the giddy boy shot his fist in the air one after the other in triumphant victory, dancing on his toes in a circle. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He cheered in an excited whisper before hurrying down to his bedroom.

…

"What time will you be back, where are you going, and who is going with you?" Her father shouted up the stairs as Terra continued to model potential outfits for Evelyn. 

"It's a date , dad !" Terra called back exasperated. "How's this one, Eve?"  She followed less aggressively

"Mmm.. It's too much." Tara could tell the slightly younger girl was being nice as her face constricted in judgment. 

She had gone through several different outfits that didn't feel nearly good enough or felt too over the top to wear out on a 'casual' date with Beast Boy.

"Damn it." Tara gripped, pulling her dress over and off her body and flinging it over her full-length mirror. "I haven't done this before, I have no idea what I'm doing." Running her fingers through her pixie hair, the flustered girl once more tore through her closet in search of anything else she could've missed. 

Evelyn watched on in mild amusement. "To be honest, I don't think Beast Boy would mind whatever you wear." She said, swinging her legs on the bed beside Terra's. 

"I know, but this is our first time out as a couple. I feel like I should wear something special. I just don't know exactly how this sort of thing goes.." Never before had Tara Markov felt so inferior as a woman. This was a huge deal for her and Gar. She didn't want to disappoint him, or herself. 

A cool, thin hand wrapped around her shoulder, snapping her from her deep thoughts. Evelyn spoke, "I think I know just the thing." She grinned widely.

…

As the green changeling landed at the tiny porch of his girlfriend's house, a wave of anxiety nauseated him. He tugged at the charcoal jacket that remained unzipped to expose his violet-colored polo buttoned nicely at the caller. His unripped jeans matched the jacket in color and hung loosely around his bright, newly cleansed shoes. In his belt, he kept his golden communication device safely clipped on the right side of his hip beneath his long shirt. 

He had gotten to the house a little earlier than they had promised, however, he figured that was the more cordial thing to do and he hoped that it would impress her father at least a little bit. 

"No use in standing out here." He gulped, raised his hand to knock on the rustic door knocker, but was halted by the door suddenly flinging open. "Ah!" Beast Boy nearly leaped out of his skin as the sudden, ominous figure of none other than Terra's father, also named Garfield, stood in the frame. His imposing figure sneered at him as the light from the foyer casted a devious shadow on him. The boy nervously chuckled as the need to transform into a cowardly mouse began to seem like a valid option. 

"I suppose you'll be taking my little girl out tonight?" He peered down at the beast boy who was a few heads short of him. 

"Y-Yes!" He squeaked, before clearing his throat and losing his collar, "I mean, yes, sir." He quickly corrected with a more defined pattern. 

"Beast Boy!" A kinder, more nurturing voice resounded from behind the frightening man and the source ended up pushing him aside to reveal Terra's mother, Miss Emily Markov. "So good to see you. Tara is still getting ready, but you're welcome to come inside." She smiled warmly and it always made the young Titan feel that sense of dread lift from his shoulders. 

"Thanks!" 

Terra's home was a pleasant, cozy abode. As you entered the door there was a direct path to the stairs that led to the second floor and attached to the left of the stairs was a hallway leading to the bathroom and office space. Directly at the left of the foyer was the open door to the kitchen, to the right was the open way to the living room. Her home was rectangular in shape so as to fit with the other homes and apartments along the street. It was crowded, but cozy. 

Beast Boy was led to sit in the living room on their two-seated couch as Miss Markov called up the stairs, "Tara! Beast Boy is here!" 

There was an abrupt crashing sound before a door could be heard flinging open up the stairs. "Okay!" They heard her call before slamming it again. "Oh my god, oh my god!" Tara panicked, pulling at her hair. 

"Don't freak out!" Evelyn gently waved her hands but her attempt to calm Terra down was in vain as she whirled on her feet. 

"Eve, do I look okay?" She frustratedly tugged at a loose strand of hair that hung between her bangs. 

"You look beautiful, as always." Smiling, Eve gave an encouraging squeeze to her shoulders as she came to stand behind Tara who was slightly taller. "He'll think so too." Taking the curling iron, she plucked the strand into the bridge and forced it to the side.

"Yeah?" She seemed to calm down a bit as Eve pulled the butterfly necklace around her sister's neck and clipped it in place. 

"Yes." She giggled as if it were obvious. "He doesn't care what you wear, you'll be beautiful in his eyes no matter what." 

A symbol of a smile began to glitter her once distraught face. She lightly touched the necklace that was full of love, the love he felt for her. Nodding she sheepishly chuckled, "You're right. I've been an idiot."

"About time you realized." They shared a laugh before Evelyn tugged her hand to drag her to the door. "Let's go show him!" 

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was nervously tapping his fingers on his knees with tense shoulders and sweat starting to seep down his neck as her imposing father stared at him from his sofa chair. 

"Honestly, Garfield, leave the boy be." Emily scolded before coming to stand beside the terrified hero. She softly pats his head. "He's a good boy."

"Thanks, ma'am." A strained sigh of relief escaped him. 

"We're coming down!" Called Terra as two sets of feet scurried down the old, wooden steps. First entering the line of sight was Evelyn dressed in her matching PJs that had cats wearing sombreros on their heads. 

Beast Boy stood to attention, a different kind of nervousness enveloped him as he waited to see Terra show herself. He could make out that she stopped just shy of the line of vision. Evelyn rolled her eyes and snatched her arm, pulling down. 

Beast Boy had never felt his heart flutter like it did when he made eye contact with Terra. Only one thought persisted in his otherwise blank mind. 'Beautiful .'

And she was. Terra wore a black, form-fitting shirt with a high-rise neck that cut off around the shoulders. The shirt itself came to rest around her waist which would have exposed her belly had it not been for the golden skirt that came to rest around her upper waist and down to just barely touch her knee poofing out in a ruffle. She held in her hand a slender, black purse, and on her feet were yellow and black heeled shoes. The only piece of jewelry was the necklace Beast Boy had given her. 

"Aww, sweetie. You look beautiful." Her mother spoke without hesitation. 

"I think it's a bit much." Her dad spoke out protectively. 

"No.. It's perfect." Beast Boy absently announced as he slowly walked forward unable to look away. "You look beautiful." Now standing just in front of her, he grinned lovingly down at her softly taking her hand. 

Terra blushed furiously, unable to look him in the eye, "You don't think it looks weird?" She sputtered, shifting her bluebell optics to the side. 

He shook his head, "Not at all. You look awesome." 

It was then their eyes connected and they both felt that spark envelop them, forcing their body's to pull away and nervously dart their eyes in embarrassment. 

"Aheam." Clearing his throat, her father stood from his chair. "Beast Boy, you take care of my little girl." It wasn't a request, it was a command as he leered down at the much shorter teen. 

"Right!" Tensing again, Beast Boy nodded vigorously. 

"Relax, dad." Tara sighed, pushing her face into her palm. "I can handle myself now." She then reached over and slid her hand cozily into her boyfriend's green hand. "Let's get going." She said. 

"Sure." Squeezing her hand, he nodded thankfully at her as they headed out the door. 

"Have fun, hunny!" Her mom waved beside Evelyn. 

"Be safe!" Her sister chirped. 

And the door shut closed. 

 …

"Do you think they are doing okay?" Cyborg pondered as he rubbed a bowl dry from the clean dishes he had finished rinsing.

Robin, who was flipping through the channels on the couch beside Starfire shrugged, "I'm sure they're fine. Beast Boy has his communicator."

"That's not the issue," Raven remarked, grinning. She was seated at the lounge tables adjacent to the kitchen area of the living room beside the red carpet. As she flipped a page in her book she said, "Beast Boy has had the jitters ever since Terra left the tower. His nerves might mess up the date."

"I truly hope it goes well." Starfire bowed her head while clasping her hands over her chest. "After all they have been through, a relaxing date should help them grow past it."

"They'll be fine." Robin chuckled, "Just a couple of kids having an evening stroll. What could happen?" 

 In the starlit sky, high in the atmosphere, a comment-like substance became visible in the horizon. It was glowing bright yellow in color with orange rings of light orbiting around it. It seemed to pulsate light as it strode through the sky at the speed of sound leaving an orange trail in its wake. Coming directly above Titans Tower this meteor suddenly pivoted unusually and began a trajectory right for the island until it crashed with an enormous whistling that echoed across the bay. The force of the impact into the sea was so great that the splash reached the island of Titans Tower, spraying the door. 

"What was that?!" All four Titans stood on high alert. 

"Outside, quickly!" Robin leaped over the side of the couch and bolted out the door followed by his three comrades. 

The Titans all reached the island in time to see the bay still being rained upon by whatever had penetrated the ocean. They searched frantically before Raven hollered from above, "Down there!" 

The Titans all simultaneously glared at the bubbling part of the sea glowing orange in color. Then as suddenly as it began, the bubbling became non-existent for a moment and they all slightly relaxed before from the depths emerged a bulky, enormous creature made entirely out of rock stolen from the bottom of the ocean.

"What is that thing?!" Cyborg gasped, aiming his sonic cannon at the monster. 

"Trouble." Robin grimaced as the creature let out a tumultuous roar. 

"GRAAAHHH!!! WHERE IS SHE?!" The creature climbed onto dry land and began to charge the group.

"Titans, go!!" Screamed Robin as they went in for the attack 

…

"This is so nice," Tara remarked as they sat inj the enclosed Ferris wheel car.  She cradles on her lap a stuffed monkey Beast Boy had won for her as she gazed down at the lovely lights glittering around the amusement park. 

"Yeah, I'm glad we could come." keeping his hand locked against her's, Beast Boy stole a glimpse at her face as she stared out the window of the ride car. He continued to gaze at her affectionately before she suddenly shot her eyes to look at him. 

"Thank you." She smiled brightly. 

"F-For what?" He stammered. 

Tara leaned forward slightly, "Well, you were trying to help me cope weren't you?" 

".. How did you know?"

"I just had a hunch." She shrugged proudly. 

"Well," he lowered his voice to a soft pallet, leaning forward innocently, "Has it been working? Do you feel any better?" 

Tara blinked her eyes slowly, her heart racing, "Just being with you helps. You have no idea how happy you make me."

"You make me happy too, more than anything else in the world." With half-lidded eyes, Garfield grazed her cheek with the pad of his thumb tenderly. 

Terra let her optics flutter closed for a moment then back open again. The Ferris wheel stopped with their cart softly swaying in the air. Terra reached up to slip her hands over his cheeks, cupping them. 

"I love you." She whispered as their lips gravitated to each other, tantalizingly slow. 

"I love you more." Squeezing her tight, the green Titan inched further, his heart beating rapidly in his ears. 

…

"Ahh!" Raven screamed as she landed into the side of Titans tower, denting the door. 

"My tower!" Cyborg gasped before growling and aiming his cannon at the monster that continued to scream almost full sentences. "You'll pay for that!!"

"Oh sure, worry about a few nuts and bolts," Raven remarked sarcastically as she rubbed her head, recovering. 

"What have you done to her?!" Bellows the rock creature as it bounced toward the bulking teen with brute force. Each step it took shattered the earth beneath him as he grabbed Cyborg's cannon arm and crushed it with brutal strength before having the chance to fire. 

"GAHH!!" Agony cut his pricing shriek before the half-man was thrown into the sea several yards away. 

"Cyborg!" Starfire belts, zooming to where he landed in the water, then dove in to rescue him. 

 Meanwhile, Robin was left to fight alone as he took out three special bombs between his fingers. "You need to cool off !" He shouted, then threw the detonators. They exploded onto the creature upon contact and when the steam cleared the creature appeared frozen in ice. Panting, the fearless leader took a step closer before he heard the daunting sound of the ice creaking. 

"Shit." He barely had time to utter before the creature burst from the ice prison, sending shards in every direction cutting Robin’s arms as he blocked them from hitting his face. 

"Where is she!?" Screeching, the rock monster’s nonexistent eyes brightened into a golden hue of yellow and beat on its chest like a gorilla. 

Starfire pulled Cyborg out of the water safely as he coughed heavily until the putrid sea fluid from his lungs was released. She scowled, standing to her feet and her eyes and hands adorned a neon green light. "You shall not go unpunished, beast!" She warned, floating into the air. "Huh!" Flinging her arms, the princess released wave after wave of destructive star bolts from her otherwise dainty hands 

Taking a direct hit, the rock monster was sent flying until colliding back down to Earth. Bits of the smaller rocks that made up his body chipped off as he staggered to stand. He released a gurgling growl, lifted his massive hands, and like bullets, the smaller rocks on his body shot out aiming at the teenage heroes. Robin swooped in to block the attack with his bo staff, twirling it expertly to protect his team until a larger rock threatened to land on him from above.

“A distraction?!” he gasped, barely able to backflip out of the way before an untimely death befell him. Landing low to the ground with one leg out, he panted, “It can strategize and plan?” This monster wasn’t like other one-off villains they had faced before. It could learn, speak, and even adjust it’s strategy accordingly. As he darted his eyes around, he realized quickly how stacked the odds were against them and he gritted his teeth. As the wave of fear spread throughout his team, Robin gravely swallowed as he uttered, "We need Beast Boy and Terra."

…

Pressing their lips together, The couple in question intimately cooed as the warmth of their love for the other spread throughout their bodies igniting passion in their core. Like a dance, their lips caressed each other tentatively, almost instinctively, growing more and more tantalizing with each breath. 

Garfield's mind was hazy. His attention was fully committed to her girlfriend's touch as her hands roamed through his neatly combed hair, ruffling it back to its original state. Meanwhile, his own hands pulled her closer, making sure there was no light between them as he dipped her neck back slightly to deepen their furiously growing kiss. 

It took them several beats to realize that a buzzing was vibrating against their thighs followed by a familiar ringtone. Breaking the kiss, Terra gasped, "Your communicator!" Her eyes were wide as the moment became totally ruined by the noise. 

Beast Boy threw his head back with a whine. "Aww, man! .. Come on, I'm sure it's nothing," he pouted, leaning into another kiss. 

Terra folded her fingers over his puckered lips with a stern glare, "Beast Boy."

"Okay.. Okay.." Reluctantly, Beast Boy sighed into her palm before she removed it. He pulled out his communication device from his belt and lazily flipped it open. "This better be good--"

"B...st boy… Te..a! We need… Lp… The tow...er…. Monster attack...hurry!.." The screen fizzled as the static coming from the other end made it almost indecipherable. 

"Did he say monster attack??" Terra panicky quired, standing in the car.

"That, or there's a Finster snack, and I don't know a Finster so that must be it."

"We gotta move!" She jerked the more than reluctant Beast Boy from his seat, shaking the enclosed Ferris car slightly. 

"But--!" 

"We don't have time!" Summoning a flat piece of earth from below the Ferris wheel, Terra flung the door open and leaped out, her yellow skirt fluttering angelically around her as she landed. 

 "Hey! Wait up!" Beast Boy reached out after her, stumbled, flailed his arms as he hung over the edge, eventually fell, only to flop into a raven form, and flutter back into the air following the girl of his dreams into battle. 

“My arm!” Cyborg strained as his sonic cannon fizzled, crushed into itself like a tin can. 

“ WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER ?!” enraged the monster shrieked, throwing his arms at the sky, then slamming into the dirt. 

“Who is the person you seek?!” Starfire pressed, as her and Raven landed on the opposite sides of the monster hoping to subdue it. 

“Whoever it is, we won’t let this thing hurt them! Azarath Metrion--” as the witch of darkness chanted her mantra, a grave warning from Robin blistered the air.

“Raven, Behind you!”

“What?!” a hand matching the shape and size of the monster’s shot from the earth, coiling around her body and gripped tight. “Errgh!” struggling against the strength, Raven clenched her teeth. 

This hand, which had been materialized by the creature’s powers to control the earth, brought Raven directly in front of its face as it sneered at her. “ WHERE IS MY --” Before the creature could get out his sentence, a green light resembling lightning erupted behind him. It was Starfire’s laser vision.

“Unhand Raven, you wretched creature!” 

Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Terra had finally made it just over the tops of the city buildings riding upon a surfboard-shaped rock and over the ocean where the tower became visible. Beast Boy had been grabbing hold of Terra from behind, so as not to fall off as she expertly flew them over the port. Now flying directly over the sea, Terra gasped and pointed, “There really is a monster!” 

“We better hurry!” diving off from the rock and breaking into the sea, Beast Boy emerged several yards away as a green dolphin, then back into the water, speeding through the waves perfectly. When he leaped out again, he poofed into rhinoceros, borrowing into the creature with his horn.

This caught the monster by surprise, however it was able to throw Raven into Starfire, snatch Beast Boy by the neck,  and lift him up despite the massive size of his transformation, then launched him back into the ocean as he screeched, “WHERE. IS. TERRA?! ”

A sinking feeling befell the heroes as the realization that this beast was after their friend made the situation all the more dangerous. With a dry mouth, Robin’s face twisted as the knowledge that Beast Boy being here meant that Tara wouldn't be far behind, and sure enough, when he twirled on his feet behind him, he spotted the blonde fastly approaching, leaving a wave of water behind her just from the speed alone. 

“NO!” he screamed, throwing his hand out in vain. “Go back! He’s after you! ”

Terra arrived on the island.

As she booked it for the fight, she was halted by the screams of her leader begging her to go back. “What??” she rasped barely in time before the monster made eye contact with her. She froze. “..Wait.” a realization struck her; she felt her heart skip a beat.

The monster wasted no time in his fit of rage. He snarled, grabbed Starfire by her hair, and flung her into the ground before running on all fours to Terra. 

“Oh, no you don’t!” Robin proclaimed. He dashed forward, leaped into the air twirling his staff above his head, however the cry from the girl below made him hesitate. 

“Wait!! Don't hurt him!!” she commanded desperately.

“What?--” Not wasting the opportunity, the creature waved it’s hand and took out The Boy Wonder using the amalgamation he subdued Raven with earlier and pinned him against the moist dirt.

"Brion, stop!" Terra commanded, her voice cracking from the pressure of yelling so hard.

" Brion??" The Titans repeated in confusion. Did they know each other? 

Crawling back onto the beach of the island from the ocean, Beast Boy was unable to move in time to stop the monster from becoming face to face with the girl he loved. He bellowed, “TERRA!”

She found it difficult to breathe as she came to stare directly into the glowing eyes of this beast, but she wasn’t frightened. She was trembling, yes, but from the assumption that this monster was familiar to her. As it wheezed breathlessly, puffing steam from behind the rocks that formed his mouth, Tara reached her hands out cautiously. 

“..Is that you?..” her lip trembled as she came to touch this monster’s face. “Brion?” 

The Titans slowly regained themselves, standing up holding their new injuries as they watched on in amazement. This monster that had aggressively attacked them suddenly became subdued by a single touch. 

“Ter...ra..?” it rasped deeply. It was then a flash of blinding, yellow light erupted from the monster and the boulders, pebbles, and other rocks that made up his body crumbled away revealing a human man with orange-tinged hair slicked back over his head. He wore an orange mask surrounding his eyes that were a piercing shade of blue and a costume-clad in yellow and orange with two letters stitched on his chest. GF. He held the girl’s hands now resting on his defined cheeks and pulled them down, gingerly, “Is that really you?”

“It’s me.” she felt tears spring to her eyes as he stared at her with awe, then softly grinned. 

"You cut your hair."

"And you got taller." 

"Well, three years will do that."

"I guess it would." as tears sprinkled down her lids, Tara felt Brion softly stroke her cheek with his gloved index tenderly, carefully wiping the stray beads from her skin. 

 As the Titans came to stand in a semicircle around the duo, they all were taken aback as suddenly, the man engulfed Terra in a bone-crushing hug which she returned excitedly, gripping his suit tightly between her fingers. Simultaneously, all four heads of the teenagers look directly at Beast Boy.

"!!" Beast Boy stiffened before briskly stomping over, pulled them apart, then stood defensively in front of Terra while still dripping wet from his earlier swim. "Okay, whoa! You can't just trash my home, beat up my friends, and hug my girlfriend! Who the hell do you think you are?!" As he spoke, he aggressively forced the man, who was a head and a half taller than him to back up a few steps while pointing at him viciously. 

Glaring, Brion slapped his hand away and scoffed. "Filthy Earthling. You dare speak to me in such a way after you and your friends kidnapped Terra?! You're lucky she appears to be unharmed, otherwise, I would've obliterated you all!" With a sneer, the man balled his hands to fists, his gloves constricted against his knuckles. In his rage, his hands fluttered in a hue matching that of the sun. 

"Whoa! No one has kidnapped anybody!" Terra quickly yanked Beast Boy back by the collar, now standing in front of him protectively. 

"What?" Brion snapped, his hands dulling in color. 

"She is our friend, we love her!" Starfire chirped, clasping her hands to her chest. 

"These guys are heroes, Brion," Terra added with a gentle touch to his hands. 

The man eyed her curiously and cocked his head, "Heroes? What is that?"

"It means they save people and protect the city with their very lives." Pointing to each Titan she respectfully recited their names. "Robin, Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy. They've saved me more than once."

Brion’s stony face instantly mellowed to a more understanding light as he turned to the group of Titans standing around them. "..You did?" He asked tenderly. 

"Like Starfire said," Robin stepped forward, "We're her friends." 

Brion was silent as his eyes darted slowly to the ground in thought. Before he had the chance to speak again, Beast Boy hurriedly spat, "Hold up, can we back up a sec?" Pinching his nose, he flusteredly shook his head, "Do you two, like, know each other?" He asked, shooting glances at the two still conjoined by their hands. 

"Well, of course we do, she's my sister." The man chuckled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sister ??" all five of her friends focused their attention on the now bashful Titan rubbing her neck. 

"Oh yeah, I have a brother-- well, half brother if you want to get technical. Did I forget to mention that? Ahaha.." 

"I have never thought of her as such, however. She’s always been a full sister in my eyes." The older one rubbed his sister’s head affectionately. "I'm so relieved to know you're safe, and I do sincerely apologize for my less than cordial entrance." Brion bowed lowly, "Please forgive me." 

"..Oh geez," Cyborg huffed with a reluctant nod, "It’s cool man, we get it."

"You were worried about Terra. But why? Where have you been?" Robin crossed his arms. 

"Yeah! When we met her she was all alone in the desert being chased by a flipping caterpillar monster!" Grumpily, Beast Boy folded his arms together tightly over his chest, glaring daggers at him. "You didn't seem to care too much back then." 

"Beast Boy." Terra snapped, but Brion held her back

"No, he's right. It has been three years since we became separated under dire circumstances. I should've been there for her, I just couldn't be." Owning up to it, the oldest stood tall. " I take responsibility for that. You see, I was planning to come retrieve Terra, but about a month ago I felt the connection between our powers fizzle out." 

"Connection?" Terra blinked. 

"Yes, because we were given the same set of powers, we have a physical bond. Since your powers were imperfect I suppose you couldn’t feel it." 

Terra shook her head. "No, but I did have this weird feeling earlier tonight like something was coming, I just didn't know what so I brushed it off. But you said the connection was cut?"

"Yes.. I feared the worst. You see.. I thought you were dead." his mostly regal voice dipped to a somber, melancholy tenner as he continued, "I dropped everything and came to find you."

"I was going to die.." Beast Boy tensed up seeing the light from her eyes fade for a moment before she closed them to smile, "But my friends saved me."

"I owe a debt of gratitude to you all. Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and.." forgetting the younger’s name he paused.  

Poking his bottom lip with his chest puffed indignantly, the changeling kept his crossed arms tightly bound to his chest as he bitterly tapped his finger on his elbow, "...Beast Boy."

"Yes! And Beast Boy. Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So why did it take you so long to come find her, anyway?"

"Well, fixing a broken kingdom takes a long time." he responded, placing his hands leisurely on his hips, “I had just finished the final touches before I lost the connection.” Terra visibly tensed as the faces of her friends contorted with confusion. 

"Wait, kingdom?" Raven tilted her head back in disbelief.

"Where exactly are you from?" Robin asked intrigued, rubbing his chin.

"Oh! I should introduce myself. Ahem. Heroes of Earth, I am King Brion of the planet Markovia.” twirling his hand in the air, he bowed his head once more to the group with a regal gesture to his chest.

"Whoa, a king?" Cyborg blurted. 

"But if you're a king.. And Terra’s your sister.. That means-" Before Raven could finish her thought, Starfire practically screamed with elation.

"Terra is a princess!!" In her excitement, she was sent flying into the air with a burst of wind blowing the other’s hair to the side and fluttering Robin and Raven's capes. “She is just as I am!”

“You’re a princess??” Beast Boy sputtered, his green optics wide in disbelief.

“..Did I forget to mention that too?” Terra grinned as the tension built in her stomach.

“Now that the pleasantries have been dispersed,” Brion swiftly took his sister in his arms by her hip and began to float into the air with her tucked in his muscular embrace, “Let us be off!”

“What?!” 

“Hold up!”

“You can’t!”

“Let her down!!”

Simultaneously, the outcry from her teammates echoed from below. Brion eyed them curiously. “What? What ails you?”

“Brion! Put me down!” pushing against him, Terra writhed in his grasp much to the shock of her older brother.

“Huh?” he gasped until she finally managed to slip from his hands. As she began to plummet back to the ground several feet below, he shouted, “Terra--..!” However, his cries were all for naught as Terra summoned a boulder that her brother had used as a piece of his monster form to catch her fall and navigate back to the earth safe and unharmed. 

When her feet touched the dirt the Titans surrounded her as if to shield her from any more surprises. Beast Boy went so far as to pull her into his arms as they glared at Brion who leered down at the group from above. 

As a smirk came over his lips, he proudly nodded, “You’ve learned to control your powers.” he noticed.

“Yes, I’ve learned a lot of things on Earth.” Terra replied, aiming her voice up at her flying brother, “And I see you’ve learned new tricks as well.”

“I have the same power as you do, just with a few extra quirks.” he slowly made the descent to the ground, now adorning a more stumped expression, “But that isn’t what matters now. What troubles you? I am keeping my end of the promise we made over three years ago.” as his feet grazed the dirt, he stood off a few feet from the Titans, only looking at Terra. “I defeated our father, I restored the kingdom, I made your name public knowledge and let all the planet know of our father’s treachery. To the world, you are their princess, the second in line for the throne.. And yet, you do not wish to return?” it was obvious he was hurt by this as his voice that had spoken so proudly before was now quivering and frail. 

Terra bowed her head and tugged herself from her lover’s arms. She removed herself from the team and walked until she stood in the middle of them and her brother. Her expression was vague, but there was a hint of grief that casted a shadow down her sullen smile. She kept her head down as she responded, “You really did all that stuff for me?”

“Yes! I made Markovia a home for you to return to!” Raising his voice with a hopeful smile he nodded, “Just like I said I would.”

“..Brion.”

“Yes, sister?” he leaned down with a fragile smile as he had the sinking suspicion that what she was about to say would ultimately not be what he wanted to hear.

“..I’m not going back with you.” The Titans relaxed, however, all wore a different expression of regret as they understood very little about the situation, and yet they couldn’t help the selfish joy of hearing Terra wanted to stay with them. 

They watched her carefully as she lifted her head to make eye contact with her taller sibling. “You gave me a home I can one day return to, you have no idea how much that means to me, seriously. It’s just..” her words lodged into her throat as a burning in her chest forced her eyes to water. 

“..You’ve found a new family here.” an understanding simper befell her brother’s face, his sapphire eyes softer than a clear sky. 

“It’s not that I don’t love you, Brion! You were the only person that cared about me back then and you saved my life!” slapping her hand over her chest she spoke vigorously as she felt tears prick her optics, “But I love them too! I love this world and I want to continue to protect it! My life has never felt more right than it does spending my days at this tower with my friends. I even have a new mom, a dad that loves me, and even a sister of my own I have to watch out for!” taking a shaking breath, she swallowed thickly, “I appreciate what you have done for me, really I do… but my home is on Earth.”

There was a defining silence and all the others could do was watch as the siblings stared off the other. Both their expressions were unreadable until Brion’s cheeks pulled to a large grin. He mildly chuckled through his nose and bowed his head, crossing his arms. “I understand. You don’t need to worry, Terra. I’m not mad at you, in fact, I’m overjoyed.”

“What?” Almost baffled, Terra reared her head and blinked, “You are??”

“All I ever wanted was to see you happy..” he casted his warm gaze over the others behind her, “And if these heroes are able to do that, then I see no issue in your decision at all.”

 He took a step forward and placed his hand on her shoulder, lovingly lowering his eyelids, “But I would be dishonest if I pretended I wasn’t sad to not have you coming home with me.”

"So, she can stay?" Starfire, cautiously optimistic, began to float from the spot she was standing in. 

"Of course," Brion replied. 

"Yay!" Like lighting, Starfire zipped over to her friend, engulfing her into one of her signature bone-crushing hugs. 

"Arck! Star! Choking, not breathing." Strained the blonde. 

"I can see clearly how much you all care for my sister." Brion nodded, seeing the group surround their girl. 

"We do, and you can rest assured she'll be safe with us." Holding out his hand, Robin flashed a confident smile. 

The king bobbed his head with agreement, taking the hand offered to him and shook it once firmly. "Yes.” 

"Why don't you stay a few days, King Brion?"  Raven suggested much to the shock and displeasure to the little, green changing. 

"Stay?" He repeated with dismay. 

"Oh! Yes, what a marvelous idea!" Starfire instantly agreed, overjoyed. 

"That would be fine with me." Robin relayed, "We have plenty of space in the tower. It would give you and Tara some much-needed sibling bonding." 

Elated, a wide grin spaced over the man's face, "You would let me stay?" 

"Yes! Brion, you could meet my new family!!" Terra broke free from Starfire and trodded to his side like a little kid in a toy store. "I'll show you the city, tell you about my life! You can tell me all that you've been doing!" 

"I would love nothing more!" Excitedly leaning his body to her eye level, he curled his fingers giddily. 

"..." Beast Boy frowned as he stood a few feet away on his own, observing. His brows sunk so low that his usually cherry face felt soar from the new wrinkles forming. "Yeah.. Great.” 

Gathered around like kids listening to a story, the Teen Titans were enthralled by the king as he sat in the middle of their semicircle couch. "So, after you were sent away in the space cruiser I went to aid my vassals in the fight against father." 

The Titans all ooed and awed as the young king told his tale, however, Terra seemed less than enthusiastic. She sat on the couch next to him with her shoulders tensed and hands between her legs above her golden skirt. Beast Boy, who was next to the second youngest in their team kept a worried lock on her as they listened. 

"How did you beat him?" Robin inquired as he leaned on the control panel of their TV/computer. 

"Let's just say it took several months to rebuild our castle after I was through with him." Brion then pursed his lips and shifted to face Tara with a lighthearted smile, "Oh, but I didn't kill him." 

"You didn’t?" Terra was surprised to hear this. She was almost certain Brion would have destroyed her father.

"Believe me, I wanted to, however, I figured justice would be served better if I could get him to understand what he did to you was wrong. I suspect that it won't be anytime soon though." Rubbing his head cheekily, he chuckled. "Anyways, after I became the crowned king I went straight to work on fixing the situation with one of the neighboring countries bordering the capital. They had been raging war trying to gain dominance over the throne so they could sege power and rule the planet."

 "One of their raids squashed the village I was born in, killing everyone in it.. Including my birth mom." Terra spoke quietly, her head low. Brion reached out and softly stroked her head. "She told me before hiding me away that my father was the king and that he would take care of me. That's how I found out I was a princess."

"Yes, it was very sad indeed. The war is the reason why I and Terra have powers in the first place.. Our father used her as a test subject, or as you'd call it, guinea pig, to then safely give me superhuman abilities to fight the war and lead our troops to victory. However, now there's peace between our lands and all is well." 

The Titans gave sympathetic glances at Tara who was sitting rather quietly now. Beast Boy snaked his fingers into her hand, snapping her out of her deep thoughts. She formed her lips to smile, squeezing his hand firmly. Brion happened to glance his sea-blue eyes down at the instance making him quirk his brow intrigued before his attention was snapped away.

"How did you manage to broker peace? It sounds to me like the war was a huge problem." Cyborg inquired as he repaired his sonic arm from the earlier attack. 

Brion was left silent as a faint blush became visible from beneath his orange mask. Tara leaned over with a raised brow. "What?"

"Well, I'm quite bashful now that you've come right out and asked me." He responded, rubbing his neck, "The truth is I fell in love with the daughter of the lord that oversaw the land and we decided to get married unifying our planet once more." 

 "You're getting married??" practically screeching, Terra was left flabbergasted by this news. She felt conflicted on this matter especially considering the fact that this woman’s father was the one that ordered the attack on her village. 

“Please, don’t be alarmed. She’s a wonderful woman! Nothing like her father, he’s a tyrant and after he was put behind bars for his disagreeable actions, she helped me fix our broken systems so this never happens again. I do hope you’ll come to meet her someday, perhaps even attend our marriage ceremony?” his eyes glistened with hope as he attempted to smooth the situation over. 

Terra heaved a sigh before ultimately giving in. “As long as you’re happy,” she said then promptly received a pinch to her cheek inciting a giggle. 

“Don’t you worry about your big brother, I’m plenty happy.” he chuckled.

"Well, this has been a tiresome day, let's go get some rest," Robin announced, trapping the other's attention away from the siblings. "We'll show you around the city tomorrow, King Brion." 

"I would be honored!" Was the chipper response. 

Beast Boy leered his attention to Terra who was sitting silently again on the sofa. He reached out to her, "Hey, do you wanna--" but when she flinched, his sentence was lost to time. He was rather taken aback as her sudden aviation was unexpected. She flat out ignored him, leaping to her feet and rushing to her brother. 

"Come on! I'll show you to your room!" Terra quickly flung herself from her seat eager to be away from this situation as she dashed away with her brother following obediently behind. 

"..Okay then." Unsure what to think, Beast Boy brushed it aside entirely and decided it could wait until tomorrow. After all, there'd be plenty of opportunities to speak to Tara about it.

 Right?

… 

The next morning.

“This city sure is marvelous!” Brion gushed as he, his sister, and the rest of the Titans strolled through the main hub of Jump City. “Markovia is advanced in many ways, but our people could learn a thing or two from your denizens.”

“Glad you think so,” Robin remarked, smirking. “We love this city too.”

“And this desert, ice cream was it? It's spectacular! I must learn this dish so I can give it to my vassals at our next gala.” licking his vanilla ice cream cone Tara had asked him to try, he shivered, “Although I must give them a warning, it’s so cold!”

“He’s like a toddler.” Raven held back a smirk from behind her fist. 

“I too had difficulties adjusting to Earth.” Floating from Raven’s side to being next to the redheaded king, Starfire continued floating at his pace, “I am still learning from my friends, but this planet is truly wondrous!”

“You’re from Tamarain, correct? I have never been to your world, but I definitely understand why this planet is appealing! The blue skies and different weather formation system is a wonder.” Brion gulped down the rest of his cone, much to his own regret as a brain freeze made him cringe. “I would love to see more of this land.”

“We’re just getting started!” Grabbing his arm, Terra beamed, pulling him into a run with her leading the way, “You have to see where I go to school!” 

"You attend school?? I'm so proud of you! Let's go!" Brion ran next to her side giddily matching her pace.

“..She looks like she’s enjoying herself,” Robin remarked, now the only one leading the rest of the team. 

“Definitely the first time I’ve seen her look so alive recently,” Cyborg added.

Beast Boy lowered his ears as the statement rubbed him the wrong way. “You think?” He timidly spoke.

“Totally, I mean, look at her smiling.” Motioning with his hand, Cyborg curled his head to the shortest member.

As he followed the suggestion he watched with a mildly worried tent as Terra seemed radiant next to her older brother.  “Yeah..”

“This is exactly what she needed. time with her brother that she hasn’t seen in ages. This could be good for her.” Raven added a hint of a smile on her ivory lips.

…

"Oh, my. Hon, get in here!" Miss Emily, who had opened the door after hearing it being knocked to see all five titans, Terra, and a strange young man at their doorstep called quickly for her husband.

"What?-- oh?" Leaning against the door frame, the tall man stepped forth. "Heya!" He waved at the heroes. "Who's this young fellow?" Leering at the orange haired man, the father placed his hands in his pockets.

"Are you Garfield and Emily Markov?" He asked respectfully. 

"That's us." Skeptical, the man in question tilted his head back, "And you are?"

"I'm King Brion of the planet Markovia, Terra's older brother." 

If Mr. Markov had been drinking at that moment he probably would've spit it out from the shock. "King??"

"Brother??" Squeezing between the two of her parents, Evelyn gaped at the much taller man standing next to Terra who could barely contain herself. 

"Mom, dad, Evelyn, this is my big brother! He'll be visiting for a while." 

"Oh, my." Completely confused, Evelyn placed a hand on her chest. 

"Hello." Waving, the king bowed, "How do you do?" The young man took her hand and held it daintily. 

Furiously blushing, Evelyn widened her eyes. "Oh, my." She squealed bashfully.

"Well, now, aren't you a handsome, young man!" Emily came down the stairs and stood next to the lad. "I had no idea Tara had a brother, would you all like to come inside?" She motioned to the rather large group.

"Uhh.." Robin sheepishly rubbed his head, "No offense, Miss Markov, but we five might be in the way." Robin knew for a fact that the little house wouldn't fit all seven of them, including the parents and Evelyn, very comfortably. "We'll be going on patrol."

The gracious smile never left her lips as Emily nodded, "Alright then, be safe!" 

"Uhh!" Sputtering, Beast Boy awkwardly jolted to face Robin, "Actually! I was thinking I'd stay!"

"Sure. I'll call you if we spot any trouble." Waving Robin leads the rest of the group back through the city. 

"Right then! I've got some lemonade in the fridge, freshly squeezed."

 "This lemonade, what is it?" Brion Briskly marched up the three steps and followed curiously behind the slightly shorter woman and tall man. 

Before Terra could follow, she felt a timid pull on her pinky. She paused and half-turned to see the beast boy holding her in mid-step. She had a flash of a panic jolt through her stomach, however, she was able to put up a grin, "Sup?" 

His words were lost as soon as her smile flashed his way. Beast Boy gradually released her and shook his head."I.. Uhm..nothing."  

"..." Her smile faltered, a knowing silence stifling the air as they avoided eye contact, Terra was grateful that this putrid heaviness was avoided when her brother yelled from inside forcing her to turn her attention away completely. 

"By all that is sacred,  it's too sour!!" 

"Pifft--" Terra snorted, holding back a laugh. "Don't drink it too fast!" She called, laughing while running up the stairs. 

"...'' Left on his own, Beast Boy’s arms suddenly found themselves unnatural against his sides. He sighed through his nose and let himself rest there a moment to calm down. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he followed Tara inside, shutting the door soundly behind him with his foot. 

"Now, where'd you say you were from?" Garfield Markov asked as he sank into his worne chair with a can of beer.

Sitting on the burgundy couch next to the chair matching in color, Brion grinned, "Markovia, sir." 

The older man chuckled, "What a coincidence. Our names are so similar." 

"Stranger things have happened," Emily said as she gracefully sat next to Brion. "We're so happy to meet you, Brion." She smoothed out his hair with a motherly touch that caught the young king off guard. He stared at her in awe and jaw slacked. "Oh, what's wrong, dear?" 

Brion shook his head and cleared his throat from behind his fist, gathering himself. He lowered his eyes with his head somberly, "Forgive me, my lady. I suppose I haven't had the touch of a mother in so long. You see, my birth mother died when I was pretty young from illness and you reminded me of her just now." 

This caused the plump woman to swell around the corners of her eyes, "Oh, sweet boy, she would be proud of you, I'm sure." She softly pats his muscular shoulder. "Saving Tara from your father and stopping a war, you've accomplished so much, and so young, too!" 

By now, Beast Boy was tucked in the corner of the couch next to Terra who was keeping herself reasonably distanced with Evelyn standing against the living room wall. Evelyn herself was watching in mild curiosity as this sort of arrangement was odd. Usually, they were all over each other but today Terra seemed.. Different.  Regardless, Beast Boy continued to angrily sip down some of the delicious lemonade while gradually getting more and more irritated. 

"You're a fine man!" Her husband chimed, pointing. "The son I never had." 

That statement forced the lemonade to travel down the wrong pipe, inviting a coughing fit from the young, green hero. The family stared at the boy as he beat on his chest violently until he was able to breathe, then squealed, "What??" 

"Oh. You're still here? Shouldn't you be out with your friends protecting the city?" Her father asked with a raised brow. 

"Garfield !" Emily scolded her husband, however, Beast Boy stood up, setting the near-empty glass down on the glass nightstand beside the couch.

 With a gruff frown, he turned his chin to the side. "I was just leaving." With that tension in the air, the changeling stomped to the door and wasted no time in shutting it behind him. 

Terra stood abruptly to go after him, however, her feet kept her grounded. Evelyn leaned forward with a confused tilt of her head, "Aren't you going after him?" 

Brion kept his lips perked as he observed his sister’s stance when she awkwardly rubbed her fingers together.

"..Yeah." She shook her head and forced her legs to run, swinging open the door and catching her boyfriend just before he angrily turned the corner of her street. "Beast Boy!" She called, snatching his arm from behind. 

He halted and groaned. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He scratched at the back of his head vigorously as the irritation left him still uneasy. 

“Yeah, seriously. Is there something wrong?” Terra asked, stepping back to allow him room to breathe. She crossed her arms and eyed him carefully.

“There’s a ton wrong! For one thing, your dad likes Brion more than me and he's only known ‘em for like,” he threw up his fingers, “five minutes! Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to suck up to him so he’ll like me enough to quit treating me like a dog for five seconds .”

“Gar..” Terra absently muttered as he shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked a crushed soda can on the sidewalk against a brick building.

“And then there's you.” he half turned, a more worried expression shadowing his features.

Visibly, Terra tensed up and formed her hands into a light fist, “What about me.” it wasn’t a question, it was a warning that he shouldn’t go any farther than that. 

Beast Boy let his mouth close shut before curtly turning away. “Nothing.” 

…

Pacing trenches in the floor, Beast Boy kept his fingers firmly locked around his chin with the other hand tucked under his arm. He was overthinking, annualizing, and overall making himself crazy. Meanwhile, Raven was trying her best to meditate over the couch in the living room. However, Beast Boy's insistent tapping of his shoes echoing in the near-empty room had her eye twitching in annoyance. Before long the aggravating sounds made her slap her hand over her ears and snap. 

"Would you quit it!" She grumpily shook her fist, eyes glowing white for a split second. 

"Huh?" Slowly, almost without realizing it, Beast Boy came to a stop and glanced around. "Oh, whoops, sorry Rea."

"Seriously, what's with you?" She huffed, resting herself back onto the ground. Her cap flitted around her feet as she gracefully came to stand near him. "You never get this worked up about.. Well.. Anything ." crossing her arms, the raven-haired lady tilted her head, "what's the matter?" 

Beast Boy's sullen eyes casted a shadow down his cheeks from his lashes as he leered them down to the floor. Raven was always spot on about these things. She was very perspective. And while he trusted raven explicitly, he was also ashamed to tell her about his dark thoughts surfacing. He stays silent, unable to look her straight on as he kept his optics locked on the floor as it suddenly became much more interesting. 

"..." Raven impatiently tapped her finger over her elbow.  "If you don't want to tell me that's fine. But just know I'm here to listen, if you need me to." With that, she walked past him and once she did, Beast Boy felt something like a ghost phase through him. He shivered and sharply gasped before absently reaching out to snatch her cape with his fingers. It shocked himself and Raven too as they stayed like that for what seemed like eons. "..Garfield, what is it?" Her expression didn't change, but her eyes did. They softened along with her pitch as she pensively gazed at the boy she viewed as a brother.

"..I think I need some advice." He managed to force his lips to move, swallowing thickly his numb finger and releasing Raven's indigo cape letting it fall back to the floor where gravity wanted it. 

"On?" The goth pressed, letting her arms hang at her sides. 

His eyes shifted, "..Brion." 

"Terra's brother? What about him?" Raven tenderly reached out to wrap her arm around his shoulders, guiding him to sit on the kitchen island so they could talk more comfortably. He didn't even seem to notice as his feet moved on their own. 

"Everything. He's been pissing me off." Now sitting he counted on his fingers, "He showed up out of the blue after abandoning Terra to play king for three years, he trashes the island and attacked you guys, gets all buddy-buddy with her new family, and he's taking all Terra’s time likes he's owed it even though she owes him nothing!"

Raven kept her eyes shut, listening to his complaints as his voice rose higher with each beat. He sounded at the end of his rope. Once he took a moment to breathe, Raven spoke. "So, you've gotten jealous?" 

"..No." He felt his throat coil from his blatant lie. 

"Yes, you are. You need to admit it before you can move past it." 

"...Ugh. Okay. I'm jealous." 

"And why is that?"

 "..I.. Donno." He clenched his fist slightly on the table.

"We both know that's a lie." 

"It's not--" one stern glare was all it took to hush his rebuke. "..." Lowering his head with a heavy sigh, Beast Boy laid his chin on his arms. "..I'm her boyfriend, but I can't make her smile like that.. Like she is when she's spending time with him." Raven somberly nodded her head as he told more of this truth. "I get it, I do. He's her big brother and they haven't had much time to be together. It's just.. It makes me feel like I'm useless. I wanted to make her smile. I wanted to be her shoulder to lean on when she felt like couldn't make it anymore. I wanted to make her so happy she could forget all her worries because I love her."

"And so does Brion." Raven interrupted with a sobering rebuttal. "He loved her so much he took over an entire kingdom for her sake. He took down their father for her. He restored her right as a princess because he loves her." She paused and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You've been there for her ever since we've known her. She loves you very much and these things you're saying to me you should be saying to her."

Beast boy reared back with a startled yelp, "I can't say any of this to her!" 

"Why not? You're her boyfriend, aren't you? This is what couples do, Gar. If there’s something that bothers you, you talk about it with your partner and work through it together." 

There was an uneasy aura that swirled around the beast boy as he darted his eyes to the side. His jaw clenched and he seemed uncomfortable. Raven knitted her brows. "There's something else, isn't there?" 

"What? No.." He responded lamely.

Her eyes widened mildly as a thought crossed her mind.".. Maybe you're angry because He's a walking reminder that you don't know nearly as much as you thought you did about her." 

"!?.." 

"That would explain why you're so annoyed at him." She continued ignoring the growing shock on his face. "It hurt your feelings that she didn't tell you anything about her past and you found out in such an abrupt way and not even from her own mouth."

"She doesn't have to tell me anything." His voice was low, trying to remain calm as a shadow hung over his eyes. 

"You and I both know you've only been telling yourself that." .

"..." Garfield kept his eyes locked on his clenched, shaking fist before relaxing completely. He groaned, leaning his head back. Running his gloved hand to rest over his tired eyes, he continued, "That's not it really.. If I'm annoyed by something, it's that he exposed her like that, even if he didn't mean to. But I'm a total jerk for expecting her to talk to me." 

"You're no such thing." 

"Yes, I am. I know she would've told me eventually, and I didn't really have a hard time waiting for her to talk to me about her past. I figured it was something she didn't want to talk about yet, that it traumatized her as much of her life has..But.. I'd be lying if I said it isn't bothering me that now that it's out she's ignored me like the plague." With the truth hanging in the air, Beast Boy grew more restless and he eventually stood up. 

"Where are you going?" Raven asked, raising her head to watch him walk up the stairs to the entrance of the many halls of their tower. 

He paused, pensively rubbed his fingers together, then turned halfway so his profile faced her. "I need to talk to her. After all, it's what couples do." Repeating what Raven had said, he faced forward and marched up the stairs and through the door. 

Raven was left alone, grinning beneath the shadow of her hood. Resting her head on her palm, she let her eyes fall shut. "Go get her." she muttered to the air, cheering them on from the sidelines. 

Meanwhile, Terra and Brion sat on her small couch that overlooked the view of jump city playing a video game with a small box tv that sat on the coffee table. Brion was mashing buttons sporadically, unable to figure which button was what while terra kicked his ass in this two-player fight game. Terra herself was a horrible player, but because this was the first time her brother had played one, she was destroying him. 

"GAME SET!!WINNER, TERRA!" 

"ARGGHH!" throwing his hands in defeated anger, Brion shouted to the roof. "Curse this machine!" He shook the controller. 

"Hahaha! You just need more practice. Smash is hard to master for a noob." Terry giggled, holding her hand to her mouth as her brother smacked his head onto the controller. "But I totally kicked your butt." 

"I must have more training!" He immediately shot erect in his crisscross position with a determined glint in his ocean blue eyes. 

"Okay, ready to lose already are we?" Just before she selected another arena, there were three knocks on her door. She smiled, "It's Beast Boy." She shifted to stand, tossing the controller.

"Beast Boy?" Her brother curled a brow skeptically, eying her. 

 "Yeah, he's the only one that knocks like that. I'll be just a second, try a round on your own while I'm out, then it's game over for you!" Pointing childishly, Terra laughed racing to the door. 

"Hah! You'll be sorry you challenged me!" The king devilishly smirked as he continued to play. 

"Hey!" When Terra opened the door, she was met with the mildly fidgety beast boy himself. "What up?" 

"Hey! Are you busy?--" 

"I will destroy you!" 

Both of the young teens paused as the sudden cry from her brother interrupted them. Terra stifled a laugh, "Don't break my controller or I'll be the one destroying!" Terry playfully called. She turned back to the green bean who had a faltering smile on his lips. 

"I see Brion is in there huh?" 

"Yeah, I'm totally kicking his ass in smash bros right now." She leaned in as if telling a secret, "But to be fair if I was playing against anyone else I'd be the one getting crushed. It's nice to win for a change. But it feels wrong like i'm cheating.``

As she rammed on, her smile grew brighter and more brilliant and suddenly, Beast Boy found it difficult to follow through with his plan to talk to her about his troubled feelings. He nodded along and found a smile. "Yeah! Haha! You've gotten better though." He stepped back, lowering his head, “If it isn’t much trouble though, I need you to come with me.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “We have to talk.”

Terra’s smile faltered into a knowing frown, a shadow casting over her usually bright eyes. “Right..’’

…

As the couple silently traversed the beach line of the island, Terra worriedly focused her eyes on the heroic changeling's back as he walked at a pace in front of her keeping his head down. Just as she began to catch up with him, however, he stopped suddenly mid-step. She halted quickly right before she rammed her body into him. The young man leaned down and snatched a smooth stone from the ground, flashing a smirk at her. 

"I've been practicing." He stated, tossing the rock in the air, then flicked his wrist sending the stone to skip over the ocean before falling into its clutches. 

"Wow, you got really far that time."

"I had a pretty good teacher." They smiled warmly at each other, sitting side by side on the edge of the water over some rocks. 

They were silent until Terra spoke up. "This brings back memories." 

"Yeah, the first night we spent together was around this spot. You accidentally tossed me into the water." he laughed with a fond smile.

"Yeah, I was such a mess back then." She sighed, bashfully, pulling her knees to her chest. "So much sadness and fear."

"..Hey, Terra--"

"No, let me go first." Beast Boy snapped his eyes onto her in surprise. "I'm sorry. I know you've been upset the past few days, and I'm pretty sure I know why." She caught sight of his shoulders tensing from the corner of her eyes. "I've been avoiding you ever since Brion came here. And that was pretty childish of me, and so is the reason why I did. I just couldn't face you. I guess part of me was afraid that hearing about my past would weird you out and I didn't want you to look at me any differently." Terra was uncomfortably silent as she cast her deep optics away. "..Like, he exposed stuff that I wasn't ready to uncover yet.”

“Stuff I had buried deep inside my heart," she softly gripped the baggy nightshirt that was two sizes too big for her and lowered her head. "It was stuff I was trying so desperately to forget, but now that everyone knows it suddenly became so real again. It's laughable how I wanted to try and retain any semblance of a normal life like when I didn't have my memories." Sitting up with a hopeless smile, Terra's eyes strobed yellow as a small stone hovered just beside her then shot forward, skipping several times over the water's surface before being swallowed by it. "I'll never be a normal girl. Not on Earth, or on Markovia-" as a wave crashed against the rocks they rested upon, Terra’s lips were enveloped by Beast Boy’s. The kiss was a shock to say the least, however, Terra’s sapphire optics fluttered to a close, letting her lips caress his own. After a moment of lingering, Beast Boy retracted and rested his forehead on top of her own.

His voice was barely above a breathy whisper as he uttered, “I would never, ever look at you differently. I don't care if you are a princess from another world, or a regular, high school teenager, because you're my girl, and I love you." Terra's eyes swelled as she felt the cool pad of his thumb affectionately brush her pale skin as he smiled softly, "And yeah I was upset because I knew it bothered you, but you didn't come to me and talk about it. We're in this together. You're still healing and I want to help you in any way I can. You aren't a burden on me, I like carrying you." 

"Garfield.." Grabbing his hand with her own she squeezed, snuggling his skin and taking all the warmth she could."You're right. I've been a real idiot"

"It's okay, I'm an idiot 24/7 but I get along just fine." Hearing her giggle made him grin ear to ear as they shared another, more gentle kiss.

Standing at the window overlooking the scene below, Brion simpered at the young couple. He turned his head away, stepping back to allow her purple draw curtains to fall back over the glass, obscuring him from view allowing them the privacy they needed. 

The next morning, Beast Boy stretched his lanky arms with a long, stretched yawn while striding down the main hall. As he rubbed the dryness from his tired eyes a regal voice halted him from going any further. 

"Beast Boy, may I have a word?" It was Brion’s voice, but to Beast Boy, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. 

He heaved an annoyed huff and turned around with a vacant expression, “Oh, It’s you. I’m not going to bow to you or whatever.”

Brion only chuckled a few feet away from the much shorter hero. “No need for formality. After all, you are Terra’s trochete are you not?”

“What’s that? Some kind of Markovian dog or something?” he was being half sarcastic, however, there was a coldness to his usual carefree voice as his arms crossed over his chest loosely. 

“Hahaha! Of course not. In your language, there is not a direct meaning. The best way to describe it would be 'beloved'.” 

This confused the Titan as he curled a black brow, letting his arms hang at his sides"..You're not about to give me the whole 'big brother talk' Are you?" Putting on a mocking voice he continues while shaking his finger, "The whole, "I'm going to give you hell if you break her heart" spill? Because I don't think you deserve the right.”

Brion mildly bowed his head, a faint smile on his lips, "Your words, while harsh, are accurate. I don't have the right.  While I love my sister.. I admit I didn't really help her at all. Nothing I can do can make up for my adolescent mistake of sending her away. She grew up alone with so much turmoil. I came to this planet with the intent to save Terra, but you Beast Boy, you beat me to it. Please, take good care of her for me.” in a fluid motion that left the other speechless, Brion bowed lowly to the floor. He stayed there for several moments before the beast boy frantically waved his hands. 

"Whoa, whoa! You don't need to do all that! Look, I get it, you don't need to worry, I'll protect her with my life, you don't need to ask." he stepped to the older man's side and forced him to stand tall. He lightly punched his chest and held his fist there looking him dead in the eyes. "You're her brother, and what you did back then you did to save her life. So I'm grateful to you, even if I don't really like you." stepping back, he held out his hand with a firm expression. 

Brion was dumbfounded as his jaw went slack, however, a tough smirk fell upon his lips and he grabbed hold of the beast boy's hand tightly. "Thank you, Sir Beast Boy."

…

"So, this is it?" Cyborg asked as the group of titans and Brion stood on the open rooftop of their tower. 

"Yes. Thank you all, my friends. You have Markovia as an ally. You are all welcome there any time." He bowed to the row of heroes and then somberly came to stand in front of his young sister, conjoined by the hand of Beast Boy. She released him as she entered an open embrace from her brother. "And you be safe." He whispered almost like a prayer. 

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." She whispered back, giving him a squeeze. 

"Argh!! I'm gonna miss you!" He yelled, hosting her up and spinning her around in a circle before gently sitting her down, "But I happen you have a place where you feel at home and are content." He affectionately patted her head then turned to the others. "I do hope you attend the wedding. All of you! I'll be checking in now and then."

"Oh goodie.." Beast Boy blew beneath his breath however he received a solid elbow to his side from the blonde beside him forcing him to hunch over. 

"We'll be there, Brion." 

"Take care of yourself!" Robin waved. 

"Oh, yes! Happy tidings to your people!" Starfire cheered. 

"Goodbye, heroes of Earth!" With one final wave, the king or Markovia saluted the team before booking it to the edge of the tower, diving off, then after a few seconds was flying in the air in an aura of bright orange and yellow disappearing over the horizon. 

"Be safe.." Tara whispered as the wind from his take-off brushed her by as if giving her one final farewell from Brion himself. 

Beast Boy placed his arm around her. With a confident quirk of his lips, he wiggled his ears, "You hungry?" 

Tara found herself grinning as she pushed him away and giggled, running toward the edge of the roof with her hands adorning a yellow aura. "I’ll race you!” she dove off the building then emerged several yards away on a large boulder soaring through the sky.

“Hey! No fair, Terra! You have to say ‘Ready, set, go!’” Giggling, Garfield ran after her, somersaulting into the air as a falcon and following swiftly after her. 

"Don't count me out!" Cyborg hollard. 

"Oh, yes! I wish to partake in the eating out!" 

"Starfire, never say it that way again," Raven responded deadpan as they flew side by side over the edge of the roof. 

Both Cyborg and Robin bolted for the stairs pushing each other around until landing into the car built by Cyborg's own two hands. Blasting rap music on their mixtape, Cyborg pressed several different buttons on his control panel over the dash. The garage door began to lift open and the car lifted into the air using jet-like engines on the wheels. Driving out of the tower and flying over the water, the entire team was now partaking in a race to get to their favorite pizza parlor, ready for the start of a new chapter in all their lives.