A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, but the third and final ch. of Shadows of the Past is up and ready. Now it's rated a stronge PG-13 for the good ol' sexual scenes between my favorite lovers, Beast Boy and Terra, whom I've grown to like more and more as I wrote this story. Please, as always, read and review, and a big thanks to those who already have. You guys rock.

Part Three:

"A Happy Birthday Present"

The large metal door slid open, and Beast Boy entered his messy and disorganized room, immediately feeling right back at home. He walked over to his bunk bed and pulled back the covers with one foot, being very careful so as not to wake Terra, who was still sleeping soundly in his arms. When that was done Beast Boy set her down gently on the bed and pulled the covers over her body. Terra stirred briefly, and then resumed sleeping peacefully. Beast Boy smiled at her and whispered, "Goodnight, my baby." He then turned and headed out of his room, the doors sliding shut behind him silently. He headed down the hallway towards the nearest bathroom, eager to take a long shower and unwind. When he entered Beast Boy walked over to the shower, flipped it on, and began to undress. Meanwhile, back in his room Terra was tossing and turning in bed; she was being plagued by a horrifying dream.

In it, she was fighting someone, and it wasn't Slade.

Terra threw a punch at the girl standing in front of her, but she caught it in her hand easily and twisted her arm, making Terra cry out. The girl then raised her fist and punched Terra straight in the face, send her flying. As she got back up the titan tried to summon her powers, but couldn't; she didn't have them in this dream. As the girl approached, Terra tried to look up at her face, but it was not visible to her for some reason. The girl loomed over Terra, and suddenly the girl had a pointed slab of rock hovering over her head. She yanked Terra up by her collar and hissed in her ear: "Remember who I am Terra. I control you now, just like Slade did." And then, Terra realized that the girl did have a face; it was her own. Terra began to scream as her double dropped her to the ground, and without hesitation dropped the rock down on her; the sharp pointed end piercing her body.

"NO!" Terra screamed at the top of her lungs, jerking out of her sleep. Panicking, she looked around frantically, and then remembered that she was still in Beast Boy's room, safe and sound. Seeing that no one was in the room with her Terra sighed in relief and fell back onto the bed. "Why…why is this happening again?" she whispered to herself, staring up at the bottom of the top bunk, "I don't want to hurt anyone again… why can't you just go away?" Terra closed her eyes, trying hard not to cry. Suddenly, the bedroom door slid open, and Beast Boy walked in wearing only his boxers and drying his damp hair off with a towel. Terra immediately shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Beast Boy glanced at the bed, smiled at Terra "sleeping", and walked over to his dresser. Terra opened one eye cautiously and almost gasped when she saw Beast Boy pull out another pair of boxers and start to take the ones he was wearing off; she quickly closed her eye.

After hearing the drawer shut, Terra reopened her eyes in time to see B.B., now wearing a new clean pair of boxers with a jungle underbrush type design, jump onto the ladder of the bunk bed and make his way up to the top bunk, the frame creaking and groaning as he did so. "Oh, I don't want him to go to sleep," Terra thought to herself sadly, "I don't want to stay up alone." And without thinking Terra cleared her throat and said, "Beast Boy?"

He gave a high-pitched yelp and fell off the ladder, landing on the ground butt-first with a thud. "Geez Terra!" Beast Boy groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head, "you scared the crap out of me! I thought you were asleep already."

"Heh…sorry," she replied with a sheepish smile, "are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Beast Boy stood up and looked at Terra, his gaze catching hers. She shuttered with delight upon seeing his beautiful green eyes gazing at her. Beast Boy saw her reaction, but merely decide to ignore it for now. "So uh…" he said, at a loss for words as usual, "did you…need something?"

"Well… do you think you could stay up with me tonight? I really don't feel like being… alone tonight."

"Sure," Beast Boy replied, not sure whether she was truly scared of something or simply wanted his company, but he had a hunch that it was probably the latter. He took a seat on the ground next to the bed and said, "Alright, I'll be here all night long, in case you need anything."

"Thanks so much Beast Boy," Terra whispered, touched by his willingness to do anything for her, "goodnight." She eased herself back on the bed and turned to face the wall, and it was then that she noticed the calendar. Her eyes scanned all the little boxes for the month of November until she came upon the 28th, and in the box was a single sentence which read "My 16th b-day!" Today was the 27th.

"Holy crap!" Terra thought to herself, sitting up slightly, "Tomorrow's Beast Boy's birthday!"

Beast Boy, seeing Terra's shocked expression, stood up hastily and said, "Terra, you ok? You look kinda… shocked at something." She turned to face him and said, "I didn't know it was your birthday tomorrow!" Beast Boy glanced at the calendar on the wall and said, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot. And Cyborg said he's gonna let me take a test drive in the T-car tomorrow too! Haha, it's gonna be awesome!" While Beast Boy rejoiced, Terra studied him, thinking. "He doesn't look any older, maybe he grew a couple of inches while I was gone, and he's a bit more lean and muscular now, but he's still the same old Beast Boy."

Terra smiled at him as he did his victory dance, and said, "Yeah, that's great Beast Boy but…I didn't get you anything."

"It's ok Terra," he said with a warm smile, settling down and taking a seat on the bed next to her, "You've already given me what I've wanted the most: having you back alive and safe… with me." He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. Terra was deeply moved and soothed by the comfort in his voice, and for first time in her entire life, she felt truly safe and secure.

Slowly, Terra took Beast Boy's hand off her shoulder and clutched it, never wanting to let him go; the boy whom she loved more than anything else. Beast Boy turned to so they were face to face, and then he pressed his lips against hers gently. As the kiss became more passionate and loving, Terra fell back onto the bed, Beast Boy lying on top.

"This is it," he thought to himself, "it's time...time for me to express my love to her, God how I've been waiting for this moment." As he continued to ravage Terra's mouth like a hungry wolf, Beast Boy took a single hand and reached under Terra's shirt, grasping the clasp of her bra between his index finger and thumb. Terra giggled and shuttered, his touch tickled her. Finally, but reluctantly, Beast Boy broke off the kiss and, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, pulled off her shirt. Then, he undid the clasp and pulled the bra away from her chest. Soon after, all their cloths were scattered on the ground.

"Ready?" Beast Boy said huskily, looking into Terra's eyes. She nodded and said, "Take me Beast Boy."

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, and together they slid under the covers deeply.

Then, they became entwined and began to love one another beautifully.

One hour later…

Beast Boy sighed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. Terra was sleeping soundly next to him. His injuries were hurting him even more now, but he didn't care; it had been worth it. Terra gave a quiet sigh and pressed her head gently against Beast Boy's shoulder, he smiled to himself. "Sweet sixteen, "he thought to himself amusedly, "man, it feels great." He ran his fingers tenderly through his girlfriend's soft hair and listened to her gentle breathing; that was the first time that night he had heard her breathing so easily. After a few more minutes Beast Boy closed his eyes slowly and allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep, and he dreamt.

Epilogue

Terra stirred, and her eyes opened slightly; she had been awakened by something. She reached her arm across the bed and felt nothing, that wonderful warmth she had felt all night long was gone. Surprised, she opened her eyes completely, and as they adjusted to the dim light she saw that the bed was empty; Beast Boy was gone. Somewhat disappointed, Terra crawled out of the bunk bed and grabbed her cloths off the ground. When she was dressed she poked her head out of the bedroom door and peered into the hallway, but no one was around. Seeing that the coast was clear, Terra dashed out into the hallway and made her way down to the kitchen. She entered and was greeted by Cyborg, who was at the stove cooking a gigantic breakfast that consisted of eggs, waffles, ham, and of course, tofu. Cyborg looked up when the kitchen doors opened and saw Terra. "Yo Terra," he said with a grin as he flipped an egg out of the pan onto a plate, "how are ya doing?"

"Oh, I'm great Cyborg," she replied, descending the steps into the kitchen. She walked over to him and they gave each other high fives. "Mmm hmm, something smells good."

"Yeah, my breakfast specialty!" Cyborg replied proudly, "oh, and the tofu too…yuck."

Terra laughed and look around the kitchen, but she, B.B. and Cyborg were the only ones up yet. "So…"Cyborg said after awhile, trying to avoid the silence, "how'd ya sleep?" Grinning slightly, Terra replied, "Oh, I slept real well. I've never felt this good after sleeping before."

"Well that's good," Cyborg said in a slightly confused tone, returning to cooking the ham, "so…you ready for Cyborg's explosive breakfast bonanza!"

"Actually, I was looking for Beast Boy," Terra said, sounding some distant, "have you seen him around anywhere?"

Cyborg looked up at her and said, "Yeah, the little green dude's outside sitting by the coast, I dunno why." He paused and then added, "You know, today's his B-day."

"Yup," Terra replied, leaning against the table, "are we gonna a cake for him?"

"Oh yeah," he said pulling out some plates from a cabinet nearby, "but we'll handle it, you two just enjoy some time together."

"Oh, we already have," Terra thought to herself, but she only smiled and said, "Ok, we will." As she headed back out the kitchen doors Cyborg called after her and said, "And you two better come back and eat my breakfast!"

Terra chuckled and said they would. When she passed through the main lobby a couple of minutes later, Terra walked over to the man door and punched in the old code; surprisingly it still worked. After waiting a couple of seconds the massive t-shaped door slid open; outside it was still dawn and the sun was still behind the horizon. As Terra walked outside, the cool ocean breeze rushing over her, she saw Beast Boy sitting on one of the jagged rocks jutting out of the coast. Hearing the front door open, he turned around and saw Terra approaching him, he smiled at her and she smiled back. She took a seat on a smaller rock next to Beast Boy's and said, "Morning sunshine."

"Hey," he said with a small smile, "how'd you sleep?"

"Great," she replied, looking out into the beautiful ocean, "Well…you should know, you were there all night long."

He simply smiled and stared up at the sky, where the stars were slowly fading one by one as the day began to come out. After a few more minutes Beast Boy got up and sat next to Terra, getting close and intimate. He placed an arm on her shoulder, and she did the same. As she looked back up Terra gasped and said, "Oh wow, look!" She pointed at the horizon, where a bright orange sun was starting to rise.

"Man, I never really noticed the view from here," Beast Boy said in awe, "it's beautiful."

"Yeah…it is." Terra said, sighing contently and leaning her head against his shoulder, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore was making her sleepy. "Now I know," Terra thought to herself, trying to hold back the tears of joy, "he really does love me. Oh, this is better than anything I could have asked for." Beast Boy was thinking the exact same thing, how he loved this girl more than anything else. As they sat there Terra looked up at Beast Boy and said, "Happy birthday, Beast Boy."

He looked confused for a second, then said, "Oh yeah! I nearly forgot."

Terra simply smiled and eased her head back onto his shoulder. Then together, the couple watched as the sun rose into the sky, shining down on them as it brought a new day-and a new love-to life.

Ah, I love a good ending like that. Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed, and remember:

Beast Boy & Terra forever