Hurray for reviews!

Estell – Answering your earlier question, I'm going to throw in a MasyMenos/Blackfire chapter for you. Look for it coming soon.

Hotshot – Thank you.

Inuandrave – Well, by book I mean a story that falls within the auspices of the title, The Life Heroic. So all my stories are connected.

Sorry for the delay, everyone. I know this isn't my strongest story, but I needed a way to advance my plot by a year quickly. I promise I'll make it up to you guys with the next story. As always, I don't own the titans.
Chapter Four: Day Two Hundred Twenty Eight

It was good to be back in the tower again. The extended trip to Tamaran to cure Starfire of her illness, while like a vacation and immensely enjoyable for the last month, had been particularly taxing for Terra. It had been her first time off the planet, and she had discovered that her powers were limited to her namesake, to the terran earth.

This discovery, this weakness, had put Terra on edge. It was something that Beast Boy was not used to dealing with. He had done his best for the month that they were on Tamaran to keep her occupied so that she didn't think about it, but he knew it still affected her. For thirty warm Tamaranian nights, she clung to him at night, too afraid to be left alone for him to even roll over in bed.

He had discussed it with her one night early on. He phrased it very carefully. She had responded that, for all her time on the road before joining the titans, she had always had her powers. There on Tamaran, for the first time, she was without them. She was alone. Beast Boy had been glad to see her mood improve greatly once they touched back down on earth, but still the specter of her fear lingered in her eyes.

Terra had spent all morning on the training course outside the tower, slowly upping the level until she was running at the hardest level. But still, she found her thoughts lingering on her fear. At a time like this she would usually go out to the shore of the small island and skip rocks. But on this evening, she didn't feel like skipping rocks. Instead, she put on her bright yellow bikini and grabbed a towel. She went up to the roof of the tower where the hot tub was located. She found the hot tub running, but no one in it. She shrugged at this and slipped into the water only to step on someone. She shrieked and a black haired titan popped his head out of the water with a very surprised look on his face. It was Aqualad.

The Atlantian let out a raspy laugh as the water cleared from his lungs. "Terra, I'm sorry. You startled me. I was asleep."

The geomancer concentrated on calming her heart rate and sat down across from him. "I startled you? You aren't the one who stepped on somebody." Both shared a laugh at this. "So when are you guys heading back east? And where's Raven?"

Aqualad shrugged. "We'll head back tomorrow, the day after, sometime soon. Bumblebee and I both have our reasons to prolong our visit here. And Raven is meditating, I didn't want to disturb her." He sunk down in the water, his mouth just above the waterline. "I envy you and Beast Boy for being able to be together every day. You don't realize how lucky you are."

Terra sighed and smiled. "Yeah, it's good to have him around all the time." She looked out towards the cityscape beyond the tower and sighed again, quickly becoming distant as she began to concentrate on other things in her mind.

Turning to regard the cityscape for a moment as well, Aqualad closed his eyes. "Let me guess. You are still troubled by Tamaran?"

She looked at him with an expression of pure shock. "Who told you?"

He smiled, his eyes still closed. "You did. It's written all over your face. It's written in the way you've been pretty much constantly training since we got back." He opened his pitch black eyes and regarded her bright blue eyes for a second. "And don't tell me I don't understand because I was powerless as well all month. Apparently the Tamaranian oceans didn't like me."

She closed her eyes tightly and tried to prevent the tears from falling. She failed and began to sob quietly. "How can you be so calm about it?"

Aqualad shrugged and turned to look out towards the ocean, spreading his arms wide. "First, this is our home. Earth, the ocean, where ever. We'll live our lives here and die here and work here in between. The fact that we went to Tamaran once doesn't mean we'll ever go there again, although it was a very nice place." He stood up and collected his towel, draping it over his shoulders to hide his gills. "Second, you should think like an Atlantian. Part of living is being weak and realizing that we can't control everything. Sometimes you just have to let go."

Terra sniffled, looking down at the bubbling surface of the hot tub. "Letting go isn't easy." She laughed through the last of her tears. "But you're right, Tamaran was a very nice place."

He smiled and put a wet hand on her shoulder, squeezing softly. "You will be alright. You're stronger than you realize. Not even Slade could keep you down. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to try to rouse Raven." With that he turned and walked back into the tower, leaving the blonde girl alone with her thoughts.

Aqualad dried off some and grabbed a shirt from his guest room before he walked through the halls of the tower and came to a stop in front of Beast Boy's door. He knocked and waited. Nothing happened. Aqualad knocked louder, finally resorting to kicking the door. At last, the green changeling answered. Behind him, the monitor of the computer on his desk revealed a paused game of Commando Monkey Five.

The Atlantian shook his head but decided not to ignore that. "It's seven o'clock, do you know where your girlfriend is?"

Beast Boy sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "Somewhere worrying about losing her powers? Since you're wet, I'm going to guess it was either the hot tub or the beach."

Aqualad nodded. "Hot tub. You should go to her."

The changeling motioned for his friend to enter his room. Since dating Terra, Beast Boy had begun to take cleanliness a little more seriously. His room was in a state of ordered chaos and laundry was getting done with almost frightening regularity. He slumped down in his chair at his desk and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't really know what to do anymore. I'm fine about losing powers on an alien world. You're fine about losing powers on an alien world. She isn't."

Aqualad closed his eyes and leaned against the post of the bunk bed, gathering his thoughts about him. "Look at the situation. Look at where she's from and what she's been through. How long did she wander around on her own before she met you? And Slade messed with her head for a while in there, too. Now she comes across a situation where her powers just up and disappear. She feels helpless, weak. Beast Boy, she'll get over this and everything else that comes her way but until she realizes she's just as strong as any one of us, she's going to need a lot of support. Your support."

Beast Boy looked up to his friend, then to the computer, and then quietly turned off his game. "Do you think she's still up there?"

The Atlantian nodded and stepped away from the bed, walking back towards the door. "Yeah, she's still up there. I'm going to grab a shower and take Raven out for Chinese. See you later."

Beast Boy closed the door and rushed to change into his swim trunks, mentally noting how much easier it was to find things now that the room was clean. He quickly found his swimwear, which was purple and black just like his outfit, put it on, and rushed out the door and up to roof. He could see a familiar blonde head peeking up over the edge of the tub and he ambled slowly over and followed her gaze out to the brightly lit cityscape. "In the mood for company?"

The face that turned to him was contemplative, with only a few lingering tears, but she quickly found a smile as he approached. "Your company? Always."

With a smile, the green man turned himself into an octopus and slowly crawled his way into the tub. Once underwater, he crawled onto Terra's lap and wrapped his eight arms around her in a very odd hug. He could tell by the squirming and laughter coming from above that he was tickling her. He eventually returned to human form, his two arms wrapped around her waist and his head resting just above the waterline on her chest. She was still giggling, which was music to his ears. He sighed and decided that now was the time to talk. "You need to let it go, Terra."

The blonde laughed and hugged him tight. "Let me guess, Aqualad got to you?" At his nod, she continued. "I'll be fine, I think I just need time. It's not easy losing something you've had all your life in the blink of an eye, even if you get it back."

Beast Boy nodded and gave her a soft kiss. He tried to be nonchalant. So how about you and I get out of here for a while? We could get dinner someplace, then maybe go to the carnival. We could ride the rides, I could win you a stuffed animal. You know, nothing big."

Terra laughed at this and hugged him tight. "Sounds like a plan. But you don't have to win me a stuffed animal. I have every animal I could ever want."

Beast Boy blushed furiously at this, evoking a soft giggle from Terra. Together, they went downstairs to their rooms to change for an evening out.

The decision to start eating meat had a few unintended pleasures for Beast Boy, the most enjoyable of which was the ability to go to any restaurant anywhere and no longer have to worry about the menu. Corollary to that was the ability to share a pizza with Terra without having to order half this and half that. They decided to take their pizza to go and eat it at the park, which was easy enough to do with Terra's ability to move a large paving stone around like their own personal taxi.

The impromptu trip to the park led to a vastly enjoyable encounter with a very large swing set. Beast Boy pushed Terra on the swing until she absolutely insisted that he had to join her in a competition to see who could go the highest. Beast Boy won, but only by becoming a hummingbird and hovering above the swings. Terra answered this by jumping from her swing at the highest point and catching herself on the paving stone. She flew off towards the glowing lights of the carnival, laughing merrily, as a green eagle trailed behind her.

Touching down behind the abandoned paving stone and transforming back into his human form, Beast Boy slid up beside Terra and one arm wrapping around her slender waist while the other went to scratch the back of his head. "So, what ride first?" He caught her blue eyes with his dark green eyes and smiled. "The world is yours tonight."

The geomancer leaned into his embrace and kissed him lightly, the ground beneath them rumbling just enough for them to feel. Her eyes were sultry as she walked away, headed towards the carnival rides. "The world is mine every night, but I want to ride the bumper cars first."

The green changeling followed her, obedient as a puppy, but with a grin on his face that was anything but.

Late at night, the pair of young lovers sat high atop the Ferris wheel. The moon was full and they stared out over the ocean towards the small island with the brightly lit tower in which they lived. Beast Boy, for the life of him, could not stop looking over his shoulder even though they were the only two in the explicitly two person car. The last time he had been on a Ferris wheel with Terra, they had had an unexpected visitor.

Terra laughed at this and leaned in to kiss him on the nose. "You need to let go."

The changeling smiled. "Dude, that's my line!"

The slender blonde slide into her chosen love's arms and sighed, taking in the night that was spread before them. She had to smile. These days it seemed like everything he did, he did for her. And then it struck her like every rock she had ever lifted from the first day she had beheld her powers. She began to laugh and buried her head into his arm. "Beast Boy, I am so blind."

Geophysics made more sense than this sudden change in his girlfriend. But the green changeling took it in stride, giving her a quick squeeze. "Nah, you're not blind at all. But, umm, why do you think you're blind?"

Terra began slowly, taking her time and thinking about her words. "I was so worried about being abandoned that I completely forgot what I have. All those years on the road with only myself to rely on, I was alone. Then there was that business with Slade. I messed up and ended up alone. Then that month on Tamaran, and I thought I was all alone again."

Beast Boy began to catch on. He finished her thought. "You've gotten so used to thinking and fearing that you were alone that you forgot what it was like to not be."

Terra smiled, inching ever closer to the green man at her side. "When all the while, since that first day I laid eyes on you…"

Inwardly, Beast Boy laughed. She had figured it out on her own. Tomorrow, the sun would rise and things would be back to normal in the tower by the bay. The changeling finished her thought. "You were never alone."

Their hands met, their fingers intertwined, and as the fireworks began in the darkened sky above them, their lips met yet again.