Epilogue

June 2029

Jump City's Sky was a perfect blue, no clouds in sight. The sun was shining, not too bright and not to weak. Birds sang and flew among the trees, full with bright green leaves. All of this could be seen from a big window, but almost anyone pay attention to those details.

Rows of red chairs settled some dozens of people, turned to a stage and a podium. Behind it, there was a man in a suit, with black hair and a mask on his eyes. A big sign above his head said 'Congratulations, 2029 Class'.

"As headmaster of this school, still pretty new, but extremely successful, I'm glad to begin the graduation ceremony of our fifth class" he said, looking proud "First, I'd like to invite to the podium the honored teacher, Miss Tara Markov, aka Terra"

Applauses filled the auditorium. Nightwing still applauded when he sat down.

Terra was almost unrecognizable regarding her appearance one year ago. Her blonde hair was cut to chin length, giving a serious touch. She was wearing a blue suit composed by blazer and skirt that matched her eye's color and high heels. She had a light make up in her face, which was rest and healthy, and the biggest difference of all, an honest smile.

"Congratulations students!" she started, and silence fell "You all worked really hard to get here today, and I feel so happy that you chose me as honored teacher"

"For those who don't know me, I'm Tara, Self Control teacher. One year ago I was invited to initiate this subject and be a part of this family… Once again"

She stopped, taking a deep breath.

"I still don't know what made me take this job. But I certainly know what made me keep it. Here I found wonderful young people with incredible gifts. These same gifts, however, retracted them to a state of fear and insecurity. I saw myself in these youngsters. And I wanted to do all I could to help them."

"So, during this year, my students grew, and I grew with them. We had a slow but constant progress, filled with obstacles, demanding effort of both parts. The students had to give up sleeping hours to train, and I had to go argue with Dick when he was pushing them too hard…"

She looked at the headmaster, who only smiled and raised his hands, taking his responsibility, and everyone laughed.

"But we did manage to get along. Each little success made me stronger – like when Stephanie stopped to release laser through her eyes whenever she was nervous, I stopped getting late; Audrey managed to laugh without deepening the room in darkness, I trade my cigarettes for patches; Tinuviel learned how to keep her magic only in her hands and I gave up junk food; Caleb… Well, I guess Caleb only went to the classes to supervise me…"

More laughs.

"Anyway… I guess I'm just trying to say… Thank you. Here, I found my vocation. And an advice for you, about to begin your adult lives… You can only get the second chances you give yourselves. So, no matter what mistakes you made, just keep trying to give the best of you, no matter what. Sometimes, the best opportunities come in the worst times of life, if you focus in what really matters. I thank you all"

The auditorium was filled with loud applause as she came down. Nightwing got up to the podium once again.

"Thank you Miss Markov, that was really moving. Now I'm happy to introduce our valedictorian. He is this great person I had the privilege to see growing up. He is humble, intelligent and has the unusual gift of always know how to make people feel better – Caleb Logan."

Terra smiled to Caleb, who passed by her to go to the podium. She could see the audience well. Starfire was easily visible, sitting next to her son James, a boy with black straight hair and green eyes like hers. Behind them, were Beast Boy and Raven, sat side by side. To Beast Boy's left was their older daughter, Emerald, a girl who looked like Raven, but had green skin and hair. To Raven's right were sitting their younger daughters, one blonde and the other with purple hair. Behind them Cyborg was sat between his wife Sarah and her son Brian, a boy with dark skin and a metal leg.

"Welcome all" echoed Caleb's voice, and she turned back to the podium as the silence fell "I promised my mom I would not start the speech with a joke… But since Miss Markov's speech was so emotional… I'd like to con-graduate all my fellow students…"

A collective moan was heard, and Terra chuckle, seeing Raven bury her face in her hands and Beast Boy laugh quietly, giving his son the thumbs up.

"See, now we can all feel bad for my horrible joke" he said with a big smile "But seriously, I'd like to thank my class for electing me to come up here and give a speech in this important day"

"I was blessed, because I was born in a loving home with an incredible family, who never let me go through any difficulties. Even if not a very conventional family" he looked not only to his parents, but to his friends – Starfire, Nightwing and Cyborg "However, this isn't rule for different people like us – with gifts that frequently scare those around us. This school, more than teach, guide and train, gives a family to those still alone. That's why we'd like to say thank you"

Terra squeezed her hands, smiling.

"Now we'll go different ways… Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a hero. A hero like my mom and dad, Raven and Beast Boy, like my aunt Starfire and my uncles Cyborg and Robin, before he changed to Nightwing, the models I grew up with."

"Most of the time, my family members were heroes to me on daily things. Robin was always there to help me and give me advice whenever I wasn't secure to go to my parents. Starfire colored my world by sharing with me all the wonderful things she found in Earth. Cyborg taught me there's so much more behind appearances. My mother guided me through a wonderful world of books and my father never let me forget about the world out there, and they almost made me feel I could be anything I want"

"You don't have to be in a colorful outfit and beat bad guys to be a hero. You can be a hero being anything you want. You just can't forget who you are and where you came from. As students in this school, we are privileged. I want to believe with these benefits we'll help the most people we can. Innocent people that need to be saved of some great villain; and alone and confuse people that need to be protected from themselves."

"We thank all the families that could or not be here, and thank immensely all the teachers and founders, for giving us this help and opportunity. May we all have a happy and complete life. Thank you."

The hall was filled with applauses one more time, and Terra joined them. She could see Starfire and Beast Boy wiping their tears and Raven and Cyborg trying to hide theirs.

Nightwing got to the podium again and they delivered the diplomas. After it was done, he said some more words of encouragement.

The students, sat in the first rows of the audience, got up and celebrated. She saw Caleb hugging his girlfriend Tinuviel, a red haired girl of immense beauty. So he hugged his friend Stephanie, Starfire and Nightwing's daughter, a girl with black hair and blue eyes with face almost identical to Starfire's. They turned to meet their families, and Starfire hugged her daughter, one of the only two people that could take her hugs without getting out of breath. Nightwing walked to them as Raven hugged her son.

She watched Raven release her son and hold his face on her hands for a few seconds, and then stepping back to allow Beast Boy to hug him. So their eyes met. For a long instant, they both stared at each other. Then Raven gave her a small smile and nodded. She smiled back. They were at peace with themselves, so they were finally at peace with each other.

One of the teachers came to talk to her, but Terra was only half aware. She could see the lovely day through the window.

For the first time in a long time, she was completely satisfied.

Everything was the way it was suppose to be.

Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0

A/N:

Dear readers,

Thank you so much for following this story. I know many of you were thirsty for Terra's blood, and I was too when I began to write this story, but I ended up getting attached to this lost girl and decided to give her a happy ending.

Thank you all who left reviews, they really encouraged me to keep going. I had a lot of fun writting this fic and even more seeing your reactions to it.

Sincere regards,

-beautifulfantasy