AN: Disclaimer: Don't own any characters or titles of the show so please don't sue me, I'm just trying to have fun. You won't get much anyway.
Authors Note: I know Starfire spoke a different language on Tameran, but I'm too lazy to make up a bunch of weird gibberish so just enjoy it in English. Oh and Starfire (Kori) has more of a backbone.
Matters of the Heart
"Sister, dear, Mother and Father want to see us in the throne room. They say they have a gift for us." Princess Komi'Ander, a seventeen year old tameranian with charcoal black hair and amethyst, said.
"Glorious, Sister! Let us go!" Princess Kori'Ander, as sixteen year old tameranian with fiery and emerald eyes, exclaimed happily.
The two flew to the throne room as fast as light, however, just as they reached the door two guards stopped them by using battle axes to black the entrance.
"Halt! What is your reasoning for wanting to enter?" One of the guards demanded.
"How dare you! We are the princesses! Daughters of King Thornax and Queen Sesha." Komi snapped.
"Oh really? You are not wearing the crowns of royalty. Prove to us you are of the royal family." The second guard said.
"You two must be new recruits," Komi said with a smirk, "Lets show them, Sister."
Kori smiled in a way that resembled her sister's. The princesses eyes and hands then began to glow purple and green. The guard's eyes widened. They knew that only the royal family had special abilities.
"Our humblest apologies, you highnesses. Of course you may enter." The first guard stumbled, as he and the other guard bowed in respect. The girls stopped glowing and waked in.
"Greetings, my darlings." Queen Sesha addressed.
"Greetings, Mother and Father." The girls replied in unison with a bow.
"Girls, your mother and I have sent out our finest warriors to obtain pets for you both. They are to be your personal servants and obey your every command. Bring in the prisoners!" King Thornax bellowed, turning from his daughters to a metal door.
Six tameranian warriors brought in eight prisoners, all males. One was human, but the rest were a type of alien that were all smaller than tameranians. Kori could not believe her eyes as they fell on the human. He had jet black hair and gorgeous sapphire eyes. He was very handsome and clothed in only purple pants, traditional on Tameran, and even though chains were wrapped around his wrists and ankles, he looked really cute.
"Choose the one you like, girls. Komi, since you are the oldest you may go first." King Thornax said with a smile.
Komi looked over the prisoners as if they were prey.
"This one will do just fine." She said, referring to a blue skinned alien with long platinum white hair.
"Very well. Kori, your turn." Queen Sesha said.
Kori walked over to the prisoners just as her sister had done, but stopped at the human.
"I shall have him." She said, trying to make eye contact with the boy.
The king and queen exchanged a look.
"Sweetheart, are you sure? He is just an earth creature after all." Queen Sesha asked.
"Yes, Mother, I am sure." Kori answered.
"All right. Take their choices to the princesses' rooms and the rest can be released back to their homes." King Thornax ordered.
The warriors moved to do as they were told.
"How could you pick such a weakling? You know he'll take forever getting what you wish." Komi said in disgust, her arms crossed over her chest.
"I do not care, Sister. He is my choice so do not worry." Kori shrugged.
"Whatever." Komi scoffed, waving her hand and walking away.
Kori flew up to her room, eager to be with her new pet. When she stepped into her room the place was completely dark. She flipped on something that would not resemble a lamp on earth, but nevertheless brought light to the room, and gasped. There, covered in chains and shackles in the corner, was the dark haired young man. From the dim light she couldn't tell if he was awake or not. His eyes snapped open to meet hers and scowled with narrowed eyes.
"Get. Away." He growled.
Kori stepped back a few paces, taken aback by his anger and confused by his words. What in X'hal was he saying? It definitely wasn't the language of Tameran. Surely the warriors would have thought about language when bringing him here. How was she to speak to him if they didn't understand each other? An idea quickly came to mind. The earthling continued to glare as she moved closer and squirm involuntarily in a desperate attempt to get away. Kori closed the space between them and grabbed his chin, forcing him to face her again. Emerald eyes meeting sapphire. The boy tried to pull himself away, hating that this complete stranger had all the control over him. Then something absolutely unexpected happened. She kissed him! The boy's eyes widened, and against his will, his entire body relaxed. He hadn't felt so light in a long time. Wait! Why was he enjoying this? She was one of them! But god help him her lips were so soft. No! Stop it! Kori pulled away to catch her breath. He was breathing just as heavily as she was.
"Greetings. My name is Kori'Ander. May I ask what is your name?" Kori asked, in almost perfect English. Why had she kissed him? Was it some weird salutation or was he actually here as a sex slave?
"No." He replied coldly.
"Why ever not? What have I done to make you so upset?" Kori asked, hurt.
The boy snickered. "What have you done? You're serious? What have you done? Your kind have dragged me from my home! Beaten me senseless! Taken away from freedom! And now I'm supposed to be a slave to you and a whipping boy to everyone else?! I'd rather die!" The boy yelled.
Kori didn't understand. Why would her mother and father allow such a thing to happen? Surely they wouldn't.
"I-I don't understand." She muttered, shaking her head.
"Of course you don't. They don't tell you anything, do they? Just a spoiled little princess that does whatever she's told and in return gets whatever she pleases." The boy sneered.
Kori slapped him, hard, across the face. He grit his teeth in pain to bite back the squeal that nearly escaped his throat.
"Don't you ever insult me in such a manner. I will no longer ask you for your name. Tell me! Or would you prefer that I call you pet?" Kori asked with a smirk.
The boy scowled again, "My name is Richard."
Kori smiled triumphantly then reached up for the shackles. Richard flinched, thinking she was going to strike again. She groaned and managed to pull both shackles off at the same time. Richard felt relieved to be free of the heavy iron. Kori threw the shackles down and tried to help him up, but he ignored her. Richard rubbed his wrists to soothe away the pain the shackles had caused.
"Welcome, Richard, to Tameran. You may call me Kori when it is just you and I, but you must call me Mistress in public. Perhaps we could be friends?" Kori asked, hopefully.
Richard could see the innocence in her big emerald eyes, but he didn't want to be friends. He was distressed and he wanted to go home.
"Servant Richard?" Kori asked in concern.
"Don't call me servant." Richard snapped, passing her out to look out her "window". He crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought.
"Do not fret, Richard. I can help if you wish." Kori promised.
Richard snorted, "How can you possibly help me? Huh? Tell me, Princess, how would you feel if strangers dragged you away from the only place you've ever known and told you that you were now a slave whether you liked it or not? Oh and believe me when I say this, I'm not the only one who feels this way. I may not understand their language, but these other things you've forced here don't appreciate it either. I can tell, because they were trying to break free like I was. They all hated you. Every one of your kind, and so do I. So forgive me if I don't exactly want to become friends with the enemy." Richard said.
Kori tried to keep from crying, but it was no use and she let out a squeak. Richard turned around just in time to see her retreat from the room.
"Good riddance." He muttered under his breath.
Kori'Ander flew out of the palace and into the garden where she fell into a pile of her favorite flowers and bawled. She never knew what it was like to be hated and now that she had she hated the emotion completely. A large hand on her shoulder made her squeal in surprise. She looked up to see Galfore, her loving caretaker and grandfather from her mother's side.
"My, Kori, whatever troubles you?" He asked.
"Oh, Galfore, my new pet troubles me. He says that he hates me. He says that Mother and Father have done a wicked thing by taking him away and bringing him here. Have they, Galfore? I am so confused." Kori cried, wiping away her tears.
Galfore growled in frustration with the earthling, nobody ever hurt his little princess.
"There there, Kori, everything should be fine. The earthling is just upset that he brought here, but he will soon get over it." The old alien assured.
"B-but is he right about Mother and Father's ways? Are they truly wrong?" Kori asked, tears running down her face once again.
Galfore wiped her tears, "I, personally, do not approve of them taking away creatures and bringing them here as slaves, but that is not up to me. Your parents, in their own way, know what they are doing and only want to do what is best for you girls to be happy. Do you want me to talk to the earthling?" Galfore asked.
Kori shook her head.
"Let me try to get close to him and if it does not work then I'll send him to you." She smiled.
Galfore returned the grin.
Kori hugged her grandfather in thanks then flew back to her room, determined to make the earthling happy. When she opened the door, her room was empty.
"Richard? Where did you go?" She called, searching the room, "Richard? Richard, this is not funny. Richard?!"
"What are you shouting about?" An annoyed voice asked.
Kori turned around to see the boy standing by her bathroom door.
"Oh, Richard, there you are. I had thought for a moment that you had-"
"Escaped? The odds of that aren't exactly in my favor." Richard interrupted.
"I do not understand." Kori replied, confused yet again by the strange boy's behavior.
Richard sighed and softly muttered, "Of course you don't."
Kori was hurt by his comment.
"I can't escape, because I don't know the planet. But I will." Richard explained.
"You cannot!" Kori protested in fear.
"Why not? You don't really expect me to stay here for the rest of my life, do you?" Richard asked.
"I cannot allow you to escape!" Kori cried in frustration.
"I don't care what you can and can't allow!" Richard yelled back.
Kori tried to calm down before saying, "They'll kill you."
Richard's expression softened, but he didn't look shocked in the least. Why should he be? He knew they'd try something to force him to stay.
"I will not let you go. I won't let them kill you." Kori said, softly.
"What do you care?" Robin asked harshly.
Kori sighed, "Richard, I am sorry my people have brought, but there is nothing I can do to change it. If there were I would have already tried. You know being forced here does not mean you are a slave exactly. You are more of a close person to the princess. You are more of a social outlet for me when my mother and father are not around. You would be the person I talk to and ask for help when needed."
"Why couldn't they just get some of your people to entertain you?"
"My people have many other duties that they must attend to for my mother and father."
"So in other words, I'm suppose to be your playmate?" Robin growled.
"X'hal! You are not forced to be anyone's mate! Please do not think you are here to be part of snogging traditions!" Kori cried, blushing.
"What is snogging?" Richard asked, curious as to what made her become so shy by the word.
Kori rubbed her arm, "Umm, well it is where a male and female specimen who like each other engage in-"
"Oh! That's not what I meant! A playmate is another word for friend where I come from and I already told you, I don't want to be your friend." Richard retorted.
Kori's eyes dropped to the floor in despair.
"I only wish to make you happy."
"You really want to make me happy?" Richard asked, softly.
Kori nodded.
"Then send me home." Richard finished, turning back to the window.
A mild chime sounded somewhere.
"What was that?" Richard asked, turning to her again.
"It was the time ring. It is eleven o'clock, signaling it is time for bed." Kori explained.