A/N: This is the first Titans story I've ever published. This takes place during the episode, "How Long is Forever?" After having watched it very recently (last weekend or so), Star's relationship with her friends (as their future selves and the way their present selves are effected by her retelling at the end) seemed so beautiful that I had to write something. This was my idea, and this is the first chapter of six: one for each of the future Titans, one for the future Titans as a whole, and one for all of the present as a whole (after she comes back).
A/N: This is friendship love only, but I suppose you may see it as you wish. To each his own, right?
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. I'm not totally sure who does, but I sure don't. XD
Ever-Constant
Cyborg faced away from her, staring down at the once glowing circuitry in his arms, and regrettably admitted he was obsolete, that he wouldn't be able to leave the Tower to help her find the others. He turned to her, and she was startled to see the faintest, yet building trace of tears in his human eye.
Concerned, she narrowed her eyes and titled her head to the side, observing him closely to discover the cause of the water droplets. All at once, she realized: she was the instigator.
He was conflicted; anguished at the thought of her going alone into a world she didn't know, what with the man whom had taken her away for twenty years still roaming about, but also tender at the idea of seeing friends with whom he'd had limited to no contact in those same two hundred and forty months.
He didn't like it, and she was grateful for his protective instincts. Yet, she did not blame him for his limitations; they were merely things that happened in this life that could not be reversed or prevented, something she had quickly learned after coming to this planet.
That did not make the hindrances any more right, however. If anything, the entire situation was a dilemma foreign to this place she had called home, making it even more wrong than it had seemed before. The fact that she had always known the limits of her friends, that she had been the one to understand and occasionally patch wounds brought on by them, that this was a thing utterly new…
She felt impossibly powerless.
She had never been completely powerless prior to now, and she detested the feeling of it straight away. Mentally shaking herself so as not to dwell on it, she shifted her attention back to her half-metal companion.
Her eyes widened as she realized the tears mounting in his eye had begun falling a while back, and she took a slow, small step closer to him in worry. The liquidized diamonds continued to trail down his face as they looked each other in the eyes.
It was not often that Cyborg, in her time or any other, showed any sort of weakness, but now that he was…she hadn't recalled how much it hurt. She bowed her head with closed eyes, clutching her tightly folded hands to her chest, and breathed deeply before raising her head.
Flying the rest of the distance to land in front of him, unsure if her legs would be strong enough to get her there ahead of collapsing, she opened sympathetic eyes and laid a gentle hand upon his cheek, as she had when she'd first arrived.
Seeing him so broken was an unwelcome, unwanted sight, and she loathed it. She wished there was some way for her to assist him, but she knew that if Cyborg didn't know how to help himself, she would stand no chance against Earthen technology.
She affectionately let her thumb glide across his dark cheek to wipe away the salt water; even she knew what liquid would do to his systems, for she had seen it happen in a few of their fights. Letting her fingers splay across his temple, palm still cupping the would-be dimple in his cheek that would become real if a smile was at all possible, she flew up the required four inches to be level with his face.
Her green eyes meeting each of his, robotic and dark blue alike, without a hint of judgment or lack of fondness, as always, she leaned in to kiss his weathered, slightly damp cheek. Pulling back, the second-eldest Titan touched ground again.
As he rested a much larger, much heavier hand on her hair, she smiled at him sadly, grasping the hand and taking it from behind her head to be held between them with both of her own. Strong and young as he remembered them, he carefully squeezed the delicately chiseled fingers, she squeezing back just as cautiously. Between the two of them, chronic damage was not improbable.
Releasing the hand all too soon for either of their liking, the young Tamaranian flew backwards, toward the entrance to what had been their living room.
Gazing at him for the longest moment, the two did not wish to part at all. Even so, they knew of their duty to their teammates, as well as the people of Jump City who were depending on them in their own time, and if there was any way to keep this from being their future, they were not doing a very good job of protecting either by standing around.
"I love you, you know." It was a quiet, lulling phrase, echoing powerfully in the equally silent chamber. Cyborg's heart softened immediately, body and eyes relaxing as she had intended; a genuine smile of mutual emotion appeared on his face.
"I know…" It was a whisper, one only meant for her ears, and one he'd dearly meant.
In the next instant, she was gone, had disappeared through the indented door and down the hallway, out into the cold night.
A/N: Again, meant as friendship only, but take it however you like. Out of all of the Titans, I see Starfire (and Cyborg, strangely) as the most affectionate, BB next (when he's 'sober', if you know what I mean).
