Cooking, baking or really anything involving making food had never been a strong point for Starfire. She had mastered most other earthen concepts such as video games and a wide range of sports but no matter her attempts she never seemed to be able to prepare anything that didn't either try to attack her or made the others deathly ill.

She had given up for the most part but there was a special occasion that was coming up and she desperately wanted to be able to cook something for it. The occasion was Robin's birthday. Robin had always gone out of his way to teach her about Earth whether that be simply showing her something or sitting up on the roof for hours answering her many questions.

She had understood that on someone's birthday it was customary to have a birthday cake. She had heard of a wide variety of types of cakes and so she had been determined to figure out which she should make. She decided that the other Titan's would be good to ask.

She spotted the two Titans sat on the couch watching TV "Friends!" she greeted happily "I require the assistance"

Cyborg leaned over the back of the couch and smiled at her "Sure thing Star. What's up?"

"You are aware that Robin's birthday is tomorrow and I am going to do the baking of a cake for him! However I need to know what type of cake Robin would like" she said eagerly

Cyborg and Beast Boy visibly cringed remembering Starfire's previous attempts at cooking. "You sure that's a good idea Star? The last time you tried to cook the thing jumped out of the bowl and attacked us" Cyborg paused with a frown, "took me weeks to clean this place".

"Rest assured friend, I will not be using any Tamaranian ingredients and I will only be using earthen ingredients to prepare the cake of birthdays!" she replied with a smile.

"I'd say go with a chocolate cake. It's pretty damn difficult for someone to not like chocolate cake" He paused nudging his green friend in the arm "What'd you think BB?"

"Yeah I'm sure Robin will like a chocolate cake Star. I'm sure he'll love It knowing that you made it for him."

Starfire's heart fluttered in her chest "He will?"

"Yeah, Rob will love it Star" Cyborg replied with a grin

Starfire rose very early the next morning to make sure that no one else was awake to see her and she gathered all of the necessary ingredients that she had purchased the night before.

She set out by heating the oven. She focused with extreme precision on the recipe to make sure that she made no mistakes and so she scooped the butter into a bowl before finding the sugar, she searched the cupboard and found a white bag and tipped the required amount into the bowl and mixed it in. She then grabbed the cocoa powder and then mixed it with the cracked eggs and flour to create the cake batter before pouring it into the tin and placing it in the oven. Finally she began work on the icing that she would use to write the birthday message with.

Robin was the first to wake as always and as part of his daily routine he headed down towards the gym before the others awoke. On his path however he was shocked to see that Starfire was zipping around the room placing balloons. He hadn't expected her or the others to be up for a few more hours. "Good morning Star" he said in a cheery but confused tone

"Oh, good morning to you also Robin!" she said with an exceedingly happy tone "May the day of your birth be very happy friend" she said in the same cheery tone whilst enveloping him in a squeezing hug. She then gave him a slightly puzzled look "Robin, may I ask where you were going at this early hour of the morning?"

"Oh I was going to do some training. I always do before you guys get up" he said matter-of-factly

"Well you shall not be performing that act today" she saw that Robin was about to argue the matter "It is your birthday Robin and so you do not need to do the training on such a joyous day"

Robin wanted to argue but he knew that Starfire was right and she would end up forcibly dragging him away from the training room if he persisted in arguing "Okay Star" he said with a smile "no training for today"

"That is excellent news friend" she paused smiling "the others shall not be awake for a while so would you like to accompany me in watching the television?"

"Sure Star" he replied warmly

After a while the others awoke and all began to file into the common room with their presents. Robin really didn't expect much from them but he was happy to see that they went to the trouble of buying him gifts.

The first was from Beast Boy who had bought him 'Mega Monkeys 8'. "8?" Robin asked confused "Didn't 5 just come out like a few months ago?"

"Yeah, they really pump these games out" Beast Boy replied with a smile

Next was Raven's gift which was one of the Sherlock Holmes books. He really admired about Raven that she wasn't a gift giver but when she did decide to, she put a lot of thought into the gift. "Thanks Raven" he said warmly.

"You're welcome Robin" she said simply returning his smile

He turned to look at Cyborg next who handed him a gift card "That's for the pizza place so you can use it whenever. I'm also gonna fix up your R-Cycle and replace the tires, old ones are burned out"

"Thanks Cy" Robin grinned

Starfire was terrified awaiting her turn to give her gift. She had spotted it whilst passing a store window whilst chasing 'Mad Mod'. She had gone back to the store later that day and bought it after realising how perfect the gift was. As Robin turned to her she desperately hoped he would agree with her decision, so she decided she would present him with the cake before her actual present.

"I have two gifts for you Robin. I will bring you one now and I shall show you the other one after" she said nervously

"Great, Star! I'm looking forward to it" he replied with a warm smile

She quickly rushed into the kitchen and removed the cake from the large refrigerator and brought it out into the room showing Robin. "I have baked you the cake of birthdays Robin!" she said excitedly whilst Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged worried glances.

Robin looked in awe at the cake, "Wow! Thanks Star! I didn't know you could bake"

Starfire smiled brightly at the compliment "I learned to make it especially for your day of birth" she said taking the cake over to the table before cutting it and handing a piece of it to Robin. She awaited eagerly, heart beating nervously in her chest as she awaited Robin's reaction.

Robin's smile faltered slightly as he bit into the cake "This is….great…Star!" he said with false enthusiasm trying desperately to ignore the taste so he wouldn't upset her.

However she noticed straight away and took a piece of the cake for herself and quickly realised there was something definitely wrong. She went over the ingredients she had used 'eggs, flour, butter, sugar….' she couldn't taste any sweetness. She barrelled into the kitchen and found the 'sugar' she had used only to realise that it was in fact "salt". Her heart stopped reading the label and a deep sense of humiliation and remorse filled her. She had ruined the birthday cake and that was as good as ruining Robin's birthday in her opinion.

She couldn't bear to see Robin's face and so instead grabbed the present for him and bolted up to the roof planning to leave for the rest of the day and come back tomorrow so that Robin could enjoy the rest of his birthday.

Robin was already on his feet as he saw Starfire bolting towards the doors with tears leaking down her cheeks. He took off after her already knowing her destination. He reached the roof quickly and noticed her taking off towards the sky "Starfire! Wait!" he yelled after her. But she was already halfway into the sky by now and out of hearing range. He took note of the direction she was heading and rushed down into the garage, hopping on his R-Cycle and powering towards the park.

Once he arrived he noticed her slouching on a park bench with the present in her hands. He rushed over to her quickly "Star! Are you okay? Why did you leave?" he asked in confusion.

She turned sadly to see him with worry splashed across his face "Robin I have done the ruining of your birthday cake and so I have ruined your birthday" she said miserably "I am so very sorry friend, please do not be upset with me for it" she pleaded sadly

Robin looked at her warmly "Star you haven't ruined my birthday" he paused placing his hand on her shoulder "it was an easy mistake to make. And no Star I'm not upset with you, I was only upset that you left" he said blushing slightly

"Truly?" she asked hopefully

"Truly" he repeated with a comforting smile whilst looking at the wrapped present in her hands "You never got to give me your other present Star"

"Oh, well then you may open it Robin" she smiled nervously as he pulled off the wrapping paper.

Inside the wrapping paper was an intricate looking wooden picture frame that was embroidered with carvings of small birds, many of them were robins and the others were blackbirds. However Robin's eyes were drawn to picture that was in the frame, it was an image of the Titans that was took shortly after the construction of the tower. However the image had been cropped down so that the only 2 people visible were Robin and Starfire. Starfire was hugging Robin from the side with a large cheerful smile and Robin was giving a sheepish grin to the camera.

"Starfire" Robin gasped in awe "This is amazing" he was completely blown over by how personal the gift was.

"That is one of my most cherished memories of my time here on Earth, Robin. And so I decided to have the image framed to show how special you are to me." She paused smiling lovingly at him "You welcomed me to your world and showed me kindness I had never received before and for that I am eternally grateful"

"You are really special to me too Star" he paused "Thank you so much, this is the best gift I have ever received" he said with a smile that was almost reaching his eyes.

"Even better than the R-Cycle which the Batman gave you?" she asked quizzically

"Yeah this is much better than some stupid bike" he said with a grin

"Then whilst I am feeling the generous, may I give you another gift Robin?" She said with sly smile

"Sure-" he was cut off before he could say anything else by her lips pressed gently to his and her arms slowly wrapping around his neck, his own automatically wrapping around her waist. He leaned his head back after a few seconds "That was nice, but I might need a couple more before it will beat the picture frame" he said with a sly grin

She returned the grin "Very well then" before sealing their lips once again

The End

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed this one-shot. It was intended to be relatively short like "Watching Her Fall" but sometimes the word count escapes me.

As always please a review telling me what you thought as feedback is always graciously accepted. Also let me know any ideas or requests for stories you may have and I will definitely consider writing them.

Next Story: More chapters of "Moving Forward"