The Future Can Be Altered
It had been a few days since the Titans had returned from Tokyo, it had been the first for many things. The first time the Titans went on vacation, the first time Robin and Starfire had told each other of their feelings for each other and despite the constant interruptions it had also been where they shared their first actual kiss. Excluding the forceful language transfer from their first meeting.
Starfire had seen it as a bright new start for her life, she had finally managed to show Robin how she felt and he had been able to show her also, but it seemed their affection was cut short soon after the kiss. Robin had been extremely busy with filling out paper work and answering phone calls about what had happened in Tokyo and he had a lot of explaining to do about why he was inexplicably on the front page of newspapers for being arrested. He had barely even left his office the entire time they had been back, and he and Starfire hadn't spoken almost at all except for the few short exchanges of "Hi" or "Goodnight".
This is what was concerning Starfire the most, she should have been happy about their new relationships but she couldn't help but wonder if it would last. From the past couple of days it seemed that Robin had returned to his old ways of spending day after day and night after night in his office working and she couldn't help but think that eventually this routine might drive a wedge between them, after all you can't have a relationship with a metal office door. She didn't want to drag him away from something important but sometimes she felt like walking in there and dragging him out of his office and forcing him to spend time with her.
A sudden noise brought her out of her thoughts as she sat on the roof of the tower. Her eyes widened as she saw what appeared to be a portal appear about 10 feet behind where she was sitting. She reached for her communicator to inform the others of the strange event but as quick as the portal had appeared it had disappeared.
Cautiously she stepped around where the portal had been and after a few seconds she spotted something on the floor just below where the portal had appeared. The object appeared to be a standard envelope; carefully she bent over and lifted the object into her hands. Her initial analysis was correct and indeed the strange inter-dimensional object was indeed just a standard brown paper envelope; however one detail stuck out to her. The envelope had the word "Koriand'r" wrote on the front in black ink.
Completely dumbstruck and confused she began opening the letter questioning how this object had gotten here and how the sender could have known her name, everyone here on Earth knew her as "Starfire" and only 1 person knew her Tamaranian name, Robin. Just as she was the only one who knew his name.
Taking a seat back at the edge of the tower she opened the envelope to find a letter and quickly began to look over it, what stuck out the most to her was the blue eagle-looking symbol stamped at the top of the letter which she recognised immediately.
To Starfire
It has been a long time since we last spoke and I would have come in person but Cyborg is still working on recreating Warp's technology so at the moment were are only able to send small objects.
The kiss you and Robin had in Tokyo seems to have impact my timeline and somehow it has brought you back to me, the strange thing is everyone else seems to not remember that you ever disappeared in the first place. I have memories of us in Tokyo and after that but for some reason I am still the only one able to remember the time when you were gone. Despite how utterly confusing this all is, I am glad that I can remember that time because it has taught me something very important. I spent 20 years in a world without you and I will never let that happen again so from now on I will never take for granted you being here and I will cherish every second like it is the last.
Also one last thing Star, please be patient with Robin. I know that as you are reading this he is probably sat in his office buried in paper work and he may not see the light of day for a while but just remember that even during this time when he seems to be isolated and cut off from everyone, he is still thinking of you. So please don't give up on him.
I'm guessing that you might need some persuasion of this fact I decided to include some fond memories of mine to show you that even with my obsessions there is still hope.
Thank you for fixing my lonely and broken world Koriand'r
Love,
Richard
Starfire was practically beaming as she read the final words of the letter. She figured that Nightwing probably accidentally used the word "Love" at the bottom, but she was happy none the less and hoped that one day soon Robin would be able to tell her that word himself. She was also immensely glad that Nightwing was happy and that she now had the power to control that fact. The rekmas that was that future terrified her but now the future didn't seem so dark and scary anymore and instead was filled with exciting adventures that she was looking forward to being a part of.
Wondering what Nightwing meant when he said he "I decided to include some fond memories of mine" she decided to check the envelope and reaching inside she pulled out 2 small photographs from the bottom. The first photo was of Starfire stood in a large room with a fireplace with her arms around 2 men's shoulders. The man on the left of her she recognised immediately as Richard who appeared to be only a few years older than he is now. It took her a few minutes of thought to work out that the man on the right was Bruce Wayne and she figured that this must be a time when they both visited the Batman. Smiling she placed the photo back into the envelope and reached for the second other photo.
She held up the second one to her face and noticed that it was of her and Richard stood next to a large Christmas tree, both wearing reindeer themed sweaters with their arms around each other with very big grins on their faces. Her smile was almost touching her eyes when she noticed that on her hand she was wearing a platinum looking ring embedded with lots of purple gemstones which she presumed to be amethyst mixed with diamonds. Her heart almost leapt out of her chest as she realised what the ring signified and why Nightwing had wanted her to see it.
Her mood having skyrocketed from where it was at a few hours ago she decided that she needed to stop gazing at the future and actually enjoying the present, even despite how wonderful the future seemed to be. Grinning she carefully placed the letter and the 2 photographs back into the envelope and slid it into the drawer of her bedside cabinet before heading to her bedroom door to exit.
As she made her way to the common room she noticed Robin stepping out of his office. He turned to face her and gave her a warm smile as he headed over to her.
"Hi Star" he said giving her a bright smile
"Greetings Robin" she paused "do you not have the reports to still be working on?" she asked quizzically
"Nah, those will still be there later" he paused before grinning and continuing "Besides I just got this feeling that I should be spending time with my girlfriend and not just locked away in my office all day"
Starfire beamed at his response "That is most excellent! What would you like to do with our time together?" she asked intrigued
"Would you maybe like to go to the park for walk and then we could come back here and watch a movie or something if you want?" he asked smiling at her
"That would be most enjoyable! We shall depart immediately" she said joyfully flying to the elevator, dragging a chuckling Robin with her.
The End
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading! Please rate and review as it gives me inspiration to write more and more frequently. Even just a simple sentence is enough for me!
Like this story? Check out my other 2 stories that are currently uploaded. "Afraid Of The Dark" and my chaptered story "Does It Have To Be Goodbye?".
I wrote this as a way of giving some sort of closure to the future we see in "How long is forever?" because even in the teen titans go! comics they never stated whether Starfire returning to the present fixed her not being there in the future. If you're interested then in Teen Titans Go! #31 comic, Nightwing comes back and he repeatedly states that he is the same as the Robin in the present so I presume any changes made in the present do affect the future he is from but frustratingly they never show these changes.
The idea for this story randomly sprung into my head earlier today whilst I was beginning to write an entirely different one-shot and I feel it's best to roll with the ideas you have and so I pushed the other story aside for today and wrote this instead.
If any of you got the reference to my first story "Afraid Of The Dark" then props to you. That story is set in the same universe as "Does It Have To Be Goodbye?" and the sequel that is currently being written. However I think that there would have been a similar event in this universe.
I'm sure there will be more spontaneous one-shots like this to come in the future as I do enjoy being able to come up with an idea and start writing straight away.
Next Story: "Recovery: Luck Runs Out"