Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.
It was around the middle of the night. My friends and I had just finished a movie and we were all tired from today's events. I will not go into that because it was not important. But I will mention that the rates of crime were rather high today. I yawned as I opened my window to let the cool night breeze in. I loved the night air. It was refreshing. I put on my night attire and went into my bed. I heard a knock at my door. I silently cursed in Tamaranean, however my friends had no idea that I do. I thought to myself that I was lucky to have knowledge of a language that the people of Earth would never know. I got up from my bed to answer the door to my room. I opened it to see Beast Boy standing there, looking very scared. "What is the matter, Beast Boy?" I asked. I felt deeply concerned for my friend. What was frightening him?
"I'm a little scared…the horror movie Raven chose freaked me out." He explained to me. "Everywhere I look, I see that freaky girl…"
"How could I help?" I asked. I always wanted to help my friends no matter what the cost.
"Well…maybe I can stay in your room for the night? And not tell anyone tomorrow morning?" He asked me.
"Sure! My bed is very large; you can share it with me." I said happily.
"Isn't that a little…odd?" Beast Boy gave me a rather strange look.
"No. On Tamaran, sharing a bed with the opposite gender is not uncommon amongst friends." I explained.
"Oh! Well in that case, I'll just come on in!" Beast Boy said and snuggled under the covers. I giggled and went under the covers on the bed on the other side.
The next morning, I woke up early like usual. It was around five o'clock. I decided to carry Beast Boy into his room and put him in his bed so he was not embarrassed about last night. I went back into my room and made my bed, took a shower, and brushed my hair. I walked into the living room. I was usually the only one up at this hour. Robin was sometimes awake, but last night I had a strong feeling he did not return to his quarters until three in the morning reading over some files of some sort like he usually does. I realized I would be alone to watch the sunrise this morning. I went outside, only to see the formation of gray clouds in the early light from the sun. I did not wish to be outside when the sunrise would not look so good. I decided to go back to my room and maybe write to my K'norfka. I smiled at the thought. I knew that he would love to hear from me. I wrote the letter. It was three pages long about everything that was going on in my life at this time. I told him about yesterday's battles and how we were victorious in all of them. Once I was finished, I scanned it into my laptop as Robin said it was. This was no ordinary laptop though because it was from my home planet. My K'norfka gave this to me after I was almost married about a year and a half ago. I sent him the letter and I could not wait for a response!
It was around eight when Robin finally woke up. This was rather late for him. I heard his door shut so I happily flew over to his door. "Good morning Starfire." He said to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"It is such a glorious morning! However, the weather is not too pleasant. I did not get to see the sunrise." I said.
"Hopefully tomorrow it's not raining." We walked to the kitchen to get breakfast. I had my usual mustard and pancakes and Robin just had the pancakes with syrup.
"I'm surprised Cyborg is not awake at this hour." I said.
"He did use a lot of his battery yesterday. He probably has to charge it longer than usual." I agreed with Robin just as Raven entered the kitchen. She made some of her herbal tea.
"Good morning, Raven! Would you like some pancakes? They are still warm!" I said with happiness in my voice.
"No thank you." She said. Raven has never been a morning person. I felt as if we were complete opposites. I was overemotional, she had no emotion. I am a morning person; she is more of the night person. I enjoy doing the hanging out with my friends. Instead, Raven would rather sit alone and read a book. However, she has been able to slightly feel since her father was defeated. She just chose not to.
"Are you sure, Raven? Surely you must be hungry because we ate dinner at five at night last night. You should eat something." I suggested.
"Sorry, Starfire but I actually have to watch what I eat. I don't have an extra eight stomachs." She snapped. I was slightly hurt, but I kept my smile on my face so I did not look the part.
"I am sorry Raven. I was not doing the thinking before words come out of my mouth." I responded. Raven nodded her head and looked away.
The day went by without any crime and no response from my K'norfka. I was saddened, but I remained optimistic. I knew he was probably busy being the Grand Ruler of Tamaran. However, not just a day went by, weeks went by. I was beginning to wonder if he had received the letter. I began to wonder what was going on in Tamaran.
It was another rainy day. I sighed as I checked my laptop. Still, there was nothing from my K'norfka. It was late at night. I decided to finally go to bed. I opened my window, ever so slightly to let in the fresh air. I turned the light off and shut down my laptop. I had trouble falling asleep. I just could not stop worrying about my K'norfka. I started to hear a ruffling noise from outside. I told myself it was just the trees and the high winds. I knew that it was not. "It is just the trees." I said to myself as I went deeper into the blankets and shut my eyes tight. I heard my window opening. It was already opened, but I knew someone was breaking in. I did not know what to do. I reached over to my lamp and switched it on. I saw someone's arms struggling to open the window more. "Who is there?" It came out as a whisper. I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell for Robin. I opened my mouth but I only mouthed, "Robin." I heard this person give a small grunt. I realized this must be a female and this voice was very familiar. I decided to put my robe on and walk over to my window. There was a hand hanging onto the ledge of the window. I opened the window wider and stuck my hand out to assist her into my bedroom. Once she was in, I saw her long black hair and those all too familiar purple eyes. "Blackfire?" I was very surprised to see her here. I would have thought she would never want to see me again. I saw that she was weak and began to fall to the floor. Quickly, I caught her before she hit the floor. I brought her over to my bed. "Sister? What brings you here?"
"I don't know how to explain this to you. But I will try." Blackfire said. She coughed up blood. I gasped. I ran into my bathroom and got a washcloth. I wiped the blood off of her face. "Sorry."
"It is okay." I assured her. "What is going on?" She began to explain as she lay back on a couple of pillows. I kept myself alert though, just in case this was a trap. My sister has never had a great reputation. However, I cannot blame her considering how poorly she was treated compared to me when we were children growing up. Blackfire was always discriminated against because of her black hair and purple eyes when everyone else has red hair and green eyes just like mine.
"There is a war going on in Tamaran, sister." She said.
"How would you know this?" I asked.
"Our K'norfka let me come back to Tamaran a year after you banished me. I have done no harm since, let me assure you." She paused, and then continued, "The war is between Tamaran and the Psions. The Psions attacked us. We are only defending our planet. The war is brutal and bloody. We are losing more people than I can count. Without a Grand Ruler making up battle strategies, our planet is surely doomed. I tried to get the throne, not illegally, but I tried to get it back for our family. However, it is not me Galfore left the throne to, he left it to you and now Tamaran needs you more than ever. I wouldn't have come here unless I really needed help."
"Wait, what do you mean there is no Grand Ruler?" I asked.
"Galfore was killed by the Psions." I began to cry as she said this. No wonder he never received my letter or sent one back! I was so upset. It was like losing my parents all over again. Galfore took care of Blackfire and me when my parents were busy ruling the planet. In fact, I saw Galfore much more than I saw my own parents. I know they loved me very much, but they could not be there as much as Galfore was able to. "I know it's devastating." She said and we sat there and hugged. Part of me was sad because of my loss, but part of me was happy because Blackfire was treating me like a sister, not an enemy. We broke the hug.
"I assume I should go to Tamaran." She nodded.
"We should leave now."
"Blackfire let us wait until the morning. You need to rest. How did you get this hurt?" I asked.
"It's hard to leave a planet that's blockaded by the enemy alone." I felt foolish for asking such a question. I tended to Blackfire's wounds and then we both went to sleep. We were to leave early in the morning. I was nervous and scared to be in charge of battle plans for a war! How would I be able to do this? Would Blackfire help me? She has always been a leader while I have always been a follower. Now it was my turn to be a leader? I wonder if Robin felt this way when he had to plan to save the world from the Brotherhood of Evil.
The next morning, Blackfire and I both took long showers because we knew we would not be able to shower or possibly be comfortable for days, maybe weeks or months. But if this war was as bad as Blackfire claimed it was, I knew I would be there for years. "You aren't going to wear that, are you?" Blackfire asked, referring to my usual uniform that exposed my stomach.
"What is wrong with this?" I asked, not understanding.
"You should be wearing something that, I don't know, has some more protection? Kind of like what I am wearing." Blackfire said, referring to her outfit which was one like the one I arrived in Earth in years ago.
"Oh yes! I shall fetch my old garments!" I said as I took out my old uniform. I quickly put it on. It felt odd. I have not worn it since my first day in Earth.
"Great. Let's go."
"Wait! We should not leave on empty stomachs. And I must say goodbye to my friends." I exclaimed. She sighed and followed me to the kitchen. We both ate breakfast. It was around five thirty in the morning. I remembered I usually watched the sunrise with Robin. He was probably waiting for me! However, I had to say goodbye to the other Titans first. Robin would still be on the rooftop. I went to Cyborg's room first. He would probably not like it what I was about to do, but I stopped his charge. His eye shot open.
"Starfire!" He said and looked at the clock. "Girl, you have got to be crazy, unpluggin' me from my charger!"
"Cyborg, I am leaving for Tamaran in a few minutes. I have to go and I do not know when I will be back. They need me there to help with the war going on." I explained. Cyborg said goodbye to be and told me he would miss me. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I left his room. Next was Beast Boy. I woke him up by sitting on his bed, shaking him gently.
"Star?" He yawned. "What's going on?" I told him what I told Cyborg but it was a bit more emotional. He cried along with me. "You will come back, right?"
"If all goes well, then I will. I cannot make any promises though." I cried. We hugged and I left for Raven's room. I knew she probably would not care if I was here or not. She had told me many times that I was very annoying and needed to learn how to be quiet sometimes. However, she was still a friend and I had to say goodbye to her. I just walked into Raven's room. I knew she would not appreciate this, but I had to leave soon.
"Starfire! What are you doing in my room! You can't just walk into my room without permission!" She yelled.
"Please Raven, let us not fight today." I said and began to cry. "I am leaving for Tamaran. Galfore is dead and I am next in line for the throne. I have to take it because I am Tamaran's only hope to end this war."
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to…I'm sorry." Raven said. To my surprise she gave me a hug. I hugged her back.
"It is okay, Raven. I will try to be back soon." I said.
"Please, promise me you will be careful. I know I never show it, but you're my best friend." I smiled through my tears.
"And you are my best friend, too Raven. I will miss you. If you go into my room, there is a laptop. You can contact me through it, but it is in the Tamaranean language. I have taught Cyborg some, so he may be able to assist you. But do not get worried if I do not reply for days, or even months." I explained. We finally said bye and now I had to go to the rooftop to say goodbye to Robin. I rejoined Blackfire and she followed me to the rooftop. However, I saw her crying. "What is the matter?" I said, through my own tears.
"It's just…you have this great life here on Earth and here I am, taking it all away. I'm ruining your life again, but this time I really don't want to." She said.
"I know, but I am glad you informed me about Tamaran." I smiled at her.
"You are not the same Koriand'r that was captured all those years ago. You are much braver, but you are still loyal. I cannot believe you trust me."
"You are my sister. I will always try to believe you no matter what." I said to her. She smiled and finally, we were off to the rooftop. I saw Robin standing there, facing the horizon. I was guessing that he heard me because he turned around.
"Starfire, where were you? And why are you wearing that? And why is Blackfire there?" Robin said and got into a battle stance when he saw Blackfire.
"I was getting ready to leave for Tamaran. Blackfire told me that there is a war going on and Tamaran is in bad shape. I am wearing this for protection." I explained. "Galfore has been killed so I must go be the Grand Ruler." I began to cry. Robin hugged me. I hugged him back.
"You're really leaving." He whispered.
"Yes. I must go for my people, but I will try to come back soon, but it may be years before I return." I said. "And you must let me go physically, mentally, and emotionally. I do not want you to have to wait for me. You should be able to move on. I honestly do not think that I will survive."
"You will survive. You are so strong, Starfire. I love you and I will wait for you. You're the only one that I love."
"I just want you to know that if you do not want to wait for me when years go by, I will be okay with it." I really did not want him to waste his life waiting for me to come back. I truly did love him.
"No matter what happens, I will always love you Starfire." Robin said.
"And I will always love you too." I forced a small smile. "I will miss you."
"I'll miss you too." He said. All of a sudden, I heard the door to the roof burst open.
"Wait! Starfire!" It was Beast Boy. He was still in his pajamas and he was holding something.
"Yes Beast Boy?" I could clearly see that he had been crying.
"I want you to have this." He said and held out a small necklace. I took it from him.
"What is this?" I asked. It was a gold necklace with a gold chain.
"It's called a locket. You put a picture of people in it. Open it and take a look." I did as I was told and opened the locket. It had a picture of Robin, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and I at the park. I remembered that this was the small wallet sized picture that Beast Boy had on his nightstand. I started tearing up.
"Oh, thank you Beast Boy!" I said and gave him a hug. I let the tears flow freely. I was sure crying a lot this morning. I looked over to Blackfire, who was smiling the whole time, but I could see she was trying to hide the fact that she was crying. I motioned for her to come over to us. "Blackfire and I must go now. I will miss you all." I cried and Blackfire held my hand in a sisterly way. Right before we were about to fly off, the door burst open again. This time, it was Raven.
"Starfire! Wait!" She said and ran over to me.
"What is it, Raven?" I asked. I could see that she had been trying not to cry.
"You can't go. You just can't." She said.
"Raven I must go. I will try to come back someday." I sniffed. I did not want to leave already and this was just making it even harder.
"Okay, but I just want you to take this." She handed me an envelope.
"What is this?" I asked, looking at it.
"It's a note. When you feel like you want to give up or are homesick, open it then, not now." She explained.
"Okay. Thank you Raven." I said and put the note in my shoe so it would not get destroyed. I said my final goodbyes and the Blackfire and I flew off to Tamaran.
"Your friends really care about you." Blackfire stated.
"Yes I know. I am lucky I found such caring friends." I responded.
"You are lucky, sister. Maybe that luck will come in handy later on." I smiled at that. I guessed that my luck has finally come. We flew through the stars and the darkness of space. Finally, Tamaran came into view. I saw the blockade Blackfire was talking about. "Okay, I want you to follow me. Fly as fast as you can. I learned that fighting them is pointless. There are too many of them. We just have to keep flying through, no matter what. Once we get into the planet, we'll be safe momentarily. If you place a foot on the ground, you will be attacked. So, do not land. Keep flying. So far the palace is the only safe place. We are going to go there and no pit stops or anything, even if you see a defenseless person, you keep flying. Do you understand?"
"Yes sister. I do understand." I followed Blackfire. She was flying rather fast and I was following her as fast as I could go. I felt myself get shot, but I kept going, ignoring the pain for the moment. I felt myself get shot again, but I remained strong. I did not want to look at the wounds because I was afraid I would start feeling the pain they brought. However, I could feel the blood slowly dripping off. I was starting to doubt myself, but I decided to look at the picture in the locket Beast Boy gave me. I quickly closed the locket and smiled to myself. I began to imagine Robin leading me on our missions. It gave me hope and I kept following Blackfire. I was wondering what was going through her mind at that moment. Was she scared? Or did she feel no fear? Eventually, we entered Tamaran and flew to the palace that I had grown up in. We used our DNA in order to access it. We entered and locked the doors and activated the security.
"You alright?" Blackfire asked me. I looked at my wounds from the gun like weapons. Blood was still slowly dripping down.
"I was shot, but I think I will be okay." I forced a smile. I saw that Blackfire had been harmed as well. The two of us walked to the infirmary in the palace. It was deserted. The usual medical team was not present. I noticed the royal servants were also gone. Blackfire and I tended to our own wounds. We were both okay. I opened the locket again. I did not miss my friends yet, mainly because I have only been gone for maybe three or four hours, but I knew that when tomorrow came, I would miss all four of them dearly.
"You'll see them again." Blackfire put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, I really hope I do." I said and closed the locket. I was wondering why Blackfire was treating me so nicely. She hasn't been this nice to me since we had been experimented on all those years ago. "I have to ask you something."
"What is it?" She asked.
"Why are you being so nice to me? You have not been this nice since we were…" I knew she would know what I meant.
"I don't know. I think it's because I was angry after we were…you know. I just reacted differently. I guess I felt that since we were treated that way, I could do anything. Galfore helped me realize that what I was doing would not change the past." She explained. "I guess, I took my anger out on you."
"I understand." I said. I knew that the experiments had changed both of us mentally. I began to appreciate freedom and life, while she broke the laws and rebelled. "What do I do now?" I asked. I had no idea what to do in this situation. I wanted to let my people know that I was here to take control, but how was I to do this?
"You have to talk to the person in control of the army." Blackfire said as she put the crown on my head.
"How do I go about this task?" I was nervous, and it definitely showed in my voice.
"I told him to come today. I told him a day or so ago that you would be here. He will be here momentarily. I'm glad we made it in time." Blackfire explained. How could she sound so confident and brave when I was afraid for what was to come? Maybe it was because I was in charge of things and whatever I decided, I would be responsible for it, whether it be a victory or the loss of all my people.
"Where are we to meet him?" I asked. I held back the tears in my eyes. I sure was crying a lot today and I did not want to be a weak leader. I was beginning to understand what Robin had to deal with. He had many responsibilities, like battle strategies for the team and making sure the city was always safe. Oh, how I missed him already! I wanted to feel his warm lips on mine. However, I knew that I would not see him for a while.
"In the meeting hall." She responded.
"How will he get into the palace?" I asked. Only the royal family could properly access the palace.
"Before I left, I entered his DNA into the database. The palace will recognize his DNA and let him in." I should have known Blackfire would have done this. She was always the smarter, more logical thinker. I was always the carefree little sister who did not focus on my studies when I was a girl unlike Blackfire. Because of the bullies and people who had discriminated against her, she never had too many friends to hang out with so she would always be studying. I remember her once saying 'friends will get you nowhere, but knowledge will' to me. She always would say this because I knew deep down she was jealous of me because I was always very popular. Right now, I wished that I was focused on my studies, learning from my father, just as Blackfire had. I was thankful that she was here to help me with this ordeal.
"I should have thought of that." I said.
"You're probably under a lot of stress with this being thrown on your shoulders." I nodded, agreeing with her. "Starfire, you are going to be the first Empress of Tamaran to be in charge of a war!" I had not thought of that! It was true, most of the emperors or empresses of the past had been married by my age.
"Please do not remind me." I said.
"It's okay; I'll be here with you the whole time." She said to me. "Come, we must go to the meeting room." I nodded and followed my sister. I was glad she decided to treat me with respect after quite a few years. When she opened the doors, I saw the General sitting there. We spoke in Tamaranean for he did not know English.
"Hello Empress Koriand'r." He said and bowed.
"Hello General." I said and took my seat; the one at the head of the large table.
"What is the battle strategy?" On Earth, usually the general is in charge of this, however on Tamaran, the Emperor or Empress would be in charge. I thought about it a lot when Blackfire and I were flying to this planet. I did not know if it would work, but I gave him the orders anyway.
"I believe we should try to get rid of this blockade instead of fighting on our planet. I think we need to get this battle into space so our planet will not be destroyed. It may take years to get this war out of Tamaran, but it is better to protect the children and others not fighting in this war. It is too dangerous to keep battling on land. We must take it to outer space." I explained. I hoped he would not laugh at me.
"That's actually a great idea, Empress." He said. "But how will we do this?" I was scared, for I did not know how to. I was never the leader type.
"I…I…I do not know. I believe I should leave that up to you. I am not experienced in coming up with plans as big as this." I confessed.
"I understand. I will come up with the battle strategy, but I will carry out your plan. If there are any changes, don't hesitate to contact me." The General said. I nodded and he left to go fight in the war and let the others know what the plan was.
"That was good, Starfire." Blackfire complemented. "I'm glad you didn't just come up with a battle strategy on the spot. The General is wise; he will know what to do." I nodded, yet again. I did not feel like talking much. I had to get to work which consisted of me signing documents and counting up the dead. I did not like this too much because while I was doing the paperwork, I came across a child that had died when a Psion had blown up one of the buildings. "How are you?" Blackfire asked. How was I? I was crying because I was filling out papers for the dead. I remembered my father doing this when he was Emperor. It did not seem so bad, considering people were not dying in mass numbers because of a war. These people had so much going for them, but yet they were risking their lives and dying.
"Not so well." I said. "Children are dying because of this!" My sadness was turning into anger. I slammed my fist on the desk. "The General better get this war into space."
"You're under a lot of stress. Let me help you fill these out." She offered. Blackfire had royal blood, so she was able to do the paperwork with me. I had never signed so many papers in my life.
So what did you think? I thought it was pretty good XD
Please review, even if it's not a good one.