The sight of the burning tower could be seen from all over Jump City. The inside of the common room was aflame and the roof and walls were giving way under the strength and pressure of the heat. Around the room laid the strewn bodies of 3 of the Titans, each with varying levels of damage done to them.
In the opposite corner of the room laid an injured Starfire attempting to put up some sort of fight but her normally strong starbolts were seemingly reduced to just colourful lights as they collided with the figure advancing in her direction.
Robin lay weakly watching helplessly as the unstoppable figure of Slade marched towards Starfire. "Please….." he choked out "Not her…..you want me….. not her".
Slade turned his head towards Robin and laughed behind his mask before plunging one of his swords deep into Starfire's stomach. "Oh my dear boy" he paused chuckling "that is exactly why you will be left alive, you are no good to me dead…at least not yet" he smirked before leaping out of one of the windows of the tower, leaving Robin to the carnage left before him.
"R-r-robin" Starfire choked out managing to pull out the blade from her stomach.
Robin got up and ran over before falling to his knees next to her tears streaming down his face "It will be okay Star" he said desperately trying to reassure himself more than her.
"No Robin" she choked "I do not believe even my Tamaranian durability will be able to help me now" she looked up to the boy next to her. "Goodbye Robin" she said tears rolling down her cheeks "I love you"
"Please don't say goodbye Star, we can get you to a hospital. You will make it. You have to." He pleaded but as he finished his sentence he noticed that her eyes had already closed and her head had lolled to one side.
"No! Please Star!" he sobbed clutching her tightly "I love you too! Please don't leave me like this!" he sobbed even harder "Please….."
"DON'T GO" he screamed as he bolted upright to find himself in bed. His breath was shallow and frantic. He was so panicked and terrified by his dream that his rational side flew out the window and he bolted towards his bedroom door, his mind reeling. 'Did I go back to my room myself?'
When he reached his door he stood there for a few moments letting himself think rationally and remembering that the horrific and heart breaking event was just a nightmare 'it didn't happen, it didn't happen' he repeated to himself so that he understood it. 'I need to be sure though' he thought as he opened his door and made his way to the other bedrooms
His feet brought him to the one he instantly needed to see. Starfire's. He thought about how strange this would look of him just coming into Starfire's room in the middle of the night 'I just need to make sure she's okay otherwise I won't be able to sleep' he rationalised with himself.
Starfire had been laid awake in her bed for a while now, attempting to process the oddity of her dream. Her attention quickly shifted once she heard footsteps outside her room. She sat up to look towards the door but when she heard it open she quickly rolled back over to her original position. She was not sure why she was hiding her being awake but she did not want the others to see she was still up at this time
Robin stepped quietly into the violet room and scanned the area, his eyes landing on the alien princess asleep on her bed, her back slowly contracting and expanding as she breathed in and out. "She's okay" he said relief washing over him. Robin mentally scolded himself for how overprotective of her he was being and decided that he needed to leave and stop his pathetic behaviour.
"Why would I not be Robin?" he heard her soft voice ask as she rolled over onto her other side to face him.
Robin felt like running full pelt out of the room and if she ever mentioned it he would tell her that she had dreamt it, but he decided she ought to know why he was spying on her at 3am. "Oh, Star" he paused trying desperately to think of a good excuse "I-I didn't know you were awake" he responded nervously.
"Yes, I had a mare of the nights and I have not been able to return to sleep" she said
Robin felt a lot better knowing he hadn't woke her up and that she too had, had been having a nightmare. He wondered if hers was about him, but he quickly tossed that thought away.
"However Robin, may I ask you why you are awake? And also why you are in my sleeping quarters at such a time?" she asked quizzically.
Robin felt extremely guilty and embarrassed but decided that she needed an explanation "Oh…I had a nightmare as well, it scared me….a lot and I'm not sure why but I came here" he lied trying to save himself from explaining "I'm sorry for disturbing you" he said sadly as he began to leave.
"Friend, you may stay if you wish. Maybe you would like to discuss your mare of the nights and I will tell you about mine?" she said kindly
"Okay Star" he was still embarrassed but decided that this was a better outcome than her throwing him out or finding his behaviour creepy. He made his way over to her bed, which she had shuffled over to make room for him to sit on. "Can we talk about your nightmare first Star?"
"Mine was not very eventful however it was very strange" she paused recalling the dream "I remember that we were battling the Cinderblock and then out of nowhere a giant monster made of the tofu came and ate Cinderblock. I only remember that we attempted to battle the tofu monster but then he devoured us all in one bite, and that is when I awoke" she giggled at the strangeness of her dream "It was most strange was it not?" she smiled at the boy sat next to her.
"Sure was Star" he said with a smile. Robin was slightly perplexed by how amusing her nightmare had been rather than terrifying like his had been but he quickly reminded himself. 'This is Starfire, of course her nightmares are happy light hearted.'
"May you please now tell me of your dream Robin?" she asked with a warm smile
He smiled nervously back at her "I'm not sure my nightmare is really comparable to the one you had Star. It might not be very pleasant for you to hear"
"It cannot be that bad friend. Also I often hear that talking about a mare of the night will aid one in avoiding future ones" she said thoughtfully
"Okay….well" 'where the hell do I start with this?' "the tower was being attacked by Slade, and no matter what we did it didn't seem to do a thing to him" he paused looking over at her to see her looking at him and listening intently "and he had killed everyone except me and you" he looked sheepishly at her to see a concerned but sympathetic look on her face.
She gently took his hand in hers and stroked it comfortingly, "Please, continue friend"
"I just remember that I was laying on the floor helplessly watching and I saw him….Slade coming towards you and your starbolts weren't doing anything to him" he paused tears starting to form in his eyes, glad that his mask was covering them from sight "and I begged him to not hurt you and to take me instead….but he just carried on anyway, mocking me…and then he…he…" he tried to stammer out
"He what, friend?" she said squeezing his hand reassuringly
"He stabbed you Star…and all I could do was watch as he did it" he said tears now beginning to leak behind his mask. "I tried to help you but you just told me that it was too late and you said goodbye to me" he choked out, a few tears starting to fall from the lining of his mask.
"Oh Robin." She said comfortingly wrapping her arms around him and resting his head on her shoulder "mares of the night play tricks on the mind but please be assured that I will not do the leaving of you Robin, or the saying of goodbyes" she said stroking her hand along his back soothingly.
Robin decided that he needed to tell her the rest, "You know what was even worse Star?" he paused lifting his head to face her before continuing "That I didn't even have enough time to tell you how I felt"
Starfire looked back at him with a mix of curiosity and hopefulness, "what did you wish to tell me Robin?"
"Before you died in the nightmare, you told me you loved me Star." Robin paused
Starfire froze in her spot upon hearing this, 'How could he know?' She was pulled back to reality at the sound of Robin beginning to continue.
"And I-I never got to tell you that I love you too" he said sadly "It made me want to die not being able to tell you that" he said the tears now leaking down his cheeks
If she was frozen before she must have been hit by an ice age this time, her mind was flooding with thoughts that were darting around so fast that she felt dizzy and she could barely hear herself think. Her mind was making so many connections all at once 'he loves me back?, 'how long has he?' She drew her attention back to the heartbroken looking boy sat in front of her staring at her as if one wrongly placed word would shatter his already damaged heart. "Robin….I-I"
TTTTTTTTTT
'Oh god' he thought miserably 'she is going to tell me that she doesn't love me. I'm such an idiot, how could I think that because my dream told me she loved me it would actually mean she loves me for real. Of course she would say she loved me, it was my fucking dream!' he scolded himself viciously. His nightmare had given him such a high level of confidence that it had never dawned on him how she actually might respond. 'I can't bear her to tell me she doesn't love me back'. "Star…im so sorry, the nightmare felt so real to me that I forgot that you didn't actually say that stuff to me" He paused looking towards the bedroom door "I don't think I could take a rejection on top of the nightmare" he said miserably, rising from the bed onto his feet. Before he could move his wrist had been grabbed firmly and he was tugged back onto the bed.
"Robin, why do you always have to believe the worst?" Starfire giggled "You presumed that I would reject you despite the fact that I am not doing the reject of you" she gave him a warm smile
"Y-you're not?" he asked hopefully
"Of course not Robin, for I also share the feelings of love for you Robin. And I have for a long ti-" Starfire was cut off by Robin's lips meeting hers firmly and silencing her words, she was initially shocked but quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her forcefully.
As his hands played with her hair, Robin quickly realised that his lungs were already beginning to burn. He decided to fight the feeling but soon he had to reluctantly pull away before he asphyxiated himself. He pulled away from her panting heavily and looked at her bright crimson cheeks and smiled brightly before Starfire quickly reattached their lips together once again.
After what seemed like an eternity Robin pulled away, from the volley of kisses and decided that his lungs would appreciate a break. He looked over to the clock to see that 2 hours had already passed.
Starfire's eyes followed his eyes and she felt a wave of guilt wash over her "Oh Robin! I am most sorry for not allowing you to do the resting. It is already 5am and you have barely had any sleep"
Robin chuckled, she sounded like a concerned mother trying to make sure that he was getting enough sleep. "It's okay Star, it's not like I was getting any sleep after that first kiss anyway" he smiled coyly at her, to which she blushed in return. "If you can't sleep as well then we could go up to the roof for a while or go and watch some TV before the others wake up?"
"Oh that would be most enjoyable. I usually always go up to the roof to watch the sunrise but it would be the 'knees of bees' to be able to watch it with you." She said giving him a 10,000 watt smile.
Robin was going to correct her but he decided he would leave it this time, he preferred the way his girlfriend said it anyway.
The End
Author's Notes:
This story was requested by "MadameDegrassi354"
I wrote this up a few days ago but I got side-tracked with "Moving Forward" and so I forgot to upload it. It isn't my greatest work but I did like the premise but sorry if Robin seems a bit OOC, I like to write his more vulnerable side because it's obvious that that side exists but it is just rarely shown.
If you would like to request a story or have a good idea for one then please by all means leave a review on one of my stories or even better send me a private message on the site. If you send me a message it means that I will be able to reply to you.
Next Story: More chapters from "Moving Forward"!