7 Reasons Why

It burns to remember them. They smolder me until all I taste is black smoke. Seven reasons why Starfire left Robin.

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Number One: Her smile.

"That's not what I said!"

I was momentarily confused. Someone was yelling, happily, like it was a joke on drugs. I forgot who it was or why.

Because that's when she smiled.

The sun was too hot that day. Her smile burnt the world alive.

Number Two: Her laugh.

"Give it back, you green monster!" yelled Cyborg.

"Pfft!" snorted Beastboy. "Look who's talking, you walking…big…Cyborg thingy!"

I laughed. Even Raven grinned. Starfire was standing at the door, watching quietly. When everyone had quieted, it began.

She laughed like it was her last. Her smile creaked and moaned under the pressure, but it did not waver. It tinkled like wind chimes in a hurricane. It was full of the world.

It was then that I realized where I belonged.

Number Three: Her hands.

They were soft like butter. I never asked her why. They just were.

They kept me.

In place.

All those years.

Number Four: Her eyes.

I remember tears made them beautiful. They sparkled with a shower of emotions just begging to fall. She was strong, though, and she.

Never let them go.

So I remember wiping them away.

To keep her strong.

Number Five: Her breath.

She hated thunder more than anything. I can recall more than enough times when she crawled under my covers, begging to be held against something quiet and kind.

I was there when the lightning came. She would gasp and point in wonder like a child, and I told her stories.

She fell asleep.

Her chest moved.

And wrapped itself around me.

I loved her breathing.

Number Six: Her kiss.

There were tears in her kisses. I think they were mine.

After all, she never cried. She was too strong for that.

Her lips bit mine with a blinding love. They shed her sole with that last fierce kiss, but I never let it falter. I knew she had to be strong. I knew I would break soon.

I told her things in that kiss. I've seen her cry, I've seen her smile. I've watched her sleep under storms at night. I knew her fears and she knew mine.

I told her this with hopes that she would see the sun.

But it was cloudy that day, and.

We'd had doubts before, but now they were here.

They were tearing.

Binding.

Smoldering.

Down.

My.

Core.

I loved her, I swear it's true.

I kissed her lips.

And I tasted the salt from both our tears.

I never tasted anything but.

Number Seven: Her feet.

I watched her walk away in the rain. The sky so perfectly reflected the moment that I swore it was watching us.

Her footprints touched my heart and soul. Love was blind, and I shed my eyes. I didn't listen to them. They were killing me, then.

Nothing could have replaced those footprints. They were perfect and flat, but they broke my heart with every step. I remember her as my lover, as the only lover, and as my life.

With every step.

I remember.

What she did.

To me.

Wherever did she go?

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