Links:
Cover picture:xxscarletxrosexx.
deviantart.
com/art/TT-ASBEA-Parents-Day-Cover-Picture-296558074
Part 1: xxscarletxrosexx.
deviantart.
com/art/TT-ASBEA-Parents-Day-Pt-1-296686045
A Story Behind Every Art (A.S.B.E.A.) based on pictures I found on deviantart. I do not own any of the following arts in this story, unless I claim them. Anyways I will provide images for each part here. This is a 6 part story, but it is unrelated with any other story of this project. Enjoy! :D
Summary:
Although Starfire is still new to Earth, it doesn't take her long enough to realize what is a "Mothers" and "Fathers" day. It is a gloomy day for each Titan, but will she be able to keep a smile on each of their faces? Let alone herself?
Genre: Friendship/Angst
More info located on the link above.
Starfire was up as usual, but today it was earlier than her usual time. Sleep wasn't pleasant as it usually was. Her mind was clouded with what she had seen in her dreams, her memories, and on TV.
The alien princess was alone in her room and the eerie buzzing sound caused her to get out of bed and make her way to the roof. She secretly wished that she had some company in her room, she couldn't stand being alone all the time.
As she made her way to the door to the roof of her new home, she paused hesitantly, afraid that it may wake someone up. Gently, she pushed on the door and into a cloudy, lavender atmosphere. The air invited her into a cold embrace. The average human would shiver from the frigid air, but she merely shrugged it off and continued her way to the ledge of the tower. Ever since her sister's visit, she had found comfort here.
She sat down, her knees hugged to her chest, as her mind instantly raced back to her dream. She saw herself as a thirteen year old girl. She watched as her parents placed their son in a launch pad. He was sleeping peacefully as if unaware of what was happening to him. With Starfire in the middle, her parents gathered themselves into a comforting hug as they watched the pod shoot up into the sky and disappear into space. At the time, they were under attack by the Gordanians and her parents were left with no choice but to send him off into a safe place in order to preserve their family rule. That was the last time that she had ever seen her brother, Ryand'r—Wildfire.
Several months later, it was her turn to leave Tamaran. Her sister traded Starfire to the Gordanians in order to bring peace to Tamaran. She remembered crying to her parents, knowing that she had to follow her sister's orders. Her parents were heartbroken and clutching on to each other as if their lives depended on one another. Tears ran down all of their faces, all but a certain older sister. She was ushered into the ship, her arms cuffed. She took one final glance at her parents who were watching from the balcony. Tear-eyed, they silently said their goodbyes before the door closed and sent her off into months of cruel labor.
A year later, her sister and she were captured by Psions, a group of sadistic alien scientists. She remembered being tied to a table and being experimented along with her sister. They both gained their starbolts due to this dangerous experimentation. She had saved her sister and was betrayed. Starfire was recaptured by the Gordanians as a prize to the Citadel. She was sexually harassed and brutally treated for the following two years. She remembered the horrible crime that she had committed to escape. She had killed one of the Gordanians before heading to Earth.
She was unaware that she was crying until several tears ran down her flawless face. Her throat felt tight and her body shivered as more hot tears fell down. Finally she remembered her recent transmission that had confirmed her worst nightmare. Her parents were dead. Galfore, her personal k'norfka, had informed her of her parents' death that had taken place months after both her sister and she had been taken by the Psions. They had died from heartbreak and grieve.
Yesterday's TV show about the upcoming Mother's and Father's day reminded her of her deceased family, a villainous sister, and the unknown existence of her lost brother.
Starfire continued to cry. This was the very first time she had ever let herself become so vulnerable in a long time. She needed to be strong throughout her servitude but now she was free to release her bottled emotions. The only reason she was able to pull through were her parents' advices to her when she was a little bumgorf:
"As a princess, you must act your very best towards your servants. You must always treat everyone justly and equal as they do upon you, my little princess. Always view the best of everything and all shall go well," her father would say.
"You have to be strong for our family. You need to always portray that beautiful smile on your face, my darling. No matter how bad the situation, always smile for us," her mother would add.
"Do what's best for you, in your heart," Galfore would remind her.
Because of them, Starfire had grown up selfless and strong. But right now she felt hopeless, rutha—weak, and selfish.
It was 5am when she had entered the roof, but now it was around 6:30am. She had killed so much time rerunning her memories over and over again in her head. The guilt that hid behind her smile for so long was finally out. Hiccups escaped her lips as she tried to calm herself down.
"No more crying," she told herself, "I have to be strong for Tamaran, my parents, and Ryand'r." But she still cried. It was no use. Her mind would constantly remind her of her parents' death since her absence, and her brother's condition and whereabouts were still unknown. She didn't have a family anymore. Blackfire didn't care about Starfire at all, let alone consider her as a family. She felt alone.
"But you are never alone," a voice whispered. Her ears perked up and she glanced around herself, searching for the voice. "We will always be with you, my darling. Your father and I will always love you."
"M-mother?" she whispered.
"Yes, dear. Always remember that…" Starfire's eyes flooded with a new round of tears as she stared at the horizon.
"Star?" a soft masculine voice called out.
Starfire nearly jumped from her spot, but remembered about her tear-stained state. She dried her eyes quickly and cleared her throat. "Hello Robin," she said. She aimed for a happy chirp but it sounded like a sluggish croak.
He walked up beside her and gathered his legs to his chest as well. "You okay?" he asked worriedly.
"I am the okay as you would say," she smiled.
"You know Star, although you haven't been here long, I can already tell whether my friends are lying or not."
Starfire stared at him with curious eyes but before she could open her mouth, rain drizzled from the cloudy sky. Robin glanced up before looking back at Starfire. Her head hung low, the red locks of her hair cascaded forward, creating a long curtain to cover her face. Her body shook and hiccups reverberated form her lips. His eyes widened in shock. He didn't mean to make her cry. He knew that she was the most sensitive person on the team, but sometimes he said things without thinking. Robin mentally scolded himself for being a heartless, inconsiderate person.
"Starfire…" he said softly.
Starfire knew that she couldn't lie to Robin no matter what. He knew her so well. She was glad that her long hair had covered her face. She felt him pull her vulnerable body towards him. She moved her legs to a more comfortable position so she sat on her legs as she opened up and hugged him tight. Robin leaned forward, one arm swept under her hair on her back. The other gathered the hair on top of her head.
The sad alien wept, hiccupped, and sniffled throughout her remorse. Robin didn't speak, he only held her close to him. He moved the hand on her back in circles, hoping to lessen her shivering body. He didn't know whether she was shivering from the cold or from her own tears. He would have been shivering from the rain if not for the contact of her warm body on his.
After several more minutes, Starfire finally spoke, "Robin… I—"
"Star, it's okay. It's my fault for being inconsiderate. I didn't mean to call you a liar," he interrupted.
"No, it is not about what you had said, Robin," she replied softly, but you are correct. I have deceived you with the okay but I truly am not."
Robin offered her a small smile, "Do you want to talk about it?"
They pulled away from one another and she nodded. She looked at him with warm eyes as she told him the story of her parents, but she skipped the mention of being royalty, her brother, and the Psions.
Robin listened quietly and patiently in awe of how truly happy she felt with her family. It reminded him of himself when he was with his as well. Her glowing, sparkling eyes faded into a dark gloomy color. Her smile faltered and she was close to tears just when she started to tell the next part, the part when she was taken away.
"Before I came here, I spent the last three years as a slave. My sister had to trade me to the Gordanians for assuring the safety of Tamaran."
Robin felt growing hatred for Blackfire, "And your parents just went along with it? I mean I thought they loved you," Robin babbled flabbergasted.
Starfire smiled softly, "They do, but they had to do what was best for Tamaran. The Gordanians had us outnumbered, but my sister offered them a trade that they would never resist."
"Wasn't there any other way?"
She shook her head sadly, "It was unavoidable. We knew there was going to be a time in which I had to go someday." Tears weld up in her eyes again and she started to cry. "Galfore had spoken to me through a transmission yesterday."
Robin reached out and held her hands comfortingly.
"He must have known about my safety through the Centari police," her voiced cracked. "My parents are dead. They had died from the breaking of the heart, shortly after my sister and my departure. I had promised my parents to keep the smile on my face and to be the strong, and yet I am not. I am weak."
Robin was dumbstruck. He had never seen the happiest and most energetic teammate so miserable. It was truly shocking to know that she was able to keep a smile on her face and stay positive after all that she had been through. Here she was opening up her life before him and all he can do is sadly hold back his own tears. "You're not alone, Star," he told her sadly.
Starfire stared at him. It was as if it was all déjà vu all over again. Robin reached out to her face and gently wiped her tears away. "You're not alone, Star," he repeated again, "I know how it feels to lose your parents. My family was a circus performed called the The Flying Grayson. During one performance, the lines broke. I could only watch," his voice cracked, "my parents fell to their deaths."
Tear-stricken, Starfire reached out to his face and cupped his cheek gently. He brought his hand over hers, appreciating the warmth radiating from her skin.
"Let's go back inside," he said. Robin led Starfire back to the ops room, carrying one thick blanket over his shoulder and two mugs of warm hot chocolate. They made their way to the couch, silently watching the view before them.
"We will always love you," she thought aloud.
"Star?" Robin asked, his heart racing.
"Oh, it is nothing.." she blushed while playing with her mug. "You would think foolish of me."
"Try me," he encouraged.
"Before you had appeared on the roof, I had heard the voice of my mother. She had told me that I am never alone and they both love me very much."
Robin smiled warmly, "Always, Star. I believe that they will always be there for you."
"I am sure of it," she agreed, "but I realized that I am no longer physically alone, because I have you and all our friends with me. I feel as if I am truly at home."
Robin and Starfire gazed at each other's eyes affectionately. He was amazed how Starfire had been able to turn her frown upside down, how she can put up a smile everyday even after going through several horrible things that had happened to her. She was absolutely beyond amazing.
"And Robin," Starfire said.
"Yeah, Star?"
"Thank you for being my best friend and for always being here for me. I shall do the same for you as well, so you will not be the lonely."
Robin pulled Starfire and his mug on the table then pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Thank you, Star, for being mine as well."
Songs that inspired me to write this:
1) youtube.
com/watch?v=uRQDFUl7e7k&list=PL77CECCFB5303C02E&index=5&feature=plpp_video
2) youtube.
com/watch?v=ncW73m09Ucs&feature=BFa&list=PL77CECCFB5303C02E
^I don't know about you, but doesn't the video send shivers down your back? They really put so much work for this video. It really amazed me. And if you understand the lyrics very well, you can see why I used this song.
Here is the first part!
I hope it met your expectations! I did some research about her past, but I tried to keep it in the TT cartoon version, not the comic version.
Here is my lil geeky rant :
Some details were consistent, but I had to fit in how she got her powers and stuff. Recall inBetrothedthat Tamaraneans used weapons and walked, except for Starfire and Blackfire. But Starfire explained inSwitchhow she could use her powers. It's obviously a white lie about how her people had the powers as well.
