I hope someone, a single person, one RxS fanatic, is reading this! This archive is having a disease—doctor calls it the RobStar deficiency. This is yet another desperate (not to mention pathetic) attempt to cure the aforementioned scarcity. Note: I love using past perfect tense; and Kryalla Orchid's Dive is what inspired me to write this. Thank you for mentioning that wonderful author to me, Cameron xD It's been a long time, I know!
Disclaimer: Forgive me for not being creative enough in saying that I do not own the Teen Titans. Or anything you recognize.
Falling Stars
a tribute to Robin and Starfire
I'll never forget how you two colored my childhood days. You made me know what the word 'romance' meant at age nine, lol. Thank you.
He gritted his teeth in frustration. After having bolted up on his bed from a nightmare, he just found himself living in a worse one. When he'd barged into her room earlier that evening, breathless with shock and gripped by vile anxiety, he'd found a note on her bed, scribbled with a simple Goodbye from Starfire. No explanations, nothing. And he'd been running after her ever since.
All of this was his fault.
How could he have stupidly let this all happen?
"Starfire!"
He choked up on the leaves and twigs and branches that blocked his way as he tried to dash past them. His hands were carelessly tugging away at the pesky little branches that cut and scratched on his face. His mind was barely registering any pain. He trampled on fallen leaves on the ground, twigs and foliage cracking like fireworks. With one final sweep with his arm, he brushed away all that forest clutter and emerged out of the web-like obstacle, breathless.
Metal-soled boots immediately sprung in the air and gracefully landed on the forest ground in a heap, sending a flurry of mosquitoes flying along an eruption of dry, forest leaves. Immediately, a flash of yellow cape zipped through the air, the sound of his thundering footsteps echoing in the cold, foggy night. The thin, thin crescent moon swept through the sky as if following Robin on his trek, its cold, silver light shadowed by the patches of acacia leaves. Robin breathlessly panted from his running, desperate for a pause to rest his overworked legs, but he never stopped looking for her.
The Boy Wonder clenched his green-gloved hands.
"Wherever you are, please, answer me!"
Without being aware of it, there was a hint of desperation in his voice, no matter how much he tried to conceal it. He grunted right after receiving the only response of silence. He hated thinking that her life was yet again at stake because of his utter idiocy; that she felt abandoned, alone, and desolate each time he didn't have the time to spend with her; that he was the reason behind the muffled sounds of soft sobs and sniffles inside her room, as he had stood in front of her door, his hand hesitantly poised to knock.
But he'd never had the courage to.
The howling of a faraway wolf pierced the night's silence. Halting to a sudden stop, Robin's feet slid onto the forest floor, firmly planting his feet on the ground. He listened intently to the sounds of the dark, quiet forest. Aside from his own quick breaths, Robin was able to hear faint sounds of the forest's nocturnal life, like the occasional rustling of leaves or the flapping flights of bats from a distance.
As his eyes scanned the area, in front of him, were trees. Behind him, there were trees. When he turned around, there were trees. He gulped. Wherever direction he laid his eyes upon, it all looked the same, and he immensely doubted he could get home without difficulty. That is, if he was able to find Starfire first.
At this thought, again, he started to run. Mere thoughts of her made him run even harder, refusing to recognize the thorns of overhead branches that kept on scratching and cutting on his sweaty cheeks. His legs pumped to keep on running, deeper, deeper, and deeper still into the forest, where the howls and roars of animals continued to get louder by the second. He didn't care at all if he ran into any danger, if the prize was to see her sweet, loving smile, her tinkling, charming laugh. Starfire was like his fuel, his source of power, his fire—keeping him alive and motivated each day the Titans go out to save the city, each time Robin was desperate.
But as he scurried by a blur of trees, Robin saw a flash of red hair whiz past behind him. He abruptly turned to that direction, where, to his horror, he caught sight of Starfire losing balance in her rapid, panicky flight. She crashed herself to the ground, sending a burst of stones, dry leaves, twigs, and dirt flying through the air, her shoulder receiving most of the impact.
All happiness has been drained from her lifeless eyes, the usual sparkling of jade in them darkening into a shadowy hue. There were signs of reddishness and puffiness, but as she stood from the ground, she tried not to feel anything from the wound that had been cut on her shulder from her sudden fall. She blankly stared at him, still with an empty, motionless stare, and wordlessly turned to walk away.
Guilt constricted his throat, forbidding him from breathing.
This wasn't Starfire.
Robin immediately ran to get to his injured friend, but, suddenly, a noisy flight of hundreds of bats whizzed in between the two of them, preventing them to be together. They were exactly just like that—two, faraway worlds that would never cross paths, living life with two different perspectives that would never be able to agree with the other. Two, faraway worlds, each hoping to collide with the other's orbit, but no matter how much they wanted to, with their distance, it was…
Impossible.
She always had the door open.
His had always been locked.
Her smile was always welcoming.
His forced one often showed dismissal.
A thousand more comparisons could be done, no one can deny it. Their differences were what made them impossible. The flutter of the bats' wings and their endless, intolerable screeching built a wall that hindered Robin from coming near her.
Adrenaline burst through his veins. No. He isn't about to let her get away. Unable to wait for the hundreds of fluttering winged animals to pass, Robin pushed himself through the busy flight of bats, the flapping of their mammalian wings screaming right into his ear. He ignored the pain as he was clawed, scratched, injured, or bitten by one of those flighty black mammals. He covered his eyes with the back of his arm placed over his forehead, struggling to get past these brutal creatures of the night. He emerged out of the mammalian crowd, breathless, and ran after the girl who was limping her way out of his sight.
"Starfire!" he panted, still running after her.
When she turned around and saw him, her tearstained emerald eyes widened into saucers, and she immediately quickened her pace, forcing her weak, wobbling legs to walk even faster, wanting so desperately to leave the ground and escape Robin by flying away from him.
But she couldn't fly.
"Starfire!" Robin called out again, but his call remained ignored as she started to lift her body off the ground and started to slowly hover even higher.
"No!" the Boy Wonder yelled, stumbling upon a rock and almost falling on to the ground. His eyes intently watched the redheaded alien slowly ascend into the sky in horror, knowing in any minute that she might fall again. "Starfire, you're only going to hurt—"
A high-pitched scream pierced through the silent, nocturnal night as she plummeted straight toward the ground. She'd always had nightmares about falling, screaming, and tonight it was all becoming a reality. Her scream sent a flock of awakened birds suddenly dashing away in fright, but Robin was not to watch her idly by. Jumping from atop a boulder, Robin skillfully flew through the air and caught Starfire from midair. They rolled onto the pebbly, filthy forest ground, falling downwards in a slope; until, suddenly, Starfire was atop Robin, furiously panting.
Moist, sparkling green jade met hidden, worried blue sapphires, and, for one moment, the Tamaranian girl felt like she wanted to lose herself in the universe that was his eyes. But voices bounced around in her head, screaming words she never thought she'd ever hear him scorn her.
Useless.
Worthless.
Pathetic.
Tears formed behind her eyes, and she looked away as crystals of them started falling upon her eyelids. Hearing those words resonating madly around in her head made her feel the same urge of running away, of proving them that they were all wrong, motivation rushing in her veins. It was the same urge that had kept her running away, wanting to get out in the open and prove herself worthy to be a Teen Titan when Robin obviously thought otherwise. Yes, she'd constantly been insulted by the boy whose mysterious, sapphire blue eyes kept her hoping in everyday, not caring whether he shouted at her or embarrassed her in front of her teammates whenever she failed to carry out a mission. She understood why he was always shouting out orders, so focused on work, determined on keeping the city safe, obsessed with catching criminals; she understood the reason behind his hard work in everyday, that it didn't matter to her when he yelled at her whenever she made sure he ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or that he had the right amount of sleep. She endured all of that, understanding why he wasn't able to look at the things she was trying to do for him to help. It didn't matter. What mattered was that she kept him sane.
Earlier in the week, Slade had once again appeared. All of the Titans had no idea why, how, when, and what now. All of them were haunted, especially Robin—his heart seemed to have been replaced with an unkind and merciless one, doing everything he can just to catch the aforementioned criminal. He refused to eat food or to come out of his lair until he felt hungry enough to eat during midnight. The Titans had all been working hard since then, and Starfire did her best to help.
But, his heart, cold and callous, felt nothing at all when he'd suddenly called Starfire a troq after failing to catch the criminal in the fraction of a second.
She can stand any insult she might hear from him, because she understood how his mind worked.
But she couldn't bear being called a troq.
That was what motivated her to go out in the open and face Slade herself. Prove to him she can take down any villain, or would even die trying. She had to stay strong. She had to go after Slade, no matter what, and nothing was going to stop her from doing it. Useless? She'd show them. Worthless? They are wrong. To prove them all that she wasn't a useless, worthless team member.
All the risks just to prove Robin that she wasn't pathetic.
She tried her best to hold back her sobs, furiously biting down at her lip. She turned her back to him, not wanting him to see his incredulous look as she wiped out the tears with the heel of her hand. He might think she was very pathetic, much more than she already was.
"…I w-wish to be…alone." Her voice was weak. "P-Please."
Robin gently put a foot forward to cautiously walk towards her, not wishing to provoke her and make her run away again. He knew his mistake, and he regretted it, and he didn't have say it aloud because his eyes already screamed it.
"Starfire," he soothed, his rough and husky voice amalgamating the sound of the ruffling leaves. "What's the matter? Why did you just suddenly…"
Starfire winced and jumped away, panicked at a calming hand that barely touched her shoulder for comfort. Breathless, she tried to slow her breathing down.
"Forgive me, friend Robin," she said, embarrassed, trying to hide her tearstained face from him. "But…but I must go."
She started to walk to the direction opposite from Robin. In all honesty, she had no idea where she was going to go, but she greatly preferred any place in the Milky Way besides here. Robin wordlessly tried catching up with her pace as she hastily walked—no, sauntered—past trees with curious nocturnal birds hooting as they went. Robin tried to act normal as he walked beside her, but it was hard trying to match her quick steps and unwavering ignorance.
Robin put on a smile as he tried to look at her. "Hey, Starfire," he said, casually, but only received unruffled silence from her. It reminded him of the time they've been stranded in that hostile alien planet, when Starfire had been incredibly moody about that…that girlfriend thing.
He rubbed his face in exhaustion.
Girls are so tiring.
"…Star?" He awkwardly cleared his throat, trying again. "Are you okay?"
She forced out a crooked smile at him, pausing from her speed walking. "I am perfect, thank you."
The girl made sure that she had put extra emphasis on the word 'perfect'.
Boys can be so clueless.
Robin's smile vanished as his eyes fell on her bleeding arm. The wound must have been from her fall. He tried to stay calm, trying his best not to scold her for being so reckless at everything she did. Instead, he forced out an overly pronounced sigh.
He took a step forward, one arm extended for her to take.
"Star…you're not okay."
The look in his eyes did not hold any sign of mirth. It was the first time she had the nerve to look at him directly into the eyes all week. She gulped, disliking the idea of a confrontation. She took a shaky step backwards, clutching hard on the straps of her tiny backpack.
"Th-th-that is…v-very untrue, friend Robin." she stuttered, face flushing redder than her hair. "I am…m-most w-w-wonderful…"
Of course she didn't expect him to believe that miserable excuse, but she had no other excuse to defend herself with. He had always been hidden by a mask, but she'd been as transparent as a crystal wine glass to him—naturally, he was able to read through her as easily.
An eyebrow rose.
"I am…f-f-f…fine…" she continued, taking one step back at a time as Robin slowly approached her.
"You're not," Robin contradicted, taking another step forward. Half of his face became clearer to Starfire's vision as he stepped into the silver light of the pale moon, while darker shadows traced the outlines of his rugged, handsome features. Her breath hitched; she couldn't look away. She felt threatened by his firm, determined standing, immobilizing her right then and there—yet she felt cared for at the same time because of his gentle attention and concern.
Starfire nervously stepped backwards, her mind exploding in chaos. Why did he always confuse her? He was such a hard puzzle to solve, so difficult that answers are virtually impossible behind his cryptic acts.
She gulped. As she did, her feet suddenly tripped over a large, overgrown root, making her stumble backwards and fall to a tree. Robin suddenly planted his arms over the tree to finally cage Starfire, and stop her from running away.
Starfire winced. Partly at the pain that shot up through her wounded arm when she tripped, and partly because of the intensity burning in Robin's masked eyes, staring intently into hers. Starfire wanted to look away, but she was imprisoned, not only by his arms, but also by his captivating gaze. She stared right back at him, but she failed to give him the angry glare she planned on giving him. Instead, she whimpered under his entrancing look, thankful for the shadows for obscuring a part of her face for not having to see it.
"Star," he said, suddenly waking her up from her trance. She winced, and tried to get her eyes to look at anywhere besides him.
He saw her flinch at the fierce gaze he was giving her, so he quickly softened his eyes to understanding ones. His arms still held her his captive, though, because he wasn't about to let her get away again.
Never.
"Robin…please…" she whispered as silently as the wind, eyes looking down at the ground. "You can let me go now—"
She was interrupted by the touch of lips softly connecting to hers. It was sudden, it was gentle, and it grew passionate as Starfire dissolved into it, closed her eyes and cuddling to him, a gesture that said that she forgave him already. She fell into his arms limply as the boy released her from his hold.
And Robin caught her. The realization that fate had already done its job for the two of them, Tamaranian and Earthling, species from two different worlds, far away and unreachable, dawned onto him. It was foolish of him to think that they were impossible and would never cross paths—so foolish, indeed, he'd been so blind to not see the truth in the beginning.
They've already collided.
As he looked down at the girl sleeping into his arms, eyelids fluttering peacefully in his presence, and joyful tears streaming down her face, a smile crept onto his lips and he grazed her cheek to wipe them away.
Yes, they've already collided, a long time ago, when Starfire fell onto Robin's world. Fate had done its job already, and now it's Robin's turn to do his. He'd just have to move in the right time in all the right places to catch the falling star perfectly into his arms.
And never let her go.
I know, right? What kind of a one-shot is this? I'm such a disappointment. It's a wonder you survived reading this till the end. Congrats. I'm getting unhabituated in writing RobStar fics for sure, it's been a long time since I started fangirling….Sigh. I was originally only halfway through writing this but I had writer's block, therefore I ended it quickly right there and wrapped it up in a kiss so it somehow fulfilled the romance genre. Sorry it was rushed! I had to get this out and force myself to finish [gah, my RobStar inspiration rarely visits me nowadays] or else it'll rot in my laptop forever and I wouldn't want that to happen. Sumimasen. ~hides behind couch~
This may not or may be [probably may be] my last RobStar one-shot before I completely dissolve into annihilated rust, so I promise to myself I'll never delete this even if it's bad. So…
Ja mata ne!
~Rival Argentica