This is the next installment in my fanfiction career as a oneshot inspired by the Coldplay song We Never Change. Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Don't own the Titans or Coldplay.
Setting up the Scene: Takes place in the episode Aftershock. A boulder falls from the sky as an unsuspecting masked boy stands below. His best friend throws him out of the way just in time but in his place thrown off a cliff. Just as the boy realizes what has happen, a strangled call of her name erupts from him as he watches hopelessly.
We Never Change
The wretched yell that had escaped his throat flew behind him as he dove impossibly fast past the cliffs. His eyes locked on the ghost of broken water, anything to remind him of her location.
Get there faster… think of something... do anything … were the thoughts that echoed in his head as the vast plane of gray narrowed in. They seemed slow, hanging in his mind like a dream, something that never happened to him when it came to a dire need.
An unseen drop of water trailed up the side of his face, carried by the sheer force of gravity. He shrugged it off. Please.
With clipped wings, the blow and chill was considered unconceivable until was. His muscles ached with sudden exhaustion that seeped over his chest. His framed sight brought in only shadows and boulders that pushed against his focus until his hearing, touch, and eyes were engulfed in the bitter ink.
Absolutely nothing.
The rip and growl of the ocean deafened anything that he had left. Frozen in time as his ebony curls swayed in front of his eyes, his cape fluttering like a child's kite, floating in midair.
Look.
Eyes snapped open to a dark void. A speck, a glimmer of an emerald stone sparked hope as it danced in his eyes and dove farther into nonexistence.
Swim.
His arms and legs suddenly thrashed with trained vigor, the drag of his clothes not hindering his progress. His technique, flawed but efficient, carried him closer to his desire until a ghostly outline of a figure was just within his reach, grabbing, stretching, so that one of his arms caged her around the slim waist.
The burning in both of their lungs consumed him as tore in the opposite direction from which he first came. The once golden sun had sunk past the shoreline so one was not positive if he was on course, no light to give him hope.
Kick. Kick. Kick. Kick.
As the water continued to pull past and the weight on his right arm grew heavier, a sudden beacon of hope showed itself as both heads broke through water's surface and bobbed as one drew in air steadily. The other resumed quite.
The coast appeared blurry in his eyes as waves and his weakened body threatened to pull him back under. He gritted his teeth and steered toward the darkest horizon, which he thought held the dirt and rocky shoreline. The ache and heaviness lifted slightly as his steel-toed boot met the sand of the ocean floor after the few agonizing minutes of struggle.
Now standing, he heaved the slick body up into his arms, gently but urgently, and sloshed through the shallow end. His feet sunk into the black grains and eventually his legs collapse a safe distance away from the ocean tide. Laying the girl down softly, sand stuck to her flesh to make it gritty and discolored.
Immediately, the boy titled her head back and placed his head above her mouth. Still no breathing. Then the pulse, though hard to find with fumbling fingers, beat irregularly and faint. A quick rush of adrenalin fueled him as he sealed her lips with his. Two deep breaths passed between them and he continued rescue breathing for a minute. It took more out of him then he realized. Sweat poured down his brow and his breaths turned into ragged ones. He stopped and returned to the place on her neck and continued the cycle.
A light. No, a darkness. She couldn't really tell. It hovered around in her self-conscious like a ghost she once knew. She was quite fixated with it as the orb just hovered beneath her lids.
Everything was all so hazy now. Had there been…a boulder? A girl, a blonde girl… The letter 'S' and black hair. Ah, yes. Robin. The last thing she would ever get to see of him was of the blur of locks as she pushed him away. Away from her? It didn't make sense. Then again, most things didn't in this place. All she defiantly knew as the throbbing pain this place caused.
"Starfire…."
Yes? I'm here.
"Wake up, Star. Wake up."
I am awake…wait, where am I again?
"Star, please!"
Just as abrupt as the voice, the sensation of breathing and the need of it came back to her. Seawater expelled from her lungs as a coughing fit surged through out her system for a few painful minutes. The worst was the salt that burned when she struggled to breath and the pressure in the back of her eyes. Starfire breathed erratically for a few moments. Lazily, she dared to open her eyes to find the world spinning. The colors of red, yellow, black, and green twisted and turned next to her.
Robin saw it as soon as Starfire's eyes began to roll in her head. What he had failed to notice before was the stain of crimson that haloed her head. It wasn't her hair. The smell of rust filled the air and Robin immediately balled his cape and applied pressure to the gash.
The bile in his gut threatened to come up. It was sick, torturous work as it continued to bleed through the fabric profusely. Trying to distract himself, he asked the girl a question. "Starfire, can you hear me?"
Starfire's vision wavered slightly as she tried hard to focus in on the face that was helping her. A mask moved constantly in different directions until it slowed some. Ignoring his pleas, she reached out to brush the figure lightly.
"Star…" he breathed. He went to take her hand but it continued to move as if it was looking for something. Finally, her searching fingertips rested on the plated 'R' on his chest.
She gazed in the generally direction of his face when her rough voice let out these words, "Never lose this…no matter what happens now or in the future, always be Robin for me ok?" She panted, like the words drained energy from her being.
In pure shock, he placed his hand over hers and above his heart, the only one between the two of them that would continue to beat after this day. Only Star knew the truth to this fate.
"Don't say stuff like that, Star. Everything…everything's going to be ok, you'll see," he spoke through a swollen throat. "You look … just fine. Just stay here with me until the team comes, ok? Just stay…" He couldn't control it anymore. Warm salt water began to trail down his features, getting lost among the moisture that covered him.
Her other hand formed around his face and an objection was not present as he hunched lower towards her.
"You're lying," she stated simply. A hint of a smile even played on her lips and he noticed the irregular movement of her eyes as they shifted and unfocused without control. A look of alarm took over Robin as a dying, yet smug girl lay before him. A girl in which he loved with his entire being. Certainly she was just delirious, blood rushing where it shouldn't throughout her head. But why? Why did it have to be this way?
He didn't deny her. Couldn't. Just like before this…mess. But now he needed answers more than anything. "Why did you save me?" he whispered in agony, just mere inches from her face. "Why didn't just let that damn rock crush me instead of you?" He looked down at her through water-filled lids, barely able to make out her expression.
She gazed blankly out into the ocean, having no input as to where her stare lay now. She had lost control. Not just of her body, but of her life, as it seemed to be slipping back into the sea. Feelings and emotion only fueled her as had the overwhelming desire to fly, to feel that unbridle joy for only a moment. To share it with her friends and most importantly, with Robin. She dropped her hand and dug her nails into his forearm as another wave of throbbing and longing pulsed throughout.
"Because I love you."
The masked boy just stared, horrified, into the paling face. Her blood caked hair and shivering, moonlight body suddenly swept up into his arms. His response was to kiss her cheek lightly and bury himself within the sanctuary he held. "I wish we could have figured this out sooner. I wish…for a lot of things I guess," he murmured through a sad laugh, which soon got serious again. "But it's not too late to tell you this. I love you, too. You're my best friend, Star, and nothing will ever change that. I'll always be yours."
Her almost still heart fluttered. He would keep his promise and she would be set free. The outline of his dark face made her dizzy as it hung above. She shut her lids and breathed shallowly. With her last strength, she pushed her head up so that her lips captured his. It was sweet, supple, and short as she breathed a content sigh.
She flew.