Welcome to the Dreamstate

A/N: enjoy!

Starfire grunted in her sleep. That was the way it had been since she was a child. But tonight, she grunted much louder, screamed, and squirmed. She was having a nightmare. She knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she was having a nightmare, but didn't want to believe it. Her blankets laid on the floor beneath her. She was hot, but then cold. It was like her body couldn't make up her mind. Like something was messing with her mind. Or maybe someone.

Robin had been up the whole night researching everything he could about Slade. Suddenly, he heard a scream. It wasn't just anybody's scream, it was Starfire's. He sprinted down the hall and around corner as fast as he could. Her screams continued loud, and agonizing. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven stood outside the room and banged on the door.

"Starfire, open up!" Cyborg was getting frustrated but concerned at the same time. She couldn't hear him though. And Cyborg knew it. But he screamed anyway. Raven tried to pry open the door with her powers, but it was like it had been welded shut.

Robin's mind was in a panic. Starfire was in danger. "What happened?!" he screamed, terrified.

Beast Boy shrugged, "I don't know! One minute, I'm fast asleep dreaming about my dream moped, when all of a sudden, Star started screaming bloody murder!"

Robin banged on the door even harder than Cyborg, afraid that Starfire might be hurt. After a few tries of yelling and kicking, Cyborg broke the door down.

"Starfire!" Robin was let in the room first. He sat on Starfire's bed and shook her, gentle at first then harder. He felt horrible that he may be hurting her, but she needed to wake up.

The other Titans searched the room, and found nothing. Raven searched the windows, for anything unsealed or broken through. Beast Boy, turned into a dog and sniffed around for any unfamiliar scents. And Cyborg checked the closets, his sonic cannon at the ready for anything unwanted. But there was nothing there.

"Star! Star! Wake up! Starfire!" Robin tried persistently, to wake her. Finally she awoke and looked aorund the room. At once, she began to cry. She wrapped her arms around Robin and buried her face against his chest, yet again, soaking his suit with her tears. Slowly, Robin motioned to the door. Everyone grumbled and left.

Once the door was closed, Beast Boy grumbled, "Now I will never have my awesome moped dream again!"

Raven glared at him, "It doesn't matter that you were woken up. What matters is that Starfire's okay."

Cyborg nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I don't know what we'd do if anything happened to Star."

They all nodded and returned to their rooms. Beast Boy groaned on the way to his room, "But my moped..."

Starfire's eyes were red now. Robin held her and soothed her until she calmed down. When she was ready to talk, she faced Robin and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I am sorry, Robin."

His face was concerned, "No, Star, don't feel sorry. You could've been in trouble."

She shook her head, "I must feel sorry, because all I was having was a 'nightmare'. That was no reason to wake everyone from their slumbers."

"Star," Robin touched her hand and held it, "if you had been hurt, I don't know what I'd do. The Titans wouldn't be the same. So, thank you for screaming."

Starfire smiled meekly. "It was a horrible dream."

Robin looked into her eyes and saw that it truely was. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She nodded. "It was about my parents." Robin nodded. "They were fighting in the battle against the victiorious Gordainians. I was trying to help. But no matter what I did, nothing ever helped. In the end they were defeated. But I was seeing the battle up close. They could not see me. I saw them die, Robin. I saw the Gordainian kill my parents. And then everything on Tamaran was destroyed. And Blackfire was the new ruler of Tamaran. I couldn not tell what was real and what was a dream. It was like all of my fears and doubts in the real world had come together in my dream world."

"Dreams and Reality don't mix," Robin mumbled to himself, "it seems impossible."

Starfire looked down, her eyelashes completely noticeable, "Impossible? Nothing is impossible. When I was small, i thought that my family was impossible to destroy. But I was very wrong."

Robin gave her a hug, never wanting to let go. "Star, you'll always have the Titans. We're your family now."

Starfire looked at him, her eyes glowing in happiness. "Yes, you are."

He stood up. It was well past nine in the morning. He held out his hand for her, "You want some breakfast? Maybe it will get your mind off of things."

She nodded. They walked the halls in silence. When they entered the main room, the scene was set as if nothing had ever happened. Cyborg and Beast Boy were fighting over breakfast. Whether it should be real meat, or tofu eggs and bacon. Since Beast Boy could turn into animals, being a vegetarian was very important to him. Cyborg on the otherhand, just wanted some good quality meat. Raven was in her usual spot on top of a counter across the room. She was meditating to keep her emotions intact.

Robin cleared his voice loudly and everyone stopped. Even Raven opened one eye to see what was going on.

The gang surrounded Starfire, all concerned and worried.

Beast Boy spoke first, "Hey, Star. Are you okay? What happened last night?"

She looked down, "I was having a mare of the night. I am sorry for waking you from your sleep."

They all shrugged and started talking at once. Beast Boy was mumbling on about his moped, and Cyborg was explaining why Starfire's door had been kicked down, and Raven was forgiving her in an almost silent way.

Robin felt sorry for Starfire, that she had so much attention. "Hey, uh, guys. Let's give her some space to breath, okay?"

They all took a step back, and continued explaining and talking. Robin raised an eyebrow. This was not at all what he meant.

Starfire finally spoke up, "Maybe, becuase we are arguing over what foods to eat for our breakfast, we should get something that everyone enjoys and isn't breakfast food at all."

They all glanced at each other and shared the same thoughts, "PIZZA!"

Robin looked at Starfire, who had barely even touched her slice of pizza. He was surprised because she usually scarfed it down in three bites. And it had all of her favorite toppings on top: Mint frosting, mustard, and pickles.

"Hey, Star, are you okay?"

She looked up, "Yes! I am quite fine."

"Why aren't you eating?" To Robin, she wasn't herself. Screaming in the middle of the night? Not eating her favorite food? Everything was wrong.

"I am simply not hungry. My stomach needs no more food. I am going back to the tower." She got up from her seat and was ready to leave.

Robin stopped her by holding her hand, "Wait, why are you leaving? Do you feel okay?"

She nodded and flew off. Something just wasn't right. Starfire just wasn't right. And Robin was going to find out why.