This is much more of a reflection drabble than a thing with plot in it. This basically is what Robin and Starfire had going on from Go! through the rest of the seasons. Written in the present tense to avoid past perfect. (Also I've been practicing with present tense. It has its moments.)

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Koi no Yokan (Japanese): Less intense or cliché than 'love at first sight', it's the feeling one gets upon meeting someone that they will, eventually, fall in love.

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Being in Tokyo now, where everything was strange to him except for his closest friends—and new girlfriend—it reminds Robin a lot of when he first came to Jump, when everything was strange, including the ragtag team of metahumans he found himself forming.

Being with Starfire like this, he thinks as brings a hand up to her temple and brushes her hair away from her forehead—a gesture he imagined doing so often before and finally is able to do as she curls against his shoulder—this is something he could always envision clearly in his mind.

Over the years, it wasn't like he was singularly obsessed with Starfire. Sure, she crossed his mind more often than other girls. But it wasn't exclusive—not at first, anyway. Other girls, though, he'd think 'Yeah, they're hot. Yeah, they have an awesome personality.' But he's never been able to picture himself with them, either as Robin or as Dick Grayson. It would get fuzzy.

That was always different with Starfire. He'd always be able to imagine them together, hanging out around the Tower, or out on patrol together, or on a real date in their uniforms. Recently, he's even been kicking around an image of him in his civvies and Starfire hologrammed with one of Cyborg's rings. Or maybe at a Wayne Event. He wouldn't hate them so much if he didn't always have to endure the flirting.

He wouldn't say he thought much of her when they first met. It's hard to be distracted while you're ducking cars, and it was Raven who suggested that he use a friendly approach. It definitely isn't as though he saw her and he immediately, intuitively recognized her shining spirit, or the pretty way her mouth curves when she smiles, or the soothing quality of her voice when she speaks softly.

He didn't stop to notice her looks, either, which is ridiculous considering she was in that skin-tight Tamaranean armor, and now that he thought about it, her hair was flying all over the place. He likes her hair, and he runs his fingers through it again. She sighs softly and she must be asleep. That's okay, the movie they were watching ended a while ago and he had been staring at the television as it flashed infomercials at him in rapid Japanese.

Anyway, when he met her, he was in hero-mode. He was usually in her-mode. Hero-mode doesn't let you take breaks to notice pretty girls. Cyborg and Beast Boy didn't seem to have this problem, then again their 'hero-modes' were different breeds from his. Theirs were more like kittens swatting at whatever came close to them while his was more… bat-like.

And then she kissed him. She had no idea what it meant to him, or if she did, she didn't care. Possibly she never had any intention of seeing him after that, but she didn't know how much tht rattled him.

Robin had been kissed before. Many times. Often without necessarily wanting it. Bratty girls, the daughters of Bruce's business associates, would sneak him one occasionally. Sometimes he'd kiss them back, but he usually wouldn't.

His first kiss with Starfire was nothing remarkable compared to those, or compared to ones he'd shared with people who were actually special to him—the one time Barbara kissed him, which left him conflicted and confused but somehow they both decided to ignore—but for some reason, he couldn't forget kissing Starfire.

When she explained earlier that it was all part of a language transfer, he felt a little cheated. Does she consider that their first kiss? Although, she must have an understanding by now and recognize the difference, neatly categorized into Tamaranean and human interactions and clearly different experiences.

He rests his cheek on the top of her head, getting sleepy. If it wasn't love at first sight, then when did he start to love her? Certainly before ever considering going to Tokyo.

He wouldn't let himself love her for a long time. People say that you can't choose how you feel, and maybe that's true, but you can choose how you act. And sometimes acting a certain way can help you feel something less. For example, after his apprenticeship with Slade, he could have clung to Starfire and not let go. He wanted to. But that would have changed their relationship, and even if both of them were ready for that, the team was not ready for that. So he didn't.

It didn't stop him from wanting to, though.

Maybe he realized how important she was to him during that whole fiasco with Killer Moth and Kitten. The idea of doing something romantic wasn't what made him squeamish, it was doing something romantic with someone who wasn't Starfire. It was why he danced with her at the end.

The thing about being around Starfire was that he felt like he was always attempting to move forward. And now they can stop and just enjoy their relationship the way they were meant to. Together.

Hah, totally didn't even realize that I had them in Japan while the word is Japanese in origin. That wasn't on purpose, but it is a nice way to come full circle.