I opened my bleary eyes to the sound of knocking on my door. Looking out at my dark purple shades, I could see that the sun was still creeping across the sky. Stretching my arms out over my head, I heard my joints popping as I rolled my shoulders and got up out of bed.
Shuffling over to my door, I hit the release and opened the door to the sight of a slightly disheveled Robin.
"Morning, Rae" Robin gave me a glint of a smile. "It's time to train...and I know how much you love physical activity."
At that I raised an eyebrow. Robin chuckled.
"I will meet you downstairs in the training room. I am sure you will love what we are going to do today". I shut the door in his smirking face and readied myself for what I was sure would be a fantastic morning.
Trudging down to the training area, I was greeted by equally drowsy teammates.
The Teen Titans that we once were of our youth have long since been stripped of our baby fat and even Beast Boy, or Garfield as we call him around the Tower, is nearing his 21st birthday and contemplating a name change with his newfound "manhood." Robin decided that we are all long past are teenage years and a couple years previous dropped the qualifier and simply go by the Titans which suits us all just fine.
Star, or Kori, has had to take periods off from the team to return to Tamaran to aid Galfore in political matters. Cyborg has been requested by the Justice League countless times and Garfield has even gone back to the Doom Patrol for a "reunion tour" as Mento coined it. Robin even travels to Gotham to aid Bruce and Tim. But no matter how long they are all gone, the Tower is home.
It seems like I am the only one who has never left to explore other cities or see to responsibilities. I have been content with my life in the Tower. I have not experienced much outside of our little neck of the woods, but considering how if my father had gotten his way I wouldn't even be on this earth anymore...I should count my blessings. Most would take this new opportunity at life to be adventurous and do all of the things he or she had dreamed of. But, that is the problem.
Since I was raised believing that my life would end at sixteen, what would be the point of dreaming about a future I knew I wouldn't have? It would only bring me sadness, which due to my powers I do not have the luxury of feeling if I want to keep the things around me in one piece.
My victories and adventures have within the Tower walls. With Trigon's hold no longer as strong, I have been able to show a little more emotion than before. However, I am still not Starfire by any stretch. Each raised eyebrow or small chuckle might as well be a grimace or a full belly laugh. The team can tell that I have been making a bigger effort, spending longer periods of time in the common room instead of holed up in my bedroom, and are still well aware that I need my boundaries. I am still not fully in control.
From Robin's remark, it seems like my boundaries might be a moot point for training today.
Robin stands in front of the mats situated in the middle of the room. I wrinkle my nose. Mats are never a good sign. Mats equal training scenarios that require physical labor and I abhor hand to hand combat.
"All of you are too reliant on your powers" Robin addresses us as we all circle around him at the mats.
"There is no guarantee that you will be able to fight off your enemies with your starbolts…" he glances at Starfire. "Or your telekinesis."
Looking down at the reflective surface of the wooden floor, I felt the heat of Robin's stare. There was no way I would give him the satisfaction of looking up to meet his masked face.
"You will be pairing off based on physical size." Garfield opened his mouth to argue. "And no Gar, being able to change into animals bigger than this room does not make you physically bigger than Starfire." Gar closed his mouth, making a short sound of disgust.
"Cy, you are with Kori and Gar, with Rae. This is a simple disarming exercise. The idea is not to beat your opponent into pulp, but to render them incapable of attacking you further."
He steps backwards off of the mat to make room for the pairs.
Kori immediately launched at Cyborg, attempting to use the element of surprise to her advantage.
Turning from the two already sparring, I looked to my own partner seeing a smirk on his green face. "I promise not to go too hard on you, Rae."
"Call me Rae one more time and I won't go easy on you either" I retort back.
Beast Boy lunges at me. Throwing my feet off balance as I attempt to dodge out of the way. He hooks his right arm at my stomach and even though I manage to jump backwards his first still grazes my body enough to knock the wind out of my lungs.
Since he is on the offensive I am only able to block his swift charges, never able to return fire. This might be a bit more challenging than I had expected. Since when did Gar gain muscle? Out of the corner of my eye I can see Robin observing our battle. Trying not to get distracted by the audience, I focused my attention back on the man in front of me.
Looking for an opening in his stance, I quickly twist my body and kick out my right leg at his side. Beast Boy counters and grabs my leg as it impacts with his side. Using my momentum against me he pushes me back still holding onto my leg and I loose my balance, landing firmly on my back against the mats.
Before I have a chance to regain my footing, Gar has his knee lightly pressed to my neck. "Checkmate, Rae!" He looks down at me with a smirk.
Robin stepped onto the mat. "Well done Gar...Rae" He raises up one side of his mask and I can just envision the shine in his eyes and the raised eyebrow hidden under his mask. "What was that? Did you feel sorry for Beast Boy or something? I thought I trained you better" he chuckles motioning Gar to get off the mat.
"Maybe you need a refresher? Spar with the former acrobat to redeem yourself?"
I glanced over to the side of the room and saw that Cyborg and Starfire had finished their match, it appeared that Cy had won, and they were all watching Robin and I on the mats.
Staring at Robin, it seemed as though his worries from the night before had completely vanished. He was joking with me as if the nightmares that had kept us both up into the wee hours were in the much more distant past. I would do anything to keep that smile on his face, even if that meant taking a few punches from him as well.
"Alright, Robin, bring it on. I was only going easy on Gar anyways" I looked over to Beast Boy leaning against the wall and winked.
I widened my stance and squared up my shoulders, turning to face Robin.
Smirking, "I am ready when you are Boy Wonder."
-)-
Stay golden, my Readers. - Chlover