No, I do not own the Teen Titans, or any other DC Affiliated character I use in this story. If I did, I'd be rich, and I probably wouldn't be writing this. :x

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Chapter 3: No Evil Shall…

"I need to get some air…" Derrick finally said as he looked to Blackfire, turning beet red again. Blackfire looked at him curiously for a few minutes before looking down at her- now exposed- body, and smiling. "Sorry, Derrick." She then stepped down a few steps and turned around, bending low to pick up the towel. Giving Derrick a good view of her lower section was just a bonus bit of fun. After wrapping the towel around her body, she turned to see Derrick rush past her and up the stairs. Blackfire frowned. "I must have made him really uncomfortable. Better go say sorry."

Slowly floating up the stairs, not feeling like walking at the moment, Blackfire went to her new room and put on clothing to go outside. The whole ordeal took 15 minutes, since Blackfire was rather picky for clothing. A pair of skin tight, dark blue denim pants complimented a deep violet belly shirt. Blackfire also put on some cloth shoes, not liking the leather soles of regular ones. A red plastic bracelet on her right wrist completed the outfit.

As she exited the house through the front door, Blackfire smiled as the warm sunrays gave her energy. Looking about, she couldn't see Derrick in the front lawn area, so she floated over the house to the back. When she saw Derrick sitting on the ground in a lotus style pose, she stopped and watched him from the roof.

Breathing deeply, Derrick let the cool, northern winter air cool his body, numbing his overactive mind and drowning his thoughts. What is it you seek, Child? The voice of his old teacher, Master Kai, spoke in his mind. I seek True Victory, master. And what is True Victory, Child? Derrick breathed in once more before mentally answering the voice in his head. Victory over One's Self.

Standing, Derrick took a basic combat stance and pictured an opponent across the sandy circle from him. Then a violent dance began between him and his imaginary opponent, a sight Blackfire enjoyed. "If you're done beating up your own shadow, care to have a real partner?" the alien princess smiled as she floated from the roof after viewing Derrick for a while.

A smile spread across Derrick's face as his bare upper body glistened with sweat. "You're making yourself right at home, aren't you?" Derrick bowed deeply to Blackfire as she landed inside of the circular sparring area. When the alien bowed back in the Oskaaran fashion, both took fighting stances.

Blackfire expected to easily win this after viewing Derrick's shadow spar, but she was mistaken in one crucial way: She assumed that Aikido was Derrick's only formal training. The fight began with Blackfire rushing towards Derrick with a sudden backhanded knife hand strike to his abdomen. Derrick pivoted on the heel of his left foot, grasped Blackfire's wrist, and slide his left foot forward to trip her up, smiling as she picked herself up off the ground.

"That wasn't… the same as before." Blackfire said while spitting up sand. Derrick's grin widened. "I was only using Aikido in that shadow spar, Blackfire. I also have knowledge in Savate and Chinese Kenpo." Offering her a hand up, he smiled when she accepted it and they resumed their sparring session, continuing for another hour before stopping, both covered in sweat and smiling.

Blackfire flopped onto the couch as they got back inside, letting out a loud groan. "I haven't had a spar that good since I was training on Oskaara!" The alien equivalent of Adrenaline still pumping through her body gave her an elated feeling. The warrior culture that she came from felt most at home during combat, and she had never felt… closer, to Derrick then she did now. She looked at him in the kitchen as he prepared a small meal to refuel the both of them.

She never realized just how similar the human body was to a Tamaranean one. Aside from the more… feline curving of the Tamaranean body, you probably could not find a difference. Suddenly she felt a very unfamiliar emotion course through her mind, and it felt good. Her face finally flushed as she realized exactly what that emotion is. X'hal! I'm actually in love with this earthling… and blasted, I like it!

Derrick broke her train of thought by sitting on the couch by her feet and handing her a bowl of hardy vegetable soup in a beef broth. "Trust me; it tastes better than it looks." He said just before he took a spoonful and shoveled it into his mouth. Blackfire did the same, not minding the taste. The sat there, eating, for a while, then after she finished, Blackfire flipped over and rested with her body on top of Derrick's lap. "Care to give me a massage?" Blackfire asked, shoulder's stiff from the work out.

As Derrick worked the kinks out of her body rather wonderfully, she decided to take a risk. "What did you mean when you told the martian 'or did you forget what that man did to my family'?" Derrick's hands suddenly stopped moving and tensed on her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into something I shouldn't…"

Derrick drew in a breath and released. "No, I should let you know. It started when I was visiting my uncle several years ago…"

A/N: So, short chapter, mostly for relationship development. Reviews, please, people! I want to know what people think of my stories, I see at least a half dozen of you have read all my chapters so far, I want opinions!