Disclaimer: see chapter one.
This chapter is set in Kory's (Starfire's) POV.
Returning Home? Part V
Tamaran is just as beautiful as I remember. It still looks like a true paradise, one that only the Caribbean Islands of Earth would be closest to compare. And the sun! The energy feels so good, I've never felt this strong before! And I haven't flown as fast, which is saying something since it only took me a few hours to arrive here at my top speed. I'm sure if I wanted to, I could fly back home in…
I've never felt so lonely in my life. Even when I was a slave of the Gordanians. At that time, my focus was always to escape the tragic fate I had been given. Even death would have been a welcome escape than being traded to a new and crueler owner.
Now I just wish to go back home and be surrounded by my friends. To watch Gar and Wally pull pranks and crack jokes and Rachel glare and snipe at them to stop. To hear Vic boast about how much he had improved his strength at the end of the week and see his mock glare and frown as I still lift at least one or two more than him, so I do not crush his pride. I wish I could go back and hear the music that blasted through the closed door of Karen's room and hear her complain on sunny afternoons how she's stuck inside fixing peoples mp3 players for extra cash when she could be at the beach watching the sunset, even though she enjoyed tinkering with electronics just as much. I wish I could watch Donna and Roy flirt around each other between classes and can't help but wonder how long it will be for them to finally get together, or even if I will make it back in time to see if they ever did before graduation. And Dick. I wish I was back on the school roof with him, lying down and watching the sunrise in silence.
Do they miss me? Are they angry at the way I left without a word to almost any of them? Would they ever even want to see me again?
"Koriand'r?" I hear a deep booming voice call out from my bedroom door. Galfore. "Koriand'r where are you my little bumgorf?"
"Out here, Galfore," I reluctantly reply. I'm lonely, and yet I wish to be alone.
"You are still floating out here?" Galfore wondered aloud, "You should be preparing yourself for tonight's feast! Even your father has found the strength to ready himself."
I could not speak. I just continued to stare forlornly at the sunset in front of me. I knew I was being rude, but I could not help myself. Even I am contemplating faking an illness to explain the wanted absence from this dinner.
Galfore laid one of his large hands gently on my shoulder as a sign of comfort and reassurance and I floated softly back down to my chair. "What is wrong, little one?" he asked kindly. Galfore had always been very kind to me when I was younger. My father had assigned him to protect and guard my sister and I, and even after we had both gone, he has watched over and protected my younger brother. He had returned with Ryand'r for this…special and momentous occasion. Ever since Komand'r and I trained early with the Warlords of Okaara all those years ago…no, possibly a lifetime ago, my father and the other rulers of the continents had decided to send their children early as well, in hopes this generation is better prepared for war and betrayal then they had been. They now believe that all those years of peace had weakened and softened them too much, and yet, with my marriage to Karras, they hope to bring years of peace to Tamaran once again.
I sigh and dip my head. "Nothing is wrong, Galfore. I am very excited to be back home. The celebrations have been wonderful."
I almost remind myself of Rachel with how hollow and detached my voice has become over the last few days.
"Koriand'r, you know that you can trust me. Tell me the truth," he insisted.
The truth? What was that saying Donna liked to use when she knew someone was lying to her? The truth shall set you free. And yet, no matter what I tell him, I will never feel better, because I know I cannot go back home in who knows how long and explain to my friends that I had left to get married. A marriage of state is something most of them would never understand because it is no longer practiced in their culture.
"I just miss my friends, Galfore," I answered honestly. I do miss them, that is not a lie, but I also wish I did not have to go through with any of this. That Komand'r will come and take her rightful place on the throne. That Ryand'r were old enough to rule so I may live my life however I wish to live it. That I were marrying someone else. Someone with deep blue eyes and ink black hair, two locks of which would always remain small curls over his forehead, no matter how he styled it. Someone I never wanted to say goodbye to, especially not the way I did.
I left him in the rain, calling out my Earth name. My name.
"Kory…Kory…Koriand'r!" Dick's voice fades and Galfore's voice startles me out of my reverie. "The feast will begin soon. You must get changed."
"Of course. I am sorry Galfore. I will be out in a few minutes."
He looked at me in concern once more and I sent him a small smile to reassure him, before he finally left me on the balcony once more. I stood slowly, almost lazily and went to retrieve the dress that had been left on my bed. It was a soft lavender dress with a bejeweled neckline of white stones that almost reminded me of pearls. The belt that was left beside it were two thin interweaving strands of the same jewels, creating a small diamond pattern along the waist. My crown, a ring made of the same pearly substance, still lay in its place on my dresser. I changed into the dress that stopped halfway down my thighs and tied the belt with a loose bow positioned at my side. It reminded me of a dance Karen and I had gone to last year while she, Donna, Rachel, and I were working undercover at an all girl's school. It was nothing formal, but Karen had tied a green ribbon around my waist to add a slightly elegant touch to my outfit and tied the bow at the side to make it seem more like the last minute choice it was and make me stand out from the crowd a little bit more.
I can still remember how the boys accused Karen and I of having too much fun partying and leaving Donna and Rachel to do all of the work after they handed the cult leader over to the proper authorities. Karen's response, of course, was "Well if we were partying so hard, how'd we catch that murdering Satanist cult leader in the first place?"
"Pure luck," Roy had replied with a smirk.
"Please, boy, luck had nothing to do with it. It was pure skill! Bird Boy obviously isn't the only detective around here."
It was of course, a lot of luck, but Karen had dragged me away just as I had begun to break out into peels of laughter, leaving me with no chance of explaining the situation.
That is not to say we hadn't done our jobs as we were ordered, but Karen and I had been curious about the texts our "gang of mutant butt wipes," as Rachel had referred to our "click," had sent us about this party and Donna had Rachel had even agreed to cover for us if we were out too late.
I certainly have been sighing in dejection a lot lately.
Stepping over to my dresser, I gently lift up my crown with the tips of my fingers but hesitate.
This is it. The last night I can consider myself to be Kory Anders. From the mirror I can see my uniform hanging outside my closet doors. The last night I can consider myself to be Starfire. Tomorrow at dawn, I will be Queen Koriand'r of Tamaran. Ruler of all the Royal Houses of Tamaran.
Happy birthday, Kory. And goodbye.
I slip the crown into it's rightful place, holding back the tears I know want to escape, and check my appearance one last time before I make my way out of my room and towards my new life.
As I walk down the halls of the palace, toward the dining hall, I can't help but overhear a guard's conversation with a woman.
"You have trespassed on the King's hunting grounds, crashed your vessel, and yet have no explanation and therefore no choice but to be taken to the dungeons," he explained coldly.
"Did not know," I heard the woman reply slowly. Waitaminute! I knew that voice, that slow deliberate Tamaranian dialogue. Oh no!
I turned on my heel and rushed back down, turning sharply toward the yells of the prisoners. Of four of my best friends.
"Guard, halt!" I called as I rushed up to the scene, a large smile on my face at the sight of my friends, but shock written on all of theirs.
"Kory?" Gar questioned with some confusion.
"Don't worry. I will handle this," I told them before turning back to the guard with a stern expression. "Release them."
"But Princess! They trespassed on your family's ancient hunting grounds," the guard tried to explain to me.
"They are my guests and will be treated as such. Release them!"
"Princess, they crashed a transport onto the hunt-"
"I do not care! Release them or lose your head, guard," I replied just as coolly as he had to Donna. He quickly snapped his fingers for his underlings to release Dick, Donna, Gar, and Karen and I continued, "They are guests for my wedding and have obviously had long and exhausting trip. Call the servants and have them in fresh clothes and warm beds within the hour or you will no longer have your job."
"Yes, Princess, as you wish." He looked past me and at his underlings once more. "Tell the maids of the Princess's wishes. Will there be anything else, Princess?"
"Yes, please go to the dining hall and tell my parents and husband to be that I am sorry for my tardiness, but must see to my guests first."
"Of course, Princess," he replied quickly before turning on his heel and marching down the hall and out of sight.
Once he was gone, I turned back to my friends with a wide smile and quickly engulfed them all in my arms. "My friends! I am so happy to see you!"
"Good to see you too, sweetie, but you mind loosening the grip a bit," Karen wheezed, "Gar smells like a mangy dog."
"Yeah, 'cause I'm the only one around here that smells, Karen," Gar quickly shot back as I released them.
"You're the only one that smells like a dog, little man."
It is so good to hear some form of my friends arguing again. I turn to Dick, still very amused, before my stomach seems to plummet once more as he quickly explains to me with the most adorable hopeful look in his eyes, "We came to take you back home, Kory." I can feel my own smile melt into a sad frown as my stomach twists and turns. "The others would have come too, but we weren't sure if the T-Ship could make the trip and-"
"Dick," Donna slowly cuts him off with a single word, and my gaze finally returns to her for the first time since I told the four of them I would explain everything to the guard. She heard enough to have some semblance of what is going on. Her frown almost matches mine, though there is evident confusion in her eyes as she looks back at me, "Kory…are you getting married?"
"What?!" Dick shouts, his voice echoing off the empty corridors. I can't hear Karen and Gar arguing anymore and glance over through the corner of my eyes to see them staring at me in shock.
Gar, as always, is the first to recover. "What? Dude, she can't be getting married. She's seventeen remember? Legal limit is eighteen."
"There is no limit on Tamaran, Gar," I whisper sadly.
"You're getting married?!" This time Dick was not the only one to shout. Karen had timed her shout so it was perfectly in sync with his.
"To who?" I heard Karen on my right.
"When?" Dick demanded.
"Since when?" Gar continued the questioning.
"Please stop and let me explain," I told them, holding up my hands. It already felt as if they were ganging up on me with their questions and I was trying to use my hands to push them back and give me some space.
Donna wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Is there anywhere we could talk in private?"
"Follow me," I whispered, turning quickly out of her arm and taking a left at the joined hallways, leading them back to my room. Once the door was closed, I slid the lock for reassurance of privacy before sitting them on the edge of my bed and motioning for them to take a seat anywhere they wished.
"When I was eight years old when the Gordanians attacked Tamaran," I began my tale once they were seated, "my father sent my older sister, Komand'r, and myself to train with the Warlords of Okaara at that time. While we were away training, the Gordanians somehow broke through Tamaran's defenses and killed millions of Tamaranians. When I was eleven, I had completed my training and was allowed to return home. My sister, though older than I, was told by the Warlords that she was not as well prepared as I and would not be allowed to leave until she was able to master the arts. She was furious that I had outdone her in both training and combat.
"When I arrived back home, my father and mother were there to meet me. It was very quiet and there was no signs of recent attacks, yet the Gordanian vessels still remained watching over our city's skyline. My father explained to me that, in exchange for peace with the Gordanians, I would be given to them-"
"What?!" Dick, Gar, and Karen all shouted in sync once more. They had all jumped up from their seats as well, even Donna, though she did not interrupt, was on her feet.
"Please, I have not discussed this with anyone before, and would like to continue my story without interruptions," I told them as calmly as I could, motioning for them to sit back down. I took in a slow breath, through my nose, to try and clam myself, before exhaling through my mouth and continuing, "My father explained to me that there could be no peace on Tamaran without sacrifice, and that the only way the Gordanians would leave my people in peace, is if I left as their prisoner. For about a year, I was sold – almost on a monthly basis – to a new owner until the Psions captured one of my owner's ships – a race of alien scientists who like to experiment on their prisoners. It was later there that I was reunited with my sister and we were both involved in a solar experiment the Psions wished to conduct. They wanted to see how much solar energy a Tamaranian could absorb before they are killed. I have no idea how my sister was captured, but it wasn't until they had her that they had begun to experiment on me. Though it was not like the Science labs that we must complete for class, unless they considered the rest of the Tamaranian race as the control and obviously the amount of solar energy we were exposed to was the variable.
"I was tired of being a prisoner and the experiment had made me feel much stronger as I struggled on to break free from all the pain until it finally happened and I had broken free and destroyed the ray they had been using on me. My sister, however, was still being exposed. I could not let her die in the hands of those monsters, so I tried to free her as well. I ended up getting frustrated and accidentally used my star bolts to free her. I offered her to escape with me, but she not only refused but blasted me with her own star bolts, knocking me out cold and stuck in the Psion's ship for another few months. By then I was toward the end of my twelfth year and entering my thirteenth and second as a prisoner.
"Frustrated, I waited for the right moment to strike, and when a fleet of Gordanian ships attacked, I knew it was my moment. I used all of my strength to break down the door and find an escape pod, which took me to Earth, and the Institute. But, when I was captured the Psions, the Gordanians declared war on Tamaran once more, believing my 'escape' with the Psions, as a breach of contract and so, for the past five years my people have been suffering again. Recently the war was brought to an end, but my father, the King of the ruling house of all of Tamaran had taken ill with a deadly virus and he will be gone by the end of the month. My sister, it seems, is nowhere to be found and my little brother is only eleven and much too young to take the throne. Unless you are the first-born son or daughter of the King, as my sister is, you must be married to rule over the houses of Tamaran and so my parents negotiated my marriage to Prince Karras before the Prince left to announce the news to me and take me back here to Tamaran.
"It is a marriage of state," at this point I look at Donna, knowing that, as another Princess, she would understand and help me make Dick, Karen, and Gar understand, "If I do not marry Karras soon, then the throne will be forfeited by my family and civil war shall break out between the continents for the right to rule."
Silence. That was all that filled the room for what seemed like eternity.
"Wait a minute," Dick muttered, his head still buried in his left hand, "You said that if your sister comes to claim the throne, then there is no need for you to marry this guy. If we can find your sister, than you can come back home with us."
"It is not that simple, Dick," I stated sadly.
He ran a hand through his hair and frustration and finally looked up at me, his eyes blazing with anger and pain. "What do you mean it's not that simple? They found you, didn't they? What's to say that they didn't even try looking for your older sister or even know where she is? Who's to say your dad's not just trying to screw your life just like he did by giving you away as a fucking peace offering?! None of it makes sense to me, Kory. Something's not right. And you – you don't even want to be here! We can all tell you don't want to. That you don't want to go through with this so just screw 'em! Screw your so-called family! Let them worry about their own damn mess. Just come back home with us where you really belong."
"Dick," Donna spoke up, her voice still even, "it's not that easy."
"Who says, Donna? Huh?"
I stood and walked over to him slowly, my feet moving across the floor almost on their own. The moment my hands touched his shoulders his head snapped back down toward me. "Tomorrow is the end of the Tamaranian month, Richard. I'm marrying Karras at sunrise and my father will be buried after sunset. There is no more time."
"But Kory-"
"I have to do this."
"I-I just don't understand why? Why do you have to do this?"
"There is no peace without sacrifice, Richard. You know that as well as I do. Our time as Titans has proven that. And now…my time is over. I'm sorry."
A/N: So, now you've caught up with Kory. Hopefully this shed some light on why she just took off a few chapters ago.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please review.