Chapter Six: What Used to Be

Gordanian Warship Vargis
Approximately Four Years Ago

"We have brought the Tamaranean girl Lord Trogaar."

"Bring her forth."

The Gordanian Lord sat upon his throne chair at the center of the bridge, surrounded by several other Gordanian warriors and bridge crew. From the doorway leading to the bridge, two Gordanians entered carrying a semi-conscious and heavily bound Blackfire onto the bridge. Both hands were encapsulated in large metal bindings and a special metallic plate had been securely fastened over her eyes, leaving her blinded and helpless. Injured and exhausted from her capture, Blackfire was helpless in struggling against her captors but that didn't mean she was going to just hang up the towel. With a gentle shove, the Tamaranean fell to the ground before Lord Trogaar. With no idea where the threats were around her, the young princess kept her head down and her temper under control. She knew she could bide her time…eventually she would have an opportunity to show these Gordanians the tenacity of a Tamaranean warrior.

"You have given my warriors quite a hassle young Tamaranean," Trogaar spoke boastfully as he leaned forward slightly. "Imagine my surprise when my lieutenant told me that a single Tamaranean girl needed more than a dozen of my warriors to take down."

The memories of the fight was still fresh on her mind; she was wandering around the star system, minding her own business when suddenly a Gordanian warship came out of nowhere and launched a surprise attack. In hindsight, she probably should've known better than to fly through space that was well known as a Gordanian hunting ground. Almost anybody dumb enough to wander through that section of space was asking to be attacked by at least one Gordanian ship. Blackfire couldn't help but wonder what god she pissed off to wind up with a whole warship instead of the usual raiding crafts. Nothing ever seemed to go her way. Despite Blackfire's best efforts, there were simply too many Gordanians for her to handle.

Needless to say, Blackfire did not go down quietly. It took a dozen Gordanians and a strong jolt of electricity to keep the Tamaranean down long enough to get shackles on her. Another trio of guards were needed to secure the headgear to keep her eyebeams contained. Unless she figured out a way to escape captivity, Blackfire had little to look forward except a life of slavery…kept in a cage by the Citadel Empire or, worse, on a Gordanian barge.

"I was aiming for twenty but I had tired myself out busting my way through your ship's hull," Blackfire snapped back, promptly earning her a boot to the back, knocking her face-first to the ground. The blood leaking into her mouth served as a reminder for her to keep her mouth shut for now, save for a few inaudible grumbles under her breath.

"What's your name Tamaranean?"

"Komand'r."

"You don't…the infamous Princess Komand'r, now do you?" Trogaar remarked as he rose from his seat.

"How does a Gordanian chlorbag know about Tamaranean gossip?" Blackfire sneered at the amusement Trogaar seemed to be partaking in. She could hear the reverberations of the Gordanian's breath and when she could feel it upon her cheeks she knew that he had stepped close enough.

"I always take an interest in my work," Trogaar mused. "Especially since I organized the attack on Tamaran on that special day of yours – needed to do something to teach your Tamaraneans your place."

"It…was…you?" Blackfire growled with maliciousness clear in her tone but her temper just subtly rising. "I ought to rip throat out."

"An idle threat but to be expected from a Tamaranean – all bark and no bite."

The warmth and stench of his breath clearly indicated how close he was to her and by her mental calculations it was close enough. "Bite this!" Blackfire shouted as she lunged forward, slamming the metal plate over her eyes right into Trogaar's face followed by a juggernaut of a swing, using her own shackles as added force. It didn't quite break the shackles as she had hoped, but Trogaar was thrown straight into his chair in a blow that she hoped he would not get up easily from. Alas, those were the only strikes Blackfire could launch as the Gordanian guards quickly descended upon her and subdued her with multiple blows from their staves. Some might argue that attacking the Gordanian leader like that was a fool-hearted move, Blackfire's pride refused to allow her to kneel before Gordanians without a fight.

"Fierce as always," Trogaar sneered, wiping a speckle of blood from his lips. "But you Tamaraneans never did know when you quit."

"Guess we're kinda dumb that way."

"In more ways than one princess," the Gordanian mused maliciously, which would've sent a chilled down Blackfire's back were not so bold already. "I was thinking of sending you back to the Citadel Empire's main camp but I think you'll be much better off on Oriox Prime."

"O-Oriox?" Blackfire squeaked weakly. For a brief instant, her Tamaranean integrity began to waver. Oriox Prime was the galactic equivalent of being sent to a German death camp – the only thing one could hope for was a quick death. Even the bittersweet embrace was death always seemed just out of reach during the bouts of torture and other unspeakable horrors. Needless to say, it was a fate that Blackfire was going to avoid at all cost. "W-wait!" She cried out just as the guards started to drag her away. On cue the guards halted, almost as though everyone was waiting for the young princess to crack.

"Is the young princess interested in bartering for her freedom?" The Gordanian's snide remarks confirmed her suspicions that he had intended on breaking her down from the moment he launched the surprise attack on her. She had fallen victim to an opportunistic Gordanian preying upon Blackfire disdain for her own planet. However, she just saw it as an opportunity to earn her freedom and get rid of one of her own problems.

"If I recall correctly, the Citadel is always looking for a way to 'keep the Tamaraneans' in line. Ever since Galfore set up his collapsing phalanx guard, no Gordanian raid has been able to get within ten miles of any of our cities."

"And what do you propose princess?" Trogaar chuckled evilly.

"You promise me safe passage at least a dozen light years from here and I'll show you how to break through the collapsing phalanx."

"And how can I be certain you will give me proper information?"

"You don't – but you can either send me away and get nothing out of this whole ordeal or you can take my word for it and you can have the heart of the entire Tamaranean race in your possession. Which will it be?" Blackfire was turning the situation into her favor, knowing full well how badly the Citadel Empire wants the Tamaraneans under control. If Lord Trogaar let this opportunity slip away, he would surely feel the wrath of his superiors.

"You have a deal Tamaranean."

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"I'll go prep ze ship, we're probably going to need to take off in a hurry," Jacqueline sighed lightly with a discouraged shake of her head. Her friends nodded in agreement and the young heroine hurried off to get their vessel ready. Jinx and Raven, on the other hand, figured that their only hope of a peaceful conclusion would be to attempt to talk some sense into the gargantuan Tamaranean Grand Ruler. That task, of course, fell under the 'easier said than done' category and ranked about ten on a difficulty scale. After a surprising revelation, Blackfire had fled the palace with Starfire in pursuit. With any luck, Starfire would be able to calm her temperamental sister and Raven could try to talk sense into Galfore.

"If all Tamaraneans are as stubborn as Blackfire, we'd have more luck trying to beat him at arm-wrestling," Jinx sighed lightly as she and Raven walked through the halls of the palace.

"Stubbornness and quick-tempers seem to be a hallmark of their species," Raven replied in agreement.

"Okay, we'll handle this like any other problem – we identify the problem, we come up with an attack plan, and we execute." All those years training with the HIVE academy had its benefits.

"Very well. Problem: Blackfire has betrayed her entire planet to their sworn enemies."

"Solution: we convince Galfore to be lenient on her."

"New problem: after betraying her people and over-throwing her planet, nobody is willing to give her an leniency. Even I'd be reluctant to give her a second chance."

"New solution: we show them how she's changed and no longer the manipulating, self-centered, violence-prone villain that she used to be."

"Except that she's just now a manipulating, self-centered, violence-prone heroine…and even the heroine part is stretching the truth."

"Huh…this planning thing is turning out to be harder than I thought," Jinx sighed lightly, scratching the back of her head as she pondered their plan further. "Blackfire of always finding a way to make things worse – and I'm forced to bail her ass out of trouble, as usual."

"So why do you bother?"

"Cause she's my friend…it's what friends do," Jinx answered half-heartedly, as if she was just finding any reason that would palatable to Raven. "It's better than my last team – I only need to baby-sit half the time." It had been a long and fruitful year with the Argonauts and while Jinx could spend the better part of an hour going over the highlights of her short stint as a 'hero', she had a friend to bail out of the fire…again. It was a good thing that Jinx didn't bother keeping count or she might start rubbing the thirty-seven separate occasions in Blackfire's face. "Now which way did that giant go?"

Taking a moment to focus, Raven mentally 'searched' through the palace to locate the Grand Ruler's location, finally pinpointing him in one of the upper towers. "Follow me."

"Wish I could do that – make it'd easier to keep tabs on Kid Flash," Jinx joked lightly as she followed Raven through the corridors.

"I know I'm going to regret saying this but…trouble in paradise I assume?"

"When your boyfriend can run at the speed of light, it's a little difficult to keep him in one place if you catch my drift." Jinx went on for several more minutes with various complaints about Kid Flash, most of which revolving around his irresponsible and too-laid-back attitude, but Raven stopped paying attention after the first sentence. Raven wasn't going to be everybody's go-to psychiatrist, relationship expert, or advisor. The problem with having a reclusive and quiet reputation was that everybody assumed she was good at keeping secrets, which wasn't far from the truth but she wished it wasn't that obvious to people. Lucky for Raven, their arrival at Galfore's chamber doors was just the excuse Raven needed to excuse herself from the conversation.

"Leave the talking to me," Jinx insisted as she stepped in front of Raven and pounded on the door. There wasn't an answer though. Raven double-checked to confirm that Galfore was in the room and likely ignoring any visitors for the moment. "Open up already!"

"Good idea, yell at the ruler of a planet full of warriors," Raven muttered quietly.

Heavy footsteps alerted the girls to movement on the other side of the door, which swung open revealing the already irate Tamaranean Emperor. "You have a lot of nerve demanding my presence," he growled loudly, causing both girls to recoil in fear.

"Indeed but I'm sure you can understand that your calling for my friend's execution is obviously an issue that I cannot just sit idly by so I was hoping for a minute of your time to talk this over like two rational adults." Galfore glared at Jinx for a moment, as if deciding whether to invite her in or crush her head like a grape. After the most anxious five seconds of her life, Jinx and her friend were granted entrance to his room to argue their case. "See?" Jinx whispered coyly. "Just leave the talking to me."

Exactly One Minute Later…

"Get out!"

"Gaaah!"

"Ahhhh!"

Both the teens were literally thrown out of the room, landing in a heap on the opposite side of the hallway: Jinx first and then Raven landing atop of her. They were only regaining their senses when the door slammed with such force that they feared the entire doorframe would shatter and collapse upon them.

"Diplomacy was never your strong suit was it?" Raven remarked.

"I only got a C+ on my 'Advanced Negotiations' exam," Jinx sighed lightly. "I guess I should have attended a few more lectures."

"I'm starting to think arm-wrestling would've been a more practical use of our time." With a few sore groans, the two girls staggered back to their feet and worked on figuring out a new plan. Clearly, words were not going to work…no surprise there. They realized that they would need to show that Blackfire was a different person and that a part of her did care about her homeworld.

"Blackfire will need to do something to make Galfore see she's change at least a little bit."

"Hopefully Starfire's having more luck than we are. Though there's no way apologizing is going to get her out of this."

"Go help Jacqueline with the ship. I'll keep an eye out for them – if we need to leave in a hurry, you should be waiting with the ship." If anybody could convince Galfore to reconsider sparing Blackfire's life, it'd be Starfire.

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Several miles out from the palace there was a rock formation in the midst of the Tamaranean wastelands that, while seemingly no different than any of the others, held a great deal of significance to young Blackfire. It was remote, out of the way, and offered plenty of shelter, making it an ideal place to hide when you didn't want to be found by anybody…especially bothersome, morally-inclined, little sisters. Ever since her days as a young princess, Blackfire had retreated to this small formation, nestled beneath the massive, crisscrossing rock spires, to find sanctuary from the world that always scorned her. A careful examination of the rocks would show dozens of fist-sized craters of various sizes and ages. Back when Tamaran was her permanent resident, it was the only place where she felt safe enough to let go of all the acting and just be herself. She was, however, mistaken in her belief that she was the only person who knew of this location – Starfire had once followed Blackfire out to the rock formation and learned that Blackfire frequented the location almost every week.

As such, the moment Starfire bolted out of the palace, Starfire knew right away where her older sister would be heading. Starfire made sure to keep her distance as her sister would be better if she had some time to collect her thoughts before being confronted.

Starfire hadn't had to stalk her sister like this since the night that Blackfire left Tamaran. Just like the last time, Starfire kept her distance and hid in the shadows created by the massive boulders. If there was one thing she could count on, it was that her sister wasn't very observant when she was emotional.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" Blackfire ranted, pacing back and forth with both fists tightly clenched. "Everything's screwed now. I was finally getting things together and I go and screw things up again. For the love of X'hal, it's just like what Galfore said – I ruin every good thing that comes into my life." Starfire remained silent as she watched her sister continue to rant and rave in the central clearing of the rock formations. "How am I going to explain this to the others? The moment Starfire tells Robin he's gonna bust my skull in. Maybe…maybe I should just get out while I still can…I can be halfway to Procyon by the time any of them even realize I'm off the planet."

Starfire mentally sighed in sympathy for her sister's plight. She knew that her sister went through a lot to prove she wasn't the bad person everyone said she was…but could her sister really have betrayed her planet? Blackfire was…evil and manipulative in the past but she had never done something to seriously hurt anybody except Star. It was difficult for Starfire to put all her feelings into words but she knew that what Blackfire did wasn't something she would do today. Plus, in the end, if it weren't for being taken prisoner by the Gordanians she wouldn't have met Robin and her other friends. Maybe it was for the best that she had been taken away from Tamaran and introduced to the wonders of Earth.

"Sister wait!" Starfire finally called out. She knew she had to confront her sister now…she just wished she knew what to say. Blackfire looked a little stunned to see her sister but not as surprised as one would expect. "Please...do not leave."

"What are you doing here? I figured you'd be huddled up with your k'norfka," Blackfire remarked indignantly.

"Cause a part of me knew if I did not pursue you…I would never see you again," she answered softly.

"You make that sound like a bad thing," the elder sister muttered under her breath. "Some things just can't be fixed."

"Why did you not tell me before? I would have understood."

"Understood? Don't make me laugh! You might not have reacted harshly but somebody would and everything would've gone downhill from there. I…I thought I could keep it a secret…I didn't think you needed to know." Starfire could tell that her sister was hiding something from her but she couldn't put her finger on it. Pressure was the only thing that ever made Blackfire talk but it was something that Starfire could never apply right. "Just go home Koriand'r. You can't fix this."

"Your friends are surely speaking with Galfore as we speak and I will speak to him as well. It does not have to end like this."

"It's all over sister. Now go away."

"But…"

"Now!" At this point, her sister was at the point of being furious with her irritating little sister. Starfire knew she could not leave but further talk would only aggravate her sister. Perhaps, Starfire thought, she was being too gentle with her sister – kindness and compassion were not things that her sister responded to.

"I am not leaving!" Starfire shouted back, taking her sister by surprise. "You may wish to run and hide from your own sins but I refuse to let your past mistakes ruin all the hard work you have done to atone for them. This is not four years ago! You are not the same person! Stop running like a coward from your problems and face them!" Starfire rarely raised her voice against her sister since their reconciliation and this was one of the moments where Starfire not only raised her voice but sounded angry as well.

Blackfire frowned bitterly at her sister's words, clearly becoming enraged by her tone. "Face my problems? Fine. Let's start with you!" It was not quite the reaction Starfire had been hoping for but not a totally unexpected one. She braced herself in time so that her sister's starbolt only knocked her over. "It was your damn idea to come here, your damn idea to talk to Galfore, and it was your bloody fault I agreed to any of this nonsense! I should have never listened in the start!"

"And whose fault is that?" Starfire retorted before rising to her feet and slugging her sister with a nasty right hook. With her sister stunned, Starfire rushed her sister and pinned her against the wall. "You have numerous friends who have done everything to help you and you continue to throw it back at them. When nobody was willing to give you another chance I stood up for you and you still disrespect my compassion. This is a mess that you have only yourself to blame for! "

"Naive…little brat!" Blackfire grunted, holding onto her sister in their struggle. "Not every problem needs to be solved and you refused to accept that some bridges can't be fixed! You're also forgetting something else." In a surprise flash of quick footwork and the right leverage, Blackfire broke free and threw her sister straight to the ground. Keeping hold of her sister, Blackfire sharply pulled her sister back to her feet so that she could send her flying across the clearing with another starbolt to the chest. "I'm better at martial arts now."

On the bright side, at least Starfire had her sister talking more truthfully. Blackfire was almost incapable of lying when she was angry…all Starfire had to do was withstand her sister's fury.

"That does not make you a better person," Starfire answered with a pair of starbolts. "You do not think there is a solution because you are not willing to do what it takes to find it." With her sister's pride in mind, Starfire knew she could lure her back to the palace by keeping her mind focused on the fight. Without giving Blackfire a chance to retort, Starfire took to the sky, forcing her sister to give chase if she wished to defend her pride.

"What it takes?" Blackfire growled before flying after her sister. "You will only ever do what fits with your petty sense of morality and you're lecturing me about doing what it takes?" Now that she had Blackfire in chase, she just needed to lead her sister back to the palace. Dodging the flurry of starbolts, however, was making the task difficult. Weaving through the air, Starfire had to use all her expertise to avoid her sister's attacks. It was perhaps only because of their mended relationship that Blackfire wasn't aiming to inflict serious injuries upon her sister, making the shots easier to dodge. Nonetheless, Starfire had to hurry, though, as it would only be a matter of time before Blackfire's frustrations forced her to attack more accurately.

Purple flashes lit up the evening sky, growing more visible to the palace as the sisters drew closer. On the landing pad with the T-ship, Jacqueline and Jinx were some of the first to notice the dim flashes across the horizon but definitely the first to figure out what the source was.

"I doubt zat is a good sign," Jacqueline remarked as she stood on the ship's fuselage.

"We can't let Galfore see that."

"Zere get awfully close awfully fast…" It only took a few seconds for the faint flashes to become more intense and soon the silhouettes of their Tamaranean friends were visible. The purple flashes eventually began being accompanied by mid-air explosions – a sign of the escalating air battle. "Hm…she's impacting her starbolts together. Clever girl."

"Call Raven…we're going to need to get this under control." Jacqueline nodded in acknowledge while Jinx raced back inside the palace to find their friend.

Meanwhile, Starfire had her hands full trying to avoid the mid-air explosions created by her sister. Each shockwave shook the young Tamaranean, making it difficult to keep a steady flight path. She was, however, close enough to the palace for her friends to spot her and she hoped her friends would be able to help soon. Misfortune eventually found Starfire, though, as a pair of starbolts detonated right behind, throwing her off-course and sending her tumbling through the air. After several flips and spins through the air, Starfire managed to stabilize herself, only to be crash-tackled by her sister.

Back on the launch pad, Jacqueline continued watching the fight unfold. As serious as it appeared, even Jacqueline could see that Blackfire wasn't fighting with all her force. It more closely resembled the elder Tamaranean when she was going through one of her usual tantrums. The two entangled sisters rocketed towards the palace, eventually slamming into the mountain foundation and disappearing in the smoke and debris.

"Damn Star…you sure know how to piss your sis off," Jacqueline whistled, clearly impressed by the display of force. Figuring it'd be faster to go by air, Jacqueline hopped onto her fancy guitar and flew down to investigate.

Instead of just impacting into the mountain, though, the two sisters punched straight through the rocky exterior and into the basement levels of the palace. Amidst piles of rocks, debris, broken furniture, and scattered items, Blackfire was straddling her sister's waist with a charged starbolt raised high. Instinctively, Starfire grabbed the closest thing on hand to shield herself from the blast. Instead of a sheet of metal or a piece of rock, though, she wound up holding up a purple stuffed toy in the shape of a four-winged Tamaranean bird.

"Neegliek!" Blackfire gasped at the sight of the toy, abruptly letting the starbolt dispersing in her palm.

"Neegliek?" Starfire repeated, realizing the item she held in her hands. "I thought Galfore threw him away."

"I thought we tore him in half…"

"It would appear that somebody had stitched him back together." Starfire's closer examination found a length of crude stitching up along the body of the stuffed toy. "Where are we anyways?" The two gazed about the room, which was filled with various items of every sort, most of which looked either very old or very valuable.

"It's the vault – it's where mom and dad, along with every other Grand Ruler, kept their personal things for safe-keeping." Blackfire noticed that her knee was on top of something as well. Instead of something soft, though, it was a broken picture frame with a small, old photo contained within. "Well would you look at this…"

Prying the picture from its frame, the two sisters gazed at the old photo of a young Tamaranean couple. "It's mom and dad…" Starfire realized as she looked closer.

"Looks like it was just after mom and dad got married." Blackfire let out a deep sigh and collected her thoughts. "Listen sis, I'm sorry told the Gordanians how to kidnap you. I didn't think it would be as bad as it turned out but…I was angry and…I didn't have any other choice. I was captured by the Gordanians and they said if I didn't give them the information they wanted…they were going to send me to Oriox Prime," Blackfire explained quietly. Just looking at the picture of her mother made her think 'what would mom think of us now?' at which point Blackfire knew she had to get it off her chest and into the open. "I was scared…"

"I understand sister."

"You do?"

"I forgive you and I do not wish to lose the only family that I have." Starfire took a second look at the old photo in her sister's hand, her eyes transfixing of the young woman in it. "You look so much like mother," Starfire sighed enviously as she looked upon the photo. Their mother had long locks of black hair and dark, confident eyes. Their father, on the other hand, had a hefty head full of deep red hair and a full beard that stretched almost all the way down his burly chest. It had been years since either sister had been reminded of how their parents looked, though Blackfire had far more memories of their parents than the younger sister.

"Mother was always looking out for me…I can still remember when she first made Neegliek for me. It was after my first Gordanian raid…well, the first one I was old enough to understand. Of course…then Galfore gave it to you."

"He said you were too old for toys," Starfire teased, holding the stuff toy close.

"You had him for way longer than I did," Blackfire pouted.

"You never said anything in protest."

"I cried for nearly half the afternoon!"

"You…cried?" Starfire muttered in shock…before she started giggling like a little schoolgirl.

"Oh shut up! That's not funny at all."

"Awww…does the little bumgorf need her k'norfka Neegliek?" Starfire teased further, waving the little toy in Blackfire's face.

"Give me back my Neegliek!" Blackfire barked, pouncing upon Starfire to try and wrestle the toy free.

Minutes later, the doors to the vault burst open and Galfore, along with the three heroines, barged into the room. Jacqueline had seen the first moments of the sisters and warned the others about the fight going on in the vault. However, instead of finding two sisters fighting each other, they found them giggling and tumbling about the vault in a very childish game of tug-of-war.

"What is going on here?" Galfore shouted, immediately get both princesses' attention with Blackfire on top of her sister, who was just holding the toy out of the older sister's reach. Both girls immediately flustered a bright red and flashed an embarrassed grin to their friends, who were having trouble containing their own laughter.

"Uh…just a little um…disagreement," Starfire explained.

"Look at this mess!" The infuriated Galfore shouted, pointing to the giant hole in the wall, the broken shelves, and shattered priceless heirlooms of the royal family. In their best attempt to maintain dignity, both girls dusted themselves off and rose to their feet. "I ought to-"

"It was all my fault Galfore," Blackfire quickly interrupted. "I started the fight and in it, I smashed her through the wall and caused this mess."

"I'm surprised to see you're still on the planet Blackfire." To no surprise, Galfore hadn't forgotten about the whole 'selling out Starfire to the Gordanians' thing. There was no escape from the issue now, though, and Blackfire had no intention of running away this time. "Guards!"

"Wait Galfore!" Starfire shouted as she stepped between the Grand Ruler and her sister. "My sister did nothing wrong and if you had given her time to explain, you would know this." The only person really surprised by Starfire stepping in was her older sister, who had been expecting to have to handle the situation solo. "She gave the Gordanians that information because she had been taken captive and was threaten with terrible things if she did not reveal those secrets. You cannot be upset for a child to be afraid for her life."

"And if she were captured, why was she never taken captive as well?" Galfore answered, sounding a bit skeptical at first…but having trouble believing that Starfire would deceive him either.

"Because after I was captured I agreed to be peaceful if they promised to release her. She was too injured to escape…it was the only way to save us both."

"Is…this true Blackfire?"

"Uh…y-yes," the sister nodded quickly. "You…didn't give me a chance to explain…just like every other time you got angry at me." Galfore looked between the two siblings for a moment before storming off without another word, which was probably the best outcome they could've expected from the stoic Emperor.

"Okay I'm a little confused. What ze hell just happened here?"

"Long story," Starfire chuckled lightly. Their friends shuffled out of the room, leaving the sisters a moment alone again.

"The Gordanians had let me go long before you were brought on board," Blackfire remarked as she looked over to her sister.

"You had save my life numerous times. I thought it appropriate that I do the same in return."

"Just like when we were kids," Blackfire laughed, referring to the numerous incidents when the pair got into trouble and avoided punishment by concocting elaborate stories. "I will…try to apologize if he wants to talk to me again."

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In the private chambers of the Grand Ruler, young Blackfire stood before Galfore in their second attempt at reconciliation. This time around, the others gave them privacy…or at least they were not occupying the room. They were, however, just outside the door and, except for Raven, with their ear pressed against the door.

"Galfore…" Blackfire began, taking her time with each word so that they went out perfectly. There was going to be no third chance at this. "I am deeply sorry for all the wrongs I have committed against you, my sister, and my homeworld. I do not ask nor deserve any favors…only that I be treated as my actions have shown rather than what people have said about me. There…I said it."

"I…do not want your apologies Blackfire. I have spent many hours contemplating what had happened in the past and your…complaints had always been with warrant. You had been treated unfairly and while that does not exempt you from your past sins, it was we who drove you away. You needed a home and instead we turned our backs on you. For that, I humbly ask for your forgiveness."

While Blackfire might've pressed for an apology earlier that day, she had never actually anticipated getting one. Hell, even she would've been reluctant to apologize to herself. "I guess we've both screwed up then, hm?"

"Blackfire…when you were a child, your father knew deep in his heart that people would not accept you as a Grand Ruler, at least not in their hearts. Your father wanted to spare you the dishonour of a failed leadership and she had the greatest hopes for you that you would excel in other endeavors. If your parents had lived they would have given a better chance than the advisory council did. I fought them as hard as I could to give you that chance but…you know how stubborn an old man can be. There are greater things in life than ruling a planet. Believe me…it is not a glamorous when you've been doing it for more than a few weeks. Your mother, though, never stopped believing in you for one second and that was why she gave you this…" Galfore opened his palm and revealed to Blackfire a small ring that bore the royal family's crest upon it. "And it is why I am giving it back to you now."

"I…thought you gave this Starfire," Blackfire murmured softly as her eyes transfixed upon the ring. "The ring of ascension is only for the next in line."

"Your sister said she never felt right wearing it…after you left home she gave it back to me and said to hold onto it until the day you returned. It is time for you to take back what was once yours."

"But…what about what father said?"

"Stubborn we may be, people will be willing to forgive you if you are willing to give them a second chance."

"Galfore…I…I can't accept this."

"I am an old man and I do not have an heir of my own. I will be able to rest peacefully knowing that my home has been left in good hands." Rather than waiting for a response, Galfore gently took Blackfire's hand and slid the ring unto her finger. "Hail to thee Princess Komand'r, Princess of Tamaran."

Blackfire was completely speechless. Her jaw hung open as though looking for words but not even a peep left her lips. Eventually, she gave up trying to find words and simply embraced her k'norfka in a warm hug. Finally, she managed to eke out a few words. "Thank you." Outside there was a very, very quiet celebration for their friend's success, especially for Starfire. Jacqueline was still listening for more when the door suddenly swung open and the French girl fell into the room with a yelp.

"Quite done listening in?" Blackfire mused as she looked to her fallen friend.

"Just…making sure you were safe," Jacqueline chuckled, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Well our business is done here so its time to go home," Blackfire instructed, motioning for her friends to head for the ship. Blackfire watched her sister and friends file off for the T-ship, staying behind to say one last good-bye to Galfore.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Galfore remarked, holding up the tiny stuffed Neegliek.

"Don't say a word to anybody," Blackfire whispered sternly, swiping the toy from her k'norfka. Heading off to join her friends, Blackfire took a second to make sure that nobody was in the halls in sight…and then hugged the little Neegliek closely. "My little bumgorf…"

"Ahem!" A familiar voice spoke up. Blackfire looked up to see her sister standing at the end of the hall with a very smug grin across her face. "Are you coming sister?"

"Right…I was just…um…wipe that smirk off your face!"

Starfire simply giggled and replied, "of course, your highness."