Chapter 10: All of You

Robin stood at the centre of a large group of emotions. All of then were staring at him some disinterestedly, others shyly and others just plain adoringly. He was starting to feel rather uncomfortable until Wisdom stepped into the middle of the circle with him. "Greetings fellow emotions," she called her voice rich and splendid. A few of the slacker girls stood up straighter. "Today we are gathered here to welcome a stranger into our midst." There was a quiet rustle and Wisdom smiled. "Well perhaps not quite a stranger. Robin, Teen Titan and Boy Wonder we are honoured to have you with us today." She paused for a moment allowing her words to sink in before continuing. "I am sure some of you will feel inconvenienced at having to come here on account of Robin but I assure you that it is us that should feel grateful. He has done what we have never taken the initiative to do. He has brought us together so that our problems may be solved by the mind of the many instead of the one. We all know that alone we are weak and that at different times we can guide Starfire in inappropriate directions." Lust giggled and someone shushed her. "But together we can create a balance that is truly harmonious. For the truth is, Starfire needs every one of us. Even those of you who feel useless or ineffective are necessary because together we make an amazing team. Together we make Starfire."

The rustling noise grew louder as more and more emotions jostled each other and clamoured for room. No matter who they were they couldn't help feeling interested in Wisdom's words. Words that seemed applied to every single one of them. Wisdom bowed her head. "Thank you for listening to me. I now ask you to listen to Robin while he makes a short speech." Stepping away she joined the circle leaving a very nervous Robin in the middle.

Looking around at the many Starfire's he took a deep breath before beginning. "Hey. Well most of you know who I am. Actually I think all of you know who I am because Wisdom introduced me but anyway…" Clearing his throat he ignored the sniggers and continued. "I came in here completely by accident." Closing his eyes he groaned. "Ok not completely by accident. I was looking for Starfire and she wasn't there so I decided it couldn't hurt to take just a little look into her room could it? I'd never been in there before. Like really in there and I was curious. So I went in and everything was normal and then before I knew it I had touched her mirror and I was in here." There were some confused sounds and Robin looked apologetic. "I don't really know how it happened either," he said. "But the point is I knew I couldn't stay here forever. First I was attacked by the…the…"he frowned trying to remember the word.

Emotionless raised an eyebrow. "Grishnaks?"

"Yeah them! And I was meaning to ask anyway. Why do they even exist? I mean they're not an emotion."

Fury was the one who stepped forward. There was still a fire in her eyes but Robin was no longer scared. He knew who she was. "The Grishnaks were created every time one of us felt inferior or if we felt underused and pushed away. They could never hurt us. The most they could do was bite and even then it didn't draw blood. But they represented a hotbed of insecurity. The Grishnaks were everything we hated and yet what we seemed to be."

Robin was momentarily stunned. "Oh. Well yeah I met them and then Emotionless," he jerked his head in a gesture of thanks towards the silent figure. "She rescued me…" He continued telling the eager emotions how he had journeyed through many of their lands, how he had talked to them, revealed secrets about Star that none had previously cared to know and how he had finally reached Wisdom's land. He cast a quick glance at Love who was standing peacefully at the back. He had skipped the bit about flying with her. He hoped she would understand. "And now," he finished voice strong. "I want to go home. I've learnt more about Star then I could ever have dreamt about when I went into her room but I think it's time I saw the real Star," there was an indignant snort and Robin smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I meant the all-of-you Star again."

Wisdom beamed as she stepped into the circle again and raised her arms. "Do we all agree that Robin is worthy of being sent back?"

There was a loud murmur of assent and even a few cheers. "I am pleased."

Naivety stepped forward and silence fell again. "I just wanted to say," she said blushing. "That Robin always seemed to care about me… I mean us…and that if it wasn't for him I think we would always have felt something was missing in our lives. We should be more then glad. We should be joyful, happy, triumphant! I think we should applaud him." Slowly still looking uncertain she began clapping and then Timid walked forward to join her. One by one a wave of applause swept the emotions as they all clapped enthusiastically for the boy wonder. And Robin looked at the hundreds of Starfire's all praising him and he felt a sense of wonder and longing stronger then any before. Approaching Wisdom he took off his cape and knelt. "I'm really, really glad that I made such a big difference but please can I go home now?" He knew he seemed like a little kid but for a moment Robin didn't care, he just wanted to be back in Titan's Tower where everything was normal and his friends would welcome him with open arms. Seeing his face Wisdom nodded. Without quite saying anything she seemed to group the girls into one large circle holding hands, with Robin in the middle once more.

"The only way to send you back is to have the owner of the emotions come and get you. And to signal to her we need all of us to call as one." Closing her eyes she began to chant in Tamaranean and as Robin watched in awe the circle rose into the air and glowed. Colours danced around him like a rainbow and he stood mesmerised as everyone picked up the chant as if by instinct. Gradually it got louder and louder until the very land seemed to reverberate with it and finally there was a whoosh of air, a swirling hole and a very bemused Starfire landed in Robin's lap.

Authors Note: Just the epilogue to go and we're all done =)