Explanations, Part II
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"Robin...Robin...Robin..."
A sweet voice echoed inside his head.
'Maybe this is heaven,' he thought. It certainly felt ethereal enough.
"Robin...Robin...Robin! Robin!"
The voice was still sweet, but now it had a terrified, panicky edge to it. Why was she so frightened?
He suddenly realized some one was shaking him by the shoulder. Hard.
He also noticed that amidst the hard, cold raindrops, something warm and wet was falling onto his face.
Then he remembered. 'Kori! I need to save her!'
He forced his eyes open though it felt like Cinderblock was sitting on both of them.
He blinked his bleary eyes. A frenzy of vivid red surrounded him.
"Star..." he managed to croak out. The shaking stopped. Instantaneously, strong, slender arms encased him. That's when Dick realized every limb was sore and he had a nasty headache.
Her voice held the light of relief. "Oh, Robin, you are unharmed!"
"Oww..." he involuntarily groaned.
The arms let go of him as quickly as they had held him. Through the haze of rain and pain, he could see the green red-rimmed eyes in the pale, worried face wet with tears and the rain that was still pouring down. There was another flash of bright lightning.
"I am most sorry," she was saying. "I should have realized you were -"
Dick couldn't hear the rest of her sentence, as it was interrupted by a rumble of answering thunder. It didn't matter though. The moment he heard the word 'sorry' leave her lips, nothing else computed in his brain.
He was the one who put her through this roller coaster of emotions. He was the one that had left her in the tower. He was the one who had broken her heart. He was the one who had lied, the one who had flirted with her as Dick Grayson. The one who made her feel guilty and confused.
He was the one who should be saying sorry.
It was as if someone had drownedout all the sound in the world. He saw her eyes search him with worry stamped on her brow, her lips mouthing something. He saw another flash of light. But there was no sound.
He pulled her to him in a strong kiss.
He felt her go rigid, but then she melted into his touch as she wrapped her own arms around his neck, pulling them still closer. Their wet shirts stuck together. Neither cared that they were soaking wet.
The sound of thunder crashed down on him as the world regained all sound. They both fell down backwards onto the pavement, but their lips never parted as the rain pounded on them as one.
It was so much like their first kiss, all those years ago in Tokyo. They had just defeated the gruesome ink monster, and the rain was pouring down upon them, washing away the blackness of both heart and body. And they had kissed. A soft, quiet first kiss.
And how fitting it was for Dick and Kori's first kiss to mirror Robin and Starfire's!
But this kiss held more passion and more pain that came from experiencing love, and the heartbreak that inevitably came along with it.
Kori's arms began to loosen, so Dick released his grip on her waist and they pulled apart. Dick could see uncertainty tumble in her emerald eyes as the looked deep inside each other.
"I'm sorry."
The words tumbled out of his mouth as if they had a mind to their own. But he meant it. Every syllable.
"I'm sorry…"
Two tears slipped down his already soaked cheeks. First on the right, then on the left.
"I'm sorry…"
The tears were now coming thick and fast, barely discernible among the raindrops. Robin dropped his gaze, ashamed. He felt a warm touch on his cheek, but he still didn't look up. But the hand was insistent. It tugged his chin upwards, so that he had to look up. His gaze was met by Starfire's watery smile.
Starfire knew Robin was not saying those words merely to sooth her. She knew they were true words from his heart because he had shown her his tears. He had never done so before. She knew he thought them as a sign of weakness.
She leaned in as gave him a soft kiss, an 'I forgive you' kiss.
"I love you," Kori whispered to Dick, who was Robin at the same time.
"I love you too," Dick replied, looking into Kori's smiling eyes, which were Starfire's eyes at the same time.
They just sat there in the rain, smiling and crying at the same time, willing the rain to wash away the pain and the lies darkening their lives.
The rain had become a mere drizzle by the time they stood up.
Dick grasped Kori's hand. "Let's go home."
They walked into the glaring light of the streetlamps, not caring that passerby were staring at their wet, mud-caked attire.