Chp.3: Taken away too soon
"Aw, man, that was fun!" Beast Boy said as they all laid in the floor.
"Yes, I will--remember it always…" Starfire muttered.
"Hey, at breakfast tomorrow, let's have another party, just to see you off," Cyborg said.
"Okay," Starfire said smiling sadly as she rose up."I am sleepy now."
"Goodnight," Robin said half-asleep from the floor.
"Goodnight," She said and walked away.
~~~~~~~~
Robin lay in bed that night, sleeping fitfully through a dream, tossing and turning.
It was dark….He couldn't see a thing beyond the spotlight he was standing in……but what he heard….he heard crying. "Hello?" He called.
"Robin!" He recognized that voice.
"Starfire!" He yelled out, "Are you okay?! Where are you?!"
"Robin! Help me!" Her voice was fading.
"Starfire! STARFIRE! NO!" He yelled and ran in the direction her thought her voice was coming from.
Lights followed him as he ran, lighting up a path.Then, right before his eyes, the lights flashed on.
"St-starfire…." He watched in horror as Lyss held her too tightly and smirked at him.
"She's mine now," He said.
"Stop it! Leave her alone!"Robin yelled threateningly.
"AHHHHH!!!!!!" Starfire screamed.
Robin rose up in a flash. He put his hand over his eyes. That scream was real… "Starfire!" He yelled and was out of bed in a flash, just grabbing his mask and boomerangs from the bedside table.
~~~~~~~~
The other titans had heard it too. Beast Boy in his green pajamas with goats on them, cyborg as usual, and Raven in her outfit minus the cloak, were all in the hall when Robin emerged from his room at a run. They all busted into Starfire's room.
Her window was broken and a spaceship was outside. Lyss stood on the window sill holding Starfire around the abdomen with his hand over her mouth.
"What are you doing?!" Robin yelled over the noise of the shuttle engine.
"Sorry, Robin, but after looking this planet over, I can't have Lady Starfire stay another moment! It's been fun, but we have to go now!" Lyss said grinning and hopped out the window. Starfire reached her hand out for them, but to no avail. They landed in the back of the spaceship and were driven off.
"No!" Robin yelled as he watched out the window in anger and horror and confusion.
"Starfire….."
~~~~~~~
The next morning was a gloomy gray, fitting the attitude of everyone. Raven sat reading and sighing a lot, and Beast Boy and Cyborg did nothing at all. They didn't even argue over breakfast. They weren't all that hungry this morning.
Robin hadn't even gotten out of bed. He laid in bed staring at the ceiling fan spinning around and around, the articles of captures and the mystery of Slade on the walls, the tools on the table, but nothing could get his mind off of Starfire.
"I don't get it. Why should you have to be taken away? Why couldn't you really hve a choice. Whether or not you wanted to go, he would have taken you, even though you wanted to stay with us…with….me."
There was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Robin answered somewhat lazily.
"It's Raven."
"Raven?" Raven had never even entered his room before, much less knocked on the door to speak to him. They weren't that close.
"Open the door, or I'll open it myself," She said as the door began to turn black. Robin got up and opened the door.
"Come in," He said and flopped back down on his bed.
"Well?"
"Well, what?" Robin asked.
"Aren't you going to go after Starfire?" Raven asked.
"No."
"Why not?" She asked crossing her arms.
"-because."
"Because---?"
"Because."
"Because--why?"
"First of all, she's probably married by now, second, I don't have a ship, third, I have no idea how to get to Planet Tamaran, and lastly, she's gonna stay whether or not I get there!" Robin yelled, sitting up in bed, then flopped down and lowered his voice to normal again. " If I make her come with us, I'm no better than Lyss is."
"We're not making her go anywhere!" Beast Boy, who had apparently been listening through the door, came running in.
"Yeah, it's like those old fairy tales," Cyborg said, who had obviously accompanied Beast Boy. "Guy saves damsel in distress."
"Were you following me?" Raven asked, her eye twitching slightly. The two smiled innocently.
"She doesn't need to be saved. That's her planet. She belongs there," Robin said.
"No, she belongs with us," Cyborg said and walked over and stared him in the eye. "Now tell me, are you just gonna lay around and mope, or are we going to save our friend who needs our help? The Robin I know wouldn't be doin' this."
"Yeah, the Robin I know would already be there, kicking the monkey tail outta that sniveling, conceited Lyss guy!" Beast Boy said.
"The Robin that I know wouldn't give up so easily. He would actually care that his best friend needed him," Raven said.
"Okay….I get it," Robin said raising up from his bed. "-but there is no way we can get there. We can't just rent a spaceship, and even if we could, we don't know where her planet is."
Beast Boy and Cyborg started yeling about how stupid the other one was for not noticing until Raven rose her voice.
"I know how we can get there," she said. The room grew silent.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Ooooooh, no, I'm not goin' back in there!" Beast boy said pointing to her mirror that she held in her hands.
"Not the mirror! We got stuck in your head last time!" Cyborg said in fear.
"-like an irritating, catchy song…" Raven said then turned to Robin. "My mirror can transport us to any place we want, any planet we want, any time we want. It does a lot of things that-" She eyed B.B. and Cyborg, "I don't want being messed with. The telaportation requires a lot of my energy, so we're going to have to wait till I finish. It will take approximately a day, so come in when the sun sets."
"uhhhh-" Beast Boy said.
"Okay," Cyborg said.
"Whatever we can do," Robin said.
"You should go pack," Raven said setting the mirror on the floor. She folded her legs and sat indian style. "Azarath… Metreone… Zenthose….. Azarath…. Metreone….. Zenthose…." She began chanting as the others left the room.
Don't worry, Starfire….We're coming to save you. Just hang on a little longer, Robin thought to himself as they exited Raven's room. I won't lose you again….I promise.