I am possibly the least understood being on this planet, which is not my own. Many see only my outer naivete, my cheerfulness, my mask... my false name. They don't know me... the real me. You see, I may not understand Earth, but I certainly understand the ways of the universe. Don't get me started on the wars I've seen... that I've had to sit through, being protected like I was made of glass, while countless people suffered. Few see behind my less-than-great language skills and cheeriness. It's just the way I was brought up, to look at the bright side of things... but that's really because an angry, depressed Tameranian has immense, blind, destructive power. Many see me as just stupid. They don't know me...

So few. They all know Starfire, the public, they know the cheey alien girl, but to meet Koriand'r of Tameran would slap them hard upside the head. Even my closest friends, the Titans, most still only know half of what I am. Robin... he can see me clearly. He has that gaze, when he looks at you, he can see your memories, he just... knows... to him, I am not Starfire. He may refer to me as such, but to him I am truly myself-- Koriand'r of Tameran.

Now who exactly is this Koriand'r girl? I will be honest, I do not brag. She is-- I am-- intelligent, though maybe not strategic. I am passionate about what I set my mind to, and to hurt my friends is to have a deathwish. If you spoke to Starfire on such matters, she would ask nicely. I might ask nicely, but only if it was possible, and then if you refused to stop, I would be forced to take you down. Such are the thoughts playing through my mind, fighting all those villains... I seem heroic but I merely go by my own values. No, I am not naive, not in the big picture. Not at all.

I sit next to a black-haired, masked boy now, in a darkened movie theater, and he stares intently at the screen. I stare at him. He is much like me, but his mask is more obvious; he is still imprisoned within his own knowledge of the universe. Though this may be a difficult place to live, it is not nearly as awful as he makes it in his mind. I am slowly but surely persuading him to come out... to come out of his cage, unlock it and throw away the key forever. For him to come out and be-- no, not normal; I am almost as normal as I will ever get, having seen the suffering that goes on daily, unnoticed. But for him to accept the danger, and just... live, even if only for a moment, to take a break and say, 'I'm all of fourteen, and I've been up all night, I'm going to go watch a rental DVD with my friends.' To not push himself all the time. I don't know if I'll ever completely acomplish my goal, but for know... it's always worth a try.