Chapter 7 (To the Last Punch)
Beastboy could hear Robin working out before he had even entered the room. Robin was muttering under his breath, kicking the dummy with all the strength in his body. You could hear it from the grunts. Beastboy had known Robin to be a bit of an obessor when it came to certain things, well mostly Slade, but working out too. Robin used working out as an outlet, for stress, and such. And when it was in deep thought, well, he knocked the stuffing out of the dummy, literally.
Beastboy slipped quietly through the door. He stood in the doorway a while, watching Robin beat up the dummy. He was knocking its socks off. Beastboy could tell even from behind Robin that Robin was in deep thought, about Star. Which was understandable, other than the fact that Robin loved Star, more than he hated Slade, Star had been acting odd lately. But at least this time she wasn't wearing ugly hats, oversized boots, and a rain jacket. So Beastbot stood there watched Robin, who was so focused on the dummy and his thoughts that he wasn't even aware that Beastboy was behind him. Suddenly Robin seemed to jump into hyper mode, punching the dummy madly and wildly. "That can't be healthy", Beastboy decided. He came up behind Robin and set his hand on his shoulder, "Dude…" This caught Robin off guard, he spun around his fist still swinging madly. Beastboy morphed into a mouse, narrowly missing Robin's arm. Robin seemed to snap out of his attack mode, breathing heavily he dropped to the floor next to Beastboy, he changed back to human form, "Still haven't told her, have you?"
Robin sat on the ground panting for a long time, he shook his head. "If you can't tell her maybe there's a reason. When the time comes- dude- when you're ready to tell her, you'll tell her." "How are you so sure? What if I can never tell her?" "Dude, you seriously need to stop stressing about this, look at yourself", Robin still was panting, sweat dripping from his face, "It's pulling you apart, don't let it." "What exactly is 'it'?" "That's the question. Now find the answer", and with that Beastboy pulled himself up and walked off. Robin leaned against the wall, as he tried to make sense of Beastboy's words.
Star looked at herself in the mirror, the doctor was wrong; there was something different, some wrong with her. She knew it. Her skin didn't glow its slightly orange glow, it was now a pale white thing. Her eyes didn't proudly sparkle, glimmer, and gleam their usual, fiery pine tree green, the green was pale, and suddenly unimportant. This was not her, not the usual her. Even her brighter than sunshine attitude was hard to find, "Something is wrong." Even her voice was different. Her cheerfulness, and innocence had been replaced with insecurity, and doubt. What had she done? What had happened to make her like she now was? Her energy, and her powers, became increasingly difficult to control. She knocked on Raven's door, it opened, and she slipped in, "Raven, something is wrong."
Raven looked at her, nodding, "Yep, you're actually quiet, there must be something wrong." Star weakly made eye contact, "I do not understand, what is happening." "Well Star if you don't know, I sure don't", for once Raven didn't know everything. "We shall return to the house of doctors?" asked Star. "He said to wait a few days, he said nothing was wrong." "Perhaps it is a Tamerianin disease, maybe he would not be able to understand it, or treat it." Raven hadn't thought of that, "Maybe… Have you ever heard of a disease like this?" Star shook her head, "It is so strange, my heart and stomach hurt suddenly, then stop hurting. My skin is pale, and so are my eyes, my voice as well." "Does your heart hurt now?" Star shook her head. "Odd…"
Star left Raven's room in a daze, nobody understood her. She brightened her attitude, oh well; Robin would make her feel better. Just thinking of Robin made her smile; her heart beat a little faster. Robin always made her feel better; she wouldn't have been able to be so optimistic, if Robin wasn't always there to make her fell better about everything. He made her feel good; maybe that's why she loved him. Even if she couldn't tell him how he made her feel, SHE knew how he made her feel and that was enough, right?
Robin was still in the workout room, pounding away at the dummy. He had finally decided what to do, it was the only thing to do: Tell her he loved her. He was ready, after pounding through his thoughts, and nerves, he was finally ready to tell her. But one or two more punches couldn't hurt… He paused after the last two punches, feeling a light hand on his shoulder, and even though he hadn't turned around he knew it was Star. Perfect, he was finally ready to tell her, and now they were in a room together, alone. He let himself smile, then he turned around, "Star-" He stopped to actually look at her, it was a mistake. But if he had kept talking and hadn't stopped to look at her this story would have ended way to fast. He didn't see the Star he knew in front of him. No, he saw a shadow of the real Star, a mere weak shadow. No shine, just pale, weak. All the work he had done for the last few hours, all the nerve he had built up to tell her, were gone in those few seconds. Something was wrong (Something was not right!) And poor Star stood there, weakly smiling waiting for him to say something, waiting for anything. Waiting for him. But he couldn't say it. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HIM? "Star, are you feeling ok?" "I feel ever so much more than fine", she was lying. Star was an awful liar. "Let's go back to the doctors", sighed Robin. Star nodded weakly, "That may be a good idea."
A/N: Are you proud of me? I have Redwall 3 hours each day and I still managed to write this chapter. Don't stop reviewing OR guessing though, after a three hour or NINE hour practice (tomorrow) I need some positive (or negative) input. Thanks. ;)