Apologies for the wait, if it was too long for your tastes. Was deciding between two different ideas for this one; decided to hold off the other one until I've reached a later point in the series, time-wise. I hope you like!
And—oohs! ahs!—symbolic-ness this time. A bit obvious...but I like it. I hope you do too.
More at the end.
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Robin poked his head out the doorway. The roof bright with reflected sunlight—it was getting late, and the sun was low on the horizon, making shadows long. He squinted, raising a hand above his eyes. It was then that he noticed a shadow streaking across the roof. A lone figure was sitting on the edge of the roof.
Robin smiled to himself and walked over. "Hi Starfire," he said warmly, sitting down beside the Tamaranean. Starfire looked up in surprise; she was obviously not expecting company.
"Hello, friend Robin." Starfire pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Do you want something of me, friend? Is it time for "the training"? Or, perhaps, the time of eating?"
Robin shook his head. "We already trained today, Starfire, 'n Beast Boy decided to be…"creative" with a vegan recipe he found; Cyborg went out to get some pizza when it burned. I just came up to talk to you. Is something wrong?"
Starfire smiled at her friend weakly. "Nothing is wrong, Robin. I am just a bit…sad about Blackfire."
Robin shifted and turned his body to face his teammate. "Star…I thought we talked about this. I thought…" He trailed off, not sure what he thought. A moment of silence hung in the air between them. Robin had no idea how to really talk to people; other than to figure out battle plans or order attacks, the Boy Wonder was very blunt whenever he spoke. Come to think of it, he was just pretty much blunt whenhe spoke. Having already told Starfire what he thought about this, he didn't really have anything to say.
Starfire understood this.
"…I'll let you know when the pizza's here."
"My thanks, friend Robin. I believe I shall be down shortly."
Robin left. Starfire looked at the sky, watching the colors shift from pinks and purples to blues and oranges. She sat there, not really thinking, not really not thinking. Just…watching.
The door opened behind her, and Cyborg came out. He sat down next to Starfire slowly; the roof wasn't the most comforting place for an android to be—one misstep, and he'd be nothing more than a dead weight. "Hey, you gonna come down? We got a small pie with the crazy stuff you like all over it."
Starfire looked at her metallic friend hopefully. "Truthfully?"
Cyborg smirked. "Yep."
Starfire's eyes grew wide and shining with anticipation. She held her hands up in a sort of prayer shape at her chin. "Even—"
He nodded. "Even mint frosting."
Starfire hugged Cyborg tightly around the middle. Despite his mild protests, she continued to show her thanks. Strongly. And rather painfully, for Cyborg. Thankfully for Cyborg, Starfire stopped after a minute or two and began to float down towards the stairs.
"Just one thing first."
"Anything, friend."
"Why're you sad about your sister?"
Starfire's reaction was instantaneous; she landed neatly on her feet, thenshuffled her way back to the edge of the roof. She frowned, looking away from Cyborg. "I am not…sad, exactly, about my sister. It is…difficult to explain. Perhaps you would know—did you ever have a brother or sister?"
"Sorry, Star. I think you're the only one of us who did." Cyborg had a feeling he had missed out on something vastly important because he had no siblings; something he should know, but didn't.
"Oh." A long pause formed. Cyborg glanced at the clouds; they reflected all the colors one could ever think of, and thousands that would never be named. He knew that if he looked at them under one of his mechanical eye's special vision types, like UV or X-ray, he'd see something much different. It would be horrible to look at, because he would know what all those colors—those blues and greens and purples and reds and oranges—meant the moment he took a single little glance, and theywould lose their mystifying quality.
Science was the future, but it took the mystery out of everything.
"On my homeworld, X'Hal is our goddess. She saved my world, and many like it, but was tortured for it. In the end, she destroyed a tenth of what she had saved." Starfire glanced at Cyborg. "I understand the word for such a person—martyr, correct? And I wonder—is my sister a martyr? Or am I?"
Cyborg blinked. "Why would either of you be—"
"My sister was labeled the scapegoat of Tamaran; though she was first born, she was denied the title of Princess and was hated for existing. To my people, she was the essence of weakness. Blackfire suffered for living. I was praised for it. Though my sister turned against me somewhat, I did not suffer so much by her hand as she did by my peoples'.
"I did suffer; I cannot deny that. But I received honor. I received the title. I was loved by all of Tamaran, and she was scorned. So which of us suffered most? Which of us is worthy of the name X'Hal, and which of us will be honored by her name?
"Are all sisters martyrs? Do all siblings suffer for their siblings? You did not have a sister, nor did you have a brother, but I still believe you know what I am saying." Starfire looked up at Cyborg hopefully.
The African-American knew his friend was searching for someone who understood how she suffered, and why she suffered. He knew that, if nothing else, and he also knew how Starfire felt. He had been there, though he was ashamed to think of it. Cyborg smiled weakly at Starfire. The smile was the only way he could think of to let her know what he was thinking—what he knew was true—but just couldn't say:
Yes, Starfire, I know what you are saying.
I know the pain of thinking someone suffered for you, that they should not have bothered.
I know that pain oh so well.
Nothing will make that go away, no matter how hard you try.
So try anyway.
Try, and fail.
Try and fail again.
Because, eventually, you will forgive yourself, and you will forgive that someone who suffered.
But if you don't try, that pain will never go away.
And if it doesn't go away, you will regret it.
Because if it doesn't go away, and you don't forgive, it will be too late.
And all he said was "C'mon, Star. Your frosting's getting crusty."
With that he turned around and walked back downstairs. Starfire looked after him curiously, then slowly rose into the air and followed him. She flew past her metallic friend as the smell of pizza and burning soy grew stronger. Pausing, Cyborg turned back. He peeked a head out the door to the roof, looking past the air-filter-things (what did they do, anyway?) and past the ocean that stretched out before him, up at the horizon.
The clouds were darker now—no more oranges now, just blues and purples and reds. He lifted a hand to his face, rubbing a cold, metal finger along where an eyebrow would be; now it was just neon blue circuitry. That very spot was one where a small knob laid in wait, ready to shift Cyborg's field of vision at a moments notice. He traced the outline of the knob, thinking…considering…
A call echoed from down below, and he smiled, then ran back down the stairs, shutting the doors after him. He shouted loudly at Beast Boy for attempting to "purify" his pizza, but secretly enjoying the moment. Starfire looked contented, sitting there and munching on some pineapples, and Robin was sending Cyborg a glance of thanks and questioning. What was she upset about? That's what Robin was asking, he was sure. Cyborg looked at his fellow Titan for a long moment then shrugged and smirked as he shot another perfect basket with the tofu rounds Beast Boy had "secretly" put on his pizza.
They all were better off not knowing anyway.
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Pokemon Fan: Thank you so much. I'm flattered; that's actually how I think about things I don't like to think about—indirect references all around. ;P
You make a good point there…I suppose it's true, in a way. Raven wasn't exactly brought up to be Miss Congeniality, now was she? I try my best in not interfering; personally, I think my best one-shot idea to date was one I thought up ages ago, completely unrelated to any episode, yet pertaining to a constant theme from the second season—control. It has an odd ending, and I rather like it. My worst one-shot idea, I think, is one where I created Beast Boy's thoughts from "The Beast Within," right at the scene everyone does—when he is mad and just about to "attack" Raven.
It sucked, really.
I almost messed up in that sort of stuff this one—nearly made a reference to mustard on Star's pizza, but she has yet to discover her affinity for the substance. -makes a weird face- I love using school vocab words like that. I hope you liked this Starfire-Cyborg one. It took awhile, but I liked the end result.
True, but I was trying to make a point there, unrealistic as it was. Raven's knowledge of her future isn't quite the same as her experiences in the past, though they are interrelated. I understand that having no father and little contact with a mother (for fear of the reaction motherly love would cause) is probably worse, but I also see Raven as very modest. She wouldn't be so negative as to say, "What are you, stupid? Of course my life is worse than yours. It -bleep-ing sucks!" Besides that, Robin would ask for an explanation as to why her life was worse (considering the mood of the moment, anyway…), and Raven simply was not ready to tell anyone about that sort of thing. Not just yet. And your last statement? All too true. I hope you don't mind a late update.
KrazywithaK: You flatter me far too much. You write much better than I do…you know that. I'll be really honored if we get someone like, famous or something reading my stories, not because I reviewed theirs, but for the heck of it. But I'll still say they're just flattering me.
I've always liked that sort of style of writing—for the beginning, don't let the reader know exactly who is being spoken to and of. See if they can figure it out, based on the description and what they already know of the characters. You're welcome.
Can I just say: Wow. That review seriously impressed me. You showed the essence of BBRae and RobRae perfectly. Of course, my li'l sis Neopuff disagrees, saying it's the opposite—Robin and Raven can develop their relationship further, because they've had more time on the same plane Raven and Beast Boy are only just arriving at. And I can see some logic in that. But I still like BBRae more.
We need to get you on the BBRae boards, seriously. You would blow them away. Yep; you've reached that bottom of the well, with no more water left to take. ;P
I like the feeling of this new season; here I had thought second season was BB's season, then here we go with the Doom Patrol and bits and pieces of the past of "the little green one." -giggles- And Mini-B is just so cute! We're learning a bit more about his personality, and why he is the way he is, and I think that's cool. I guess he just can't have the villain season the others had…and you're very right, Robin is like the man of the household.
Dude. Just thought of a crazy Fiddler on the Roof thing. o.o So weird. And back to topic…that's a great explanation of their feelings for each other, and why "The End" ended up the way it did. And I don't think all that was off-topic; you've opened up a dozen-odd ideas for future pieces…and no, your writing is not a giant heap of fluff, though this message is probably a bit late coming, no? --' I hope you didn't mind the delay, and I'm thrilled I was able to inspire you! Later!
The Last: Thanks! Yes, I shall continue this. It shall be intermitted with long pauses and new stories filtering into the Internet via my penname, but I shall continue this. After all, I have to work my way up to this season, as I've got more ideas for later episodes and want to keep them in chronological order as best I can.
I was hoping you'd find it so. I like to make the reader think about what they just read. Use the brain, not just the eyes. It's no trouble at all, seeing that I'm nearly a month now after your review typing this.
Will-the-Titan: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. ((So I noticed.))
KorrianderX'Hal: I'm glad you enjoyed this piece (I hope you'll like this one too). In my opinion, Beast Boy and Starfire hide themselves underneath their cheerfulness and upbeat attitude; I tried to express Beast Boy as he really is. This season five may undermine that a bit, but I think it'll turn out that my idea isn't too far from the truth. I updated two months or so ago; I'm surprised yet glad that someone reviewed so late. It makes me very happy. I'm glad I enjoyed your story too.
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I appreciate all reviews: whether they're flaming and burning with hatred or shining with warmth and kind words. I would especially appreciate one from you! Thanks for reading, in any case!
gladdecease