A/N: Hi guys! Chapter nine )
Duskana- You made my day with your review, thank you sooo so much, haha!
And speaking of reviews, I got ten for this other one shot I posted the first day I posted it! happy squeals (Check it out- "If God Made You" by Silver Miracles; and also "Beautiful Scowling Face" too) If any of you that read those and reviewed are reading this one- THANK YOU!
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Emerald eyes is a mystery

Starin' through to the heart of me

-Fleetwood Mac, "Emerald Eyes"

Chapter 9

Sarasim surveyed her surroundings. She, Cyborg, Robin, and Bumblebee had made it to the little house in the slums just before the alien princess and her green friend, and his girlfriend. Sarasim was normally very good at names, but she was in a whole different time as well. Starfire? Boy Beast? No, Beast Boy...and that girl Lora, and her brother Lann, and then Aqualad and the girl with the lavender hair. The tall redhead laughed when they presented him with the flaming arrow. Sarasim thought it may have been an inside joke between him and Lora. Cyborg immediately went to the table for food, much like all the males in her time too. The warrior girl smiled faintly at everyone and noted Bumblebee's return smile was just as fragile.

Lora stood and tapped a hand against the table. "Um...Welcome, Teen Titans." Starfire waved back from her place next to Robin. Lann snorted at his sister and took over.

"Okay, here's the deal," he said, with a surprisingly authoritative tone for a twelve year old. "You're all twenty years in the future where Slade and Heringard have taken over. That's why there are Sladbots everywhere." Robin made a tight fist, common where Slade was concerned, and was a bit startled to see Starfire's eyes glow angrily at the mention of Heringard. Lann continued. "Lora, my sister, is The Prophet that you've heard about. She fortold everyone's coming and not only that but she can heal people. Pretty cool, eh?" The young boy sat down again and gave a comical nod to Lora. There was a long moment of bug-eyed silence.

"Whoa." Cyborg was the first to say anything. "You can see the future?" Lora nodded.

"What about us?" Beast Boy asked. "Aren't, like, our future selves here or something? Why is Slade still alive and running the show?"

The whole room grew quiet- Aqualad and Speedy stopped making side comments to each other, Robin stopped wondering how best to tell Starfire how much he missed her, and Raven lifted her head from under its hood to listen even closer.

Lora turned away from the wondering gazes to turn off the whistling tea kettle. "You're all...gone," she said finally.

"But I thought I grew old and bald and lived my life in a cage," Beast Boy replied. Lora shook her head with a sad smile.

"That was when history was taking a whole different course, until Starfire changed it. In this time, something happened...and the Teen Titans simply broke. Slade easily won," she added bitterly.

"But...that is not how things should be," the alien princess said.

"Well, it's how things are. I'm sorry," Lora replied. "It's just Heringard and Slade's fau-"

Suddenly, Starfire slammed a fist on the table. "We have already been through this! History can be changed, and we will change it!" The alien stalked out of the room into a side room similar to the one that Raven awoke in. Robin looked to follow her, and Sarasim was surprised to see him stay seated and continue listening. Obligation as leader, most likely.

"What was it that happened?" Bumblebee asked.

"That's not for your ears," Lora said.

"But it's okay for you to know?" Speedy shot back. "If we know about it, we can avoid it."

"It's not that simple..." she murmured.

"Well I'm sorry we don't all have powers like yours," Speedy retorted icily.

Lora glared at him and hissed, "Do you think I wanted this power? And do you think you can stop something set in stone?" She left as well, out the dooor rather than into the side 'guest room' and Speedy watched her with an almost apologetic look on his face.

"The future isn't set in stone," Aqualad said quietly after she was gone. "It can't be, because then what's the point of life?"

"I don't want us to grow apart," Terra said.

"We won't," Raven finally said, a slight edge to her voice. And she believed it. A life without friends, without Starfire or Robin, without Cyborg to give advice, without Beast Boy to annoy her, without Aqualad...she wouldn't have it. "We need to find Slade-"

"And Heringard," Robin added.

"-and defeat them," Raven finished. "But we need to get back to the past somehow."

Robin was still looking to where Lora and, most likely more importantly, Starfire left.

"Go ahead," Sarasim whispered kindly. "We can fill you in later." Robin gave a slight nod and slipped quietly out of the room.

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Robin walked through the wrong door and found that it led outside to the cold night air. Lora was standing in front of the little house, arms folded across her chest, strands of mahogany hair blowing.

"Hello, Boy Wonder," she said quietly.

"Hey, Speedy didn't mean to offend you," Robin said. He wondered where Starfire was, and debated turning back, but he also had some questions for Lora. "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm used to it," she replied. "And besides, I can answer some things for you that the others needn't hear yet." Robin came and stood beside her, looking out at the bleak slums.

"This is the future, Robin," Lora said. "Do you know why it got this way?"

"The Teen Titans left," he said. "That's what you told us."

"And the Teen Titans left because something happened. Something dreadful," Lora replied. Robin didn't like the tone her voice had taken. It was ominous and tearful.

"Robin, remember when Starfire told you about the future where she simply disappeared?" Robin nodded. "This is worse...In this time, Starfire...she was killed."

A shiver of fear went through Robin, larger than the shivers he had felt outside the city, larger than the one he had felt when she fell in the pool, larger than even the largest shiver of fear- all for her. His knees grew weak and he stepped back to lean against the wall of the house, beside the closed door. His hands started shaking.

"That's not...no! You're lying..." But Lora's pitied gaze held undeniable truth and sorrow. Robin let his own gaze fall to the ground, avoiding it.

"I thought you should know," the prophet girl said softly. "Because if anyone would save her, it's you...but history-"

"Do I live?" Robin asked abruptly. "Does she die before me?"

Lora seemed startled by the question, but replied, "Yes."

Robin turned and punched the wall.

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"Starfire?" Terra asked into the dark room. The others were still discussing in the kitchen what to do. Battle planning- not her thing. Whatever she was told to do, she'd do it. And Starfire, sitting forlornly on the edge of the small cot, seemed to need soemone more than the rest in the kitchen did.

"Are you alright?"

The alien nodded, face still downcast. Terra took a seat beside her and gave her a friendly one armed hug around her neck.

"Hey, cheer up dude! We're in a dreary future, but...um...we'll kick some tail end when the time comes?" Starfire giggled.

"Yes, we will 'kick the end of the tail'," she replied. Terra laughed and jumped up.

"We'll totally beat Heringard and Slade...after a good night's rest of course," she finished comically. They heard a door open and Lora's light footsteps. Terra and Starfire went out of the side room with the rest of the Titans, minus Robin.

"The guys can be on that side," Lora said, pointing to the room where Raven had been before," and the girls over there," in reference to the room Terra and Starfire had occupied. The Titans, with yawns of varying sizes, filed into their seperate rooms.

"And Starfire," Lora said when the alien was the last in the room,"Robin is outside." Starfire nodded a thank you and changed her destination.

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"Robin! It is glorious to-" Starfire fell silent when she saw him. He sat on the hard ground, staring blankly out at nothing, his gloves torn at the knuckles. Starfire rushed over to him. "What have you done to your knuckles?" she asked shakily.

"I'm alright Star," he said, and stood up and brushed himself off nonchalantly. "I'm alright." But he knew that Starfire would see through him anyway. Starfire cursed his mask for hiding his eyes so well and planted herself in front of him.

"You are not alright," she said, and gently took his hands, pulling off the gloves. She had never really seen Robin's hands without gloves before. Though his knuckles were scraped and scratched, she still admired his slender and sure fingers. She almost chuckled when she noticed that his hands were a great deal paler than his face, constantly covered with gloves. But she still liked them.

"Uhh..Star?"

The Tamaranian was brought back to reality and, startled, looked up at Robin. Was it going to be another silent and meaningful moment like that morning (however long ago morning was, Star thought)? As it was slowly turning into one, Robin broke the silence, saying, "It's cold out here; Lora probably has some bandages inside." He tried to withdraw his hands from hers, but Starfire didn't let go. She kept on looking at him.

"Star?" asked Robin softly. She stood on her tiptoes, very near to his face.

"You have grown so much in three months," she whispered. "I always thought that when I found the courage to do this, I'd be leaning down..." Now she was even closer to Robin, and the Boy Wonder felt his heart hammering. He cleared his throat softly.

"And I thought I'd be the one on tiptoes," he whispered back. Then they kissed. Starfire felt those hands around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck, dropping his green gloves. They were wrapped in a moment and no one would be able to get them out.

Every single daydream he'd had of this paled by comparison, Robin decided. He would definitely get used to this...

Robin..she dies...

Robin broke off the kiss suddenly and let go of Starfire.

"What is the matter?" Starfire asked. "Um...I am sorry?" She started to step back, but Robin grabbed her hand and pulled her in and hugged her.

"Don't be sorry, Star." But even as he said that Robin's thoughts were full of Lora's words.

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Midnight, and Raven still could not sleep. She tossed and turned in her cot, wincing every time it squeaked. Terra, Bumblebee, Starfire, and Sarasim were all fast asleep. It wouldn't do to wake them up.

She quietly floated out of the room into the kitchen. It was quiet, and dark, and Raven decided it would be perfect for meditating. The only shaft of moonlight came from a window above the stove and cut across Raven's pale face. She shut her violet eyes and tried to seek out everyone. that was normally what calmed her down.

Raven the cold half demon found much peace in feeling her friends' prescence. It was kind of ironic, the lavender haired girl thought.

There was Robin...she felt a flash of powerful red. He was sleeping peacefully, with a calm happiness similar to Starfire's, but behind it was a deep pain, a sadness. Raven wanted to see its cause, but Robin's mind was a private place and she would not invade without permission.

There was Starfire...a pleasant green, like her starbolts. She was dreaming about flowers and Tamaran and world peace. But there was a wondering behind the happiness...directed at Robin? Raven let her be- flowers weren't her style.

Cyborg, elecric blue, as always. He was simply asleep. Raven doubted he'd be waking up anytime soon.

Beast Boy...undoubtedly dark forest green. A joker on the outside, but this was a surprisingly deep color for him. More than met the eye. He was dreaming of yellow sunshine and, Raven noticed with a smirk, he was drooling.

Terra was yellow, fun loving, kind...easily decieved by temptations. Raven felt a guilt that would always be in her, but more than that there was a joy in the form of a green shapeshifter. Raven smiled.

All these auras she had met with before, but the Titans East would be new to her. Raven thought she heard a noise outside, but it quickly died and all was silent once more. Settling houses, Raven thought, that's what it is.

Bumblebee's aura was golden, bright, shining, valued. This did not surprise Raven at all- Bumblebee was a quick leader. She was very similar to Terra, but would not give in where the other would have. Raven decided that she liked Bumblebee, and would need to talk with her more. This was how Raven chose friends; the aura told more than the words.

Sarasim's was a deep sort of mahogany...down to earth, rich, royal. She had a regal wisdom inside of her...but there was also a discomfort. All these superheroes, in a strange place, being the odd one out-these would be the cause, Raven decided.

She went overe Speedy's proud orange aura quickly, and was intrigued by Lora's rose colored one; Lann's was a more orange red than Robin's, adn finally she only had Aqualad left...his was ocean blue. Calm, but when he got angry...things would not be pretty. Deep, and sturdy. Consistent. Raven felt very warm, like waves washing over her and then-

The shaft of moonlight was blocked by a sinister darkness. Raven snapped out of her trance and had only a few seconds to scream a warning before the Sladebots surrounding the house invaded...

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Can you say cliffhanger?
-Silver Miracles (who is now on Christmas break until after New Years!)