Part 7: Robin Angel With a Gun

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans

Robin remembers his meeting with Starfire and contemplates the changes in her personality. When the princess joins him, she draws his attention to a certain other aspect of their meeting... and refreshes his memory. RxS

Her eyes blazed like brilliant orbs of seething fury… mini suns of emerald fire. She glared at me, hands outstretched with power dancing madly off of her slender fingertips. She pressed her lips into a thin, angry line and I… produced a small tool. I saw something flicker across her face. Perhaps it was fear of this terran device, perhaps it was confusion. Either way, she didn't fire. She remained still and I gingerly unshackled her thin wrists. She exhaled and dropped her hands towards her sides, eyes locked with mine, even behind my mask.

She had found me with a single glance. She had pierced my soul with one awed meeting of gazes. And she didn't know.

She looked down at her freed wrists. She looked back at me. A freed slave contemplating her first act as a respectable warrior again. As a princess again. But I wouldn't find out of her royalty for the next two years. Still, seconds hung in the air and dripped through time like raindrops slipping slowly down a windowpane. It couldn't have been more than a minute but it felt like her contemplation was taking an eternity.

Her hand rose and moved to the back of my neck; for these brief moments she was no longer hostile. She drew me to her and, before I could consent, her lips were pressed firmly over mine. A kiss… but one which held only determination rather than love… or even lust. I didn't know her intentions. I didn't know much anything but her taste and the fact that I was savoring the contact and struggling to pull away at the same time.

She released me, about the time I had stopped fighting her, and I gasped for breath and shot her an irritable glance. Who did she suppose she was? To attack me and then turn just as quickly to kiss me… what was going on in that alien mind?

I had known her for less than a day and she had already twisted my emotions into highly uncomfortable knots that I wanted desperately to untangle. I wanted to be mad. I wanted to hit her over the head with my bo-staff and stalk away with the harshness I had learned to carry from my mentor.

But then… she spoke. She spoke in our language. Perfectly clear. And her voice was the sound that would haunt my dreams for many, many nights to come. She entreated us to aid her… and we did. I can't remember if I put up a fight at first or not. All I know is that somehow, we ended up aiding her and through it we were brought together as titans.

And she stayed… and became one of us. She became our angel. The warrior was made pure again with a simple act of kindness… which she has repaid to me ten-fold…

She is a warrior.

She is a titan.

She is an angel.

She is Princess Koriand'r.

She is Starfire.

I am lying on my back, staring up at the clouds. I think the others are playing football. I sigh, swallowing and pushing away the fanciful memory of her lips on my own. I think I've come to view our meeting in a much fonder light. I wish I had known how much she means to me now back then. Maybe I would've kissed her back… or something.

I screw my face into an unattractive grimace. I hear a giggle somewhere behind me. It's Star. I arch an eyebrow up over my mask and wait. I'll learn her intentions soon enough. It's crazy how much she's changed. It's as if all her bitterness just disappeared the moment she realized people still cared about her.

I think she needed to know she was still valuable. I think she needed to know that the part of her that was more than just a highly-effective, alien powerhouse was still worth something. She needed to know that her innocence wasn't a weakness.

Admittedly, I'm a little startled when she flops down behind me. She's propped herself on her elbows so she can rest on her stomach and peer over my face at the same time. Her auburn tresses fall like a ruby curtain on either side of her face and caress the grass. She's created a little sanctuary for the two of us. Only I can see her pretty smile and gentle eyes… admittedly upside-down from my current perspective, and I feel kind of special. Perhaps that's foolish, but I don't care.

I realize that she looks at peace. It's wonderful. I am again reminded of the change she's gone through. How delicately sweet she's become. I wonder if the other part of her… the ruthless fighting side… I wonder if it's ever hard for her to control. I wonder if she ever wants to scream rather than smile or destroy rather than aid.

I don't think so… but sometimes you never know. I guess even angels can carry guns…

"Is something the matter, Dick?" she murmurs, her voice dropping to a concerned tone. She seems to have noticed my wandering mind. I grin crookedly.

"Nothing's wrong, Kori, nothing at all." I assure her. She rolls her jade eyes and giggles, her breath fanning over my face.

"Perhaps you would lie a bit better if everything were alright…" she muses. I snort.

"Really, nothing is wrong. I'm just… thinking about stuff, you know?" I reply slowly. She nods slightly and then glances up, squinting at the sun for a moment. A tiny smile curls onto her face and suddenly she's gone. She has pulled away from me and I cannot see her with my view limited to straight up as I lie on my back in the grass. "Starfire?" I ask, wondering what has caught her attention.

She is standing at my feet now. I wonder how she's gotten there without my immediate notice. "Yes, Robin?" she hums in reply. I lift my head slightly to see her better.

"Nothing. I just wondered where you'd gone." I say. She shrugs… and then tackles me. For a few minutes I can't breath. She's plowed into me with… a lot of force.

Angel with a gun indeed.

She's sprawled lazily on top of me, perching her elbows on my chest so her hands can prop up her chin. She grins at me as I wheeze a few times.

Once oxygen is again flowing normally, I take the time to frown. "What was that for?" I ask. She blinks her wide eyes.

"What was what for?" she asks. I wonder if she can truly underestimate her alien strength that much… but I say nothing. If anything, she's toying with me. I don't particularly mind.

"You know you've changed a lot…" I say finally. She stares at me for a minute and then her gaze clouds.

"Have I truly?" she breaths. I consider the question.

"Well… it appears you have. Then again… I don't know. After we fought, that first time we met… you changed so quickly. It was like, all your anger disappeared. I think I've only seen that side of you once or twice since. That's what I was thinking of earlier. How I barely ever see that furious side of you anymore. The rest of the time you're just…" I trail off and reach to play with a piece of her hair. She doesn't resist. Rather, she seems to be turning over my words in her head. It's the truth. I haven't seen her truly become angry to the point that some of her old "warrior mind-set" seems to return.

That's not to say she isn't powerful. It's just… she balances the power with compassion and the strength with tenderness. She's noble, no doubt, but I almost never see the merciless fighter. I saw it once when I met her, again when she charged in to relieve me of my apprenticeship to Slade, and once more when she fought to rid her planet of her sister's tyranny.

"The rest of the time I am just…" she prompts me to finish my statement. I sigh.

"…precious…" I say finally. She blushes slightly.

"That is flattery I do not deserve." She mutters softly. Her eyes are sad. I shift on the grass a little. She is still draped over me.

"How can you say you don't deserve it?" I ask. She shrugs and then folds her arms so that they act like a pillow on top of my chest. She rests her head on them.

"I have not changed, Richard. I have simply… repressed what I was trained to be and released what I have always been. As a slave… I had walls to hold around myself. I did it for… self-preservation. Then… you released me and I was able to relax again. I only hope that by refraining from certain less humane impulses I have proven myself honorable to you. So I am not precious. I am me. And I hold back certain things. That is all I can do," she says quietly. I stare at her. I'm silent… this girl… she's the embodiment of innocence and purity but even she has something within her that still longs to swell with power.

"What do you repress?" I say finally. I know, or at least partially know that answer.

"Anger. Fury… whatever you wish to call it. Like… I wanted to kill Slade so badly… when he hurt you. That was a long time ago, and yet sometimes I still think I could demolish this whole planet just so that I might know he is dead. That sort of thinking… that desire to kill without consideration… it was encouraged in slavery. I cannot change what has been seared into my mind. All I can do is hold back and hope I will never disappoint you or the others by abandoning my desire to be compassionate for my desire to watch our enemies burn," she says blankly. She stares at me carefully. "I suppose there are many others who feel the same way, though," she adds.

I nod as best I can and she smiles slightly. "Of course, as long as we are reminiscing on our first meeting… I thank you," she says suddenly, giggling softly. I arch an eyebrow in question.

"For what?" I reply. Star shrugs.

"For teaching me English…" she moves so her face is hovering over mine and her hair creates an intimate sanctuary around us again. I feel her breath fan softly over me and then her lips are caressing my own. It's like the day we first met all over again… only, I don't struggle and I definitely kiss her back. I think she's laughing, but it's hard to tell with her lips still covering my own.

I believe, if anything… her kisses are her greatest weapon. "Any time, Kori. I love teaching you things…" I slur as we part. I'm smirking, I know. She rolls her pretty eyes. I think we've forgotten our whim to contemplate seriously her old, forced life-style.

"Mmm… I see…" she kisses me again. I sigh contentedly. She tastes the same as the first day we met, only… there's pure, affectionate love over determination.

She's my gun toting angel, my starbolt-throwing princess… and I'll be damned if I don't love it.

Author's Note: Well, I finally got it out... and right after Go! with... the... KISS! Ok, so it was a flashback, WHO CARES! It was still a kiss AND I think we'll get a "romantic" kiss in the movie. The only sad part is that the last season of the titans is drawing to a close here in a couple of months. Now, I wrote this as a sort of follow-up to Go! even though I have yet to see the eppie and this is going off of screenshots I got. I'm going to watch Go! for the first time on Friday at 6:30 a.m... I swear, only an event like this could get me up that early on holiday. Either way, I'm psyched! I just have to keep looking at the picks to remind myself it was real. Lol. I hope the chapter was alright. I'll be heading on to the BB section next. WOOT! I think tomorrow I'm going to start my christmas mini-fic just so I can have it done by christmas day or the day after... or something. We'll have to see how it goes.

BTW: LIFE IS AWESOM! ROBIN AND STARFIRE KISSED AND I HAVE THE PUNK CHRISTMAS CD WITH FOB ON IT! YAY FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Love,

Princess Starfire of Tamaran

((oh... and did y'all know that BB and Rae kissed in the comics? I saw the pics and was like OO))