For: The Writer you Fools' Challenge

Pairing: Robin and Starfire

Type: One-shot

Dedicated to:The Writer you Fools and all the peaceable shippers out there!

We CAN co-exist, it's just a cartoon...granted my favorite but still… :)

Review if you've got a sec, thanks.

Golden

Funny how it'd taken crash-landing on another planet to find the man of her dreams. Funny that it was a man, actually. Typically, Tamaranians did not have significant others that were of the earthling type.

But there was an exception to every rule.

Starfire, also known as Princess Koriand'r, sat quietly, for once, in the common area. Beast Boy was out with Terra—the two having almost immediately become reacquainted at the point of her return.

Raven was meditating with a huge 'DO NOT DISTURB…OR ELSE!' sign plastered across her name on her door. In small text there was a 'this means you, Garfield'. They'd always thought he bothered her because he liked her and maybe at one point that was true but now with Terra there, that possibility seemed to have gone away. However, his liking for bothering the easily bothered sorceress was not gone at all. Luckily, as said before, he was out with Terra for the day.

Cyborg was visiting Titans East—something he did more often lately since as the Titans of Jump City had gotten older, they had also become more capable. Wryly, Starfire noted to herself that Raven could take out at least five villains on her own at this point...

The whole team was rarely a necessity anymore.

And here was the problem she was having: Starfire did not know how to feel about this.

Yes, she was proud of her friends, even proud of herself for mastering things, for excelling...but what would it mean if one day they did not need each other at all anymore?

What would happen when they parted?

More specifically, what would happen when she and Robin went their separate ways?

Part of her felt uncharacteristically hollow at that thought. Sighing, she pet Silkie, who lay sleeping to her right.

"Our friends are all so very happy, Silkie," she mused with a detached smile that didn't match the shine in her glorious red hair or the natural sparkle in her jewel-like green eyes.

"Any reason we shouldn't be?" a voice she was always glad to hear queried and she turned her head with a brighter smile.

"No, friend Robin," she said and he laughed softly as he approached her to kneel at her side.

"Didn't we talk about this before?" he asked, faking hurt. Starfire blinked a moment and then it was her turn to laugh—sheepishly.

"My apologies fr—" she began.

Robin shot her a pointed look.

"Robin," she amended with a glimmer of her usual joyful self. They had in fact had that conversation before, about how they'd been involved for nearly a year and a half and she was still calling him 'friend Robin'. Now, it should be noted Starfire saw no problem in this. For while Robin meant even more than that to her, he was still her friend.

And 'Boyfriend Robin' reminded the Tamaranian rather sourly of one Kitten Moth.

She flinched internally. That girl...

"That's better," Robin grinned at her and Starfire felt her heart grow wings as it always did when he was near. She felt childish and remembered that love was not a cherished thing on Tamaran, but from the television shows she'd seen on earth, it wasn't too cherished here either, or so she deduced. Over the past year or so Starfire's ignorance of earth ways had shrunk considerably, limited now to things even some of the usual titans didn't always understand.

Starfire felt a flush come over her as she continued to stare at Robin.

"What?" he asked, smile still lacing his every intonation. Starfire did not say a word but lifted her hands to his face and brought him down to meet her in a kiss.

Safe to say her ignorance of all earth ways had shrunk...considerably.

"Robin," Starfire began tentatively.

"Mm?" he replied to let her know he was listening as he embraced her, settling his hands on her waist as he pulled her closer.

"Will we be...together...for a long time?" she asked and Robin came out of the daze he'd been in. She had that effect on him without even trying.

"Of course, I mean, I hope we will...what do you mean?" he finally asked and when she lowered her gaze, he lifted her chin with his finger gently to meet his eyes.

"I...we are all scattered so very much...our friends Beast Boy and Cyborg rarely have the Tofu and Meat Fight in the mornings," Starfire tried to explain, realizing as she continued how scattered her own speech was becoming. But it was true. Beast Boy and Cyborg were rarely home enough at the same time in the morning to even see each other, much less argue over breakfast's contents.

"Star, hold on a second," Robin rested his hands now on her shoulders as he looked at her thoughtfully. He'd thought she was referring to 'we' as in him and her. But what she meant was...the team. And he'd thought about it, plenty in fact. He wouldn't be a decent leader if he hadn't considered the possibility, if he didn't consider it every day just in case one morning Beast Boy and Terra decided to go have a family of four on some farm somewhere...or something. Point was, he'd thought about it.

What he hadn't considered was that Starfire would be thinking about it too and he berated himself for his negligence to her. She was sensitive, and very sympathetic, and very…attached to the life the titans had in the T Tower. And as it changed it was only natural she would begin to feel a little lost and uncertain.

Robin only wished he'd noticed her sadness sooner.

You probably would have if you weren't always training or cooped up in that research room of yours, his voice rolled its theoretical eyes at him and Robin could only admit the voice was right.

He probably would have.

"Robin?" Starfire snapped her fingers in front of his face, snapping him back to attention as a result and he blinked.

"Oh, sorry Star...I just...I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier you were worried," Robin said at last and Starfire shrugged good-naturedly but didn't reply. He sighed. "But to answer you, I don't know. I mean, I can't say for certain whether or not this team will be here in three days, much less three years, and it probably won't be around forever," he said logically, but not unkindly. To each of his statements the alien princess nodded absently, as if trying to distance herself from these truths.

It hurt after all.

She did not like the idea of her friends apart, all over with no home in which to see them...she did not like the idea of losing them.

"I see," was all she said though.

Robin watched Starfire as she turned to scratch under Silkie's chin and the Boy Wonder smiled gently. She had the most open heart he'd ever encountered. She even liked the ugly worm thing—something Robin would never call it in her presence because he knew she had a deep affection for the...well, the ugly worm thing.

Starfire eyed Silkie sadly. Probably she'd have to say good-bye to him one day too.

And she would have thought more on it but she felt warm hands on her shoulders as she turned to stare up at Robin.

"Come with me," he said.

She followed.

And they ended up on the roof.

"Robin, why—" she began.

"Shhh, look. You didn't realize how late it was did you?" Robin flashed one of his heartbreaking smiles at her. Starfire tilted her head to one side. What was he talking about? He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Or maybe I should say 'how early' it is," he amended and pointed across the bay. Star turned.

Daybreak shot across the wide, sparkling waters like liquid gold. The few thin, white clouds that buffeted the sky seemed to glow with the morning light and even the lap of the waters against the shore sounded beyond peaceful.

It was...

"Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed in a bout of her trademark joy and immediately stifled it, feeling childish in front of the one person she didn't want to be a child to. Sensing some of this, Robin took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

"I like your joy bursts," he said simply and Starfire's heart filled near to overflowing with golden glow of dawn and what it meant to have someone who could not only understand you, but accept you. And Robin knew this was temporary, that a single sunrise could not erase the doubt and sorrow that came so easily to his Star when she thought of losing her friends, but it was good enough for now.

For now.

Her voice broke into his musings.

"I have the feeling of deepest affection for you," she said softly, eyes gazing out at the bay. Robin pulled her closer to rest his chin on her head affectionately.

"Me too," he whispered, some part of him being afraid to feel such fierce happiness...afraid it would be taken from him by some force of God or otherwise. So he whispered it to her.

But that didn't mean he meant it any less than if he had shouted it for the entire world to hear him.

If anything, it meant more this way.

And here was the last thing: in the same way Robin understood and accepted her, Starfire was able to understand and accept him—yes, his good points, his sometimes cocky charm, his strength and his goodness...but also his sadness, his fear, and even his darkness.

Some might assume Starfire tried to change Robin, to heal him.

But it wasn't so.

She made suggestions; she was there for him when he needed her. And she certainly told him when she thought he'd fouled things up however horribly.

But she did not try to change him.

After all, if he changed, Robin wouldn't be Robin anymore, would he? And she'd come all this way, found him—if by accident and through some conflict come to see him as a friend and then more. She wouldn't give that up, any part of it...no moment spent together.

It was theirs, and theirs alone.

So content, she rested her head on his shoulder to enjoy the rest of the rising sun.

Thoughts?

-Rei