10 Leisurely Days

by Blue Ten

Summary:

Robin finds out that Starfire will be leaving for Tamaran in 10 days. Keeping his discovery a secret, he has a little over a week to give her a reason to stay. But when things keep getting in the way, will he even get the chance? RobxStar, BBxRae

Disclaimer:

I do not own Teen Titans.


Day 6, Part Two: Shattered

In an undeniable state of peace, Robin inhaled and exhaled deeply as he stared off at the now bright blue sky. The small and well-hidden section of park that Robin and Starfire occupied remained understandably vacant; however, since that morning, many people had arrived in the park and could now be seen playing games and running about the grassy fields below. Though it appeared that Robin was looking away, the fullness of his attention remained on Starfire. Sitting beside her now, he felt as though he could drift off into a quiescent slumber. He noticed that she seemed quite comfortable as well, leaning against his shoulder with that adorable smile on her face; her hand had never left its position atop his. All this led Robin to wonder... was it really so conceited to think perhaps there was a small chance that she felt the same way he did? Was it so strange to think such a thing as they sat together all morning and simply watched the sun rise? As much as he wanted those questions to be viable, Robin didn't want to press his luck by saying something stupid; after all, he had nearly five days left in which to say something stupid.

Sitting beside Robin, Starfire was in such a state of joy that she was surprised she had not already floated away into the sky. Leaning against his shoulder, she wanted merely to rest her head upon it as well, but figured it was far too soon to be so blatant. Throughout the entire morning, though the rising sun and the beauteous scenery had somewhat distracted her eyes, Starfire had rarely taken her thoughts or attention from their hands which rested between them. It meant so much to her that Robin did not seem to mind her decision to place her hand above his. Feeling rather guilty for doing so, Starfire had occasionally taken the time to caress his hand ever so slightly, attempting to pass it off as simple movement. Lost in thought, Starfire closed her eyes and breathed in deeply; upon exhaling, she absentmindedly rested her head against his shoulder, keeping her eyes closed, feeling dreamy and euphoric.

Robin froze up as he felt some extra weight against the top of his shoulder and the slight tickling feeling of Starfire's long hair drifting across until it settled in place. Looking to his side, he saw that Starfire had rested her head down; with her eyes closed, she smiled as though her mind was elsewhere thinking of something pleasant...

"Starfire?" Robin queried, wondering if she had fallen asleep.

Starfire quickly opened her eyes, realizing where she was and what she had done, "Yes." she answered promptly, pulling her head away and sitting up straight, attempting not to look blushful.

"I--" Robin was interrupted as a flock of pigeons flew up directly in front of them, flapping their wings loudly as they passed by. Letting go of each other's hands, Robin and Starfire looked over the edge to see what had happened. On the ground below, a dog had apparently gotten away from its owner. Seemingly at the ready for an attack, the small dog continued to bark at the birds as they flew away. Noticing this, the dog's owner ran up and took it by the leash, scolding it as they walked away. Seeing the dog which looked like an 'angry beast', Robin was reminded of something, "Hey Star, I've been meaning to ask you about something." he said, leaning back once more.

"Hm? What is it?" Starfire wondered, regaining a smile, happy that there had been a distraction at that moment.

"Remember the monster at the theatre?" he asked, 'Of course she does...' he thought, feeling stupid. Starfire nodded in response. "You said it reminded you of something... Um, what did it remind you of?" he asked, hoping that it didn't sound like he was prying.

"Oh." Starfire had almost completely forgotten about it; there were so many new and happy things on her mind. And truthfully, she didn't find the thought quite as frightening anymore, but decided to explain it anyway. "When the Citadel had me captive, I was among many other slaves which they forced to do their labors. In order to keep us subdued, they had several... what is the word?" she inquired, confused about how she could describe the creatures.

"What do you mean?" he asked, surprised that Starfire had kept her smile while she spoke of something that, before, seemed to haunt her to no end.

"It is a creature used to keep watch, and protect borders." Starfire explained as best she could.

"Oh, a guard dog?" Robin answered with the closest thing he could come up with.

Starfire seemed satisfied with that explanation, "Yes, that is it. Only these creatures were much... bigger than your earth dogs." she replied. "I had spent so long in that place... It was very selfish, but I wanted to see my family again. I tried to escape, but these creatures were set in place so that no one could get past them. I moved too close... and became wounded." she said, seeming slightly distressed, though nowhere near as afraid as she was that night at the theatre. "The Citadel wanted me alive, so they healed me, but as punishment I was given much more work than before." she finished, looking distracted for a moment; however, as she thought about Robin and the consolation he had provided her, a smile returned to her face.

"Oh." Robin looked down and scratched the back of his head nervously, feeling sorry that he had brought it up, "Sorry Star, I shouldn't have asked you about that... I didn't know it--"

"Do not worry. I have conquered this fear... you helped me." Starfire cut in, wearing a shy smile as she spoke of his assistance. "You may ask me anything you wish." she reassured him.

"Really?" uplifted, Robin turned his eyes away from the ground and looked directly at Starfire, "Well, then I--" he stopped, suddenly interrupted by the familiar sound of his communicator. Removing it from his belt, Robin switched it on to see Cyborg on the screen, "Yeah?" he asked, slightly annoyed. Starfire looked on, feeling fairly disappointed, but realizing that she couldn't keep Robin away from the others for the entire day.

"We've got an emergency down here, you guys might wanna head back to the tower." with that, Cyborg abruptly shut off communication.

Looking fairly confused, Robin put away his communicator. He didn't want to go, but if it was some kind of emergency, he couldn't ignore it. Standing up along with Starfire, Robin patted some dust off of himself and turned to her, "Well, I guess we better get going." he said with a disappointed expression. Turning around, Robin began to walk back down the pathway, thinking that Starfire was following him.

Barely making it more than two steps, Robin stopped as he heard Starfire's voice, "Wait. I know of a faster way." she said, giggling as she held a hand out to him.

- - - - - -

Standing in the kitchen with the others back at the tower, Robin and Starfire shared the same disbelieving expression as they stared at Cyborg in front of the refrigerator. "An empty fridge? This is your big emergency?" Robin asked with a glare after Cyborg had explained the situation to him.

"But it is an emergency... look at me, I'm wasting away." Beast Boy joined in, pointing at his stomach which let out a pronounced growl.

"That doesn't explain why you needed us." Robin was so disappointed that he didn't notice how obvious he was being, "Why can't you just go buy some food on your own?" he asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Well, actually, we were starting to get worried about you two. You were gone for the whole morning. What were you doing anyway?" Cyborg asked, already knowing the answer.

Robin and Starfire looked to each other, then back to the others with reddening faces, "Nothing." they said in unison.

"Still, why did you need us?" Robin asked once again.

Surprisingly, Raven stepped forward to explain, "We all need to go, so we don't get stuck with just one food group." she said, looking at Cyborg and Beast Boy accusingly, thinking about their opposing foods of choice. "This way, no one gets left out. Remember what happened last time?" she asked without changing her expression or tone of voice. After hearing Raven's question, Beast Boy just grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.

Robin gave up; Raven did make a good point... everyone in the tower had such different preferences when it came to what they ate. And truthfully, he wouldn't want to get stuck with just one of those preferences; though he would rather spend the rest of the day with Starfire. "Alright." he said, realizing he couldn't back out now in front of the others... however much he wanted to.

- - - - - -

The sun, more than halfway through the sky, cast an increasingly dim orange light through the window. While he waited for the others to get everything ready, such as a shopping list which there was probably much deliberation over, Robin paced around in his room, thinking about recent events. Though the situation with Grey did have him worried, the man was far from his thoughts at this moment, and Robin was sure his plan would help. Something else was weighing on his mind. With all that he had learned about Starfire, with everything she told him, she had become so much more important to him. Coming to a stop, Robin realized that he shouldn't take a moment of the remaining time for granted. Every day... every second was one he could never get back, and he had precious few of them left. He knew the days would pass by as quick as they arrived, and he didn't want to regret not saying or doing anything because of his foolish anxieties. With a sigh, Robin looked across the room to a waist-high chest of drawers which stood against the wall opposite the door; walking up to it, he slid open the top drawer. The blue velvet box remained precisely where he had left it, sitting in the otherwise empty drawer. Taking the box in hand, Robin opened the top and examined the necklace; connected to the silver chain, the deep blue sapphire reflected the setting sun's light across its tear-shaped surface. A symbol... if his fears wouldn't allow him to vocalize his feelings for Starfire, Robin wondered if perhaps he could show her how he felt. Hearing his door sliding open, Robin hurriedly shut the box and placed it back into the drawer.

"Robin, you are coming?" Starfire asked brightly, holding on to the door.

Robin turned around to face Starfire, closing the drawer behind his back, "Yeah, I'll be right out." he replied, attempting to sound calm. As he walked over to the door where Starfire waited, Robin wondered when and where he should give her the necklace, though he knew it should be soon or he would regret it. Starfire was smiling jubilantly as usual, but Robin had detected something else in her mannerisms recently, something he couldn't quite decipher... but whatever it was, he certainly didn't mind it at all. She seemed so happy. Robin wondered if he even had anything to worry about anymore; perhaps she had already made her choice. Meeting her at the door, Robin began walking with Starfire into the living room.

"It has been some time since I have been to the store of groceries; I wonder what strange things I will see this time?" Starfire mused, thinking about all the peculiar, but often wonderful things humans consumed; frozen pre-cooked meals, all manner of food stored away in air tight canisters, edible liquids that are meant as toppings but not drinks, and a candy that one must chew, yet never swallow. Starfire covered her mouth and giggled as she thought about these things.

Walking out of the hallway with Starfire, Robin simply smiled as he listened to her talk about the strange ways of humans. Sometimes he forgot how alien earth must still seem to her. But as long as she had questions, he knew he would always be there to answer them. There were so many things about her that he admired, and her unquenchable thirst for knowledge was among them; these many things, he knew, were the reasons he loved her. He understood that his love went much deeper than thinking she was the most beautiful girl he had ever known... it was so much more than that. Simply knowing that she would be there, rising with the sun every morning, gave him the strength and drive he needed to greet the day as well. In an endless amount of ways... she completed him.

As he made his way across the living room, Robin saw that the others were already waiting by the doors. Cyborg had his keys in hand, looking rather eager, probably planning to fill the T-Car to the windows with food. Though it could have been simple over exaggeration, Beast Boy looked like he could collapse from hunger at any moment; placing a single hand over his stomach, he slouched slightly and wore a severely weakened expression. Raven, the only one of the three who could be trusted with it, held the shopping list in her hands; she wore her hood up as she usually did before leaving the tower.

Upon seeing Robin and Starfire, Cyborg waved them over with a big boisterous grin, "Come on, let's hurry. I'm starving." he said.

"You're starving?" Beast Boy cut in, briefly looking energized before reverting back to his weakened state; perhaps he wasn't feigning hunger after all.

Robin and Starfire joined the others; as a group, they entered the elevator. Cyborg pressed the button for the garage which was located below the ground level. Never really getting used to the sudden shift in momentum that the elevator caused whenever it began moving, all of the Titans lost their footing as it started to descend; that is, all except for Starfire. Noticing that she hadn't tripped along with everyone else, Robin looked to his side down at Starfire's feet; oddly enough, she was floating several inches above the floor. He knew that her powers were guided by emotion, and flight depended on joy. From what he knew, he deduced that either she was flying simply because she wanted to, or she was much happier than usual right now.

With a distinct ping sound, and another momentum shift, the elevator reached the bottom floor and opened its doors to reveal the garage. Shiny and spotless as usual, the T-Car was parked in the center of the large room; stationed just a little farther down was Robin's motorcycle. Aside from the large doors which would open up into the underwater tunnel, several other corridors extended off to other locations; one, leading farther down to where the T-Sub was located in the docking bay, and another which led to the T-Ship's launch center below the training field outside.

Looking at the car, which Cyborg had already entered without notice, Robin wondered if it would seem too obvious if he sat next to Starfire in the backseats; before he got the chance to decide, Starfire opened the door and immediately took her place in the middle, followed by Beast Boy and Raven who sat at her sides. 'You can't always get your way...' thought Robin disappointedly as he opened the passenger door and sat down inside. Closing the door, Robin buckled himself in and took to glancing in the rear view mirror every once in a while... he found that he couldn't take his eyes off of her, more so than usual. He figured this was because there were just over four days left until he would know for sure whether or not she was leaving, and he didn't want to miss a second of those days.

Starting up the car, Cyborg input something into the panel on the dashboard which caused the large doors in front of the car to slide open revealing the lengthy tunnel ahead. As the car eased into motion and started to accelerate, the lights of the tunnel began passing by overhead so fast that they seemed to be continuous streams of white light. Needing some fresh air, Robin rolled down his window and let the cool slipstream meet his face. Leaning his arm against the open window, Robin closed his eyes and listened to the current of rushing wind, which was broken abruptly as each light fixture passed by.

In the back seat, Starfire leaned her head to the left to get a better look at Robin, smiling when she saw him looking all calm and cool as he leaned against the window. Raven's attention was brought to the back of Starfire's head, which had been moving progressively further in her direction. Seeing what Starfire was looking at, Raven smirked slightly, thinking about how Beast Boy's idea was actually working; Starfire and Robin seemed to be paying much more attention to each other since they decided to intervene. She only hoped that this plan would come to fruition soon; she wanted as much as the others to see Robin and Starfire just admit it and stop dancing around their emotions... Raven shuddered, quickly feeling rather hypocritical, though she didn't know why. Suddenly, the sound of a stomach growling loudly turned her attention to the other side of the car.

Watching as Cyborg stopped the car for a moment to open the other end of the tunnel, Beast Boy listened to his own stomach rumble. Feeling like the bags under his eyes had weights attached to them, he attempted to quell his stomach by placing a comforting hand over it. "Don't worry, I'll have you full in no time." he whispered jokingly to his abdomen as he patted it, knowing that as soon as they reached the store, a snack bar and free samples would be waiting for him. Hearing a quieted giggle, he turned to see Starfire staring at Robin, and Raven seeming bored and uninterested in anything as she looked out of her window. Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention to his own window as the car began moving again.

Before the Titans realized it, Cyborg had driven the T-Car off the city streets and onto the highway. Soon enough, the car pulled into a rather large parking lot, which had barely any spaces left. As Cyborg searched for a vacant spot, Robin looked out his window to see a large building only slightly smaller than the mall; large words on the front wall read, 'Buy-A-Lot'. Seeing this, Robin realized Cyborg had taken them to one of those warehouse style mega-stores.

"There's one!" Cyborg exclaimed, swerving the car quickly into an open spot close to the building. As he parked and shut off the car, Cyborg looked at the others, "You guys--" he stopped as he saw nearly everyone glaring at him. Robin had both his arms hanging out of the window due to the abrupt turn; Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy were all closer to the right side of the car, looking dazed.

Beast Boy unbuckled and opened his door, stumbling out of the car, "Nice driving." he said sarcastically.

As everyone exited the car, Starfire stepped out and looked upon the large building, "This is not the store of groceries." she said.

Looking to the building, Robin massaged his arms where they had collided with the door, "Yeah, it's--" he started, about to explain.

"So much better!" Cyborg and Beast Boy cut in.

"This place has got everything! Big screen TVs, video games, all kinds of stuff!" Cyborg drooled, "And I hear they just got the new..." he trailed off purposefully.

"Gamestation 3!" Cyborg, and Beast Boy who had apparently gotten over his hunger problems, spoke in unison once again.

Raven narrowed her eyes under her hood, "I thought we were here for food..." she said plainly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, they've got food too." Cyborg replied, starting off to the store followed by Beast Boy; both looked extremely enthusiastic. Raven rolled her eyes and walked after them, still holding on to the shopping list.

"Robin, I have never been to this place, will you help me to understand it?" Starfire asked as she and Robin began following the others.

"Of course." Robin replied with a smile, glad that the others were finally off doing other things.

- - - - - -

The interior of the store was much like the look of the building on the outside suggested, large and cavernous. The warehouse was separated into dozens of isles, with shelves upwards of twenty feet tall stretching to the high ceiling which was decorated by blinding white lights. Aside from the standard canned and frozen food isles, the store had an isle dedicated to almost everything a human did and didn't need. Nearly an entire library of books was located in the center of the store next to the movies and electronics section, which boasted excessively big screen televisions, and various other technological marvels. After stepping through the garage sized doors at the front and marveling at the sheer vastness of space within, Starfire took Robin away from the others and led him around, asking him all sorts of questions about this odd shopping center, questions he was more than happy to answer.

After drooling over the Gamestation which they couldn't afford unless they wanted to go a while without eating, Cyborg and Beast Boy reluctantly grabbed two shopping carts and made their way to the food sections, followed by Raven.

"We'll need some of this. And this. And this." Cyborg said as he pushed his cart down the frozen food section, tossing random items into the cart. Beast Boy mirrored Cyborg's actions on the other side of the isle, however paying closer attention to the things he threw in. Standing in the middle of the isle looking slightly annoyed, Raven stared at the shopping list in her hands; crumpling it up into a ball, she threw it aside knowing there was no stopping them now.

As Beast Boy came back up the isle, re-scanning the shelves for things he missed, he stopped as Raven stepped in front of the cart, "Just... get something normal too, okay?" she asked, with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"I did." Beast Boy pointed to what he had put in the cart, "Lots of frozen vegetables and other stuff." he said, turning to Raven with a slightly insulted expression, "I'm not all tofu all the time y'know?" he defended himself.

Raven examined the food, suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed, "No... I guess you're not." she conceded, fairly surprised as she stepped out of the way.

"Where're Robin and Starfire? They're missing out." said Cyborg as he pulled his cart up beside Beast Boy's.

"Just get Starfire some mustard, and Robin some hair gel and they'll both be happy." Beast Boy joked with a grin. Cyborg and Beast Boy shared a big laugh as they began pushing their carts out of the isle and into another. Raven followed a short distance behind them.

- - - - - -

Starfire had taken Robin to nearly all the unique sections of the store, in awe of the variety of items available; she had only seen this amount of diversity at the mall, but even there, it was never all in the same place like this. After admiring the wonders of the electronics section, Starfire's attention was brought to the sound of music being played further toward the center of the store. Interested, Starfire informed Robin of the music and both ventured forth to see where it was coming from. Just beyond the book section was a large open area where many expensive instruments were on display; the sound of a piano playing autonomously was what they had heard. Starfire had seen many of the musical instruments before, so she had very few questions as they walked through the carpeted gallery and listened to the lighthearted tunes being played. However, once they reached the source of the music, Starfire seemed captivated by it. Getting up close, Starfire looked over the shiny black piano with aesthetic curiosity, watching intently as the keys moved on their own, playing 'Moonlight Sonata'. She found herself entranced by the music which seemed to speak of a beautiful and otherworldly place. All this time, Robin simply watched Starfire, thinking about how cute she was.

As the music came to a soft stop, Starfire took her eyes away from the piano and looked around more. Something which seemed familiar caught her eyes; on a shelf near the edge of the gallery was a plaid colored bag with several tubes sticking out of it. Followed by Robin, Starfire rushed over to examine the instrument, "It is a gorka pipe!" gasped Starfire as she picked up the bag and happily squeezed it in her arms. As soon as she squeezed it, the instrument let out a violent screeching which caused Starfire's heart to jump. Dropping the bag back on the shelf, Starfire backed away with wide eyes.

"Uh, Star. That's a bagpipe. But, I guess it's pretty much the same thing." Robin explained, holding back chuckles as he saw Starfire attempting to calm herself after being startled like that. When he saw that it must have really spooked her, he became more concerned, "You okay?" asked Robin as he went to her side.

Starfire steadied her breathing, but moved closer to Robin just to play it up a little, "I should be more cautious around such things." she said, regretful that she hadn't asked about the object before picking it up. "This instrument is meant to scare people?" she asked, confused about what use it could have.

"It's a kind of instrument that sounds really bad, if you don't know how to play it." he said, going off to explain a little more about what he knew. Starfire just listened, always amazed that Robin seemed so informed about so many different things.

For several hours as they waited for the others to finish shopping, Robin and Starfire simply walked around the store; often Robin was just as curious about some of the strange products as Starfire. After looking over nearly all the books on display, Robin and Starfire turned a corner to find the others approaching, carts filled to the edges with food.

"Where've you guys been? You didn't get to pick out anything. Sure you won't be disappointed?" Cyborg asked as they rolled the carts past Robin and Starfire who began following.

"How could they be? You have the entire store in your carts." Raven commented, walking behind the others.

"Human cuisine is quite delicious. I am sure whatever you have chosen will be good enough for me." said Starfire as she caught up and examined the carts.

"As long as it's food, I'm fine." said Robin, double checking the carts just to be sure.

- - - - - -

Kathryn slid her credit card through the scanner and waited as the employee placed her items in the cart. Happening to glance to her left, she saw five familiar faces approaching the line which was empty except for her; Starfire was near to the front, followed by Robin and the others. Panicking, Kathryn hid her face and turned to the bag boy, "Can you please hurry?" she asked, gritting her teeth.

"Hey, do you want it in the cart? Or do you want it in the cart right?" asked the employee, slowly placing another bag into the cart.

Kathryn's eyes frantically looked from the approaching Titans to the slow moving bag boy, "I WANT IT IN THE CART!" she yelled, pushing him aside and haphazardly throwing the rest of her groceries into the cart. Just as the Titans began placing their things on the conveyer belt, Kathryn raced to the exit with her food in tow.

The bag boy looked at the cashier as he regained his balance, "Can she--" he started.

"Hey, she paid for it." replied the middle aged cashier, shrugging his shoulders. Turning away from the bag boy, the cashier found himself looking Cyborg in the face, "Whoa!" he said, looking at the other Titans in the line just to make sure he wasn't imagining things. "The Titans? Are you sure you want to pay for this stuff? I mean, I can talk to my manager--" he started as he ran the items over the scanner, wondering how he could make five kids who had saved the city countless times, pay for just two carts worth of food... it hardly seemed fair.

"Don't worry about it man." Cyborg reassured him, taking out a card from a slot in his arm.

- - - - - -

The Titans had spent quite a long time inside the store; outside, the sun was casting its final rays through the sky. The horizon, which was partly interrupted by the large building, was a bright golden yellow in the west which faded to deep navy blue toward the east. The clouds which dotted the sky were dark and pronounced around the golden sun, given intense shadows by their positions. The late hour was also made evident by the nearly empty parking lot; the lamp posts had already been turned on, illuminating the many vacant parking spots. A cool wind rushed across the barren asphalt landscape, causing a chill to run up each of the Titans backs.

Everyone but Cyborg, who had positioned himself in the driver's seat, stood perplexed outside of the T-Car. All eyes were on the interior of the car, which had been completely filled with the bags; absolutely no room was left over. Robin scratched the back of his head, wondering what they could do, feeling like he could have spent this entire time doing something better, 'Wow, you really seized that moment, didn't you?' thought Robin sarcastically, 'Shut up.' he replied. Starfire stood beside Robin, feeling precisely the same way he did. Staring at the car from under her hood, Raven crossed her arms, wondering why she hadn't seen this coming.

Beast Boy walked up to Cyborg's window, "You ever think of making this thing bigger?" he asked, tapping on the roof of the car.

"What, you mean like a T-Van?" Cyborg snickered, "That ain't gonna happen." he said quite seriously.

"But, what are we supposed to do?" Beast Boy asked, spreading his arms out, bringing attention to the fact that they were standing outside of the car.

"Well, it's either you guys or the food. And the food can't walk home." he said. Seeing Beast Boy's face shift to anger mode, Cyborg spoke up again, "It's an expression, you can fly, remember?" he asked in a 'no duh' manner.

"Oh yeah." Beast Boy chuckled, backing away from the window.

"Raven can too. And Robin, I'm sure Star wouldn't mind carrying you back." he said, speaking the last part rather blatantly.

"Oh, uh, yeah that'll work." said Robin, avoiding Cyborg's smirking face.

"Yes, most agreeable." Starfire added, smiling with her hands behind her back.

Cyborg started up the car, "You'll probably get to the tower before me." he said. Rolling up his window, Cyborg backed the car out of the parking space and began driving away until he couldn't be seen anymore.

Robin watched as the T-Car disappeared on to the highway, "Well, I guess we--" he stopped as he felt someone's arms grasp him around the waist. With a giggle, Starfire lifted Robin into the air and began to fly away with him.

"HAHA!" Beast Boy laughed. Morphing into a hawk, he took to the air and started flying after them.

Raven sighed, "It's going to be a long flight." she said to herself.

Unable to resist, Beast Boy morphed back into a human and landed beside Raven, "Yeah, and no in-flight movie or anything." he said, grinning widely, waiting for a reaction. Raven simply looked at him; without saying anything, she lifted herself into the air and started levitating in the direction of the tower. Hearing the crickets chirping in his mind, Beast Boy watched her fly away, "Tough crowd." he said despondently, morphing into his bird of choice once again.

- - - - - -

Flying back toward the city, the waning afternoon seemed much brighter now that there was nothing to interrupt the sun's light. Setting the oceanic horizon ablaze with golden fire, the large sun was nearly halfway set behind the sea. The lighter clouds around the sun resembled tongues of fire extending from the star in strange directions, like solar flares. As they reached the city, the cars in the streets below became visible; some had lights on even in the light of the evening.

Robin felt rather strange with Starfire's arms locked around his mid-section while they flew... not uncomfortable, but still strange. Looking to his side, he saw that Beast Boy and Raven were flying just a short way behind them. 'Maybe this wasn't such a bad detour after all.' he thought as he looked at Starfire's interlocked fingers which firmly held him up. As they flew closer to the tops of the buildings, Robin heard a strange flapping noise behind them. Turning his head to examine the area, Robin saw his own cape whipping about in the air; figuring it was nothing, he turned his eyes back to the sunset. Robin was reminded of the time he was flying back to the tower with Starfire and heard the same noise... unable to ignore it, Robin closed his eyes and tuned out the sound of his cape, focusing on the distant rooftops. Amidst the wind, Robin heard that peculiar flapping noise once again.

Reaching up, he tapped on Starfire's arm to get her attention, "We're being followed." he whispered.

"I know." said Raven as she caught up to them.

"What should we do?" asked Starfire, slightly unnerved as she continued flying forward.

Robin looked at the ground below, "Let's land for now, and try to catch this guy off guard." he said. Starfire nodded; slowing down, she began to descend to an area between two buildings below. Slowing her flight to let Beast Boy catch up, Raven got his attention and pointed to the ground, motioning for him to land. As all four Titans landed beside the alley, Robin, Starfire, and Raven stepped into it in order to hide.

Landing lastly outside the alley, Beast Boy looked in at the others, slightly confused, "What's the--" he stopped as Raven cupped a hand over his mouth and pulled him in between the buildings.

"Shh. Someone's following us." Raven whispered, taking her hand away.

Stretching his mouth out, Beast Boy looked at the others, "Anybody we know?" he asked.

"I can't be sure." said Robin, though he had a vague idea that it was one of the children Grey spoke of, "Raven, can you sense him?" he asked. Starfire stayed close to Robin, feeling very insecure at the thought of some unknown assailant watching them.

"No, he's good at hiding his thoughts... I don't know where he is..." she answered.

Beast Boy suddenly felt a light bulb switch on in his head, "Wait, you can do that astral projecty thing and have a look around. The guy won't notice you." he suggested.

"Beast Boy," said Raven sharply. Beast Boy cringed, thinking that he had said something wrong, "Good idea." Raven admitted, "Stand back, I don't want to accidentally jump into one of you." said Raven closing her eyes to concentrate as the others gave her some room. Raven inhaled deeply; upon exhaling, her eyes opened wide and emanated black energy as a shadow seemed to fly from her body and up to the rooftops.

Seeing through the eyes of her astral projection, Raven flew above the rooftops and examined the area with her mind, "I'm not seeing anything..." she said. Sending her projection further down the alley, Raven heard a strange flapping noise; "Wait, I heard something." she spoke again. Above the buildings, Raven shifted her vision in time to meet a pair of frightening white eyes flying toward her; suddenly, various terrifying images coursed like fire through Raven's mind. With a gasp, Raven's eyes stopped glowing and she began to fall backward. Robin and Starfire looked on in confusion, unsure of what was happening.

"Raven?" Beast Boy queried, watching wearily as she tilted. "Raven!" he called, jumping forward and catching her before she could hit the ground. The force of her fall caused Raven's hood to slip off of her head. Her eyes remained closed, but she seemed to be struggling with something, as evidenced by the pained expression she wore.

"What is wrong?" Starfire asked shakily, horrified to see her friend this way. Looking on, Robin couldn't find an answer for her...

Raven slowly opened her eyes, dealing with what felt like a painful headache. As her vision returned, the world slowly began to fade back into view; Raven found herself looking up at Beast Boy who held her in his arms, appearing fairly worried.

"Are you okay?" he asked, squinting his eyes at her.

Suddenly, Raven tore herself out of his arms and stood up, facing away, "I'm fine." she said stiffly, pulling her hood back on. Once her hood was secured, Raven turned around, "But... thanks." she said, placing her hand against a wall.

"What happened?" asked Robin, wondering what could have caused that reaction in Raven.

"She fell..." Raven pointed farther down the alley, breathing irregularly as she leaned against the wall, "Down there." she finished. Robin and Starfire turned around to look at the darkened alleyway.

"Let's go." Robin said, waving for the others to follow him. Followed closely by Starfire, Robin led the way down the alley. Raven kept one hand on the adjacent wall as she hobbled after them. At the very end of the group, Beast Boy watched Raven with curiosity while he followed. A light fixture above where the two buildings met and came to a dead end, revealed a dark figure lying against the wall on the ground. Stepping forward, Robin saw that it was a young girl, no older than Starfire. The girl wore a dark cloak which covered her entire form; long, pitch black hair fell over the pale skin of her face, concealing her eyes which were undoubtedly closed. Something caught Robin's eye; on the body of her cloak, was a small version of that red insignia he had seen on Grey, 'The Tempest...' he thought disdainfully.

The girl slowly opened her eyes; seeing four figures approaching her from the shadows, she panicked and began backing away only to find a wall in her way, "Where am I?" she questioned, sounding very frightened, "W-Who are you?" she asked, remaining on the ground, attempting in vain to back away.

"We might ask you the same question." said Robin, stepping forward out of the darkness, "Who sent you!" he demanded.

"Please, don't hurt me!" the girl pleaded, closing her eyes and pressing herself further against the wall.

Starfire watched, unsure of what she should do as Robin seemed angered by the girl, "Don't play innocent, I--" Robin stopped, as Raven stepped forward.

"Robin... she doesn't know." she said; walking up to the girl, Raven knelt down and removed her hood.

The girl turned her white eyes to Raven as she opened them, 'Please... don't..." she pleaded once again, seeming as though she was about to cry.

"What's your name?" asked Raven as kindly as was possible for her.

Feeling slightly less frightened, the girl stopped trying to back away, however she continued to tremble, "I-Iris." she answered.

"Iris. I'm Raven, and we're the Teen Titans." Raven said, standing up and gesturing her hand at the others.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you, we're the good guys." said Beast Boy, stepping forward as well; Raven smiled slightly at him in approval. Robin looked on in disbelief... the girl really didn't seem to know why she was here.

Iris stood up and wiped a tear away from her eye, "What happened to me?" she asked, still shaking slightly.

Robin stepped forward with Starfire, causing Iris to back away again, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you like that..." he said, feeling terrible, "Look, we'll get the police down here, and they'll get you some place safe." he said, taking out his communicator.

"Yes, you need not worry." said Starfire, the most comforting voice in the bunch.

- - - - - -

The Titans stood outside of the alley and watched as the police drove away with Iris, hoping that they could find her family. Before she left, she seemed immensely thankful to them for helping her... Robin didn't understand it... What could make something like that happen?

Once the car was out of view, Beast Boy turned to Raven, "So, what happened to you?" he asked, still noticing a slight weakness in her stance.

Raven sighed deeply, "I didn't mean to... but I jumped into her mind." she said. "I saw... so many terrible things, I can barely remember any of them..." she trailed off as the others looked on worriedly, "But... it felt like there was someone else in her mind, and... he didn't want to be there either... I saw his eyes... he had such sad eyes..." Raven closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Are you unharmed?" Starfire asked, seeing Raven acting very different than usual.

"I'll be fine Starfire... I just need some rest." she replied, still breathing heavily.

"Then let's get back to the tower as soon as possible. Beast Boy, can you carry her?" Robin asked.

"No, I can... fly fine on my own." Raven interjected, though no one could believe her with the way she was speaking.

Beast Boy stepped in front of her, "Don't be so stubborn." he said in a rare moment of seriousness, "Look at you... you can barely stand."

"I said... I'm fine." she lied, trying to stand up straight.

"Stop it. I'm carrying you, and that's final." Beast Boy stated firmly.

Raven stared at him for a moment, "Fine..." she conceded. Raven turned to Robin and Starfire, "You two go ahead, I want to have a word with him." she said, causing Beast Boy to lose his cool and gain a lump in his throat.

"Alright." said Robin mindfully, taking Starfire's hand as she began to ascend.

Raven watched as Robin and Starfire disappeared over the rooftops. As soon as they were out of sight, she turned around to face Beast Boy. Beast Boy suddenly felt sweat forming on his forehead, "I'm sorry, it's just that I couldn't--" he started in a panic, raising his arms up as if to protect himself.

"Thank you..." said Raven, looking to the side.

"Oh... uh, no problem." he said, chuckling nervously. "I guess we should get going then." he said, transforming into a large eagle; flapping his wings, he picked up Raven by the shoulders and began to carry her into the air as he followed after Robin and Starfire.

"Oh, and if I ever hear the words 'that's final' from you again... they really will be." she said as she held on to Beast Boy's feet for support. Even as a bird, Beast Boy felt sweat forming on his forehead... he couldn't tell whether she was being serious, or just using her morbid sense of humor.

- - - - - -

"Where were you guys?" asked Cyborg as he watched the others get out of the elevator, "I thought you would get here before me." he continued, surprised and concerned as he saw Beast Boy supporting Raven as they walked through the doors.

Beast Boy looked up at Cyborg, "It's a long story... we'll tell you tomorrow." he said as he walked off with Raven to the hallway.

"Alright, I'm pretty tired anyway." Cyborg yawned, "I hope it wasn't anything too serious." he said as he looked at Robin.

Robin shook his head, "No, we just ran into someone." he explained.

"Oh, gotcha." said Cyborg as he turned around and made his way to the hallway as well, wondering who they had fought, but glad to see they had all made it out alright... otherwise he would feel even more guilty for making them walk.

Starfire yawned, "It is quite late, I believe I will go to sleep as well." she said, smiling at Robin as she started off to the hallway, "Goodnight, Robin."

"Starfire wait." he called, causing her to turn around, "I'm sorry... about what I did back there... it's just that--" he started, looking at the ground, about to apologize for yelling at Iris the way he did.

Starfire gave him an understanding smile. "Do not worry, I know that you were merely concerned about our safety." she said, wanting so much to hug him, however several household obstacles were in her way and she didn't want him to see her desperately making her way over them.

Robin looked up from the floor, feeling a little better, though it didn't change what he did. "Oh, thanks." he said, unable to hold back a smile as he looked at hers, "Goodnight Star." he said, walking over to the couch.

Starfire's smile widened at the sound of her nickname, "Goodnight!" she said happily, turning around and floating off into the hallway.

Before he sat down on the couch, Robin looked at the time. He figured he should get as much sleep as he could before he had to wake up and train with Tyrus in a few hours. After that strange encounter with one of Grey's children, he knew there was much more to The Tempest than what had already been revealed to him. Now more than ever, he had to make sure that he gained enough knowledge to defeat that masked swordsman.

- - - - - -

The room was nearly pitch black, except for the dim light of the late evening which passed through Raven's curtains. Hovering above her bed, Raven recited her mantra, attempting to clear her thoughts of any lingering images from Iris' mind. She found that the more she tried to avoid them, the more the images seemed to flicker in her mind's eye. Suddenly, Raven felt something trickle down the side of her face. Coming out of her trance, Raven brought a hand up to her face and wiped away a single tear from her cheek. Strangely, her eyes began to tear up even more after she did this; soon enough, the tears were streaming down her face without restraint and Raven found herself feeling the sadness.

"These aren't my tears..."


Author's Note: Phew, this was the first chapter I've released on time in a while :). It feels good! LOL. Anyway, I really wanted to get this up by Christmas; not that it was Christmassy or anything, it's just that I promised to post it by then. And I did, WEEE!

Also, I'd just like to say HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all my readers and reviewers out there :). See ya next time!

Next Chapter Preview: Robin receives more training from Tyrus, but perhaps it's the teacher who has a few things to learn. Even after yesterday's strange events, the Titans can't help but take advantage of another glorious morning; it's nothing but fun in the sun as the Titans head to the beach. Day 7, Part One: A Sunny Morning.