I don't own Teen Titans


"Mar'i." Airen breathed shock and dread filling her heart.

The girl standing before her was 15 years old with long dark hair and bright green eyes. She wore a pair of jeans, a dark blue shirt, black boots, and a dark jacket.

"Air'i!" Mar'i breathed in relief her thick accent making itself known.

"Who is it?" Johnathan called from the kitchen.

Airen's eyes widened suddenly remembering that she wasn't alone. Mar'i's eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were in the middle of something." Mar'i apologized.

"No, it's alright," Airen said quickly. Just then Johnathan came around her to the door to see who she was talking to.

"Oh, hello." He greeted pleasantly.

"Johnathan, this is my little sister, Mar'i. Mar'i this is my, um….friend, Johnathan." Airen introduced somewhat awkwardly.

Mar'i smiled and nodded her head politely toward Johnathan but gave Airen a questioning look. Johnathan however looked surprised.

"You didn't tell me you were expecting your sister." He said smiling at Mar'i.

"I didn't know she was coming," Airen explained while shooting Mar'i a wild and worried look from behind Johnathan.

"I tried to call, but uh, there was a problem with the um, signal," Mar'i said with purposeful implication behind the words.

For a moment Airen was confused as to why Mar'i was talking like that but then understanding dawned on her.

"Ah, well that's ok. You're here and um, Johnathan if you don't mind, I think Mar'i and I need to talk. Alone." Airen stated.

Johnathan nodded understandingly. "Of course. Just let me grab my jacket."

He hurried back into the apartment and returned a minute later, jacket in hand. As he passed Airen he paused and gently placed his hand on her arm.

"I'll see you later?" He confirmed with a clear pleading in his eyes. Their conversation wasn't over, and he wanted to finish it.

Airen nodded reassuringly.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Satisfied, Johnathan gave Airen a little peck on the cheek and left, waving to Mar'i as he passed. Mar'i shuffled her feet impatiently and uncomfortably as Airen blushed and lifted her hand absent-mindedly to her cheek. Her daze was broken however as two more people arrived, having passed Johnathan in the hallway.

"We need to talk to you," Mar'i said hurriedly bringing Airen's focus back to the matter at hand.

Airen took note of the two new people at her doorstep. A 15-year-old boy with shaggy red hair, blue eyes, and freckles dotting his nose stood behind Mar'i. Next to him was a woman in her mid to late '40s with long black hair and dark blue eyes.

Airen knew all three of them were wearing holo rings because instead of being tinged orange, their skin was simply a dark tan like hers. Their eyes were also a giveaway because their eyes were normal blues and green instead of bright neon. The boy's hair was also dull instead of a fiery red.

"Ryan? Aunt Komi?!" Airen said in surprise.

"Can we come in before someone sees us?" Komi said curtly looking around to make sure they weren't being watched.

Airen nodded and stepped back to let them in. Once they were inside with the door closed and locked behind them Airen looked at them wildly.

"What are you doing here?!" She hissed not wanting the neighbors to hear her. As she spoke, she allowed her own accent to leak back into her speech.

"We came for you," Mar'i said quietly. "To bring you home."

"Why?" Airen asked.

"We need you."

"For what?"

Mar'i took a deep breath and looked at Ryan and Komi before answering.

"Mom's in trouble."


Violet opened the door to her apartment with a sigh. She was exhausted. She'd had a long day of classes and then a long evening of research for her internship at the law firm. She'd then met Mason for a late dinner which had gone well but had still been draining. All she wanted to do now was take a long bubble bath with her favorite book, a glass of wine, and then snuggle into her bed in her comfy pj's.

She smiled at the thought of her plans for the rest of the night. She'd need to run the bathwater and put the bubbles in while she found her book and poured the wine. But before she could do that, she needed to empty her arms. She'd brought home some files to work on over the weekend and stopped to check the mail on top of her school bag full of books and notepads.

With a sigh, Violet began to move forward when she suddenly realized that it was dark.

'That's weird. Usually, Airen's home by now. Hmmm…maybe she's in bed. It's normal for her to have a late-night shoot, but not so soon after Fashion week surely and typically she tells me when she's going to have one. Plus I thought she had another week off?'

As she ran through the possible reasons as to why the apartment lights were out, Violet managed to flip them on and go about her evening. She dumped her bags onto the couch and tossed the mail onto the coffee table. Humming a tune, she had stuck in her head, Violet took off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack next to the door. She then took off her shoes and placed them neatly next to Airen's worn converse by the door.

Violet frowned.

'Odd, she never keeps her shoes where they're supposed to be.'

For the first time since walking into the apartment, Violet took a good look around. From what she could see everything was clean. Everything had been dusted, swept, and straightened. Nothing was out of place. Even the kitchen was clean.

That's how Violet knew something was wrong.

"Airen!" Violet shouted worry racing through her.

No response.

Violet went to Airen's room and opened the door. The bed was made, the window closed and locked and curtains were drawn. Violet flipped on the lights and examined the room. Everything was clean and nothing was out of place. A couple of picture frames seemed to be missing along with a few of Airen's favorite books.

Violet threw open the closet doors now full-on panicking. Her duffel bag was gone but all of her clothes were still there. Violet went into the bathroom and looked through the cabinets. Airen's hairbrush and toothbrush were gone but other than that everything else was still there.

Confused and worried, Violet went back into the living room.

She was thinking about calling someone when something on the bar caught her eye. There, sitting in plain sight was a white envelope with Violet's name written on it in Airen's handwriting.

Violet rushed over and tore open the envelope. Inside was a short note along with a second smaller note folded up inside of it. Violet quickly read the first note.

Violet,

I know this is sudden, believe me, it was for me too, but don't worry, I'm safe. I had to leave suddenly due to a family emergency. Don't worry about me, I'll be alright. Don't try to come after me or find me, I'm gone. I had to go home, and I won't be coming back. Please believe me when I say that this past year has been the best I've ever had. I've really enjoyed getting to know you and your family and all of you have been a true gift to me. Please stay safe and live your life to the fullest. And please, make sure that Johnathan does too. I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye in person, but I really was in hurry. I hope this note will be as sufficient as possible, though I know it comes nowhere near the real thing. I've also written a note to Johnathan, please make sure that he gets it. Please make sure that he knows that there was nothing her could have done to prevent this or that it had nothing to do with him. Please pass on my goodbyes to the rest of your family. You're an amazing person and friend and will do well in life. Good luck and goodbye dear friend.

With Love,

Airen

Violet read the note a few times before its message truly sunk in. Airen was gone. She was gone and wasn't coming back. What was worse was she hadn't had time to say goodbye to anyone before she left. And she'd asked Violet to do it for her.

Violet was numb. She couldn't believe it. How could she possibly explain this to everyone? How could she possibly explain this to Johnathan?

Violet groaned.

'So much for my relaxing evening/weekend.'

She checked the smaller note that had been enclosed with the first one. Sure, enough Johnathan's name had been scribbled on the outside of the note in Airen's handwriting. It looked like she had been in a hurry when she'd written it.

'Figures.'

Suddenly something on the bar started buzzing. Violet jumped in surprise and looked to see what it was. Airen's cell phone was laying on the bar next to where she'd left the note. It was also now ringing. Violet picked it up and checked the screen to see who it was. The caller ID read: Johnathan.

"Shit."


MUAHAHAHA!

For all my cliffhanger lovers out there: You're welcome.

For those of you who hate cliffhangers: Not really sorry, but hang in there. You'll thank me later.

I know this one's short but I felt like this was a good place to stop. Adding anything else would have taken away from the chapter. I also know that it's kind of the bare bones of a chapter, but again, I was focused on getting to the point of the story/chapter.

Read and Review!