Sorry, work was busy last few weeks.

I dont own anyting or anyone, dont sue me. Teen Titans is on Cartoon network and in DC Comics.

The following morning the Titans prepared their final assault against Slade. Robin double checked his utility belt and even had a utility vest with more items. He has put every trick he had together for this. He went down to see Cyborg doing last minute checks on the T-Jet and the T-car. With Beastboy's help they had packed every type of non-lethal weapon they had. Cyborg and Beastboy (in gorilla form) was packing large cannon-looking weapons when Raven came down. All she had was a large book in both hands.

"Need help with that, Raven?" Robin asked while Cyborg and Beastboy finished putting away their weapons.

"No thanks, Robin. I think I can handle this. I just wish they didn't make everything so heavy on Starfire's homeworld."

"You think that book will help, Raven?" Beastboy asked

"It's hard to tell" she replied "I haven't thought things out using just my emotions for a long time. But, certain parts of me though the passages in this book have the best chance we have of bringing Starfire home" she was referring to her emotions.

"I hope so. I don't want to hit Starfire with another sonic cannon. It felt bad enough last time" Cyborg added.

"Tell me about it" Beastboy said rubbing his jaw

With this said, Cyborg got into the T-car and the other 3 got into the T-jet and they took off to confront Slade.

Starfire and Slade arrived back at their hangar. He had brought her along while he did some last minute checks on his other facilities. Starfire had not noticed much of the trip though. Her thoughts had been on her friends. And what she must do. He parked their vehicle near the space ship. Slade intended to make this as quick as possible, so as they exited the vehicle he turned to her.

"I trust you have already packed whatever you will need for this trip." He said "You can surely acquire anything you need once we reach your Tamaran, so you shouldn't need much."

"I am prepared to go" she replied flatly.

It was at this point the outer doors of the hangar exploded inward. The hangar was large, so no other damage occurred as the doors fell in.

"You're not going anywhere" Robin yelled after the noise settled, as if he had heard what Slade had said to Starfire, and her reply. (heroes always seem to know the right thing to say)

Starfire was in shock. The Titans were the last people she wanted to see right now. She certainly did not want to fight them. She had been dwelling on what she must do all morning, and at this moment her emotions were much more turbulent anyone could tell by looking at her. She was truly afraid of fighting them, but mostly for their sake.

The Titans came in, Cyborg had an extra cannon mounted on one shoulder, but it was powered down. Beastboy had something that looked like a large stun gun, but it was on his back. Robin had his usual utility belt, and an extra belt across his chest, but his hands were empty. Raven just carried a large book in both hands.

"Apprentice, the Teen Titans have returned" Slade yelled while the ever-present calm remained in his voice "Escort them out of my base immediately."

"We're not here to fight" Robin said, holding his empty hands out in front of him

"Then leave" Slade replied

"Not without Starfire" Robin said (Robin always seemed to do most of the talking with villains. He must have gotten special classes from the Batman) then, for a moment nobody spoke.

Starfire was frozen. As she looked back and forth between Slade and her friends she seemed to be in chaos. She wanted the Titans to beat Slade. She wanted to go home with her friends. She wanted the Earth and Tamaran to be safe. She didn't want to listen to the orders given by this evil man. But, her duty and honor was keeping her chained to him. Her friends had come back here to rescue her. Again. She wanted to be rescued so badly, but still she stayed of her own free will. And soon would die of her own free will.

As she stood there staring at her friends, and hearing Slade's voice she felt her emotions building and crash together. She gripped her fists tighter trying shake them off.

Slade glared at his apprentice. He knew she would not attack her friends unprovoked, no matter what he said. Also, he did not dare attack them either, lest she switch sides to defend them. He was at an impasse. As much as it goaded him to do it, he had to let Robin make the next move.

Robin saw the hesitation Slade had. Robin was smart enough to know what was happening, so he was determined not to let things get out of hand like they had the last time. He could see the emotions swirling in Starfire's green eyes. To fight her now would be suicide, no matter the preparation they had made.

It was in this moment of silence Raven's voice rang out clearly. All eyes turned toward her as she floated there, sitting with her legs crossed, floating behind Robin holding the huge book before her.

Raven read the Celebration of Love. She didn't know it, but this was one of the first stories taught to Tamaranian children. It described the joys of love, in all it's forms. The love you have for your parents. The love you have for your friends. The love you have for all beings, both living and passed on.

As she read, Raven tried her best. But her voice sounded awkward reading the Tamaranian words. She would speed up and slow down, reading as best she could. Her voice seemed broken to her, not completely sounding out the Tamaranian language, certain she was sounding out many of the words wrong. She was worried at how horribly she must sound to her friend.

To Starfire's ears it was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. At first she heard Raven's voice translating the words she knew by heart. But then it was her mother's voice singing her those words as she fell asleep, and her father's voice as he carried her on his shoulders laughing, her aunts and uncles during the celebrations of her youth, her birthdays, friendship days. She heard the voices of all her family except one. And then she heard Raven's voice, but the words had not changed. They still sounded just as beautiful as when her mother's voice. Starfire didn't notice the tears running down her cheeks as she heard the words in her heart much more clearly than anyone else could hear them spoken.

Slade knew he was losing control, but he dared not make a move to silence Raven. At this moment he feared what his apprentice would do should he attack her friend. And he knew, more than anyone, what she was capable of. She had never shed a tear while training for him, but now they flowed freely from her eyes. And he feared for his life should she strike him. He took a few steps back toward the shadows.

Raven read on as she saw Starfire staring at her with those huge green eyes. She was nearing the end, and could see Starfire's lips mouthing the words she spoke them, almost leading her. Pacing her to speak them as her mother had, so long ago. The ending phrase was simple, but beautiful. Like the rest of what she had read. "Your love is like a river. Let it flow it can nourish the world. Hide it away, and it will no unworthy to drink. If you love the world, then everyone is your family. But if you love nobody you will always be alone." (The preceding phrase was in Tamaranian, that was a rough translation, since Tamaranians have over 100 different words for "love")

There was a moment of silence after Raven finished and she closed the book. Then Robin spoke up. "Starfire, Slade didn't save anybody from your family. He only saved your sister. You owe him nothing"

She bowed her head. It was so clear to her now how foolish she had been. Her family was here all along, not on Tamaran. She had known those words her whole life, but only now was she beginning to understand them it seemed. Then her heart filled with a joy she hadn't felt in such a long time. She took a flying step, then gathered the Titans together for a group hug. "My friends" she said as she hugged them "I have missed you so much. I am so sorry for not seeing the truth myself, but I am so happy I can call you my family."

The Titans embraced her back in their own ways. Cyborg and Beastboy by hugging her back, and even Raven by putting a hand on the arm Starfire had around her shoulder. Robin did also, saying "And we're sorry we didn't know your culture better. You've been with us a long time and yet we knew almost nothing about you. That is what Slade used against you."

With this Starfire released her friends and they all stepped back, smiling again. Then Robin opened one of the pouches around his waist and held out Starfire's old shirt "We've been saving this for you" he said.

"Oh, Robin. Thank you" she said, taking the garment from his hand. Then the boys blushed and averted their gaze as Starfire stripped off her current shirt and replaced it with the one Robin offered. None of the Titans seemed to care about Slade's presence anymore, except Starfire. She turned and flew up to the shadow he had stepped into and held out Blackfire's shirt. "I'm sorry, Slade, but I cannot repay the debt my sister owes you. She has long ago distanced herself from me, and everyone. She quit being my family, or anyone's, when she decided to live her life alone."

Slade's eye narrowed. There was nothing to be said, so he simply reached out and took the garment. He gripped it in his fist as Starfire turned her back to him and rejoined her friends who moved close to her again. Laughing and hugging her again. Slade turned to leave when he noticed Robin had somehow gotten behind him. Slade readied himself to fight the boy, but Robin only stood there with a smile. "You should be thankful" Robin said "We saved your life today."

Slade's eye narrowed "You did nothing, boy, but take my apprentice away. She learned more from me in a couple months than she ever learned from you." Robin said nothing, but still smiled, knowing he had won. Slade continued "And if you're referring to the device Starfire put in the ship, I had that disabled the moment she fell asleep"

Robin laughed "That antimatter bomb wasn't there to kill you, Slade. It was there for her. You would have died the moment she ripped your ship in half."

Slade's eye widened a moment, as if he was surprised. Then he went back to normal. He stepped around Robin into the shadows and disappeared. Robin rejoined his friends as they hung around Slade's base a bit more. Raven and Beastboy taking her outside while talking and laughing. They even asked Starfire to fly the T-Jet back to the tower, when she asked about Cyborg and Robin, they explained that those two had driven the T-car over and would meet them there.

Cyborg and Robin stayed behind to… improve Slade's base a little. Cyborg went to the hanger and the armory to dismantle anything dangerous he may still have from the plans stolen from the Titans, and Robin went to the security room. By the time Robin had gotten there, though, Slade had wiped the computers and disappeared. But, when they left Slade's base it would be unusable for any kind of scheme for a long time.

EPILOGUE

Jinx had been having trouble sleeping since that night. Her dreams were getting worse lately making it hard to sleep. Dreams, not only of the alien girl, but Brother Blood and Slade as well. She, and her friends, had been kicked out of the Hive after their defeat, with Blood lecturing them about how much money he had wasted on them. When dismissed, he had told the four that he would think about their punishment, which meant he might decide to hunt them down. It was getting late and Jinx took a moment to think about her friends. They had taken refuge in some run-down apartments with a manager who didn't ask questions. She took one room and the boys took another (she wasn't about to live in the same apartment as them, they never cleaned)

The boys where out doing boy stuff, which she had no interest in tonight, so she had stayed in. The television was getting really boring though, so she was considering tracking them down and participating in whatever sport or crime or video games they were doing tonight. Then she heard the light knock on the door. Jinx figured she would ignore it, and whoever it was would just go away. Then another knock. After nearly half an hour it was really hard to keep ignoring it, so Jinx finally caved in. Extremely annoyed she walked to the door, throwing it open. The look on Jinx face changed from annoyance to fear instantly as she shouted "YOU!" lighting up her hands.

Standing outside her door was Starfire. She had her arms at her side and she looked at the ground. She made no move to defend herself, willing to take whatever punishment Jinx was going to give her. Luckily, Jinx was too stunned to move right away. "I wish to say how sorry I am at how I treated you and your friends." Starfire said, never looking up

Jinx stood there for a moment staring. Her hands glowing, she studied the alien girl, who had not moved. Some movement in the trees behind Starfire caught her attention and Jinx smiled. Apparently this Starfire had come ready to accept whatever revenge Jinx and her friends would give her, but the other Titans were nearby. And they wouldn't let her get touched, more than likely. She relaxed. The girl in front of her was no threat, apparently having broken out of Slade's control. "Where's your friends?" she asked. Starfire started to explain that they were at the tower when they suddenly appeared next to her, stepping out of the shadows. "If you want to talk, you're all welcome inside."

Starfire looked up, her eyes lighting up along with her smile "Oh, that would be wonderful. I've felt so terrible since our encounter. I wish to make amends"

Jinx saw the sincerity in her eyes and knew this was no trap. She thought about it for a second and figured spending some time with her may help her sleep better, so she stepped out of the doorway motioning that they could come in, and Starfire stepped in, followed by Raven. When Robin tried to step inside Jinx appeared in the doorway again. "No Boys!" she said, slamming the door in his face. Robin looked at Cyborg and shrugged.

"Pizza and video games then?" Cyborg asked.

"I get dibbs on the veggie pizza" Beastboy added in.