Author's Note:

I blame the first section on Ya-ssui, and her interpretation of what occurred after the end of last chapter.

Also, everyone missed something vital last chapter, or at least, if they spotted it, they haven't mentioned it.

Transient: Princess Koriand'r was born to the house of Tykayl, mentioned in The NTT #3, Vol 1. To my knowledge, it's the only time it's ever been referenced, so it's obscure canon. Pretty sure I've always used the same spelling for it, so can you let me know how it's a mistake? It is very interesting to morph Robin into a Tamaranian, he's having a lot of trouble with that. He's not got a handle on it yet and it's leaking onto Starfire.

Drown

Lost.

Sucked beneath a haze of green, the surface was a small white light at the end of a long tunnel. The fury. Anger. Uncontrolled, uncontained. So strong, so alien, unlike anything he'd tried to control before and he was swept away.

Drowning.

TTTTT

The last thing Starfire expected when she swung the staff at Robin's back was for him to twist and catch it. Perhaps there was still something of him remaining, able to control his reactions.

In the air, Raven's dark portal appeared behind Pelithrior, her claw snatching the woman out of the air to drag her through. They would need to take the ship too, which meant Starfire had to get Robin away from the top of the Tower.

With the fury now squarely on her, she had to act. With the hope his staff might help Robin remember who he was, she tugged at it. "Do you wish to play the war-of-tugs?" she asked, hoping to jar him free by offering something outrageously out of place.

Robin tilted his head at her, his grip on the staff loosening.

Starfire kicked him in the stomach, placing as much force behind her kick as she could muster, considering whom she fought. The staff snapped in two, half of it still gripped in Robin's hand as he travelled backward, the other half remaining with her. Keeping it with her, she ran forward and launched herself at Robin, catching his chest as he reeled and blasted from the roof.

Her intent was to land in the water and hope the rush of cool might penetrate the haze of rage Robin had surrounded himself in. Robin, it seemed, had other ideas. In the catch around the chest, one of his arms remained free and he slammed his fist into her back.

In all honesty, she expected he wouldn't be able to tell who had struck him and retaliation would be automatic, but the blow still hurt emotionally. The follow-up knee to the chest was a surprise and she lost her grip on him.

Robin fell. Hands clawing the air, it was not panic etched on his face.

Starfire fell with him.

She knew, given his current state of mind, Robin wouldn't be able to find the happiness required to fly. She also knew, if she caught him too early, she'd have to struggle with a writhing boy too lost to see all she wanted to do was help.

Waiting until the last moment to snatch him to safety was not without its complications. Off course, she missed the water around the Tower, planting them both into the rocky ground at the water's edge.

The broken remains of the staff sailed away, taking with it Starfire's hope of using his normal weapons to penetrate the haze and find the human beneath the Tamaranian. She would have to reach him with other methods.

The pair bounced and separated. Starfire slammed into a rock on her back. Groaning, Starfire picked herself, rubbing the small of her back. That would leave a mark, but the pain wasn't her concern right now. Robin was, and he was up and advancing. She held up her hands and backed away. "Robin, it is me. Please, you must calm down."

Flames lit his hands and Starfire responded with her fire. Planting her feet, she raised her hands, "I will not hesitate to defend myself."

Robin did not pause and Starfire met his fury with her own.

TTTTT

Beast Boy peered down over the edge of the Tower as a green ball of energy erupted from the pair, surrounding them both. Earth and dust was thrown away from their focal point, like lightning had struck the area. "Shit."

"Our girl's got this." Cyborg pried open a panel beneath the Vernathian vessel, plugging himself in to the computer's mainframe.

"Undoubtedly," Raven said, a struggling and gagged Pelithrior floating behind her. "But I worry about her emotional state afterward."

"We'll be on hand to pick up the pieces," Cyborg replied.

Beast Boy tugged at his hair nervously. "If there's anything left. We should get in there."

"I think this is one of the times where we have to defer to Starfire," Raven said. "She's seen this before."

"You sure?" Beast Boy asked and gripped the rim of the roof.

"She warned me about rage when I had her powers. It takes a lot of discipline to learn how to use it correctly. They all lose control at some point."

Beast Boy seemed unconvinced as he watched the battle down below. "They're really going at it."

"Man's got feels he needs to work through," Cyborg said, concentrating on his arm as he read the ship's code. "He's blowin' off steam. It's no different than when he's got himself worked up over Slade."

"Except now he has the power to put a small hole in our planet," Beast Boy countered.

"Starfire won't allow him to do that," Raven said.

Ears down, Beast Boy looked hopelessly over the edge. "She might not get a choice."

"Robin's always contained a lot of anger," Raven said.

"Yeah," Beast Boy shook his head. "But Star's powers work from emotion, what happens if he gets too angry?"

Raven gestured the fighting pair below. "This. She'll get him to see sense. I'm monitoring her close, Beast Boy. One word, one moment of doubt or falter, and I'll have Robin cocooned in power so tight he won't be able to move."

"Why haven't you done that already?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven gave him a small smile. "It's a lesson."

Beast Boy eyed her. "Remind me to never ask you to teach me anything."

"Different people require different techniques to teach them," Raven replied and smiled. "Besides, treats work wonders on you."

Beast Boy flushed and looked away.

"Raven's right, B," Cyborg said and slammed the lid shut on the panel. "Star knows what she's doing. All done here."

Raven turned. "Earth coordinates removed?"

"Yup. Hacked the system, programed in a return route to her home world via a roundabout route. She won't find her way back her through her systems. There's a virus which will wipe her data when after touchdown." He grinned. "I guess Val-yor didn't think ahead when he taught me about his computer systems."

Raven returned the smile. "Guess not." She turned to face Pelithrior, still bound and gagged by Raven's powers. "Understand you've been given a second chance here. If you ever return to Earth, you'll find Starfire won't be as merciful."

Pelthirior glared.

"Neither will we," Beast Boy said, turning. Morphing into a T-Rex and getting right in Pelithrior's face to give her a taste of his carnivore breath and having her squeal in response was strangely satisfying. Beast Boy licked his lips.

"Get out of here before he decides to eat yo' ass."

TTTTT

Is this what Starfire felt all the time? How did she control it? How did she manage to be so happy and yet contain this sort of rage to access in a moment? How did she never become lost?

The current was too strong. He would swim against it for as long as he had strength, but unless someone threw him a line, he would never be free.

TTTTT

Starfire was aware of Pelthrior's vessel lifting off the top of the Tower with a carelessness which suggested she'd been heavily persuaded to leave. Most of her attention was on Robin as she dodged beneath his fists. With Pelthrior gone, she could take care of Robin without worrying he may relapse.

Pain radiated across her cheek, a stray hit which had managed to connect. She was sure he would be apologetic for it later. While she'd managed to keep them both as injury free as she could, they were both scraped.

Dropping to a knee to duck under his swinging arm, she hit him in the chest with an eyebeam. As he took a step away to recover, she grabbed his boot, pulling him off balance. Rising up, she fisted the front of his shirt and hoisted, tossing him into the water.

He came up spluttering and Starfire stalked after him. "Robin, you need to stop."

He growled at her and raised clenched fists.

She met each of his starbolts with one of her own, carefully aimed so they took his starbolts out. "You taught me this, do you remember?" she called. "We practiced for ages in the training room, you would throw your birdarangs and I would disintegrate them with my starbolts. It took many moons before you were satisfied my aim could deflect any approaching object."

Robin didn't reply.

"Batman was most unimpressed," Starfire continued as she steadily approached Robin, wading into the water. She clicked her tongue. "We had to endure the lecture on the wasted materials. Do you remember?"

A low growl and Starfire sensed a tiny decrease in energy.

"This anger is but an extension of yourself," Starfire told him. "If you release it, release the energy as well as the rage, it will return balance to your emotions."

He continued to fire starbolts at her and she disintegrated each of them before they were close. The air popped around them, the result of colliding bolts and Starfire was thankful there was no one else around.

She stopped ahead of him to study him. His chest was heaving from the constant strain of channelling so much energy at once when he wasn't used to that sort of exertion. Lifting her legs out of the water, she darted forward and over his head. She grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him down, forcing his head beneath the water.

He came up for air spluttering. Straddling him, she pressed her forearm to his collarbone, the other hand on the back of his head to support him and held him so only his head was above the surface.

"Remember a moment which made you feel safe. Which made you feel happy. Find a moment which made you feel sad. Let the emotions you felt then become what you feel now. We find balance in our memories. You must allow yourself to feel, do not try to control them!"

He gasped and struggled but Starfire pushed him below the water again.

Letting him resurface for a breath, she told him, "My mind is always awash with memories, different moments in my life where I felt strong emotion. I allow myself to remember it all, good with the bad. Pain with the pleasure. Rage is but a single emotion and we are so much more!"

He snarled at her and received another dunk for the slight.

When he surfaced, she shook him. "Robin! What makes you happy? What is your happy thought? Find it! Feel it!"

He gripped her forearm and bared his teeth, his eyes still glowing brightly beneath the mask.

His struggles were slowing, she knew she was getting through to him. "Is it sunlight? Is it flowers? Is it the smell of your mother? Is it playing basketball with your father? Is it the Alfred's cookies?" She shook him again. "What is it which makes you happy?"

He kicked and growled, water splashing around them.

Starfire spread her fingers on the back of his head, buried in his hair. She sank her body down, sitting on him instead of braced above. Her face dipped toward his, hovering above so all he could see was her. "You have much rage, Robin. It serves you well, in battle and in life. As a Tamaranian, you are a proud and fierce warrior. The time for rage has ended. The human ways of self-control will not be of any help right now. The more you try to contain it, the more it will slip your grasp."

His teeth clamped together and he tensed.

She turned her voice soft. "Acknowledge your anger, Robin. Tamaranian power comes from allowing ourselves to feel, not controlling the emotion. Accept that fury has a rightful place within you. It is part of you. It must be felt. Release it. Exhaust it."

His breath whistled through his teeth, his body taut. Starfire relaxed her grip, allowed her body to quiet so she was no longer holding him still, just holding him.

TTTTT

Not control? Ride the waves of anger instead of swimming against the current? Was that even possible? Behind him, darkness loomed like an open mouth poised to swallow him.

He trusted her words, echoing in the tunnel. She knew better than he did, so he turned, allowing himself to be swept away.

Down, down, down, then he dropped over a waterfall and into a large vat of green with a splash. He broke the surface, gulping in air and looked around. A large, circular room, with many waterfalls filling the central vat.

Waterfalls? No, they weren't waterfalls. He looked again. Emotions. Many emotions, flowing toward a central core, fuelling it. Above each waterfall, memories glimmered. Things which made him angry. Pelthrior. Slade. Zucco. Things which made him happy. His friends. His family. Starfire. Things which made him strong. Batman. Things which made him weak. Also Batman.

It was all here. All the emotions he could draw on.

Warmth filled him as the water kept flowing toward the centre to a point where it defied gravity and rose upward.

He was pulled away.

TTTTT

Robin gasped, his chest heaving as he inhaled. His arms burst out of the water and grabbed onto her.

"That is it," she crooned. "Let it go. You are safe."

He panted and buried his face into her neck and held on. "Oh, god." A shudder ran through him, the last of the rage dying.

She stroked his back. "I am here."

"Star—" He choked on her name. Hands clutching, he held on tighter.

"I am so sorry," she whispered and tears pricked at her eyes. "I did not— I am so sorry."

He pulled away, water dripping down his face, his hair sodden. He looked younger than she'd ever seen him. Young and incredibly vulnerable. "Did I hurt you?"

"No."

Fingertips touched her face and it took all of Starfire's self-restraint not to wince. She could tell he knew she lied. She could also tell he wasn't going to mention it.

Robin swallowed and dropped his hand. "What the hell is wrong with me?"