I've been getting up at five am to go to seminary, so i figured i might as well write during that time. I finally have a way to get stuff up!

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but the storyline.

Chapter 16

"So, what else has made you feel confused?" Raven pressed gently. The two girls were sitting up in the fully grown tree of Hope, chatting happily as they attempted to awaken various emotions. Although most of the trees were still only just sprouting and would most likely take some time to grow into real trees, already grass was beginning to fill the once desolate land, and even a few flowers had managed to show up.

Starfire sighed. "Well, there was one time in which my powers failed me completely, for I was too confused to find strength to feel the emotions needed to use them."

"What happened?" Raven gently prodded.

Looking away, Starfire replied, "I do not wish to feel confusion again. It was not a pleasant experience, and I felt as if I were not a true warrior any longer."

Raven put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, silently conveying the message that yes, it may have been a hard experience, but there was a friend by her side. She didn't even have to say anything; they were such close friends that the message could be understood plainly.

"Do you remember when our ship crashed and we were stranded on the unfamiliar planet?" Starfire asked quietly.

She nodded, smiling slightly at the memory. She hadn't understood how the others could have had such a hard time on that planet, as she had been treated like royalty, but apparently, she had crash landed on the good side of the planet.

"Just before the crash landing, Robin had denied that I was the 'girlfriend' and then told me to 'give him space'. Of course I was angry, and I did the 'silent treatment' as you often do when Beast Boy is doing the annoying you. Yet the entire time, I was confused. He would not tell me how he felt."

She put a hand on the Tamaranean's shoulder. "It's okay, Star. Robin's...complicated. He tends to keep secrets, and that's often his greatest downfall. We're not meant to understand it sometimes."

Starfire nodded in response. "I have seen that only too many times in him."

Trying to think of something else to talk about, seeing as the tree of Sadness was already beginning to grow into a tall, stong one, she asked, "So, what's left?"

Starfire bit her lip and looked the other way, barely whispering her response. "There is only anger and jealousy left, and I do not wish at all to revive them."

Though Raven understood the Tamaranean's reasoning behind such a request, she refused to accept it. "Starfire, I'm really sorry, but you're going to have to talk to me about it. These emotions are all part of you, no matter how much you don't want it to be true. I would know. I wish every day that I never possessed the emotion of anger, but I do."

For a moment, Starfire was silent, and her eyes closed in remembrance. When they opened once more, they bored right into Raven's own eyes, filled with hurt and...anger.

Raven didn't even have to ask what memory Starfire had been returning to as the trees of jealousy and anger sprung up like weeds. A recent memory, most likely, and not a pleasant one at that.

TTTTTT

He knew that he was't dead, but he definitely wasn't alive. Not truly. It was as if he was suspended in his own mind, locked in his own memories as they replayed before him. First meeting Starfire...Blackfire's visit...Raven's premonitions about Terra...being stranded on the alien planet...saving Raven from her father...hugging Starfire (several of these moments played through his mind)...Raven hugging him...

His heart skipped a beat. Here it comes. The memory reel of recent events. Waking up in Red X's makeshift dungeon...almost kissing Raven...getting captured trying to save Raven...He winced when he recalled the xinothium poision. Then he saw Raven pushing him off the Tower...making a cake with Starfire...

NO! he wanted to shout. Stop the movie! No more! I don't want to have to relive this! No good. He saw Doctor Light sneering at him when he was overcome with grief over his loss of Star...desperately trying to find a heartbeat...watching Raven's monitors blank out...trying to find Red X but failing...then coming to Slade.

He couldn't help the grin that came over his face as he recalled beating Kid Flash and Jinx. Then fighting Red X...seeing Raven again as she tried to keep him from killing Chang...seeing himself reflected in Beast Boy...talking to Wintergreen...going insane with grief as he watched Beast Boy and Red X carry Raven away...fighting the changeling...being bitten...

Finally, he saw Slade helping him. Was that concern he saw? Was that worry? In Slade? Slade?

Then, after that last memory, everything was dark. When they said that your life flashes before your eyes as you die, they really meant it. He had no idea where he was, only that there was an overwhelming darkness everywhere, so thick that he felt as if he could reach out and take a chunk out of the air in front of him, but he couldn't move. Why couldn't he move?

Then the voices started to break through his conscience. "I think he's starting to come around."

"Well, he's been out for nearly thirty two hours. He should start coming around."

Why couldn't he say anything? Why couldn't he move? Feeling was slowly returning to him, and he could sense the cold metal beneath him. Great. More hospitals. Only this one was a Slade version. He still couldn't see, but that was okay, as long as it meant that he didn't have to officially know that he was in the hospital.

"How long do you think he will last this time?"

What did they mean by that? Had he woken up before? What was going on?

"I hope longer than the last time. Five minutes would even be helpful."

He was beginning to make out shapes. And colors. Black and orange blobs...no, one blob. And a white and grey blob directly above him. Slade and Wintergreen, no doubt.

"Robin? Can you hear us?" Now he could discern who the voices were. That one was Wintergreen.

Ah! If only he could move! His body seemed determined to drag out his awakening for as long as possible. First to come back was his hearing, strangely enough, and now it seemed that his eyesight was coming back as well. He could see clearly now, and he was definitely in a hospital. Just great. That's what he'd always wanted.

"Robin, respond." Yep, that was Slade. Not that concerned somebody that he had seen in his memories.

What else could he do? He couldn't move his mouth, but his eyes seemed to be working fine. He blinked rapidly. Yes, he was awake and listening. Give him some time, for crying out loud!

Wintergreen sighed in relief. "I think he's coming back all the way this time."

Then his sense of feeling came back to him, all at once. He could move now, but that wasn't neccessarily a good thing. Every bone in his body was sore, and his blood ran chill. A sudden pain shot up his spine, and he sat right up. But he still couldn't talk. His mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out. He was aware of the dryness in his vocal chords, and he swallowed, trying to find words or sounds, anything.

"Well, he's alive. See if you can help him find his bearings." And Slade was gone. Yet Robin had noticed something in his voice...something like...relief? After everything he had thought about Slade, his whole perspective was falling apart. Relief? He shook his head, glad that he could now do so. This whole thing was just...confusing.

TTTTTT

Her heart was racing. She had to tell the others sooner or later. It was a burden that she had born for some time now, almost two days. And she still had not yet had the courage to tell them. Why should she have such courage? That was Bravery's department.

Intelligence sighed. After years of thinking herself the less emotional one, she was finding otherwise. She was...scared to tell the others. They weren't going to like it. At all.

The first ones that she would have to tell would definitely need to be Love and Little Love. After all, Robin and Beast Boy were involved, and they had the right to know about that sort of thing. She approached the two sisters, both sleeping contentedly in their hammocks, with great apprehension.

"Love?"

"mmmfph. Fivemoreminutes," the emotion muttered.

She hesitated, wondering if she should wake them up or not. Although they had already had their healthy eight hours of sleep, both emotions were exhausted from days of trying to help the other emotions to keep from fading away. But, as always, reason got the better of what little emotion she might have possessed. That was her job, after all.

"Love!" she persisted, shaking the light pink-clad emotion.

"WHAT?" she shouted, accidentally falling out of the hammock.

"Are you okay?"

Love brushed herself up, rising slowly. "Yeah. What is it?"

Intelligence bit her lip. "I need to talk to you about something. Do you think your sister could come with us as well?"

Love looked back at Little Love, who was sleeping peacefully. "I wouldn't want to wake her. The stress of knowing that Beast Boy fought Robin and not knowing the result is slowly killing her. She's finally got a good night's rest."

Intelligence nodded. "I understand. Well, I don't know how to start, so let's just go on a walk, shall we?"

Love peered at her curiously for a moment. "Sure..."

The two of them walked through the dark forest in silence for a while. Intelligence noticed the wilting leaves, the dried up flowers. Raven's mind was dying, and she was about to reveal news that would only help it along. But still, her thoughts that the others had to know pushed emotion out of her mind.

"Love, I have to tell you something important, but you're not going to like it at all," she finally admitted.

"Yeah? What is it?" Love asked, her expression solemn.

"I believe you recall the day when Beast Boy announced to Raven that he was going after Robin?"

"How could I not? That memory haunts my sister and I more than you will ever know," Love replied sadly.

Intelligence stopped staring directly into Love's eyes. "Love, I lied when I said that I didn't know the outcome of that fight. One of the fighters...is dead or dying at this very moment."

Love's eyes widened. "Who was it?" she asked, though it was obvious that she didn't really want to know.

Intelligence looked away, no longer able to meet her gaze. "It was Robin."

For a moment, Love's mouth just hung open. Her hands then flew to her mouth and she sank to her knees. "Robin?" she repeated, and the plea in her voice was evident: don't let it be him!

"I wish it wasn't true, Love. I wish that I could bring you good news, like that Beast Boy just came back wounded or that the fight was postponed because of weather or something! I would lie through my teeth if I could, but I couldn't keep from telling you what I know!" Intelligence cried out. Then, she sank to her knees beside Love. "That's my job."