Chapter Fifteen: A Hero's Welcome

It had been nearly six days since Linebeck and I set sail from Tokyo. He had been working me pretty hard since then; Swabbing the deck, polishing his treasures, and even doing more 'menial' labor that I'd rather not mention. But now we were only a few hours from our destination, and I couldn't wait. Soon I would know for certain whether my three year journey had been worth it or not.

Sometime around noon, I was to see a very familiar city on the horizon. It looked almost the same as it had when I left, except for one very obvious difference; the gordanian command tower that had been on the small island was gone, and in its place was an impressive looking tower that was fashioned in the shape of a 'T'. It didn't take me long to figure out who owned that tower.

Soon after arriving, Linebeck docked his ship at the Jump City harbor. I jumped off the boat enthusiastically eager to find out what my friends had been doing all this time.

"Whoa kid, take it easy! I know you're excited, but we just hit shore!" Linebeck said.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" I told him. "And now that I'm here I'm not going to let anything stop me from finding my friends."

"Well then, I wish you luck kid. See ya later." Linebeck told me.

"Maybe we'll meet again someday." I told him before he departed to wherever it was that he was going.

Later, I made my may to the coast. The Tower was across the water and there didn't seem like there was any way of getting there on foot. I was prepared to just swim across, but before I could I was stopped by a familiar voice.

"You do not need to do that Link. The Titans are not at the Tower right now." She said.

It was Kalena. Although considering how she had just mysteriously appeared before, I wasn't that surprised that she was here.

"How did you get here? Across the ocean?" I asked her.

"I took a boat, like you did." She answered. "If you wish to find your friends right now, they are within the city dealing with a strange monster. And from what I last saw, they were having a difficult time fighting it. I am sure that they could use your help."

I thanked her for the information and headed off into the city. If what Kalena said was true, and they were losing against whatever it was they were fighting, I had to find them quickly. Still I wondered; How did Kalena know all of this?

I was near a steel mill when I heard what sounded like a large crash. I went to investigate, and inside I saw all five of my friends battling a very odd looking monster. It was humanoid, but it was white with black markings on its face and two small eyes. It was big too, about three times the size of Cyborg, who managed to knock it backwards into a furnace. When flames from the furnace touched it, the monsters body became covered in flames. No. Its body had become flames!

I stood near the entrance hidden from sight and pulled the hood of my cloak up. I didn't want to reveal myself just yet, not in the heat of a battle like this. As I continued observing, I noticed that hardly anything my friends were throwing at the monster was working. Kalena was right; they were losing. One of the monsters fiery attacks had hit Starfire. After she fell to the ground the monster began to advance on her. Robin was trying to keep it away from her though. At least I knew he still saw her as a friend.

He wasn't able to keep it up for long though; the heat from the monster was affecting him. Before the monsters next strike, I readied my bow and set one of my last few arrows onto it. Then I fired it at the monsters head. The arrow struck the monster, stopping its attack. Everyone was wondering what had just happened. It was then that I made my appearance on the scene. I stood in the entryway and got the monsters attention.

"Hey fire face!" I yelled at it. "Leave my friends alone!"

The monster stared at me for a moment, almost as if it was scanning me like some sort of machine. I saw its pupils widen and then all of the sudden its entire body grew bigger and uglier. From the distance I heard Cyborg remark 'that was new', apparently meaning that the monster had never done this before. Regardless, I drew my sword and readied myself for battle.

The monster stomped towards me and swiped at me with a huge flaming claw. I blocked the attack with my shield, being grateful that my shield was fireproof. I was able to block several more of its attacks, but the heat coming from its body was starting to affect my reaction time. Before there was a chance for me to catch on fire, I went into spirit mode and shield bashed its next attack, forcing it to stumble backwards. Remembering how I took down that Lava Worm a few days ago, I took out my hookshot and fired it into the monsters forehead.

Before it was able to pry the hook loose, I gave the hookshot a forceful yank and made the monster fall to its knees. Before it could get up, I rushed over to it and thrust my sword into one of its eyes. The monster sprang up, gripping its face in pain. I was expecting it to attack again, but instead it ran out of the steel mill and disappeared. I sheathed my sword, then sighed in relief. It got away, but at least everyone was okay. I turned around to face all of them. When I lowered my hood, I heard several of them gasp; including Starfire.

"It's been a long time." I said to all of them.

It was quiet for a few moments, and all of them just kept staring until Beast Boy finally said something.

"Are we supposed to know you?" He asked.

When I heard that, I felt a little disappointed. Had they forgotten about me after all this time. I wouldn't be surprised; I was gone for three years after all. I was about to leave, but before I could, Robin interrupted me.

"Wait." He said. "Whether we're supposed to know you or not, thanks for your help against that thing just now."

"Oh. You're welcome." I replied.

"So… we have met this guy before?" Beast Boy asked again.

Raven then stepped up and answered his question.

"I remember. It was about three years ago; on the day that we all met for the first time. He helped us against the aliens that were invading then." She told him.

"How do you remember that?" Beast Boy asked her.

"I accidentally… bumped into him before it all happened." She said.

I scratched my head in embarrassment when I heard that, and once again apologized for it, with her saying again that it was no problem.

"I remember everything from that day. Even all of your names." I said.

I pointed to each of them and stated their names, and right after I mentioned Starfire's name she flew straight into me and hugged me bone-crushingly tight, which caught me by surprise.

"Hello long lost friend! I am hardly believing that I am seeing you again! It has been so long! You have not forgotten me?" she enthusiastically asked.

"Of course not… I could never forget you Starfire…" I said weakly, barely being able to breathe as I was still being crushed by her bone-crushing, yet greatly appreciated embrace. "It's great to see you again too… but… can I have my lungs back now?"

When she heard that she quickly let go of me and apologized for being too rough. I didn't mind it though, I was just glad she remembered me.

"Why did you not call? I had been hoping that you would for some time." She asked me.

To answer her question, I pulled out my broken communicator; explaining that I wasn't able to call anyone because it broke not too long after I left and I was unable to get it fixed. Cyborg took it from my hand and examined it. He mentioned that it felt nostalgic to be holding the original communicator design, and the fact that it was banged up pretty badly. He also mentioned that he would be able to fix it up good as new back at the tower.

On our way to the tower, everyone was very interesting in finding out what I had been doing all these years. When I mentioned my world-wide journey, they all wanted to know more, but Robin suggested that we get back to the tower first.

"Hey… Starfire?" I asked her as we were walking.

"Hmm? What is it Link?" she responded.

"I'm sorry…. sorry that I couldn't keep the promise I made back then… before I left." I told her.

"I forgive you. It was not your fault that your communicator accidentally broke. Though I am greatly looking forward to hearing about your adventures, and… making up for the lost time." She said with smile.

I smiled back, relieved to know that she forgave me. When we all got to the coast, Cyborg uncovered a small security panel and typed something into it. Afterwards a walkway rose up from the water that extended over to the tower. So that is how everyone who couldn't fly got over to the island!

The inside of the tower was incredible. The main room of the tower had a kitchen, living room, and computer system all in one. It had been so long since I had been indoors, mentioning that I had usually just traveled and slept outside. When Starfire heard me mention that, she flew over to me.

"That is unacceptable! I cannot allow my old friend who has just returned to us to sleep outside in the cold!" she said sounding very concerned.
"Uhh… I have a cloak…" I told her as I pointed at the white cloak I was wearing.

"No, from now on you will stay here with us!" She said.

I began to assure her that it was alright and that I didn't want to be a burden to anyone by staying here, but she and the others all said that it wouldn't be any trouble. Robin however wanted to see what I was able to do in battle and asked for me to train with them tomorrow. I agreed, but until then everyone said I should just relax. They could tell I was worn out by the battle from before, and from my entire journey.

Everyone was eager to find out what had happened on my adventure, and at the same time I was eager to find out what they had all been doing while I was gone.

"So… what did I miss?" I asked.

Meanwhile, and I wasn't there for this part, a familiar figure was gazing at the tower from across the coast. It was Ghirahim, and he had a look of sinister delight on his face.

"Well well kid, it seems you handled my little 'pet' well enough. That will certainly please my master." He said to himself.

"And now you are happily reunited with your friends. But as I told you before: Not everything is as it seems. Quite soon, you'll be in for quite a shock!" He said, laughing maniacally afterwards.