Love – Set during the events of "Trouble In Tokyo"

There are many emotions that are hard to understand in life but love is the one that seems to elude all no matter how much we try to make sense out of the matter. It is a simple four letter word and yet it can be a life changing revelation for the speaker or the recipient. As an emotion it fools us, and toys with our feelings, it can make us blind to something right in front of us and can deceive us into seeing things that aren't truly there.

For so many years I worried over my feelings of love as I had no way of understanding what it was, or what its cruel intentions were as it toyed with my emotions and my heart. Love for my family was something that I believed to be tangible as it could easily be rationalised as being a chemical reaction due to our relation. For my entire life I believed this to be the only form of love. That is until I arrived on earth.

In hindsight I can clearly see that the 'butterflies' and the 'stomach knot' that he gave me was always some form of love even if I could not yet understand it. When we first met, I saw him as a threat and a foe but within moments my view was beginning to change, it had been so many years since I was last shown any form of kindness and he seemed to dish it out freely. His kindness and aid filled the void in my heart and I believe that even from our first meeting, I reserved a place there for him.

I gladly accepted his friendship but it wasn't long before I began to yearn for more than simply being 'best friends'. There were times where it seemed he also wished for this but we were always rudely interrupted or either one of us would be too nervous to admit our feelings. So for a long time I believed that my feelings were mine alone and that I was a silly alien for believing that Robin would ever wish for anything more. Despite how much my friends told me of Robin's feelings towards me, I could never take their opinion as 100% fact and I needed the answer from Robin himself and not just a 'hunch'. This is what drew me to my dilemma as I was just as eagerly avoiding the discussion of the matter myself, I subconsciously found myself leaving clues and hints of my feelings and hoping that he would follow them.

Seeing the Titans in the future broke my heart but none more so then seeing Nightwing. Robin's light heartedness seemed to have evaporated over the years and he was left as a cold shell and tragically he ended up exactly how he didn't want to, becoming a copy of the Batman. The realisation that I had left him alone in pain for 20 years broke me inside and I actually began to question why I didn't just stay there with him. It was obvious that he had feelings for me and the thought of leaving him again seemed too much for me to bear. Only on his and the other's command did I leave and despite the tragic future that I had seen, the knowledge of Nightwing's feelings gave me renewed hope for those of my Robin.

I felt my heart being torn away from me as I learned of my betrothal on Tamaran, there was only one man I wished to be wed to and he was being cruelly taken from me. My heart leapt at the idea of Robin's jealousy over the event but it just made me even sadder knowing what I would be losing. I did not wish to be cold towards him in his attempts to save me but if I had to look at his face as I signed away my life on Earth…..I do not believe I would have been able to cope. It took us being stranded on an alien planet for me to gain some clarity on the relationship myself and Robin shared. I learned of his admiration of me but despite what he said I knew that he was holding back. I took his brief confession and I cherished it for a year, regardless of whether Robin understood his feelings for me, it had certainly made me understand my feelings towards him.

It is humorous how one night in a foreign city could change so many things, a confession had changed our entire relationship and I finally built up the courage to make my feelings clear to him, no more edging around the topic. By the end of the trip he would know my feelings. And despite Robin's initial uncertainty, we both knew of one another's feelings.

Lying in my bed in the hotel room I struggle desperately to think of anything else than what had happened tonight but no matter what I am unable to remove this foolish grin from my face and ground myself from where I am stuck hovering a few feet above the bedsheets. I wonder to myself if Robin is facing the same struggle as I am. I want to see him and no matter how many times I tell myself that I should not as it would be rude to disturb him at 3am I still find myself gliding over to his door in the hallway and knocking gently.

After a few moments the door swings open and there stood a pyjama clad Robin with a look of mild surprise and happiness spread across his face. "Starfire?"

It was then I realised that my plan to see Robin didn't include any planning as to what I would say to him. Racking my brain I decided to be honest "I was unable to sleep. I was wondering if you wished to do the hanging out?"

Robin turned and looked at the clock on his wall "You want to hang out at 3am, Star?" he chuckled

I felt like an idiot, "You are right it is foolish, I am sorry for disturbing you Robin"

As I began to leave I felt something tug at my hand and I turned to see him smiling warmly at me "We can hang out, Star" he said, stepping aside from the doorway.

I gave him a grateful smile and took a seat on the bed. In honesty I had not at all planned getting to this stage, I knew that I wanted to see him and speak to him but as to what I actually wanted to say, I was at a loss for words. Everything in his room suddenly became extremely interesting and I found myself examining every detail of the floral pattern on the ceiling to fill the empty silence.

"Is the ceiling different in your room?" he asked with a confused look

I realised my strangeness and I smiled sheepishly "I believe they are the same"

He smiled slightly "Oh, okay. Wanna watch some TV?" I nodded wordlessly in response and he proceeded to navigate to the movies section and find something for us to watch. Regardless of the fact that all the content was in Japanese, it gave the room some well needed background noise. We laid along the bed with our attention focused on the screen.

Eventually the lack of conversation appeared to be too much for Robin and his previous calm demeanour seemed to have visibly diminished, leaving a look of nervousness about him, "Star?"

Taking my eyes of the screen and rolling to face him "Yes Robin?"

"You don't…umm…regret what happened, right?" he asked anxiously

I tilted my head in confusion "Regret what?"

"Kissing me" he responded with a clear tone of unease

His words sent shivers down my spine and worry washed through me, did he regret it? Did he think it was a mistake? I could feel myself beginning to panic slightly "No…do you regret it?" I asked in return as my eyes began to fill up.

He sighed in relief and shuffled closer taking my hand, "No no, of course I don't I just wanted to make sure you didn't. I thought that maybe you came here to tell me you regretted it"

A wave of relief washed over me and I smiled reassuringly at him, "I am certain of my feelings"

"Me too" he replied, squeezing my hand gently "I wish it hadn't took me this long to tell you though…there was so many chances I had to tell you"

"The blame is also mine for I was not clear enough with you"

"At least you made an effort. Bruce drilled into my head that I could never have anything more than a friend, that girls were a 'distraction' that I didn't need. Even after I left him, I was stupid enough to still follow the things he had taught me"

I smiled sympathetically "I am sure he believed it to be in your best interest"

"Yeah, but when a beautiful alien princess is trying to show that she likes me, you'd think I would have been smart enough to ignore him" he said with an annoyed sigh

My cheeks burned brightly and to cease his tirade against himself I placed a gentle kiss to his lips. "On Tamaran, lip contact is not typically a form of affection but I am beginning to enjoy it greatly"

"Well, if that's the case, then I need to help you practise it" he replied with a playful smirk

My smirk matched his as I pulled him closer "I believe you are correct"

The End

Author's Notes:

Thank you so much for reading and I'm extremely sorry it has took so long to update this. It comes from a lethal combination of University work, laziness and temporary writers block. Thank you so much for anyone who's stuck around.

As for the moment this story is complete, I may make additions in the future but that is reliant on whether or not I think of more things to add.

Every single day I am thinking of story ideas and things to add to current ideas I have so don't worry about me forgetting a story or something because I definitely haven't forgotten.

Plenty more stories on the way.