Terrors taught in Tamaran
Weird. Robin quickly looks around Starfire's room, but she definitely isn't there. Robin decides to check the roof. He walks up the stairs to the roof door, and pushes it open. It makes a slow metallic screech as the door swings; the cold evening wind hitting his face. He can see Starfire sitting on the ledge of the roof, her dark shadow stretched across the roof floor. Robin walks over in silence and sits next to her with his legs hanging off the ledge of the roof.
"Uhm, you okay, Star?" Robin asks awkwardly, as the atmosphere of the two of them being alone together starts to set in. He looks over to look at Starfire. Her gaze stares at the view in front of them as the wind forces her hair to fly in all directions. It hits her in the face, the eyes, her lips. She doesn't seem to care. Robin quickly looks away.
"I am…sick of the home." Starfire finally says, and Robin sighs in relief that the silence between them has stopped.
"Oh, you mean you're homesick? You uh…miss Tamaran?" Robin asks, trying to make his voice seem more comforting than factual. It doesn't exactly work, but it's a start.
"No…" Starfire says slowly. Oh.
"I am sick of the way my home functions compared to Earth. It is not as…friendly." Starfire says, as her eyes transfer into a sadder state. Robin notices this, and realises the situation is more serious than he first assumed.
"Star, what do you mean? Has something happened?" Robin asks, his voice now high with worry. He tries to contain it better, worrying about what the other Titans would think if they walked out and saw this.
"There is so much help on Earth, for all sorts of problems." Starfire explains. Robin listens very, very carefully.
"When my planet was at war, I was utterly on my own." She says in an usual flat tone.
" I was enslaved for such a long time, and nobody was there to help me. I-I saw…things." Starfire shudders as the words leave her lips, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. Robin stays silent and absorbs the information he just witnessed. He had heard about Tamaran being in a War before now, but Starfire had never mentioned about being a slave to the War. This was entirely new information to him.
The thought made Robin sick. How on Earth, or even Tamaran, or even any other planet, did someone as nice and kind as Starfire have such a dark history? And why is this the first Starfire has mentioned it? Robin thinks back to when him and the Titans first met Starfire. She was…well, not evil. But she certainly wasn't focused on doing good for Earth. What would she be like if we'd never found her? Robin wonders to himself. He shudders at the thought. Whatever happened to Starfire during her slavery must've had a dramatic physiological impact. It hurt him that someone so innocent had been dragged through such torture. He gently pulls the hem of his shirt sleeves over his hands, shielding them from the cold - the very shirt she purchased for him out of her own good-will, that she somehow obtained despite all her terrors in Tamaran.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that on your own." Robin says sympathetically. He didn't even need to try and sound gentle this time. He meant it. He was sorry.
"But you're on Earth now. There are people who are trained to help people who have been through…things." Robin suggests, glancing over to see Starfire's reaction. She seems to relax a bit. Emotional advice is not one of Robin's strong points, but for Starfire...it just felt different.
"And you've also got your friends to talk to, like you're talking to me right now." Robin continues, hoping that Starfire will feel a little more comforted. Robin thinks about what it must've been like for a young Starfire to watch the world she grew up in start to collapse, with all her Tamaranian friends and family being impacted as well as herself. He dreads to think of what sort of 'things' a Tamaranian slave must have to do. If they are people controlled and heavily influenced by emotions, then surely the dark emotions should be much, much worse to bare? He sadly looks at Starfire.
It's not fair. Robin thinks to himself. He watches as Starfire gets up, and quickly copies her action.
"I will…think about asking for the help." Starfire says shyly as she forces a small smile and looks at Robin. He tries to smile back, but his mind is too distraught on the thoughts of Tamaran. He needs to find out what happened, and why it was necessary for someone he cares about to go through such a traumatic life.
"However." Starfire adds, as she begins to walk towards the exit door. Robin follows a few steps behind to give her some space.
"The people here were not there. They are not even from Tamaran." Starfire says, sighing slowly.
"Thank you, Robin." Starfire says, stopping in her tracks. Robin walks a few steps forward, so that he and Starfire are standing side by side. The sun had almost set and the darkness has swept over the city landscape. Robin hadn't even noticed. How long have Starfire and him been talking for?
As Robin is lost in thought, Starfire quickly wraps her arms around his neck and holds him there for a few seconds.
Robin freezes.
She's…warm. Robin realises. His heart starts to shake, and his mind becomes empty.
Starfire pulls away before he has a chance to wrap his arms around her.
"Nobody from this planet will ever be able to understand what my people and I experienced in Tamaran. Not even you." Starfire almost speaks as a whisper by the end of the sentence. She leaves through the exit door, leaving Robin standing on his own in the almost pitch-black of the outside. He looks over his shoulder at the city which is illuminated by thousands of little lights or gold and some red. He clenches his fists and walks towards the exit door towards the inside of the Tower.
If nobody from Earth can help her- Robin thinks to himself with determination -
Then I'll find someone from Tamaran that can.