Author's Notes: Haha, well, here I am, and I have not yet graduated. I feel the need to procrastinate and what better way to do that is there than with fanfictions?
Chapter 12: Enough to Celebrate
Starfire recovered quickly from Dr. Light's attack. In fact, it seemed like no recovery was required at all - she was back to her normal self that same night. Cyborg was utterly puzzled by this, knowing that enough force to knock someone out, especially a Tamaranean, would take some time to heal from. But not this time. She was completely unscathed.
It had been nearly two months since Starfire's encounter with Dr. Light (and the man in black) and she continually insisted to her teammates that she was just fine. Aside from some random stomach aches now and then, which she kept to herself, she believed that she was just fine.
After Beast Boy's reassurance, Raven finally managed to let go of the strange vibes that had been haunting her for months. She still felt them from time to time, but always heard his words echo in her head: 'We can trust her to tell us anything we need to know.' She put her faith in these words, trusting both Starfire and Beast Boy's judgement. She no longer wanted to make a big deal out of something that was probably nothing.
The last few months had passed by quite typically: there were emergencies now and then that the Titans had to attend to, Robin and Starfire went out every once and a while just to get an evening alone, which was still a rarity, and the team found themselves doing more projects around the tower with the extra time on their hands. All in all, the whole ordeal with Dr. Light had been the most exciting thing to happen to them in quite a long time.
Of course, Starfire continued to dream of her prison, but never again did she see the man in black, and never did she stop pondering over his final words to her.
"I guarantee that the next time won't be as pleasant."
"Good morning, friends! I hope you have all slept well!" Starfire said happily as she floated down into the common room. She rubbed her eyes drowsily, but wore an enthusiastic grin on her face.
"Never better!" Beast Boy said, stretching and yawning on the couch. He wasn't exactly satisfied with this though, and finished the rest of his stretch in cat form. Raven rolled her eyes slightly from behind her book.
"Mornin' Star." Cyborg said, muffled by a mouthful of cereal.
Starfire looked around the room for a moment. "Tell me… have any of you seen Robin?"
The three Titans glanced about the room simultaneously. "Uh, no. We thought he was with you." Cyborg pointed over at Starfire.
"Ah, that is incorrect. Hmm…" She placed a finger on her chin, trying to remember if he had said anything about his plans for the day, but she didn't have to think about it long as Robin walked through the door.
"Oh, you are here!" Starfire said happily, flashing an adorable smile at the Boy Wonder as the door shut behind him.
"Hey, good morning Starfire. I was looking for you, actually." Robin said, walking down the stairs towards the rest of the group. Starfire noticed a sly grin pop up on Cyborg's face in her peripheral vision.
"Huh? Has something happened?" She asked nervously, unable to decipher Cyborg's expression.
"Well, I guess you could say that…" Robin said, his own smile becoming harder to hide. It was then Starfire noticed Robin holding something sneakily behind his back, careful to keep the object hidden from her view.
"Wow, who knew Robin was such a player." Cyborg said, smirking at the lovestruck boy. Robin's eyebrows knit together at Cyborg's comment, but he remained focused on his mission.
"A...'player'? Tell me, what game does Cyborg refer to?" Starfire asked, ignorant to this term. Cyborg snickered from the kitchen while Robin glared at him from beneath his mask.
"Ah, ignore that, Star. But since it has been pretty quiet around here lately and today marks the sixth month of our marriage... I was hoping to take you out for the day?" he said, while also asking for her permission. Upon finishing his thought, he revealed the objects from behind his back to Starfire: a bouquet of six red roses with a card attached to them and an assortment of movie candies. Starfire's face lit up, completely forgetting her previous confusion.
"Oh, Robin!" She exclaimed, hugging her husband tightly. He gasped at her air-restricting embrace, but wrapped his arms around her in return, his smile still adorning his features. "This is so sweet." She said happily as she pulled away to look at his offerings closer.
He laughed lightly, almost saying 'you're welcome' and 'thank you' at the same time. "I figured one rose for each month... and I know you like these... considering how you devoured an entire shelf of them the first day I met you." He grinned as he recollected her ravenous consumption of Earth snacks on her first day on the planet. She blushed, also remembering that event.
"Oh, indeed. They are most delicious. My planet does not have such sugary dessert assortments." She said, returning his grin. Afterwards, she turned her attention to the card attached to the stems of the roses with a pink, silky bow. She gently untied the card from the bow and opened it in front of Robin, whose eyes never left her movements. The rest of the team had grown curious as to what Robin was up to and were watching them from their respective corners of the room. As Starfire laid her eyes on the contents inside the card, she gasped.
"Robin... how did you... but this is written in Tamaranean?" She said as she looked up at him, taken aback. The team normally wasn't all that interested in learning her difficult language, with the exception of Cyborg the one time he had been upgraded with a fancy computer chip. Other than that, they normally were content with knowing just a few phrases Starfire used often, such as 'k'norfka' or 'bumgorf.' But this card was filled with handwritten Tamaranean and looked as if much effort had been put into its creation. "Did you make this, Robin?"
"Well, I don't mean to brag but... yes." His grin expanded at the thought of his achievement. He had been discreetly learning Tamaranean for months now, without any of his team finding out, and finally had found the perfect opportunity to tell Starfire about it. Starfire stood in front of him, speechless, unable to even fall forward into his arms for another hug. She held the card close to her as if it was the most precious thing she had ever seen.
Absolutely needing to interrupt the moment, Beast Boy ran up besides Starfire, greedily stealing a look at Robin's hard work. "Dude, how long have you been learning Tamaranean?"
Robin's grin faded and he glanced over at the intruder, irritated. "Since about a month after we were married."
"Man, where did ya find that kinda time?" Cyborg inquired. Everyone else couldn't help but wonder the same thing. It seemed their leader was always occupied with something.
"Not easily. I studied in the middle of the night or whenever I was in between cases."
Seeing that Robin still looked a little sour, Starfire wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close as she gripped the card behind his back. "I am extremely appreciative of your efforts, as I realize how difficult it must be to learn a language… manually…" Her voice trailed off for a moment, recollecting the many people she had kissed over the years to learn their languages instantaneously. "But you took the time to do that for me. I could not be happier!" Robin's face softened as he returned his bubbly wife's hug.
"Okay, okay; enough of this cutesy couple stuff. I can only take so much in a single day." Cyborg said, cringing at their endless hugging. "You said it's been only six months, Rob?"
Robin looked over to Cyborg without releasing Starfire from his hold. "Deal with it. Yeah, six months. And?"
"You're acting like it's your first anniversary. It's just six months, what's so special about that?" Beast Boy added, seeing where Cyborg was going with this.
"Yeah, man, goin' all out with your foreign love note and movie candies." Cyborg said, making exaggerated hand gestures to emphasize his point.
"I, for one, believe it was very thoughtful of Robin to do something for he and Starfire's semi-anniversary. Most men don't even remember their actual anniversary, let alone the halfway point." Raven said in her monotone from the couch. The four Titans looked over at her in surprise, not really thinking that she was listening to this conversation.
"And since when have you been a romantic?" Beast Boy said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. Though Raven couldn't see his expression, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her novel, she could practically hear it in his voice and summoned some of her energy to grab Beast Boy's boxers from the back and yank them over his head, giving him a professional wedgie as Cyborg howled with laughter. Beast Boy scowled at the telekinetic girl from behind, annoyed at her supernatural pranking skills, but knowing that he had probably asked for it.
"Since never. I'm just expressing my approval of Robin's actions, instead of questioning them like you two."
The team sat there in silence for a moment, until Robin decided to break the hardening ice. He hadn't exactly meant to turn this occasion into a battle. "Uhh, anyway… I've put away all my work for today. How would you like to go out to the city with me?" He held out his hand to her, as if he were asking her to dance. She looked into his mask and smiled, gently placing her hand in his.
"I would love that, Robin." Before heading out to spend a day with her husband, she took his roses and carefully placed them into a vase, putting them in their room beside their enormous window, dousing them in sunlight.
Robin had already planned out the entire day. He knew that Starfire, and he himself, had been very stressed lately and desperately needed a getaway. He would have used just about any excuse to get away from the tower and his responsibilities to be alone with her, but what was better than their half-year anniversary. Despite the slightly bumpy past few months they'd been having, what with Slade's sudden return and cryptic threats and Starfire's health issues, marrying Starfire had been the best decision he had ever made. The thought of commitment had always frightened him, considering how long it had taken him to get over his fear of just dating Starfire, but now he felt he wouldn't have it any other way. And sure, maybe it hadn't been a full year yet, but six months together was still enough to celebrate.
After spending the entire day visiting numerous stores and shops in downtown Jump City, taking their time as there was no rush today, Starfire found herself being taken to the amusement park at the pier, a place where she had many fond - and some not so fond - memories.
"Hehe, Robin, is the park of amusement our final destination?" She asked cheerily, swinging several bags containing random items she had found at the interesting places they'd visited that day. They had walked all over the city instead of cycling or flying, just so they would have another excuse to spend more time together. The pier was coming into view as the couple drew closer, the colorful lights having been just switched on as the sun disappeared from the sky and stars started to appear one after the other.
"Wow, how did you know?" He asked in fake surprise, smiling her way. She giggled, reaching out her hand that wasn't holding any bags to him. Normally he wasn't one to show public affection, but he was in such a good mood that he didn't think twice about grabbing her hand in his own, squeezing it lightly.
After walking for a few minutes in blissful silence, the two entered the park and explored the multiple activities and exhibits it offered before inevitably ending up at the Ferris wheel as night finally settled over Jump City, the stars twinkling brightly above them. They sat on their slowly revolving bench seat, sharing some cotton candy as fireworks lit up the night sky, giving them both a serious case of déjà vu.
"I remember this very night from many years ago." Starfire commented, swallowing a tuft of cotton candy. "I did not believe I would ever fit in on this world... but then I met you." She looked over at Robin, more interested in him than the fireworks display in the sky. "And I am so grateful for that."
Robin let his attention on the fireworks show be diverted, glancing at Starfire's happy, yet peaceful expression. "You have no idea how grateful I am that you came to this planet... and stayed here." He added that last part in memory of how close she had come to running away a few times and her close encounter with marrying a green swamp creature. "You have changed not only my life, but also everyone on our team's lives, for the better. I couldn't ask for more." Robin surprised himself at how open he was being with his alien wife, noticing the stark difference between him right then and the extremely withdrawn boy of the past.
Starfire fell back into her seat and snuggled up next to Robin, watching the lights dance in the sky as their pod reached the top of the Ferris wheel. "You are always so kind. That is what I have come to love about this planet. Though there are bad people, there are many good people too."
"Yeah, but don't get us nice people wrong, we could just be 'rathu'... uh... wait..." Robin sat there for a moment, trying to pinpoint his error as that word didn't sound right, cupping his chin with his thumb and index finger.
Starfire looked at him, confused, but then came to a sudden realization a few seconds later. "Oh! Do you mean 'rutha,' weak?"
Robin's eyes widened briefly, but then he looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... yes. Heh, guess I still have more work to do."
Starfire giggled at his little mix-up, leaning over and gently kissing him on the lips to let him know that he was doing well and that she would always be there to help him. "You need not worry. Even I have difficulties with your language at times, and I learned it the easy way." She gestured to her lips, bringing up their first 'non-official' kiss on that fateful day. They both chuckled at the memory and at the irony of their situation now, that is until Starfire's laughter ceased abruptly and she clutched her abdomen, wincing. Robin looked over at her wilting at his side and worry quickly washed over him, forcing away all the pleasant memories from his head.
"Whoa, whoa, Starfire. What's wrong?" He asked, kneeling down to look at her face, which was briefly hidden by her hair as she cringed, and placed his hand on her shoulder.
She took a deep breath a few seconds later, trying to recover from the unexpected pain. "I... I do not know." She sighed. "I apologize. Perhaps I had too many of the sweets for one day." His worried look didn't fade away as he was unconvinced by her reasoning, considering that she was Starfire and could devour sweets like there was no tomorrow.
"I am fine! Do not fret." She looked around their pod for a moment, trying to think of a way to distract Robin from her sudden bout of sickness so he wouldn't feel bad for her.
"Because, as you know..." She paused as she dug into one of her plastic store bags and pulled out a set of keychains, both of them containing half a heart, creating a whole one as they were put together. "'As long as we're together, we'll be okay.'" She said, holding together the two keychains as she quoted Robin from long ago.
He let his worry dissolve and smiled warmly at Starfire, having been convinced that she was alright, for now. He kept her strange symptom in the back of his mind, but didn't let it interfere with any more of their night at the amusement park before they finally headed home to the tower, exhausted yet jubilant.
Author's Notes: Oh my gosh. Okay so, I'm still a little new to the world of fanfiction, but this chapter is what is considered to be "fluffy," correct? XD Hahah, I apologize if there was a bit too much fluff... I need some help there. But I just love referencing the show! :D