"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them."

-Albert Einstein

Jinx lounged around lazily on a chaise in her house, her legs draped off of the side with her arms dangling off the other. "You know, Starfire, you're quite the peculiar one." She sat up, crossing her legs and putting a finger on her chin to study the girl sitting on the bed across from her. "On earth humans make wishes on stars. A star wishing to be a human, now that's something different. Don't see that everyday." The witch yawned.

Starfire smiled shyly at the witch. "Perhaps I was always meant to be a human." She was surprised at how talkative the sorceress was, though she probably shouldn't have assumed that all witches were as taciturn as her friend Raven. While Raven was all business with little patience for more leisurely conversations, Jinx had started off by criticizing Starfire's fashion sense. ("She seriously sent you in that? You look like you're wearing a potato sack," the pink-haired witch smirked when she had fully taken in Starfire. She then spent the rest of the night finding an outfit she deemed suitable for Starfire.)

While Raven's dwelling only held the bare essentials and, Starfire had to confess, was kind of gloomy because of the dark color palette of the rooms. Jinx's tiny apartment, a small house caved into the side of a cliff by the sea, was cozy and heavily decorated by so many trinkets and decorations that Starfire felt she spent a good hour alone just looking curiously at the witch's many possessions. She wondered how long the witch had lived on earth to have accumulated so much paraphernalia.

"A guy, right?" Jinx asked, walking over to where Starfire sat and squeezed in next to her on the small couch. A wide grin spread across her face as she waited for Starfire to answer.

Her face flushed and Starfire bit the inside of her cheek. "That is not the entire reason," she stammered, playing with her long red hair. "He is part of the reason, but that is not exactly why I wanted to become a part of this world." Starfire sighed and tucked her knees under her chin, looking dreamily across the dimly lit room. "This world is just so beautiful to me. I want to see everything."

The witch blinked her pink cat eyes at the girl and frowned. Jinx got up from her seat and stretched. Starfire could tell from her face that the sorceress had completely lost interest in the conversation. "This world isn't all that great," she said dismissively, waving a hand around. She glanced back at Starfire. "But you need a kiss to stabilize your current form, right? Let's get it done quickly, why don't we? Who's the lucky guy?"

Starfire was rather taken aback by her new acquaintance's sudden change in behavior. Perhaps she wasn't as friendly as she had initially appeared. "I met him when I was here last," Starfire explained. She remembered his kind eyes, staring across the cliff and looking for something. "He was so lonely, but he was so nice. Oh, Jinx, he is really quite beautiful."

"He had to be if you were willing to leave your whole world for him," the sorceress said, but her smirk looked wilted to the star. Despite the magical girl's attempts to act carefree and unbothered by everything, there seemed to be a hidden weight that tugged at the corners of her lips and dulled the shine in her pink eyes. Starfire remembered seeing that very same look in lonely souls who gazed out at the stars, a nearly empty bottle of spirits in hand. The beverages were called spirits, Raven had explained to her once when they were passing a place where humans drank at night called a "tavern," because they were supposed to lift a person's spirits, but Starfire had only ever seen them drink away and try to forget everything only to fail miserably each time. She wondered what Jinx wanted to forget but decided against asking.

She looked hesitantly at the witch beside her. "Do you think he remembers me?" Starfire twirled a fiery red lock around her finger and bit her lip nervously. She was but an insignificant bug at the time, but that night had seemed so momentous to her. Was it too much to hope that the boy had any inkling of how important that moment was as well?

Pink eyes flickered over lazily to where Starfire sat but she was facing forward so the star could only see her side profile. "Do you remember what he looks like?" she asked quietly.

Starfire could picture the boy perfectly in her mind, his hair as dark as the night sky, his blue eyes that were searching for something, his pale skin. "Everything," she breathed.

Jinx brushed her bangs out of her face and turned to face the star. She stretched out her hand and cradled Starfire's chin in her pale gray hands. They felt like ice against Starfire's skin and the star resisted the urge to shudder and shrink away from the witch. "Let me see," Jinx murmured, leaning forward so their foreheads touched.

At the contact, the memory of the boy amplified in Starfire's mind. The colors were more vivid and she could feel the ghost of his breath on her wings like she had that night. The sudden sharpness to all of her memories made her let out a small gasp and when Jinx let go, removing her forehead from the star's, and the vision faded.

"The prince." Jinx's mouth formed a surprised "O" and she was too stunned for a moment to mask her shock.

"Prince?"

The sorceress blinked rapidly and her lips moved silently like she was talking to herself. Once she remembered the star beside her, her usual easy smile returned but it was strained, more so than it usually was. "It's a title. Like you were the star that could have inherited the galaxy if you so wished. He's a prince, a boy who inherits Gotham – that's the kingdom we reside in right now. A 'special' human, if you will," Jinx answered, but her mind seemed elsewhere and her eyes began to wander. "The prince, huh. You really know how to pick them, don't you?" She stood up and yawned, stretching her arms over her head. Her mannerisms reminded Starfire of the cats she would see lazily walking about the villages she used to visit, affectionate one moment and unexpected cold and uncaring the next. Now the witch looked like she couldn't care less about the star's mission.

"Where are you going?" Starfire asked.

Jinx had shuffled off towards a cupboard and pulled out a thin blanket. "Sleep. You should get some rest too. Stars can stay awake for thousands of years. Humans? They need rest." She tossed the blanket at Starfire and the star caught it in her hands, the fabric cool to the touch. The witch leaned against the counter and studied Starfire's face carefully from across the room. "Besides, don't you want to be reunited with that boy of yours as soon as possible?"

She wrapped the blanket, heavily adorned with beads that clinked with every small movement, around her shoulders and thanked the pink-haired enchantress. "And give him a kiss," she added. She pressed her fingers lightly against her lips and wondered how the boy's mouth would feel against her own.

Jinx turned away, her face expressionless, but was stopped with her foot halfway through the door when a query passed through Starfire's lips.

"Have you ever had a kiss, Jinx?" she asked curiously. The witch had lived on earth a very long time, she reasoned. She probably had experience with these types of things.

The sorceress stood motionless in the doorway and didn't look back when she responded. Her hand gripped the doorframe, her knuckles white. "It was a long time ago," she said after a long silence. "I don't remember it very much anymore." She stood there for a moment, waiting for a follow up question or maybe just thinking, and then left, her steps barely making a step on the wooden floor.

Starfire wondered if she had somehow angered Jinx with her simple question, but decided not to dwell on it too much. Maybe it was just in a witch's nature to be cold and silent at times. At any rate, Jinx didn't seem like she wanted to be prodded on the subject and Starfire would be sure not to bring it up anymore. She would apologize for it in the morning, she decided right before she shut her eyes and let sleep take her.

xxxxx

She awoke to the sound of a raised voice. It sounded like someone was arguing, crying almost. Starfire fumbled through the darkness, following the voice. It sounded like Jinx was having a conversation with someone, but Starfire couldn't possibly imagine whom. There had only been her and Jinx when she fell asleep. Curious, she stepped closer and saw the dark silhouette of Jinx dimly lit by a flickering blue light. The sorceress was deep in conversation with someone in the mirror.

"…sent her here despite knowing I would totally be against it," Jinx was growling, her voice gruff. Starfire was surprised to see the sorceress swiping away at her eyes. Those couldn't possible be tears, could they? "You didn't even tell her everything, did you? She doesn't deserve to be kept in the dark."

A muffled voice attempted to respond but was cut off angrily by Jinx.

"I know I owe you, but this is asking too much of me," the girl hissed.

Starfire dared to lean farther out of the doorframe to get a better view. Jinx's back was turned to her but she couldn't quite make out the figure in the mirror. Feeling that it would be rude to eavesdrop, Starfire stepped out from her hiding place and cleared her throat. "Jinx," she said softly then repeated a little bit louder, "Jinx."

Startled, the witch whirled around and the figure in her looking glass faded into nothing. "Starfire," Jinx said, blinking her large pink eyes. "You're awake."

"You were discussing something quite loudly with someone," Starfire explained, gesturing towards the mirror behind the witch.

"Ah, yes. I was talking about something with…someone." She glanced quickly behind her and realized that the person she was previously talking with was gone and she let out a growl. "That bitch."

"Bitch?" Starfire repeated.

Her cheeks flushed pink and Jinx walked hurriedly towards Starfire and ushered her back to the couch in the living room where the couch had been transformed into a makeshift bed. "Don't repeat that," she mumbled embarrassed, casting her eyes downward. "I'm just displeased because of some new…information that has come up."

"To whom were you speaking?" Starfire inquired. She settled on the couch but didn't bother with the blanket that Jinx had provided with her with. "You sounded quite displeased. Please, Jinx, if there is anything that you would like to confide in me, I would not mind. You have done so much for me."

Her new companion's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Confide in you?"

Starfire put a hand on her chest and smiled at the girl across from her. "Of course! Whenever I felt something troublesome weighing down on me, I found it quite helpful to tell my dear friend Raven everything that worried me and it was like everything was well again."

"Raven is the last person I wanted to talk about," Jinx muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Did you have a quarrel?" Starfire asked. "Is that who you were speaking to in the mirror?"

Jinx sighed and made a move to turn away from the star but thought better of it. "Yes, that's who I was talking to in the mirror," Jinx confessed. She took a seat where Starfire's feet lay, a grimace on her face. "Starfire, did Raven ever mention any…conditions when you went into this contract?"

"Ah, this wish?" Starfire asked. She clapped her hands together and smiled brightly. It was nice that Jinx was opening up to her already. Despite being friends with Raven for years and years, it had taken forever for Starfire to weed out any personal information from the Sky Witch. "There were three. I can never tell anyone about my wish. I must switch my true name for this human one. And I must receive a kiss."

Jinx harrumphed. She was biting the inside of her cheek and Starfire could tell that something was weighing heavily on her mind by the way her jaw tensed. She tapped a slim gray finger on her arm and pursed her lips.

"Jinx?"

She whipped her head towards the star. "Did she tell you about the time?" she asked her.

Starfire's smile faltered. She didn't like the angry flash in Jinx's eyes. It seemed as though she had already done something to upset her host and helper. "No," she responded timidly. She was about to offer an apology for whatever she did but Jinx spoke much too quickly for Starfire to even open her mouth.

"Contracts, such as yours, always have a time limit. Magic has constraints. It can only last so long." She gazed at the flames dying off in the fireplace. "It's sad, but that's how it works. I don't know why that stupid Sky Witch never told you about it before but it's incredibly important."

"What happens when it wears off?" she asked hesitantly. Starfire wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

Jinx eyed the star warily. "It's different for everyone," she responded quietly.

"What will happen to me?" Starfire asked, holding her gaze steady with Jinx.

The pink eyes looked away first. "You'll burn out," she said bitterly. "You're still technically in a transition state. Your original star form isn't compatible with your human body. You would burn out without that kiss to stabilize it."

Starfire's eyes widened in horror as she imagined her beautiful human form going up in flames and reduced to a pile of black ashes. "I see," she whispered, still horrified. She let her eyes drop. She now understood why Jinx was reluctant to bring up the news with her, why Raven withheld the information from her in the first place. "How many days do I have?"

"Five."

"Five," Starfire repeated. It wasn't much, but still…she had come so far just to be here and she would be damned if she let the short amount of time intimidate her from even trying to sustain her human body.

"Starfire," Jinx said, interrupting the star's thoughts. "I'm sorry."

Starfire reached over and put her hand over Jinx's. "Do not apologize, friend," Starfire said earnestly. She gave the surprised witch a smile. "I understand why you wished to keep this information hidden from me and I am very thankful that you shared it with me. You are truly a kind person. But do not be angered at our friend Raven either, for I am sure that the same thoughts raced in her mind as well."

"You're not upset in the least bit?" Jinx asked quizzically.

Starfire shook her head. "Not at all," she assured her, giving her friend's hand a nice pat. "Nothing could have stopped me from making this decision." She was sure of it now, especially now that she knew it was true. She really had given up everything just to see that boy again and walk the earth on her own feet, experience the beautiful world as a human as she had always wished.

"Well then," Jinx said, her hand slipping out from under Starfire's as she stood up and brushed herself off. Her expression was no longer that of sadness or despair, instead a look of utter confidence had replaced it and her familiar smile had once again resurfaced. "Better get to sleep then, Starfire, because we have some serious work to do within the next couple of days. I'm not going to let this star burn out."

In spite of the bad news, Starfire couldn't help but smile at the small flicker of hope that even Jinx had. She had a chance, she thought, at being a human and even if she didn't, at least she would have the experience of being on this beautiful planet for at least a short while. She wouldn't trade that for anything, she decided as she drifted off to sleep, a smile on her face.

A/N: Sorry for the late update! Some stuff came up but that's no excuse. I don't know how regularly I'll update but I try to aim for once a month. That might not be likely because my quarter looks pretty hectic, but I can always try, hahaha. I clearly have serious commitment issues when it comes to writing. Anyway, thank you for the reviews/follows/favorites and being supportive of this story so far! (What to expect next: a star meeting a handsome prince.)

Why are chapter names so hard to come up with?