4th of March

I stood in front of Starfire's door not really sure whether I should enter or not. I knocked tentatively, although a part of me wished that she was not in her room.

"I do not wish to participate in your seeking of vengeance, Robin" came a muffled and rather irritated voice from inside the room.

"It's me, Raven" I replied. I had tried my best to keep my voice steady but it still shook lightly.

"Come in" Starfire replied. I opened the door and stepped into the room. There she sat, on her bed of all places, eyes swollen from crying. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. No sooner than that she was already on her feet and I was lying in the corner of the room, holding my cheek.

"Friend Raven, are you feeling healthy? I did not mean to hit that hard."

I shook my head to clear it from the dizziness. "Yes, I'm alright, Star. Demi-demon physiology will do that to you." I sighed. "I deserved that."

"Yes, you did." She glowered at me, and I would not have been surprised had she hit me with a starbolt as well. "Why? Why would you lie to me? I though friends tell each other the truth. We are friends, are we not?"

I sighed again, knowing that, however much I may wanted to, I would not be able to avoid this. I took my soul mirror out of my room with my magic and placed it on Starfire's desk.

"Take my hand and look into the mirror" I instructed.

"What is this place?" Starfire asked, looking around the mindscape until her eyes fell on the nine emoticlones in front of her. "Who are they?" she questioned again.

"We are inside my mind. Those are manifested emotions, mine, to be exact."

"Raven?" Starfire asked uneasily "why is that one leering at my lady parts?"

Lust grinned lewdly.

"Lust, stop that!" I said firmly. Not that she would listen. "I'll send you to Rage's castle if you don't stop that" I threatened. The emoticlone shot a frightened glance to rage, who smiled evilly.

"So you finally did something" said Guilt, obviously pleased.

"Star, I am so happy you will listen to us" screeched Happy.

"So that one is Lust, and the red one" she pointed at Rage "is rage. And the others?"

"The yellow one is Knowledge, and the one to her left is Wisdom. The one in dark green is Brave, the one hiding behind her is Timid. The pink one is Happy, and the neon colored is Guilt."

"And the one hiding behind Happy?" she asked. I really had hoped she had overlooked her.

"Don't you dare lie!" Guilt threatened, seeing my intentions.

I sighed. I would lie myself completely bare, but then again that's what Starfire deserved for what I had put her through."

"She's Love" I mumbled, eyes on the ground.

"Yes" the little emoticlone shouted. "We love you, Star!" And she threw her arms around her neck. This was not going like I wanted it to. I had meant to introduce her to Lust and Guilt to help her understand why I did what I did, not show her what had developed along the way.

Now that information belonged amongst the things I had never wanted her to know. I knew she would not reciprocate my feelings, despite how eagerly she had answered to my advances. I had at times fooled myself into believing that she had to somehow be attracted to me to give in to me so easily. She probably was, but that did not change the fact that she would not love me. It was her desire to be a good girlfriend to Robin and her constant trying to proof herself as one of, if not the humans, then at least the earth's people, that made her sleep with me. She wanted to be a good lover to Robin and a good friend to me.

"You're not happy", Happy stated, giving me a disappointed look.

I was not sure how I had ended up in my room, or why the miniature tornado was wracking my room, although I had an inkling that it might be due to my overflowing emotions. I did a quick check and realized that I had apparently dropped Starfire in her room.

I sighed. Well, that could have gone better. At least no one was bothering me.

As if on cue, Robin appeared in the doorway. "You're thrown off the team" he stated flatly.

"Says who?"

"I am still the leader of the team" he replied, as if that was enough of an answer.

"Look, Robin, I get that you're mad at me, you have every right to…" I attempted to defend myself, but he cut me off.

"You're challenging my leadership, which is why I will fight you for it. I win, you leave the tower. The same goes if you don't show up. I'll see you on the grass in front of the tower tomorrow at ten. When the others are going for a pizza we'll stay back and duel. Don't wimp out."

It was clear to me that he was challenging me, and even though I did not really want to fight him, I would not leave the rest of my team alone. They were still my friends, and as often seen we do not do well when one of us is missing.

"Alright, see you tomorrow morning."