I apologize for the fact that it's been over two years since I updated this story. I didn't mean for that to happen, but I somehow lost inspiration for this story. Don't feel too bad, though, because I seemed to have lost inspiration for a lot of my stories.

I really have no control over my writings, really. I write when I'm inspired to, and I can't write without it. If I try, the writing itself suffers greatly. But because of that, a story could go for a long time without seeing another chapter because I lack the inspiration to write for it.

Luckily, I was able to regain some inspiration for this story, thanks to the first ever Teen Titans movie: Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. It was such an awesome movie! It hasn't premiered anywhere yet but the San Diego Comic Con International, and I was lucky enough to see it there. And thanks to that, I really wanted to write the next chapter for this story...And here it is!

While the movie was awesome, it won't be included in any way in this story. I've decided that this story will take place after the end of the last season. So yeah. Anyway, on with the story! Tadah!

Something was wrong. This entire thing was very wrong, she could feel it. She wasn't supposed to be this alone.

Her friends…Where were her friends?

She felt a precious name on the tip of her tongue, but try as she might she was unable to speak the one thing that would ever bring her the comfort she desperately needed. Without the echo of the name ringing in her ears, the strength from imagining her beloved friend remained dormant within her mind…and her soul. Without that force to assist her, she was left to endure the pain that continuously pressed upon her, suffocating her and leaving her body trembling.

What made the hurt even more unbearable was the feeling of absolute emptiness that tore away at her heart with every passing second. Tears filled her eyes as she continued to quiver. Why was she forced to suffer this way? What had she done to deserve such punishment?

Her hand flew up to her mouth as she suddenly coughed violently, causing the tears under her eyes to cascade down her cheeks. Her throat was parched and dry, cracking with a burning heat while coughs continued to rack her weakened frame. She felt as though something had shattered deep within. She could take no more of this torture.

Suddenly, she sensed a strange warmth above her. Slowly her eyes opened as she looked up, watching a small orb of crimson light form over her head. Even from her kneeling position on the floor, she felt the wonderful heat from the glow that beckoned to her. The comforting feeling was shallow at best – only warming the skin on her face – but it was enough for her to want more of it. In that one, quick instance she began to desire that essential heat, crave its feeling and anticipating the effect it would have over her entire body and soul. She knew that she needed it. If only she could get to it…

Carefully she stood on shaking legs, biting her tongue to stifle the cry of pain threatening to erupt. She breathed heavily, using every ounce of her remaining power just to stay on her feet without falling to the floor again. But even as she stood to her full height, it wasn't enough to reach the inviting radiance that held the relief she yearned for.

Somehow, she knew that she was too heavy to reach the crimson orb of light. Something was weighing her down, and unless she removed the excess load she would never be able to reach the wondrous illumination.

Sighing softly, she closed her eyes and held out her hands. The burden was somewhere inside her, and if she could find it then she would be able to reach the orb above her. As she concentrated, she felt an odd sensation sweep over her body, as though something was being drained away from her. When it had passed, she opened her eyes again to see a large golden orb resting in her hands.

She stared at the sphere that she held, blinking a little. Even if this was the object that was preventing her from reaching the comforting source above her, she couldn't help but feel somewhat sad to give it up. It seemed important to her somehow, and she was tempted to keep it despite the pain it would continue to bring her.

But before she could pull the golden light back inside of her, the orb left her hands and began to float up towards the crimson orb above. Following it up, she watched as the energy from her body was pulled into the blood-red sphere and absorbed, causing the red light to shine even brighter. She gasped softly as she then began to ascend into the air as well. She had no control over herself as she was drawn into the shining glow.

The crimson light engulfed her, and she closed her eyes as the gentle warmth enveloped her and flowed inside her, sending away all the pain she had felt and filling all the empty holes within her.

Yet even as she enjoyed the heat that she had craved for so badly, she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong somehow…

Slowly her eyes fluttered open, wincing a little bit as a bright light shone down upon her. Using her hand to shield her from the radiance, she slowly sat up and gazed at the space that surrounded her. She found herself sitting on a narrow, thin bed, covered with cream-colored sheets and a single pillow that rested at the top. The bed was centered in the middle of the small room. The walls were coated with a dull peach color that appeared to be cracked and peeling, indicating that the place was rather old and in need of repairs.

She jumped slightly when a low creak echoed around the room. Turning slightly, she watched as a door slowly opened and groaned on its hinges. Soon, the door was pushed away to reveal a man carrying a tray in his hands. As he entered the room, his auburn-haired head just barely brushed against the top frame of the tall entrance. His body was hidden beneath a thick shimmering silver mantle, tied in the front with a golden sash. The ends of his long robe trailed along the ground as he walked.

What caught her eye the most though was the crimson pendant that hung from his neck. It caught the light and reflected crimson patterns that danced against the pale walls as the man came closer to the bed.

"It's good to see that you're awake, my dear," the man said softly. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd be getting up."

She looked up at the man, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Have…we met before?" she asked.

Confusion ran through the man's cerulean eyes briefly until it was replaced with understanding. "Oh, of course you don't remember. You had knocked your head pretty hard some time ago."

She frowned a little. "I did?"

"Yes you did." Placing the tray on her lap, he cleared his throat a little and pointed to himself. "My name is Hypnosis. I've been taking care of you since you arrived on Earth."

Dropping the silver utensil she had been fiddling with, she turned to look at him again in surprise. "What…did you say?"

"Well, you came to Earth one day from outer space…"

She tilted her head to the side again. "Really?"

"Yes. Though you never did tell me where you were from."

"Oh…" she replied, unsure of what else to say.

Hypnosis watched her for a moment. "Do you remember?"

"No," she replied quickly, playing with the utensil once again.

"So you don't recall that your name is Nebula?"

She shook her head a little as she placed the utensil down and began playing with strands of her crimson hair. For some strange reason, she wasn't very fond of her name. It just didn't really seem to suit her very well. Replaying the name in her mind, she couldn't help but feel that it was strange to regard herself as…Nebula.

But what could she do about it? She had no other name to go by.

Looking up at the man again, she asked softly, "What has happened to me? Why is it that I do not remember myself?"

Hypnosis sighed softly and ran his fingers through his golden-brown hair. "You had gotten a fever recently and became quite delirious. One day, you wanted to go for a walk and tripped down the stairs."

She was a little startled when the man reached out and brushed away crimson bangs from her eyes. "I was a little worried," he said gently. "You banged your head pretty hard…I wasn't sure when you'd wake up again."

Rubbing the back of her head, she frowned a little. She felt no pain at all, and seemed completely fine. If she had hit her head as hard as he claimed, wouldn't it still be hurting even now? Even just a little bit? She glanced up at the man curiously. Something about him just didn't…feel right to her. She felt strange as she looked at him, but she couldn't begin to explain to herself why. This man had taken care of her, hadn't he? After all, that was what he had said. She should have been more grateful to him for his hospitality and his patience now that she had somehow forgotten.

And above all, he had been concerned about her. She didn't want him to continue to fret over her. Smiling a little, she said, "Well, I am fine for now. And perhaps soon my memories will return."

Returning the smile, Hypnosis nodded a little. "I suppose you're right." Motioning to the tray on her lap, he added, "You should have something to eat now. It's been a while since your last meal."

"All right," she replied softly, taking the utensils in her hands. "Thank you."

Hypnosis watched her as she began to eat. He then reached up to carefully finger the scarlet pendant that hung from his neck, and a small smirk appeared on his lips.

The first thing that Robin awoke to was the enticing aroma of food that caused his empty stomach to stir and demand attention. Opening his eyes, he slowly lifted his head from its resting place on his arms to stare at the tray that had been placed on his desk. Steam rose from the hamburger that lay on the plate, spreading its tempting scent into the room. On one edge of the tray stood a glass of what appeared to be lemonade, and he could see the droplets of condensation beginning to form on the sides.

But what really caught his attention was the bottle of ketchup on the other side of the tray. In normal cases he wouldn't have really cared too much, except that he usually had ketchup and mustard on his burger. However…he suspected that his friends purposely withheld the latter in a – vain – attempt to keep his mind off of things…off of her.

He took the sudden lurch in his stomach to mean that he was no longer hungry.

Pushing the tray father away from his sight, he then grabbed his yellow communicator and held it tightly in his hand. He stared hard at the object, wishing for it to ring with the sound of her voice, letting him know that she was alive at least, telling him that she was okay. But as his heart pounded painfully in his chest…he couldn't help but feel that something bad has already happened to her.

Clenching his fingers around his communicator, he had a difficult time resisting the urge to throw it across his room as hard as he could. Doing so wouldn't help the situation at all, and if he broke the device then he could miss the call he had been waiting for all this time. But the frustration he felt soared within him, and it seemed that he was very close to losing all control over his body.

It was his own fault, though. After all…he should have been able to protect her.

That's why he had spent the past few hours desperately trying to find her or contact her…trying to reach her somehow. He had searched most of the city on his own, had the others search parts of the city as well, attempted to contact her communicator countless amounts of times, tried to determine her location by her communicator, and even asked Raven to try to connect to her mind as a last resort. Unfortunately, everything ended up in failure, and he was no closer to finding her than when he had first lost her.

But he was far from giving up. He was determined to do everything he could in order to find her and bring her back safely. He wasn't going to stop until she was home.

At least that's what he had aimed to do. However, the others hadn't agreed with his plans at all. Worried though they were about their missing friend, they had disapproved of his continuous search for her. They had asked him to take a small rest – pleaded with him, even. And when he had refused, they proceeded to secure him in his room.

He had hated them momentarily for locking him up that way. But after reflecting on the matter, he understood why they had done so to begin with. He had even managed to fall asleep for a short time, and he was a little grateful to them for that. Still, even that wasn't able to relieve him from the worry that tightly held his heart.

With a soft sigh, he placed his communicator back on his desk before running his fingers through his thick ebony hair. No matter how hard he struggled to clear his mind in order to think, he found that he just couldn't. Then again, it was always difficult for him to think correctly…whenever she came to mind.

The night when she had first arrived on Earth was when she had forever changed his world. He had been so set on making it on his own then…To live his own life, to make his own decisions, to accomplish his own dreams…to do all of those things by himself. He never could have predicted – or imagined – that one girl from outer space would end up disrupting all his calculated plans and ideas…that this one girl would push him into the company of others, or that he would come to form near-unbreakable bonds that would help pull him out of the worst situations. He never would have thought that he would come to…depend on these people so much.

The only thing he had been really concerned with that night…was helping this one girl from outer space escape from the ones who pursued her. After all, he had been raised as a hero, and that was what heroes did. They helped people who needed help.

In the end, however, he found that he had enjoyed helping this strange girl from outer space. He had enjoyed it so much that, from that night onward, he had vowed that he would continue to stay by her side and help her in any way that he could. She had, after all, arrived on an unfamiliar planet to her and knew no one else. So he decided that he would be there to assist her, just in case she needed him.

He never thought that he would come to need her as well.

Just the thought of seeing her smile, her warm presence when he stood next to her, the cheerful curiosity as she slowly learned the ways of her new home planet…made him feel something he had never felt before in his life. Being with her, seeing her close by, listening to her voice…Everything about her left him feeling so…different. He wasn't sure how else to describe how her very existence touched something deep within him, breaking through the person he thought he was and slowly revealing who he could be. When he was with her, he could feel himself changing into someone different.

It was a very unfamiliar sensation to him, and in all honestly, it alarmed him. He would never admit it aloud, but he was truly frightened by the entire situation. The very notion that this one girl could alter him in ways he still couldn't fully understand…that she was able to show him what he could achieve, things that he never thought he could before…that ultimately his life was really, truly dependent on this girl…was something that sincerely scared him.

He had tried to ignore it. He had tried to deny that it was possible, tried to deny that it was true. He had tried to pretend that he could never feel that way. But with every day that passed by, with every second that he spent with her, he knew that he could never hide the truth. Somehow, this one girl had reached deep into his soul and had given him what he had been missing in his life. He had never realized the empty holes in his heart…until the day she had arrived and filled them.

And after all of that, he wasn't even able to save her when she needed him most.

Growling softly, he roughly pressed the edge of his palm into his forehead. He couldn't think straight at all…not when she was on his mind. He wanted nothing more right now than to find her and make sure she was all right, but the intense worry and concern…and the terrible fear…for her left his mind too distracted for him to make any solid plans. Everything just seemed too hazy at the moment, and the headache that continued to build wasn't helping matters at all. He just couldn't concentrate.

As much as he hated to admit it…he really needed help.

Pushing himself away from his desk, he slowly got to his feet. Quickly glancing at his communicator, he then hooked it onto his belt before walking towards the door. It was late into the night – over 24 hours since Starfire had gone missing to begin with – so he knew that the others would be asleep. And he was glad that they were, too, because it gave him the perfect opportunity to finish the task he was about to do as quickly as possible.

Because he was having trouble concentrating on anything at the moment, Robin decided to request the help of the one who had taught him concentration in the first place.

TBC

I already know what I want to do for the next chapter. However, I'm not sure I'll be able to get around to writing it. If I do though...I'm really going to enjoy it (bwahahahaha). Hopefully you all will too. If you think you know what I meant by the last paragraph, I ask that you please keep it to yourself and don't put the idea into the review. I'd like to see if I can surprise at least some people.

But in any case, please review, and no flames if you can help it! Thank you!