Hello, alligators! It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, here's this little thing to tide you all over until New Year's. Hope you like it and forgive me for not updating in so long! Pretty please?

Starfire yawned as she awoke, glancing around. The sky was beginning to brighten with the first signs of dawn. Looking down, Starfire smiled at the sight of her lover's peaceful face. Blackfire's hair splayed out around her head as she slept, creating a black backdrop to the pale orange skin.

Starfire stood from the bed, taking a deep breath to make sure her lungs were in working order. She was still suffering a few after effects of her allergy attack the previous day, but she seemed to be recovering fairly well. Popping her back, the redhead donned a robe and made her way into the hallway. Starfire allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness before heading to the kitchen.

Opening the refrigerator, Starfire grabbed a bottle of mustard and began drinking it as she settled on the couch to watch the sun's progress. As she did, she pondered the events of the previous day. She could have died. This was nothing new. With how malicious the villains became the older the Titans grew, there was always a chance of death now. But yesterday had shown Starfire something she hadn't considered until now: Komiand'r's feelings on the matter.

Komiand'r had broken down at the thought of losing her. Starfire had rarely ever seen her sister cry before, but the brunette had very nearly broken into sobs yesterday. Would she really be as lost without me as the earthian romance novels indicate? Starfire wondered, a familiar warmth filling her chest. Of course she would. I'm her r'vole, after all. We are bonded.

With that in mind, Starfire sped back to her room and slammed into her lover, propelling them both out the open window and across the bay. Blackfire quickly readjusted their angle so she could slow down, looking down at her fiancée in bewilderment. "Kori, what just happened?" she inquired worriedly.

Starfire beamed up at her and clutched her tightly. "Thank you, mae navohe." She sighed contentedly.

"F-for what?" Blackfire blushed at the older term of endearment, similar to the earthian sentiment 'my champion'.

"For loving me as you do." The redhead giggled. "I will see you tonight."

She leaned up and pressed a sweet, gentle kiss to the brunette's lips before slowly floating backwards. Blackfire watched as her love turned and soared back into her room. What. She thought in shock.

Starfire flew back into her room with a serene smile on her lips and began preparing for the day. Robin stared at his screen in confusion as he watched Starfire head for the showers. She wasn't in her room? Masked eyes narrowed suspiciously. Was she with someone last night? She's only wearing a robe, so maybe she just flew out for a bit of time on the roof, but…

Raven kept to the shadows as she watched their leader. She was not the slightest bit happy about him spying on Starfire so intently and decided to do something about that camera as soon as she could. Especially considering the fact that Blackfire wouldn't be the slightest bit happy if she knew just how closely Robin was paying attention to Starfire's room.

Starfire hummed a song from her childhood as she washed her hair. Hearing the door open, she turned to give Raven a smile as the mage moved to the showerhead beside her own. "Good morning, Raven." She greeted.

"Morning, Star." Raven replied, turning on the water. "Sleep okay?"

"Yes. Thanks to the efforts of you and Cyborg, I was able to rest yesterday and my body has recovered."

"And your wounds are better?"

"My immune system has become somewhat weaker because of the encounter with the chromium, but surely not enough to be a liability to team action."

"Star?" Both stopped as the redhead turned to her friend quizzically. "Please be yourself? At least around me?"

Starfire's innocent expression melted into one of her more relaxed expressions and she smiled. "Alright, if that's what you want. But we still cannot speak of that here. Robin most likely has cameras, even here."

"No, he doesn't have cameras." Raven reassured her. "But he probably has a microphone set up, no doubt."

"I wouldn't put it passed him." Starfire chuckled.

Robin's eyes widened in shock as he listened to the feed coming from the girls' shower room. Starfire can speak normally? He wondered, eyes narrowing once more. How…? When did she learn that? How much is she keeping from us? And what is it that Raven knows that they can't talk about in the tower? Robin made up his mind to hasten with putting another camera in Starfire's room.

"So what are you doing for the day?" Raven inquired.

"Robin is probably going to have us training all day." Starfire sighed.

"True." Raven conceded. "But I mean after that. Robin can only make us train for eight hours."

"Perhaps I can meditate with you?" Starfire suggested. "To suppress the urges, you know?"

"I think I remember you telling me a little about Tamaranian puberty, yeah. Alright then, we'll meditate until sunset."

"Great!" Starfire cheered, shutting off her shower head. "I'll see you at breakfast, Raven."

Wrapping herself in a towel, Starfire headed back to her room and stepped into her closet, shutting the doors so she could get dressed in peace. The last thing she needed was Komi somehow finding out that Robin had seen her naked. If that happened, there would be no stopping the ensuing bloodbath. Coming out of the closet, Starfire sat down to brush her hair, staring out the window absently.

Komi… she inwardly sighed, eyes glazing dreamily. Starfire truly was grateful for how her sister loved her. From what she had seen, very few on earth had what she and Komiand'r shared, despite how many romance novels exist about their particular relationship. Their love was deep rooted in years of knowing one another and it would take something far stronger than death to rip them apart.

Finishing with her hair, the Tamaranian stood and made her way to the kitchen, finding the rest of the team already assembled. Cyborg and Beast Boy were at the game console in the middle of a fierce race while Raven read a book nearby and Robin looked over one of the smaller computer monitors. Heading to the kitchen area, Starfire pulled out a recently-bought bag of apples and made her way to the couch, chewing through the fruit quickly. Settling beside Raven, Starfire smiled at the mage and turned her attention to the racing game, continuing to devour the apples. The current race ended in Beast Boy's favor and the changeling leaped up in a victory dance. Cyborg grumbled unintelligibly and glanced to the others, eyes widening when they landed on Starfire.

"Star did you eat that whole bag of apples?" he asked incredulously.

Starfire paused as she made to bite into the last apple and looked down to the bag, replying, "Yes, I believe I did." At Cyborg's continued shock, she held the last apple out to him. "I must keep up my energy, but if you wish to have the last one, I would be most joyous to give it to you."

"No, no!" Cyborg waved his hands hurriedly. "If you need to keep your energy up, you should eat as much as you can. Just warn me the next time I go shopping."

"It should not last for much longer." Starfire informed him calmly. "I shall be in the next stage soon."

Cyborg looked curious, but said nothing. Robin stood straight and turned to face the team. "Alright." The leader called. "There doesn't seem to be any negative activity going on in the city today, so we're training."

The entire team filed to the training rooms, Beast Boy complaining like usual the entire time. Cyborg took weightlifting as Starfire and Raven practiced combination attacks and Beast Boy called the drones. Robin worked on the treadmill, keeping an eye on his team as he did. Starfire was explaining something to Raven, probably an idea for a new combination technique, but she didn't look like her usual self. Her expression was much more relaxed and calm compared to the excited bubbliness she normally displayed.

What is going on? The human wondered. Why isn't she like that with the rest of us? What is happening between those two. Lips turning down, Robin resolved to keep a closer eye on his female teammates when they were together. The last thing he wanted was for Raven to start courting Starfire.

A break in training found the team standing around the room, drinking from their respective water bottles. Robin glanced to Starfire to find the redhead not drinking anything despite her obvious exhaustion. "Star?" he called, walking closer. "Is something wrong? You're not drinking anything."

Starfire turned to him with a small smile. "I do not wish to have all of you stare at me like, ah, I believe the correct term is, a freak?"

"Star, we wouldn't-."

"You would." Starfire interjected.

"We promise, Star." Beast Boy piped up. "We would never look at you like you're a freak."

"If you insist…" Starfire walked over to a large jug and upended it, beginning to drink her fill. Raven understood that Tamaranian bodies could hold that amount of water no problem. Turning to the boys, she found all three of them with their jaws on the ground, eyes wide. Rolling her own eyes, the mage used her powers to turn their heads away. At last, Starfire put the half-full jug down and turned to her friends.

"So Tamaranians can really hold that much water?" Cyborg asked, sending a swift thankful nod to Raven.

"Yes. It helps to keep us hydrated while soaring long distances in the universe." Starfire explained.

"Sounds cool." Beast Boy breathed, also silently thanking the cloaked woman. The last thing either of them wanted to do was hurt their friend's feelings.

"Let's get back to training." Robin ordered, turning to continue the workout. Beast Boy and Cyborg joined him while Starfire looked to Raven.

"They stared, didn't they?" she sighed.

"Only temporarily." Raven replied. "But they hate hurting your feelings."

"I am thankful for that." Starfire told her, the pair heading over to join the boys. Robin's eyes narrowed at them suspiciously, wondering what they needed to talk about. Raven caught his eye and raised an eyebrow quizzically. The Boy Wonder hurriedly turned his head away, beginning his next workout.

What's his problem? Raven inwardly sighed.

After another few hours of training, the team split up to do their own thing. Robin went to observe the cameras, Cyborg and Beast Boy claimed the game console again and the girls made their way up to the roof. Both levitated and crossed their legs, taking a deep breath before beginning to chant. "Azarath Metrion Xynthos…"

All was tranquil and quiet around them, the sound of the bay lapping at land calming to their ears after the harsh grinds of machinery and grunts of their teammates during the workout. While Raven did her usual thing and focused on keeping her emotions in check, Starfire allowed herself to feel the environment around her, becoming more in tune with her surroundings. Allowing her senses to spread, the redhead could hear the city buzzing with Earthians, she could smell the farmland on the opposite side of the Tower and even feel-.

What was that?

Her skin was tingling, crawling almost. It was like she was under close examination. Keeping her expression neutral, Starfire asked quietly, "Raven, do you feel it?"

"Yeah, Star, I feel it. He's pretty persistent."

"And a bit annoying." The Tamaranian sighed, moving from the stance. "Excuse me, Raven." Taking to the sky quickly, Starfire soared around the bay and slowed to a stop behind the little spy. Landing lightly, she cleared her throat, easily dodging the batarang thrown her way.

"Star!" Robin growled lowly.

"What are you doing, Friend Robin?" Starfire inquired, schooling her voice and expression.

"I was… just… coming… to ask-."

"A date?" Starfire cut him off, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Have you changed your mind?" Robin asked hopefully.

"I have not." The redhead told him.

Robin's fists clenched furiously as he demanded, "Then why did you bring it up?"

"You were also about to broach the subject of human courtship, were you not?" Starfire pointed out, cocking her head.

Robin grit his teeth at her correctly deducing his backup plan. "Still, I don't see why you won't at least give me a chance."

Starfire sighed. "Robin, Earthian courtship happens when two people feel more than friendship for one another. If the people don't feel anything immediately, they 'give a chance' to see if they grow to feel something."

"Exactly!" Robin exclaimed, but Starfire wasn't done.

"Robin, we have known each other for two years and my feelings for you have not grown to be anything more than friendship. If, within two years, my feelings haven't changed, what makes you think they ever will?"

Both Raven and Robin were stumped by the logic and the wise tone with which it was delivered. Up above, Blackfire smiled proudly, knowing her darling sister would make a wonderful ruler. Robin lowered his head, eyes narrowed as he tried to think of some way around that, but Starfure's reasoning was impeccable and he sighed in defeat.

"Alright." He grumbled. "I'll back off. See you inside, Star."

When Robin disappeared into the tower, Raven stepped down from her meditative position, looking at the tamaranian with new respect. "You handled that really well, Star." She praised. "Why didn't you do that sooner?"

"He needed to feel the weight of many rejections in order to understand." Starfire explained. "It made a bigger impact to do it now than in the beginning."

"How did you get so wise?" Raven chuckled.

Starfire shrugged and glanced to the setting sun. "Komi will be here soon."

"Try now." Blackfire called, catching the attention of the two Titans.

"Komi!" Starfire cheered, leaping into the air. Blackfire opened her arms and Starfire gladly floated into them. "You are here so early."

"I'm glad, too." The brunette chuckled as Raven levitated up to join them. "Had I come any later, I would have missed the proof that you will make an excellent ruler." Starfire blushed and Blackfire smirked. "I also would have missed the priceless expression on Robin's face."

Raven's smirk matched hers at that. "He's had it coming for a long while."

"I agree." Blackfire held Starfire tighter and nuzzled her hair affectionately. "Now maybe he'll leave mae r'vole alone."

Starfire snuggled against Blackfire and sighed contentedly. Raven and Blackfire watched the serene smile play on her lips, both wondering about the strange behavior. Starfire pulled back slightly to smile up at Blackfire. "Thank you."

Blackfire was about to ask what for when she remembered that morning's interaction. Instead she smiled and stroked her love's cheek. "You're welcome."

Raven observed the interaction curiously. It was not hard to see how well they complemented each other. The mage stayed as quiet as possible, not wanting to ruin the pure moment.

And there you are! Hope you enjoyed it and if you did, why not leave a review telling me how much (or you can just yell at me to update sooner next time and not make you wait so long; that works, too).