My breathing is laboured from the hours spent running away from what I'm beginning to believe is everyone in Tokyo. I don't know how it happened—actually, I do; I just don't know how it happened so quickly—but I'm starting to get really, really sick of running. My training with Bruce hasn't done enough for my endurance.
From the other side of the street and up ahead, Robin peeks around a corner and uses his free hand to signal something. Beast Boy flies into the air briefly, doing a somersault before landing as a bloodhound. His nose kisses the pavement as he sniffs the way ahead, and the rest of us follow him.
"Can't you sniff any faster, man?" Cyborg questions cautiously. "It's a matter of time before somebody jumps us again."
I do my best to elbow the Titan, but my bone makes contact with the metal on his sides and I clutch it in agony. "Don't rush him," I get out, gritting my teeth. "He's trying his best."
"I'm not rushing him," Cyborg replies. He definitely is, but I choose to pretend I believe him.
Robin looks up and calls out to the bloodhound ahead, "Beast Boy! You can stop. I know where the trail leads."
The Boy Wonder turns his body and simply stares up at one of the isolated buildings on the skyline. I observe the building for a moment, before finally remembering where I've seen it before.
Cyborg beats me to asking the question. "Brushogun's hideout is the comic book factory?"
Beast Boy reverts to his human form, crossing his arms over his chest. "Told you we shoulda taken the tour."
Everyone ignores the shapeshifter as they walk past, but I grab his ear playfully. "It was closed, remember?" I challenge with a grin.
I waltz off before he can reply—I don't think he even had a remark at the ready—but can hear the faint slap! of Raven's hand against his face. Turning around, Raven stares ahead neutrally, leaving behind a gaping and wounded Beast Boy, who grabs at his head painfully.
My eyes turn blue and a few blocks of ice fall into the shapeshifter's hand. He looks up, and I turn away before he can spot my eyes on him. I look around until I find Raven and fly over to her curiously.
"Raven."
"Ember," she replies smoothly.
I wait for her to continue, but she says nothing more. Frowning, I point a finger up matter-of-factly. "I need to ask you something."
The cloaked girl turns her head but continues her strides. "Yes?"
"I... uh..." I groan as the words escape me. How do I say this without it sounding like I'm going crazy? "... don't know how to phrase this."
Raven arches an eyebrow. "Sometimes it helps to just say it."
"Okay. Here goes," I mutter, before speeding through the words: "I think I'm going crazy 'cause I can hear your voice in my head and I don't know why but I don't wanna tell the others 'cause they'll think I'm crazy and I don't want them to think I'm crazy and I don't want you to think I'm crazy but—"
"Ember."
My ramble halts. Raven stares at me with an expression that's a mix between realisation and pity, and her hand grips my shoulder in a firm grip to force me to stop talking. She sighs, telling me that she did understand what I was saying.
"Calm down."
"Am I crazy, Raven?" I whisper.
She shakes her head. "No. You're not." She purses her lips. "Remember when the world was about to end? I entered your subconscious in a dream and you saw what it would look like."
Anxiously, I nod. "Yeah?"
"Well, a part of my subconscious stayed there." Raven stops walking; this time it's both of her hands that find my shoulders and whirl my body around to meet her. My eyes lock onto hers as I listen intently for what she's about to say. "Don't freak out, but you and I have this... telepathic connection."
Hold on.
Telepathic connection?
No.
That can't be.
That's not possible.
"It is," Raven says, reading my thoughts, "and it's true. Unless you prefer to think that you're going crazy."
My jaw drops to the floor. My eyes bug out of my head. Questions run through my brain in a hurry and I can't grasp on to even one of them, my voice resigned to a choked gasp of shock. Eventually, I gather enough of my body to be able to shake my head.
"I can teach you how to use it, but I can't promise you it'll be easy," Raven explains. "I'm still learning, too."
"Hold on." I clear my throat before raising my voice: "You don't know what you're doing?! "
Raven shakes her head. "This hasn't happened before."
"Holy—" I step away from Raven and clutch my head, walking in a straight line forwards. She moves towards me, but I shake my head firmly and hold out my hand. "No. I need some time."
Raven nods numbly. "Okay."
"I, uh... I guess you'll know when I'm ready."
The cloaked girl shakes her head at this. "Let me know when. I won't feed the connection unless you decide it's something you want."
I grin wryly in appreciation of this. I look around, finding Starfire flying by herself and choose to fly with her for the rest of the trip to the comic book factory. Hopefully I can find something to talk to her about that will distract me from this telepathic connection Raven just dropped on me.
~~~
Starfire and I move in front of the pack, under Robin's orders, and both hold out our hands to blast open the wall. The debris falls with a deafening thud as the hole is opened, and we step inside with a readiness to attack. Throughout the entirety of our Tokyo trip, I've not felt this sense of unity. This may not be it, but it's sure a step closer.
Baby steps, I think to myself. I can't look at Robin without being swallowed by my guilt yet, and I'm not sure how long it will take, but I'm determined to get there. I don't want to think about what I'll do if I can't. Baby steps.
"No guards," Cyborg states, grounding me in reality once more.
Robin looks around before pointing ahead of us, and we move into the next room as one unit; one team. Lightning rocks through the building, illuminating the room briefly and causing me to jump in place. The Boy Wonder turns to me with a wry grin but I turn away as he looks to the next room.
"This way."
Robin wastes no time before launching himself through the doorway, and I follow with the same urgency as him and the rest of the team. I'm beginning to wonder exactly how long they were planning on keeping the comic book factory closed—it doesn't look like opening again anytime soon.
The Boy Wonder barrels into an abandoned room and shouts, "Freeze!"
I squint as I pull up beside Robin, but can't see anything. In response to my lack of sight, I hold a red flame in front of my face and begin to walk around gingerly; Cyborg follows my lead with a flashlight on his shoulders and the Titans follow us both. The mechanic's light shines on an empty leather chair, sitting atop a raised platform.
"Brushogun! He's not here!"
Groaning sounds from behind us, and I whirl around with a second flame at the ready. I blink once more, unable to see anything—even with the light in my hands—until the shifting of gears redirects my attention. A dark, slimy figure rises from inside the moving mechanism, many cords strapped to its back.
"I am..."
"Brushogun?" Robin questions.
"... so glad to finally meet you."
All six of us begin to gravitate towards the supposed supervillain, but I frown as he makes no move to attack. Is he weakened somehow? I can't tell, but I don't lay down my weapons like the other Titans just yet.
It's Robin who verbally pieces it all together for me. "You're not the one behind all this, are you? You're just—"
"—His slave," Brushogun confirms. "He trapped me in this thing... this cursed printing press that uses my powers against my will. The criminals I create serve him now."
I narrow my eyes at this. Serve who?
"You sent Saico-Tek to our Tower because—"
"—It was the only way I could call for help." Brushogun looks down sadly; he looks far more drained than what must be considered healthy for a supervillain made of ink. "I knew that if one of my creations attacked your home—"
"—We'd have no choice but to follow it," I verbalise. "And the trail would lead to you."
Cyborg steps forward in realisation. "So you weren't the one who framed Robin."
Brushogun's too weak to shake his head as confirmation, but I can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice as he continues. "Saico-Tek was printed twice. I sent the first to you as a messenger. He sent the second to Robin as a trap."
"'He' who?"
"If you're just the brush," Raven queries, "who tells you what to paint?"
"That would be me."
I whirl around, not for the first time tonight. Unlike the other false leads or irrelevant sounds down the hall, this time I'm met with a shadow sitting in the leather chair with his back turned to us.
"I must say, you Titans have proven formidable adversaries. Once you are destroyed, perhaps I shall print more copies of you to serve me." The man chuckles, and venom laces his voice as the next comment is clearly directed at the Boy Wonder. "They have seemed to work like a charm so far."
Starfire's fists light up with green energy that she holds close to her chest. "Show your face, coward! Who are you?"
"There's only one person who stands to gain from creating criminals," Robin states slowly, not taking his eyes off the chair and the person sitting in it, "the hero who catches them. Isn't that right... Commander?"
There's not even time to process this sudden turn of events as Commander Uehara turns around to confirms the Boy Wonder's suspicions with a knowing grin. "Very good, my friend," he praises, before delivering the final blow. "But you haven't caught me. I've caught you."
The doors blast open and the Tokyo Troopers surround us, guns pointed towards all of us. I glance around wearily, having fought these guys too many times to be intimidated as much as the others.
Beast Boy doesn't seem to fazed either; in fact, his eyes sparkle with amusement. "So wait. If the good guy was really a bad guy, then that means..." A grin is pulled onto the shapeshifter's face and he punches the air with a laugh. "Oh, sweet! We're the good guys again!"
Raven looks at him, clearly irked, and Robin points towards the Commander. "You're a fraud, Daizo, a fake," he says. "Brushogun was the only real criminal you ever caught, wasn't he?"
"One was enough."
"You used his powers to lie, to make yourself look like a hero. And when I started searching for the truth, you made me look like a criminal!"
"That's a nice little story, young man, but I doubt anyone will believe it once you're all behind bars." The Commander looks down at us with a smug grin and mimics Robin's previous action of pointing towards the enemy. "Troopers! Charge!"
"Titans! Go!"
Robin charges at two of the Troopers, taking them both out in a matter of seconds. As the Boy Wonder moves on to more of the soldiers and the other Titans follow his lead, I turn around to find a group of Troopers standing in front of me, and they waste no time before firing. My eyes shine a bright blue and a small tsunami knocks them out, carrying them away and creating a pile for the fallen soldiers.
The ground shakes and my attention is diverted, just in time to see Beast Boy transform from an elephant to a cobra. He slithers and slides along the ground to avoid the shots in order to avoid shots that don't even near him—the course of each laser that comes close is changed by the wind, hitting the Troopers behind the Titan. It's when he turns into a bear and goes on the attack that I halt my influence, unintentionally winding a Trooper that had snuck up on me whilst I had been helping the shapeshifter.
"Titans!" Robin calls out.
I pull a Trooper into a headlock and hold him there, grunting as he tries to fight back. Eventually, I'm overpowered and the tables are turned—I'm the one in the headlock and he's the one with the advantage.
"The Troopers! They aren't real!"
"Which means we don't have to hold back!" Cyborg releases a grin and pushes the men off him with everything he's got.
Fire licks my body and spreads quickly, melting the Trooper's forearm and the skin of any other adversaries that get too close. "Good."
"It also means there are plenty more where those came from," the Commander says.
With the push of a button, the agonising screams of Brushogun fill the room. His eyes turn the same bright blue that mine did moments ago and ink of four colours—black, yellow, pink, and blue—leaves his fingertips and onto the rollers before him. The ink slips through the gaps and sinks down onto a piece of paper, quickly materialising into more creatures.
I join the other Titans as they meet Robin in the middle, all of us gasping as we look around. Everywhere I look, I see something. It becomes blatantly obvious that we're now heavily outnumbered, but I know my team better than to think for a second that we're going to give up.
One of the cat girls lands in front of me with a purr that makes my blood boil. They may have the advantage of numbers, but I have the advantage of fire. With that in mind, I jump on her and begin to sink through the ink as it melts around me, groaning in disgust as the substance sticks to me like a second skin.
Saico-Tek jumps on me and takes me to the floor. Before I can reignite the flames from before, his fist connects with my stomach. If his grip on me wasn't so tight, I'd be clutching over and wheezing by now, but I'm instead forced to blink the tears of pain from my eyes and writhe as much as I can until I regain the strength to push him off of me.
Before I get the chance to, however, someone does it for me. I look up to see a blast of black light directly above my head, and—whilst still lying down, so I don't get blown away by the girl's dark magic—look around to thank Raven. Her eyes stay on me for a moment and she nods in acknowledgement before being forced to retreat once more.
Brushogun's screams get louder and electricity begins to surround the machine he's tied to. With a silent gasp, I run over to the others, who are all staring at the mechanism too.
"We have to get him out of there!" I exclaim.
Then the ground begins to crack.
I throw my hands out in front of me without hesitation and a string of white light flies through the air. It wraps around Beast Boy's waist and pulls him away from the cracks in the ground, just as they erupt and pipes shoot through the floor. They attach to every surface they can find—the floors, the walls, the roof... everything.
The ground continues to shake until I can barely stand on it. My grip on Beast Boy tightens and I pull us both up to hover in the air, but it's not enough to stop us from being flown back and out of the comic book factory by the sheer blast of Brushogun's printer. My hand slips from the shapeshifter as I hit the ground harshly.
Groaning, I spit out the dirt and debris in my mouth and slowly stand up. Explosions sounds from the entire building before two gigantic hands of ink protrude from the smoke and the building itself.
"THE POWER IS MINE!!"
The smoke makes way to reveal the monstrosity that is now Brushogun. I look up in fear and confusion. I thought he was on our side? The confusion quickly subsides as I realise: that's not Brushogun. That's the Commander. I just didn't realise he'd go this far for his cause.
"That's a lotta ink!" Beast Boy shouts, stepping back.
"And a lotta commitment," I muster.
"Gonna be one heck of a stain when this is over!"
"He may have Brushogun's magic," Raven states, "but I don't know how long he can control it."
Droplets of ink from the Commander's inky hands land on the ground, and the many criminals Tokyo has seen over the years begin to materialise before our eyes. They stand as an army, protecting the Commander from the punishment for his crimes against the city and its people.
"What must we do?" Starfire questions.
Robin's scowl deepens. "Erase him."
Without waiting for the others, I launch into attacking with my own plan: distraction. I allow my body to turn red and bolts of fire shoot in every direction, taking down some of the Commander's creations before I've even truly begun to deal with them. My body acts of its own accord and I barely have to think to take down these creatures—I've fought for so long that it's become second nature.
A metal tentacle wraps around my waist unexpectedly, and my hands move down to try and pry it off of me. Some kind of growl leaves my lips involuntarily but it doesn't help; I can't get out of this.
With a frown, I look to my left. Sharp rocks hover in the air before flying over to me, and one of them lands in my hand. As I work on cutting the tentacle around me, the rest of the rocks work on other sections of the Commander's machine.
"How do I stop him? How do I break the spell?"
I continue sawing but look up to see Robin gripping onto his staff, which is half stuck in the ink. His other hand grabs Brushogun by the shoulder, and he stares into his eyes in search of an answer. Brushogun begins to sink into the ink. He says something to Robin before disappearing completely, and Robin begins to get pulled in too.
"No! "
I look down and see the wires from the tentacle hanging on by a thread. With one tug, I sever their connection and fly up to Robin. I grab his shoulder and begin to pull but it's too late—another tentacle knocks me to the ground pathetically.
I squeeze my eyes together before opening them and looking up. White energy swirls around my outstretched hand and floats to where Robin disappeared, reaching inside the Commander and disappearing with the Boy Wonder.
After moments of nothing, I begin to lose hope. Raven and Starfire have both been captured and hang in the air, courtesy of the same tentacles that imprisoned me. Cyborg and Beast Boy stand on the ground with me, but the three of us can't take down all of the Commander's army by ourselves. And Robin... I never truly reconciled with him, and I don't know what happened to him. I don't even have the closure of his fate.
Suddenly, a green, gloved hand emerges from the darkness. It grips onto a floating rock that flies to the rescue, and when it moves away more of Robin is revealed. HIs other hand cradles Brushogun, working hard to separate him from the machine.
My other hand is pulled in front of me, and I yank Robin away from the Commander. Him and Brushogun begin to tumble to the ground; Robin places his full faith in me and I don't disappoint. They land on the ground with a soft, harmless thud and Brushogun lies in the Boy Wonder's arms.
"You saved me," he whispers, before fading away and out of existence.
I stare down at where Brushogun was, but a large droplet of ink lands on my head. It cascades down my body and over the already-dried patches of ink from before, and more drops soon accompany it.
"Brushogun's spell! It's breaking!"
Sure enough, Raven's right. Like the comic book factory before, the Commander begins to explode from the inside. Large chunks of ink fly to the floor, covering the courtyard and all of us inside it. I don't dare to avert my gaze as Raven and Starfire begin to fall from the air, and hold my hands out to catch them.
When they hit the ground, I turn back to Cyborg and Beast Boy. Both of them have the same Cheshire grin plastered across their face, and I smile.
"Sweet!" the shapeshifter exclaims happily. "We did it!"
"Starfire!"
Robin's cry echoes through the night, and I turn around to see him racing towards a meek hand. It shakes as it reaches through the ink, and my eyes widen as I run to the redhead's wavering figure.
By the time I get there, Robin's already pulled Starfire out of the ink and holds her away from it. He stares down at her with relief, and so did I. Beast Boy was right. We did it.
Just to be sure, I ask, "You okay?"
"Yes." Starfire's gaze shifts on Robin, before she meets my eyes once more. "We have defeated him?"
I nod. "We have."
Starfire smiles, before standing up of her own accord. She pulls me into a tight hug, then embraces Robin in the same way. Her eyes light up with an idea as she spots the others and races towards them happily, leaving the Boy Wonder and myself alone.
Lightning strikes in the distance, prompting buckets of rain to pour down on us. It washes the ink—old and new—off my skin, and I rub the last bits to get it fully off. When I look up, Robin's staring at me with an unreadable expression. A small, cheeky smile plays on his lips but it only adds to my confusion. I stare at him for a few moments before I remember what has transpired between us.
Oh, God, does he hate me? Does he want to break up with me? Is that why he's looking at me like that?
"I'm sorry," I blurt out. My eyes begin to sting, but I refuse to cry. "I should've believed you—why didn't I believe you?"
Robin's smile fades slightly, but it's still there. "It's not your fault," he says, before adding, "The Commander did do a pretty good job of making me look like a killer."
"But I know you," I protest. My chest feels tight with the burden I've been holding for the past few hours—it feels like I've had days to deal with this on my conscience. "I know that's not who you are."
"I don't blame you for thinking what you did," Robin states. "There was a point where..." He looks over to the others, thinking about something heavily before finally admitting, "where I thought I had killed Saico-Tek too. Okay? So you had every right to act as you did."
It's not an excuse. "But I—"
Robin pulls me in for a kiss. It's just a peck, but enough for me to have to restart my sentence.
"I—"
He repeats his previous action. Though it assures me of his forgiveness, I'm not sure if I forgive myself yet. Robin's admission that I wasn't the only one who thought he had done it makes me feel infinitely better, though.
"Robin, I swear to—"
Another kiss. This time, I concede and allow it to happen. My breaths escape as ragged gasps and my arms snake around the Boy Wonder's neck, and I feel his hands grip my waist tightly. Afraid to let each other go again, we've trapped each other in the embrace.
Robin pulls away after a moment, his action laced with hesitance, and I wonder if he's changed his mind. If he has, I wouldn't blame him. Maybe he's finally seen reason and wants nothing to do with me. Maybe he's disgusted by my actions. Maybe—
He gets down on one knee.
My breath hitches as the boy in front of me pulls a delicate ring out of his utility belt. The rain obscures my vision and I push my hair out of my eyes—the rest of my body is frozen. He looks up at me with the same cheeky smile as before, and everything clicks into place.
"This is not how I planned this to go," Robin admits. One of his hands moves away from the ring to scratch the back of his neck nervously.
"What are you—?"
I cut myself off as something catches in the corner of my eye. It seems impossible to be looking at anyone but him in this moment, but I find my friends all staring at us with baited breaths. Their eyes reflect anticipation, but not an ounce of surprise.
Those jerks. They knew about this.
"I know this isn't probably the best place to do this, but it's with our friends," Robin says, "our family." He turns to look at the Titans, who have scuttled further back than before. He tilts his head as he faces me again. "And I honestly doubt Starfire could have held it in for much longer."
A nervous laugh passes through me, but even that makes my throat raw with emotion. My internal promise to not cry has officially been broken, and I don't bother to hide my tears as they mingle with the rain in the air. Both of us know I could stop the rain if I wanted to, but I want to savour this moment as it is. It's real. It may not seem artificially perfect, but it's all I could have asked for and more.
"Amber." Robin's grin turns serious and genuine. It's gentle as he looks at me, reassuring in all the ways I recognise. "I went into that bank thinking that it would just be another robbery. That there was nothing special about it and" —Robin looks behind to make sure the others can't hear him, then says in a hushed whisper— "Bruce and I would just waltz in, take down Clayface, and be done with it."
He looks up at me, eyes shining with happiness. "I have never been more wrong in my life."
"I'm so confused right now. Robin, what's going—"
"Hold on." The boy in front of me chuckles. "I need to say all this before I lose my nerve." He closes his eyes and sighs, gathering his thoughts. "When I first saw you, I knew that there was something special about you. Maybe twelve year old me thought the fact that you could shoot fireballs out of your hands was really cool."
He shrugs like it's nothing, but I laugh anxiously. "He definitely did."
"He did," Robin confirms, "but he grew to like the girl inside even more. In fact, he grew to love her more than anyone he's ever loved." His eyes widen comically and he turns his head quickly to shoot the others an apologetic glance. "Sorry, guys."
"Man, forget about us!" Cyborg hollers, both hands cupping his mouth. He removes one of them to point to me. "Do your thing!"
Robin tilts his head to the side but obliges. "The moment I met you, Amber, I was doomed. You're the most incredible, beautiful person I know, and you're so special not just to myself, but to everyone who knows you. Every minute I'm with you is a minute of my life that's so perfect beyond belief—even if we're stuck with Slade together or saving the world from Raven's evil dad."
Raven's eyes darken and a rock flies to the side of Robin's head. My own eyes turn brown and it stops right before it can hit him. The Boy Wonder turns around to the half-demon before his eyes find me again.
"And you've always protected me from everything—even Raven's wrath."
"Hey! "
"I know we're young, and I'm happy to wait a bit longer if that's what you want," he says, eyes meeting mine carefully, "but I can't imagine not being with you for the rest of my life."
"Dick..."
"What I'm trying to say is," Robin looks up at me and searches my eyes, trying to find my response to the question he's about to ask in them, "Amber Belsten, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"
The boy stares at me with bated breath, but I have no idea why. In what world would I say no to that question when it's coming from his lips? I still can't believe this is happening, and it's not until a rock under my influence taps me hard enough for it to hurt—not that I feel the pain—and to tell me that this is real. It's really happening.
"Dick Grayson... I will marry you."
Robin smiles ten times wider than I've ever seen and my heart bursts with happiness. I hold out my left hand shakily and he fumbles with the ring, despite having held it in his hand for a few minutes and his utility belt for indefinitely longer. Finally, he slides it onto my ring finger and stands up, cupping my cheeks and kissing me passionately as my arms wrap around his neck.
Faintly, I can hear cheering from behind, and I wiggle the finger with the ring on it without leaving the embrace. I wish I could freeze this moment and live in it forever—I don't think I've ever been this happy. We saved Tokyo, I'm going to marry my soulmate...
Nope. Nothing could ruin this moment.
Reluctantly, I pull away, only to tell my fiancé, "I love you."
Robin's smile brightens the entire world. "I love you too." He peels away from me slightly and looks upward, and I follow his gaze to the frozen droplets high in the air. The entirety of Tokyo has been spared from the rain, and I haven't even realised it. "Did you do that?"
I grin. "I guess so."
"Well, it's about time."
I crane my head to find Cyborg staring at the two of us fondly, eyes twinkling in amusement. His arms are crossed over his chest almost impatiently, as if he's been waiting for this to happen for a while now.
My eyes glaze over the other Titans, all of them smiling widely at me. I stop at Raven and she smiles, too. In response, I nod my head. She reciprocates the action, understanding the message that I'm sending: I'm ready. I want to do this.
I can't stop the smile from forming, and I don't want to. When we left for Tokyo, this was the last thing I expected—it hadn't even crossed my mind. I'm not complaining, though.
I love this man, and I want to continue to love him for the rest of my life and longer. And that's exactly what I plan on doing.
~~~
The sun shines as bright as it has the entire time we've been in Tokyo; there hasn't been a single drop of rain since the Commander's apprehension. The main streets of Tokyo are filled to the brim with excitable citizens, waiting to watch the presentation of the medals when it gets underway.
Somehow, the Titans—led by Robin—have convinced me to appear on the stage with them for the presentation. I worry I'll never be able to say no to my fiancé again. My ring twinkles in the daylight, almost blinding me. I can't help but think it has to be obscuring the vision of everyone in front of me.
Beast Boy grins wickedly from beside me. "Robin and Ember sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"
I turn to the shapeshifter and cock my eyebrow. "Speaking of," I drawl, "What happened with you and that cat girl?"
A wave of red washes over Beast Boy's cheeks and he frowns, thinking up a response. In the meantime, Starfire lifts a finger. "Oh, yes, I do remember," she pipes up, giggling as she adds, "He got the butt whoop."
I grin at the green teen. "Really? " I chuckle and rest my elbow on his shoulder lazily. "Beast Boy, tell us more about that."
"No," he whines.
Beast Boy says something else—most likely telling me about how he was never into her like that and she was totally into him so I've got it all messed up—but his voice fades away as I look down the line. Robin's already staring at me, and Cyborg says something to him with a smirk on both their lips before nudging the Boy Wonder.
I break into a smile, only meant for his eyes. He returns it, before gesturing to the empty space beside him. "Get over here," he mouths, "I miss you."
I part my lips to mouth back, "Already?"
Robin rolls his eyes and I shake my head at him. His gaze moves to something behind me, and I turn around to see Beast Boy strutting forward with all pride and no dignity. The crowd below—which must consist exclusively of teenage girls, I conclude—screams and cries and cheers for him as he throws his hands into the air arrogantly.
"One at a time, ladies!" he shouts as they begin to storm the stage. "There's enough of B to go around!"
Wanting to be as far away from the mob of girls as possible, I edge closer and closer to Robin. The instant I reach him, his pinky finger finds mine and they link together. In a few moments, our hands are intertwined and the Boy Wonder plants a kiss to the side of my temple.
"BOO-YAH!!"
I close my eyes and sigh before turning around slowly. Cyborg stands before the largest array of food I've ever seen—it could feed the whole city five times over. His eyes roam the table and he begins to salivate, crouching down to see as much of it as he can.
"All you can eat!" the small man in front of him shouts.
Cyborg grins, shouting, "All right!" before diving into the feast head-first.
On the other side of me, Starfire turns to Raven. "Did you also make the new friends while exploring Tokyo?"
"No," Raven replies, "but I somehow wound up was a mascot for gum."
"Excuse me?! "
Sure enough, when I look ahead, the first billboard I see has the half-demon's face on it. I turn back to the girl, stunned into silence, and she merely responds by blowing a yellow bubble of gum and allowing it to explode in front of her.
There's nothing to read here, she states cryptically.
What?
Robin bows, and his hand on my back pulls me into the same position. I barley have time to look up and confirm my suspicions—the mayor has arrived on the stage to award us with our medals—before looking back down as a sign of respect.
"For uncovering the truth," the mayor begins, "for pursuing justice and protecting our city from a treacherous evil..." I feel the metal hit the nape of my neck and smile at the honour. "I present these medals to Tokyo's newest heroes... the Teen Titans!"
The six of us stand up straight, accepting the crowd's applause. I lift the hand that isn't linked to Robin's to feel the medal around my neck, surprised by its cool touch. I've not received a medal with the Titans before, and I like the feeling of it.
Somehow, the girls have found their way back to the stage and Beast Boy pries himself off of them. "So," he begins reluctantly, "I guess we have to go back home now, huh?"
He looks at Robin doubtfully, but the Boy Wonder smirks. "You know, Beast Boy," he says, "sometimes, even heroes need a vacation."
I feel Robin's eyes boring into me, and don't hesitate to turn to him. "Hell yeah, they do."
"Okay, next time, we're going to Mexico!"
It takes Raven two seconds to slap Beast Boy so hard he falls off of the stage limply. I grit my teeth, hiding a wince, and turn to the cloaked girl, but she shakes her head at me.
Don't.
By the time I turn back around, it's too late to help the shapeshifter anyway—not that it matters, since he's just falls into the arms of more teenage girls. He appears pretty bemused by it, too.
"Not that Japan isn't great," he tells the girls, before shouting, "I LOVE TOKYO!!"
I grin at Beast Boy's exclamation. Japan was pretty great, but I wouldn't mind going to Mexico next time. Either way, vacations have been treating me pretty well recently; now, I have a not-so-small ring on my finger to prove just that.
"What do you think, Ember?"
He knows I wasn't listening. I can see it on his face, as he tries and fails to hide the victorious smirk. He knows I wasn't listening, and now I'm gonna pay for my daydreaming.
"Hmm?"
"A spring wedding," Robin clarifies, surprisingly not twisting the scenario to take his revenge. "What do you think?"
I beam so much, my smile begins to hurt my mouth. "I don't care where or when we have our wedding, Robin," I tell my fiancé. "All I care about is marrying you."
I forgot to clarify — there will be an epilogue or two after this! This is not the end :)