"Are you there?" Batman asked Superman over the transceiver.
"Not yet," Superman responded. "If I heard Kara correctly, Tamaran was a little ways further than where Krypton used to be."
Superman was traveling through space in a Justice League spaceship. He was following through with the plan he and Batman had come up with. He was to travel to Tamaran and find Starfire to inform her of the whereabouts of her daughter.
Something in the ship's control panel beeped. It was the GPS, Superman noticed. It said that Tamaran's coordinates were straight ahead. Superman looked up but saw nothing out of the ship's window. Nothing but cosmic dust, and meteor bits.
He tapped on the glass of the GPS panel, assuming it was faulty. But, the GPS simply beeped again, restating that Tamaran's coordinates were directly in front of him.
"Superman?"
And that's when it dawned on him.
"Clark? Clark, do you read me?" Batman said.
Superman sighed. "Yeah, I read you."
"What's going on? Have you found Tamaran?"
"I found it alright."
"And?" Batman pushed, hoping to get more answers.
"Houston, we have a very big problem," responded Superman.
******
"Hey, Mar'i," Dick called out from his place at the computer. "Come look at this."
Over the past two weeks, Dick Grayson's relationship with his daughter had slightly progressed. They talked more. She would eat at the table with him. She called him "Father."
He would have preferred "Dad" but, it was a start.
"What is it?" Mar'i asked entering the room.
"I've narrowed it down to two schools to register you at, but I wanted your opinion."
"What is school like? I know you learn things, but what else?"
"Well, there's a lot of clubs and activities you can do, you can sit and talk with friends during lunch, things like that." He told her and she nodded her head, understanding.
"Anyways, here are the two schools. There's Blüdhaven High, which is the closest school to us. It's a public school. And there's also Gotham Academy, which is a private school. Obviously, it's up in Gotham, but if you decide to go there it'll be a thirty minute bus ride."
"What's different about Gotham Academy?" She inquired.
"Well like I said, it's a private school. So that means that you have to be accepted by the Headmaster to get in. It's where Damian goes to school."
Mar'i pondered this for a moment. Both schools seemed nice, but at least at she'd already have a friend at Gotham Academy. Before she could answer, the telephone on the desk rang.
Dick picked it up and checked the Caller-ID. It was Tim Drake calling from his cell phone. He answered it.
"Hey, Tim, what's up?"
"Hey, Dick. There's, uh, something that you have to..." Tim paused, seeming at a loss for words. "You and Mar'i should stop by the manor. It's important."
"Is everything alright?" Dick asked, growing concerned.
"We'll explain when you get here," Tim said before hanging up.
Dick sighed, hanging up as well. "That was Tim," he told his daughter. "Apparently, we are needed at the manor."
"What for?" Mar'i asked curiously.
"Not sure, but it seems important. Are you ready to go?"
She nodded yes and the two left the apartment and made their way to Dick's car.
Upon arriving, Alfred was there, opening the door for them.
"Master Dick, Miss Mar'i," he greeted. "Master Bruce is in his study waiting for you."
"Thanks, Al," Dick said with a nod, entering the manor, Mar'i tailing behind him. They reached Bruce's study and Dick knocked on the door. It was promptly opened by Bruce.
They stepped inside the room and saw not only Bruce, but Clark Kent in his Superman attire.
"Dick, Mar'i," Bruce greeted. "Thank you for coming. Mar'i, this is Superman. He's been helping us locate your mother."
"Mar'i," Superman held out his hand. "I've heard all about you. Nice to finally meet you."
Mar'i remembered her mother telling her about some of the heroes from Earth. Superman was one of them. He was the Kryptonian man.
When Krypton still existed, it was a neighboring planet to Tamaran when it was in its glory days. They weren't enemies per se, but the Tamaraneans and Kryptonians weren't necessarily fond of each other. And neither were Starfire and Superman.
But, nevertheless, Mar'i shook the Kryptonian's hand and nodded politely.
"We've been trying to locate your mother, as you know, and I've asked Superman to venture to Tamaran to—"
"Pardon my interruption, Bruce, but perhaps I'd better tell them," Superman suggested.
"Tell us what?" Dick asked, getting a very unsettling feeling.
He sighed heavily. "We've been searching for Starfire, but I found something else instead..."
Dick raised an eyebrow, hoping that he would continue.
"Mar'i, I'm very sorry... Tamaran has been destroyed."
Mar'i gasped. She felt nauseous, as if she'd been punched in the gut, and heartbroken all in one. Her vision started to cloud as tears formed in her eyes.
"Destroyed?" Dick said in disbelief. "What about Kori? Do you know where she could be?"
Superman let out another sigh. "I've searched every nearby planet and even the next solar system over. But no luck. I'm so sorry, Dick. We're going to have to mark her as 'Deceased'."
"No!" Mar'i suddenly cried out, as the ends of her hair caught on fire. All heads turned their attention to her.
"Please, no! She can't be dead, she can't! She's out there somewhere, you have to keep looking! Please!" Tears had begun sliding down her cheeks.
"I'm very sorry, Mar'i, but there's not much left we can do. Tamaran has been destroyed and Starfire is no where to be found; all signs seem to point to—"
"No!" Mar'i cried. "I won't believe it!"
Emotions overcoming her, Mar'i ran out of the room and all the way back out to Dick's car, the ends of her hair burning sporadically.
Back inside the manor, Dick was in shock.
"I—I'm sorry about that, we'll be going now..."
"Dick," Superman rested a reassuring hand in Dick's shoulder. "I'm really sorry."
Dick slightly nodded. "Thanks, Clark."
Then, he showed himself out.
******
The car ride home was silent. Mar'i looked out the window the whole time so her father would not see her continue to silently cry. The ends of her hair still burned dimly.
Dick stared dead-ahead, feeling numb and full of sorrow. His eyes were glassy and he refused to let any tears fall.
When they finally arrived back at the apartment, Mar'i made a beeline to her room, slamming the door behind her.
She sat down on her bed, grabbed her pillow, smothered her face into it and screamed, the ends of her hair igniting into brilliant flames. The pillow muffled her mourning cries of anguish.
"X'hal, why? Why her?" She sobbed.
Dick had shut himself in his room, too. The despair within him had taken control. He nearly vomited from feeling so sick with grief.
He sat down on the edge of his bed and opened the drawer of his nightstand. He pulled out a small photo album. He opened it up to the first page. A picture of the Teen Titans. Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, and him and Kori.
Next picture; a picture of him and Kori on their first date. A ghost of a smile graced his lips. He traced his thumb over Kori's beaming face. He turned the next few pages, pictures of them together on dates, or with friends, and a few of just Kori.
Once Dick got to the final page, he began to get choked up.
It was the picture they took the day they got engaged.
Reaching into the drawer once more, Dick pulled out the ring itself. It sparkled a little when the light from his lamp hit it. He had always saved the ring, in case she ever came back and changed her mind. But now...
Now that could never be so.
Giving in to his emotions, Dick began to cry. He cried for the loss of the woman he loved. He cried because he would never see her again. He cried because now, their child was without a mother.
"Kori... why did you have to leave me? Why did you have to leave us?" Dick wept.
After a while, Dick had gained his composure back and left his room. Not feeling up to cooking dinner, he decided to just order a pizza.
Hesitantly, he knocked on Mar'i's door.
"Hey, I, uh... I ordered us a pizza. Should be here in twenty minutes."
No answer from her.
"Alright then. I'll, uh... I'll call you when it gets here."
Dick sighed. He feared that Kori's death would create a rift in their, still growing, relationship.
At dinner, they sat in silence once again. Dick quietly took another bite of his pizza while Mar'i stared blankly down at her plate.
Dick cleared his throat, feeling awkward, and asked, "You're not hungry?"
"Not really, no," she responded.
"Well, at least try to finish that slice... Don't want you feeling sick later."
"How do you act so casual?" Mar'i suddenly asked, sounding hurt . "My mother is dead you're acting like nothing has happened. Didn't you love her?"
Dick looked down, sadly. "Of course I loved her. I loved her more than anything. And you're not the only one upset, you know. I'm sorry, I guess I was just trying to be strong for you. But please don't think I don't care, I do. I know what you're going through, Mar'i; I lost my own parents when I was ten. I miss Kori, I really do. And if you want, you can talk to me about—" Dick paused when he heard sniffling.
He looked up to see that Mar'i had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Mar'i?"
"I'm sorry," she said through tears. "I should have known you were trying to be strong. I don't really think you don't care, it's just— how could she really be gone?"
To Dick's surprise, she got up and embraced him tightly. Her head rested against his chest and she was clinging her arms around his waist. He took a moment to take it all in, and then he returned the embrace and stroked her head.
"Shh, shhh. It's alright," he soothed.
"No, it's not," Mar'i wept, hugging him tighter. "I was held captive for a whole year and she died not even knowing I got free. She died not knowing that we found each other."
"She knows, believe me."
"Dad?"
That word, that name, made his heart swell and brought tears to his eyes.
"Yes, Mar'i?"
"I miss her."
A single tear rolled down Dick Grayson's face. "I do too."