Young Justice: As the Tides Change (Robin Love Story)

Steam

Young Justice is not mine.

~~~

Steam

"You don't extinguish fire by adding more fire, you need water."

- Shenouda III

~~~

GOTHAM CITY

Kayanna's feet thudded against the ground as she jogged across the sidewalk. Her heart hammered in her chest, breaths coming in short and she slowed to a halt. A shaky hand was run through her messy brown locks and she sucked in a deep breath.

The blazing sun sat high in the sky, basking the earth below in waves of heat and light. Sweat trickled down Kayanna's brow, her cheeks a light shade of red as a result of the heat and exercise. She took a swig from her water bottle, welcoming the refreshing liquid as a wave of cool washed over her.

Jogging wasn't normally Kayanna's thing. In fact, it was actually rather far from it, but she needed an outlet to vent her frustrations and clear her mind, and dance just wasn't cutting it for her right now.

So that's how she found herself at a smaller park about a mile from her house.

After the events at Cadmus, Kayanna was placed on an even shorter leash than the one she was on before. Granted it was her fault, she could've said no to going with the others.

But she had no regrets.

'I guess you're not ready.'

Her father's voice echoed in her head and Kayanna squeezed her eyes shut, willing his voice to disappear. It had been plaguing her throughout her whole jog, taunting her and reminding her of her shortcomings. Their relationship had been rather rocky ever since the Cadmus incident, and though she got to keep her mantle of Nightfall, she had been avoiding going into the field with her father.

Kayanna doubled over, placing her hands on her knees as she sucked in a deep breath. Her thoughts ran rampant, mind racing a mile a minute as memories swirled in her head.

~~~

Koda paced back and forth, chest heaving with anger. He was still wearing his Nighttide suit, but his mask had been ripped off the moment he set foot in their house. It now lay onto of the dining room table.

Kayanna sat on the couch, eyes glued to the floor as her mom cleaned a gash on her bicep. She grimaced slightly as an antiseptic was rubbed over the wound, but said nothing. Elizabeth kept glanced between her husband and her daughter, waiting for the tension to erupt in a tumultuous end.

"I just-" Koda fumbled for his words and paused as he focused his angry gaze on Kayanna, "What were you thinking?" His hands were positioned in front of himself, and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists. The older waterbender's voice was sharp as he carried on, "I trusted you to stay put. To listen to my orders for once, Kayanna! And what do you do? You disobeyed not only my direct orders, but the League's direct orders as well!"

Kayanna sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, holding back any and all tears that were threatening to fall. She knew a confrontation with her father was inevitable and had tried to mentally prepare herself for the ensuing argument. In her mind she could come up with comebacks and quips to her father's arguing points, as well as ways to defend herself, and she had even talked herself up on the way back to their house, but as soon as she had walked through the door and saw her mother, she deflated.