"This- is the story if how I died. Ok, I'm kidding, that story takes place a few years before this one. And this isn't even my story; it's a story about a boy named Damian. And it starts because of water. Or a lack of it. See, this woman used magical water to heal herself and keep young. But the lord who owned the magic water cut her off, angry at her for diluting his bloodline by bearing a son whose father was not chosen by him. So the woman took a vial of the water, and hid it away along with her young son. But not before the boy's father learned of him. The boy's father, a knight, searched far and wide for his lost son, shining lights up into the skies with his symbol on them, in the hopes that his son would see and understand. The woman kept her son away from the world, training him in the ways of a warrior, and stealing away to the compound he was hidden in only every once in a while. But when the boy was alone, he would open the windows, lean out, and watch the far off lights…."

…..

Damian threw the doors to the balcony open, and glanced around. "Hm. Guess he's not out here…" he walked back inside, and then crept back out, silently. There was some scratching from a plant in the railing, and then a cat with white stocking feet and a white chest crept out of the vines.

"Gotcha!" Damian cried, leaping forwards and snatching animal up. There was an annoyed hiss, and several new cat scratches were added to the collection already on Damian's arms. "Oh, stop it, Alfred Pennyworth. I like it in here, and so do you," he lied, putting his pet down on his bed and flopping down beside it. "Tt. I have done everything except sing to entertain myself this morning…"

Alfred meowed, and pawed at Damian.

"No, I'm not singing. Really, I'm not that desperate yet. Give it a few weeks..." he trailed off. "I hope mother comes today. I'm almost out of colored pencils."

Alfred jumped up onto the bedside table, and knocked over a half finished drawing or the night sky, lit up with strange lights.

"No! Alfred, don't touch that! I'm not done, I can't quite see what's in the middle of the lights," Damian slipped the paper under his pillow and waked to the window. "If I could only get closer..."

…..

"Wow!" said Jason Todd, impressed. He leaned forward on the roof of Wayne Manor a little, taking in the fields, trees, and distant skyline of Gotham city. "I could get used to a view like this."

"Jason, come on!" yelled Roy Harper from the other side of the roof, with Starfire flying just above him.

Jason held up a hand. "Hold on…. Yep, I'm used to it. Guys, I want a Manor."

Roy rolled his eyes. "We pull this off; you can ransom this Manor right out from Bruce Wayne. Let's go!"

A few gables down, and one laser cutter later, Jason was being lowered into a cave, in which was a display case, surrounded by people in spandex. Jason quietly opened the case door, and grabbed a colorful uniform. He froze at an unexpected nose.

"Achoo!" the smallest person sneezed.

"Allergies?" Jason asked, sympathetic.

"Yeah," the boy sighed. "Wait, what?"

But Jason had already been pulled up, and he and Roy were grabbed by Starfire and flown off into the sunset.

"Can't you picture me in a Manor? I certainly can. Oh the things we've done and it's only eight on the morning!"

…..

"Alright Alfred, I am almost ten years old, and I cannot be a proper warrior living inside my whole live. I am going to ask her," announced Damian, grabbing a rope ladder and pulling it to the window. "Really though, she couldn't have waited to come until after I'd showered?"

"Damian! Hurry darling!"

"I'm hurrying!" said Damian, pushing one end of the ladder out the window. "Alfred quick, get under the bed." Mother didn't like cats, and Alfred knew this. He vanished quickly.

Talia Al Ghul stepped inside the room, and sighed. "Oh Damian, must you dawdle before you lower the ladder? I don't like to be kept waiting."

"I'm sorry, Mother. But as you know, tomorrow happens to be my-"

"Damian, look in the mirror," Talia said, pulling her son next to her. "You know what I see? I see a strong able young warrior."

Damian stood a little taller. Praise from his mother was rare, and-

"Oh look, you're here too!" Talia added. Damian scowled. "Oh, stop taking everything so seriously, Damian, I'm just teasing!"

Damian rolled his eyes. "So mother, I was thinking that tomorrow-"

Talia gasped and pressed her hand to her stomach. "Darling, mother- ran into some trouble on the way. Get me a drink, pet? Then we'll talk."

"Of course, mother," Damian sighed, and filled a glass with water, then pulled a vial of glowing green liquid hanging from a thin chain around his neck, and carefully poured a single drop into the water.

"Here!" he pushed the cup at his mother and watched impatiently as she drained it. "So, mother, earlier I was talking about tomorrow, and you didn't really respond, so I'll just tell you. It's my tenth birthday."

Talia stood up and surveyed herself in the mirror. "No, no, I distinctly remember. Your birthday was last year."

Damian straightened some pencils in a box. "That's the strange thing about birthdays, they're kind of an annual thing… and what I wanted to ask- that is, what I've wanted for every birthday now-"

"Damian, do stop mumbling! It's so very aggravating; you know I can't stand it."

Damian looked down at his feet, and Talia walked over to him. "Oh, don't look so sad, darling, I was just teasing! You're so-"

"I want to see the lights," Damian interrupted.

Talia froze. "What?"

"Well, I was hoping you would take me to see the lights in the sky."

Talia put a hand on her sons shoulder. "You mean the stars."

Damian shook his head, and pulled a large piece of paper out from under his bed. "No, I've charted stars, and they're constant," he said, displaying the star chart he had drawn. "But these lights appear every year on my birthday, only on my birthday. I need to see them, mother. And not just out the window. In person. I want to go to Gotham."

"You want to go to Gotham?" Talia Al Ghul repeated, raising an eyebrow at her son.

"Yes, I would like to-"

"Why Damian," His mother interrupted. "Look at you, as fragile as a flower!"

"This morning I broke a steel beam with-"

"Still a little sapling, just a sprout!" simpered Talia. "You know why we stay up in this compound?"

"Well not really but-"

"That's right, to keep you safe and sound, Damian," Talia said, clasping her hands. "Guess I always knew this day was coming, knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest! (That's a bat pun, child). Soon, but not yet!"

"But mother-" Damian protested.

"Shh! Trust me, pet!" Talia said, holding up one finger. "Mother knows best!"

"Mother, are you singing?"

"Mother knows best, listen to your mother, it's a scary world out there," Talia sang, ignoring the question. "Mother knows best, one way or another, something will go wrong, I swear!"

"But I can prepare for all-"

"Crime families, thugs! Poison Ivy, Scarecrow! Killer Croc and Copperhead!"

"No I-"

"Yes! Also large bats, men with metal teeth and- stop, no more, you'll just upset me!"

"Last week you cut someone's fingers off, and that didn't upset you, so I fail to see why this should-"

Talia grabbed her son, hugging him hard. "Mother's right here, Mother will protect you. Damian, here's what I suggest! Skip the drama, stay with mama-"

"With who?"

"- Mother knows best."

Talia leaned against the wall, dejectedly. "Go ahead, get trampled by Grundy. Go ahead, get crowbared and left for dead. Me? I'm just your mother, what do I know? I only bathed and changed and dressed you…"

"Well actually the servants-"

"Go ahead and leave me, I deserve it!" Talia sniffed tragically. "Let me die alone here, be my guest! When it's too late-"

"I could just give you some water out of this vial thing I have-"

"You'll see, just wait. Mother knows best! Hahaha!" Talia laughed, putting an arm around Damian's shoulders.

"Mother, I find your behavior rather confusing, and-"

"Mother knows best, take it from your mumzy-"

"My what, now?"

"-On your own, you won't survive!"

"Well I think-"

"Sloppy, underdressed, immature, clumsy-"

"None of those words can be used to describe me!"

"Please, they'll eat you up alive!" Talia sang. "Gullible, naïve! Positively grubby!"

"I didn't have time to bath after training, I had to bring you the ladder-"

"Ditzy and a bit well, hm, vague," Talia reached over and pinched her son's cheek, causing him to scowl and swat her hand away. "Plus I believe, getting kind of chubby-"

"Its baby fat! I'll grow out of it!"

"I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you-"

"That's not a real word!"

"Mother understands, Mother's here to help you! All I have is one request!"

"Yes, mother?" Damian asked with a sigh.

"Never ask to leave again," Talia ordered.

"Yes, Mother."

Talia reached over and stoked her sons head. "I love you very much, Damian."

"I love you more, mother."

"I love you most," said Talia, fingering the chain around her son's neck.