Chapter Text
"Mama!"
Starfire looked up just in time to see a distraught Jaki burst through the door. He looked panicked, face red and blotchy from crying.
She shot up from her chair, ignoring the disapproving looks of her advisors. Military reform be damned; her baby needed her. His little chubby legs bounded on the hard floor, sometimes lifting off in unmastered flight. She knelt down and immediately encircled him in her arms. "What is it, my love?"
He pressed his face into the crook of her neck, hands clutching tightly onto her armor. "S-she gone, Mama! She gone!"
Starfire stifled her laughter.
Truly, she had hoped her son would wise up to his sister's trick, considering this was the fourth time she did this, but she supposed her baby boy was a bit sensitive, a quality she hoped never changed. He still could not understand why his sister could just disappear and reappear. To be fair, neither could she, or all the scientists in Vega.
"Aw," she hummed reassuringly, running her fingers through his hair. "She is not gone, my love."
"Y-yes she is!" he cried, absolutely heartbroken. "She's gone, Mama!"
She could hear one of her councilmen snort behind her. She whipped her head to him, her eyes flashing with a menacing green glow. They all paled, effectively silenced.
"There, there," she cooed. "Do not fret, sweetling. Mar'i is still here; she is just invisible."
He shook his head vigorously. "No, M-mama! Mar'i gone f-for-f-ev-e-r-"
Jaki could not even finish the words; instead, he broke down into hysterics. With all the dramatics a one-and-half-year-old Prince could muster, his head fell backwards, forcing Starfire to support him. His body was completely limp, the emotions apparently too much for him to handle. His circlet rolled off his head, letting a mop of black hair fall into his face, mixing with tears and snot.
"Mama..." she heard her daughter's meek voice call out. Her head perked up, and she saw little Mar'i looking sheepish at the door.
"Mar'i?" Jaki shot up, his voice filled with surprise and relief. He twisted out of his mother's arms and zipped right to his now corporal sister. "Mar'i!" He embraced her, smushing his sobbing face into hers. She tried to pull away, but his hold was steely. "Do not leave, Mar'i! Jaki miss you!"
"Mar'i, you know not to turn invisible in front of your brother," Starfire scolded. She tried to keep a stern expression on her face, but it was hard to stay cross at her, especially when she looked so guilty.
"Yes, Mama," Mar'i said, regretful. She awkwardly petted her still whimpering brother. "Mar'i here, Jaki. Mar'i here."
"No leaving, Mar'i, okay?"
She bobbed her head up and down, holding his hand. "Okay, Jaki."
Starfire escorted them back to the attendants. They apologized profusely for allowing them to interrupt her meeting, but she dismissed that with a wave of her hand. Instead, she showered her babies with kisses, reminded Jaki that his sister can turn invisible and has been able to for the last year, and returned to a dreary day of military reform.
It was only when they moved on to territory disputes did Jaki burst in again.