#oc miranda

 It was late in the summer, and the city was enjoying one of its last warm days before the cold weather crept back in. Beneath the shade of the trees, two children were spending a different sort of last day.

Titania looked down from the high branch where she had perched herself, scanning the forest floor for any sign of her brother. It had taken only one gravity-defying leap and a subsequent bit of monkey-like scrambling to reach the top of the tallest tree, and from here she had a choice view of both the wide blue sky above and the woods underneath. It would still be a challenge to spot Sebastian, at least while he was moving.

She turned her head towards the sound of rustling leaves and cracking twigs and saw a blurry shape racing over the ground towards the tree where she sat. He knew this was her favourite one. Grinning broadly, Titania pushed off the branch and let herself fall.

It didn’t matter that she hit a few branches on the way down, or that she slammed into the ground hard enough to leave a dent. Titania sat up, still smiling, and looked into the deep blue eyes of her favourite person in the world.

“Boo!” she shouted, even though he had already seen her.

“I heard you battering all those branches – you’ll have to work harder to surprise me.” He grinned down at her. “Anyway, we’d better finish up what we’re doing. Mom’s gonna want us back in an hour.”

“What? We only just got here!” That wasn’t strictly true – it had been light when they left and the sun was beginning to sink lower in the sky – but time always seemed to run away while they were there.

“I know, but I’ve got somewhere important to go tomorrow.”

“Superhero school,” Titania said reverently. She knew if she were a character in one of her comic books, she would have stars drawn in her eyes. It was where she and Sebastian had longed to go for as long as she could remember. And it was where Sebastian was about to be the very next day. She slumped onto a nearby log, pouting. “I can’t believe you’re going tomorrow and I still have to wait five whole years.” It felt like a lifetime – and in all fairness it was more than half as long as her life had been so far.

“Well that’s what you get for being born second.” Sebastian teased. When she showed no sign of cheering up, he sat down beside her. “Hey, come on. You’ll get your chance, and it’ll come sooner than you think.” He paused, then added in a quieter voice. “I know it did for me.”

“It’s not just that.” The shady forest seemed suddenly colder; Titania felt goose bumps rising on her arms and folded them close to her chest. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“You know I’d take you with me if I could,” said Sebastian, “But unfortunately you’re too big to fit in my suitcase.” She didn’t laugh. “Come on.” Sebastian tugged one of her pigtails, setting the curls bouncing. “This is the last day I get with my little sister for weeks and we’re wasting it moping around? Is that what heroes do?”

“No,” Titania admitted.

“Of course not. We keep our chins up.” To illustrate his words he reached over and lifted Titania’s chin. She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling – the way he was grinning at her was infectious. Without warning, Sebastian’s fingers moved down to tickle her neck. Titania shrieked and fell sideways off the log to land, giggling, in the damp grass.

“Hey!” She sat up, unable to fight off a smile. “I’m gonna throw you in the river.”

“Like you could catch me.” Sebastian ran a circle around her and the log within a second, as if to prove his point. “Speaking of the river, weren’t we gonna build a bridge across it?”

“Oh yeah!” Titania scrambled to her feet. “We can use this.” She reached down and hefted up the log, which swung in a wide arc as she lifted it effortlessly onto her shoulder. It came close to hitting Sebastian, but he was quick enough to dodge with ease.

“Watch out!” He grabbed hold of one end. “Okay, you hold it, I’ll steer.” Titania followed him towards the river.

She would have followed him anywhere.

 ---***---

 It was the end of the summer again, almost fifteen years after their last day in the woods. Though Titania hadn’t set foot in that particular forest since she had left school, the place had never been far from her mind. Being under the trees had always been a comfort to her. Their thick trunks stood tall and strong like sentinels, still and silent through the years. Those trees had sprouted long before she was born, and would go on living long after she was gone. At least, that was what she had thought.

Her plans had taken her out of England as soon as her final year was over. Like every summer during her schooling, she had flown out to New York City to work under Liberty, her hero mentor. But unlike those other times, she did not return when September came. She had spent a busy few years in America. There was no shortage of crime in New York City alone, but once Liberty’s severe standards had finally been satisfied, Titania had been set free to roam the rest of the states, helping out wherever the need arose. Among the dazzling sights she had seen on her travels were some of the most magnificent trees she had ever witnessed – hundreds of feet tall, and so immense in girth that an arch could be cut into the trunk large enough for a car to drive through. Yet despite all the wonders on her journey, Titania soon felt something calling her back to her old home. And so she packed up her things and bought a ticket to Heathrow airport. That was how it came to be that a few weeks later, during a brief gap in her busy schedule, she stood at the edge of her and Sebastian’s favourite playing ground.

At least, that was where she should be. Titania looked from the multi-storey car park, down to her map, back to the car park again. This couldn’t be the right street. Had they changed the names? Had she forgotten the address while she’d been busy in the United States? Then her eyes landed on the sign above the supermarket: Red Oak Outlet. This was the place, all right. But the red oaks themselves were nowhere to be seen. Titania felt her heart sink into her stomach. They were just trees, she tried to tell herself, old trees she hadn’t seen in years. But somehow it felt like more than just the forest had been erased from this place. Something else had been kept alive, preserved beneath that canopy of green leaves, within the walls of those sturdy tree trunks. Inside the forest it would always be that last day of summer she had spent with Sebastian.

Now that too had been lost.

 ---***---

 “How long has it been like this?” Miranda’s voice ripped Titania out of her memories and back into reality. The girl was staring out over the derelict buildings, her lips pressed together. “Empty, I mean.”

“A few years now, I think.” Titania had avoided the place since that first time. Until recently.

“Huh. I thought they would have built something else here.”

“It’s been up for sale for a long time, but no one wanted to buy it,” Titania explained, “Too much work to be done for not enough profit, or something like that.”

“Do you think anyone will buy it?” Miranda wondered out loud. “Someone should. It’s depressing, how it’s just sitting here empty.”

“I agree. Most of all, I’d want someone to plant trees here again.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Miranda paused. Then she looked up at Titania with wide eyes. “We’re someone.” For the second time that day, Titania smiled without even thinking about it.

“That’s right.” It was exactly the thing she would expect Miranda to say. She was that kind of person – the one whose first answer to ‘someone should’ was ‘why not me?’. It was something Titania understood all too well. Which was why she had bought the old forest land when she had found the opportunity. She didn’t have the money left for demolition, or clearing the land, or re-seeding, but she had a different plan for that. Titania placed a hand on Miranda’s shoulder. “Want to learn how to knock down a concrete wall?”

“Yes!” Miranda looked like she might explode from excitement. “I’ve wanted to try that before, but obviously I didn’t have anything to practice on because it would get broken, and I don’t know if copying your power would be easier if you were actually there, because I think that helped when I used it that other time even though I didn’t actually know it was going to work, so maybe I did it because it was an emergency? I don’t know.” Titania nodded, in no hurry to interrupt.

“Watch yourself with the bleach.”

“I’ve got gloves.” Titania had been right to assume there would be no arguing; the girl was already well prepared. She laid back and let her head sink into the cushion. Before long, she felt the cool moisture of the cloth against her skin, stripping away the thick mask of paste and powder that covered her face. She hadn’t expected such a soft, gentle touch – did Miranda not realise she couldn’t hurt her even if she tried? Whenever Titania removed her own make-up, it was with a very firm hand. It made for a quicker, more efficient job. This unnecessary carefulness tempted her to laugh, yet at the same time, she felt a lump in her throat.

“Do you want to hear about school?” Miranda’s voice brought her back to reality.

“Yes, I’d like that.”

“Okay. Um… We had an English test. That was hard, but I think I did okay. Oliver tried to teach me to fly again, but I couldn’t do it. So far it’s only worked when it was some sort of emergency.”

“That makes sense. Extreme circumstances can bring out the best of our abilities. Even people without any powers have been known to lift cars because their loved ones were trapped underneath. I think it’s one of humankind’s best qualities.”

“If normal people can move cars,” said Miranda excitedly, “Imagine what you could lift.”

“Hm.” An image of Miranda trapped under a grounded cruise liner forced its way into her head. “I don’t feel like testing it.”

“Okay.” Miranda resumed her wiping. “So what did you do?”

“Got hit by a bus,” Titania said casually, a yawn creeping into her voice as she spoke. “An empty bus, thank goodness.”

“Wait, if it was empty, how did it…”

“It fell from a bridge.” She smiled. “Hammered me into the ground like a tent peg. I had to dig myself out.” It was an amusing story. Provided she didn’t mention those few minutes underground that had felt like hours, the threat of imminent suffocation, the specks of dirt and gravel invading her already weakened lungs. Those were unnecessary details.

“So that’s why your hands are so dirty.” Titania’s eyes snapped open and she stared down at her hands. Miranda was right: they were still covered in rubble dust.

“Oh no…” She sat up, looking around for any marks. “Have I got it on the couch?”

“Doesn’t matter – it’s an old sofa. It’s had loads of drinks spilt on it before. Here.” Miranda handed Titania the cloth. “I’ll get a fresh one to finish your face.” As she scrubbed the dirt from her hands, Titania felt Miranda place a tentative hand on her shoulder. She gave in and allowed herself to be gently pushed back onto the cushions. Somehow it still felt wrong to be doing nothing. She had never been content to be sit around when she could be doing something useful, but now she knew her time was running out, every wasted moment weighed heavily on her conscience. What did it matter if she was tired and in pain? Who cared if she made it worse through over-exertion? Her life would soon be over regardless – she should be wringing every last drop out of it while she still had the chance.

“Finished.” Miranda made one last dab at Titania’s cheek with the cloth before laying it down. Now was her chance to leave. She would thank Miranda, and she would go home, and she would spend the evening answering her fan mail, or washing her costume, or answering those long overdue emails from her PA. Suppressing the urge to groan, Titania propped herself up on her elbows and started to swing her legs off the sofa. “Oh! Uh…” Miranda got up and moved around to stand in front of her, tugging nervously at her plaits. “I um… got Wonder Woman on DVD last time I went shopping, and I thought maybe you might want to watch it with me?” Of course she wanted to. Right now, sinking back into the cushions of that comfortable sofa to watch a film with Miranda was so tempting it was almost painful. But she shouldn’t. She had to say no. She just had to look up at Miranda, and say ‘no thanks’. Just two words. Straightening up, Titania looked into the eyes of the expectant teenager.

“Go on then.” Oh. So much for heroic resolve; it was no match for kids with puppy dog eyes. Deciding that she might as well accept her fate, Titania shuffled sideways to make room on the couch for Miranda, and sank back into the cushions. Already, she could feel the looming threat of sleep. If she wasn’t careful, she wouldn’t make it to the end of the film. Miranda slotted the DVD into the drive and perched on the sofa next to Titania.

“Have you seen this? It’s really good.” Titania smiled.

“Only twice.” But once more wouldn’t hurt.