The Ties That Bind
This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: Star Trek: The Next Generation no mine...no money, no sue, please?
It continued like that for a month. Either one of them separate was quite enjoyable, but put them together and it was just torture for everyone.
Miranda most enjoyed the company of Wesley and Data. Wesley had offered to be her science project partner, though she still staunchly refused to go to class. He even gave her assistance with her math homework, which he was surprised to find, she was really bad at. She lounged about in Data's quarters, playing with Spot, when she couldn't sleep. She had even gone to a couple of Worf's classes, but had stopped when he offered to instruct her privately. She didn't like being in large groups, and she was too far behind to really get anywhere in the class.
Will went to her quarters at least four times a week for a silent meal. He would usually start by asking how her day had been, tell her if anything interesting had happened to him. She never replied. A few times he showed up and she wasn't even there, a couple of others Beverly had told him she was joining them for dinner.
Other than this, however, she did not mingle. She didn't go to any of the classes offered, nor to any of the special events that constituted the entertainment on the ship. After Wesley had taught her how to use the holidecks, she spent much of her time there. So much, in fact, that Deanna had started to worry. The relationship was starting to take its toll on Will, too, and neither sibling wished to talk about it. The Councilor was fairly sure she wouldn't be able to get Miranda to talk, at all, and so decided to seek some help. Intervention was obviously required.
"Councilor" Jean-Luc greeted her as she entered his ready room, "What can I do for you?"
"Actually, sir, I was wondering if I might ask you for something" Deanna replied, taking a seat, "I'm sure you've noticed that Will and his sister, Miranda, don't...get along very well" Jean-Luc leaned back in his chair. He had indeed noticed. Will had not been his usual chipper self ever since the girl had shown up. He was usually agitated whenever the Captain saw him after work hours even. Jean-Luc had actually been intending to speak to the Councilor about it, and told her so.
"The thing is, sir, I'm not sure what I can do about it" Deanna replied, "Her pain goes very deep. She feels as if she's been rejected her entire life, not just by her father, but by Will as well"
"By Will?" Jean-Luc repeated, surprised.
"I found these in her file" Deanna handed him a disc to read, "Only the first few were opened, she hasn't even read the rest"
"These are letters from Kyle Riker" Jean-Luc said, "Almost two years worth" Deanna remained silent while the Captain perused through them.
"It's mostly about Will" he finally commented, "He doesn't even bother to ask how she is"
"Implying that he doesn't want her to respond. She's probably been getting them her whole life" Deanna concluded. Jean-Luc sighed deeply. This was indeed a more serious matter than he had at first believed.
"I can sympathize with her feelings of envy" he said, "My father always seemed to favor my older brother as well"
"She's very angry, sir" Deanna went on, "More at her father than at Will, but he's the one she's acting out on"
"Because Kyle's not here" Jean-Luc said.
"Exactly" Both were quiet for a few minutes while Jean-Luc thought about the proposition. Emotional problems were not his forte, though he realized he was in a unique position to perhaps help.
"You just have to talk to her" Deanna urged, "The subject will come up"
So that night, Miranda found him at her door. Deanna had Will over for her part of the intervention, and to keep him from interrupting Jean-Luc.
"Captain" Miranda exclaimed, very surprised to see him, "Um, can I help you?"
"OH, I just thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing" the Captain replied with a big smile, hoping he sounded convincing. He was always unsure of his acting ability, and he hated to be on stage. If she could feel his nervousness (and being an empathy she probably could) she made no show if it though, and simply invited him in.
"Can I get you something?" she asked politely.
"A cup of tea would be nice" Jean-Luc answered and took a glance around her quarters while she got it. His eyes immediately fixated on the small white figuring situated between some books.
"This is a Tiffinian flute player!" he exclaimed, picking it up very gently, "An original as well! These, these are very rare" His excitement at such a find on his own ship overwhelmed his nervousness and he cradled the small object in his hands with wonder.
"If you say so" Miranda answered bringing him his tea. He carefully replaced the small statue.
"I love old stuff" she admitted, "There was an antique dealer down the street from my boarding house. This old guy named Mr. Wu ran it. He gave me something every year for my birthday and Christmas, but that's my favorite"
"Lang Wu?" Jean-Luc inquired.
"Yeah." Miranda answered, "How'd you know?"
"Lang Wu was one of the greatest archeologists of our time. I've read quite a bit of his work. He knew exactly what he was giving you" the Captain told her, impressed that the old archeologist would entrust something so precious to such a young girl. Lang Wu had been known for being very particular about who he entrusted his finds to. Miranda shrugged.
"I loved his shop. It was really small and dark and crammed full of lots of weird stuff" she smiled at the memory and Jean-Luc was momentarily struck by how much like her brother she might actually be, "That was one of the last things he gave me before he died. He said he wanted me to have it because I liked it so much and didn't even know what it was" She chuckled and ran a finger over it, "I just liked it cause it was a funny little alien playing a flute" This triggered something in Jean-Luc's memory.
"You know, I think he spoke about you once" he said suddenly, and asked the computer to call up Dr. Lang Wu's last symposium on archeology, six months before his death. A delighted looked surfaced in Miranda's eyes as soon as she heard his voice.
"There's a young girl who comes to my shop everyday. She walks around quietly, trailing her fingers over everything. She has no knowledge of what she is looking at, and yet, she always stops for the rarest, most valuable items. She says" and here he paused slightly, "they are pretty." Another pause, "A true archeologist does not look for what is rare and valuable. Instead, he looks for what will touch his heart. He looks for what is pretty"
Miranda's eyes had a mist over them and Jean-Luc realized that she had cared for her Mr. Wu, perhaps the only person who had ever been a friend to her.
"It was very sad when he died" he said, "He left everything in his shop to the San Francisco Museum you know. He called it the Miranda Collection"
"Really?" Miranda asked, hope brimming in her eyes.
"Oh yes. It was quite a conundrum, everybody trying to figure out who this Miranda was. People wrote papers on the subject as I recall. In fact, that entire wing of the San Francisco Museum is called the Miranda Wing"
Miranda laughed out loud, quite startling the Captain. She spent the rest of the evening pulling out every piece Wu had given her and asking him about it. He was more than happy to tell her what he knew, delighted to have a captive audience for his passion.
"Not many people have a true appreciation for archeology" Jean-Luc said, handing back a jade monkey from an ancient Chinese dynasty, "Your brother certainly doesn't" Miranda took the piece back with a frown.
"Wouldn't imagine he had much appreciation for anything" she replied.
"Oh, now there you're wrong" Jean-Luc corrected her, "Will appreciates many things, especially friends and family" Miranda got up to put the monkey away, carefully avoiding his gaze.
"He's really quite a pleasant man you know" he told her, "If you give him a chance. You can't go the rest of your life not speaking to him"
"Why not? We don't have anything to say to each other anyway" she said, spinning around with a brilliant smile on her face.
"I used to think the very same thing. My older brother, Robert, is complete insufferable" Jean-Luc nodded, "We spent our entire lives fighting, and then after I joined Starfleet we almost stopped talking. His son, Renee, was almost ten before I met him or his mother, before I finally went home"
"Why'd you go?" she asked, "If you hated him so much?" Jean-Luc smiled painfully.
"Something...happened. And despite all of our differences, he was still my brother. The only one I had" He let her think about that for a minute before rising.
"You're not alone anymore, Miranda" he told her from the doorway, "William Riker is a good man. He'll be there for you, if you let him"
And then he left.