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 was a month later and Will had decided to throw Miranda a birthday party.

"Are you sure that's really a good idea, Will?" Deanna asked. During their conversations Deanna had gleamed some facts from the young girl, and the fact that she didn't like surprises was one thing that had become very evident.

"Of course" Will had replied, "Everybody loves a surprise birthday party" So Deanna had let Miranda know more than Will were going to show up at her door.

Will stopped and picked everyone up on the way down. The Captain, of course, had a book for her. Worf had a short knife. They stopped to get Data next and it was then that Will noticed the new painting on Data's wall.

"Is this yours, Data?" he asked, examining the delicate work in the glade.

"No. That is one of Miranda's works" Data replied. He had a paint set for her.

"Miranda did this?" Will was very surprised. He'd had no idea she painted. And he wondered where she'd found a picture of the glade just outside of the town he'd grown up in. Maybe their father had sent it.

"Yes. I have been trying to convince her to show some of her work with mine, but I have been unsuccessful so far" Data answered.

"That reminds me, Will" Jean-Luc started in, "I was wondering if you might allow her to accompany me to Outpost Seven next month. Dr. Long is giving a talk on ancient Tiffinian culture"

"Ancient Tiffinian culture" Will repeated, completely miffed.

"Yes. As I'm sure you know, Miranda is somewhat of a history buff. I'm sure she'd enjoy it. I'm rather looking forward to it myself" the Captain said. Will sucked in another breath. She painted, and she was a history buff. He was guessing the chess set that was his own gift wasn't going to make much of an impression. It bothered him that Data knew his sister better than he did.

"Of course, sir. I'll talk to her about it" he replied to the Captain, and they proceeded down to her quarters. Deanna, Beverly and Wesley were already waiting. Miranda smiled when she opened the door but even Worf could tell she was less than thrilled to see them all.

"Surprise!" Will grinned, careful not to touch her as he entered, "Happy Birthday, Miranda"

"What?" Miranda was surprised. She thought for a second, then said, "OH. Yeah. Guess it is my birthday"

"You forgot your birthday?" Wesley exclaimed, "Boy, that last calculus test must've been harder than I thought!"

"Yeah, well, nobody much bothered about my birthday on Bolgara" Miranda shrugged.

"Well, we're bothering about it" Beverly told her tenderly, with a motherly hug which Miranda bore with grace at least.

"Thanks, Dr. Crusher" she replied. Deanna smiled at the warmth the girl felt for Beverly, the only mother figure she'd ever had.

"Is this a private party or can just anyone pop in?" Miranda spun around and the Councilor was momentarily struck with a sense of panic. A tallish young man was in the doorway with Geordi. He had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes and was probably quite a favorite with the young girls.

"Eddie. What're you doing here?" Miranda asked with venom in her voice. She didn't even speak that way to Will. His big-brother senses perked up and he stepped forward.

"I was assigned the Enterprise last week" Eddie replied, "Commander LaForge mentioned your party. I didn't know you were here. And you never told me you had such a prestigious brother, Randy" The boy oozed charm and confidence, literally. Deanna realized he was telepathic.

"And you are?" Will asked harshly. Geordi seemed to realize he'd made a mistake in bringing the young man because he silently walked into the room past him.

"Ensign Edward Park, sir" the boy replied smartly, though his eyes never left Miranda.

"Ensign Park. Aren't you on 3rd shift in one of the labs?" Will asked. Eddie's eyes still didn't leave Miranda. Will stared at him, though, and after a minute the boy lifted his gaze to Will's.

"I guess I should get going then, sir" he said and nodded at Miranda with a spine chilling smile, "Nice seeing you again, Randy" And with that he turned and disappeared.

"Hey, listen, Miranda. I didn't know. He said he knew you from Bolgara and I thought...."

"It's all right, Geordi" she cut him off, "Eddie can be very persuasive" and she turned away, stopping anyone from asking anything. The party continued on as if nothing had happened, thought the Captain had a word with Worf and the Councilor had a word with Will.

"Did I miss the party?" a calm voice asked.

"Guinan! Of course not!" Will exclaimed, "We're just about to cut the cake. Miranda, this is Guinan"

"Nice to meet you" Miranda said, for once, respectfully.

"Happy Birthday" Guinan replied. She kept an interested eye on Miranda for the rest of the night. Miranda exclaimed happily over each of her gifts, even Will's chess set. The encounter with Eddie had shaken her more than anyone really realized. Eventually, everyone drifted to corners to finish their cake and coffee. Miranda was in a corner by herself, studying the painting Geordi had given her.

"Hello" Miranda turned her head slowly to regard Guinan.

"You're very old, aren't you?" she asked. Guinan almost laughed. It wasn't very often someone surprised her.

"My people are long lived" she replied. Miranda nodded to herself.

"I thought you must be" she said, "You have a calmness about you. I like old people. They don't worry about things, and they know stuff"

"What do you mean?" Guinana asked. She had a feeling there was more to this young woman than it appeared.

"Well, it's like, they've lived their lives, so they don't have to worry about what's going to happen" Miranda told her, "Young people are always running around crazy, trying to plan for a future they can't possibly foresee"
"And you don't make plans" Guinan concluded.

"Mr. Wu always told me to use my nose and go where the wind takes me" Miranda smiled at Guinan, "Of course, he also said there's no wind in space"

"Mr. Wu sounds like a wise man" Guinan commented.

"He was" Miranda replied. Guinan paused for a second before asking,

"So?"

"So, what?"

"So, if you value Mr. Wu's advice so much, why aren't you following it? The wind brought you to your brother, didn't it?" Miranda frowned.

"Mr. Wu never said you had to like where the wind took you" Guinan nodded, acknowledging the truth in that. She also had to acknowledge that some problems people had to overcome themselves. There was little she could say or do to help Miranda at this point.

"I think, if you took a look around, you'd find this isn't such a bad place to be" was all she could say, and then she left Miranda to get a last piece of cake.