Note: This chapter is set in the same universe as Chapters 1, 10, 12, and 17. That is, it is set in a universe combining Ordinary Heroes and Superhero. In this universe, Lightning is still mostly referred to as "Claire" when she isn't running around in superhero form. Also, the tutu incident mentioned in this chapter takes place in Chapter 10. Mr Cuddles makes his first appearance in Chapter 17.

X X X

Wings

Fang watched Diana float around the training room. Her daughter had spent the last hour trying to fly. She had succeeded, sort of. Diana already knew how to float. Now, she could move at something close to a normal person's run. That, however, was a far, far cry from what Diana should have been able to do.

The problem wasn't Diana's powers. Fang had kept a close eye on Diana's development, and Vanille gave the girls a physical every few months. No one knew quite what to expect from the children of Lady Lightning and Ultrawoman, and Fang was not about to take any chances with her children's health.

Diana was already strong enough to fly. The problem had to be psychological. She had developed her powers at a very young age and had spent most of life holding back. She probably didn't even realise how much she did it. If Diana wanted to fly, she couldn't hold back. There were also some things that were best learned outside the training room.

"Diana." Fang grinned. "Put on your costume. We're going outside."

Diana fell out of the air. Fang winced. At least the only thing with a dent in it was the floor. "Really?"

"Really."

"Awesome!"

The girl vanished in a blur of super speed as Fang went to wait outside. The freezing weather of the South Pole greeted her. However, the blistering winds and bitter cold didn't bother her. There wasn't much on the planet that could. Then Diana appeared, and Fang had to fight the urge to cover her eyes. This definitely bothered her.

After a lot of begging, whining, and bribing, Diana had managed to convince Vanille that she needed a proper costume of her own. Vanille had put together a costume made of the same highly durable materials that Fang's costume used. There was also a tracking device hidden inside it just in case Diana got into trouble. Knowing Diana, it was more a question of when, and not if, the tracking device would come in handy.

Unfortunately, Vanille had made one big mistake: she'd let Diana design the look of the costume. It hurt to look at.

Diana had decided that pink and orange – her favourite colours – were the way to go. Her gloves and boots were both mostly pink with orange trim. She wore pink shorts and a pink shirt with a large orange KA on the front. Apparently, it stood for Kid Awesome, which was Diana's superhero name. Her cape – because a superhero had to have a cape – was bright pink on one side and an even brighter orange on the other.

Fang winced. Oh well, at least Fang would never have any problems finding Diana. Her little girl was no impossible to miss.

"What are we going to do, mommy?" Diana bounced around eagerly. "Are we go to go swimming with some whales?" Diana made swimming motions. "Are we going to beat up some bad guys?" Diana punched the air. "Maybe we could melt some icebergs with our heat vision." Diana's eyes glowed red, but she managed to stop herself before she melted anything.

"We won't be doing any of that today." Fang smiled. "Today, you're going to fly. For real."

Diana stilled. She looked down at her feet. "But, mommy, I've been trying really hard. No matter how much I try, I can't seem to fly right." She clenched her fists and looked away. "Averia can already fly. You and mom can fly. Aunt Vanilly can fly. Grandma and me are the only ones in our family who can't fly. But even she has that jetpack Aunt Vanille made, so she could fly if she wanted to."

Fang shuddered. She and the matron had both agreed that the older woman would never try Vanille's jetpack. The matron enjoyed living too much. "I know you've been trying really hard, Diana, but I think you've been doing it wrong." Fang knelt down and hugged Diana. "I think you're holding back."

"Holding back?" Diana didn't burrow into Fang's embrace, which told Fang just how much not being able to fly really bothered her. If she'd known, she would have done something about it sooner. Maybe she was getting too busy with hero work. She and Claire needed to sit down and talk about possibly cutting back. They had children to look after.

"Ever since you were little, you've been stronger than most people," Fang said. That was an understatement. Most seven year olds couldn't punch through a concrete wall. "Your mom and I always told you to be careful because other people aren't as strong as you are. What would happen if you tried playing with your friends at school without holding back?"

Diana gulped. "I'd squish them. The only one I can really play around with is Averia." Diana giggled. "I kicked her through a wall once. Mom got really mad."

Thank the Maker for Vanille's home repair robots. "Flying is one of the toughest things to do," Fang said. "It was one of the last powers I got. I was older than you are now when I learned how to fly, but you were born here. I think you're ready now. But first, you need to stop holding back."

"But I'm not holding back when I try to fly!" Diana pulled out of Fang's arms and scowled. She'd tried and tried and tried, and she still couldn't fly. It wasn't fair. "It never works."

"You don't think you hold back?" Fang smirked. "Really? Hit me."

Diana stopped. "Mommy?"

"Hit me as hard as you can."

"But… won't I get grounded?" Diana didn't want to miss any of her cartoons, especially since she could watch dozens of them at the same time with her superpowers.

"Not this time." Fang waved Diana forward. "You get to hit me for free, so hit me as hard as you can."

Diana drew her fist back and punched Fang. Fang didn't move an inch.

"Hmmm…" Fang poked Diana in the forehead. "I could have sworn you could hit harder than that. The Diana I know once punched her own sister through the ceiling. Maybe you aren't as tough as I thought."

Diana growled. She didn't like it when people made fun of her, not even her mommy. "Fine! Take this!"

Fang skidded across the ice. She hadn't bothered to brace herself properly. Still, that punch had been something, all right. Diana had hit her with enough force to crumple a semitrailer into something the size of a garbage can.

"That's better." Fang smirked at the annoyed look Diana gave her. The little girl was used to winning most of her fights with one punch. It was good for her to realise that there were people who could stand up to her super strength. "If you want to fly, you need to stop holding back. You have to jump, Diana, jump so high that you never come back down, jump so high that you forget what it's like to be on the ground. Can you do that?"

Diana looked at her hand. Her knuckles her a little bit. She'd never hit anyone that hard before. Her mommy was really tough. She took a breath. "I'll try."

Fang smiled faintly as Diana bent her knees and then launched herself up into the sky. Diana soared hundreds of feet into the air and then crashed back to the ground. She landed with enough force to crater the ice beneath her.

"Again!" Fang shouted. "Don't hold back! Don't think about anything except how high you want to go!"

Diana hurled herself upward again and again. She went higher each time. On her last attempt, Fang saw the air around Diana bend and warp. The little girl gave a cry of delight and thrust both arms forward like she'd seen Fang do a hundred times. Then she lost control, and tumbled back toward the ground.

Diana smashed through a wall of ice and hurtled into the ground. A plume of ice shot up into the air as the little girl carved out a crater several yards deep. Fang's lips twitched as she flew over to the lip of the crater.

Almost.

X X X

"Ouch."

Diana pulled herself out of the ice. She'd been really, really close that time. She'd felt something different from all the other times. It was like… like she had wings or something. Then she'd fallen. She heard a sound from above her. Her mommy was there. Would she be angry? Would she be disappointed? Slowly, Diana looked up.

Her mommy took one look at her and then grinned. "I'll be waiting for you up there."

Diana's eyes widened as her mommy flew up into the sky above her. She stopped more than a mile above Diana, smiling. Diana got to her feet. Her mommy believed in her! Her mommy believed she could do it! She felt so happy she could burst. She could do it now. She just knew she could.

Diana closed her eyes. She tried to remember what it had felt like during that second when she'd been sure she was flying. She'd felt like nothing could ever hold her down again, like there was nothing in the world she couldn't do. She wanted to feel that way again. Eyes still closed, she knelt and gathered all her strength.

Up, she thought. Up. Up. UP!

She threw herself up into the air. With her eyes still closed, she heard the wind rush past. She reached out with both her arms, straining, fighting, and needing to go higher. The wind rushed past even faster, howling, roaring, screaming. She could barely hear it over the sound of her own heartbeat. Something inside her, something she'd never even known was there, stretched and came to life.

Then she was soaring, shooting up faster than she could ever have imagined.

She was flying!

Diana opened her eyes, and her mommy was right there in front of her.

"Mommy!" Diana screamed. "Mommy, mommy, I'm flying!"

Her mommy smirked. "I knew you could do it. Now, see if you can keep up."

Then her mommy was flying away, and for the first time ever, Diana could follow. They raced out over the ice toward the ocean. Diana was laughing and maybe crying, but only a little since a superhero didn't cry even if she was so happy it felt like she'd never stop smiling. She'd thought she known what flying felt like since her parents had carried her with them before, but she didn't know, not one bit.

Flying – really flying – was a bazillion times better than being carried. She felt like she could go anywhere and do anything she wanted. The world seemed smaller and bigger all at once, and now she could see all of it for herself. No wonder Averia flew whenever she had the chance. This was beyond awesome!

Her mommy dove into the ocean, and Diana followed. They stopped beside a pod of whales, and Diana giggled and reached out to touch one of the baby ones as it swam past. The baby whale nudged her back and then went off to join its mommy. Then Diana's mommy burst upward, shooting out of the water.

Diana bit her lip. She'd stopped. Would she be able to fly again? Her mommy's smile flashed through her mind. Her mommy believed in her. Now, she had to believe in herself too. She could do it! She could! The water around her began to bubble. She raced toward the sky.

Diana exploded out of the water and flew after her mother as fast as she could. She wasn't sure where they were going, but she didn't care. She was flying and that was all that mattered. Suddenly, they were away from the ice, away from the ocean, and out over the desert. Diana gasped. They were moving so fast!

A canyon appeared in front of them, and her mommy wove through the narrow passage, one arm extended and then two. Diana copied as best she could, laughing and giggling, as they went under an arch of rock and then up and around the side of a mountain. A mountain goat took one look at her as she swept past and nearly slipped off its perch.

This was the coolest thing Diana had ever done.

And now she recognised where they were going. They were going to grandma's house. Then they were there. She saw grandma and Aunt Vanille below her and waved. She could fly to the grandma's house whenever she wanted. Then she and her mommy were banking over a river. Diana looked down and saw Mr Cuddles. She waved, and the bear waved back.

Awesome.

X X X

Vanille's eyes widened as something very orange and very pink flew overhead.

"What was that?" the matron winced as a shockwave rippled down from the sky. She'd almost spilled her cup of coffee.

"That was Diana."

The matron paused mid sip. "She was flying?"

"Yes. On her own." Vanille looked back at the sky and then at the matron. "Uh…"

"Go." The matron smiled. "You should be with them. You can all come by for dinner after you're done flying."

"You know," Vanille said. "You could always use that jetpack I made you."

"Just go."

X X X

Diana was out over the ocean with her mommy when something grabbed her out of mid air. She growled and spun end over end before she finally managed to steady herself – only to be grabbed again and pulled into a tight hug.

"Aunt Vanille!" Diana squirmed as her aunt ruffled her hair. "Let go!"

Vanille laughed and continued to ruffle Diana's hair. "So, you finally learned to fly, huh?"

"I did! I did!" Diana zipped through the air in circles around her aunt. "It's way cooler than walking."

"It definitely is." Vanille smirked at Fang. "Maybe you should fly to school every morning, Diana. Wouldn't that be fun?"

The girl turned hopeful eyes at her mommy. "Can I, mommy?"

Fang shook her head. "Oh no, kiddo. You're going to school the normal way." Part of being a superhero was not drawing too much attention to your alternate identity. Diana cruising into the playground like a miniature jet would definitely draw attention.

"Aw…" Diana pouted. "Please, mommy."

"Nope, sorry." Fang looked away. Diana's pout had to be one of her superpowers.

"Anyway," Vanille said. "Congratulations, Diana. You're definitely my favourite youngest niece."

Diana smiled. It was nice to know that she was her aunt's favourite… "Hey! I'm your only youngest niece!"

"Heh." Vanille chuckled and gave Diana a little wave before she flew away.

Diana huffed and chased after her. They went up into the clouds and then back down into the water. Diana could swim at super speed, but flying through the water was way faster than swimming. She couldn't wait to see how deep she could go. Maybe she'd even find a giant squid or something. Her Aunt Vanille could help her catch it, and they could keep it in a big fish tank in her lab.

The pair burst out of the water. Thunder echoed through the sky. Diana turned to look and then grinned as she recognised a familiar head of pink hair.

"Averia!"

Diana tackled her sister in mid air, and they hit the surface of the ocean with a tremendous crash. A passing ship honked its horn.

"Get off me!" Diana giggled as her older sister tried to pry her off. "Diana, get off!"

"Did you see? Did you see?" Diana pointed at the sky and then at herself and then back at the sky again. "I can totally fly now. It's the coolest thing ever. I bet I'm even faster than you now."

Averia eased them back into the air. After pointing out the problems of using a pink tutu as her uniform, she had managed to convince her parents to give her a costume of her own. It was similar to Lady Lightning's but with a blue cape instead of a red one. She thought it looked pretty cool – way better than a pink tutu anyway.

"You really think you're faster than me?" Averia grinned in that way that Diana both loved and hated. She tugged herself out of Diana's arms and then reached over to poke her sister on the forehead. "Tag. You're it."

Diana's eyes widened. "Hey! That's not fair. I didn't know we were playing yet!" Averia's response was to laugh and fly away. "Come back! Averia!"

They played flying tag for what felt like forever. Even if Diana couldn't catch her sister, she couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. They had to do this everyday. They could even make up different rules like playing flying heat vision tag or something. That would be even cooler.

Finally, they stopped. Diana waited until her sister had turned around – probably thinking the game was over – and then flew over and patted her on the back.

"Tag!" Diana giggled. "Now, you're it."

"What?" Averia spun. "You cheater!"

Diana cackled and flew over to hide behind her Aunt Vanille. Her aunt would make a good shield. "Hey, mommy, is there anyone faster than you?"

Fang smirked and struck her best heroic pose. "No –"

"Your mom is faster." Vanille ignored the scowl Fang shot her way. "Your mommy is super fast, but your mom is even faster."

"Really?" Diana was hard-pressed to contain her excitement. Her mommy was super, ultra, mega fast. If her mom was even faster than her mommy, she had to be like the fastest thing ever. No wonder her mom was always early for stuff.

"Yep." Vanille floated behind Diana. "She's probably still cleaning up a bit since Averia always leaves a mess when she fights."

Averia folded her arms over her chest. "I didn't think that robot would make such a big explosion."

"Things usually explode when you hit them with enough lightning to melt a skyscraper." Vanille grinned. "But, I'm sure your mom will come if we call her." She pressed a few buttons on the communicator she wore on her waist. "I bet she'll be here any second."

There was a flash of lightning in the distance. Diana's eyes narrowed and then widened. Her mom was coming, and she'd never seen anyone fly so fast, not even her mommy. In what felt like a heartbeat, her mom was there, her red cape fluttering in the breeze. She looked so cool.

Claire Yun-Farron looked at her younger daughter. Her lips curved up into a smile. "You're flying."

"I am." Diana latched onto her mom's middle. "Mommy taught me how."

"I knew you could do it." Claire hugged Diana, but then the little girl had to look away. Her parents were sharing one of their mushy looks again. "We should celebrate."

"Can we fly somewhere and get cake?" Diana asked hopefully.

Claire winced. She could imagine what would happen if an entire family of superheroes dropped into a bakery to pick up some cake. Thankfully, Vanille had a better idea.

"The matron is making dinner. We can all go over her house to celebrate."

"Cool!" Diana punched the air. "Grandma always makes awesome food. Maybe Mr Cuddles could eat with us."

Claire sighed. Although Mr Cuddles – a nine-feet-tall bear – had actually become friends with the matron, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to bring him to dinner. Besides, they were even sure if he could fit through the door. "You can visit him after dinner."

Diana giggled and pointed into the distance. "Let's race there!"

Claire gently turned her daughter around. "It's that way, Diana."

X X X

The matron yawned and opened her front door to go pick up the newspaper. Last night had been a time for celebration. Over the course of a raucous family meal, Diana had eagerly recounted the details of her first flight. The matron was happy for her granddaughter. Diana had always wanted to fly. As for herself, the matron was quite content to keep both feet on the ground.

She was halfway to the newspaper in the front yard when Mr Cuddles burst out of the woods and ran toward her. The device that Vanille had given her – a little add on to her watch – provided a translation as he began to make the most pathetic noises she'd ever heard a bear his size make.

Help me! Mr Cuddles threw himself at her feet and wrapped his arms around her leg. Please!

The matron looked back at the house. She wasn't sure what she could do against something that could scare a giant bear. She should probably get Fang or Vanille.

There was a boom as something shot out of the sky and hit the ground. It was Diana. The little girl hit the ground and then skidded to a stop next to the matron. She hadn't quite mastered the art of a smooth landing yet.

"Morning, grandma!"

"Good morning." The matron tilted her head to one side. "You're up early today, Diana."

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd fly around a little." Diana smiled at Mr Cuddles. "I met Mr Cuddles along the way, so I took him flying with me. But he kept growling and saying he was going to die. That's silly. I'd never drop him, and even if I did, I bet I could catch him before he hit the ground."

"I see." The matron looked down at Mr Cuddles. That explained a lot. "How about you wait until later before you go flying with him again. I'm about to make pancakes."

"Pancakes? Yay!" Diana flew – much more slowly – back into the house.

The matron chuckled and gave Mr Cuddles a pat on the head. "You owe me one."

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

So, I bought Man of Steel a few days ago, and I've been listening to the soundtrack as well a lot since then. This is what happened. One of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Superman is trying to fly for the first time. The smile on his face as he finally gets it right is so fitting. Flying is something that everybody dreams of doing – he actually can.

In this particular AU, Diana is in a bit of a tough spot. Averia is already branching out into superhero work, albeit under the watchful eyes of their parents, and she can already fly fast enough to go from one place to another. Meanwhile, Diana is still struggling to do more than float around. More than anything, Diana wants to be as cool and heroic as her parents, and flying is a big part of that. This chapter was all about what it must have felt like for her to "get her wings" for the first time. Hopefully, I was able to capture some of the happiness and joy she would have felt flying for the first time in her life.

For Fang and Lightning, seeing Diana fly for the first time would be a pretty emotional thing (just as it would have been to see Averia fly for the first time). Their little girl is finally beginning to master all of her powers. They better watch out though. Now that Diana can fly, trips to the candy store and grandma's house are well within her reach. Looking around the neighbour might not be enough – she might end up in another country if she isn't careful.

It's November now, and in the spirit of the month, I have a few original fiction projects that I'm working on and planning. I'll keep you posted on those. If you are interested in my original fiction, you can finds links to that in my profile. If you're after some fantasy with a healthy dose of action, check out The Last Huntress and its sequel The Lord of Dark Waters. If high fantasy is more your style, The Burning Mountains might be for you. And if you like paranormal Westerns featuring zombies and demons, then have a look at The Gunslinger and the Necromancer.

Also, I hope that everyone who participated in the free Amazon promotion I ran for The Last Huntress and The Gunslinger and the Necromancer has enjoyed the story/stories they got. If you did enjoy them, it would be great if you could leave a review over at Amazon or have a look at my other stories.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.