V. Help me to help them.

It isn't about useless. Not anymore, because now she has strength, however little it may be, and now she has potential, even if she has no idea exactly what she can do. It's not about helplessness anymore, because she can make a difference now. It's not much, she thinks, but she can buy her allies precious time- split seconds to make attacks successful, minutes of injuries held at bay, hours to get medics to the wounded and save lives, days of transportation in times of desperate need. Her abilities are useful, so it's not about uselessness.

But if it isn't, why doesn't the knot in her stomach go away? (She finds that she just can't relax completely, not even when she sleeps, not even when she's happy, not even when she's with her friends, and she realizes she has carried this since the first day she activated her Innocence.)

Isn't this enough? Being useful like this, helping where she can, slowing time and saving lives- it should be enough. Still the knot doesn't fade, and somewhere in her heart, some small shard tells her it's not. It's not enough.

(She thinks about it for months. Searches for the reason why. And she watches the other Exorcists and their Innocence and how they evolve, and as the knot loosens, the knowledge dawns upon her like the crack of light against the horizon at daybreak.)

It's not enough because isn't her goal isn't just to be an Exorcist and a comrade- it was to be the best she could ever be. Her dream was to give her support to the people who have saved her, to keep giving more until she reached her limit (and then she would break them, because this isn't about useless, this is about potential). She remembers that resolve, that silent promise to herself as she left her hometown. And it's not enough to be just useful because she isn't evolving. Not like the others are- like Lenalee with her beautiful, ever changing boots, like Allen with his parasitic arm and all the forms it could take. Not like how she can practically feel Kanda's strength increase with every battle, so much that her own Time Record almost begins to spin in reaction every time he passes.

So the question has become, "Why doesn't Time Record evolve?" She's pushing past her physical limits with every battle, harder and harder and yet nothing happens.

(She will know the explanation after she realizes three things.)

She knows can feel her comrades' power and knows almost exactly what each of their synchro rates are. She can feel Kanda- about 98% synchro rate- and Allen- 103%- always pushing higher, like a second hand ticking away, never stopping. Lavi's at about 90%, but never changes. When Lenalee gains Crystal Type, she can feel it like an hour hand clanging to the next number as if time had simply skipped forward, jumping from 10% to 94%. When she meets the generals, she is awed- all of them are over 150%, and Cross is somewhere around 200%. Her first encounter with a Noah tells her of their monstrous strength and she is so afraid- she can't even give a number in her sheer terror. She discovers, to her surprise that she's the only one that can feel like this.

(That is the first realization.)

When she chats with Hevlaska, the Innocence Keeper tells her it's a natural born skill, an undiscovered genius; the ability to gauge a person's fighting power the moment she meets them. Out of curiosity, she thinks of her own strength and realizes that she is slowly improving. The long journey to Edo had been very good for her stamina with Time Recovery, and Time Out has gradually been getting easier. She hasn't been slacking with her training either. She's improving, but not evolving.

(This is the second.)

She expresses her concern over Time Record's evolution one day to Krory, when they are following Winters Socalo, who overhears and tells her not to worry so much.

"You can't exactly force evolution of Innocence- death fights are what usually trigger it, but a lot of times, even those don't cut it. And ya ain't a front-line fighter anyways, not with the kind of pansy power you got, so just work on improving and figure out how to actually kill akuma with that Innocence of yours. Don't worry about evolving. That'll happen when it happens. And don't compare yourself to those gaki- Kanda, Walker and Lee are may be too soft, but among you rookies, they're monsters when it comes to synchro rates."

Both Miranda and Krory are shocked to hear advice from the harsh man, who always calls them weak and kills without a flinch. But to Miranda, it is some of the best advice she has heard in a long while. She sighs and smiles and then gathers up her nerve and asks Krory to teach her how to punch.

It isn't much, but by the time Krory and Socalo (who decided Krory was being too easy on her and took it upon himself to teach her how to battle properly) are through with her, she feels like a different person. More confident now, and stronger. She's still very weak in comparison to the generals and the Noah, but she doesn't aspire reach their level- not yet, anyways, because she's taking this one step at a time. But she continues to improve, slowly but surely. It's an every day thing now- the steady increase of strength and skill is completely different from her friends' jumps in power after every near-death experience. Her Innocence, as far as she can tell, is distinct in that it will keep improving, but never evolve. And maybe it's better this way, because she never has to look for the next battle to grow stronger- all she has to do is practice hard and stay alive and her synchro rate will keep crawling up. Time, not battle, nor death, nor resolve, is what makes her stronger.

(That is the third thing she now knows.)

And this is what she doesn't know but will eventually learn: her Time Record does not evolve because it does not have to. Other Innocence have chosen to test their accommodators, or are simply not close enough to their users, and are left in a form far from their final. Time Record has been listening closely to her heart the day she touched that clock. And she has been breathing in sync with it ever since it became her reason to be useful- her reason to dream and hope and fight. The two of them are living day by day together. They know each other, inside and out.

And so Time Record knows that she has decided to give only her best efforts to her comrades.

(And it has made her best is limitless.)

AN: O.o Over 1000 words. It's longer than Kanda's, yay! I finally got past my inspiration block and updated, so I'm really happy right now.

Okaaay then, who shall I do next? I have skeleton ideas for Daisya, Suman & Cross, and maybe Krory... hmm. Decisions, decisions.