AN: My second fic posted here~ Also my second DGM fic ever, haha, forget to mention that before.

This is a short little fic based on my imaginary vision of Lavi and Miranda's first meeting. The idea just kind of appeared into my head, and recently I'd really wanted to write a fic about Miranda, because I love her character so much. She's such a sweetheart.

It doesn't have to be a romance fic, it can be a friendship one, especially since the majority is just about Miranda's life/thoughts/feelings. But yeah, you can view it whichever way you like.

Anyway! Hope you enjoy! Reviews are really appreciated :)

Hanging By A Moment

Throughout her whole life, it had seemed like time was something incessantly important to her.

Starting from when she was a young child, just wishing that time would move faster because she hated how clumsy she was, how utterly useless she was to herself and everyone around her, and wanted to hurry up and grow older so that she wouldn't be like that anymore. She'd wanted the clock to move faster, urged it to do so, so that she could finally escape the lessons, the games, the chores, all of the other things that she would be stuck doing but would never be able to accomplish well. She was always chastised, told that everything she did was horrible and that there was no use trying in the first place. She would always fail her lessons, be so horrible at the games that no one wanted to play with her, and constantly break things while doing chores, that no one ever wanted her to do anything at all.

"Oh Miranda, can't you even do this one thing right?"

"You're no fun, Miranda! You're so bad at this game, it's no fun to play with you!"

"Miranda! Just sit there and be still, don't touch anything! I can't believe you can be this clumsy!"

And so she had wanted to grow up faster, become an adult, a fair young woman, so that she would no longer be clumsy, no longer be horrible at everything, no longer be useless. But as time passed, she found that her dreams were not to come true, for even when an adult she was the same as she had been as a child.

Maintaining a job became something almost impossible for her. She tried her best, she really did, pushing herself to be the most helpful person she could be. But even though she was so self-sacrificing – something that many people took advantage of – she could never seem to prove to anyone that she was a capable woman. In their eyes, she was useless at everything, and she always caused more damage and caused the company or stores to lose more money than she brought in through sales and the like.

And she'd continued to want time to move faster.

So wasn't it ironic that, even when ever since she was a young child she'd fought with time and been unable to make it bend to her will, the piece of Innocence she'd synchronized with ended up being the Time Record, hidden in the form of the old grandfather clock she'd treasured? Time became something that saved her life, and not just that, it had saved the lives of others as well, thanks to her own efforts.

Suddenly time was something she was able to change, something that she could pause for as long as she could handle, something that she could control. It was something that she was completely unprepared to handle, but she hadn't been alone. By her side, discovering her new powers with her, had been the gentlemanly Allen Walker and beautiful, strong Lenalee Lee. Slowly, Miranda had started to hope that maybe, just maybe, time was finally on her side and she was going to be able to start changing into a better person. Someone who could be helpful, needed, wanted. Someone who could be cherished by others.

The first few days at the Order were hectic. Adjusting to this new life, getting used to all of the new people, to the new dangers of a reality and war she had been oblivious of until then. It was all strange and gave her a headache, but it was better to be here than in her old town. Better this life than her old one. So she would get through the tough parts, because the good always won over in the end, right?

And then she'd met him.

She'd been desperate for changes in her life for as long as she could remember, and one after another changes came in rash and unadorned fashion. She'd had to just go with the flow, not getting a moment to rest before she'd had to get up and get moving once again. On one particularly tiring mission, she'd gotten back home exhausted and absolutely worn out, and had nearly collapsed on her way up to her room. But a hand had caught her arm and steadied her before she could take a one-way ticket down the many flights of stairs.

She only vaguely registered the sound of things falling and thudding against a hard surface.

"A-Ah, th-thank you s-s-so much!"

"No problem~!"

The friendly voice was unfamiliar, and so she had looked up in nervous wonder, straight into a brilliant emerald green orb alight with intrigue. A handsome face turned down towards hers, flaming red hair shining in the lights on the ceiling. He was stunning, for lack of more intelligent words, and Miranda found herself becoming flustered all over again, her gaze straying to the ground, where she was finally able to see what the source of those earlier sounds had been.

Scattered on the steps were an assortment of books and papers. The boy must have been carrying them, and when he'd seen her stumble he must have dropped everything he was holding to catch her. How mortifying! She'd caused such a mess and created such a problem for someone she hadn't even met yet!

"I-I-I'm s-so s-sorry! I-I didn't m-mean to cause you a-any trouble! Y-You should h-have just let m-me f-fall!"

An auburn eyebrow raised in confusion, and he laughed, shaking his head. "No way! You would've fallen and gotten really hurt. It's my duty as a man to make sure pretty women like you don't get hurt while I'm around!"

"P-P-P-P-" Her mind couldn't even wrap around the word, and so she just stood there stunned for quite some time. The boy simply grinned and stepped back, bending down to start picking up his things while she stood there frozen.

"L-Let me help y-you!" She dropped down swiftly, hurrying to grab everything that had been dropped because of her. When they were close to finishing, both with an armful of books and other things, Miranda went to hand what she was holding over to him and suddenly found herself teetering on the edge of the step. She hurried to regain her balance, letting out a loud shriek in the process, and let out a humongous sigh of relief when she didn't fall.

A laugh, warm and addictive, bubbled out of the redhead's lips, and she couldn't stop herself from smiling sheepishly in reply. The laugh was almost contagious, even though she still felt absolutely mortified at herself.

The male gathered up all of his things, taking the ones she'd held with ease, and then held out a hand, the other carrying everything on it's own.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Lavi, Bookman Junior. And you are?"

"M-M-Miranda Lotto." She slipped her hand into his, shaking it more by accident because of her awkward nervousness than on purpose because it was meant to be a handshake. The boy, Lavi, just smiled and took her hand in his firmly, moving it up and down formally, not seeming to care the least about her silly nerves.

"A pleasure, Ms. Miranda," she flushed and avoided his gaze. She highly doubted it was a pleasure meeting her; it never was for anyone, and hadn't she just caused him to drop his belongings all over the ground? To her, that didn't constitute to a pleasurable meeting. But she stayed quiet, keeping her words in her mouth, and just nodded, unsure of what else to say.

"Unfortunately, the Old Panda will probably kill me if I'm late getting back the library to do work, so I'd better get going."

"Oh," the hint of disappointment in her tone was unexpected, and Miranda's eyes widened in embarrassment. Why had she sounded like that? She'd just met the boy, why would she want to keep talking to him when he probably thought she was a foolish klutz? But maybe it was the fact that his eye hadn't shown anything like scorn or displeasure, much like Allen and Lenalee, meaning that he didn't think that way about her?"I-I-I'll see you around then?"

The last word hadn't been meant to make the sentence sound like a question, but it did, and Lavi nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!"

Then he'd waved cheerfully and turned to leave, heading down the stairs while she headed upwards. But before he was even more than a couple of steps behind her he turned back around and called out to her.

"Hey! Ms. Miranda!"

"H-Huh?"

She'd meant to face him right after he'd said her name, but when she felt something touching the nape of her neck she'd stilled, unaware of what was going on. There was a tugging sensation, and then she felt her thick brown hair – which had previously been pinned up into a bun on the top of her head – come tumbling down her shoulders freely. Miranda did turn then, fixing him with her wide brown eyes.

Lavi grinned mischievously up at her, swinging the ribbon she'd used to keep her hair up in the space between them. She reached out with shaking hands to take it, still staring at him, awaiting an explanation for his strange actions. He spun on his heel however, and bounced down the steps, only calling out his reasoning when he was a second away from disappearing behind a corner to the next flight of stairs.

"You look even prettier when you wear your hair down~"

Miranda's face turned a bright pink, and she'd scurried her way up to her room, locking herself inside. She flopped down onto her bed, scrunching her eyes shut as she tried to steady her racing heart.

She'd always had to fight with time, wanted it to hurry up so that things in her life would change. But now, living as an Exorcist in the Black Order – even if it was a tiring and demanding and dangerous job – and having the people she now knows in her life is something she direly wishes will never change.

She was finally needed for something. There were finally things she could do that wouldn't be utter disasters. People trusted her to do things, sometimes they trusted her so much that it terrified her, but she was strong and wouldn't let them down. Not these people who accepted her so readily and willingly. Not these people, who she was starting to love so profusely. She found something, this precious place and the precious bonds she'd created and would continue to create here, to protect.

She was finally content with the way her life was, for the first time that she could remember.

Time could take it's time, it definitely had her blessing. The ticking of clocks as they counted the seconds, minutes, hours passing by would no longer be something she ached for, because she had time to live happily now. She wouldn't mind hanging onto every moment, hanging onto those moments that would each be valued in their own way.

Time could stop altogether and she would still be happy.

She didn't want things to change any time soon.

Forgetting all I'm lacking, completely incomplete
I'll take your invitation, you'll take all of me
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you
- Hanging By A Moment by Lifehouse