"Make it to the end of the hall and back, maintaining the same height, while doing your lines from the last play," Ghanima said without breaking the rhythm of her throws. "Then you can have tea."
"You could be a nurse," Ghanima pointed out. "A teacher. A fireman, a senator, a lobbyist or an artist. Your gifts do not define you, Dinah."
"I am a princess. A driving force in inter-planetary politics. I can move faster than thought, have limited prescience, and can touch the resouviour of my ancestral memory going back to the dawn of mankind. I speak dead languages fluently; I can recall walking in the hanging gardens of Babylon. I even have the genetic potential to be more, if I reach out and take it."
"But I teach. And I would argue that my work here is just as important as anything I can -- and will -- accomplish in the Imperium. Perhaps even more so. Am I out actively engaging those would destroy rather than create? No. But I work in my own way against the atrophy of the universe."
Re: AfternoonblondecanaryNovember 5 2009, 19:08:55 UTC
Dinah started to consider those options, one by one, then listened more and realized what Ghanima meant; that it was who you were, not what you could do, or where you were from, that should make the choice. All those abilities Ghanim had, and she chose to be here. Something inside her made teaching history and discipline and insight her choice to make the world, her universe, better, and make herself happy too.
"...I think," Dinah said softly, unsure, pulling her leg up to herself to hug it. "If I didn't have powers. If I didn't know about people with powers. I'd..."
"Our abilities are part of us, but they are not all of us," Ghanima replied. "If I'd allowed what I could do to dictate what I did do, it is doubtful I would have survived adolescence, assassination attempts notwithstanding."
Alia, standing over both of them. You have such wonderful gifts, why won't you use them?!?
"It seems so easy, doesn't it? Because I can, therefore I must. But it's not an either/or equation."
Re: AfternoonblondecanaryNovember 5 2009, 20:17:15 UTC
Dinah nodded slowly, thinking that in some ways, that was the way Helena handled her powers. She wouldn't be her without them, maybe. That was ... kind of a scary thought. Barbara though, didn't stop being herself when she was paralyzed, didn't stop being part of the crimefighting world-- just changed how she approached it. Mom's voice: I wanted you to have a normal life. I wanted you to be safe. And later, maybe because she thought Dinah needed to hear it: I know you'll be great at this. Better than me.
Forget the powers, put them aside, forget her family and... "I still want to help," Dinah realized. "Alfred sent me here so I'd see it was a choice. Not automatic."
"It is a choice, and one with multiple options open to you," she agreed. "While I encourage you to develop your gifts and learn how to use them to their fullest extent, relying on them as your only method of 'helping' would be short-sighted at best."
"You're a bright girl with many talents; don't let yourself get too focused on there only being one right path."
Re: AfternoonblondecanaryNovember 6 2009, 01:49:21 UTC
She turned a little red at that comment, then had to smile at Ghanima for it. "I'm taking the SAT's back home, next week. To go to college. Detective Constable Day said that even if I didn't get a full degree, there's way too many useful courses to just skip it, if I want to go into some kind of law or investigation." Dinah blew out a breath, thinking. "So... Just apply that to here, too. I've only got one semester left after this one. Might as well make it count, and keep my options open."
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"I am a princess. A driving force in inter-planetary politics. I can move faster than thought, have limited prescience, and can touch the resouviour of my ancestral memory going back to the dawn of mankind. I speak dead languages fluently; I can recall walking in the hanging gardens of Babylon. I even have the genetic potential to be more, if I reach out and take it."
"But I teach. And I would argue that my work here is just as important as anything I can -- and will -- accomplish in the Imperium. Perhaps even more so. Am I out actively engaging those would destroy rather than create? No. But I work in my own way against the atrophy of the universe."
Reply
"...I think," Dinah said softly, unsure, pulling her leg up to herself to hug it. "If I didn't have powers. If I didn't know about people with powers. I'd..."
She fell silent, biting her lip and thinking.
Reply
Alia, standing over both of them. You have such wonderful gifts, why won't you use them?!?
"It seems so easy, doesn't it? Because I can, therefore I must. But it's not an either/or equation."
Reply
Forget the powers, put them aside, forget her family and... "I still want to help," Dinah realized. "Alfred sent me here so I'd see it was a choice. Not automatic."
Reply
"You're a bright girl with many talents; don't let yourself get too focused on there only being one right path."
Reply
Reply
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