Gwen’s high heels clacked on the hardwood flooring as she led Tina though an entryway, large potted plants stuffed into black vases on either side. The air was cool and crisp, drying her sweat far more efficiently than her jumpsuit ever could.

“In here. I want to show you something.”

 Tina followed Gwen into an adjoining room that opened into an atrium. In its center were three cylindrical glass cases. Within each stood an eight-foot tall mannequin clad in jumpsuits much like Tina’s own, each one personalized with the gaudy yellow, blue, and green emblems of the AWWL. Pictures of League matches lined the walls, as did trophies and mounted prize belts. It was as if ten years of her life had been crammed into this one room.

“You saved everything?”

Gwen smiled. “Just about.”

Tina was magnetically drawn to a group shot of the entire League, hung in the middle of the room. It was from the first year, when all sixteen of them were still young, dumb, and alive. Eight heroes, and eight villains, a corny comic-book cast of eccentric names and characters: Blue Tempest, Black Widow, Laser Girl. Tina’s character had been part of a villain group called the Three Queens: Size Queen, Ice Queen, and Drama Queen. Gwen had been Drama Queen, and all three of their original outfits were in the glass cases behind her.

Tina’s eyes welled up as it all came flooding back. She laughed. These were not the usual memories of short-ended deals and misery, but the good things. The thrill of the matches; the energy and adoration of the crowds, even if it was all staged. Then there were the more personal things: the camaraderie they had all shared; the close friendships; the pure excitement of being young and involved in something larger than yourself.

To be honest, those ten years had been the best in her life.

Tina spotted herself in the group picture, and couldn’t help but compare her image to the semi-reflection of her face in the covering glass. The haircut was still the same—a blonde bob parted to the side, though the blonde had silvered a bit now and was not nearly as well groomed. She was proud to say her face had aged quite well, transitioning from young girl to mature woman with a minimum of wrinkles, but it did have a few scars. The eyes had changed the most. Tina looked into that picture and wondered just who that bright-eyed young girl was, and if she would be so enthusiastic had she known what her life would become in twenty years’ time.

Twenty lost years.

Tina owed it to her to make them up. She owed it to that young girl in the picture to try and give her life one last shot. To give herself the kind of life she deserved. Suddenly, Tina found herself crying, and wiped her cheek with her palm. She looked at all the other faces in the photo, to all her friends who were no longer there. She owed it to all of them.

Tina sobbed, and Gwen gently rested a hand on her shoulder.    

I’ll do it, she told herself. I’ll live for them.

For all those who no longer could.