Troy couldn't believe what he was holding in his arms. Only a few hours ago he had believed his family was dead. Prince Vekar had launched a missile straight for his home with the intention of killing his family. Troy hadn't been able to calm himself down since; first worried about his parents' and Ryan's safety, and then again once he saw the state of his house as well as his parents' burned, dead bodies lying in the rubble. When he saw them dead he thought for sure he had lost his baby sister to, and the weight of her death was too much to bear. He had been worried about her from the moment his parents told him they were expecting her. He had been worried about the danger she faced simply because she was his little sister. He couldn't imagine asking someone so young, so innocent, and so pure to get involved with the war he faced, and had promised her, right from the moment he first saw her, that he would keep her safe. The moments between her believed death and finding out she had indeed survived had wracked him with guilt, shame, and fear he would never shake.

As he cradled the young baby in his arms, gently rocking her while she slept peacefully, he couldn't stop thanking any being or spirit that had been watching over her. He was so grateful she hadn't been badly hurt, and so grateful he would have a second chance to protect her.

This time, he couldn't afford to let her down. With their parents out of the picture, it would be up to him to raise her. As terrified as he was at the thought of bringing up a child, he was willing to do anything it took to give her the life she deserved.

Prince Vekar had made his biggest mistake.

A light knock on the door stirred Troy from his thoughts. He looked up from his youngest sister only to find Rebecca poking her head into the room. Gently, Troy kissed Ryan's forehead and then set her down in the crib Tensou had built quickly for her. When Ryan was settled, Troy walked over to Rebecca and held her in his arms.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered and could feel her tears soaking through his shirt. He wanted to cry too, but for now he had to look after his sisters. Both of them had been robbed of their deserved happy families, and neither had done anything to earn such a harsh and permanent punishment.

"It's not fair," Rebecca muttered. "How is this fair? How is this going to be okay? When dad died... I thought... I mean... at least I had them... At least I still had people who... who..."

"I'm still here," Troy promised her and looked to her with a soft smile. Rebecca shook her head and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"What if he gets you too!" she cried and then looked down at his wrists; where his skin had been rubbed off in his struggle to free himself from Vekar's chains. "I don't want to be alone! I can't do it..."

"I'm not going anywhere..."

"Yeah, that's what they said..." Rebecca sniffed and shook her head again. "Why does Vekar have to be such a... such a jerk? Your... your parents didn't deserve this. And what about Ryan? How is that fair?"

"It's not."

"It shouldn't be allowed."

"Aliens don't play by the rules, Rebecca."

"So then how can you tell me everything's going to be okay?" Rebecca cried and stomped her foot. "This isn't fair! This isn't right! I don't want to be alone!"

"You'll never be alone," Troy pulled his sister back into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I'm still here. I'll always be here. Vekar's never going to take me away."

"I want to believe that," Rebecca whispered. "I... I wish I could believe that. I wish... I wish everything was good again. I wish we could go back just a couple of months. Back when we thought we won and life was good. Back when..."

"It was easy?"

"I don't want to be an orphan. I don't want Ryan or you to be an orphan because of that..."

"Vekar's going to pay..."

"No!" Rebecca stomped her foot again. "No! You can't go after him. You can't do like what Gia did with Vrak! She's lucky to be alive and I don't want to lose you."

"Becca, you're not going to..."

"Promise me!" Rebecca cried and looked to him tearfully and painfully. Troy's heart broke in two as soon as he looked into her eyes. "Promise me, and promise Ryan you're not going to let this get to you. Promise you're not going to do something stupid like run off and fight him on your own. Promise you're not going to push his buttons or try and get even or obsess yourself with beating him. I need you. Ryan needs you..."

"I promise," Troy grabbed her arms and looked at her with a confident smile. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You better not," Rebecca hugged him again. Troy squeezed her lovingly before pulling away. Rebecca looked up. "What?"

"One favour..."

"What?"

"How much do you know about babies?"

"I adopted mine out. How much does that tell you?" Rebecca said and then looked down at Ryan's crib. "I guess it's too late for that now."

Troy lightly punched her arm, "Ryan's not going anywhere. I'm just asking because... well... I usually just did what mom told me to do."

"Ditto," Rebecca sighed. "Good luck, Ryan. You're gonna need it."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. The two siblings turned and saw Gia walking in quietly.

"Hey," she whispered and smiled. "Is everything okay in here?"

"We're managing," Troy said and put his arm around Rebecca. "We'll be okay."

"You probably don't believe me, but it gets easier."

"We don't," Rebecca shook her head.

"I... I am here for you, if you ever need to talk," Gia said. "I know I wasn't exactly the most stable person after dad died but... I kind of went through all the motions so..."

"We'll let you know," Troy promised. Gia nodded her head but seemed hesitant to leave. Then she pulled her hand out from behind her back, revealing she had been holding on to LT, the stuffed tiger her mother had given her to replace the one Jake had originally bought for her.

"She can have it," she pointed to Ryan in the crib. "I had a stuffed penguin growing up that I loved and Emma kept her bear in her bed until... around the time she started dating Jordan, actually. Don't tell her I told you. She'd kill me."

"You're giving up Tigger?"

"Little Tigger," Gia nodded her head and set the toy tiger in the crib with the baby. "But yeah. It's just a stupid toy and kids love them so..."

"Gia, you don't have to..."

"Nothing was left. Ryan's teddy bear or blanket or whatever she loved is gone. She should at least have something soft and warm. Besides, I still have dad's jacket, and mom's somewhere safe and sound... at least for now. I... I don't need it."

"Are you..."

"Positive," Gia nodded her head and then quickly turned to leave, though Troy and Rebecca didn't fail to see the little tear slip down her cheek just before she was gone. They looked to each other, and then down in the crib. Ryan had already grabbed hold of the tiger's tail with her little hand.