Laura couldn't even finish the thought.

She just sat there, stunned, staring at nothing.

Commander Shir- er - her father, was silent, looking at his floating hand as he clenched and unclenched it.

"You…you were so little… when I last saw you." He said, mostly to himself. "So tiny, so young." Then, even more to himself, he chuckled. "Like her mother."

Laura felt so…DONE with this. She was sick that he was pretending to care, he never would. He didn't even care enough to come see her when she first docked.

Laura got up as fast as she could, pivoting towards the door.

She was going to make a break for it, but after only three steps, she felts something pull her back.

Her father wasn't looking at her, but his robot arm was clutching her wrist tightly.

Laura looked from it, to him, to the arm again.

Not knowing what else to say, she asked "How'd you lose your arm?"

He looked up, his gaze so relieved that she almost wanted to cry. "My brother cut it off."

Laura's mouth dropped open, and she obeyed when he gestured her back to the ground. "What kind of brother would do that?!"

"A kind of brother that didn't want to die." Shiro grinned, laughing slightly. "I don't blame him. I was trying to kill him after all."

Laura's mouth dropped again. She…um…wasn't really expecting this.

"But I was evil at the time." Shiro continued, shrugging it off. "So we're good."

"B-but-!"

"That's what happens when you're cloned by an evil witch." Shiro continued, shrugging.

"Excuse me, WHAT?!" Laura gapped, staring at him. "A witch cloned you?!"

"Yep. That was an exciting trio of years." He nodded, half to himself.

Laura continued balking at him. Huh. Getting to know her father might be interesting. Even if…if he had abandoned her, thus proving that he didn't love her.

Laura forced back her instincts to yell at him at this thought. She's just listen.

"Is your brother also here?" Shiro asked, not continuing the story like she hoped he would.

Laura, confused, stood up as well. "On the ship? Yes. Not sure where. He's probably still with Uncle Matt and Aunt Olia."

"Let's go find him. I want you guys to meet your mother."

Shiro opened up the door for Laura, letting her lead.

"I'm sorry for sending you and your brother away." Shiro admitted, sighing. "But it was the only way to keep you safe."

Laura paused suddenly, making Shiro almost collided with her, but he quickly recovered.

"Safe? Sending me away to live with a bunch of slugs on a rock planet hardly able to feed the human life force was 'safe'?"

Shiro, realizing his mistake, hastily corrected it. "It was safer at the time, yes! I didn't want you to die at the hands of the Telr-" He abruptly snapped his mouth shut, as if he had said something he shouldn't have.

"The who? Oh, joy, more secrets." Laura groaned. "I'm getting really sick of this. And you know what I'm even more offended by? That you didn't even come down to see me when I first came off the ship! Not you, or Mom!"

"Laura." Shiro's tone was stiff, steady. "I wanted to come down and see you. But, as much as I wanted to, I had to finish up some things on the bridge. Your mother had to finish a project, but she would've loved to come. We both would've, but sometimes the universe is more important then family. It's a lesson your mother had to learn, and one I hope you can understand, too."

"But…then why'd you send me away? If the universe is more important then family, why'd you need to keep me safe next to the entire universe?" Laura was holding back tears. She hoped he couldn't tell.

"Listen." Shiro murmured, putting a hand to her shoulder. "I believe that you and your brother are going to be the new hope for the universe. I think you, Shon, and three others are going to defend the universe when you're older. Sending you away was thinking of the universe and family."

"B-but family isn't preserved if I never knew them…" Laura's voice broke on the last word, and she felt a tear build up.

"As long as the members are still there, family lasts." Shiro straightened, looking down at his daughter with a sad smile. "Let's go collect the members of our family."