"It is," said Fuu, nodding. "I think about how I hope Umi and Hikaru will be released from the pods, about how we were like sisters, and then I start to think about my real--sister--"

She stopped and swallowed hard. Fuu couldn't even say that she had a child's hope of her family being asleep in the pods. Neither her parents nor Kuu had any abilities that would make them attractive recruits as interdimensional warriors. She had to believe that they had died with Earth. And while it was said that acceptance was the final stage of grief, Fuu hadn't yet found any peace.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, taking off her glasses to wipe at her eyes with her fingers. "This... happens too often."