"Theta? Can you come down here for a minute?" Theta heard his mother call.

He slowly stumbled down the long staircase into the large corridor of his house and saw his mother and father were getting ready to go out somewhere.

"What's going on?" He questioned.

"Your father and I have been talking about this for many months...Theta, do you know that I can no longer give birth to a child?" His mother asked.

"Yes" Theta sighed and couldn't help but think that he was to blame.

"Now Theta, you know it is not your fault. Sometimes these things happen, there's nothing we can to do about it. So we've come up with a solution" His mother explained.

"What do you mean?" He inquired.

"We're going to adopt a child. Around your age, maybe a little younger" His father told him.

"Really?" Theta's eyes widened in excitement.

"Really. And seeing as you're going to be their big brother, we figured you'd want to come to" His mother said handing him his coat.

Soon they arrived at an orphanage not far out of town. Theta had never met any orphans before, so he wasn't sure how to act. A pleasant women welcomed them and led them into a room with a desk and paper surrounding it.

"Come, I will show you the children's files...Uh, not the child though, he may find some of the files...upsetting" The women exclaimed.

"We'll be back in a moment" Theta's mother said, pressing a kiss to his head.

He sat down on one of the chairs, becoming bored quickly. Suddenly the door swung open and he spotted a small child wander in. She seemed to ignore his existence and cautiously started to climb up onto the desk.

"Um...I don't think you're supposed to do that" Theta said shyly.

"Sh, don't tell them I'm in here" The young girl told him.

"Why are you in here?" He questioned.

"I'm looking for something...ah!" The girl exclaimed, picking up a key and quickly walked towards and draw opening it. She pulled out a small doll.

"Why was it in the drawer?" He inquired.

"They took it away from me cause I keep eating from the cookie jar" She explained, brushing the doll's hair.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"Five" The girl replied.

"You seem very intelligent for a five year old" He stated.

"I know it's a problem" She giggled, making Theta laugh back.

"So as you can see we...Katerina , get down from my desk!" The woman shouted, walking into the room again.

"Ugh, busted" The girl whined, hopping down from the desk.

"Nice to meet ya" She said, waving goodbye to Theta, as she was ushered out of the room.

"Sorry about that...so did any of the children stand out to you two?" She questioned.

"Well...I'm not sure how we're supposed to feel. Are we supposed to feel a connection straight away?" Theta's mother asked.

"Sometimes" The woman replied.

"I liked Katerina" Theta announced.

"Oh, um, I wouldn't advise adopting her" The woman told them.

"Why not?" Theta's father questioned.

"She is not a Time Lord, she was rescued from another planet when she was very young and has been drifting in and out of orphanages ever since" The woman explained.

"I still like her" Theta insisted.

"Well if my son likes this girl, then I think we should meet her properly" Theta's father suggested.

"I don't think that would be very wise...you see Katerina is a Vuga" The woman exclaimed.

"Oh..." Theta's father trailed off.

"What's a Vuga?" Theta questioned.

"They're a very evil species, almost instinct now" The woman told him.

"Why are they evil?" He asked, confused.

"They take the life force of others to make themselves stronger, killing the other life form in the process" The woman explained.

"So you're telling me that little girl is evil?" Theta's mother said, unimpressed.

"I don't know if you know this but when a Vuga is born they take on their parent's powers and species they have killed. Katerina's parents killed a Time Lord, thus giving her the power's of a Time Lord" The woman announced.

"She didn't kill anyone" Theta's mother insisted.

"It's close enough" The woman retorted.

"I think we would still like to see this child" Theta's father suggested.

"Alright, I will be back with her in a moment" The woman said, stepping out of the room.

A few minutes later she was back with Katerina who was looking very confused.

"Katerina, these nice people are looking to adopt a child, and for whatever reason they are interested in you being that child" The woman told her.

"Why?" Katerina said frowning.

"What do you mean why?" Theta's father asked.

"Why would you want to adopt me?" She inquired.

"Why wouldn't we?" Theta interjected.

"Nobody wants to adopt me" The girl muttered.

"She's it. She's the one" Theta's mother smiled.

"Are you sure?" The woman asked.

"Definitely, I feel a connection with this child" Theta's mother insisted.

Over the next few days a lot of paper work had to be filled out, and soon Katerina was being taken home with them. It was strange for Theta, having another child around the house, seeing as he only usually saw Koschei, he's best friend. None of the family went out very much over the next few weeks, trying to make Katerina as comfortable as possible. Worried that Katerina didn't like living with them Theta's mother anxiously asked her one day about it.

"I do! It's just...I've never lived in a place like this...it's all new" Katerina mumbled.

Theta's mother pulled the small girl into a hug, and felt the girl tense up, as though she thought she was going to hurt her. Slowly Katerina started to relax into the hug, and started to hug back. Theta smiled as he saw the scene and was happy that Katerina really did like living with them. Suddenly the doorbell rung. Theta cautiously walked over to it and opened the door to see Koschei.

"Theta, where have you been? I haven't seen you in almost three weeks!" Koschei exclaimed.

"Sorry, but we didn't really want any other faces around, we thought it might confuse Katerina" Theta explained.

"So it's true? You've got a little sister now" Koschei stated.

"Yep" Theta replied.

"When do I get to meet her?" Koschei asked.

"Not yet, she's only just starting to get used to us" Theta explained.

"Can I still come in?" Koschei inquired.

"Of course, we'll just have to stay in my room" Theta said, dragging Koschei into his bedroom.

"So what's she like?" Koschei questioned, laying down on Theta's bed.

"Well she's only five so I can't play with her that much" Theta told him.

"So she's two years younger than us?" Koschei asked.

"Yep, but she's really smart for her age, I can tell" Theta said proudly.

"Of course you can" Koschei laughed.

They talked for a while about how having Katerina would change things and soon it had started to grow dark and Koschei realised he would have to have to leave to get back to his house soon. Saying his goodbye's to Theta, he walked down the long staircase and noticed that one of the drawers by the front door was open and decided to investigate. He let out a small squeal when a figure jumped up from inside the drawer. He saw that it was only a small girl and realised that she must be Katerina.

"Hello" He said, walking closer.

"Hi...who are you?" Katerina asked confused, she hadn't met anybody new since she had come to the house.

"My names Koschei, I'm Theta's best friend. I live next door" He explained.

"Oh, I was starting to get worried that Theta didn't have any friends" Katerina giggled to herself, making Koschei laugh too.

"It's hard to make friends because we live so far out of town" Koschei exclaimed.

"That sounds like an excuse" Katerina said, rummaging in the drawer.

"Theta was right, you do act a lot older than you are" Koschei stated.

"I'm not that young! I'm already five!" Katerina insisted, making Koschei laugh again.

He looked outside the window and noticed it was already getting dark.

"It was nice meeting you...uh, do you need some help getting down?" Koschei asked.

"I can do it myself, I'm not a in...invl...invla..." Katerina stuttered, trying to pronounce to the work.

"Invalid?" Koschei suggested.

"That's the one" Katerina said, using the other drawers as steps and soon was on the floor.

"Bye!" She exclaimed, running off into the dining room.

Six months later and Katerina had started to feel much more at home, and had practically forgotten what it was like living in the orphanages. She still didn't call Theta's parents her mum and dad, but she felt a lot closer to them now. Theta and she had also bonded more and they usually played most of the day together, accompanied by Koschei who also enjoyed spending time with her. They were playing in Koschei's red grass fields when Theta brought up the fact that him and Koschei would be leaving to go to the Academy in a few months.

"What's the academy?" Katerina questioned.

"Once we're eight we have to leave our homes to go the Academy. We get taught lots of things there" Theta told her.

"Will I go there when I'm eight?" She inquired.

"Of course" Theta exclaimed.

"I don't know if I like the idea of this Academy" Katerina announced.

"Well you've still got two years until you have to go, we've only got a few months" Koschei whined.

"Do you not want to go?" She asked.

"I don't know...it's going to be weird" Koschei replied.

"How about we forget about the Academy and play tag instead?" Theta suggested.

"Yes! Tag, you're it" Katerina said excitedly, hitting Theta's shoulder and running in the opposite direction.

The months quickly went by and soon it was the day of Theta and Koschei leaving to go to the Academy. Even though they were in the same year, Theta had turned 8 months ago, while Koschei's birthday had only just been. They were all sitting on Theta's bed, waiting anxiously for the time that Theta's father would take Theta and Koschei to the Academy.

"I don't want you guys to go" Katerina whined, upset.

"We'll come back every month to see you! Right, Koschei?" Theta said, rubbing Katerina's back.

"Of course" Koschei replied.

"Theta! Koschei! It's time to leave!" Theta's father called up to them.

"Bye Katerina, I'll miss you" Theta said, pulling her into a long hug, crying lightly.

He didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave his house or his parents and especially not Katerina.

"We'll be back before you know it, Kat" Koschei insisted, hugging her as well.

"Kat? I like that. Yeah, that will be your nickname" Theta announced.

"I like it too" She smiled sadly, waving goodbye to the pair.