Mira liked to think she was doing her best raising her little sister. With her being the older sister and the adult, being Hattie's senior by twelve years, it just felt like a natural thing to her. Not just because they were each other's only family. Not just because of morality. Mira cared too much for her sister to even think about just abandoning her.

Besides, it's not as if she was the only sibling in the universe looking after the younger one. It certainly wasn't easy. Hattie could be a handful at times but she was a good kid overall. Just a bit… mischievous at time. Nothing all that bad. Mira never really had to go beyond mild scolding.

Not that it was always like that. Just for the last three years. Orphaned when Hattie was just a baby, they ended up in a rather nice orphanage with pleasant staff. The kids Hattie's age were nice, and the little girl was just really good with people so she never had problems making friends. The kids Mira's age? There were some good ones, sure. A few others, not so much. It didn't really matter too much. They were more annoying than anything.

Getting adopted was pretty much impossible, however. The popular preference was usually one child for a parent or parents, and Mira didn't want to leave Hattie behind or have the young girl taken away from her. It wasn't too selfish to keep your baby sibling close, was it? Even if adopters passed background checks, if they weren't going to adopt Hattie and Mira together would they let the sisters visit each other? It didn't help that there weren't any laws on their planet that would keep them together.

For the first few years, Mira would hide away with Hattie and keep the young girl entertained while potential adopters came to the orphanage. The only thing that kept Mira from feeling totally guilty about this was being outright honest about the situation with Hattie when the girl was four and Mira was sixteen. And she had been honest. Mira didn't think lying would help, and if Hattie actually did want to be adopted and was vocal about it… Well, Mira would have to stop being selfish.

Instead, Hattie wanted to stay with Mira.

Mira wanted to make sure Hattie would never regret that.

Once she was eighteen, Mira immediately filed to get custody of her sister. It was the one thing she wanted to do on her birthday, wanting to get it done quickly as possible as soon as she was a legal adult.

It was denied before Mira could even look at paperwork. Having no home or job, it was really naïve of Mira to not think of that first and think she could just take her sister when there was no stable ground. So, she tried. With money left from her family's inheritance, Mira put down a deposit on a small but cosy apartment to rent and sent out dozens of applications to jobs, big and small.

After turning eighteen, she'd been forced to leave the orphanage, but Mira still visited and called Hattie in between efforts to get Hattie living with her. Annoyingly, they would let Mira take Hattie out for a trip on her sixth birthday, but Mira figured she could always make up for it once things got sorted.

Things… happen though.

A couple came by the orphanage and immediately became interested in adopting Hattie. Finding out about this, Mira was alarmed. Anxious. But after getting caught in the wave of panic, she tried to keep calm. Tried to be optimistic. Maybe she couldn't stop them adopting Hattie, especially since getting even a part-time job was difficult. Either she didn't have the experience or there was someone much better suited for the job than her.

But perhaps the couple could at least let Mira visit her own sister? Surely, they could respect that. And at the end of the day, as long as Hattie was happy and looked after that was a good thing, right?

They looked at Mira like she was crazy when Mira went to talk with them. "We're adopting her for her, not you!" That was what they said. It had shaken Mira, but she tried to reason with them. Even as she was internally shaking with frustration. She could understand that maybe having a stranger come up and say that they want to visit the child you're adopting, even if it was their sibling, might not sound the best when it's just popped up without warning. Mira wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe if they got to know her, they would be more welcome to letting her visit Hattie.

But they only had one response as the conversation ended. A threat of restraining order if Mira tried having contact with Hattie after the couple adopted her.

Mira's response was a shaky laugh. It was so absurd. So out of nowhere that it couldn't honestly have been a real threat. No one could honestly be so… They surely couldn't be that… extreme, right? Just because Mira wanted to still see Hattie after these people adopted her?

The couple were dead serious.

Hattie knew about the situation of course. She tried to talking to the adopters. They just brushed her concerns aside, saying she'll be happier with them and would forget about "that useless girl." All while gushing about how wonderful things would be once they were together as a family.

Hattie wasn't too endeared towards them.

Mira tried to make a complaint. Tried to stop this adoption from happening. But nothing was working. There seemed to be no help.

In what had felt like would be one of their last days together, Mira had visited Hattie at the orphanage and sat with her at the swings. The children still in the orphanage were inside for a movie night that was starting a little early in the evening, so the sisters had some privacy.

Mira didn't know what else to say other than sorry. She knew she let Hattie down. Heck, Mira was sure that their parents would have been just as disappointed. How could they not be? No matter what happy and loving memories Mira had of them, she could only imagine that they would be disappointed at what had happened. Even if those adopters treated Hattie well, shouldn't Mira being doing what she could to look out for Hattie herself? At least be able to have contact with her? What if the couple forced Hattie to move to the other side of the planet or to another planet entirely?

Mira had kept most of her concerns to herself. She didn't want to make Hattie anxious. Heck, the young girl might have been more anxious than she was letting on and adding fuel to that fire would be the worst thing to do. But at the same time, Mira couldn't sugar coat everything. Mira had to tell Hattie that she let her down.

"Then let's run away."

It was Hattie's suggestion. Said with such ease like it was an everyday thing and that sweet smile on her face. Mira shouldn't have considered it. She was the adult here and should know better. Those people could give Hattie a better life than Mira ever could and wanting to keep Hattie from that because she didn't want to lose contact shouldn't have felt right, even if it was Hattie's idea.

The silence from Mia had made Hattie frown for a moment, before a more determined look came onto her face. She sat up from her swing and grabbed Mira's hands.

"Those adults are just being bullies. I say we stand up to them by running away! Sneakily."

Those adopters had been pretty dismissive of Hattie's concerns in not letting Mira see her. Even if they were capable looking after her in regards to food and shelter, what else could they be dismissive of in regards to how Hattie actually feels?

It was such a reckless thing to consider. If she was caught, things would only get worse. But Hattie had such trust things would be okay with just the two of them.

And there were space ships on this planet with easy controls…

The consequences were still in her mind, but for Hattie's sake Mira would get the both of them away from here.

The next day, Mira looked into getting suitable space craft. Fortune must have been smiling at her for it didn't take long until she found the perfect ship.

Strong, good quality wood. Meteor and comet proof glass. Easy to understand controls. Very spacious; more than enough room for herself and her sister, to say the least. Ran on Time Pieces like all transport on this planet did. Plus, the person selling it was willing to throw in an unopened box with a Rumbi in it for free. Not that it would have had much change to Mira's decision, but it was still nice. The ship itself would take a great chunk out of the inheritance money, that was the only thing that made Mira hesitant about getting it. But she decided it was worth it.

Money would be an issue after leaving. There was only so much you could take out of your account each day, and if people went looking for them traceable things like debit cards were out of the question.

But Mira could budget. There were always people with odd jobs to be done. They would have enough cash to live on. Mira would make sure of it. She'd sooner skip a meal herself if it meant feeding Hattie.

With the papers due to be signed soon, it was better to leave sooner than later. When Mira visited her sister next, she didn't say anything at first what with the staff around. It was only when Mira had knelt down to give her sister a goodbye hug that she had whispered in the little girl's ear.

"Get your stuff packed and be ready at your window at eleven tonight."

Mira could still remember how her sister's face lit up, how she smiled and bit her lower lip to stop herself from giggling in excitement.

Hattie had still been in the room she had shared with Mira when the older sibling had lived there. As such, Mira was able to recall easily which window was Hattie's. Initially she had planned to throw some small stones at the window to get Hattie's attention, but when Mira got there Hattie already had her face pressed against the window and looking down. She looked tired, but smiled and waved once she saw Mira.

Mira knew it was a bit much to ask for her sister to stay awake so late, but people would be less likely to be around to stop them around this time.

Without a prompt, Hattie threw the window open and chucked out her small suitcase. Not packed too well if the socks and shirts sticking out from case was anything to say.

Mira had barely caught it and put it down before Hattie jumped out, one hand holding down her top hat. Mira, after a brief panic, quickly caught her.

The little girl giggled as Mira tightly hugged her before the older sister started to carrying Hattie on her back while grabbing the suitcase and leaving the orphanage without a second glance.

The space craft dock Mira had left their new ship and home at was not that far of a walk away. She had already packed her own belongings inside along with food and extra clothes and all the money she could take out in a short amount of time.

When Hattie first looked at the ship, she had stars in her eyes and was impatient to get inside and look around. Once they had gotten in, she had jumped from Mira's arms to begin exploring and find a room to claim as hers. Mira following behind from a distance, still smiling as she saw Hattie jump onto the captain chair and spin several times in it.

A short time after all of that, after looking around the ship and seeing all it had to offer, they left their planet. It still felt a bit strange whenever Mira thought back on the memory. It was… It wasn't as though Mira was absolutely happy about leaving what had been their home planet all their life. It was just the problems she wanted to leave. But she didn't feel too upset about leaving either, at the time. Maybe having family with her helped? Having Hattie with her meant less loneliness for both of them.

Home sickness was naturally for most people. But it wouldn't be forever. So far, the plan was to just keep moving. Keep moving and eventually, return home when it was safe.

So far, it had been three years. They were still flying through space, stopping at the occasional planet to stock up supplies and for Mira to do odd jobs for money.

For better or for worse, Mira liked to think she was doing a good job raising her sister. Feeding her, caring for her, making sure the young girl knew how to read, write and do math. Mira even let her read the ship manual and had started teaching her how to steer the ship when Hattie turned eight. She was quite a natural at it for such a young age.

For now, the two sisters were sailing through space in their spaceship as a happy family of two. Worries of their home planet far behind them.