After the photo shoot with his new parents, Daniel was dropped off in his new room and told that a servant would be coming around for him when it was time for supper. Left all alone in there, the young boy sat on is bed and looked around in awe at his surroundings. As far back as he could remember, the only home he'd ever known had been the old orphanage on Barrows Street. Thinking about the tight bunk bed he'd slept on since he was old enough to join the other kids, and the couple drawers he'd had to store his few belongings, and comparing them to the queen-sized monstrosity on which he sat and the full set of drawers he had at his disposal—not to mention the honest-to-god wardrobe and the desk and chair sitting under the window; and how clean and new it all was!—had Daniel wondering if he'd heard his new parents right, that this was really all his. Surely the room was big enough for two people at least.

Well, for two giants like his new family, the Fillipovs; for a human like himself, the room was even more overwhelming. The whole orphanage could have fit in there, with plenty of room for everyone; it was way too much for little old Dan. How would he even use any of it? Well, he could sleep on the bed, at least, but getting down from it was another matter entirely, and everything else was even more prohibitively gigantic. With over a thousand feet from wall to wall, the place felt so empty and lonely, not the warm, comforting place he always thought a bedroom should be.

For that matter, his new family wasn't anything like the family he'd imagined. They were giants, of course, and more than a little scary, but he thought if they were adopting him then they must really care about him. But then, why had they left him all alone in here? Shouldn't they be spending more time with him? And they hadn't hugged or kissed him once all day. Maybe giant families were different from human ones, or maybe he didn't understand how families worked. All he knew about families came from books and TV. Had it all been a lie? Or was his new family like those evil step-parents from those stories Selene read to him as a little kid?

Unsure of what to do, Dan grabbed the little plastic bag which held all his belongings, mainly clothes but also a couple toys, including a bag of marbles. He took them out and tried playing with them on the bed, wondering in the meantime what his new life would be like, until someone knocked on the door. He turned to the noise like a deer in headlights. The door opened and a face poked in, not much higher than the doorknob.

“Hello?” the girl said. “Are you in here?” Her eyes searched the room. When she saw him, she stepped inside and walked to the bed, stopping when she stood right over him. She wasn't as big as his new parents, but to Daniel it made little difference whether she was two, three, or four hundred feet tall; she was scary all the same, and her stare unnerving. A pair of eyes like those might be capable of anything, he thought. He tried to say a simple “hello”, but he tripped over his tongue when he opened his mouth.

The girl crouched low, holding the edge of the bed with her hands and almost resting her chin on it. “Are you Daniel?” He could only nod in response. She smiled at him then. “I'm Anastasia Fillipov—your new sister!” “Sister?” Daniel hadn't heard anything about any siblings. “Anastasia...”

She nodded. “That's right. But since we're siblings now, you can call me Nastya, or Anna. I guess I'll call you Dan, or Danny.” Nastasya looked around. “Is this your room? It's really big for you, isn't it? Where's all your stuff?” Daniel held up his bag. “Is that everything? Wow, that's almost nothing. Are you poor? Do all poor people have that little stuff? Well, don't worry, we're gonna get you lots of stuff! Toys and clothes and books and everything! I have loads of stuff in my room! Do you wanna come see? Great! Let's go!” Next thing Daniel knew, she was already holding him between her thumb and forefinger and lifting him up. From struggling against it he went to hugging her thumb fiercely and looking down at the long, long fall that awaited him if she let go. Not that Anastasia noticed. She carried him to her room like that, happy to finally have a sibling to share it with.

It took Daniel some time to get used to her enthusiasm, but come supper he had worked out that she really did mean, and that her liked her, at least when she wasn't being too scary. She reminded him of a girl from the orphanage, only waaay bigger.

The two of them grew closer with time, as Daniel got used to the size difference. Though she was a year younger than him, she took on something of the big sister role with Dan, educating him on the Fillipov household and on all manner of details about giant and upper-class society. She was pretty much the only one to take charge of him, in fact, something that suited their parents just fine. Daniel didn't understand it at the time, but towards adulthood he would figure out that the Fillipovs had only adopted him as a stunt to gain the favor of city's human population, possibly in preparation for a political candidacy which never took off. Not that it mattered—he was still grateful to them for taking him out of the orphanage, and for the chance to meet his new sister.

His first few years with the Fillipovs were spent mainly in Anastasia's room. She quickly made the decision that he should live with her, and set apart a small drawer for him, where he could put all his stuff. She got him some human furniture, and took him into the human district so he could buy his own clothes too. He'd never forget that day, when she gave him more money than he'd ever seen and dropped him at a big fancy outlet store. At first he just bought a new pair of pants since the other pair he'd brought along had holes in them, but Anna laughed and nudged him back inside. “Get everything you want!” she said, and did the same more insistently when he came back out with only a few more pieces of clothing. Buying whatever he wanted had been such an alien concept to him back then. He never really grew into it like Anna, but with her encouragement he did grow more confident about spending money.

He went everywhere with her, usually on her shoulder, where he felt quite at home after a couple months. It bothered him a bit when she picked him up without asking, but he was so grateful to her that he never raised a fuss about it.

Still, as he was nearing adulthood, Daniel felt more and more that he was spending too much time cooped up at home, dependent on his sister for everything. Not that he'd thought of it that way at the time, but talking to his human friends at school made it really apparent that's what was going on. He decided he needed to leave for some time—more than that, he wanted to see more of the world.

His parents had never concerned themselves overmuch with his education, but money was no problem for them, at least when it came to anything that a human might want, so they were perfectly willing to pay for his studies abroad when he reached college age. If anything they were probably glad to see him go, not that it bothered him.

Anna stared openly at him when he first brought it up to their parents. It was her first time hearing of it, as Daniel had worried that she wouldn't take it well and so kept it a secret. Once their parents agreed to it, though, she jumped into the conversation, cheerfully asserting that she would also be studying abroad at whatever city he went to.

Their parents shut her down at once. “You're not old enough, Nastya. You will stay in the Academy, Nastya. We won't allow it, Nastya.” She tried to change their minds with her usual sweetness, but they were firm about this as they had never been about anything else before. That was the first time Daniel saw his sister throw anything like a tantrum. Supper turned into a shouting match between the Fillipovs, with Daniel trying to keep his head down and stay out of the giants' notice. At the end of it, Anastasia stormed off without finishing her meal, and for the first time Daniel needed a servant to escort him to his own room—he hadn't been staying in hers for a couple years by that point, having instead gotten a human-sized room with electricity and everything installed in a corner of his giant-sized one.

Come the next morning, Anna appeared to have accepted that she couldn't follow Daniel to his new college, though she was clearly saddened by it. He was sorry for her, but there was nothing to be done about it. He really did want to stop living in her shadow, and to spend more time with people his own size, and leaving her was the only way.

In the months before his departure, Anastasia was more tender with him than ever before. She tried to do all she could for him, and often took the chance to remind him that she would always care for him, telling him that he shouldn't hesitate to come back if his studies weren't making him happy, that she would welcome him no matter what happened. At times she shared detailed plans about going to visit him abroad and all the things they would do together when she did, and at other times she just stared into the distance and sighed deeply before petting him. It was a very awkward period, and Daniel only wished it would have gone by faster.

On the day of his departure, Anna took Daniel to the airport, holding him closely the whole time. When they arrived, she held him in front of her face, brown eyes glistening as they looked him up and down. For a moment he was afraid she wouldn't let him go after all.

“Well... I guess this is good-bye for now.” She laughed softly as she finished speaking, trying to put on a brave face for him. Suddenly Daniel felt guilty for ever thinking ill of her.

“Thank you, Anna,” he said. There was more he wanted to say, but he'd never been good with words. Instead he spread his arms in a gesture familiar to her, and she held him to her cheek so he could hug her. He kissed her, too, and heard a sniffle. Her fingers touched lightly on his back in a hug of her own, until he let go and patted her cheek. She dropped him off as close to the entrance as she could get, then rubbed her eyes.

“Call when you get there, okay? Call every day, so I don't miss you. Love you, Daniel! Good-bye!” she said, waving him off until she was out of sight.

He did call her when he arrived, though it turned out he wouldn't need to call her every day since she took care of that for him. It was a bit annoying, and often he just answered to tell her he was busy and couldn't talk, but he did try to humor her from time to time. By contrast, his parents never called, and he never called them except when he needed them to pay his tuition or send money for his monthly expenses, else they never would have remembered.

For the longest time Anastasia sounded depressed, and never more so than when he told her he wouldn't be going back for winter break, opting instead to take some courses for the credits—though to be honest that was more an excuse than anything else. He thought she'd react the same way when he told her he'd be staying for spring break too, but thankfully she didn't take it so hard. It sounded like she was finally coming to terms with his decision. She started talking of going to college next year, at a big university back home. He was happy for her.

Daniel stayed over the summer, too, taking a couple courses but mainly spending time with friends. He was just meeting up with the group on the college grounds after class when something caught his eye over on the giant side of the city, across the stretch of green fields which separated the two races. A giant was walking towards the school, a woman in a sunhat and white sundress that rippled in the wind. It wasn't the first giant he'd seen visit the college—a few of them stopped by every so often to satisfy their curiosity about what the “little people” were up to. He usually ignored them, unlike his schoolmates who were all unnerved by the giants, but something about this one caught his eye. She wore a pair of sunglasses, but he still felt she was looking at them, and at him specifically.

The giantess stopped by the school and took off her sunglasses, smiling right at him. “Hi, Danny.”

“Anna?” he said, completely taken aback. “What are you... doing here? How did you get here? When did you get here?”

“Surprised? I figured since you were too busy to come visit, I should visit you instead! Sorry I didn't say anything sooner, I really wanted to surprise you.” She crouched, and Daniel's friends took a couple steps back.

“Dan, do you know her?” one of them whispered.

“She's... my adoptive sister.” Daniel had kept much about his family a secret all this time, but it seemed that wasn't an option anymore. “Don't worry, she's harmless. Just let me handle this.” Their faces told him they weren't buying the “harmless” thing, though, and Daniel couldn't blame them. Just looking at her he could feel his instincts trying to reassert themselves, urging him to make himself small and harmless for her. He'd never really noticed them before, but now it stood out sharply to him, and he resented it.

“Are you all Danny's friends?” his sister said. The shade from her sunhat fell on the group when she leaned in closer, and a few of them tried to hide behind the others. “My name's Anastasia Fillipov. Pleased to meet you! Thank you all for taking care of my brother; he really means the world to me. I'd love to get to know you better, so I can thank you all properly.” She wore a friendly smile and spoke respectfully the whole time, but still all of Daniel's friends shrank back whenever her eyes passed over them, perhaps imagining some dark hidden meaning behind her words.

“Anna, thank you for the invitation, but do you think we could talk some other time? We're kinda busy right now?”

“Oh? What with? Maybe I can help!”

“I don't think you can help with our school work. Isn't that right, guys?”

“Uh... y-yeah, lots of school work.” “Gotta study, study, study.” “Yeah! We were just about to leave, actually. To... the library.” “Yep, the library!” “Hey, now that I think about it, doesn't it close in, like, an hour? And the bus leaves in five minutes. We better get going ASAP so we can check out all those... books we need for our, uh, project.” “Sounds like you're all in a big hurry,” Anna said. “I know! Why don't I give you a ride?”

Dan could have strangled Charlie for mentioning the library. His friends chimed in all at once with reasons why they couldn't accept the offer—“It's on the other side of town, you probably don't know it, wouldn't want to take up any of your time”—but she brushed it all off. “Nonsense! it's no trouble at all, and this is the least I can do for my brother's friends.” Instinct made them freeze when her hand floated towards them. They were all meek as kittens as she picked them up one by one and carried them onto her palm, where they sat trembling and trying not to think about what a long fall it was to the ground.

“Anna, that's enough! You can't be picking people up without their consent like that!” Dan shouted.

“Hm? What do you mean? I did it with you all the time and you never complained. And your friends would have said something if they didn't want me to pick them up, right?” She looked at the humans in her hand for affirmation, holding them up to her face. Her big brown eyes seemed to demand an answer of them, and at her enormous size, the innocence on her face took on a threatening shade. The guys started nodding at once, and Anna smiled and reached to pet them. “See?” Dan gave a deep sigh. For all the time she'd spent with him, Anna never had understood how humans felt about giants. “Anna, I'm serious. Put them—”

Someone cut him off with a heavy clap on his shoulder. “Ha ha ha! Don't you listen to him, Miss Anastasia! I'm sure he's just embarrassed about us meeting his sister!” Dan was about to ask Alex what he was doing when another one of his friends pulled him back and whispered in his ear. “Are you trying to get us killed, man!? I don't care if she's your sister, your mom, your girlfriend, whatever; you do not make a giant mad at you, ever! Just pipe down and let her take us to the library. If you want to risk getting killed, do it on your own time.” He let go of Dan and raised his voice. “So are we going or what? We're running kinda late already, y'know.” “Don't worry, I'll get you all there in no time!” Anna picked up the last of Dan's friends before grabbing her brother too. There was room enough on her palm for all seven of them to sit in the center, and it didn't move much at all once she cupped her other hand under it. The others held on to her skin for balance when she stood up, keeping low so they didn't risk getting thrown off. “Okay! So where's this library you're going to?” “Just start going that way, we'll tell you where to turn,” said Alex pointing to the general direction of the city center. Anastasia moved right away, rounding the college grounds before setting foot on the nearest street, threatening to crack the asphalt under her sandal-clad feet. Even Daniel felt his hearts sink when she started walking, and held on even tighter. Some of them lay flat on her palm and inched forward, venturing a peek overboard, but they quickly backed away.

After a minute, the guys huddled around and tried to see if anyone remembered where the nearest library was. The only one they'd ever needed for school was the one at college, and it took a minute for Charlie to remember the address of another. “Great! Then you can tell Dan's sister how to get there!” said Chris, and despite Charlie's refusal the others pushed him to the front so he could give her directions.

Dan sat in sullen silence, but his friends were very talkative, at least with Anna. Way more than usual. They were clearly scared, and trying to ingratiate themselves to her, but Anna of course took it all at face value. “You're all such nice humans! We should hang out some time. I'll be in town a few weeks, so we'll have plenty of time! I can take you to some nice places on the giant side of town, if you like.” They all tried to sound appreciative without committing to anything, but Dan knew how they really felt. They would try to move heaven and Earth to avoid spending more time with her—maybe even avoid him altogether—but if they couldn't do it without offending her, they would fold like a lawn chair and go along with whatever she asked.

The people in the streets below kept out of Anna's way while she passed, cars pulling to the side of the road and pedestrians backing up against buildings as she passed. Unlike back home, where the giant districts ran cheek by jowl with the human ones, it wasn't common for giants to walk the human roads here. These people weren't used to the heavy, thudding steps of giants. It surprised Dan that more of them didn't hide in whatever building they were passing until she'd left. Maybe Anna talking with the guys made her less scary to them. It probably also helped that she greeted the humans below and thanked them for standing aside; Daniel never heard another giant showing that much consideration to humans.

“There it is!” Charlie shouted once he spotted the library a couple blocks away. Anna reached it in just a few steps, and crouched in front of it and lowered her hand to the ground so Daniel's friends could step off and stretch their shaky legs.

“You guys go ahead; I'll catch up to you later. Gotta set some things straight with my sis,” Dan told them. They headed inside, and Dan asked Anna to take him somewhere more private. She stepped out of the city—its end wasn't too far from the library for someone her size—and sat down about a mile away, in the middle of a big, empty meadow, holding Dan on her lap.

“Are you mad at me, Danny?” The question caught him by surprise. Since when had she been that perceptive?

“I'm not mad. Well, not anymore,” he sighed. It was all too complicated for him to explain. Her finger came to pet him, and he accepted it. Was that cowardice? Should he have pushed it away? He didn't want to be in her shadow anymore, but... she was his sister, whatever happened.

Dan grabbed her fingertip and set it on his lap, slowly stroking its thick, leathery skin.

“Was your friend right? Did I embarrass you?”

“A little bit. I guess that's partly my fault for not telling them about you. You could have called, though. Should have told me you were in town.”

“So you could tell me you were too busy again?” Dan winced. He tried to avoid her gaze, but she hooked her finger under his chin and gently moved his head back. “Do you want me to leave you alone? I'll head back home if you really want me to.” “... No, I don't want you to leave. I want... Oh, I don't know what I want. Look, can you just promise me a few things? Promise me you'll call next time and not just show up out of nowhere. If you do, I promise I won't blow you off unless I'm actually busy with something.” Anna eyed him for a while. Trying to see if he was being honest? “I promise,” she said at last.

“And promise that you won't pick people up without asking their permission. Not even me.”

“Is this about earlier? Your friends said it was fine.”

“Just promise me. And promise you won't push them into it. If someone says no then leave it at that.”

“Well... sure, I promise. I guess it doesn't make a difference.”

Dan almost sighed again. She still didn't really get it. Well, if she was sticking around this summer then maybe he could make her understand. And she had promised, even if she didn't see why it mattered to him. “Thank you, Anna.” He released her finger, and let her pet him again. It felt nice, after all; and even if he didn't want to spend his life under Anna's thumb, surely that couldn't mean he had to keep away forever. Right?