And this is why NXE is so darn uplifting. You hit upon the central pain point of these characters and alleviated it, and made a tragic story uplifting and affirming. Finding a home and a family is a powerful narrative and it's what those characters needed to make them fly, and it's one of the things that makes NXE - and EPU works as a whole - really fun to read.

I think you have a better grasp of theme than you give yourself credit for :)