Part 4

They got back on the bus, all silent except for the sound of sobbing. Fi helped Carey onto the bus, and into the living room. There she slowly sat him down on the couch and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He was still silent. *This can't be good*, she thought. Meanwhile, Carey was thinking how he was supposed to tell his parents that Clu was dead. *How can I tell them that their youngest son is dead because I failed my duties as a big brother?* Just then, the parents came back, happy and laughing, until they saw the looks on the kids faces, and Carey sitting silently on the couch next to a sobbing Fi. Molly, Irene, and Ned looked around, seeing all the other kids crying, except Carey. But there was something missing. Where was Clu?

Molly walked over to Fiona and sat next to her.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asked while pulling Fi into a hug. "Clu…" Fi answered, but couldn't finish the sentence. She didn't want it to be true. She hugged her mom while still holding on to Carey with one arm.

Meanwhile, Carey was thinking about Clu. *Why did he die? Why him? Why not me?* These thoughts were flying through his head. As much as he wanted it all to be a dream, he knew he had to tell his parents, even if it meant admitting that it was he believed it was his fault. So he continued where Fi had left off. "Mom, Dad, something happened to Clu" he slowly began. Ned put his arm around Irene, who was already crying. "We went to check out this building and there was an explosion. Clu was separated from us, and he…he… died. And then disappeared." Carey managed to get this out slowly, bit by bit, trying his hardest not to cry. As soon as he was done, his parents came over and wrapped him in a hug, but he pulled away from them. He turned and ran to the room he shared with Jack and Clu. *Used to share with Clu*, he corrected himself bitterly.

Both his parents cried, knowing they had to leave Carey alone for a while. They both got out of the bus, followed by Molly. Annie and Jack, both sat on the couch, comforting each other and crying.

Fi ran after Carey. It wasn't right that he hadn't cried. She had seen how much the day's events had disturbed him, and she knew there was a reason why he'd been so shocked. It was almost as if it had happened before. She found him standing by the door, unable to go into the room. "Carey, we've gotta talk".

He looked at her and said, "I can't go in there, Fi. It hurts too much."

She saw the pain in his eyes and led him to her room. He sat on the bed, staring off into space. She sat next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. Then suddenly, he remembered something. Something that had seemed familiar about the way Clu disappeared. Then he realized what it was. His older brother had disappeared the same way 15 years ago. That realization that the same thing had taken both his brothers made him angry. But then he thought of them and finally broke down. A tear rolled down his cheek. Fi noticed and pulled him into a hug, as he started sobbing hard. She rocked Carey, trying to soothe him, but couldn't. She was really scared. She could feel his body shaking hard with each sob, and she cried with him. For a while, the only sound that registered was that of Carey's harsh sobs, but then she noticed he was muttering something.

"Not again, not again, not again…" Carey mumbled in between sobs into Fi's embrace, thinking she wasn't listening.

Fi heard Carey mumbling and didn't understand exactly what he meant by it. When had it happened before? She was about to ask him, but looked at his devastated face and felt his body shake hard yet again, and decided against it. He looks so fragile, she thought. It scared her. He was always so strong and protective of her and the others. He always comforted them when something happened. Now the roles were reversed. She decided to ask him what he had meant later, once he was calmer. She hugged him tighter, trying to soothe him by rocking him and rubbing his back. Realizing it wasn't working she started singing softly. His sobs became less violent and his body stopped shaking as much. He eventually fell asleep in Fi's arms. She realized this and fell asleep also.

[Meanwhile]

Clu woke up lying in a bed in a room that seemed to have an independent glow. He slowly sat up to look at his surroundings and realized he wasn't alone. A small, pixie-like girl around his age was sitting in a chair, quietly looking at him. *Weird*, he thought. *Where's the building? Where are Carey, Fi, Jack, and Annie?*

"Glad to see you're finally awake", the girl said. "Come with me."

"Go where?" he asked, even more confused than usual.

"I'm under orders to take you straight to our ruler" she answered, pulling him up from the bed. "

"What ruler? Where am I? Who are you" Clu babbled as the pixie dragged him down a long hallway.

"I'm Leilani. Now be quiet. We're almost there", she said. *The boy is cute, but so talkative it becomes annoying*, the pixie thought.

Leilani pulled him into a large room that had a soft golden glow. It was filled with pixies that surrounded a throne-like chair that stood on a platform. Sitting on the chair was a young man in his early twenties who looked oddly familiar. He had sandy brown almost blonde hair, cut pretty short, and vivid green eyes. He seemed to be about 6 ft tall maybe taller, but it was hard to tell because he was sitting down. Come to think of it, he sort of looked like a cross between Clu and Carey. Clu couldn't shake the feeling that he somehow knew this man.

"Who are you?" Clu asked him.

"Don't you notice anything familiar about me?" the man replied. Clu shook his head no. "Well, I'm your oldest brother"