To my reviewers for Chapter 4:

Nny11: Thank you! And yes, they are very unfortunate...Maybe that will change by the end of the story, hmm...?

WonkaVision: Don't fret, you'll find out soon enough... ;)

MlynnBloom: Well, it's all for the purpose of the plot! And you might not want to hit your head with that keyboard too often; you might hurt yourself...

Oh yes, and I have a favor to ask you, Dear Readers. I wrote the first chapter in a semi-Snicket style, I guess you could say, but the other chapters in a more normal way. If you will tell me which style of writing you liked best, I would appreciate it. I'm torn between reverting to Lemony Snicket's technique and using my own. When the results are in, I'll write the next chapter in the way you like best. Thanks a lot!

Now I may present:

Chapter 5: The W o r l d was Q u i e t

The world was...quiet.

That's how Sunny saw it that day.

She wasn't quite sure where she was, but Violet was there. She was younger, about Sunny's age. Her face was softer and her dark hair had a silky sheen to it. Her eyes were a beautiful, bright green. But they were scared.

"It's okay, Sunny, we'll find him," Violet murmured.

Sunny heard someone yell at Violet to shut up. It was a nasty voice, one that was always there, overshadowing her deepest nightmares.

But she could never identify the source of the voice.

"Well?" the voice said.

A man looked at The Voice over his shoulder. He was searching for something.

No, Sunny thought. Someone.

"No sign of him yet, Boss," the man said.

Violet whimpered beside Sunny. Tears were pooling in her worried eyes.

"Well, look harder!" The Voice ordered.

The man turned back to the pile of debris and rubble he was searching through. It looked like the ruins of something. Something that used to look like a hot air balloon. He pulled back a large, ripped scrap of balloon. He drew back slightly. A grave expression cloaked his face.

"I...I think I found him," he said grimly.

Violet stopped breathing and her face turned pale.

"He's gone, Boss."

"Nooo!" Violet cried. "No, it can't be!"

"Well, let's go then. You know what they say, one down, two to go," The Voice sneered.

"Klaus!" Violet broke into a run. She had to see it to believe it. To accept it.

"Grab her, she's getting away!" shouted The Voice.

The man caught her as she tried to run past him and slung her over his shoulder. Sunny noticed that he had hooks instead of hands. Violet kicked and screamed and pounded her fists on his back. "No, Klaus!" she called to the ruins. "Klaus please! Don't do this to me!"

Finally she stopped struggling and began to weep, crying harder and more mournfully then she had ever cried before, as if her entire soul was pouring out in her tears. And amongst her sobs, only three words were discernable, and she repeated them over and over, as if the more she said it, the more she meant it:

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"I'm sorry too, Violet," whispered the hook-handed man.

Sunny was never exactly sure as to what happened that day, all she was sure of was that that was when Violet began crying herself to sleep every night. That was when the light in Violet's eyes vanished. That was when she stopped tying her hair up in a ribbon, and began to spend most of the day looking off into space, staring at something Sunny couldn't see.

On that day, the world was quiet, save Violet's heart-wrenching sobs that pierced the silence.

Sunny never found out what happened that day, because Violet never told her. And never again did Sunny hear her utter that name she had screamed with such agony and murmured to herself that night.

Until now.

Sunny woke to find Klaus staring at her over his cup of coffee, sitting at the table. She had been crying in her sleep. Sunny quickly wiped the tears off her pale face and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"You okay?" Klaus asked.

"Mm-hmm," Sunny mumbled. "Just a nightmare."

"Ah," he said, and nodded understandingly. "Well hurry and freshen up; we're going to meet one of my friends today."

Sunny nodded but continued looking at Klaus a little longer. "Klaus..." she whispered.

"Huh?" he said.

"Oh, nothing..." she said, and left to wash her face in the bathroom.

She began to wonder if Klaus and her sister had been more than casual acquaintances, like he had told her.

But, of course, no one ever told her the truth about anything.

Klaus hailed a taxi that took them to the Valentino Family Diner, Sunny making sure to hide her face as well as she could. Klaus convinced her that once they entered the restaurant, they would be among friends.

They were relieved to find it empty of other customers, and Klaus told Sunny to wait at one of the booths while he went to get his friend from the kitchen.

Isadora was surprised to find a wide grin on Klaus's face when he came across her washing dishes.

"Isadora, I found her!" he said in an excited whisper, careful not to let Sunny overhear.

"Found who?" she asked, carefully placing a sugar bowl in the cupboard.

"Sunny! And she's all grown up! Come look at her!" Klaus said, and pulled Isadora over to one of the windows in the door. He was still as excited about being reunited with his sister as he had been that day at the dock. They watched Sunny flip through the records in the jukebox.

"Oh my goodness, she's so tall! Oh, and look at her beautiful hair!" Isadora squealed. "Wow, Klaus, she looks so much like Violet."

"Yeah, I know."

"Oh! Violet! Did you find her too?" Isadora asked.

He shook his head. "No, she's somewhere in France now."

Isadora gave Klaus a questioning look.

"I found Sunny at Daedalus Dock. They got separated in the rush and Violet boarded The Prospero without knowing Sunny didn't make it."

"Oh..."

Klaus was silent, and they both stared at Sunny as she sat, mouthing the words to the song she had picked out.

"She's so different," Klaus finally said. "She doesn't remember anything that's happened."

"Nothing?" Isadora asked.

"Nothing."

"Not Olaf, not V.F.D., not the fire or the self-sustaining hot air mobile home?"

"Nope." Klaus sadly pressed his forehead against the glass. "Not even me..."

Isadora put a hand over her mouth and leaned her head on Klaus's shoulder. Sunny had her feet resting on a tabletop, tapping her toes together to the rhythm of the song's beat.

"She thinks that I'm just a friend of Violet," Klaus said quietly, "and that her brother's name was Klyde."

Isadora sighed and put a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders. "Can we go out and talk to her?"

"Yeah, sure," he replied. "That's why we're here."

They pushed open the swinging doors and walked over to Sunny, who quickly swung her feet down to the floor and brushed off the tabletop.

"Hello," she said politely. "You must be Klaus's...friend." She said the word as if she wasn't quite sure a "friend" would really have her hand on his shoulder. Sunny glanced knowingly at Klaus, an eyebrow raised.

At first Klaus looked confused, but then he caught on to what Sunny might have been assuming, and stepped away from Isadora.

Isadora grinned and stretched out her arm. Sunny inspected her carefully before shaking her hand. Klaus wondered if this is what Sunny had learned during all those years of being wanted by law: Don't trust anyone who is too friendly. Heck, don't trust anyone at all.

Klaus had begun to wonder even more about what had happened during the past decade.

"Isadora Quagmire," Isadora introduced herself.

"Quagmire..." Sunny murmured. "I've heard that name before."

Oh, well she remembers her! Klaus thought jealously.

"I was a friend of Violet's too," Isadora said.

Sunny nodded understandingly.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well... Hey, Sunny, do you want something? Hot chocolate maybe?" Isadora asked. "I work here, so it's on the house."

Sunny shrugged. "Sure."

Klaus and Sunny sat down at the booth as Isadora left to prepare the drink. Sunny hummed along with the sad, slow tune coming from the jukebox.

I'm sitting in the railway station.

Got a ticket for my destination.

On a tour of one-night stands

My suitcase and guitar in hand.

And every stop is neatly planned

For a poet and one-man band.

Homeward bound,

I wish I was,

Homeward bound,

Home, where my thought's escaping

Home, where my music's playing,

Home, where my love lies waiting,

Silently for me.

"I like this song," Sunny said, with no preamble. "It's kinda sad." She gazed out the window. It had rained, turning the snow to slush, and the sky was gray, making everything seem colder. "I like sad songs," she added quietly.

Klaus nodded, realizing he did too. He didn't know why. He hadn't really thought about it. It just kind of...fitted.

Isadora brightened up the room with her cheery personality when she came back with a mug of hot chocolate and a cup of coffee for Klaus. He didn't tell her he had already had his coffee that morning. He appreciated Isadora's thoughtfulness.

"So!" Isadora said, trying to spark a conversation. "How old are you Sunny?"

Sunny silently scooped some whipped cream into her mouth. "I turned thirteen a couple of days ago."

Isadora raised her eyebrows. "Thirteen? Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow. A teenager now, huh?"

Sunny nodded.

"Did Klaus throw you a party?" she asked.

"No." She took a sip of hot chocolate. "I don't really need one."

"Well, turning teen is a big thing in a girl's life!" she said, throwing her hands in the air. "We should do something to remember it!"

Sunny looked up at Isadora with an eyebrow raised. Klaus could tell she'd rather be celebrating with her sister than with someone she'd just met. So she shrugged. "Sure."

"Great," Isadora said. "What do you want to do today Sunny?"

She looked unsure.

"Today's your day. We'll do anything you want."

She began to scoop some more whipped cream, but she froze, spoon halfway to her mouth. She looked thoughtful.

Finally, Sunny looked up. She stared directly into Klaus's eyes. Not Isadora's, whose question she was answering, but Klaus's, as if Sunny knew he would be able to help her fulfill a certain wish.

"I want to see my old house," she said. "I want to see my home."