Disclaimer: I don't own any of it… sadly…

Chapter One

Clu climbed slowly out of bed and stretched. Through his half open gaze, he noticed that the piles of blankets on Carey's bed were missing something… namely Carey. With a quick glance, he found Jack to be still in bed and asleep.

He wandered out into the kitchen area in search of his brother, arching an eyebrow when he found the area empty. Turning around, he approached a different door and then knocked softly enough for someone to hear, but not wake them up if they were still sleeping.

Clu slowly pushed the door open.

"Hey Fi, have you seen – ," Clu didn't finish his sentence, he'd found his brother.

In the night Fi and Carey had shifted positions, now Fi was asleep in Carey's arms.

The sound caused Carey to stir slightly and he opened his eyes to find his brother standing a few feet away, a bemused look on his face. Carey looked down and realized how the scene must have looked. He rolled his eyes and gently moved Fiona, then stood up and followed his brother out of Fi's room.

By the time they made it to the kitchen, Clu was barely able to contain himself.

"What was that, bro?" He asked with a sneaky grin.

Carey sighed, "Fi had a bad dream and wanted me to stay until she fell asleep. I guess I fell asleep too."

"Riiiight," Clu said, still not quite believing him. He made a mental note to talk to Fi about that later.

"OWWWW!" Fi's yell echoed throughout the bus.

Carey and Clu looked at each other then bolted in the direction of Fi's room. Jack beat them to it and flung open the door, Carey and Clu right behind him.

"Fi! What's wrong!" Jack's disheveled figure knelt beside his little sister, concern filling his expression.

Fi was holding the palm of her right hand, a large red mark circling the base of her thumb. Carey recognized it as the finger she wore her fathers ring on.

"My ring..." she stammered. "It was burning me.."

Jack followed Fi's gaze and saw the ring, lying on the floor, burning a bright red color. He bent over to pick it up, but after feeling the warmth and watching as the carpet beneath began to turn black, he thought the better of it.

"Clu! Get some water or something to cool it off!" Jack ordered. Clu ran out of the room.

"That's too weird," Carey moved closer to Fi and gently took her hand. "Are you okay? How badly did it burn you?"

Fi cringed a little at the pain and tried to answer, "I dunno. Pretty bad I'm guessing."

"I'll be right back, I'm going to get the first aid kit," Jack walked briskly towards the kitchen, nearly colliding with Clu as he came running back into the room with a glass full of water. As he poured the water over the metal ring, a small wisp of steam flowed up from it. The red glow faded and Clu hesitantly reached for it.

He picked it up, it was still a little warm, but at least it wasn't as hot as before. He turned it over in his palm, curious as to how it could have gotten that way. The room's heater wasn't near her bed, and from what he could see, there was nothing around that could have gotten it that hot.

Jack walked back in and started tending to Fi's finger.

"Ouch! Careful with that stuff, Jack. It stings," Fiona looked over to the side, closing her eyes with a cringe as her brother rubbed on the cream.

"What the heck were you doing that made the ring so hot?" Jack asked.

"What do you mean, 'What was I doing'? I was sleeping," Fi yelped in pain once more. "I wasn't doing anything."

Jack stopped, giving her a disbelieving look. "Whatever. Just don't do it again okay? I still can't believe you did something stupid enough to cause this," he indicated her finger.

"But-" Fi started.

Jack cut her off, holding up a hand to silence her. "I don't want to hear it Fi," he frowned, put the cream and extra bandages back into the case, then left the room.

"But I didn't-" Fi looked once more on the verge of tears.

Clu shook his head and followed Jack out, setting the ring back on her desk as he went.

"You believe me, don't you Carey?" She looked up at him, hopeful.

A memory of the night before flashed through Carey's mind, the ring glowing a bright blue. But it hadn't burned her then. How come?

"Actually, yeah. I do. Last night, when I came to wake you up I noticed that your ring was glowing, but I'd just figured something had been reflecting off of it. It was blue though, not red," he sat in her desk chair across from her.

"Right, my dream," Fi's expression became unreadable. "Almost forgot about that."

Carey picked up Fi's ring from where it lay on the desk next to him, eyeing it curiously.

It seemed like an ordinary ring, the only thing abnormal about it was the engraving. He held it out to Fi who took it a little hesitantly.

Out of habit, she started to put it back on her right thumb, then stopped with a grimace. As she put it on her left thumb, a flash of light burst from the ring, enveloping her within it.

"Fi!" Carey shouted, reaching out to grab her wrist.

The light filled the room and when it faded a moment later, both Fi and Carey had disappeared.