A/N: Hey everyone! I would just like to thank bree luv and James Birdsong for being my consistent reviewers! Your reviews make me happy and give me the courage to edit and post this old story of mine. I'm not really sure about this next chapter though but hopefully you and anyone else who reads this will still enjoy it! =)

Questions Brought to Light

"Ohhhhh!" Uzura gasped lightly at the event unfolding before her. She was still sitting in the pew a couple feet away from the troubled couple when she saw Fakir start to break down. The puppet never saw Fakir act in such a way before. She watched in fascination as she picked up the next part of the duck and knights conversation.

"Charon…he's…he's really…" Fakir choked out between sobs, the pain for the man that took care of him most of his life along with countless others, began to finally find its way out.

Duck smiled slightly in relief for Fakir letting the grief out of his system as new tears started to spill from her own eyes. She stroked the knights midnight-green hair comfortingly, as she tried to sooth him with her words, "It's alright Fakir, I miss him too."

Uzura was confused.

"Why are they talking about Charon like he's gone-zura? Isn't he laying over there in that bed-zura?" To verify she was right she looked back towards the coffin to see Charon 'sleeping' peacefully within the woody confines but what shocked her most was that the family and friends now surrounding the coffin were also crying. They were looking down at Charon with tears in their eyes. Why were they crying over him? Charon would probably wake up soon, so why were they crying? The once-puppet-of-Drosselmeyer continued to goggle at the crying group with child-like innocence; not fully understanding the true meaning of death.

She looked over again towards the crying Duck and Fakir, the people she considered siblings and the closest people to her and decided against asking them to answer her numerous questions. She scanned the other group again, her mind set on achieving answers. She looked through the crowd for people who weren't crying so that she wouldn't bother the ones who were. Raetsel's husband was holding onto his wife who was crying on his shoulder; he wasn't crying. Uzura didn't know him though so she didn't know if the guy could actually answer her questions. For all she knew he could be a complete idiot! Her eyes then scanned over the next couple, Mytho and Rue. She knew them and they were smart to boot! But Mytho's shoulders were shaking indicating that he was overwhelmed with sadness and Rue looked like she was busy trying to console him. Uzura decided her last chance for answers lay with the weird boy with glasses that talked a lot. Luckily for her, Autor hardly knew Charon so couldn't really cry for him.

Uzura jumped off the pew and waddled over to the unsuspecting researcher, ready to ask questions. Upon her arrival, the once-puppet grabbed the material on Autor's pants leg and gave it a tug. The bespectacled musician looked down in the direction of the tug and was met with the innocent eyes of a questioning child.

"Huh? Are you that weird puppet girl that follows Fakir around?" The quizzical nerd asked.

"Yep! That's me-zura!" Uzura replied with a smile, not catching the insult in the boy's question. "Can I ask you something-zura?"

The boy's curiosity piqued at the question. Always willing to answer a question with his divine knowledge, Autor didn't hesitate to accept. "And what would your question be?"

Excitement flowed through Uzura's veins (or lack thereof), for her questions where finally going to be answered. "Why is everyone crying-zura? Charon's just asleep isn't he? Or is he sick-zura?" Uzura asked a mile a minute.

Autor's head tried to pick up the girl's fast questions as best as he could. He paused, closing his eyes in concentration and putting his fist to his mouth in thought, making sure he heard the girl right. Once he was sure that Uzura spouted her naiveté about the situation, his next thoughts went into how to answer those questions. He was speaking to a little kid in a sense so he had to be careful how he worded his answer.

"Well..," he started off, gaining Uzura's attention back because he took so long to respond (a minute and a half). "Depending on your view of religion, there are many reasons as to why these friends of yours are crying. They're crying because Charon is dead and has gone on to live in the after-life. Now like I said, the thought of the after-life depends fully on your religious beliefs. There are many people who believe that once you die you never live again and then there are other people that believe there is a place we go once we die so we can live again after death. Then there are still others that believe we are born again as something else once our spirits leave our bodies. So all in all, I'm not sure if I can really answer your question unless I know your religious beliefs. So what do you believe in?"

Uzura stared at the strange bespectacled man, blinking up at him in complete confusion. "Huh-zura?" she asked, tilting her head to the side cutely.

Autor sighed at the girl's lack of intelligence. What he had said obviously went way over her head. "Settle down Autor, she's just a kid, how can she even possibly start to comprehend the meaning of religion and death?" he berated himself. With a pause to clear his head, Autor looked back down at Uzura. "Maybe you asked the wrong person for this question." He stated begrudgingly, not wanting to admit his failure to bestow knowledge onto a toddler. "Maybe you should ask someone else who has the time to actually talk to a little kid. I'm late for my piano practice anyway so I'll be taking my leave." And with that Autor ended the conversation and walked away. "See you at the burial tomorrow," were the last words he spoke before shutting the viewing room doors behind him.

Uzura stared at the sliding doors in indignation. "What a meany-zura! He didn't even answer my questions-zura!" All that left now was to ask someone else. One thing was for sure, she wouldn't be asking that Mean Glasses Guy anymore questions in the future!

Uzura glanced around the room again. She still wanted to give Duck and Fakir some time to be alone ("maybe they'll get lovey-dovey-zura!"), and looked for the next closest person to her. Her eyes fell on the beautiful raven princess. Out of the rest of the people in the room she had talked to Rue at least once, even though she remembered Rue telling her to "go away". Anyway, she seemed interesting enough, so with no options left to her she strutted up to the princess and tugged on her ebony funeral dress.

"Can I ask you a question-zura?" the little drummer asked upfront.

Once she felt the tug and looked down to where the tug originated, Rue was surprised to see little Uzura asking her a question. She looked uncertainly between the little girl and her husband, who was still rather upset. Mytho looked backed at his wife questioningly.

"It's really important-zura!" Uzura almost pleaded, she really wanted to know what was going on.

Rue stared into Mytho's auburn eyes, asking silently if he was ok with her leaving him for a while. Mytho reply was a small smile, "I'll be fine Rue. Go and talk to Uzura."

Satisfied that her prince was alright with the situation, Rue glanced down at the puppet girl and gave her a warming smile. "Alright, should we go talk?"

Uzura nodded her head eagerly. While holding on to the hem of Rue's dress, the once-raven-girl led Uzura away from the mourners so as not to disturb them. Once they were a respectable distance away, Rue knelt down to Uzura's level and made eye contact with the little girl. "Now, what is it that you wanted to ask me Uzura?" asked the princess, giving Uzura her most warming smile.

As Uzura gazed up into Rue's carmine eyes, the same eyes a mother would use when she looked at her child, she knew that she could ask Rue anything and she had the patience to answer. "She's very different from before-zura!" she mentally exclaimed, noticing how welcoming Rue's eye's and smile were.

"So what is it Uzura?" Rue asked again. She was genuinely curious about what the puppet would actually ask her.

At Rue's undivided attention, Uzura finally asked the question she wanted so badly to understand, "Why is everyone crying-zura? Charon's going to wake up soon so why is everyone so sad-zura?"

Rue's eyes saddened at the questions. She never expected the girl puppet to actually ask her such things. "She doesn't understand what death is. Should I try to explain it anyway? No, she's just a kid!" A million thoughts raced through Rue's mind as she considered answering the girl puppets questions. Finally her thoughts found the answer she was looking for. "She wants to know, therefore, she has the right to know."

Gathering her wits about her, Rue began treading into answering Uzura's questions. The little puppet was staring up at Rue expectantly; her painted blue eyes ready to receive any knowledge the princess had to share. Surly, Uzura would be able to understand once Rue explained the situation slowly and thoroughly.

"They're sad because Charon is dead Uzura." Rue stated calmly, smiling softly as she opened the topic for discussion.

"That's what that Meany Glasses Guy said-zura! But what is 'dead'-zura?" Uzura exclaimed. Surly if both the Glasses Guy and Rue stated that Charon was 'dead', it must be true, right?

"So she talked to Autor before me, huh? That explains why she didn't understand in the first place." Rue chuckled mentally, berating Autor's ability to handle children. She decided to start answering Uzura's question when suddenly, the puppet herself gasped in semi-understanding.

"Is being dead like being asleep-zura?" She asked in awe, her eyes growing larger at her own epiphany.

Rue gave out a small chuckle before replying, "Death is like sleeping, yes. You see, when we die our bodies go to sleep."

"Like Sleeping Beauty-zura?"

Rue had to restrain herself from chuckling again at the innocent remark. She had to try to keep this serious so Uzura would fully understand. "Yes, but unlike sleeping beauty, nothing can wake a dead person up again."

Uzura blinked perplexed. Nothing could wake dead people up? "Not even loud noises?" She asked innocently as she pulled her drum to her front and grabbed her drum sticks, ready to test her question should the need arise.

Slightly alarmed, Rue quickly grabbed Uzura's arms before she could beat her drum senseless. "No, not even loud noises." She spoke with an air of calm hoping Uzura wouldn't disturb the peace of the viewing room. Her tone seemed to work because the puppet girl let her arms fall to her sides.

"Why-zura?" the wooden doll asked, not sure if she liked where this conversation was going.

Rue sighed. She had to tread extra carefully to make sure she wouldn't upset the innocent girl too much. "When living things die…they leave their bodies to rest while their souls…"

"Souls-zura?"

With unwavering patience the raven princess explained further, "Souls are the person within. In other words our souls are our hearts." And with emphasis, Rue pointed at the wooden girl's chest, right where her heart should be.

"Oh!" the girl gasped, her eyes widening with realization.

"Do you understand now, Uzura?"

"I think-zura…" she replied hesitantly. She mulled over what she just learned in her little noggin before summarizing what she heard. "So…Charon's heart left him-zura?"

Rue smiled happily to Uzura, glad that she was following so far. "Yes."

"So where did it go-zura?"

The princess paused to think for a second and then supplied the answer she thought would be easiest to understand. "There's a place where people go when they die…"

"Where's that-zura?" Uzura interrupted again, amazed by thinking that such a place existed.

"Many people believe it's in the sky. They call it 'Heaven'."

If it was possible, this got the puppet girl even more excited. "Ooooh! What's heaven like-zura?"

"…it's a place…a place where you never feel pain, loneliness, or sorrow. Every day you wake up with joy and happiness in your heart." Rue spoke whimsically, internally wishing with all her might that such a place was true. "I hope I will find that place someday…"

Rue's reverie was broken by Uzura's next comment. "That sounds like a good place-zura!" She stated happily. Maybe being dead wasn't so bad.

"It is." Rue replied with determination. A place like Heaven had to be true! Mytho believed in Heaven after all, so she hoped that Charon had found it; for both his and Mytho's sake. "Charon has gone on to a better place where he'll only feel happiness. And he won't be lonely either. His other family members who died before him will be there to meet him."

"So he went to see the rest of his family-zura?"

"In a sense, yes. Do you understand now Uzura?" Rue asked again, confident the puppet would reply positively.

Uzura brought her index finger up to her cheek in thought. "I think-zura…So Charon's heart went to live in Heaven with his other family who died and went to live in Heaven too?"

Rue smiled in relief. "Yes. I believe you understand now."

Sadly, for the new princess, Uzura wasn't quiet done; she had a new question that needed to be answered. "But then why is everyone so sad-zura? Shouldn't they be happy Charon's in a better place-zura?"

Dark burgundy eyes widened in shock. She forgot that she actually didn't answer her friend's first question. Rue bit her bottom lip hesitantly. Should she actually answer that question? If she did, would the little girl's heart be able to cope? Noticing the determination in Uzura's cobalt eyes, Rue realized she couldn't walk away from the girl. Not until she answered the question. With a great sigh and saddened eyes, Rue looked directly into Uzura's, ready to answer the final question.

"Uzura…," another heavy sigh from the princess made Uzura even more determined to pay attention. "When a person dies and their heart leaves their body to live in Heaven…they leave their body behind to sleep…forever." Rue ended heavily, wishing she didn't have to tell this to a young innocent girl.

The girl in question seemed to be deep in thought and still looked slightly questionable, so Rue added on to her answer. "In other words, Uzura, Charon's heart has left his body for good to live in Heaven. That means we'll never see him open his eyes again. We won't hear him laugh, cry, or talk….He's gone Uzura. For as long as we live we'll never see Charon again…" Rue ended sadly, her eyes downcast.

There was a brief pause; the only sound in the room was of the mourners drying their tears. Rue looked back up at Uzura wondering what her reaction would be.

Uzura stared back at the princess in shock. Her eyes had widened to epic proportions as the gears started to mesh together within the confines of her mind. "Do you mean…" she stated slowly, slightly afraid of what the answer would be. "Do you mean that…Charon won't come back to the house again-zura?"

Rue shook her head sadly, her vibrant red eyes now dulled over with pity towards the puppet girl.

"And he won't make breakfast for Fakir and me again-zura?"

Rue shook her head again.

At Rue's last shake Uzura's eyes became more panicked. "He won't push me on the swing anymore-zura! Or take me grocery shopping-zura!"

Another shake of the head was her answer. The meaning of 'death' was quickly beginning to make more sense to the little girl but she didn't like the sound of it.

"He won't fix my drum when I break it anymore-zura?" she nearly cried out, big drooping tears appearing at the edges of her eyes.

Rue was almost ready to break down and cry there and then. She hated herself for making the girl realize what was truly going on. This was something Uzura couldn't fix no matter what she did.

Tears were now cascading down Uzura'a porcelain cheeks. She had to make absolutely sure what she was hearing was correct. It couldn't be true! Charon wouldn't just leave her would he? She was his little girl. He told her that himself! "He won't tuck me into bed and read me bedtime stories anymore-zura?" She screamed in agony. Her daddy couldn't just leave her! He couldn't!

Rue wept into her hands, unable to bring herself to look at the girl she had just hurt unimaginably. "I'm…so...sorry…Uzura" she gasped between sobs that shook her frame. "Charon's not coming back."

The tears ran down Uzura's white cheeks faster than before once she realized her worst fears had come true. "No-zura…" she whispered to herself in shock as her tears stained her Dutch-like dress. "No!" she screamed louder, clenching her fists at her sides, wanting to believe it wasn't true. She continued to scream that one word over and over again, hoping her defiance would turn everything she learned around. But no matter how hard she tried to deny it, the truth was staring her in the face and she couldn't run away from it no matter how hard she tried. Her screams turned into wails of grief once she realized that Charon was truly gone and she would never ever see him alive again. With one final scream to the heavens that had taken her father away from her, the little doll broke down onto Rue's waiting shoulder.

She finally understood the true meaning of death.