CHAPTER(III)

Brother and sister shared a couch inside her room. He held her hand in between his. "Luna…" he had started and paused, breathed in then out.

"Is everything ok?" Little Luna asked reading her brother's face.

He was silent at first, then he spoke. "Princess I wish I could say everything was ok. But I would be lying if I said that."

"What's wrong?" She asked looking at him.

He looked back, looked into her pretty innocent eyes. She didn't deserve any of this, she didn't deserve to be robbed her entire family, she didn't deserve to grow up without a mother's guidance or a father's love and a sister's care. She deserved none of that, she was only four for heavens sake. Phil wished he wasn't the one to be breaking it to her. He himself hadn't come to the terms with what had happed. How could anyone.

It had been more than 18 hours since it had happened but it was still very fresh to him, flashes of the bodies burning and the car exploding played on a loop in his mind.

"It's about mom… and dad and umm, and Steff. They ahh-" He broke off. "They-" He looked deep into her eyes and saw her worry, her concern, he saw the terror that haunted her. He let go of her hand and stood. He couldn't, no way was he going to look at her and break that kind of news to her. It was in his place to break the news but he just couldn't. He was terrified of her reaction. What was he to do when she broke down?

"Jane!" He called and a servant walked in.

"Yes sir,"

"Take her." Phil told her and she walked to Luna but before she could get to her, Luna bolted and held her brother's cloth. He looked down at her, her eyes were begging him to tell her what was going on.

Jane managed to take her out of the room and Phil turned to the large window and stared outside at nothing in particular.

Leo walked in. "You didn't tell her, did you?" he asked standing next to him.

"I couldn't."

Lionel James had been in Phil's life since he was a toddler and at the moment, he was the closest thing to a father that Phil had.

"I'll take care of that."

"How?" Phil asked turning to him.

Before Leo could answer, the door burst open and Jamie's face peeped in, "Something happened. " There was some trace of urgency in his voice.

Phil and Leo exchanged looks and hurriedly walked to the door. What could it possibly be?

They got to the viewing room and there she was, frozen, looking at the now dark television screen. Her eyes were unblinking and her gaze fixed.

"What happened?" Phil asked as he went down on one knee, taking Luna by her hands.

"The lady from TV said mommy and daddy are gone." She told him in her soft innocent voice.

Phil's eyes quickly shifted from her to Carman. "The TV was on." He admitted.

"Where did they go?" Luna wanted to know.

Phil asked for the room, they all left except for Lionel.

On the couch, Phil sat to on her right and Lionel on her left.

"I wanna see mommy." Her voice was shaky and it broke Phil. 

"I'm sorry princess but you can't." He replied.

"Why?"

He cleared his throat, "You know how mom and dad are always said that people become stars when they are no longer with us?"

Luna nodded, her innocent curiosity piqued. "Yes, like grandma became a star?"

"That's right." He confirmed. "Listen Luna---mom and dad and Steff have become stars."

Lily's eyes lit up, her young mind trying to process the information. "Can I see them?"

"No princess, you can't. They are a special kind of stars, we can't see them but they are there in the sky."

"I wanna hug them." Little Luna whispered, tightening her grip on her doll.

Phil fought back his own tears, realizing that his sister's innocent yearning was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. He held back his emotions for her sake, he couldn't let himself breakdown in front of her. He needed to be strong.

"Sweetheart, when someone becomes a special star, we can't see or hug or talk to them anymore. We can only see them in photos and think about them." He told her softly.

"Why did they become special stars?"

It was all very overwhelming for young Phil, how could he answer that. He tied his hands around his sister and hugged her tight.

"I miss them." Luna said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I know baby. I miss them too. We all do." He admitted, his voice quivering.

As they held each other, he stroked her hair gently, knowing that he was all she had and she was all he had. He knew it was going to be a very long and difficult journey that they were on. What happened was cruel, very cruel but there was nothing he or anyone else could do.