Disclaimer: This chapter has a bit of time-skipping, but that was what I was going for. I know you (Thundercatroar) probably hate me now, especially after the ending I'm giving you, but hey, I am writing a short sequel to this. So there. Hey! Arnold and the Beatles still don't belong to me.

HA

It had started raining. Hard. The world was a dark grey, fog and mist weaving through the dreary streets. It was quiet, even with all the sirens and emergency vehicles rushing towards the newest ground zero. News vans were hot on their tail, and soon everyone was watching transfixed as the scene played out on national television.

"This is Andrea Bailey, here at the Hillwood City Capital Building, the scene of what appears to be a massive terrorist attack, closely following the Financial District bombings earlier this week. We've just been told that Thaddeus Gammelthorpe was the main bomber. He was also wanted for his involvement in the earlier bombings. Officials have just released that he was in the capital building when the bombs went off, which seemed to be located on the fourth floor. It's uncertain at this point how many people have been injured or killed, but it has been confirmed that Thaddeus Gammelthorpe was killed. I repeat, Thaddeus Gammelthorpe was killed."

As the anchors continued to ask for information from the on-site reporter, Jolene and Ted seemed to stare off into space.

What? Curly? Dead? No, Curly can't be dead. That boy is too crazy to die, especially in a terrorist attack. It can't be, it can't be, it just can't . . .

Tears began to openly leak from her eyes as Jolene's chest hitched with her held back sobs. A cry escaped her lips as she gripped Ted's hand before falling against the nearest washer, weeping as she watched the soapy water spin. Ted collapsed next to her, cradling her as best he could even though he, too, was having a break down.

Openly crying, Jolene put a hand to the clear glass, wishing she could do nothing more then climb in and drown.

"Nothing's gonna change my world." She whispered brokenly, as she and Ted became two more victims of the bombings.

*

Arnold had wrapped an arm around Helga as she clung to him, their hearts breaking at both the massive death toll, and the news that their friend was the cause. The living room of Sunset Arms Boarding House was silent as they all absorbed the information.

"I just can't, I can't, why would Curly do something like that?" the football headed young man asked no one, which was fine, because no one had an answer for him. Against her better judgment, Helga let herself cry as she stared at the screen transfixed.

"Nothing's gonna change my world."

*

The ash and debris was falling all around her, but all she could do was stare at the building, fear gripping her heart like a vise. She wanted to throw up, but she couldn't; all she could do was sit and stare. Sit and stare and watch her world end.

In through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the –

"Ma'am?" a gentle voice called out to her, and Rhonda looked up to see a polite-looking fireman in his early thirties holding a hand out to her.

"Come on, Ma'am, let's get you over to an ambulance to get you looked at." He offered, and she nodded, still dazed over what she had just witnessed.

"I'm fine." Her voice was rough with emotion, and it was enough for him to know she wasn't. Maybe physically, sure, but she was definitely not fine.

Draping a wool blanket over her shoulders and handing her a cup of water, Rhonda noticed the multiple emergency vehicles, helping other people in the exact same manner. With all the chaos surrounding her, she was amazed that she couldn't really hear a thing. The tears and rain ran paths down her dirty cheeks without her knowledge or consent, all she could think of was her father.

And Curly.

""Oh my God, what happened here? What happened – Rhonda?" he head turning sharply, Rhonda found her lobbyist father approaching her ambulance, his suit tragedy-free and a Subway sandwich bag in his hand. She was up and in his arms in a second, gripping him fiercely as she sobbed into his chest.

"Daddy! I thought, I thought . . ." she couldn't finish her sentence, and Buckley Lloyd could understand why, what with all the destruction around them.

"Rhonda, honey, what on earth were you doing here?" his daughter pulled away from his embrace to better look at his face.

"Curly, he, he warned me that something like this would happen. He called me, told me to get you home and away from the office building as soon as possible. But you weren't answering your cell phone and one of your aides said you were unreachable. I got so worried, I had to, had to . . ." dropping off once again, she clung to him tighter as he whispered soothing words in her ear to try to calm her. A police officer who was standing nearby taking statements heard the name drop and turned to the pair with a stern face.

"Curly? As in Thaddeus Curly Gammelthorpe?" he asked firmly, and when she nodded, her father's face morphed from concern to shock. He had been watching the news in the restaurant, about that young man who had been using bombs to terrorize the city.

"Why were you talking with -" he just about unloaded onto her, but the policeman beat him to it.

"Gammelthorpe was killed, apparently it was a suicide bombing. Just how do you know him." Suspicion was clearly readable in his tone, but Buckley Lloyd was determined to put a stop to it. No Lloyd would be in league with terrorists.

"Now you listen here, officer, my daughter in no way had anything to do with that sick crim-"

"I love him Daddy." Rhonda cut him off calmly, and everyone was stunned she's said it, including herself. At first she wasn't sure, but once it was out in the air, she felt as if it had always been true.

"That's a shame, there's nothing left to love." the officer said with no compassion as he turned away to continue with his job. The way he said it, the tone of absolute contempt, forced Rhonda to look at the large void in the capital building.

The ground below her collapsed, and fell to her knees in tears, clutching her chest and desperately trying to claw out her pain.

*

It was still dark, depressing grey and raining. The small procession made their way out of the church and towards the cemetery, all of them allowing the rain to fall, soaking them in one sense, cleansing them in another. Ted, Arnold, Gerald, Sid, Stinky, and Herald were the pallbearers, with Jolene and Rhonda holding on to each other for comfort behind them. It was a closed casket funeral.

If only because the body was burned beyond recognition.

They buried him in silence, because partly for Chinese tradition, and partly because no one trusted their voice. They were content to stand and mourn, offering no prayers or words of comfort. Jolene openly cried in Ted's arms, while Rhonda simply held Nadine's hand and let the tears stream down her face.

They were being watch by policemen, with Curly's name being forever connected with terrorism the law didn't trust a single soul at the service.

"You bastards. You BASTARDS!" Jolene shouted at them in a moment of overpowering grief, before turning back to her forever sleeping brother, who had been placed next to their parents. The group passed around a shovel, and one at a time they helped cover Thaddeus Curly Gammelthorpe with his eternal blanket of earth.

As the rain picked up and time wove on, the mourners slowly wandered away, until only three people remained. Jolene and Ted could only watch on in sorrow as Rhonda finally allowed her despair to control her. She fell onto the mud of his grave, her hands beneath her chin and her head by the headstone as she read and reread what was engraved.

Thaddeus 'Curly' Edwin Gammelthorpe

April 12th 1990 – November 18th 2007

Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend

Curling and uncurling her fingers around his dirt, Rhonda could only manage one sentence, over and over and over again. It came out in broken sobs, but the family of her deceased loved one could still hear it just fine, even with the rain.

"Nothing's gonna change my world . . ."

HA