Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of it's character's such as Prue,Piper,Phoebe and Paige.

Author's Note: The chapters are somewhat cryptic because this story is going to be very dramatic. The way I'm writing the story, Melinda's emotions and the presence of family members will set off memories of events that occurred during her generation, after the final battle occurred. Anything that is italicized is a memory of the past.

Blessed Be

Chapter One

The manor was silent. There were no echoes of voices; no patter of feet. The only sound that could be heard was the rain falling from the heavens and the lightening that danced from the skies to the earth. The furniture was covered by slipcovers and dust.

And so it had been since the Halliwell family matriarch, Piper Halliwell, had passed away to join her loved ones. She had led a full life, having found love and happiness with her husband of some fifty- odd years. There love had triumphed over the constant hardships life had thrown at them, and had created three beautiful children.

Wyatt Matthew Halliwell was the first boy born into the female dominated family in three hundred years. As such, he had grown to be a man of great intellect, talent and had great respect for women. He had strived to be as brave as his mother and aunts, and had inherited his father's open and kind nature. Following in his father's footsteps, Wyatt had decided to become a doctor and had risen to the top of his field as a neurosurgeon. He was a good brother and friend to many, and instilled great pride in his parents.

Christopher Perry Halliwell had grown up not in his brother's shadows, but right next to him. There had never been a day in his life that his parents or aunts made him feel second best or like the typical middle child. Christopher Perry was far from typical. While Wyatt was extremely intelligent and good natured, Chris was super observant of his natural surroundings and was incredibly street wise. Yet life hadn't been the easiest for the second born Halliwell, and it seemed as if his whole life he had been burdened by the responsibility of taking care of those he loved.

Chris and Wyatt were best friends as well as brothers. In their family siblings had a strong need for friendship and close ties to bind them to one another. While Wyatt had been the typical golden child growing up, Chris had taken every opportunity he could to rebel against the unfair responsibilities he sometimes had to bare. He never resented anyone for these burdens, but had learned that if you were to be happy you had to live life of your own accord. It was this philosophy that kept him sane and happy, along with the love of his family, especially his little sister Melinda.

Melinda Anne Halliwell was Piper's and Leo's only daughter. She was just three years younger than Chris and one of the most natural beauties California had ever seen. She was a carbon copy of her mother, but her eyes were the same blue-gray as her father's. She was slender and petite, but she was strong willed and stubborn. Mel was also a natural born caretaker, and was the nurturing one of the Halliwell clan.

All three had left years ago, and had pursued their own dreams in hopes of finding happiness. It hadn't been easy. The Halliwells' had had their share of familial dysfunction and heartache. But as the key turned in the double stained glass doors of the family manor, the house seemed to startle out of its sleep, as Melinda crossed the thresh hold with her duffle bag and closed her umbrella. She stood in the darkness, and whispered "Welcome home."

Mel hurried up to stairs to the ancestral home of the Halliwell clan, rushing to get out of the rain. It didn't matter that she was forty-nine years old and had left more than two decades ago to start her own happily ever after; this would always be home. Besides, happily ever after didn't last as long as she had planned.

Her three daughters were staying the night with their father, and her soon-to-be ex-husband. They had been married for almost twenty years but you didn't need to have a microscope to see the cracks in the foundation of their relationship. Both Mel and Gray were passionate, intelligent people and it had been passion that had attracted the two to each other. But passion faded and the fights had begun and the two had gotten to the point of no return.

Mel had made the decision to return to her childhood home, along with their kids, and had given up alimony or the settlement that Gray had wanted to give her. All she asked of him was the child support for the girls, and she had agreed to the joint custody arrangement he had wanted. Just because she was divorcing Gray didn't mean she wanted to divorce their children from him. Besides, he only lived twenty minutes away, and was closer to the girls' schools. He would pick them up every day and have them for three hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while he had two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

As much as they fought, Mel still loved her ex, but she knew when it was time to "cash out" of the relationship. She had gambled, made some great bets, but in the end she was losing chips quick and needed to leave with what remained of her pride and dignity. It was time to begin anew. And so, as she entered the double doors of her childhood home, she welcomed herself home.

The house seemed to awaken as life once again beat within its' walls. As if the universe had mandated the return of its kin, the rain and lightening stopped and light began to enter from the windows. It was like the house was reliving memories of the past, as dust particles rose through the air, the house shaking off the last remnants of loneliness.

Melinda put her jacket and purse up near the front door and made her way further into the foyer. A familiar tug at her heart made her instinctively turn towards the stair way as a memory played in her head.

Prue was walking down the stairs with a duffle thrown over her shoulder. It was midnight, and the inhabitants of the house were either at P3 or the restaurant appropriately title the Manor House. Melinda stood, leaning against the dining room table. Her long hair was back in a disheveled ponytail and her side bangs were in her face. "Are you sure you want to do this, I mean leaving in the middle of the night without saying goodbye?"

"I need to do this Mel. I just need to get away from the responsibility and the magic."

"I'm not saying don't leave, it's just…we're eighteen years old. What, you're not gonna say goodbye to Patty and Penny, or the rest of the cousins? Aunt Phoebe is going to go crazy looking for you. Do you really want to do this to everyone?"

"Of course I don't want to leave like this, but if I don't do it this way then I never will. I can't stay here and be this person anymore," Prue said and brushed a strand of black hair behind her hair. It was a perfectly cut bob, with side bangs. She stood cool and composed, wearing a yellow lace tank top with a v-neck over a red camisole with a dark washed pair of jeans and brown pointed toe leather boots. It was a perfect image of a held together young woman. But Mel, could look into those eyes and tell that behind her strong exterior, Prue was far from perfect. So was her life. Just then, their aunt Paige walked through the front door.

"You ready girlie? We need to take off now if we're gonna make this work."

"I'm ready Aunt Paige." Prue walked to Mel and hugged her tight. "I'll find a way to keep in touch."

"You better," Mel said as tears gushed from her eyes. She used the back of her hands to wipe away the tears.

"Remember," Paige said, "I had no part in this. Mel didn't know you were taking off and Prue left without either of us helping her."

"Of course," Mel said.

Prue lifted the duffle bag further onto her shoulder and followed Paige to the door. She was about to cross the threshold when Mel called out. "Prue, what did you see that's making you leave?"

"I saw what life would be like if I didn't take the chance to be my own person," she said referring to her experience earlier in the week. An experience only Paige and Melinda knew about. "I can't be that person again…anymore."

With that, Prue and Paige had left for the airport and the memory faded. Melinda could no longer hear the sound of her cousin's footsteps or the door shutting. Neither were eighteen year old girls anymore and Mel left the memories of the past to settle back into her home of years ago.