The day arrived, 24th April 2012. The days that Mami's funeral was taking place. As The Church clocks struck 7, though St Stephen's did the Westminster Quarters as well, like it always does, the town of Leamsford awoke. People were catching the train to commute to work, while the kids were getting ready to go to school. But the two parish churches in the town had different venues, St Stephen's had a wedding on and St Paul's had the funeral of Mami Tomoe on. Madoka and the crew arrived at Leamsford on the train, they came in shortly after 8am, which it was packed with commuters and ready to be filled with more. Madoka stepped off the train and the others followed. "Well this is it" she sighed "At 11:00am, will be the funeral"

Sayaka looked glum. "This is not going to go down well" she said "I know..." As they walked off the platform and on to the street, Madoka looked around. "Where was Mark's place again?" she asked. "I remember" said Kyoko "Follow me" and she lead them to Mark's place.

"Ah hello everyone" said Mark "I'll see to you later, I need to take Joshua and George to School, then I'll come back and see to you" He went and unlocked the Chapel of Rest where Mami's coffin lay. "You guys wait here" he said. "I'll not be long" "But can we have some tea to drink?" asked Madoka. "Alright" said Mark and went to boil the kettle. He hurried his two sons up to get ready for School.

Madoka and the others walked into the Chapel. They saw that Mami's coffin had been decorated with the flowers they bought from Wendy 6 days earlier. "Well Mark did a good job of the coffin" said Sayaka. "But we want to see Mami's body for one last time before she is buried" said Homura. "I hope he can open the coffin for us" said Kyoko. Just then, Kyubey wandered into the Chapel of rest. "Oh" he said "Is this Mami's coffin" "Yes" replied Madoka. Then Mark arrived with their tea and Kyubey hid under a chair. "Here you go" he said.

"Erm Mark, can you unlock the coffin for us, because we wanna see Mami for one last time" said Madoka. "Okay" said Mark "I'll open the coffin and keep it open until I come back" and he opened the coffin and Mami's headless body was revealed. "I'll close it again when I come back, and then we'll load it onto the hearse, now I need to take Joshua and George to School. Stay here" and he went to do just that.

Madoka had a sip of her tea and then she had a look at Mami's corpse. "Shit" she said "That was all fucking insane" and Kyubey went and looked at Mami's corpse. "Bullshit" he said quietly "This could not happen" He stared at Mami in disbelief. Homura had another look at the corpse and had another sip of tea. "I know Mark has to have be strong to do a job like this" he said "But he nearly cried when he was talking about the children" "Of course" replied Sayaka "A Child's death is more tragic" Sayaka hummed to herself the tune of 'Seven Days in the Sun' by Feeder, that she heard in Wendy's flower shop. "What is that song called?" she pondered "I might be able to find it out by looking up the Gran Turmismo 3 soundtrack" She had another sip of tea. "This does not seem as bland this time for some reason" she said to herself "Did Mark use another type of tea?" She had a look at Mami's corpse. "I'm gonna miss you Mami" she said quietly.

Kyoko said exactly the same. "This seems to a big loss" she said "No wonder Homura considered quitting" "But at the time, we were done goofed" said Homura "I would of risked my life to save Mami, but I was not there...and this seems a big blow to me" Homura sighed..."fuck..." she muttered and had another sip of her tea before cussing under her breath again. Madoka was devistated. "I am starting to think maybe we should all abandon trying to hunt witches" she said "Homura is right, we have had our arses handed to us." There was mixed reactions.

"Indeed" said Homura "Witches, fucking useless, what fucking good are they for killing our friend? I say we do not fight any more witches, not unless we have to"

"We can't quit" protested Sayaka "If we don't fight them, they'll be more to kick our arses, and we don't want that. I'm in favour of continuing the campaign"

"I agree with Sayaka" said Kyoko "We must carry on the fight regardless"

The two sides exchanged some sighs.

Later, Mark returned. "Okay girls" he said "We need to close the coffin and load it onto the Hearse, I hope you've bid farewell to your friend" Madoka got up "Yes we have, we are ready for it all" Mark went forward and locked the coffin and put the flower arrangements on. "Okay" he said "1...2...3...LIFT!" and they lifted the coffin to the hearse that Kyoko had the job of opening the door. The coffin was in the hearse in no time. "Right" said Mark. "It's 9:00 so it's 2 hours until the funeral, so I'd say you smarten yourselves up while I put my suit on" And he went to get his funeral suit. "I think what he means is make ourselves look a bit tidier" Said Madoka and went inside into the bathroom. In no time they were ready for the funeral. It was cloudy, but it would brighten up later, at the time the wedding would happen.


Meanwhile at St Stephen's church, Norman Frazer, the tower captain was getting ready for the wedding bells to be rung. First, he went into the clock room that was above the ringing room to watch his beloved Potts of Leeds clock strike 9 o'clock. "Okay, any moment now" he said to himself, and then the electric whir of the chiming mechanisms kicked in. Norman sang cheerfully to the Westminster Chimes sequence. He sang the number of the bell being struck at the right moment.

"#5 3 4 9, 5 4 3 5, 3 5 4 9, 9 4 3 5#" Then 5 seconds later, the hour bell. "10" said Norman 9 times, as the Tenor bell struck the hour. "Well now" he said "I need to go and pull the clock hammers back" and he want down into the ringing room. Then the clock's electric winder kicked in and began to wind the clock up. "Here goes the winder" said Norman.

Norman waited until the clock was fully wound and then he pulled back the clock hammers. "Now" he said "Lets raise the bells" and he lowered down the bell ropes. Then he took every rope off their holder and raised it back up. Then he first raised the treble bell. He first checked it was down and then took in coils on the rope, and the began to raise the bell. He began swinging it upwards until it was up. "That's that one done" said Norman and then he raised the second bell. Then the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and finally, the 1260kg Tenor Bell. "HEAVE HO!" said Norman as he began to raise the Tenor Bell. Norman get he bell up. "Phew" he said.

He then locked the door and and went back out for another 2 and a half hours. They started the ringing a 11.30, 1 hour before the wedding started.


Inside of St Stephen's, Stephen was practising Mendelssohn's Wedding March on the 3 console Harrison and Harrison organ, his son James was next to him as there was no School for him, as there was a burst water pipe and it caused a big flood. He watched his Daddy play the Wedding March. "Daddy" said James "I heard the bells" Stephen turned to James "I heard them as well" he said "I did as well, Norman is getting them ready" and then Norman walked down the nave. "Hello Stephen" he said and adjusted his glasses. "Oh Hello James, why are you here with your Dad?"

"School is closed" replied James "There is a flood because of a burst water pipe, I did want to play football with Paul and Nathan but Daddy told me come with him"

"Hehehehe" replied Stephen "He has helped the ladies set up the flowers, and as a reward, he'll get to play the organ a bit, but first he has to help a bit more!"

Norman knew Stephen and James as he was a family friend of Heidi Lister, James' father and Stephen's wife. "Well James" said Norman "I'll be telling your Mum you have been helpful, now go and help Beatrice and Gwen with the flowers and let your Dad practice his song!"

Stephen went back to practicing the Wedding March while James went over to help Beatrice and Gwen that gave him a job to tie the ribbons. "No worries!" said James eagerly, and he tied each and every one of them. Beatrice and Gwen were impressed "Well done James" they said.


Meanwhile at St Paul's however, the ladies there were preparing the flower for Mami's funeral that would happen in less than 2 hours time. Mildred Anderson and Helen Walsden were at work tying the ribbons to the pillars with the flowers. "Helen, pass me some more ribbon please" said Mildred. Helen cut some more ribbon and passed it to Mildred. "Thank Helen" said Mildred and then tied some more flowers to the pillars. She then completed the job. "Thanks" she said to Helen "You were a great help as you always were"

"No problem Mildred" replied Helen "This looks perfect" and the two ladies looked at the flower arrangements. Then Therese Hollywell arrived. She had come back from visiting her grandchildren over the weekend, Lily and Liam. "Hi" said Therese "I'm back, I've had a lot of Grandma moments! Them two never cease to amaze me!" Mildred and Helen laughed "What a crafty bunch you have Therese!" Therese walked forward to see the flower arrangements for the funeral. "Very good job" she said. She had a look at her watch.

"It's 9:30 now, so I'd say we just wait" she said, but then Dave walked in. "Morning Dave!" said the ladies. "Hello ladies" said Dave "Nice flower arrangements, as always" "Heheheh Thanks Dave" replied Mildred "Wendy is always helpful, along with some from our own back gardens!" Dave laughed. "You sure know how to do good flower arrangements, and how was your weekend with your grandchildren Therese?"

"They were a crafty bunch!" laughed Therese "A lot of Grandma moments! But it was funny!" Everyone laughed. "Well" said Dave as he headed to the 2 manual Brindley and Foster Organ "Just one more rehearsal and we are perfect" and he fired the Organ up.


Meanwhile back at Mark's place, Madoka and the girls were waiting with Mark to proceed to St Paul's. Sayaka was quietly singing the song she heard in Wendy's shop some days earlier, but she did not remember all the lines.

"#I got a friend, her name is Laura, we took a holiday, seven sweet days to Majorca. We took a plane...#" No one noticed her singing.

Mark did look good in his suit. But this was no fashion show matter, this was a funeral, so he had to wear black. He straightened his tie and checked his watch. And then eventually he said. "We need to get going now"

"Alright" said Madoka "How are we gonna get to the church?"

"Well" said Mark "That black car there is going to take you there, but Madoka, you will have to come with me in the hearse" They got in and then they headed off to the Church. But ironically, they passed the wedding vehicle for Peter and Ellen!

Author's Notes:

When Norman was singing to the Westminster Chimes of the clock, he was saying the bell number that was being struck, I.e 5 was the 5th bell and 10 was the Tenor bell, you get the idea, if you were a ringer like, you would know more.

Also the clock at St Stephen's has an electric wind device, and electric chiming but it is still pendulum powered. Hehehehe.

Next bit will be the actual funeral.