Gripping Prue's hand, Penny slowly walked towards her only child. A beautiful mahogany-colored coffin sat on a pedestal amongst a bouquet of flowers. A Wiccan priestess stood before a blue silk covered altar table, which is adorned with a ceremonial chalice. A tied, silver cord lay before the chalice, three lit candles surrounded it, symbolizing birth, death, and the rebirth. The portrait of Patty, which stood next to the coffin, was captioned:

PATRICIA HALLIWELL, 1946-1978

Forever in our Hearts

Penny rested her free hand on the coffin whispering, "Blessed be, my darling."

The priestess, in hopes of comforting Penny, rested her on hand on the older witch's. "She has passed into the better world, a world where she will never be hurt again."

Nodding, Penny took Prue and turned back to see her dear friend Gail with Piper and Phoebe. The witches sat down the girls in between them and Phoebe on Gail's lap as the service began.

The priestess cleared her throat and started to speak. "That which belongs to fellowship and love. That, which belongs to the circle, remains with us. The wheel turns. As life is a day, so our sister has passed into night. Nothing is final, and we who remain behind know that one day, we will once again share the bread and wine with our sister, the sweet Patricia. O blessed spirit, we bid you farewell, for you await a new destiny." With those final words, she untied the silver cord and gently laid it into the chalice. She blew out the candles.

Gail turned to her old friend, tears streaming down her face as she caressed Phoebe's head. "It was a beautiful service, Penny. I'm sure she would've loved it."

"Thank you Gail, but I think my daughter would prefer being able to raise her children than having a nice funeral." She glanced back towards the crowd of mourners, past distant relatives and Patty's friends, looking for a face. Sam's face. The mere thought of him magnified her already-overwhelming sorrow. But she did see a young, brown-skinned woman with shoulder-length ebony hair wearing an even darker dress.

Nodding at the mourners as she passed, Penny headed straight for Olivia. "Did the Elders send you here?"

The whitelighter shook her head. "I came to see how you're holding up. You're more than a charge to me; you're a friend. And I know what it's like to bury a child."

Penny gasped indignantly. "How could you possibly know? You never had children!" She whispered angrily.

"That's true, but 62 years ago, I watched my mother bury me and I could feel her sadness. I was younger than Patty is now. It broke my heart to see her cry."

"I want you to leave, now."

"But, Penelope--"

"Go!" To spare her charge further anguish, Olivia ducked behind a pillar and orbed out.

Turning, the Halliwell matriarch hurried back to her friend and granddaughters. "Gail, I can't go to the burial. I can't watch them dump dirt on my little girl as if she were a potted plant," she began to sob.

"I understand," Gail said as she hugged one of her oldest friends close to her. "Blessed be."

"Blessed be. Could you take the girls with you for a few days? I'm a wreck right now and they need someone strong to get through this."

Gail nodded and put Phoebe in her carriage, then took Piper's hand. "Girls, you're going to stay with me for a few days. Doesn't that sound like fun?" The two older children nodded solemnly.

Shaking hands with random mourners as she passed, Penny left the girls with Gail and hurried out of the church. She tapped on the window of the limo that had brought her and the driver rolled down the window. "Please, please take me home now." He nodded and she climbed in the backseat.

In no time at all, the limo pulled up at 1329 Prescott Street. As she hurried up the walk, she waved to the driver and the limo headed back to the church.

Blowing open the front door, she ran upstairs to the attic. The Book of Shadows flew open and the pages started flipping. Penny lit the circle of candles and started to chant: "Hear these words, here my cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee, cross now the Great Divide."

Penny stared in hopeful wonder as white orbs appeared in the circle. But they took the form of an older woman, around fifty. The witch gasped as she recognized her mother, Helena. "Penny, you know you can't see your daughter yet. It's too soon. You need time to move on."

"I don't need to move on, I need my little girl! Now get her down here!"

"I can't do that but I can help you grieve," the departed witch said.

"I don't need your comfort," Penny spat and blew out one of the candles, causing her mother to disappear.

She grabbed a pot full of water and dropped in a rose from Patty's funeral. Then, using a ceremonial athame, she sliced her finger and a few droplets splattered on the rose. Then she began to rhyme:

Evil that has grown so wild,

Has taken now my precious child.

Bring her back so mote it be,

Return my Patty home to me.

Looking to the circle, she saw a flicker of light and felt a cold wind but then it was gone. She squeezed a few more drops of blood onto the rose and threw in a few potions.

I call to you whom I gave birth,

As you lie beneath the Earth.

Return to me now I say,

Come back to Mother without delay.

This time there was a bigger flash and a stronger wind, but Patty still did not appear.

Frustrated, Penny sliced her palm and drained as much blood as she could from it. Then she opened the trunk and searched for her strongest potions. "Let's see, the potion to increase power, to undo mistakes, and the healing potion." Dumping them all in the pot, there was a poof of smoke. Next, she placed a picture of Patty in the center of the circle.

Powers of Heaven and Powers of Hell,

Help me now to complete this spell.

My anguish grows by leaps and bounds,

Because my daughter lies in the ground.

Angels and hellions now work your charms,

Return my baby to my empty arms.

She squeezed a final drop of blood into the pot. The strongest wind blew in the attic, knocking Penny to the ground. As she stood, there was a giant flash of light as lightning struck Patty's photo, setting it aflame.

As the smoke rose, a figure appeared. It was a little girl around ten with long blonde pigtails wearing a white party dress. She looked at Penny, and her eyes were blacker than the darkest night. "You rang?" With that, she began to giggle insanely.

TBC

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