"Significant Moment"

Date: 11/3/03 - 11/18/03

Disclaimer: Many of these characters are from the television show, "Charmed." The ones you do not recognize from the show are a creation of a writing (RPG) group that I have been affiliated with for the past two years.

Background: I'll try to explain as much as I can in the given space within the story, but for further information there is about 2,000+ pages of history & character lists at wriod.kitzzy.com

Patricia Lynn Turner stood silently as the mahogany box was gradually lowered into the earth. Her once vibrant brown eyes now stared vacantly at the morose scene. So vacant, in fact, that her family wondered if she was even there anymore.

The navy and crimson rose wreathe on top of the casket slipped off and then under into the dark crevasse between the box and the side of the gravesite, never to be seen again. A stab of pain flooded into Patty's heart. She could have stopped that, she could have used her powers, she could of at least kept her daddy's flowers from falling…

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at me!" shouted an extremely energetic Patty as she spun around in her new Halloween costume. The fourteen-dollar kitten ensemble was enough to brighten the four year old's day, even though back then anything could. One of the many reasons why Cole Turner was so taken with his pint-sized princess.

Cole smiled and snatched up Patty with one arm and began tickling her with the other, eliciting a cascade of giggles from his little girl.

Warm tears slipped down her cheeks as a soft spring breeze wafted through her hair. Her father was gone. Gone. And there was nothing she could do about it. Not anymore. Magic had failed her, just like it had Jeff.

Barely a witch for half a year and her whole world fell to pieces. Demons killed her grandmother, her aunts, Prue and Piper, her boyfriend Jeff, and now her own father. Just when she was getting over Jeff's untimely passing, just when she came back to the side of Good, just when her family was reconnecting, her life went straight to Hell. Still though, why can't They bring him back? Why? She screamed silently. Why?! It wasn't fair.

Piper Halliwell looked from one niece to another, her nervousness was evident in the way she presented herself. Patty frowned. This wasn't going to be a happy family meeting. Taking a deep breath, Piper began, "There is no easy way to say this, so I will just come out and say it. Paige, Phoebe and I are witches. But the good kind. We have magical powers, and so do you. They are just bounded; which means that once we say a spell you will have them again."

Patty raised an eyebrow and wondered, not for the first time, if her family had gone insane. "Witches?" She asked skeptically.

Nodding, Piper added, "There is more… Sorry… Cole is a demon. Half demon. He's good though. And Leo, he's a Whitelighter. That is like a guardian angel for good witches." The eldest Charmed One watched her and Melinda absorb this new, alien, information. "I know this is a lot to take in."

"Uh… Can you please repeat the witch part?" Melinda asked first. Staring up at her mother, utterly confused.

"You both have magical powers, and so do all of us." Piper raised her hands and as if the air itself blinked, time froze. Patty jumped and looked at the only one in the room not moving, her father. "See?" Just as suddenly as it began, Piper unfroze Cole. "Sorry."

"So… What kind of powers do we get?" Patty chirped, easily accepting her newfound destiny.

"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 brother 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 brother. O' blessed spirit, we bid you farewell. For you await a new destiny." The Priestess then blew out the shimmering white candles at the podium, her prayer done. "Now if any family members wish to speak." She gestured to her place and stepped down.

Hesitantly, people walk up and begin to speak to the crowd. Trent, Leo, Aunt Piper, everyone. Patty watched, her tears now falling down heavier. She never realized how many lives her father had touched.

Her mother, Phoebe Halliwell, sat next to her. She gave her daughter's hand a quick, comforting squeeze before heading up to the stage to say her farewells to her husband, and to thank everyone for coming.

"How was your day, sweetie?" Phoebe nervously asked Patty as she entered the living room. The eerie calm in the house had freaked out Patty when she came home, but walking in here, with nearly everyone in her family intently watching her and Melinda, made her even more on edge. Yet, the look in her mother's eyes was the scariest thing, they were filled with anguish.

"Why don't you have a seat? We have something to tell you." came Piper's choked voice. The two teenagers complied.

"Melinda, Patty. Phoebe is going to explain… And you both know how things happen for certain reasons. This had to happen too." Leo added, his deep voice wary, completely unsure of how his daughter and niece are going to react to the news.

Patty turned and faced Phoebe, her eyes wide and frightened. She knew something was up before, but Leo's foreshadowing had unnerved her. Something bad happened. Something really bad. "Mom…? What happened…? Please?"

Phoebe took a deep breath and grabbed Patty's hand. "Honey, a demon attacked your daddy earlier in the day. He didn't even get the chance to fight back."

Patty tried taking a moment for this to sink in, trying to comprehend. She couldn't. It was too hard. "He was attacked? He's okay though, right?" Glancing at her aunts' faces, and then back to her mother's. "Tell me he's okay, Mom. Okay? Just tell me he's alive!"

Her heart breaking before her family's eyes, she slid off the couch. Phoebe moves over to Patty's side and enfolded her in a hug. "It will be okay."

Phoebe watched her daughter the entire time she was at the podium. Her words pained, but necessary. She wanted this day to end as soon as possible, so her family could finally move on, so they could once again have hope.

Patty sat hugging her knees in the center of her family's once prominent nightclub, P3. The battle that had taken place earlier that day, a battle between Good and Evil, shattered the club and her. Not even a day after her father's death, not even a day to try to piece the family together, magic interfered. "This place is cheery, isn't it? What do you say we get out of here?" Phoebe asked.

"Fine," was Patty's quiet reply. It was odd seeing P3 in such shambles. Their words echoed in the halls. The sounds sent a shiver up her spine. They were alone. Totally alone. Her voice strained and weak, "Why did he have to do that? Why'd he have to do that when everything was looking good again?"

"Oh honey," she said, "Your dad's heart was in the right place. He wanted to do his part to help us vanquish the Source and make sure everything would be good permanently." Phoebe offered the smallest of smiles. "He wanted to return after it was all over and fix things, Patty, and I believe he would have. Things… Things didn't work out as planned, but you need to know your father never meant to leave us. And I don't think he ever really will."

Patty watched her mother step down. There was no one else to speak. No one else but her. Patty wasn't a public speaker. And more often than not, she had problems expressing her emotions. So for her to stand up there and say anything would be a miracle. Sure enough, a miracle occurred. Walking up slowly to the podium, she rolled her eyes up to the sky. This one's for you, Dad.

Taking her place, she smiled half-heartedly to the crowd. "Hey." She took a deep breath, trying to summon her strength to speak. "Cole was my dad. He….was a great dad. No matter what I did, how much of a pain in the ass I was, he let it go. He wasn't irresponsible, not at all. He just had his own way of guiding people. Especially me." She smirked for a second. "Once when I was little I colored all over one of my mom's expensive Psychology texts. Dad was the one to catch me in the act. Instead of spanking me and sending me to my room, he sat me down and asked for the crayons. I gave them to him, of course. He then explained to me, in that calm voice of his, that it was wrong to ruin other's things. Next, he asked me how would I feel if someone ruined one of my favorite toys. Making his point, he smiled, tussled up my hair, and gave me back my crayons. Feeling bad, I wrote my mom a card with a blank sheet of computer paper." Her words soon became choked and her façade deteriorated. "He was a good man, he didn't deserve this. A good man, dammit!" Dropping to her knees, hidden behind the podium, she cried. Phoebe rushed to her side to comfort her little girl, but Patty pushed her away. She needed to let this out. "He didn't deserve to be murdered! I don't care if he was a demon, he was my dad!" She was angry, upset, tired. This wasn't fair and she felt like she needed to make it known. "We can't keep living like this, Mom. We can't! Jeff, Dad, who else? Who else?! I'm tired of watching my back. I'm tired of waiting for the next one of us to drop. I'm just so damn tired…"

~*~*~*~

Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I cried. Oh, and I cried a lot. I missed him, I mourned him, and I moved on.

I still do miss him. I miss the way he called me his little princess, how he messed up my hair, even the Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes he used to make. I'm the lucky one though. I got to know him. When he died, my mom was pregnant with my little brother, Seth. Seth is 5 years old now, with no memories of our father. The little bugger really does look like Dad. They have the same lopsided grin, same dark brown hair, and the same dark eyes. That nasty stubborn streak I inherited from my father, Seth inherited also. Mom never did remarry, and I'm glad for that. I don't think introducing someone else, magical or not, into this insane family would do anyone any good, considering the fact we fight evil on a daily freaking basis.

No matter how many battles we go through, or how many innocents are lost, I do know two things for certain; one, we'll always stick together, and two, life will go on.

Patricia L. Turner