"Call it. Time of death?"
"The car went through the guardrail. She never had a chance."
"I'm sorry. We did all we could."
The double ceremony was beautiful. Family friends, the equivalent of accident-site gawkers, a handful of reporters, and dozens of strangers who just wanted to offer condolences made up the rows of mourners. Alone, at the front of the church, Phoebe Halliwell sat, her shoulders rigid. A few people had offered to sit with her, to try to comfort her, but had been turned quietly but firmly away. Reporters wrote furiously, casting Phoebe in the role of "dignified survivor." As the service began, the crowd was silent. There was no one sobbing, or sniffling. None of the usual noise that accompanied funerals. Everyone seemed to be imitating Phoebe, saying to themselves "If she can be composed, then so will I." Phoebe never even noticed.
When it came time for her to speak, she rose, dry-eyed and walked to the front. With the exception of scribbling pens, the silence held. Phoebe faced the people who had come to mourn, but she never saw them. Her eyes fixed on something no one else could see, Phoebe began to speak:
"Today, I must bury the last two members of my family. My sisters, Piper Halliwell and Paige Matthews. Theirs were neither quiet nor easy deaths, not that death is ever easy. I will not offer any justifications, any platitudes. I will only stand here because I must honor my sisters, but I will not lie. I refuse to sugar coat their deaths with silly phrases such as, "They're in a better place," or "Everything happens for a reason." I believe neither. There is no reason, no justice in a madman beating my older sister into her grave. None. No reason for my baby sister to have been in such agony, such grief. No reason for her car to be in a million pieces. No reason at all for either of them to be dead. But they are."
"I know most of you are here because in some way, my sisters touched your lives. Piper and Paige had a tendency to do that, even when you wanted to be left alone. Most of you are saddened to know that the world is without two very generous, loving souls. I agree. The world has been robbed. So many will not get the chance they would have to meet Piper. To meet Paige. The truth is, that as many lives they have touched now, there could have been so many more. Should have been. Some of you know life will never be the same. I know mine never will."
With that, Phoebe turned, touching Paige's casket.
"Paige, I wish you had never left the hospital that night. I wish I had gone after you. After Piper went missing, there were so many things we put on hold, so many things we thought could wait. I always thought I'd be able to see you get married, have children. Finally tell your boss off, even though you'd already quit. We were supposed to die on the same day. Age 105. Remember? You promised. I know we didn't grow up together, something you always let get to you. It never mattered to me, Paige. I wish I had told you. You and Piper were what was great in my life. I love you, baby sister. Always." Phoebe kissed the top of the coffin, and swiveled to face Piper's.
"Piper. I will never forgive myself for failing you. For so long, I searched. Paige and I both did, but not long enough. Never long enough. I can't forget about your first funeral. The relief I felt for finally trying to let go. All the while, you were counting on us, on me, to find you. I fear that by giving up, I let you go. And when I did, you lost the will to live. I'm so sorry, Piper. For my entire life, you were my rock, my glue. I always knew that no matter what, I could turn around and find you right behind me. I couldn't return the favor, and you died."
For the first time, Phoebe lost her composure. As she fought to get it back, a collective breath was drawn. Finally, after several agonizing minutes, Phoebe spoke. "I will spend forever making that up to you, Piper. I promise you that. I love you."
She bent to kiss the top of Piper's coffin and returned to her seat.
After the burial ceremony, Phoebe fled back to the Manor. Away from sympathetic eyes, and prying questions. She closed the door on the silent house and crept upstairs. "It's done," she whispered. Her only concern since the day she lost her sisters, had been giving them the funeral they both deserved. And now that it was accomplished, Phoebe had lost the only incentive she had to keep going. And she was relieved.
Phoebe quietly entered Paige's room. It was just as Paige left it. Unmade bed, floors buried beneath clothes and towels and shoes. She had not been in Piper's room, not since before she had been taken. Many people had, but not Phoebe. She never would. Letting the tears she had been holding back flood her eyes, Phoebe hurled herself across the room, into Paige's bed. Curling under the covers, she pulled a bottle of prescription pills from her pocket. Piper's doctor had prescribed them for Phoebe when Piper died, "To help you sleep." She had carried it with her to the funeral. "To help me sleep," Phoebe whispered, and uncapped the bottle.
When the news of Phoebe Halliwell's death reached San Francisco, reporters around California typed furiously. Headlines changed from "The Last Standing" and "Sole Survivor" to "And Then There Were None." and "Tragedy Strikes Three Sisters" Every newspaper held a copy of the "suicide note." There was no funeral, as Phoebe had requested.
