DISCLAIMER: You know this by now. Property of Spelling Productions and Joss Whedon yadda yadda yadda. Copyright blah blah blah.

NOTE: There will be references to several of my previous fan fictions. I'll try to make it so you don't have to read them to understand this one, but it might help if you did. If you want to keep count I have 15 other fan fiction floating around out there.

Part One: Tragedy Strikes

Piper watches as Prue and Phoebe pull out of the driveway to go to Phoebe's physical therapy appointment. Phoebe has gone into overdrive trying to get full use of her left knee back (see my fan fiction "Guilty Until Proven Innocent"). Prue has been extremely helpful and much happier since she was fired from Buckland's. Phoebe and Prue have been getting along so well. Things are great. Piper grabs her keys and goes to meet Dan for lunch at P3.

An hour later, she and Dan are just talking casually, trying to get to know each other better. Piper doesn't divulge the family secret, of course, but she tries to tell Dan as much as she can. She really likes him and wants him to like her. The phone at the bar rings, and Piper excuses herself.

"P3. This is Piper," she answers.

"Hey, it's Phoebe. Guess what!" Phoebe says excitedly.

"What?"

"I just finished my last physical therapy session," Phoebe replies.

"That's great, Pheebs," Piper says. "I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, so Prue and I are going to be at P3 tonight to celebrate," Phoebe says. "You'll be there, right?"

"Absolutely. It'll be a party," Piper says. "See you later, Pheebs."

"Bye."

Piper returns to Dan. "That was Phoebe. She just finished her last physical therapy session."

"That's great," Dan says. Then he looks at the clock. "Well, I have to get back to work. I'll see you here tonight." He gives her a kiss and then leaves.

* * *

It's eight o'clock and Piper is watching the door for her sisters and Dan. Dan walks in and she goes to greet him. They kiss and she leads him to the bar. "What will it be?"

"A beer please," he says with a smile. He notices Piper glancing towards the door every few seconds as she serves him his beer. "Who are you looking for?"

"My sisters were supposed to be here tonight," she says. Dan grabs her hand and takes her out onto the dance floor. Piper smiles playfully. "I guess they'll show up later." She and Dan dance, and she forgets that Prue and Phoebe aren't there.

Two o'clock rolls around, and Piper's closing up the club. Dan is sitting at the bar watching her. "You know, Prue and Phoebe never showed up. It's not like them to cancel their plans without telling me," Piper says, becoming worried.

"I'm sure they're fine," Dan says, trying to reassure her. Piper picks up the phone and dials the manor. The machine picks up.

"Prue. Phoebe. Are you there?" she asks. "Look, I was just kind of wondering why you guys didn't show up at the club. If you beat me home, call me." Piper can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. She absently continues to clean up the club.

"Look, I'm going to get out of your way so you can get home," Dan says. "Call me when you hear from your sisters. Okay?"

"All right," Piper says. She kisses Dan goodbye and quickly finishes cleaning up. When she's done she hurries home. Her worry grows when she sees that Prue's car is not in the driveway. She hurries into the house. "Prue! Phoebe!" she yells. Piper goes into the kitchen and checks the answering machine. The only message on it is her own. She picks up the phone and dials Prue's cell phone. She gets Prue's voice mail, but doesn't bother to leave a message. Piper is really concerned. She knows that Prue and Phoebe don't have to check in with her every time they change their plans, but this just isn't like them, Prue especially. Piper is about to call Darryl, but decides that she's being a little too paranoid. "I could use one of Phoebe's premonitions right about now," she says to the empty house. Piper, frustrated, sits on the couch and waits for her sisters to come home.

Piper is asleep on the couch when the doorbell rings. She looks at the clock. It reads four o'clock. Piper rubs her eyes as she walks to the front door. Darryl is standing there with a sullen look on his face, and a feeling of pure dread fills Piper. "Please tell me you're just really weird and you like to make social calls at four in the morning," Piper says with a nervous smile. Darryl shakes his head and steps into the foyer. Piper closes the door and leads him to the living room. She sits on the couch, not sure she can possibly prepare for the news she knows Darryl is about to tell her. Darryl sits next to her and takes her hand in his.

"Piper, I'm sorry. I really don't know how to say this so I'll just say it," Darryl says. "Two women were found in an alley a couple of blocks away from P3. It was your sisters. They were murdered."

Piper doesn't cry like she had thought she would. She sits there silently, staring straight ahead. She's in shock. "How?" she asks with a shaky voice.

"You really don't want to know, but we found the guy who did it. He was caught speeding in Prue's car," Darryl explains. "He tried to get away, but when he tried to beat a train it hit him. He's dead."

"It was a human?" Piper asks, not believing that it wasn't a supernatural force that killed her sisters.

"Yes. The fingerprints on your sisters' bodies match the prints of the guy that was in Prue's car," Darryl says.

"Are you sure it's them?" Piper asks, trying to deny their deaths. "Maybe I should identify their bodies, or…"

"It's them, Piper," Darryl says. "And believe me you don't want to see them right now."

Piper sits silently with Darryl for several minutes staring blankly at the floor. Darryl knows that it has hit Piper hard. 'Silence is worse than crying,' he thinks, knowing from experience after the many people he has had to give this kind of news to. "Piper," he says, trying to get some kind of response from her.

"I need to be alone, Darryl," Piper says. "Please."

"Are you sure?" Darryl asks. He doesn't want to leave Piper alone, but he knows if he stays against her wishes it won't be any better for her. Piper nods her head. He rises from the couch. "I'll drop off their personals. You know, jewelry and purses." Piper nods her head again. "Don't be afraid to call me if you need to." Darryl shows himself out of the house.

Piper looks up at the picture of Grams that is hanging on the wall. 'They're with you now, Grams,' Piper thinks. 'And I'm alone.' Piper walks upstairs, numb with shock. She looks into Prue's room. It's modestly decorated. Nothing wild, suiting Prue's personality. Piper continues down the hall and looks into Phoebe's room. This room is decorated to match Phoebe's personality, vibrant and full of life. Yet, it does not look the same as it did before. It seems the entire house knows what has happened. Despair saturates the air all throughout the house. Piper goes up to the attic, picks up the BOS and sits with it in her arms. This book had tied them together for the past year and a half and made them closer than they had ever been in their entire lives. Piper looks at the book with despair in her eyes. The Charmed Ones were no more. The circle was broken.

Suddenly, the book flies out of Piper's arms and lands on the floor in front of her. The pages start flipping like they often do, and Piper watches them until they stop. She looks at the page it stopped on. The book is open to the Transfer Spell (see "A Charmed Christmas Carol"). It is a spell that will transfer a deceased witch's power to a surviving witch from her coven. Piper is confused. Then she hears a whisper, "The power of three." Piper looks around the attic, even though she knows there is no one else there. Then, she looks down at the book. She knows what this means. She's not sure if Grams showed her this spell or even if it might have been Prue or Phoebe. But she knows that this will preserve the power of three. She alone must fight the evils that she and her sisters had fought constantly over the past year and a half. The task was left up to her.

Piper kneels by the book and says the spell. "I've lost two links to this chain. The circle has been broken. Bring the lost powers to me. Restore the circle. Hear the words I've spoken." Piper is immediately overcome with a vision. Her muscles tense up and a wave of nausea hits her as the images invade her mind. Piper cries out in pain as she sees a vision of the past, a vision of her sisters being murdered. "No!" she wails. She watches helplessly as the psychopath slaughters her sisters. When the vision ends, Piper falls to her side and curls into a fetal position, sobbing uncontrollably. She remains like this for at least an hour. She is emotionally drained. Finally, Piper sits up and decides that she needs to test herself to see if she has Prue's powers. She looks at the BOS and concentrates. Piper extends her hands in front of her and lifts the book with her mind. She closes it and slowly moves it over to its podium. Piper decides that is enough of a test and leaves the attic.

She walks into Prue's room again and sits at her desk. There are stacks of papers and books strewn about the desk. Piper is looking for some kind of financial papers, life insurance forms, or whatever. Piper accidentally knocks a stack of papers off the desk onto the floor. When she starts to pick up the papers she notices two envelopes. One is addressed to Phoebe and the other is addressed to Piper. Immediately, she knows what these are and throws Phoebe's letter away. Whatever Prue had to say to Phoebe in that letter was private and Piper is not about to violate that privacy just because Phoebe is dead. Piper opens her letter and reads.

Well, Piper. This is it. If you're reading this it means I'm dead. Or you're just being a snoop, in which case, get out of my room! I want to thank you for something that I don't think I ever thanked you for. Thank you for not telling me about Phoebe coming home. I know at the time I would not have let her in the house if you hadn't kept the secret from me. But now I don't know what I would do without either of you. I have changed so much in the past year and a half thanks to both of you. And you, Piper, have put up with so much. Between the losses we all have suffered and me and Phoebe being at each other's throats you have been amazing. I wanted you to know how much I admire you, Piper. Your tolerance and compassion are something I wish I had more of. You are an amazing woman. I love you so much, Piper. And I will always be with you. The Power of Three will last as long as one of us is alive. This is not goodbye.

Love forever,

Prue

Piper wipes the tears from her eyes and carefully replaces the letter in its envelope. She takes it with her as she goes to Phoebe's room. 'If Prue wrote one, Phoebe definitely wrote one,' Piper thinks. She looks in the drawers in Phoebe's desk and quickly finds two envelopes, one to Piper and one to Prue. Piper throws Prue's away and opens her letter. She finds that it is very similar to Prue's letter to her. Phoebe and Prue didn't agree on much, but their view of Piper was nearly identical.

Dear Piper,

This is it. Something finally took me down. I hope it happened quickly… or will happen quickly. Whatever. I've never been good with tenses. I want you to know that you are an amazing woman. Sometimes I don't think you realize that. And sometimes the people around you take it for granted. You've gone through so much, and you haven't snapped. All the loss – mom, Grams, dad (He didn't die, but we lost him just the same.), Leo, and now me. You have to admire the quiet ones. You have been so strong through everything – I'm not counting the suicide attempt; that was a demon (see "Suicidal Tendencies"). And you kept us all together. While I went to New York, you kept in touch. And don't think I didn't know you were planning my return the whole time. You kept us connected. Prue and I would fight, and you would help us reconcile. I don't know how you did it, but you did. And we're still connected. Death cannot separate the Halliwells. If you ever think that we're separated go look at the Book of Shadows. The triquatra is our symbol of connection. I will always be around. I love you, Piper. The power of three shall set us free.

Love always,

Phoebe

Piper can't handle it anymore. She grips the letters in her hand and collapses into tears on Phoebe's bed. Her sisters are gone. Even though Phoebe says they're still connected, Piper feels so alone. She's never known sorrow this deep until now. Piper curls up on Phoebe's bed and cries herself to sleep.

Part Two: It's the End of the World as We Know It… Again!

Buffy walks into the museum and sits at the conference table. Giles is poring over several different books. Buffy just watches him for a moment and then speaks up.

"Okay, Giles. What's the big?" she asks. "You called me. Remember?"

"One moment, Buffy," Giles says. Xander is sitting to Giles' right looking through a book. Willow is at the end of the table, searching the Internet. Giles looks up. "I've run across a prophecy…" he begins, but Buffy interrupts him.

"Another prophecy. Giles, skip the pretext and get down to business. What's the big bad this time?" she asks. Giles rolls his eyes and turns a few pages in his book. Xander decides to cut in.

"I'll give you three guesses how vague this prophecy is," he says in his usual tone.

"Hmm… let's see if I can sum it up," Buffy says, pointing her eyes to the sky in mock contemplation. "It says something really bad is going to happen and not even the Slayer can stop it this time. Oh, and it's happening here because the Hellmouth is conveniently nearby."

"You get better at this by the second," Xander quips. Willow is still looking on the web, not really paying attention to the conversation. She's heard all this already.

"So, have we figured out what the bad is yet?" Buffy asks.

"Not yet," Giles says. "I was hoping you could go implore Willy for an answer."

"I thought you were going to say that," Buffy says. "All right, I'll probably end up beating it out of him. He's been really stubborn lately." Buffy leaves the group researching while she goes to talk to the snitch.

She arrives at Willy's and sits at the bar. Willy rolls his eyes and looks around. "Look, I'm trying to keep a straight image here. I get better business from the demons than the humans so I gotta stop playing both sides of the field."

"What do I have to do to get what I want?" Buffy asks.

Willy looks around. "Hit me and make it look like it hurts, but it doesn't have to hurt."

Buffy pulls her fist back and Willy flinches. "If you flinch it's not going to look… oh forget it." Buffy jabs him in the nose and he cries out in pain.

"All right, all right. I'll tell you what you want to know," Willy says in a louder voice than he needs to. Then he lowers his voice. "So, what did you want to know?"

"Something big is going to happen and it's got 'end of the world' written all over it," Buffy says. "Tell me anything you've heard – demons trying to open the Hellmouth, big snake-like things trying to eat Sunnydale, whatever. Spill it."

"There were a couple of Meska demons asking for directions to the Hellmouth, but other than that I don't know what they were up to," Willy says. "They were looking for some kind of amulet, too. I think it was called the Amulet of Miklos or something like that."

"Thanks, Willy. I'd say it's been a pleasure, but it hasn't," Buffy says as she leaves.

Willy rubs his nose and yells after her, "The feeling is mutual!"

* * *

Buffy arrives back at the museum and shares what she found with the rest of the Scooby Gang.

"Did you say the Amulet of Miklos?" Giles asks as he goes to look for another book in his office.

"Yeah, so what is it?" Buffy asks. She takes off her leather jacket to reveal her lavender halter-top. Giles comes back with his nose buried in a very old book. He sits down and takes off his glasses.

"It's what I thought," Giles says grimly. "The Amulet of Miklos is part of a ritual that will open the Hellmouth, and once the ritual is begun nothing can stop it except the strongest force of goodness in the world."

"Again with the vagueness. Why can't they just say what the strongest force of good is?" Xander asks in his usual tone.

"I know what it is," Willow speaks up.

"Spill it, Will. Don't hold out on us," Buffy says, turning to her best friend.

"The Charmed Ones. The Power of Three," Willow says. "Their legend said that they were the most powerful force of good the world has ever seen."

"So, let's go, Will," Buffy says. "We need to go tell them. If this ritual thingy starts before we get a chance to stop it, we'll need them as a backup plan."

"Willow, you should go inform the Halliwells of this," Giles says. "Buffy and the rest of us should go to the library and see if these demons are there yet."

"Okay, I'll meet you at the library," Willow says. Then she disappears from the room.

* * *

Willow arrives at Halliwell Manor in the attic. She glances at the BOS and then she goes to find the sisters. "Prue! Phoebe! Piper!" she yells. "Are you home?"

Willow looks in Prue's room and sees no one is there. She looks in Piper's room and there is no one there either. Finally, she goes to Phoebe's room and finds Piper asleep on Phoebe's bed. Willow is about to wake Piper up when she glances at the piece of paper under her hand. Willow can't help reading the first couple lines: "Dear Piper, This is it. Something finally took me down. I hope it happened quickly…"

"Oh my God!" Willow says, realizing what has happened. The sound of Willow's voice so close wakes Piper. She rubs her eyes and sits up on the bed. "How did it happen? What killed her?" Willow asks. She hasn't realized that Prue is dead as well, having seen only the one note in Phoebe's handwriting.

"They were murdered last night," Piper says solemnly. "It was a human."

Willow sits on the bed. "They? Prue's gone, too?" Piper nods her head and Willow bursts into tears. Piper has no tears left. All she can do is embrace Willow, the young witch who had immediately become part of their family. They later found out that Willow actually was a distant cousin (see "Death Becomes Her") and that drew them even closer. Willow, the only child to parents who never paid enough attention to her, welcomed this family just as she had welcomed the companionship of the Scooby Gang. Willow pulls away from Piper and wipes at her eyes. "I can't believe this. I'm so sorry, Piper."

"I know. But they're still here in spirit. I have to believe that. It would be even harder if I didn't," Piper says. "I hate to be so blunt, but why are you here?"

"Well, we needed your help, but it looks like I'm too late," Willow says quietly.

"Help with what?"

"There's some demons that want to open the Hellmouth," Willow explains. "If they start the ritual before we get to them the only thing that can stop it is the most powerful force of good in the world."

"The Charmed Ones," Piper says. She looks at the letters. "You're not too late. I can help."

"But the power of three," Willow says skeptically.

"I've got it covered," Piper says. She sees a small pillow on the floor and floats it onto the bed with her mind. Willow understands and transports Piper and herself to what is left of the Sunnydale High library. The rest of the gang is there, but there are no demons. The others turn towards Willow and Piper. Xander looks at Willow with a confused expression.

"Hey, Will. In order to have the power of three I think you need three people," Xander says sarcastically.

"No, we don't," Willow says seriously. Xander, Giles and Buffy notice the serious looks on the two witches' faces and they grow quiet.

"What happened?" Buffy asks. She has a feeling she knows already.

"Prue and Phoebe were murdered last night. Our friend in the police department confirmed that the fingerprints of a man killed in a car versus train accident matched the fingerprints found on my sisters' bodies," Piper explains.

"A human killed them?" Buffy asks, appalled and shocked. Piper nods her head and Buffy looks at her feet.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, Piper," Giles says in his usual British stutter. "This is an incredible loss."

"I know, but we really should worry about it later. My sisters are dead. There's nothing to change that, but Willow mentioned something about demons opening the Hellmouth."

"Yeah, we thought they'd be here, but they're not," Xander says. "I thought you had to be at the Hellmouth to open it, but I guess I was wrong."

"So, basically we're screwed," Buffy says. "We have no way of finding these demons and the power of three no longer exists."

"It still exists. I did a spell to transfer my sisters' powers to me in order to preserve the power of three. As for the demons," Piper says as she turns to Willow. "Have you ever tried calling a premonition? I'd do it, but you've had more experience with premonitions than I have."

"No, I haven't, but I suppose I could try," Willow says. "I need complete silence." Everyone watches as Willow kneels on the charred floor of the library. She concentrates on the Meska demons and a premonition invades her mind. She sees three large scaly creatures with cloven hind feet and clawed hands. They each have two large horns on their heads and long sharp teeth. They're in the sewers chanting around a fire. One of the demons dangles an amulet, the Amulet of Miklos, over the fire and then drops it in. This causes the fire to shoot up and the earth to shake. Willow comes out of the premonition and looks around. "They're in the sewers. I saw a junction sign."

"Well, let's go. Hopefully, we can stop them before this starts," Buffy says.

"Perhaps we should find out what exactly Piper will need to do in case we can't stop the ritual," Giles suggests.

"Good idea," Buffy says. "Willow and I will go try to catch the demons before they start the ritual. If we can't stop them, Willow can come get Piper."

Giles nods his head and Willow and Buffy transport home first to retrieve some weapons. Then they transport to the sewer junction Willow saw in her premonition. They see the demons chanting around a fire. One of the demons dangles the amulet over the fire and Buffy jumps into action. She sprints and dives across the top of the fire, grabbing the amulet as she goes. She hits the ground and somersaults to her feet. Buffy hangs the amulet around her neck and gives the demons a look like she's daring them to come get it. Willow transports herself next to one of the demons and knocks it over the head with her club. The demon is barely phased and tries to grab Willow. But she transports out of the way. Buffy is struggling against two of the demons. She catches the smaller one with a roundhouse to the head and it goes flying into the wall. The larger one reaches for the amulet, but Buffy grabs its wrist and twists it behind its back. Then she swings it around into the wall. Willow is still trying to knock out her demon. She's coming close to success, but still is not there. She transports behind the demon, hits it on the head, and then transports away. She does this several times.

The demon gets a hold of Willow, but she transports out of the sewer, taking the demon with her. She is now in the middle of a parking lot with the demon. Sunlight pours down on the two of them and the demon screams. It drops Willow and runs away to get out of the sunlight. Willow is curious about the demon's reaction to sunlight, but decides she can worry about it later.

Meanwhile, at the museum, Giles and Xander are looking through several books for an explanation of how exactly Piper is supposed to stop the end of the world if Buffy can't. Piper is sitting at the end of the conference table with her head down. Giles and Xander are paying no attention to her. She's astral projecting herself to the attic and looking through the BOS for an answer to their problem. So far, she has found nothing on the Amulet of Miklos or on the Meska demons. Piper flips through the pages frantically. She is growing very frustrated. The stress of possibly having to save the world and losing her sisters has all compounded and is starting to take over her mind. She pounds the podium with her fist. "Damn it! Why is this left to me? Why do I have to do this alone?" As if in response to her questions, the book's pages begin flipping on their own. Piper reads the page that the book stops on. It is about the Amulet of Miklos. In order to stop the Hellmouth from opening after the ritual has been completed Piper must recite an incantation and drink a potion. Piper reads the ingredients of the potion and suddenly she understands the seriousness of her role. Among other things, the ingredients include arsenic and cyanide. She would have to die to save the world. Piper returns to her body, gives herself a moment to recover, and then looks to Giles seriously. "I found the answer."

Willow returns to the sewer junction to find Buffy struggling to fight the two remaining demons. The larger one has its arms wrapped around Buffy, pinning her arms to her sides. The smaller demon grabs the amulet and yanks it from around Buffy's neck. Willow tries to transport next to the demon and grab the amulet, but she can't get it in time. The flames shoot up and the earth shakes. Buffy head butts the larger demon and flips it onto its back. Willow clubs the smaller demon over the head and stuns it for a moment.

"Willow, get Piper!" Buffy yells as she fights the larger demon. Willow returns to the museum.

"Piper, we need you. We couldn't stop them from performing the ritual," Willow says. "Did you find out how you can stop it?"

"Yes," Piper says. Giles looks gravely at Piper as he hands her the small bottle of potion. Xander is unusually silent. Willow doesn't take the time to notice. Willow and Piper transport out of the museum. Giles sits at the conference table, removes his glasses and lays his head in his hands.

Buffy has managed to kill the smaller demon, and she is now pummeling the larger demon. The earth shakes again. Buffy kills the final demon and turns to see Willow and Piper. Piper is holding a small bottle of dark liquid. "So, how does it work?" Buffy asks.

Piper doesn't explain anything; she simply begins reciting the first part of the incantation. When she finishes reciting the first part she quickly drinks the potion. (Please keep in mind that I have no idea how any poisons affect the human body, so if you know just ignore inaccuracies.) Piper gags at the taste and then begins reciting the second part of the incantation. Willow and Buffy watch helplessly as the poison works through Piper's system. She can feel it eating away at her, but she keeps reciting the incantation. The earth shakes violently as Piper says it. Willow and Buffy look around, trying to be aware of anything that may break away and fall on top of them. Finally, Piper finishes reciting the incantation and she falls to the ground. The earth stops shaking and all is silent except for the car alarm that they can hear going off above them. Willow and Buffy hurry to Piper's side. Piper looks as if she's in extreme pain. She grabs Willow's hand and looks her in the eye.

"Willow, I want to die at home," Piper says with a shaky voice. Willow's eyes widen.

"No, you can't. What was in that potion?" Willow asks.

"The cyanide and arsenic is what's killing me," Piper explains. "The rest isn't important. Please, Willow. Take me home." Willow sniffs back her tears and transports the three of them into Piper's bedroom. They help Piper onto her bed and make her as comfortable as possible.

"Willow," Piper says weakly. "After we found out you were our cousin, my sisters and I made a decision."

"What are you talking about?" Willow asks through her tears.

"We changed the protection spell on the Book of Shadows," Piper explains. "If the three of us were killed the spell would allow you to take the book out of the house. Legally, the book doesn't exist so we couldn't leave it to you in our wills. It's yours Willow. Take good care of it."

"No, you can't die. There has to be something we can do," Willow says desperately. Piper simply shakes her head as she takes hold of Willow's hand.

"Piper, I'm sorry. I never would have asked you to do this," Buffy says.

"You didn't have to," Piper says quietly. "It's okay. I'm going to be with my sisters again. We just had to do this one last thing." Piper reaches into her pocket and pulls out the letters from Prue and Phoebe. She clutches them tightly in her hand. Willow holds Piper's hand while she cries. Buffy puts her arm around Willow's shoulders, trying to comfort her.

They watch as Piper closes her eyes and then they know she is gone when her grip on the letters releases. Willow sobs uncontrollably and Buffy cries silently. The power of three is now gone from the earth. They have done their part and the world is left to others who will fight evil. The time for the Charmed Ones has ended.

Part 3: The Beginning of Eternity

Piper opens her eyes to see that she is in a large white room. As far as she can tell there are no openings to this room. It's as if she is in a box. "Hello," she says. "Where am I?"

She hears the sound of a door opening behind her and spins around. She smiles at the sight of her mother. "My beautiful girl," Patty says as she embraces Piper. "I am so proud of you." Piper pulls away.

"This is unbelievable, mom," Piper says. She looks around. "Where are we? Where is everyone else?"

"We thought it would be best if we came one at a time. We didn't want to overwhelm you," Patty says. "We did the same with your sisters. They didn't even know the other was dead until we reunited them."

"Do they know about me?" Piper asks.

"Oh, yes. Everyone has been watching," Patty says. She looks at her daughter with love and concern. "You don't know how hard it was for all of us, watching you go through all that alone – Prue especially. She was demanding that we let her go back. It was tearing her apart. She tried so hard to get back to you. Little does she know that she almost made it before she finally gave up."

"That sounds like Prue," Piper says with a small laugh. "I was wondering. Who showed me those spells?"

"Your grandmother showed you the transfer spell. I thought you had realized that when she actually spoke to you beforehand," Patty explains.

"That's what I figured. I just wanted to be sure," Piper says. "And what about the other one. The one that closed the Hellmouth."

"That was Phoebe," Patty says. "I'm so glad that she was so open to the idea of being a witch. She knew that book backwards and forwards. Even Melinda didn't know about that spell."

"Wow," Piper says in amazement. "So, when do I get to see everyone else?"

"In time," Patty says. "Death can be overwhelming, my dear. Let's take it one step at a time." With that, Patty takes Piper's hand and leads her out of the white room.

Part 4: The Funeral

News cameras were crowding the cemetery on the day of the Halliwell funeral. The amount of media at the funeral quite possibly outnumbered the guests. The story of three sisters dying within 24 hours of each other caught the local media's attention like it was actually a presidential assassination attempt. There were no questions as to the nature of their deaths. Darryl had made sure no one knew the true nature of Piper's death. Although, it wasn't the greatest thing to make public, suicide was the only explanation that would prevent questions. Willow had used a spell to write a suicide note in Piper's own handwriting. She hated doing it, but if Piper was watching, Willow knew she would understand. The only people who knew the true nature of Piper's death were those who knew her secret.

The entire gang from Sunnydale made it to the funeral. The weather even made it possible for Angel to show up, with Doyle and Cordelia at his side (see "The Cross of Tursicus"). Of course, Angel tried to keep his distance from Buffy, but he felt it was only right that he honor the deaths of these three people he really didn't know all that well. Also in the crowd were Puck and his nephew Tom Foolery (see "Benji Halliwell" and "Tom Foolery"). Puck had not known the sisters long, but they had become his friends just the same. Melissa Ramsey (see "Suicidal Tendencies") had introduced herself to Willow, explaining that the sisters had told her about Willow. Melissa was just happy to know that there were other real witches in the world. She expressed her sympathies to Willow and hoped that they could keep in touch. And of course, there was Darryl. It hadn't seemed like he was really all that close to the sisters, but he still felt a great loss. He knew that there was a higher purpose for the Halliwells' existence in this world, and he knew that the world would not be the same without them. Andy had often spoke of one thing he had learned from Prue that would stick in his mind for eternity. Everything happens for a reason. Right now, Darryl hoped that statement was true; otherwise, the world had lost a great asset to the fight against the hidden evils that lurk in the dark.

The priest went through the ceremony quickly, speaking of what accomplishments the sisters had done publicly. No one who knew the truth listened to him. They all thought of the accomplishments done in secret. How many times had the Halliwells saved the world? No one could give a concrete number. It had happened too often to keep track of it. They all glanced around at each other, making the connection only they could have. They were connected by three women of integrity, strength, and power. They all understood the emotions the others were feeling because they felt them, too. They had experienced the honor of knowing the Halliwells.

Part 5: Family Reunion

Patty leads Piper into a room that seems very familiar. It takes Piper a while to realize that it looks exactly like Prue's bedroom, except that the decorations are different. They're older, dated. Someone is sitting on the bed. The woman turns to reveal her identity. It's Grams. Piper steps forward and hugs her grandmother. "Hello, my darling little girl," Penny says.

"Hi, Grams," Piper says with a hint of joy in her voice. She is so happy to be reuniting with the people she has lost over the years. "Thank you for showing me that spell. It helped me cope, I think."

"I knew it would, my dear," Penny explains. "I knew that if you could have something tangible to hold onto, a part of your sisters, it would help you through the hard times. Also, if I allowed you to think that the power of three was no more, you would not have felt any reason to continue on."

"You're right. I probably would have given up if I didn't know that the power of three could be preserved," Piper agrees.

"And I am so proud of you," Penny says. "You did so well in the end. You were very strong."

"That's definitely one of the reasons I loved you," someone says from the doorway. Piper turns around to see Leo. She rushes up to him and kisses him passionately. Penny and Patty are giving Leo a look. He smiles sheepishly. "Sorry. I couldn't wait. And I really don't think Prue and Phoebe are going to be able to contain themselves much longer, either."

Piper steps back from Leo and looks to Penny and Patty. They look at each other, and Patty nods her head. "Very well," Penny says. Then she raises her voice. "Prudence! Phoebe! I think you've waited long enough." Suddenly, Prue and Phoebe barrel past Leo almost knocking him over. They tackle Piper in a group hug so sudden that they knock her to the floor. All three of them are crying tears of joy. They remain like this for what seems like forever. Then they pull apart. They just sit on the floor and look at each other with huge grins on their faces. Prue is the first to speak.

"Piper, I am so sorry you had to go through that alone," Prue says. "I wanted to go back so much. It was horrible."

"I know. Mom told me you were having the hardest time with it," Piper says. Then she smiles mischievously. "Did you know you almost made it?"

"What?" Prue asks, confused.

"Piper!" Patty says sharply with a small grin. "Don't tease your sister like that."

Piper just laughs. Prue looks to Patty, still confused. "Mom, what is she talking about?"

"Nothing, dear," Patty says with a smile. Piper just laughs some more.

"Great! Is this how we're going to spend eternity together?" Prue asks with a look of disgust on her face. Everyone laughs. The three sisters rise from the floor and take each other's hands. Everyone starts to leave the house.

"Hey, Piper it is so cool here," Phoebe says. "I've talked to so many of our ancestors. I love finding out about them."

"That's great, Pheebs," Piper says with a smile. She is just happy to hear her little sister's voice.

"Oh, and Andy is looking forward to seeing you again," Prue says. "I think he missed all of us."

"Well, we missed him. You especially," Piper says with a grin.

"Yeah, I guess I missed him," Prue says.

"You guess?" Patty says. "You girls should have seen her when we reunited her with Andy. I haven't seen a kiss like that in a long time. Andy was definitely caught off guard."

Everyone laughs, but Prue looks at her mother with mock disgust. "Mom!"

"She's right, Prudence," Grams says. "There are kisses and then there are kisses."

"You know, Grams," Prue says, trying to change the subject. "About my name. Must you insist on calling me Prudence?"

"But it's your name, dear," Penny says. "You were named after one of your ancestors."

"I know, but…" Prue says.

"Now, Prudence," Penny says. "Don't argue with me."

"Give it up, Prue," Piper says. "Grams was the one person you could never win an argument with."

"Yeah, Prudence," Phoebe joins in. Prue shoves Phoebe playfully.

Patty watches all this with amusement. Her family has been reunited. Nothing could make her happier.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, this it. Due to a lack of time I have ended this story line. Upon the insistence of Razz I am not calling this quits, I am calling it a vacation. A very long vacation, but I like to make people happy. So, while I have ended this particular story line, I may start a new one at some point, or even just come out with an individual story that has no bearing to any of my previous stories. I want to thank everyone who has read my stories and given me compliments and criticisms. It has been fun. I hope to write again some time.