Kit stared into the open grave. At the bottom she could see Zack wrapped in the flowered sheet she’d chosen. His body looked so small down there. So lonely.

Tears blurred her vision until all she could see was a splotch of colors in the hole. Being alone was what Zack hated most. He’d spent his high-school years as a typical geek, being shunned by everybody – even his parents.

It wasn’t fair. Zack had never led a normal life. He’d just found Marie and Zane, who truly cared about him. And now… Kit let out a shuddering breath.

Scott gave her shoulder a squeeze, then stepped forward and dropped a photograph into the grave. It fluttered down to Zack’s body.

"What was that?" Zane asked, wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"A picture from the party we had on his birthday," Scott answered as he took a step back. "Sorry you weren’t in it. You weren’t there that night."

"Oh, okay," Zane said softly. A piece of his dark fringe flew over his face. He didn’t bother to brush it back, but Marie did it for him. She then approached the grave and took out four little vials of her aroma therapy oil out of her purse. One by one she poured drops of them into the hole. Kit caught the scent of cinnamon, eucalyptus, and cedar.

Fresh tears stung her eyes as Marie poured the last vial and the warm and nutty scent of almond, joined the mix. Zack’s scent, Kit thought. She pulled in a deep breath, smelling the perfume that filled the air every time the four of them - she, Zane, Marie and Zack – had formed a connection.

The connection would never be the same again, not without Zack’s almond scent, without the gold of his aura, without the note of music unique to him. Kit took in another deep breath, trying to memorize the perfume, trying to imprint it and make it a part of her forever.

By the time Marie moved back into place beside Zane, the scent of the oils had already begun to fade. Kit gave Marie an appreciative look. Marie nodded, clearly unable to speak. Tyler looked over nervously, still keeping an eye out for bounty hunters. He didn’t dare stand close to Zane, for he knew that deep down, on some level, Zane blamed Zack’s death on him.

Jean and Zane exchanged a look, then Jean moved forward and knelt beside the grave. She whispered something inaudible, then leaned down into the hole as far as she could and dropped a sun-shaped charm next to Zack. Kit was glad Jean had thought of that. She knew it was irrational, but she hated thinking Zack being trapped underground, separated by the light and warmth by layers of the earth.

He’s dead, she told herself. He doesn’t know where he is.

Dead.

The word had a heavy weight in her mind. Like a stone.

It had happened so quickly, the transition from living to dead. One instant Zack was standing beside her in the ward where she was fighting for her life. The next instant Zack was lying on top of her with a hole going all the way into his head. Right into the center of his brain.

Even with Zack’s form lying in the ground, it was hard for Kit to believe that he was… not alive. It should have taken longer, she thought. There should be time to realize it was happening. To do something. To say goodbye.

Kit’s eyes returned to the grave as Jean rose gracefully to her feet. Zane waited several moments after Jean returned to her place, then gingerly, stepped forward and peered into the hole. He stared down at his brother’s body for a long moment, tears threatening to flow, then he opened his backpack and pulled out a photo frame.

It was the photo frame Zane had made out of seashells and gave to Zack on his birthday. Kit remembered that Zack had treasured it a lot.

"It’s too fragile…" Kit began, but Zane had already dropped the photo frame. However, he must have used his powers because it floated down into the hole as gently as a feather. Then, taking a deep breath, Zane staggered back to stand beside Marie, his back facing them.

"Kit," Scott said gently. "Are you ready?"

Kit realized it was her turn, her turn to find a way to say good-bye. Reluctantly she took a few steps that brought her to the edge of the grave.

"Zack…" Kit hesitated. What was there to say? What was the point of saying anything? Her breath came in hard pants as she struggled not to cry harder than she already was. She didn’t want to break into big, noisy sobs that would make it impossible for her to talk. She couldn’t lose it just yet.

"Zack, if you can hear me, I just want you to know that I’m never ever going to forget you," Kit said, tears coating her cheeks. "Part of you is going to live in me… literally. And maybe that way… maybe that way we’ll never forget each other, and that you’ll never have to be lonely."

Kit opened her clenched fist and in her palm, laid a miniature medallion – a pair of snowy wings connected by a soft, pinkish heart. It had been her mother’s luxury item, and had been entrusted to Kit after she had passed away. But now Kit wanted Zack to have it.

She knelt down and placed medallion at the center of his chest. "Sorry we never got to make our road trip," she whispered. She looked up as a figure hovered over her.

The Wiccan priestess they had invited to perform the farewell ceremony gave her a slight smile.

Dressed in ivory, the priestess moved to stand before a blue silk-covered altar, adorned with a ceremonial chalice. A tied, silver cord laid before the chalice. Three lighted candles surrounded it, symbolizing birth, death, and rebirth. A small sculpture, baring the symbol of the Triquetra, read:

Solemnly, the priestess said, "That which belongs to fellowship, love, and the circle, our brother remains with us. The Wheel turns. As life is day, so has our brother 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."

With that, she untied the silver cord, gently placed it into the chalice, and blew the candles.

The significance of the ritual hit Kit hard as she instinctively heard Zane stifle a cry and Marie starting to sob out of control.

The Power of Three is broken.

Jean gave her a light squeeze on the shoulders, and Kit was nodding an ‘okay’ when she noticed one of the mourners, a young brunette in her twenties, shifting nervously towards what was left of the Charmed Ones.

"I’m so sorry for your loss," she said softly, showing sympathy. However, one look at her face and anyone can tell that she’d rather be anywhere else but there at that moment.

"Thank you," Marie said, releasing Zane from a hug, whom went off to send the other mourners off. The girl lowered her head, nodding, then began to leave.

"How did you know Zack?" Marie asked out of curiosity. She hadn’t seen her from anywhere before. "From work?"

"No." The girl shook her head, looking more nervous than ever. "Just… just from, you know, around."

Marie narrowed her eyes and stared at her. "Have we met before?"

Again, the girl shook her head. "No. I don’t… I don’t think so. Um, anyway, my condolences."

Marie smiled appreciatively, reaching out to shake the girl’s hand. "Thank you."

But as soon as she held the girl’s hand, a harsh jolt shook her body. Marie took in a loud gasp of air as she jerked her hand away and collapsed onto the floor, shaken.

Bewildered, as Zane, Ben, Kit, Scott, Jean rushed over to her, the girl, oblivious, left hastily, not wanting to stick around.

"Are you all right?" Ben asked in concern, cupping Marie’s face in his hands.

Marie tried to regain her equilibrium, taking in several deep breaths. "I saw him… some grayish demon that looked a tad like Shax."

"What?" Zane asked incredulously. "What was he doing?"

"He was killing that girl."

"What girl?"

"The one I was just talking to," Marie said as she started to run off. "We’ve gotta go find her…"

She had barely finished her sentence when the air in front of her shifted and into the picture a bounty hunter blinked. Marie gave a yelp, jumping sideways as the bounty hunter threw a lightning bolt at her.

The bolt of energy hurtled across the cemetery, straight at Tyler. He dived, just barely dodging the dead bolt.

The lightning bolt hit Zack’s ceremonial altar and blew it up.

Zane let out a sharp gasp.

As he stood there stupefied, looking on in disbelief, Scott pulled him and Jean behind a large oak tree for safety – just as another two bounty hunters shimmered into the cemetery.

Flustered, Tyler reeled his hand back, then hurled a spitting white glob of energy at the first bounty hunter, vanquishing him immediately. He turned around quickly, and threw another two energy balls. One of them made a direct hit, vanquishing another bounty hunter.

The stray energy ball veered off and set a wreath on fire.

Zane’s hands balled into fists, seething. "Stop it," he muttered, breathing heavily. He couldn’t take anymore of this nonsense. If I do, he thought, staring at the blown up altar, I’m gonna blow up.

Tyler gave a loud shout, aimed a solid kick at the remaining bounty hunter’s jaw, sending him flying and crashing into the mass of make-shift chairs. He then flexed his fingers, vanquishing the last of the bounty hunters with yet another deadly energy ball.

Zane suddenly let out an irritated yell.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Dammit!" His voice began to quake as he felt his emotions boiling over. Something dark and frightening inside him churned and stirred and came roaring awake, something powerful and angry. "This is Zack’s funeral, for God’s sake! Can we at least send him off in peace, is that too much to ask!?"

Zane's mind reached out and snapped a thick, dry branch of the oak tree above them and splintered it resoundingly. A mirror by the ceremonial table exploded, sending deadly shards flying. Rows and rows of garlands burst into roaring flames.

Letting out a strangled cry, Zane dropped his head and staggered off, mentally and physically drained.

"Will you please just leave me alone?" Zoe yelled at them as she continued walking towards the main entrance.

"Look, we know what you’re going through," Marie called after her. "We went through the same thing as you when we first found out we were witches, too."

"You just have to trust us," Zane said. "Someone very, very bad is after you."

Zoe stopped and turned around. "Trust you?" she spat. "You just froze a nun. How do I know you’re not the bad guys?"

"Well if we are, then you are, sister," Zane snapped, his patience evaporating.

"Zane," Marie scolded as Zoe turned to leave.

"What?" Zane asked as Marie continued stare at him. He had to admit his way of approaching Zoe wasn’t the best, but he wasn’t going to tell anybody any time soon. "Okay, fine. Then you try."

Marie took a deep breath and called after Zoe. "You have a magical power too, you know."

That definitely got her attention. Zoe stopped and turned, looking at them quizzically. Zane and Marie took the chance and went closer to her.

"Well, at least if you’re really a Charmed One, you do. And the sooner you learn it, the sooner you’ll be able to protect yourself," Marie continued.

"I have a power?" Zoe asked incredulously.

"According to the prophecy, the fourth one has the power to move things with the mind. Like me," Zane explained.

"How does it work?" Zoe asked, suddenly interested.

"You have concentrate on an object like that candle over there," Marie explained as she points at a lighted candle a few feet away. "And then you just wave your arm at it."

To make things easy, Marie demonstrated, waving her arm.

Zoe took a deep breath, turned around and looked at the candle. She then waved her right arm at it, but nothing happened. She looked back at the two for help.

"Or, uh," Zane said. "You could squint your eyes. I used to squint my eyes."

Zoe took his advice and squinted her eyes, staring at the candle. It didn’t move. She was starting to get a little impatient when both waving her arm and squinting didn’t work either.

"Well!" she said exasperatedly, facing them. "Maybe I’m not one of you after all if I can’t even make that candle…" Zoe raised out her hand in the candle’s direction – and stopped short.

The three of them gaped at the candle with their mouths wide open as it shone a bright and brilliant blue, and then dissolved into the air in sparkles of bright, white light.

Within a split of a second, the blue sparkles of light returned and the candle materialized, settling onto Zoe’s outstretched palm.

The flame was still dancing away, taunting them.

"Whoa," Zoe whispered, stunned.