"Come to his aid, every saint of God; go out to meet him, every angel of the Lord. Take his soul and offer it in the sight of God's majesty ..."

Trust the sun to come out today. Gabi could have smiled at the irony of the weather - sunshine for the day when they could finally say goodbye to Frank for good. Perhaps it was an omen for the future, that he was finally at peace and from here on in, things would go well for them once more. She could only hope.

" ....Absolve, we beseech thee, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant, Frank, from every bond of sin; that he may live again in the glory of the resurrection and breathe the air of Paradise ..."

The chapel of rest was brightly illuminated, the sun shining through the stained glass windows to cast colored spotlights over the closed casket where it stood on the little sanctuary before the altar. Everywhere you looked, there were flowers - bright, incongruous splashes of color in the midst of the sea of black-clad figures. Yet there were no friends of the deceased among those figures, only family. And most of those were there purely because it was the thing to do.

" ....Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. The just shall be in everlasting remembrance; he shall not fear the evil hearing ..."

That saddened Gabi, that Frank had been so unpleasant, so difficult to be around toward the end that he had not managed to salvage even one friendship to cling to. She swallowed hard, forcing back the urge to cry, and wound her fingers between those of her father. She didn't dare look further down the front pew, past Aunt Miranda and Old Man Granger, to where Cian sat. She didn't even know if Tera had come.

" ....May the Angels lead you into paradise. May the Martyrs await your coming and bring you into the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem. May a choir of Angels welcome you, and with the poor man Lazarus of old, may you enjoy eternal rest ..."

Biting into her lower lip, Gabi mumbled the words of departing along with the priest and the gathered members of her family, squeezing her father's hand between both of her own. She would not cry. For Frank's sake, and her own, she would not let him down by blubbing when Cian had told her the truth. No matter what anyone said or did, Frank was safe and at peace. It was time to move on.

((All Grangers and Granger-affiliates welcome to add onto this thread with their own aspect of the funeral.))

Cian sat stiffly with his hands clenched in his lap throughout the church service, doing his best to keep his emotions in check.

It was a small gathering, mostly family, and of those gathered, not many really knew Frank. Sadly, even fewer probably cared whether he was alive or dead, but they hadn't known him the way Cian and Gabi had, and they didn't know what they knew.

They hadn't seen Frank in the afterlife. They hadn't seen how death had transformed him. They didn't know how sorry he was for the things he'd done, or how happy and at peace he was now that he was reunited with their mother.

Cian knew all this, and while it was comforting, he still missed his brother. And he missed someone else, too. Someone whose absence tugged heavily at his heart, but that was another matter.

He sat at the end of the row closest the aisle, and though surrounded by family, he felt alone. He was the same Cian he'd always been, but for some reason, people seemed different. Conversations were awkward and strained. It was as if no one knew quite what to say to him anymore, and he wasn't sure what to say to them either.

Prayers were said and hymns were sung, and it was finally time for the eulogy. Cian rose from the chair, waving off any help from his family, and made his way slowly to the podium to stand before them all to honor his brother's memory.

He was silent for a moment as his gaze moved over all those gathered there, noting those present, as well as those who were absent. Most of the family was there. At least, those that mattered. He cleared his throat nervously and shifted his feet, hoping his legs would hold him up long enough to say what he'd come here to say. After a long moment, he finally found his voice, letting his words say what his heart was feeling.

"Most of you here didn't know Frank very well, and those of you who did probably disliked him. There was a time when I didn't like him very much either. Most of you know why Frank was the way he was. He was never the same after Mom died. He always blamed himself for her death. As much as we told him it wasn't his fault, he could never forgive himself. The truth is Frank hated himself, and it was that self-loathing that ate him up inside, that poisoned his mind and his heart. But I remember my brother before all of that, and that's the Frank I'm here to honor today. That's the Frank I choose to say good-bye to today. That's the Frank that was my brother, our brother, son, nephew, cousin, friend. I ask you all to try to remember Frank before our mother died, before his illness, when we were still young and innocent and every day was an adventure. My brother made the ultimate sacrifice by giving me the gift of life, and for that I will always be grateful. That's the Frank that I knew and loved. That's the Frank who wants to be remembered, who deserves to be remembered. That's who Frank really was deep inside. I ask you all to remember him that way and to find it in your heart to forgive him. That's all he would have wanted."

Cian quieted, bowing his head as if in silent prayer, unable to say anymore, fighting the emotions that were bubbling up inside. In the end, it was Gabi who came up to gather him and help him back to his seat, where he sat for a long time while the others filed out, not yet ready to leave his brother's side.

Gigi's dark eyes took careful stock of the changes in Gabi now that she was so close by. It went beyond the alterations in hair and clothes. They were different, yes, but only an outward reflection of an inner rebellion. Gabi had squared off head-to-head with Grief and had come out the winner in Gigi's book (though how many would agree with such a tome was debatable).

Grief had given her cousin an added strength and depth. Maybe Gabi couldn't see what a boon that was now but Gigi could.

"I thought it was time I started to live a little, but I got a bit crazy for a while there."

Gabi's sheltered existence might have cracked in the face of Grief but there still remained a certain wholesome innocence to her. The statement brought a fleeting smirk, "Sh*t, cuz, you may have gotten a haircut but you haven't gone crazy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." When confronted with Grief Gigi on the other hand had steamrolled straight off the deep end; the case could easily be made that she was still there now, drowning.

The thank you and hug surprised Gigi but cemented what she saw. Gabi was altered by Frank's death but remained a shade of her sweet, if na've, self. If a battle with Grief only stripped away what was clutter in a life but left the core of a person intact, Gigi had to wonder what that said about who she herself had been even before Teddy's accident. The things she took pleasure in now " the power in knowing how many different ways through words or knives she could cut deep, the rush of narrowly navigating her way through the drug trade " she wondered if she would have found these delights with or without Teddy dying"

She stiffened at the embrace but did not shake it off. When Gabi released her Gigi folded her arms loosely over her chest. "You want to live" Let's start now. I'll teach you to ride unless you've got something even more daring in mind.?

Gigi knew no one wanted Gabi on a bike, especially in light of Cian's accident. But Grief made it possible to block out what everyone else wanted. If Gabi wanted to take risks Gigi had no mind to stop her. She only figured she'd give the girl a few tips to better her odds of surviving her newfound freedom.