Hello everyone! I really didn't want my first story on here to be a sad one but I'd started writing this for something else entirely and decided it would be a great idea for a Mary Poppins fic too :) I promise it's not going to be all doom and gloom, there will be happier chapters but you will have to concentrate because it's going to go back and forward in time so often you might feel dizzy!

I hope you enjoy it and reviews are really appreciated :) Kelly x

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own any of the Mary Poppins characters!

*The Present Day*

The young girl signed in at reception and paused as the sound of groaning echoed down the corridor. She really hated this place and she knew her grandmother did too. She tied back her jet black hair into a loose plait – Nana had always liked it that way. She refocused back on the signing-in book and turned to the nurse with weary eyes. The woman in uniform smiled at her and placed a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder: "Are you ready love?"

She nodded and gulped: "Yes, let's go." Of course she wasn't ready, she had known this was coming for weeks but nothing could have prepared her.

She walked through the disinfectant soaked halls but couldn't help but think that it still didn't mask the smell of decay. Because that's what was happening within those walls. It was a place where people were sent to die. People whose organs were starting to shut down, who no longer had control of their bodily functions, people who could no longer feed themselves or walk without help, the people whose memories were fading into nothing. Somehow her grandmother fell into all these categories.

Her beloved Nana. The woman who had spent countless nights, when her mum was in work, reading to her or singing her to sleep or played old movies back to back and brought her soup when she was sick. She washed her hands with the anti-bacterial hand sanitiser that Nana had once said looked like KY jelly. She smiled at the memory of her excruciatingly embarrassing comments and how she'd scoffed and muttered something under her breath about how Nanas shouldn't talk about sex. What she wouldn't give to hear her Nana's embarrassing jokes again.

She passed through the communal room where the residents would often sit to watch the television or eat their meals - if they could eat. Her heart felt heavy almost as though it had been filled with concrete. It was here that she had really seen her grandmother at her worst. She had desperately tried to find another route to her destination but there was no other way. Her mother had once called it Death's waiting room.

When she reached the elderly lady's room, she tapped on the door gently so not to disturb her in anyway. Her mother and aunt were already there by the elderly woman's bedside. Her mother stood up and hugged her half-heartedly. "I thought I told you to stay in work." She sighed.

"You called me up to tell me the doctors have said she won't make it through the night... Did you really expect me not to be here?" The young girl asked.

"I don't want you to see this." She didn't reply. The truth was she didn't want to see her Nana like that either but the damage had already been done and she would be damned if she wasn't with her in her final hours. So instead she took off her coat and placed it on the hook on the door and approached her grandmother's bed.

The lady's snow white hair was as it had always been, scraped back into a neat and tidy bun – not a single hair out of place. It was not quite as tight as it usually was so not to cause her any more discomfort. Her mouth hung open slightly and her face appeared sunken. Her eyes were closed in morphine induced sleep. She took deep, jagged breaths every 20 seconds or so. Even in her last moments she was strong and stubborn.

The young girl sat down beside her and took her grandmother's withered hand in her own soft hand. Her fingers traced over the veins that protruded from her wrist dangerously. She followed them like a map that led to the cancer that was slowly killing her. The younger woman let a few tears slip down her cheeks as she placed a gentle kiss to her grandmother's hand.

"It's ok Nana, we're here and we're not going anywhere." She whispered. And with that she began to sing a song because, despite the coma, she knew her grandmother could hear her.

"Oh it's a jolly 'oliday with Mary
Mary makes your 'eart so light.
When the day is grey and ordinary
Mary makes the sun shine bright!
Oh, 'appiness is bloomin' all around 'er
The daffodils are smilin' at the dove
When Mary 'olds your 'and
You feel so grand
Your 'eart starts beatin' like
A big brass band!
It's a jolly 'oliday with Mary
No wonder that it's Mary that we love."

Mary's hand tightened around her granddaughter's; her heart fluttered along to the familiar tune and yearned to sing along. Although she could not remember the exact date or time she had first heard that song, she remembered feeling overcome with love and joy. She knew that song had truly been the start of her wonderful, sensational life.

Yes I know it's a really sad beginning! But stick with it, I promise there are happier chapters :) x