Our Screwed-Up Destiny by Primrose_Empath and Es

[Esmeralda]

Es' Notes: My friend, Primrose_Empath, was part of a Role-Playing Game called "Our Screwed-Up Destiny" when she and her friends explored what could've happened if it hadn't been *Prue* who stood between the innocent and Shax before Shax threw her through the wall the hardest, so she was not the one who died.

Primrose_Empath let me read the RPG. Although she and the gal playing Paige did a magnificent job, neither of us was very happy with the job the other players did with their characters, especially Phoebe.

So we came up with the idea of rewriting it as a fic, but a fic done *our* way, with the characters written the way we wish they had been written during the beginning of Season Four.

Remember, this is *totally* alternate universe, so anything can happen--and does!

We are very proud to present:

OUR SCREWED-UP DESTINY
aka "FOR PIPER"

Written by Esmeralda and Primrose_Empath

CHAPTER ONE

"Prue! Prue!" Phoebe came running down the stairs. "I laid down on my bed and got a premonition! Cole was lying on it and I couldn't wake him up! Prue, I can't lose him! Not after just losing..."

Prue glared at her younger sister. "Sorry, Phoebe, there's nothing we can do about it. If you can't wake him up, you can't wake him up."

"But...but, Prue, I got that premonition for a reason,."

"Yes, I know you did. But you have to ignore it. Don't you understand? Thanks to you, we're not The Charmed Ones anymore. We can't vanquish demons; we can't save innocents, and we most certainly can't save Cole, no matter how badly you want to or how hard we try!"

"Thanks to me?"

"Yes! Thanks to you! If you hadn't gone after Cole, Leo wouldn't have gone after you and if Leo hadn't gone after you, he would've been able to heal Piper after we were attacked! Don't you understand? Piper's death is your fault!"

"My fault?! But, Prue! Cole!"

"Yes. Cole. Your lover. Your half-demon lover who you put above your sisters, above innocents, above everything. Now thanks to you, our sister is dead, my best friend is dead and so is the Power of Three. Since you fell in love with that half-demon, you've lied to me to the point where I can't even bring myself to trust you anymore. If you love him so much more than you love me or the innocents we could've saved, just go! Go! Find your half-demon lover! Concentrate on him and forget all about me! Because I want to forget all about you! I'll never be able to look at you again without thinking of how you're the one responsible for Piper's death!"

Phoebe stared at her big sister. "No! No! That's not true! That's not true! It's not my fault! It can't be my fault!"

Prue just continued to glare at Phoebe, her eyes the pure green of anger and hate.

Phoebe: Then I'm hoping you won't need me around here for a while. I wanna try a new potion on Cole. One that'll reverse the spell that turned him bad in the first place.

Piper: Phoebe...

Phoebe: I'm not looking for your approval, Piper, just your support.

Prue: Well, Phoebe, it's sort of hard to give you support when you're just setting yourself up to get hurt again.

Phoebe: Cole is good inside, I know it. And if dark magic did this to him, then how come white magic can't save him? I can't just turn my back, I have to try.

Piper: What do you want us to do?

Phoebe: I want you to use the magic to magic spell to send me down there. I reworded it to make it work.

(Phoebe hands Piper a piece of paper.)

Piper: Uh, Phoebe, that's awfully dangerous. If something goes wrong we won't be able to contact each other.

Phoebe: I'll be safe, I'll be with Cole. And he'll bring me back, so don't worry about that.

Prue: You're banking a lot on that little potion of yours, you know.

Phoebe: No, I'm not. I'm banking on Cole.¹

Needing to get away from that piercing glare, Phoebe spun on her heels and sprinted out the door. She grabbed her bike and began to ride. She didn't know where she was going; she didn't care where she was going; she just had to get away.

In the wake of her haste to exit the Manor, she left the front door wide open, allowing a brisk breeze to blow through the front rooms. “Typical Phoebe,” Prue muttered as she stalked to the door. “Always taking the easy way out and leaving whenever she can’t hack something."

Phoebe: Whatever, I'm leaving.

Piper: Oh, sure, you're such an immature brat, you leave every time you can't hack something.

Phoebe: Well, there's nothing keeping me here, now is there?

Prue: Oh, well, I see that you've inherited Dad's talent of bailing.

Phoebe: That's because the two of us couldn't deal with living with the two of you!²

Prue shut the front door a bit harder than normal with a ‘thud’ that echoed throughout the house. "Well, good riddance to her.”

Feeling her anger rise by the millisecond, she stormed out of the foyer and up the stairs towards her room to grab her camera and the film from the previous week’s photo shoot, all the while ranting aloud to no one in particular. After all, who's here to hear me? The dust bunnies?

“Ugh!” she screamed while throwing her hands in the air. “I can’t believe her! Talk about freaking nerve--she had the gall to stand there and flat-out lie to my face, telling me that she’s not in some way responsible for Piper’s death – my best friend’s death. If she hadn’t gone and gotten involved with that half-demon, then we wouldn’t even be in this mess to begin with.”

Without even realizing it, she found herself outside Phoebe’s room, which was across the hall and down two doors from her own. Even though she didn’t want to, curiosity got the better of her, and she stopped to take a look inside.

Phoebe: Okay. Look Prue, I think we need to put some major closure on this or we’re gonna be in rocking chairs slurping oatmeal out of rubber spoons and I’m still gonna hear about Roger. Piper, am I a boyfriend thief?

Piper: Totally.

Phoebe: Besides Roger, whom again, Prue, I never touched.

Piper: My boyfriend. Billy Wilson.

Phoebe: Billy Will...Eighth grade Billy Wilson?

Piper: You kissed him at homecoming.

Phoebe: No I did not kiss him at homecoming. I was helping him find a contact lens.³

“'It’s not my fault, it’s not my fault, it’s not my fault'. Of course it’s never your fault, Phoebe. You wouldn’t know what responsibility was if it walked up and bit you. You’ve never taken responsibility for your actions before, so why on Earth would I believe that you’d start doing it now?”

Prue: What, did you go to the track, play the market, what?

Phoebe: The lottery.

Piper: Phoebe!

Phoebe: What did you want me to do? Ignore the premonition? Not help a needy family. That's what we're supposed to do, right?⁴

Wanting to see no more reminders of her irresponsible baby sister, Prue slammed the door shut and pictures hanging in the hallway rattled. A frustrated growl escaped her throat as she marched down the hall in search of her camera and the film that contained her assignment for the next month’s issue of 415.

Upon entering her own room, she spotted the camera in question lying on the dresser and quickly walked over to retrieve it. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and was momentarily taken aback at the sight. I know that the face reflected in that mirror is mine, and yet it seems as if I’m looking at a complete stranger. My cheeks are tear-streaked, the whites of my eyes are bloodshot, and some oh-so fashionable dark circles are starting to form around them due to lack of sleep. Geez. I’m a freaking mess.

Right now, however, her rather haggard and somewhat frightening appearance was the least of her concerns. She tucked her hair back behind her ears and taking one last glance in the mirror, she headed out into the hall and down the stairs. May as well keep myself busy and get these pictures developed for the magazine. At least that’ll provide a small distraction.

Passing through the dining room, she caught a glimpse of the repaired, but still unpainted wall that she and Piper had gone flying through not even a week earlier. An almost nauseating sinking feeling hit her in the stomach and she quickly shifted her gaze elsewhere and continued into the kitchen, pausing to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge on her way to the basement stairs.

The basement door opened with an ear-piercing "squeak" that she never really paid attention to before, but it seemed so much louder in the complete and total silence that now bathed the house. It’s just so quiet around here…almost eerie. I keep half-expecting to see Piper come walking through the front door or see her in the kitchen cooking something or another. Strange, the things that you miss.

With a sigh, she flipped the switch for the basement lights and climbed down the stairs to her sanctuary—the darkroom in the far corner of the basement. .

~~

Meanwhile, Phoebe was riding her bike just as fast as she could, still trying to get away from the memory of the hatred in her big sister's eyes and those horrible words. Prue's words kept hammering against her brain, while she kept shaking her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. "No! No! It can't be true! It can't! It can't be my fault! The Source's! Yes! That's whose fault it is. If he hadn't captured Cole and tried to turn him back to evil, I never would've gone after him! Yes! Yes! It has to be his fault!"

But the voice of reason kept resounding in Phoebe's head, sounding just like her big sister. "And if you hadn't fallen in love with Cole, you wouldn't have gone after him when The Source took him. You would've had no reason to go to the Underworld and Leo wouldn't have gone after you, where he couldn't heal you or your sisters! It's all your fault!" and her big sister's words came back to haunt her: "You love him more than you love your sisters or the innocents we could've saved."

"No! No! That can't be true! It can't!"

But suddenly another voice went through her head, her lost sister's:

Piper: All right, I'm only doing this for you guys and if I get killed, I'm gonna haunt the both of you forever.⁵

"NO!" Phoebe screamed, even louder than before. "NO!"

Suddenly she realized where she was--P3. Piper's club. Without even thinking about it, her subconscious brought her to the place that meant her lost sister more than any other.

She slammed on the brakes, jumped off her bike, letting it fall as she ran to the door, unlocking it and running down the stairs. She looked around, at the bar, at the tables, at the stage. Everywhere she looked, she could see her sister, she could see her sister doing all the things she always did here, the things that Piper would never do here again.

"NO!" she screamed as she dropped to the floor and began to sob. "I'm so sorry, Piper! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to put Cole before you, before Prue, or before the innocents! I didn't! I didn't! Really I didn't!" Tears of despair streamed down her cheeks and splashed onto the floor. "It's not my fault because I didn't mean to! I really didn't mean to. What will I do without you? What will Prue and I do without you? Without you, how can we possibly survive? You were the only one who could keep us from killing each other. Who will stop us now?"

Suddenly there was the strong sound of wind and a tornado-like thing crashed through the door, startling the lone figure sitting on the floor.

"No!" Phoebe screamed as she sprang up and rapidly backed her way toward one of the exits.

"NO!" she screamed louder as the tornado turned into Kernus, the demon who killed her sister, who killed The Power of Three. With an evil smirk, he waved his hand and Phoebe felt herself flying, just like Piper did when she crashed through the wall; just like Prue did when Phoebe almost lost her.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! LEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOO! COOOOOOOOOLE! PRUUUUUUUUUUUUE!"

No sooner did these last few syllables leave her mouth than her world turned black.

A quick glance at Phoebe's unconscious form on the floor satisfied Kernus that he'd accomplished his goal. Smirking to himself, he returned to his tornado form and swirled out the door..

~~

Meanwhile, Leo sat in his favorite thinking-spot high atop the Golden Gate Bridge, in deep despair. As he stared out across the water, all he could think of was Piper and the fact that he would never get a chance to hold his soulmate again until she decided to be reincarnated and live another life. But he'd have to wait until she grew up, like he did this time. He'd hate to have to wait that long again.

Looking down at the San Francisco Bay, words came unbidden to his mind. Let go. Just let go. Drop into the Bay and not even try to come back up. Ending this existence forever would be easier than trying to live forever without Piper.

But sighing resignedly, Leo knew he couldn't do that, as tempting as it was. Trying to kill himself wouldn't end his existence, much as he wished it would--it would only turn him into a darklighter. That would make a mockery out of everything Piper died for. I can't do that to her memory. I won't.

Instead he considered another possibility. Without even thinking about it, his mind slipped back in time, to the day when Piper first found out his secret:

Piper: So if Daisy's a whitelighter-to-be, doesn't that mean you used to be...

Leo: Human? Yes, it does. I was actually born right here in San Francisco. I had lived here all the way up till I went off to the war.

Piper: You mean, like Vietnam?

Leo: No. World War II. I left med school and enlisted as a medic. I wanted to help save people, not shoot them. The last thing I remember, I was bandaging a soldier's head wound and I felt a sharp pain and the next thing I know I was floating surrounded by whitelighters. They offered me immortality and the chance to help special people like you. I never once ever doubted that I didn't make the right choice. Til I met you. Ever since all I can think is how I'd give it up and have a mortal life again to have a family, grow old...with you.

Piper: Is that possible?

Leo: Yeah, I can become human again, Piper, if you want me to.

Piper: Are you kidding? I want that more than anything. I don't want to lose you again.

Leo: But...

Piper: But then you wouldn't be able to help other witches or other future whitelighters, would you? You couldn't help save the next Daisy.⁶

Oh, how I wish Piper had taken me up on my offer; how I wish she had decided to give up her powers as a witch, too, so we could've had that chance to grow old together and have kids together without the fear of evil villains going after them, since we both would've never subjected our children to that. Due to her selflessness, that will never be.

Without wanting to, he remembered the scene he watched from Up There, the scene he wasn't supposed to watch, but one he had to watch:

Prue: When we did the spell, we must have awakened everything in the room including the disease.

Phoebe: So, do you think there’s anything different about our blood because we’re witches?

Prue: I don’t know but our first priority is to figure out how to help save these people.

Phoebe: Yeah, but even if we can find a spell to save them, how do we prevent it from spreading to other people.

Piper: You have to reverse the spell.

Phoebe: No, Piper, we can’t reverse the spell because…

Prue: You could go back into a coma, you could die.

Piper: I’m not gonna die. Just reverse the spell and call Leo so he can heal me.

Phoebe: Leo? I thought you didn’t want us to call Leo.

Piper: Well, yeah, that’s when I thought I was sick, not dying.

Prue: Piper, um, we already talked to Leo, he’s not allowed to help.

Phoebe: They won’t let him.

Piper: Oh. Great. Well thanks for doing something I specifically asked you not to do.

Phoebe: Piper, you just said…

Prue: Phoebe, give it a rest. Um, look, Piper, we don’t know the reversal spell anyway.

Phoebe: Yeah, and they won’t let us outta here to get it.

Piper: Prue can get it.

Prue: No, I can’t. Okay, I can not just astral project on command. I can’t control it like that.

Piper: You can learn to control it just like you learned to control your other power. Just concentrate.

Prue: Piper, I can’t and I won’t.

Piper: Prue, you have to try. We can’t let anybody else die.

(Prue shuts her eyes and tries to astral project. She appears in the attic. A nurse looks in the room and sees Prue standing still with her eyes closed.)

Nurse: (through the intercom) What’s wrong with her?

Phoebe: Nothing. She’s fine.

[Cut to the attic. Prue finds the spell and tries to remember it. She astral projects back into her body.]

Prue: Whoa.

Piper: Did you see it?

Prue: Yeah, Piper, I don’t…

Piper: Prue, we’ve already discussed this. For some reason there’s no magical out for me but there is for the others. Please.⁷

And yet, that's a possibility. I could tell the Elders that I no longer want to be a whitelighter but want to clip my wings and be mortal again. Then when I'd die, I'd get a chance to be with Piper again, get a chance to be reincarnated again, this time with her, like we were the last time, and maybe get the chance to have that normal life we didn't get to have this time. Certainly she has earned that chance. Certainly I have.

And yet even as he considered it, Leo knew he couldn't do that. Again, it would make a mockery of everything Piper died for. He'd just have to continue guiding her sisters, missing her constantly, but not able to do anything about it. He knew the sisters were no longer The Charmed Ones, no longer able to harness The Power of Three which made them the most powerful witches ever, but they were still witches and would still need him to guide them, even if they didn't always listen to him.

He knew he would simply have to wait until Piper decided to reincarnate again and then wait for her to grow up again and hope that she would decide to be a witch again and the Elders would once more allow him to be her whitelighter. But it was such a long wait last time; I'm not sure if I can do that again, or if the Elders will even allow me.

But would They? Look how long it took me to convince Them to let me be The Charmed Ones' whitelighter. They didn't think I should since They remembered the connection Piper and I had had during our previous life, when I was her lover before she met her husband. I was able to convince Them that it was that connection that would help me be able to guide The Charmed Ones to use their powers properly, the way they were meant to be used, would I be able to convince them again? Even if I promised to truly keep my identity a secret from them, like I did this time, unlike most witches who know who their whitelighter is. Yeah, I should've stayed gone as soon as they found out my secret. But I didn't; I couldn't. And the Elders kept letting me. I never understood why. I still don't. Would They let me next time? I’m just glad They let me this time. Knowing Piper, loving Piper; missing Piper is still better than never having known her at all. Only when Piper and I tried to secretly wed did They take me away again. Thank God They let me come back once she proved herself to them.

But then again, maybe it would've been better if she hadn't. If only she wasn't so selfless, maybe she wouldn't have sacrificed herself for the innocent by putting herself between him and Kernus after her explosion and freezing powers and Prue's TK failed to affect Kernus. But that selflessness was one of the things I love most about her; her willingness to put innocents in front of her own desires, despite her huge desire to have a normal life. That's why she was already gone by the time I reached them; at least I was able to save Prue. But I couldn't save Piper and I couldn't save their innocent. It's something I'll have to live with, but the same time, something I know I'll never forgive myself for.

Even as Leo sank deeper and deeper into his despair, he could vaguely hear one of his charges calling. But he was so depressed he couldn't even bring himself to listen or respond.

~~

Meanwhile, Cole was busily putting the final touches on some deposition documents for one of his upcoming court cases. Just one last task, and I can call it quits for the day. With a "click" and a "whir", the printer in the corner sprang to life, producing the final needed page. Finally. It’s time to blow this pop stand.

Carefully placing the document in a folder, he set it in his briefcase, snapped the lock shut, and grabbed his car keys off the desk. Gotta keep up appearances after all.

No sooner was he halfway across the office when a strange sensation hit him, sending a chill down his spine…the sensation of something not being quite right. “Phoebe,” he whispered as he dropped the briefcase and car keys on a nearby table. After a quick glance out the door to confirm that nobody was in the immediate vicinity, he hit the lights and shimmered out.

Seconds later he reappeared in P3 and was shocked at the sight--it looked like a tornado ripped right through. “Kernus!” he muttered in disgust while taking in the overturned tables and chairs. Immediately his eyes zeroed in on a still form lying in a crumpled heap against the far wall and he sprinted over.

Damn you, Kernus! ran through his head as he carefully cradled his love in his arms, and quickly checked for a pulse. Oh thank god, there is one--a weak one, but a pulse nonetheless. Kernus has really done a number on her, and she won’t last much longer if I don’t get some help…and soon. I can't lose her; I can't. I'd be lost without her. I’ve got to find Leo, he’s my best bet. The Manor. Certainly he should be at the Manor, and if he's not, Prue will! and carefully hugging his unconscious love to his chest, he shimmered them both to Manor, praying that the whitelighter and his healing touch would be there.

~~~~~

Prue was getting into a pretty good rhythm while developing her pictures, and before she knew it, the whole roll was almost done. Not having Phoebe around really has its benefits. Nice not having her constantly barge in at just the wrong moment.

As she waited for the second to last batch to dry and last ones to set, her mind started to wander.

Piper: I'm just glad you're all right.
Prue: I love you.
Piper: What did you just say?
Prue: I love you.
Piper: I think that's the first time you've said that to me.
Prue: Yeah, I know, I wish I would’ve said it a long time ago. Ever since Mom died I've been afraid to say it. I didn't want to lose anybody else.
Piper: Well, we're not going anywhere.⁸

If only that were true. I’m so sorry, Piper…I let you down. A lone tear rollled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, took a sip out of her water bottle, and tried to focus on happier times.

Piper: Although I have to admit some of the things Dan said were kind of true. I do think about Leo sometimes.
Prue: Jack wasn’t wrong when he said I was on the rebound.
Piper: Still it’s all so weird. One minute the four of us are laughing and having a great time…
Prue: And the next we’re acting like we hate each other. Uhh…
Piper: What?
Prue: I was just thinking about Drazi.
Piper: No way. He couldn’t have had anything to do with this. We vanquished him.
Prue: Jack’s scum.
Piper: So is Dan.
Prue: Are you scum?
Piper: No, I’m not scum.
Prue: I knew you weren’t.⁹

That’s better.

---

¹Charmed Episode 3.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose" written by Brad Kern, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

²Charmed Episode 3.07 "Power Outage" written by Monica Breen & Alison Shapker, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

³Charmed Episode 1.07 "The Fourth Sister" written by Edithe Swensen, transcribed by Janelle Hackbarth

⁴Charmed Episode 1.02 "I've Got You Under My Skin" written by Brad Kern, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

⁵Charmed Episode 2.16 "How To Make A Quilt Out Of Americans" teleplay by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Robert Masello, story by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

⁶Charmed Episode 1.21 "Love Hurts" written by Chris Levinson, Zack Estrin, and Javier Grillo-Marxuach, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

⁷ Epsiode 2.12 "Awakened" written by Vivian Mayhew and Valerie Mayhew, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

⁸Charmed Episode 1.13 "From Fear To Eternity" written by Tony Blake and Paul Jackson, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

⁹Charmed Episode 2.10 "Heartbreak City" written by David Simkins, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER TWO

Within a matter of seconds of leaving the club, Cole reappeared in the foyer of the Manor, his unconscious love carefully resting in his arms. He rapidly flicked his gaze around the room--it appeared as if there were nobody even home. Where the hell is everybody? At the top of his lungs, he called out, "Leo?! Prue?! Somebody?!!! Get here quick!"

No! Why isn't anyone appearing? The half-demon was now totally panicked. This is not good. Not at all. Where is everyone? My love is getting colder! No! She won't last much longer! And I can't last without her! Even louder now, even more desperately, he screamed, "HELP! SOMEONE! HELP! NOW!" Oh god please! Someone's GOT to be around!

~~~

There. That's the last one. Smiling to herself, Prue hung up the last of the pictures to dry and then set about getting her equipment and supplies cleaned up and put away. She was blissfully lost in her own little world until the sound of yelling broke her out of her daydream. What the hell is going on? I thought I was alone!

With an exasperated sigh, she set the last bottle of chemicals on the shelf, shut off the lights, and headed up the stairs to investigate. About halfway up, she clearly heard Leo's name and then hers being called...by Cole? Wonderful. Just abso-freakin-loutely wonderful. Next to Phoebe, that half-demon is totally the last person I want to see at the moment. She momentarily contemplated turning back around and pretending like she didn't hear a thing. As good an idea as that sounded, she decided against it. "Better go see what he wants," she muttered while trudging up the stairs to the kitchen. "The sooner I find out, the sooner he can get the hell outta here before I send his sorry ass flying into a wall."

Still fuming over the fact that she was disturbed--and by Cole, no less, she speed-walked her way through the kitchen and towards the foyer. He better have a damn good reason for being here.

Rounding the corner from the dining room and entering the foyer, she came face-to-face with one of the two people she really would've rather not seen at that moment and wasted no time in finding out some answers. Arms crossed across her chest, she demanded, "Why are you here, and what the hell do you--"

That was when she noticed what he held in his arms. And what she saw rapidly shocked her back into reality. Oh my God. Phoebe! The color drained from her face and all her anger was instantly shoved aside as she wasted no time in sprinting over to her baby sister's battered and bloody body. "Phoebe!" she screamed as she grabbed her from him and fell to her knees, cradling Phoebe on her lap. OH, NO. Not Again. And not today of all days! "What happened to her?! Did you have something to do with this? Because if you did, I swear..." But before he could open his mouth, she cut him off. "Never mind. There'll be plenty of time for answers later. Right now I've gotta get Leo here 'cause I'll be damned if I'm losing another sister." Yeah, her free-spiritedness and utter lack of responsibility annoy the freaking daylights out of me at times, but I can't fathom losing her, too. That would just be too much. I promised to protect her, too.

Taking her eyes off of Phoebe for just a second, she looked up to the ceiling. "LEO!" she called out loudly, a note of panic in her voice. Precious seconds passed and he didn't appear, so she called out again, even louder and more panicked this time. "LEO!!" Where is that guy?! Tears started to fill her eyes as she tenderly stroked the top of Phoebe's head and held her close. "Don't leave me, baby girl. Please don't leave me," she pled as the tears rolled down her face in rivers. "Come on, Phoebs, stay with me here. You're strong, baby girl. You can fight it." God, NO. This cannot be happening!! This is not happening!! It's like a never-ending nightmare. One that I just can't seem to wake up from. "LEO!!! Get your whitelighter ass down here NOW!! We need you!!" Please, God, don't let the last words I ever speak to her be words that were said in hurt and anger.

~~

Meanwhile, up on the Bridge, although he kept trying to, Leo finally admitted that he couldn't ignore the panicked and persistant calling in his head any longer, and orbed into the Manor. Not immediately seeing anyone, he looked down to the floor, where he saw a distraught Cole and Prue kneeling down next to a clearly unconscious Phoebe, her body battered and bloodied, looking very much like Prue and Piper did when he found them after Kernus' attack. Oh, no! Not again! Please tell me that this isn't happening! "No. No! I can't lose another one. I can't!"

Even as he spoke, he covered the distance between himself and the others in two strides, and put his hands over Phoebe, but to his dismay, nothing happened.

"Why is nothing happening?" Cole demanded, panic in his voice. Prue was in such shock she couldn't even speak.

"I can't reach the injury. Bring her into the living room and lay her on the couch."

Cole nodded and lifted up his love and hurried into the living room, Leo only a step behind the half-demon and his precious cargo. Cole laid the youngest Charmed One on the couch as Leo took a calming breath to steel his nerves, praying that the Elders would allow his magic to work, that it wasn't Phoebe's time, the way it had been Piper's, and preparing to work his healing magic the second Cole laid Phoebe down on couch.

Cole began pacing nervous circles on the floor next to the couch. There was nothing else he could do right now except for wait and hope. I got there as quickly as I could. God, I hope I wasn't too late.

Meanwhile back in the foyer, everything that had just happened had left Prue in total shock to the point where she couldn't even move. She was still on her knees, literally rooted in place; the fear causing her to tremble uncontrollably. All she could do was pray, Please, God, please, God, please, God. Don't let her die because I ignored Cole's yell! As she took a shaky breath, she buried her head in her hands in order to avoid seeing the scene unfolding in the next room. This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening!

In the living room, Leo had made himself as calm as he could before hurrying over to Phoebe's still form lying on the couch, thinking about hurrying over to Piper's and Prue's bodies. He breathed a sigh of relief when he could see her chest moving up and down Thank God she's still breathing--lightly, even lighter than Prue was--but still breathing nonetheless. That's a good sign.

He put his hands over the worst of her injuries. As his healing ability activated, a golden glow emanated from his hands and slowly enveloped that injury.. But the bright glow immediately dimmed, just barely lighting the injury, and it scared the tar out of him. No! No! She is so far gone, even farther than Prue was! I might not be able to bring her back, and no way I can stand that. Please, God. Please, God.

"Why isn't it working?" Cole demanded, but Leo ignored him, concentrating on his job, praying for all he was worth.

In the foyer, the unmistakable sound of orbing suddenly filled Prue's ears and she felt comforting arms enfold her from behind, lifting her to her feet. Even though she hadn't felt those particular arms in two years, she recognized them in a heartbeat. That can't be who I think it is, is it? No. It can't be -- my mind is playing tricks on me. She quickly turned around and met a familiar set of friendly blue eyes. Though momentarily stunned, she immediately realized that this was indeed no joke. "Andy. Oh, God! Andy!" she cried as she returned his embrace with one of her own. A calming feeling washed over her and for the first time since she and Piper first tried to vanquish Kernus and couldn't and they were caught on camera and exposed as witches, starting this whole nightmare, everything seemed all right.

Andy held Prue closer as she melted into his embrace. As he rubbed slow circles on her back with his hand, he whispered in a gentle and calming voice. "I'm not supposed to be here. But I could feel your pain, feel your fear and I couldn't not come. I'll stay as long as I can."

Prue laid her head on Andy's strong shoulder and finally let out all the fear and pain that she'd been holding inside for the past couple of days. Sobs shook her body, and the tears ran in torrents down her face, almost as if a dam had just burst. Seconds that felt like hours crept by until she finally finished and looked up from Andy's now-soaked shoulder with red-rimmed eyes. "I can't lose them both. I can't."

Meanwhile in the living room, Leo continued to concentrate and finally the light surrounding the worst of Phoebe's injuries, her chest, began to brighten, finally glowing a bright gold and her breathing became deeper. He watched as the bright golden light spread to completely envelope her entire body and he breathed a prayer of gratitude, especially when her eyes started to flutter as she slowly regained consciousness.

As she slowly came to, Phoebe could feel the warmth of Leo's healing powers flowing over her body and when she managed to open her eyes, she could see his once-worried and now-relieved face. Looking over, she could also see Cole pacing the rug. But there was one person she wanted to see, had to see, more than anyone else and didn't see. "Prue! Prue! Where's Prue?"

Her sister was still in the midst of mentally berating herself for allowing her anger to get the better of her when she heard the sweetest sound--a voice she thought she'd never hear again--that of her baby sister. And much to Prue's surprise, that voice wasn't calling out for Cole--it was calling out for her. Even as she flew towards the sound, she shook her head wonderingly. After that blowout we had a couple of hours ago, I thought I'd be the last person she would be wanting to see.

In a flash, Prue had untangled herself from Andy's embrace and was in the living room with her arms wrapped around her baby sister in a huge hug. A feeling of relief washed over her. "Phoebs, thank God you're okay, baby girl." 'Cause I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, too.

Phoebe very happily hugged her big sister back, so glad that Prue no longer seemed to be so angry at her, as happy tears flowed down her own cheeks. "Oh, Prue, I'm so very sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you and Piper and the innocents! I didn't. Really I didn't!"

"It's okay, baby girl; I understand; it's okay." At that moment, nothing else in the world mattered to Prue. Her little sister was still alive, and that was all that counted, and the smile on her teary face told Prue that Phoebe felt the same way. "You had me so scared. Don't you ever do that again!" she admonished, her own tears flowing freely down her face.

That made Phoebe laugh through her tears as did the two men sharing the room with them. Leo and Cole had no idea what had precipitated this reunion; they were just glad it had. Cole was almost as glad as he was that Leo's healing had worked. That had to be some fight for Phoebe to call out Prue's name rather than mine. He could've been a bit upset about that, but he was still just so relieved that she was all right, since he didn't know what he would've done had he lost her.

Now he hurried over to the couch and sank to his knees so he could softly plant a kiss on his love's forehead. "Thank god and Leo you're all right!"

Phoebe smiled a wide smile at her sweetie and kissed him back before turning to look at Leo. "I felt myself blacking out. I didn't know if you'd hear me. Thank you, Leo."

Leo slowly shook his head and diverted his eyes away from Phoebe's grateful ones and towards the far wall instead. "Don't thank me. Cole's the one who heard you and brought you here and Prue's the one who yelled for me until I came. Me, I almost lost you. Just like I lost Piper."

Tears began to fill his eyes again. "I should've felt you when you were hurt, Phoebe. I should've come as soon as you called, as soon as Prue called. You could've died, Phoebe! And it would've been all my fault! I was so busy feeling sorry for myself for losing Piper that I didn't do my job and almost lost you, too! I'm no good as your whitelighter anymore. No good." His shoulders slumped and his head dropped so that he was once again looking at the floor through bright tear-filled eyes.

"She's alive," Prue told him as she hugged her little sister again. "That's all that counts, Leo. That's all that counts," and both Cole and Phoebe nodded their agreement.

Then Prue noticed someone else nodding, someone standing in the doorway, uncertain of his welcome, and she grinned as she suddenly remembered that she had not only regained her baby sister; she had regained someone else. They're never gonna believe this -- not in a million years! "Got a present for you, Phoebs. You'd never guess who I found," as she gestured with her thumb over her shoulder.

"Andy!" Phoebe yelled as she basically leaped up from the couch and ran over to give him a huge hug. "It's so good to finally have you back!" she cried estatically as she wrapped her arms around him, a smile on her face.

Cole watched her as she hugged this stranger tight. Jealousy began to fester in his soul and he could almost feel Belthazar wanting to appear and take care of this man whom Phoebe seemed to love so much.

Prue could see the look in Cole's eyes and figured she better do something to save her own love. "Don't worry about it, Cole. Andy grew up with us."

Cole thought about it. Andy. Andy. Why do I feel like I should know that name? Then the proverbial light bulb clicked on in his head. Oh! Right! Andy Trudeau-- that inspector who was killed by one of my demonic colleagues about two years ago. Phoebe told me all about him. He was like a big brother to them, although a lot closer than that to Prue. That's right. he died saving Prue's life. Apparently the Elders rewarded him for that by making him a whitelighter. Hmm. Might as well make his accquaintance.

And standing up, he walked over to shake Andy's hand. "Hey, Andy. Nice to meet ya, man. I'm Cole Turner."

Andy smiled a bright smile as he gladly hugged Phoebe back before shaking the half-demon's hand. Unlike Cole, Andy knew whose hand he was shaking and he knew what Cole meant to the woman Andy considered his own baby sister -- it was the latest gossip in whitelighter-circles, just like when Leo married Piper. But a Charmed One and a half-demon??!! And yet Phoebe had done the impossible--fell in love with a half-demon who proved that he could love, and because he could love could keep his demon half under control.

Leo had been the first to look up to see who Prue was pointing out. As predicted, he was very much taken aback and remained quiet as both Phoebe and Cole made the newcomer welcome. His consternation showed on not only his face but also in his tone as he finally spoke. "Andy! You know you shouldn't be here, but I'm so glad you are."

Then he turned and walked to the doorway and shook hands with his fellow whitelighter. "I have a huge favor to ask of you...and if you don't want to accept it, I'll fully understand." Taking a deep breath, he carefully went over in his mind what he was about to say next. Here goes nothing. "If your charges are okay, would you watch mine? I've done a dreadful job and I don't know if I can do it anymore." His normally-sparkling green eyes were clouded over with a mixture of sadness and doubt as he continued to torture himself for almost losing Phoebe so soon after losing Piper.

Andy set Phoebe aside and watched as Cole led her back to the couch. He then looked at Leo, all the while contemplating the question Leo just asked. Now he placed a reassuring hand on each of Leo's shoulders and looked him square in the eyes. "Don't talk like that, Leo. You're hurting, and it's completely understandable that you would feel like you do. But once you all get past this, you'll be okay. Everyone knows how well you've done in guiding The Charmed Ones -- I mean, you're a legend in whitelighter circles." I hope that helps cheer him up....the poor guy's an absolute emotional wreck.

Leo reflected upon the answer he received from his whitelighter colleague. He gave him a half-smile. "Andy, I'd still appreciate it if you could stick around for awhile. But you'd better lie low. Besides, these two have to be getting ready for the funeral tomorrow." His voice quivered as he said these last two words, and again tears came to his eyes as he thought about burying his beloved Piper. He desperately wished that whitelighters were able to be with the spirits who were in Heaven so he could be with Piper, but he knew he couldn't. He'd never be able to see his wife again until he decided to clip his wings and later died. That was something else he was once more contemplating.

As excited as Prue was to have Andy back, Leo was right. There was still business that needed to be attended to --- like getting ready for Piper's funeral tomorrow. She leaned against a nearby wall, sighed sadly and shook her head...she still couldn't believe she was going to be burying one of her sisters, and the one who was also her best friend. It felt surreal, like how everything felt these past few days. How is this fair? Tears ran slowly down her face and dripped onto the floor. She made a half-hearted effort to wipe them away, but they wouldn't stop coming, so she just stared down at the floor and attempted to collect her thoughts.

As Andy turned away from his fellow whitelighter, he spot Prue leaning against the wall with tears silently running down her face. Quickly and quietly he walked over and closed his arms around the eldest sister -- holding her close in a sweet embrace. He silently used a single finger to gently wipe away the tears that kept running down her face.

Seeing Andy cross the room, the youngest Charmed One soon realized what her big sister was thinking, and tears of grief come to her eyes as well. "Piper!" she choked out as she leaned into Cole's arms and began to sob. This loss of one of her older sisters was one that she hoped she'd never have to face -- at least not so soon.

All of this grief was much too much for Leo, who couldn't stand to see his two sisters-in-law and their respective loves crying over Piper when he still felt incredibly guilty about losing his wife. Sighing, he left the room and headed up the stairs towards his and Piper's room, the room that was now only his own.

Leo's exit didn't go unnoticed, however. Out of the corner of his eye, Andy spot the despondant whitelighter climbing up the staircase. Aloud he gently told the others, "It's probably best that we leave him alone for a while." And holding a still-silently grieving Prue close, he tenderly stroked the top of her head.

Cole nodded as he also held a sobbing Phoebe closer, allowing her to cry on his shoulder, not quite sure what else to do. Phoebe looked up to watch Leo leave and managed a watery smile through her tears as she snuggled deeper into Cole's loving arms. Oh, I know what it's like to lose your love to evil! Thank God I got you back...I couldn't get through this without you. I won't put you ahead of the innocents or Prue ever again. I won't. But I'm, oh, so, glad that you're with me now!

Andy looked at all of them. "Just remember, you two, everything happens for a reason. Piper's with your mom and your Grams now. I'm sure she's fine and wouldn't like seeing the both of you grieving like this."

His words got to Prue. Leaning into his warm and comforting embrace, she finally allowed all the emotions she's been holding back for the past couple of days to come rushing out. I failed as a big sister...it's my job to protect Piper and Phoebe...and I couldn't! kept repeating itself over and over in her mind.

"Why did Kernus have to take her?" she sobbed into Andy's shoulder. "He should've taken me!"

Andy gently kissed her on the forehead, while rubbing soft comforting circles on her still-shaking shoulders. "No," he softly reminded her. "What happened was meant to happen."

His words bring a watery smile to Phoebe's face. "You even sound like a whitelighter." When her words failed to bring a smile to her big sister's face, Phoebe couldn't stand to see her normally stoic big sister finally letting it all out, so she hurried over and tightly hugged her. "Don't think that way, Prue! I couldn't stand to lose you, too. Who would take care of me if you weren't here?" Her soft brown eyes locked with her sister's red-rimmed ones to send an unspoken message of concern. As always when Prue was sad or depressed, her blue eyes had turned a light smoke-gray. Seeing that color just made Phoebe's tender heart ache more for her big sister, even as she also mourned the sister who was gone.

Prue slowly looked up from Andy's shoulder to her sister's warm brown eyes. Smiling at her baby sister's comforting gesture, she returned the hug, cementing their bond as sisters that had come so close to being broken.

Then she took a deep breath and slowly shook her head. "But it still doesn't make things any better. I mean, first Mom, then Grams, and now Piper. When's it gonna stop?"

Andy smiled an understanding smile and whispered. "It's gonna be okay. You remember your battle with Death. It was just Piper's time to go," he reassured her as both he and Phoebe held her close.

Prue snuggled in close to Andy, while laying her head on Phoebe's shoulder. Andy always had a way of making her feel better simply by being there. "Yeah I guess you're right....it probably was her time to go. But it still sucks," and now Andy, Phoebe and Cole all managed a small smile.

Prue quickly glanced at her watch and was more than a bit stunned. It was well past 11 pm and the funeral was scheduled to start near noon the next day while the family was supposed to be there by 11 in order to greet the other mourners. Wow. It's that late already? Better start calling it quits--and soon. "Oh geez! Guys, we'd better call it a night pretty soon."

Phoebe nodded in agreement as she wiped a few lingering tears away and gave her big sister one more hug. "You're right. Piper will never forgive us if we look bad at her funeral," and releasing the hug, she walked back over to Cole, took his hand, and they started their way up the stairs.

Andy watched as Phoebe and Cole made their way up the stairs and then returned his gaze to Prue. "I should probably get back to one of my charges, but they're all sleeping right now and I can sense if they need me. And I want to be here for you until they," and he looked Up, "decide I can't. Do you mind if I sleep on the couch?" he inquired softly, looking deep into her beautiful still-gray eyes.

Prue smiled as her eyes turned back to blue. "I think I can think of a better place for you to sleep tonight. I need you. Please come with me," and when he nodded, she led him up the stairs.

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER THREE

Andy slowly woke up and a smile crossed his face as he became aware of Prue sound asleep beside him. He watched her face, so lovely, so relaxed in repose, for a minute. At least for a few hours she's been able to forget the nightmare her world has become, a world without her best friend who also happens to be her sister, one of the sisters she told me she promised Grams that she would protect. I hate having to bring her back into that reality, but...

Leaning over, he kissed her soft cheek. "Prue. Time to wake up."

Startled out of her dream by a voice and the gentle sensation of someone kissing her cheek, Prue quickly sat up and looking around wildly, prepared to send whoever it was flying into the nearest wall. Spotting Andy's smiling face, she relaxed and pulled back her hands.

A quick glance at her alarm clock told her exactly what she didn't want to know --- it was almost 10 am, and she was running late -- the family had to be at the church an hour before the noon start-time to greet the other mourners.

"Oh no. We're going to be late!" Turning to Andy, she returned his kiss with a peck on the cheek. "Good morning," she smiled with a loving look in her eyes, so happy that the Elders hadn't taken him away just yet. She then frantically gathered up the black outfit she laid out the night before, threw on her robe, trying not to remember that it was her birthday present from Piper, and dashed to the upstairs bathroom to take a quick shower and get ready.

As she hurried towards the shower, Andy threw on his own clothes and dashed down the stairs to wait for her, knowing exactly what she'd want when she'd get there--a strong cup of coffee--and Piper wouldn't be there to make it. He knew he couldn't make as good of a pot as Piper would've, but for Prue, he'd give it his best shot.

About fifteen minutes later, Prue jogged down the stairs to grab a quick caffeine boost and read the paper. When she turned the corner into the kitchen, there was Andy, a gentle smile on his face as he handed her a steaming cup of coffee sweetened with a small peck on the cheek.

"Hey, you," she managed a small smile as she gave him a quick but grateful kiss. "Sorry about earlier, but you know how I hate running late." She pulled out a chair from the kitchen table, took a shaky breath and sipped nervously on her cup of coffee. She was not looking forward to the funeral....it just all seemed so final, and she still wasn't sure if she was ready to accept the fact that one of her sisters (and her best friend) was truly gone. This is not gonna be easy. But I've gotta stay strong. If not for my sake, then for Phoebe's. We can't afford for both of us to fall apart.

Even without using his powers, Andy knew her so well that he was fully aware of the thoughts that were running through her head. He pulled out an adjacent chair, put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "You don't have to be strong if you don't want to. I'm here; you can lean on me. Just remember how much I love you and that I'm here just for you."

She slid his chair closer to him and leaned contentedly into his arms. "I love you, too," she whispered in his ear. "Thank you for being here."

Taking another sip from her cup, she glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and sighed--it was drawing nearer to time to leave for the church. "I wonder what's keeping Phoebs and Cole. If they don't hurry it up, we're going to be late." Setting her cup down and scooting her chair back from the kitchen table, she looked over at him. "I'll be right back."

Swiftly making her way through the dining room, she stopped at the foot of the stairs, crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. "Phoebe! Are you guys almost ready? We've gotta leave soon, or else we're going to be late! You're the one who said it--Piper would never forgive us if we're late for her funeral!"

Unbeknownst to Prue, her younger sister was in a pure panic. She woke up almost the same time as Prue had, but Cole hadn't. Remembering her premonition from the day before, she'd been trying everything she could possibly think of but still he wouldn't wake or stir.

So at this point she was nearly hysterical. No! NO! I can't lose Cole the day we bury Piper! No, I won't put him in front of Prue, I won't, but I'll never be able to get through this day without him!

Hearing Prue's impatient voice, she screamed in terror for her big sister.

As soon as Prue heard that scream, she ran up the stairs, her feet barely touching the steps. Not her, too! I can't lose my baby sister on the day I'm burying my other sister! Ohhh, I hope that Kernus is back because I'd love to send him on a one-way trip through the wall! Now that would be the proper way to start this horrible day! And right now I'm angry enough that I'm sure that this time I'd have enough power to do it!

In the kitchen, Andy suddenly felt Prue's terror, the same terror that originally brought him to her. Dropping his now-empty mug, he immediately orbed to where he could sense her heading--Phoebe's room.

No sooner did he reappear in the doorway to Phoebe's room than he called out, "What's taking so...long?" He took a couple of steps forward into the room and came to a stop when he saw Phoebe crying and Cole's still form lying on the bed, out cold.

Before he could say or do anything else, Prue appeared at the doorway, looking around for the cause of Phoebe's screaming, hoping to see Kernus, her arm already raised. She didn't even notice Andy as her eyes landed on the knocked-out Cole lying on the bed and Phoebe's hysterical face. "Phoebs! Are you all right?"

Hearing that voice, Phoebe jumped up from the bed and ran directly into her big sister's arms. "Prue! Cole isn't waking up!" As she shook her head a few tears escaped from her brown eyes and ran down her cheeks. "You remember my premonition! Prue, I just can't lose him, too! I won't put him above you and the innocents, I won't, but I couldn't bear to lose him! I'd never be able to stand it!" She leaned into Prue and rested her head on her big sister's shoulder, sobbing inconsolably.

Prue wrapped her little sister in a comforting hug and rubbed Phoebe's shoulders in order to calm her down. "Don't worry, Phoebs; we're not gonna lose him." She watched as Cole's chest continued to rise and fall. As long as he was still alive and simply wouldn't wake up, she was sure they'd figure a way. She knew her sister was over-reacting due to that premonition.

Andy had been watching the two sisters. "Is there anything I can do to help?" the whitelighter asked, a note of concern in his voice.

Suddenly an idea popped into Prue's head and her eyes lit up. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, there is." Releasing Phoebe, she jogged over to Andy and whispered in his ear, then went back to hug Phoebe. "Don't worry, Phoebs, he'll be fine." Hope this works--it's the only thing I could think of at short notice.

Phoebe watched as Andy orbed out and then turned to look her sister in the eyes. "But, Prue! What can Andy do? You know whitelighters can't heal demons, even half-demons."

Just then Andy orbed back in, holding a pitcher. "You're right, Prue," he smiled. "This should do the trick nicely." While Phoebe watched in shock and Prue tried in vain to hold back her snickers, Andy strolled over to the bed and poured ice-cold water onto the half-demon.

Cole sat up so quickly, it was as if he'd been shot out of a cannon. "Are you crazy?" he sputtered, wiping the water off his face and glaring at Andy, who was standing by the bed holding the now-almost-empty pitcher. "Talk about a rude awakening," he grumbled.

Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Phoebe sprinted over to the soaked half-demon and gave him a huge hug and a big kiss. "Thank God you're okay!"

Prue was trying her hardest not to laugh at Cole's reaction, but the efforts were futile. After a couple of seconds, she just couldn't hold it in any longer and she laughed until her side ached.

Andy could't help laughing at Cole's reaction or at Prue's. It's so good to hear her laugh again, even if it's at Cole's expense. Looking in the pitcher and seeing a small amount of water still inside, he gaves Prue a most un-whitelighterly look.

Even as she tried to regain her composure, Prue noticed the mischievious look in Andy's eyes. She screamed and waved her hand so the pitcher flew out of Andy's hands, splashing the remaining water onto him.

Now it was Cole and Phoebe's turn to howl at Andy's expense.

"Hey," Andy grumbled. "Isn't that what you call using magic for personal gain?"

That just made everyone laugh harder, exactly what Andy had in mind, knowing that this would act as a catharsis for all of the pain this family had gone through. Now he looked at Prue sheepishly and then down at his now-soaked shirt. "Hey, now I'm all wet. I guess I'll have to orb to one of my charges' places and get a dry one."

Prue shook her head in amusement and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Andy, let's go get you a dry shirt. I think I might still have a couple of your old ones in my closet somewhere." Nodding towards the door, she turned and led him out of Phoebe's room and towards her own.

Cole watched them leave, then looked at the clock. What he saw made him leap from the bed. "Phoebe! Look at the time! Don't we have to be there by 11? Guess we'd better get ready," and grabbing his suit off the chair, he headed for the upstairs bathroom to brush his teeth and wash up, also taking his suit so he could get dressed. But before he did, he looked back towards Phoebe. "You better do the same. You take the upstairs bathroom; I'll take the downstairs one."

Phoebe sadly nodded in agreement and after a quick peck on Cole's cheek, she grabbed the dress she planned to wear and headed for the upstairs bathroom to prepare for the day ahead.

Cole watched her and then headed downstairs and into the first-floor bathroom. While getting ready, he thought about the day ahead. He knew Phoebe was going to need him to comfort her, but lingering doubts floated through his mind and he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to do all that good of a job. "I've been a mercenary demon for half-a-century," he muttered to himself as he brushed his teeth. "I'm the one who made others need to console each other due to the deaths I caused. What do I know about comforting?"

~~

Meanwhile in the upstairs bathroom Phoebe quickly washed up, then went back into her room to put on her dress and braid her hair back. She tried her best not to think of what was going to come. She didn't want to think about it; she couldn't or she'd break down and she wanted Prue to be proud of her. She was just happy to know that both Prue and Cole wouldl be there for her and Andy would be there for Prue.

She didn't think about Leo; she didn't want to think about Leo. Thinking about Leo would just make her think about Piper. And she didn't want to think about Piper. Not yet.

Once she was ready for the day ahead, she took a deep breath, then headed for the kitchen for a cup of coffee. She couldn't get through this day without it.

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she walked over to the coffeepot and poured herself a cup, wondering who had made the pot. Looking at the counter and the cupboard and the stove, she blinked back her tears. No more home-cooked meals. No more Piper telling me to clean my room or chasing me out of the kitchen. No more Piper at all!

She dropped to a chair and set down her mug as the tears began to fall. Reality hit her like a ton of bricks in the stomach--she would never get to see Piper again!

Meanwhile, in the downstairs bathroom, Cole was finishing up. He ran a final comb through his hair and made sure his tie was nice and straight. Satisfied with his appearance, he left the bathroom and walked to the kitchen. Now for some much-needed caffeine, because today is going to be a long day.

Entering the kitchen, he spot Phoebe sitting at the table, staring down at her coffee mug, and sobbing. "Piper?" he inquired, a note of concern in his voice, doing his best.

She wiped a few tears away with her fingers, but they refused to stop. She acknowledged his question with a nod. "I just realized what is going to happen. No more Piper. She's been one of my big sisters my entire life. I've always had both her and Prue. But now there's no more Piper. And with her gone everything is going to go wrong. How can Prue and I get along without her? She's always been the voice of reason and the only one who can keep the two of us from tearing each other to shreds. Look what happened yesterday! This just isn't going to work!" Again she sniffled back her tears, but they kept rolling down her face in a never-ending stream, so she pulled a tissue from the box that had sat on the kitchen table since they lost Piper and dabbed her eyes with it.

Cole tried in vain to think of something comforting to say, but he was hopeless at this sort of thing. Instead he just went with his instincts. Hurrying over to her chair, he knelt down next to her and just wrapped his arms around the youngest Charmed One, letting her sob onto his shoulder.

She held tightly onto him as if she was afraid that he'd disappear, too. "Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't it have been me?" The words came out in hiccuping sobs as tears ran down her face and drip onto his shoulder. "Prue and Piper have always been so close to each other. They never would've missed me. It should've been me who went through that wall, Cole. Not Piper."

He reached over and used her chin to raise her head so he was looking her right in her soft brown eyes. "And what would I have done without you? You're my salvation, Phoebe. I need you. And remember what Andy said. It was simply Piper's turn to go and be with your mother and your grandmother. Everything happens for a reason. We might not like it and we might not understand it, but there's a reason for why it happened."

She sadly sighed as she reverted her gaze back to the kitchen table and the slowly-cooling mug of coffee sitting on the coaster in front of her. Then she looked up at him as she finally caught her breath. "Yeah, I know Andy was right, but it's just gonna be so hard."

He nodded as he took her hand in his and placed his other hand on top of hers in a comforting gesture. "But you'll make it. You'll make it because you still have me and Prue and Leo. Leo looked pretty bad last night. He's gonna need you guys a lot."

"Yeah, Phoebe, he's exactly right. I am going to need you and Prue. I'm going to need you two a lot. It won't be easy, but we'll get through this. We just have to stick together."

Phoebe looked up and saw her brother-in-law looking older and more haggard than she ever remembered him looking. She suddenly felt very guilty for only thinking about herself and how losing Piper would affect her and not about the one who it would affect the most--Piper's husband, the one who once gave up immortality for love of Piper. After taking a sip of coffee, she let out a soft sigh. I've still got Cole and now Prue has Andy. But Leo has no one of his own to turn to--he only has us.

Getting up, she ran over and hugged Leo as tightly as she could. "Yeah, we're going to need you, too," she whispered. "I know it's not the same as having Piper, but remember that you'll always have us."

At that moment, Prue walked into kitchen hearing Leo and Phoebe's words and seeing her younger sister going over to hug their despondent brother-in-law. Wordlessly she hurried over and joined in the hug, trying to give Leo as much comfort and love as she could.

Leo hugged his sisters-in-law back, trying to absorb as much comfort as possible while still giving these two who had lost their sister as much consolation as he could give

"You okay, man?" he heard a voice softly ask. "You don't really have to do this." He started to say, "Yes, I do," but when he looked up, he was confused by the new face in the kitchen. This man was had long chocolate-brown hair and a beard and moustache. His eyes were brown, his cheekbones sharp. If Leo didn't know better, he would've thought that his Piper had come suddenly back as a man. "Who are you?"

Phoebe and Cole also turned to look at the newcomer and their expressions were as confused as Leo's

Prue grinned. Yes! They didn't recognize him. That's a good sign. I wonder if they'll figure it out when I say this. Slyly Prue asked, "Don't you recognize him? He's our cousin, Manny Hanks."

Phoebe looked perplexed. "We don't have any cous--" Then she smirked knowingly as the name hit her and she put two and two together. "Andy?"

Andy nodded in affirmation. "Got it in one, Phoebs. I figure it'll be easier to explain a cousin than explain a long-dead friend." All right. It looks like I passed the test. If Leo and Phoebe didn't recognize me in this disguise, then I'm willing to bet that none of the rest of the mourners will either.

"But others know that we don't have any cousins," Phoebe pointed out.

"True," Prue agreed. "But we do have second-cousins--the ones whose grandmother was Grams' sister Janice."

Phoebe grinned, catching on. "And we got that email from one of her daughters who said they were sorry but none of them could make it from Hawaii."

"Hawaii?" Cole asked.

Prue nodded. "Great-Aunt Janice moved to Hawaii shortly after she got married, so all of those relatives are out there."

Cole grinned. "So none of them will be there, wondering who Cousin Manny is."

Andy nodded. "Exactly. Prue's suggestion after I glamoured. And this way I look like a Halliwell."

"Yes, you do," Leo agreed. "Good idea, Andy, using your glamouring power."

Andy smirked. "My favorite whitelighter trick."

Prue took a deep breath to gain a sense of composure, then she looked at her family. "C'mon. I guess it's time. Let's go make Piper proud of us." Turning away, she led them out the back door and to her car.

Phoebe managed a tiny and slightly-amused grin at Prue's words. Make Piper proud of us. Yeah, that's the right way to think of it. We know how Grams is always watching us. Now Piper will be watching us, too. She'd want us to make her funeral the best ever.

Cole solemnly sighed, knowing how tough this was going to be on everyone, but at the same time understanding that it was something they had to do. Thinking that he was getting pretty good in the comfort and support department, he reached out his hand towards Phoebe.

Phoebe reached out for Cole's hand while picking up her purse with the other and then they followed Prue out the door.

Andy turned to Leo. "C'mon, let's go," and when Leo nodded and gave him a little signal to go on ahead, Andy followed Phoebe and Cole out the door.

Once the others were gone, Leo turned to look around the kitchen, seeing his wife, his love, everywhere he looked. In his own heart he told her how much he loved her; how much he was going to miss her. He gave out a heavy sigh. But my one and always love, how am I going to, as Prue put it, do my best to make you proud? I know one way is to just keep doing my job--guiding your sisters and my other charges--do it in your honor. But this? This public good-bye. Help me, Piper. If you can, help me to make you and Prue and Phoebe proud of me.

Then having said his private good-bye, he prepared himself to go and say his public one. He followed the others out the door, stopping only to shut and lock it.

Phoebe held tightly to Cole's hand as they slowly made their way towards the cars. I so do not want to do this! I don't, I don't, I don't! If I don't go to the church, Piper won't be dead! Piper can't be dead! She can't be! How can Prue and I survive without her?

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER FOUR

Seeing Piper's SUV parked in the driveway brought fresh tears to Phoebe's eyes. What will we do with it? No way I'd want to drive it--I'd be so afraid of putting a scratch on Piper's beloved vehicle. We'll probably have to sell it. And the club. What will we do with P3? And her clothes and, and, well, everything. No, no, I can't think of such things. I won't think of such things. At least not now.

They followed Prue over to her car, and she walked over to the driver side. Andy walked up next to her and shook his head. "No, let me. Admit it, Prue. I can get us there safely; could you?"

Prue started to argue with him, but she had to admit that Andy was right since neither Phoebs, Leo, nor she herself were in any kind of mental state to be behind the wheel, so she just silently handed him the keys and walked around to the passenger side instead. Phoebe opened the back door and crawled into the back her feet on the "hump, Cole following her, his hand still firmly grasped in hers. Leo got in on the other side. He still looked absolutely devastated, so Phoebe took his hand, too. She didn't know if it would help him, but it helped her to be hanging onto both her sweetie and her brother-in-law.

As they headed toward the church, both sisters were glad that they had taken care of all of the arrangements before Phoebe had that premonition that led to her and Prue's blowup. And they were all glad that they were heading toward a church. Phoebe thought they should have a Wiccan ceremony in the mausoleum, but Prue disagreed and Phoebe had to admit that her big sis was right.

Had it been one of them who had died, then a ceremony like that would've made sense. But not for Piper. Piper was the one who always wanted a normal life and most of the people who knew her didn't know her as a Wiccan or as a witch, they knew her through P3. And of all three sisters, Piper was the one who remained the most Christian, even after they became witches. Unknown to both sisters, they were both remembering the scene Piper had told them about, shortly after Phoebe read the spell that made them Charmed:

[Scene: Outside a church. Piper's sitting in her car. Someone knocks on the window. Piper gets a fright.]

Piper: Pastor Williams, you scared me.

Pastor Williams: I'm sorry. Aren't you a little early? Dropping off the unused food from the restaurant. I thought you weren't coming by until this afternoon.

Piper: I am. I mean, I'm coming back with everything.

Pastor Williams: Great. So what are you doing here now?

Piper: Nothing really. Just, uh, just thinking.

Pastor Williams: About?

Piper: Mary Estee.

Pastor Williams: Who?

Piper: It's just a stupid documentary I saw. By the way, is it true that evil beings can't go into a church without being... (She makes a noise and moves her hands to show they were hit by lightning. They laugh.)

Pastor Williams: Evil beings? You mean, like what? Vampires?

Piper: Vampires, no. I was thinking more on the lines of witches.

Pastor Williams: Witches, huh? Let me put it to you this way. I sure wouldn't wanna risk it. I gotta go. I'll see you later?

Piper: Yeah, right, absolutely. (He leaves. Piper gets out of her car and walks over to the door. Just as she's about to grab the handle, there's a crack of thunder and she runs away.)¹

Both sisters laughed through their tears as the same thoughts went through their heads: Oh, Piper! It seems so strange that we're now heading toward that same church and that Pastor Williams is the one who'll be officiating the ceremony.

Phoebe squeezed Cole's hand, glad that despite being half-demon, thanks to his love for her, he had his demon half well under control and would now be counted as good especially after saving her from the Source by not handing her over to him, which also saved Prue. Thanks to that, Cole now had a bounty on his head, but he would be able to go into the church and be with Phoebe without any fears of being struck by lightning or anything else. She knew that--he'd come with them when they went over to talk to Pastor Williams and Cole was able to walk in without any problems. And both he and Leo had verified that evil could not go into a church. Cole would have no fear of bounty hunters as long as they were all in the church. Later, at the celebration of Piper's life at P3, maybe. And if that did turn out to be the case, they'd have to handle that when they'd have to. They somehow had to get through this first.

In the front seat, Prue was remembering another conversation between Piper and the pastor that Piper told them her about. Now in the back seat, Phoebe thought about that same conversation:

Piper: Okay, here's the deal. I got this friend. Has a little problem. Could be bad. Not quite sure what to tell her.

Pastor Williams: You wanna go inside?

Piper: No. I mean, I've gotta get going.

Pastor Williams: So what's the problem?

Piper: Well, she kinda, sort of thinks she might be a witch.

Pastor Williams: Witches again, huh?

Piper: Not a good thing is it?

Pastor Williams: Certainly not a question I get everyday. How well do you remember Sunday school lessons? Matthew 22:18. Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.

Piper: Meaning...

Pastor Williams: If you go by the old school, it means put her to death. She's evil.²

Phoebe again laughed through her tears: Oh, Piper, when you told me about that, I thought you were going to kill me! But I knew that couldn't be true; it couldn't--how could we be the protectors of the innocent if we were evil?

But both sisters wondered if Pastor Williams ever thought about that conversation and if maybe that's why he agreed to let Prue and Phoebe adapt the readings they'd be giving. Both sisters hoped they could do those readings properly! Again their thoughts were the same: Is our doing the readings really a good idea? Maybe we should've had someone one else do them. But, no, we've changed them to fit Piper--it just wouldn't be right for anyone else but us to read them. We can do it. For Piper.

And later on, Piper told them about how she found out whether they were or weren't still good:

[Scene: Outside the church. Piper's sitting in her car.]

Piper: I have nothing to be afraid of. I have nothing to be afraid of. (She gets out of her car and walks over to the church door. She holds onto the handle and pulls it open. She pokes her foot inside to make sure nothing happens. She steps inside and smiles.) I'm good!³

Again Phoebe smiled through her tears. And that's when you found Brittney, our first innocent who we saved from evil, and that led you and Prue into saving me from that same evil. You were wearing your cross then, Piper. You always wore it. You're still wearing it. Yes, having your funeral in a church makes perfect sense.

Up in the front seat Prue was lost in her own little world—staring out the side window and daydreaming:

[Scene: Manor. Prue walks in the bathroom. Someone's in the shower. She walks over to the sink and wipes the fog off the mirror.]

Prue: Hey, Piper, will you do me a favor and feed the cat? I want to get down to the Haight. (She gets her toothbrush and toothpaste.) You know, I wanna see if that guy is still on that bus bench. You know, I just couldn't stop thinking about him all night. I mean, there's no guarantee that he'll actually be there but if he is I wanna get a better shot. (She starts brushing her teeth and then Piper walks in.)

Piper: Prue, wh-what are you doing in here?

Leo: Piper, can you hand me a towel? (Leo pulls across the shower curtain and sees Prue.) Prue!

(Prue's eyes widen.)

Prue: Leo. (Piper throws him a towel.) Nice orbs.

Piper: Bye. (Prue continues to look at Leo.) Bye.

(Prue walks backwards into the door.)

Prue: Ow.

Piper: Let me help you, let me help you. (Piper opens the door and Prue walks outside.) Alright, go on, sicko.⁴

A sad smile crept across her face as another memory played through her mind, this time from even further back.

Little Prue: We're not supposed to go places with strangers.

Prue: Yes, but we're not strangers, Prue. You're safe with us and I know that you know in your heart that you can trust us.

Little Piper: If you're really family, prove it.

Piper: Prove it? How the hell are we supposed to do that?

Prue: Piper!

Little Piper: Piper. Your name's Piper too?

Piper: Uh, yeah, and not only do we have the same name... (she hits and kicks the drawer and it opens) but we have the same secrets.⁵

Sweetie, you weren’t just my sister—you were my best friend, too. Even when we were that little, we were inseparable. I never thought there would come a day when you wouldn’t be around.

In the back seat, Phoebe found herself snuffling back her own tears as she remembered Piper's reaction when they first became witches: :

[Scene: Outside Halliwell manor. Phoebe's sitting on the stairs drinking coffee. Piper comes out.]

Piper: You're up early.

Phoebe: I never went to sleep.

Piper: Don't tell me you put on a black conical hat and spent the night flying around the neighborhood on a broomstick?

(She sits down next to Phoebe.)

Phoebe: The only broom I've ever had was kept in a closet beside a mop.

Piper: So what were you doing?

Phoebe: Reading. Is Prue around?

Piper: She went to work early. Reading aloud?

Phoebe: No. According to the Book Of Shadows, one of our ancestors was a witch, named Melinda Warren.

Piper: And we have a cousin who's a drunk, an aunt who's manic, and a father who's invisible. (She stands up.)

Phoebe: I'm serious. She practiced powers. Three powers. She could move objects with her mind, see the future and stop time. Before Melinda was burned at the stake, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would become stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. (They walk to Piper's car.) Now, these sisters would be the most powerful witches the world has ever known. They're good witches and I think we're those sisters.

Piper: Look, I know what happened last night was weird and unexplainable, but we're not witches and we do not have special powers besides, Grams wasn't a witch and as far as we know, neither was Mom. (Piper kisses her on the cheek.) So take that, Nancy Drew.⁶

Oh, Piper, how I wish that had just been a story, that neither Grams nor Mom were witches and neither were we. If it was true, you'd still be alive!

Meanwhile Prue continued to stare out the window, content to stay lost in her memories:

(Prue notices a statue standing in the living room.)

Prue: Okay, okay, what's wrong with this picture?

Piper: Aside from me not getting paid enough?

Prue: No. What is Grams' statue still doing in the living room?

Piper: We talked about it last night remember?

Prue: Yes, I do remember, and I thought that we agreed that it was an eyesore and she was going back to storage.

Piper: That is before I learned that storage down town is now 90 bucks a month and storage here is free. So, I called Phoebe and we decided that she can stay here and last I checked we were still living in a democracy.

Prue: Okay, but Piper, she's ugly.

Piper: Majority rules, sis. Unless, you can move her.

(Prue tries to move her with her power. She can't.)

Prue: Oohh... okay, okay, that didn't work.

Piper: It's solid marble. It took eight of Phoebe's bouncer friends to move it. It's too heavy for you.

Prue: You know, my powers are still growing and one day...

Piper: You can move it into the basement. But until then--suffer.⁷

Even though you were the quietest one out of the three of us, you had the driest sense of humor and the right one-liners to make light out of even the most serious of situations. We sure could use one of those right now…:

Phoebe: February 12, 2009. That's two weeks before the date I saw in my premonition.

Prue: Alright, that should give us more than enough time to figure out what put you there.

Piper: I wonder how I look?

Phoebe: Piper, you look great but this is hardly the time ...

Piper: Not now. In the future. When we went back to the seventies we saw ourselves as kids and now we'll be seeing ourselves walking around ten years older. All that vanquishing. Think of the wear and tear.⁸

And on the flip side of your sarcasm was that sweetness, kindness, and spontaneity that made you, you. That’s what I’m going to miss most of all:

[Scene: Manor. Prue, Piper and Phoebe walk inside.]

Prue: You know what? I've changed my mind. Maybe I should have a party after all.

Phoebe: Are you serious?

Prue: Yeah, why not? I mean, Mark is right.

Piper: Well, Prue, I'm glad you said that 'cause...

(They walk in the living room and there stands a room full of people.)

Everyone: Surprise!

Piper: Did I getcha? I gotcha.

Prue: Yeah, you got me.

Piper: Yeah.⁹

I wish you still had me, sweetie, and I wish I still had you. But you'll always have my heart.

Next to Phoebe in the back seat, Leo sniffled back his tears. This was unreal to him--so very unreal. Just like the two sisters, his mind also began to wander:

Piper: Speak of the angel. I'll get that. (She answers the door.) Hey, stranger. (She grabs him and gives him a passionate kiss.)

Leo: I would have settled for a nice hello.

Piper: Didn't anyone tell you not to settle?

Leo: That's a good lesson.

Piper: I've been learning a lot of them lately.

Leo: So I've heard. Look, honestly, I didn't know you were gonna be sent to the future. I don't even know what happened when you got there. All I was told was apparently you had something to learn.

Piper: So, that's why you're here.

Leo: No. That's why you're here. You three were given a glimpse of your future to learn a valuable lesson. And I'm glad you learned it too because I know they wouldn't have brought you back if you didn't. Speaking of which, they're making me work tonight, so I can't really...

Piper: This is always gonna be a problem for us isn't it?

Leo: I'm willing to work on it.

Piper: Good. Because I'll never forget you said that.¹⁰

Oh, sweetheart, I never did. I never would've. I never will.

Immediately another memory came to mind:

Piper: Hey.

Leo: Hey. How are you feeling?

Piper: Okay. A little tired. Which is actually a good thing. Leo, thank you for everything you...

Leo: Couldn't let you die, Piper.

Piper: I'm very glad you couldn't. Did you get in trouble?

Leo: Yeah, actually, a lot. They found out what I did. They clipped my wings.

Piper: What?

Leo: It's not permanent. It's more like a suspension... I hope.

Piper: Leo, I-I-I don't know what to say.

Leo: You don't have to say anything. You didn't do anything, I did. I guess in the back of my mind I always hoped someday, somehow, you and I would get a second chance.

Piper: I'm with Dan now.

Leo: I know. But I also know now that I'm a mortal, I'm gonna fight for you. May the best man win.¹¹

And I fought with everything I had. If I hadn't, if I'd let you marry Dan and have the normal homelife you wanted so badly, would you have lived longer? If that's what it meant, I'd turn that back in an instant, sweetheart, but I'm still glad you chose me, because I would never want to be without all the wonderful memories we made together.

Phoebe could hear Leo snuffling next to her, and knew that he was lost in memory, too. She gently and reassuringly squeezed his hand as she thought about her playing Cupid between the two of them, mainly because she was also interested in Leo, while he was always interested in only Piper, so Phoebe wanted to get Piper's goat:

[Scene: Manor. Kitchen. Leo's under the sink, fixing it. Phoebe's sitting at the table and Piper's standing up.]

Piper: So I suggested we add Crab Sautee' to the, uh, lunch menu and it was great. Sold out. Do you like crab, Leo?

Leo: You know what I’d love, Piper?

Piper: What’s that?

Leo: Is the, uh, ratchet extension. Could you hand that to me?

Piper: Sure. (Piper looks in his toolbox but doesn't know what it is. Phoebe walks over and pulls out the ratchet extension.) I knew that. (She takes it from Phoebe and gives it to Leo.) Here you go.

Leo: Thanks.

Piper: (whispering to Phoebe) Stop it. Go away. (She tries to get Phoebe to leave.) Be right back, Leo.

Leo: No problem.

(Piper and Phoebe go in the dining room.)

Piper: Stop it.

Phoebe: My sentiments exactly. Stop hinting around and ask him out already. Give him some of your crab.

Piper: Don’t be disgusting.

Phoebe: Don’t be so shy.

Piper: What if he says no?

Phoebe: Yeah, like that’ll happen.

Piper: No, I’m serious.

Phoebe: So am I.

Piper: I’m very serious. I’ve never... you know...

Phoebe: You're kidding, right?

Piper: No.

Phoebe: You’ve never asked a guy out before?

Piper: Not on a real date, no.

Phoebe: I don’t understand. Am I the only person in this family who’s inherited the take-a-chance gene?

Piper: Probably. ‘Cause if I remember my biology correctly, it’s attached to the can’t-mind-my-own-business gene.¹²

Phoebe heaved a heavy sigh as a wistful look played across her features. And you were definitely right about that one. If only I hadn't taken a chance and stayed out of the attic!

Leo squeezed Phoebe's hand back even as more memories flooded his mind, memories that meant so very much:

Leo: Piper, are you mad at me?

Piper: No, don't be ridiculous. Why would I be mad at you?

Leo: I don't know, that's why I'm asking. What is it?

Piper: It's just, um, Dan.

Leo: Oh. Never mind, sorry I asked.

(Leo stands up.)

Piper: Um, he's-he's going to be... (Piper stands up.) he's going to be very upset when he finds out... (pause) you're the one that I really love.

Leo: Yeah?

Piper: Yeah. (They kiss.)¹³

No, sweetheart, I'd never give up that memory. Not for anything in the world.

In the front seat, even though Prue had been trying her hardest to hold back her tears, a couple of them leaked out and ran down her cheek. She made a half-hearted attempt to wipe them away, but soon realized that it was of no use. Why did it have to be you, sweetie? You, who had a loving husband and a bright future ahead of you. Why you? She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and took a shaky breath in order to get herself back under control, but that question of “why” still lingered in her mind and she doubted that she would ever know the answer. I know that this day has just started, but is it wrong to wish it was over with already?

And as Andy pulled into the church parking lot, that same thought played through the minds of all five people in the car.

---

¹I've Got You Under My Skin, written by Brad Kern, transcribed by: Shay Fitzpatrick

²Ibid

³Ibid

⁴Ex Libris, teleplay by Brad Kern, story by Peter Chomsky, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick (minorly edited by Esmeralda)

⁵That Seventies Episode, written By Sheryl J. Anderson, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

⁶Something Wicca This Way Comes, written by Constance M. Burge, transcribed by: Shay Fitzpatrick (minorly edited by Esmeralda)

⁷Which Prue Is It Anyway?, written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick (minorly edited by Esmeralda)

⁸Morality Bites, written by Chris Levinson and Zach Estrin, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

⁹Dead Man Dating, written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

¹⁰Morality Bites, written by Chris Levinson and Zach Estrin, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

¹¹Awakened, written by Vivian Mayhew and Valerie Mayhew, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick

¹²The Witch is Back, written by Sheryl J. Anderson, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick (minorly edited by Esmeralda)

¹³ Murphy's Luck, written by David Simkins, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick


Note: for those who don't know what Ibid means when used in footnotes, it means same as the previous footnote.

[Lexi]

I've read this before but it never gets boring reading it again. I still love it and so wish we had seen something like this in Charmed. But alas, maybe its good we didn't because I'm sure they would have found another way of ruining something like this too.

While I was reading this, I was listening to Bon Jovi's cover of Knockin' on Heaven's Door and it fit the memory parts so well, especially Leo's memories. I could just imagine that song playing over the top of the scene.

[Esmeralda]

Thanks, Lexi; I'm glad you enjoyed re-reading it. So do I (it's one of my favorites of all the fics I've written with others - like you, I *so* wish we could've seen something like this for Prue after she died!), which is why I decided to post it here.

OH! You are so right. If this was a script rather than a fic, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" would've been the perfect song to play while the guest credits are running.

Just for you, here's the rest of it.

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER FIVE

Getting out of the car, Prue stopped to look at the church, her heart breaking, still unable to believe that this could possibly be happening. She reached out for Andy's hand and then for Leo's. The two men immediately put their arms around her so she was in a "sandwich" and then Leo reached out with his other arm for Phoebe, who put her other arm around Cole. In this "comfort-sandwich", the five of them leaned on one another as they walked up to and into the church's foyer.

The first thing they noticed was Piper. This hour before the funeral would act as Piper's wake and she lay in the beautiful ivory coffin that her sisters had chosen for her, candles lit on either side, a cross behind her coffin, dressed in the wedding dress she had worn only a few months before. She indeed looked like she was only sound asleep except her chest didn't move. They all hurried to the coffin to once more touch her cheek, her hair, her face, her hand, unable to believe how ice-cold and hard and stiff they all were, but knowing that it was still Piper.

Leo bent to kiss her, but the funeral director, who was standing next to the coffin, shook his head. "Please don't. Her lips will crack," so Leo kissed her cheek instead. He lift her hand and kissed his ring which was still on her finger. "You may remove it if you like," the funeral director told him, but Leo shook his head. "Our love is forever so my ring stays on her finger the way hers will always stay on mine."

Soon people began to file in and the five mourners knew what they had to do. Prue and Andy stood by the door to greet each person and to hand each person the beautiful program that Prue had designed, including her favorite picture of Piper on the cover. Phoebe and Cole went by the book where they could greet each person and received their condolences while the person signed the book before handing any condolence card which they might have to Cole, who would put it in the locked box that sat next to him. And Leo continued to stand by the coffin, where he, too, could receive their condolences before the other mourners began to walk around the room, looking at all the pictures that the family had chosen, pictures of Piper's life. There was the one showing their mother, Patty, holding Baby Piper, with a smiling Victor standing next to her on one side and a little Prue, Piper's baby hand already wrapped around her big sister's finger, on the other. There were pictures of Piper as a child with Phoebe and Andy. There were all of her schoolgirl pictures and her awards for perfect attendance. There was her yearbook along with her high school graduation picture. There were pictures of her as a chef at Quake, as the owner of P3, and finally, pictures of her as Leo's bride with her sisters as bridemaids.

Music was playing, all of Piper's favorite songs sung by the various bands who had played at P3 and who would play at her life celebration at P3 that night.

There were so many people. Neighbors. Friends. Schoolmates. Co-workers. Employees. Regulars from P3. All the various people who had been touched by Piper's life.

And there was a father.

When Victor walked into the church foyer, Prue held her breath, but Victor didn't even notice her. His eyes were straight ahead on the coffin sitting in front of the doors leading into the church--the coffin that held his beloved middle daughter.

Andy squeezed Prue's hand and when she turned to look at him questioningly, Andy first indicated the programs that were in Prue's hands and then Victor.

Quickly flicking her gaze from Victor back over to Andy, Prue sent an unspoken message with her eyes--Do I have to? He nodded in affirmation and she sighed resignedly.

"Fine," she muttered under her breath as she took a program from the pile on the nearby table. One of the last people I really wanted to see today was you, Victor. But the fact remains that you are our father—whether I like it or not. And you are here for Piper, so let’s just get this over with. "Dad?"

He turned toward her as if caught by surprise. "Prudence," he greeted cautiously.

She shot him a glare. l hate being called by my full name. Although they had made up somewhat, she still hadn't totally forgiven him for abandoning her and her sisters as much as he had.

But then she felt Andy squeeze her hand and she sighed - Andy was right. For you, Piper.

After receiving one more reassuring hand squeeze, Prue shoved her feelings about Victor to the back burner for the time being. Taking a calming breath, she gave him a half-hearted hug. "Dad. It's good for you to be here." Although none of us actually wants to be here.

As they pulled apart she looked him in the eyes, noting the look of loss in them that she was sure mirrored her own. Softening her stance a bit, she handed him the program she held in her hands and gave a half-smile.

He didn’t have to say a word for Prue to know what he was thinking about and who he really wanted to see. “Piper’s right over there," She indicated directly behind her. "Go on ahead and I’ll catch up with you later at the club, ok?”

As Victor walked towards the coffin, Phoebe noticed him. Abandoning her post next to the book, she ran to him, throwing her arms around him. "Daddy!"

"Baby," and Victor hugged his youngest daughter tight. Still keeping one arm around her, they began to walk toward the coffin. The other mourners surrounding it, seeing who was coming, stepped aside, allowing Piper's father and sister to walk directly to it.

ust like the sisters and Leo had, Victor touched Piper's hand, then stroked her face before stroking her hair. "My little girl," he murmured. "My little girl. Children should bury their parents; a father shouldn't have to bury his daughter," and both his and Phoebe's tears splashed onto the gown that was both Piper's wedding gown and her burial gown.

"Victor, I'm sorry that we have to go through this. I would've done anything to save her."

Victor looked up into his son-in-law's face. At first there was anger and hate on Victor's face, but when he saw the agony on Leo's, his heart melted the same way Prue's had toward him. He nodded. "I'm sure you did all you could."

Then Phoebe led her father back over to the book, so that he could sign it. After kissing his daughter's cheek, Victor began circulating among the other guests, receiving their condolences while trying to comfort them.

~~

The number of people filtering through the front doors since 11 a.m. was fairly steady. After awhile, it seemed like one face blended right into the next--until Prue and Andy saw the next two figures walking up the steps and towards the door--Inspector Darryl Morris and his wife Shelia.

Upon seeing who it was, Andy visibly paled. This was the first time he had seen his former partner in three years. He shot a nervous glance at Prue, who picked up on the unspoken message in his eyes.

First she gave his hand a squeeze, just like he had given hers. "Don't worry about it," she whispered in his ear. "He won't recognize you. Just remember, you're our second-cousin Manny from Hawaii." After giving his hand another reassuring squeeze, she turned her attention back to the two newest guests and greeted each with a hug. "Darryl, Sheila, thanks for coming. And Darryl, thank you for doing the eulogy. It means a great deal to us--and Piper, too. I'm sure she'll love whatever you have to say."

Darryl returned the eldest sister's hug with one of his own. "You're welcome. After all, she's like a sister to us, too. We'll also miss her a great deal." Looking up, he caught sight of the unfamiliar person also standing by the doorway. "And you are?"

Andy shifted nervously as his eyes locked with Darryl's. "I'm Manny Hanks," he stated while shaking the inspector's hand. At his ex-partner's quizzical look, Andy added quickly, "I'm the girls' second-cousin."

"Darryl Morris, and this is my wife Sheila." The quizzical look remained on Darryl's face. "Second cousin? From where? I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"That's because I don't think we've met before. Their grandmother and mine were sisters, but our side of the family all live in Hawaii, but I flew over to give them my support. Even though we didn't see alot of each other growing up, we were pretty close." He paused and shrugged. "I'm sort of like the brother they never had."

A sad smile crossed Darryl's face and he glanced at Prue. "Yeah, like my old partner, Andy, Andy Trudeau. Wish he could've been here for you, Prue."

Prue nodded, allowing a sad look to cross her face, too. "Yeah, so do I, Darryl. But having Manny here helps a lot. When he used to visit us when we were kids, they were pretty close."

"Hmmm, funny in all those stories that Andy told me about you guys that Andy never mentioned a second-cousin. Oh, well, maybe I just don't remember, since I was mainly concentrating on what he said about you and your sisters. I've included a number of those stories in my eulogy."

"Oh, Darryl, that's great. I was so glad when you volunteered--I knew you'd do a good job."

"You haven't heard it yet."

"I'm sure it will be perfect."

That made Darryl smile as he accepted two programs from Prue and handed one to Sheila.

"Phoebe and Leo are right over there," Prue gestured towards her younger sibling standing at the table by the book and her brother-in-law over next to Piper's coffin. "I'm sure they'd love to see you, too." She smiled sadly before adding: "Darryl? Thank you again."

Phoebe was taking advantage of the slight lull in guests to gaze around the room. Her eyes happened to land on Darryl and Shelia heading in her direction.

She smiled in greeting as Darryl and Sheila walked up, leaning over to hug the tall dark inspector. "Thank you so very much for coming, both of you. And Darryl, I'm so glad you volunteered to do the eulogy--Piper would be thrilled."

Darryl smiled in return. "Like I told Prue, it's the least I could do--you guys are like sisters to me, and Piper was always so good to me."

Sheila nodded. "We loved all the great dishes she'd send home with Darryl. We'll miss those."

Phoebe smiled sadly. "Yeah, we'll miss her great cooking, too--neither Prue or I cook so it will be like when I was in New York--if you can't boil it or nuke it, forget it!" and they all just smiled.

Phoebe handed Darryl the pen, who handed it to Sheila. She quickly wrote "Mr. & Mrs. Darryl Morris" into the book before handing their card to Cole so he could drop it into the box sitting next to him.

After both giving Phoebe another hug, Darryl and Sheila walked over to the coffin, waiting for their chance to stand next to it so they could look down at Piper and say their own private, silent good-byes. Darryl looked up into Leo's sorrowful face as he reached out his hand. "I'm so sorry, Leo. You know the department is doing all they can to find out who did this," but the look Darryl gave him told him that as always, he was doing all he could to continue to protect the sisters' secret and his words were more for those around them.

Leo gave him a wan look. "Thanks, Darryl, we all appreciate that. Just like we appreciate you doing the eulogy," then he reached out and gave him a big hug, both men patting each other on the back.

Sheila also offered her condolences and then after a final glance at Piper, they stepped aside to allow others the chance to see both her and Leo.

~~

Shortly after the Morrises' arrival, Pastor Williams arrived along with a couple of the church ministers. Prue and Phoebe both felt another piece of their hearts break as they knew what was going to happen next. Pastor Williams called for everyone's attention and then asked for everyone to gather around the coffin. Once everyone had, he welcomed everyone on behalf of Piper's family and then he said a blessing on Piper, her family and those gathered around to say good-bye. He then asked the ushers to lead the mourners who wouldn't be part of the upcoming procession to the side doors where they could enter the church and take their seats.

Phoebe gasped out loud, knowing what was coming and so not wanting to watch, even as she knew she had to. Prue felt the same way, but as always, she kept all of her emotions hidden deep inside. She kept thinking about the reading she was going to give. She wanted to do a good job for Piper and knew that she couldn't if she let her emotions out. Once she was done with that reading, then she could.

Cole, also knowing what was coming from when he had come here with the sisters, quickly put his arm around Phoebe and she laid her head on his shoulder, then also reached out for her dad, who guessed what was coming but didn't know for sure.

Andy, in turn, knowing what Prue was going through even though he knew she wouldn't do or say anything, reached out for her, hoping it was okay to be doing that as Manny, her second cousin, but not really caring. He was here for Prue and he was going to be here for Prue.

Darryl, in turn, reached out for the man who, despite being so part of the magical world that Darryl still refused to believe in was becoming like a brother to him--Leo.

Behind them stood the six P3 employees who would act as their employer's pallbearers.

As soon as all of the other mourners were in the church, without any warning at all, the other ministers slammed shut the coffin.

"No!" Phoebe screamed, unable to stop herself and Prue, Leo and Victor almost did the same thing. That loud bang just seemed to make it all so final, all so real that none of them could prevent the tears from coming to their eyes yet again.

To top it off, they heard a soft voice say, "Excuse me?" a soft voice that sounded much too much like their lost sister/wife/daughter/friend/employer. Prue and Phoebe spun, almost expecting to see Piper's ghost. Instead they saw a young woman holding one of the programs. She looked so much like Piper that in that situation it was almost unbearable. This young woman also had big brown eyes, long dark hair, sharp cheekbones. She wasn't Piper, but she could've been and in that situation, after just suffering through that slamming of the coffin, to see this woman alive while Piper was dead was just too much for Phoebe as the youngest Charmed One completely freaked out, screaming, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" her voice becoming higher, louder and more hysterical with each line!

The poor girl's face grew almost as pale as Piper's. "I'm sorry I'm late! Maybe I shouldn't be here!" and spinning around, she sprinted out the door!

"No!" cried Prue, trying to stop the frightened newcomer. "It's OK! Please stay!" But the young woman was long gone.

Phoebe was still screaming and crying, totally freaked out. Cole tried to calm her, but as usual, he wasn't very good at such a thing and Victor and Leo weren't in much better shape after having seen this girl who reminded them so much of Piper.

Andy, his arm still around Prue since he knew she had to be freaking on the inside, walked over to Phoebe and put his other arm around her, quietly using his whitelighter powers to calm her. Phoebe put her head on Andy's shoulder and very simply wept her heart out, which almost got Prue going, too, but she managed to keep it inside.

Pastor Williams gave them all a sad smile. "I'm sorry, but we really have to get started."

Leo nodded and Pastor Williams took the cross from its holder and took his spot at the head of the procession, soon joined by the two ministers holding the candles. The six pallbearers surrounded the coffin on its cart and pushed it so that it was behind Pastor Williams. As Piper's father and husband, Victor and Leo stood directly behind the coffin. Cole and Andy let Phoebe and Prue go so the two sisters could walk behind their father and Piper's husband and so they could join Darryl walking behind the sisters.

But Phoebe let out a sorrowful moan of, "No, please, no. I don't know if I can do this. And just me and Prue together? No, I can't. How can she hold me up if I can't hold her up?"

Cole did some quick thinking and spoke. "Manny, you're their cousin and you sure look like a Halliwell, much more than I do. Why don't you walk with the sisters and Darryl and I will follow behind you?"

"Oh, yes," agreed Prue and Phoebe simultaneously, so Andy put one of his arms around Prue and the other around Phoebe and in this "mini-comfort-sandwich", they went over to stand behind Victor and Leo, with Cole and Darryl standing behind them.

"Ready?" Pastor Williams asked. No one really was, but they knew they had to do this, so they all nodded. One of the ministers opened the door and the organist, seeing this, began to play the opening hymn as the procession began.

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER SIX

Please note: Most of this chapter is based on my own mother's death, adapted to fit the Halliwells.

The main aisle of the church seemed to be never-ending as the procession slowly made its way to the front. Every seat in the church was filled, save for those reserved for Piper's family. But this was not noticed by any in the procession, as their attention and minds were focused elsewhere. Leo's eyes were solely on the coffin containing his soulmate, Phoebe's down at the floor, Prue's up on the ceiling, Andy's flicking between the sister on either side of him, and Cole's straight ahead--not really seeing anything.

After a few minutes, but what felt like an eternity to those involved, the procession came to a halt at the front of the church. The pallbearers filtered off to their seats on the right side of the aisle, as Victor, Leo, Prue, Andy, Phoebe, Cole, and Darryl took their places on the left to await the start of the ceremony.

Comfortably nestled between Andy and Cole, Phoebe allowed her mind to drift off, only half-hearing the words being spoken by Pastor Williams.

[Scene: Attic. Phoebe and Piper have everything set up on the table to do the spell.]

Phoebe: Okay. You want to go first?

Piper: No. You go first.

Phoebe: Okay.

(Phoebe snatches a piece of paper off Piper.)

Piper: Hey. That’s not fair.

Phoebe: You want a man who is single, smart, endowed?

Piper: Employed.

Phoebe: Oh, sorry, employed. A man who loves sleeping in on Sunday, sunset bike rides (laughs), cuddling by a roaring fire (laughs) and late-night talks. A man who loves love as much as you do (laughs). Wow. You’re a romantic.

Piper: Yep. Your turn. You want the sexy, silent type that finds you driving through town on the back of a Harley at 3:00 in the morning. A man who appreciates scented candles, body oils and Italian sheets (laughs).

Phoebe: He’s about hunger and lust and danger and even though you know all this, even though you know he’ll never meet your friends or share a holiday meal with your family, you still can’t stay away. And he recycles.

Piper: He recycles?

Phoebe: Yeah. And I think it goes without saying we both want a man who is well... employed.

Piper: You’re seriously twisted. This is the spell we have to say?¹

Phoebe sadly smiled. It's funny how close we ended up with guys who came very close to being our dream guys without ever casting that spell. Except they were even better for us than the ones we dreamed about. I just wish you could've spent more time with your dream guy.

On Andy's other side, Prue was doing the same as she gazed around at anywhere but the front.

Prue: I feel strange.

Piper: What do you mean?

Prue: Well, I mean we have these guys out there waiting for us, who care about us. Correct me if I'm wrong but things are going pretty well right now, right?

Piper: Yeah, nothing like a night on the town after a hard day of demon killing.

Prue: Yeah, I'm serious. I mean, you know, think about it. I mean, we did great today and now tonight it's like we're just...

Piper: Finding a balance in our lives?

Prue: Exactly.

Piper: I do feel pretty good.

Prue: Yeah, I think we're gonna be okay.

Piper: Except there's still our little secret.

Prue: Oh, Piper, everybody has little secrets including Jack and Dan.

Piper: Yeah, unless they're transvestite Nazi war criminals with great face-lifts, then I think we've got them beat.

Prue: Okay, so we're never gonna have normal lives.

Piper: Not ever.

Prue: That doesn't mean we can't try sometimes.

Piper: With someone like Dan perhaps?

Prue: With whoever, sweet girl, I just want you loved.²

Loved, you were. And loved, you always will be. I'll never forget you my sweet girl--none of us will.

A slight sniffle drew Prue out her memories as she looked over at Leo on her other side and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

The whitelighter was not taking this well, and the service had barely even started. His eyes were glazed over with tears and he was staring straight down at his shoes--obviously lost in memories as well.

Grams: We are gathered here today to unite two souls as one. Do you, Leo Wyatt and Piper Halliwell, join us here of your own free will to acknowledge the eternal bond shared by both of you?

Leo: I do.

Piper: I do.

Grams: You may face each other, join hands. (They do so.) Uh, Leo, you may recite your vows.

Leo: Piper, through all the tears and struggles, I always knew in my heart that we'd make it here. I promise to love and respect you from this point forward as your husband, as my wife, my lover, my friend, and my soulmate. All I am is yours.

Grams: Piper...

Piper: Leo, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I was afraid that you were too good to be true, that maybe I didn't deserve someone so pure and beautiful and loving as you are. But here we are surrounded by the people that I love the most and I feel so proud, and so blessed to be your wife. Leo, I was born to love you and I always will.

Grams: Here before witnesses, Leo and Piper have sworn their vows towards each other. With this cord, I bind them to those vows.

(A rope is loosely tied around their hand.)

Piper, Leo: Heart to thee, body to thee, always and forever, so mote it be.

Grams: So mote it be.

All: So mote it be.³

He sighed as a tear escaped and rolled down his cheeks. Again he looked down at his ring and thought of the one that was still on Piper's finger. We're still one soul, sweetheart; we always will be. And if I could figure a way where you could live rather than me, I'd do it in a second. But for you, I'm going to just keep doing my job, doing what I know you would've done if you were still here--following our destinies while trying to have as normal of a life as we possibly could.


Before Prue knew it, Pastor Williams had concluded his remarks and was calling her up to do the first reading of the ceremony. She took her place at the podium and drew in a stabilizing breath.

"Before I start, I'd like to say something here. First, thank you so very much to all of you for coming here today to show your support for us and your love for Piper. We truly appreciate it.

Then, as many of you know, after our grandmother died a couple years ago, although I was the one who watched over my two younger sisters, Piper was the one who did all of the "motherly" chores that kept our household going. When Pastor Williams offered this reading as one of the ones that we could use, I knew that it fit Piper without fitting her, so I asked the pastor if it was all right if I modified this reading just a bit to fit our sister and he agreed. Thank you, Pastor, for allowing me to do so. This is for you, Piper."

"A modified reading from the Book of Proverbs:"

A perfect wife and sister, who can find her?
She is far beyond the price of pearls.

Her husband's heart has confidence in her
From her he will derive no little profit

Advantage and not hurt she brings him
All the days of her life.

Hearing those words brought fresh tears to Leo's eyes. That you did, sweetheart. That you did.

Prue took a deep breath as she continued:

She gets up while it is still dark,
Giving her household their food.

She finds her labor well worthwhile--
Her lamp does not go out at night.

She holds out her hands to the poor.
She opens her arms to the needy.

Phoebe could see that the words were getting harder for Prue to read--she was so describing their lost sister. C'mon, Prue, you can do it! I know you can!

Andy's heart was also going out to Prue and he was also sending as many good vibes her way as he possibly could to help her out. Victor and Leo couldn't do anything but weep. And Cole just sat and held Phoebe's hand, knowing her turn was next.

Prue took a deep breath and then continued:

Her husband is respected at the city gates,
Taking his seat among the elders of the land.

The words made them all give a strange smile--yeah, when Leo went Up There, he did take his seat among the Elders, and someday he might actually even become one of those Elders, although all of them hoped that wouldn't be any time soon.

She is clothed in strength and dignity--
She can laugh at the days to come.

When she opens her mouth she does so wisely,
On her tongue is kindly instructions.

She keeps a close watch on the conduct of her household--
No bread of idleness for her.

Her sisters stand up and proclaim her blessed;
Her husband, too, sings her praises.

Many women have done admirable things...

Choking back a sob in an attempt to keep her emotions in check, Prue turned to look directly at the casket as she very slowly and very firmly proclaimed:

But you surpass them all!

Phoebe wanted to stand up and cheer, "Oh, yes, Piper! Oh, yes! That you did! That you did!" But Cole could almost feel her emotions and kept his arm very firmly on her shoulders, keeping her in her seat and quiet.

Charm is deceitful and beauty empty--
The woman who is wise is the one to praise.

Again Leo sadly smiled. But you were all those things, my darling--charming, beautiful and wise. There will never be another like you.

Give her a share in what her hands have worked for
And let her works tell her praises at the city gates.

This is the word of the Lord.

We love you, Piper!"

It wasn't until she had returned to her seat with Andy's arm draped comfortingly around her shoulders that Prue finally lost the internal battle to hold back her emotions as the tears streamed down her face and she made no efforts to stop them.


As Prue had moved past her, Phoebe patted her on the back, whispering, "Good job, Prue--hope I can do as well." The others also had complimented Prue as Pastor Williams next introduced Phoebe.

Now Phoebe stood up, blinking back the tears that had come to her eyes while listening to Prue's reading. Prue did a magnificent job. If she did, I can. What did she say? Make Piper proud of me. Yeah, that's what I have to do, so that's what I will do. Cole squeezed her hand encouragingly and Phoebe managed a wavery smile in his direction before squeezing passed Andy, Prue, Leo and Victor, each of them patting her on the back.

Walking up to the podium, she looked out at the audience. "Oh, this is hard," and now everyone was smiling encouraginigly at her. Taking a deep breath, she began, "I also asked Pastor Williams if I could tweak my reading a bit. Originally it told what Love Is, but I think it says what Piper Was and he agreed to let me tweak it. Piper, this is for you, too.

"A tweaked reading from 1 Corinthians:"

If I speak in the tongues of people and of angels, but have not love, I am only of people and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Phoebe took a deep breath. This was the hard part, actually saying her sister's name and following it with the word "was", because Piper no longer was. But for her sister, she continued, "If I have love, then I'll be like Piper was."

Piper was patient, Piper was kind. Piper did not envy, she did not boast, she was not proud. She was not rude, she was not self-seeking, she was not easily angered, she kept no record of wrongs. She did not delight in evil but rejoiced with the truth. She always protected, always trusted, always hoped, always persevered."

Tears were dripping from Leo's eyes. Yeah, you girls were right. That describes Piper to a T. It's why I fell in love with her.

Next to him, Prue looked up from her own tears and gave her baby sister a proud, yet sad smile. You're doing great, baby girl--almost there. I know you can do it; I bet Piper knows, too.

Phoebe took a deep breath. She was passed the hard part, and she could almost feel her big sister helping her do it--both of her big sisters. Letting the deep breath out, she continued:

"Like Piper, love never fails. When all else is gone, only these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We'll always love you, Piper!"

And suddenly forgetting all about trying to be dignified, Phoebe ran back to the pew, squeezed passed until she was again sitting between Andy and Cole, threw her arms around Cole, put her head on his shoulder and very simply bawled.

Pastor Williams smiled sympathetically at the sobbing family, then spoke. "Please stand for the reading from the Gospels." Once everyone was standing, he continued, "A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroys, and thieves break in and steal. But store treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroy, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Please be seated."

Once more he waited until everyone was seated and there was silence in the church. Then he spoke.

"On March 7, 1973, Piper Melinda Halliwell was born into this Earth. On May 17, 2001, Piper Halliwell-Wyatt left it, much sooner than any of us would've imagined. So a journey that began 28 years ago has come full circle. What is the measure of a person's life? 28 years? 5 years? 50 years? It isn't the length of years that you and I will walk this earth that is the measure of our greatness, but what we do with the time that is entrusted to us. And oh, Piper did a lot with the 28 years that were entrusted to her.

"Did you listen to the words I just read from the Gospel, regarding the treasures? That's what Piper was doing during her 28 years, filling a treasure chest with the most important things in her life. And how did she do that? You go back to that first reading from the beautiful Book of Proverbs, and all the things that it talked about, especially with the way her big sister Prue modified it:

A wife and sister, she is far beyond the price of pearls.

She gets up while it is still dark, giving the household its food.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

"All those things, Piper certainly achieved and more.

"But that one beautiful line at the end:

Let her works tell her praises at the city gates.

"What are the good works of Piper? Well, you're looking at them. You! All of you who are here today: her husband, Leo; her father, Victor; her big sister Prue and and her little sister Phoebe; her co-workers from Quake, her employees at P3, all of her other relatives and friends, all the people whose lives she touched, You are the good works of this wonderful person.

"What we want to do, if we really want to honor someone who we love who is now gone is to take something of this person's life and put it into our own. And what things are those? Think of the second reading from Paul's letter to the Corinthians and the way her little sister Phoebe modified it:

Piper was patient, Piper was kind. Piper did not envy, she did not boast, she was not proud. She was not rude, she was not self-seeking, she was not easily angered, she kept no record of wrongs. She did not delight in evil but rejoiced with the truth. She always protected, always trusted, always hoped, always persevered.

If in her honor, we try to be all of those things, then Piper has indeed filled her treasure chest to overflowing while she was here on Earth.

"We are here today because death has taken someone away from us, someone who we love so very much. And death hurts. Piper's not in pain--we are. We have emotions and feelings. We cry; we get angry; we go silent; we wonder; we laugh when we don't know what else to do. We go through all of those realms of emotions and feelings because we can not come up here and put our arms around her and hug her and do all those things with her that we have done these 28 years.

"And that hurts. Don't let anybody tell you how you should be feeling. Those are your feelings and we each will have them in different ways and in different times. You'll look at some of those beautiful pictures out in the foyer and go back in your memory banks and say, 'Oh, look, we did this,' or 'Oh, look, she did that,' and it will bring a laugh and a smile to you. And the next day you're going to look at those same pictures and it's going to tear you apart. And other times there will seem such an emptiness there.

"Let it be there. That's who you are, a human being. And yet, every time you do that, do you know what will happen? You will allow the soul and the spirit of Piper to touch you, and to live through you.

"When we were preparing for this celebration, I asked her family what were the special parts of Piper, which told me what were her good works. And it made me wish I knew her better. I was told there was her energy. Her bubbly, bright spirit. Living every day to the fullest. Her very special dry sense of humor, when she always seemed to know just what to say to make the darkest moment seem lighter.

"Her long shiny hair. Her big brown eyes. Her beautiful smile. And I'm glad that her big sister made sure that you were all albe to get one of these programs, because, wow, doesn't that capture her smile? Doesn't it just make you want to smile right back at her? I know it does me.

"And when she was talking with you, didn't she make you think that you were the most important person in that moment of time to her?

"Her loving. Her caring for people. That people were important to her, that people came first--thinking of them and not of herself."

"Her thoughtfulness. Never gossiping about anyone, not trying to hurt anyone. And her family always coming first, celebrating birthdays and holidays with all of the wonderful things that came out of her kitchen or out of her club. From what I've been told, no one could cook like Piper. No one could just take anything she could find in her kitchen and know just how to put it together to make something wonderful.

"Even the way she acted as a mediator between her strong-willed older sister and free-spirited stubborn younger one. Without her, they never would've been reconciled, and how happy they must be now that they can comfort and support one another in this time of need.

"All these beautiful things. They were all such wonderful virtues and goodness. If you want to honor this woman, you take something of that and put it into your own life and you allow her to live through you!

"And look around you, all of these people, here today. She's still alive through all of you! You're going to go back through those doors, back into the world, to your homes, your work environment, wherever your journeys may take you, but you will not travel alone.

"We're here today because she has touched you and each of you has those stories, those memories, those experiences. Keep telling them. Laugh with them. Cry with them. Go silent with them. But don't stop remembering. Because again, every time you do it, you allow her goodness, her soul, to flow through you to touch somebody else.

"That way your wife, your daughter, your sister, your co-worker, your employer, your friend will continue to add to her treasure chest through you. This good woman, her memory, her presence, her good deeds, her love, will live through all of us and perhaps countless others. And you will go forth from this celebration of life and touch other people's lives, and it will just keep growing and growing and growing. And it will all be due to someone who simply touched each of us during her 28 years."

Pastor Williams was silent after he finished his sermon, giving everyone a chance to ponder his words. Then he smiled. "I have a special treat for all of you. This young woman was supposed to appear at Piper's club, P3, tonight. When she found out what had happened, she called and asked the sisters if they would mind if she sang a song during the service, and they agreed if I'd agree, which I definitely do. Everyone, I present Miss Faith Hill."

Everyone gasped as both the famous country singer and her just as famous husband, Tim McGraw, stepped to the pulpit. Tim was holding his guitar. Faith had already given her music to the organist earlier. She looked out at the congregation. "Like Pastor Williams, I also wish that I had known Piper Halliwell-Wyatt better, but I'm glad that I could be here today. I'm totally amazed how much his sermon fits in with the song I want to sing for you today, my new single that will also be part of the upcoming movie, 'Pearl Harbor.' This is 'There You Will Be'"

Tim McGraw began strumming his guitar and the organist began to play and Faith Hill began to sing:

When I think back on these times
And the dreams we left behind
I’ll be glad 'cause I was blessed
To get to have you in my life
When I look back on these days
I’ll look and see your face
You were right there for me

In my dreams I’ll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart there always be a place for you for all my life
I’ll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am, there you’ll be

Well you showed me how it feels
To feel the sky within my reach
And I always will remember
All the strength you gave to me
Your love made me make it through
Oh, I owe so much to you
You were right there for me

In my dreams I’ll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart there always be a place for you for all my life
I’ll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am there you’ll be

'Cause I always saw in you
My light, my strength
And I want to thank you
Now for all the ways
You were right there for me
You were right there for me
For always

In my dreams I’ll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart there always be a place for you for all my life
I’ll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am there you’ll be.

And even though it was a church, everyone clapped and cheered as Faith and Tim returned to their seats, while those in the front row (and a lot of the others) reached up to wipe away their tears.

---

¹Dream Sorcerer, written by Constance M. Burge; transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick, slightly edited by Esmeralda
²Heartbreak City, written by David Simkins, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick, slightly edited by Esmeralda
³Just Harried, written by David Cerone, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick, slightly edited by Esmeralda

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER SEVEN

Please note that this chapter includes flashbacks that have been modified to fit this fic.

"Thank you, Miss Hill and Mr. McGraw," Pastor Williams said with a soft smile before starting on the various prayers that would precede the eulogy. As before, the minds of those occupying the first row started to wander yet again--triggered by the song that had filled the church not moments earlier.

Prue refocused her eyes on a nearby stained-glass window as images flashed through her mind--memories of the last moments she ever spent with her sister and best friend.

[The whole day resets and Prue and Piper are back in the manor before Kernus attacks.]

Prue: Look, I know that this all sounds incredible, but it doesn't make it any less true. Alright, you're a healer, you do good, now either you have saved too many lives or you're about to save a life that they don't want you to save.

Dr. Griffiths: They?

Prue: Yeah, demons. Uh, more specifically, Kernus.

Dr. Griffiths: Hold it, I get it. This is a practical joke, right? Do you have a hidden camera here? My second wife put you up to this? Ah, it's just like her. (He laughs.)

Prue: O-o-okay, Dr. Griffiths, listen to me, this is anything but...

(She stops.)

Piper: What?

Prue: I don't know, I just felt a chill. Phoebe? (No answer.) Phoebe, are you there? (A tornado of wind twists through the front door.) Phoebe, where are you?

(The tornado knocks Prue and Piper to the floor. A clap of thunder is heard, the tornado calms down and Kernus appears. He is a somewhat tall demon and is black and gray all over save for his skin. Grayish hair, gray unbuttoned shirt, black long pants. He wears glasses and has an evil smirk permanently plastered on his narrow pointy face.)

Dr. Griffiths: Dear God.

(Piper jumps to her feet and puts herself directly between Kernus and the doctor. Before she can get her hands up to either try to freeze or explode him, Kernus throws an energy ball at her and she literally crashes straight through a wall.)

Prue: Piper!

(As Prue tries to get up, Kernus throws an energy ball at her which she deflects back at him, but before she can send him flying, he throws another energy ball at her, also sending her crashing through the wall and landing next to Piper. Kernus turns to Dr. Griffiths.)

Dr. Griffiths: What are you?

Kernus: The end.

(He throws an energy ball at Dr. Griffiths and he crashes through a window. Kernus looks around. He looks at Prue and Piper unconscious on the floor. Pleased with what he's done, Kernus turns back into the wind and flies out the front door. The glass on the door smashes as it slams shut.)¹

Just a couple seats over, memories of that fateful day were also playing though Phoebe's mind as she stared past her hands and down at her shoes. I remember Cole shimmering us both in, his arms wrapped around me. Seeing the destruction caused by the recent attack, including the large hole in the wall. Absolutely panicking!

Wriggling out of Cole's arms, leaving him standing by the remains of the doorway. Sprinting over to the hole where I could see my sisters. Seeing them surrounded by debris. Both unconscious. Prue bleeding copiously.

Moaning in agony. Sinking to my knees next to them. Screaming for Leo. Relieved to seeing him orbing in but screaming at him to hurry before he's even fully rematerialized.

Watching him hurry over to me. He actually asked what happened. Who cares?? Just hurry, Leo! Hurry!

Watching him place one hand above Piper and one above Prue. Sighing in relief. Seeing the golden glow emanate from his hands and slowly enveloping both of my sisters. No! No!

Tears filled Phoebe's eyes as she remembered panicking because almost immediately the bright glow immediately dimmed, just barely lighting Prue's head, which Phoebe now knew was Prue's worst injury. The tears overflowed when she remembered the light illuminating Piper immediately going out, now knowing what it meant.

She didn't then. She screamed at Leo, becoming hysterical. "What's wrong? Why isn't it working?"

He didn't answer. He placed his hands on both of her hurt sisters' chest. With a low, anguished moan, he immediately orbed out, leaving Phoebe absolutely flabbergasted.

She sighed as she remembered what happened next.

Within minutes, he reappeared in a swirl of white lights, and I opened my mouth to tell him off for leaving. But the devastated look on his face prompted me to stay silent for the moment and allow him to do his work.

He took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself down, before he once more put his right hand over Prue and his left one over Piper. Again his hands glowed and again the glow surrounded both of my sisters' bodies. Again the light surrounding Piper went out, while the light surrounding Prue dimmed. I heard Leo gasp in agony even as I saw the line in his forehead grow deeper as he continued to concentrate and finally the light surrounding Prue began to brighten, concentrating on her head, finally glowing a bright gold, and her breathing became deeper. Tears of relief came to my eyes as I watched as the bright golden light spread to completely envelope her entire body. After another moment, the blood surrounding her disappeared as she was completely healed, and I breathed a prayer of gratitude, especially when her eyes started to flutter as she slowly regained consciousness.

As my oldest sister slowly sat up, shaking the cobwebs out of her head and groaning in pain. I wrapped my arms around her.

She looked at Leo. "The doctor?" and I smiled that her first thought was that of our innocent.

"He's already gone, Prue," Cole, who was standing next to the doctor's body, stated. "I think he died right away. Leo? How's Piper?"

Piper!

We both turned towards Leo and looked on with shocked expressions and tear-filled eyes as Leo stayed knelt down beside our other sister and now held both hands above her. Immediately the light in his right hand went out, too. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated harder than I'd ever seen him concentrate before, but still nothing happened.

As he did, Prue and I were picking our way through the debris and dropping down to kneel beside our sister, opposite Leo. Both Prue the oldest and me the youngest had tears streaming down our faces, unable to accept the fact that we were now the older and the younger.

"What's the matter?" I cried out, taking one of Piper's hands in mine. "Why isn't it working?"

"Leo?" Prue asked, pulling Piper's upper body into her lap and beginning to stroke the top of her head.

Leo gave a world-weary sigh as he shook his head in anguish and frustration. Tears were now forming in his eyes. "I can't heal the dead."

WHAT??!!

Prue and I were completely stunned at this news and I started to sob, big huge, gut-wrenching sobs.

Typical my big sister, Prue refused to believe him. She grabbed his hands and put them over Piper's heart herself, but they stayed dark, something we both refused to acknowledge. "Yes, you can!" she insisted. "You've got to heal her... You've done it before! Now heal her, goddammit! NOW! You've got to heal her! You've got to!"

I looked up with desperation in my eyes. "This is Piper, Leo! You can't let her..." I could barely choke the word out. "...die!"

He continued shaking his head as tears now rolled down his pale cheeks. "Phoebe, don't you understand? She's already gone. Just like the doctor--she was gone before you even got here. I tried to bring her back, I did, but I was too late. She's dead. Piper is dead. My soulmate is gone, and there's nothing I can do to bring her back--not this time--not ever!"

"You tried?" I asked, and he nodded his head as he told us what he did when he orbed out.

Next to Phoebe, Leo was also remembering that last day and his desperate attempt to save Piper's life.

I remember placing my hands on both Piper and Prue's chests. Not being able to feel Pier's heartbeat. Immediately orbing to the "between realm" -- the realm where I brought Piper back to life after she died from Arroyo fever. Looking around frantically, calling my love's name, hoping with all my heart that like last time, she's only heading towards the Light and hasn't reached it yet. But feeling my own heart stop when I looked ahead towards the Light...seeing a brightly-glowing Patty and Penny Halliwell with their arms wrapped around Piper who also was also begining to glow as they welcomed her into the Light....Realizing I was two seconds too late!

Desperately wishing I could follow her. Knowing I couldn't. Feeling utter devastation wash over me.

Seeing my love turn in her mother and grandmother's arms to smile brilliantly at me. "I love you! Now go save Prue!"

Prue! Realizing that in my hurry to save my soulmate, I'd totally forgotten the other hurt sister. Being terrified wondering if doing this had also caused Prue to die? Spinning, looking, relieved not to see Prue in this realm at all. Realizing I wasn't too late...yet!

Giving a sad backward glance over my shoulder, where my love was making hand motions to hurry while urging me to, "Go! Go! Go!" and orbing back to a Piperless Manor.

Even as tears rolled down the faces of those remembering Piper's last day, they heard Pastor Williams calling Darryl's name, so they all come out of their daydreams to listen to Darryl's eulogy.

Darryl slowly walked up to the podium, looked at those in the front row, then spoke. "Good afternoon. My name is Darryl Morris, and I'm an inspector with the San Francisco Police Department. I only really got to know Piper Halliwell the last couple years, but I've known about her for a lot longer than that. That's because my first partner, Andy Trudeau, grew up with the Halliwells. And although Andy moved to Portland and married a non-Halliwell, he never talked about his ex-wife or Portland, he just talked about the Halliwells. So I felt like I knew Piper and her sisters, Prue and Phoebe, long before I even met them. From what Andy told me, I never thought that Piper could be half the person that Andy made her out to be. But when I met her, I found out that I was wrong. She was twice that person.

"If Andy was still around, I'm sure he would be the one telling you these stories, but you guys are kinda stuck with me. I'm doing it for both of them, my first partner who was my friend and who is gone, and Piper, who was also my friend and who is also gone, and who we both looked at as our own sister.

"Everyone knows about Piper's wonderful cooking. My family and I will miss the fantastic dishes that Piper would send home with me, just like I know that you all will. And most of you know how much she wanted to be a chef, how she was a manager at Quake before she and her sisters bought P3 and that her biggest dream was to one day open a restaurant of her own. But how many of you know that that desire to be a chef started very early in life?

"Once after Piper had left one of her wonderful cakes at the station house for all of us inspectors, Andy told me that as a child, Piper's favorite plaything was the Ez-Bake Oven that "Santa" had bought her one year. Andy told me that she made some of the best things from that oven--and that even back then, she didn't like the idea of only dumping the box of mix into the pan, adding water and sticking it in the oven. Not Piper! She was always going to ask their grandmother for extra stuff from the kitchen that she could throw into the mix. And Andy said everything she tried always tasted great.

"Speaking of their grandmother, Piper spent a lot of time in the kitchen with her, and Andy said that Grams, as everyone called their grandmother, always said that she was never sure who was teaching who!

"Speaking of Grams, as most of you know, the Halliwell sisters didn't have a very happy childhood. Their father left them when they were very young and their mother died just a few years later, the reason why Grams had to raise them. But I think this just made them stronger and closer to each other, even if you'd never believe it if you ever heard Prue and Phoebe going at it! Andy said that even as kids, Prue was always the one who followed the straight and narrow, while Phoebe was always the one who would constantly push the limits as much and as often as she could! And shy, quiet, little Piper was the one who with just a few words would be able to remind them just how much they truly loved each other, something she did all of her life, the reason why Phoebe is here today and not living in New York, since she took off shortly after Grams' death.

"Shy, quiet, little Piper. Somehow that doesn't sound anything like the Piper I met, and yet everyone insisted that that's what she was like as a child. Like the time that she ran for class secretary and couldn't even finish her speech. Hearing the way Piper could give someone whatfor makes that hard for me to believe, but Andy insisted that it was true.

"Another story that he insisted was true happened back when they were kids. The girls and Andy had always been close. He was sort of like the brother they never had. Just today I found out that they also have a second-cousin who also played that role. But Andy never mentioned him--probably didn't want to admit to me that they looked at anyone else as their big brother.

"Anyhow, when Piper was very young--about 5 or 6--she developed a crush on him, and for a good couple weeks that summer, she followed him around like a puppydog. He pretended like he didn't notice, since she was more like a little sister to him than anything else, but he knew that she was still suffering from losing her mother shortly before this, so he figured if having a crush on him helped her to recover from that sudden loss in her life, that was fine with him.

"However, he didn't want her to suffer the endless teasing at the hands of her sisters if they found out--which, of course, they eventually did. You can only imagine how hard her sisters teased her! And poor sensitive Piper was so upset! It took all the power of both Andy and Grams to get Prue and Phoebe to knock it off! But even as Andy laughed about that, he admitted to me that seeing that little girl looking at him with stars in her eyes was by far one of the sweetest things he had ever seen. And you know something, I can agree with that--I saw the same look in Piper's eyes just a few months ago when she and Leo got married.

"Thank you for everything you did for all of us, Piper. Thanks to you, I now have a new friend who I'm almost as close to as I was to Andy, and that's Leo. You were a very, very special woman, Piper Melinda Halliwell-Wyatt, and we'll never forget you."


Once Darryl was done and had returned to his seat, Pastor Williams said a few more quick final prayers over Piper and everyone there, and then Victor walked up to the podium. "First I want to thank all of you for your love and support during this extraordinarily difficult time for my family and me. Next, as most of you know, we've asked that the burial itself be private, for just family only.

"Then, usually there is a meal of some sort in the church cafeteria after the burial or a meal back at the house, but we've decided to do things just a bit differently. Since Piper left us, many of the bands who played at P3 have contacted my daughters and asked if there was anything they could do. P3 was so special to Piper and since so many of you knew Piper through P3, we've decided to hold a celebration of Piper's life at P3 tonight. A lot of these bands will be playing, and all food and all drink will be on the house in her honor.

"All of you who are here today are welcomed to come to that celebration, although there is an entrance fee of sorts." Lifting up one of the programs, he continued, "Prudence made sure that all of you were given a copy of the beautiful program that she created. If you look on the back, you'll see that there is an area for you to share one of your favorite memories of Piper. Tonight, bring the program with that area filled out and you'll be allowed into P3. During the night, between acts, we, Piper's family, will be reading the various memories, so it will truly be a celebration of Piper's life. We hope to see all of you there."

As Victor returned to his seat, the organist began to play again and the pallbearers left their seats in the front row and lifted the coffin of their employer onto their shoulders and carried it down the aisle, following Pastor Williams and the ministers. Slowly her family left their seats, following the pallbearers in the same order that they'd come in, followed by the rest of the mourners.

The hearse was already parked at the door and the back of the door was open. Once Piper's family was all gathered around the back, the pallbearers carefully slid the coffin into the hearse, before once more Leo, Prue, Andy, Phoebe and Cole formed their "comfort-sandwich" and headed back towards Prue's car to follow the hearse on Piper's final journey.


After the burial, which was very sad for all involved, Andy drove them to a nearby mini-golf place. Mini-golf was one of Piper's favorite "non-cooking/non-magic" activities and they'd agree beforehand to play a round in her honor. But on the way there, Phoebe suggested stopping somewhere to get something to eat first--after all, none of them had had anything to eat since the dinner the previous evening--they'd only had coffee before the funeral. Of course the two whitelighters and the half-demon didn't need food, but Phoebe's tummy was growling and Prue admitted to the beginnings of a hunger headache.

Although it wasn't planned, it just somehow seemed right that the first restaurant they came to was Quake. The restaurant where Piper was once both chef and manager before becoming the owner of P3 just seemed like the right place to have their post-burial meal. Naturallly being there brought back all sorts of memories, and everywhere they looked, they could see Piper doing her thing, but somehow it was nice to do that...it seemed like they were doing what Pastor Williams had told them to do...continue to remember and tell stories of Piper.

Only one story made all of them laugh until the tears rolled down their faces. That was when Phoebe and Leo told them about the time when...

[Scene: Quake. Piper comes out of the kitchen and go towards Leo.]

Piper: Sorry. Small mutiny in the kitchen. (She sits down.) Where were we?

Leo: Piper there’s something I need to tell you.

Piper: Yeah?

Leo: Uh, look. Forgive me, but I could be summoned at any moment, so I have to tell you this now. I can’t…I can’t, uh…I can’t believe how much I missed you.

Piper: Well Leo, I missed you too, but what do you mean "summoned"? Summoned where?

(Harry comes out of the kitchen and stands by the door.)

Harry: Hey, uh…Piper. No respect I can live with, OK, but where the hell is my coriander?

(He goes back into the kitchen.)

Piper: OK. That’s it. I’m ending this now.

(Piper gets up and heads towards the kitchen. Phoebe enters.)

Phoebe: Oh my gosh. You know.

Piper: Of course I know. The whole restaurant knows. Didn’t you hear him scream across the room?

Phoebe: (To Leo.) I thought it was a secret.

Leo: Phoebe...

Piper: I wish. It will probably be in the newspaper tomorrow.

Phoebe: No. It can’t be. Look Piper, he never meant to hurt you.

Piper: Phoebe, please. You haven’t even meet the manic yet. What’s gotten into you?

(Piper goes into the kitchen. Phoebe looks questionably at Leo.)

Leo: She’s talking about the new chef.²

Despite ordering their favorite items on the menu, both Prue and Phoebe only ate one or two bites before putting down their forks. Immediately the others began cajoling them into eating a bit more, asking them what Piper would think about them turning down food, especially food at Quake, and the two sisters managed to eat half of what was on their plates before insisting that they couldn't swallow another bite without becoming ill. So after trying to pay the manager who had taken over after Piper left , who insisted that it was on the house, Andy drove them to the mini-golf place.

Playing the simple, mindless game gave them a chance to forget what was going on for awhile, even as they laughed as they remembered certain things that Piper had done or said on the course, especially remembering her reaction towards particularly bad or good shots.

But they were only able to play 3 or 4 holes, before they admitted that they were so exhausted that without saying a word, they all agreed that just going home and getting some rest before the celebration of Piper's life at P3 was the best thing for them to do. So they all returned to Prue's car and Andy drove them back to the Manor, where they all headed upstairs to try to get some much-needed rest.

The only one who didn't stay in one of the bedrooms was Leo. He couldn't stand to lie down on the bed that he'd once shared with Piper. So instead he headed back for his favorite sanctuary...the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.

---

¹All Hell Breaks Loose, written by Brad Kern, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick, modified for this fanfic by Esmeralda and Primrose_Empath

²Secrets and Guys, teleplay by Constance M. Burge and Sheryl J. Anderson, story by Brad Kern and Constance M. Burge, transcribed by Janelle Hackbarth

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER EIGHT

A couple hours later, Phoebe wandered into the kitchen. She didn't really want to go there; it reminded her too much of her lost sister. But after only having coffee that morning and hardly eating any of her dinner at Quake, her tummy was growling and there was only one place in the Manor where she could find food...the kitchen.

She knew there would be plenty of food at P3 that night, but she also knew she wouldn't get much chance to eat any of it...she and Prue and the others would be too busy playing hostess. Prue was going to play MC for the bands while she was going to stand at the door with Cole and Joe, one of P3's bouncers who had also been one of the pallbearers, making sure that only those who had the funeral program with a Piper-memory and their name and address already filled out would be allowed in. Before she'd laid down to rest, she'd made a spreadsheet of all of the mourners who had signed the guest book so Joe could make sure each participant was on the list. No freeloaders were going to get free food and free entertainment at Piper's expense!

Phoebe hoped that that young girl, the one who looked so much like Piper, would decide to come back so she could apologize for scaring her like that.

As she looked around the kitchen, trying not to see her sister everywhere she looked, Phoebe heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, she smiled wanly at her big sister. "So you got hungry, too, huh?"

Prue nodded her head in agreement and returned Phoebe's smile with one of her own. She gazed around the kitchen and sighed. No other room in the house said "Piper" as much as this one. "Eating the wicker furniture wasn't a really appetizing option," she half-joked. "So what are our choices aside from one of the six gazillion casseroles that the neighbors keep bringing over?"

Phoebe shrugged. "One of the casseroles sounds good to me. Should I close my eyes and grab one and stick it in the oven? That's all you gotta do, right?"

Prue began to chuckle. "For normal people, sure, but not for you. You can go ahead and pick one, but I'll be the one sticking it in the oven."

Prue's chuckle had made Phoebe's eyes grow wide with shock. Now Prue's words touched off Phoebe's temper. "And why you and not me?"

Prue was sure Phoebe was simply joking with her and laughed even harder. "Because fire and you are an accident waiting to happen, and the last thing we need tonight is for you to burn the house down."

"Hey!" cried Phoebe, much more sensitive than usual and now horribly insulted. "That's only my past lives or in the future! I'm not that bad! I can most certainly stick something in the oven. How hard can that be?"

Prue shot her sister a bemused look, still not aware of how hurt and angry Phoebe was. After all, Phoebe's cooking abilities, or lack thereof, had been a running joke in the family for years. "For you? Incredibly hard," and with a smirk, she added, " Little Miss I-Can't-Boil-Water-Without-Burning-It. So keep dreaming, 'cause there is no way you are getting anywhere near that oven."

That was the last straw. "Says who, Miss Does-This-Button-Light-the-Stove-or-the-Oven?" Phoebe was beginning to scream. "You're just as likely to blow us all to kingdom come as I am to light this place on fire!"

"Excuse me?!" Prue countered as she shot an indignant glare in Phoebe's direction. "And just what did you mean by that little statement?"

"Exactly what I meant!" Phoebe screamed back. "You know as much about that oven as I do! I happen to know it's a gas stove which means if you're not careful you could blow us up just as easily as I could burn us out of house and home using the top of the stove!"

"Hey!" cried Andy as he walked in. "What's going on in here?" As he came down the stairs, he had heard them talking about casseroles and now here they were screaming at each other.

Both sisters turned to face him. "Shut up!" before Phoebe turned on Prue. "Don't you get it, Prue? Without Piper here, we're gonna starve!"

Andy tried to be conciliatory. "Of course, you're not going to starve."

Phoebe spun on him. "I thought we told you to shut up!"

Prue's eyes opened wide in shock. Immediately she jumped to Andy's defense, totally forgetting that she had yelled at him moments earlier. "Hey!"she screeched, her voice rising in pitch with each syllable. "Don't you dare talk to him that way!!"

"I'll talk to him however the hell I want to!" Phoebe kept on screaming at her sister, taking out her pain of losing Piper on Prue. "And if you don't like it, just try to stop me!" Then seeing Prue begin to raise her hand, Phoebe growled, "Just remember, you use your power on me, you'll be as helpless as I am! So don't even think about it!"

Prue sighed reluctantly as she slowly put her hand back down by her side. Maybe she couldn't use her power on her sister, but she could sure use her voice. "You most certainly will not talk to him 'however the hell you want to', Phoebe Penelope!" she retorted in a low venomous tone as her eyes flashed green. "What on earth did he ever do to you to deserve that? Hmmm? Tell me." Arms crossed and eyebrows raised, she leaned against the kitchen island and awaited Phoebe's response to her verbal challenge.

"I most certainly will, Prudence Victoria!" Phoebe screamed right back, in absolutely no mood to be reasonable, especially when Prue had used her full name, which she hated as much as Prue hated hers. "He stuck his nose in where it doesn't belong and that's quite bad enough, thank you!"


Even as the sisters continued to scream at each other, each word louder, higher and filled with more venom, Andy watched in a total quandary, trying to figure out how to stop this quickly-escalating argument. "Sisters Break Up over Casserole--Details at Ten." If it wasn't so tragic, it would be humorous, but neither of these two are in the mood for jokes right now. And I've already seen what trying to jump in and reason with them will do. He tapped his chin in thought. There's gotta be a way to stop this...but how when the only person that could bring these two back to their senses is no longer here? Looking up for a millisecond, he quietly whispered, "Some help would be much appreciated right about now."

Help came, but from a most unexpected source. Hearing ever-raising voices, Cole sprinted into the kitchen just in time to see both sisters use the full-name call on each other. "Andy," he hissed "We've gotta separate these two before they kill each other!"

Nodding emphatically in agreement, Andy grabbed Prue in a tight hug and orbed her back to her room, leaving Cole behind to try to calm down Phoebe.

Prue was momentarily confused upon appearing in her room with Andy's arms wrapped around her when she could've sworn that she was downstairs just seconds earlier. Orbing was a mode of transport that she was most definitely not used to. After regaining her bearings, she wriggled free from his grasp and spun around to face him, her eyes still blazing with anger. "Would you mind telling me why the hell we're up here and not downstairs? I need to be down there -- I wasn't done dealing with Little Miss Attitude yet!"

Andy gave her a soft smile. "Sorry, Prue, but you are. I had to separate you before it was too late, before one of you said something you'd regret later, maybe regret for the rest of your lives. When you called her by her full name and she called you by yours, that's when I knew I had to do something. Think about it, Prue. Please, just take a couple of deep breaths and think about it. She's hurting over losing Piper as much as you are. That's the only reason why she struck out at you--because her remaining sister struck out at her. Normally she would've laughed at the fact that she's a terrible cook--she's been that since you were kids and she couldn't even make toast without burning it. But you struck out at her, hurt her, when she's hurting so much, just like you are. You know that as well as I do. You're the bigger person; I know you are. She doesn't need yelling. She needs a hug. Just like you do."

Hearing Andy's words brought Prue squarely back to reality. Ever since they were little, he always knew just the right things to say, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she had been in the wrong earlier by lashing out at Phoebe like she did. The very last thing she'd wanted to do was take out her pain and frustration on someone who was hurting as much as she was--especially when that someone was her only remaining sister. Sighing softly, she shifted her tear-filled gaze from the floor back up to Andy and nodded in affirmation. "You're right, absolutely right. I can't believe I did that to her--she didn't deserve it. I...I...should've known better."

Andy reached out and hugged Prue tightly. "That's because you're hurting, too. You're both just ultra-sensitive, so neither of you are thinking straight. That's to be expected." Then reaching down and using her chin to lift her face so he was looking right at her, he said, "Your baby sister is downstairs using her anger to hide her pain, just like she always has. Piper knew that's what was behind it. That's how she was able to help you guys make up. She's not here to do that now. So what are you going to do to make Piper proud of you?"

Meanwhile downstairs, Phoebe had given out a loud sigh of frustration as she watched Andy and Prue orb out, then spun on Cole, her eyes still sparking fire. "Well? You gonna say anything? Or are you going to call me Phoebe Penelope, too?" Before he could respond, she spun around, turning her back on him. "Doesn't think I can throw a stupid casserole in the stupid oven, huh? Fine! I'll make a salad instead!" And stalking over to the refrigerator, she grabbed out a head of lettuce, set it on the counter, grabbed the biggest, sharpest knife she could find and began chopping at it. "This is your head, Prue! This is Andy's head! And if you stick your nose into it, Cole, this is your head, too!" As she kept chopping, lettuce flew everywhere around the kitchen, making a total mess.

Her screaming didn't even phase the half-demon, who took charge of the situation now that he had let her blow off some steam and take her anger out on an inanimate object. Stalking over to the counter, he grabbed Phoebe from behind, snatched the knife from her hand and set it on the counter before spinning her around. Grabbing her by both shoulders, he shook her in an effort to bring her back to her senses. "Phoebe! You need to knock it off, and I mean now!"

Phoebe was shocked. "How dare y--" but she never finished her sentence as Cole shut her up the only way he knew how--kissing her. Phoebe raised her hand to slap him, but he grabbed both of her arms and shoved then down to her sides, pressing her back against the counter, never stopping kissing her as hard as he could.

Phoebe kept struggling, but eventually the kiss got to her and she began kissing him back as the tears she'd been trying to hold back began flowing down her cheeks. Feeling the tears, Cole finally released the kiss and let go of her arms, hugging her instead as she laid her head on his shoulders, sobbing like mad. "Why did he have to kill her, Cole? Why? Prue and I would never be screaming at each other like that if Piper was still here, and now Prue will never forgive me for screaming at her like that," and all Cole could do was hold her and let her cry them out.

And that's the scene Prue and Andy saw as they walked into the room. Prue looked around the kitchen. "Were you trying to put the first salad in orbit?" she softly asked.


Phoebe looked up from Cole's shoulder, tears still streaming down her face, and looked around at the lettuce strewn all around the kitchen. "Yeah, I guess I kinda did. Messing up her kitchen like this, Piper would've killed me."

Prue managed a half-hearted smile, but one look at Phoebe's red and tear-streaked face was all it took for her to realize just how much she had hurt her little sister when she had lashed out at her earlier. The thought of losing Phoebe forever over something as stupid as an argument about who was going to stick a casserole in the oven wasn't something that sat well with her and she knew that she needed to be the bigger person and make amends. However, this was most definitely not her area of expertise and she hoped that she could do half as well as Piper would have.

Picking nervously at her cuticles, she mulled over what exactly she was going say. "Phoebs? There's something I need to tell you."

Hearing Prue call her Phoebs rather than Phoebe Penelope made Phoebe smile. That told her all that she really truly needed to know--that her big sister still loved her even if she did go overboard every once in awhile. "What's that, Prue?"

Seeing Phoebe's smile gave Prue the confidence boost that she needed. And taking a deep breath, she looked into Phoebe's warm brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for striking out at you earlier; I'm sorry for hurting you like I did when you're already hurting. You didn't deserve it, and I should've known better. And if I had just opened my eyes and looked, I would've realized that you weren't joking. That what you really needed right then was a hug and someone to comfort you -- not me laughing at you and then yelling at you."

She paused to collect her thoughts and continued, still looking her baby sister square in the eyes. "I know that I rarely, if ever, admit that I'm wrong. But I was -- and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me." The tears that had been threatening to spill over finally did and trickled down her face.

Prue hadn't even finished speaking before Phoebe was running across the kitchen and throwing her arms around her big sister. "No, no, no, Prue; it wasn't your fault--it was mine. I should've known you were only teasing me...we all know what a horrible cook I am. I shouldn't have taken my pain out on you, not when you're hurting as much as I am. I'm sorry; I really am. It's just so hard without Piper reminding me that when you get huffy, it's because you're hurting. But I'd never want to lose you. Not over something as stupid as a casserole! Now why don't you stick one of those gazillion casseroles in the oven, while I clean up this mess and then I promise I'll make a salad without putting it in orbit."

Andy turned to look at Cole, a grin on his face that said, "Mission accomplished," before saying to the girls, "Why don't we guys take care of the mess while you girls take care of the food?"

Phoebe and Prue mulled over the suggestion and exchanged a glance. Grinning, Phoebe turned back to Andy and nodded. "You've got yourself a deal."

And that's exactly what happened. Andy and Cole cleaned up the lettuce explosion while Phoebe worked on a new salad and Prue took her time in taking casseroles out of the fridge, lifting the aluminum foil or cover, checking to see what it was, dipping her finger into it, so she could taste it, and then putting it back, finally settling on some chili that wasn't too spicy yet wasn't too bland and that she knew everyone would like. It wasn't as good as Piper's chili, of course--nothing could be better than Piper's chili--but it would have to do.

"How long do I put it in there for?" she asked. "And at what temperature?"

"Why don't you put it in the microwave?" Phoebe suggested. "Then you just have to set it for five minutes on high, test it, and if it's not hot, set it for another minute."

Prue smiled. "And you thought we would starve," she gently teased.


Phoebe shrugged sheepishly. "OK, so I forgot about the nuker. I would've starved in New York without it."

So Prue put the chili in the microwave oven and set the timer for five minutes and the temperature on high. While it was cooking, the two sisters began setting the table. Now this was something they had done for Piper a lot over the years, so they had no problems. Somehow it seemed like at any moment, Piper would walk out of the kitchen, carrying some wonderfully-aromatic dish, but of course she didn't.

When the microwave oven dinged, Prue checked it and it was plenty hot enough, so she brought it out to the dining room table, Andy reminding her to be sure to put it on one of the duvets that was sitting on the hutch. Prue smiled at the reminder. Piper loved their dining room table--she would've hated it if Prue put a burn mark on it.

Meanwhile Phoebe took her salad out of the fridge and brought it out, along with the milk. After Prue had dished out some chili for everyone, both girls called the guys to the table. Cole and Andy walked in from the conservatory and sat down at the table, immediately tasted both the salad and the chili, everyone complimented Phoebe on her salad and laughingly complimented Prue on her chili, even as they all were thinking how much better Piper would've done with both.

Even as she smilingly accepted the compliments, Prue noticed that someone was missing. "Be right back," she told the others, then she walked into the foyer and called up the stairs. "Leo?" She waited for a couple of seconds, and tried again, this time a little louder. But upon hearing no movement from the upstairs nor seeing her brother-in-law appear in his usual manner, she returned to the dining room, shaking her head; a puzzled expression on her face.

"Well, that's weird," she said, taking a seat at the table and looking around as if expecting Leo to appear at any second. He wasn't usually one to miss a family meal. "Come to think of it, have any of you guys seen Leo since we got home? Phoebs? Cole? Andy?"

Phoebe shook her head, as did Cole and Andy. "Nope. The last time we saw him was a couple of hours ago when he was heading into his and Piper's room." Then a thought struck her as she reached for some crackers to dip in her chili. "You know what?"

"What?" Andy wanted to know.

"I didn't see him during the infamous 'oven argument' either." Phoebe continued. "I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now that I've had time to..."

"It was kind of strange that he didn't come down and see what was going on." Prue finished, nodding. "After all, it wasn't like we were having a whispered conversation."

"You got that right," snickered Cole, earning him a swat on the arm from Phoebe and a slightly unamused look from Prue. "Ouch!" He said with a feigned injured look while rubbing his arm. "I've got an idea." His eyes lit up and he glanced across the table at Andy. "Is it possible for you to sense other whitelighters?"

Andy shrugged "I think so. I've never tried it--but I think so. Why?"

"Because if you can, then we'll at least have solved the mystery of Leo's whereabouts." Cole concluded, taking a drink of his milk.

"Good idea. Guess it wouldn't hurt. Then at least we can find him to see if he's all right." Setting down his salad dish, Andy closed his eyes and tried to sense his whitelighter colleague. After about a minute he opened them again and found three sets of eyes staring at him in anticipation.

"Well?" asked Prue, stopping her spoonful of chili halfway between her bowl and her mouth.

Andy grinned. "Found him."

"Where?" inquired Phoebe, setting down her glass.

"On the top of Golden Gate Bridge."

"That makes sense." After Andy gave Prue a questioning look, she explained further. "I remember Piper saying something once about Leo telling her that he goes to the top of the bridge whenever he needs to think or needs some downtime. She said that he calls it his 'sanctuary'."

Phoebe nodded and smiled as she also recalled that conversation. "Of course!" She glanced across the table. "Andy? Would you mind doing a favor for us and going to check on him? At least then we'll know that he's okay. It's been a hard day for him, too."

"No problem. I'll let him know that dinner's ready, too, just in case he's hungry. We whitelighters may not need food, but we still get hungry." Leaning over, Andy gave Prue a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be right back." With that, he disappeared in a swirl of white lights.

He reappeared on the top of the Golden Gate Bridge where he found Leo sitting on the top beam, looking even more worn out than that last time he had seen him.

Seeing his fellow whitelighter, Leo immediately jumped to his feet in fear. "The sisters..."

"They're fine," Andy told him soothingly. "They're just having dinner and were wondering where you are. Prue heated up some chili."

The words made Leo smile wryly. "Prue cooked?? Are you sure she won't poison you?"

Andy smiled back. "Well, I'm a whitelighter now, remember? She can't poison me and she can't poison Cole and she won't poison Phoebe. It's one of the casseroles that one of the neighbors brought over. Chili. Prue simply microwaved it, and it's not that bad. Not as good as Piper's, of course...." But seeing the way Leo's smile fell, Andy knew he had said the wrong thing. "Look, if you're not hungry and don't want any, I'm sure the girls will understand, and it's not like they were actually the ones who made it."

"They??" Leo asked. "You mean Phoebe helped?"

"Yeah, she made the salad and didn't do that bad of a job."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, Piper showed her how..."

"I'm serious, Leo. If you don't want to come to dinner, I'm sure the girls will understand."

Leo sighed. "You're right. I don't want to come to dinner, and I don't want to go to that celebration at P3 tonight. If I truly have to be there, then, OK, I will, but listening to all of those memories at the funeral and then thinking about all of them, it's just so hard, much harder than I ever imagined."

"I'll talk it over with the girls. With Cole and me there, I don't really think they'll need you, although some of the people there might wonder why you're not there." He paused for a moment. "Victor may wonder why you're not there," and Leo laughed wrly at that. "But," Andy continued. "If you don't think you can handle it, I'm pretty sure they'll understand."

"Thanks, Andy; you've been a Godsend, both for me and for the sisters. If after you talk it over with them, if they think I should be there, or if when you get to P3, you sense I should, this is where I'll be, so you can come get me."

Andy nodded. "Sounds good. Just take care of yourself and remember that you have a lot of people who care."

"Yeah, I know that, and that's what helps me to keep going. But I think I've had just about all the sympathy I can handle for one day."

Andy nodded as he stood up. "Yeah, I think I can understand that. Take care," and after giving his fellow whitelighter a soothing pat on the back, Andy orbed back to the Manor.

~~

The sisters and Cole were in the midst of what appeared to be a very animated conversation when Andy reappeared in the dining room. Cole was the first to notice and nudged Phoebe on the arm. "How is he?" she inquired, her expression switching from laughing to concerned.

Andy pulled out his seat at the table. "He's all right. Well, as all right as he could be, considering..." He shrugged and took a bite of chili, not really needing to continue the sentence. "He said that he's within 'calling distance' if you need him tonight, but that he's going to take a pass on dinner and the celebration at P3. He hopes you girls will understand."

"Well, I'm glad he's all right," smiled Prue, and Phoebe nodded. "And honestly, if I were him and found out that it was me who cooked dinner -- I'd take a pass on that too." Phoebe snickered at the comment, earning an eye-roll from her big sister, who then continued. "And if he doesn't want to come tonight to the club, I most certainly won't hold it against him. How 'bout you, Phoebs?"

Phoebe speared some salad with her fork as she shook her head. "Nope. If he thinks it'll be too painful to be there, why should we force him to come? I mean, we'll definitely miss him being there...and I'm sure people will notice his absence, but I bet they'll understand, too."

The rest of the meal progressed uneventfully, as memories and laughter were shared and clean up was a tag-team affair, with the girls clearing the table while Cole and Andy tackled the dishes. Before they knew it, it was almost time to head to P3 for the celebration. Fifteen minutes later, after everybody had spruced up, they piled into Prue's car to head for the club with Andy once again behind the wheel.

They were maybe halfway to P3, when suddenly Andy gasped, then quickly parked the car on the side of the road.

"What's wrong?" Prue turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"One of my charges! I've gotta go! Now!"

"Andy, no!" cried Prue. "I need you for this!"

"I'm sorry, Prue. I love you, but I gotta go!" and he orbed out.

"No!" cried Prue as she slammed her hand on the dashboard. "No, no! If he hadn't come, I could've done it on my own, truly I could've. But I got used to leaning on him." She leaned back in the seat and covered her eyes with her hands.

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER NINE


Cole shrugged. "So I guess you lean on me and Phoebe and all the others who will be at P3. But we gotta go."

"He's right, Prue," Phoebe told her as she leaned over from the back seat to pat her big sister reassuringly on the shoulder. "And you heard what Andy said. One of his charges needed him."

"Yeah, and any other day, I would've been the first to tell him to go, but not today! What if he doesn't come back? I didn't even get to tell him good-bye or thanks for all he's done for me today. How can I lose him when this is the day we told Piper good-bye?"

"You know better. If he can come back, he will, because he knows how much you need him. But obviously his charge needs him more. And remember what he told us at dinner...if we need a whitelighter, Leo is within 'calling distance'."

Prue gave a heavy sigh, knowing that Phoebe was right, but not wanting to do this alone.

Cole shrugged. "Hey, at least he was here for the funeral. That would've been the hardest part to do without him."

Prue had to agree. "Yeah, you're right and I'm just being stubborn."

"No, you're hurting, just like we are. I know just how you feel...it's how I felt when I couldn't get Cole to wake up this morning and thought I couldn't do this without him. But we're past the hardest part. This part, this is celebrating Piper's life! We can do this, Prue, we can! Remember what you told us before we left?"

Prue gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, I said let's go make Piper proud of us."

"Yep, so let's do it."

And nodding, Prue scooted over to the driver's seat and started up the car.


Nobody was really much up for conversation during the rest of the drive, so after a couple of minutes, Prue turned on the radio in order to break the silence. Coincidentally, it was right at the beginning of "Just My Imagination" by the Cranberries--one of Piper's favorite bands who was also playing at the celebration of her life that night.

As she was mouthing the words, Prue quickly glanced in the rear-view mirror; what she saw brought a smile to her face. Phoebe was doing the exact same thing, softly singing along to the song. The two sisters exchanged a wink and grin before Prue returned her attention to the road. They knew that they were both remembering dancing to that very song at P3:

[Scene: P3. Prue is wearing a very sexy outfit.]

Phoebe: Oh.. Well, well. And I thought the heat wave was over.

Piper: Yeah, Prue. You look hot.

Prue: I’m just grateful to be back in heels.

Phoebe: Let me see. Oh, yeah. You definitely have that walk down.

Prue: Well, we’ll see if Alan agrees with that.

Phoebe: Alan? I thought you thought he wasn’t interested.

Prue: Yeah, I was wrong. Just a little gender confusion.

Piper: Looks like you learned a few things about being a woman by being a man.

Prue: Actually, I did. I mean, we’re different, which I’m glad about that. But we’re also similar in many ways. You know, we all feel the same emotions. It’s just that if we don’t communicate honestly, then we read between the lines and tend to get everything screwed up.

Piper: And sometimes it’s just up to us to open the door first... take a chance

(They see Dan)

Prue: Oh, you finally called him, huh?

Piper: I got some good advice from the brother I never had. Excuse me.

Prue: You’re welcome.

(She goes to meet Dan.)

Prue: So, what about you, Phoebs?

Phoebe: Me, uh? (She sees Owen) I actually have an appointment with a doctor I’ve been dying to see. I’m still running a little bit hot.

Prue: I see that. He winked at you

(Phoebe goes to meet Owen. The Cranberries start to play.)

Piper: Glad you could make it.

Dan: Are you kidding? I’m just glad you called. Truth is I’ve been waiting to call you for some time now.

Piper: Really? I never would guess.

Dan: You wanna dance?

Piper: Sure.

(They join Phoebe and Owen and start to dance.)

Prue: Alan, hey... Good to see you.

Alan: I’m glad you called back, Prue. I have to admit. I didn’t think you would.

Prue: Well, I wasn’t going to at first. But then I met this really nice guy who encouraged me to go ahead.

Alan: Yeah? Who is he? I wanna thank him.

Prue: Oh, no. I’ll thank him.... Cranberries.

Alan: Let’s go.

(They join Piper and Dan and Phoebe and Owen. Then we see the girls dancing with their guys.)¹

Approximately two and a half songs later, they pulled into P3's parking lot, piled out of the car and headed into the club.

As they made their way down the stairs, they looked around in amazement. The employees had indeed been busy with the preparations. The decorations were almost all up and the picture boards and floral arrangements from the church had been stratgically placed at various spots around the club, including a collage of pictures taken at P3 that had been made by one of the bartenders and which was situated on an easel just past the bottom of the stairs.

Walking over to the bar, Phoebe noticed one other person already seated there. She gave Prue a quick nudge with her elbow and her big sister sighed. It was Victor, who got up from his seat and waved them over. Great, just great. I was hoping he wouldn't get here until later when it was crowded and I could avoid him. So much for that plan.

Phoebe jogged over and wrapped her arms around him. "Daddy!"

Victor returned his youngest's hug. "Baby. Doing any better?"

Phoebe shrugged as they broke apart. "Sorta. Some minutes are better than others." She gave him a curious look. "You're here early. I thought you weren't coming until later on."

Before Victor could give a response, he saw Cole heading towards him, followed closely by Prue. Keeping one arm around Phoebe's shoulders, he reached out and shook the half-demon's hand, and Cole returned the gesture in kind.

And now it was Prue's turn as she locked eyes with her father and slowly approached, still keeping her distance. Releasing his arm from Phoebe's shoulder he took a couple of cautious steps forward. "Prudence."

Prue inwardly groaned. I thought I told him that I hate being called by my full name. Not that it matters since he probably won't listen anyway. But now at Piper's celebration is not the time nor the place to get into this discussion. After all, I wouldn't want to disappoint her. So for you, Piper. "Vic...I mean...Dad." And taking the last few steps, she put her arms around him in a half-hearted hug.

Phoebe and Cole took this awkward exchange as a cue to leave the vicinity and scooted off to go help the employees put the finishing touches on the decorations before the doors opened.

As they pulled apart Victor looked into the eyes of his eldest and saw the lingering resentment towards him reflected there, but right now it was also mixed with a touch of sadness. He decided to break the quickly-forming silence. "I asked Phoebe if she was doing all right. So how about you? Doing any better?"

"All right, I guess." Prue sighed and shook her head. "As well as I can be doing, considering...you know. You?"

"The same." It was at that moment that Victor noticed that a very key person in Piper's life was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Leo? I didn't see him come in with you."

"That's because he didn't."

"What do you mean? Is he even coming?"

"I'm not really sure. He might drop in later, but I don't think so."

"Why?"

Prue felt her anger starting to rise, but did her level best to keep it under control. For you, Piper, for you.

She shot a piercing glare at her father and gritted her teeth. "Victor. Would you stop with the '20 Questions' bit? Long story short, he said that he wasn't really feeling up to coming and needed some alone time to sort things out. I'm not holding that against him, and neither is Phoebe. It's his choice whether to come or not, all right? Losing Piper has hit him just as hard, if not harder, as it's hit the rest of us."

Pausing, she tucked her hair back behind her ears. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go make sure that the sound check has been completed since we're about to open the doors." With that, she turned on her heel and headed towards the stage, leaving Victor standing by the bar, still trying to figure out all of what was just said.

Phoebe was putting the final straightening touch on one of the tables when she saw Prue walk briskly by her and up towards the stage. For a half-second she considered going over there to see how it went with their dad, but the expression on her big sister's face combined with the sight of Victor standing in shock by the bar told her all she needed to know. Taking a moment to straighten one last picture, smiling wistfully as she remembered when it was taken, she hurried over to her dad and hugged him.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked, watching Prue stalk towards the stage.

Phoebe grinned. "You called her Prudence."

He was still bewildered. "But that's her name. Your mother fell in love with that name the moment she heard that it was Melinda Warren's daughter's name. It's a beautiful name for my beautiful oldest daughter."

Phoebe still grinned. "But you're the only one who calls her that. When and if she ever decides to forgive and forget that you left us when you did, she'll probably love having you call her that. But not now. And all of us are hurting today so we're all ultra-sensitive." She started giggling. "Prue and I almost came to blows over a casserole."

Victor's eyes started to get big and he started to ask, but Phoebe shook her head as she glanced at her watch. "Later. We're opening in a minute. Whoa. Time sure flies. I gotta go find Cole and join Joe at the doors."

He nodded, and after giving her another hug, he headed for the food to be sure that everything was there. Phoebe watched him, then looking around, she spotted Cole waiting for her by the stairs and speed-walked over to him, her spreadsheet firmly in hand. Together, they ascended the stairs and took their place by the front doors.


When they opened the doors at exactly 6:00, there was already a long line of familar faces, all holding the program. Joe had already walked up and down the line, making sure that they did. Now he joined Phoebe and Cole, and Phoebe handed him the spreadsheet before Cole reached for the first person's program. Cole flipped the program over and read the name to Joe, who checked it off the spreadsheet before handing the program to Phoebe. She in turn read the memory with a sad smile before setting it on the table standing next to them, working on dividing them into various categories based on the memory and the person who submitted it. They continued this routine for a good fifteen minutes, when they could hear the first band beginning to play.

While Phoebe, Cole, and Joe started check-in duty, Prue had finished verifying the sound check and positioned herself at the foot of the stairs to greet each person who walked into the club and point out where various things were located. After three minutes to allow the band to finish setting up, she strolled up onto the stage and took the mike. After thanking everyone for coming, she introduced the first band, Dishwalla. Stepping down from the stage, she found herself glad that Leo wasn't there, since she knew that hearing that particular group would not have brought him the fondest of memories:

(Piper walks in the kitchen.)

Piper: (excited) Guess what I did? Guess what I did? All by myself?

Phoebe: What?

Piper: You ready?

Phoebe: What?

Piper: Get this... Dish...walla... my club... playing there... toNIGHT!

Prue: What?

Piper: I networked. Sent out feelers, sent off press releases and wouldn’t you know it. Dishwalla decided to put P3 on their schedule! How’s about that? P3 has officially been validated as the place to be! We’re on the map! (hugs her sisters) I couldn’t have done it without you, you patient (kisses Prue) most generous (kisses Phoebe) sisters in the whole wide world! (Doorbell rings.) I’ll get it. (answers the door.) Leo... this day just keeping getting better. Hi.

Leo: Hi, uh, Piper, we have to talk.

Piper: Yeah...okay, uh... are you free tonight? Better be, ‘cause you’re my date. We have backstage passes, all access, baby, to see Dishwalla at P3! I made it happen.

Leo: Uh, no, actually, I made it happen.

Piper: What?

(Prue and Phoebe walk in.)

Leo: Yeah, look, I want to tell you sooner, but I didn’t have time. I had to move fast. There’s a demon involved.

Piper: A demon?

Leo: Yeah, he’ll be at your club, tonight.

Piper: But, no, their manager, Jeff Carlton, came to me and-and booked them himself.

Leo: I know. I cast a spell on him

Piper: You, what?

Leo: I sort of cribbed it from one of the other witches I look after. I suggested to Carlton that he get Dishwalla into your club

Prue: Why didn’t you just come to us?

Piper: Because he knows I would have been pissed off. What are you doing?

Leo: My job.

Piper: Your job? What are we, like Leo’s Witches now? We’re supposed to kill a demon during a sold-out concert? Are you nuts?

Phoebe: Piper...

Piper: No, Leo. Anywhere else but not there... not my place.²

Dishwalla started their set and people began to filter onto the dance floor. Satisfied that the guests were enjoying themselves, Prue weaved her way over to the bar, stopping to chat with and receive hugs from various people on the way. As she sipped on a bottle of mineral water handed to her by the bartender, she noticed Victor beckoning to her from the alcove. Rolling her eyes while capping the bottle, she slowly walked over. Wonder what he wants.

Meanwhile outside P3, Phoebe kept looking for the young Halliwell look-alike she had scared so much and was disappointed when she didn't see her. Maybe she'd come later. Phoebe hoped so.

A few people tried to get in with either counterfeit programs or with no programs at all. Thanks to Phoebe's spreadsheet and both Joe and Cole, they didn't succeed. Some even tried bribing the trio, but still had no luck. Joe just kept his arms crossed, insisting, "Private party and you're not on the list."

Around 6:15, Prue showed up to pick up the memories. Her sister smiled sadly. "There's some good ones in there."

Prue nodded. "I'm sure there are. Did you talk to Dad?"

"Yeah, I did," Phoebe's eyes went wide, surprised that Prue had called their father Dad. "Why?"

"After I introduced the first group, he told me I'd done a good job and in doing so, he called me Prue."

Phoebe grinned. "Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks, huh?"

---

¹She's a Man, Baby, a Man, written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, transcribed by Cintia Bueno, with adjustments by Shay Fitzpatrick and minor editing by Esmeralda

²The Devil's Music, written by David Simkins, transcribed by Cintia Bueno, slightly edited by Esmeralda

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER TEN

"Guess you can." Prue returned the smile; then headed back into P3. Dishwalla was just finishing up their set, so she quickly shuffled through the memories and selected a few to read. One was from a childhood friend, one from a classmate, one from a fellow employee at Quake and one from one of Piper's P3 employees -- a well-balanced selection from every stage of Piper's life.

She waited until Dishwalla finished, then returned to the stage. After thanking Dishwalla and asking the crowd to give them another round of applause, she proceeded to read the memories. Some made everyone sniffle, some made them laugh, but they all made them smile, feeling as if Piper was somehow there with them.

Janice Robinson was next up on the billing, and after her introduction, she took the stage to a large round of applause from the crowd. A small smile crept across Prue's face as she leaned against a nearby table and allowed the music to help her drift off into another memory.

[Cut to inside. Phoebe is dancing with Ethan; Prue and Piper are sitting at the bar.]

Prue: You know, I never knew how exhausting not having a job could be.

Piper: Table four needs to be bussed.

Prue: Okay, I'm serious. You know, it's like having a job just sort of made this whole Charmed thing less stressful. It gave me something else to worry about.

Piper: So the Prue of old wins out after all.

Prue: I like being busy.

Piper: And why mess with a good thing?

Prue: Yeah, I just need to find something that I love getting busy at.

Piper: Speaking of gettin' busy, check out our little sister.

(They watch Phoebe dancing with Ethan.)

Prue: Oh, my. Just hope she doesn't do eighties dancing.¹

As the second and final song of Janice's set came to an end, Prue sorted through more of the remaining memories, reading each one with a wistful look before settling on another mixture of various friends and employees. With a quick check of her watch, she noted that it was almost 7:00, which meant Phoebe should be coming in from check-in duty fairly soon--just in time to catch The Cranberries performance.

They were only the fourth of many performers playing that night, including Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, who would be the closing act. Faith would still be performing her own previously-arranged concert after that at 9:00--Prue and Phoebe knew their sister would figure a way to come back and shoot them if they cancelled a sold-out concert--and both were grateful to Faith and Tim for agreeing to do an extra set to close out the celebration of Piper's life.

Sighing softly, Prue stepped up onto the stage to share the next round of memories and introduce The Goo Goo Dolls.

Meanwhile, Phoebe, Cole and Joe were getting ready to lock the doors, so that they could go and be part of the party, too. The back of the program had announced that the doors would close at 7:00 and besides, there hadn't been any new participants in a good half-hour. Phoebe was just beginning to sigh over the fact that the Halliwell look-alike had never showed when she spotted the girl slowly but surely making her way towards the door, a frightened look on her face.

"Joe," Phoebe whispered. "Any idea who that is?"

"Not sure what her name is; don't know if I ever heard it. But she's been coming to P3 the last month or so, usually with a good-looking guy. Why? Is she not on the list?"

"No, she's not, but she's allowed in anyway," and Joe shrugged as the girl made her way to the trio.

She handed the program to Cole. "I saw the note about the celebration tonight. Piper was really nice to me one night, so I wrote it there. I hope it's okay that I'm here even if I wasn't at the funeral."

Phoebe smiled at her. "Of course it is. I'm sorry I scared you this afternoon and I wish you had stayed for the funeral."

The young woman smiled and reached out her hand. "Me, too. I'm truly sorry for your loss."

Phoebe smiled back and took her hand. Immediately she was thrown into a premonition: The girl is standing on top of a tall building, her eyes closed, dancing to music that only she can hear. In the background is the sound of a clock bonging nine times. Suddenly Kernus appears. Smirking, he throws an energy ball at the girl.

"NO!" Phoebe gasped, terrifed, as she came out of the premonition. Seeing Kernus killing a girl who looked so much like Piper scared the tar out of her. She'd also scared the tar out of the girl, who once more had spun on her heels and darted off.

"Phoebe!" cried Joe. "Are you all right?"

"Um, I'm fine, just got a little dizzy for some reason. Uh, Cole, can we go get something to drink?"

Cole nodded and after smiling at Joe, who shut and locked the doors, he led Phoebe down the steps, partially to find something to drink and partially to tell Prue what had happened. As they walked down, Phoebe took the program from Cole and flipped it over. She smiled at the memory, but groaned when she saw that the Halliwell look-alike had forgotten to fill in her name and address. How would they be able to find her and prevent Kernus from killing her?

Even as they were hurrying down the steps, Phoebe frantically looked around, trying to find her big sister in the crowd. Spotting her near the bar, she ran over there. "Prue! Prue! That girl was back and we shook hands and I had a premo--"

"Phoebe!" cried Prue, astounded that her younger sister had almost given away their secret in the midst of this crowd.

Cole also spotted the look one of the other guests was giving Phoebe and gave Phoebe a pitying smile. "She got dizzy while we were checking in the guests. Too much going on for her. Doesn't know what she's saying."

The guest nodded, smiling sympathetically before turning away.

"Prue," Phoebe started anxiously, but Prue grabbed her by the arm and rapidly marched her into the office, closing the door tightly behind them and Cole before turning to glare at her sister.

"What is wrong with you?! Are you trying to let all of our guests know that we're witches? Even if these are Piper's friends, we don't want to be outed!"

"But, Prue! That girl! The one who looks like Piper! Kernus is going to kill her around 9:00 tonight if we don't do something about it!"

Prue couldn't believe what she just heard Phoebe say and shot her sister another glare that could melt ice. "And what exactly do you expect us to do, Phoebe? Have you forgotten? We're not the Charmed Ones anymore."

"Prue! This is different! That was Cole!" and Cole rolled his eyes. "This is an innocent! An innocent who looks like Piper! We can't have him kill her on the day we told Piper good-bye!" Phoebe protested, trying desperately to plead her case, even as tears came to her eyes.

"Excuse me? Phoebe, are you crazy?" Prue tried to stay as calm as she could, but that didn't last long, and 'big sister mode' kicked in. "This..this..this..thing killed Piper and almost killed me and came very close to killing you last night, and now you want us to go up there where we might possibly get attacked again ourselves? Especially when we no longer have the Power of Three?!"

"I know we don't. But you still have your TK, and I still have that spell I found and used the first time, and we have Cole. We might not be able to vanquish him, but we can sure scare him away enough to prevent that girl from dying!"

Prue rolled her eyes. "Scare Kernus away??" she scoffed. "Now for sure I know you're crazy."

Cole had remained in the background and quiet during most of this but now he spoke up. "Look, why don't Phoebe and I see if we can find this girl? Then we can try and move her somewhere else. I can always knock her out and shimmer her somewhere safe. We won't try to attack Kernus and then he won't try to attack us. Prue, you know I won't let anything happen to Phoebe."

"Please, Prue!"

Prue tapped her foot impatiently and looked at Phoebe with eyes that were a mixture of both anger and concern. There was just something about Phoebe's whole idea that gave her a bad feeling.

"I know you won't let anything happen to her, Cole, but there's something about this whole plan that just doesn't set right with me. I mean...is there a back-up for this scheme, or is what you guys have told me all we've got?"

Cole shrugged. "Without the Power of Three, I'm afraid that's all we've got. But it's a lot more than what that innocent has."

Prue sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as if to ward off an oncoming migraine. "Fine. I see your point. Power of Three or no, we can't just leave that innocent to die. It goes against everything we stand for, everything Piper died for." She let out a breath she wasn't even aware that she'd holding. "So as much as I don't like this idea, go ahead and count me in."

Phoebe started describing the scene she'd seen, all set to go off searching, but Prue shook her head. "No! We can't all leave in the middle of Piper's memorial! The Cranberries will be on soon, and I thought you wanted to read some of the memories."

"I did, but..."

"How do you know that she'll die around 9?"

"Because I could hear a clock tolling in the background."

"Fine, so that means we have until 9, which works because the actual concert starts then. We stay until 8 when the memorial is over and get Joe and the others to take care of the actual concert....they've done it before for Piper."

"But, Prue..."

"Phoebe Penelope, we have guests! And they're Piper's guests! We can't just run off!"

"No, you can't," Cole agreed. But I can."

Prue gave him a dismissing look. "You?"

Cole ndded. "I can shimmer from place to place. I'll go see how many rooftops I can find that look like the one you described, Phoebe, and are close enough to a clock that you could hear it bonging. Then as soon as it's all right for us to go, I can shimmer you two there until you find the one you recognize."

"Yes, but not here," Prue insisted. "The staff will wonder why we don't come out. We'll have to actually leave, and we'll have to move our car."

Phoebe thought for a second, then her eyes lit up. "I think I've got a compromise. How about if we meet Cole back at the Manor around 8:30? That should him enough time to check out rooftops and give us enough time to get home, while still giving all of us enough time to save that girl."

Prue sighed in resignation, still not liking this one bit, but figuring this was the best they had. "Very well."

Phoebe grinned before leaning over and hugging her guy. "See, I told you he was worth saving."

Prue rolled her eyes, but leaned over and hugged her little sister. "Yeah, I guess maybe he is."

Cole handed the rest of the memories to Phoebe before he shimmered off, leaving the two sisters alone. As they walked out of the office, The Goo Goo Dolls were just wrapping up their final song of the set. Phoebe tried to give the stack of memories to Prue, but she declined, handing them right back.

"I've got an idea. If you want to, Phoebs, why don't we split the duties for the rest of the evening? I'll take care of the band introductions so that you can read some of the memories--and we can even let Dad do some too if he wants. How's that sound?"

Phoebe smiled softly. "Works for me. And I know just which one I'm going to read first." She sorted through the memories until she found the one from the Halliwell look-alike and placed it on the top of the pile. Then arms linked, the oldest and youngest who were now the older and the younger made their way up to the stage.

And that's how it continued for the next forty-five minutes. Phoebe and Victor alternated reading the memories between the band sets until before the final performance of the memorial celebration, where the sisters and Victor each took a turn reading the last three memories.

Both sisters did their best not to think about the Halliwell look-alike and what they might face later on. Prue continued to worry whether they were doing the right thing, once more facing Kernus, but like Phoebe, she knew they couldn't let an innocent die, especially not one who reminded them so much of Piper.

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw did a fantastic final set which got everyone cheering and helped keep the Halliwell sisters' minds off of the near-future. They even found themselves dancing to the music, something neither planned on doing.

For their last song of the set and the last one of the memorial, Faith and Tim did a duet to the song Faith had sung at the funeral. Just like at the funeral, it brought tears to a lot of eyes and they received a huge ovation from the crowd.

When they finished, Prue returned to the stage to once more thank everyone and let them know that they were all more than welcomed to stay for Faith's concert later that night, but that she hoped that everyone understood why she and Phoebe were going to return home. When she left the stage, everyone she passed told her they understood, even Faith, and to her surprise, even her dad. Joe came up and reassured her and Phoebe that he and the others could handle the crowd for the concert--they'd done it before and would gladly do it again. Both Prue and Phoebe felt a bit bad for this slight deception, but it would allow them to do what they had to do.

No sooner were they back at the Manor than Cole shimmered back in. "I found a bunch of rooftops that look like possibilities."

Phoebe nodded. "Well, then, let's go. It's quarter to 9."

Prue also nodded. "Just remember...as soon as we find her, Cole shimmers the innocent away and then shimmers us home. No confrontations with Kernus if we can at all get away with it!" and both Cole and Phoebe solemnly agreed.

Cole shimmered the two sisters to a number of rooftops with helipads but none of them looked quite right to Phoebe. Finally, shortly before nine, they came to one that felt right, especially when they could see their innocent dancing on top of the roof to a tune of her own, just as a nearby clock began to toll nine.

"Cole," cried Prue. "Go grab her. Now!"

But before Cole could even shimmer out, suddenly Kernus appeared in a swirl of wind. Their innocent screamed in terror as Kernus smirked and waved his hand at her.

Her eyes wide in terror, Prue barked out, "Piper! Freeze 'er!"

But, of course, Piper wasn't there.

To the sisters' horror, the concussive wave knocked their innocent off of the building! And Kernus actually turned to look at them and smirk at them before whirling out.

"Cole!" screamed Phoebe. "Go get her! Now!"

Even as the half-demon shimmered out, both sisters screamed for Leo and this time he came before they screamed his name a second time.

Cole shimmered back in, holding their innocent, gently letting her fall to the ground. "Too late," he muttered. "She already hit the ground."

"Leo!" Prue barked. "Heal! Now!"

But when Leo knelt down next to their innocent and put his hands over her and nothing happened, the sisters' hearts sank. They both knew what had just happened--they had lost an innocent to Kernus on the same day they buried Piper.

---

¹Animal Pragmatism, written by Chris Levinson and Jack Estrin, transcribed by Shay Fitzpatrick, slightly edited by Primrose_Empath

[Esmeralda]

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Curiosity got the better of Prue and she had to know the name of the innocent they had lost. She reached into the young woman's purse and found her wallet. "Mary Jones," she read aloud, before shifting a despondent gaze to her baby sister. "Phoebs, she was only 28."

Phoebe nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "Just like Piper."

Ever the realist, Cole spoke up, breaking the sudden hush that had fallen over the downtown rooftop. "You guys do realize what this means, don't you?"

Both sisters looked up at him with watery eyes and blank expressions, their minds obviously elsewhere. "Not to sound callous or anything, but somebody's gonna have to call Darryl and let him know about...her." He gestured at the innocent, who was still lying where he had set her a few minutes prior. "So why don't I go set her back down there, one of you two make the call, and we head home?"

Phoebe and Prue silently nodded. Taking the innocent carefully in his arms, Cole shimmered back down to the sidewalk and laid her back down in the same spot he found her after Kernus blew her off the roof.

While he was doing that, Prue pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Darryl's number. After taking a deep breath to get her emotions under control , she put the phone up to her ear and walked a couple of steps away. "Darryl? There's something you need to know..."

Leo held onto a distraught Phoebe, trying to comfort her as best he could. After Cole reappeared on the rooftop, Leo gently handed her off to the half-demon and orbed to the Manor. Her call to Darryl complete, Prue flipped her phone shut and joined Phoebe and Cole for the short trip back home.

Seconds later, Cole shimmered in the Manor with Prue and Phoebe, who were in utter shock as to what had just occured on the rooftop. Losing an innocent was never an easy thing. But to lose one who looked so much like Piper on the day that they had said good-bye to her. Well, that was too much. He quietly stepped away, knowing that nothing he or Leo could say would help the two girls.

Even though they basically had no tears left, the two sisters sobbed on each other's shoulders, all the while wondering what they were going do without The Power of Three and how they could possibly survive continuing to lose people to Kernus. Much to their surprise, the sound of orbing filled the room.

When Prue looked up and saw Andy, she began to run to him, but then she saw that there appeared to be a young woman standing just slightly behind him. "Andy? Who's that?"

Andy didn't answer her question, instead he asked one of his own. "Did you mean that, Prue? Do you and Phoebe want The Power of Three back?"

"Of course we do!" cried Phoebe. "That's what made us The Charmed Ones!"

Prue gave her little sister a look. "If it meant that we could use The Power of Three to get rid of Kernus, of course. But that's impossible."

"No, Prue, it's not. I have someone for you to meet. This is my charge, Paige Matthews. Prue and Phoebe Halliwell, I'd like you to meet your half-sister.”


"We have a half-sister?" Prue demanded, then turned to Phoebe. "Did you know we have a half-sister?"

Phoebe shook her head. "Nope. You?"

"This is the first I've heard. And if she's Andy's charge, she has to be a witch. So she's another one of Mom's daughters?" and Andy nodded.

At that point, the half-sister in question stepped out from behind Andy and waved shyly, a wary smile on her face. Like their lost innocent, she too bore a strong resemblence to Piper, with the cheekbones, hair length and smile. But that's where the similarities ended. This girl was taller than her half-sisters and her skin was much paler than Piper's and her hair much darker. In fact, unlike Mary Jones, this girl looked more like Prue than Piper, except like a younger Prue. There was no doubt that she was even younger than Phoebe.

And that's what hit Phoebe. "How old are you?" she had to know.

"24," Paige replied, her first words to one of her half-sisters.

"24!" wailed Phoebe. "So I was only the baby for two years?"

"No, Phoebs," Prue insisted, going over to put her arm around Phoebe even as she glared at both Andy and Paige. "I don't care how many younger half-siblings we have, you'll always be my baby sister."

"Of course she will," Paige agreed quietly. "I was raised as an only child. I've gone to college. I'm an assistant social worker. And I've never met either of you before now. No way I'd want you to treat me like the baby of the family, the same way I wouldn't know how to treat either of you as my older sister. But the same monster who killed your sister killed my parents. So if you can help me get rid of him, please do."

Prue continued to glare at her suspiciously. "Something doesn't make sense here. How can you be our half-sister if your parents were just killed? Our mother must've died when you were just a baby."

"She means her adoptive parents," Andy told them. "That's why she called for me. Kernus killed them when he was trying to kill Paige. I got there too late to heal them."

"And they will always be my parents the way she," and Paige pointed at Phoebe, "will always be your baby sister. Even if we do have the same blood mother."

"No way," Prue insisted, shaking her head. "Absolutely no freaking way! I would've been, what, eight, when you were born? I'm pretty darned sure that I would've known if Mom was pregnant and she wasn't. I don't even remember her ever getting fat." She then switched her suspicious glare off of Paige and over to Andy. "And how long have you known about all of this?"

"How long have I known about all of what? That Paige is your half-sister?" The two Halliwells nodded their heads. "I just found out right before I orbed her here." Undaunted by the pair of 'Yeah, right' looks issued in his direction, he continued. "Paige" and he pointed his thumb over to the newcomer, "was my first charge, given to me shortly after my death. But I swear--I had no idea that she was related to you guys up until just now. Just as I'm certain that the Elders had no idea she was your half-sister or they would've never given her to me as a charge."

"So how did you find out?" Prue demanded.

"After I tried to heal Paige's parents and couldn't and then comforted her, I asked Paige why she was still alive. "

"That thing never meant to kill my parents." Paige took over the story. "It meant to kill me. It threw this huge wave of air at me when suddenly I saw all this white sparkly lights in front of my eyes and then I didn't see anything and then I saw the white sparkly lights again and that thing was glaring at me and then left. And that's when I turned and saw the hole in the wall and saw my parents dying and that's when I screamed for Andy."

"She orbed?" Phoebe asked in shock.

Andy nodded. "That's when I went to check with the Elders and that's when they figured it out."

So did Prue as she put it all together. "Sam. You're Mom and Sam's daughter."

Cole muttered to Leo, "Sam?"

"Their mother's whitelighter. They had a daughter. Piper and I could've had children. I didn't think it was possible."

Cole smirked. "Hmm. Apples don't fall far from the forbidden tree, I see."

Prue turned to glare at him. "Shush!" Then she turned back towards Andy. "I still think this is all impossible!"

"Haven't you learned yet, my darling? Anything's possible. You just have to know how."


There was Grams glowing behind them. "Hello, my darlings."

Paige simply stared in awe as Phoebe cried out, "Grams!" then she grew serious. "If that's true, then we want Piper back. No. Wait. Actually, we demand Piper back."

Grams' smile quickly faded. "Sorry, my darling, but that's something that cannot be done."

"What?!" exclaimed both sisters, their eyes opening wide.

"Wait, wait, wait. Timeout here." A puzzled expression crossed Phoebe's face as she made a 'T' with her hands. "You just told us that anything is possible. If that's the case, then we want our sister back; we want her back now. Not in five minutes, not tomorrow, not next week. NOW!"

"I know you want her back," Grams soothed sympathetically. "And I know you miss her terribly--the pain of losing her is plainly written all over your faces. But you need to understand. It's not Piper's destiny to come back, nor is it your destiny to have her back."

Prue rolled her eyes as she let out a sarcastic laugh. "Destiny, schmestiny! That has got to be absolutely the lamest excuse I have ever heard. In case you haven't noticed, our destiny is All. Screwed. Up. Period. Exclamation Point! So if you want to fix it, then you bring Piper back right now!" Then she turned to look at the newcomer. "No offense meant."

Paige nodded. "None taken. If getting this Piper back means you guys can get rid of Kernus, then that's just fine with me. Really, it is."

"But you don't need Piper to get rid of Kernus," Grams pointed out. "You just need you three."

"No," Prue insisted. "We need The Power of Three and for that we need three sisters descended from Melinda Warren, and she's not our sister."

"But she is your half-sister through me, through your mother. That makes her your sister-witch and will allow you to reconstitute the Power of Three. Charmed. Again."

"But we don't want to be Charmed Again!" Prue insisted.

"We don't?" Phoebe asked.

"No, we don't. It only means more deaths. Although I don't like the idea of losing more innocents, I couldn't take another death of someone I love."

"I know you're hurting, my darling, but unless you do something, Kernus will just keep on hurting you worse. Ever since Piper, he's been targeting witches who look like her, look like you, look like Phoebe. Paige would've been the fourth one."

"So there's others out there?"

"Yes, and there will be more if you three don't get rid of him. He's doing it to torture you two more after he broke The Power of Three."

“Of course he is," Phoebe muttered. "Apparently breaking the Power of Three wasn’t good enough for him then…that figures. That just figures.”

“Speaking of The Power of Three, I’m still confused about something here, Grams," Prue interjected. "Why didn't anyone tell us that we have a half-sister and why don't I remember Mom growing fat?"

Grams smiled as she waved her hand. "A little incantation and a pregnancy can stay hidden, my darling. Your mother and Sam gave her to a pair of witches who could raise her properly and wouldn't be surprised when her powers were released along with yours. And we did it to protect Paige, so the demons wouldn't know that there was another Halliwell who wasn't a part of The Power of Three."

Paige shook her head. "I'm a Matthews, not a Halliwell."

"No, you're my granddaughter, so that makes you a Halliwell no matter what your last name is," although the looks on Prue's and Phoebe's faces said that they weren't so sure about that.

Seeing that, Paige shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you any more than I know them and I already have two wonderful grandmothers, so I'm still a Matthews."

Grams looked insulted. "My dear, if your parents and I did not want to protect you, you would not have had that wonderful family you're so fond of!"

Paige nodded. "That might be. But it's not important." Even as Grams harrumphed again, Paige continued, "But Andy said the Elders thought that somehow the three of us could use something called The Power of Three to get rid of Kernus. That's what's truly important or I wouldn't even be here. You guys just mentioned that Power of Three thing.too. So can you tell me what they meant?"

"Gladly, darling." Paige rolled her eyes, but Grams took no notice and continued. "In a nutshell, here it is: The Power of Three is the most powerful connection in the universe. It came to be due to Melinda Warren's spell."

"Melinda who?" Paige asked.

"Melinda Warren," Grams repeated. "One of your ancestors, the first one of our family born in America. The Power of Three allows three sisters who are descended from her to become more powerful as a unit than they would be by individually."

"Really? That's what it is?" and she looked at her half-sisters.

Prue nodded. "That's it. Right, Phoebs?"

"That about covers it," Phoebe agreed. "The Power of Three spells are the most powerful spells the world has ever known. It's what made us The Charmed Ones."

"And you think this could work with me?" Paige asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, it won't hurt to try." Grams waved her hand and produced a piece of paper. "Here's a spell written just for that purpose. After all, that's one of the reasons I came down, my darlings, to give this to you."

Phoebe took the paper and quickly scanned it. "If this is what we've gotta do to regain it, then I'm all for it. How 'bout you two?"

"May I see that, please, Phoebs?" Phoebe handed the paper to her big sister, who also gave it a quick read. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.

Determination flashed in Phoebe's eyes. "I've never been more sure that this is what we need to do. For Piper." She glanced over at Paige, who was now reading the spell. "So, whatcha think?"

Paige handed the spell back to Phoebe and gave her a thumbs-up. "I'll do it. Anything to take down that...thing that killed my parents."

"Prue?" Phoebe looked over at her big sister.

"Fine," Prue sighed and blew her hair out of her eyes. "I'll do it. But just to get rid of Kernus...no new Charmed Ones!"

Phoebe and Paige exchanged a glance that said 'We'll talk her into it later' then both exchanged identical smiles.

"Well, what are you three waiting for?" Grams' spirit tapped her foot impatiently. "The next millenium?"

After shooting Grams a look, the three gathered together, held hands and began to chant:

"Hear now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night.
The oldest of Gods are invoked here,
The great magic is sought.

In this night and in this hour,
We call upon the ancient power.
Listen to us sisters three.
Bring back now The Power of Three. "

"Good-bye, my darlings!" smiled Grams "I love you!"

"Thank you, Grams!" Phoebe smiled back before adding, "Tell Piper how much we love her and how much we miss her. Telling her we're doing this just for her!" and Grams smiled as the bright lights that had brought her spirit to them now took her away.

Prue looked at the spell again and then the other two. "Well, let's see if this works. Wanna give it a shot?"

"Might as well," shrugged Paige. "Let's go for it."

"Unbreakable object ready, Phoebs?"

Phoebe held up an old plastic cup that had been sitting on a nearby table. "Ready."

"When Phoebe tosses it, you fling out your hands."

"Like this?" Paige flung out her hands.

Prue nodded. "Exactly like that. Okay. Toss it." Phoebe tossed the cup towards Paige, who instincitively flung out up her hands in surprise.

The cup stopped in mid-flight and Paige moved her hand over it and then under it as if she were looking for hidden strings. "Whoa," she grinned. "Cool. It's just...hanging there. Is that supposed to happen?"

Seeing Paige's reaction, a big grin came to Phoebe's face. "That's exactly what's supposed to happen. Melinda Warren said that one of The Charmed Ones would be able to freeze time. That was Piper's power. Now it's yours." She shifted her eyes over to Prue. "Okay, should we see if she's got the explosion thingy going?"

"Explosion?" Paige's eyes widened. "That sounds scary."

Prue shrugged. "Scary but effective."

An unsure look crossed the newest Charmed One's face "Well, okay, I guess. How does it work?"

"Try getting mad at the cup while focusing your energy into making that frozen cup burst into tiny bits, okay?" Prue coached. "Oh, and flick your hands rather than throw them out."

"Bursting into tiny bits...right." Paige narrowed her eyes and flicked her hands. But the cup didn't explode. Instead it sped up and flew right at Phoebe, who ducked just in time.

"Hello!" she exclaimed. "What the hell was that? 'Cause that cup didn't explode. It darn near took my head off!"

Prue nodded. "So instead of freezing and exploding, she can freeze and speed up? A different use of time-manipulation which could prove useful."

"So I didn't screw up?" asked Paige uncertainly.

"No," Prue shook her head. "Far from it. You did everything right--just caught us by surprise. It worked differently for you than it did for Piper, that's all."

Phoebe grinned. "It's more pacifist than Piper's explosive powers. Must be the whitelighter in her." The she turned to Prue. "Whatcha think?"

"With a bit more practice, I'd say she's just about ready," Prue proclaimed. "But why don't we check our options in that big book upstairs? The more prepared we are for this guy, the better."

"Amen!" ageed Phoebe fervently.

"Oh, you guys have your own Book of Shadows?" asked Paige.

"You don't?" asked Phoebe surprised.

"No. My parents are part of a coven and there's a coven Book of Shadows, but one just for your own family...." She shook her head in amazement.

Phoebe grinned. "I guess our family has always been its own coven. Our Book's like a member of the family--it always tells us what we need to know."

The oldest, the baby and the youngest headed up the stairs. Cole made to follow, but was stopped by Leo. "This is something the girls will have to figure out by themselves," and Andy nodded.


Meanwhile in the upstairs hallway, Prue warned, "Just to make this clear, you two--we're only going up to the attic to show Paige the Book and to find a way to vanquish Kernus, alright? Nothing else. I mean it."

"Got it," Paige agreed.

"Yeah, we got it." Phoebe knew better than to disagree. She turned to smile at Paige when suddenly she ran right into her big sister. "Hey!" she cried. "Think you could warn me next time you decide to come to a stop right in the middle of the doorway?"

Prue didn't answer; she didn't even hear a word Phoebe said. She stood perfectly still, her eyes opened wide in shock. "That can't be. I'm seeing things here."

"Not another one," Paige muttered, looking around Prue. "What is this place? Some sorta hangout for ghosts?"

Because there was someone standing at the pedestal that held the Book of Shadows.

Someone who was writing in the Book with her finger.

Because that someone was glowing.

And that someone was Piper Melinda Halliwell-Wyatt!

Piper's ghost looked up from The Book and grinned at her sisters. "Check this out--look, I don't even need a pen. Now how cool is that?"

Her two sisters stared in shock. "What are you doing here?" Phoebe babbled. "Grams just said..."

Piper rolled her eyes "Since when have I ever followed their crappy rules, hmmm? You better believe that I'm sure not gonna start following them now! Not only that, but did you seriously think that I was gonna just sit back and let you guys have all the fun of taking down that SOB Kernus? No freakin' way! Not when I found a fantastic way of getting rid of him.

"I've been thinking about this ever since Mom spilled the beans to me about Paige. Which was quite a surprise, believe me. It's a good thing I'm already dead.

"But I've been waiting for you guys to come together and restore The Power of Three. I mean, c'mon, given our lives, it was bound to happen eventually. So c'mon over here and check out my idea."

All three of the living ran over to the ghost and read what she had written. Prue turned to look at her sister in shock. "Piper! This is different, especially coming from you. You've never been that bloodthirsty!"

Piper shrugged. "Well, I've never been this dead before either. Besides, you don't want Kernus throwing those big funnels of air at you when you're trying to vanquish him, do you? This will be sure that none of you end up as dead as me. Speaking of which...it looks like I'm not gonna be able to stick around down here much longer. Have fun, you guys, and I love and I miss you! I love and miss Leo, too. But just like Mom and Grams, I get to be near you guys and watch you always. It's really kinda cool."

"No!" cried Phoebe. "You can't go yet!"

"She's right," Prue agreed. "They have to at least let us go get Leo, let him have a chance to.."

But a swirl of blue lights began spinning around Piper's ghost and as the lights disappeared so did Piper's spirt. leaving behind three very stunned Charmed Ones.

[Esmeralda]

Chapter Twelve

Paige stood transfixed, staring at the spot where Piper's spirit had been just seconds earlier. "Wow. So that was Piper." The Halliwell on either side of her wordlessly nodded as wistful smiles played across their faces. The same one played over Paige's. "Now I see why you guys miss her so much. She's, she's great. I wish I could've had the chance to get to know her."

"And I bet she wishes that she could've gotten the chance to get to know you too," Phoebe smiled. "Something tells me that she really would have liked you. Family meant everything to her."

"That's true. She is...was the heart of this family," Prue added. "And what she would've wanted us to do right now is take down this demonic SOB, so let's get down to business. Phoebs? Think you can handle the potion? You two were always the best at that sort of thing, and I don't want to end up vanquishing us by accident. And Paige? Why don't you help me 'Kernus proof' the attic."

"Kernus proof? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, let's get everything to the edges of the attic. That'll give us a big space to work with when we summon his sorry ass here."

"Gotcha." Paige gave a thumbs-up and started to drag a nearby chair to the edge of the attic. She was about halfway there when she noticed that her fellow 'Kernus proofer' was still rooted in place -- obviously lost in her memories. "Well?" she teased, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you gonna help, or are you just gonna stand there? Furniture don't move itself, ya know."

Prue smiled wistfully, "Yeah, you're right," and walked over to the couch and began to slowly move it. Then Paige's words hit her. Giving her a devilish look, she asked, "Who said furniture doesn't move itself?"

"Huh?"

Again Prue grinned and waved her hand and TKed the couch over to the wall.

"Hey!" cried Paige. "Personal gain!"

"Yeah, but it's fun, and it's not hurting anyone."

Paige grinned back. "No, it's not. Let's see if this works," and flicking her hands, she sped up time for the chair so it moved itself over to the wall. "Cool!"

Prue smiled as she TKed a table. "We can call it giving you a chance to practice your new power."

Paige also smiled as she sped up time for a trunk. "Sounds good to me!" as she then threw out her arms, freezing time for the trunk.

By the time Phoebe came up with the potion, she looked around, amazed to see that all of the furniture was against the walls. "How'd you do all of that so quickly?" she asked. "I thought I'd have to help," and when both her sister and her half-sister gave each other sheepish looks, she just laughed, which got the other two laughing. Somehow that helped relieved all of the tension all three had suffered, much like Andy pouring water all over Cole had done so that morning.

When they were finally all laughed out, Prue turned solemn before asking the other two, "Are you ready?" and the other two became solemn, too.

Phoebe nodded. "Ready and raring to go! Let's get that bastard!"

"Not really," Paige admitted. "Can't we have some sort of dress rehearsal first?"

The other two agreed and tried using the spell and the potion on an old doll Phoebe didn't really want any more. When they saw how well Piper's idea worked, they knew they were finally ready to do this. Joining hands, they began to chant:

"Magic forces black and white,
Reaching out through space and light,
No matter where he may now be,
Bring the demon Kernus here to we.”

"Okay," Prue warned. "Here he comes."

As soon as the dust settled and Kernus once more stood in their midst, Prue cried out, "Now quickly--freeze him!"

Paige threw out her hands and Kernus froze. "Done. Got the potion ready?"

Phoebe nodded. "Yup. Hey, Kernus! Catch!" and she threw the potion at his frozen figure.

Paige grinned wickedly as she glared at the man who had killed her parents.. "That should loosen all of his joints so they'll easily break off. Now let's just speed things up a little," and she flicked her hands. "...and...done," as Kernus' body moved forward while his arms stayed put, falling to the floor.

"Ouch!" cried Phoebe sarcastically as Kernus screamed. "That's gotta hurt."

"That was for my parents!" Paige shouted in fury. "One arm for each of them!"

Prue smiled. "And now he can't throw more air at us!"

Phoebe gave out a loud yell as she ran towards Kernus, levitated into the air and kicked one of Kernus' legs, yelling, "That was for all of the innocents you killed!"

Kernus' leg fell off and now he was yelling and screaming as he hopped on his one remaining leg.

But not for long. "This is for Piper!" and Prue waved her hand and TKed his remaining leg all the way across the room.

Now Kernus was nothing but a body, rolling around on the floor, yelling and screaming and cursing.

"And this is for trying to kill The Power of Three!" The Charmed Ones held hands and began to chant. "The Power of Three will set us free! The Power of Three will set us free! The Power of Three will set us free!" and Kernus exploded.

"Think we got him?" Phoebe coughed as she waved her hands to try to clear the air of the lingering smoke from Kernus's demise.

Prue flicked her gaze around, surveying the damage. "Well, if we didn't, he's really gonna miss his ear 'cause it looks like part of it is dripping off the coatrack over there." She pointed out, snickering.

"Eww," Paige wrinkled her nose. "So that's it? He's gone...for good?"

Phoebe picked up an object lying near her feet. "Here are his glasses, so I'd say that that's a big 'yes'." She grinned and put them on. "Whatcha think? Are these a fashion statement or what?"

"Ummm...honestly?" Paige asked. "I'd go with 'or what'."

While the two younger Chamed Ones were playfully bantering with each other, Prue stared off into space--a strange smile on her face. Thank you, Piper. We couldn't have done it without you, sweetie. Just thinking of what he did to you gave us the hatred Phoebe and I needed to accomplish that.

When she glanced back at the other two, she saw Phoebe searching the attic. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I thought we should hold a candle ceremony for Mary Jones and the other witches Kernus killed."

"That's a nice idea," Prue smiled. "We've never done one for Piper."

"Is it okay if I'm part of it?" Paige asked. "I'd like to do one for my parents," and both of her half-sisters smiled.

Soon all three were gathered around the table in the middle of the attic. Phoebe handed each of them a candle while keeping one for herself. Then she lit a match and handed it to Prue.

Prue lit her candle. "This is for Piper. May she always know how much we love her and may her spirit soar," then she handed the match to Paige.

Paige lit her candle. "This is for my parents, fellow witches. May they always know how much I love them and how grateful I am to them for all that they did for me," then she handed the match to Phoebe.

Phoebe lit her candle. "This is for all of Kernus' other victims, especially Mary Jones who died just because she happened to look like Piper. May she find peace," and she blew out the match.

But the match didn't go out. The flame was frozen. And when Prue looked at the candles, she saw that they were all frozen. She turned angrily towards Paige. "Did you do that?"

Paige threw up her hands. "Not me. I wouldn't know how."

"No, she did not. I did."


Spinning around, the women saw a tall, thin man with long white hair, dressed in silvery robes.

Prue jumped to her feet and flung out her arm.

The man stayed put.

"Paige! Freeze 'im!"

Paige flung out her hands.

The man stepped forward and shook his head. "I am beyond your powers. They will not affect me. I am the Angel of Destiny and I have come to offer you a chance to change yours. You three have accomplished your destiny, vanquishing the Source of All Evil much sooner than we ever thought you would."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute here." interrupted Prue, waving her hands in the air. "You're the what of what?"

"I am The Angel of Destiny."

Paige gave him a skeptical look. "No way," she insisted, shaking her head. "You're pulling our leg, aren't you? You're just a figment of our imagination."

The Angel was momentarily taken aback and slightly insulted by this last comment. "I most certainly am not 'figment of your imagination'." He cleared his throat and smoothed out his robes. "Now, as I was saying. You three have accomplished your destiny by vanquishing the Source of All..."

Now it was Phoebe's turn to jump in. "You mean to say that when we vanquished Kernus..."

"We were really facing The Source of All Evil?" squeaked Paige, her eyes wide with shock.

"Yes," sighed The Angel, obviously not happy with this second interruption. "Kernus and The Source are...well, were one and the same"

"Figures," muttered Prue. "Of course he'd want to try to kill us on his own rather than sending out some assassin demon."

Phoebe nodded. "And that's why it was so hard for us to vanquish him."

"So what's this 'change our destiny' bit?" Paige wanted to know.

Again The Angel sighed, obviously used to being in charge of the situation. "Due to his demise, the demons under his control will no longer be bothering humankind. They will be trapped in the Underworld."

"Cole," Phoebe interrupted. "What about Cole? Will Cole be trapped down there, too?" wondering if she should run downstairs and see if her guy was still there.

The Angel shook his head. "Because Cole Turner has shown that he can control his demon half, he will be allowed to remain on Earth. Should he allow Belthazar to appear, he would also be imprisoned down there." Phoebe nodded. "Now may I continue?" he asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Go ahead."

The Angel sighed, then continued. "As I was saying. Due to the demise of The Source of All Evil and his demons, there is no need for The Charmed Ones, nor is there a need for you to be witches. So if you wish, I can remove your powers and you three will just become mortal women with no powers.

"Although if you wish to remain witches, then you will retain your powers. And you will no longer have to follow the rules of personal gain as closely as you did before. If you use your powers to punish or hurt another being, there will be dire consequences for you and everyone in the magical world. But otherwise you may more closely follow the Wiccan rede: ''An it harm none, do what ye will.' "

"You mean like Samantha on 'Bewitched'?" Phoebe exclaimed, unable to stop herself from mentioning her favorite TV show.

The Angel glared at her for this newest interruption. "Exactly so. And each of you have one hour to decide. Since you no longer need the Power of Three, each of you will make your own decision.

"But keep one thing in mind. The three men who are in the living room of your home are all part of the magical world. If you decide to give up your destiny as a witch, you will also give up your destiny with them.

And keep in mind that this is just a one-time offer. Your spell to remove your powers will not work after today. You have one hour to decide," and he was gone as the match went out and the candles began to flicker.


"Who needs an hour?" Prue asked. "Of course we give up our powers. It's what Piper would've wanted us to do."

"But, Prue!" Phoebe protested. "Are you sure? They're our inheritance from our ancestors! They're who we are!"

"But you heard what he said. The innocents wouldn't need protecting anymore. We can go back to being who we were before we were Charmed!"

"But how do you know that the innocents would be safe? He said the demons would be trapped. Think of all the other magical baddies we've faced over the years!"

Prue sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I couldn't give up my powers if it means the innocents aren't safe. That goes against everything we stand for and what Piper died for. I'll ask the Angel first and if he says those other baddies can still get them, then I'll keep my powers."

"But even if he says that the innocents are safe, what about Andy, Prue? Could you give him up again?"

"Well, it will hurt a whole lot to give him up again, I won't deny that. But I could lose him at any moment when the Elders take him away. I've gone with him just in my heart for the last two years; I can do that again."

"I think it sounds kinda fun," Paige spoke up for the first time since the Angel left. "I've never had powers like this before and I can think of all sorts of fun things to do with them. And not having to worry about personal gain, just being able to do what I want, oh!"

Prue turned to glare at her. "Powers aren't a toy. They can be dangerous if you use them wrong. We found that out last year when we were sent to the future and saw what could happen if we misused them."

Paige looked insulted. "I wouldn't misuse them. My parents trained me to be an ethical witch."

This surprised Prue. "So you were a witch even before you gained your powers? You could do spells and make potions?"

"Of course. Couldn't you?"

"No...wait, I don't think we could. Maybe we could and just didn't know we could."

Paige nodded. "Yeah, like I didn't know I could orb."

Prue also nodded. "Makes sense." Then she noticed Phoebe. "Phoebe, what's wrong? You're as pale as a ghost."

"Prue, I can't keep my powers! I can't!"

"Why not? If you want to, you can. I wouldn't hold it against you. And you're the one who's always enjoyed being a witch the most. And getting to use your powers however you want like your heroine, Samantha Stephens?"

"But that's the point. Remember what the Angel said? The only thing we couldn't do is use our powers to punish or hurt others. But that's what I did! What if I do it again?"

"Do what again?" asked a confused Paige.

"Last year, the Elders sent us to the future to show us what could happen if we used our powers the wrong way," Phoebe explained. "I was burnt at the stake in 2009. No way I want to go through that again!"

"But you wouldn't, Phoebs! You're good now!"

"Am I? You were the one who said so. I'm the one who lied to you so much about Cole that you couldn't trust me. I'm the reason Piper died."

"No, Phoebs! I just said that because I was hurting and needed someone to lash out at and you happened to be handy."

"But you were right, Prue. I'm the one who was born here at at the Manor which is on top of the Nexus. I'm the one who can most easily turn evil. What if I get angry at someone and use my powers against him like I did in that future? What if that future becomes my future? I can't take that chance."

Prue asked her little sister the same question Phoebe had asked her. "But, Phoebe. What about Cole?"

Tears filled Phoebe's eyes. "Giving up Cole is going to kill me, Prue, it really will. And it could literally kill him! Force him to remain chained in the Underworld! I hate leaving Cole in the lurch like that, but but, I can't take that chance of ending up back on that stake again! Especially if it means the start of the witch trials and all those other witches who would die due to me. I have to think about the greater good; that's what having our powers is all about, isn't it?"

"Of course it is," Prue agreed. "But much as I hate to admit it, Cole is an innocent now. I hate the idea that it would be him who would be be punished if you choose to give up yout magic. We can't use our magic for punishment--that's what the Angel said would bring dire consequences to all witches, even more than you landing on the stake."

"So what should I do?" Phoebe begged, almost in a panic.

It was Paige who came up with the right idea. "Well, from what I understand you saying, Cole is good now because he has his evil side under control."

Phoebe nodded. "Yes, but he's good on account of love of me! Without me, he'd probably turn evil again, but with him, I could do evil again! Oh, what should I do?"

Paige shrugged. "It sounds like it's up to him. If he can stay good for the love of you, even if he doesn't have you, then he'd be able to stay up here. If not, then he's no longer an innocent and wouldn't actually deserve to stay up here anyway. You can't live his life for him, especially if having him means that you might do evil."

Phoebe nodded, tears in her eyes. "And I can't go with the choice that might bring dire consequences to all other witches. I could never do that to them."

Prue reached out to hug her little sister. "Of course you couldn't do that."

"Of course she couldn't do what?" Cole asked as he, Andy and Leo walked into the attic. "What's wrong?"

The women quickly explained what had happened.

Leo smiled proudly at Prue and Phoebe. "Of course you'd want to give up your powers and live a normal life. You've done what you were supposed to do with them. If the Angel agrees that innocents are now safe from the magical world, you can enjoy the rest of your lives. It's what Piper would've wanted you to do."

Andy smiled at Paige. "And it makes sense that you would want to keep yours, Paige. It's what your parents would've wanted you to do." Then he turned to smile at Prue. "And I understand your decision, too, Prue. I just wish I could've been alive to see you become normal again."

"Have you all gone mad?" Cole screamed. "Her," and he pointed at Paige, "maybe not, but you two?! Phoebe! What about us? I love you! I thought you loved me!"

Phoebe began to cry. "Please, Cole, don't make this any harder than it already is! Of course I love you! I always have; I always will. Please, Cole, if you truly love me, stay good! Then you can stay up here and not be chained below. But look how much I've changed since I've known you and it hasn't all been for the good. I can't take that chance of ending up of being the one who brings on dire consequences for all other witches! I simply can't! "

Cole began to respond, but he stopped mid-word. Leo and Andy also froze. When the sisters spun, they saw that The Angel of Destiny was back.

"Your hour is up. Have you each made up your mind?"

Prue nodded. "But first we have some questions, if that's allowed." The Angel nodded his assent, so Prue started. "You said that thanks to our vanquishing The Source of All Evil, all of his demons would be powerless. But what about all of the other magical evil that we've seen over the last three years?"

"Their powers have weakened since The Source of Evil became so strong. Now they will have no powers to be able to harm or influence humankind. The only ones who will now be able to harm humankind is other humankind, with the exception, of course, of witches who use their powers the wrong way, and I have warned you what will happen if that should happen."

That made Phoebe sniffle. Even as she sadly looked at Cole, she asked, "And what about any children we might someday have? Our powers are our inheritance from our ancestors. If we give them up, are we also giving up their powers?"

The Angel shook his head. "By the time the next generation is of age, there is a good possibility that there will be a new Source of All Evil for them to battle. If you have any sons, they, of course, will not have any powers, since your powers are for women only, and since you would become non-magicals, you would marry non-magicals. But if you have daughters, they will receive a Warren power when they are of age and find The Book of Shadows, as you did. And should any of you have three daughters, they will become the new Charmed Ones."

Prue looked questioningly at Phoebe and she nodded before sadly asking, "If we decide to give up our powers, will we still remember being witches?" and when The Angel nodded his assent, she then gave her big sister the "Go ahead and say it," sign, since she couldn't.

Prue smiled as she turned towards The Angel. "Then Phoebe and I wish to give up our powers. We wish to become mortals again and live the lives we were leading before we became Charmed, except they'll be better because we'll be closer and doing the jobs we were meant to do."

"And I wish to keep my powers," Paige added, "and use them the way my parents would've wanted me to use them."

For the first time, the Angel smiled. "You are all wise and have all made the proper decisions, decisions that will allow you to follow the destinies that were always meant to be yours. Thanks to that, these three men will be given the same choice."

"What!" cried Prue. "But Andy and Leo are dead!"

"And Cole is half-demon!" cried Phoebe

The Angel nodded. "If Andy Trudeau or Leo Wyatt wishes to give up immortality, he will become a mortal. If Cole Turner decides to give up his powers as a demon, he will become fully human, half-demon no more."

Even as Prue and Phoebe gasped at the implications while realizing what would have happened if they had decided to keep their powers, the men began to move again. After The Angel made his offer, neither Andy or Cole needed a second to think about it. They both agreed to give up their powers and soon Andy was hugging Prue and Cole was hugging Phoebe.

Paige smiled at both couples, especially Andy. "Looks like I'm gonna get myself a new whitelighter," and they all laughed.

"Leo Wyatt?" The Angel asked.

Leo was much more hesitant in making his decision. He wanted to be mortal and have the chance to die and be with Piper again, he did, more than he could possibly imagine, but how could he clip his wings and stop doing what he knew she would want him to do?

"Leo Wyatt?" The Angel asked again.

Leo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "This isn't truly my time period, so I don't think I'd fit in here well as a mortal. And I know my charges need me to continue to help them use their powers the right way, especially now with this change. So I wish to keep my powers."

"Leo, are you sure?" Prue asked.

Leo nodded. "Yes, it's what Piper would've wanted me to do."

Again the Angel smiled. "You three have also shown yourselves to be wise and have made the choices that will also allow you to continue the destinies that you were always meant to have.

"And now there are three other witches who helped you fulfill your destiny, three whose destinies were interrupted and who were given the same choice. They have all agreed to remain witches as they were always meant to be. And due to the choices you have all made, they will continue to be part of all of your lives."

Even as the six people in the room looked at each other in confusion, The Angel of Destiny vanished.

In his place stood three witches who were still witches:

John Matthews

His wife, Joan Matthews

And Piper Melinda Halliwell-Wyatt

And they were alive!

The End!