"Some Things You Just Can't Change"
By: Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or places
Piper Halliwell, now the oldest of the legendary Charmed Ones, struggled to her feet. As she looked around, she saw that both of her younger sisters were unconscious somewhere in the room. Both of her sons had left for school an hour earlier. Phoebe lay lifeless by the knocked-down podium with their family heirloom still in her arms, while her youngest sister, Paige, lay almost at her feet out cold. Piper just couldn't understand how they could've been so unprepared.
They had the right spell, straight from their Book of Shadows, and a potion to vanquish it as well. She knew that they were stronger than almost anything any demon or warlock could throw at them, but still. A sudden pain in the back of her neck brought her out of her thoughts, as well as a low moan from Paige. Piper dropped to the attic floor and calmly brushed her sister's hair out of her face.
"Paige, c'mon, wake up." Paige's eyes fluttered open as she pulled herself into a sitting position.
"Did we beat him?" Paige asked checking herself for injuries as well as looking for Phoebe.
"It looks like we did. Come on, let's go wake Phoebe; we have a busy day." Piper and Paige walked over as the young half-Whitelighter witch, Paige Matthews, healed her sister.
"Piper is that thing...demon...warlock or whatever it was...is it gone?" Piper nodded as they both helped Phoebe stand to walk to put the Book of Shadows back on the podium after setting it upright and walked downstairs.
All three of them had some major planning to do as tomorrow would be Piper's younger son's 14th birthday. Phoebe was planning to stay home from work in the morning and return an hour or so before the party began. Paige said that she would teach her main class and be home for the rest of the day. The thing that worried Piper more than anything was the fact that when the 22-year-old version of her younger son came from the future, he had said that she died when he turned fourteen. The pain in her neck was almost constant, but bearable she only hoped that this future didn't turn out as bad as that one.
As the day progressed, she found that not only the pain in her neck was bothering her, but it seemed to be affecting her entire body. Piper reached back under her long brown hair and now felt that the spot where she'd been hurt was like a large bump.
"Leo!!" Piper called and he appeared in blue lights. "Could you take a look at this, please and see if you can heal it or-What's wrong?" she asked upon seeing his eyes fill up with tears.
"I can't do anything..." he told her.
"Oh, I'm sure I can just get Paige to heal it...it's really- Leo cut her off in mid-sentence as he pulled her close.
"No, nothing can heal it. I-it only gets worse." Leo heard his "Boss" and let go of Piper leaving her in tears.
"Woah, whoa, wait... You're saying that there's nothing anyone can do and now you leave!?" her husband couldn't find any more words and he disappeared. Piper stood, but it was like her own weight was too much for her and she dropped to the floor.
"Paige!!" Piper said with all the strength she could muster and she appeared in the same spot that her husband had just left.
"What's going on, Piper? Piper, can you hear me?" she did hear everything that her sister was saying, but the same words kept running over and over in her mind. 'She dies when I turn fourteen.' The last sentence had barely registered in Piper's brain, but she heard something.
"Paige...why are you here?" Piper asked completely forgetting what she had said minutes before.
"You just called for me. Are you alright? Here let me help you." Paige helped her walk over to the kitchen table and Piper practically fell into a chair as her body was beginning to shake. Now she remembered why she had called her, but that only made her want to cry and she didn't want to explain it to just her.
"Could you please go and get Wyatt, Chris and Phoebe?" she asked her voice beginning to shake.
"Yeah, but will you be alright until I get back?" Paige asked seeing her eldest sister trying with all she had not to cry.
"Yes." Paige left in blue lights. This gave Piper a little time to wipe her eyes while applying a fresh coat of makeup and try to get her emotions back in check so Phoebe wouldn't see what she was feeling. Five to ten minutes later, Paige appeared with Phoebe and Wyatt and Chris were arguing.
"I know it's something about my birthday, isn't it Mom? Mom..." Wyatt hit him on the back of the head.
"What was that for?!" the soon-to-be fourteen year old asked.
"Chris, can't you tell she's upset?" his sixteen year old brother, Wyatt, asked. Now that Chris looked at his mother closely, he knew something was wrong. Phoebe followed Piper, Paige, Wyatt and Chris into the dining room and took a chair on the opposite side of Piper. Paige took the other side while Wyatt and Chris stood right behind their mother.
"Chris, we told you about the future version of yourself, didn't we?" He nodded not quite sure where this was going. "Those words just won't leave my head...and I think they might be true."
"What words Mom?" Wyatt asked. Piper took a good look at him. He was sure different from the other version she'd seen all those years ago, but the most important thing was that he was still good. That was what mattered wasn't it? She sighed grabbing one of each of her sisters' hands, as if for support.
"'She dies when I turn fourteen', Piper, why do you think that you're going to end up like that?" Phoebe asked her voice shaking slightly. Piper held her hair up as Paige came around to look at the injury. It wasn't a bump anymore, but it looked very painful it was still raw.
"We can heal it; can't we Wyatt?" Chris asked. Wyatt looked at it again. He remembered reading about whatever this creature was, he just couldn't remember the name of it. The creature had poisonous claws and whoever was caught in its grasp, wouldn't live more than twelve hours. "Can't we Wyatt, there must be something we can do..." Chris said. Phoebe walked over to Piper and wrapped her arms around her. She could feel it without even looking at it. Wyatt shook his head and Chris thought he saw tears in his brother's eyes. Wyatt never cried—not when he was injured from a demon or afraid of one, so Chris knew this was bad. He walked to his mother's other side, since this seemed to concern him too.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Chris asked laying his head on his mother's shoulder like a five-year-old not ready to let anyone leave for work.
"No, Leo said...said it only gets worse...but Chris, I promise I'll see you tomorrow. I just know I will. Tonight I'll be busy...but I'll make sure some of my time is with all of you."
Later that day, while Paige kept the two boys occupied, Piper wrapped presents for Chris. She knew she'd see everyone tomorrow, but she took her time making roasted chicken, baked potatoes and corn that night making sure that this was one meal they all remembered. She used to think her family was cursed, but now she realized it was more of a blessing to be magical because of all the good she did everyday. That night, Paige went out and brought home a few movies that Piper couldn't remember the name of, but it didn't matter. After two movies, both Chris and Wyatt were sound asleep on the floor.
"I didn't want this. This wasn't supposed to happen; Leo and I were supposed to grow old together, well mainly me, seeing as he's immortal, but still."
"Piper, do we have to talk about that?" Paige asked.
"Yeah, can't we just enjoy what we have?" Phoebe asked as Piper pulled both her and Paige into her arms.
"Yeah and besides, for us, death definitely isn't the end." Piper said. Paige stood up and Piper's other arm wrapped around her other sister, walked over to Wyatt and Chris, put her hands on their shoulders and disappeared with them upstairs to their beds.
"We should probably get to bed too, what do you think?" Piper asked, but Phoebe wouldn't let go.
"I don't want you to go. I've already lost Prue and if that really happens...what am I supposed to do?" Phoebe told her sounding almost like a child as her tears fell.
"I don't want to leave either, you know. I know how that feels, but you still have Paige, Wyatt and Chris to help you through it. I swear I'll never leave you for good. I'll always try my best to protect everyone." As she said that, tears fell from her own eyes as she continued to speak. "Don't worry, now okay? Let's just try to get some sleep tonight at least. C'mon let's go." Piper pulled Phoebe to her feet and they walked upstairs. They got there just as Paige had pulled the covers back on both boys' beds. Phoebe and Paige laid Wyatt down as Piper held Chris in his bed.
"Chris, I'll be here tomorrow morning, I promise." She told him kissing his forehead and his body relaxed.
"Wyatt, don't worry, I'll be here." She told him as his eyes opened to slits; she kissed his forehead, walked to the door and took one last look and walked to her bedroom where her sisters were waiting in their pajamas. She knew they'd do that because they were as scared as she was. Piper climbed in between them.
"You two don't have to worry." She told them seeing their wet cheeks wiping their tears away. "I'm scared too, but I know I'll wake up." 'Mom, please help me through this night' she thought falling asleep between her younger sisters.
The next morning, Piper awoke to her sister's concerned gazes. She stood up and walked into her sons' room and saw that Chris must have really gotten scared because he hardly ever asked for Wyatt's protection at night anymore. Both boys awoke to their mother's laughter, but they were glad to hear it. Piper walked downstairs to whip up chocolate chip pancakes for Chris' birthday breakfast. All of them ate and both Wyatt and Chris went to school, while Paige went to work.
Piper baked a chocolate cake and hung banners and balloons as soon as Paige got home. Shortly after Phoebe arrived home, Piper was tired out so she went upstairs for a quick nap. One hour...two hours...then three hours passed and Piper still hadn't come down, but they knew she was tired as she didn't sleep better than anyone else last night. Chris and Wyatt had just gotten home and Wyatt went to frost the cake, if he needed to.
"I'll go get her." Chris said scaling the stairs. As he got closer he thought it felt like he was dreading something, he just wasn't sure exactly what it was. He arrived at her door and knocked, but no answer. He knew that she was tired so he quietly opened the door and walked in. He walked over to her bed and gently shook her, but nothing happened. He ran to the open door.
"Wyatt, Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige!!!!" he worriedly yelled. All three of them ran upstairs. Phoebe saw her youngest nephew's eyes and drew him to her as she walked into the room behind Wyatt, Paige followed.
"Piper..." Paige called her voice shaking. Wyatt walked to his mother's back.
"Mom..." he called. He moved her hair and saw that the mark was gone and he knew why. The mark had done what it was supposed to.
"Piper, come on, please...please say something...anything. You can't leave too, please." Phoebe fell to the floor in tears. Chris walked around to see his mother's face. He was almost calmed by it; 'She must not have felt anything.' Wyatt saw a crumpled piece of paper in her hand and gave it to Chris.
It said:
Chris,
If you're reading this, please know I'm so sorry, honey. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Everything should be set just ask someone to frost the cake, okay baby? I wanted to be there and for you to see my face, but I'll always see you even if you can't always see me. I love all of you, never forget that.
Love, Mom
As Chris walked over to hug his brother and aunts with tears streaming down his face, he realized something: Some things you just can't change, no matter how hard you try.
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