Charmed
"Life Do-Over"
Chapter One
"Piper! You're scaring Wyatt!" Phoebe chased after her sister as she stormed into the kitchen, blowing up any object that got in her way. She didn't want Piper to get too worked up; she'd just become pregnant with Chris a week ago. Oh, why did she constantly have to fight with Leo? Phoebe looked in his direction, watching as he paced the floors, cursing once or twice. Baby Wyatt sat cradled by Phoebe's arms, pouting. "I know sweetie, everything's okay," Phoebe murmured, hoping her words were true.
"Damn Elders," Phoebe heard Leo say. He turned to her from across the room. "Phoebe, I've got to go. Tell Piper I said…oh, never mind." After giving Wyatt a good-bye kiss, he disappeared in a stunning swarm of white light. Phoebe stood for a moment, shifting the baby to the other side of her hip, wishing there were something she could do to help.
At hearing a crash coming from the kitchen, followed by cursing, she rushed to Piper's side. She found her sister on the floor, scooping up broken china, her face red from tears and frustration. Phoebe put Wyatt in his highchair and knelt beside Piper. She opened her mouth to release words of comfort when Paige orbed into the room. "Demon!" she cried, and Piper and Phoebe instinctively leaped from the floor, suddenly ready for battle.
A cloud of black smoke appeared before them, and when it disappeared, an ugly, disfigured human stood before them. Piper lifted her hands to blow him up, but missed. Phoebe could tell she was still worked up from the argument with her husband, and as always, their powers were tied to their emotions. Paige noticed that the demon held a dagger in his hands. She called for it, and once it appeared in her palm, threw it at the demon's chest. After a loud scream of pain, he turned to ash. All part of the routine, some lower-level demon stupid enough to think he can take on the Charmed Ones, nothing new.
"Well, now that that's done, I can get back to" Paige's sentence trailed off as she noticed Phoebe's expression of worry, and Piper's anger mixed with despair. Wyatt cried. "Uh, did I miss something?" Paige asked. Phoebe nodded, sighing. Leo was nowhere to be seen. Paige began to assume it was yet another fight between Leo and Piper.
Piper, sick of standing around, started to the attic. "I'm going to go and find out who that demon was," she said flatly, stomping her way up the stairs. Paige turned to Phoebe. "Another fight, huh?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. Phoebe nodded, "Yep." Wyatt's cry became louder and Paige hurried over to her nephew, wrapping him in a hug. "They can't keep doing this," Paige said, "She's pregnant."
Piper thumbed through the Book of Shadows absentmindedly. Her finger stopped on some page she didn't recognize. She thought lightly of it, for the Book had something new in it everyday. Momentarily forgetting about the Book, Piper wondered, What would my life have been like…if I hadn't married Leo?
Piper pushed the thought away; she loved Leo, know matter how much they argued. They'd been through so much together, Piper could not imagine life without him. She began to ask herself why she'd even thought something so uncanny. Suddenly an unexpected jolt rushed through Piper's fingers and up her arms. Quickly she yanked her hands from the Book of Shadows. Had it made her think what she'd thought somehow? She looked at the page her hand was on, and it read:
To remember happiness lost
Venture to a new time and place.
To a new life, to an unfamiliar face,
Get through it no matter what the cost.
To find your journey's end,
Think of the one you love over and over again.
As Piper contemplated the meaning, a blue swirl appeared in front of her and began to suck her into it like a tornado. "Phoebe…Paige…somebody! Help!" Piper shouted to the top of her lungs as she held onto the wall, trying to keep from being pulled into the vortex. "Leo!"
Phoebe sat on the couch, sipping a cup of coffee. She noticed a strand of pearls that Leo had given to Piper thrown on the floor. She scooped it up, and was suddenly thwarted into a premonition. When Phoebe first became a witch, the rush premonitions brought would shock her, but time had led her to grow used to the feeling. Piper, Phoebe thought as she watched her sister being sucked into a giant hole. She was shouting Phoebe and Paige's names, and when the vision was over, it took a minute for Phoebe realized that the screaming was still going on. "Paige!" Phoebe shouted. There was no time to run up all of the stairs. "Orb us to the attic! Quick!"
When the appeared in the attic, it was too late. Leo appeared moments after as Piper grew smaller and smaller inside the vortex. "Help me!" she shouted. "What can we do, Piper?" Phoebe yelled back, hoping Piper could hear her. "Do something, Phoebe!" Piper called, frustrated even though she knew it wasn't their fault. Phoebe and Paige were paralyzed, their jaws gaping, wondering what could possibly be done to get Piper out of this mess. Within seconds, she had completely disappeared.
"Piper!" Paige shouted, becoming filled with fear. Phoebe angrily turned to Leo. "The Elders wouldn't have anything to do with this, would they, Leo?" It wouldn't be the first time they' done something like that without any warning. Leo frantically shook his head. "Of course not!" Phoebe crossed her arms, her panic for her sister keeping her unconvinced. "Then why'd you come back down here so fast?" she inquired. "I came back because Piper was calling my name, why don't you believe me!?!"
Paige knew that this was getting them nowhere. "Stop it!" she cried. "Fighting isn't going to bring Piper back! We need to check the Book, or at least do something other than standing around arguing!" She looked as if she were about to yank out her hair. "When will we all realize that fighting isn't solving a damn thing?!" Phoebe and Leo looked at each other, knowing she was mostly talking about Leo and Piper. Phoebe ran over to the Book of Shadows, still open on the page Piper had read. "Look at this," Phoebe said, and together they read the inscription. "It doesn't say how to get Piper back," Paige said. Phoebe shook her head. "No, I think it does," she replied. "Look, it says, To find your journey's end, think of the one you love over and over again." Paige threw her arms in the air in defeat. "Are you saying we can't help? That she has to figure this one out on her own?" Phoebe inhaled deeply. "I think so…but we're going to look for another way anyway."
Piper was floating inside the portal, still shouting names even though she knew it was hopeless. She watched as her memories literally passed her by like a slideshow: She saw her marriage to Leo, then the image erased. This cycle continued to repeat itself, and Piper saw herself giving birth to Wyatt, meeting Chris, meeting Paige, she saw her older sister Prue, right before she died. She also saw the constant fighting with her husband. All of her memories, happy or unhappy, kept her company until the vortex spat her out onto the floor of the attic. Piper sat up, and everything looked the same. She could hear Phoebe's voice, coming up the stairs.
Piper could hardly contain her joy. "Phoebe!" she shouted as Phoebe entered the room. "Piper?" Phoebe asked, appearing to be puzzled. Piper grabbed her sister and hugged her tightly. "I'm okay! I don't know what happened, but I'm okay! The vortex is gone! Where's Leo? Where's Paige? Where's Wyatt?"
Phoebe pulled away, and Piper noticed that her brunette hair was no longer dark and short: it had highlights, and was now sitting comfortably on her shoulders. "Who's Wyatt?" Phoebe asked as Cole Turner came into the room. "Oh my God, Phoebe, it's Cole!" Piper said. She pushed past Phoebe and threw her arms in the air, ready to blow him to pieces. A little shocked, Cole ran out of the room. "Piper, what the hell are you doing!?!" Phoebe shouted. Piper paused, full of confusion. She'd been wrong, she wasn't home, this was somewhere else. What if it were a demon disguised as Phoebe? Piper had to get home. "Piper, you look confused. Sit down for a minute, let's have a talk," Phoebe said, holding on to Piper's arm, escorting her to a couch.