Title: Once Upon a Dream
Summary: The dreams that hurt the most are the ones that can never happen.
Pairings: Prue/Andy
Disclaimer: Charmed is owned by Brad Kern and the WB. However, since they killed the characters involved years ago, I figure I can do whatever I want to them. ;)
Author's Note: So, I wanted to write Prue/Andy fluff. But I didn't really know how without making it AU or without going the Teen!Charmed route. So this came to me, with all the angst it entails. Enjoy!

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Prue Halliwell awoke to the sound of a childish giggling at her side. Smiling, she knew instantly who was standing next to the bed. She kept still for another moment longer, then swiftly reached her arms out, grabbing the little girl around her waist and tumbling her head over heels onto the bed. At the little girl's excited shrieks, she started tickling her. "Little girls who wake up their mommies have to deal with … the Tickle Monster!"

"No!" the little girl cried, pushing at Prue's hands. "No, Mommy, please stop!" No longer able to control herself, she dissolved into giggles as she finally gave into the tickling.

"Hmm, maybe," Prue said teasingly. After another moment of delighting in her daughter's laughter, Prue stopped tickling her, pulled her onto her lap, and gave her a kiss on the top of her dark head. "Good morning, sweetie."

"Morning, Mommy," she replied, still giggling.

"Isabelle," a stern male voice called from the doorway, "I told you not to wake your mother."

Prue looked over and smiled at Andy. "She's fine. I was waking up anyway." She winked at him and waved her hand, gesturing for him to join them in the bed.

He smiled, moving away from the doorway and nestling on the bed next to his wife. As he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Isabelle jumped into his lap. "Oof! Easy, kiddo."

"Tickle me, Daddy!" Isabelle exclaimed, bouncing slightly on his legs. "Please?"

Andy pretended to think about it for a moment, then began tickling his daughter, smiling at her excited laughs. He kept it up for another minute, then stopped, allowing his daughter to catch her breath. "Is this really how you want to spend your fourth birthday? Being tickled?"

"Uh huh!" Isabelle replied through heavy breaths. "Just like this!"

"You don't at least want a piece of cake?" Prue asked, smiling.

Isabelle thought for a moment and then nodded. "Okay, maybe some cake, too."

"Well, that's good, because we're going to have lots of cake with your aunts today."

Isabelle beamed and climbed onto her mother's lap, facing her and wrapping her arms around her neck in an embrace. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, Princess," Prue said, holding her daughter tightly. For some reason, she was overcome by a strong and sudden sadness,as ifshe was about to lose everything that she loved, everything that she had worked so hard to get. "I love you so much."

"You'll never leave me, right, Mommy?"

"Of course I won't leave you."

Isabelle loosened her grip, pulled away to meet her mother's eyes, and smiled. "Good. So when can I have cake?"

"You haven't even eaten breakfast yet!" Prue replied, laughing.

"I can have cake for breakfast?" the little girl asked, her ice blue eyes sparkling.

"No, there will be no cake for breakfast," Prue chuckled. She gave her daughter another quick tickle before pulling her into another hug and looking up at her husband, meeting his eyes and mouthing the words, "I love you."

"I love you, too," he whispered back, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. He leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. She couldn't help but feel like her happiness was slipping away, and though she couldn't stop it, she could at least try to hold onto it as long as she could.

She felt a comforting grip on her arm and wrinkled her brow. "It's time, Prue," someone whispered.

Prue blinked open her eyes and found herself face-to-face with a red-eyed Piper. Thoroughly confused, she looked up at her sister. "What?"

"Honey, you have to get up and get dressed. Andy's funeral is in two hours."

She looked around at her room. No Andy, no Isabelle. No toddler toys, no blankets, no snack wrappers. No indication that there was ever a child in her room at all. As she woke up a little, she realized that it had all been a dream. Andy was dead; they had never gotten married or had a child. They never would.

Sighing sadly, she pushed the covers off her legs and crawled out of bed. "Are you all right?" Piper asked, concern swimming in her eyes.

"Yeah," Prue replied. "I just had a dream."

Piper curiously knitted her brow. "What kind of dream?"

"An impossible one."