Two Skis and A Sister
By charmedgal005
Author's Notes:
This is the third story in a series of, I really don't know yet. This is going to be the last if I don't get at least 5 reviews. If you haven't read the first one of this series, "The Puppet" or the one following "The Puppet", "Five Teens and Minor Adjustments" I highly recommend reading them first. This one doesn't make much sense without reading those. And I am NOT kidding about cutting the series after this story. I want reviews, just like if you are a author, you want reviews, which I am all to happy to give. Now! On with the disclaimer.
Disclaimer:
If I owned these Characters (aside from the ones you don't recognize) I probably wouldn't be writing these. If I owned these characters, you would probably see this story on the show. Hey! You know what? I am writing these and you don't see this story line on the show, therefore, I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS!!! If I owned some of these places too, I would be having the time of my life, living in a large house and not working. Well, lets see, I live in a modest home, and work for minimum wage. Meaning I DON'T OWN THESE PLACES EITHER!!! So don't sue me! Without further ado, the story:
"School is really starting to suck." Cathy complained to her friends Brian and Amy, during their lunch. "It is just this blah, day after day."
"You say that everyday. By now, you would think that school sucks, and not just starting to suck." Brian joked. Cathy laughed and threw a french fry at his face. As a defense Brian then threw a grape at her. Amy picked up some of her food to get in the fun, but they quickly stopped when a glare from a teacher told them not to throw food. The trio giggled at the prospect that they could have gotten in trouble.
"I mean it you guys. I am really getting sick of this. My teachers suck. I go home do my homework, then I have to train, or battle. And sometimes I have to work after all that, or even before that. I don't get this break that you guys do."
"Yeah. But what are you going to do about that? There's nothing you can do." Amy said.
"I don't know." Cathy said somberly. "I just can't wait until spring break. When is that?"
"Not for another two weeks." Amy sighed.
"Nooooooooooo." Cathy exclaimed.
"Well, at least you got your date with Josh this weekend. That isn't part of the everyday blah." Amy pointed out.
Cathy blushed and smiled shyly at the thought of her boyfriend Josh. "Yeah, true, but there is still school."
"Ok… Well, tomorrow to take the blah out of school, why don't we go someplace for lunch." Brian suggested. "I got my dad's car starting tonight for a week because he is gone for the week on some trip in New York."
Cathy thought for a minute. "Yeah. That sounds great. Maybe we could return late?"
"No!!!" Amy said. "Excuse me, but I happen to be a goody goody, and ditching fifth period would change that!" Cathy smiled. Her friends here were so different from her friends in Colorado.
"Ok. We will only use the hour for lunch. And we will be back in time for fifth period." Cathy glanced up at the clock, to see how long she had until she returned to class, when she remembered that she had forgotten something. "Fudge!!! I forgot to do my English homework!" Cathy reached into her backpack and took out her lit book, and began to diligently work until the bell rang, signaling she needed to get to class. Cursing because she didn't finish it, Cathy started to pack up her stuff.
"Cathy, Spanish study group tonight, can you come?" Amy asked.
"¿Por que no? [Why not?]" Cathy said back.
"Please Cathy, you are the best at Spanish, please I don't know what you are saying. What did you just say?" Amy pleaded.
"I said, why not. You are in my Spanish 3 class, we have a test tomorrow, and you are in trouble if you didn't understand a level 1 phrase."
"Hey, the only reason I got this far was because my previous teachers liked me and passed me because they liked me so much." Amy defended herself.
"What happened to the goody goody?"
"When it comes to Spanish, I killed her." Amy joked. Cathy, Brian and Amy, parted to their own classes.
Cathy's blah of a day didn't improve in her afternoon classes. Her ray of hope came at three when her last class ended. "Yes." She said to Nick, Sam, Brian, and Amy as they walked to Nick's car. "As much as I hate going home because it is just as blah as school, it is certainly nice for a change in atmosphere." Brian and Amy laughed, and Nick and Sam looked confused. "You had to be at lunch to understand it." Cathy clarified.
"Cathy, five at my house." Amy called after Cathy, as Cathy climbed out of the car.
"Huh? Oh yeah. The study group. I'll be there, unless something comes up like you know… or… like work." Cathy said, suddenly remembering that she had to help out at P3 that night. "I'll talk to Piper about getting out of work for that."
Cathy climbed up the steps to the manor. Her aunt Paige met her at the door, something Paige never did, unless there was something wrong. Cathy's annoyed face quickly turned to fear as she saw Paige. But Paige was smiling brightly.
"Aunt Paige, you're really starting to scare me. You are home early from work, and nothing appears to be wrong." Cathy said, stepping inside, and keeping her distance from Paige.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong. Except for the fact that I got promoted, and my boss said that I could be sent home early to celebrate today." Paige said, her smile growing.
Quickly, Cathy shared her aunt's enthusiasm. She screamed and gave Paige a tight hug. "What did you do?" She asked. Paige had gotten a promotion before, but there was a personal consequence from a spell, and graciously turned it down.
"I did my work. No magic!"
"Yeah!!! Good job!!!! No offense or anything, I want to celebrate with you, but I have so much work to do, there's homework, and training, and a Spanish study group, and I have to get out of work tonight, for the study group, and need to go do that." Cathy said, running up the stairs to drop off her bag. "Where's Piper?" She asked, returning downstairs.
"Already at P3, big band. Oh, I hate to burst your bubble, but she was really grateful that you worked tonight. She needed your help. She even begged for my help, but I turned her down. I have a date tonight."
"You do? Who?"
"Matt."
"As in…"
"Your whitelighter, yes."
"AHHHH!!! I'm so happy for you. I knew it was a matter of time. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get to the club. Can I borrow your car?"
"Yeah, sure, but fill the tank when you get home. Well actually, before you get home."
"Will do. Keys." Cathy asked Paige, holding out her hand.
Paige went to her purse and got out her keys. "Here. Later Cathy."
Cathy went running out the door, in her rush she didn't see the woman standing at the door, until she ran into her. "Oh sorry. Bye Aunt Paige!" Cathy excused herself as she ran out the door.
"Do Phoebe and Piper Halliwell still live here?" The woman asked Paige. There was something familiar about her, like they had met before, but Paige could not put her finger on where she had seen that woman before. She was shorter than Paige. Her shoulder length hair fell fairly straight. Where have I seen her before? Paige thought. A thought that would very likely bug her the rest of the evening. Just what I needed. A distraction while I'm on my date with Matt.
"Yeah, but they're not home right now. Is there something I can help you with?" Paige asked.
"Sure, do you know where I can find either one?"
"Piper is at P3, and Phoebe, is at… I think… oh yeah…. Checking out caterers, and asked not to be disturbed for anything."
"Ok, thanks, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Paige, you are…"
"An old friend. Thanks Paige." The woman turned and left. Paige looked for a car, but saw none. She was about to call out the bus number, but noticed the woman was gone. Paige shrugged her shoulders, and shut the door.
"Please Piper!!! I really need to study!!!" Cathy begged.
"But I really need your help here. Ever heard of Marbles?" Piper said. Cathy looked at Piper with her mouth hung open.
"They're playing here? Tonight?"
"Yes. That is why I need your help badly. If you work, you can stay and 'work' while they play, you would have to stay in the store room and do 'inventory' but you would at least hear them."
"I'll stay. I'm just going to," Cathy looked around the club for anyone, saw no one and continued in a hushed voice, "Blink home and get my homework."
Piper nodded, and smiled. She turned back to the club's books that were sitting at the bar, and Cathy blinked home. Neither saw the same woman from the manor earlier, standing in the shadows.
"Piper?" The woman asked, stepping out of the shadows.
"Sorry, we're closed now. No pre-entries for Marbles, by order of the manager." Piper said, without looking up from the books.
"Piper," The woman said again. Piper looked up, but not at the woman. The voice sounded so familiar. Piper closed her eyes. "Please tell me that this is not a dream, when I turn around, you better be there." Piper swiveled around. "Prue? Is that you?"
The woman nodded. Piper just stood up and went over and gave Prue a big hug. "How, how, how come you're here?" Piper asked, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm a gift from the elders, for vanquishing the source." Prue said, the tears also in her eyes.
"But we vanquished him months ago. Why did they send you so late?" Piper asked. The two still hadn't broken from their embrace.
"It took them a while to get their act together."
"I'm so glad you're here Prue. I've missed you so much."
"Me too, Pipe, me too."
"Piper, do I really have to do inventory while Marbles are playing, or can I do that now, and do my homework during Marbles?" Cathy said, blinking back to P3. "Oh sorry, I'm just going back to the office for now. Just call me when you need me Piper." Cathy said, walking to the back of the club.
"Ok thanks Cathy." Piper said distracted. Prue pushed Piper away, and looked at her with a confused look.
"It's a long story I don't want to get into."
Cathy poked her head out of the office and politely asked, "Piper, can I use the phone? I have to call Amy and tell her I can't make it to the group."
"Yeah sure. But not too long. One hour tops. Last time you used the phone you talked for two hours, and need I remind you that you ended up paying that bill."
"Thanks Piper." Cathy said pulling her head back into the office.
"And no long distance!!!" Piper called before Cathy had the chance to shut the door. Piper turned her attention back to her older sister. "How long have they allowed you for?"
"One week. Where's Phoebe?" Prue asked, excited to spend time with both her sisters.
"Some caterer's meeting. She didn't want to be distracted for anything. She even went as far as to have Cole hide her cell phone. Little does she know, but Cole cleverly has her phone. However, I don't think it will be wise to distract her. Her taste tests have been interrupted with demons so much that she don't call her for anything. Just to make sure we got the point, she added a 'Even if they resurrect Mom!' so Paige and I knew she was serous."
"Did you know that you babble when you are excited?" Prue joked. To her surprise, Piper just gave Prue another big hug.
In the office Cathy was slowly running up P3's phone bill. True, it was less than an hour, but still. "I'm sorry Amy…. Piper needs my help…. Right. I actually want to help her… Because she has Marbles playing tonight and if I help out now, she is letting me stay and do my homework in the office while Marbles is here…. I know!!!.... Thank you….Moving on. I've figured out what I'm going to do about the whole school being a blah thing…. I'm going skiing tomorrow…Well, it should be easy. I know for a fact that no one is using my parent's condo tomorrow, so I'll blink there, and ski. I can be back before three, and no one will notice that I had ditched….I really don't think that that will be a problem… One, I have a season pass, because when ever I want to, I can blink home and ski with my family. Two, my Colorado friends have this week as spring break… I know it is early!... So that is my cover up. I will just say that I go to ummm…East Denver High, that's where I used to go, tomorrow…. Don't worry. No one will find out…. Trust me. Hey, I can take passengers, want to come?... no, I haven't forgotten about you being a goody, goody…. Ok… Oh., please tell Brian that I still need a ride tomorrow even though I'm ditching…I have to throw them off some how… I'll just blink up there when we pick up Sam…thanks Amy… well, I'll see you at school on Thursday….yeah, bye." Cathy hung up the phone with her plan in place.
"Cathy, here is the inventory list. I meant to give it to you earlier, but I got distracted. As long as you get this done tonight, I don't care when you do it." Piper said, handing Cathy the list.
"Ok thanks Piper. Hey, who was that woman out there? I ran into her at the manor." Cathy asked.
"That is Prue."
Cathy looked confused. Prue? "As in…"
"Yes." Piper said. Other words were not needed.
"What is she doing down here?"
"She is the elder's reward for vanquishing the source."
"Wow. I wish they would give me rewards for anything."
"We've gotten two. You, the most powerful single witch have never gotten a reward, for anything?"
"No, they like the Charmed Ones better. You guys are a prophecy fulfilled. I was an accident."
"Oh. Would you like to meet her?" Piper asked, pointing to Prue.
"Sure." Cathy said. She got up from her chair behind the desk, and followed Piper out to Prue.
"Hey. This is Cathy. Cathy, this is Prue." Piper introduced.
"Hi. Is it all right that I be meeting her?" Prue asked, not sure if the family secret had been reviled to the teenager in front of her.
"Yeah it is fine." Piper said. "She is also a witch, actually the most powerful witch, second to only one, well technically three, but one unit, the Charmed Ones."
A familiar ring distracted the three. "Sorry, my cell." Cathy said excusing herself. She went to answer the phone, as Piper and Prue continued to talk. "Piper," Cathy said, interrupting the two, "Aunt Paige wants to know if she can borrow your black dress for her date tonight." Piper thought for a moment. That was the dress she had wanted to wear tonight. But knowing how important tonight was for Paige, even though she didn't know who her date was, she said ok.
"Who is Paige? I met her at the manor, and why is Cathy calling her Aunt Paige? Is there something I really don't know?"
"Oh boy. It is a really, really long story. The short and hard to follow version: Paige is our half sister. Product of Sam and Mom's affair. To keep the Charmed Ones, and to protect her, the put her up from adopted. After your funeral, we found all this out. Cathy is Paige's adopted brother's daughter, making Paige her aunt, but of no relation to us. Cathy and Paige live at the manor. Paige for obvious reasons, and Cathy because she wasn't getting along with her non-magical family."
"Wow, I've missed a lot."
"You tend to when you have been dead for six months."
Cathy at this point returned to the pair and both Piper and Prue were bursting with questions. Each one of different natures. Piper wanted to know who Paige's date was, and Prue wanted to know more about Cathy.
"Who…" Piper started, but at the same time, Prue had begun to talk to Cathy, too, so they both cut off.
"I'm here a week. You first Piper." Prue offered.
"Who is Paige's date? You seem to know. She wouldn't tell me."
"You'll never guess. Matt. Oh yeah, she also mentioned that they plan to stop by the club afterwards." Cathy said.
"Your whitelighter?"
"Yeah. What is it about Halliwells that make them so attracted to whitelighters and visa versa?" Cathy joked.
Piper laughed, for she herself was married to Leo, the Halliwell whitelighter. "I honestly don't know." The familiar ring of Cathy's cell phone was heard again. "Tell Paige, that she can borrow anything of mine. Ok?" Piper said, trying to get to talk to Prue without an interruption. They saw Cathy's face turned red when she answered her phone, and Piper just commented. "She'll be talking for a while. She only turns that red when it is Josh, her boyfriend. Tell me, how have you been?"
"Dead. When you're dead and the elders haven't given you a task, you just are. And so far, I have just been dead. There is talk of me becoming a guardian angel, but they are having a hard time placing me. The only places they can put me is anywhere outside of San Francisco and most of the witches needing guardian angels live in San Francisco." Piper looked at Prue with no idea what she was talking about.
"Real quick. How does a guardian angel differ from a whitelighter?" Piper asked, she knew that whitelighters were guardian angels.
"Honestly, I have no idea. But it sounded appealing after months of just being."
"PIPER!!!!" Leo called as he came down the stairs into the club. "I have got the greatest news!" Piper and Prue stood up when they called. Leo stopped dead in the tracks when he saw Prue standing there. "I see you've met the news." He went over and gave Prue a hug. "Hiya Prue."
"Hey Leo." Prue said, returning the hug.
"You haven't told Phoebe yet?" Piper asked cautiously.
"No, because that would mean disturbing her, with something other than the wedding, and she really made it clear that she didn't want that to happen." Leo said.
"Good Leo." Piper said, patting him on the head like a dog, as a joke. "You did the right thing. Prue, calm down, Phoebe will be here, with Cole, in lets see it is four now, so fifteen minutes. Don't worry."
"Piper!?!?! Are you here?" Paige's voice rang throughout the club. "Piper, I'm in some desperate need of help, and you heard what Phoebe said, and her thing is over, but she still doesn't have her cell phone. Oh my god. I'm so nervous about tonight that I'm babbling." Paige approached Piper, Prue and Leo. "I'm glad you found Piper," Paige told Prue, but to her, she didn't know who she was. "I'm a little short on cash, and you know how white, err guys, are about not bringing enough cash. Do you have like twenty I can borrow? I'd get my own, but my bank closes early on Wednesdays. Please?" Paige begged.
"I know who your date is." Piper taunted giving the cash to Paige.
"You do?!?! How!?!?!" Paige asked alarmed.
"I threatened Cathy with the prospect of not hearing Marbles for it." Piper said, obviously having fun with this bit of information.
"Well, I will have to speak to her about that, later. I have to go back to the manor now, and get ready for my date."
"Bye Paige!" Piper called to Paige. The amusement still hadn't left her voice.
"So that was Paige." Prue said. "Interesting character."
"She sure is."
"Cathy?" A male voice was heard throughout the club.
"What is it about people dropping by the club today?" Piper asked.
"I need cash." The voice said. It was Matt. He had walked right past the group to where Cathy was still talking on her cell. She signaled that she would only be a minute more and waved him off. Complying, Matt went over to talk to Piper and Leo. He had yet to see Prue.
"Hey." He said. He looked at the trio standing there. Matt's eyes did a double take when he saw Prue. "Ah…" He said to Prue, "This does explain why you said that you wouldn't be there for a week. I'm glad they let you come."
"Wait a second! You two know each other?!?!" Piper exclaimed, she looked over at her husband, who was looking at the ceiling, as he often did when he had information that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about. "You knew Leo?!?!"
"Yes." The three said at once.
"Matt was the one who helped me adjust to being dead. It is a lot different to being alive you know." Prue clarified. "And we have been friends ever since. So that is the Paige you have been obsessing over?" Prue taunted.
"Yes."
"How come you never told me you were living in the manor?" Prue accused.
"Right like how was I supposed to work into the conversation that my charge is the niece to your half sister, whom you don't know about, and we live in the manor because of her training and I have fallen in love with this half sister." Everyone grew silent. Cathy at this point had already hung up the phone, and had heard Matt yell this. Everyone was speechless. It was almost common knowledge that Paige and Matt liked each other, but no one took it seriously as love. Cathy was the first to make a noise. And it wasn't much of a noise at that. She squealed so high pitched, that if she went any higher, a dog could have mistaken it for a dog whistle. Matt turned blood red. "Cathy I need the cash now." Matt said quickly changing the subject.
"Yeah. Here you go, it isn't much because I have to buy gas. I knew you liked each other, but you love her? That is too cool!" Cathy said, beaming.
"Thank you. Now, if you guys would kindly not reveal to Paige all that stuff I said earlier, I would appreciate it. We will see you guys after the date here." Matt said, giving his last orders. He orbed out.
"I am going to start that inventory now." Cathy said, leaving for the office.
"Leo, you knew Matt knew Prue?" Piper accused.
"Yes, but I wasn't supposed to say anything."
"Ok."
"I've done it! I have finally found a caterer I like.' Phoebe's voice sang throughout P3.
"Phoebe!' Prue shouted. Phoebe stopped dead. Her back was turned to Prue, and couldn't see who had shouted her name. Phoebe very slowly turned around.
"It was you." Phoebe said, directly to Prue. She ran over and gave Prue a large hug. Prue just returned the hug. Tears flowed like a river from Phoebe's eyes. Prue looked like she was crying, but she had cried herself dry earlier with Piper. Phoebe then signaled for a group hug, and Piper and Leo got in the hug. They pulled apart. Tears now flowing from everyone's eyes but Leo's, but you could tell that his eyes were slightly misty. They talked. And talked. Prue had so much she needed to catch up on. It was at five when the band showed up to set up. Panic strict Piper's face. Prue, everyone knows she is dead, and she would think that more than one eyebrow would be raised. Lets just hope that none of them know Prue. Piper thought. But Prue noticed the problem as well. She quickly hid in the office, before the band noticed her. Quickly dealing with the band, Piper went casually to the office.
"Cathy, I need you to take Prue home. And I have got really bad news, you cant stay tonight." Piper said. Cathy looked at Piper with a look of pure hatred. Piper, knowing no matter how little Cathy liked the job, she would do it. "Thanks. How is your inventory going?"
"I'm done. The motivation of seeing Marbles mad me work faster here. I'm taking Paige's car back. Do you and Phoebe both have yours?"
"Umm… I don't think that Phoebe has hers because I think Cole just dropped her off, so why don't you give me Paige's keys and you two can blink home." Piper said her hand out stretched for the keys. Reluctantly, Cathy handed both the keys and the inventory.
"I'll see you tomorrow Piper." Cathy said. She took Prue's hand and the two blinked to the manor. Prue couldn't have closed her eyes before she knew what was happening. Orbing was short, but not as short as blinking. When you orbed you had time to think about what was happening, but Prue couldn't have blinked before she was at the manor.
"Wow! That is way faster than orbing." Prue said. She looked around the manor and couldn't help but thinking that it was good to be home. Not much had changed since she had died furniture wise. Obviously, they had to replace things as they got blown up, shattered, or caught fire during the regular demon attacks.
"Yeah, but it is a lot more tiring. I prefer to be orbed, than to blink my self someplace." Cathy said, collapsing into a large arm chair. She looked over at the old grandfather's clock and saw that it was barely five. "I can still make it to Amy's study group." She said, standing up, but collapsed as she remembered that she had no way of getting there. "But, I have no way of getting there without passing out."
Prue decided to seize the opportunity. This teenager had intrigued her since they bumped into each other only two hours before. If it was for a class that Prue knew something about, may be she could help her. "What class is the study group for?" Prue said, making a stab at it.
"Spanish, do you know any Spanish?" Cathy asked. She didn't need the group, Spanish was by far her easiest class. She hoped that Prue wouldn't know any, and that she could go sink into her room and plan her day tomorrow.
"Nope, I took French."
"Oh, well I'm going to go to my room and do my homework." Cathy went up to her room, slamming the door shut, and blaring her radio.
For the first time in months, Prue felt bored. She wasn't allowed out and Cathy was doing her homework. Not knowing what else to do, she began to poke around. Pictures of her and Phoebe and Piper were still on the mantle. Memories of when each one was taken over came her mind. One from Piper's wedding. The night P3 opened. Right before Grams died. She also recognized Piper's and Leo's wedding picture, sitting proudly on the mantle. But some of the other shots were new to her. There was one of Phoebe, Paige, and Piper. And from the way things looked, the most recent one was of Leo, Piper, Phoebe, Cole, Paige, Cathy and Matt. Everyone that lived in the manor. Prue shuddered at the idea of that many people living in her house. Growing up she thought that six was a lot. But she even thought that five was a lot after her dad left. After living with just her sisters, anything more than three was a lot. Now there were seven. She went upstairs, after she had poked around downstairs. She was about to turn into her old room, but the door being closed and frustrated cries from Paige told her that her room was now occupied. She smiled as she passed the familiar bedrooms of Piper and Phoebe. The attic was the only place left. Cautiously, she climbed the stairs. Prue's fondest and most horrible memories took place in the attic. The hours she and her sisters were up there pouring over the book, searching for the latest demon were countless. She walked over to the book. The pages were so familiar, yet so distant. "Find anything?" Prue jumped, she wasn't watching to see if anyone was following her.
"You scared me Cathy." Prue stated. Cathy mischievously smiled.
"Sorry, scaring people is an old habit of mine. What are you doing up here?"
"Reminiscing. And what are you doing up here? I thought you had homework." Prue said, she didn't know why, but she felt protective of Cathy.
"Ni. I really don't need the Spanish studying; I've been taking it since kindergarten, and I have no other homework. I just needed to let off some steam. I was really mad at Piper because she wouldn't let me watch Marbles. Sorry about blowing you off."
"Hey, I can definitely understand that feeling." Prue felt this was good. She wanted to talk to Cathy, and this was definitely a step in the right direction. "So, how long have you been living here?"
"Umm, two and a half months, I think. January, then February, and half of March, yes, two and a half months."
"Do you like it here?"
"It's ok. A lot warmer, and more humid, but it is nice."
"Where did you move from?"
"Colorado, what is this twenty questions."
"Prue's modified version, yes. Do you miss it?"
Cathy smiled. At times, Prue could be funny. "I never said that I would play. I guess I miss it. Especially on the weekends. We would go skiing and I really miss that."
"Too bad you're playing." Prue and Cathy talked. It was well past late when they heard voices from downstairs. Paige had already left for her date hours earlier, and now Leo, Phoebe, Cole, Matt and Paige were coming home from P3. Piper was still closing up. Cathy froze. She knew that she was supposed to be in bed hours ago. But sweat it, she didn't. Mischievously, she smiled, and blinked to her room so that no one would hear her coming down the stairs. Prue however had no such luck. Phoebe caught her coming down the stairs. Prue, who realized that she was tired, was then pulled to the living room to talk to everyone down there. Morning came like an unwanted house guest. People had kept Prue up all night talking, although she had no regrets about being up all night with her family again.
"Morning sleepy." Prue said brightly to Cathy, as Cathy stumbled into the kitchen, ready for the day. Or almost ready, she wasn't exactly awake.
Cathy grumbled, she did not want to get up, but the idea of going skiing that day pulled her out of her bed. It didn't matter how tired or sick Cathy was feeling that day, she was going to go skiing, she just hoped that she wouldn't get caught. "You were up all night, how come you are so perky? Please, tell me you secret oh master of the morning?"
"I learned how to make extra strength coffee. DO you want a glass?" Prue offered Cathy her cup of coffee.
"No, I don't like coffee. That is why there is always a small supply of Jolt or Mt. Dew in the fridge." Cathy said, pulling a Jolt out of the fridge. "Ahhh caffeine."
"Caffeine stunts your growth you know." Prue accused.
"Like you can talk." Cathy joked. A horn honked from outside. "Oh my ride! Bye everyone!!!" Cathy called her normal good bye, grabbed her Jolt, and ran out the door. "Bye Prue!" she called over her shoulder. "I am finally getting my break from school!!!" Cathy exclaimed to her friends as she slid into her seat.
"Are you sure you are going to do this?" Brian asked.
"Yep, I most certainly am! Are you sure you don't want to come? You still have time to change your minds."
"Very sure."
"Ok, well, tell Sam where I am!" Cathy smiled. "I'll meet you guys back here, well, inside the car, at 3:15. That gives you five minutes to get your asses in the car after school starts."
"Why your time?" Brian whined. "It's my car."
"Fine then, what time will you guys be driving by?" Cathy asked, going with their times.
"3:15, but it is the whole principle of the thing." Brian continued to rant.
"Ok, yeah, yeah. I'm off."
"See ya later." Nick said.
"3:15." Brian repeated.
"I can't believe you are missing the Spanish test to ski." Amy scolded. Cathy smiled and blinked out to her family's condo in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
The hours twiddled away. Cathy for the first time in a while felt free. Her adrenaline rushed, and she wasn't in any significant danger. It felt almost good to breathe the thin air. The wind, burned on her face as she easily outstripped the snowboarders and the more advanced skiers. She was born to ski. Cathy had tried to snowboard once, but she liked the idea of having each of her feet strapped to two different wooden planks better.
At the manor, Prue was having a good time. Since Phoebe, Cole, Leo, and Matt didn't really have jobs to go to, they were able to stick around and hang with her. They couldn't go out, but it was still a fun time. It was12:30 when everyone's plans for the day were abruptly stopped. Matt suddenly looked worried, and then angered. All eyes were on him. "That girl!" He exclaimed, more annoyed than ever.
Cathy decided to be bold and daring. She had done the terrain parks many times before. They were her favorite place to be. The free fall feeling as you come off a jump had no parallel. For some reason, she decided to do a different jump this time. It was higher than she was accustomed to. For a fleeting second, she felt scared. But that was all Matt needed.
"What?" Phoebe asked.
"She's ditching." Matt said.
"No! Cathy? Where?" Prue said astonished.
"She decided to go skiing. I'll be right back." Matt said, orbing to get her.
It was amazing. Gliding through the air like she was flying. "Shit!" Cathy cussed as she saw the familiar lights of Matt's orb in the trees just ahead of her. Knowing what was coming, Cathy landed, and trying to gain control, skied over to the trees. Matt had orbed to that spot before. Cathy had once come off the jump next to it off, and ended up breaking her arm. Cursing herself out, Cathy approached Matt. He looked at her with a disappointing look, and orbed them to the condo.
"What were you thinking?" Matt screamed.
"I don't know? Maybe that school sucks!" Cathy screamed back, taking off one boot. "Ahh…" she said. The ski boots were getting hot, and uncomfortable. Taking boots off at the end of a day is always a pleasure to Cathy.
"I'm going to tell your mother."
"I could say I was training. She falls for that every time. And I guess I was, I was learning to take fear better."
Matt wasn't smiling. "Hand me your pass." Cathy showed a face with disgust, but decided to oblige. "Get changed, and I'm orbing you home. And I do have to admit, you really planned this one. I'm going to give you the credit, and excuse you from school." Matt said, smiling at the almost flawless plan. Cathy smiled.
"I can not believe you did that! Why didn't you take me with you?" Phoebe accused. Leo looked at Phoebe with an accusing eye. "Sorry, I was always ditching classes, and I think that you pulled it off that well is really impressive."
"Hey, it was totly spill. There was no wait, no one to run over. It there was a fresh layer last night so there was six of champagne on the top of crust and some ok P.P, and I didn't yard sale." Everyone stared at her blankly. Skiing or snowboarding was not something that they did on a regular basis. Matt, however, did understand what she was saying. He watched her learn that lingo.
"Cath, I think they want a translation." He helped.
"Ok. It was awesome, I was able to ski right up to the lift, and on the more advanced runs there was no one pushing themselves, so only the good people were on them. It snowed last night. Six inches of the really light stuff, on top of the hard, crusty ice and packed powder. And I didn't do any really bad wipe outs causing me to lose my quippy." They understood her, until quippy. They had never heard such an odd word. This time Cathy caught the confusion. "Quippy, short for equipment, and gear. Like my poles or hat or glove or ski. Hey! I have even lost a boot, but that was because I forgot to buckle it." They shook their heads, this girl spent too much time thinking about skiing. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to call Brian on his cell, and tell them not to wait for me to get back to the car." Cathy left.
The rest of the week went by without a glitch. Cathy was grounded for two weeks, allowed out of her room only for demons, meals, and school. Paige was the most upset with her. If Cathy blew it too much, then she would be responsible. After a quick search through the Book of Shadows, she found a spell that kept Cathy from blinking. It was a small liability in case of an attack, the adults all knew the reversal spell. Paige and Matt had gone on two more dates, and although they couldn't see it, the others could see that it was likely to go somewhere. To everyone's displeasure, the time had come for Prue to go back up there.
"This time I get to say goodbye." Prue said, tears streamed down her face.
"Bye Prue." Cole said. He liked having her there, Prue had made Phoebe happier than she had been in months, but he still felt like Prue didn't trust him. Suddenly he felt Prue giving him a hug. "I trust you." She told him.
"There is a first for everything." Cathy said, giving her a hug good bye. They had become good friends. While the others were at P3, they would sit in Cathy's room and talk. They were allowed to do that.
"I'll watch over you." Prue whispered in her ear as they embraced. A smile spread across Cathy's face. It was nice to know that there was someone watching over her, but couldn't interfere.
"I just got to know you. I wish you could stay longer. It was nice seeing all of my big sister's together." Paige said. She was crying, she was getting to know her big sister, and now she would be gone again.
"Hey, you'll see me again someday, but hopefully not for another long years. It is not that I don't want to see you. I would give anything to see you again, but I don't want your last breath to be too soon." Prue said, her tears streaming harder.
All that was left were the people she grew up with. Matt and Leo saw her regularly, and had no need for the hard good byes. Phoebe was first. "I don't want you to go, you're my big sister. Screw the elders, and screw the rules. Stay. Please Prue, I need you." Phoebe said. She was crying as hard as Prue was.
"Pheebs, don't make this harder than this already is. I'm always there. Just look, and you don't need me anymore. Look at you, all grown up, getting married this year, Phoebe, I'm here don't worry." Prue couldn't help but think that those weren't comforting words. They weren't what she was thinking. She wanted to scream, "YES!!! I STAYING!!!" But her better judgment told her not to. Think positive, think positive, think positive. Prue tried to force herself to think about the good things about being up there. Lets see, I'm allowed to leave the house. It kinda got boring being stuck in the house all day. And umm… but I would give that up, in a split second to be with Piper and Phoebe any day. But up there I get to see Andy. We're together up there. But here I'm with my sisters. The good outweighed the bad, but she still knew she had to go. There was only one more person left. "Piper," Prue started.
"Prue, I think you know what I'm going to say. We need you down here. You can't leave us again. I don't think I'll handle that. It is just too hard. Prue, please, don't go!" Piper said.
"Piper, you can go on, I know you! You can, you were doing fine before I got here. You vanquished the source, you can do anything. And you've got a new baby coming," Prue froze, as did the whole room. She wasn't supposed to say anything about that, but it was too late. The words were out of her mouth. Matt hit his head with his hand.
"This is why they are hesitant to make you a guardian angel Prue." Matt said, still not believing that she revealed such secret information as the future.
"Ignore what I just said, Piper. I'm here. Don't forget that." Prue said, trying to recover from her slip up, but it didn't help. The damage was done. The grandfather clock struck twelve. She gave Piper and Phoebe hugs, as she slowly disappeared into up there. Mascara was running, and there were tear stained faces on all the girls.
"I better be getting back to my room. I have school tomorrow." Cathy said, bidding everyone a good night.
Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Paige all knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to see if Prue was right. Maybe Piper was pregnant. "Leo and I have been trying. It is kinda possible. I have a kit in my bathroom, incase, yeah." Piper said, knowing what everyone was thinking. As if they were pushing her, she ran up the stairs to the bathroom. The next ten minutes were painfully long for everyone outside the bathroom door. It was as if Piper was purposefully dragging it out. Finally the door opened. A broad grin spread across her face. Leo swept her up in his arms and gave her a long and passionate kiss.
Come on folks!!!! Now is the time to tell me what you think. I am seriously thinking about cutting the series here. If I don't get five reviews, I will know what you think about this series, and stop writing them. It is just five reviews.
By charmedgal005
Author's Notes:
This is the third story in a series of, I really don't know yet. This is going to be the last if I don't get at least 5 reviews. If you haven't read the first one of this series, "The Puppet" or the one following "The Puppet", "Five Teens and Minor Adjustments" I highly recommend reading them first. This one doesn't make much sense without reading those. And I am NOT kidding about cutting the series after this story. I want reviews, just like if you are a author, you want reviews, which I am all to happy to give. Now! On with the disclaimer.
Disclaimer:
If I owned these Characters (aside from the ones you don't recognize) I probably wouldn't be writing these. If I owned these characters, you would probably see this story on the show. Hey! You know what? I am writing these and you don't see this story line on the show, therefore, I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS!!! If I owned some of these places too, I would be having the time of my life, living in a large house and not working. Well, lets see, I live in a modest home, and work for minimum wage. Meaning I DON'T OWN THESE PLACES EITHER!!! So don't sue me! Without further ado, the story:
"School is really starting to suck." Cathy complained to her friends Brian and Amy, during their lunch. "It is just this blah, day after day."
"You say that everyday. By now, you would think that school sucks, and not just starting to suck." Brian joked. Cathy laughed and threw a french fry at his face. As a defense Brian then threw a grape at her. Amy picked up some of her food to get in the fun, but they quickly stopped when a glare from a teacher told them not to throw food. The trio giggled at the prospect that they could have gotten in trouble.
"I mean it you guys. I am really getting sick of this. My teachers suck. I go home do my homework, then I have to train, or battle. And sometimes I have to work after all that, or even before that. I don't get this break that you guys do."
"Yeah. But what are you going to do about that? There's nothing you can do." Amy said.
"I don't know." Cathy said somberly. "I just can't wait until spring break. When is that?"
"Not for another two weeks." Amy sighed.
"Nooooooooooo." Cathy exclaimed.
"Well, at least you got your date with Josh this weekend. That isn't part of the everyday blah." Amy pointed out.
Cathy blushed and smiled shyly at the thought of her boyfriend Josh. "Yeah, true, but there is still school."
"Ok… Well, tomorrow to take the blah out of school, why don't we go someplace for lunch." Brian suggested. "I got my dad's car starting tonight for a week because he is gone for the week on some trip in New York."
Cathy thought for a minute. "Yeah. That sounds great. Maybe we could return late?"
"No!!!" Amy said. "Excuse me, but I happen to be a goody goody, and ditching fifth period would change that!" Cathy smiled. Her friends here were so different from her friends in Colorado.
"Ok. We will only use the hour for lunch. And we will be back in time for fifth period." Cathy glanced up at the clock, to see how long she had until she returned to class, when she remembered that she had forgotten something. "Fudge!!! I forgot to do my English homework!" Cathy reached into her backpack and took out her lit book, and began to diligently work until the bell rang, signaling she needed to get to class. Cursing because she didn't finish it, Cathy started to pack up her stuff.
"Cathy, Spanish study group tonight, can you come?" Amy asked.
"¿Por que no? [Why not?]" Cathy said back.
"Please Cathy, you are the best at Spanish, please I don't know what you are saying. What did you just say?" Amy pleaded.
"I said, why not. You are in my Spanish 3 class, we have a test tomorrow, and you are in trouble if you didn't understand a level 1 phrase."
"Hey, the only reason I got this far was because my previous teachers liked me and passed me because they liked me so much." Amy defended herself.
"What happened to the goody goody?"
"When it comes to Spanish, I killed her." Amy joked. Cathy, Brian and Amy, parted to their own classes.
Cathy's blah of a day didn't improve in her afternoon classes. Her ray of hope came at three when her last class ended. "Yes." She said to Nick, Sam, Brian, and Amy as they walked to Nick's car. "As much as I hate going home because it is just as blah as school, it is certainly nice for a change in atmosphere." Brian and Amy laughed, and Nick and Sam looked confused. "You had to be at lunch to understand it." Cathy clarified.
"Cathy, five at my house." Amy called after Cathy, as Cathy climbed out of the car.
"Huh? Oh yeah. The study group. I'll be there, unless something comes up like you know… or… like work." Cathy said, suddenly remembering that she had to help out at P3 that night. "I'll talk to Piper about getting out of work for that."
Cathy climbed up the steps to the manor. Her aunt Paige met her at the door, something Paige never did, unless there was something wrong. Cathy's annoyed face quickly turned to fear as she saw Paige. But Paige was smiling brightly.
"Aunt Paige, you're really starting to scare me. You are home early from work, and nothing appears to be wrong." Cathy said, stepping inside, and keeping her distance from Paige.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong. Except for the fact that I got promoted, and my boss said that I could be sent home early to celebrate today." Paige said, her smile growing.
Quickly, Cathy shared her aunt's enthusiasm. She screamed and gave Paige a tight hug. "What did you do?" She asked. Paige had gotten a promotion before, but there was a personal consequence from a spell, and graciously turned it down.
"I did my work. No magic!"
"Yeah!!! Good job!!!! No offense or anything, I want to celebrate with you, but I have so much work to do, there's homework, and training, and a Spanish study group, and I have to get out of work tonight, for the study group, and need to go do that." Cathy said, running up the stairs to drop off her bag. "Where's Piper?" She asked, returning downstairs.
"Already at P3, big band. Oh, I hate to burst your bubble, but she was really grateful that you worked tonight. She needed your help. She even begged for my help, but I turned her down. I have a date tonight."
"You do? Who?"
"Matt."
"As in…"
"Your whitelighter, yes."
"AHHHH!!! I'm so happy for you. I knew it was a matter of time. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get to the club. Can I borrow your car?"
"Yeah, sure, but fill the tank when you get home. Well actually, before you get home."
"Will do. Keys." Cathy asked Paige, holding out her hand.
Paige went to her purse and got out her keys. "Here. Later Cathy."
Cathy went running out the door, in her rush she didn't see the woman standing at the door, until she ran into her. "Oh sorry. Bye Aunt Paige!" Cathy excused herself as she ran out the door.
"Do Phoebe and Piper Halliwell still live here?" The woman asked Paige. There was something familiar about her, like they had met before, but Paige could not put her finger on where she had seen that woman before. She was shorter than Paige. Her shoulder length hair fell fairly straight. Where have I seen her before? Paige thought. A thought that would very likely bug her the rest of the evening. Just what I needed. A distraction while I'm on my date with Matt.
"Yeah, but they're not home right now. Is there something I can help you with?" Paige asked.
"Sure, do you know where I can find either one?"
"Piper is at P3, and Phoebe, is at… I think… oh yeah…. Checking out caterers, and asked not to be disturbed for anything."
"Ok, thanks, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Paige, you are…"
"An old friend. Thanks Paige." The woman turned and left. Paige looked for a car, but saw none. She was about to call out the bus number, but noticed the woman was gone. Paige shrugged her shoulders, and shut the door.
"Please Piper!!! I really need to study!!!" Cathy begged.
"But I really need your help here. Ever heard of Marbles?" Piper said. Cathy looked at Piper with her mouth hung open.
"They're playing here? Tonight?"
"Yes. That is why I need your help badly. If you work, you can stay and 'work' while they play, you would have to stay in the store room and do 'inventory' but you would at least hear them."
"I'll stay. I'm just going to," Cathy looked around the club for anyone, saw no one and continued in a hushed voice, "Blink home and get my homework."
Piper nodded, and smiled. She turned back to the club's books that were sitting at the bar, and Cathy blinked home. Neither saw the same woman from the manor earlier, standing in the shadows.
"Piper?" The woman asked, stepping out of the shadows.
"Sorry, we're closed now. No pre-entries for Marbles, by order of the manager." Piper said, without looking up from the books.
"Piper," The woman said again. Piper looked up, but not at the woman. The voice sounded so familiar. Piper closed her eyes. "Please tell me that this is not a dream, when I turn around, you better be there." Piper swiveled around. "Prue? Is that you?"
The woman nodded. Piper just stood up and went over and gave Prue a big hug. "How, how, how come you're here?" Piper asked, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm a gift from the elders, for vanquishing the source." Prue said, the tears also in her eyes.
"But we vanquished him months ago. Why did they send you so late?" Piper asked. The two still hadn't broken from their embrace.
"It took them a while to get their act together."
"I'm so glad you're here Prue. I've missed you so much."
"Me too, Pipe, me too."
"Piper, do I really have to do inventory while Marbles are playing, or can I do that now, and do my homework during Marbles?" Cathy said, blinking back to P3. "Oh sorry, I'm just going back to the office for now. Just call me when you need me Piper." Cathy said, walking to the back of the club.
"Ok thanks Cathy." Piper said distracted. Prue pushed Piper away, and looked at her with a confused look.
"It's a long story I don't want to get into."
Cathy poked her head out of the office and politely asked, "Piper, can I use the phone? I have to call Amy and tell her I can't make it to the group."
"Yeah sure. But not too long. One hour tops. Last time you used the phone you talked for two hours, and need I remind you that you ended up paying that bill."
"Thanks Piper." Cathy said pulling her head back into the office.
"And no long distance!!!" Piper called before Cathy had the chance to shut the door. Piper turned her attention back to her older sister. "How long have they allowed you for?"
"One week. Where's Phoebe?" Prue asked, excited to spend time with both her sisters.
"Some caterer's meeting. She didn't want to be distracted for anything. She even went as far as to have Cole hide her cell phone. Little does she know, but Cole cleverly has her phone. However, I don't think it will be wise to distract her. Her taste tests have been interrupted with demons so much that she don't call her for anything. Just to make sure we got the point, she added a 'Even if they resurrect Mom!' so Paige and I knew she was serous."
"Did you know that you babble when you are excited?" Prue joked. To her surprise, Piper just gave Prue another big hug.
In the office Cathy was slowly running up P3's phone bill. True, it was less than an hour, but still. "I'm sorry Amy…. Piper needs my help…. Right. I actually want to help her… Because she has Marbles playing tonight and if I help out now, she is letting me stay and do my homework in the office while Marbles is here…. I know!!!.... Thank you….Moving on. I've figured out what I'm going to do about the whole school being a blah thing…. I'm going skiing tomorrow…Well, it should be easy. I know for a fact that no one is using my parent's condo tomorrow, so I'll blink there, and ski. I can be back before three, and no one will notice that I had ditched….I really don't think that that will be a problem… One, I have a season pass, because when ever I want to, I can blink home and ski with my family. Two, my Colorado friends have this week as spring break… I know it is early!... So that is my cover up. I will just say that I go to ummm…East Denver High, that's where I used to go, tomorrow…. Don't worry. No one will find out…. Trust me. Hey, I can take passengers, want to come?... no, I haven't forgotten about you being a goody, goody…. Ok… Oh., please tell Brian that I still need a ride tomorrow even though I'm ditching…I have to throw them off some how… I'll just blink up there when we pick up Sam…thanks Amy… well, I'll see you at school on Thursday….yeah, bye." Cathy hung up the phone with her plan in place.
"Cathy, here is the inventory list. I meant to give it to you earlier, but I got distracted. As long as you get this done tonight, I don't care when you do it." Piper said, handing Cathy the list.
"Ok thanks Piper. Hey, who was that woman out there? I ran into her at the manor." Cathy asked.
"That is Prue."
Cathy looked confused. Prue? "As in…"
"Yes." Piper said. Other words were not needed.
"What is she doing down here?"
"She is the elder's reward for vanquishing the source."
"Wow. I wish they would give me rewards for anything."
"We've gotten two. You, the most powerful single witch have never gotten a reward, for anything?"
"No, they like the Charmed Ones better. You guys are a prophecy fulfilled. I was an accident."
"Oh. Would you like to meet her?" Piper asked, pointing to Prue.
"Sure." Cathy said. She got up from her chair behind the desk, and followed Piper out to Prue.
"Hey. This is Cathy. Cathy, this is Prue." Piper introduced.
"Hi. Is it all right that I be meeting her?" Prue asked, not sure if the family secret had been reviled to the teenager in front of her.
"Yeah it is fine." Piper said. "She is also a witch, actually the most powerful witch, second to only one, well technically three, but one unit, the Charmed Ones."
A familiar ring distracted the three. "Sorry, my cell." Cathy said excusing herself. She went to answer the phone, as Piper and Prue continued to talk. "Piper," Cathy said, interrupting the two, "Aunt Paige wants to know if she can borrow your black dress for her date tonight." Piper thought for a moment. That was the dress she had wanted to wear tonight. But knowing how important tonight was for Paige, even though she didn't know who her date was, she said ok.
"Who is Paige? I met her at the manor, and why is Cathy calling her Aunt Paige? Is there something I really don't know?"
"Oh boy. It is a really, really long story. The short and hard to follow version: Paige is our half sister. Product of Sam and Mom's affair. To keep the Charmed Ones, and to protect her, the put her up from adopted. After your funeral, we found all this out. Cathy is Paige's adopted brother's daughter, making Paige her aunt, but of no relation to us. Cathy and Paige live at the manor. Paige for obvious reasons, and Cathy because she wasn't getting along with her non-magical family."
"Wow, I've missed a lot."
"You tend to when you have been dead for six months."
Cathy at this point returned to the pair and both Piper and Prue were bursting with questions. Each one of different natures. Piper wanted to know who Paige's date was, and Prue wanted to know more about Cathy.
"Who…" Piper started, but at the same time, Prue had begun to talk to Cathy, too, so they both cut off.
"I'm here a week. You first Piper." Prue offered.
"Who is Paige's date? You seem to know. She wouldn't tell me."
"You'll never guess. Matt. Oh yeah, she also mentioned that they plan to stop by the club afterwards." Cathy said.
"Your whitelighter?"
"Yeah. What is it about Halliwells that make them so attracted to whitelighters and visa versa?" Cathy joked.
Piper laughed, for she herself was married to Leo, the Halliwell whitelighter. "I honestly don't know." The familiar ring of Cathy's cell phone was heard again. "Tell Paige, that she can borrow anything of mine. Ok?" Piper said, trying to get to talk to Prue without an interruption. They saw Cathy's face turned red when she answered her phone, and Piper just commented. "She'll be talking for a while. She only turns that red when it is Josh, her boyfriend. Tell me, how have you been?"
"Dead. When you're dead and the elders haven't given you a task, you just are. And so far, I have just been dead. There is talk of me becoming a guardian angel, but they are having a hard time placing me. The only places they can put me is anywhere outside of San Francisco and most of the witches needing guardian angels live in San Francisco." Piper looked at Prue with no idea what she was talking about.
"Real quick. How does a guardian angel differ from a whitelighter?" Piper asked, she knew that whitelighters were guardian angels.
"Honestly, I have no idea. But it sounded appealing after months of just being."
"PIPER!!!!" Leo called as he came down the stairs into the club. "I have got the greatest news!" Piper and Prue stood up when they called. Leo stopped dead in the tracks when he saw Prue standing there. "I see you've met the news." He went over and gave Prue a hug. "Hiya Prue."
"Hey Leo." Prue said, returning the hug.
"You haven't told Phoebe yet?" Piper asked cautiously.
"No, because that would mean disturbing her, with something other than the wedding, and she really made it clear that she didn't want that to happen." Leo said.
"Good Leo." Piper said, patting him on the head like a dog, as a joke. "You did the right thing. Prue, calm down, Phoebe will be here, with Cole, in lets see it is four now, so fifteen minutes. Don't worry."
"Piper!?!?! Are you here?" Paige's voice rang throughout the club. "Piper, I'm in some desperate need of help, and you heard what Phoebe said, and her thing is over, but she still doesn't have her cell phone. Oh my god. I'm so nervous about tonight that I'm babbling." Paige approached Piper, Prue and Leo. "I'm glad you found Piper," Paige told Prue, but to her, she didn't know who she was. "I'm a little short on cash, and you know how white, err guys, are about not bringing enough cash. Do you have like twenty I can borrow? I'd get my own, but my bank closes early on Wednesdays. Please?" Paige begged.
"I know who your date is." Piper taunted giving the cash to Paige.
"You do?!?! How!?!?!" Paige asked alarmed.
"I threatened Cathy with the prospect of not hearing Marbles for it." Piper said, obviously having fun with this bit of information.
"Well, I will have to speak to her about that, later. I have to go back to the manor now, and get ready for my date."
"Bye Paige!" Piper called to Paige. The amusement still hadn't left her voice.
"So that was Paige." Prue said. "Interesting character."
"She sure is."
"Cathy?" A male voice was heard throughout the club.
"What is it about people dropping by the club today?" Piper asked.
"I need cash." The voice said. It was Matt. He had walked right past the group to where Cathy was still talking on her cell. She signaled that she would only be a minute more and waved him off. Complying, Matt went over to talk to Piper and Leo. He had yet to see Prue.
"Hey." He said. He looked at the trio standing there. Matt's eyes did a double take when he saw Prue. "Ah…" He said to Prue, "This does explain why you said that you wouldn't be there for a week. I'm glad they let you come."
"Wait a second! You two know each other?!?!" Piper exclaimed, she looked over at her husband, who was looking at the ceiling, as he often did when he had information that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about. "You knew Leo?!?!"
"Yes." The three said at once.
"Matt was the one who helped me adjust to being dead. It is a lot different to being alive you know." Prue clarified. "And we have been friends ever since. So that is the Paige you have been obsessing over?" Prue taunted.
"Yes."
"How come you never told me you were living in the manor?" Prue accused.
"Right like how was I supposed to work into the conversation that my charge is the niece to your half sister, whom you don't know about, and we live in the manor because of her training and I have fallen in love with this half sister." Everyone grew silent. Cathy at this point had already hung up the phone, and had heard Matt yell this. Everyone was speechless. It was almost common knowledge that Paige and Matt liked each other, but no one took it seriously as love. Cathy was the first to make a noise. And it wasn't much of a noise at that. She squealed so high pitched, that if she went any higher, a dog could have mistaken it for a dog whistle. Matt turned blood red. "Cathy I need the cash now." Matt said quickly changing the subject.
"Yeah. Here you go, it isn't much because I have to buy gas. I knew you liked each other, but you love her? That is too cool!" Cathy said, beaming.
"Thank you. Now, if you guys would kindly not reveal to Paige all that stuff I said earlier, I would appreciate it. We will see you guys after the date here." Matt said, giving his last orders. He orbed out.
"I am going to start that inventory now." Cathy said, leaving for the office.
"Leo, you knew Matt knew Prue?" Piper accused.
"Yes, but I wasn't supposed to say anything."
"Ok."
"I've done it! I have finally found a caterer I like.' Phoebe's voice sang throughout P3.
"Phoebe!' Prue shouted. Phoebe stopped dead. Her back was turned to Prue, and couldn't see who had shouted her name. Phoebe very slowly turned around.
"It was you." Phoebe said, directly to Prue. She ran over and gave Prue a large hug. Prue just returned the hug. Tears flowed like a river from Phoebe's eyes. Prue looked like she was crying, but she had cried herself dry earlier with Piper. Phoebe then signaled for a group hug, and Piper and Leo got in the hug. They pulled apart. Tears now flowing from everyone's eyes but Leo's, but you could tell that his eyes were slightly misty. They talked. And talked. Prue had so much she needed to catch up on. It was at five when the band showed up to set up. Panic strict Piper's face. Prue, everyone knows she is dead, and she would think that more than one eyebrow would be raised. Lets just hope that none of them know Prue. Piper thought. But Prue noticed the problem as well. She quickly hid in the office, before the band noticed her. Quickly dealing with the band, Piper went casually to the office.
"Cathy, I need you to take Prue home. And I have got really bad news, you cant stay tonight." Piper said. Cathy looked at Piper with a look of pure hatred. Piper, knowing no matter how little Cathy liked the job, she would do it. "Thanks. How is your inventory going?"
"I'm done. The motivation of seeing Marbles mad me work faster here. I'm taking Paige's car back. Do you and Phoebe both have yours?"
"Umm… I don't think that Phoebe has hers because I think Cole just dropped her off, so why don't you give me Paige's keys and you two can blink home." Piper said her hand out stretched for the keys. Reluctantly, Cathy handed both the keys and the inventory.
"I'll see you tomorrow Piper." Cathy said. She took Prue's hand and the two blinked to the manor. Prue couldn't have closed her eyes before she knew what was happening. Orbing was short, but not as short as blinking. When you orbed you had time to think about what was happening, but Prue couldn't have blinked before she was at the manor.
"Wow! That is way faster than orbing." Prue said. She looked around the manor and couldn't help but thinking that it was good to be home. Not much had changed since she had died furniture wise. Obviously, they had to replace things as they got blown up, shattered, or caught fire during the regular demon attacks.
"Yeah, but it is a lot more tiring. I prefer to be orbed, than to blink my self someplace." Cathy said, collapsing into a large arm chair. She looked over at the old grandfather's clock and saw that it was barely five. "I can still make it to Amy's study group." She said, standing up, but collapsed as she remembered that she had no way of getting there. "But, I have no way of getting there without passing out."
Prue decided to seize the opportunity. This teenager had intrigued her since they bumped into each other only two hours before. If it was for a class that Prue knew something about, may be she could help her. "What class is the study group for?" Prue said, making a stab at it.
"Spanish, do you know any Spanish?" Cathy asked. She didn't need the group, Spanish was by far her easiest class. She hoped that Prue wouldn't know any, and that she could go sink into her room and plan her day tomorrow.
"Nope, I took French."
"Oh, well I'm going to go to my room and do my homework." Cathy went up to her room, slamming the door shut, and blaring her radio.
For the first time in months, Prue felt bored. She wasn't allowed out and Cathy was doing her homework. Not knowing what else to do, she began to poke around. Pictures of her and Phoebe and Piper were still on the mantle. Memories of when each one was taken over came her mind. One from Piper's wedding. The night P3 opened. Right before Grams died. She also recognized Piper's and Leo's wedding picture, sitting proudly on the mantle. But some of the other shots were new to her. There was one of Phoebe, Paige, and Piper. And from the way things looked, the most recent one was of Leo, Piper, Phoebe, Cole, Paige, Cathy and Matt. Everyone that lived in the manor. Prue shuddered at the idea of that many people living in her house. Growing up she thought that six was a lot. But she even thought that five was a lot after her dad left. After living with just her sisters, anything more than three was a lot. Now there were seven. She went upstairs, after she had poked around downstairs. She was about to turn into her old room, but the door being closed and frustrated cries from Paige told her that her room was now occupied. She smiled as she passed the familiar bedrooms of Piper and Phoebe. The attic was the only place left. Cautiously, she climbed the stairs. Prue's fondest and most horrible memories took place in the attic. The hours she and her sisters were up there pouring over the book, searching for the latest demon were countless. She walked over to the book. The pages were so familiar, yet so distant. "Find anything?" Prue jumped, she wasn't watching to see if anyone was following her.
"You scared me Cathy." Prue stated. Cathy mischievously smiled.
"Sorry, scaring people is an old habit of mine. What are you doing up here?"
"Reminiscing. And what are you doing up here? I thought you had homework." Prue said, she didn't know why, but she felt protective of Cathy.
"Ni. I really don't need the Spanish studying; I've been taking it since kindergarten, and I have no other homework. I just needed to let off some steam. I was really mad at Piper because she wouldn't let me watch Marbles. Sorry about blowing you off."
"Hey, I can definitely understand that feeling." Prue felt this was good. She wanted to talk to Cathy, and this was definitely a step in the right direction. "So, how long have you been living here?"
"Umm, two and a half months, I think. January, then February, and half of March, yes, two and a half months."
"Do you like it here?"
"It's ok. A lot warmer, and more humid, but it is nice."
"Where did you move from?"
"Colorado, what is this twenty questions."
"Prue's modified version, yes. Do you miss it?"
Cathy smiled. At times, Prue could be funny. "I never said that I would play. I guess I miss it. Especially on the weekends. We would go skiing and I really miss that."
"Too bad you're playing." Prue and Cathy talked. It was well past late when they heard voices from downstairs. Paige had already left for her date hours earlier, and now Leo, Phoebe, Cole, Matt and Paige were coming home from P3. Piper was still closing up. Cathy froze. She knew that she was supposed to be in bed hours ago. But sweat it, she didn't. Mischievously, she smiled, and blinked to her room so that no one would hear her coming down the stairs. Prue however had no such luck. Phoebe caught her coming down the stairs. Prue, who realized that she was tired, was then pulled to the living room to talk to everyone down there. Morning came like an unwanted house guest. People had kept Prue up all night talking, although she had no regrets about being up all night with her family again.
"Morning sleepy." Prue said brightly to Cathy, as Cathy stumbled into the kitchen, ready for the day. Or almost ready, she wasn't exactly awake.
Cathy grumbled, she did not want to get up, but the idea of going skiing that day pulled her out of her bed. It didn't matter how tired or sick Cathy was feeling that day, she was going to go skiing, she just hoped that she wouldn't get caught. "You were up all night, how come you are so perky? Please, tell me you secret oh master of the morning?"
"I learned how to make extra strength coffee. DO you want a glass?" Prue offered Cathy her cup of coffee.
"No, I don't like coffee. That is why there is always a small supply of Jolt or Mt. Dew in the fridge." Cathy said, pulling a Jolt out of the fridge. "Ahhh caffeine."
"Caffeine stunts your growth you know." Prue accused.
"Like you can talk." Cathy joked. A horn honked from outside. "Oh my ride! Bye everyone!!!" Cathy called her normal good bye, grabbed her Jolt, and ran out the door. "Bye Prue!" she called over her shoulder. "I am finally getting my break from school!!!" Cathy exclaimed to her friends as she slid into her seat.
"Are you sure you are going to do this?" Brian asked.
"Yep, I most certainly am! Are you sure you don't want to come? You still have time to change your minds."
"Very sure."
"Ok, well, tell Sam where I am!" Cathy smiled. "I'll meet you guys back here, well, inside the car, at 3:15. That gives you five minutes to get your asses in the car after school starts."
"Why your time?" Brian whined. "It's my car."
"Fine then, what time will you guys be driving by?" Cathy asked, going with their times.
"3:15, but it is the whole principle of the thing." Brian continued to rant.
"Ok, yeah, yeah. I'm off."
"See ya later." Nick said.
"3:15." Brian repeated.
"I can't believe you are missing the Spanish test to ski." Amy scolded. Cathy smiled and blinked out to her family's condo in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
The hours twiddled away. Cathy for the first time in a while felt free. Her adrenaline rushed, and she wasn't in any significant danger. It felt almost good to breathe the thin air. The wind, burned on her face as she easily outstripped the snowboarders and the more advanced skiers. She was born to ski. Cathy had tried to snowboard once, but she liked the idea of having each of her feet strapped to two different wooden planks better.
At the manor, Prue was having a good time. Since Phoebe, Cole, Leo, and Matt didn't really have jobs to go to, they were able to stick around and hang with her. They couldn't go out, but it was still a fun time. It was12:30 when everyone's plans for the day were abruptly stopped. Matt suddenly looked worried, and then angered. All eyes were on him. "That girl!" He exclaimed, more annoyed than ever.
Cathy decided to be bold and daring. She had done the terrain parks many times before. They were her favorite place to be. The free fall feeling as you come off a jump had no parallel. For some reason, she decided to do a different jump this time. It was higher than she was accustomed to. For a fleeting second, she felt scared. But that was all Matt needed.
"What?" Phoebe asked.
"She's ditching." Matt said.
"No! Cathy? Where?" Prue said astonished.
"She decided to go skiing. I'll be right back." Matt said, orbing to get her.
It was amazing. Gliding through the air like she was flying. "Shit!" Cathy cussed as she saw the familiar lights of Matt's orb in the trees just ahead of her. Knowing what was coming, Cathy landed, and trying to gain control, skied over to the trees. Matt had orbed to that spot before. Cathy had once come off the jump next to it off, and ended up breaking her arm. Cursing herself out, Cathy approached Matt. He looked at her with a disappointing look, and orbed them to the condo.
"What were you thinking?" Matt screamed.
"I don't know? Maybe that school sucks!" Cathy screamed back, taking off one boot. "Ahh…" she said. The ski boots were getting hot, and uncomfortable. Taking boots off at the end of a day is always a pleasure to Cathy.
"I'm going to tell your mother."
"I could say I was training. She falls for that every time. And I guess I was, I was learning to take fear better."
Matt wasn't smiling. "Hand me your pass." Cathy showed a face with disgust, but decided to oblige. "Get changed, and I'm orbing you home. And I do have to admit, you really planned this one. I'm going to give you the credit, and excuse you from school." Matt said, smiling at the almost flawless plan. Cathy smiled.
"I can not believe you did that! Why didn't you take me with you?" Phoebe accused. Leo looked at Phoebe with an accusing eye. "Sorry, I was always ditching classes, and I think that you pulled it off that well is really impressive."
"Hey, it was totly spill. There was no wait, no one to run over. It there was a fresh layer last night so there was six of champagne on the top of crust and some ok P.P, and I didn't yard sale." Everyone stared at her blankly. Skiing or snowboarding was not something that they did on a regular basis. Matt, however, did understand what she was saying. He watched her learn that lingo.
"Cath, I think they want a translation." He helped.
"Ok. It was awesome, I was able to ski right up to the lift, and on the more advanced runs there was no one pushing themselves, so only the good people were on them. It snowed last night. Six inches of the really light stuff, on top of the hard, crusty ice and packed powder. And I didn't do any really bad wipe outs causing me to lose my quippy." They understood her, until quippy. They had never heard such an odd word. This time Cathy caught the confusion. "Quippy, short for equipment, and gear. Like my poles or hat or glove or ski. Hey! I have even lost a boot, but that was because I forgot to buckle it." They shook their heads, this girl spent too much time thinking about skiing. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to call Brian on his cell, and tell them not to wait for me to get back to the car." Cathy left.
The rest of the week went by without a glitch. Cathy was grounded for two weeks, allowed out of her room only for demons, meals, and school. Paige was the most upset with her. If Cathy blew it too much, then she would be responsible. After a quick search through the Book of Shadows, she found a spell that kept Cathy from blinking. It was a small liability in case of an attack, the adults all knew the reversal spell. Paige and Matt had gone on two more dates, and although they couldn't see it, the others could see that it was likely to go somewhere. To everyone's displeasure, the time had come for Prue to go back up there.
"This time I get to say goodbye." Prue said, tears streamed down her face.
"Bye Prue." Cole said. He liked having her there, Prue had made Phoebe happier than she had been in months, but he still felt like Prue didn't trust him. Suddenly he felt Prue giving him a hug. "I trust you." She told him.
"There is a first for everything." Cathy said, giving her a hug good bye. They had become good friends. While the others were at P3, they would sit in Cathy's room and talk. They were allowed to do that.
"I'll watch over you." Prue whispered in her ear as they embraced. A smile spread across Cathy's face. It was nice to know that there was someone watching over her, but couldn't interfere.
"I just got to know you. I wish you could stay longer. It was nice seeing all of my big sister's together." Paige said. She was crying, she was getting to know her big sister, and now she would be gone again.
"Hey, you'll see me again someday, but hopefully not for another long years. It is not that I don't want to see you. I would give anything to see you again, but I don't want your last breath to be too soon." Prue said, her tears streaming harder.
All that was left were the people she grew up with. Matt and Leo saw her regularly, and had no need for the hard good byes. Phoebe was first. "I don't want you to go, you're my big sister. Screw the elders, and screw the rules. Stay. Please Prue, I need you." Phoebe said. She was crying as hard as Prue was.
"Pheebs, don't make this harder than this already is. I'm always there. Just look, and you don't need me anymore. Look at you, all grown up, getting married this year, Phoebe, I'm here don't worry." Prue couldn't help but think that those weren't comforting words. They weren't what she was thinking. She wanted to scream, "YES!!! I STAYING!!!" But her better judgment told her not to. Think positive, think positive, think positive. Prue tried to force herself to think about the good things about being up there. Lets see, I'm allowed to leave the house. It kinda got boring being stuck in the house all day. And umm… but I would give that up, in a split second to be with Piper and Phoebe any day. But up there I get to see Andy. We're together up there. But here I'm with my sisters. The good outweighed the bad, but she still knew she had to go. There was only one more person left. "Piper," Prue started.
"Prue, I think you know what I'm going to say. We need you down here. You can't leave us again. I don't think I'll handle that. It is just too hard. Prue, please, don't go!" Piper said.
"Piper, you can go on, I know you! You can, you were doing fine before I got here. You vanquished the source, you can do anything. And you've got a new baby coming," Prue froze, as did the whole room. She wasn't supposed to say anything about that, but it was too late. The words were out of her mouth. Matt hit his head with his hand.
"This is why they are hesitant to make you a guardian angel Prue." Matt said, still not believing that she revealed such secret information as the future.
"Ignore what I just said, Piper. I'm here. Don't forget that." Prue said, trying to recover from her slip up, but it didn't help. The damage was done. The grandfather clock struck twelve. She gave Piper and Phoebe hugs, as she slowly disappeared into up there. Mascara was running, and there were tear stained faces on all the girls.
"I better be getting back to my room. I have school tomorrow." Cathy said, bidding everyone a good night.
Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Paige all knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to see if Prue was right. Maybe Piper was pregnant. "Leo and I have been trying. It is kinda possible. I have a kit in my bathroom, incase, yeah." Piper said, knowing what everyone was thinking. As if they were pushing her, she ran up the stairs to the bathroom. The next ten minutes were painfully long for everyone outside the bathroom door. It was as if Piper was purposefully dragging it out. Finally the door opened. A broad grin spread across her face. Leo swept her up in his arms and gave her a long and passionate kiss.
Come on folks!!!! Now is the time to tell me what you think. I am seriously thinking about cutting the series here. If I don't get five reviews, I will know what you think about this series, and stop writing them. It is just five reviews.