Unchanged Memories
This is my story about the unchanged future. It is the companion story for Forever Charmed, my other fanfic. The characters remain the same except that Prue and Andy are both Whitelighters instead of Prue being resurrected. These episodes are set up in story format as opposed to my other fic's script format. The only characters I claim ownership for are the OC's. Everything else is the property of someone else.
Chapter 1: The Birthday Party
"Chris! Chris, can you come downstairs please?"
The brown haired teen groaned as his mother called him from downstairs. It was his fourteenth birthday and so far it had been a downer. His brothers had wished him a happy birthday, that was true, but he still wished for the one thing he knew wouldn't happen: he wished his dad would attend his birthday, just once.
Christopher Perry Halliwell's other birthdays had been great, to say the least. He had always been surrounded by family and friends. There were always decorations, streamers, and at least one screaming child that had been fed too much sugar. The cakes his mother made were always spectacular, but he always went to bed that night, thinking about his father, who never seemed to have time for him… or any of them for that matter, except for Wyatt.
Chris always envied his brother. Their father always had time for him. Leo had never missed a celebration for Wyatt. It was always Chris that felt left out. Even the twins and William got more attention than he did. But in other ways, he did not miss his father. He hadn't been there when his Uncle Coop died under mysterious circumstances, and he hadn't been there when anyone else faced any hardship either. It was always Piper, Wyatt, and him that had comforted the mourners, and in almost every way, he was grateful for it. Because his dad wasn't around, Chris had gotten to know his aunts a lot better than would have been able too.
Chris made his way downstairs, and saw that his mother had set the table for the family – Wyatt, the twins, William, himself, and her. In the middle of the table sat a perfectly iced cake with the words 'Happy Birthday Chris' iced on top in a light blue. A broad smile appeared on his face as he saw the cake. He rushed downstairs and hugged his mother.
"Thanks mom," he said happily. Chris was always close to his mom. She was the only parent he had left. He pulled back and looked around. Then he looked at his mother. "Where is everybody else?" he asked.
Piper smiled slightly. "I told them to go get candles," she responded. "We're out."
He smiled understandingly. His mom was trying to make his birthday as normal as possible, which was a great thing. Normalcy had been a big thing with his mom. Even though she had more than once tried to bind their powers so that demons wouldn't attack, they would always wake up the following morning with full access to their powers.
Chris and Piper made their way to the table, waiting for his brothers, when demons and warlocks blinked or shimmered in. Piper screamed, "Chris, duck!"
He did as she had said, and ducked below the table as she began blowing up demons. From underneath the table, he tried to telekinetically toss demons away from his mother, which seemed to be a good plan until he felt something grab his leg and begin pulling him out from under the table. He turned around, shocked, and saw a demon pulling him. The demon had a wicked grin on its face. Panicking, Chris thrust his hand forward, and the demon went flying back.
As Chris threw back the demon, Piper kept blowing demons up, not hearing the sound of the dark orbs behind her. She gasped in pain as a knife was shoved through her chest. She collapsed to the floor, and as she did so, the demons and warlocks disappeared.
Chris saw his mother's body fall to the ground, and hurriedly crawled out from under the table. As he crawled, he swore that just before the person who stabbed his mother dark orbed out, he saw dark blonde hair. But then it was gone.
He ran to his mother, placing a hand over her wound, trying to heal her. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried and failed to heal her. "Don't die mom," he pleaded, "don't die."
Piper, trying to be brave for her son, had a restrained, calm look on her face. She placed a hand on Chris's head, stroking his hair out of his face. "Sweetie, I think it's too late for me," she said.
Chris shook his head vigorously. "No," he insisted, still crying. "I'll save you." Then he looked up at the ceiling and yelled, "Dad, Wyatt, and Paige, someone! Mom's hurt and needs to be healed!" He tried again, but no one came.
Piper's breathing became shallower as she tried to attract her son's attention. "Chris," she whispered. "I don't think they're coming." She looked into his green eyes. "Always remember that I love you and I'm proud of you." Piper took one last, shuddering breath, and then breathed her last.
Chris collapsed, sobbing, on the ground. His mother was dead. The only parent that he truly had was dead.
Behind him, he heard the sound of orbs, and Wyatt, William, Charlie, and Corey appeared. A gasp could be heard, and then four brothers ran up to their mother's body and their other brother.
Later that night, the house was crowded with people. Inspectors and family members were everywhere. Paige and Prue were sitting on the sofa with Chris and Phoebe. Chris was sobbing into his Aunt Phoebe's shoulder now. She knew just how sad he was, but she was trying to be brave for her nephews. William had the twins curled up next to him, and Wyatt was nowhere to be found.
And inspector walked up to Phoebe and said, "Ms. Halliwell, we're all done here for tonight. We might need to call back tomorrow for any questions we may have."
Phoebe nodded, and the inspector left. A flurry of orbs appeared, and a distraught Leo appeared in the room.
Leo looked to Phoebe and said, "Why didn't anybody call me?"
Chris looked up and through the anger and tears spat, "I did call you. Twice. You never listen though."
Leo glared at him. "Chris, I'm sure that if you'd called me I'd have heard," he insisted.
Chris sat up angrily. His father was trying to blame him for his mother's death, which was the perfect ground for an argument. "You never hear me when I call Leo," he stated coldly. "You only hear the calls of Wyatt and your Oh-So-Precious charges. You never hear me."
Leo looked at his son indignantly. "That's not true," he insisted. "I always hear the calls of my family."
Chris stood up and glared at his father, a cold fury rising. "Obvious I'm not family to you then," he whispered, and walked up the stairs to his bedroom.
Leo shook his head as his second son walked up the stairs. Then he turned to William, who was sitting in a chair. "What happened?" he asked his middle child.
William looked up at him and began to explain. "Mom sent Wyatt, Charlie, Corey, and I to the store to get some candles for Chris's cake, cause we were out. A minute or so after we'd paid for them, we were looking for a good place to orb when I felt a pain in my chest, like I was dying. I sat down, and Wyatt tried healing me, but nothing worked. Then I had a premonition of orbing home and mom being dead. Wyatt ran off for a minute to do something, I don't know what, but he came back soon and then we orbed home. When we got there, mom was dead, and Chris was by her, crying. I passed out or something, and then woke up a minute or two later."
Leo frowned and then looked over to Paige. "Did you hear him calling you?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "I never do," she responded. "No one knows why. He could be in the next room calling me and I wouldn't hear it."
"I'll bring this up with the other elders," Leo stated. "Maybe they can explain it."
Prue looked to Leo. Tears were in her eyes, but she seemed determined not to show them. "Leo," she said quietly. "I think maybe you should consider staying home with your children. They just lost their mother, and you're all they have left of their parents."
Leo shook his head sadly, and orbed out of the manor, presumably to up there.
A week later, they were at the funeral. It was the same church Prue had been buried at almost 17 years ago. She was a whitelighter now, and had glamoured herself to prevent any awkward situations.
The three sisters, the children, and most of the family were crying. Leo had even turned up in a suit, sitting with his children, albeit far from Chris. A few tears fell down his face as he hugged his youngest two children. Wyatt was the only one who didn't shed any tears.
Chris looked through his tears at the coffin, hoping that his mother might magically wake up, push off the lid, and be fine. But he knew this wouldn't happen. He leaned against Prue, tears streaming down his face. He could only imagine the thoughts running through her head.
She would think that a fourteen year old was too young to have this happen to him, especially since their father wasn't around. Wyatt would have to assume the role of big brother, and take care of his siblings. Of course, they would be living with the aunts for a while, but still, a 16 year old, a 14 year old, a 12 year old, and two 10 year olds would be difficult to manage. They would probably be split up between the families. Of course, most of them would see each other – except for Wyatt – because they were in magic school.
After the funeral, the children waited as Prue, Phoebe, Paige, and Leo thanked all of the guests attending. Chris looked at all of them, recognizing some of them, and knowing that the others were most likely old friends, or innocents that his mother had saved. Then he saw Wyatt in the back of the church, talking with a man dressed in a black suit, with a black shirt and a black tie. They seemed to be in an intense discussion.
Chris began to wonder who this man was when his grandfather cam up to him. "Chris, grab your brothers, I'm going to take you home so that you boys can grab some clothes. You'll be spending the night at your aunts' houses," said Victor Halliwell.
Chris nodded and got up. His grandfather was getting on in years, and he looked rather sickly, but they knew that he was tough, and that he would still be around for a few more years.
As they left, Chris saw the man in black slip around the corner, and fade out of sight. He still wondered who the man was, but left that thought for another day. He turned to William, who seemed to be muttering under his breath about something. When William noticed, however, he stopped, and walked in silence.