Ghost of The Past
A/N: I'm back! So, I haven't updated any of my other stories yet but no fear! Soon, I promise! Now, this here is kind of like a little gift for the New Year! Just a short one-shot that was inspired by a certain someone. so enjoy this and come and read my other fics. On we go!
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"There are a lot of things you can do to this bedroom."
Paige gasped and nearly fell over as she twirled around but it wasn't the twirling that stunned her. Paige Matthews considered herself to be a very prepared person. There was nothing she didn't expect and there was nothing that surprised her after everything she had gone through in life. Or so she thought.
Her mouth hung open as she stared intently into the brown eyes of the deceased Prue Halliwell or if she wasn't deceased, then at Prue's twin. Either that or she was staring at a ghost.
But what stunned her more was how beautiful Prue was in person than in the pictures she had seen scattered around the Manor.
Her hair, a blackish brown, was silky and it rested just below her shoulder. Her fringes fell into her brown eyes with such elegance and grace that Paige was sure she could never achieve. Though Prue was wearing what they had dressed her into for the funeral, a turtle neck, slacks and boots which were all black, Prue looked like an executive manger for a highly commended fashion house.
Totally taken aback and without even noticing, Paige took a seat on the bed. "You're…you're…"
"Dead?" Prue said, crossing her arm. "I've noticed."
"But-but….how?"
Prue shrugged. "I am neither here nor there. I'm just…nowhere."
Paige frowned.
Prue laughed bitterly. "It's something only the dead understand." She quickly glanced around her old room which had now been given to Paige.
Paige swallowed guiltily.
Prue sighed and returned her attention to Paige. "I don't mind. I mean, about you taking my room."
"I…"
"Don't feel like you're filling in my shoes, Paige." Prue said sympathetically. "You're not supposed to be."
"But I feel like I have to!" Paige blurted.
"Exactly. You feel." Prue smiled. "But you don't have to."
"Piper and Phoebe seem to expect me to…" Paige trailed off.
Prue nodded to show she understood. "It's hard for them. Hell, it's hard for me but it's all a matter of accepting."
Paige sniffed. "Does it suck being dead?"
Prue shuffled her feet like a little girl being asked to confess a secret. "There are times… Once you're dead, you're dead. That's when everything hits you. Everything becomes crystal clear when you're dead." Prue raised her head. "I'm never going to be able to have a family, I'm never going to be able to hang out with my sisters anymore." Prue looked thoughtful. "I never took those chances when I was alive. It's like a lesson."
"A lesson the hard way." Paige added quietly.
Prue nodded glumly. "My death is my own." Prue offered her a smile.
"You always knew." Paige suddenly piped with realization. "You knew…"
"That I was meant to die?" Paige nodded.
Yes but I never knew when." Prue laughed again. "I was expecting it and yet, it was still unexpected. The so called 'expecting the unexpected'."
Paige stared at Prue carefully. "You never wanted to die."
"No one ever wants to die." Prue said truthfully. "But it was my fate to die." She said unconvincingly.
Paige shook her head. "That is the world's greatest lie."
"What is?"
"That at a certain point in our lives, we loose complete control of life, and that instead, fate controls it."
Prue smiled at Paige. "You're smarter than I thought." Prue inhaled deeply. "We control how our lives are, how it's supposed to be and how it's meant to end. Fate…Everyone needs someone to blame when their lives go wrong and they blame fate when in turn, the only person to blame is themselves. Fate is nothing more than an escape from reality."
Paige looked at her sister with respect. "I thought I was the only one who knew that." She joked.
"Death shows you a lot of things." Prue replied distantly.
Paige was silent for awhile, allowing herself to take in the words. Then she said what had been in her mind for a long time. "You could have changed everything. You could have saved yourself. You didn't have to save the doctor."
Prue smiled at Paige. "There are some things in life that are worth sacrificing for and one of those things is you."
Paige suddenly felt her heart swell as emotions flooded into her. Never had she felt pain and happiness at the same time; Pain with the fact that Prue had sacrificed herself for her family and innocents and happiness that she had finally accepted Paige into the family. It was so intense that it made her wince slightly.
Prue's smile then slipped. "Take care of them for me, Piper and Phoebe."
"Of course." Paige managed to utter.
"And Paige, don't worry." Prue said. "Piper may seem a little cold but it doesn't mean she doesn't love you. She's just…adjusting."
"How do you-" Paige was about to ask but Prue cut her off.
"When you're dead," Prue answered. "You know everything." She turned her back to her but stopped when Paige called out to her.
"Are you going?" Paige asked frantically. "Please don't go!"
Prue kept her back to her younger sister. "I was never gone."
Paige blinked and in that second of her eyes closing, Prue disappeared.
All Paige could do now was stare at the spot where her eldest sister had been standing. She felt a sudden hollowness in her heart but for some weird reason, she felt closure and she also felt something else. She felt a connection with Prue.
Paige looked around the room then said quietly as tears filled her eyes, "You would never leave us…"
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A/N: Whadya think?? Tell me why don't you. Review please! So I'll be back next time with an update to one of my other fics. Hoped you liked this!
Ciao!
