The Essence of Sisterhood

Paige could not believe it. After all these years, Prue Halliwell, her eldest sister, was here, standing before her. She was so happy to finally meet her, but at the same time, Paige was confused and a bit worried about her current situation.

"Paige, what's wrong?" asked Prue, who could obviously see something was worrying her.

"Well …" said Paige, smiling weakly, "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, because I am, I really am. It's just … I don't understand what's going on. Why am I stuck in limbo, and why are you here?"

Prue sighed.

"OK, well, you are in limbo because of me," she said, "I felt your pain when you were hit by the darklighter arrow, and I felt your life slipping away. I knew it was not your destiny to die yet, so … I saved you."

"How?" asked Paige.

"Well, as soon as you entered limbo, I did too, and, because I'm already dead, this upset the natural balance, . Not completely, but enough to shield you from moving on."

"Really?" gasped Paige, surprised, "But what about the Angel of Death? I imagine he won't be too pleased."

"Well, not really," said Prue, "You see, the only soul affected by this upset is you. Don't worry, this actually happens quite often. It's what you would call a 'near death experience'."

"Oh …" said Paige, as she went to sit back down on the wicker chair. Prue grabbed another and sat in front of her.

"I know this is a lot to take in, Paige," she said, taking Paige's hand in hers, "but don't worry. As long as I am with you, you're safe."

Paige looked up at Prue, and smiled.

"You're just like Piper and Phoebe said you were."

"What did they say?" asked Prue.

"That you were an amazing sister."

Prue smiled warmly, and Paige thought she could see a small tear fall from her eye.

"There's something I still don't understand though," said Paige, as Prue wiped her face, "You've been dead for about five years now, and Piper, Phoebe and I have come close to dying several times over those years. Why is it only now that I've met you?"

"Well, it's not as if I chose not to see you," said Prue, "Because, believe me, if I had any choice in the matter, I would have come back the very first time Piper tried to reach me - the first few days after my death."

"Well, then, why?"

"Because … I wasn't allowed to," explained Prue, "You see, it was my destiny to die when Shax attacked all those years ago, so that Piper and Phoebe could meet you. You three were destined to do so many great things, and if I had appeared before you at any time during the last five years, you would have been distracted from your destiny. All those innocents you saved might have died, and all those evils you faced might have destroyed you."

"I understand," said Paige, "It's just … the others took your death so hard, especially Piper."

"Yeah, I know. It wasn't fair to her, having to take on the responsibility of oldest sister, and it was hard on everyone to accept a new sister after having just lost an old one."

"I remember when Piper turned into a Fury, not long after you had died," said Paige, "Leo orbed us to the mausoleum, to your resting place. We realised that Piper … was angry at you, because she felt you abandoned her, and she just broke down in tears."

"I know," sighed Prue, "It was so heartbreaking to watch."

"What do you mean?" asked Paige.

"I was beside her as she cried," explained Prue.

"But I thought you said …"

"I said that I could not appear before you," said Prue, "I didn't say that I wasn't there. Actually, the truth is that I have always been there, watching over all of you."

Paige was so touched by this, that she could not speak for several moments. Prue put her hand on her face.

"I have watched you all grow. I've seen Piper become a great mum and protector. I've seen Phoebe embrace her powers and share her natural gifts with others. And I've also seen you help both magical and non-magical beings and even master the ways of magic."

"Yeah, but I could never be as good as you were," said Paige, "I mean, you were the most powerful, the strongest and a great leader. You were a Superwitch."

Prue giggled.

"OK, look, I may have had my strengths, but you have yours too. I mean, I wasn't a whitelighter, so I couldn't orb. Also, you managed to conjure a dove once, and I never managed to do that. You had this completely different world that I never experienced."

Prue placed both her hands on Paige's face, and looked into her eyes.

"You are an amazing witch, and I am proud to call you my sister."

Paige's eyes began to fill up, and she laughed as the tears rolled down her face. Prue wiped them away.

"I have been there with you every step of the way, through the ups and the downs, the laughs and especially the tears."

"Yeah, a few of them have definitely been shed throughout the years," sighed Paige.

"Yeah, and I would have given anything to have been able to hold you when that happened," said Prue, frowning.

"So would have Piper and Phoebe."

Prue and Paige were silent for quite some time after that. Eventually, Paige spoke.

"So, you have really been with us all that time?"

"Yes," said Prue, and then she had a thought.

"I could show you."

Paige looked at Prue, confused.

"How?" she asked.

"Well, you and I both have memories of the last five years. By using my astral projection powers, we could actually go back in time to some of the times when I was beside you."

Paige rose to her feet.

"Really?"

"Absolutely, but only if you want to, of course," said Prue, also getting to her feet.

Paige bit her lip.

"But what about the others? They're still in Magic School, and they still think I'm dead."

"Don't worry," smiled Prue, "If I know the Elders, they'll figure out that you're not really dead very soon."

Paige stopped to think. She felt bad about the fact that she appeared to be dead to her family. Then again, Prue believed that the Elders would be able to figure it out. Also, this may be the only chance she would ever get to spend time with the sister she hardly knew.

"Um … well … oh, OK, let's do it," said Paige, grabbing Prue's hand.

"Great," said Prue, "Now hold on."

Prue closed her eyes, deep in thought. Paige closed her eyes too, and a few moments later, in a flash of pink and white, Prue and Paige had vanished.

Meanwhile, back in Magic School, the girls were sitting in silence beside Paige's body, too emotionally exhausted to speak or even move. All the Elders had orbed away, except for Sandra and an older male Elder, who were talking to each other.

Just then, a man with brown hair who was wearing a blue shirt, jeans and brown shoes walked through the entrance to the Grand Hall. Piper was the first to notice him.

"Leo…" she said softly, rising to her feet, swaying a bit as she did.

"Piper, I saw the door to Magic School," said Leo Wyatt, "What's going on?"

He then spotted Paige's body on the couch, and his face turned white, as Piper walked towards him.

"Oh no … what happened?"

"A couple of darklighters ambushed her …" whispered Piper, before she fell onto Leo's chest. Leo hugged his wife.

"I can't believe this is happening all over again," said Piper, "First Prue, now Paige …"

"I am so sorry, Piper," said Leo softly. As he looked on sadly at the girls surrounding Paige's body, he saw, in his peripheral vision, the two Elders in conversation.

"What are they doing here?" he asked.

"There was a group of them, trying to heal Paige," said Piper, looking in the opposite direction, head still against Leo's chest, "Then most of them left, but I don't know why those two are still here."

Leo looked at the Elders. There was something about the way they were looking at each other that attracted his attention.

"Where are the boys?" asked Piper.

"Hmm?" said Leo, distracted, "Oh, I dropped them off at the nursery."

Piper looked up at Leo, and then turned to see what he was looking at.

"Leo, what is it?"

"I'm not sure yet," replied Leo, "Would you mind if I talked to them for a moment?"

"Uh, sure, OK," said Piper, confused as she watched Leo walk towards the Elders, who were still in deep discussion.

"Excuse me?" said Leo, as he reached them.

"Leo," said the male Elder, "How are the girls?"

"As well as can be expected," sighed Leo, glancing back at them.

"And how are you?" asked Sandra.

"A little confused, actually."

"Yes, well, it's times like this when you see just how fragile life can be," sighed the male Elder.

"Yeah, Paige was an amazing person," said Leo, "But that's not all I'm confused about."

"Well, what else is there?" asked Sandra.

"You know what. Look, my time as an Elder may have been short, and I may not be a whitelighter any more, but I still know what that look in your eyes means."

"What are you talking about?" asked the male Elder, loud enough for Piper to hear. She began to walk over towards them.

"There's something else going on here, isn't there?" asked Leo, "If it's something to do with Paige, we have a right to know."

"Leo, what's going on?" asked Piper, as she reached them.

"Ask them," said Leo, motioning to the Elders. At the same time, Phoebe noticed what was happening.

"Billie," she said, tapping Billie on the arm, rising to her feet and walking towards the others. Billie looked over.

"Lauren," said Billie, tapping Lauren on the arm and following Phoebe. Lauren followed after them.

"Guys, what's going on?" asked Phoebe.

"The Elders seem to know something about Paige," said Piper.

"What do they know?" asked Billie.

"It's nothing really," said the male Elder.

"Now you know that's not true," said Sandra, "You felt it, I felt it, the others felt it. There's no denying it."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that Paige can be saved," replied the male Elder.

"But even if there is the smallest of chances …"

"OK, wait a minute," said Piper, "Did you say that Paige … can be saved? How is that possible?"

Sandra and the male Elder looked at each other. Sandra sighed as she turned back to the others.

"We didn't want to tell you, because we weren't sure if we could do anything about it," she said.

"We still have a right to know," said Phoebe, "Please."

"OK," sighed Sandra, "Well, sometimes, even if a person appears to be dead, an … essence can be felt from within them."

"An essence?" asked Lauren.

"Yes, almost like an inner battle for life. It's very common in those who appear to be suffering from near-death experiences."

"So, you're saying that Paige is having a near-death experience?" asked Phoebe.

"But, even if she was, surely you still should have been able to heal her?" said Leo.

"Usually, yes," said the male Elder, "Which is why we believe that this is no ordinary near-death experience. We believe that …"

The Elder paused for a moment, before he spoke again.

" … that something is protecting Paige, shielding her from moving on into the next life or coming back to this one."

The others were shocked by this statement. They had never heard of anything like this before.

"What is this 'something'?" asked Piper.

"We don't know," replied Sandra, "All we do know is that right now, Paige is probably trapped in limbo, but this entity is keeping her safe."

"Well … then this is good news, right? I mean, this means that Paige is safe, and she isn't dead!"

"Well, she isn't exactly alive either, Piper," said Phoebe.

"No, but this means that we could save Paige, right?" Piper asked the Elders.

"Perhaps, but first we would have to determine what it is that is protecting Paige," said Sandra.

"Then and only then can we possibly figure out a way to save her," said the male Elder, "We will report to the others, and let you know if we find out anything."

"Thank you," said Phoebe, as the two Elders orbed away.

"Wow …" said Billie.

"I know," said Phoebe.

"So, Paige will be alright?" asked Lauren.

"Hopefully," said Piper, with a small smile, "But first, we have to figure out; what could possibly be powerful enough to keep Paige in limbo?"

There was a sudden flash of pink and white, and then Prue and Paige had appeared in the attic of the Halliwell Manor. Paige looked out of one of the windows, and saw that it was dark outside.

"Oh my gosh, it worked," she gasped.

"Yes," said Prue, "Now look over there."

She pointed to a table in the centre of the attic. Paige looked and saw Piper sitting there. The legendary Book of Shadows, the Charmed Ones' spell book, was on the table, as well as a small cauldron, a candle and several different types of magical ingredients.

Paige then noticed that Piper was crying, as she flicked through the pages of the Book. Eventually, she stopped on a page and began to read the spell out loud.

"Powers of the witches rise
Course unseen across the skies
Come to us who call you near
Come to us and settle here."

She picked up some of the ingredients and placed them into the cauldron. She then picked up an atheme, and pricked her finger with it.

"Blood to blood, I summon thee
Blood to blood, return to me."

As she finished the spell, she put her hand over the cauldron and dropped a few drops of her blood into it. She then waited, and watched the candle, which flickered and swayed.

Nothing happened. Piper began to cry again, putting her hands over her face. Prue and Paige watched sadly on.

"Piper?"

Piper immediately lowered her hands.

"Prue?"

Prue and Paige turned to the open doorway. However, Prue did not enter the attic; Phoebe did, dressed in pyjamas and a zipper. Piper sighed sadly.

"Sweetie, it's four o' clock in the morning," said Phoebe, as she reached the table, "What are you doing?"

She looked at the table, and then at Piper's hand.

"You're bleeding," she said, grabbing a cloth from the table and dabbing Piper's finger.

"I don't understand why magic can't fix this," sobbed Piper, "Why it can't bring Prue back? It's not like we haven't cheated death before. I don't understand why this time is any different."

"Because Leo can't heal the dead, Piper, you know that," said Phoebe, clearing up the table.

"There's other magic, magic that we've used before: scrying, calling a lost witch, reversing time!"

Piper slammed the Book shut and rose to her feet, as Phoebe stopped clearing the table.

"It's like the Book just deserted us, and deserted Prue, and I don't understand why!"

"We lost our sister," Phoebe said sadly, "How can we ever understand that?"

The two sisters sobbed.

"We have tried every magical way to bring her back …," continued Phoebe, "but we can't. She's gone."

She then hugged Piper.

"I'm just … I'm so thankful I didn't lose you too."

Piper sobbed into Phoebe's shoulder. Phoebe kissed Piper's head as they separated.

"We have to get some rest," said Phoebe, "Prue will never forgive us if we look bad at her funeral."

Piper gave a smile and a sob. Phoebe stroked Piper's hair and then left the attic, Piper following. Prue and Paige then approached the table.

"Oh my gosh," sighed Paige.

"I know," said Prue, "I was in tears the first time."

Just then, the triquerta on the front cover of the Book began to glow. As Prue and Paige watched, the Book began to open all by itself and the pages turned until eventually it stopped on a page titled "To Call A Lost Witch".

"Hey, I remember that spell," said Paige.

"Yeah, you used it quite a lot," said Prue.

Paige looked at the page, and then to her sister.

"So, where, or when, are we?" she asked.

"We are five years in the past, in the early hours of the day of my funeral," said Prue.

Paige sighed deeply.

"And also," continued Prue, "the day when all of your lives changed … forever."