Chapter Eight

After school with Aurora in Anya's arms and Wyatt holding hands between Paige and Piper, they walk out to the parking lot. "Well, why don't we take the kids to the park or something," Piper suggests.

"Ok," Anya replies.

Aurora and Wyatt sit together with ice cream on the bridge of the playground between connecting wooden jungle gyms. Piper, Paige and Anya are sitting at a table near by. "I can't even believe it. I take him out of magic school to attempt to give him a relatively normal life and the first friend he finds is supernatural," Piper says.

"Actually, I'm relieved," Anya replies.

"And what is she again?" Paige asks.

"She's a slayer. Or potential or something..." Anya answers. This declaration is mixed with both pride and frustration. She is happy her own daughter, after all she herself has done, is called to fight the forces of darkness; however, she doesn't want her baby to go through what Buffy has gone through.

"It's weird. I mean, we've heard of the slayer and we've heard rumors of potentials and such, but never actually knew it was true," Paige responds. "We shouldn't be surprised by this stuff anymore," Piper adds.

"How long have you known?" Paige asks. "Well," Anya begins, "We found out a few months ago. My husband has worked with Buffy, the Slayer. When they began looking for other potential slayers, Willow-"

"That's the witch from Sunnydale who went kinda crazy, right," Paige interrupts.

"Yeah, Aurora's 'Aunt.' Her and my husband have known each other since they were kids. Anyway, when Willow tried a spell to locate more potentials, Aurora was found. I didn't even think Slayers could be called to even be potentials, that is to start training to possibly take over, until they were teenagers. Aurora was not even two at the time. Then, shortly thereafter she started showing some interesting signs. Her strength, to start with."

"Her intelligence?" Paige questions. "I mean, for being so young, she is smart. I heard her talking to you and can't believe she is only two." Anya laughs, "Yeah, I don't really know what sort of magic is going on there. Definitely didn't get that from me."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Seven near the Series Ends...

Chapter Nine

"Here, Sweetie." Anya hands Aurora her favorite brand of chocolate milk to put in her backpack as they walk through the pre-school doors. "Hi!" They hear Wyatt yell from down the hall.

"I think my nephew has a thing for your daughter." Paige and Anya laugh as the toddlers hug. Anya crouches down and kisses Aurora. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Aurora smiles and kisses Anya. Together, Wyatt and Aurora walk into the classroom and put their backpacks in the same cubbie.

"I'm so glad she made a friend," Anya begins. "She is generally so shy and I can't pry her off of my leg."

"I think Wyatt feels the same way. It was beyond bizarre to fall into the magical realm in my 20's. I can only imagine what it feels like to grow up around it."

"They probably will never know any different," Anya pauses. "Still not so sure how I feel about that."

Chapter Ten

Paige wakes up early the next morning. She rolls out of bed with much more gusto than usual and begins to search for clothes. It's always great to find someone in the mortal world who understands magic.

"Piper, are the boys almost ready?" Paige hears Phoebe yell from the hallway. "I need to get to work early."

Paige meets Phoebe in the hall. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just have to get to an editing meeting," Phoebe replies waiting by the bathroom door.

"Any chance a certain guy might be there?" Paige asks cheekily. "Maybe." Phoebe responds smiling.

Piper opens the bathroom door, Chris in her arms and Wyatt holding her hand. "We decided that brushing our teeth became an art form and that tooth paste belonged on the cabinets," Piper says sarcastically.

"Wyatt! You little trouble-maker," Paige says kneeling down to her nephew. "Do you want me to take them in? I actually want to talk to Aurora's mom a little more. I think it's so..."

Piper interrupts, "I agree, they are super nice people, but I don't want the kids to keep using powers together. How are we going to teach them that they can be magical little friends, but need to use their powers for business in fighting evil only? Preferably not in front of anyone."

"Calm down, Mom," Paige responds. "We will work something out."

Wyatt is already half way down the stairs as Piper and Paige follow behind. "Leo?" Piper yells out. "Can you find the boys' shoes? We're running a little behind."

Leo is already standing at the bottom of the stairs with two tiny pairs of shoes in his hands. "Already on it. What took you guys so long?"

"Your son decided to do some artwork on the bathroom walls," Piper replies smiling and rolling her eyes.

As Piper takes Chris' shoes and Leo helps Wyatt, Leo looks up to Paige as she grabs the boys' bags and says, "Paige, did the elders contact you yet?"

"What about?"

"I don't know, but apparently they need something. I'm not allowed to know these things anymore. Maybe a charge?"

"I'll get to them later."

Paige helps Wyatt with his backpack and takes his hand. "I'll orb him in, make sure he knows not to use magic and make sure he eats his broccoli and makes good choices."

"Cute." Piper responds unenthusiastically.

Chapter Eleven

Paige sits at the kitchen table, rubbing her temples and sighing.

"Are you ok?" Piper asks.

"There's that ringing again. It's the elders."

Leo chimes in, "Paige, that's usually a charge. Have you tried to follow it yet? I told you they have been asking for you."

"No, I thought we were ignoring the elders."

"A charge isn't the elders. Someone may need you. Maybe you should follow it."

Paige looks up, annoyed. "I don't know if I can handle anything else at the moment."

"Go," Piper begins, "We got things here. Go see if you have a new charge. Really. It could help you take your mind off of things."

Paige takes a deep breath and orbs out of the kitchen.

When she materializes, she is standing in a dark cemetery. It's hot with a warm night breeze beginning to blow. "Where the hell...?" She looks around. "Ok, there is no one here! Why did you send me here!?" She looks up to the sky, yelling to the elders. She gets no response.

Paige begins to walk and look at tombstone names. Nothing is making sense or ringing any bells. She is definitely no longer in San Francisco. It's too hot to be Northern California. The cemetery is eerily quiet. "I guess that's a good thing," Paige whispers to herself under her breath. Suddenly, she hears a car passing rapidly through the cemetery and crouches down behind a tombstone. As the car drives past, she hears the radio announcer mention, "... here in Sunnydale, California!"

"Sunnydale?" She says to herself. "Wyatt's pre-school?" Just as she thinks of her nephew, she hears a noise coming from behind one of the crypts. She stays low and follows the sound, hoping it is coming from something human and not demonic. As she approaches the end of the crypt, she hears crying... definitely human. Young human... "Hello?" Paige whispers. The crying stops and she hears a gasp.

"No, it's ok!" She walks around the corner and sees a tiny figure in the light. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's what all vampires say."

"I'm not a...wait? Vampire?"

"Leave me alone, please."

"I'm here to help." The figure proceeds to stand up. It's definitely a child. A little one at that.

"Why are you out here alone, Sweetie? Shouldn't you be with a grown-up?"

"Not right now."

"What is your name?"

After a long pause, Paige walks a little to the child, cautious that she isn't being deceived by something or someone demonic.

The child takes a deep breath and sniffles one more time, "I'm Aurora."

Paige finally sees the girl's face in the light. "Aurora? Aurora! You're in Wyatt's class, right? I'm Wyatt's Aunt, Paige. Do you remember me?"

Aurora nods. "Why are you here?"

"Well, did you... I don't... You're not a witch, right?"

"No."

"Then, I don't know why I'm here either." Paige sees the tears on the girl's face and adds, "How about I sit with you?" Paige sits on the stoop of the crypt. Aurora remains standing, slightly suspicious, slightly annoyed that someone interrupted her runaway.

"Why are you out here alone? Where is your mom? Or your dad? Anyone that should be keeping an eye on you?" Aurora remains silent.

"Are you hurt? Or lost? Or did some...?"

"No!" Aurora finally responds firmly.

The two remain in the cemetery in silence. Aurora finally gets tired and sits down beside Paige, leaving just enough distance between them to express her frustration. Aurora begins to cry again just as Paige's temples start to flare with pain.

"Guide her wisely." Paige hears a voice in the back of her head.

"What?" Paige says aloud, startling the toddler next to her.

Ignoring the terrifying question looming in her head for a moment, she slides over and sits next to Aurora. "Please, talk to me," Paige says, putting her arm around the girl. Just as she asks to help the child, the throbbing in her temples disappears.

The two sit in silence for a moment. Paige contemplating what is happening with the elders and Aurora sniffling, finally falling into Paige embrace. Aurora takes a deep breath. "Daddy is hurt. Bad. I'm scared. I don't want to be a slayer anymore."

After sitting with Aurora for awhile, Paige returns to the manor after orbing Aurora to Buffy's house; surprisingly, directly into the room she sneaked out of without notice.

"Leo!"

"Did you meet her? Did you get a charge?" Leo asks as he and Piper come running into the kitchen at Paige's blunt request.

"Her? How do you know its a her?" Piper asks her husband.

"I have the same question and then some," Paige says.

"When I got assigned to be your charge, the elders told me you had a charge coming along, a young girl. That's all I heard, honestly."

"Well, did they mention how young?! This kid is Wyatt's age!"

"What?!" Piper asks.

"Yeah, even in his class. I orbed all the way to Sunnydale! It's the little girl we met, the slayer? His little magical friend! Ringing any bells, Leo?!"

"Aurora?"

"Yeah, I found her crying in a cemetery, alone. On top of that, she isn't a witch. Is she?" Paige and Piper both look to Leo.

"Well," Leo begins, "occasionally whitelighters are called to guide certain other beings with great powers and destinies."

"What does that mean? I'm not good enough to be called to guide another witch?"

"No, actually quite the opposite. The elders only assign special cases to special whitelighters."

"Oh," Paige says relieved with a smile.

"Why so young?" Piper adds.

"I'm not sure. Did you talk to her parents at all?"

"No, she was pretty frazzled. I didn't want to push. I didn't even tell her I'm her whitelighter. As far as I know, no one even knew she was out. Her father is in the hospital. She said he's hurt pretty bad. Something with his eye..."

"What are you going to do?" Piper asks.

"Well, help her. Somehow. I don't know. I'm not sure exactly what that entails," she takes a deep breath. "That'll be a problem for future Paige. Now, I need to get some sleep."

Sadly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Seven has come to an end...

Anya is dead. After helping to save Sunnydale and losing Anya, Xander decided to help Buffy round up slayers in Europe. Knowing it was still dangerous for Aurora, he decided to leave her for what he thought would be a few days in capable hands.

Chapter Twelve

"Leo, I need to talk to you," Paige says entering the kitchen.

"Sure," Leo replies. Paige looks around, "Anyone here?"

"No, Piper ran into the club and the boys are asleep."

"Ok, you broke the rules by marrying your charge, right?" Paige asks bluntly. "Yeah?" Leo replies confused. "Well, after everything that has happened, I can't stand to see Aurora in the pain she's in. I orb down to her several times a day and I know she's in good hands, but she's not even in a family... she's just living at that Law Firm, switching offices for attention. And she's not just my charge, she's a child. And I fell in love with this kid, in a different way than you and your charge, of course, but..."

"You want to do something more for her?" Leo concludes...

"Yeah... I was actually thinking of maybe... becoming more than just her whitelighter. I mean after being adopted myself..."

"You want to adopt Aurora?!"

"Or something," Paige replies coy. "I know it may sound crazy, but I just have this inner presence, or urge, or something... She lost the only family she knows. Her and Wyatt are already close. Maybe just foster her or something until. She is just so...," Paige pauses. "What do you think the elders would do?"

"You already know my opinion on what they think. I mean, yeah, it could make being her whitelighter a little more difficult, especially if you become more like a parental figure. Look at what happened to you girls after I joined the family."

"Hey!" Paige interrupts. She begins to think. "What if I can just stay that "cool auntie" figure?"

Leo laughs. "Have you talked to your sisters yet?"

"No, I'm still not sure. I was also debating whether or not I should talk to her about it. I mean, she is young, but she is very aware of what's going on. It wouldn't be forever either. Her father is still alive, currently M.I.A. chasing others slayers for the greater good. And wouldn't stability be able to help her do her job better anyway? Something I should care about as her whitelighter."

Leo shrugs, "Probably."

Paige smiles. "You know what..." Paige smiles and walks toward the door.

"You've got my support," Leo smiles as Paige looks back. "It could be fun having a little girl around."

Chapter Thirteen

Paige orbs out of the Prescott Street Manor in San Francisco and into the 17th floor of the Wolfram and Hart Law Offices in Los Angeles. Aurora has a tiny room across from Angel's where she is temporarily living. Xander is missing and no one has been able to find or contact him.

"Aurora?" Paige knocks on the door. "Paige!" Aurora responds through the door with excitement. Paige opens the door and Aurora runs into her arms. "Hey Sweetie! What have you been up to today?"

"I don't know. Everyone is busy working. No one wants to play with me so I came up to color. I'm really bored," Aurora responds in one quick breath. Although missing her mother, Paige thinks Aurora is doing exceptionally well under the circumstances.

"How about you come spend the day with me? I wanna talk to you about something." Paige asks with Aurora still in her arms. "Ok!" Aurora smiles. Paige pulls the toddler a little closer and the two orb out of the building.

Aurora is now temporarily living with the Halliwells.

Chapter Fourteen

Aurora tries to keep everything together as the tears well in her eyes. She makes it to the bathroom without anyone seeing, shuts the door, slinks down into a corner and begins to sob. She can't take it anymore.

"Paige." She musters up the strength to say as she wipes a tear off her face. "Paige?" She repeats a little louder.

Within seconds, brilliant blue lights begin to swirl in front of her and Paige appears. "Sweetie, what's wrong? What happened?" Paige crouches down to cuddle Aurora. Aurora can barely find the strength to hug back. "It's ok. It's ok." Paige suddenly realizes they are in the bathroom of the pre-school, the doors of which are not very thick.

In a shining swirl of light, Paige cradles Aurora home to the manor and sits her on the couch. Aurora is still in tears. "Ok, baby, can you tell me what's wrong?"

Aurora tries to take a deep breath as she explains. "I keep hearing and see.." Aurora pauses and collapses in tears on Paige's lap. "I can't... I saw..."

Chapter Fifteen

Aurora walks down Prescot Street, hand-in-hand with Paige. San Francisco is much different than Los Angeles, and Sunnydale for that matter. Aurora is not at all a fan of cold weather. Today, some sort of construction is going on down the street so Paige had to park a little further from the manor than normal. Wyatt is away at a friend's house today so it is just Aurora coming back from school. A little tired and in a bit of a daze, Aurora hears Paige say, "I wonder who that is on the front porch?"

Aurora looks up to see a woman waiting on the front porch. She has dirty blonde hair, wearing jeans and a dressy black top. Aurora recognizes the face, but can't seem to put it together with a name. As they get closer, Aurora gets nervous. She doesn't know or understand why, but something doesn't feel right about this woman. She holds Paige's hand a littler tighter.

They walk up the stairs to the front door of the manor as Paige pipes up, "Hi! Who are you looking for?" After yelling, she realizes she didn't even stop to consider if the woman could have been a demon or not. Getting a little nervous, Paige reciprocates a tighter grip on Aurora's hand, ready to orb her somewhere safe if necessary.

"I know you!" Aurora yells out of the quiet.

The woman turned around, looking slightly confused. Then, a wave a realization hit her and revealed upon her face. "You're Xander and Anya's little girl."

Paige, looking slightly confused, but trying to stay polite as she realizes this could be an ally, interjects with a handshake and a, "Hi, I'm Paige."

"Amy?" Aurora tries to recall the name.

"Yeah."

"Is my daddy in trouble? And, where's Aunt Willow?" Aurora begins to fire off questions about her Sunnydale family.

Paige interrupts, seeing the flustered look on Amy's face, "Let's go talk about this inside."

Paige opens the door and leads Aurora in. Still hand-in-hand with Paige, she doesn't take her eyes off of Amy. "What happened?" Aurora repeats. Paige picks Aurora up and says, "How about we stop interrogating her and see what she wants." Paige leads Amy into the conservatory, Aurora's hazel eyes still glaring. "Is daddy ok?"

"He's fine. I haven't heard any bad news," Amy finally begins. "Actually," addressing Paige, "I didn't even know Xander's kid was here. I actually came looking for you and your sisters."

"Amy is a witch, too!" Aurora adds.

"Aurora, sweetie, why don't you go upstairs and play with your dolls?" Paige says, attempting to take the toddler out of the conversation. Aurora takes her eyes off Amy for the first time. "No, Paige. Please. I need to know what is going on. My daddy..."

"It's ok, Aurora, he's fine." Amy interrupts. "It's ok, Paige. She can stay. Look, Aurora, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. And I know the last time you saw me, Willow probably told you some things about me. I'm not here about any of that."

"What were you looking for us for?" Paige asks.

"Well, none of Buffy's little pack has come up to San Francisco and we have a bit of a vampire issue in town. And from what I hear, it's one Buffy has dealt with in this past. And I'm not quite so sure they'd want to hear from me."

"Why wouldn't they want to hear from you? If there's vampire trouble, isn't that their job?" Paige asks puzzled.

"Yes and no. I made some mistakes and the last time I saw Willow, it didn't end well. That's why I think..." Amy pauses and points discreetly at Aurora.

"Aunt Willow said you did something bad."

"I know. And I'm sorry. I'm trying to help, Aurora. Honestly." Amy replies, looking Aurora in the eye.

Aurora takes a deep breath. "And you're sure Daddy is ok? Where is he?"

"Yes. The last I heard, all was fine. He is helping Buffy set up teams of slayers at every hot spot in the world, apparently," Amy responds.

"But you haven't actually talked to them, you said," Paige asks.

"No, but I've been keeping tabs through mutual allies, I'm not quite sure you could call them friends. They're people Willow and I knew from U.C. Sunnydale."

Jumping to the danger, Paige asks, "So what vampire trouble is there? We haven't heard anything. And how did you know to come to us?"

"You're the Charmed Ones. These vampires are powerful and since Buffy's gang hasn't made it up here, I knew I needed to tell someone who could handle themselves," Amy responds.

As Paige puts Aurora down on the floor, she asks, "And you said Buffy had dealt with these vampires before? Why are they even still alive?" Aurora stays close to Paige, still uneasy. Amy looks to Aurora and then to Paige, as if to gesture she didn't want Aurora to hear. "Aurora, Sweetie, let's go upstairs. I think Phoebe is up there. I'm sure she'll play dolls with you. PHEEBS!"

Phoebe comes down the stairs, "What? It's my day off. Why can't monsters understand that?" As she finishes her sentence, she realizes they have company. "I mean, my boss, what a monster!"

"It's ok," Paige says with a gesture to Amy. "Can you play with Aurora for a little awhile?"

Aurora looks quickly from Amy to Paige. "Paige, it's ok. I'm a slayer, too!" Aurora says with a slight nagging sound in her high-pitched voice.

Phoebe walks over to Aurora, picks her up and holds her on her hip. "Yes, you are. But, like Wyatt, you're so little. And we want to keep it that way. And we want to keep you safe so you can fight monsters when you're older. Right now, you get to come play dolls with me." Phoebe says giving the toddler a big squeeze. Phoebe takes Aurora up the stairs so Paige and Amy can talk. From Phoebe's hip, Aurora glares at Amy as Phoebe carries her up the stairs.

"She's feisty. Turning into her mother," Amy says with a smile.

"Yeah, she gets especially puffed up when it involves her dad, Willow or Buffy," Paige answers.

"So, how did you get her?" Amy asks.

"It's a long story. I'll explain later. So where are these vampires?" Paige asks.

"They are in an old warehouse downtown."

"And Buffy's dealt with them before?"

"Yeah, which is another reason I thought going to them would be difficult. Spike... uhm... Well... Buffy... " Amy takes a deep breath, "Have you ever heard of a vampire named Drusilla?"

Amy follows Paige up the stairs to the attic. Opening the attic door, Paige says, "It really doesn't ring a bell. I mean, I was turned into a vampire once, but never met anyone named Drusilla. We've come across a few nests, but none like you're describing."

As they make their way over to the Book of Shadows, Phoebe enters the attic. "Hey! So what's up?"

"Where's Aurora?" Paige asks.

"She fell asleep in Wyatt's room."

"Ok. Amy would you like to explain?" Suddenly remembering they never met, "Oh yeah, sorry. Amy, this is my sister, Phoebe. Phoebe, this is Amy. She knows Buffy's gang and came with some vampire problems."

"Hi," Amy begins. "There is a vampire downtown who is 'collecting,' for lack of a better word, other vampires and I think they are going to try something nasty. Heading the campaign is a nutcase of a vampire named Drusilla. She was driven insane right before she became a vampire. She's extremely unpredictable."

"Aurora knows her?" Phoebe asks.

"I'm not sure how much she knows," Amy pauses. "See, Spike..."

"The hot blonde vampire?" Phoebe asks.

"Yes, that one. He dated Drusilla for over a century. I have a feeling if I call Buffy and the gang, Spike, well... I don't know what he'd do. If anything. They basically broke apart because of Spike and Buffy."

"I thought Buffy and Angel were a thing, the way Angel made it sound," Paige adds.

"Well, apparently she had a thing with both of them," Amy responds.

"I guess I'm not the only one who falls for demons," Phoebe chimes in.

"We'll do some research and check it out. See what we can do. Where did you say they were again?" Paige asks.

Chapter Sixteen

Aurora comes gingerly down the stairs, taking one step at a time, holding on to the rail. Phoebe and Paige are sitting on the couch, Piper on the chair with the Book of Shadows on the coffee table between them.

"Paige?" Aurora pipes up from the bottom of the stairs as she makes her way over to the couch. "Where did Amy go?"

"She left, Sweetie."

"Where?"

"She had to go back to work," Phoebe responds as Aurora wanders over and is scooped up by Piper.

"Is Daddy ok?" Aurora asks for what feels like the umpteenth time. She has never been hurt or led astray by Amy, but she knows Willow had been. That's when Willow was turned into Warren. She still wasn't sure if she trusted everyone telling her everything was alright.

"There's nothing wrong with your Daddy. He's fine and I'm sure he misses you a lot," Piper says pulling the hair out of the toddler's eyes.

"Why can't you tell me?" Aurora asks, looking to Paige.

"Sweetie, it has nothing to do with you. We just want to keep you safe."

"I'm a slayer. I won't always be safe! Can you please tell me?"

"I don't see why we can't tell her," Piper chimes in. "Maybe she knows something about this vampire that Amy doesn't. She's a smart little thing."

"Yeah, but Amy said..." Paige begins.

"Yeah, but bigger picture... getting the work done," Phoebe adds.

Paige takes a deep breath. "Ok." She opens up the Book of Shadows and points to a picture of Drusilla and Darla and shows Aurora.

"I know her!" Aurora screams.

Chapter Seventeen

"We've taken on vampires before. How hard can this group be?" Paige asks her sisters.

"I guess you're right. I mean, we have taken out a leader and a nest, but this group has been around and the slayer hasn't even taken them out," Phoebe says.

"I don't think its the entire group we need to worry about from how Amy and Aurora made it sound. I think it is just this ring leader. This Drusilla," Piper adds.

"Just go in with some vanquishing potions and fireballs?" Phoebe suggests.

"That seems too easy," Paige replies. "Maybe we should do some recon-type work first. Like orb in and see what the deal is."

Piper stands by the Book of Shadows, flipping rapidly through its pages. "Yeah, there is absolutely nothing else in the book. I give up. I go with Paige. She got turned into a vampire once."

"Alright, let's do it," Phoebe joins in.

"Do you think we need all three of us?" Piper asks. "I now have three tiny children I need to make lunch for."

"I'll be back and take Aurora off your hands, I promise," Paige adds just before her and Phoebe orb out of the room.

Phoebe and Paige materialize into a dark old building. It is very damp and smells musty. It's difficult to see. In the distance, there is a bright light that resembles a bonfire flame. The two, hands still joined, walk toward the fire, hiding behind rubble and old wood piles from the dilapidated building.

"There's an entire swarm of them!" Phoebe whispers to Paige. "If we want to do this now, this will definitely be a Power of Three thing. We'll need Piper's firepower and som..." Paige cuts Phoebe off, placing her hand over Phoebe's mouth. Drusilla walks into the mass of vampires. As she walks, every eye falls on her. The swarm silences and bows to the ground.

"Good pets. You are going to make me a princess," Drusilla begins. She walks around and looks at her minions.

"Does she just get off by having flunkies?" Paige whispers. This time, Phoebe places her hand over Paige's mouth.

"Yes, a princess," Drusilla continues. "I can feel it. I can wear a crown and have lots of pretty subjects to eat." She snaps to one of the vampires on his knees, "My people, not yours." A smile reemerges on her face. "Yes, I can feel it. It opens like a flower. A bright, shining, purple flower. To make me a princess. Find my flower."

Paige and Phoebe stare at one another. They remain a few more minutes behind the rubble, waiting for more information, something possibly more coherent to come from Drusilla. Nothing. Not another sound. Drusilla continues to dance sensually around her minions as Phoebe and Paige orb back to the Halliwell Manor and make their way into the kitchen to find Leo and Piper.

"What did you find?" Leo asks.

"Well, there is a whole pack of vampires and that Drusilla talking about some power... about being a princess," Paige begins.

"She was doing a whole lot of rambling, it was kinda hard to follow," Phoebe continues.

"Any word from the elders?" Piper asks.

"Not yet," Paige begins, "Or not..."

"They're calling?" Leo asks.

"Yeah, hold on." Paige orbs out.

An hour passes as Leo, Piper and Phoebe wait in the kitchen for Paige's return.

"Where the hell is she?" Piper begins. "The longer they make us wait, the more nervous I get. Phoebe, what did she say again? Maybe I can check the Book of Shadows."

"Like I said, she rambled a lot. Something about power and she wants to be a princess and whatever... Actually, in all honesty, she sounded like she was trying to start a cult. It was like she was just getting those other lugheads to worship her."

Paige orbs back in and interrupts mid-conversation. "She's picking up on a powerful curse."

"What?" Leo asks.

"The elders said there is a curse that has recently been broken on the other side of the country and it contains very powerful magic. It has altered the magic fabric in this world. She's been sensing it, tapping into it, trying to get magic for herself."

"Ok... what does that mean for us?" Phoebe asks.

"Actually, they said she is not our concern at the moment. Our kids are..." Paige says.

"What!?" Piper and Leo ask in unison.

"They want the kids to go to this town. Something about them being a solution?" Paige begins to get excited, "it's why Wyatt went to Sunnydale and why he met Aurora at school..."

"Not a chance in hell!" Piper says. "If this vampire chick is talking about its crazy magic, I'm not putting Wyatt or Aurora anywhere near that."

"On top of that," Leo adds, "Wyatt has already been sent to school in a completely different town on magical missions for them!"

"But, he met Aurora, my charge! They were right! It worked out! Please, hear me out. Let's give it a try."

After much convincing, Paige gets Piper and Leo to transfer Aurora and Wyatt to a pre-school in a small town called Storybrooke, Maine. Still not sure why they are wanted there, Paige decides to orb them there every morning until something reveals itself.

Chapter Eighteen

Wyatt grabs Aurora's hand as he sees the nervousness in her eyes standing outside the school doors. He smiles at her. Aurora gives a weak smile back, but her nerves will not subside. What am I supposed to do here? She thinks to herself. Wyatt opens the door to the classroom and enters. Aurora turns to look at Paige, standing in the doorway, but not able to walk any further.

"I don't want to," Aurora mutters to Paige. Paige kneels down to Aurora's level. "It's ok. I will be back to pick you up in a couple of hours. We just need to see what the elders want us to do here." Aurora tries to muster up the strength for a rebuttal, but can't seem to force any sounds out. I guess I can't fight what good wants me to do. She continues to think to herself, trying to recollect the strength she always admired in her Aunt Buffy. She steps into Paige's arms for one more hug before she walks through the door.

Just as she steps inside, she is greeted by a young woman. Aurora immediately feels comforted by this woman, particularly by that smile. "Hi, Sweetie. You're one of my new students, aren't you?"

Aurora nods with the same shy smile she showed earlier to Wyatt. "I'm Miss Dorinda. I am going to be one of your teachers. I see your cousin sat over there. Would you like to sit with him?" Aurora nods, turning to give Paige one more tight hug before running over to Wyatt.

"Thank you," Paige says to the teacher. Miss Dorinda smiles, "No problem. I could tell she was a little nervous. I'll keep an eye on her for awhile and let you know how she adjusts. I'm Dorinda, by the way. I'm one of the teachers for this room."

"I'm Paige, Wyatt's Au... Wyatt and Aurora's Aunt."

Since it would be Paige orbing the kids into school everyday, she decided to make Aurora her niece by default for this operation. Especially since this entire "plan" was hatched relatively last minute. A large, wholesome family that just relocated to Maine... why not? Then, Aurora also had the help and protection of another magical kid. However, orbing the two between Storybrooke, Maine and San Francisco, California is going to get a little irritating for all of them. Paige silently hopes that whatever the elders want will be done sooner rather than later and she can go back to simply driving her nephew to school and figure out a permanent situation for Aurora.

Aurora feels a bit more comfortable as the young teacher has often smiled, complimented her drawings and taken Aurora by the hand to show her around the classroom. Aurora sits down next to Miss Dorinda in a circle on the floor. Each student is sitting on a tiny pink mat. As Aurora and Wyatt are new, there is only one extra mat which was already given to Wyatt by another boy so Miss Dorinda shares her mat with Aurora.

As Miss Dorinda starts reading a book aloud, the door opens. "Look everyone!" She begins, "It's Mayor Mills! She is going to talk to us today about being a mayor. Remember last week when Joey's uncle came to talk to us about being a firefighter?"

"Yeah!" Some of the boys scream.

Regina makes her way over to the circle. "Good morning, kids," she says with a smile. "Here, Mayor Mills," Miss Dorinda begins as she stands up and gestures to her mat, "you can sit here in the circle."

As Regina sits down, Miss Dorinda adds, "Oh and we have two new students in our class that just started today. You are sharing a mat with one of them." Dorinda puts her hand on Aurora's shoulder, standing behind her and Wyatt. "This, here, is Wyatt and this is his cousin, Aurora."

Regina smiles, looking at the little girl. "What is your name?"

"Aurora."

Regina's smile gets a little bigger. "What a pretty name that is."

Regina finishes her story for the children and walks into the hallway while Dorinda concludes the class. She finds a secluded spot and pulls out her cell phone. She dials, waits and says nothing more than, "Guess who's finally in town?"