Piper sat in a rocking chair with Wyatt in her arms. He was drinking a bottle. She couldn't believe how much her world had changed in just a few hours. In the last few hours, her son had come from the future and he was the epitome of all that was evil. She'd resigned herself to the fact that he was a while ago. But knowing something and seeing it with your own eyes were two completely different things.
Then there was Chris. In the last few hours, she'd also learned that Chris was not her son, but her nephew. He was her sister Prue's son. Prue. Her older sister, the sister that always held them all together, was alive. She had been alive the entire time and she had suffered tremendously.
Piper was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of footsteps. She turned and saw Phoebe enter the room. "Quite a day, huh?" Piper asked.
"And it's not even noon," Piper said.
"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked.
"God, no," Piper said. She was so far from fine it wasn't even funny. She glanced down at her baby boy. "I keep looking at him. He's so innocent and good. Then I flash back to the young man currently trapped in our addict. There is nothing innocent about him. I just can't believer that they're the same person."
"I know. I find it hard too. But we'll just have to change it. That's why Chris came here, right? To save Wyatt. We'll just have to keep trying until we have the answer. We'll get through this just like we get though everything else," Phoebe said.
"But this isn't like anything else. This is the worst thing any of us have ever had to deal with. Even worse than... Well, I was going to say even worse than Prue's death, but she's not dead. Can you believe that? If I hadn't heard the words form Andy, I would never have believed it," Piper said.
"Neither would I. That's probably why Chris lied. He knew that if he came and told us that he was Prue's son, we would've called him a liar and shunned him," Phoebe said. She understood completely why Chris lied. She didn't like that he had, but she understood it.
"I knew he wasn't mine. I could just feel it. I never thought he could be Prue's either though. You're right. I wouldn't have believed him if he told us. But when I think about it now, it makes sense. Well, as much as any of this makes sense. Chris kinda reminds me of Prue," Piper said. She could see Prue so clearly in her son now. He had strength and her determination. The way he took everything on himself was definitely Prue, as was him hunting down demon after demon in an effort to protect those around him.
"Yeah, Chris is definitely his mother's son," Phoebe agreed.
"I just can't believe we didn't know she was alive this entire time. How could we fall for some stupid demonic ploy?" Piper asked. She would never forgive herself for not seeing the truth. She should've known that that thing they buried was not her sister. If she had, so much would be different. Prue wouldn't have had to suffer four agonizing months in the Underworld. They could've saved her long before that. She could be with us right now.
"But then we wouldn't have met Paige and Prue wouldn't have been reunited with Andy. Chris might not exist, which means he wouldn't be able to come and save Wyatt. Don't get me wrong, I hate what Prue went though. I wish that that didn't have to happen, but maybe it did. Maybe it was necessary to get us to where we are right now. Things happen for a reason, Piper. If nothing else, we've learned that," Phoebe said.
"I get what you're saying. I wouldn't want to live without Paige anymore than I do Prue. I just wish she hadn't had to go through the pain that she did. You know, when Andy told us how she suffered, how much it nearly destroyed, I couldn't help but feel like he had to be talking about someone else. Prue couldn't break. That just didn't seem possible," Piper said.
"Yeah, Chris seemed to think that too. You should've felt what was coming off of him, Piper. Normally I can't get a read on Chris' emotions unless it's very, very strong. Like the pain he felt when Bianca attacked him, and like how he felt today as he listened to the pain Prue had gone though. His connection to her is very strong. His heart broke for her," Phoebe explained.
"I want her back, Phoebe. I want her here where she belongs," Piper said. She ached for that beyond almost anything. The only thing she wanted more than that was to save her little boy from becoming the evil warlord that was currently in their attic.
"So do I. You heard Andy. We'll have it someday. Hopefully soon," Phoebe said. She wanted Prue back too. She missed her wisdom and her strength. Hell, even though she would never admit it, she even missed her lectures.
"I want that to be now," Piper said. She was not the most patient of people. She didn't want to wait God knows how long to see her sister again. She wanted to go to her now. She wanted to help her though the hell that she was probably going though the same way Prue would've helped her.
"I know. But I think the best thing we can do for Prue right now is to protect her future and her son. I don't know exactly what happens to Chris in the future, but I know it's bad," Phoebe said.
"He said that Wyatt kills his family in the future. You know what that means, right? He kills Prue," Piper said. She didn't want to believe that her son was capable of killing her sister, but it was all right there in front of her. Wyatt had taken Chris' family away. All he had left was Andy, and possibly Henry if he was family, which he seemed to be.
"We don't know that for sure," Phoebe tried to tell her sister. Inside though, she knew Piper was right. There was really no denying it. Prue was obviously gone in the future and it had been mentioned that Wyatt was responsible for killing everyone.
"Don't be naive, Phoebe. We both know it's true. No wonder Chris resents Wyatt so much. No wonder he's gone to such extremes to stop him from turning evil. He's trying to stop his family from being taken away from him," Piper said.
"Well, whatever happened in the future, we can stop it now. We know what's going to happen and we have Chris, Andy, and Henry to help us," Phoebe said.
"Right," Piper said before standing up with a sleeping Wyatt. She carefully put him in his crib and then turned to Phoebe. "Well, we better get back downstairs. I'm sure Andy has more he wants to tell us."
"Actually, he left. Chris was very upset after hearing what Prue went through. He orbed out. Andy went after him.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Andy found Chris at the place he and Prue used to go when they were kids. He was sitting on the bench swing they used to spend their time on. "I thought I'd find you here."
"You found me because you sensed me," Chris said.
"True," Andy said as he sat down next to his son. "But I figured this is where it would take me."
"I wanted to feel close to Mom," Chris said.
"I know the feeling. Remember when I first brought you to this place?" Andy asked.
Chris nodded. "It was right after 'the event'. After he took everything away from us. It looks a lot different now than it did then."
"Yeah, everything looks a lot different in this time. Nicer. Too bad it doesn't stay that way," Andy said sadly.
"I don't understand it, Dad. I don't understand why she had to suffer so much," Chris said. It wasn't fair. His mother was the best person he ever knew. She gave up so much for her family. She didn't deserve to go through so much pain. Not from Wyatt and not from that demon.
"Oh, Chris, I'm sorry. I didn't want this in your head. Your mother didn't either. Honestly, I would've continued to keep it from you, but I knew the sisters would not let it go until they knew the truth. Look, your mother survived what happened to her, and I honestly think it eventually made her the stronger for it. It also took a lot from her though. It caused her a lot of pain and it took her away from her family for years. In the end though, I think she was glad it happened," Andy said.
"Why?" Chris asked in disbelief. He did not understand that. How could his mother ever be happy that something like that happened to her? That was crazy.
"Because it eventually brought us back together and led to creating you. She wouldn't have changed that for anything," Andy said.
Chris sighed. "I miss her so much."
Andy put an arm around his son's shoulders. "So do I."
"I'm sorry, Dad."
"For what?" Andy asked in confusion.
"That I can't kill Wyatt," Chris said. He hated himself for not being able to kill Wyatt. He had the power to kill Wyatt. They were equal strength. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Because as much as he hated Wyatt, he loved him too.
"You think I could? You think if I had the power to do so, I could vanquish Wyatt. I couldn't. He was like a son to me. I could never take his life, no matter what he's done. Your mother couldn't either," Andy said. He hated Wyatt for the things he'd done, but he'd once loved him too. Hell, a part of him still loved him. Taking his life would be like taking Chris' and that was just not something he could even bring himself to think about.
"What if we can't save him?" Chris asked.
"We will. I actually think I know when it happened. Come on, let's head back. We need to continue our talk with the others," Andy said. With that, they both orbed back to the Manor.