Ch. 11

The sisters had gathered in the kitchen under the pretense of cleaning up after dinner, but it had been more of an excuse to spend some time together. Leo, Henry, and Coop had moved into the living room for drinks knowing that the girls needed their space. Phoebe stood near the island in the kitchen watching as Piper began to wash a pan she had dirtied while cooking.

"I wish Billie could have been here tonight," Paige sighed as she distractedly played with a dish towel on the counter.

"What was she going to tell Ryan?" Phoebe asked referring to the man Billie had met two months ago at one of her temp jobs. "That she was too busy celebrating her most recent vanquish?" she said pointedly and Paige sighed. "Besides, I think they just went to P3. She might stop by later."

"Yeah," Paige trailed off and Piper turned from the sink to face her sisters.

"What is it?" she questioned knowing something was on their mind, and Phoebe's face met hers communicating silently before Piper shut her eyes briefly in exhaustion. "We had a weird and forced celebratory dinner and now it seems like we're not even happy that we vanquished Oriax," Piper pointed out and Phoebe noted that Piper had included herself with the use of the word 'we.'

"What if this is only a new beginning?" Paige asked quietly, almost afraid to voice her thoughts.

"It's not," Piper said firmly shaking her head. "It's only because of the nexus," she insisted pointing her finger at Paige. "There isn't some new ruler of the underworld or anything like that." The three sisters stood unmoving in the kitchen as they stared at each other all desperately hoping that Piper was right. They couldn't handle another eight years of demon fighting and losing more people they loved to evil. Right?

Finally Phoebe glanced down at the floor briefly before looking back up to see her sisters staring back at her curiously. "Did either of you miss it?" she asked in a cautious whisper, and Paige and Piper regarded her carefully before considering.

"What do you mean?" Piper finally asked and Phoebe sighed before turning and sinking into a chair at the kitchen table.

"Fighting evil," Phoebe clarified as she ran a hand through her hair. She'd been arguing with herself all day over whether or not she truly had missed it. She knew that she should be grateful for the normal life she had been blessed with recently, but she also couldn't help but yearn for the excitement and fulfillment she had gotten out of protecting innocents from evil. "Saving innocents. Saving the world," she finished in a soft tone and Piper sighed before walking over and sitting in the chair next to her.

"Of course I do," Paige replied as she walked over and stood near her sisters. "It was nice to have such a normal life for a while, but now I'm not always sure what to do with myself," she admitted and Piper found herself shocked at what her sisters were revealing. "Sometimes I find myself helping my charges a little too much."

"At least you still have that," Phoebe responded quietly and Paige immediately felt guilty for bringing up her whitelighter responsibilities. With a sigh Paige let out another confession.

"Sometimes I wish a demon would attack," Paige whispered too ashamed to look at either of her sisters. "Not a powerful one," she said hurriedly. "But something to break up the day or change it up. The fighting and vanquishing was such a rush," she said in an almost nostalgic tone and Piper glanced up to look at both of her younger sisters. The three girls fell silent, none of them able to make eye contact with each other in light of the recent admissions.

"Piper?" Phoebe asked turning to face her older sister wondering what she was going to say. Piper had always been the most hesitant to accept magic into her life and the most willing to give it up, so Phoebe wasn't surprised when Piper shook her head.

"Phoebe, I miss working with you and Paige," she answered and Phoebe looked down at the table wishing she hadn't brought this up. "And when we would defeat something, I would have a huge sense of accomplishment," she continued and Phoebe nodded in agreement. "But I don't miss my husband and my children being in danger every waking moment."

"I meant fighting the good fight. You know, good versus evil…" she trailed off as Piper's eyes fell to her hands clearly indicating that she didn't feel the same way and was unsure of what to say.

"Well, Phoebe," Piper finally began. "Out of all of us, Prue included, you're the one that loves being a witch the most," she reasoned and Phoebe rested her chin on her hand. "And it's really all you know. You've been doing it most of your adult life. You were even quickest to take to the stories Grams used to tell when we were young," she reminded her and Phoebe smiled slightly realizing that she was right. "There's no right way to feel about this," Piper assured her and Phoebe nodded her agreement before they fell silent.

"I know we all said we wanted a normal life. Something that magic couldn't interfere with," Phoebe said and she could tell that both of her sisters were listening intently. "But now that we have it, it almost seems anticlimactic. Now normal seems sort of," she paused looking for the right word before Piper interrupted her.

"Boring," her older sister whispered and Phoebe nodded in agreement that boring was indeed the right description. Squeezing her eyes shut Piper choked out what she had been dying to say for months. "I'm bored out of my mind!" she exclaimed and then immediately snapped her mouth shut, almost surprised the words had come out. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Piper, it's okay," Phoebe assured her as she grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "It's a major life change."

"All I ever said was how much I wanted a normal life, and now that I have one I don't know what to do with it," she complained and the three sisters all breathed heavily wondering how they had gotten to this position.

"No wonder why they always say be careful what you wish for," Paige said in a tone that was meant to be light but ended up sounding more depressing than anything.

"Man, Freud would have a field day with us," Piper said before turning to Phoebe. "Hey, you're the one with the psychology degree. Where do we go from here?" she asked and Phoebe threw her hands up and shook her head.

"This goes SO far beyond my degree," she laughed before turning serious once again. "We'll all figure this out," Phoebe said sounding more sure of herself than she had earlier in the conversation.

"How can you be so sure?" Paige asked and Phoebe cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I can see the future, remember?" she teased and Piper smacked her lightly, all of them knowing full well that she hadn't had any premonitions regarding their futures.


"This is incredible," Coop said excitedly as the three men sat comfortably in the living room. "The girls did it!" he exclaimed and Leo laughed at Coop's excitement.

"You haven't seen them in action very much," Leo realized and Coop shook his head. "They are good," he said wistfully remembering the earlier days when they repeatedly surprised him with their innate talent for fighting evil.

"I just don't get why this happened now," Henry admitted and Leo shrugged. "I mean, where was this guy six months ago when the demons were all over Magic School and everything?"

"He was still bound by the power of the nexus," Leo explained leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "It took time for the magic holding him to deteriorate after the nexus was destroyed."

"Oh man," Henry muttered shaking his head with a disbelieving smile on his face. "I always knew what Paige and her sisters did, but it's incredible to be a part of it all."

"It is," Leo agreed nodding. "We've all been doing this for a really long time."

"And this final battle with Oriax was it, right?" Coop asked and Leo turned to look at him questioningly. "I mean, everyone's back to their normal lives?" he clarified and Leo shrugged before nodding.

"It seems that way," he answered and Coop grinned widely. "We never really know, but yeah. Normal lives," Leo murmured and Henry and Coop were in too much of a celebratory mood to detect the slight disappointment in Leo's voice.

"Phoebe will be thrilled," Coop said happily and Leo looked at him curiously.

"You really think so?" he challenged and Coop gave him a confused look.

"Of course," he responded immediately. "She wants to have a normal life with me and raise a family-"

"But this, this fighting," Leo interrupted no longer able to hold in his thoughts, "is their normal life. Especially Phoebe's," he added quietly and Coop shook his head defiantly.

"I don't think so. Maybe a few years ago," Coop relented and Leo leaned against the back of the couch in defeat. He couldn't help but think that maybe he was the only one who felt like the past weekend was the first time they'd been true to who they were for the past six months.

"And Paige has her charges," Henry said and Leo nodded knowing that her whitelighter duties did keep Paige busy and possibly more fulfilled than her sisters. "And Piper?" Henry asked carefully getting the sense that Leo wasn't as thrilled about their return to a normal life as the rest of them.

"She always wanted a normal life," he answered vaguely in an attempt to dodge the question. "Now she has it," he whispered. He looked at the drink in his hands and set it on the table in front of him. He couldn't help but feel like these new normal lives they all had were reminiscent of when they all took on new identities after destroying the nexus. Everything they had worked for was gone, and they had to start all over. It worked for a while, but eventually it was only natural to want to go back to the way things were.

"Leo!" he heard Piper call from the kitchen and he was relieved for the distraction.

"Excuse me," Leo said to Henry and Coop and immediately headed to the kitchen wondering what his wife needed.

"We need whitelighter help," Paige said the minute Leo walked through the doorway and into the kitchen. He stood stunned for a moment as he took in the sight of the three of them gathered at the kitchen table. It was a sight he hadn't seen since they had all lived together and he felt a sense of nostalgia wash over him.

"But you're the whiteli-"

"No," Paige cut him off shaking her head. "We need advice," she clarified and Leo looked to Piper in confusion.

"We're bored," she stated simply and Leo's eyes widened wondering if they were having the same thoughts he'd been having.

"What do you mean?" he asked wanting to make sure they felt the same way before he burdened them with his problems.

"You know those normal lives we spent nine years searching for?" Phoebe asked and Leo nodded. "We sort of hate them," she admitted and Leo grinned happily.

"Leo!" Piper scolded at his excitement. "We tell you we're practically miserable and you stand there with a grin on your face? Well get rid of it now!" she demanded.

"I'm sorry!" he said unable to completely wipe the smile from his face. "I was just having the same thoughts in there," he gestured to the living room.

"Hmm, so you're crazy too," Paige surmised. "What a help you've been," she said sarcastically and Leo realized that all three sisters looked totally dejected and he couldn't understand why.

"Crazy? What's crazy?" he asked and Piper looked up from staring at the table in front of her.

"Lots of things," she said casually and Phoebe smiled slightly at the sarcastic tone of her voice. "Jogging, miming, us wishing demons would attack us again on a weekly basis."

"That's not crazy," Leo assured them. "That's normal. After all the years we spent fighting evil, it-it just became a part of our lives. There's nothing wrong with missing that," he promised and he could see that Piper was starting to see the logic behind his statement. "And we can figure this out. Between Magic School, Paige's charges, and I don't know," he trailed off before he got another idea. "You can still scry for evil. We'll work it back into our lives in a better way," he offered.

"How?" Piper asked quietly and Leo stood in front of the three girls sensing that they needed one of his uplifting speeches.

"Well to start, ever since the fighting evil stopped you three haven't been as close," he said and the three sisters avoided eye contact with each other. "That's normal, but for you three, where your bond lies so deeply in your ties to each other, you need to maintain your relationship in order to stay strong. You could be missing the working together more than the fighting," he pointed out and Piper glanced at Phoebe feeling that Leo may be onto something.

"And just as you were all getting adjusted to normal life Oriax appeared," Leo continued, and Piper sighed knowing that he was right. "And it reminded you how it felt to do good together and rely on the Power of Three. Rely on your sisters. We need to stay in each others' lives," Leo concluded. "Otherwise we'll never be able to reconcile our old lives with these new ones."


"So tomorrow we all have lunch," Phoebe summarized and the three sisters nodded before Phoebe hugged Piper and then Paige. "Leo's right. We haven't been as close. That's going to change," she promised and Piper's lips curled up in a slight smile.

"Yes it is," Paige agreed and Leo smiled down at Piper who was feeling more at ease since the four of them talked in the kitchen. Leo had put things in perspective, just as he always did, and they realized that in time they would find a way to make things work in their new lives just as they had with their old lives.

"Okay it's late," Phoebe said sadly as she took Coop's hand. "We should go," she sighed before both her sisters and Leo said goodnight and they beamed to the condo.

"We should go too Babe," Henry said and Paige nodded.

"Well, see you tomorrow," Paige said giving Piper one last hug before grabbing Henry's hand and orbing them to their apartment.

"And just like that everything with Oriax is over," Piper muttered as Leo walked closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Everything except the dishes," Piper sighed and Leo followed her into the kitchen to help her clean up. "This is one of those things about a normal life I could really do without."


Phoebe rolled over slightly in bed as her dream took over her mind. She was exhausted and had fallen asleep the second her head had hit the pillow. Coop was next to her, but Phoebe's dream was all consuming. Gradually her dream became even more realistic, and with a gasp she suddenly sat up in bed wide awake. Still breathing heavily Phoebe realized that the dream had turned into a premonition and the weight of the situation still hadn't settled into her mind.

"What's wrong?" Coop asked in a sleep hazed voice.

"Coop," Phoebe said shakily and he sat up, becoming more awake at the tone of her voice. "Take me to the manor," she insisted throwing the covers off her body.

"Phoebe, it's early," he protested seeing that it wasn't even seven in the morning yet.

"This isn't over," she whispered and Coop looked at her with wide disbelieving eyes. "I don't know what's happening, but it's just getting started."