Author's Note: I sincerely apologize for the HUGE break in between this published chapter and the last one. I was hoping to go out with a bang; a really long chapter, and I thought I would return quickly but AHH! School, school, school. It has been incredibly difficult to keep up with what I love to do on here. I still have so many studies and next year will be my hardest, but I am hoping to catch up as the summer approaches. Please bear with me, and keep checking the websites because sometimes I update to keep you informed. Thank you again so much and I hope you have not lost faith in me! I have a lot in store for you.

Ryder and Aidan stepped into a local café. They sat down quietly at a table facing the windows, wearing matching dark jeans with plain white shirts, trying to fit in with society. Ryder had his traditional black jacket on, not completely tossing his old ways away. They searched through the menus, ordering a lunch and thanking the waiter as he walked away. They faced each other, waiting for one another to speak up.

"So?" Aidan questioned.

"So what?" Ryder prompted.

Aidan gestured his hands around the café. "What do you think of this world?"

"Better than ours. I can manage to live up here for a while. It might be good for us. To get adjusted to this society, get jobs like normal people do, and then claim our right in the underworld," Ryder responded.

Aidan nodded. He rubbed the bridge of his noise, resting his hand on his hand.

"Ryder, there are…" he paused.

"There are what?" Ryder demanded.

Aidan looked up. "There are dangers here."

Ryder scoffed, resting his elbows on the table. "Of course there are."

"If we're careful, it won't be bad. But we can't do anything to provoke them."

"Them." Ryder thought for a moment. His eyes widened.

"No. No, you have to be kidding me. We entered into their world? That's worse than where we came from! We should have just burned in hell."

Aidan shook his head. "They don't know who we are. We just have to enter their lives slowly and gain their trust."

Ryder breathed out through gritted teeth, shaking his head. He swept his hand through his hair in exhaustion. "That's your specialty."

"You and I both know that we're capable of doing that. We have human qualities as well as demonic. We're not 100 percent evil if you haven't forgotten. Both our mothers were…" he hesitated before finishing, and then spoke with force, "…good.

Ryder closed his eyes. "Yeah, but my mother wasn't a Charmed One."

Aidan let out a sharp breath, struck by the truth. "I've learned to put that behind me. I've proved to you and to myself that in the past. I've showed I'm evil and I've chosen my path. When will you stop throwing that in my face? I never had a choice in it. But I did have a choice in my future. And I chose my father's side, you understand?"

Ryder stared long at his lifelong friend. He nodded without speaking. Their lunches came and they ate in silence.

Ryder finally spoke. "Do you ever wonder..."

Aidan looked up, waiting for a continuation.

"What it'd be like if you chose your mother's side."

He looked around. "It would be like this. There would be peace, there would be hope; it'd be careless. There would be a chance for us to live a life."

Ryder shook his head. "Whatever that is." He paused. "You confuse me sometimes Aidan."

Aidan sighed. "I confuse myself as much as you confuse yourself. That's why we're such good friends."

Ryder laughed as Aidan grinned. He slapped his shoulder from across the table.

Dora sat across the dinner table from Prue, who was seated next to Penny. Phoebe and Coop were both seated on both sides of the table. They remained silent as Phoebe talked.

"Just because your powers are gone, Prue, I don't want you to feel like it's your fault. Things happen and of course, I'm disappointed they're gone, but maybe destiny was planning it this way."

Prue nodded. It had been several weeks since her powers were lost. They had only just sat down as a family to talk about what would happen. Coop had taken Prue out of school temporarily, maybe even permanently, so they could sort things out. He claimed she was being homeschooled for that time being, which wasn't a complete lie, as Phoebe helped her with her studies. The day Prue had lost her powers, Wyatt took Max home and she hadn't heard a word from him since. Dora claimed she talked to him and he promised not to tell anyone what he found out. Prue was afraid to call or confront him and just stayed safely in her house. She thought all day. She felt almost at peace. No voices telling her what to do and her judgment seemed clear. Unlike before, she could finally think to herself. She tried levitating once or getting a premonition, but nothing happened. A panicked weep and a sigh of relief escaped her at once. It confused her. She tuned back to her mom, who just finished talking.

"What are you feeling honey?" her dad asked her. Prue shrugged.

"Mostly confusion," she honestly said. It was the first time she felt like she was telling them the truth. And actually meaning it. Phoebe looked apprehensively at her daughter. Phoebe shot a look at her two eldest daughters, and Penny reassuringly rubbed Prue's shoulder, before leaving the table with Dora. The two sisters rushed off to leave them alone. Prue sat uncomfortably in the silence, shifting her feet. Phoebe's eyes stayed locked at a spot on the table, obviously still thinking. Phoebe finally spoke up again, sighing as she spoke.

"You know, honestly, I still don't know what's going to happen. I want to be truthful with you and the fact is that…" she hesitated.

"I'm scared out of my wits for you. Your powers made you who you are, at least, that's what I thought when I first got them. And I just assumed that because you were born with them, it automatically made you who you are. Prue." She stopped for a moment, looking at her daughter's scared eyes. Phoebe's face softened.

"Even though I never thought that my own daughter wouldn't want her powers, I will never stop loving you."

Prue nodded. "I'm not trying to deny who I am. Because I understand that this is us. This is what the family does and what we've done for the past couple of generations. But I'm not the only one who can keep the powers of the line going. I'm just the first one who wants to live without them."

Phoebe sighed. "Things were so much simpler when I told you what to do."

Coop smiled. Prue let out a laugh.

Penny and Dora were sprawled over the comfortable couches in their familiar living room. Markings of their childhood hung in the air, like the stain on the carpet, hidden by a plant or the marks on the wall measuring their height changes.

"So how are things with Brett going?" Penny asked.

"Well, they're not," she answered.

"Ehh, I don't know. He said I had to figure things out and that this was all so 'simple'", she said, putting air quotes over 'simple'.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say. I feel like it was just an impulsive thing. You know?"

Penny nodded.

"I feel horrible saying this, but thinking back. On everything that happened with Prue, it really got me thinking about who I am, as a person, not as a witch. And I…" she hesitated. Penny turned to her, waiting for a continuation. "…I think the only reason I felt those things with Brett was because, just like Prue, I'm just sick of a lot of this witch stuff. And I want to do something for myself, you know? I felt like kissing him was going against the rules and I was doing what I wanted for once, but I don't think I like him. I think I just like the idea of liking someone. I sound so messed up right now."

Penny smiled. "I know what you mean. From what you told me though, it seems like Brett actually likes you."

Dora sighed. "I thought I liked him too, and now I feel just awful, as if I played him or something. He's a sweet person, he doesn't deserve it. Especially everything that happened with his dad."

"You need to talk to him, get things straightened out. I think that's what we all need," Penny stated, in her comforting voice. She slipped one hand her sister, giving her a half hug.