Chapter Twelve
As Prue led Andy toward the copse of trees, she tried not to become overly excited by what she saw. She felt she needed to keep her composure as Andy was already staggering by her side with his eyes wide and his mouth open. It seemed he was carrying on a conversation with himself on whether or not what he was seeing was actually real—or some dream he'd yet awoke from.
Finally, as they came to the enclosure of trees, he turned to her. "Are we in Europe?"
"That would be my guess," she said, looking around the area. It appeared to be secluded enough for her purposes.
"But how…?"
She pointed to a fallen tree and they walked over and sat on its trunk.
She sat there for a moment trying to decide just where she should begin. And then, she sighed and said, "We seemed pretty normal when we were kids, didn't we? I mean, me and my sisters…we weren't weird or anything, right?"
Andy was astonished. "You want to talk about your childhood…at a time like this?"
Prue huffed lightly, "Just stick with it."
Agitated, Andy nodded and said, "Okay. No, you were not weird. I guess you and your sisters were as normal as anybody else." He shrugged. "Now, your grandmother, that's a different story."
Prue's head whipped around. "What was wrong with Grams?"
"I'm not saying she was weird," he said quickly, "just a little odd."
"Odd, weird. Aren't they both the same?"
Andy shook his head. "Weird isn't a word you use when you like the person."
Prue half-smiled and reached over to squeeze Andy's hand. "Okay. I get it. It'll be easier to explain this way at least." She took a deep breath. "Grams seemed odd for a reason." She peered at Andy out of the corner of her eye; she wanted to see his reaction to the bombshell she was about to reveal. He looked so innocent as he leaned in to hear her. So oblivious to witches and warlocks, demons and sorcerers, and the evil they caused. He knew only a small slice of it—the human evil. And it was in that instant that she almost backed down, thinking it kinder not to tell him.
She felt a slight sting in her eyes and knew she was close to tears, and fought them back. She had to turn away so Andy wouldn't see her struggle.
"Prue?" he asked. "What's wrong?" he gently turned her chin so that he could see her face.
She bit her lip in an attempt to keep it from quivering and giving her away. With her eyes tightly closed, she asked, "Why did you go into police work, Andy?"
"Because I hate the crud that prowl the streets of San Francisco. And because I hate injustice. And maybe, if I didn't make a stand, that same crud might hurt somebody I really care about."
Prue leaned into Andy's shoulder. His reasons were pretty damn close to her own. What a wonderful lover and ally he could be…
And in the end she found that she could not give him up. For selfishness reasons or not, she desperately wanted him in her life. Andy, who she had known since a child, with all his intensity and willfulness that matched her own…
"Grams was odd because she was a witch," and there, the words were out. She could not take them back.
Andy straightened and took her by the shoulders as if she were an errant child. "What an awful thing to say about your grandmother!"
She laughed dryly. She'd forgotten that she'd have to be more literal with Andy. "She was a witch. I'm a witch. Piper and Phoebe, too. My mother was a witch—we're a family of witches. And we come from a long line of witches. Magical hocus-pocus witches, with spells and potions, and certain powers."
Andy shook his head. "Are you trying to break up with me? Because I could've sworn we did that already and decided we were going to try to make this work. I thought we wanted to be together—"
"Andy. Listen. I'm telling you this so we can be together. I am a witch."
If anything, he seemed more skeptical as he clenched his jaw and stared at her.
"Okay, fine. I'll prove it." She pointed at a round stone on the ground about the size of her hand. "See that rock?"
"Yeah…"
"Hold your hand out," she directed him. And when he pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, she pulled his hand away and placed it in the air. "Keep it there."
She focused her intention on the stone, willing it to move to Andy's hand.
It didn't move.
She tried again.
But still the stone did not move.
xXx
(Don't worry, this scene will continue tomorrow. –Anna )