Chapter 25

Polly got up from the floor, rubbing her head. Leo orbed to the room and healed everyone's injuries. He said that he couldn't do anything about Larry's amputated hand.

Polly informed them, "It'll grow back. Don't worry." She put a bandage around the wound to stop the bleeding. "This isn't the first time he's experienced amputation. Once his fingers were cut off; another time, it was an ear. And a succubus…actually, I don't want to talk about that. But anyway, his hand will grow back."

Leo said. "Everyone who was injured has been healed. So, what do we do now?"

Polly answered, "We should put Larry in the crystal cage. We don't know how long those tranquilizers will keep him unconscious."

Leo orbed everyone to the attic, where everyone else was standing, now much better, but still mentally recovering from what they had just gone through. Prue gently took Larry's head off her lap and Paige laid out the crystals around Larry. Everyone looked at him and the sisters cast a spell to fix all the damage to the manor.

"I feel so sorry for him. How is he going to feel after he transforms back?" Phoebe asked.

Pam sighed. "Very guilty. He probably won't forgive himself."

"What did we do on full moons to prevent any of this?" Andy asked.

"Part of the basement was turned into a strong werewolf-proof holding cell. It's designed so that he can't escape from it." Mel explained. "We also feed him a lot of raw meat and stuff like that."

"Polly, why did that amulet melt in Larry's blood?" Prue asked.

"It was made of silver. When silver comes in contact with werewolf blood, there's an acidic reaction. So when a silver bullet enters a werewolf's bloodstream, it burns and melts and the acidic reaction is very painful. If enough silver is used, the werewolf can die."

"So, now what do we do?" Phoebe asked.

"Let's go to sleep. I'm really tired." Penny said.

"Shouldn't someone watch Larry? I'll watch." Prue volunteered.

"Yeah, good idea. But even if he wakes up before the full moon is gone, he's still in the crystal cage." Andy said.

"I don't feel sleepy at all. I want to stay here and watch over him." Prue said. "If anything goes wrong, I'll alert everyone."

"All right, Prue."

Everyone else left the attic while Prue sat down on the sofa and directed her attention to Larry. She couldn't wait for the full moon to be over and for Larry to awake.

In the kitchen:

"Hey, Chris. Are you all right? Nothing's wrong, right?" Leo asked.

Chris just looked back. It was still weird that his dad was concerned for him. "Yeah. I'm fine." Then he looked away.

"Look, Chris. I know I was a bad father, but I'm willing to change. Please just give me a second chance."

"I've given second, third, fourth, and who knows how many chances. You messed up each time. You don't seem like a dad to me."

"Well…you called me Dad when Larry was about to attack."

"It was an accident. I didn't mean to."

Leo sighed. "Please give me another chance. I promise to be a better dad. In fact, after morning comes, we can have a father-son activity day. I'll tell the elders that I'm busy spending time with my son and can't answer them. Please Chris. I love you son."

Chris looked at Leo in astonishment. His dad had never said that to him. And he actually acknowledged Chris as his son. This had to be a different Leo. "Alright. We'll…spend a father-son day together. Thanks…Dad."

Leo smiled at being called Dad. He was determined not to fail as a father. "Why don't you go get some sleep? It's past midnight."

Chris orbed out of the kitchen. Leo chuckled; he could almost hear Piper yelling motherly, "Chris, that's personal gain! Why not just walk?" Leo turned around and saw Piper just as she walked into the kitchen. Both froze at the sight of each other.

"Um, Hi Piper."

"Hi," She greeted back.

"So, um, some night this was, huh?" Leo asked.

"Y-yeah." Piper moved to the sink.

"Piper, why are you washing the dishes at this time of the night?"

"Well, they have to be clean and washed. How else would we eat out of them?"

"Piper, you do this whenever you're upset."

"I'm not upset." Piper said quickly.

"Piper…I have something to tell you." Piper slowly turned around to face Leo. Leo continued, "I talked with the Elders. I told them that I have a family to be with and I can't be an Elder full-time. But they said that I still have to be an Elder. I can't resign now."

"Didn't I hear all this earlier?"

"I told them that we could come up with some kind of compromise. Why can't there be an elder who focuses on working with the Charmed Ones and making sure that things are all right with them? An elder like me?"

"So…this means that?" Piper moved closer to Leo.

Leo moved closer to Piper. "I'm back, Piper. I missed you terribly. I never wanted to leave you in the first place. I never stopped loving you, Piper."

Piper rushed into the arms of her husband, whom she had previously thought of as her ex-husband. Outside the door, Mel, Pam, and Penny were listening.

Pam squealed, "Did you hear that? That was so sweet!"

Penny asked, "What's going on? What are they doing?"

Mel said, "Okay, listen. These are my parents. I don't think I want to know what they do in situations like this."

"Let's take a peek." Pam opened the door slightly and the three looked.

Mel pulled back with a disgusted face. "I did NOT have to see that. It is wrong for someone to see their parents ki-"

"Hey! They just orbed away! Where'd they go?" Pam asked.

Penny sensed for them. "Into the be-"

Mel interrupted, "That's enough! Don't even finish that sentence. Let's go to sleep or do something else, but let's leave my parents alone."

Pam said, "Well, at least yours and Chris's existences are not in danger."

Pam looked at Mel, who was glaring at her and Penny. Penny quickly orbed herself and Pam away before Mel could kill them. Mel shook her head, muttering about her cousins.

In the attic, Prue was still watching Larry. She looked outside the window and saw the full moon outside. Prue sighed impatiently. Even though it would be morning soon, Larry might still be in werewolf form. The moon can also be seen in daylight, so it might be almost noon time before Larry's in human form again.

I'm sorry I did not update earlier. Don't worry; I'm not abandoning the story. I've been planning this story for a lot of months. Lately, I've been busy with school and projects and stuff. Thanks for the reviews. Please continue sending them.