Chapter Twenty-Four: Future Fears

"Hey, Mom. You wanted to see me?" Tara said, looking at her mother as she walked down the stairs.

"Hey, how's Willow?" Paige asked, giving her daughter a soft smile.

"She's okay. I think she's getting better," Tara announced, sitting down beside her mother and giving her mother a curious look. "That's not why you wanted to talk, is it?"

"No, it's not," Paige admitted, giving her daughter a cautious look before she spoke again. "Karen wants to talk to Willow and apologize. Most of the Elders are on her side and think she has the right to explain herself to Willow."

"No," Tara snapped, standing up. "I'm not letting her anywhere near Willow."

"Tara, we don't have a choice in the matter. This came from the Elders."

"Since when did you follow every single order that came from the Elder?" Tara challenged, knowing her mother and aunts didn't take orders well.

"We don't, but Leo asked us to allow it. He thinks it'd be good for all of us," Paige explained, taking her daughter's hand. "She won't hurt her, Tara. I don't plan on letting her be alone with Willow. None of us will allow it."

"I want to be in there when they talk. I'm not letting her say anything that would upset Willow anymore then she already is. Karen has no right to continue hurting her," Tara said, frowning at the thought of letting Willow's ex anywhere near the injured redhead.

"Tara, none of us want that either. You can be in the room, but you have to let Karen talk. Alright?" Paige offered, waiting for her daughter's response.

"Okay," Tara agreed, frowning as she looked down at her hands.

"Good. Now is there something bothering you besides Karen talking to Willow?" Paige asked, seeing the fear in her daughter's eyes.

"What if Willow wants her back?" Tara wondered, lifting her blue eyes to lock with her mother's brown ones.

"Tara, I can't see Willow forgiving her enough to want her back," Paige whispered, giving her daughter's hand a comforting squeeze.

Tara nodded silently, letting her mother's words comfort her before she finally decided to explain her fears. "We kissed," Tara admitted, staring silently at her mother as she waited for a reaction.

"When?" Paige asked, watching her daughter closely.

"Just now, before I came downstairs. We kissed. More than once."

Paige waited for a moment, sensing her daughter was a little nervous about her reaction before a huge smile broke across her face. "We were wondering how long it would take you two," Paige said, smirking at her daughter.

"Wait, what?"

"Tara, all three of us have been watching you two dance around each other. It was about time you two finally figured it out," Paige announced, giving her daughter a huge smile.

"You're just as bad as Aunt Phoebe," Tara complained, frowning at her mother.

"Hmm...well she is my big sister. So it might be why," Paige replied, smiling at her daughter before pulling her into a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Baby Girl."

"Thank you," Tara responded, hugging her mother back. They hugged in silence for a few moments before Tara pulled back and stared at her mother in confusion. "Wait. I thought Aunt Phoebe told me that what you wanted to talk to me about wasn't a bad thing."

Paige looked at Tara in confusion before understanding dawned on her face. "Tara, we fight monsters and demons all the time. We have dealt with multiple end of the worlds. To us, this wouldn't be considered bad," Paige explained, giving her daughter a gentle smile.

"I guess that's true, but to me, it seems to fall in the same category," Tara admitted, giving her mother a sad smile.

Paige felt her heart break slightly at the worry in her daughter's eyes and realization filled her as she understood her daughter's fears. "Are you in love with her?" Paige asked, knowing Tara needed to admit it out loud.

Tara thought about it for a few minutes before a sad sigh escaped her lips and her shoulders slumped. "I think so," Tara whispered, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I don't know."

"Do you want to love her?"

"I'm not sure," Tara said, still staring at the floor. "Part of me wants to, but the other part is afraid that if I love her, then my dreams will come true. I don't want that future to happen."

"Tara, Willow isn't that person anymore," Paige told her, watching her daughter try to fight for control of her emotions.

"I know. But she could always go back to who she was. We all know it's possible to fall back into that darkness. Aunt Phoebe's ex-husband did that," Tara reminded her, finally looking at her mother. "What if this is what my visions were warning me about? What if I was meant to fall in love with her and destroy this family?"

"Tara, I don't think that is what your visions meant. I can't imagining you or Willow trying to destroy this family," Paige argued, trying to comfort her daughter.

"Willow tried to kill all of you before," Tara pointed out, staring at her mother. "How do we know that it isn't my turn soon? How do we know I'm not the monster everyone fears in the future? Wyatt was suppose to become the enemy before. Why don't you think I will?"

Paige frowned at her daughter and looked into her blue eyes. "We'll figure this out, Tara," Paige promised, pulling her daughter into her arms as Tara begin shaking from the sobs escaping her throat. "We'll figure this out."

"I think we already have," Piper announced, walking into the room with Phoebe behind her.

"What do you mean?" Paige asked, as she turned to face her sisters, staring in surprise at the figure standing behind her sisters.

Standing behind the two older charmed sisters was a dark haired woman with black eyes and veins sticking out of her cheek. Paige watched in surprise and horror as the black eyes turned from black to blue. "Hi, Mom," the voice said softly, giving Paige a nervous smile.

A/N: Thank you Gimpy72 for helping me figure out what to have the conversation with Paige be about. Also thanks for all the help with this story and all my others.

A/N2: Thank you to everyone who has stayed with the story this long. I hope everyone enjoys the update.