The Unknown Destiny

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Fifty-two: Witches Forever

Lucas slowly climbed up the stairs hollowly, barely even paying attention to where he was going as he passed the people that were talking quietly at Peyton's wake, held at the Sawyer house. He could hear their whisperings, though.

"So young . . . such a tragedy."

"How could someone just kill such a young girl like that? And she was only trying to protect her friend."

"And her friend's children. The Davis girl is pregnant."

People knew the story of what happened in the manor. That Anderson had attacked them and had attempted to kill all of the Scotts was the basic story line. They also knew that Peyton had pushed Brooke out of the way and had died saving her best friend. But that was pretty much all that had leaked out. The police were now trying to track down Anderson, a feat to which Susan had said afterwards, "Good luck."

Walking into Peyton's room, Lucas closed the door behind him, dropping down onto the bed and clasping his hands together, pressing his jaw against them. Brooke was downstairs with Larry, eating something after Lucas had forced her to. Satisfied that she was in good hands, he had gone upstairs, but he had no idea why he had come up here in the first place. He just felt like he needed to be alone.

He could barely stand to think about Peyton, even for the merest second. She had been the first love of his life and people don't often forget their first love. Although he would never admit aloud, not to anyone, he still loved Peyton, but after he had fallen in love with Brooke, it had become a different kind of love, much like the one that he felt for Susan. He had loved her like a sister, had felt a brotherly connection to her.

As he fell back against the bed, Lucas felt his hand hit something hard and leathery. Sitting up again, he looked towards the item in question and saw the leather jacket that he had so often seen Peyton wear ever since her birth mother had died. He caught sight of something in the pocket and pulled out a picture of a young woman with a baby in her arms. She looked familiar . . .

"Ellie gave me that jacket."

Lucas almost had a heart attack when he heard the voice that spoke up. "Peyton?" he breathed, incredulous, as he turned around to face the blonde girl that stood behind her.

She smiled at him and shrugged. "I figured that I owed you the chance to say goodbye," she told him. "Lucas, this wasn't your fault, okay? And it wasn't Nathan's or Susan's or anybody else in your family. If you want blame somebody for this, blame Anderson. He's the one who killed me and not anybody else." Peyton smiled at him. "Don't lose sight of what you're meant to do because of this, Luke."

"I'm not so sure that it's worth it anymore," Lucas said brokenly. "All it seems to be doing is getting the people that we care about killed."

"Lucas, you don't mean that," Peyton told him. "I know that you don't. This was your destiny; it's meant to be."

Shaking his head, Lucas sank back down on the bed, not looking at the artist. Finally, he raised his head to look at her. "Aren't ghosts supposed to glow, Peyton?" he asked, frowning at her. "Because you're not exactly glowing at the moment."

Letting out a laugh, Peyton nodded, grinning. "Yeah, ghosts are supposed to glow, Luke," she told him. "But, uh . . . I'm not exactly a ghost. All right, I'm not a ghost," she corrected herself when Lucas stared at her, confused.

Suddenly, realisation dawned on Lucas when he stared at her. Getting to his feet again, he asked, "Are . . . are you . . . a Whitelighter?"

Peyton, still smiling at him in that serenely way that was a little reminiscent of the one he remembered, only nodded. "Yeah, the Elders thought that after I died trying to protect you guys, and after all the . . . apparent good that I've done in my life, it was enough to earn me the wings of a guardian angel," she explained.

"So, then . . . we will still see you sometimes," Lucas asked her. "You can still come and see us, can't you?"

She shook her head. "No, Luke," she said quietly, "I can't. I'm pressing my luck even being here right now. I'm dead, Lucas, and you need to move on with your life, without me. Go forward and be a great husband to Brooke, and wonderful father to your daughter and son, and an amazing brother, witch, and a Charmed One. Live your life, don't hold back on account of me. Because you and your brother and sister still have many more trials to overcome."

"I don't understand why, though," Lucas said bitterly. "Why is it us that were chosen for this . . . great destiny? Why are we the Charmed Ones? What makes us so special?"

Peyton looked at him. "Because all three of you have hearts that propel you to helping people," she answered quietly. "And because you three have courage where others do not. And because you would risk everything just to keep the world safe." Lucas looked away. "Trust me, Luke, when you leave this planet, you're going to leave it a better place."

Lucas managed a weak smile. "So did you," he said softly. Peyton smiled. "Thank you, Peyton."

She nodded, then inclined her head towards the jacket. "Take care of that for me, will you? Maybe one day, my namesake will wear it." Reaching up, she hugged him tightly. "Take care of yourself, Lucas Scott."

He nodded. "I will," he whispered. "You take care of yourself, Peyton Sawyer. And watch out for Darklighters," he added dryly.

Peyton laughed and in a series of white lights, orbed out, disappearing Up There. Lucas stared at the spot where he'd been before sitting back down on the bed, contemplating everything that had just happened.

--

Susan followed Nathan up to the attic. It had been hours since they had gotten home from the wake and Lucas still hadn't come down. Brooke had gone to their room, wanting to get some sleep, but really everyone knew that she was going to have another long cry. The second-born Charmed One could hear the soft sobs as she walked past her room.

"Lucas?" Nathan asked as they entered the attic. The blond witch looked around at them as they entered, lying on the couch as he stared up at them. "Hey, Luke, how you holding up?"

"About as well as can be expected," Lucas answered softly. Nathan sat down on the table in front of him and Susan climbed on the couch next to Lucas, wrapping her arms around her brother. He leaned into her embrace gratefully, looking at the two of them. As always, the eldest Charmed One seemed to know that they wanted to tell him something.

Susan looked at Nathan, who looked back at her. Both of them wanted the other to be the one to tell their brother. Finally, Susan sighed and pulled herself into a sitting position. Lucas complied, looking expectantly between his brother and sister.

"Listen, Luke, Nathan and I have been doing some talking," she said slowly. "About everything that's happened since we became witches."

"Actually, Susan was the one doing the talking," Nathan interjected. "I was the one who was trying to talk some sense into her when she said that things would be better off if she hadn't come here."

"What?" Lucas turned to look at their sister, who made a face at their younger brother. "Susan thought what?"

"He already shoved that thought out of my head, Luke," Susan told him. "That part's over. But Nathan and I were thinking that . . . maybe this destiny thing was passed onto us too soon. I mean, jeez, we're only seventeen. Well, you'll be eighteen next month, but that's beside the point," she added when Lucas opened his mouth. "The thing is that, I'm not so sure that we're ready to handle all of this. It's like you said when we first started this: we're all going to be going off to college soon and then what? The Power of Three is always safer when it's under one roof. And we'll spread across the country, for all we know, living apart and growing towards our own separate fates. That's not the way the Charmed Ones are supposed to work."

"So I think that Susan is kind of right," Nathan said softly. "I think that we need time to slow this demon stuff down. Maybe if we bind our powers for a few years, until we are really ready to handle it, then maybe . . . maybe we'll be able to do this witch stuff better. Or maybe even permanently," he added more quietly. "As far as I'm concerned, we should choose our destiny, not it chooses us. If we want to continue this, it should be on our own terms, not on anybody else's."

Lucas looked at his brother and sister. "You would do that?" he asked them, looking in particular at Susan. "Give up this powers to lead normal lives after everything that we've been through?"

Susan hugged her knees. "I don't think that even Melinda Warren thought that we would lead our destinies so young," she said quietly. "If we waited a few years . . . maybe things will turn out differently. Maybe we wouldn't lose people we love."

There was a long pause at that statement and Lucas got up, walking to the window and staring out.

"One thing, Luke," Nathan said quietly and Lucas turned towards him. "I think it should be a unanimous decision. We don't do either one unless we all agree on it. It's only fair."

Lucas nodded slowly, closing his eyes slightly. "That's pretty fair," he said softly, "and I love you guys for offering this, but . . . I don't think that any of us want to give up our destiny. It's become who we are. In many ways, being a witch defines us. We are the Charmed Ones and nothing is going to change that, even binding our powers. Besides," he added, "Peyton wouldn't want us to lose sight of what we're meant to do." He was smiling as he said this.

Susan looked at her brother sharply, frowning at the certainty in his voice as he said that. "Are you sure about this, Luke?" she asked him, crossing over to him and folding her arms across her chest as she looked up at him. "Are you really sure?"

"Only if you two are," Lucas told her, looking over at Nathan. "Like you said, Nate, it should be unanimous."

Susan looked over at Nathan and gave the first true smile since Peyton had died. Nathan grinned and got up, walking over to the two of them.

Reaching out, Susan placed her hand in the middle of the circle, her blue-green eyes sparkling as she looked at her brothers. "Witches forever?" she asked them.

Lucas couldn't help laughing as he placed his hand on top of hers. "Witches forever," he agreed, looking at Nathan.

The youngest Charmed One didn't hesitate. Placing his hand on top of Lucas and Susan's, he agreed, "Witches forever."

Fin

--

Author's Note: WOW! Finally finished this story. Don't worry, people, the sequel's going to up as soon as I can. Finals are coming up and I've got to study. But like I said in the last chapter, if you have an idea for a title, please, please, tell me in a review or send me an e-mail.

Thanks!

Lady Dawson