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This one-shot shows Piper's POV during the episode "How to Make a Quilt out of Americans" where the Halliwell sisters lost their powers because Gail, an old friend of their grandmother's worked with two of her friends to offer the Charmed One's powers to a demon in exchange for youth. In the episode Piper didn't want her powers back, but what was she thinking?

Is this our future?

If there was one thing she hated about being a witch, even knowing that Grams had bound their powers as kids when Nicholas was drawn to their powers (really, she didn't have a problem with the knowledge it was because mum and grams had been trying to protect Piper and her sisters, especially considering their own mistakes during that mess when they'd travelled back in time to the 70s), it was how thoroughly it had practically destroyed their social lives and had made her wonder if being a witch was a death sentence on her hopes and dreams.

Piper had always wanted to have a family, and now she knew it was hardly likely to happen with Leo because of the unfair rules concerning Whitelighters and witches, the whole thing had made her bitter.

In a sense, Aunt Gail's pact with the demon Cryto so her youth and health would be restored had been a favour since it meant Piper and her sisters lost their magic, and they had the chance to live normal lives again. Maybe if they had no magic, they could move on with their lives, and if that was true then maybe they wouldn't have to worry about the next demon attack.

So why was it Phoebe and Prue were determined to recover what they'd lost? Piper didn't understand it. Were her sisters suicidal? Piper was frightened for her family, and while she loved the new perspective being witches had given her about their family and their mother and grandmother own the whole, she could see where their father was coming from; he had likely been terrified about what could happen to them, especially after hearing about that mess with the water demon. What if something similar happened to Piper, Prue, and Phoebe? Oh sure, they had helped people, but it would only solidify in dad's mind, magic was dangerous.

Piper could understand his reasons, and she knew the others did as well.

But she was worried if they became witches again to defeat this demon…was she and her sisters doomed to become like Aunt Gail, Amanda and Helen, three lonely old crones who were prepared to sell their souls to a demon just to recover their lost youth because of mistakes made in the past? This latest mess brought the worst nightmare for Piper to the forefront of her mind. Children were meant to immortalise a family, but Aunt Gail had always looked to her and Prue and Phoebe as surrogate daughters or granddaughters.

And look where it had gotten them; Piper didn't know Gail had been a witch until now, but it made sense about how close she and Grams were, and she was uncertain if Grams had known Helen and Amanda were witches as well. It was likely she had known. It was even likely they had been friends, or even acquainted with Grams but it was possible she knew them only in passing.

Piper didn't care.

She realised that quickly.

But what worried her the most was Gail, Helen and Amanda were the future of the Halliwell sisters. Had the trio made the kinds of decisions she and her sisters made on a daily basis when it came to warlocks and demons? Had they had relationships with people, only for them to push them away, throwing away their hopes of having families?

Piper and her sisters had already done that, hadn't they? They'd had relationships that had never worked out, but was it their destiny in the long term to throw away their lives, their social lives, their careers and their passions just so they fought off demons?

From her impressions, Gail and her friends had lived like that, but even Piper had to admit she didn't know everything about the lives of the three women who'd taken their powers. For all they knew they might have had grandchildren somewhere, but what had driven them to this state, asking a demon to grant them youth, and Piper was more worried that this might be what was going to happen one day to herself, Phoebe, and Prue.

Is this our future, Piper asked herself, one day we demand youth and steal from others because we want to relive our lives which we gave away to magic? If we don't have magic anymore, then maybe we can get on with our lives, and damn being the Charmed ones. Its brought us nothing but trouble.