Chapter 13: Just Harried Part 1
March 18, 2002
"Careful, Buffy," Prue said as she, Dawn, Grams and Phoebe watched as Buffy moved a floral arch for Piper's wedding.
"Okay, that should do it," Phoebe said as Buffy sat the arch down.
"I'm thinking more to the left," Grams said as Buffy sighed. "Uh, is this the biggest arch you could get?"
"Without opening a fast food franchise, yeah," Prue said.
"Well, just remember, if love is the quest then marriage is the conquest," Grams said. "This place must be like victory."
"And here I thought weddings were supposed to be romantic," Phoebe said.
Grams shook her head. "Oh, my dear sweet child."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Dawn wondered.
Prue smiled at her daughter. "It means that you could always calculate Grams' age by the number of rings on her fingers," she explained. "Alright, wedding arch is done." She glanced at her never-ending to-do list. "The next thing on the to-do list is…" she yawned.
Buffy and Dawn watched their mother with concern. Prue had been tired, abnormally so, all week and this was really not the best time for it.
So, Dawn finished, "…Sleep. You've been yawning all day.
"Try all week," Prue complained. "It's this reoccurring dream I keep having. It's keeping me awake."
Phoebe frowned. "Really? What's in the dream?"
"Well…" Prue thought back to her most recent dream. "There was this biker guy and he's kind of cute and kind of dangerous."
"Sounds kind of yummy," Phoebe remarked.
Piper walked in at that moment, and was momentarily spellbound by the sight before her. The arch and the altar, her sisters, her nieces and Grams…wow.
"Piper, sweetie," Grams greeted her. "Well, what do you think?"
Piper stared at the magnificent sight before her. "It's-it's beautiful," she murmured.
"Yeah, and the best part about it is, it's finally happening," Phoebe said with a nod.
"Flowers… bows… and Gram." Piper sighed, still looking around. "The only thing missing is…"
"Mom," Prue said in understanding.
The collective mood in the room fell momentarily. Piper started, "Grams, are you sure you can't do…?"
Grams shook her head. "No, nothing. I'm only here because you need a high priestess. They want me back by the witching hour tomorrow."
Prue, Piper, Phoebe Buffy and Dawn's shoulders sagged. It had been worth a try, at least.
"I thought maybe this could help," Phoebe said as she held up a photo of Patty.
Piper sighed. It would help, just not enough.
"You okay?" Prue asked her middle sister.
"Yeah, I just, I can't believe how close I came to sabotaging my own wedding," Piper admitted.
"What do you mean?" Buffy wondered.
"Well, with the demons and the false starts and them," Piper nodded accusingly up at the ceiling, gesturing to the heavens where the Elders resided. She admitted, "I told myself if one more thing went wrong then it just maybe wasn't meant to be."
"Oh, darling," Grams said sympathetically, "there's no need to think that way. I mean, you made it."
"Yeah, and I will personally butt-kick any demon who tries to ruin it for you," Buffy added.
"So, will I," agreed Prue. Her statement would have had more of an impact if she hadn't punctuated it with yet another yawn.
"But I think I might be doing it alone if mom doesn't get some sleep," said Buffy. "Come on, I'm tucking you in."
"That's a change," Prue said with a laugh. "The daughter tucking the mother into bed."
"Sweet dreams. Bye," Piper said as Prue and Buffy headed up the stairs.
March 19, 2002
The next morning Dawn woke up early. For a moment, she just laid there in her bed, basking in the knowledge of what today was. She quietly got out of bed and, after taking care of business in the bathroom, rushed downstairs to the kitchen and found Phoebe in the kitchen, cooking.
"Wow," Dawn said surprised that Phoebe was actually cooking.
"Making Piper breakfast," said Phoebe.
Once breakfast was done, Dawn helped Phoebe arrange Piper's share of breakfast on a tray and they brought it up the stairs to Piper.
As luck would have it, Piper was already up and giggling when Dawn and Phoebe walked into the room. "Was that just giggling I heard?" Phoebe demanded as she and Dawn walked in with the tray.
Piper grinned at them impishly, looking totally unlike her normally-serious self. She retorted, "Yes, I am guilty of giggling and I am guilty of being happier than any previous romance in my life!"
"Aunt Piper, it's your wedding day!" Dawn exclaimed, hardly able to believe it herself.
Shyly, but smugly, Piper said, "I know."
Dawn sat the tray down as Phoebe lunged at the bed. "Here comes a bridesmaid!" Phoebe yelled as she pounced. Dawn was not far behind Phoebe. The three of them threw petals in the air, giggling and laughing like preschoolers on a playground.
Prue came in, and they immediately showered her with petals. "Prue, come play!" said Phoebe.
"Hey," Prue protested, smiling, as she pulled petals out of her hair. She sat down on the bed and Dawn noticed the exhausted look on her face.
"Uh-oh, another bad dream?" Dawn guessed.
Prue nodded. "Yeah, I was still in that biker bar but this time I was attacked by a big galloot," she explained forgetting her audience.
Piper's heart stopped. "A galloot? What is that?" she demanded, fearful that all her bridal dreams were about to come crashing down. "You fought a demon in your sleep? If I'm going to have to vanquish a demon in my wedding dress, just tell me, because if so, then—" Piper began to rant, her mood plummeting.
Prue stopped her in her tracks. "Ay!" she exclaimed to get her attention. "Alright, he was not a demon, he was just a big rude guy."
"And it was just in her dream," Phoebe added.
"Yeah, and the only thing I need to vanquish him is a potion called coffee," Prue finished. The doorbell rang. "That must be the flowers. Um, okay, you just relax, no worrying."
Phoebe leapt off the bed. "And I will have a hot bubble bath waiting for you!" she promised as she ran into the bathroom.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Several hours later, Buffy and Prue had just about finished with the mountain of tasks that needed to be completed. Phoebe came down into the kitchen after rifling through the attic, prize in hand. She set it down on the table where Prue was scratching one thing after another off her to-do list.
"Check out what I found in the attic," Phoebe exulted.
Prue barely even glanced at it. "I hope it's something old 'cause we already have new, borrowed, and blue covered."
"Is Melinda Warren's blessing cup old enough?" Phoebe asked pointedly, fingering the ancient item in question.
Buffy grinned. "That is very cool."
"Yeah, what could be better than to give Piper the actual cup that our favorite ancestor drank from at her wedding," Phoebe remarked.
Prue scanned her list, satisfied. "Alright, now I can check that off. Now all I need is help moving the buffet table," she said looking at her daughter.
"I may have added strength but when did I become the pack mule of the family?" Buffy wondered as Prue and Phoebe looked at her. "Don't get me wrong I am happy to do it since it will make Aunt Piper happy. But isn't it kind of leaning in the personal gain territory?"
"Would have to ask Leo on that," said Prue.
Phoebe bit her lip. She wasn't sure how receptive Prue would be to her suggestion, but… "Maybe we should wait until Cole gets here. He should be here any minute."
Prue stared at her baby sister. "You're kidding, right?"
"No, you knew he was coming to the wedding," Phoebe countered; she couldn't help being a little stung by Prue's tone.
"Yeah, to the wedding, Phoebe," Prue emphasized, suddenly irritated. "But the moments leading up to it belong to the family." Softening her tone just a little, she said, "And I'm sorry, okay, but Cole is not family."
Buffy could tell that what Prue had said hurt Phoebe, who stayed silent.
The silence lasted all of half a second. Piper screamed, and they ran out of the kitchen, afraid of what they might find. They didn't have to be. Leo had arrived, and he was holding something long and white draped over his arm.
"It is bad luck to see the bride's dress before the wedding," Piper was scolding him as she hid behind the decorations on the stairwell.
"But you're not in your dress," Leo impishly reminded her.
Piper frowned. That was true. "The same rule applies to the bride's…curlers." She glared. "Go away." She ran back up the stairs.
After that, there was a small to-do over Leo's chosen wear for the day. He had brought his formal Whitelighter wear; Prue and Phoebe had rented him a tux. And it was the tux that the Whitelighter would be wearing; at least that aspect of a traditional wedding would remain.
"Anybody home?" came a voice from the door.
"Daddy!" Phoebe ran to give her father a hug as he came through the door.
"Hi, baby," Victor greeted his daughter delightedly. His greeting to Leo was decidedly less friendly, "Leo." The two men nodded civilly to each other, and Buffy, Phoebe and Prue shivered as they felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees.
Prue cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, I know that you have a lot of joy and laughter to share so I'll just take you down…" Without warning, the world tilted sideways as Prue was overcome by a dizzy spell. "Whoa."
"What's the matter?" Victor asked anxiously, his animosity towards Leo momentarily forgotten.
Prue quickly sat down on the stairs so she wouldn't fall down. "Ah, just, uh, a dizzy spell," she replied faintly, holding her head in her hands. "I've been getting them ever since those dreams began."
Leo tensed. "What dreams?"
"Oh, you know, those dreams," Prue started to explain and then she remembered. Piper's warning. So, she lied, "Uh, you know it's nothing."
Buffy, too, remembered Piper's words from the night before. For that reason alone, she went along with it. "Yeah, certainly nothing to worry about," she fibbed. "Okay, you two, follow me." She glanced at Phoebe who nodded. She then led the men through the house and downstairs into the basement. She opened the door to the home gym. "I would steer you into mine and Faith's room. But Faith's in there getting ready. So, our little home gym will have to do. And please Grandpa, Leo, no fighting."
From the looks the two gave each other, Buffy wouldn't bank on it. She sighed, leaving them to their own devices and hurried back upstairs. She found Phoebe waiting for her.
"Convince me everything is alright, please," said Buffy.
Phoebe sighed. "I can't do that. She's feeling tired all the time. Like she's getting no sleep what so ever."
"Are we thinking demon?" asked Dawn as she came down the stairs having heard enough of the conversation to know that Prue was still not getting enough sleep.
"Prue isn't ruling it out," answered Phoebe. "But remember what Piper said. If one more thing goes wrong, she was going to call off this wedding. Which we can't let happen."
"Agreed," said Buffy and Dawn.
"Buffy," said Phoebe, "Dawn. Can I get you to handle the almighty to-do list? That way while I am getting ready, I can keep an eye on your mom."
"Okay," Buffy and Dawn agreed.
Buffy and Dawn tackled the rest of the chores that needed to be done before the ceremony, their worry only grew for their mother. Once they had finished, they headed toward their own rooms. The wedding was in an hour, and they had yet to get themselves ready.
Dawn was about to step into her room when she decided to check on Prue. She peeked into Prue's room and realized her mother was asleep. Dawn crossed the room soundlessly and gently shook her shoulder.
"Mom," she called softly. There was no response. Dawn called her name louder. Still no response. Now even more worried than she had been before, Dawn shook her mother roughly. Prue just moaned. She did not wake up, and Dawn was terrified. Why wouldn't Prue wake up?
Several more shakes and shouts later, Prue still would not wake up. Dawn was about to go get Buffy and have her slap Prue with some Slayer strength in an attempt to wake Prue, when Prue's eyes abruptly flew open. Dawn nearly wept in relief, but that relief was short-lived when she noticed the look in her mother's eyes. Prue was terrified.
Without bothering to answer her daughter's queries, Prue sat up and stared at her wrists. "Oh no," she whispered.
And just like that, Dawn knew something supernatural was going on. Still feeling quite out of sorts, Prue finally explained her dream. She explained that it felt like it wouldn't release her. They wondered if someone was trying to pull Prue, into an alternate dream world.
"Well, hopefully that person will be in the Book of Shadows, okay," Dawn consoled her, leading her out of the room. "Come on."
Of course, getting to the attic was not that easy. Prue and Dawn were only feet from the stairs that led up to it when Piper emerged from her room. One look at her niece and sister told Piper all she needed to know. "Hold it right there. What's wrong?" she demanded.
Prue and Dawn shared a frantic glance with each other. "Boy bands," Dawn replied unthinkingly, "there's just too many of them, don't you think?"
Piper didn't buy it. "No. What's wrong with you two?"
"Nothing's wrong," Prue lied.
Unfortunately, Piper was not convinced. "I can see it in your faces. Prue; you, Phoebe and I have been demon-hunting for three years now; you're going to the attic, aren't you?"
A lightbulb went on in Dawn's head. There was a way out of this. "Yes…" she sighed.
Prue elbowed her roughly. "Dawn Marie Halliwell!"
Piper threw her hands up in the air. Of course, she couldn't have an uneventful wedding day, why had she ever thought otherwise? "I knew it."
Prue stared at Dawn like she had lost her mind.
Dawn shrugged. "What, mom, she's on to us," she turned and faced Piper, schooling her expression into one of defeat. "Yes, Aunt Piper, we were heading to the attic," Dawn admitted. "To find something old, something new…"
Dawn looked at Prue meaningfully, and Prue quickly caught on. She finished, "Uh, something, something borrowed, something blue."
"Yes."
"Right." Prue tried to make herself sound sheepish. "We were going to surprise you, but now you caught us." Inwardly, she cheered in relief. Piper had bought it. Prue continued, "I told you, you have nothing to worry about today, alright? It's going to be a demon-free day."
The timing of her statement was perfect. Cole Turner shimmered in beside Phoebe, and Phoebe smiled in relief. He was okay. He was even holding a wedding gift, much to her surprise.
"Hey!" Prue protested.
Cole looked at Dawn, Prue and Piper. Apparently, he had shimmered into an awkward moment. Well, it wasn't as though awkward moments had ever bothered him before. As he always did, Cole took in the situation around him. Piper looked relieved, for some unexplained reason. But Prue and Dawn did not. In both of their faces. Something was going on, and they didn't want Piper to know about it. He decided to play along.
"Sorry I'm late," he apologized, although Cole didn't think he was, given their states of relative undress.
Piper gave Prue a look. "You were saying?"
"Near miss with a Zotar," Cole explained. The last thing that Piper needed was a reminder that an uninvited demon could crash her wedding at any time. "Almost spotted me. Oh, don't worry, I lost him. I think," he almost reassured her. Well, they had to give him points for trying.
An hour later Buffy and Faith finished the last chore on the to-do list: moving the buffet table into its assigned wedding spot. As they worked, Buffy couldn't help but stare. Faith was, like herself, wearing a lavender bridesmaid gown, and she looked damn good in it.
Faith looked up and smirked. "Like what you see?" She cocked an eyebrow suggestively.
Buffy blushed and looked away. "No time," she muttered. But, oh yes, she did like what she saw. She liked it a whole lot.
Faith nodded, smiling a little to herself. Then she abruptly changed the subject. "So, what's wrong with Prue?"
Buffy sighed. "Mom's been having bad dreams…" she explained the whole situation—what she knew of it, anyway.
"Maybe we should check in the Book of Shadows?" suggested Faith just as Prue came around the corner.
"Mom?" said Buffy.
"Dawn and I looked in the Book. We found nothing," Prue replied tiredly.
Buffy deflated. "What are we going to do?" She checked her watch. "The wedding's in a half an hour."
Prue took a deep breath, gathering her strength, which was once again beginning to wane. "Get ready, get set, get through it for Piper," she stated.
"For Piper," Buffy and Faith confirmed.
They watched as Prue headed upstairs to get ready.
"I'm worried, Faith," said Buffy when Prue was gone. She felt Faith's arms go around her from behind.
"I know," Faith whispered into Buffy's ear.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Dawn stepped into the home gym and found that Leo and Victor seemed to be getting along fairly well, to her astonishment; they must have come to some kind of understanding after Buffy had banished them down here. She made her way back upstairs and frowned when she heard voices coming from Piper's room. Sharing a concerned look, she and Prue walked in.
What she saw left her breathless.
Patricia Halliwell, her grandmother who had been dead since long before she was born, smiled when her granddaughter joined her daughters.
"Grandma Patty?" Dawn spoke softly, shocked beyond the use of any other word but one. She had only seen her maternal grandmother in pictures.
"It's true," Piper nodded tearfully, "she's real. They sent her to us for today."
Dawn turned and yelled out the door, "Buffy!"
It only a moment before Buffy joined everyone in Piper's room. Her eyes were wide at what she saw. "I thought Grams said they…"
"They sent her," said Dawn. "For today."
Patty strode across the room and pulled both Dawn and Buffy into an embrace and hugged them tight. When she turned, she saw Prue and Phoebe standing in the doorway.
"She's real," said Piper as she noticed her sisters. "They sent her to us for today."
Patty looked at Prue, her eldest daughter, first. "Oh Prue," she sighed, "it's been so hard on you, unfair."
"Yeah…" Prue caught herself nodding. "No, it doesn't matter. I just wanted to make you proud," she choked out.
"You protected this family better than I could. And that prepared you for the time when you were ready to protect your own beautiful daughters. I'm so proud of you," Patty reassured her, as they embraced for the first time in over two decades.
Phoebe stared at them, feeling irrationally hurt and left out. Although she knew, intellectually, that it wasn't true, she couldn't help but think that maybe her mother loved her less than her two older sisters. After all, they had never gotten to know each other the way Patty had with her older daughters.
Patty noticed her daughter's dejection and turned to her next. Her youngest daughter, Phoebe, the one she had never truly had the chance to know. "And you, my baby, you feel it all, don't you?" she murmured tenderly. Phoebe's breath caught once again. Her mother did love her, she did, as everyone had always said she did. "I was never there to comfort you. I died before you even knew me."
"Some nights I just wanted you to hold me," Phoebe whispered thickly. Her eyes prickled with unshed tears.
Patty stepped up closer, about to do so now. "Your road's been the longest, Phoebe. But I was never worried about you." Phoebe looked at her, confused. Her mother explained, "You know why? Because I had a premonition the day you were born."
"You did?" Dawn said.
"What did you see?" Buffy questioned.
"Oh, I saw this," Patty smiled beatifically as she gestured to the scene before her. "I saw this moment, right now, my three daughters and two granddaughters standing before me as beautiful young women and I knew that everything would be okay."
Phoebe choked, overcome with emotion. "What did you see next?"
Their mother opened her arms wide. "I held you," she answered, and all three of her daughters as well as her two granddaughters willingly stepped into the group embrace. For a long moment, they just stood there, reveling in this contact and the fact that they would all be a complete family again, even if it was just for today.
Eventually, though, they had to pull apart. It was Prue who reminded them of why they were all here. "We still have a wedding today. Piper, are you ready?"
Piper nodded, gathering herself and dabbing away at the few tears that had escaped her control. "I'm ready."
They gave her a moment longer to collect herself, and Buffy, Dawn, Prue and Phoebe made their way downstairs. Everyone else was already in place, with Grams standing (or floating?) behind the altar, and Leo, Faith and Victor in front of it. Cole stood off to the side, nearer to the entryway. He wasn't quite part of the family, yet, and it showed.
"Places, places, everyone!" Grams called. Buffy and Dawn moved beside Faith in the correct spot.
Naturally, said moment was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. "Don't answer that," Prue muttered.
"Can somebody answer that?" Piper called from upstairs.
"Oooh!" Prue hissed as she, Dawn, Buffy and Phoebe went to follow Piper's wishes. As it turned out, Darryl Morris was standing on the other side of the door. And he didn't look happy. "Hey, you're late. Where were you?"
"Out saving your ass," Darryl informed her tersely. Phoebe's jaw dropped as he revealed that not only did the police have Prue's picture, but that she was wanted for murder.
Horrified, Dawn exclaimed, "Oh my God, that was your dream!"
"They don't have your name yet but it's only a matter of time," the inspector warned. He hated to bring such awful news on what was supposed to be a joyful day, but he didn't have a choice.
From the other room, Grams called, "Girls!"
Prue thought fast. "Alright, let's just stay cool and we'll get downtown and straighten this out later. But we have to get through the wedding first, okay? For Piper."
"For Piper." Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe echoed. They looked at Darryl, who looked back at them in confusion.
"You're supposed to say, 'for Piper,'" Prue explained.
Darryl agreed, reluctantly. "Alright, but it better be a quick wedding."
Buffy and Dawn looked at Prue and Phoebe and could tell that the atmosphere in the room was not nearly as light as it had been when they walked back to their place next to Faith.
Faith saw the consternation in Buffy's face and the tension in her frame. "What?" she whispered to Buffy.
"Mom's dreams seem to be real," Buffy sighed as she whispered. "She's wanted for murder."
The atmosphere lightened up a little with Victor's consternation over finding out that his ex-wife had temporarily come back from the dead. It lightened up considerably when the music started and Piper came down. For a moment, all Buffy or Dawn could do was stare at their aunt in all her bridal glory. With the veil, the hair, the make-up, the jewelry, the dress, even the shoes…from head to toe, Piper looked perfect.
Victor took his daughter's arm and led her to the altar.
"We did it," Phoebe whispered. "It's really happening." She spoke too soon. Not two seconds after she spoke those words, did a horrendous crash echo from the entryway. The entire wedding party spun around and gasped as a man on a motorcycle rode into the room. Flowers, table pieces and glassware flew in every which direction; some smashed on the ground while others went flying into the air. The man stopped and called, "Prue!"
Prue gasped, "Oh, oh, oh no." Before anyone could catch her, she fainted dead away on the ground. Even more shocking, her astral self, dressed far more casually than her real self appeared right next to her fallen form and looked at the man as if he was her savior. "TJ!" she exclaimed, sounding anything but furious as she ran over to him. "You came!"
"Mom?" Shocked as she was, Dawn was helpless to stop her and could only watch as her mother climbed on the bike with her mystery man.
"Had to beat the cops," TJ explained—to Prue, not them. "I won't let them take you."
"Prue, what the hell is going on?" Piper demanded, eyes wide with fear and disbelief.
"Prue, you get your astral ass back here!" Phoebe screamed. It had no effect. The bike roared to life and began a disastrous journey out of the manor. Up against several hundred pounds of metal and two determined riders, the cake table didn't stand a chance. Knocked off balance, it toppled to the ground, and the white wedding cake split into white, messy pieces as it splattered on the hardwood floor.
For a moment, all was silent. And then Piper began to fall apart. "Oh," she moaned, surveying the destroyed room and her destroyed wedding. "Oh…oh…oh…oh."
"Honey…" Phoebe started, unsure of what else to say.
Abruptly, Piper's mood changed from devastated to pissed off. "Alright," she hissed, ripping off the suddenly-offensive veil. "That's it! The wedding is off."
Buffy and Dawn glanced at each other shocked that it was happening. They along with Phoebe took a step towards Piper. Phoebe accidentally stepping on the dress. It ripped.
"Phoebe!"
"Sorry, sorry," Phoebe hastily apologized. Piper stormed away, and Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe went after her, desperate to stop her before she did something, they'd all regret.
"Aunt Piper, Aunt Piper," Dawn said.
"Wait, think about this," added Phoebe.
Piper ignored them, and roughly shrugged into a light pink cardigan.
"Aunt Piper," said Buffy. "Don't leave, please."
Piper spun to face her nieces and sister, the distress clear on her face and in her voice. "A demon, I could have handled, but my big sister ruining my wedding, I cannot handle that!" she shrieked.
Phoebe was not quite panicking, but she was very close. "Okay, just listen to me for a second. All we have to do is find a way…" Find a way? What was she saying? Why should someone have to 'find a way' on today of all days?
"No, no I don't want to 'find a way' to get married on my wedding day," Piper cried. "It's too hard, there must be a reason."
"Piper…" Leo tried.
It was to no avail. "Leo, I'm sorry, but this is just the final straw," Piper said, both decisively and defeatedly. A wounded look crossed Leo's face. "It's just not meant to be."
Devastated Piper walked out of the house on the ruin of a day that was supposed to be her wedding day.