"What just happened back there?" Prue demanded on the spot of returning to her time.

"I don't know. I guess Mother knows best," Piper added.

"Well, since all three of us are still here, I guess that we are safe," Phoebe was glad that even though the mission hadn't been a success, they had all gotten out in one piece.

"Was it just me or did anyone else get the impression that she knew we were coming?" Piper asked.

"Well, maybe she had a vision," Phoebe said.

"I thought that she could freeze time, not have visions," Piper corrected.

"Oh, your right," Phoebe remembered what her dad had told her a few months ago.

"Well, it sure seemed that she knew something that we didn't." Phoebe said. "Maybe a little ghost told her."

Everyone glared at Leo, knowing exactly what Phoebe was thinking, and they were thinking the same thing by then.

"Don't look at me like that! I had nothing to do with it!"

"And why should we believe you?" Phoebe asked.

"When was the last time I kept something from you?"

The three girls stood and tried to decide if Leo was joking or if he had totally forgotten about the 'I can't tell you' speech that he had given a few days earlier.

"Trust me! I don't know why your mom wouldn't let you do anything."

"We'll we can just see about that!" Prue declared. "The truth I seek, For you to speak, Of things not told, Of secrets so old, From days of your youth, Reveal the truth."

"So," Prue began again, "What do you know about what happened with Mom?"

"Ahhh--Prue," Piper started. "It won't work on Whitelighters--remember."

"You mean I wasted it for nothing?"

"Seems that way," Phoebe responded.

"Two down and one to go," Piper informed her youngest sister. "Phoebe would you like to try and see what you can do with your chance?" Piper joked thinking that the answer would be no.

"Actually, yes." Phoebe replied. Piper looked at her sister stunned.

As Phoebe looked into Piper's eyes Phoebe began the chant that Prue had just tried. "The truth I seek, For you to speak, Of things not told, Of secrets so old, From days of your youth, Reveal the truth."

"So what are you going to ask her?" Prue whispered to Phoebe.

"Piper, why do you have prenatal vitamins in your bathroom?"

"You have what!" Prue responded in shock.

Leo stood steering at his wife in shock.

Piper smiled. "To prove that you have been snooping around in my room when I wasn't in there."

"Oh." Phoebe's face turned red with embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Thank-goodness," slipped out of Leo's mouth. He hoped that Piper hadn't heard him, or at least understood what he meant. Luckily, she didn't even bring it up.

"Apology accepted. That is if you will stop looking around in my things."

"I promise." Phoebe suddenly turned her head toward the kitchen. "Did you hear something?" Phoebe asked.

"No. Why? Are you hearing things now instead of just spying on things?" Piper joked.

"I just thought that I--Never mind. How about getting something to eat. Is anyone hungry?"

"Well, I can agree with that idea," Prue smiled at the suggestion. After all it had been almost an entire day since they had a bite to eat.

"That makes three," Piper added in.

"Make that four."

The girls all glared at Leo. "I thought you weren't suppose to eat on the job," Phoebe said. "Remember what Natalie said when she came to play back up Whitelighter?"

"Natalie played by the rules too much!" Leo said.

"Finally, you agree with us!"

"Besides, I live here now. I'm not really on the job."

The four walked into the kitchen and Phoebe walked to the refrigerator.

"What's this?" Piper asked looking at the strange box that was sitting on the kitchen table.

"Only one way to find out," Prue said.

"Open it!" Phoebe ordered as she joined her sisters and Leo. "I wonder what's in it?"

"Guys--are you really going to open a box that just appeared in your house?" Leo couldn't believe his ears or eyes for that matter. "Who knows what's in it! It could be a demon for all you know."

"There isn't a key," Piper said with a look of disappointment and ignoring every word her husband had just spoken.

"Since when did that stop us," Prue replied.

"Are you really going to just open it?" Leo continued.

"Hand it over. I'll get it open." Prue picked up the box and looked into the keyhole. "There," she declared as she lifted the lid. "Nothing a little magic can't fix."

"Bracelets?" Leo said peering over the Charmed Ones' shoulders. "What's on them?"

He was right. There were three bracelets and each had "P Halliwell" spelled out in script writing written with the metal that formed the front. The girls took their own bracelet and held it in their hand, inspecting ever inch of it. "Look! There is an inscription in mine!" Phoebe said in surprise.

"Mine too."

"Mine too."

"Well, I hate to be technical, but what does it say?" Leo was standing behind all of the excitement, and all he knew was what he could overhear.

"To my Charming Daughters: May all your dreams come true." Phoebe read out loud as she placed it on her arm.

"I wonder how it got here?" Piper asked.

"A time spell, I guess. Unless she had someone deliver it from the other side." The three girls looked at Leo to see if he were the guilty party.

"Don look at me!" he replied to their accusation. "I know just as much about it as you do."

Phoebe placed her hand down on the box and a vision came to her.

Patty appeared from thin air and stood in the kitchen of their house. She was of flesh; she wasn't a ghost. She reached out to the table and placed the wooden box on it. Patty looked at the box for a moment and then bent forward, did something with a key, and kissed the lid. Then she began to say something, a spell probably, and disappeared.

"She came from the past," Phoebe told her sisters and Leo.

"How do you know?" Prue asked her.

"How do you think?"

"Look! There's something else in here--A letter." Piper picked up the envelope and took the paper out that it contained. "It's for you," Piper said as she passed it over to Phoebe.

"Lucky," Prue responded jealously.

"Hey wait. There's two of them in here," Phoebe said as she separated the two letters that Piper had taken out of the envelope.

"Who's this one for?" Prue asked. "All of us, I guess."

September 25, 1968

To my Charmed Daughters,

The power of three is a beautiful thing. It can destroy all evil, and it can attract all love. Though you will never have to fight for my love, nor your grandmother's, but there are those who will win your heart one day and you need to make sure that you know who they truly are.

I know that this gift may seem too late for one, too early for another, and never needed by the last, but the time is right. An important lesson was thought to me, and you were the teachers, but I doubt that you remember. Some things are meant to be a secret to be held in time.

These three bracelets are for my three daughters. Each is special in its own way, for you have a power that grows by the day. Join together and you will find, the strength when your powers are combined.

They are a simple charm to remember your mother by - since I know you no longer have me with you. Never forget me, for I will never forget you.

Your mother,

Patty

September 25, 1968

My dearest Phoebe,

I don't know how to tell you this, but by doing nothing you saved your life. It was because you obeyed my wishes that you are part of the Charmed Ones today.

I was warned about what would happen if I allowed my rescuers to stop the intruder. At first I didn't believe what your friend told me, but as I thought about it, I realized that what he said made sense.

He told me that if I had this child, there would be four Halliwell girls. There can be only three Charmed Ones at a time, and you were meant to be one. If there had been another child before you, your life would have been ruined.

If this baby had been born to me and had became a Charmed One, the Charmed Ones would be evil. She is the child of a warlock, a powerful and extremely evil warlock.

Your friend, the one that warned me about my child, is a very special man. Any demon that risks his life to save the Charmed Ones can only be good inside. It doesn't matter who he was; it matters who he is. He did not ask for my permission, but I know he loves you, and I know what he desires. He needs and wants you with all of his heart.

I want you to know that it takes a special heart to find the true self of a person, and you have that gift. You didn't judge him, though you had the right. You didn't punish him, though you had the need. You did love him, though you had no cause. You did protect him, though you had no reason. Your heart lead you to this man, and it will hold you there.

My darling Phoebe, you have my blessing. I wish you the happiest years that any witch could ever have. He is meant for you, he always has been. How do I know? I am your mother. That is how I know.

Always with You,

Your Mother

Piper and Prue took turns reading their letter white Phoebe sat down and read her personal one.

"Any clue to the person that Mom talked to in your letter, Phebes?" Piper asked when she saw Phoebe was done reading.

"Ah, yah, you could say that."

"Who was it?" Leo inquired. "I know that it wasn't me."

"What?" the girls asked in unison.

"Well, you never know when you mess with the timeline."

"No, it wasn't you." Phoebe handed her letter over to Leo. "But you might as well know who it was."

"Who?" Leo asked.

"The only person who isn't affected by it."

"And who is that?" Prue asked.

"Cole!" Leo responded.

"You summoned me?" Cole walked in the kitchen as if he had been listening in all along.

"What are you doing here?" Phoebe asked.

"Last time I checked you said that I could come here anytime I wanted," he said with anger in his voice. "Remember, you invited me to do so."

"Sorry, that's not what I meant," Phoebe apologized.

"I know. I was just teasing."

"Next time, don't make me feel like I have hurt your feelings. Deal?"

"Deal."

As Cole walked further in the room he saw what everyone had been looking at when he entered. "Is it someone's birthday?"

"No. Mom gave it to us, as if you didn't know," Phoebe responded.

"So what's in it?"

"A couple of letters and three bracelets," Leo answered as he reached into the box to pick one up.

"No!" Cole responded.

"Why not?"

"Ahhh - because the last person that touched these were the girls' mom. Don't you think they should be the next ones to hold them?" Cole was relieved that he could think of something sensible to say at the moment.

"And when did you get sentimental?" Leo joked.

"That's a great idea!" Phoebe said as she picked one up.

"Why don't you all put them on?" Cole hinted.

The three witches picked up the gifts and each placed them on their wrist, helping each other connect the clasps.

"I wish that Mom were here," Piper said.

"I do too," Phoebe added, trying to comfort her sister.

"I know. It has been so long since we have seen her. I would love to talk to her again."

Suddenly a wind seemed to pick up in the room. The letters were blown to the floor the box was knocked onto a chair that was sitting next to the table.

"Leo!" Cole yelled to get the Whitelighter's attention. "We need to leave. Now!" Cole reached out and grabbed his hand and took him out of the room.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"Just believe me. The girls need to be alone right now."

Leo looked at Cole for a moment and realized that somehow he knew what he was doing. He just hoped that it was for good and not evil.

The wind died down and the girls looked up to see a light that was circling the girls, which seemed to be coming out of the bracelets. Slowly a hazy form of a person started to appear.

"Mom!" Prue yelled with joy.

"Thank goodness," Patty said as she saw whom she was standing with. "I've been waiting for so long."

"We missed you too," Piper said a little confused.

"How long are you here for?" Phoebe asked as tears began to form in her eyes.

"For as long as it takes to explain things," she responded.

"Explain what?" Piper asked.

"To explain what you did in the past to save the future of the Charmed Ones."

* * *

"Would you like to tell me why you decided we had to come out here?" Leo demanded.

"Because those bracelets are magical."

"What kind of magic?" Leo asked worried.

"They're from Patty. What type do you think?"

"Well, if you knew about them, then I don't know."

"The bracelets have a spell on them to tell if the girls have the hearts of the witches that they were meant to be."

"Ahhh - and what if they don't?"

"They'll lose their powers," Cole responded bluntly.

"They'll what?"

"Don't worry. Everything is back to normal."

"And what was out of normal?"

"Let me put it this way. A certain Whitelighter told a certain demon that the timeline had been tainted by evil."

"Oh, and let me guess, that same Whitelighter told you not to tell me anymore."

"You got it."

* * *

"Good-bye, Mom. I love you." Piper said trying to hold back her tears.

"I love you, too. All of you," Patty told her beautiful daughters as she gazed upon the girls she was so proud of, and then she was gone.

"I already miss her. I wish that I could have known her better." Phoebe had known her mother for only a short time when Patty drown and it was very hard on her, though she rarely let anyone know.

"I wonder why she gave us these bracelets the way she did?" Prue asked.

"Maybe it was a way she thought would connect us to her, even when we are apart," Piper said.

"I guess you can't get too much further apart than we are now," Prue realized.

"Well, I know that I am not taking mine off for a long time," Phoebe said as she gazed at the magnificent piece of gold jewelry that laid on her wrist. It was so simple, yet so complex. Phoebe could swear that a moment ago a light was coming from the diamond that was set in the middle of the "P", but how was that possible.

"I don't think that any of us will," Piper agreed.

May 3, 2001

Dear Diary,

Sometimes I feel so angry that I have this "gift." But then there are the times like now, when I am thankful that I do.

If I didn't have it I would have never been able to have Cole, though because of it he has tried to kill my sisters and I a few dozen times. But more importantly, because of it I was able to see my mother again today. I just wonder how she managed to get the package to us. For some reason I doubt that Cole went back in time and picked it up and delivered it. He just doesn't seem like the deliveryman type.

Well, tomorrow is the big day. It has been so long since I have been able to go to Disneyland, and we all need the break desperately. Though it has been a long time since we have had a serious problem that our powers have been needed for.

Goodnight,

Phoebe