Prue tiredly pushed through some low brush. She, Phoebe, and her
grandmother had been wandering through the woods for the past forty-five
minutes. They were tired and sweaty, and so far, they had come up empty-
handed. Piper was nowhere to be found. "Grams, I can't walk anymore,"
Phoebe whined, panting. "My feet hurt. Can we stop for just a second?"
"Sweetie, we have to keep going," Penny said, out of breath as well. "Piper needs us."
"I say we let her stay lost," Phoebe grumbled angrily. "She wanted to be alone, so let her."
Penny stopped and took a deep breath in. "Phoebe," she chided, then turned around and knelt down so that she was eye-level with her granddaughter. Phoebe wearily looked her in the eye. "We can't give up on your sister. She's part of this family, and Halliwells always stick together."
"Tell that to Piper," Phoebe said quietly. "She hasn't stuck by us."
"I don't think that's entirely her fault," Penny said as she comfortingly ran her hand down Phoebe's cheek. "I think Melody influenced her a lot more than she said she did."
Phoebe sighed as her grandmother stood up and started heading down the path once again. Prue ran ahead of them, wanting to be in the lead. She still felt like this whole thing was her fault. If she had just left Piper alone like she wanted, they wouldn't be in this mess. They'd all be home and Piper wouldn't be all set to hold a lifelong grudge. "Prue, do you even know where you're going?" Phoebe asked tiredly.
Prue stopped and leaned back against a nearby tree, shaking her head as tears welled in her eyes. "I have no idea," she said, trying to keep her voice from breaking.
Penny stepped forward and gripped Prue's shoulders. Her hold was strong, and her voice was both comforting and insistent when she spoke. "Prue, I know you're hot and I know you're tired, but you have to stay focused for me. Your sister's life could depend on it. Now, think really hard . . . is there somewhere you know she goes that we haven't checked yet?"
Prue closed her eyes and took slow, even breaths, trying to keep from losing it completely. "I'm not sure if she goes there, but there's a climbing rock over there somewhere."
"Then that's our plan," Penny said with a smile. She took both her granddaughters' hands, squeezing them tightly. She already had one granddaughter lost in the woods. She didn't think she could handle having two. "Just tell me where I'm going, Prue."
Prue was able to talk her grandmother through the woods to the climbing rock. She was surprised that she remembered how to get there. She had only been there that once when Andy took them there. Through the thick trees, she thought she saw someone standing on the rock. She pulled out of her grandmother's grasp and ran ahead, fighting through the trees. She gasped when she saw that the person standing at the edge of the rock was Piper. Her sister was staring down at the ground, slowly making her way closer to the edge. Her toes were already off. "Piper, no!" Prue yelled, rushing forward.
Piper started and turned around. Then, she slipped. She couldn't be sure if she had turned her ankle on a large pebble or if someone had pulled on her ankle, tripping her. She screamed and managed to grab onto the top of the rock. She was holding on as tightly as she could, but with nothing to stand on, she wasn't sure how long she could hold on. "Prue, help me!" she cried as she kicked at the rock, trying to pull herself up.
Prue was at the edge in a flash, tears of terror in her eyes. She grabbed Piper's hand, trying to pry her fingers from the edge of the rock so she could hold her hand to pull her up. "Piper, let it go," she said as gently as she could manage. "I've got you and I won't let go."
Piper just shook her head, kicking her legs. She would start climbing up, then she'd slip back down again. Penny yelled at Phoebe to stay back, ran over, and quickly took charge. "Piper, listen to me," she said calmly. "Try to find a foothold." She grabbed Piper's wrist and silently instructed Prue to grab the other one. Prue did as she was told, holding onto her sister's arm so tightly that she thought her fingers were going to break. "Piper, just find a foothold," Penny repeated. "We're not going to let you go."
Piper kicked at the rock once again, trying to find anything that would work as a foothold. "I can't!" she cried. "I can't find one!" Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her ankle, the same ankle she had twisted, and guide it to a small ledge. She put weight on her foot and sobbed in relief. Then she looked down to see who was at the bottom of the rock. The only person she saw was Melody, who was standing at the bottom, looking up at Piper with tears in her eyes. Melody smiled at her and nodded. Piper smiled back, put all her weight on her foot and stood. She quickly found another foothold. "I've got it!"
"Good girl!" Penny cried in relief. "Prue and I are going to pull you up, but I need you to climb up with your legs. Can you do that?"
Piper nodded. Prue and Penny began pulling on Piper's arms and slowly but surely, she began climbing up the rock. It was like climbing a ladder, only she was using the small ledges instead of rungs. It took a few minutes, but as soon as she was up far enough, her grandmother turned to Prue. "I'm going to let go for a second so I can grab her. Can you hold her up?" Prue nodded. "Good. Piper, do not move. Lean as close to the rock as you can and try to stand really straight. I'm going to let your arm go, but I'm going to grab your waist and lift you up the rest of the way. Okay?"
Piper nodded, did as she was told, and held her breath. She closed her eyes, felt her grandmother let her arm go, and then felt a strong arm wrap around her waist. She collapsed against her grandmother as she lifted her up and over the edge. As soon as Piper's feet hit solid ground, she let her breath out and sank to the ground, relief washing over her. Prue wrapped her in a tight hug, and after a quick moment, Penny and Phoebe joined the embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay," Prue whispered, choking up.
"I am, too," her grandmother said, finally allowing her tears to fall.
"Me, too," Phoebe agreed. She gave her sister a really strong squeeze and when they let Piper go, Phoebe was surprised to see that Piper was crying. "Piper, what's the matter?"
"I'm so sorry," she said between sobs. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you all. I'll never do anything like that ever again. I promise. When I fell, I thought I was never going to see you guys ever again. I was so scared. I love you."
"We love you, too, sweetie," Penny said gently, stroking her hair. She tugged Piper up so she could stand and started leading her out of the woods. "Come on, girls. It's time to go home."
"Grams?" Piper asked softly. Her sobs had dwindled down to a choking sniffle. "Am I in big trouble?"
"We'll discuss that at home, darling."
Prue followed behind her grandmother and her sisters, trying to digest all of what had happened. She had come within inches of losing her sister, and Piper had come within seconds of . . . She didn't even want to think about it. Her sister was obviously going through something serious, and it was something Prue didn't think she could ever understand. She turned around, glancing over her shoulder at the rock that had almost taken her sister from her, and stopped short.
A figure in a long brown dress was sadly watching them go. She caught Prue's eye and smiled. "Don't blame her," she said, nodding in Piper's direction. "It was my idea. She really didn't want any part of it. She's a special girl, Prue. Take good care of her."
Prue nodded in amazement. "I will. Who are you?"
"Who do you think?" She smiled again. "Will you do me a favor? Tell her that she has given me more than she could ever know. And tell her it's time for me to go home."
Prue nodded again. She stared at the girl, and suddenly, it hit her. "You saved her, didn't you? When she couldn't find the ledge to stand on, you helped her."
"Best friends help each other," she said by way of an answer. "Just remember what I told you. Please."
Prue smiled and turned back, running to catch up with her family. She wrapped her arm around Piper's shoulder and grinned down at her. Piper smiled back as they stepped out of the woods. As they were heading back to the car, Prue sighed heavily. She had had enough adventure for one day, possibly her entire lifetime. Melody's words came back to her. It was time to go home.
**********
Prue and Phoebe were sitting on the floor of the playroom with a game of Sorry set up between them. They were going through the motions, but neither one of them was really paying attention to the game. Prue had actually missed a chance to knock Phoebe back to start, but neither of them seemed to notice. They were trying to listen to what was going on upstairs. Piper and their grandmother had been up there since they had arrived home from the park, just talking. But try as they might, the girls couldn't hear much of anything from downstairs.
Penny came down the stairs a few moments later and peeked into the playroom. "How's Piper?" Prue asked as she moved her five spaces.
"She's sleeping now," she answered.
"Grams?" Phoebe asked uncertainly. She seemed almost unsure if she should as her question. "Is Piper crazy?"
"No, sweetie, she's not." Penny entered the room and sat down on the sofa in front of the girls. "I want you to listen to me carefully. Your sister is not crazy. What happened to her was very real. Even though Melody died over a hundred years ago, Piper was able to see her, talk to her, and interact with her."
"But that would mean Melody's a ghost," Phoebe said, interrupting her grandmother. "That's impossible. Ghosts aren't real."
"Darling, there's a whole side to this world that we're simply not equipped to understand," she said, patting her lap. Phoebe climbed up onto her lap and Prue settled next to her on the couch. "Some people explain it with religion, some people just accept it, and some people don't believe in it at all. But what happened to your sister is proof enough. Melody was real, and she had a very strong influence on your sister."
"What did Melody want with Piper?" Prue asked quietly.
Penny sighed. "From what Piper told me, Melody was a very unhappy girl. She had thought that no one cared about her at all. That is, until Piper came along. Piper befriended her, and Melody didn't want to let her go. So, she made Piper think we were trying to control her, and once that idea was in her head, everything we did became twisted."
"Is Piper still furious with me?" Prue asked, gazing down at her hands. "Does she hate me?"
"No, darling, she doesn't hate you. I think now that Melody's gone, she'll start calming down and she won't be so angry all the time. We'll get our Piper back."
"Is she going to have to go to a psychiatrist?" Phoebe asked.
"No," Penny said, hugging Phoebe lightly. "And even if she did, it wouldn't be a bad thing. All they'd do is talk things out with her so she could figure out what she was feeling the way she was. Then, they'd help her figure out how to get better. But like I said, I think that with Melody gone, she'll start feeling better on her own. And I told her that if she ever needed to talk, she could come to me."
Prue nodded sadly and stood up, stretching slightly. "Can I go check on her, Grams?"
"Sure, sweetie. Just don't wake her up."
Prue smiled a thank you and headed out of the playroom. As she quietly climbed the stairs, all she could think of was how horribly this all could have ended. What if Melody had succeeded? She didn't think she could handle losing a sister. Not after what she had already lost.
The bedroom door was open a crack. When Prue peeked in, she was surprised to see Piper staring up at the ceiling. "Piper?" she said, knocking softly on the door. Piper jumped and turned her head, looking over at the doorway. "Can I come in?"
Piper nodded, quickly wiping tears from her eyes. Prue entered quietly and closed the door tightly. "I thought you were asleep."
"I pretended so Grams would leave." She looked over at Prue, smiled, and pushed over so that Prue could lie down next to her. Prue smiled back and did as Piper wanted. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Piper spoke up again. "I gave everyone quite a scare, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did," Prue answered softly.
"I'm so sorry." She sighed and watched the ceiling fan spin around swiftly. "I wonder if Melody's okay."
Prue looked over at her sister sharply. "Piper, why do you care? She's evil. She almost killed you!"
"Prue, she's not evil. She 's lonely." Piper turned over and faced Prue. "She had no one in her life who cared anything about her, but I did. I think she realized that I'm going to grow up eventually, and she'll be eleven forever. She didn't want to let me go." She stopped to read her sister's face. Prue was not convinced at all. "Besides," she continued, "she saved me. I couldn't find a foothold and she guided my foot to one. In the end, she sacrificed her happiness for mine. If she was really evil, would she have done that?"
"I guess not," Prue said with a small sigh. She turned over and propped herself up on her elbow, looking her sister over. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought back to what had happened on the rock. For a while there, Prue was afraid that she was never going to see her sister again. Even worse, she was afraid that she was going to watch her sister die. "Piper? Did you want to . . .?"
"No," Piper answered. "No, I didn't. But she was making it seem like the only way I was ever going to get any privacy was to do it. I was so scared, but she kept promising me that it wasn't going to hurt. I just . . . I don't even know what I was thinking!" She stopped, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat. "I think I thought . . . maybe I'd see Mom."
"Piper!" Prue gasped.
"What? I mean, Melody's proof that there's life after death. And obviously Melody and I were going to stay together after, so I figured it was possible." She looked Prue in the eye, finally starting to cry. "I didn't want to hurt you guys, I promise. I just . . . I don't know. I'm so sorry, Prue. I'm so sorry."
Prue sat up in a flash and gathered her sister in a tight hug. "Shh, it's okay. It's over now."
Piper nodded and pulled out of the hug a minute or so later, sniffling. "I'm kind of tired now. For real."
"Lie down then," Prue said gently. "Close your eyes and take a nap. You'll feel better."
"Will you stay with me?"
Prue smiled, touched that her sister actually wanted her there, especially after the past couple of weeks. "Sure, if you want me to." Piper nodded, laid back down, and closed her eyes. Prue smiled again and closed her own eyes. A nap would do her good as well. The last thing she thought of as she drifted off was how glad she was that her sister was pretty much back to normal.
**********
Piper could feel someone watching her. She opened her eyes, expecting to find her grandmother standing in the doorway. Instead, she saw Melody sitting at the foot of the bed. "Melody?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing here?"
"Shh. Don't wake your sister," Melody answered quietly. Piper glanced over and saw that Prue was fast asleep next to her. She grinned, then turned her attention back to Melody. The girl smiled at Piper. "I just had to make sure you were okay. What I did to you was so incredibly wrong, and I don't even know how to begin to apologize for it."
"You don't have to. I'm fine," Piper said, sitting up. "How are you?"
"Great! I found my mom. She told me that she always loved me. She just didn't think she needed to tell me, and she told me she wished she had said she loved me sooner. But she does love me, Piper. She always did."
"See, I told you," Piper said with a shy smile. A moment later, her face fell as she realized something. "I'm not going to see you again, am I?"
Melody shook her head sadly. "I've hung around long enough. It's time for me to be with my family. Just as it's time for you to be with yours." She glanced in Prue's direction before placing her hand over Piper's. "Cherish them, Piper. They're all you have."
"I had you," Piper said, tears welling in her eyes.
"And I had you, too." Melody smiled, trying to fight her own tears. "Oh, why couldn't you have been born in 1870?"
"Why couldn't you have been born in 1970?" Piper asked, grinning.
"Touché." Melody smiled again and stood up. "I have to go. We'll see each other again someday. So, it's not really goodbye. It's . . . see you soon."
"See you soon." Piper smiled through the tears in her eyes.
Melody returned the smile and slowly disappeared. When she was gone, Piper sniffled and buried her head in her knees, trying to stop crying.
She felt a hand begin running up and down her back. "Are you going to be okay?"
Piper turned around to see Prue sitting up, comforting her. She didn't know how much of what had happened she'd seen or heard, but it didn't matter. "Yeah," she said, wiping her eyes. "We each have our families again. We're both going to be okay."
"Sweetie, we have to keep going," Penny said, out of breath as well. "Piper needs us."
"I say we let her stay lost," Phoebe grumbled angrily. "She wanted to be alone, so let her."
Penny stopped and took a deep breath in. "Phoebe," she chided, then turned around and knelt down so that she was eye-level with her granddaughter. Phoebe wearily looked her in the eye. "We can't give up on your sister. She's part of this family, and Halliwells always stick together."
"Tell that to Piper," Phoebe said quietly. "She hasn't stuck by us."
"I don't think that's entirely her fault," Penny said as she comfortingly ran her hand down Phoebe's cheek. "I think Melody influenced her a lot more than she said she did."
Phoebe sighed as her grandmother stood up and started heading down the path once again. Prue ran ahead of them, wanting to be in the lead. She still felt like this whole thing was her fault. If she had just left Piper alone like she wanted, they wouldn't be in this mess. They'd all be home and Piper wouldn't be all set to hold a lifelong grudge. "Prue, do you even know where you're going?" Phoebe asked tiredly.
Prue stopped and leaned back against a nearby tree, shaking her head as tears welled in her eyes. "I have no idea," she said, trying to keep her voice from breaking.
Penny stepped forward and gripped Prue's shoulders. Her hold was strong, and her voice was both comforting and insistent when she spoke. "Prue, I know you're hot and I know you're tired, but you have to stay focused for me. Your sister's life could depend on it. Now, think really hard . . . is there somewhere you know she goes that we haven't checked yet?"
Prue closed her eyes and took slow, even breaths, trying to keep from losing it completely. "I'm not sure if she goes there, but there's a climbing rock over there somewhere."
"Then that's our plan," Penny said with a smile. She took both her granddaughters' hands, squeezing them tightly. She already had one granddaughter lost in the woods. She didn't think she could handle having two. "Just tell me where I'm going, Prue."
Prue was able to talk her grandmother through the woods to the climbing rock. She was surprised that she remembered how to get there. She had only been there that once when Andy took them there. Through the thick trees, she thought she saw someone standing on the rock. She pulled out of her grandmother's grasp and ran ahead, fighting through the trees. She gasped when she saw that the person standing at the edge of the rock was Piper. Her sister was staring down at the ground, slowly making her way closer to the edge. Her toes were already off. "Piper, no!" Prue yelled, rushing forward.
Piper started and turned around. Then, she slipped. She couldn't be sure if she had turned her ankle on a large pebble or if someone had pulled on her ankle, tripping her. She screamed and managed to grab onto the top of the rock. She was holding on as tightly as she could, but with nothing to stand on, she wasn't sure how long she could hold on. "Prue, help me!" she cried as she kicked at the rock, trying to pull herself up.
Prue was at the edge in a flash, tears of terror in her eyes. She grabbed Piper's hand, trying to pry her fingers from the edge of the rock so she could hold her hand to pull her up. "Piper, let it go," she said as gently as she could manage. "I've got you and I won't let go."
Piper just shook her head, kicking her legs. She would start climbing up, then she'd slip back down again. Penny yelled at Phoebe to stay back, ran over, and quickly took charge. "Piper, listen to me," she said calmly. "Try to find a foothold." She grabbed Piper's wrist and silently instructed Prue to grab the other one. Prue did as she was told, holding onto her sister's arm so tightly that she thought her fingers were going to break. "Piper, just find a foothold," Penny repeated. "We're not going to let you go."
Piper kicked at the rock once again, trying to find anything that would work as a foothold. "I can't!" she cried. "I can't find one!" Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her ankle, the same ankle she had twisted, and guide it to a small ledge. She put weight on her foot and sobbed in relief. Then she looked down to see who was at the bottom of the rock. The only person she saw was Melody, who was standing at the bottom, looking up at Piper with tears in her eyes. Melody smiled at her and nodded. Piper smiled back, put all her weight on her foot and stood. She quickly found another foothold. "I've got it!"
"Good girl!" Penny cried in relief. "Prue and I are going to pull you up, but I need you to climb up with your legs. Can you do that?"
Piper nodded. Prue and Penny began pulling on Piper's arms and slowly but surely, she began climbing up the rock. It was like climbing a ladder, only she was using the small ledges instead of rungs. It took a few minutes, but as soon as she was up far enough, her grandmother turned to Prue. "I'm going to let go for a second so I can grab her. Can you hold her up?" Prue nodded. "Good. Piper, do not move. Lean as close to the rock as you can and try to stand really straight. I'm going to let your arm go, but I'm going to grab your waist and lift you up the rest of the way. Okay?"
Piper nodded, did as she was told, and held her breath. She closed her eyes, felt her grandmother let her arm go, and then felt a strong arm wrap around her waist. She collapsed against her grandmother as she lifted her up and over the edge. As soon as Piper's feet hit solid ground, she let her breath out and sank to the ground, relief washing over her. Prue wrapped her in a tight hug, and after a quick moment, Penny and Phoebe joined the embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay," Prue whispered, choking up.
"I am, too," her grandmother said, finally allowing her tears to fall.
"Me, too," Phoebe agreed. She gave her sister a really strong squeeze and when they let Piper go, Phoebe was surprised to see that Piper was crying. "Piper, what's the matter?"
"I'm so sorry," she said between sobs. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you all. I'll never do anything like that ever again. I promise. When I fell, I thought I was never going to see you guys ever again. I was so scared. I love you."
"We love you, too, sweetie," Penny said gently, stroking her hair. She tugged Piper up so she could stand and started leading her out of the woods. "Come on, girls. It's time to go home."
"Grams?" Piper asked softly. Her sobs had dwindled down to a choking sniffle. "Am I in big trouble?"
"We'll discuss that at home, darling."
Prue followed behind her grandmother and her sisters, trying to digest all of what had happened. She had come within inches of losing her sister, and Piper had come within seconds of . . . She didn't even want to think about it. Her sister was obviously going through something serious, and it was something Prue didn't think she could ever understand. She turned around, glancing over her shoulder at the rock that had almost taken her sister from her, and stopped short.
A figure in a long brown dress was sadly watching them go. She caught Prue's eye and smiled. "Don't blame her," she said, nodding in Piper's direction. "It was my idea. She really didn't want any part of it. She's a special girl, Prue. Take good care of her."
Prue nodded in amazement. "I will. Who are you?"
"Who do you think?" She smiled again. "Will you do me a favor? Tell her that she has given me more than she could ever know. And tell her it's time for me to go home."
Prue nodded again. She stared at the girl, and suddenly, it hit her. "You saved her, didn't you? When she couldn't find the ledge to stand on, you helped her."
"Best friends help each other," she said by way of an answer. "Just remember what I told you. Please."
Prue smiled and turned back, running to catch up with her family. She wrapped her arm around Piper's shoulder and grinned down at her. Piper smiled back as they stepped out of the woods. As they were heading back to the car, Prue sighed heavily. She had had enough adventure for one day, possibly her entire lifetime. Melody's words came back to her. It was time to go home.
**********
Prue and Phoebe were sitting on the floor of the playroom with a game of Sorry set up between them. They were going through the motions, but neither one of them was really paying attention to the game. Prue had actually missed a chance to knock Phoebe back to start, but neither of them seemed to notice. They were trying to listen to what was going on upstairs. Piper and their grandmother had been up there since they had arrived home from the park, just talking. But try as they might, the girls couldn't hear much of anything from downstairs.
Penny came down the stairs a few moments later and peeked into the playroom. "How's Piper?" Prue asked as she moved her five spaces.
"She's sleeping now," she answered.
"Grams?" Phoebe asked uncertainly. She seemed almost unsure if she should as her question. "Is Piper crazy?"
"No, sweetie, she's not." Penny entered the room and sat down on the sofa in front of the girls. "I want you to listen to me carefully. Your sister is not crazy. What happened to her was very real. Even though Melody died over a hundred years ago, Piper was able to see her, talk to her, and interact with her."
"But that would mean Melody's a ghost," Phoebe said, interrupting her grandmother. "That's impossible. Ghosts aren't real."
"Darling, there's a whole side to this world that we're simply not equipped to understand," she said, patting her lap. Phoebe climbed up onto her lap and Prue settled next to her on the couch. "Some people explain it with religion, some people just accept it, and some people don't believe in it at all. But what happened to your sister is proof enough. Melody was real, and she had a very strong influence on your sister."
"What did Melody want with Piper?" Prue asked quietly.
Penny sighed. "From what Piper told me, Melody was a very unhappy girl. She had thought that no one cared about her at all. That is, until Piper came along. Piper befriended her, and Melody didn't want to let her go. So, she made Piper think we were trying to control her, and once that idea was in her head, everything we did became twisted."
"Is Piper still furious with me?" Prue asked, gazing down at her hands. "Does she hate me?"
"No, darling, she doesn't hate you. I think now that Melody's gone, she'll start calming down and she won't be so angry all the time. We'll get our Piper back."
"Is she going to have to go to a psychiatrist?" Phoebe asked.
"No," Penny said, hugging Phoebe lightly. "And even if she did, it wouldn't be a bad thing. All they'd do is talk things out with her so she could figure out what she was feeling the way she was. Then, they'd help her figure out how to get better. But like I said, I think that with Melody gone, she'll start feeling better on her own. And I told her that if she ever needed to talk, she could come to me."
Prue nodded sadly and stood up, stretching slightly. "Can I go check on her, Grams?"
"Sure, sweetie. Just don't wake her up."
Prue smiled a thank you and headed out of the playroom. As she quietly climbed the stairs, all she could think of was how horribly this all could have ended. What if Melody had succeeded? She didn't think she could handle losing a sister. Not after what she had already lost.
The bedroom door was open a crack. When Prue peeked in, she was surprised to see Piper staring up at the ceiling. "Piper?" she said, knocking softly on the door. Piper jumped and turned her head, looking over at the doorway. "Can I come in?"
Piper nodded, quickly wiping tears from her eyes. Prue entered quietly and closed the door tightly. "I thought you were asleep."
"I pretended so Grams would leave." She looked over at Prue, smiled, and pushed over so that Prue could lie down next to her. Prue smiled back and did as Piper wanted. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Piper spoke up again. "I gave everyone quite a scare, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did," Prue answered softly.
"I'm so sorry." She sighed and watched the ceiling fan spin around swiftly. "I wonder if Melody's okay."
Prue looked over at her sister sharply. "Piper, why do you care? She's evil. She almost killed you!"
"Prue, she's not evil. She 's lonely." Piper turned over and faced Prue. "She had no one in her life who cared anything about her, but I did. I think she realized that I'm going to grow up eventually, and she'll be eleven forever. She didn't want to let me go." She stopped to read her sister's face. Prue was not convinced at all. "Besides," she continued, "she saved me. I couldn't find a foothold and she guided my foot to one. In the end, she sacrificed her happiness for mine. If she was really evil, would she have done that?"
"I guess not," Prue said with a small sigh. She turned over and propped herself up on her elbow, looking her sister over. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought back to what had happened on the rock. For a while there, Prue was afraid that she was never going to see her sister again. Even worse, she was afraid that she was going to watch her sister die. "Piper? Did you want to . . .?"
"No," Piper answered. "No, I didn't. But she was making it seem like the only way I was ever going to get any privacy was to do it. I was so scared, but she kept promising me that it wasn't going to hurt. I just . . . I don't even know what I was thinking!" She stopped, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat. "I think I thought . . . maybe I'd see Mom."
"Piper!" Prue gasped.
"What? I mean, Melody's proof that there's life after death. And obviously Melody and I were going to stay together after, so I figured it was possible." She looked Prue in the eye, finally starting to cry. "I didn't want to hurt you guys, I promise. I just . . . I don't know. I'm so sorry, Prue. I'm so sorry."
Prue sat up in a flash and gathered her sister in a tight hug. "Shh, it's okay. It's over now."
Piper nodded and pulled out of the hug a minute or so later, sniffling. "I'm kind of tired now. For real."
"Lie down then," Prue said gently. "Close your eyes and take a nap. You'll feel better."
"Will you stay with me?"
Prue smiled, touched that her sister actually wanted her there, especially after the past couple of weeks. "Sure, if you want me to." Piper nodded, laid back down, and closed her eyes. Prue smiled again and closed her own eyes. A nap would do her good as well. The last thing she thought of as she drifted off was how glad she was that her sister was pretty much back to normal.
**********
Piper could feel someone watching her. She opened her eyes, expecting to find her grandmother standing in the doorway. Instead, she saw Melody sitting at the foot of the bed. "Melody?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing here?"
"Shh. Don't wake your sister," Melody answered quietly. Piper glanced over and saw that Prue was fast asleep next to her. She grinned, then turned her attention back to Melody. The girl smiled at Piper. "I just had to make sure you were okay. What I did to you was so incredibly wrong, and I don't even know how to begin to apologize for it."
"You don't have to. I'm fine," Piper said, sitting up. "How are you?"
"Great! I found my mom. She told me that she always loved me. She just didn't think she needed to tell me, and she told me she wished she had said she loved me sooner. But she does love me, Piper. She always did."
"See, I told you," Piper said with a shy smile. A moment later, her face fell as she realized something. "I'm not going to see you again, am I?"
Melody shook her head sadly. "I've hung around long enough. It's time for me to be with my family. Just as it's time for you to be with yours." She glanced in Prue's direction before placing her hand over Piper's. "Cherish them, Piper. They're all you have."
"I had you," Piper said, tears welling in her eyes.
"And I had you, too." Melody smiled, trying to fight her own tears. "Oh, why couldn't you have been born in 1870?"
"Why couldn't you have been born in 1970?" Piper asked, grinning.
"Touché." Melody smiled again and stood up. "I have to go. We'll see each other again someday. So, it's not really goodbye. It's . . . see you soon."
"See you soon." Piper smiled through the tears in her eyes.
Melody returned the smile and slowly disappeared. When she was gone, Piper sniffled and buried her head in her knees, trying to stop crying.
She felt a hand begin running up and down her back. "Are you going to be okay?"
Piper turned around to see Prue sitting up, comforting her. She didn't know how much of what had happened she'd seen or heard, but it didn't matter. "Yeah," she said, wiping her eyes. "We each have our families again. We're both going to be okay."