Chapter Two
Piper sat on the sofa in the attic with the Book of Shadows on her lap and a box of Saltines at her side. She looked up as soon as she noticed her husband's orb sparkles. "Leo."
"I'm sorry, honey," he quickly apologized when he recognized the look on her face. "I'm not supposed to be here but I knew you were probably worried and I had to come."
"You know what's happened to Phoebe," she realized, annoyed.
Leo nodded but told his wife, "There's nothing I can do for her."
"What do you mean?" Piper snapped. "She nearly died, Leo. And Paige isn't skilled enough to heal her completely."
"She has amnesia," Leo commented. "I know."
"Of course you know," Piper stated with a sigh. "So heal her," she demanded. "We have an innocent to save. Cole thinks we're up against an Electric Seeker. And we're one Charmed One short."
"Cole?" Leo questioned.
"Oh, they didn't give you that piece of information?" Piper snapped again. But, no sooner had she spoken the words, than Piper realized it wasn't Leo's fault. He was under orders, as usual. And he had broken the rules so many times before to help them that she couldn't expect him to put himself in jeopardy all the time. She calmed herself and explained, "Cole was with Phoebe when she had a premonition and collapsed with a head wound. He brought her here so that you could heal her but you didn't come. Leo, there was blood pouring from her head. I…I wasn't sure Paige could save her and you didn't come."
"I'm sorry," Leo said as he quickly sat and pulled Piper into his arms. He stroked her hair and brushed away some of her tears. "They won't let me do anything to help her and I can't go against them. Not this time. Phoebe has amnesia for a reason and they've assured me that her memories will return when it's time."
"What the hell does that mean?" she asked, exasperated, as she pushed herself back from him. "Why do the Elders always play these games with us? With our lives? And why let her power advance if it's only going to hurt her?"
"This doesn't have anything to do with the advance of her powers," Leo answered in a quiet voice.
"What do you mean?" Piper questioned in a worried tone.
"I don't know," he admitted. "All I know is that Phoebe has to figure something out for herself and her memories won't return until she does." He looked towards the ceiling. "I'd better go before they notice I'm gone." He gave Piper a quick kiss and advised, "I know you want to protect her but let her be who she is. Her memories may not be there but her personality is. Don't try to protect her by shutting her out of the fight." And before Piper could question him further, he orbed out of the attic.
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Phoebe sat on her bed with the large boxes in front of her. Instead of using them as they'd been intended, as hatboxes, she had evidently used them to store special and meaningful items. In one box, she found her baby shoes and grade school awards. A worn teddy bear and other childhood items. She found ticket stubs and celebrity news clippings and some tacky pieces of costume jewelry. She had pulled out each item but couldn't recall a single thing about it. She was ready to cry. These were supposed to be some of the most important mementos of her life and they meant nothing to her.
The items in the second box seemed to be from her adult years. She found a diary that had ended six years earlier and some old love letters. Inside a smaller box, she found a program to her wedding and a small cachet of dried petals. She carefully removed a dried rosebud and sighed as she pulled out the small photo of herself and Cole standing at the altar. She had already flipped through a small album of pictures of herself and Cole that she found. Some silly, some serious, but all pictures clearly showed them in love and happy. But then she also found a small ring box that contained an engagement ring and wedding band. There had to be more to it than what Piper told her. Cole still loved her. She didn't need her memory to sense it. But, what did she feel? 'If I divorced him,' she thought, 'maybe I no longer love him.' But that logic didn't feel right. The whole time Cole had been with them, she felt drawn to him. Connected to him. 'I felt safe,' she realized.
Phoebe gently lifted out the last item that was wrapped in tissue paper. It was a baby-sized, one-piece, pale blue outfit and she wondered about its significance because it didn't seem to be an old item. It was still bright and soft. She held it up in front of her and saw a small card flutter to the bed. She picked it up and read it.
I'm not sure you'll ever know just how much I love you both right now. Please believe that you both mean the world to me and I will protect you always. Cole.
She fingered the outfit again. It was meant for her. For her baby, really. 'But,' she wondered, 'what happened? No one mentioned anything about a baby.' Something tragic, she decided, because all she felt was inexplicable sadness when she touched the garment. Phoebe suddenly choked back a sob, grabbed the card, wrapped it with the outfit in the tissue paper, and lay it back in the box. She left everything on the bed and hurried out of the room.
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"Piper," Phoebe asked as she entered the attic, "can I ask you something?"
"Sure, honey," Piper answered as she replaced the Book of Shadows on its stand.
"What's that?" Phoebe questioned as she joined Piper.
"This," Piper smiled proudly, "is the Book of Shadows. It's our heritage. It began hundreds of years ago with Melinda Warren, the first of our line, and has stayed within our family the whole time. Every generation of witch has added to it and so have we."
Phoebe tentatively flipped through its pages. "Have we fought all of these demons?"
"Sometimes it seems that way," Piper chuckled. "But it's not all about demons," she explained. "This book also contains knowledge of good beings and of potions and spells. Some of which are used for good and protection and healing. Others, to vanquish evil. Look, the potion to vanquish an Electric Seeker." She showed Phoebe the handwritten paper she held in her hand.
"Impressive," Phoebe quietly commented.
Piper glanced at Phoebe and gently took her hand from the book. "You didn't remember anything, did you?" Phoebe sadly shook her head and Piper hugged her. "It's okay, sweetie, you'll remember in time."
Phoebe nodded but didn't feel very reassured. "Piper? Would you tell me about…the baby?"
Piper's eyes lit up as she pulled back, "Of course I will. Did you remember about her? I didn't think I was so obvious about it. I mean with everything going on, I tried not to complain about my nausea too much."
Phoebe looked at Piper in confusion. "Your baby?"
"Of course my baby," Piper answered with a smile, "who's did you think?"
"You and Cole?" Phoebe whispered in shock. It couldn't be true. She found the outfit in her box of treasures. Why would she have kept it if it was meant for Piper? Piper and Cole? It didn't seem right.
Piper playfully slapped Phoebe's arm, "Don't be silly. Me and Leo." But Piper suddenly noticed the unshed tears in Phoebe's eyes and quickly turned serious. "Sweetie, what is it? You can't really think that Cole and I have anything going on."
"I don't know what to think," Phoebe answered in a shaky voice. "I didn't recognize anything, Piper. I didn't remember any of it. School events or graduation ceremonies. My sisters. My parents. My wedding. It's all a blank."
"It'll come back to you," Piper promised.
"But how could I forget the people I love?" Phoebe wondered. "My baby?"
Suddenly, Phoebe's reactions made sense to Piper. She hugged Phoebe and seriously told her, "You were pregnant last spring, Phoebe. But you didn't have the baby."
"I miscarried?" Phoebe questioned in an ironically hopeful tone. She couldn't bear to think of it being due to the other possibility.
"Not exactly," Piper responded. She saw the look in Phoebe's eyes and realized she couldn't simply tell Phoebe it was a long story. "Come here," she indicated to the sofa. As they sat next to each other, Piper began, "We told you that Cole was a demon." Phoebe nodded and she continued, "Well, he worked for the head of the Underworld, of all demons, the Source."
"Cole said I was Queen," Phoebe commented in a worried tone.
"You were," Piper answered with downcast eyes. "You chose to be with Cole even though you knew he was the Source."
"I thought you said he worked for the Source?" Phoebe asked in confusion.
Piper sighed and realized she'd have to give a little more back history. "The Source was our greatest enemy and his mission, it seemed, was to destroy us. And --"
"Why?" Phoebe interrupted.
"Because we're the Charmed Ones," Piper patiently responded. "Look, I'll explain it all to you later. The point is that, after losing our big sister, Prue, we finally vanquished the Source. But then, a few months later, Cole had his demon half stripped from him and that left him with a void that the Source still managed to fill."
"I thought you said we vanquished the Source," Phoebe questioned.
"We thought so too," Piper confirmed, "but it still happened. And, all the while you were planning your wedding to Cole, he was actually growing more powerful as the Source. In the end, we vanquished him too."
"But," Phoebe stammered as she tried to process all the confusing information, "but how could I…why…how…I mean Cole's here now. Wouldn't that mean he's good again?"
Piper shrugged and honestly answered, "I don't know. He says he is. He says he wants to prove he's changed."
"What's wrong with that?" Phoebe wondered. "If he was this Source, he probably has a lot to make up for."
Piper took Phoebe's hand and gave it a squeeze. "He says he's still in love with you. He's doing this all to get you back."
"So you don't believe he's good?" Phoebe asked.
Piper thought a moment before she answered. "I believe he believes it. I believe he wants it to be true."
"But?" Phoebe encouraged as she realized that Piper was holding something back.
"But," Piper sighed, "he's a demon, Phoebe, and he always will be. Being good isn't second nature for him. It takes effort and energy and lots of control. And I'm afraid that one day he won't be able to sustain it and…"
"And what?" Phoebe asked when Piper didn't complete her thought.
"And," Piper whispered, "then we'll all pay for his resurrection."
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