Epilogue

"Who was that on the phone?" Piper asked Paige as she sat at the kitchen table with the morning's paper.

"Laura," Paige answered with a smile. "She's invited all of us to her engagement party next week."

Piper smiled, "That's wonderful! When's the wedding?"

"In three months," Paige answered. She saw Piper's look of surprise and chuckled, "Yeah, I wondered about that but she said that, after what they'd been through, she didn't want to waste anymore time."

"I'm glad she's taken last week's events so well," Piper commented. "She learned a lot more about Eric than she ever expected, not to mention that she saw things most humans will never see."

"How are the women that were rescued?" Paige asked as she sat down at the table.

"I'm not sure they'll get over their ordeal as easily," Piper sadly replied. "I only wish we could trace the others who were already sent overseas."

"I know," Paige agreed, "but Pierce is facing a long stretch in the pen and fifteen women are safe now because of what we did so that counts for something."

"That counts for everything," Piper commented with a smile. "Hey, honey," she greeted as Leo entered the kitchen and grabbed a muffin.

Leo kissed his wife on the top of her head and asked, "Has Phoebe come down yet?"

Both sisters' smiles faded and they shook their heads.

"I heard her moving around in her bedroom before," Piper told them, "but she ignored my knock."

Leo frowned, "I wish she wouldn't keep avoiding us."

"You think she's hiding from us?" Paige asked him as she sipped hot coffee from her mug.

"Don't you?" he countered. "She makes sure she leaves before breakfast and comes home after dinner and stays in her room. I don't think I've seen her for more than two minutes in the past week."

"I don't think she's hiding either," Piper commented, "as much as it is that she's furious with us."

"After the way we refused to save Cole," Paige agreed, "how could she not be furious with us?"

"I'm not furious with you," Phoebe quietly said as she cautiously entered the kitchen. "Actually, I've thought it was pretty much the other way around."

Piper quickly turned around and faced her younger sister who remained standing far from them. "Why would we be angry with you?"

Phoebe looked down and shrugged, "Because I saved Cole. Because whatever happens to us now, whatever bad things happen, will be my fault."

"No, sweetie," Piper assured as she rushed to Phoebe and pulled her sister into a hug, "it won't be your fault. You acted out of love. How can we blame you for that?"

"You did before," Phoebe quietly answered as she pulled away. She noticed the stung looks on her sisters' faces and apologized. "Funny, now that I have my memories back, I see everything a little differently. Or maybe I just understand myself a little better."

"Your memories are all back?" Paige asked as she joined her sisters. "Why didn't you tell us? When did they come back?"

"When I thought Cole had died," Phoebe admitted. "It all came rushing back to me. And I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to say. There was so much that happened and I needed time to sort it all out."

"Have you?" Piper nervously asked.

"Some," Phoebe answered simply.

"You know you can always talk to me or Paige," Piper insisted. "We're your sisters and we love you."

"I know," Phoebe told her, "but I don't think you really understand me and that's been part of the problem."

"I don't understand," Piper replied in a hurt tone. "I'd never do anything to hurt you."

"Oh, honey, I know that," Phoebe assured her. "But there's so much that you don't understand about me that I can't talk to you about. How can I share my fears of being evil or my pain over losing my baby if you can't possibly understand?"

"Maybe we can't understand," Paige suggested, "but we can support you. You should be able to feel that you can come to us about anything."

Phoebe shook her head, "You would only tell me not to worry. Or that I'm a good person and don't have a mean bone in my body. Or that everything happens for a reason and some things just aren't meant to be. That's not what I need to hear."

"What do you need?" Leo asked her.

"I need to hear that it's okay to worry about slipping from the good side," she answered as she struggled not to break down. "That it's okay to grieve for a baby that was honestly conceived in love," she added as tears filled her eyes anyway. "And that it's okay to love someone so completely even if it means risking pain for yourself and your family."

"Oh, honey," Piper murmured as she pulled Phoebe into an embrace, "it's okay. Of course it's okay."

Paige embraced them both but warily asked, "Does this mean you're back with Cole?"

"Paige!" Piper admonished as the three separated.

"It's okay," Phoebe told her older sister. "I'm not sure where things are with Cole. When this whole mess started, he was about to tell me that he was going to leave town. But now"

"You don't want him to go," Paige nodded.

"I've faced a lot of my feelings," Phoebe told her sisters, "and I can't hide the fact anymore that it tears me apart inside to think of my life without Cole by my side."

"I didn't realize," Piper quietly admitted. "I thought you were fine as you started moving on with your life."

"I tried to be," Phoebe told her, "I needed to feel like I could put it all behind me. As though it was some chapter of my life that I could easily close. But I can't. And things are different now. I see things differently now."

Piper turned to Leo and acknowledged, "I guess the Elders were right."

"Guess so," he told her without being smug. "What are your plans now?" he asked Phoebe.

She answered with a shrug, "We still need time apart to adjust to what's happened but there are also things that we need to deal with together. So I guess we'll take things slowly and see what happens." She stared back at her sisters. "I'm sorry for hurting you and, if you want, I'll start looking for a place of my own."

"Are you kidding," Paige commented with a grin, "if you left, who would constantly remind me to pick up more milk?"

"And who would be my guinea pig in the kitchen?" Piper asked with a smile of her own.

Phoebe stared warily at them but, when they quickly pulled her into a loving group hug, she whispered, "I love you both so much."

"Me too, Pheebs," Piper whispered back.

"The Power of Three will set us free," Paige confidently told them as Leo showered them all in sparkling white lights.

the end