Phoebe was a little confused as she looked around the manor trying to figure out if she was awake or still in her dream walk. Paige had been with her just a second ago, but she was alone now standing in the hallway. She closed her eyes when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. As she turned around, she tried to prepare herself for what was next. She failed.......

"Phoebe? Phoebe look at me. What are we doing here? What is....." Paige stopped in the middle of her sentence as she saw their mother and grandmother coming down the stairs together. They walked right past her and stopped in front of Phoebe a few feet apart.

"She can't hear you yet," the young woman who was directing them through this journey said from behind Paige.

"I figured that on out on my own. Thanks," Paige said as she rolled her eyes unable to contain her frustration.

The young woman hooked her arm in Paige's, looked up at her and smiled. "It won't be long before she will need you. Just listen, you can learn something from this too."

Paige thought she should feel awkward at this display of closeness, but for some reason she didn't. It felt natural for this young woman to be this close to her. What was it she saw in the woman's eyes? Was it admiration, respect? Paige was brought back from those thoughts as Grams and Patty started to speak.

*****

"Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe," Grams said as she shook her head. "You never did take your destiny seriously."

"What?" Phoebe said in shock. "I thought....."

"We are very disappointed in you Phoebe," Patty said interrupting her.

Phoebe began tearing up, "I made a mistake. I know that and I'm sorry, but I....."

"You what?" Grams asked. "What have you done besides hurt your sisters?"

"Hurt my sisters?" Phoebe responded in a whisper.

"I'd say so," came a voice from Phoebe's side. "Getting killed by Shax was a tad bit on the painful side baby sister."

Phoebe turned to face her older sister. "Prue?" she whispered as she went to hug her.

Prue took Phoebe in an embrace, "I'm sorry Prue. I'm so sorry. I should have been there for you."

"I understand," Prue said. "You just preferred him. It's perfectly understandable. Why would you choose me over him anyway?"

"No Prue," Phoebe said as she backed away from her sister. "It wasn't like that."

"Was it like that when you choose him over me?" asked Piper as she entered from the opposite side as Prue.

"Piper?" Phoebe asked as she turned around. "I choose you."

Piper shrugged, "In the end, yes. And I'm very grateful for that considering I would be dead otherwise, but it still didn't stop you from leaving me to go be evil with him."

"I'm sorry. I wanted both of you. I was wrong to be so selfish. I was wrong to think I could straddle both worlds. If I could do it over again...."

"You would do the exact same thing," Grams said interrupting Phoebe. "It's what we've come to expect from you dear."

Phoebe almost collapsed as Grams finished her sentence. Those words were enough to break her. She couldn't take this. It was too much.

*****

"Get angry Phoebe," Paige said even though she knew her sister couldn't hear her yet. "Get pissed. You deserve to be angry over some of this. Come on sis!"

The young woman looked at Paige and smiled. "You really are understanding. You were a great choice for this."

Paige gave her a puzzled look and then turned back to Phoebe. "Either get angry or let me in to talk to you damn it!"

*****

Piper paced the floor looking at her sisters entranced before her. "What am I going to do Leo?"

"Wear a hole in the floor that will take me a week to repair," Leo said with a smile.

Piper turned on him with a mock glare. "Oh you just want to get yourself in trouble, don't you?" she teased as she walked over to look at the Book of Shadows again.

Leo put his arms around her shoulders. "Being in trouble with you isn't always a bad thing," he whispered in her ear.

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed as she slapped him on the arm. "I'm serious."

"Why don't you write a spell?" he responded seriously.

"What type of spell?" she asked.

"How about a spell that locks the room - at least temporarily?" Leo suggested.

"It won't be as strong without the power of three, but it might buy us some time," Piper said as she started thinking about the spell.

*****

The warlock stood outside the manor with the magically imbued bag in his hands. "This should be fast and easy," he thought to himself as he speed up to the door and into the house.

"Wow, they don't even lock the door," he whispered as he speed from the hallway into the kitchen and through the rest of the house until he was standing at the attic door. "This must be it," he thought as he prepared himself to open the door.

*****

Doors, windows, roof, floor and walls combine...

To seal us within this room for a time...

Protect us from unwanted quests...

Seals us away from danger and let us rest.

"Think it worked?" Piper asked as she finished the spell.

In response to her question, she heard a scream of pain come from outside the attic door.

"I'd say someone wanted to get inside and wasn't allowed to," Leo answered.

Piper grimaced, "I hope it wasn't someone we like."

"Nice one witches!" the warlock screamed. "I'll be back!" he added as he speed away.

"Guess not," Piper said in response to the threats. "Come on guys, hurry up," she said as she turned back to her sisters.

*****

Phoebe felt beaten. She might have survived her first trial, but this one was too much. Then she felt something stir inside of her. Grams words had angered her even though she didn't feel like she deserved to feel angry.

"What you've come to expect of me?" Phoebe said flatly as she raised her head.

"Why yes dear. It's not like you given us much to be proud of," Patty answered.

"How dare you?" Phoebe answered. "After you left us at such a young age, how dare you talk about being proud of me?"

"And you!" Phoebe turned on Grams, "You could have prepared us for all of this, but you never once told us about what was to come. If we had been better prepared, I might have made better choices."

"Neither of you has any right to talk about being disappointed in me. How about all the disappointment I have in you?"

Phoebe was ready to collapse as she got those thoughts out of her system. She found herself in Prue's arms again. "Poor, poor Phoebe. The perpetual victim. It would have been so much better for everyone if you had died instead of me," she said as she kissed Phoebe on the forehead.

Phoebe pulled away in horror. "I know I would have been happier," Piper added from across the hall.

"Yeah, I probably would have been much better off too," came Paige's voice from in front of the door to the manor.

*****

"No! Don't do this! Let me in Phoebe. She isn't me," Paige screamed as she watched things unfold.

Phoebe faced the Paige in her vision and started to cry. "You're probably right," she said in a whisper.

"No she isn't" Paige said as she entered the circle of woman to join Phoebe. "I love you Phoebe."

Phoebe turned to face the Paige standing beside her. "Are you sure you don't feel the way she does, the way they all do?" Phoebe asked.

"That isn't how your family feels about you Phoebe. You are controlling this. This is how you think we feel about you, but it isn't the truth," Paige responded.

"Look at her Phoebe," said the Paige standing at the door. "Even now she is trying to help you and you resent her for it."

"You resent me?" Paige asked.

"I...maybe...a little," Phoebe responded honestly.

"Why?" Paige asked.

"Because you were right. You were right about Cole. I was always the baby sister, the screw up. But then I wasn't. I was suppose to have my life together and be happy. Then you told me I was wrong, I was the screw up again, and everything I had worked for left me in an instant."

Phoebe walked over to face Prue. "I wasn't there for her because I was with him. Piper almost died because I was with him. I hurt her, I hurt you, all because of him. And I was wrong about him. That's a lot to swallow."

"Phoebe, it's...."

"Don't tell me I didn't hurt you," Phoebe interrupted Paige.

"Why don't you try being honest with her?" the vision of Paige said.

"Ok, you hurt me. It hurt a lot. I was given up to protect your destiny, and when you betrayed that destiny it made me think that giving me up served no purpose. So yeah, it hurt like hell," Paige said as she started tearing up.

"Same as it did when Piper and I were going to give up our powers to the Angel of Destiny?" Phoebe asked gently.

Paige nodded.

"Why did you forgive me?" Phoebe asked.

"Because you are my sister, and if I don't forgive you, I lose you. I don't want to lose you again," Paige answered as tears started falling down her face.

"But why do I deserve it?"

"Maybe you don't, but I do," Paige said. "You and Piper filled an empty space in my heart. To not forgive you would be to break my own heart Phoebe. I can't do that."

Phoebe grabbed Paige and hugged her tightly. "I love you Paige, but I don't deserve you."

Paige pulled away a little to face Phoebe, "Well, you can always earn whatever you don't think you deserve," she said with a smile.

Phoebe smiled and whipped tears away from her face and Paige's. Suddenly each of the women surrounding Phoebe disappeared and left a beam of light where she stood. The five points of light converged on Phoebe and Paige filling them both with overwhelming sensations of love.

As the lights faded, Phoebe smiled and locked arms with Paige. "Do you accept bribes?" Phoebe asked jokingly.

"Hmm, I could use a new pair of shoes," Paige responded lightly.

"And a matching hand bag?" Phoebe added.

"Sounds good," Paige answered.

The two sisters looked around to find themselves back in the corridor following the young woman to the final trial of Phoebe's dream walk.