Part Four

With a thin blanket in hand, Piper stood on the back patio and simply watched her younger sister gaze at the first stars of the evening. Phoebe didn't seem to notice her presence and she waited a few moments before she cleared her throat. "It's too chilly to be out without a jacket."

"I'm okay," Phoebe quietly replied without turning around, "probably won't even have to worry bout being jet-lagged." She heard Piper about to speak and quickly asked, "Leo back from Hong Kong yet?"

"Without telling Jason," Piper nodded, "as you requested. But, Pheebs, I think you should talk to him. Jason needs to know the truth."

Phoebe snorted, "You don't think he heard enough truth for one day?" She faced her sister and recognized Piper's patient expression. "Jason barely had time to absorb my bombshell about being a witch and you want me to tell him this? If anything, this'd force him to stay with me out of guilt and I won't burden him with that. I'll come up with something to tell him when it's over. Maybe a letter or video clip."

Piper shook her head not wanting to even think about her sister's idea. "You love him and you need him. You know he'd cancel those meetings in a second if he knew what was going on. Please, let him be there for you while he..."

"While he still can?" Phoebe quietly completed her sister's thought. She turned from Piper and stared at the stars, "No, he doesn't need to go through this."

"Let him make that choice," Piper urged.

Phoebe faced her again, "I've thought about it and I'm going to ask Leo to take me Hong Kong for a few minutes. I'll use Grams's spell and make Jason forget everything about witches and magic. He deserves at least that much."

"Don't make any rash decisions. Give him a chance. Trust him to do the right thing." But Piper only received a silent shrug in response. "I know it's still hard for you to trust but Jason's a good man. Please, give him some time."

"The one thing we don't have," Phoebe commented with a slight shiver as she turned away again.

Piper couldn't think of anything to counter her sister's statement. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and, once she opened them, focused on a single star, and whispered to herself, "Starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight" Only her wish was more a prayer for a miracle and she blinked back the tears as she watched her sister again. She finally approached her sister who seemed to stiffen when she came near. Piper warily placed the blanket around Phoebe's shoulders and was relieved when Phoebe wrapped it tighter around herself. "Did you make a wish on the first star you saw?" she lightly asked.

"Why bother?" Phoebe shrugged, her back still to her sister. "I won't be around to see if it comes true."

"You're not dying so don't say things like that!" Piper snapped.

"Same difference," Phoebe murmured.

Piper took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. In a calmer tone, she informed her sister, "Paige and I've already started on the potions. And Leo and Chris're still working on a way to bring the Dark Starling back."

"It won't matter," Phoebe argued, "because you all heard what Leo said. There's no way we can track it down and the Dark Starling has no reason to come back. Not until I've turned completely and then it's too late."

Piper grabbed her sister's shoulders and spun her around. "That won't happen, do you hear me? I won't let it!"

"You can't stop it," Phoebe responded in a defeated tone. She brought her sister's hand to the mark on her chest and pressed it to the large, pale, pink star. "I've been branded and nothing can change that."

"No, I won't --" Piper began.

"This star is going to become darker and darker," Phoebe quickly continued, "until it's completely black and, by then, I'll be gone. Everything about me that makes me, me, will have slipped away into nothingness."

"No, Phoebe" Piper cried.

"It's going to happen," Phoebe stated even as Piper pulled her into a tight embrace. "And, when it does, I'll be nothing more than a mindless slave to evil."

*********** ********** ************