A/N: Okay people, I really, really appreciate reviews ok? I really want
reviews from people! So if you read this and don't leave a review, you're a
criminal! A pure crook! I'm kidding...geez, you guys take things so
seriously. On to the show!
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It's been years since Leo had every laid eyes on her. But every now and then, he caught a glance at the beautiful young girl, with the chestnut brown hair, and the dark brown eyes. She resembled so much of her mother, and her father.
It seemed like just yesterday, she was a little baby who was starting to learn how to walk. Now, she was all grown up. Fourteen years is a long time, but at the same time, it seemed like time has gone by so quickly. Leo glanced through the window of the nice, suburban two-story house.
Artemis had not changed one bit. Being a whitelighter had its advantages. You never looked older. You looked as young and healthy as you did the day you died, unless you clipped your wings perhaps. But Artemis? Still the same young soul, and handsome man Leo had known over 50 or 60 years ago.
Apolla still looked as beautiful and radiant from when Leo had first met her. Such a kind whitelighter, she was. Never in his life had he met someone so free-spirited, or honest. Natalie was never like this. Apolla was like a mother to Sam, and he didn't know how to thank her enough. It was hard, seeing your daughter grow up but not actually being able to meet her.
He hated the Elders now, for putting him through hell for the last decade or so. It was their fault, for not getting married to Piper, for not being able to be the father or parental figure he had always dreamed he would be. It was wrong. It was if the Elders had no feelings.
Something interrupted his thoughts when he saw it in the corner of his eye. His frown turned upside down as he saw the girl come down the stairs and into the kitchen to sit in between his two best friends. The girl was beautiful, and looked like a miniature version of Piper. She was so big now, and he wanted to go in there and kiss her forehead, the way he had done the last time he got to hold her.
He felt terrible, that he got to see Samantha a few times, while Piper was out there not being able to see her at all. He knew how much Piper grieved each day from the moment Sam was born. But no matter how much he wanted to, he could never tell Piper where Sam was, or about what he did years ago. If he did, Piper would be out looking for her, and it wouldn't be nice. The Elders could find out and then there would be pandemonium. He tried to see her every now and then, but conditions were growing worse for both of them.
The Elders grew more and more suspicious each day Leo was late for a staff meeting or was not seen with his charge. They kept close surveillance all the time. He was practically committing suicide when he decided to come to see his daughter. But he felt like it was all worth it.
He took one last glance at the young girl, so he could remember her in her memories, and then orbed out.
****
Artemis rubbed his head as he finished paperwork on the kitchen table. "So many numbers. Goodness, I haven't done this much bills since the Great Depression in 1929." He muttered. Apolla was at the stove, frying eggs and bacon and the same time. She was so jovial all the time. She hummed a happy tune as she cooked.
"Oh Artemis, don't be so stubborn. We've gotten by 14 years as a normal married couple, now I think that you can get by with a couple of bills, honey bunny." She said, giggling. Artemis rolled his eyes. "I STILL can't believe that we've gotten this far. And that's sick Apolla. We're NOT married, we are merely pretending to be. We don't even sleep in the same bed for goodness sake. And what's with the Pam thing? You had to make another name...At least mine was close to my real name!" He said.
"Quiet Arty. Sam might hear you. And what's with the name Pam? I LIKE the name Pamela for your information. And if you don't like it well too bad!" She snapped at him. Artemis laid his paperwork down and walked over to the side of the stove to talk to Apolla. "Apolla, I'm worried about the girl.. I have strange feelings now. I have senses that evil could attack at any moment. I'm worried, that Samantha will get hurt." He whispered.
Apolla turned to Artemis. "I know. I've been getting the same feelings. I don't know. Her powers have grown to a very high level so that means many darklighters and demons could sense it. I mean, I know that we bound her powers with potion Leo obtained, but she still has her whitelighter instincts and etc. We couldn't bind her from those. What worries me even more, is that the Elders could sense it. Artemis, we can't let them sense her. It would mean the end of Leo and Piper as we know it."
"Leo?? What about us??? We could be sent to the execution room for all we know.." he mumbled. Apolla kicked him in his shin. "Ow." He muttered at her, rubbing his leg.
"Artemis. How can you be so selfish? We're doing this for Leo. The poor soul hasn't seen his daughter in over a decade. And aren't you thankful we agreed to the assignment? Dear Sammy has been so rewarding to us. I have seen the look in your eyes over the years Artemis. You love her as if she were your son." She whispered and looked him in the eye.
Artemis looked away. It was true. He loved Sam as if she were his own daughter. Many times had she brought joy into his life when he was feeling sad. That baby was a regular miracle. He felt Apolla's hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel Artemis. I miss my daughter as well, but you know as well as I do that this is the closest we will ever get to seeing our children again." She said sadly. Artemis nodded in agreement.
"I think she's smoking." Artemis said suddenly. Apolla turned away from the crackling of the bacon and looked at Artemis wide eyed. " WHAT?" she screamed at him. Artemis was scared of the sudden angry tone. "Why don't you STOP her?"
"She doesn't know that I know."
"Well maybe I should ground her. That will show her some good."
"She's feeling empty Apolla." He said as he went back to his seat at the kitchen table. "She wants to know who Leo and Piper were."
Apolla finished her cooking and put the plate of freshly cooked breakfast on the table. Artemis reached out to grab a strip of bacon but Apolla slapped his hand away. "Hey. Those are for LATER." She snapped at him. Artemis backed away.
"That's...Well..what do we do then?" she asked. Artemis shrugged. "I don't know what we can do. But I know that we have to protect her from the truth."
Suddenly, they both heard pounding footsteps coming down the stairs. They both glanced up to see a fairly tall, teenage girl, with chestnut brown hair that was bouncing on her back. She rushed down the stairs with her messenger bag strapped over her shoulder.
She walked into the kitchen and ran by them to kiss her uncle and her aunt. "Good morning Aunt Pam, Uncle Art." She said quickly, heading to the fridge to grab the half gallon of milk.
"Hey honey. You have any clubs or anything today that we should know about?" Apolla asked, putting some eggs and bacon onto an empty plate and laying it on a place mat in front of an empty chair. Sam went over to the cabinets by the stove and grabbed a small glass and started to pour her milk into it.
"Uh, I have...photography club, creative writing club and that's about it. I think I'll be home by five at least. Why? Are you guys going somewhere or something?"
"No, no. I just want to know what time you're coming home that's all."
"Oh ok." She said, putting the milk back in the fridge and she sat down at the table to eat her breakfast. Apolla stroked her hair and Sam gave a small smile. "Hon. Is there anything troubling you?" she asked.
Sam shook her head in suspicion. "Uhhh, noooo...why would you say that??" she asked, looking up from her food. Apolla shrugged. "You seemed different lately."
"I have?" Sam lied. "I don't see anything different about me."
Apolla could tell right away that she was lying. They were top whitelighters after all. They could sense if people were bluffing or not. "Just, if you want to talk. Me and your Uncle Art are here. Ok?" she said. Sam nodded. "Yeah ok."
She got up from the table and kissed both of them goodbye once again. "Bye." She said, grabbing her messenger bag from under the table and running out the door for school. Apolla looked at Artemis. Artemis looked at her from his newspaper.
"You go talk to her." They both said at the same time.
****
"Paige!! Get the crossbow!! We need the crossbow!!!" Phoebe screamed to her younger sister. Paige nodded and shouted: "CROSSBOW!!!" as loud as she could.
The darklighter looked up and saw that his crossbow was dematerializing out of his hand into the hand of the witch he was fighting. "Ahhh!" the darklighter screamed in anger. Paige was startled by how heavy the crossbow was in her arms.
Phoebe ran and kicked the darklighter in mid air. The darklighter flew to the other side of the room and crashed into a wall. He quickly got up but then Piper froze him. "Paige! Get the girl!" she screamed. Paige nodded again and went to get the little girl he was holding hostage. She carried the girl in her arms and stood back. The little girl was crying for her mom, and Paige tried to calm her down.
Phoebe who now had hold of the crossbow shot an arrow at the darklighter. The darklighter became unfrozen and looked at the arrow in his chest. He screamed as he exploded into a bright light. Paige covered the girl so that she wouldn't be hurt.
All three girls gave a sigh of relief. Another demon down for the day. Phoebe and Piper went over to Paige and the little girl to see if she was hurt. The little girl stopped crying but looked scared to death. Phoebe and Piper kneeled down so they were eye to eye with the little girl.
"Who..who are you? And...who was that?" she asked in a little baby voice. The girl was only 5 or 6, so she was naïve on everything that happened. Phoebe smiled. "We're good people. That's all you basically need to know. And that man was a bad man. You want to stay away from people like that ok?" she said calmly. The little girl nodded.
"Why..did he want me? Why did he take me away?" the little girl asked, questions formed in her mind. Piper put a hand on her shoulder. "The bad man wanted you because someday, you are going to do great things for people. And he didn't want that to happen. So he got you and it was our job to get you back to your mommy and daddy."
"And now that we did, we could get you back real soon. Just remember not to do anything bad. Keep doing good things like you always do, and one day in the future, you will do a great thing that's good for everyone." Paige finished. The little girl smiled and nodded. She hugged all three of them at once. The three embraced the little girl tightly.
"Katie?? Katie are you there sweetie??" a worried woman's voice interrupted their moment. The three stood up and turned around to see a woman and a man coming towards them. They seemed to be the girl's parents. "Katie!!!" the woman exclaimed as she saw her daughter.
"Mommy!!" the girl shouted as she ran into her mother's arms. The man hugged both of them. The woman was in tears. The man went over to the three sisters and pulled out his checkbook. "I can't thank you enough for finding our little girl. You three are truly angels. How much would you like?"
Phoebe shook her head and pushed the checkbook away. "No sir. It was our pleasure. We're just happy that Katie's safe and sound." She said. The man shook all of their hands and nodded his head several times. "Thank you again. Thank you so much." He said as he walked away to see his daughter.
"Geez Phoebe. Those people look rich. We could of gotten a mighty big reward from him..." Paige said jokingly. Phoebe laughed as she pushed Paige lightly on her arm. "That girl was so cute. I'm gonna miss her. It was nice having a little girl hang around us. Don't you think Piper?" Paige said, turning to Piper. But her smile quickly turned into a frown as soon as she saw her older sister.
Piper was staring, and crying as she watched the family gather together. The mother held her daughter tightly, crying her eyes out. "I never want to lose you again. You are my world..." she said. Piper stared at the scene as her vision started to blur from the tears that ran down her cheeks. She turned around. Phoebe and Paige looked at her sympathetically. Paige and Phoebe grabbed her in a hug. Piper felt comforted by the embrace her sisters gave her.
She let go and dried her eyes. "Look at me. Such a crybaby...I mean it's been 14 years, I should be over it right?" she said with a fake laugh.
"Honey, you'll never be over it. She was your daughter. Nobody likes to lose their child. And don't worry, we're here for you." Paige said. Phoebe nodded in agreement. "Let's go home." She said as she and Paige put her arms around Piper and they started their walk to the car.
~*~*~*
A/N: Okay...chapter is done. Well why are you reading the stupid authors note people, go click the button below it and review for pete's sake!! Oh, and see? Hollyfanatik agrees with me! What DID happen to the commercials? One of life's greatest mysteries...
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It's been years since Leo had every laid eyes on her. But every now and then, he caught a glance at the beautiful young girl, with the chestnut brown hair, and the dark brown eyes. She resembled so much of her mother, and her father.
It seemed like just yesterday, she was a little baby who was starting to learn how to walk. Now, she was all grown up. Fourteen years is a long time, but at the same time, it seemed like time has gone by so quickly. Leo glanced through the window of the nice, suburban two-story house.
Artemis had not changed one bit. Being a whitelighter had its advantages. You never looked older. You looked as young and healthy as you did the day you died, unless you clipped your wings perhaps. But Artemis? Still the same young soul, and handsome man Leo had known over 50 or 60 years ago.
Apolla still looked as beautiful and radiant from when Leo had first met her. Such a kind whitelighter, she was. Never in his life had he met someone so free-spirited, or honest. Natalie was never like this. Apolla was like a mother to Sam, and he didn't know how to thank her enough. It was hard, seeing your daughter grow up but not actually being able to meet her.
He hated the Elders now, for putting him through hell for the last decade or so. It was their fault, for not getting married to Piper, for not being able to be the father or parental figure he had always dreamed he would be. It was wrong. It was if the Elders had no feelings.
Something interrupted his thoughts when he saw it in the corner of his eye. His frown turned upside down as he saw the girl come down the stairs and into the kitchen to sit in between his two best friends. The girl was beautiful, and looked like a miniature version of Piper. She was so big now, and he wanted to go in there and kiss her forehead, the way he had done the last time he got to hold her.
He felt terrible, that he got to see Samantha a few times, while Piper was out there not being able to see her at all. He knew how much Piper grieved each day from the moment Sam was born. But no matter how much he wanted to, he could never tell Piper where Sam was, or about what he did years ago. If he did, Piper would be out looking for her, and it wouldn't be nice. The Elders could find out and then there would be pandemonium. He tried to see her every now and then, but conditions were growing worse for both of them.
The Elders grew more and more suspicious each day Leo was late for a staff meeting or was not seen with his charge. They kept close surveillance all the time. He was practically committing suicide when he decided to come to see his daughter. But he felt like it was all worth it.
He took one last glance at the young girl, so he could remember her in her memories, and then orbed out.
****
Artemis rubbed his head as he finished paperwork on the kitchen table. "So many numbers. Goodness, I haven't done this much bills since the Great Depression in 1929." He muttered. Apolla was at the stove, frying eggs and bacon and the same time. She was so jovial all the time. She hummed a happy tune as she cooked.
"Oh Artemis, don't be so stubborn. We've gotten by 14 years as a normal married couple, now I think that you can get by with a couple of bills, honey bunny." She said, giggling. Artemis rolled his eyes. "I STILL can't believe that we've gotten this far. And that's sick Apolla. We're NOT married, we are merely pretending to be. We don't even sleep in the same bed for goodness sake. And what's with the Pam thing? You had to make another name...At least mine was close to my real name!" He said.
"Quiet Arty. Sam might hear you. And what's with the name Pam? I LIKE the name Pamela for your information. And if you don't like it well too bad!" She snapped at him. Artemis laid his paperwork down and walked over to the side of the stove to talk to Apolla. "Apolla, I'm worried about the girl.. I have strange feelings now. I have senses that evil could attack at any moment. I'm worried, that Samantha will get hurt." He whispered.
Apolla turned to Artemis. "I know. I've been getting the same feelings. I don't know. Her powers have grown to a very high level so that means many darklighters and demons could sense it. I mean, I know that we bound her powers with potion Leo obtained, but she still has her whitelighter instincts and etc. We couldn't bind her from those. What worries me even more, is that the Elders could sense it. Artemis, we can't let them sense her. It would mean the end of Leo and Piper as we know it."
"Leo?? What about us??? We could be sent to the execution room for all we know.." he mumbled. Apolla kicked him in his shin. "Ow." He muttered at her, rubbing his leg.
"Artemis. How can you be so selfish? We're doing this for Leo. The poor soul hasn't seen his daughter in over a decade. And aren't you thankful we agreed to the assignment? Dear Sammy has been so rewarding to us. I have seen the look in your eyes over the years Artemis. You love her as if she were your son." She whispered and looked him in the eye.
Artemis looked away. It was true. He loved Sam as if she were his own daughter. Many times had she brought joy into his life when he was feeling sad. That baby was a regular miracle. He felt Apolla's hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel Artemis. I miss my daughter as well, but you know as well as I do that this is the closest we will ever get to seeing our children again." She said sadly. Artemis nodded in agreement.
"I think she's smoking." Artemis said suddenly. Apolla turned away from the crackling of the bacon and looked at Artemis wide eyed. " WHAT?" she screamed at him. Artemis was scared of the sudden angry tone. "Why don't you STOP her?"
"She doesn't know that I know."
"Well maybe I should ground her. That will show her some good."
"She's feeling empty Apolla." He said as he went back to his seat at the kitchen table. "She wants to know who Leo and Piper were."
Apolla finished her cooking and put the plate of freshly cooked breakfast on the table. Artemis reached out to grab a strip of bacon but Apolla slapped his hand away. "Hey. Those are for LATER." She snapped at him. Artemis backed away.
"That's...Well..what do we do then?" she asked. Artemis shrugged. "I don't know what we can do. But I know that we have to protect her from the truth."
Suddenly, they both heard pounding footsteps coming down the stairs. They both glanced up to see a fairly tall, teenage girl, with chestnut brown hair that was bouncing on her back. She rushed down the stairs with her messenger bag strapped over her shoulder.
She walked into the kitchen and ran by them to kiss her uncle and her aunt. "Good morning Aunt Pam, Uncle Art." She said quickly, heading to the fridge to grab the half gallon of milk.
"Hey honey. You have any clubs or anything today that we should know about?" Apolla asked, putting some eggs and bacon onto an empty plate and laying it on a place mat in front of an empty chair. Sam went over to the cabinets by the stove and grabbed a small glass and started to pour her milk into it.
"Uh, I have...photography club, creative writing club and that's about it. I think I'll be home by five at least. Why? Are you guys going somewhere or something?"
"No, no. I just want to know what time you're coming home that's all."
"Oh ok." She said, putting the milk back in the fridge and she sat down at the table to eat her breakfast. Apolla stroked her hair and Sam gave a small smile. "Hon. Is there anything troubling you?" she asked.
Sam shook her head in suspicion. "Uhhh, noooo...why would you say that??" she asked, looking up from her food. Apolla shrugged. "You seemed different lately."
"I have?" Sam lied. "I don't see anything different about me."
Apolla could tell right away that she was lying. They were top whitelighters after all. They could sense if people were bluffing or not. "Just, if you want to talk. Me and your Uncle Art are here. Ok?" she said. Sam nodded. "Yeah ok."
She got up from the table and kissed both of them goodbye once again. "Bye." She said, grabbing her messenger bag from under the table and running out the door for school. Apolla looked at Artemis. Artemis looked at her from his newspaper.
"You go talk to her." They both said at the same time.
****
"Paige!! Get the crossbow!! We need the crossbow!!!" Phoebe screamed to her younger sister. Paige nodded and shouted: "CROSSBOW!!!" as loud as she could.
The darklighter looked up and saw that his crossbow was dematerializing out of his hand into the hand of the witch he was fighting. "Ahhh!" the darklighter screamed in anger. Paige was startled by how heavy the crossbow was in her arms.
Phoebe ran and kicked the darklighter in mid air. The darklighter flew to the other side of the room and crashed into a wall. He quickly got up but then Piper froze him. "Paige! Get the girl!" she screamed. Paige nodded again and went to get the little girl he was holding hostage. She carried the girl in her arms and stood back. The little girl was crying for her mom, and Paige tried to calm her down.
Phoebe who now had hold of the crossbow shot an arrow at the darklighter. The darklighter became unfrozen and looked at the arrow in his chest. He screamed as he exploded into a bright light. Paige covered the girl so that she wouldn't be hurt.
All three girls gave a sigh of relief. Another demon down for the day. Phoebe and Piper went over to Paige and the little girl to see if she was hurt. The little girl stopped crying but looked scared to death. Phoebe and Piper kneeled down so they were eye to eye with the little girl.
"Who..who are you? And...who was that?" she asked in a little baby voice. The girl was only 5 or 6, so she was naïve on everything that happened. Phoebe smiled. "We're good people. That's all you basically need to know. And that man was a bad man. You want to stay away from people like that ok?" she said calmly. The little girl nodded.
"Why..did he want me? Why did he take me away?" the little girl asked, questions formed in her mind. Piper put a hand on her shoulder. "The bad man wanted you because someday, you are going to do great things for people. And he didn't want that to happen. So he got you and it was our job to get you back to your mommy and daddy."
"And now that we did, we could get you back real soon. Just remember not to do anything bad. Keep doing good things like you always do, and one day in the future, you will do a great thing that's good for everyone." Paige finished. The little girl smiled and nodded. She hugged all three of them at once. The three embraced the little girl tightly.
"Katie?? Katie are you there sweetie??" a worried woman's voice interrupted their moment. The three stood up and turned around to see a woman and a man coming towards them. They seemed to be the girl's parents. "Katie!!!" the woman exclaimed as she saw her daughter.
"Mommy!!" the girl shouted as she ran into her mother's arms. The man hugged both of them. The woman was in tears. The man went over to the three sisters and pulled out his checkbook. "I can't thank you enough for finding our little girl. You three are truly angels. How much would you like?"
Phoebe shook her head and pushed the checkbook away. "No sir. It was our pleasure. We're just happy that Katie's safe and sound." She said. The man shook all of their hands and nodded his head several times. "Thank you again. Thank you so much." He said as he walked away to see his daughter.
"Geez Phoebe. Those people look rich. We could of gotten a mighty big reward from him..." Paige said jokingly. Phoebe laughed as she pushed Paige lightly on her arm. "That girl was so cute. I'm gonna miss her. It was nice having a little girl hang around us. Don't you think Piper?" Paige said, turning to Piper. But her smile quickly turned into a frown as soon as she saw her older sister.
Piper was staring, and crying as she watched the family gather together. The mother held her daughter tightly, crying her eyes out. "I never want to lose you again. You are my world..." she said. Piper stared at the scene as her vision started to blur from the tears that ran down her cheeks. She turned around. Phoebe and Paige looked at her sympathetically. Paige and Phoebe grabbed her in a hug. Piper felt comforted by the embrace her sisters gave her.
She let go and dried her eyes. "Look at me. Such a crybaby...I mean it's been 14 years, I should be over it right?" she said with a fake laugh.
"Honey, you'll never be over it. She was your daughter. Nobody likes to lose their child. And don't worry, we're here for you." Paige said. Phoebe nodded in agreement. "Let's go home." She said as she and Paige put her arms around Piper and they started their walk to the car.
~*~*~*
A/N: Okay...chapter is done. Well why are you reading the stupid authors note people, go click the button below it and review for pete's sake!! Oh, and see? Hollyfanatik agrees with me! What DID happen to the commercials? One of life's greatest mysteries...