Leo could do nothing but stand and watch as the magic from the energy ball covered the three sisters. His White Lighter powers were useless. And when the girls had been vanquished, he knew Evil would turn on him. And Wyatt.
Suddenly the energy surrounding the girls dissipated away. The three stood, still holding hands, no sign of damage to any of them. Evil stood and looked at them in shock and disbelief. Paige met his gaze with one of her own.
"You're beaten," she said. "You have no power over us now. Maybe what Leo said is true. Maybe we can't destroy you. But we can resist you. And nothing you do will ever change that. You don't get us or Wyatt."
Evil stared at the sisters. His anger was in full force now. Every fiber of his being was charged with rage at these three women who dared to oppose him. But he also knew he could not triumph over them. The power they used against him was too strong. It was his only weakness and somehow this, the youngest of the three, had learned that. Howling in anger he simply vanished from the nursery.
"Okay, little sister," Piper said as she poured them coffee in the kitchen, "it's about time you spilled it. What the hell happened up there? You seem to know what's going on. It's about time you let the rest of us in on your secret."
"I'd like to know that myself," Leo said, sitting at the table and holding Wyatt. "Before I report to the Elders, I need to know just what happened."
"It's very simple," Paige said, smiling coyly. "We beat him. And there was nothing he could do about it."
"We know that," Phoebe said. "But how did we beat him? None of us had the power to stop him. We didn't have a potion or a spell. So what was that energy that was finally able to stop him when nothing else could."
"It was something Piper said," Paige said. "That everything has a weakness. We all agreed it had to have one. We just didn't know what it was. When Evil tried to pick up Wyatt, Piper couldn't do anything to stop him. And yet, somehow, she was able to prevent it. At first I wasn't sure what had happened. Until I saw the look in Piper's eye when Evil reached for Wyatt. That's when I saw it."
"Saw what?" asked Leo.
"Love," Paige said. "Piper gave Wyatt the only real thing a mother can give to her child. Her love. And you saw what happened when Evil tried to pick Wyatt up. Talk about a cold slap in the face."
"Love?" questioned Phoebe. "That's it?"
"Of course," Leo said. "I can't believe not even the Elders saw that."
"I don't understand," Piper said.
"It's very simple," Paige said. "Love is the one thing that evil can't overcome. Evil is selfish, clingy, all consuming. It cares for nothing but itself. What it wants. Love is just the opposite. Especially the love of a mother for her child. Most mothers will do anything for their child, including dying for them. Evil isn't capable of that. It can't understand it."
"Cole said that once," Phoebe said. "That evil can't truly love. Remember, Piper? It helped us to save Prue."
"I remember," Piper said.
"Remember what Evil said to us?" Paige asked. "Mom died fighting it. Grams did. Even Melinda Warren died fighting it. They all did the same thing. Tried to make the world a better place for their children.
"That's why I told you to think of them. And of Cole. I know Cole and I didn't exactly get along. But you loved him, Phoebe. I think you still do, in some way. And while I didn't know Prue or mom or grams the way you guys did, you still loved them, too. It was the one thing that Evil couldn't overcome. The love one person has for another. Especially family."
"And with all three of us," Phoebe said, "It was like the Power of Three."
"Exactly," Paige said. "Only Piper could give Wyatt a mothers' love. But the two of us helped to intensify that love with love of our own. Evil might have been able to overcome a single person but it couldn't withstand all of us at the same time."
"We should have figured that out," Leo said. "The Elders and me, I mean. Most White Lighters are White Lighters because they gave their lives for others. It should have been so obvious to us."
"Maybe too obvious," Piper said. "It's usually the simple things that mess you up. I'm just glad Paige was able to recognize what was going on in time."
"So, do you think Evil will be back?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, the entity? That thing we had to face in the nursery?"
"I doubt it," Leo said. "You know how to fight it now. Evil rarely makes a direct assault. It's too obvious. Evil likes to be subtle. To trap people before they even know what they're doing. Now that you've beaten it, I doubt it will be back here anytime soon."
"Good," Piper said, taking Wyatt. "That thing really scared me. It's nice to know that all we'll be facing from now on is the regular type of demons."
"I'd better report in," Leo said. "I may be gone a while. I'm sure they're going to have a hundred questions some I'm not sure I have the answers for."
"We'll be here waiting for you," Piper said.
Leo orbed out of the kitchen, leaving the girls and Wyatt alone.
The End
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