Dear Faithful Readers,
Well, another story comes to an end. It took me forever to figure out how to end this one, as it lacks anything resembling a plot (what my 10th grade English teacher would've called a "slice of life" story). But fortunately for me, Piper told me exactly what to do, and she's almost never wrong about these things. I think everyone will be happy! Enjoy!
History Repeats Itself—Conclusion
By JewWitch
It was the first night that everyone slept peacefully since the day of Phoebe and Paige's fight. No one woke up in the wee hours of the morning in pain, or screaming from fevered nightmares, and when Piper opened her eyes in the rich, mid-morning sunlight, she felt more relaxed and refreshed than she had in weeks. She wanted to stretch the stiffness from her arms and neck, but found herself pinned to the bed by Phoebe's head pillowed on her shoulder. Careful to disturb her sister as little as possible, Piper gently extricated herself by rolling Phoebe onto her back. Phoebe made a soft murmuring sound, but didn't stir. Piper arched into a long, luxurious stretch, sighing contentedly as she slowly woke up. Propping herself up on one elbow, she peered at her two sleeping sisters. Paige was curled up around her pillow, so deeply asleep she could have been hibernating. Her breathing sounded clearer than it had in days, and she looked extremely peaceful. A quiet sniffling sound drew Piper's attention over to Phoebe, who was twitching slightly as her nose began to run. Having seen her little sister through everything from her first period, to the infamous stomach flu of '87, not to mention the time she fell out of a tree and knocked her front teeth out, Piper was not remotely grossed out by this; she simply reached for a tissue from the bedside table, and very gently wiped her little sister's dripping nose. Rather than quelling Phoebe's sniffling, though, Piper's light touch seemed to make it worse, and Phoebe awoke to the peculiar sensation of sneezing into Piper's hands. Paige woke with a startled squeak, eyes opening wide, and orbed out, all in a fraction of a second.
"Oog," Phoebe groaned, blinking blearily up at Piper with a blank, confused expression, as if her brain hadn't yet realized her eyes were open.
"Bless you," Piper said cheerfully, tossing the crumpled kleenex aside and handing Phoebe a fresh one. Paige orbed back in, wide-awake and glaring. "Nice reflexes," Piper added to her youngest sister, smirking.
"Freakin' A, Phoebe!" Paige growled irritably. "You scared the crap out of me! What have you got in your lungs, a subwoofer?"
"Sorry, Paige, I guess I should've warned you that Phoebe sneezes in surround-sound."
"Hey," Phoebe croaked, her voice still raspy, but without the broken-glass effect, "I'm not that loud."
"Ooh, honey," Piper winced, "does it hurt to talk?"
"Actually…not really," Phoebe murmured speculatively. "Just sounds like crap."
"It doesn't sound bad, Pheebs, it's great!" Paige said happily, her irritation at her rude awakening instantaneously forgotten as she hugged her sister.
"It's definitely good to hear your voice," Piper agreed, kissing the top of Phoebe's hair. "How are you feeling, baby?"
"A lot less awful than yesterday," Phoebe sighed with a yawn. Piper reached out and felt her forehead.
"You're still hot…but not burning-my-hand hot," Piper said, gently smoothing Phoebe's hair back. "We should take your temp; but first let me feel you, Paigey." Paige lay back down with her head on Phoebe's legs so Piper could reach her.
"I don't think I have a fever anymore," Paige announced decisively as Piper laid the back of her hand gently against her sister's cheek. "I don't feel all chilly and trembly."
"Well, sweetie, you feel pretty cool…but you're still a total snot-factory," Piper said with a wink. "Of course," she added as she popped the thermometer into Phoebe's mouth, "That doesn't mean the fever's completely gone…if you're anything like Pheebs, it'll come back up around mid-afternoon, and then tomorrow it'll go away for real."
"Actually, that's how it usually is when I have a fever, too," Paige nodded, blinking bemusedly at her sisters as she contemplated how often they seemed to know her body better than she did herself. "I, uh, didn't think that was normal."
"It's normal for Halliwells," Piper shrugged.
After Piper had been satisfied that Paige was, at least for the moment, fever-free, and that Phoebe's was dropping, they all made their way downstairs to the living room, as Paige had complained that she was actually sick of eating breakfast in bed. She even asked Piper to make pancakes.
"Getting your appetite back?" Piper asked hopefully, handing them each a mug of hot tea.
"Guess so," Paige shrugged.
"Glad one of us is," Phoebe said hoarsely, holding her tea with both hands, obviously trying to warm them.
"Aww, honey, have you got the chills?" Paige asked sympathetically. Phoebe nodded, sniffling miserably. Paige got up and took the quilt from the end of the couch, and wrapped it snugly around Phoebe, her faded baseball shirt and flannel pajama pants disappearing under a fluffy layer of warmth.
"Thanks, Paigey," Phoebe sighed quietly, squirming as deep inside the blanket as she could.
"You still have to eat breakfast, you know," Paige replied. Piper snickered. Phoebe stuck out her tongue. Then Piper left her sisters with the morning cartoons while she went to make blueberry pancakes for all of them. Paige noticed that Phoebe was having a hard time sitting still; she kept sniffing and rubbing her nose irritably. Then her head fell back, eyes sliding shut as she took a deep breath, and Paige flinched automatically. But nothing happened, and a moment later Phoebe let the breath out, pressing her fingers up hard under her nose in an attempt to rub the itch away. That obviously didn't work, because ten seconds later she took another sharp breath, then froze again with her hands hovering over her mouth, an expression of pure torture on her face.
"Stuck?" Paige asked sympathetically.
"Yuh-huh," Phoebe mumbled, eyes barely open. The third time Phoebe's head tilted back, Paige leaned forward and blew a hard breath directly up her nose, exactly as if she were blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. Then she leaned back quickly on her hands, sparing them both from what would have been a painful headbang as Phoebe doubled over, her whole body jerking with a spectacularly loud "Ehshoo!"
"God bless you!" Paige exclaimed, shaking her head in quiet amazement. "You know, Pheebs, the next time a demon attacks, I'm just gonna throw some pepper in your face. They'll never know what hit 'em!"
"Ha ha, vewy fuddy," Phoebe grumbled with a cranky pout on her face as she blew her nose. She sniffled so deeply, her shoulders went up to her ears. "This is worse thad whed I coodn't talk."
"Aww, sweetie, I'm sorry," Paige said immediately, patting her sister's shoulder lightly.
"Hmph." Phoebe curled up against the pillow, her pout deepening. Paige was suddenly struck by the fact that Phoebe had been the youngest sister ever longer than she, Paige, had been an only child. It seemed a silly thing to never have quite realized before; when she had met Piper and Phoebe, she met them as her older sisters. But Phoebe was the baby; had always been. Right now Paige could see that part of her sister clearly, and she realized that it was not a great idea to tease her when she was feeling so crummy.
"I wasn't making fun of you, honey, I promise," Paige soothed, gently rubbing Phoebe's back. "It's just, you have no idea what cute little faces you make when you're all sneezy like that."
"She's got you there, Pheebs," Piper said lightly, coming into the room with a large tray of pancakes and orange juice. Paige, who hadn't felt properly hungry in days, wolfed hers down in about three minutes, while Phoebe sat poking hers with the end of her fork, still shivering miserably.
"Are we going to go through this at every meal, Phoebe?" Piper asked patiently. "Hello, you love my blueberry pancakes. Don't you even want to try them?"
"I'm just so cold," Phoebe whined, looking up at Piper with big, teary brown eyes. Piper reached out and held Phoebe's hand in both of hers.
"Oh, honey, your hands are like ice!" Piper gasped, rubbing her sister's trembling hand in her own. "No wonder you can't stop shivering."
"Poor baby," Paige cooed, rubbing her back sympathetically. Phoebe jerked her hand quickly from Piper's grasp, and sneezed, her entire head disappearing for a moment inside her blanket cocoon.
"Bless you," Piper and Paige said immediately, no one making any cracks about Phoebe's super-human lung capacity.
"Know what I bet would make you feel better, Pheebs?" Paige asked confidently.
"A shot of Morphine?" Phoebe grumbled darkly.
"A nice hot bath," Paige replied, blithely ignoring her cranky sister's sarcasm.
"Mmm…that sounds good," Phoebe agreed quietly, wiping her runny nose on her sleeve.
"I'll go fill the tub for you, if you'll eat half a pancake," Piper offered shrewdly. Phoebe glowered. "And I'll add lavender bubble bath," Piper added.
"Fine," Phoebe grumbled, immediately picking up her fork and putting a small piece of pancake in her mouth.
"Juice too," Piper added.
"Piper," Phoebe whined.
"Don't Piper me, Phoebe Penelope Halliwell. You are sick as a dog, and you've barely eaten anything in three days. You need the vitamins." Phoebe seemed to sense that she was dangerously close to crossing a line, and nodded meekly up at her big sister. "Paigey, make sure she finishes it, okay?"
"'Kay," Paige nodded importantly. Piper eyeballed Paige's glass, which was still half full.
"And the same goes for you, you know," Piper added.
"But I ate all my pancakes," Paige complained, knowing as she did so that arguing with Piper was entirely pointless.
"Pancakes don't have vitamin C, Paigey," Piper reminded her. "C'mon, you guys, this is fresh-squeezed, organic orange juice, here. Just drink it, okay?"
"That stuff's so expensive, Piper," Phoebe said in surprise.
"Are you saying your health isn't worth $6.99?" Piper asked, cocking her head with her hands on her hips. Phoebe couldn't think of anything to say to that. Silently, Paige and Phoebe both picked up their glasses and drank. Piper smirked, and went to start the bath.
While Phoebe was soaking in the tub, Piper and Paige passed the time with hearts and crazy eights. It was fun at first, but eventually they had to give it up, because every time Paige sneezed, she orbed out and dropped all her cards. Piper tried not to be too amused by this as she suggested they play a board game instead.
"Um, actually, Piper, can I talk to you about something?" Paige asked hesitantly.
"Of course, sweetie, anything," Piper said immediately, sensing Paige's trepidation. "What's on your mind?"
"Well…it's about Prue," Paige said slowly, watching her sister's eyes closely. Piper stayed silent, but gave her sister and encouraging smile. "It's just, well, Phoebe told me about how you called Grams for your wedding, and I thought…well, I thought…"
"That we could call Prue the same way?" Piper finished for her. Paige nodded.
"Oh, baby, I wish we could…but I already tried; it didn't work. Well, I mean, it did work, but it brought Grams instead of Prue. She said it was too soon for us to see her." A mixture of disappointment and determination welled up in Paige's brown eyes.
"Well, maybe it was, then," she shrugged. "Or maybe we just need the power of three." Piper looked at her sister blankly for a moment, the simplicity of her statement slowly sinking in. "It couldn't hurt to try, could it?"
Phoebe agreed with Paige instantly when she heard her sister's suggestion, and turned toward the attic still wrapped in her towel. Piper had to grab her by the shoulders and steer her back to her room, bundling her up in a pair of warm flannel pajamas, a hooded sweatshirt, and squishy wool socks before letting her into the drafty attic. No one spoke as the candles were lit, and they clasped hands in the circle. They didn't know what to say to each other, knowing that it might not work, and trying not to get their hopes up, for each other's sake. But all of them had the same calm assurance in their eyes that every demon they'd vanquished had seen in its final moments.
"Hear these words, hear our cry, spirit from the other side, cross now the great divide," they chanted, each feeling the warm glow of magic passing through their joined hands as the air around them began to swirl, blowing back their hair and forcing them to turn their faces away. When they looked up again, there was a fourth figure standing in the middle of the circle, with long, straight, black hair.
"…Prue?" Piper whispered, too terrified to hope she could be right.
"Hi Piper," Prue grinned, stepping out of the circle and opening her arms. Piper sobbed and flung herself into her sister's embrace, clinging to her for dear life.
"Oh my god, Prue, are you really here?" Piper choked, even as all her senses rose up and told her that this was her big sister.
"I'm really here, baby," Prue assured her, smoothing Piper's hair back and looking into her eyes. "You summoned me, didn't you?" Prue looked up at her two youngest sisters then, including them in her statement. Phoebe and Paige stood as still as statues at the edge of the circle, open-mouthed and unblinking. "What's the matter with you two-- too big to hug your sister?" Phoebe immediately snapped out of her shock, and flung herself into Prue's arms exactly as Piper had, tears of joy streaming down her face.
"Paigey?" Prue cocked her head at her youngest sister, still standing shyly a few feet away. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
"I…I…" Paige opened and closed her mouth a few times, completely unable to speak.
"C'mere, baby girl," Prue said gently, holding out her arms with a wide grin on her face. The force holding Paige back from her sisters finally snapped, and a huge smile blossomed on her face as she, too, threw herself into her big sister's arms. They all stood there, laughing, crying and hugging for almost half an hour, until Phoebe got dizzy and stumbled sideways, and Piper insisted they all go downstairs so she could lie down.
"I still can't believe this," Phoebe murmured softly, reaching out to trail her fingers down Prue's face. Prue caught her hand and held it with a smile.
"Me neither," She admitted, brushing Phoebe's hair back and gently feeling her forehead, as if she had never been gone. "I didn't think you guys were ever gonna realize how to call me."
"You mean, the power of three?" Piper asked, frowning. Prue nodded. "But that doesn't make sense," Piper said logically, "We never needed the power of three to call the dead before…"
"Well, in most cases, you don't," Prue agreed. "Grams told you about how you guys weren't allowed to see me…that was their rule," she added, glowering up at the ceiling. "They were afraid you wouldn't be able to move on. But no matter how hard they try, they can't stop you from calling blood to blood," she looked up at Paige affectionately as she spoke. "Nothing beats the power of three."
"How did you know me?" Paige asked quietly, still latched onto Phoebe's side with a nervous look in her eyes, as if she wasn't quite sure where she fit in Prue's statement. "I mean, you knew my name…how did you know who I was?"
"Oh, sweetie," Prue grinned, "You think there are any secrets up there? I felt you the same way I felt Piper and Phoebe; how do you think my obituary got onto your desk?"
"That was you?" Paige gasped.
"Once I knew you were out there, all I could think about was getting the three of you together again…you needed each other. And once you found them, it was all I could do to keep you from running out on them again!" Paige looked down guiltily.
"I didn't mean to…I mean, I didn't think they…"
"I know, Paigey," Prue said soothingly. "You didn't think they wanted you. You thought they looked at you, and wished you were me." Piper and Phoebe both looked at Paige, eyes wide with shock.
"Oh, baby…did you really think that?" Piper asked tenderly, cupping Paige's cheek in her hand. Paige looked at her feet as tears began to well up in her eyes, and nodded.
"You guys m-missed her so m-much," Paige choked, wiping her eyes clumsily. "I c-couldn't…"
"You couldn't be Prue," Phoebe finished quietly. Paige nodded. "Honey, we never wanted you to," Phoebe said earnestly, squeezing her sister's hands tightly in her own. "You're our baby sister, Paigey, and we love you just the way you are." Phoebe sat up and wrapped her arms around her little sister, neither of them noticing Prue and Piper smiling at each other over their heads.
"Your nose is running, Pheebs," Paige said gently when they broke apart. Phoebe blushed and grabbed a tissue from the bedside table.
"That reminds me," Piper said, glancing at her watch, "It's medicine time. Wanna come down and help me, Prue?"
"Actually, uh, about that," Prue said hesitantly, "I have to tell you guys something…don't get mad." They all looked at her blankly, unable to imagine anything that she could possibly say that would make them angry. "The day you guys had your fight, and Paige ran off…I sent the storm."
"What!" Piper exclaimed, her jaw dropping in shock. "Prue, what the hell were you thinking? They got really sick!" Piper yelled at her sister as if the fact that she had changed the weather from the great beyond was an everyday occurrence, on par with forgetting to turn off the air conditioning.
"I didn't mean for that to happen," Prue said earnestly with wide blue eyes. "I just wanted to make Paigey go home! I thought some serious weather would stop her from running away in the heat of the moment…I didn't think she'd just sit there in the middle of a deluge for two damn hours." Prue smirked at her youngest sister, who blushed and looked away. "You never told them, did you Paigey?"
"Told us what?" Piper asked sharply.
"…Wasn't gonna come back," Paige mumbled, looking at her hands. "That day…when I was sitting at the beach, before it started raining, I was trying to decide where to go, to start my life over. I knew if I stayed in San Francisco, you guys would find me…not for me, but for the power of three. I thought we'd all be better off…I thought you'd be better off without me."
"We would not be better off without you!" Phoebe sobbed, throwing her arms around Paige and clinging to her as she began to cry.
"Hey, I know that Pheebs, I know now…" Paige hugged her sister tightly, stroking her hair and reassuring her with gentle words. It had become automatic over the course of the past week; they knew exactly how to comfort each other, and how to take comfort. "Don't worry, big sis, I'm not going anywhere."
"Better not," Phoebe mumbled, wiping her eyes.
"So you guys aren't mad at me, are you?" Prue asked meekly.
"Prue, how could we possibly be mad at you?" Piper exclaimed, blinking back her own tears. "If you hadn't…I mean if you didn't…we would've lost Paige." Piper's voice finally broke, and she crumpled into Prue's arms, hot tears spilling down her face. Prue held her fiercely, telling her what a good job she'd done taking care of her sisters, and how proud she was of her. Piper held onto her for dear life, her fingers clenched in the fabric of Prue's shirt as if she were terrified her sister might simply vanish.
"Don't ever leave me again, okay?" Piper whispered in Prue's hair.
"Oh, Piper," Prue sighed, pulling back to look her sister in the eyes, "I never did."
"We forgive you too, Prue," Phoebe said croakily from the bed, with a cough. "Of course, that might just be my overcooked brain talking."
"Actually, Pheebs, I think it worked out better this way."
"Better?" Phoebe repeated incredulously.
"Well, yeah. When Paigey got sick, you both got a muchly needed kick-start to your big-sister instincts…and then when you started babying her, she got a chance to see how much you care about her, and what it really means to be sisters. And because she was so vulnerable, she started trusting you a lot faster. And you guys started trusting her, too…especially you, Pheebs."
"She takes good care of me," Phoebe smirked, making a silly face at her little sister.
"Actually, I think that's Piper," Paige said quietly. Suddenly everyone was looking at Piper, who felt a furious blush coloring her cheeks as she looked at her feet.
"Thanks for taking such good care of us, Pipe," Phoebe said, her voice hoarse but still full of love.
"Yeah," Paige added, lying down with her head on Phoebe's shoulder and smiling up at Piper shyly. "Thanks, Piper, for making me not an orphan anymore."
"Oh, Paigey," Piper sniffed, letting go of Prue to crawl into bed with her two younger sisters, hugging them both as hard as she could. Then she turned, and they all grinned up at Prue, who flopped down on the bed next to them, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. Paige yawned as Prue ran her fingers through her sister's black hair, so much like own.
"You guys need to take your medicine before you both fall asleep," Prue said quietly, getting up along with Piper amid drowsy protest from Phoebe and Paige.
"Prue, don't go," Phoebe mumbled, blinking and rubbing her eyes.
"I'm not leaving, little one, I'm just going to the kitchen," Prue soothed, falling into an old habit of tucking Phoebe's hair behind her ear.
"How long you gonna stay?" Phoebe persisted, half-awake.
"I'll still be here when you wake up, honey." Phoebe nodded, and promptly fell asleep. Her eyes barely opened when Prue came back a minute later and put an arm behind her shoulders, helping her sit up just enough to take her medicine before she was out again. Then Prue smiled down at a puffy-eyed Paige, sitting with her and stroking her hair until she fell asleep, too. Quietly, Prue tiptoed from the bedroom, slipping down the stairs to the kitchen and Piper. The second-oldest Halliwell stood in front of the sink, her back to Prue with soap suds dripping off her elbows.
"Okay, I know angry dish-scrubbing from regular dish-scrubbing, Miss Piper. What's wrong?" Piper dropped the pan she was washing back into the sink, and sighed.
"You're not staying, are you?" she asked softly, not turning around.
"No, honey, you know I can't."
"Why not?" Piper asked desperately, turning to her sister with pleading, reddened eyes.
"For the same reason you can go scuba diving, but you can't live underwater," Prue said quietly, holding her sister's face with both hands.
"How can I feel so good, and hurt so much, at the same time?" Piper whispered, her voice trembling violently.
"Shhh," Prue murmured, wrapping her arms around her shaking sister. "I'm always with you, Piper, always…I'll never stop looking out for you, do you hear me?"
"I hear you," Piper sniffled, her tears soaking into Prue's shoulder.
"You, Pheebs and Paige are the power of three now," Prue said lovingly, her hand running through Piper's sleek brown hair. "The part in the middle, where you're all connected…the part that holds it all together…that's me." Piper smiled bravely. "And, you know," Prue added, a playful lilt slipping into her voice, "Anytime you need me, I'm just a trans-dimensional summoning spell away." Piper giggled and smacked Prue on the hip.
"Smart ass."
For the rest of the afternoon, the four sisters did nothing but play, laugh, and be silly with each other, giving Paige a taste of what childhood with them would've been like. Piper and Prue even put on a sock-puppet play for their little sisters, exactly as they had done for Phoebe when she was sick as a child. They ate ice cream and watched 80's movies, and made a huge mess of the living room with a supernaturally suspended blanket fort. By evening, Piper's prediction that Paige's fever would come back proved right, and both Paige and Phoebe were exhausted and emotionally drained. That didn't stop them from trying to resist when Prue and Piper told them it was time for bed.
"S'not even late," Paige grumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"C'mon, baby girl, you're soooo tired," Piper hummed, threading her arm behind Paige's back and gently guiding her up the stairs. Prue was right behind her, carrying Phoebe on her back with her arms locked around her sister's neck. They were both asleep the moment they hit the bed, snuggling up together unconsciously.
"Can you imagine what it would've been like to have these two on our hands growing up?" Prue asked quietly, leaning down to run her fingers through Paige's hair again.
"Mmm…double-trouble," Piper said wryly. "We wouldn't have had a chance."
Epilogue"Paige, your breakfast is getting cold!" Piper hollered up the stairs, pouring coffee with one hand and wiping the counter with the other.
"I don't have time for breakfast," Paige exclaimed breathlessly as she came hurtling into the kitchen at top speed. "I have a placement hearing at work I'm gonna be late for if I don't leave right now!"
"Paige, we all promised we'd take care of ourselves," Piper said sternly.
"That's right," Phoebe agreed with her mouth full of cereal. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"Fine, I'll take a muffin and eat it on the way."
"Paige." Piper cocked her head.
"Okay, okay!" Paige sighed. "I'll take some orange juice, too." Piper handed her the requested items with a smile and a kiss on the cheek.
"Have a good day, dear," she deadpanned.
"My sister the comedian," Paige said with a roll of her eyes.
"Bye Paigey, be good!" Phoebe called after her as Paige hurried out the door.
"You too!" Paige called back over her shoulder. "Don't forget yoga class at five!" Phoebe got up as the door closed behind her sister, drained her coffee, and grabbed her briefcase.
"Well, I'm off to the newspaper," she said cheerfully. "Have a great day, Pipe." Giving her sister a quick kiss on the cheek, Phoebe followed Paige out the door. Alone in the kitchen, Piper silently walked across the floor to a different door, the one that lead down to Prue's old darkroom. A few minutes later, she came back up holding an 8x10'' black and white photograph. It showed Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige, all sitting together on the couch and smiling. Across the top, Prue had written The Power of Four. Smiling gently, Piper hung the photo right next to Grams' portrait. Then she turned, took her keys off the hook, and headed for P3.
THE END