A/N: Because I was so excited to carry on the story, here's the next chapter. Sorry it's taken me forever to post it… Thanks to those who reviewed, not gonna mention names or give individual thanks or whatsoever because I want to go straight to the story so I'm not going to waste any more time with this note.

Chapter 9

Phae stared at them. "Bite me."

Giles frowned. "Phae," he said sternly.

She glared at him. "If you're my aunts, how come you didn't recognize me?" she challenged.

"Because we haven't seen you for ages, sweetie," said the third one.

Phae snorted. "Since, oh, I don't know, the DAY I WAS BORN?"

The first one to speak winced. "I'm Piper, and this is Paige and Phoebe," she said, gesturing to the respective aunts.

Phae rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What're you doing here, anyway? And where's my mother?"

Sadness seemed to come into Phoebe's eyes. "Well, sweetie…" she started. "Your mother's…"

"In Thailand," Piper finished.

Phoebe and Paige's heads whipped around to look at her while Giles frowned. If he knew correctly, Prue Halliwell was dead. And had been dead for quite a number of years now.

Phae raised an eyebrow. "What the heck is she doing there?"

"Well, as you know, she's a journalist." Piper began with the explanation.

"Um, reality check here. I have no idea who you guys are, so how the heck am I supposed to know that Prue's a journalist?" Phae interrupted.

"Sorry. Anyway, she's a journalist for 415, a magazine, and she's been there for years now, doing…" She trailed off, not knowing how to end. Paige jumped in.

"Research work. Or at least, she was. Then she got so fond of it that she moved there!"

"Um, could you excuse us a moment?" Phoebe asked.

Phae shrugged. "What's a moment when I've waited my whole life?" she muttered.

A swirl of lights enveloped the teenage witch's aunts, and they orbed out and into the alley behind the Magic Box.

"Okay, first of all, Piper. Why did you lie to her?" Phoebe asked. "And secondly, Paige, Prue would never move to Thailand. She hates Thai food even, so how the heck is she going to survive there?"

"Phaedra doesn't know that, does she?" Paige said, raising an eyebrow.

"She's already lost her grandmother, Phoebe. She raised her. How do you think she'll feel when she finds out that her mother's dead?" Piper put in.

"Telling her the truth is better than lying to her! I mean, the truth will out, Piper, sooner or later. Isn't it better if we tell her now than when she finds out herself later?" Phoebe protested.

"Well it's too late now, isn't it? Someone had to go and lie to our newfound niece!" Paige said, sending an accusatory glance at Piper.

The oldest sister rolled her eyes. "Look, what's done is done, okay? We can't do anything about that now can we? I can just imagine it. 'Phaedra, sweetie, we lied to you. Your mother's dead.'"

"Oh, well, sure, when you put it that way!" Paige shot back.

Phoebe closed her eyes briefly. Why did she think that her two sisters were past the bickering stage? "Guys? Can we please not do this? We have bigger issues to worry about. Like how to not tell Phaedra the truth."

Both Piper and Paige sighed together. "You're right. And Piper, you're right too," Paige said, earning herself a surprised look from Piper. "Since we already told her that Prue's in Thailand, I guess…I guess we're just gonna have to…go with the flow."

There was a somewhat stunned silence from Piper. "Well, then, shall we go persuade our niece to move to San Francisco with us?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Paige smiled and took her sisters' arms, then orbed them back into the Magic Box.

While the sisters were conversing...

Phae whirled around to face Giles. "I can't sense them. Why can't I read them? They're hiding something from me, I know it. Why can I not sense them?" she demanded.

Giles looked uncomfortable. "Well, a few years back the sisters took a potion to block Phoebe's empathy. I suppose it's working on you as well." He left the sentence hanging.

"But?" Phae prompted.

"But nothing," the ex-Watcher-turned-Whitelighter said.

She narrowed her eyes. "You know, don't you? You know what they're hiding." Her eyes bore into his as she pried her way to his mind, only to find it blocked. She gave a frustrated growl.

"Um, Phae, I'm pretty sure it's nothing," Tara, ever the mediator, said, in a way saving Giles.

Phae frowned and turned to look at her mentor. "What Giles said wasn't a nothing nothing. It was a something nothing!" she insisted.

Willow stepped forward "Well, if it was a something nothing, I'm sure Giles would tell you, right, Giles?" she said, giving the Brit a pointed look.

A hesitant pause, and then, just before Giles could answer, Piper, Phoebe and Paige orbed in.

"I will never get used to seeing that," Xander commented, bringing in a little smile to Anya, Dawn, Buffy, Tara and Willow's faces, while Giles continued to look uncomfortable, Phae, irritated, and the aunts, nervous.

"Now what?" Phae said irritably.

"Well, now that we've introduced ourselves," Piper started. "We were wondering when you're moving back to San Francisco with us."

Phae snorted again. "Ex-cuse me! What the hell makes you think that I am going to move in with people I don't know? What makes you think I don't want to stay here with people who love me? With people who care about me? With people who have been looking after me ever since my grandmother died!" she practically yelled, anger flashing in her eyes.

"Easy there, girl," Piper began, but Phoebe cut her off.

"Honey, I know it's hard for you to accept, but you have to. There are things out there, demons, warlocks, who want your powers because you're the daughter of a Charmed One," the advice columnist said.

"No," Phae replied, shaking her head. "No. I don't care what the hell you say, but I am not moving to San Francisco. Especially not with you."

"Phae, maybe you should think about this," Giles said, moving towards the girl.

She whirled around to face him. "Oh, so now you don't want me here?"

Giles flushed. "I am not saying that, Phaedra, merely saying that it might be safer for you with your aunts than in Sunnydale."

Tears of rage and hurt sprang into her eyes, the emotions reflected on her delicate features. Without a word, she grabbed her bag and left the Magic Box.

There was a silent tension in the air.

"Okay. Who wants pizza?" Xander said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Dawn turned to look at Giles. "Why did you say that to her?" she demanded.

"Dawnie, I don't think he meant it that way," Buffy said, moving to put a hand on her little sister's shoulder.

Dawn shrugged her hand off and faced Buffy. "Then would you care to explain to me what exactly he meant?"

Willow replied in Buffy's defense. "I think he meant that it's safer for her with her aunts than here."

"You know, we are still standing here," Paige said, waving to get their attention.

Buffy turned to face them. "I think you should come back later," she said flatly.

"We think so too, don't we, Piper, Paige?" Phoebe said, sending a pointed look in their direction.

Piper nodded. "Maybe we'll come back when she cools down."

"I'll let you know," Giles told them kindly. "Would you like a cup of tea before you leave?"

Piper shook her head. "Our kids are waiting for us. Maybe another time."

With that, the three witches orbed out, leaving the Scooby Gang silent.

"Now what?" Xander asked.

A/N: Woo-hoo! Four pages! I know the ending's kinda lame, so please accept my heartfelt apologies and homemade brownies as a peace offering!