Chapter 5: Love Conquers All

A/N: Thanks loyal reviewers! In this chapter, they advance a little in the mystery…but there's also something else really cool. This is going somewhere…I promise. Please read and review! Even if you don't like it, review anyways. No flames please, only constructive criticism.

Paige stared around at the frozen people around them. The demon was still advancing, completely oblivious to the immobile crowd. Piper flicked her wrists again, probably trying to blow it up. There was a small puff of smoke in front of the demon's chest, but other than that, it was quite unaffected. "What now?" Piper asked, looking to her sisters for support. Phoebe merely shrugged. She was still racking her brains frantically, trying to come up with a plan. Paige threw her head back confidently and looked the demon straight in the eye. Her face was free of fear.

"We fight it", Paige said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

This seemed to inspire an unexpected confidence in her sisters. When the demon was almost upon them Phoebe levitated into the air and unleashed a fierce snap knick at the demon's head. The monstrous creature staggered slightly, but didn't seem really hurt. The demon reached the sister closest to him, Paige, and hurtled a fireball straight at her. She instinctively orbed out, just missing being hit. The demon formed another fireball, but this time Paige was ready.

"FIREBALL!" she called, extending her hand. The fireball disappeared in a swirl of blue orbs, and reappeared in her palm. She threw it at the demon, but the demon shimmered out before the fireball could make contact. Piper pulled a vial of crimson liquid from her pocket. "I brought it just in case", Piper explained. Paige smiled for a moment at her sister's paranoia, but then realized it was justified. Piper threw the potion with perfect aim. It sailed gracefully through the air and hit the demon square in the chest.

There was a puff of smoke, and a flash of light. They could hear the demon screaming in agony and they could smell the burning of its flesh. With one final burst of energy, it was gone. They looked at the crowd, it was still frozen. Leo was showing the boys a stuffed animal, as to distract them from the demon. Of course, being raised around demons, Chris and Wyatt were far from afraid of them. Still, Piper and Leo made sure they saw the minimum number of demons possible. "We have to go", Piper said, looking over at her family.

Paige nodded, understanding that Piper wanted her to orb them away. Phoebe moved closer to Paige and put a hand on the shoulder. Leo brought the stroller forward, and Piper moved forward as well. When Paige was sure everyone was somehow holding on to her, she orbed them all to the attic. Darryl would have a bit of explaining to do when everyone unfroze. Perhaps it was a mark of what good people they were, but they all felt a strange sense of pity for their former friend. The feeling was immediately quashed when they reformed in the attic. They had work to do. First sleep, of course, then work.

They had vanquished the one demon, sure, but there was bound to be others. A single demon could not have murdered that man. There was some sort of plot here. If it was just a random killing for food or for fun, the demon would not have killed so deliberately, or so publicly. There were most certainly several demons working together. The first step was to find the demon they had vanquished in the Book of Shadows. At first, they thought that wouldn't be a problem. The Book of Shadows always seemed to give them answers when they needed them.

After they woke up early, they looked for hours, only taking a break to stretch their legs, or get something to eat. It was long and tiring work, but somebody had to do it. Leo and the Charmed Ones looked through every page, what seemed like thousands of times, but yielded no results. Finally, they were all close to giving up. About 3 hours into looking, Leo had to head back to magic school, Piper needed to get something from P3, and Phoebe had an important meeting at work. That left Paige alone with Chris and Wyatt in the attic.

She flipped through a few more pages then slammed the book closed in frustration. This was getting her nowhere fast. Her eyes and neck were beginning to get sore after bending over the book for hours at a time. That ancient tome really needed an index. She got up from the chair she was sitting in, desperate for a chance to stretch her legs. She found herself pacing back and forth on the attic floor, unsure of what to do. She looked over to the crib where Wyatt and Chris were playing. They didn't need her at the moment.

"I could use a little help", Paige said, looking upwards. She expected the pages to begin flipping, aided by Grams, which was what often happened. What happened was something she didn't expect at all. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a swirl of blue-white lights. A whitelighter had answered her plea for help. That didn't make sense at all. She wasn't on the best of terms with the elders and other whitelighters. Which one of them would answer her calls?

When she saw who it was, she gasped. In the corner of the attic orbed the only man she had ever truly loved. Kyle Brody. She thought she would never see him again. In a moment that contained eternity she stared into his eyes. She could get lost in those beautiful brown eyes. Paige forgot everything except the fact that Kyle had returned to her. Without thinking, she ran to him and locked him in a tight embrace. He was finally in her arms again, and she never wanted to let go. There was so much she wanted to tell him, but she didn't know where to start.

"Are you staying?" she managed to ask.

"I'm staying Paige", he said, "I'll never leave again."

Paige still didn't understand why he was back, after all this time. "Why?" she breathed.

He looked at her again, a look filled with love and devotion. Looking into Kyle's eyes made Paige feel safe and warm. "I'm your new whitelighter Paige. I'm the Charmed Ones new whitelighter. The elders realized that we were meant to be together, so they let me come back. I've never stopped thinking about you. You mean the world to me. I want us to be together forever. I'm sorry I had to leave you Paige, and I'll never leave you again, not willingly. I love you."

Paige was completely taken aback by this. She didn't know what to say, or even what to think. One look at Kyle told her all she needed. Kyle meant what he said, and she felt the same way. "I've missed you Kyle. There hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about you. I really believe that we're soul mates. You complete me, you make me whole. I know we're going to be together forever, because we're perfect for each other. I'm sorry I never said it before…but…I love you Kyle", Paige said.

The two locked eyes again. They had each poured out their soul to the other. They were now sure of what they always suspected. They would be together forever. Their faces drew closer and closer together. Before they knew what was happening, they were kissing passionately. They kissed for several minutes, and Paige felt happy, loved and whole…

TBC…

Up next…Chapter 6: The Ritual …The Charmed Ones and their whitelighter learn of the ritual the demon clan has planned. They only have 24 hours to prevent it. If they don't…It'll be really bad .