"I-Uh-Do-Ha-Wh- What?" She asked, taking a step away from Prue. She was shaking from head to toe, with perspiration starting to bead on her forehead. Was what Piper thought the older girl said true? If it was, Prue seemed oblivious to piper's nervous stature.
"Oh, nothing," whispered Prue, suddenly turning away from Piper. Her eyes were focused on the floor, and her hands were keeping themselves busy by messing with teh fluff on Aunt Pearl's couch. "It was nothing."
Piper didn't know how, but she suddenly brought her hand up to Prue's shoulder, causing the older girl to face the younger one again. "How did you know my real name?" Piper asked, her voice so quiet that Prue could barely hear her. But, in Prue's mind, it was loud and clear.
"That's your name?" Prue asked, almost choking on the words. She couldn't believe it. She had found her little sister, the one thought to be lost so long ago. "Piper," she whispered, wrapping ehr arms around the younger one. Piper was still completely oblivious to why her real name was so important, so she awkwardly hugged Prue back. When Prue finally let go, Piper let out a low sigh of relief. It had seemed as if Prue had almost squeezed the air out of her. "I'm so happy I found you."
Piper stepped back at that comment, wondering why Prue had been looking for her. "What do you mean?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
Prue opened her mought, and then closed it repeatedly. She couldn't find the words to tell her little sister who she really was. After all this time, she couldn't speak. Her eyes wandered around the room for something, anything, to help her. They settled on the family tree in the corner of the room. Prue gently glided across the room, and then reached for the rolled up parchment on the shelf. Just before her hand touched the yellowed paper, the attic door burst open. It revealed a panting Phoebe and Paige, who held her hand over her heart.
"Piper," Phoebe finally fit in between her gasps. "She's... alive," Piper's eyes grew wider than they already were, if that was even possible. Prue gasped, these qords squelching any doubts she may have had of their friend, Alexa Gordon, truly being their long-lost sister, Piper.
"What does she mean?" Piepr asked, her wide eys turning towards prue for guidance. Paige glanced from Phoebe, to Piper, and finally to Prue.
"Oh my God, Prue, I'm so sorry. We didn't know she was still up here." She said, her eyes widening in fear.
"It's okay," said Prue quickly, trying to get back to what she had originally been doing. Phoebe and Paige glanced at each other, slightly worried at Prue's trivial wave off of the subject.
"Why am I not supposed to be here?" Piper asked. She knew that she was asking a lot of questions, but there were still a million more floating around her brain for every second that she was in the attic.
"No reason," Prue said kindly, finally pulling the family tree from its resting place. She placed it neatly on the table next to the shelf, unrolling it carefully. Out of curiosity, all three of her younger sisters walked over to see what she was doing.
Piper's eyes scanned down the parchment of the Halliwell family tree, starting with Melinda Warren. Towards the bottom, she reached sisters - Penelope and Phoebe - then Penelope's daughters - Patricia and Pearl - and finally the daughters of Patricia. She gasped. she couldn't believe it. Right between Prudence and Phoebe, two of the girls standing right beside her, was one name that would change her life from then on: "Piper Halliwell". She looked beneath the name, and saw both a date of birth, and a date of death. The girl had died when she was almost four years old.
Piper glanced up at Prue, trying to confirm waht she had just read. "So...?" She began, not really able to formulate a question at the moment. Prue nodded, a wide smile beginning to form on her face. Piper almost collapsed at that moment of realization. The reason she moved to San Francisco, the reason she met the Halliwells... again. She met them again. She already knew them. She already knew her family... she had a family, a real family. She plopped herself down on teh couch, trying not to ahve a heart attack then and there. She couldn't believe it. She was not alone.
"Prue, why'd you just show her that?" Phoebe asked, her brain going into overdrive. Too much had happened in such a short span of time that she doubted she could add two and two together and come out with four. Her brain was that frazzled.
Prue looked up at her younger sisters, not sure what to tell them. It was just soaking in that Alexa was really Piper, her long-lost sister. How could she tell her younger sisters, who hadn't really met their sister before she was taken? How could they all adjust to the fact that their three-year-old dead sister was now the scared and scarred fifteen-year-old sitting rigidly on their aunt's old couch?
"Guys," Prue began, gulping. Again, her tongue seemed like it weighed a thousand pounds. She couldn't even open her mouth to get the words out this time. Luckily, someone else spoke on her behalf.
" I'm your sister." Piper said, still looking stunned, but more grounded than she had been. Her hand was still over her heart, and tears were building up in her eyes. She looked at the two younger girls, watching their reactions to the news.
Phoebe and Paige looked at each other, and then back at Prue and Alexa. Or was it Prue and Piper? The two younger girls didn't know.
"You're joking, right?" Phoebe asked, looking between the two. The only response she received was a head shake from Prue, who still couldn't articulate correctly.
"Oh my god," whispered Paige. She then just plopped herself down on the couch, next to Piper. "So... you're my sister?" She asked, her eyes wide with innocence. Piepr's heart melted at her youngest sister, because, well, Paige was her youngest sister. She was related to the Halliwells.
"Yeah, Missy Paige, I am," answered Piper. Paige immediately wrapped her arms around Piper, feeling her touch and breathing in her lilac shampoo. Tears began flowing from Piper's eyes, as she couldn't hold them back any longer. She hugged her little sister back.
Phoebe stared at Piper, remember the first time they had met. Phoebe had hated her at first, but they had warmed up to each other quickly. And now, she knew why. She knew why she had received those premonitions that weren't sent by the Elders. She knew why Piper had so easily fit into the Halliwell family, and why she had not been scared away by her first demon fight. Pheobe was supposed to find her sister, and finally complete her family. Well, as complete as it could be without a real guardian.
Phoebe and Piper made eye contact, both having the same realizations.
"Come here," Piper breathed, holding out her right arm, as it was not being taken up by Paige. Phoebe jumped onto the couch next to her older sister, snuggling against her tightly. Prue looked down at her three younger sisters, a smile stretched across her face in spite of the droplets raining down it.
"Did you really think you could leave big sister out?" Prue asked. The three girls looked up at her, and Paige immediately scooted closer to Piper in order to make room for Prue on the couh. Prue, happy that she culd sit but upset that it wasn't next to their newly found sister, sat in the small space left for her. It was strange for the sisters to all sit on a couch that was built for two, but since they were all small, they managed. Prue kindly reached across Paige and Piper to reach Phoebe, who held up her spare hand for Prue to grasp.
Suddenly, a spark seemed to run through the four sisters, shocking them out of their happy little daze. They all felt something strange flow through them; it was an abnormal energy that still felt comforting and warm. Unfortunately, though, the feeling made Phoebe remember why her and Paige had come up to the attic in the first place.
"Wait," Phoebe said, hasitly wiping the tears from her eyes, leaving glistening smears across her cheeks. Prue, Piper, and Paige all turned towards her, their tears immediately halted. They looked at her questioningly and expectantly, waiting for her to continue. Phoebe gulped, scared of what she had to tell her sisters next.
"The reason Paige and I came up here was because I had a premonition." Phoebe disentangled herself from the sisters' huddled mass, standing away from the rest of the group.
"What did you see?" Prue asked, immediately losing her happiness. Phoebe's tone of voice was serious, meaning that the premonition wasn't a good one. Phoebe looked over towards her sisters, grimacing at the thought or ruining the happy moment.
"I didn't really see anything, Prue. It was pitch black." This grabbed all of the sister's attention, and caused them to stop hugging and get down to business. "But, I did hear things. There was metal hitting metal, and really shallow breathing. It was... scary. And not just that, it was terrifying. I didn't know what was going on, and then... a door opened, and this... demon, I think, came in or stood in the doorway, I don't know. He... he said..." Phoebe paused, unable to remember what the demon had said. Unknowingly, she called the premonition back.
"My dear Piper, we meet again. It's been twelve long years."
Suddenly, it wasn't dark anymore. Phoebe could see clearly what was going on. Seh was in a cage, sitting right next to Piper, who was chained to the wall of the captivity by links that seemed like very complicated hanfcuffs. Phoebe looked around. There was no door into the cage. There was no lock. Phoebe then looked at the demon who had made his presence known. Well, at least she thought it was a guy because of the voice. The figure was very tall, well over six feet, and covered from head to toe in a black cloak.
"Who are you?" Piepr asked, her voice trembling. It was obvious to Phoebe that her sister was scared out of her mind. The cloaked man suddenly appeared inside the cage, and he bent down to Piper's level. He roughly grabbed her chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him.
"Why, dear, I'm your worst nightmare." He reached out and slapped Piper across the face, causing her head to be sent flying to the side. A large red mark appeared seconds later, in the shape of a hand.
When PHoebe cut out of the premonition, she fell to the floor, completely out of breath. Immediately, Prue was by her side, helping her up.
:" Are you okay, Pheebs?" Prue asked, worry written all voer her featrues. Pheobe nodded, not noticing the cold sweat covering her body.
"I countinued the premonition." PHoebe said, easing her own way over to an easy chair right next to the couch. Her sisters migrated over before she started talking again. "I was freaked, Prue, I really was," Phoebe elaborated, receving a hug from her oldest sister in return. Phoebe remaine dunaware of it, though, because her gaze was focused on piper.
"Oh, God, Piper," she sai,d and reached out to hold Piper's hand. Piper grasped it, now knowing that the premonition was aobut her. Phoebe sniffled, trying to hold back tears. Seh had cried too many in the past few days.
"It was you, Piper, chained up inside a cage with no exit. There was this demon, too. He was really tall, and he seemed reponsible for having you in the cage. He... he slapped you and threatened you and... oh, God." Phoebe said, unable to continue.
"Shh, sweetie, it's okay," Piper said, rubbing her sister's back. "Nothing has happened yet." The sisters all embraced for a moment, when suddenly they heard a noise that disrupted their sister moment.
It was clapping.
"Aw, look at the little, soon-to-be-dead witches," said a demon in the corner of th eroom. he slowly and mockingly clapped his hand, smirking menacingly. All of thet sisters' eyes widened,and Prue stood up to defend the Book of Shadows.
"Prue, don't!" Phoebe shouted, and grabbed onto Prue's right hand. Phoebe was still sandwiched between Piper and Paige, and Prue' left hand was on the Book of Shadows. The girls felt something they had not felt before... immense power. It flowed through their veins, making them all feel supercharged. The demons gathered around them stared as all four of the sister floated into the air, lifted by an unseen force. A froce of Good.
T:T:T:T
AN: Sorry for taking so long to update, but as you might be able to see, I have another fic going now. Please, please check it out, even if you don't like fics with Chris and future stuff. I'm trying to make it not have a focus (okay, it leans towards Piper, but that's what my fics do). But, everyone has a plot line! I'm so proud of myself... teehee... Please please review! Also, I regret to inform you guys that I want to take Crazy for this Girl and Fixing a Broken Family off. I haven't really updated them in over a year, and I don't like that I'm just letting them rot. Tell me if you want to take one of them over, or if you're happy I'm taking them off. Sorry!