Hey all! I'm BACK! D Well, sorry it's been foooorrreeevvver since I updated...I've been kind of depressed and had no inspiration or ANYTHING to help me write. Now, for all you devoted fans, here's the new...and never duplicated...CHAPTER 5! D -Final Fantasy X Victory Theme plays.- ...Eh heh...and the writer's block is dead. So I'll try to update as much as I can, alright? Okay. Let's rock.

Death and Hope

"Michelle?" Hope walked into the house, setting her purse on a table.

She looked around, getting slightly worried. Michelle and herself had gotten in numerous fights before, but she would always be back by now. Hope searched everywhere she could think of, Michelle's room, the bathrooms, her own room, the entire house. The only place she hadn't searched, the one place that she thought or KNEW Michelle would never want to go incase of emergency...The Basement. Hope slowly walked down, carrying a flashlight considering they could never fix the broken light that still flickered every now and then, but would never stay on.

For some odd reason, it did this time as she walked down the stairs. However, as Hope neared the bottom, she started to get nervous, she reached the bottom of the stairs and the lights went out. She tried to turn on the flashlight, but just before she flicked the switch, she felt a sharp pain strike her back, she quickly fell forward, feeling more pain, same as the sharp pain she had just felt. She dropped the flashlight, as her vision slowly started to blur.

"I'm home!" Michelle walked in, a bright smile on her face. "...Hope?"

Michelle looked around, using the same routine Hope had, searching the entire house, yet to no avail. Hope was no where to be found. She looked to the basement door, that same door that contained the demon that almost tried to kill Hope and herself two years ago. She's been afraid to go back down there ever since. She took a few steps towards the basement door, and forgot to get the flashlight.

But, when she went to retrieve it, it wasn't in it's place. She then KNEW Hope was in the basement. She quickly rushed down the fourteen steps and into the basement. She looked around, and spotted something that made her eyes widen atleast three sizes. She felt like vomitting, but she couldn't. There in front of her, was the cold, dead, gore covered corpse of her best and only friend and charge, Hope Gladstoene. Michelle backed away, tripping onto the stairs and crying out.

She quickly rushed upstairs, or the ones she could without tripping. She ran out of the house, nearly breaking the door, not that it mattered. She quickly rushed to the Halliwell mannor, not being able to orb. She fell onto the porch, struggling to push herself up, she knocked on the door, continuing to cry.

"Ye-- Michelle!" Piper opened the door, seeing the broken down girl on the porch. "Michelle, what's wrong?" She said taking the girl into her arms.

"I-It's Hope...s-she..." Michelle couldn't bring herself to say it, she couldn't bring herself to say that Hope was dead.

"Hold on, let's get you inside..." Piper took Michelle into the mannor, shutting the door behind her.

"Alright, now slowly, Michelle...what happened?" Piper kneeled down in front of her.

"H-Hope...she's d..ead...I failed my job...asa whitelighter...anda..friend..." She said, growing extremely tired, yet still crying. Her words kept being put together and Piper of course had an easy time picking them apart.

"Alright, alright, you rest here." Piper layed her down, putting a blanket over her. "Try to get some sleep, we'll talk once you can conceive words tomorrow..." She rubbed Michelle's head, getting a tissue and carefully drying her face of the tears that covered it.

"O-Okay..." Michelle hugged a pillow tightly. "Don't...don't tell Leo...please..." She fell unconscious quickly.

Piper sighed lightly and walked upstairs. Then, a young human-like girl with brown hair and brown eyes came down the stairs, a look of frustration on her face.

"DAMMIT! WYATT! WHERE DID YOU ORB MY HOMEWORK?" She shouted with a sudden rage.

She glared, looking around, then noticing the black haired girl on the sofa. She blinked and questioned to herself who this new comer was... She quietly crept over to the unconscious girl. Kneeling down and looking to her unconscious tear-stained face. She was about to touch her shoulder when Piper came down the stairs.

"Miranda!" She hissed. "Don't touch her!"

Miranda recoiled quickly, with an innocent look on her face.

"Who is she, Piper?" Miranda questioned, looking to Piper then back to Michelle.

"Her name is Michelle...and she's a...friend. A close friend of her's died and we offered to let her stay here with us." Piper clasped her hand in the other and smiled fakely. "Don't you have homework to do?"

"I DID IT, but your SON ORBED IT AWAY!" Miranda glared.

"Don't yell!" Piper hissed at her yet again. "You'll wake Michelle! It was hard enough getting her to go to sleep! And how could Wyatt do that? He's only a baby! ...let's discuss this in the kitchen..." she sighed.

"Fine..." Miranda sighed lightly, walking into the kitchen.

The night slowly went on as the sun started to rise.

Michelle's emerald green eyes peered open, wincing at the light of the sun. She didn't know what had waken her, and the thoughts of the previous day had seemed to vanish. She sat up, holding her head and placing her hands on her lap which was covered by a blanket. She looked around the room, trying to remember where she was. She didn't remember much after Hope di...

"...Hope..." She whispered in a raspy voice.

She put her face in her palms. She wanted to cry, but she felt no tears emerge from her dry eyes. She felt so alone and empty. So broken, and sad. She just couldn't bare what had happened not only to her charge, but to her best friend. Michelle felt so bad that she just wanted to end this. She stood up, her legs weak and frail now. She walked outside.

The warm sunlight hit her skin as she watched the puffy white clouds soared across the sky. How could such a tragedy have such a beautiful after-math? The day seemed almost perfect, as though nothing had happened. She moved away a few strands of some of her jet black hair that covered her face, the images of last night replaying over in her head.

"Good morning!" said Miranda's voice from behind her.

"GAH!" Michelle whirled around, her eyes meeting that of Miranda's brown eyes.

"I see you're in a good mood..." Miranda circled her.

"...Who are you?" Michelle questioned, her voice rasping badly.

"I think the question is what's up with your voice? You have a cold or something?" Miranda questioned, blinking.

"No...not a cold...I see you have a back pack, going to school?" She changed the subject.

"Unfortunatly..." The brown haired girl rolled her eyes.

"Oh, how sad...I don't remember what school was like."

"Why? Did you quit when you were like, five or something?" Miranda quirked an eye brow.

"No, I quit when I was eleven, about...64 years ago." Michelle smiled, not realizing the mistake she had just made.

"...wouldn't that make you like...75?"

"Um..um...I mean...Eh hehehe..."

"...a friend...huh.." Miranda turned around and walked back inside. "PIPER!"

"Miranda if you yell one more time I swear I'll blow you--up..." Piper said gently, looking towards Michelle.

"Morning, Pipes." Michelle said, smiling lightly.

"Hey...you doing any better?" Piper asked, sounding concerned.

"...Oh, you're concerned for HER but not for me...you always yell at me...Miranda, blah blah blah, Miranda, stop yelling, Miranda--"

"Miranda, shut up." Piper glared.

"Yes ma'am." Miranda said backing away from Piper.

"I'm fine, Piper...really...thank you, for last night." Michelle smiled.

"No problem!" She smiled lightly. "You can stay here as long as you want."

"And just where do you think she's staying!" Miranda glared.

"No, no...I couldn't..." Michelle backed out. "I have to...go see the Elders."

"Wait...is she a--"

"Yup."

"And your here because you--"

"Yup."

"...Oh." Miranda looked to the floor.

"Yup." Michelle looked to floor.

"Um...Okay!" Piper smiled. "Who wants breakfast?"

"Um..." Both Miranda and Michelle replied.

Well, whadda ya think guys? Is this okay for my come back chapter? I'm off break now so I might update more often...so...yeah. v.v Kinda depressed right now, but hopefully I'll get over it. Well, R&R if you love me. D