A/N: Beware! This chapter has a BIG twist in it that no one guessed- not even you Altaira! (She's been guessing all my plots early LOL)
Probably just one more chapter after this one. Everyone brace themselves and keep the tissues close…Chris' wedding is the next chapter!
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Phoebe turned, and breathed in sharply. "Oh, my God" she choked out hoarsely.
Piper whirled, concerned about her younger sister. "Phoebe, are you…o…kay." She finished haltingly as she stared in shock at the newcomer.
Leo was the first to break free from the trance they all seemed to be under. He rushed over, hugging the petite woman closely in his arms. "I can't believe this. After all these years…" his voice trailed off and he just stood, holding her close, cherishing the closeness that had been missing for over 20 years.
Wyatt orbed back in, annoyance seeping from his body in visible waves. "Ma, the next time my brother makes a deal with a demon, you make sure he takes care of his own dirty work. Little Miss I See Everything just told me that our family is about to receive a boon from the elders. Whatever the hell that means." He waved his arm disgustedly. When no one answered him, he looked hard at his mother and aunts' faces. "Mom? Are you guys okay? What's going on?"
Patience came running down the stairs. "Holy crap! Something big is happening! I can feel the emotions…there's fear, hope, love, pride, envy, loss, betrayal- all concentrated in this one room. Is there a demon? Did Barbas come back after all?" Her empathy powers were jumpy and picking up every emotion there was.
Chris' orbs followed the announcement. "What's wrong? I can tell…there's a tenseness in the air. I could feel it all the way at our house." Chris stared at his father, still hugging the woman. "Dad? What are you doing?" he asked in a slightly accusatory tone.
"Oh, Chris. It's not what you think." Leo replied, wiping his eyes free of the tears that had filled them as he stepped away from the woman.
"Holy Shit! Aunt Prue!" Chris exclaimed, more shocked than he'd ever been before.
Prue flashed him her trademark grin. "What's the matter, Chris? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Aunt Prue! Wow…Mom's told us so much about you! What took you so long to come here?" Patience exclaimed next, reaching out to hug her long lost aunt.
"Well, the Elders didn't think you guys were ready yet. Finally, I convinced them. They are terribly stubborn, you know. Over twenty years of harassing before they allow me to be with my family again! Ridiculous. But I was able to convince them that Patrick needed a guiding influence. So I'm sort of his advisor, you might say." Prue explained, returning Patience's hug easily.
"So, Patrick is coming back soon?" Patience asked hesitantly.
Prue smiled. "He's already upstairs with your sister and new niece. He'll be down in a few minutes."
Phoebe started to sob. She turned to Cole, and smothered the gasping sobs into his shoulder. He held her close as he kept a close watch on Prue. He knew they didn't care for each other, and wanted to be sure that Prue didn't try to kill him again, after everything he'd been through.
"Phoebe, honey. It's okay. I'm here now. Patrick is here too. Your whole family is back together. I'm here now." Prue soothed, as she walked over to her sister and smoothed down her shoulder length brown hair.
"Great. You're here now. So where were you then? Huh, Prue? You couldn't even get us a message to tell us that you were still with us in spirit? You just abandoned us." Piper burst out angrily, unable to hold it in.
"Piper, I died. It's not like I went on vacation! I already told you. The Elders wouldn't let me contact you. They even kept me a secret from Leo, and he was one of them! They said that if I came to you before you were ready, then I would be the catalyst for the breaking apart of the Power of Three, and more importantly the entire Halliwell family. If I'd come too early, Wyatt & Chris wouldn't have been born. Paige wouldn't have found her way to you. All of your children would be different, with different powers and different attitudes. Not to mention, Piper, you wouldn't have Leo. They came out and directly told me that if I went behind their backs, and saw you all before I had permission, that they would recycle Leo's soul. I saw what you went through when they took him from you before your…rutabaga."
Piper cracked a smile at the use of the word she'd substituted for wedding when the elders had demanded Piper and Leo stop seeing each other and had them under close monitoring. "So, why did they change their minds? If it was just teaching Patrick, then there are four other seasoned white lighters in this family that could have taught him. Why else did they allow it now?"
Prue grinned. "Well, Piper, honestly I think Leo scared them. When he quit being an Elder because one of them made a snotty comment about Chris and Wyatt, they were forced to take a look at themselves in a harsh light. They decided that they have been far too strict as far as not giving the Halliwells any special favors. The facts are that this family has done more good in the past 28 years than any other in history has ever done. Through it all, for the most part, everyone has obeyed the rules the Elders handed down, no matter the cost to us all personally. The only rule that has ever been broken for good was the witch-white lighter rule about falling in love. But when they lay it all out, side by side, the hardships that magic has forced far outweigh the benefits. Phoebe has lost the love of her life to magic 6 times- 3 with Cole, once with Jason, once with Dex and most recently with Les. She's also lost a child to magic when Patrick died. Piper, you lost Leo three times before finally getting him back forever. You and Leo had future Chris die due to an Elder's duplicity. I lost Andy, and then died myself. But out of all of us, Paige suffered the most. She lost her parents due to magic- twice. Once because of the rule against witch-white lighter relations, and again when her adoptive parents died, and she orbed away to save herself. She lost Glen and Richard, and was suddenly thrust into a world where she had no way to prepare for. And those aren't counting the sacrifices that any of your children have made. Good God, Chris risked everything to save Wyatt from being evil! He even lost his fiancée because of it, not to mention every single thing about his old life that was familiar. He gave up everything." Prue broke off, her throat filling with regret. "The Elders finally realized when Leo quit that they need the Halliwells. They finally saw all the things that this family has given up for the greater good. So they called me, and Laura finally said it was time. I'm not allowed to be here all the time, because of my charges, but I can come whenever you need me."
Phoebe finally broke away from Cole, and hugged her big sister. Piper hurried over and joined in, hugging both her sisters. It suddenly felt as though the years of absence had been mere hours, as the hole inside her was finally refilled.
Chris watched with a smile on his face as he watched his mother's face lighten and brighten with happiness. The smile dimmed as he turned to his Aunt Paige, and saw the deep sadness. "Aunt Paige…there's still room for you." He whispered softly to her. "They're all your sisters you know. Nothing changes that."
Phoebe suddenly broke away from Prue and Piper. "Paige! Get over here. Meet your big sister!"
Paige shyly made her way over to the group, still hanging back. Prue looked into her worried gaze, and quickly grabbed her into a hug. "Nice to meet you, sis."
Paige laughed. "Nice you meet you too, finally. I've heard a lot about you."
"Don't believe any of it." Prue said in a stage whisper. "They're just trying to discredit their big sister."
Paige laughed again. "And here I thought they only did that to the baby sister."
The four women managed to huddle into another hug. Leo looked on fondly, standing between Chris and Wyatt. "Looks like it's the Power of Four, now."
Orbs touched down on the middle of the coffee table, breaking it in half. "OW!" Patrick's voice rang through the crowded living room. "Oh, crap. Sorry, Aunt Piper!" he yelled out quickly, knowing how Piper hated it when things were broken by a lazy teenager's orbs.
Chris ran over to him, wrapped him in a huge hug, and whispered in his ear. "Chris, no, I can't do that! That's personal gain!" Patrick protested.
Chris leaned back and stared at Patrick as if he was a different person. "'Scuse me? You of all people are talking about personal gain spells? Wasn't it you that tried to cast a true love spell a few weeks back so that you would have a date to the formal?"
"Yeah, well, I'm reformed." Patrick replied calmly.
"Uh huh." Chris wasn't convinced.
Patrick smiled and whispered the spell Chris had given him quickly.
"Let the object of objection become but a dream, cause the scene be unseen."
He watched fascinated as the broken table mended itself again. "Awesome." He breathed quietly. "Ahh!" he gasped as Phoebe grabbed him in a hug, squeezing as tight as she could.
"Oh, baby. You're back, oh, god, oh god. I thought I'd never see you again." She hugged him again, burying her face on his shoulder, holding on tightly.
"Mom! Mom, relax. Let go, Mom! You're choking me!" he gasped, protesting her tight grip.
"You should be choked. What's the big idea of you playing Superhero and getting yourself killed! That wasn't the plan Patrick!" Suddenly, Phoebe was scolding him and had an almost irrepressible urge to spank him. Too bad she'd never done it before, and had no intention of starting.
"Mom, I'm sorry, okay? But, this way is even better, don't you see? I got to save Wyatt and Chris, Mom. Do you have any idea how cool that is? I saved them. They were trapped, but I saved them! Me, the one who didn't ever have enough control over his powers to use them right. I saved them. They didn't die because of me." Patrick grinned proudly. "Besides, as a white lighter, I can orb! And Aunt Prue said she'd show me how to heal once I get my orb landings down. Plus, mom, the coolest part is I get to protect Phiona forever. How many white lighters get to protect family?"
Phoebe relaxed, and smiled at her son's happiness. It seemed that being dead wasn't as bad as she'd originally thought. Her son might be back in a different form with additional powers, but he was also happier, and more confident. Plus, this time she knew that Wyatt and Chris would do everything possible to make him feel normal. Deep down, she knew they still felt horrible over his death, so they would do anything to keep his new life intact and happy.
"Only the very lucky." Wyatt answered Patrick's question. "Look, Pat, I just…I'm sorry, pal. I wish we could do it over again. But either way, I'm glad you're back."
"I'm glad to be back. Hey, am I in time for the dinner at Yummies? I want lasagna." Patrick asked anxiously, rubbing his stomach.
Piper answered. "Yeah, you're in time, Patrick. Perfect timing actually."