Hey there! Yes, I know I'm bad. But here's my update (finally). I'm aware that the beginning of the chapter is not my best work, but the current dire state of Charmed season 8 is really not good for inspiration! Trust me, the first half of this chapter is absolute balls! I hate it!
I'd like to thank Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of The Opera for my inspiration to write my Paige scene and give him credit for the song I use. Before I do my responses, I'd like to thank all those who reviewed my one-shot- 'Confessions of a Whitelighter/ Witch'.
BlueOrbs998- Gah, seriously, how do you make your reviews so awesome? I'm gald you liked Amy's quip about her breasts! I tried my hardest to make the first part of the chapter light, due to the intense emotion in the second half. Your comments on which, by the way, had my grinning broadly! Thanks Ally! You rock!
Prince Halliwell- Thanks for the review.
Fanmania- Heehee, big up the Scots! Thanks for the review!
Money makes me smile- Thanks for the review Jess! Had me cracking up! Randomness rules. You rock!
Kath- Thanks for the review! I'm SO happy you enjoy it! Lol. I miss you. Come home!
LeoPiper-Forever- Gah, 11 exams? Good luck! Thanks for the review, Miss Molly!
Moonfirefairy- thanks for the review!
Rebanana- Heehee, I'm flattered. Thank you!
RJF- There's some tough competition between you and Ally for best review ever! Lol. Seriously, made me smile a LOT! You rock. Thanks!
.elementbabe.- Thanks for the review! And I LOVE YOUR NAME! Peyton- so pretty!
Peanut2lb- YAY! You're back! (yes, I know you've been back for some time, but this is the first time I've replied to your review! Lol! Thanks very muchly!
Powerof4- Apparently you didn't review the last chapter! Lol, but this is to let you know I'll be reviewing your fic soon! PROMISE:D
Chapter31- Unwrapping the Present
"Shh!" Amy hissed, slamming the Book Of Shadows hard down on the kitchen table, causing everyone to turn in her direction with an almost identical confused expression spread on all of their faces. Piper, startled from her chain of thought jerked her head sideways, eyes widened. "Nobody say anything else."
"What the heck are you talking about?" Andy asked her, squinting his eyes in curiosity.
"She's from the past!" Amy gasped in alarm.
Silence settled on the kitchen. Piper closed her eyes tightly and suddenly began to wish the demonatrix had rendered her unconscious. She bowed her head forward and let out a frustrated grunt. This was not quite how she had hoped to come clean.
"WHAT?" Piper flinched at the sound of her sister's immensely frustrated voice. She apprehensively brought her head up and found all eyes resting on her. She bit down hard on her bottom lip, not dealing well with the attention. But through the sea of eyes, there was only one face Piper could look at: Paige. It wore a look of shock, anger, curiosity, disappointment... "The past!? No wonder you were acting so weird!" Future Paige's eyes widened and she slammed her arms down onto her knees before continuing, "How far in the past?"
"December 2008…" Piper mumbled almost inaudibly. She suddenly envied her family's orbing ability.
'Holy cow!' Came a different voice. Nobody appeared to have spoken, so apparently Piper was either insane, or Amy was communicating telepathically again.
'Ooh, Missy!' Piper thought angrily, knowing that Amy would still be reading her thoughts. 'When I get back to my own time you are so grounded!'
'But-' Amy's facial expression turned to a defensive one. 'But I'm only five months old in your time…'
'That is not the point!'
'But I'm the good one!'
'The good one…?'
"Amy!" The angry voice of Andy snapped. "Will you stop using your telepathy and let the woman talk!" In that moment Andy's likeness to his Aunt Prue had been too much for Piper to even believe.
"Andy, 'the woman' is still your mother- different year or not!" Paige scalded the nineteen year old, "But you were right, let her talk."
All eyes began to bare holes in Piper again. The blood was beginning to rush into her cheeks and discomfort settled on her. "I-" She stuttered. Words would not form properly in her mouth. "There really is a perfectly good explanation for thi-"
"2008?" Laura cut Piper off, wearing a sudden curious expression, "That means Mom hasn't be-"
"Laura!" Paige snapped, glaring at her daughter. "Let your aunt talk!"
Piper's brow furrowed in curiosity, but she continued with her explanation. "Phoebe and I cas-"
"Mom?" This time it was MJ who interrupted. Her voice was suddenly filled with what sounded like hope, thus confusing Piper greatly. "Is Mom in the future too?"
"I don-"
"Don't answer that!" This time it was Andy who snapped. He really was freakishly like the woman who had passed him her powers.
"Okay…" Piper's mind was racing. What could she say? She did not want to let Paige know her reason for casting the spell, but what other explanation could she give? She brought her hand to her head so that she could run her fingers through her hair- a nervous habit she could not remember being without-, but realised, once again, that her future self had placed her hair in a ponytail. This caused her to let out a prolonged groan, which left space for the two if her future nieces who were present to continue asking questions. They were firing them at her so quickly that she could barely register what they were saying.
The eldest Halliwell was almost ready to scream when the noise suddenly stopped. She jerked her head up and was met with a sudden swelling sensation in her stomach, which she knew only came from one thing: orbing. Confused, her eyes darted around the room. It did not take long to figure out that Paige had telekinetically orbed her. Where she was headed she did not know, but as her dematerialised form headed towards the roof of the kitchen she caught the sound of her own son's panicked voice.
"What are we going to do?"
The question rang in her mind as she rematerialised into her flesh form. What were they going to do? What was she going to do! She was stuck in the future being interrogated by her own family, utterly bewildered by the commotion and still unaware of how her trip was going to help her help Paige.
A quick glance around the room she had found herself in told her that she was in her own bedroom. It was almost exactly the same, but for the cool blue of the walls and the new, indigo carpet. The temptation to look at the photographs and drawings which adorned the walls was almost too strong, but Piper decided she did not want to find out anything more about the future, for if she did, the consequences could be dire. To avoid the lure, she took a seat on the queen-sized bed and found herself letting out a sigh of relief as she sank into the heavenly comfort of the mattress which was obviously not the same as the one she slept on in 2008.
"Comfy?" Came a voice Piper recognised as Paige's.
She sat up in the centre of the bed and, feeling more awkward now than she had done in the kitchen, crossed her legs. "I guess," Piper replied timidly, not meeting her sister's eyes.
"You have no idea how long it took you to convince Leo to buy that mattress!" Paige told her, wheeling herself towards the bed. Although she was smiling, Piper could still see a deep inquisitiveness in her eyes. The eldest Charmed One did not know how to respond, so she didn't. She just remained in a tense silence on the bed, avoiding eye contact with her future sister. "The kids are making a potion to send you home. I orbed you up here so you didn't have to deal with MJ and Laura's twenty questions…" Paige continued. Her voice seemed less friendly this time.
"…Thanks." Piper replied. She couldn't help but think that she would be handling the situation much better if she did not have the constant reminder of Paige's wheelchair.
"Thanks?" Paige questioned with a disbelieving sneer, "I came up here to ask you twenty questions myself!"
"Oh…" Piper's stomach began to swell. She hadn't expected her sister to be so angry, but Paige looked rather annoyed.
"How did you even get here? The time travel spell in the book is a one time only thing!" As she spoke, Paige moved closer still. Much to Piper's dislike, the sisters' eyes firmly locked together and Piper was unable to turn away.
"Well…" She started, drawing a deep breath, "We wrote a spell ourselves." Paige looked mildly surprised- almost as if she had attempted to write a time travel spell herself and failed. "It wasn't intended for time travel though…" Piper continued, relaxing slightly. But she quickly regretted what she had just confessed.
"What was it intended for?" Paige asked. She was now as close to Piper as it was possible to get in a wheelchair. Piper was unable to lie.
"We…" She stammered. She had no idea how Future Paige was going to react. She knew if the Paige from her own time was to find out she would go ballistic, but this Paige seemed somehow different… "We wanted to…" She took a large gulp of air and clenched her fists, dreading Paige's reaction. "We wrote it so we could help you."
A vast array of emotions washed over the Youngest Charmed One's future face: shock, anger, sorrow and…happiness? Yes, the look which settled on Paige's face was not one which Piper had feared. She looked almost grateful… "Help me?" She asked curiously, "With what?"
"Overcoming your grief." Piper replied more bluntly than she had intended.
"Well…" Future Paige began, her head dropping so that she was staring at her knees. Her face seemed to contort as she, Piper assumed, thought back to December 2008. When she looked up again her eyes were slightly moister than they had been before.
When her sister did not speak, Piper felt the need to continue talking. "Of course, we know you were dealing with it in your own way, but you were becoming so secluded. We felt so helpless! This was the only way we could think of to help… though I'm not quite sure how coming to the future is helping me help you! All I've found out is that you're in a freaking wheelchair! And that is not helping me! It's just making me feel guiltier!"
Paige's expression was slightly shocked now. Apparently she had not been expecting Piper's sudden outburst. Piper continued to breathe deeply, regretting everything she had just said. But there was something about the mysteriousness in Paige's eyes which was compelling her to speak.
"Piper," Paige spoke calmly. "Why do you feel guilty?" She placed her hands firmly on Piper's knee and continued, "You are the only reason I can get through life like this!"
"…I am?" Piper stuttered, letting out the breath of air she did not know she had been holding.
"Yes," Paige replied. "You helped me through everything! …With Phoebe, of course! But trust me, you guys helped me so much. If you were sent here for any purpose at all it was to find out that being my big sister is all you need to do to help me!"
"Oh…" Piper was shocked, to say the least. But Paige had made perfect sense. That was a simple lesson to learn, and one Piper needed to learn, at that! "…Thank you." Piper said slowly. Paige returned the grateful smile.
Before they could continue the conversation, however, five figures appeared simultaneously in the bedroom. Andy, Amy, MJ, Laura and Warren all let their gazes rest on the two women near and on the bed.
"We finished the time travel potion." Andy announced, and then everyone- even Andy- erupted in another bout of twenty questions. Everyone, that is, except Warren.
"Hey, sir talks a lot." MJ said, slapping Warren on the arm lightly, causing him to look up from the floor, "You not gonna say anything?"
Piper watched as her nephew's deep and curious expression turned into a smirk. He was so much like Mark it was unreal, but the eldest Charmed One could only wonder why Warren was so quiet. From the pictures of her family lining the walls of the future Manor, Piper had imagined Warren to have his father's non-stop talking habit, but the boy she saw in front of her had anything but. He had barely spoken once, other than to his mother, since his arrival. Piper couldn't help but wonder if the burden of is power had affected his personality…
"Preserve nature:" he said suddenly. Piper looked up with a curious smirk. Warren was grinning broadly and looking MJ directly in the eyes, "Pickle a squirrel today." He continued with a toothy smirk. (AN- Hehe, credit to Simon for that wonderful comment.)
He finished his sentence, and Piper burst into hysterical laughter. The thick, tense atmosphere of the room had been so strong that Warren's unusual and highly unexpected comment had been too much of a contrast for Piper not to laugh at it. She hadn't laughed like this for a long time. Even with the unusual situation and pressure for her to tell her family why she was there, the mood drastically lightened thanks to her nephew's random comment.
"See?" Warren continued, pushing through Andy and Laura, taking a seat next to Piper on the bed and throwing a muscular arm around her petite shoulders. Piper was amazed at his strength and felt slightly uncomfortable in his hug, although she knew it was purely out of love. "She's still aunt Piper!"
"War," MJ addressed her youngest cousin with a roll of her eyes, "You scare me sometimes, know that?"
"I take pride in knowing I'm one of the only things that can." Warren said. Piper looked up into his smiling face and smiled too. Even though she would never admit, Piper could tell that she would have a soft spot for Warren as he aged, but only time would tell…
xxxxx
Five minutes later, Piper found herself alone in the future attic. Her goodbyes had been brief, as had her time in the bedroom with the future kids. Paige had shooed them out of the room quicker than they had arrived, muttering something about 'future consequences'. A cold, blue glow was washing over her skin. She had thrown the time travel potion at the attic wall and was now nervously procrastinating. She had no doubt that the potion would work, but she had a lurch of dread in her stomach. No matter how long she remained a witch for, stepping into blue vortexes was never going to be appealing.
"Aunt Piper, wait!" Piper froze in her tracks. She turned from the luminous blue, swirling vortex and, to her surprise, came face to face with her nephew. His bangs fell untidily over his midnight blue eyes and his face was etched with an emotion close to anxiety. Nervously, he placed his hands in his pockets and bit down on his lip.
"Warren?" Piper asked in curiosity, "What are you doing here?" She took a step back from the porthole and blinked several times to allow her eyes to grow accustomed to the dark of the rest of the attic. When she approached her nephew, who still made her feel small with his looming height and muscular build, he removed his hands from his jean-pockets and placed them firmly on the tops of her arms. He gave his head a quick shake, revealing bloodshot eyes, which contained a silent plea for help, and he opened his mouth.
"Piper," He replied, his face tightening, "Please…"
"Okay, I'm getting' a little freaked out over here!" Piper replied, utterly bemused. Though she was not used to her future nephew, she was wise enough to see when someone needed help. However, the manner in which Warren was addressing her was quite disconcerting. "What's the matter with you?"
"I have to tell you something." Warren replied calmly. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, as if trying to focus himself, and he continued. "I can't keep it to myself any longer…"
"But why tell me?" Piper asked cautiously. She was going to be returning to 2008 any minute now. Why would Warren want to confide in her?
"Because…I have to." He said warily. Piper narrowed her eyes in curiosity. He had to? Why on earth would he- "But promise me you won't ask questions?"
"Well…okay, I guess." Warren had gained her undivided attention now. What on earth was he talking about?
"Piper…" Warren took a deep breath and when he continued to talk, he spoke in a hushed whisper. His face held the seriousness Piper very vaguely remembered Mark having when it came to situations that troubled him. His eyes shone in… relief? "He's still alive…"
Piper stood still for a moment, her face contorted in confusion. 'He's still alive'? Who was still alive? "What?" She asked bluntly.
"No questions," Warren replied, loosening the grip he had on her arms, "You promised." He gave her a cheeky grin which drew his likeness from Mark and replaced it with a stunning likeness to the oldest Halliwell sister, Prue. Piper stood, bemused. Warren had just told her a supposedly mysterious secret, which, judging by the way he was acting, had been something very important, and now he was all happy smiles again? She was so bewildered that when he enveloped her in a loving hug that she barely had the sense to hug back. "Say hi to Aunt Phoebe for me, okay?" He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then he was gone.
Piper watched the cloud of blue and white lights disintegrate and her jaw began to protrude forward slightly as her mouth fell open in shock and perplexity. "What the hell?" She thought out loud. Her hands fell limply to her sides and she turned back to the porthole which would take her home. "What the hell?" She repeated absent-mindedly, shaking her head slightly. She began to take gradual steps towards the swirling cerulean vortex. She was no longer nervous about stepping into it. Warren's unexpected secret telling had her entirely focused on what he had told her. Extending her bottom lip she blew upwards so that her hair no longer fell into her face, and with a small yelp she was sucked into the time porthole.
xxxxx
With a resounding thud Piper fell to the floor. Still dazed from the intense journey, she found herself overwhelmed with the urge to vomit. This quickly left her though, when she realised the floor she had landed on was not covered in a vast array of hideous rugs. Her eyes scanned the room and her heart began to thud in relief.
"Thank God!" She sighed, rising to her feet and approaching the table she and Phoebe had been standing at when they cast the spell. The small slip of white paper was still lying there innocently. Piper took great delight in ripping it up; She was in no hurry to go back to the future- ever again.
But then a sudden burst of panic engulfed her. Her eyes widened and her smile fell from her face. She jerked her neck upwards and took in a deep gasp of air. "Phoebe!" She whispered. She had cast the spell with her sister, who had been nowhere to be seen in the future. She was not in the present day attic either. Where on earth was she? "Phoebe!" Piper yelled, running towards the door, "Phoebe?"
As if by magic another loud bang echoed through the attic. Piper turned on her heals and came face to face with the unconscious form of the sister she had been searching for.
"Phoebe!" Piper gasped, rushing to her sister's side. Phoebe lay face down on the attic floor. She did not appear to be hurt, so Piper gradually turned her over and was shocked at what she saw. Not a scar or scratch adorned the middle Charmed One; not a single wound. But her face was raw and red; her eyes, though closed, were swollen and chafed. Wherever Phoebe had been, she had been crying. "Phoebs," Piper whispered, slapping her sister lightly on the face to try and arouse her, "Phoebe, you're home." She said.
Nothing.
Piper sat for a moment, her mind conjuring up thousands of possible locations from where Phoebe could have come from. She was not going to find out if any of her theories were correct, however, unless Phoebe would wake up. Unsure of whether it would work, she decided calling Leo to try and heal Phoebe would be the quickest way of awakening her sister. She drew a deep breath and opened her mouth wide, "Le-"
Before she could even finish her husband's name, blue and white orbs filled the attic with a gentle glowing light. She turned to face Leo, who had Amy in his arms, with a pleading look on her face, but when she saw the expression he wore she quickly straightened up.
"Piper!" Leo's voice scolded. Piper gulped. Perhaps their little trip had not gone unnoticed by the elders after all… "Time travel! What on earth were you thinking?"
Piper bit down on her lip, unsure of what to tell Leo. Clearly he knew what she and Phoebe had done… "I-" She paused, "We-" And again. "Paige needed our help."
"Paige?" Leo asked. At the same time Amy gave a small whimper in his arms. "Paige is perfectly fine!"
"On the outside, Leo." Piper replied. Her eyes met the vibrant green of her husband's and a silent message was communicated between them. Leo sighed and nodded understandingly. He moved towards the two older Charmed Ones and handed a still whimpering Amy to her mother.
"Still, Piper," Leo began, "Do you have any idea how close Phoebe was to changing the past? If the elders had gotten to her a second later, sister Agnes would have disc-"
"Whoa, wait! What?" Piper rose to her feet and began to bounce Amy on her hip in an attempt to stop the infant crying. It was hard to believe that, minutes before, the teenager her tiny baby girl would become had been mixing potions with her. "Phoebe was in the past?"
"Yeah…" Leo suddenly looked puzzled. "Didn't you know that?"
"No, Leo! We didn't intentionally time travel!"
As Leo bent down and placed his glowing hands over Phoebe's unconscious body, he looked up to Piper and gave her a questioning look, "Where were you, exactly?" He asked, "The elders had no problem tracking Phoebe because she was in a time which already existed, but they couldn't find you anywhere."
"I was in the future…" Piper replied. Amy had still not calmed down. Apparently her telepathy was being heightened by the uncertainty in the room.
"I gathered that, Honey,"
"Sixteen years from now…" Piper noticed Phoebe begin to stir and she found herself willing Phoebe to sit up and say something. She didn't want to share any of the details of her little trip. Not just yet, at least.
Leo looked apprehensive at Piper's reluctance to share information. His hands continued to emit a soft glow over Phoebe, but his attention was fixed firmly on his wife. "…And was everything…okay?"
Piper gave a sigh and she chose her words carefully. "It was," She began. She looked to Phoebe and her heart sank slightly; there had been no sign of her younger sister in the future. Of course, that didn't mean anything bad had happened to her, but Piper couldn't help wondering. "It was," She paused again, this time to look at Amy. Finally, the tiny little girl was calming down and her head rested lovingly on her mother's shoulder. Piper could still picture Amy's future self in her mind and she gave a broad smile as she did so. "It was perfect." She said, eventually. Of course, it had been everything but perfect in the fact Paige was in a wheelchair. And Piper was still dazed about her encounter with Warren in the attic, but she couldn't bring herself to worry anyone. She would continue lying until she had things sorted out in her own mind.
"And did it help you help Pai-"
Leo's sentence was interrupted by a loud intake of air as Phoebe sat bolt upright. "Paige!" She gasped. Her whole body began to tremble as large droplets of salty water trickled freely from the corners of her eyes. After running her hands over the cold wooden panels of the attic floor with flailing arms, her tense posture seemed to ease slightly, but she allowed a violent sob to escape her. She brought her knees to her chest and attempted to take a few steadying breaths, but the tears did not subside.
"Phoebe," Piper soothed, panic evident in her hushed whisper, "Phoebe, what's wrong?" She handed Amy to Leo, who shared his wife's concerned expression, and placed her arm around Phoebe's shoulder.
Phoebe jerked her sister away and bowed her head forward. "Am I home?" She asked apprehensively in a barely audible whisper. Her hands began vigorously wipe the tears from her face after she had spoken, and gradually the trembling of her body calmed.
"Yes, Phoebs." Piper replied softly, plucking a tissue from the table behind her and handing it to her younger sister, "You're home."
Phoebe's large sigh of relief was enough to tell Piper that Phoebe was more grateful than she had been to find herself in her own time. With her deep intake of breath she leaned her head backwards and closed her eyes, allowing calm to settle over her again. But she still looked troubled.
"Leo, take Amy downstairs." Piper said quietly, realising that Amy's sudden riled nature was due to the vast number of thoughts floating around the room. Although Leo still wore a concerned expression he obliged, slowly leaving the attic with his fussing daughter, leaving the two elder Charmed Ones alone.
"Are you okay?" Piper asked her sister, running a hand softly over Phoebe's hair.
Phoebe took a moment to reply. She shifted uncomfortably on the ground and reached silently for her big sister's hand. "It was horrible, Piper." She said slowly.
Piper gave Phoebe's hand a comforting squeeze. "What happened? Where were you?" Phoebe's silence did not answer the question. Piper could only guess which horrible event in Paige's past Phoebe had bore witness to. "…Mark?" She asked timidly. To this day neither she nor Phoebe really knew what had happened in the underworld. Clearly they still didn't, as Phoebe gently shook her head. "Paige's adoptive parents?" Again her voice was apprehensive, but Phoebe's head shook once again. Piper's mind refused to conjure any more suggestions. What Phoebe had seen was clearly traumatising her. Piper could not recall any moment in Paige's life which could have been so emotional.
"Mom." Phoebe whispered hoarsely. "…And Sam."
"Oh god!" Piper's eyes widened as a sudden jolt of realisation washed over her. "…The day Paige was given up?"
Phoebe gave a pained nod. Her expression said it all. "I…" She started, "It was just..." Her face contorted and she let go of Piper's hand, her arms falling limply to her sides. "…It's still all a blur..." Phoebe spoke as if she had been gargling shrapnel. Her body was still recovering from the onslaught that her power advancement had wrought on her. "I just remember feelings..." She locked eyes with her big sister, swallowing as her eyes began to reflect Piper's face. "I can't..." She said, choking, "I can't…" Clearly, Phoebe was unable to relive her experience. Piper knew that one day she would know what Phoebe had been through, but for now, she would let her sister rest. In the morning they would go and visit their baby sister.
xxxxx
Paige remained silent as she pushed Warren's stroller through the vast ocean of green and grey. Her breaths became deeper as her steps brought her closer to her destination. Rachael, by her side, clutching Paige's hand tightly, remained in the same awkward silence as her mother. Visiting Mark always brought on a rush of overwhelming emotions, but today the walk towards his memorial plaque felt as if it lasted forever. Ever since Hayden Smith's proposition at the school that morning, and with Rachael's dream about her father heavy on her mind, tension was thick. And as mother and daughter trudged sorrowfully towards the late Nauctater's memorial plaque, Paige had never felt guiltier.
The cold winter air prickled her skin and the bitter breeze on her face felt like thousands of pinheads piercing her bare flesh. Paige barely took any notice of it. Her large, glazed, brown eyes were fixed firmly on the small, granite arch which lay only feet from the pathway where Paige and her two youngest children walked. The youngest Charmed One's feet began to drag on the concrete beneath her and the speed at which she walked slowed tremendously. As his stroller drew to a complete halt, Warren began to shift uncomfortably, but Paige did not notice her son's sudden awkward behaviour. She found herself unable to focus on anything but Mark's memorial plaque.
It stood proudly at two feet tall. The marbled grey stone glistened, with the fresh remainders of raindrops reflecting what little sun could be found in the December sky. The inscription on the stone surface was visible through the rain. Paige's eyes began to cloud over as they scanned the beautifully written words.
'Mark Rowland Anderson
October 16 1973- January 2 2008
Brother. Son. Father. Husband.
Loved by all; Missed for eternity.'
The grass surrounding it was beginning to grow taller than Paige liked it to be, but she was happy to see that the red rose she had placed at the foot of the headstone during her previous visit had not yet began to wilt.
Paige's melancholy trance was broken when she realised Rachael had moved from her side and was slowly trampling through the wet grass to reach her father's headstone. Her gradually reddening eyes followed her daughter as the petite three year old approached the beloved stone arch, which Paige had just been fixated by. Rachael's flaming hair was slowly coming loose of the ponytail she wore it in and her unzipped, lilac jacket was beginning to slip off of her stooped shoulders. The damp from the grass crept up the legs of her flower-embroidered jeans and even though her jaw quivered with cold, Rachael did not seem to care.
"Rachael," Paige called softly. Rachael did not turn round. "You're going to freeze if you don't get off the grass, Snowflake."
Still, Rachael took no notice of her mother. In fact, she only began to move quicker towards Mark's resting place. She allowed her jacket to slip off her body entirely and she began to run. "Daddy…" She whispered hoarsely, coming to a halt in front of the headstone. Her voice held a sorrowful edge, but was also brimmed with anger. She dropped to her knees and immediately the denim of her jeans began to dampen. Had Paige not been so curious as to what Rachael was doing, she would have told Rachael to get up, but as it was, Rachael's actions were all Paige could concentrate on.
Her small and trembling hands slowly began to wipe the raindrops from the front of the stone, but when they reached the symbol engraved above the inscription, she stopped. She extended her index finger and began to trace the lines of the intricate carving: two interlocking pentagrams, which symbolised the ways of the Nauctater. She heaved a huge sigh and leaned in towards the granite cenotaph. Her lips began to move and hushed whispers escaped her, but Paige could not decipher her daughter's soft words. She did not know what had happened in her daughter's dream, but it had clearly affected Rachael in a way Paige had never seen before.
Rachael's face wore no expression. Her head bowed forward slightly and her shoulders arched uncomfortably, but the redhead showed not even a slight insight into her feelings. Paige bent forward to put the brake on Warren's stroller on, but as she moved just a fraction closer to Rachael, something caught her eye. Rachael's hand was placed flat on the headstone and gradually creeping out from under her palm were small, icy lines of white frost; they looked almost like miniscule lightening bolts of frozen water.
"Rachael," Paige gasped. Although she knew Rachael enjoyed using her powers, she also knew that the way in which they were currently working meant that her daughter was feeling some intense emotion. She vigorously pushed the break on the stroller down and dashed through the overgrown grass. The wet soaking up her legs sent a chill down her spine, but she ignored it. She stepped over her daughter's jacket and eventually reached her destination.
She scooped Rachael into her arms and pulled her tightly to her chest. Rachael's cheek brushed across her mother's and Paige was startled at just how cold it was. She turned to look at her daughter and her mouth almost fell open. Extending from the corners of Rachael's eyes were delicate streaks of icy frost. Rimming her eyelashes and her bottom eyelid were small sprinkles of glacial white powder. Apparently Rachael's cryokinesis was more powerful than anyone had realised.
Paige, full of panic, quickly managed to remove her own coat. The warmth the brown suede had been giving her left instantaneously and the freezing winter temperatures hit her at tremendous force, but all Paige cared about was keeping her daughter warm. With one sweep of her free hand, she placed that large coat over Rachael's shoulders and began to rub her hand up and down the redhead's back. Still, Rachael remained silent. But the icy patches on her face were slowly fading, and Paige gave a grateful sigh.
With her panic gone, her gaze turned to the small granite monument she stood next to. She read over the inscription more times than she could count. 'Loved by all; Missed for eternity.' The words tugged at her heart, but, for Rachael's sake, she refused to let a single tear fall.
You were once my one companion,
You were all that mattered.
You were once a friend and father,
Then my world was shattered…
Goosebumps began to settle on the surface of her exposed skin, but she was too transfixed by his grave to move. It had almost been a year since his death, but it still tore her up inside to think about him. He had left her. And she hated him for it. But she knew her anger only came from guilt. On some level, Paige still believed she should have died instead of her husband. A small spark in her heart still felt responsible.
Wishing you were somehow here again.
Wishing you were somehow near.
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed,
Somehow you would be here…
She let a single tear escape her and she vowed it would be the only one. She missed him more than words could say. A part of her had been torn away in his death, but she couldn't let it affect her now; not when the one year anniversary of his death was approaching. She was just learning not to dwell on the past, but just one more moment with him would mean the world to her.
Wishing I could hear your voice again,
Knowing that I never would.
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
All that you dreamed I could…
Rachael's cold fingers began to dig into her mother's back. Paige pulled her daughter closer. For a moment she let her eyes trail across the graveyard. Mark's memorial plaque was surrounded by thousands of others. Paige realised that held within this place was more sorrow than she could comprehend, but she couldn't help but think that Mark's name should not be among the thousands of others who had passed on.
Passing bells and sculpted angels;
Cold and monumental,
Seem, for you, the wrong companions -
You were warm and gentle
Too many years fighting back tears,
Why can't the past just die…?
Her eyes came to rest once more on her husband's memorial plaque. With the wave of her hand the rose, which rested at the foot of the grave, was surrounded in orbs. It reappeared in the same place, only this time it was upright instead of leaning towards the ground as it had been before. Paige was amazed by the roses durability. It had been out in the cold for three weeks and was still as fresh as it had been when she had laid it there. Perhaps it was a symbol of their undying love…
Wishing you were somehow here again;
Knowing we must say goodbye.
Try to forgive, teach me to live,
Give me the strength to try…
She turned from the headstone and ran her hand across Rachael's soft red hair. She placed a gentle kiss on the top of her daughter's forehead and gulped back the tears which were fighting to fall. She couldn't stay in the graveyard any longer; She was too close to breaking down. "You cause more trouble than your worth, Spanky." She whispered, a small smirk passing her lips. She did not notice the small cloud of green orbs envelope the rose she had just altered the position of…
No more memories, no more silent tears.
No more gazing across the wasted years.
Help me say 'Goodbye'…
Paige picked Rachael's jacket from the ground as she began to walk towards the pathway. The eerie silence of the cemetery was abruptly broken by the shrill cry of the youngest Charmed One's son. At the sound of her son's tears Paige's pace quickened. She eventually reached the stroller and, before placing her on the ground, Paige gave Rachael a loving smile. Rachael did not return it.
"Baby, what's the matter?" The youngest Charmed One asked her crying son. She lifted him from his pram and began to rock him back and forth. He calmed at his mother's touch and Paige heaved a sigh of relief. She already had one distressed child to deal with.
She gently returned Warren to his stroller and found Rachael's hand outstretched, waiting for Paige to take it. Paige did so with love, and the three made their way back towards the car park in silence. The youngest Charmed One remained unaware of what her sisters had just been through for her.
xxxxx
The warm glow of the moon through the large south-facing window was the only light source in Charlotte's bedroom. Phoebe padded across the soft yellow carpet with a smile playing at the sides of her lips. She turned her head towards the far wall; on which was painted the delicate sunset she and Paige had spent so long working on. She closed the cupboard's large oak doors and stepped over the various toys which adorned the floor, causing her smile to grow. She was suddenly grateful for everything that reminded her of her daughters.
In her arms, Charlotte gave a sleepy grunt and her heavy eyelids began to fall closed, making Phoebe's smile grow to its peak. The middle Charmed One was slowly becoming mesmerised by her youngest daughter. What she had experienced that day in the past had made her value her family more than she could comprehend. She had realised just how worthless her life would have been without her daughters, and she was now determined to spend as much time with them as possible.
"…Bed." Charlotte grumbled sleepily through a huge yawn as she pointed a tiny hand towards the corner of the room where her small, inviting bed awaited her. Having just reached two years old, Charlie's vocabulary had begun to stretch further than 'Mummy', 'Daddy' and 'MJ".
"That's right, sleepy head." Phoebe replied proudly, "Bed time for my little Princess." She pulled back the orange duvet and took a seat on the edge of the mattress, placing her daughter next to her. She straightened Charlotte's pink pyjama top and planted a soft kiss on her button nose, an inane grin spread on her face the whole time. Never had she been so grateful for her daughter's company. She almost sis not want to let Charlie sleep, just so she could have another moment with her.
Charlotte's small arms stretched up and wrapped around Phoebe's neck. Too small to reach her mother's face, Charlotte left a wet kiss on Phoebe's shoulder. "G'nye…" She whispered drowsily, falling back onto her feather pillow and pulling her thumb into her mouth.
"Goodnight," Phoebe replied contently. Carefully she brought her feet up onto the bed and placed her head next to her daughter's on the pillow. Her mahogany eyes gazed into Charlotte's almost sleeping, chocolate brown ones.
Charlotte was fast asleep within minutes. Phoebe remained lost in her youngest daughter's beauty as she got to her feet, still smiling happily. "Sleep tight, Pumpkin." She whispered. From now on, Phoebe promised to value every minute she was given to spend with her daughters.
"MJ," Phoebe whispered suddenly. Her eldest was currently spending the night with the Turners, but that did not dampen Phoebe's determination to speak to her before the night was over. She silently pulled the door of Charlotte's bedroom closed and removed her cell phone from her pocket, dialling the number to Cole's house before she even looked at the screen. It rang three times before anyone answered.
"Hi Danielle," Phoebe spoke, "It's Phoebe." She paused to let her friend greet her. "Can I just talk to Melinda-Jayne for a minute before you guys put her to bed?"
"Sure," Danielle replied with an edge of curiosity in her voice, "She's saying goodnight to Ben just now, let me go get her…"
Phoebe smiled. She knew the next time she saw Paige she was going to make sure she knew just how much she was loved.
xxxxx
Piper's eyes had not left the family portrait, which hung on her wall, for the past ten minutes. Her three little angels gazed back at her from within the wooden frame and, though the beauty they had as children entranced her, she found herself unable to rid her mind of thoughts of their future selves. She had not met Prue's future self, but she had no doubt her eldest was equally as fabulous as Andy and Amy had been.
"Piper!" Leo's voice interrupted her train of thought, "You coming to bed?" He called. Piper smiled and let out an affectionate sigh.
"Yeah, honey! I'll be up in a minute!" She answered, deciding that with all she had been through in the past twenty-four hours, it was probably better for her to be going to bed. But as she turned to head up the stairs, a picture of the Anderson family caught gaze. It had been taken just days before Mark's death- before Warren had been born. But it was Warren who Piper couldn't help thinking about. His future self was playing on her mind more than her own children were. What had he meant in the attic, and why had he had to tell her? That was something she would probably never understand.
'He's still alive.'
It was almost like a broken record in her mind. It played over and over, each time becoming more irritating. Who was still alive? Piper knew guessing was pointless. Without anyone to confirm her guesses, thinking about what future Warren had told her was only going to lead to her losing a lot of sleep.
She shook her head and continued on her way up the stairs. Before she could even take two steps towards the landing, however, the same picture caught her eye again. In it, Mark's gaze was settled on his giggling daughters, but the blue of his eyes had seemed, for a moment, to call out to Piper. And then her jaw dropped.
"Mark…" She gasped. "…It couldn't be… could it?"
AN- End. Finally the end of that plot! Lol. Enjoy? Hopefully! Lol. Reviews are welcome! No idea when the next chapter will be up. Not as soon as I'd like it to be because of my crap load of work! But I'll give you a small teaser anyway:
Bother in Law- A string of unconnected demon attacks leads the Charmed Ones to believe there is a new 'big bad' in the Underworld. And an unexpected visit from someone only Paige is familiar with introduces a new character to the cast of LOM.
And because I think it's probably necessary I'm going to list all of the kids' powers, since I'm sure it gets confusing. Lol.
Prudence Louisa Halliwell-Wyatt - Telekinetic Orbing, Levitation, Orbing, Healing.
Andrew Victor Halliwell-Wyatt – Orbing, Telekinesis
Amy Helena Halliwell-Wyatt – Telepathy, Orb shielding (Not shown this power since being in the womb).
Laura Rose Anderson - Temporal Stasis, Orbing, Molecular Acceleration.
Rachael Patricia Anderson - Cryokinesis
Warren Samuel Mark Anderson - Pyrokinesis/Firestarting
Melinda-Jayne Halliwell – Temporal Stasis spheres, Molecular Acceleration spheres, Shimmering.
Charlotte Penelope Halliwell-Dean – Premonitions.
Benjamin Coleridge Turner – Powers bound at birth.
Yes, I know the power distribution seems rather unfair, but just wait for power advances… ;)
Until next time! Laur x