A/N: I'm updating for all those lovely reviewers out there. Your all big diamonds!
Here you go...
3. Awkward Explanations.
The Elder stood before the group, feeling uncomfortable by the stares his entrance had caused. It didn't help he was now dressed in his traditional Elder robes, making him feel like an outcast.
"Krolan, hi." Prue greeted, noticing how awkward he looked, something she hadn't seen before. Also his change in clothing seemed odd, after having got used to him being in his casual wear lately, which she had to admit suited him better.
At the thought she guiltily glanced away, aware that Andy would have heard that. She had never wanted someone getting inside her head, more so at this particular moment.
"Hi." Krolan replied, somewhat hesitantly, as the looks from the Lighter told him, friendship was not what he wanted.
Andy kept his eyes on the Elder, half out of jealousy and another part was suspicion. Also with Prue's thoughts cascading with his own, it only increased his need for wanting the guy to disappear.
"So are you the one behind Prue's living dead routine?" Phoebe grinned at Krolan, unaware of the tension between the Elder and Andy. The deceased cop had only just got her back and wasn't planning on losing her to another guy.
"Before he begins, we might as well get comfortable." Grams stated, walking towards the living room.
"She has got a point." Paige commented, grabbing Glen's hand and pulling him in the direction her grandmother had left in.
Patty smiled warmly towards the Elder, before heading for the room with Victor trailing behind.
Phoebe alsoquickly grabbed Cole's hand. "Come on or we'll have no seats." she laughed, although being serious.
Krolan briefly caught Prue's eye, before he glanced away and began to follow the rest of the family. He wished he had thought this through more, feeling foolish for being there.
At his look, Prue couldn't help but feel guilty.
Piper and Leo were next to leave, too preoccupied to notice anything. The whitelighter, leaned in close to his wife. "We need to talk later." he whispered, taking her hand in his. She was puzzled by his actions but nodded in agreement.
All who remained was Prue, Andy and Darryl.
The latter turned to Prue, still trying to comprehend the appearance of the dead guy that stood before him. "Could you give me the non-magical version later?" he smiled.
The witch grinned at the request, knowing it would be virtually impossible to explain on his terms. "I'll see what I can come up with." Prue joked, feeling Andy take her hand. "You sure you don't want to stay?"
"Positive." he replied quickly, getting a laugh from his former partner. "Do I even want to ask about you?"
"I couldn't stay away too long, Morris." Andy replied.
"Yeah I wonder why?" Darryl smiled, giving a side glance to Prue. "You two better be safe with all thishocus pocus." he gave Andya hug, while patting his back. "It's good to have you back, man."
"It's great to be back."
"You be good to Prue. She's like my little sister now." he warned.
Andy laughed at the tone, "And here I thought you two would never get along."
"I guess you were wrong." Prue mocked from his side.
"Stick around Trudeau, I ain't yelled at you yet for leaving me with all your paper work." Darryl laughed.
"I've got nowhere else better to be." Andy replied, wrapping his arms tightly round Prue's waist.
"You two be safe." the Inspector stated while heading for the exit.
"Bye Darryl, say hi to Shelia for me." Prue responded, following him to the door.
Darryl nodded, "Will do. Bye."
Prue closed the front door and turned to face Andy, incapable of removing the smile from her face.
"You know Shelia and he knows your witches. You must be close." he smiled, remembering the arguments he had with Darryl about Prue.
"What can I say?…" she replied, placing her arms round his neck. "…he's a better Inspector."
"That actually hurts." but instead of dwelling on the joke, Andy leaned forward finally happy to have a moment between them.
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"It's about time." Paige whined, as Prue and Andy walked into the crowded room.
She was sat on the couch, with Phoebenext to her in Cole's arms. Glen was sat on the arm of the chair, with his arm draped over Paige's shoulder. Piper was sat comfortably with Leo in the over sized chair, while Patty and Penny made used of thetwo smaller chairs. Victor lingered in the background, not one for magic but he wanted to hear the explanation.
Krolan was stood in front of the group and had not managed to become any more comfortable since his return. Henoticedhad more confidence when he was confronting the other Elders.
"Darryl wanted to go. Too much magic for him in one day." Prue clarified, deciding to leave out the momentshe and Andyhad shared. They both took a seat on the floor because, as Phoebe had predicted, there was now no seats left.
"Uh huh." Phoebe teased, eyeing the couple mischievously.
Prue shot her a look, telling her to be quiet. "Yes, I assume seeing Andy alive and then me rising from dead would throw him off track a bit, don't you?"
Phoebe only shrugged, still having a smile covering her face.
"About you rising from the dead…" Paige jumped in, then looked to Krolan and smiled pleasantly. "..can you explain?"
The Elder began to fiddle with his fingers and cleared his dry throat, which did little to help.
"Well…um, Prue was never meant to die. If she had remained so, the repercussions could have been great. Without the four of you, the Charmed Ones do not exist." Krolan started, not liking the attention.
"So…" he continued, his mouth growing even more dry. "..I…and some others.." the Elder added quickly. "..brought her back."
Prue watched him closely, there was something in his story that she didn't believe. She was grateful for his act and couldn't begin to repay him but something just felt odd.
"And they went for it?" Phoebe asked incredulously, "..'cause they were never our biggest fans." she continued, snuggling into Cole, without realising the example she showed of the types of things the Elders detested.
"Yeah.." Krolan half lied, he didn't want them all to know he was solely responsible. "They understand the lose would have been great."
"Not all of them wanted to though, did they?" Piper read, knowing what the Elder's are capable of.
Krolan smiled somewhat bitterly, "No, some did not…but the decision had been made.." he answered, replaying his meeting with the other Elder's from earlier. "..and Prue is living proof of the outcome."
Prue smiled at him, but sensed Andy tensing next to her. As if to calm him, she placed her hand on his knee, to which he grabbedit gently.
"What about the scar?…most wounds heal completely." Patty asked worriedly.
Prue instinctively looked down at the small mark that now held a permanent place on her body. It's not too bad, she thought. It wasn't disfiguring, it was just a reminder of something that has happened that she would rather forget.
"It will remain, I'm afraid." Krolan's voice floated into her mind, bringing her out of her thoughts. "It's due to the connection you had with the Source but I'm certain you have nothing to worry about."
"What was that anyway?" Cole questioned. In all his years as a demon, he had never witnessed a connection of that type to occur.
Krolan glanced from the demon to Prue. "Well, the connection was to exchange half of your powers with the Source."
"What?" Piper screeched, having seen the act up close. Most of it had blurred now but it was still etched into he memory.
Everyone in the room was glancing between Prue and the Elder, waiting for him to continue. The eldest Charmed One did not move her eyes from Krolan, stunned at the revelation.
"Power a like, power shared." Paige finally caught. "..Isn't that what was engraved on the weapon?"
"Yeah," Prue answered, before turning back to the Elder. "Why didn't you tell me? I think I should know when someone is taking half my power."
"I honestly didn't know, I found out once the connection had happened." Krolan replied apologetically. The last thing he wanted was for Prue to think he had purposely kept something from her.
"So Prue now has some of the Source's power?" Piper questioned.
Krolan dragged his eyes from Prue's, "No, it could not be completed. With Prue's death the transaction could not continue. You see the two weapons were components in a circuit, producing the same energy…but when you died, the connection died with you." he answered.
"Neither have each other's power then?" Cole enquired.
"No." Krolan replied, his eyes then fixing on the floor.
The room filled with silence, nobody quite sure how to continue. However, Penny cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention, then directed her eyes towards Leo, who was looking up at the ceiling.
"I believe that's our call, right? Leo." she announced.
The whitelighter smiled apologetically, while nodding very slightly.
"Do you have too?" Phoebe whined, pulling out of Cole's arms.
"Afraid so, sweetie." Patty sighed not really wanting to leave. She stood up and gave each daughter a hug and a kiss on the cheek, while Grams went and did the same.
After a while, Patty and Penny stood, readying themselves for their return to the afterlife. Patty smiled broadly at her four daughters. "I love you all and I'm so proud." she praised, slowly fading.
"Blessed be darlings." Grams stated, also fading along with her daughter.
"Blessed be." they chimed as the deceased witches vanished.
Victor watched from the other side of the room, noticing the sadness in each of their faces as his ex-wife and her mother disappeared. He was still trying to digest what had happened today and still couldn't begin to understand.
The mortalcouldn't help but wonder if his daughters would ever be upset if he departed. He found his eldest child refused to make eye contact, where as Piper would make very little and his baby, the youngest, only glanced at him whenshe assumed he wasn't paying attention. When did it get this bad? he thought.
"I…um, better return also…unless you have anything else….." Krolan trailed off, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
"Krolan, could I speak to you, please?" Prue asked, standing up from her space on the floor. She squeezed Andy's shoulder before making her way into another room.
The Lighter watched on as the other man followed Prue. It wasn't that he disliked Krolan, he barely knew him but apart of him was weary…and jealous. Andy realised, he was worried. Worried, Prue wouldn't want him back.
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"Prue, you have to understand I didn't know about the weapon. I would have told you." Krolan began as they both walked into the kitchen.
"How much trouble are you in?" Prue asked in return.
"What…I…" he stuttered, showing hewas confused.
She smiled at the puzzlement on his face. "For bringing me back, Krolan. How much trouble are you in?"
"I'm not. I told you, they agreed." the Elder lied.
"No they didn't, so tell me." Prue pressed, having seen the guilt washover his face. "I know you had no-one else's help, which means you shouldn't have done it." she waited rather patiently for his answer.
"I couldn't let you die, Prue." Krolan replied eventually, concentrating on his hands.
The eldest Halliwell placed her hand over his, causing him to look up. "Thank you.." she smiled, "..but if your in trouble for it, I want to know."
"I'll be okay, promise." he replied.
"Krolan." Prue reprimanded while only using one word.
"Prue, I made the decision, I will deal with the outcome." for the first time since arriving back at the manor, Krolan spoke confidently andtrying to leaveno room for her to argue.
"I don't want you to deal though." sheattempted.
"I'll be fine. Trust me." he grinned, followed by silence as Prue knew she would get no further. She'd have to get Leo to spy on the Elders and keep her up to date.
Finally she glanced up at his eyes, while removing her hand from his. "How'd you do it anyway? I thought I was gone."
"Do you remember the bright light?" Krolan asked, to which she nodded. "A little after that."
"Why don't I remember?" Prue questioned.
Krolan grinned teasingly. "It's magic."
"That's not fair." she sulked, while trying not to smile.
"Prue." Phoebe called from the other room, causing her to spin round to the sound.
"I ought to go." Krolan announced, causing them both to remember the last time they stood in the kitchen together.
Prue, however, pushed the thought away andmove closer,giving the Elder a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you…for everything." she smiled, a mixture of sadness and gratefulness, as well as genuine happiness and excitement.
"Be safe, Prue…Maybe I'll see you at Disneyland." he replied.
"Yeah, maybe." she whispered as Krolandisappeared from view.
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"Where's Krolan?" Paige asked, as Prue walked back into the room.
"He had to go." the oldest replied, noticing Piper and Victor weren't in the room. "Where's Pipe?"
"Escorting Dad to the door, I think." Phoebe answered with a hint of bitterness.
Prue nodded then took a seat by Andy, lacing her fingers with his.
"So we're…"
"…starting over." Prue finished for him. "Yeah." she beamed, resting her head on his shoulder.
Andy kissed her forehead. "I lo…."
Prue placed a finger over his lips quciklyto stop him from continuing, finally sitting up to face him. "Maybe we shouldn't say that for a while. We have a tendency to die once we do." she told him, with a small smile.
"Fine, but only for a little while." he replied after she removed her finger, which allowed him to lean in and kiss her gently.
"Ewww." came the joint response from Phoebe and Paige, followed by giggling.
A/N: So, according to your reviews, most of you want Cole to remain good. He might have his moment, haven't decided yet thou.
Also kinda glad you guys seem to like Krolan. I have set up a forum, if you wanted to tell me what you think of him...and the whole Andy thing too.
Jessebella87; You re-read FtGF (sorry I'm too tired to type the full title) wow! Aaw, your not dumb, I didn't bringit up again cosit's not entirelyfull filled yet...but your on the right track. ;o) Thanks for the review and no prob with bringing Prue back. I couldn't keep her dead for long. : )
jdjams; thanks for the review and glad you liked it.
kfordy; hey, thanks for the review and for the Cole bit. Krolan and Andy; who knows? Glad you liked anyway.
shanfan; I think he'll probably stay with Phoebe, sorry. Although there are quite a few fics I like with Prue and Cole...but this won't be one. really sorry.
Siamese; Thanks, glad you liked FtGF and this one.Also thanks for answering the Cole question.He might be tested..but not sure yet.
Thanks to all reviewers and also to anyone that has me down on there fav author list. It's reeeeeeeeally sweet of you all and hope you all like.
bye.