"Why did you let him go?" Phoebe cried.

"Phoebe, this is the last time I'm going to tell you this," Piper started exhaustedly, "I can't restrain him like an infant. He's a grown man and he needs his space. If I keep hovering like I have been he's going to push me away."

"I still think it's a bad idea. He even lied to you, Piper!" said Phoebe.

"Enough!" cried Pru, "Piper's right. We can't protect these kids anymore than we can protect ourselves. They have to learn to fend for themselves. So he lied to Piper, maybe he didn't plan to. At least she knows where he's headed."

"Well I'm with Phoebe," said Paige, "She may know where he's headed but he's going to be devastated when he gets there. And what if Wyatt's waiting for him? What then?"

"Then we'll help him," interrupted Leo.

He had been standing in the doorway watching the four sisters go at it for the past ten minutes. It was dark outside and the conservatory took a dreary look to it, lit only by lamplight. When Piper told everyone that Chris had climbed out the window and was out in the streets, her sisters prepared to go after him. Only after being coerced and calmed by Piper did they finally relent. They argued, however, and Leo watching from the sidelines smiled to himself. After all that had happened he had little hope in their future but seeing the sisters in their true element warmed his heart.

"Leo-," started Paige.

"-Look at you all," he said, "You've all moped around the manor for days and the instant any sort of conflict arises-"

"-we know, we know. We tear each other apart," said Phoebe.

"Actually," said Leo, "I was gonna say you all band together. You aren't arguing because you all are distant with each other, it's because you all are getting closer and stronger. We may have been surprised in Turkey but we weren't completely defeated."

They all stopped and stared at each other and realized the truth emanating from Leo's words. They had all felt remote, alone and now they realized their bonds were reforming. Strength lay in their familial connections that neither death nor tragedy could completely destroy.

"If Chris needs us," Leo said, "he'll call us. Piper's right. He's been on his own for too long to suddenly be smothered. He does need our help and guidance but it'll only be on his terms."

"It's settled," said Pru, "Now are we ready?"

"Ready for what?" asked Paige

"Are we ready to iron out all the facts? You realize we know nothing about Wyatt or what happened to us-"

"-Oh, we know what happened to us Pru. And I think we have a pretty good idea of why," interjected Phoebe.

"But why didn't he just kill us?" asked Pru, "Why keep us around? We're obviously of no use to him. It just doesn't make sense."

"It makes perfect sense if you stop and think like him," said Piper, her face and expressions cold and distant, "Chris is obviously a force that can contend with Wyatt but he didn't kill him, did he? You're right Pru, keeping us alive doesn't serve a purpose to him...directly. What if keeping us alive is some mental thing he's playing on Chris? There's a lot of history between them that I don't know about...do you Leo?"

Leo was unprepared for the question. He walked towards the window and stared outside, as if searching for the words for his answer. The girls, sensing his hesitance, looked at each other in puzzlement. No one had really questioned what happened to the boys after the sisters' apparent deaths. They each assumed Leo had taken care of them and that some sort of sibling rivalry or demon had caused the rift but it appeared as if more lay to the answer.

"I have no clue," Leo simply said.

He turned around to meet their questioning eyes, Piper shaking her head in disbelief. Leo walked over to where she sat and bent down on his knees and stared into her eyes.

"When I thought you died, when I thought you all died," he began, "my world crumbled. I had two young boys to support by myself and I just couldn't step up to the plate. My mind retreated within itself. For weeks I stayed in the manner looking out that same window, hoping for a miracle to occur to bring you all back to me. The boys were frightened, having just lost their mother and their entire family, but became more despondent when I wouldn't, couldn't be there for them.

"One week I stayed in a catatonic state staring out that window with the boys beside me, Wyatt crying and screaming for me to come out of it. I couldn't. My mind wouldn't let me. Your father Victor came by to see how we were and saw the shambles that we were living in. The boys were malnourished, Wyatt fixing sandwiches for them at breakfast, lunch and dinner. They made it to Magic School daily only by Wyatt's insistence and knowledge of potions. Victor tried to wake me from my trance, whispering in my ear the havoc I was wreaking on my own children. He couldn't help either.

"Frustrated, he took both of the boys to live with him, to give them a sense of normalcy. I eventually snapped out of my trance but couldn't bear to face my children who I'd left defenseless, who I'd abandoned. I retreated to the comfort of the other Elders where my mind slowly healed.

"Years had passed before I attempted to contact my sons; a sense of shame and disappointment kept me away. I learned from Victor that Wyatt had run away, not caring much for a normal life. He tried to take Chris with him but Chris was loyal and indebted to his grandfather, who he looked to as a father figure. When I tried to get more details out of Chris all I received was hostility. I suppose I deserved it, I did abandon them. I tried to search for Wyatt but never found him, each time driving the wedge between me and Chris further. He couldn't understand why I was so desperate for Wyatt and this further intensified his hatred towards me. I never ceased looking but for all my efforts to reconnect with one son I let slip the opportunity to connect with the other. It wasn't until we were all in the clearing did I ever see Wyatt again."

Leo buried his head in Piper's lap, tears streaming down his face. Piper embraced him, trying earnestly to understand the pressure he was under. Pru, Paige and Phoebe moved towards Leo and they all gathered for an embrace. Their family had been ravaged and they desperately sought to piece it together; they understood Leo's motivations.

Their moment was cut short by rapid, loud knocks on the front door. Pulling herself away, Paige made her way to the front and opened the door in annoyance.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Standing before her were two men dressed in black cassocks with red trimmings. Over this each had a small black cape fastened across their chests. Around their necks and over their chests lay gold pectoral crosses of intricate designs, glistening in the light filtering from the manor. They wore red zucchettos, small caps that lay on the back of their skulls. The gentleman to Paige's right carried a large, black leather bound book. He stepped towards her and offered her his hand.

"Paige Matthews?" he asked, "I am Cardinal Duarte, sent by his holiness the Bishop of Rome. This is my associate, Cardinal Magaldi. We are here in regards to your nephew, Wyatt. May we come in?"