CHAPTER THIRTEEN

So Paige and Coop explained what had happened. Once Coop assured her that Young Piper would forget everything once they were returned to their own time, Grams came up with an idea very similar to Patty's and although Paige still wasn't nuts on it, she knew it was their best bet. Ten-year-old Piper could handle something that three-year-old Piper couldn't. So Grams went to call Young Piper back into the house, explaining to her what she needed her to do as they walked back into the living room. Grams didn't tell her that she was going to help prevent herself and Phoebe from dying or how terrible the Hollow truly was--that would've been too much for the young girl--but she did tell her that she'd get to help herself out . At first, Young Piper couldn't believe that what Grams was telling her was actually the truth, but when she honest truly saw her mother alive again and got to run and hug her tightly, she became both excited and scared at the prospect.

Grams cast the spell that would temporarily unbind Young Piper's powers and then explained exactly what they needed her to do. Young Piper was anxious to try out her new powers, but Grams just told her, "Later! Much later!"

Young Piper was so excited that it made Paige smile. Phoebe had toldPaige about how leery Piper was when she first found out that they were witches and, of course, Paige had heard her wish for a normal life many times. To see Young Piper this excited, it was hard for Paige to believe that this was actually her older sister as a child.

After running through their plan a number of times, making sure everyone, especially Young Piper, knew exactly what to do, they all went into the conservatory and gathered around Coop, making sure that Paige and Young Piper were on either side of Patty. He again concentrated on his love for Phoebe, but this time he concentrated on the way he felt about Phoebe when he felt her die and how badly he wanted to prevent her from dying, feeling all of this strongly in his heart. At the same time, Paige concentrated on her love for her oldest sister and her determination to stop her from dying and getting Leo back for her, also feeling all of this in her heart. Soon the scene once more pink-fuzzed out.

This time when it cleared, Paige had no problems recognizing the scene. Three black-eyed sisters were facing two black-eyed sisters. Past Christy was just telling Past Piper, "You should've followed your instincts."

"The spell!" yelled Grams. "Now!"

Immediately Paige and Young Piper put their hands on Patty's tummy, feeling the Power of Three connection with Fetus Phoebe, Young Piper's eyes growing wide as she felt that sensation for the first time that she could remember. All five of the time-traveling Halliwells began to chant:

"The Power of Three shall set us free! The Power of Three shall set us free! The Power of Three shall set us free!"

They chanted it over and over as the Battle to End All Battles began again. Even as Past Billie and Past Christy held out their hands to shoot energy balls, the five kept chanting. Rather than the mega streams of power, the black streams of the Hollow flowed out of the five Past Women and headed towards the five who had just arrived. Young Piper screamed in terror. Patty squeezed her hand reassuringly while Paige yelled, "Don't ask! Just chant!" and Past Piper, Past Phoebe and Past Paige, no longer Hollow-infected, joined the chant. As Old Leo had told them, the Power of Three, now doubled by both sets of Charmed Ones and amplified by their familial connection to their mother and grandmother, was much too powerful for the Hollow as all five streams became one huge black stream.

"Keep chanting!" hollered Past Piper, so everyone kept chanting while Coop, Past Billie and Past Christy simply stared.

Suddenly the huge black stream of the Hollow turned into a hundred different colors before it very simply went POOF as all five Past women tried to figure out what just happened.

"What went wrong?" demanded Christy.

"I don't know," Billie admitted. "But let's get out of here and figure it out!" and taking her sister's hand, the Jenkinses smoked out.

Meanwhile Past Piper, Past Phoebe and Past Paige were staring at Paige, Grams, Patty and Young Piper. "What's going on?" Past Piper demanded.

"Don't ask," Paige advised. "Not if you don't want a headache." No sooner did she say that than she blurred into Past Paige.

Grams shook her head. "Now that is something that you don't see every day."

"What just happened?" Piper demanded.

Coop smiled. "I think time just caught up with itself."

"Coop!" cried Phoebe. "What are you doing here?" at the same time that Piper asked, "Grams! Mom! What are you doing here? And is that--?"

Young Piper was staring at her older self. "You're me! And we really do have powers?"

Piper nodded. "We sure do," before turning on her youngest sister. "You brought our mother and our grandmother and ME to face the Hollow? Do you know what could've happened if you had failed? Have you lost your freakin' mind?"

Young Piper hid behind Grams. "Are you sure that's me?"