Summary: Piper dies in the Season 2 episode, Awakened, and Prue and Phoebe are left to mourn her. What happens when they meet they find out they have another sister? Story of the Power of Three...Prue, Phoebe, and Paige.
MUST READ: I always wondered why the Elder's were so against Leo healing Piper in the Season 2 episode, Awakened. I started thinking, maybe it was Piper's destiny to die and not Prue's. This is what I believe would have happened if Leo hadn't been allowed to come to Piper before she died. Keep in mind this also means Prue is still with Jack and Phoebe has yet to meet Cole. Also, you will recognize a lot of scenes from after Prue's death...I believe the sisters' would have reacted similarly to Piper's death. This takes place 1 after her death, and the funeral has yet to take place. For those of you who don't remember the episode, it may help you to re-watch or re-read it. I know this is very different from normal fanfics and most people won't like the idea of no-Piper, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Paige will be introduced either in the 2nd or 3rd chapter. And for those loyal 'When You Wish Upon A Star' readers, I do truly apologize. I've been trying to work on it for a while, and the next chapter is just proving way more difficult than I thought it would be. I am NOT stopping that story, but I couldn't get this plot out of my head. I do hope to update WYWUAS soon! Thanks again to everyone!
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of the characters.
Phoebe navigated her way around the dark house slowly. She moved fluidly, but her eyes held an empty look that expressed a pain too great to express with words.
Climbing the attic stairs, Phoebe couldn't help think of Piper. She remembered all the extravagant tactics her and Piper had thought up as children to try and get into the attic. She remembered the way Piper would laugh and throw her head back when Phoebe would come tumbling down the stairs, marked by failure. As quickly as the memory entered Phoebe's mind, she pushed it out. Remembering was too hard. Remembering meant Piper was really not coming back. Phoebe wasn't ready to face that yet.
When she entered the dimly lit attic, she found a disheveled Prue leaning anxiously over the thick Book of Shadows, and circle of candles surrounding her.
Prue didn't notice the presence of her sister. Only when Phoebe's hand appeared over the page she was so intently looking at did Prue look up.
A flicker of hope burned in the eldest's eyes but disappeared as she identified the figure as Phoebe.
Prue looked back down at the book, ignoring Phoebe all together.
"Prue." Phoebe's voice was soft and lined with pain, but it elicited no reaction from Prue.
Phoebe walked around so she was standing next to Prue and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Prue."
Without looking up from the book, Prue threw a hand up and spoke with a fierce hostility in her voice. "Phoebe, please."
Phoebe blinked hard and looked at the ground. Her eyes swollen eyes filled with tears, but she held them back. With a slightly less controlled voice, Phoebe spoke again.
"Sweetie, you need to get some sleep."
Again, Prue ignored Phoebe. Phoebe removed her hand from Prue's shoulder and ran them over her face. Her hands remained resting on her cheeks. Once again, Phoebe said Prue's name, but this time her voice was loud and urgent.
"Prue!"
Agitated, Prue turned around to look at her little sister. For the first time in a few days, the two girls made eye contact, and each was slightly taken aback by the other's appearance.
Aside from her red eyes, Phoebe physically looked fine. It was in the way that she held herself that was so different. The normally confident Phoebe looked completely deflated. Something about the sagging of her shoulders and the hollowness of her eyes made the air surrounding her chill with the detestable flavor of loss.
Prue, on the other hand, had not showered since the incident. Her clothes were ragged and wrinkled, and her hair hung limply and greasily from her scalp. Having not allowed herself to cry since the incident herself, Prue's eyes were swollen with exhaustion as opposed to tears. The normally in control Prue had also noticeably let herself go.
"What?" Prue cried in exasperation.
Somewhat suprised by the response she had evoked, Phoebe stumbled through her sentence.
"You...need to take a-a shower, Prue...and get some sleep." Phoebe didn't dare mention eating. Niether sister had even attempted to eat much over the past week...Food was too directly connected to Piper.
Prue looked at Phoebe for a minute, before turning back to the magical book. Phoebe's hands left her face and she hugged herself tightly. She closed her eyes as she spoke.
"Damn it Prue, there's nothing in there."
Prue sat unmoving for a moment, and then turned to face Phoebe once more.
"Then what exactly do you suggest, Phoebe? Because aside from moping around the house like an idiot, I don't see you doing anything productive around here."
Phoebe tried to swallow around the lump in her throat Prue's words caused. Consciously, Phoebe knew Prue was just upset and didn't really mean any of it, but half of her believed it herself.
"Prue, I get it, I do. I'm trying to deal with all this, too - I know how you feel..."
Prue was clearly infuriated by these words, and cut Phoebe off. "Oh, really Phoebe? You know how I feel? Then tell me, how exactly am supposed to deal with this? Huh? Am I supposed to ignore the fact that Piper's...that Piper..." Prue stumbled over the word, not letting herself speak it. "...That this is my fault? That instead of protecting her like I was supposed to, I let her...I let her..."
Prue's angered face fell as she fought off an onslaught of tears.
Phoebe stepped closer to her sister, her voice softer and gentler than before.
"Is that what you think?"
Prue stared at the ground intently, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from spilling. She took a minute to collect herself and with a defeated voice asked, "Don't you?"
"Oh honey," Phoebe said as she pulled Prue into a hug. Prue kept her arms loosely at her sides, but she let her chin rest on Phoebe's shoulder and couldn't stop the warm tears stream down her soft cheeks. She hated herself for crying, and it was the only thing she had been able to stop herself from doing, but in her little sister's arms, she was unable to hold them back any longer. "Of course I don't. Why would you think that?"
Prue's voice wavered as she spoke. "I'm the one who brought back the spell. I could have stopped it..."
Phoebe hugged her sister tighter, and felt a wave of relief wash over her as she felt Prue's arm wrap lightly around her waist.
"Sweetie...She asked us to do it. Innocents' lives were at stake...You didn't have any choice."
Prue abruptly pulled away from Phoebe's embrace.
"That's just it," she said as she frantically swatted away the estranged tears. "I did. We could've found another way..."
Phoebe pulled Prue back into a hug and held onto her more tightly. She spoke with a directness and insistency she didn't even know she still contained. "No - We couldn't have. And Piper wouldn't have wanted us to. You remember what she said...She never would have been able to live with herself knowing she was responsible for all those people's deaths."
Phoebe didn't believe half of what she was saying, but Prue never had to know that. Right now, she just needed her big sister and she was willing to do whatever it took to get that.
"But at least she would have been...alive," Prue sniffed.
Phoebe held onto Prue for another moment before pulling back and holding Prue at arms length.
She spoke sullenly. "Maybe." Both sister's swallowed hard. "But Prue...We can't keep thinking about the 'What if's-.' We can't undo what's happened...We've already tried everything."
Prue looked at Phoebe for a moment and then put her hand to her forehead as she closed her eyes.
"I just don't understand...The books had always helped us before...Why...How could it...now..." Prue's incoherence was increasing by the second, and Phoebe tightened her grip on Prue's upper arm. She spoke carefully, her voice shaking with every word.
"Maybe it means we're not supposed to..."
Prue's face tightened again, and she pulled back, hitting the table behind her roughly.
"How can you say that Phoebe? Piper is...Piper's DEAD," she spat the word, "and...and...we can't...I can't do this without...her..." Prue trailed off as her breathing quickened and she felt her knees crumble beneath her. She was hardly aware she had tears cascading down her face, and only when Phoebe tilted up her face did she relieze she was in Phoebe's arms.
"I know, honey, I know..."
On the cold attic floor, the two remaining Charmed Ones sat - The youngest holding the eldest - rocking back and forth and their tears burned their cheeks and their throats ached with sobs. On the cold attic floor, the two remaining Charmed Ones fell asleep, where they could each escape to a world where their heart's had yet to be ripped out of their unsuspecting bodies.
A/N: So what do you think? Worth continuing? I know this part was really slow, but I just wanted to lay down some ground work. As always, reviews are MORE than appreciated!