A/N: Sorry for the major delay guys, this week has been absoultly manic and I'm so tired I just wanna sleep.

Anyway here you go.

26. Me, Witch. You, Elder

Sat at the window seat of her room, Prue gazed down at the silent and deserted street below. She felt peaceful and also weary of the quietness the neighbourhood held at the moment. Even the dog a few doors down remained silent, a rarity the past months.

Prue's mind had replayed the significant points in her life until some had began to blur. The more she was alone, the more her thoughts had a chance to process everything.

However, she knew that it would not be long before her sisters began to phone. Prue had spent hours by the window. Once her sisters had left, she found there wasn't actually a lot for her to do and so spent her time just thinking.

An occurring theme was that the last few months just seemed to be one test after another and the feeling of everything falling apart was also present. Prue just hoped that after tomorrow, things could begin to be put back together.

Prue felt a presence in her room and knew instantly they hadn't used the conventional way to enter. She never turned to face the person, having been trying to prepare herself for this encounter. However she couldn't hide the delicate smile that appeared on her face, as he moved behind her, sitting down so she could lean against him.

"Hey." she finally greeted softly, noticing he wasn't in the gown, Elder's were supposed to wear.

"Hi." Krolan replied, leaning his chin gently on her shoulder, smiling at the closeness between them. "How are you?"

"Been better." Prue sighed.

Silence fell for sometime, neither wanting to admit the nagging obstacle that would always be evident when they were together. Minutes passed and still both remained quiet, until Prue sighed heavily and decided the conversation, she had run through her head over and over, was now needed.

"Why are things given, to only be taken away?" she asked barely above a whisper.

Krolan had no answer. He understood the meaning behind the question but still he couldn't tell her what she would want to hear. "I don't know." he replied, a little ashamed that that was his answer.

"It would never work between us, would it?" Prue's voice had rose slightly in volume.

Krolan tensed at the question, which she noticed instantly. The reaction held her answer and she stood wanting to distance herself quickly. With her back to the Elder, Prue ran her hands over her face, trying to calm down.

"We could try." Krolan stated as he also stood, however he hardly stepped forward, afraid she would only move away. Although another reaction from her caused his heart to fall, when he heard a soft laugh.

Prue spun to face him, running a hand through her raven hair. "Who are we kidding Krolan?" she replied gently, "You're an Elder, you stay 'Up There'. I'm a witch, I stay here. It would probably be easier if you lived in Tokyo."

"I can give it up." he responded.

"What?"

"I can stop being an Elder. I fall from grace." Krolan explained, moving a step closer.

"No, you can't." Prue shot back. "We barely know each other. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you're here now but if this…" she waves her hand between the pair of them. "..doesn't work, you can't go back."

"But it might work." he argued, wanting to take the chance. Prue was right, they had only met a short time ago, however when he was with her, he never felt un-human as apposed to being Up There.

"Are you prepared to risk your calling on it?" she replied, knowing the complications would only increase if they were to pursue the relationship.

Krolan, however, was less bothered by the complications and more concerned with theunderlining pain Prue always seemed to try and mask within her voice. As a result he moved forward, wanting to comfort her in someway.

Prue noticed this and although she had wanted distance a moment ago, she couldn't compel herself to move further back. "I see what it does to Piper and she's with a whitelighter. It couldn't work with us."

"I don't want to go." he whispered, leaning in closer so their foreheads almost met.

He was close and all Prue could think was what had happened the last time they had been this close. The feeling of her problems just disappearing away and the care-free illusion that replaced them was something she wanted again.

The oldest Halliwell sighed heavily, closing her eyes for longer than intended. Why is this so complicated? she thought, Why, of all things, do you have to be an Elder? Opening her eyes, she was met with his concerned and dejected ones, momentarily crashing what resolve she had.

"Neither do I…." she was cut off before she could complete her sentence by his lips meeting hers.

The illusion took it's place as Prue moved her arms around his neck and his arms wrapped around her waist. Once again, her mind went blank of all the problems that still weighed heavily on her shoulders. The feeling grew as did the kiss, having both forgotten about their recent debate.

Losing balance slightly, they fell on to the bed with Prue beneath Krolan. That exact moment hit the Charmed One hard, as if she had jumped from a cliff top and landed in ice cold water of a river below, not only scaring herself with fear but also the irresponsible nature of her actions.

"Krolan." she mumbled, causing him to pull away. "This isn't fair on either of us." Prue sighed, noticing the sheepish look on his face, which would have made her laugh had it been under different circumstances.

Krolan moved and laid beside her on his side, where he watched as she ran her hands over her face. He now saw sense as to what Prue had been saying minutes before and guilt seemed to envelope the Elder, considering the added emotional problems he had given to her.

"I'll move to Tokyo next time?" Krolan spoke quietly, breaking the silence that had appeared between them.

Prue removed her hands from her face and smiled softly towards him,noticing the shame he shouldn't feel. "It's supposedly a nice place." she replied, watching as the Elder mirrored her smile.

Silence fell again as they both stared at the other. Finally Krolan broke eye contact and cleared his throat. "I should go." to which Prue nodded very slightly, howeverhe sawthe tiredness set in once more around her.

Krolan forced himself to not try and comfort her. Instead he offered a small kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry Prue, everything will work out, I promise." he soothed, giving her hand a quick squeeze before he vanished.

Alone in her room once again, Prue felt as if this would always bethe way her life shall remain. Alone and complicated. Thoughts began to swirl that maybe if she was less guarded and less complex herself, maybe her life would alter with it….or maybe she just wanted the one person she couldn't have.

The phone rang loudly and brought Prue out of her daze with a groan, predicting the it would be one of her younger sisters.

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"She said she was coming, right?" Piper asked, looking down at her watch, then back up to the remainder of the family. They were all currently sat within the alcove, waiting for the eldest Charmed One to arrive.

"Yes and she will be." Phoebe answered, a little tired of Piper's worrying. The younger sister had phoned Prue earlier, checking to make sure she was still joining the rest of them. However, one thing Phoebe left out, while relaying the conversation to Piper, was that Prue sounded upset. She had said that she was fine but Phoebe found it hard to believe her.

As Piper shot an expression with a raised eyebrow and then showed her watch to indicate the time, Leo cleared his throat and stood as Glen and Cole followed suite. "We're…uh, going to go get some more drinks." They soon scampered away, happy to get out of the tension building in the small area.

Piper rolled her eyes at the excuse, as she then glanced at her full glass still sat on table. Finally she sighed and looked to her sisters. "It's been over an hour."

"Piper she's probably getting changed. You know what she's like." Paige tried to stop her sister's worrying.

"Know what who is like?" Prue chirped, walking into the alcove making her younger sisters jump at her sudden presence. She came and sat down next to Piper, unaware of the jolt she had just given them.

"Where have you been?" her married sister demanded, her worry now showing through as anger.

Prue was taken back by the tone. "Changing." she answered, glancing at her other two sisters to see if they understood why Piper was so mad.

"Told ya." Paige gloated in a sing-song voice, resulting in a glare being sent in her direction.

"Don't worry about her…" Phoebe smiled, gesturing towards Piper, while still talking to Prue. "..She's been asking where you've been for a while now."

"I'm sorry but when the Source calls us out and we're separated, I panic, okay." Piper huffed in response.

The oldest Halliwell rubbed her sister's knee trying to calm Piper's stress levels, knowing it couldn't be healthy. "Well, no need to panic. I'm here now." she grinned, receiving a very weak smile in return. "So, what did you guys do today?"

"We went to the movies, then to the beach. Did a bit of shopping. Had a meal and finally we came here." Paige answered, counting each event on a different finger.

"You had fun then?" Prue continued, glad to be thinking of something other than Krolan and her other problems.

"Yeah we did, apart from Miss Hormonal over there." Phoebe quipped, pointing to Piper to show who she meant.

Prue, however, panicked inwardly. Please don't mention pregnancy, please don't mention pregnancy. she rapidly thought, noticing Piper having the same expression on her face. Think Prue, do something. she told herself.

"What do you expect, Pheebs, Piper's just stressing, aren't ya?" the eldest sister grinned, again patting her sister's knee, trying to offer her support.

"Aren't I always." Piper replied, after a brief but noticeable moment of silence. However it passed as both Phoebe and Paige smirked, while the two older sisters caught each other's eye quickly.

"Well…" Paige stated, as she stood from her seat and made herself at home next to Prue. "…it would have been more fun with you there, Prue."

"Yeah…" Phoebe agreed, as she also came over and sat between Prue and Piper, who had to move over a little so all the Halliwells could fit. "…but we got you something anyway."

Piper rolled her eyes at the fact that Phoebe couldn't keep anything a surprise for longer than five minutes and in defeat the second eldest leaned over the side of the chair, grabbing hold of two bags.

"Aww, you guys shouldn't have." Prue grinned, accepting the bags from Piper. She pulled them open and pulled out clothing; a pair of black leather trousers and a black, sleeveless top. "Not that I'm not grateful but why?" she asked confused, as she had similar items at home.

"We thought instead of you ruining your good stuff tomorrow, we would buy these…you know battle clothing." Phoebe answered, to which Prue laughed, having not thought that far ahead.

"I see," she grinned. "So I assume you dragged the guys to every clothing store to get yourself something as well then."

"Of course." Paige replied in a 'duh' manner.

"Well thank you."

"There's something else in there. Right at the bottom." Phoebe told Prue, who was putting the clothing back inside the bag. The eldest looked inside, finding a small little box. Intrigued she pulled it out and opened it.

"Where did you find this?" she asked, awed by the reappearance of the gold ring with a small blue stone set in the middle.

"We didn't." Phoebe stated, causing Prue's eyebrow to shoot up in puzzlement. "..Piper did." she explained.

Prue then looked to her oldest younger sister, who smiled before answering. "I found it in your old closet a couple of months ago and I thought I'd save it till your birthday but that's too far away…..though seriously Prue, you need to stop losing things."

However her sister wasn't listening to the last part of her statement and continued to look at the small piece of jewellery.

"So I hear Mum gave you that." Paige prodded, having not been there to know the story behind it.

"Yeah," Prue answered, leaning back against the chair. "..I was about seven and I was raiding through her jewellery box, when I found this. It didn't fit at all, so Mum said that I could have it on a chain until I was older. She never told me where she got it from though." she mused.

"Maybe you can ask her next time you see her." Phoebe pondered, as her eyes also fixed on the ice blue stone that shone slightly. She never noticed the worried expression that fleeted on Prue's face briefly.

"Anyway, thank you." Prue stated as she gave each sister a kiss on the temple.

"Hey Prue." Cole greeted coming back from the bar with two drinks in his hands and Leo and Glen trailing behind, also with two drinks each.

"Hi." she replied to all three of them.

"Sorry we didn't get you a drink." Leo apologised, placing what he had in his hands down on the table. "I'll just..."

"No need, I'll get it." Prue smiled, getting up from her seat.

Leo, however, shook his head. "No, I'll be right back."

"No, sit your whitelighter ass back down next to your wife. I'm going to get it….Plus it's getting all mushy in here." she smiled, leaving the alcove after insuring Leo had in fact obeyed her order. Everyone else was sniggering at Leo's expense, as a slight shade of red appeared on his face.

"Tomorrow will be fun if she gives orders like that." Cole laughed.

"I bet the Elders are kicking themselves now." Paige quipped, amused at the idea.

"Of course they are, we're the uncontrollable Charmed Ones." Piper agreed, cuddling into Leo.

The small space filled with silence as everyone began to wonder what tomorrow would bring. Mostly they were filled with the fear of losing someone they hold dear or being unable to affect the outcome.

Finally Phoebe had enough of the morbid feeling encircling them all. "Now, Mr Turner, you going to show me what you can do on the dance floor." she grinned to the demon as she stood, extending her hand towards him. He accepted, mirroring the grin that was on the second youngest face.

"Come on Glen, you can too." Paige announced, dragging the mortal from his comfortable spot on the chair across from her.

Piper sighed wistfully, feeling happy at the moment. She had her worries and her problems, but right now she was happy just being with her family.

"Where did they all go?" Prue questioned, sitting back down in the now almost empty alcove. She held her drink in one hand and a small piece of paper in the other.

"Dancing. What's that?" Piper asked back, indicating to the paper.

"Phone number. I didn't want to break his heart by saying no, even if I didn't want it." the eldest replied, placing it under an empty glass.

"Why what's wrong with him?"

"He's Paige's age." Prue answered, a little disgusted by the idea, however the look made both Leo and Piper laugh. "Now, if I can find one that's my age, is interesting, doesn't come from 'Up There' and doesn't plan on spending the next decade or so in jail, I'll be well on my way." she smiled, although knowing her sister would see through it.

"If it's any consolation, I'm married to a dead guy." Piper offered with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"A little." Prue grinned, as Leo sat slightly offended by their topic choice.

----------

The manor door opened and the Charmed Ones, Leo, Glenn and Cole walked in, each exhausted. Phoebe immediately took Cole's hand and proceeded up the stairs.

"Heading to bed now, got to be all energised for tomorrow." she sighed, wanting the past couple of months to have just been a dream.

"Night Pheebs." Prue called, as did everyone else.

"Night." came a joint tired response from half way up the staircase.

Piper turned to the remaining people and smiled. "I think were going to follow. I'll see you guys in the morning." she turned to head for their bedroom but stopped mid-step and turned back round. "Prue, sleep. You hear me." she instructed with a pointed finger towards the eldest Halliwell. "No wandering. Sleep."

Prue rolled her eyes but she nodded with a smile on her face. She then watched as her married sister smiled in response and then continued upstairs.

"She's right, Prue. Go on up to bed." Paige mothered, grinning at the fact she got to boss her big sister about.

"I can't believe I'm being sent to bed by my baby sister." Prue whined jokingly, noticing the fun Paige was having at the moment.

"Well I am, now get, go on. Your to actually sleep as well, just because you can't in half an hour, doesn't mean you get up and sit down here all night. As Phoebe said we all need to be energised." Paige continued, making Prue turn in the right direction by pushing her gently.

"Fine, fine, fine. Stop pushing." the older sister smiled, and kissed Paige's cheek. "Night sweetie and you sleep too. Night Glen."

"Night Prue." Glen replied as she disappeared. He wrapped his arms around Paige and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Should we do the same?" he asked, giving her neck a kiss.

"Yeah, I need my beauty sleep." she quipped, pulling him along behind her.

----------

Prue was laying in bed, having been there for over an hour and was still finding it near impossible to fall asleep.

Sleep, come on. she kept repeating to herself, turning once again to get comfortable. If she was actually sharing her bed, she was certain they would have kicked her out by now.

That's it. she thought, giving the covers a kick to get out from under them. Prue knew she couldn't go downstairs, her sisters would worry or send her back to bed. The last thought caused the oldest sister to laugh silently, wondering how that would play out.

Instead, she found herself drawn back to the window she had sat at earlier. Grabbing a soft blanket and the ring she had been given back after years of it being missing, she sat down and gazed out at the once more deserted street.

Allowing thoughts and memories to wash over her, Prue visible relaxed but still not enough to sleep.

A/N: There you go. Again I'm sorry for the delay. I will try my best to update quicker but again I can't promise anything.

Thanks for the review Poofball, glad you like me (that's nota typo I meant me.) story. By the way love yours.

Mony 19; thanks again for all your reviews :o) and yeah trainings over, I now have to work. Damn it. I even had to work a half day today, but as long as I get paid I will suffer.

emelie; the letter thing will come into play soon, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait, sorry;o) btw, I don't mind the bugging, it keeps me entertained.

charmedbaby11; thankyou for your review too.

kaydence; Phoebe an airhead, you would have never guessed would you? lol. btw I would agree but I'm trying to be Phoebe-friendly.

and finally Peanut; sorry my fingers didn't crack any quicker but I hope you like this too. Oh and thank you very much for putting me down as a favourite author, it's amazingly nice of you and everyone else who does.

um... is there anyone else I forgot. If I have, I'm sorry and you have full permission to yell...or type in capitals...at me and use one of those exclaimation mark thingys.

Thank you once again to all who read and big hug (ifI could but some of you live well far away) to all who review.

I think I'm done so I'llstop writing right about now...