A/n: Here is chapter two. I might have chapter three up before the finale tonight, but if not it should be up shortly afterwards.

Wisps

Someone was muttering nearby, a whispered conversation that Paige could not make out, and she groaned, not happy at the prospect of opening her eyes and ending the fabulous sleep she was having. She felt exhausted, but in a delightful way, as though she had just run a marathon or vanquished a particularly nasty demon. If it weren't for the chatterers, she'd have just kept right on sleeping.

"I think she's waking up," one of them said, and the words registered in Paige's mind, suddenly raising the consciousness of her body. That wasn't right. The speakers weren't...well, they weren't anyone she'd normally have interrupt her sleep. Where the hell was she?

And then, suddenly, the past few minutes (or was it hours? days?) came rushing back to her, and she remembered. Piper and Phoebe...the manor...God, what had happened?

Instinctively she opened her eyes and sat up, though perhaps if she had thought it through, she would have taken a more tentative course of action. To her shock, it was not a pair of demons having the conversation; it was two of the Elders. Disgusted, she realized that one of them was Odin.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded. They looked at her as if she had asked them how the weather was, and Odin sighed loudly. The other Elder, a woman Paige had not met before, sighed, and jabbed Odin in the side with her elbow.

"Well, Paige," she said, her voice almost obnoxiously kind, "you see, there was a terrible fight at the manor. Do you remember?"

Paige opened her mouth to request a speedier explanation, but before she could Odin rolled his eyes and said, "For goodness sakes, Gloria, you're being absurd." He looked Paige straight in the eye. "Look, Matthews," he said, "you died in the battle. We brought you up here to -"

"I died?" said Paige, gaping at him. "What do you mean I died in the battle?"

"Great job, Odin. Just because she was a Charmed One doesn't mean that she's going to instantly accept this." She crouched down so she was level with Paige. "During the battle with Billie and Christy," she said, "the manor was destroyed, and in the explosion, you were killed."

Paige ran her hand through her hair, her stomach twisting itself into a giant pretzel while she tried to recall the details of the battle. She swallowed hard. "What about my sisters?" she asked. "Are they okay? They didn't..."

"Piper is fine," said Gloria. "She's alive."

"But what about Phoebe?" said Paige. Her heart clenched inside of her and she tightened her hands into fists in order to stop them from shaking. "She's fine too, right?"

Gloria put a hand on Paige's shoulder. "She didn't make it," she said. "I'm sorry."

Paige's eyes widened and she pushed herself up to her feet, glaring at Gloria and Odin. "That's not true!" she said. "Phoebe is not dead. She can't be." She shook her head. "I've got to get down there, now," she said, crossing her arms and daring either of the Elders to disagree.

"Paige," said Odin, "there is nothing you can do now. Her spirit has already moved on."

"No!" yelled Paige, more angry and emotional than she'd ever felt previously. "It's not true!" Tears were running down her cheeks now, burning salty trails and soaking her face.

Neither of the Elders replied, and the rage inside of her grew even more. "How can you just stand there?" she demanded. "Why didn't one of you save her?"

"No one could have, Paige," said Gloria. "It was impossible."

Paige shook her head, trembling from head to foot. "Even if it is true, Piper isn't fine. She's...someone has to be there with her! She hadn't been fine since Leo left so don't stand there and feed me bullshit like that. I have to go to her." Without waiting for a response, Paige tried to orb out, only to find herself unable to go.

"Let me leave," she said, her voice low and harsh. "I've got to be there for Piper!"

"Leo's there now," said Odin bitterly. "And you can't leave. You have a decision to make."

"What decision?" asked Paige, swiping at her cheek with the back of her hand. "You have to let me out of here."

"You have to decide whether or not you want to be a Whitelighter, Paige," said Gloria softly.

For the first time since she'd woken up, Paige truly focused on the two people in front of her. "What?" she said, her voice broken and caught in half of a sob. "I...what?"

"It is your decision to make," said Odin. "Either you can become a Whitelighter, or you can move on. But either way, you won't be going back to Piper. Or Henry."

"You can't stop me," said Paige, although she was fairly certain they could.

Odin looked as though he wanted to argue with her, but Gloria placed a hand on his arm and silenced him. "This is a very important choice, Paige," she said. "If you decide to become a Whitelighter, you have to cut your ties to your past. You won't be able to see your family again."

"That's not fair," said Paige, but Gloria ignored her.

"We also decided," Gloria said, "that you will be working primarily with future Whitelighters, not with witches. Your past as a witch will affect your decision making skills, and you will want to join in where you no longer belong. That is why we rarely allow witches the opportunity to become Whitelighters. The connections are too hard to break."

"This is a rare opportunity," said Odin. "You should think about it carefully."

Gloria nodded. "We may have you train with another Whitelighter if we decide to allow you to guide a witch, that way you may learn by example. But you won't be granted a witch charge until we are certain that you will be able to handle it properly."

"You gave me Billie," said Paige. "If you have all these supposed rules about it, why'd you stick me with her?"

"Billie needed firm guidance and tutorial," said Odin. "We sensed a dangerous impulse in her, an impulse we believed could lead her to darkness. By making you her Whitelighter, we hoped that with the tutorage of the Charmed Ones she could be swayed."

"You were wrong," said Paige. She shook her head. "You knew what she could become and you didn't even warn us."

"Would it have done any good?" asked Gloria.

Paige closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't know," she said. "But it couldn't have hurt." She opened her eyes again and stared straight ahead, her eyes not truly focusing on anything.

"You have as much time as you need to make your decision," said Gloria. "There is no hurry."

"We'll be here when you decide."

Paige nodded and felt a fire burning out inside of her. Things were honestly outside of her control. She couldn't save Phoebe. She couldn't be there to make sure Piper didn't go crazy. She couldn't live out her life with her wonderful husband and have a future she had only just caught a glimpse of. Everything had ended while she was caught in a blink of her eyes.

But when her eyes opened, there was something new. Something tangible that she could pursue if she wanted. She just had to take the first step.

"Will I have to wear one of those robes?"