Charmed Kitsune
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NarutoxPhoebex Prue x Piper x ?
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''Normal Speech''
Inner Thoughts, Dialogue, or reading passages from books and scrolls
(Quick Notes and Messages or Echoes.)
(Dark over lapping echoes)
''Boss Summons, Demons, Dark beings speaking, Demonic/Angry characters Speaking as well as extremely Dark spells and Magic.''
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Story Start
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Mr. Franklin walked from the kitchen into the living room with two plates of pizza in his hands. He stopped in front of his son, who was seated on the couch where he was watching television, and passed one of the plates to him. Mr. Franklin sat down on the other side of the couch and relaxed back into it. He opened his mouth to begin conversation but instead they both jumped at the sound of their door being kicked in and slamming against the wall.
"Max!" Mr. Franklin yelled, standing up and trying to place himself between the two men, that had just ran into their house, and his son.
The apparent leader of the two masked thugs threw Mr. Franklin into an armchair across the room while the other grabbed hold of a stunned Max. Mr. Franklin desperately kept his eyes on his son and tried to get back to him, hardly aware of the gun that was pointed at his head. "Don't move, don't breathe! Just listen!" The thug with the gun snapped. The clicking of the gun as he cocked it effectively gained Mr. Franklin's horrified attention. "We're gonna be borrowing your kid. We need him just for a day. If you're smart, you will not call the cops. We will have him home safe and sound, first thing Monday morning, ready for school. Do you understand?" He demanded.
Mr. Franklin's eyes flickered to Max, who was struggling in the other thug's grasp. He looked back at the masked leader and nodded vigorously. "Yes, yeah." He agreed, praying they were telling the truth.
"Just our little secret?" He pressed, the pointed gun leaving little room for argument.
"Yeah." Mr. Franklin repeated.
Receiving his answer, the thug slammed his gun into the side of Mr. Franklin's head. Mr. Franklin slumped, unconscious back into the armchair. The leader waved at his conspirator to take the boy out and followed easily after them.
At the manor Piper reached into one of the large boxes that surrounded the three sisters and took up the majority of the space in the attic. She pulled out an etch-a-sketch and looked at it thoughtfully for several moments before deciding on a particular pile and dropping it among the other toys.
"Can I just say I'm actually enjoying this?" Phoebe spoke up suddenly. She sat next to Piper in a fold-out lawn chair staring at her freshly painted nails with Prue sprawled casually in her own chair next to her.
"That's because we're not doing anything." Piper retorted.
Phoebe feigned a look of disbelief directed toward Piper. "Not true. I've painted my fingers and my toes." She pointed out with an air of the utmost importance.
Prue's eyes flickered from one sister to the next while her hands played with the zipper on her jacket. "I just hope this doesn't fall under the 'personal gain' category."
"How could it? A good witch is a clean witch." Piper decided, shrugging off the idea of personal gain.
"I think we should spring clean like this more often. You go girl!" Phoebe added encouragingly with a grin to her eldest sister.
Prue rolled her eyes before focusing on the objects scattered around the messy attic. With narrow-eyed concentration open drawers were shut, the trunks opened and several items flew into them before closing and sliding back against the wall, the mirror was scrubbed clean, toys and books were organized along a shelf, trophies were suspended in air while the duster cleaned under them, and the mop and broom set to work cleaning the floors.
Piper laughed and nodded appreciatively. "Good job, Prue."
Prue nodded vaguely in Piper's direction. Prue blinked and all the supplies disappeared from the attic, later to be found in their correct places on the main floor.
"Oh look, more toys!" Piper announced excitedly. "I told you Grams wouldn't throw them away." She continued in her 'I told you so' voice.
"Yeah, but we will. Why don't you just put that stuff in the discard pile?" Prue suggested absently.
"Wait, what's in there?" Phoebe asked curiously, leaning forward in her chair for a better look as Piper pulled some of the toys out.
Piper stared a little condescendingly at stuffed animals and dolls that she pulled out. "Stuffed animals without eye balls. Dollies that look like they've been through the mill once or twice…" Piper replied, laughing softly as she tossed the particularly sad looking ones in the discard pile.
"Oh, and looky here, Ms. Phoebe's diaries."
Phoebe's mouth dropped and she reached eagerly for them. "The place where I kept all my secrets… Give me those." Prue and Piper exchanged a glance while Paige snorted at Phoebe's comment. "What?" She asked innocently.
"The place where you kept your secrets?" Prue quoted in disbelief.
Phoebe hardly glanced up but nodded quickly as she opened the first diary.
"Phoebe, you could never keep a secret." Piper pointed out with a laugh.
Phoebe looked up in offense. "Oh that is so not true." She disagreed, thinking back for some actual proof.
"Okay, maybe Prue's surprise party.'' She offered, sounding impressed that Phoebe had actually managed it.
"Guess again." Prue returned with a faint smile and looking expectantly at Piper, who's smile suddenly fell. "You knew?" She asked with wide eyes. Prue nodded with a look of feigned sympathy.
Piper's eyes narrowed dangerously at Phoebe, "You swore you wouldn't tell her." Piper snapped.
Phoebe rubbed her head gingerly and snatched her diary back up. "I'm sorry, okay. It was an accident." She apologized hastily. Phoebe abruptly changed the subject as she finally looked up to meet Piper's eyes.
"I say we keep all the toys."
"Subject changer." Prue accused playfully.
"For our children, for our future." Phoebe continued, ignoring Prue's jibe for the moment.
"That's a good idea." Piper agreed, appearing thoughtful.
"Well, you can get rid of mine." Prue announced. Piper looked up at Prue with narrowed eyes, Phoebe stared at her in disbelief. "What?" Prue wondered, her eyes flickering nervously from one sister to the next. "It's just that, you know, we live in a world with so much violence and then you add the evil demons and it's a pretty scary place to raise kids in. And don't even get us started when we throw in the things from Naruto's side. War, evil enemies, dimension hopping; that's not something I want to put my daughters through.'' She explained to their wondering stares.
Piper shook her head at her older sister's last comment. "How can you say that?" She questioned. She more than believe in her sister had a very strong maternal instinct, stepping up and caring for her and Phoebe after their mother drowned.
Prue bit her lip, preferring to leave the conversation until later. "Why don't we have this conversation later? Like, say five years?"
"Good." Piper reluctantly dropped the subject until she heard the alarm from the kitchen go off.
"Ooh, oooh, I think dinner's burning. Phoebe, lend me a hand." She ordered, taking off down the stairs.
Phoebe set her diary down and carefully maneuvered around Prue. "Don't read my diary." She threw in just before disappearing down the stairs.
At an unnamed Auto Shop the kidnappers led Max into the back of the auto shop that one of them owned and had offered as a safe haven. Max, gagged with his hands bound in front of him, was pushed to the ground by the leading thug.
The leader towered over the sitting Max. "Alright. You try anything, you're dead and so is your old man. You got that, kid?" He demanded harshly, receiving a vigorous nod from Max.
"Come on. Ease up on him, Mickey. Kid's not stupid, are you, Max?" The second man asked, turning to face Max. Max hastily shook his head before the man continued. "You're going to do just as we tell you and everything's going to fine, right?" Max again nodded his answer.
Mickey turned on his companion. "Yeah, you better be right about him or me and you got problems." He warned.
He shrugged the warning off confidently. "Look, that kid is a living, breathing, winning lotto ticket. All I know is that my kid brother said somehow, like magic, he turned off the arcade alarm system from across the street and got them inside." The second thug explained.
Mickey glanced disbelievingly at Max before turning his hard gaze back. "I don't believe in magic." He countered shortly.
"So, we test him out, we don't like what we see, cut our losses." The two left Max in the back room and returned to the front.
Max watched them leave and waited several moments to see if they were coming back before closing his eyes. He began to slowly rock back and forth as he triggered his power.
Back at the manor Prue was relaxing in her chair. Prue looked up in time to see the pointer on the spirit board move. Her curiosity peaked, she jumped up from the chair and telekinetically brought a pencil and paper to her hand.
"Piper, Phoebe." Prue called as she tried to read what was being spelled out.
"What is it?" Phoebe asked as soon as Piper and she had come in the attic. Prue pointed down at the spirit board while she went back down to writing the letters the pointer identified.
Piper jumped back a little and sighed dramatically. "Oh no, not again." She groaned.
Prue rolled her eyes and held the notepad up for her sisters to see. "Help Max." She read. Cryptically. She hated cryptic.
''So it read help Max?'' Naruto asked as the sisters called him over to explain what they learned.
"So maybe Max is a ghost. I mean, after all, that is a spirit board." Phoebe suggested.
Prue didn't appear convinced and carefully sat the spirit board down on the table in the Solarium. "A ghost that needs our help? I don't think so." Prue countered lightly.
"I don't know. Remember Mark? He was a ghost that needed help." Piper pointed out mildly.
"Well, what if it's just someone in trouble crying out?" Prue offered, slipping into one of the seats while Phoebe slipped into the one across from Prue.
"Well, it would have to be someone with powers. That's not exactly AT&T." Phoebe quipped.
Prue sighed and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "'Help Max.' That's not a lot to go on." She murmured distractedly.
''Doesn't even let us know if its a simple Max or short for Maxine. I'm going to assume the person is important, maybe I can call Nicole and James for any police reports of someone mixing named Max,'' Naruto suggested. Naruto couldn't help but look up at Piper who was pacing rather noticeably as she continued speaking to someone on the phone.
"What… are you on hold or something?" Phoebe asked Piper.
Piper slowly turned to face her two sisters and guy with a look of irritation on her face. "It's Harry, the new chef at Quake. He threw out all my Henckel knives. Apparently he prefers Forschners!" She snapped in response before turning away and placing her attention back on the phone.
Phoebe stared at Piper for several more moments before looking to Naruto and Prue. "You follow any of that?" She wondered, the question directed to them both.
"It's a chef thing.'' Naruto answered, taking a sip of his Starbucks coffee. 'Over rated.' he thought.
Prue shrugged deciding that it was best not to get involved. "Look, we wouldn't have gotten the message if it wasn't important." She returned to the former subject.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Okay so what do you want to do?"
"Well like Naruto said we'll have to check police reports and hope for the best.''
Phoebe blinked in disbelief. "Can you say long shot?" She joked lightly.
''Unfortunately this isn't the type of world where sending hundreds of me running around would simply make people shrug. If I could at least get an article of clothing tracking the person down wouldn't be any problem.''
"I can thumb through the Book of Shadows. See if there's anything about spirit board S.O.S's." Phoebe added.
"Okay, Phoebe can do that and then maybe Piper can…"
"Look. Wait. I'm the manager. If I say I want Henckels then I want… Hello?" Piper snapped into the phone before slamming it down on its cradle and turning on her sisters. "The jerk hung up on me." She exclaimed in disbelief. Prue, Phoebe, and Naruto flinched at the resounding thud of the phone. "Okay, how can I help you three?" Piper questioned, taking several deep breaths to calm down.
Prue offered Piper a wide smile. "I think we've got it under control." She replied cheerfully while Phoebe and Naruto nodded enthusiastically.
Piper nodded slightly and turned toward the foyer. "Okay, then I'm going to Quake before Harry does any more damage." She decided taking off into the foyer and from there the front door.
Prue, Phoebe, and Naruto exchanged several amused glances which caused Phoebe to burst into a fit of giggles.
''Woe the poor bastard that pissed her off.'' Naruto commented as Allison orbed in.
''I hope I'm not disturbing.'' she responded rather bashfully.
''Well hey there Ally. What brings you here so early in the morning?'' Phoebe greeted.
''I'm here on business. I'm here to help a boy named Max." she replied.
Phoebe exchanged a knowing glance with Prue. "Wait. That's the… the…" She started in realization.
"The spirit board." Ally finished for them with a nod. "I know. See, Max is a budding good witch new to the powers, but he's very young and vulnerable. And he's in serious trouble. Someone is trying to take advantage of his gift."
"So why are you here instead of helping him?" Prue questioned curiously.
''The thing is I'm a guide, and an inexperienced one at that. I needed help, which is why I sent the message. I'm not even supposed to be here.''
''But that doesn't make sense? How is not coming out telling us who the person supposed to say be helpful in anyway? No offense but the more I hear about your elders the more incompetent they seem.'' Naruto threw his two cents in. ''So what, help Max? Do you know how vague that is?''
''I only did as I was told.'' Allison offered up. ''I'm still not good with this whole sort of thing.''
''Never mind,'' Naruto remarked, sending her an apologetic glance. ''Look, you ladies head to work and go about your day I'll see if I can find any information and inform you if I find anything.'' he informed them. Piper happily took this admission and left without a word.
"Harry!" Piper yelled as she barreled through the swinging doors that led to the kitchen. Her eyes immediately landed on the chef that she didn't recognize and she made a bee-line for him.
Harry calmly glanced up from where he was cooking to look at the source of the noise. "Hey, you must be… Pippy." He guessed, taking the phone that was in his other hand away from his ear, giving her his full attention… besides the ravioli he was cooking.
Piper glared at him. "Piper." She corrected harshly. "And…"
"You know, your voice doesn't do justice. You're actually attractive." He commented off-handedly.
Piper rolled her eyes, inwardly seething before deciding to ignore that remark. "You cannot come into this restaurant, throw away all our knives, and refuse to make the house specialty…"
She ranted, trailing off when she noticed he was wearing shorts. Very tackily dressed. "… That is not a proper chef's uniform." Piper continued, staring at him in mild disgust.
Harry shrugged. "Will be. I'm a trendsetter." He informed her as he reached for a colander filled with more ravioli. "In fact I, uh, decided to change the menu, so I threw out all the old ones. Now my crab ravioli that's a specialty." Harry looked down at his ravioli proudly and sniffed it dramatically. "Mmm… straight from Eden."
"You threw out all the menus?" Piper exclaimed in disbelief.
Harry waved off her rising anger and passed her the phone that he was still holding. "Hey, complain to your sister, Phoebe. She's on line one." Harry suggested with a cocky air.
Piper irritably snatched the phone from him before turning it into a weapon against him. "You're fired!"
"Ooh… attractive and feisty." He remarked, slowly closing the distance between himself and Piper. He leaned forward for emphasis. "Um, you can't fire me because you're just a manager unless you'd rather be the executive chef." Harry laughed at his own power and turned away from Piper to continue his cooking.
Having enough, Piper grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close to her as a rather ferocious looking sneer formed on her face. Even if the Wendigo's influence was still weak at this time of the month, it was still enough to boil her blood. ''You listen and you listened well...all my life I have left people step on me, mock me and belittle me but not anymore. You see, I've been experiencing some changes over the course of the past few months and it has opened my eyes. Its taught me how to deal with people like you. First, you're going retrieve all the knives out of the trash, you will wash them, and put them back in their proper order. Next, you're going to retrieve the menus and start working on the house special. Finally, if you ever come on to me or act disrespectfully towards anyone in this staff you'll find out just what I can do when you piss me off. Comprendae?'' she finished, letting him go as he scuttled away, almost tripping and falling in the process of getting away from the angry Halliwell.
Piper looked up and noticed all the other kitchen staff was looking at her shock. ''Uum...having a bad day.'' she replied, feeling a bit sheepish. So much for her more expressive nature being gradually introduced.
Outside the Microchip Plant Mickey pulled the car into the empty parking lot of the microchip plant. His conspirator, David, sat next to Max in the backseat, showing the kid the blueprints.
"These are the blueprints to the microchip plant. So the main security panel is in the room here. All you do is switch the system off. You start with zone one, ending with zone five. You got that?" David was saying, pointing to the corresponding sections on the map.
Max lowered his gaze and shook his head. "I can't. My mom made me promise never to use my power for bad things." He argued softly.
Mickey, impatient and on edge, spun in his seat to face Max. "Yeah, well you ever read the book when bad things happen to good people?" Mickey snapped harshly.
David held his hand out to stop Mickey's rant. "Look, I got it, Mickey." He assured him before turning back to Max. "You broke into the arcade, right? This isn't any different, man. I mean, we're not even gonna take anything. We just want to see if you can actually do it." David began. Recognizing that Max was still wary, he continued. "Look, I'm… I'm really sorry about what happened to your mom, okay. That's a tough break, but you want to make sure something doesn't happen to your dad, don't you?" He pressed his voice softer in sympathy.
Max didn't reply, but slowly closed his eyes and began to rock back and forth as he concentrated on turning off the security. David nodded to Mickey to go check it out and Mickey cautiously stepped out of the car. Mickey approached the door while Max short-circuited the control panel. The card slot next to the door flashed green and unlocked, allowing Mickey to step inside.
"Well, I'll be damned." Mickey muttered, as he was successfully inside without any alarms going off.
David looked up as Mickey disappeared inside the plant before glancing back at Max. "I don't know how you did that, but I have to say, I'm very impressed." He praised, watching as Mickey came back out.
A cop came around the corner and saw Mickey come out of the closed plant. "Hey!" He called, fumbling for his gun.
Mickey beat him to it, grabbing his own gun and shooting the cop in the leg before dashing back to the car.
David grabbed a screaming Max and pulled him down. "Shut up." David hissed. The cop fell to the ground and Mickey successfully made it back to the car where he drove them away.
Back at Bucklands Naruto arrived with some results. ''We got a hit.'' he said as he tossed a folder onto her desk. Picking it up, Prue meticulously thumbed through it as she read the information.
"Earlier today, a microchip plant was broken into but nothing was taken…" He began. "… the alarms were turned off before the front door was opened on the outside The
security cameras picked up a car in the front parking lot with a boy in the backseat… matching this photo taken at an arcade last week…" He explained, passing a picture of Max and another boy playing in the arcade. "… Where a couple of kids snuck in-in much the same way. Same boy, Max Franklin."
''Any information on a parent?''
''Yes, we got an address for the father. The boy's mother passed away less than a year ago and I'm sure he inherited his power from her. If we get a piece of Max's clothing I'm sure we can track him to where he's at. That means going speaking to the father and getting a piece of clothing or something. That and I'm sure this might be one of those inheritance things and neither are equipped to deal with what's going on.'' he informed her.
Prue parked her car along the side of the road just outside the address. Stepping out of the car she and Naruto approached the front door of the huge house. She rang the doorbell and stepped back as she heard shuffling on the other side of the door. Mr. Franklin cracked the door open and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Prue and Naruto.
"Mr. Franklin?" Prue asked, trying to get a decent look at the man through the barely open door.
"Yes?" Mr. Franklin prompted cautiously.
Prue hesitated a moment, trying to decide the best way to go about this situation. "Uh, my name is Prue Halliwell and this is Naruto Uzumaki. We need to talk to you about your son." She finally replied.
Mr. Franklin held his breath, the topic touchy at this moment. "Sorry, um, you have to leave, okay?" He pushed suddenly and started to close the door.
Prue's eyes widened slightly and she jumped to speak before he could close her off. "Look, we know he's been kidnapped. We know he's in trouble." Prue explained hastily. She was relieved when Mr. Franklin chose to respond instead of completely closing the door.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He returned, feigning ignorance.
''You're elevated heart beat says otherwise.'' Naruto stepped in. ''They threatened you not to go to the police right? We're not the police.''
"Please, you gotta leave. Alright? Thank you." Mr. Franklin decided abruptly and started to close the door again.
"Mr. Franklin…" Naruto began again but when he didn't immediately respond, he stuck his foot out to stop the door. "We can help. We know more about the situation then you think.''
"Look, I don't know who you are, but I'm begging you to leave me alone…"
"We can help." Prue reiterated.
Mr. Franklin immediately shook his head. "No, no, you can't. Alright? Good-bye." He insisted, beginning to close the door for the third time.
Prue's eyes narrowed in determination and she pushed against his attempt to shut the door. Her eyes flickered to land a family photo on the table just inside the door. With a telekinetic pull she sent it flying into Mr. Franklin's hand.
Mr. Franklin stared at the picture for several silent moments before turning his surprised gaze to the people on his porch. "Dear God…" He whispered, realizing she was a witch and she may just be able to help.
Mr. Franklin led Prue and Naruto to the couch in his living room, still holding the picture of him, his wife, and his son. He hesitantly explained to her what had happened the night before when Max had been taken. "Then they hit me and I passed out." He finished, dropping into the arm chair that was diagonal to Prue. "I've been going out of my mind crazy ever since last night. Should I go to the police? Should I do as they say? They promised to bring him back, but after what the police said happened this morning… I-I don't even know if he's alright." Mr. Franklin admitted the worry evident in his voice.
"No, I know that Max is okay right now. If he wasn't, he couldn't have sent me that last message." Prue assured him softly. Before they left they got another message, telling them Auto shop. Unfortunately that narrowed it down to oh so many auto shops.
Mr. Franklin paused at her choice of words. "So, I take it you're … witches too?" He guessed.
Prue tilted her head slightly to the side in a questioning manner. "Is that what your son says he is?" She asked.
"That's what Paulette, my wife, says he is. It's what she was. You know, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to handle her family secret had it been revealed a lot sooner." He replied with a hint of bitterness.
''Its difficult,'' Naruto cut in. ''Its the fear, fear of rejection and not being loved. The possibility of someone not accepting you and the fact that you could lose them motivates secrecy. I know those feelings, of dealing with not being accepted or love so I think that might have been her reasoning.'' Naruto gently offered.
Mr. Franklin narrowed his eyes in a scrutinizing manner. "Speaking from personal experience?"
Naruto reached out and cupped Prue's hand. ''When you're different like us, it's something we all have to go through one time or another.''
"Well, when Paulette, she had to tell me, she was running out of time. She passed away three months ago." Mr. Franklin explained. He took a moment to compose himself before continuing. "Then suddenly, Max, he starts having this power. I don't have a clue what to tell him what it all means. Then he uses it and gets busted at an arcade and now this…"
"I'm sure that Max…" Prue started but was cut off by Mr. Franklin.
"Do you have any children?" He demanded.
"No, but…" She began again.
"Then you can't possibly understand what I'm feeling." Mr. Franklin interrupted.
''But I know that burden.'' Naruto admitted. ''I understand the struggle of helping your child coming to grips with a rather difficult time in their life, but that's just one of the things that you have to deal with when it comes to being a parent. Sometimes the first step to making things better is forgiveness."
Mr. Franklin rolled his eyes. "Forgive her." He mouthed with a shake of his head. "She should have told me. Maybe if she had, I would have been better able to protect Max." He argued.
Prue sighed softly but allowed the subject to drop. She played with her hands before deciding to move on to actually finding Max. "Do you know of anybody who owns an auto shop of any kind?" She asked carefully.
He appeared thoughtful before finally shaking his head, unable to think of anyone. "Why?" Mr. Franklin wondered.
"I think your son was trying to send me a clue." Prue explained.
"No, I…" Mr. Franklin trailed off as a sudden thought hit him. "… Although, I think Max's friend, Danny, his brother works at one over in Oakland."
"Is Danny the friend that broke into the arcade with Max?" Prue questioned. She watched as Mr. Franklin's eyes widened in realization. That was answer enough for her. "Got an address?" She prompted.
''Well that takes care of that.'' Naruto replied as he stood up. Once the address was retrieved they left to claim back the kidnapped boy.
Max fought to break the ropes that bound his wrists and looked up in surprise as Prue and Naruto walked in, heading straight for him.
"Max?" Prue asked, though she knew immediately it was him.
"Who's there?" Max demanded, trying to look over his shoulder and get a good look her.
Prue kneeled down in front of him, her hands trying to undo the knots. "My name is Prue and this is Naruto. We're here to take you home." She explained hastily.
"But how'd you find me?" Max questioned curiously.
Prue frowned down at the ropes that refused to loosen. "I had a little chat with your friend, Danny." Prue answered. "Look, your dad, he's waiting for you." She continued.
''I'll get it,'' Naruto said as he dug his nails into the rope. The material began to shred and loosened.
Max was obviously becoming increasingly confused. "You know my dad?"
"Yeah, he…" Prue trailed off as she heard the door clang open. She spun around to see Mickey in the doorway.
Mickey was stunned for a split moment before his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Hey, who the hell are you?" He demanded. Before he could reach for his gun, Prue had narrowed her eyes and sent him flying back into the tire bend. He dropped to the floor just as David ran in. With another blast of telekinesis, she sent him into the tire bend as well. David promptly fell to the floor beside Mickey.
Prue turned back to a wide-eyed Max and pulled him to his feet. "Come on. We need to hurry." She insisted, trying to lead him toward the back door.
"You have powers?" Max wondered aloud.
"Yeah, I'll explain them to you in the car, okay?" Prue replied.
Max pulled back from her. "I can't leave. They'll kill my dad if I do."
''You don't have to worry about that kid.'' Naruto replied as he offhand backhand Mickey who was trying to sneak up on them. ''They'll be...taken care of in a matter of speaking.''
''Naruto!'' Prue replied with a stern, disapproving gaze.
''I'm not going to kill them Prue!'' he replied in disbelief. ''Just tweak their memories a little,'' he added with an annoyed look. ''I swear, everyone thinks I'm secretly some psycho killer and...'' he grumbled, trailing off.
''So how did everything go?'' Piper asked as Prue and Naruto walked through the door.
''Max and his dad are going to be okay. I think the shock of losing his son and the relief of getting him back as shocked Franklin to his senses. Its probably going to take some, but I think he'll be able to forgive his wife one day. As for his son, although he was quite reluctant I got him to agree to let me train him.'' Naruto explained. With that he said his byes and was gone.
Up in the attic, Piper, Phoebe, and Prue were finishing up the last of the spring cleaning,
meaning Piper was working while Prue sent a toy train at Phoebe with a childish giggle. Phoebe cast her a mock glare but burst out into laughter as she picked it up.
"Can you believe that Dad's old train." Prue exclaimed, holding her hands back out for the toy which Phoebe cheerfully passed back to her.
"That… stays here." Prue insisted, smiling fondly down at another that toy Phoebe was about to put in the boy of toys to give away.
Phoebe crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes curiously at Prue. "Wait, I thought all of the toys were going to the Salvation Army."
"Well, like you said… we should save some for our children." Prue replied with a half-smile in Phoebe's direction. Her mind going back to that scene of where Franklin took Max to visit his mother's grave. It was the first step of a long healing process.
"Do I sense a hormonal shift here?" Phoebe teased lightly.
Prue rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "It's no big deal. I've just had some time to think, that's all." Prue offered. Despite his oddities Naruto was a very loving person. He has experience and I believe he would avoid some of the common faults of bad parenting,. If there was any person who was sure to be protective and loving of his own it was Naruto.
"Yeah, in all that spare time of yours." Phoebe quipped.
Prue cast a playful glare. "And I realized that I do want kids. I think I'd make a great mom."
Phoebe nodded in agreement. "So I guess instead of you trying to save Max he saved you?" She wondered. She smiled wider as Prue didn't answer and slowly stood up to take the last box out of the attic, leaving Prue alone.