A/n (10/23/06): This is just a short transitional chapter. I also wanted to mention that this story will be a companion to my other story, "Alone, Eternally." It is not necessary to read "Alone, Eternally," but for anyone who has or will read it, this story will explain what happens after "Alone, Eternally" ended. In other words, Cole will appear eventually.
Setting: March 2028.
Chapter Three - Harebrained Schemes are Right up her Alley
Chris was honestly not too skilled with his Whitelighter powers. He was his mother's son, and therefore was extremely adept at witchcraft, but the other half of his genetics seemed to be lacking. In twenty-three years he had never healed anyone, and while orbing came fairly naturally, the ability to sense his family wasn't on par with Wyatt's or Aunt Paige's. Despite this, however, his mother's bad mood penetrated his thoughts the moment she entered the house. Chris looked at Wyatt over Meli's head and Wyatt groaned.
"What?" said Meli.
"Mom and Dad are home," said Chris.
"And neither of them are in a good mood," added Wyatt.
Meli shrugged. "Didn't you say they were going to therapy with Aunt Phoebe? I'm not exactly surprised." She paused the movie they were watching in the boys' room and stood up. "I'm still going to say hello," she said. "I haven't seen them in two months."
"Don't mention our trip to the past, okay, Mel?" said Chris.
Meli rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Chris. I already said I wouldn't." And she left the room, not bothering the shut the door behind her.
"So," said Wyatt, "how long until Aunt Paige shows up to try to straighten things out between Mom and Aunt Phoebe?"
Chris smiled halfheartedly. For as long as he could remember Mom and Aunt Phoebe would get into tiffs that Aunt Paige always ended up bridging. Mom claimed that she used to be the peacemaker in the family, but Chris couldn't quite believe her.
"By tonight," said Chris.
Wyatt raised an eyebrow. "I think tomorrow," he said. "Mom's too pissed. Aunt Paige will give her a night to cool down."
"Want to bet?"
Wyatt paused for a moment and then said, "No. Not really."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Wyatt wordlessly orbed an inflatable volleyball over and they began to play telekinetic basketball with it. Over the years Chris had gotten very good at telekinetically blocking Wyatt's shots, which used to be hard to predict because Wyatt used telekinetic orbing to move the ball. By the time Meli came back into the room, Chris was winning five to three. Just as he was about to score again, Meli froze the ball and simply grinned at them when they glared at her for interrupting.
"You'll never guess why Mom and Dad are so pissed off," she said.
"Aunt Phoebe's therapist said Mom had issues," guessed Chris, not particularly enthralled by the latest family fight.
"No," said Meli. "Aunt Phoebe wants Mom to go on something called a destiny quest with her and Aunt Paige."
"What's a destiny quest?" asked Wyatt.
Meli shrugged. "I didn't really get all of the details because it was in midst Mom's ranting, but apparently it involves going back to your past to observe things that have happened and see if everything turned out the way it was supposed to."
"Yeah, that sounds like something that would piss Mom off," said Chris. Across the room the ball unfroze and dropped unceremoniously to the ground.
"I think it sounds awesome," said Meli, flopping down onto the futon. "I mean, you could totally review choices you made and see if they were the right ones. That's so cool."
"But what if they were the wrong choices?" asked Wyatt.
"If it's destiny it would be the right choice," said Meli. "I would love to do this. It would totally prove whether destiny exists once and for all. Plus, this kind of thing might help convince Nora to come home."
"Don't go there, Mel," cautioned Wyatt. "If Mom doesn't want to do this, you certainly won't."
"I'm twenty years old, Wyatt. I think I can decide for myself."
"So are you going to tell Mom?" asked Wyatt.
"No..." said Meli.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Come on, guys," said Chris, bringing the ball back over to his lap and throwing it lightly from hand to hand. "Drop it, okay?"
Meli narrowed her eyes at him for a moment but listened, and Wyatt picked up the remote and pressed play again. Chris privately hoped that Meli was just going to let this go, but he had a feeling that she'd started formulating a plan in her mind already. Uncle Coop's death had been harder on her than on him or Wyatt, mostly because it had fallen to Meli, at only fifteen, to keep Nora from jumping off the deep end. Sometimes Chris thought Meli still blamed herself for Nora running away, though she'd never come out and actually admitted her feelings. Chris thought it was absurd; Nora had run away because her father's death had completely screwed both her and her mother up, making it impossible for them to get along. There was no way Meli could have prevented it.
Secretly, he really wished that Nora would grow up, come home and apologize that way everyone could finally move on with their lives. But she had been gone nearly three years. What were the chances that she would come home any time soon, destiny quest or no destiny quest? He thought Meli might realize this eventually.
Of course, if Meli really was dead set on doing this thing, Chris wasn't going to stop her. Once in a blue moon her schemes actually did work out.
So who was he to prevent her when there was always a small chance that it might heal the family?