San Francisco, California

While the fated meeting between soulmates was taking place, across the country the Halliwell family were just starting their day. Penny despite her old age was the first one up and out of bed. She walked to the bathroom and started her morning ritual.

After that was done she headed done to the kitchen starting breakfast. She sighed as she thought of her granddaughters the prophesied Charmed Ones. How they would even work together long enough to get anything done she wouldn't know. Prue and Piper would be fine they got along well enough, but they had their faults. Prue being the eldest was prideful and could refuse to listen to other people's side. She was doing well enough Penny supposed, but Prue was a stubborn woman. Piper on the other hand kept second-guessing herself and usually took the safe way out. Such as now, Piper was an amazing cook and had dreams of being a chef, but put it aside to take the easy way out and started working a boring job at a bank. Then there was Phoebe the youngest, she was wild and spontaneous with a zest for life. She was not afraid to make her opinions known and could be quite loud in voicing them. While in some cases that was a good thing in others it could cause her to be reckless. There was also her devil-may-care attitude that caused her to get into trouble more often than not.

The timer dinged on the toaster breaking Penny out of her thoughts. She went about the kitchen putting the finishing touches on breakfast for her and the girls. Her breath hitched as she saw that she had set out a fourth plate.

"Phoebe's not here," she reminded herself as she put away the extra plate. The house had been quiet since Phoebe had left. She still expected to wake up in the early morning hours to the three sisters arguing because of something Phoebe did, but the past few months granted an empty silence to those early mornings.

Penny had been against her going to New York, as Phoebe was immature and irresponsible. She had gotten her way for a short while, but then Phoebe hit on Prue's fiance Rodger and denied doing so. Penny didn't know whose side to take these were her grandchildren, but in the end, she believed Rodger as Phoebe did tend to have a new man every week. That was the final straw for Phoebe, she supposed as the sisters had a huge row in the middle of the living room. The next day Phoebe had a suitcase packed and announced she was leaving for New York that evening. Still, Penny wondered whether she had made the correct decision, she had been watching the man more closely and things seemed to line up with Phoebe's opinion of him. He was arrogant, egotistical, lazy, and seemed to view Prue more as a trophy to be won than the independent woman she was.

Piper rushed down the stairs seeing her grams sitting at the table in deep thought. She pulled out a chair sitting next to her grandmother. She was quiet for a little while trying to think of what her grams could be thinking about so deeply.

"Good morning," Prue greeted, breaking the palpable silence. "How was everyone's sleep?"

"I slept well. How about you?" Piper answered

"I slept wonderfully now that Phoebe's gone. Now that I don't have to worry about her acting like a harlot around Rodger..."

"Prue! Don't talk about your sister that way even if she's not here!" Penny scolded disappointed in Prue.

"What! It's true, she was with a new guy every week before she moved out. Who knows it might be every other day now. Finishing college! Yeah, right. She probably dropped out of class on the first day. Let's face it, she is irresponsible, immature, and has a lot of destructive tendencies. She'll be asking for money before the month's out citing she needs it then blow it on a flimsy whim. I love her, she's my sister, but she has a lot of growing up to do."

Penny wanted to defend Phoebe, but given her less than stellar track record knew Prue was telling the truth.

"Anyway, I don't have time to dwell on Phoebe," Prue said taking a calming breath. "I have my wedding to plan. Piper, would you be my maid of honor?"

"I would love to," Piper smiled over the rim of her mug of coffee.

"Honey are you sure this is what you want?" Penny inquired.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? Rodger is a great guy. He has a stable job with low health risks and comes from a respectable family. He's the perfect guy."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure. Remember though, there is no such thing as a perfect guy. Every person has their faults, some more than others, and calling them perfect just sets you up for disappointment when you find out they're not."

"Thanks Grams, but there is nothing wrong with Rodger and I didn't ask for your proverbs. Now I need to go or I'll be late for work." Prue announced. She gathered her things leaving the kitchen in a huff and slamming the door on her way out of the house unaware how true her grandmother's words would ring a few short days later.

Penny turned to her other granddaughter.

"Don't you have work sweetie?" She asked Piper.

"No, The bank laid me off yesterday," she sighed.

"I'm so sorry Piper, but maybe this is a sign."

"A sign of what? That I'm destined to be unemployed. This is the fourth time in two years that I've been laid off."

"No, it's a sign that you should your passion of being a chef. I talked to the owner of Quake and right now they're looking for a new chef I managed to get you an interview for a week from now."

"Really Grams? You're the best!" Piper squealed.

"I know. I worry about your sister's though."

"Why Grams? Well Phoebe I get, but why Prue? She's able to hold down a job and is going to be getting married to Rodger soon. She has her life altogether unlike Phoebe."

"I will admit I worry for Phoebe, but I worry about Prue just as much. She has made a good life for herself, but she never seems happy. I also get this vibe from Rodger that he only wants Prue as a trophy not because he is in love with her. Prue's no trophy she's an independent young woman. She's too stubborn to listen to me though and I don't want her to get hurt."

"And Pheebs?"

"Phoebe is irresponsible and immature, but she has a good heart. I'm afraid of people taking advantage of her. She can also be very reckless and she has a devil may care attitude that in some situations is great, but mainly gets her into trouble. Need I go on?"

"No Grams, you've made your point," Piper said reminiscing all the times Phoebe got into trouble because of her famous attitude. She missed her little sister and worried about her more than she let on. She was always caught between Prue who had always been her big sister and protector in school and Phoebe who was her baby sister when the two fought. She missed when they were little and the closest of sisters. As they grew up however the two drifted away and started to fight leaving her drowning as she tried to play the peace-keeper between the two.

The duo finished their breakfast in silence hoping beyond hope that the two warring sisters would reach reconciliation soon and wondering about the youngest member of their family not knowing the hands of fate had led to the protection of a soulmate.

New York City, New York

Phoebe let out a breath of relief as the breakfast crowd died down and let her thoughts wander back to the man she met earlier today. He had identified himself as Cole Turner an Assistant District Attorney who was working on a high-profile case. He had had his meal and left for a trial at the courthouse but not before they exchanged phone numbers. He was different than the other guys she had hooked up with within California. Cole didn't seem to see her as a conquest, but rather a woman that was worth remembering. As he left he had promised to call her so they could meet somewhere and get to know each other. Unlike other guys who had used that as a way to say have sex, he said like he genuinely wanted to know her and not her body. It was a new feeling to her to have a man honestly want her as a person.

"Hey, Phoebe, shifts over," her co-worker Melissa called breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Coming Lissa," she called gathering up her purse and clocking out.

"So who was the hottie earlier this morning?" Melissa asked as they exited the cafe. Melissa was a petite woman at age 26 with fiery red hair streaked with blonde highlights. She and Phoebe had met when Phoebe first moved to New York City as they lived across the hall from each other.

"His name is Cole," Phoebe answered. "He's an Assistant District Attorney."

"Oh, a lawyer, do tell. What's he like?" She pressed.

"He seemed nice enough but I don't know him well enough yet."

"Are you going to see him again?"

"I don't know. We exchanged phone numbers and he told me he'd call me so we can go out to lunch some time and get to know each other better. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Do you like him?"

"I feel strangely attracted to him," Phoebe said.

They reached their apartment building and parted ways. Phoebe took out her keys unlocking the door to her modest apartment. The apartment wasn't anything to boast about but it was proof that she could make it on her own. She walked to the apartment's tiny kitchen fixing herself a small lunch. She was proud to see that the local community cooking lessons she had taken paid off. She was nowhere near Piper's realm of cooking but now if she followed a recipe from a box or cookbook it would turn out pretty well. She pushed her thoughts aside moving to the small table she had acquired from a thrift store taking out her books to start reviewing for the upcoming test in class that was scheduled to take place later that day.

"Not guilty," the Judge announced the verdict to the courtroom that evening concluding the lengthy trial.

Cole let out a sigh of relief as the proceedings drew to a close. He was saved from the Source and Brotherhood's punishments for another day. Cole followed the defendant out of the courthouse. He hated that he helped a murderer be set free but he promised to himself that later he would take care of the demon before it could kill another innocent. Cole himself may be half-demon but he had a strong sense of justice, in fact being half-demon seemed to make it stronger. Ever since he could remember Belthazor would rage within him when he saw injustice being done and would want to right it.

Cole stepped into his car heading towards the expensive apartment building he was staying at. He let his thoughts drift to his soulmate. Phoebe, he corrected, she was beautiful and seemed like a nice person. He could barely wait to get to know her better. He also worried about what she would do when she found out that he was half-demon. Thinking about her possible reaction caused him to frown. He shook those thoughts from his head. Cole would get to know her a little bit first he rationalized before telling her about his demon half.

First things first though he had to vanquish the demon he helped set free. Then he would call Phoebe and set up a date so that they could get to know each other. He pulled into his apartment's parking garage and exhaled. He had a long night ahead of him.