Chapter 29: A Witch's Tail Pt. 2
September 23, 2002 – Monday
San Francisco International Airport
Faith and Dawn orbed into the ladies restroom of the San Francisco airport. Dawn led Faith out through the door into the terminal. They looked around trying to spot Craig from the description Mylie had given. Faith was the one to spot him getting his ticket from the ticket agent at the counter. "Over there," Faith said as she pointed toward Craig who was walking away from the counter.
Dawn and Faith walked toward Craig. "Uh, Craig? Craig Wilson?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah," Craig said turning to face the newcomers.
"We have a message for you," Faith told him. She had been reluctant letting Dawn come. But since they were going to an airport, she was sure there was little chance of potential demonic threats.
"Mylie sent us," Dawn added.
"Let me guess," Craig scoffed. "She sent me a singing telegram. No-no, strip-a-gram, that's more Mylie's style. Shocking and unexpected." He looked Dawn up and down and noted that Dawn was just beginning to show. "Especially when you are obviously pregnant."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "We're friends of Mylie's," she said. "She sent us here because she needs to speak with you."
"Why didn't she come herself?" Craig asked.
Faith and Dawn looked at each other as if to say that was a good question. Faith looked back at Craig. "That is something only Mylie can tell you," she said.
"Let me get this straight," Craig said. Your friends of Mylie's, I've never met either of you, I've never even heard of either of you, and you know more about her than I do. Is that right?"
"No, not more about her than you do, just a little secret, well, a big secret," Dawn said.
"Well, I'm tired of Mylie's secrets," Craig said. "Okay, I'm tired of her moving closer to me and then running away and I... I'm just tired."
"We understand," Faith said. "Believe me we do understand. We too have secrets that have hurt those closest to us. For me my secret was what happened to my adoptive mother. When I first met Dawn and her sister I hid it and it cost me dearly."
"How did you move past it?" Craig wondered.
"It took a long time," Faith said.
"Faith is right it took a long time, too long," Dawn agreed. "You don't want to have what happened between me and Faith, to happen between you and Mylie."
Courthouse
Paige stood by the door watching as Phoebe and Darryl talked to the judge assigned to handled Phoebe's divorce.
"I sent a sheriff to his apartment, to his work, even his dry cleaners," Phoebe explained. "Trust me, your honor, I didn't make a good faith effort to try and notify my husband of our divorce, I made a great faith effort."
"But to grant a default divorce, the court requires that you to put a notice in the local newspaper saying where the missing spouse was last residing," the Judge told Phoebe. "Did you do that?"
Phoebe nodded. "I made the notice larger than legally required, I even used a 12-pica bold font to make sure it really popped." She pulled the newspaper notice out of her purse and handed it to the judge. "You see there how it really pops."
"What is your business here, Inspector?" the Judge asked looking at Darryl.
"I led the investigation to the disappearance of Mr. Cole Turner," Darryl explained. "We used every method at our disposal to find his whereabouts and we still came up empty. It's my belief that Mr. Turner has left the country."
"And what about you, ma'am," the Judge said looking toward Paige.
"I'm just here to support my sister," Paige answered. "It's been an emotional time for the entire family."
The Judge nodded in understanding as he turned back to Phoebe. "I must say, young lady, in all my years on the bench I have never seen a divorce push through this fast. Please sign here." He handed her the form he needed her to sign.
"Oh, free at last," Phoebe said with a sigh of relief.
"Is this the right office?" came Cole's voice from the other side of the door. It opened and Cole pushed past Paige as he entered. "Cole Turner, your honor." He looked at his wife and smirked. "Nice ad, thanks for letting me know."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"You evil bastard," Phoebe snarled as she, Cole and Paige walked out of the judge's chambers. "Why didn't you just stay where you belong?"
"Wait a minute, I'm not evil," Cole reminded her. After all he had saved her life just a few months ago.
"Do you have any idea what you just did to me in there?" Darryl asked as he stormed out of the office.
"Hold on," Cole told Darryl even though his eyes never left Phoebe. "I'm not evil. I'm good."
"Yeah, right," Paige retorted rolling her eyes.
"You're good at crushing my every hope and dream," Phoebe threw back at him.
"Well, I'm going to make up for that," Cole retorted.
Darryl glared at the demon. "You just made me look like a fool in front of the judge," he told Cole.
Phoebe frowned. "You are like a pit bull with a death grip," she said angrily.
"You know, I should arrest you on principle," Darryl told the former Source of All Evil.
Cole waved his hand and Darryl morphed into a water cooler. "Too many people talking at once."
"You see, Cole, this is exactly what Phoebe's talking about," Paige said glaring her former brother-in-law.
"Uh, good people don't turn other people into water coolers," Phoebe added.
Cole glared at Paige before turning his attention back to Phoebe. "I needed you to hear me."
"Go to hell," Paige and Phoebe retorted.
"I was there, remember?" Cole asked looking at his wife. "Or did you forget that you visited me in the Wasteland? And I didn't mean to stay so long but I needed to gather enough powers to execute..."
"Execute who?" Phoebe said jumping to conclusions. "Huh? Execute who?"
"My plan," Cole replied. "I'm here to redeem myself."
Phoebe shook her head. "You'd better be careful," she told him. "You are stepping down a very dangerous road right now."
"I think he's already on it and needs to get off it before you run him over with your car," Paige said.
Cole sighed as he looked at Paige before retuning his gaze back to Phoebe. "I got my job back at the law firm. I'm going to use my powers to help people, make up for my past. In time you will see we're meant to be together."
"Cole, if you say that again, I swear I'll scream," Phoebe told him. "I want you out of my life."
Cole sighed. "I'll keep my distance but I'm not going away. My love for you hasn't changed. It kept me alive in the Wasteland, it led me back to you." Paige grabbed a letter opener from her purse and pointed it at Cole. "You won't use that, Paige." He held the tip of the letter opener and Paige cut his hand. Blood splattered onto some papers. He looked back at his wife. "I know you still love me."
"You are seriously mistaken if you think I still love you in anyway," Phoebe retorted with a glare.
"I wasn't expecting a warm welcome but don't you think this is a little extreme?" Cole told them as his hand magically healed and the blood on the paper bubbled.
Phoebe and Paige looked at each other with a gasp.
"Wait," he said.
"You stay away from me and my family," Phoebe ordered. "Whatever you are." She took Paige's hand and they orbed out.
Halliwell Manor
Buffy, Piper, Leo and Mylie sat watching the weather report on TV.
"Now the book said that the sea hag has power over her natural environment, would that be, like, rainstorms?" Piper said as she turned down the volume.
"Yeah. Rainstorms, hurricanes..." Mylie said.
"Hurricanes?" Piper panicked
"Even tidal waves." Mylie said.
Piper looked at Leo, and Buffy her panic growing by the second. "Mom, Leo, she said tidal waves. How far do tidal waves travel?"
"Excuse us." Buffy said as she, Leo and Piper moved away from Mylie. "What's gotten into you?"
"I don't know," Piper admitted. "I just don't feel like myself."
"Well, our job is to keep the innocent calm," Leo told his wife. "Do you think you can do that while I go talk to the Elders and see if they can help us control the sea hag?"
Piper nodded. "Sure."
Leo looked to Buffy who nodded indicating she would keep an eye on Piper. He orbed out as the front door opened and Dawn and Faith led Craig into the Manor. They showed him to the living room where Mylie waited.
Craig smiled. "Hey,"
Mylie returned his smile. "You came."
Craig nodded as he looked at the lesbian couple. "Yeah, Faith and Dawn persuaded me to come see you," he told Mylie as he looked back at her. "What's going on?"
"I really need to know how you feel about me," Mylie told him.
Craig shook his head. "I can't believe we're back on this," he said as anger crept into his voice. "What, are you all in on this joke or what?"
Dawn shook her head. "It's no joke," she told him. "You have to tell her how you feel about her, her life depends on it."
"What is this? The delusional girls club? Come on," Craig asked as he looked at each of the women in the room. "Tell me what's happening."
Mylie sighed. She was afraid if she told him she was a mermaid that he would leave her. "I can't,"
"You can't?" Craig scoffed. "You yank me out of a business meeting, your friends ambush me at the airport, I miss my plane and you can't tell me why?"
"No."
"Okay, buddy, look," Piper interjected. "You obviously wouldn't be here if you didn't care, so why don't you just tell her that you love her for crying out loud."
"Piper, relax." Buffy ordered her eldest daughter.
"What?" Piper asked looking at her mother. "If he does not do this then we've got to fight the evil." She got a sharp jab in her side by Faith. "Person."
"You know what, I'm out of here." Craig said as he headed for the front door.
"Craig wait. You want to know what I'm hiding from you?" Mylie asked as she took flowers out of a nearby vase. "Okay."
"Mylie?" Piper moving to stop the mermaid. "No, don't!"
Mylie tipped the vase and the water poured onto her legs. They watched as her legs transformed into her mermaid tail. "Please don't be afraid. It's still me."
Craig backed away, clearly frightened at what he had just witnessed. "What are you?" he asked as he raced out of the Manor. No sooner had the door closed behind him then there was a gust of wind that blew through the living room as the sea hag appeared.
"Did you find a vanquishing spell?" Buffy asked.
Piper and Dawn started to back away. Piper lifted her hands to freeze the Sea Hag as Dawn tried to use her telekinesis. Both of them had the same effect, which was to say they had no effect on the sea hag. But the sea hag threw a water ball at Faith and Buffy, trapping them in a column of water.
"Piper, freeze her," Buffy ordered.
Piper tried to freeze the sea hag but again nothing happened. "I can't," she said.
"Dawn," Faith pleaded with her wife.
The sea hag threw a water ball at Piper and Dawn. Dawn waved her hand intending to telekinetically move the water ball away from them, to no effect. "I can't," Dawn panicked. The water ball continued toward them. Piper and Dawn dove behind the couch as the water ball hit the wall behind them.
"Piper! Dawn!" Mylie yelled as the sea hag turned on her. "Piper, Dawn, help me! Piper! Dawn! Help!"
The sea hag disappeared with Mylie and the column of water splash down onto the floor releasing Buffy and Faith as they coughed. Piper and Dawn stood up from behind the couch to find Faith and Buffy standing there, soaking wet.
"What happened?" Faith asked as she rushed to her wife's side.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"She took our innocent?" Phoebe asked after Faith, Buffy, Dawn and Piper had filled her, Leo and Paige in. "I understand that Mom and Aunt Faith couldn't do much as they were trapped. But Piper, Aunt Dawn, how could you sit there let that happen when you two weren't trapped?"
Piper looked at Dawn seeing the same look she was sure herself sported. Guilt at their inaction. She looked back at Phoebe and sighed. "I don't know. I think we had a panic attack. I couldn't breathe or move."
"Yeah I couldn't either," Dawn sighed looking at her wife. "It was like I was…paralyzed…" Suddenly Dawn was pulled into a memory as she collapsed into Faith's arms.
November 13, 1998 – Friday
Halliwell Manor
Barbas stepped through the closed door of the bathroom. Prue, her eyes closed against the water, didn't notice him as he waved his hand over her. He glanced at Prue thoughtfully. Prue slowly opened her eyes, shielding them with her hand. She immediately noticed the presence of Barbas and just as quickly deduced who he was. She gasped and jumped as far back away from him as the shower would allow.
"Your greatest fear is drowning. Thank you for making it so easy," the Demon of Fear took a step forward and closed his eyes expectantly.
The water in the shower began to rise quickly and Prue looked down at it in dismay.
Barbas saw the first signs of fear in Prue's widened eyes and she paled visibly. "That's right… Give me your fear."
Prue stepped through the water that filled the bottom of the shower to the door and tried to pull it open. She panicked when it didn't move and desperately hit the glass trying to force her way through it while the water rose quickly around her. As the water reached her shoulders she turned the water off in a vain attempt to stop it from rising. With the water still rising to her neck she turned back to the door and narrowed her eyes at it. No blast of telekinesis hit the door and she tried again receiving another failed attempt.
Barbas smiled and reveled in her growing fear. "You powers are frozen by your fear," he explained.
September 23, 2002 – Monday
Halliwell Manor
Dawn looked up into Faith's concerned face. "Memory," she whispered her body still reeling from the fear she had felt in the memory, the fear of drowning.
"What did you see?" Leo asked.
"Prue in the shower and…" Dawn started.
"Barbas using her fear to try and drown her," Phoebe finished as Dawn nodded.
"He said her power was frozen by her fear," Dawn said. She looked toward Leo. "Is that what could have happened with us?"
"It's a possibility," Leo answered. "The maternal instincts are kicking in. And the fear of losing your babies caused a surge of hormones to flood you both. It's neither of your faults."
Paige shook her head looking at her aunt and sister. " "More like taking over," she told them.
"Paige!" Buffy admonished her youngest daughter. "It's natural for a mother to feel protective of her baby."
"But they've been handling demons ever since she got pregnant," Paige retorted. "Why the sudden change today?"
Dawn looked at Piper who shrugged. "We don't know," she answered.
"Let's just focus on finding Mylie," Paige suggested. "What did the book say about the sea hag?"
"There's a vanquishing spell," Buffy said. After the attack she went and looked in the books and found the spell. "It's a Power of Three."
"Okay, what about a location?" Paige asked looking at her sister, aunts and mother. "Did the book say where we can find her?"
"The book doesn't list one," Faith answered.
"The Elders say she keeps a cavern on a remote island," Leo said as everyone to look at him. "She keeps it hidden with charms and spells. The only way to track her is with a mermaid."
"Which explains why the Book didn't list where she was," Buffy admitted.
"Well, unfortunately we're fresh out of those." Phoebe retorted.
"Okay, yeah, well, where were you and Paige when this all went down?" Piper said accusingly as she looked at her sisters.
"We were dealing with my own demon," Phoebe said.
"The good news is, is that the sea hag can't steal Mylie's immortality unless she's willing to give it up," Paige hoped.
"Which could be sooner than we hope," Buffy sighed. "With Craig's rejection she may be ready to give up. If she can be with him, then…"
"She might want to die," Paige finished for her mother with a sigh.
"We'll need Craig," Faith said. "I'll find him. He may be at the airport trying to get another flight to New York."
"I'll come with you," Leo said. "Just in case he doesn't want to listen to you a second time."
"Good idea," Faith agreed as she moved over to Leo and they orbed out.
"I'll try to locate the sea hag," Piper said.
"I'll help you," Dawn said moving to follow Piper.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I might've been pushing too hard," Phoebe said looking at her aunt and sister. "Why don't you let me, mom and Paige worry about the sea hag?"
"No," Piper disagreed, "because we've got to..."
"Rest," Buffy ordered looking at her sister and daughter pointedly. "If not for your sakes then for…" she looked at Dawn, "…my niece…" she turned and looked at Piper, "…and my granddaughter. All this stress is not good for the babies."
"Mom's right," Paige agreed as Piper and Dawn walked over to a couch and lay down.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Buffy and Phoebe stood in the attic reading through a spell Paige had written. "This is really good." Buffy said as she noticed her youngest daughter pacing back and forth in anticipation. "Adding Eastern thinking to Western wicca."
"It should definitely break through the sea hag's protective charms," Phoebe added as Paige's cell phone rang for the umpteenth time. "Are you going to answer your phone?"
"Uh, no, it's my boss," Paige replied knowing who was calling without looking. "I've been gone all afternoon."
"Okay, then can we turn it off?" Buffy asked.
"Do you think it's possible to get promoted and fired on the same day?" Paige wondered.
"You got…" Buffy started as Phoebe interrupted.
"Paige, please," Phoebe begged, "just turn off the phone."
Paige sighed. "You know, maybe in our new destiny this job just isn't meant to be."
"Okay," Phoebe said as she grabbed the phone and slammed it onto the table.
"Okay, interesting. Phoebe?" Buffy said a frown creasing her face.
"Mm." Phoebe said, slightly distracted.
"What is going on?" Buffy asked with a tone of concern.
Phoebe sighed as she glanced at Paige who nodded. "He's back."
"Cole?" Buffy asked knowing it was the only person her daughter truly wanted to get away from. "He's back in town?"
"Yes," Paige said as pulled a letter opened out of her purse and handed it to Buffy. Buffy could see that the end of it had been eaten away as if by acid. "That's his blood. Blood is not supposed to do that."
"You stabbed him?" Buffy asked.
Paige nodded. "Yeah."
"He wants me back." Phoebe sighed looking at her mother. "He wants me back and I just want to run. As fast and far as I can. I swear, if I had your power, Paige, I would orb myself to a rock in the middle of the sea. He has put me through so much and I just, I don't want to go through it again."
"Okay, running is not the answer," Buffy told her daughter. "Don't give him that power over you. You have built a great life for yourself."
"That doesn't matter." Phoebe looked at her mother with sad eyes. "I'm too tired to fight him. And I don't even know if I could. He's got all these new demonic powers now."
"You know what? Turn your anger towards the sea hag," Paige suggested. "After we deal with her Mom and I'll test Cole's blood and come up with a magic way to keep him from you, okay?"
Phoebe looked between Paige and Buffy and smiled in appreciation. "Okay. Thank you." She pulled first Paige and then Buffy into her arms and hugged them both tightly. "Let's see if this spell that you wrote works, Paige. I will go find Piper."
"Oh, Piper. I'm kind of worried about her and Aunt Dawn," Paige admitted.
"You aren't the only one," Buffy agreed looking at her daughters. "I think you both agree that they picked the worst time to come up with a massive demon phobia. Since it's a Power of Three spell do you both think Piper is going to be able to help you both with the sea hag?"
"Well, I think pregnancy is an emotional time and anything can happen." Phoebe said.
"Hence why I asked," Buffy said as Piper and Dawn joined them.
"Both Aunt Dawn and I'll be fine," Piper said having heard the end of the conversation. "Okay, let's go, we've got a job to do."
"You sure you're up to it?" Buffy asked with a touch of concern.
"Well, I don't have a choice," Piper replied. "It's a power of three spell, right?" She motioned from herself to Phoebe and finally Paige. "One, two, three."
"Should we wait for Aunt Faith and Leo to find Craig before we go?" Phoebe suggested.
Dawn shook her head. "No, Mylie needs us now," she said as Buffy handed Piper a copy of Paige's spell.
"Okay, if the spell works, it should take us straight to the sea hag," Paige said. "Then if we need Mom and Aunt Dawn I will orb back for them."
"Powers of the witches rise, find the hag who speaks in lies, balance chakras focus chi, lead us through the cruel, cruel sea," the Halliwell sisters chanted. For a moment nothing happened and then suddenly Phoebe fell to the floor as feet transformed into a mermaid tail.
"Oh." Paige and Buffy said in clear surprise.
Beach
Paige orbed in with Dawn, Buffy, Piper and Phoebe. Phoebe, who of course no longer had feet fell into the water. "Hey!" Phoebe yelled at her baby sister who had been holding onto her.
"Sorry," Paige apologized as Phoebe tried to stand, "couldn't hold you."
"Phoebe," Buffy said shaking her head, "you can't stand, you don't have legs."
"Okay, well, why me?" Phoebe said as she threw a little tantrum. "Why did I get the tail? Piper, Paige and I all said the spell together!"
Paige shrugged. "Maybe because you're the best swimmer?"
"Yeah, at the Y!" Phoebe reminded her sister. "But this is the ocean! It is very cold and I am allergic to shellfish!"
"Okay, forget that," Dawn said a tad bit irritated at her niece. "Do you sense the sea hag? Is she close?"
Phoebe shrugged. "How should I know?"
"Well, maybe if you put your head underwater," Piper suggested.
"And get my hair wet?" Phoebe asked in clear surprise at the suggestion.
"Phoebe," Piper admonished her sister, "you're a mermaid."
"You should be able to sense the sea hag," Buffy said. "Paige's spell worked just not the way she likely envisioned it."
Phoebe nodded as she held her nose and dove underwater just as Faith orbed in standing in the water. "L and I found Craig," Faith said. "He is on a plane on his way to New York. L is waiting for my call to bring him." She looked down at her soggy feet." Why am I standing in the ocean?"
"Phoebe's a mermaid," Dawn told her wife.
Faith did a double take. "A mermaid?" she said as Dawn nodded. "Take it a spell to track the sea hag."
"Yep," Buffy replied.
It was then that Phoebe poked her head out of the water. "Woohoo! Dive in! The water's great," she said excitedly.
"Phoebe, get back here this instant!" Piper yelled at her middle sister.
Phoebe dove back under the water and popped back up next to them in about a second flat. "The call of the sea's intense," she said. "Just like Mylie said it was."
"Well, ignore it. Did you find the sea hag?" Dawn asked.
"Now that you mention it there was a stench under the water," Phoebe admitted.
"Could be the sewage treatment plant," Faith suggested motioning toward the large building in the distance.
"We'll take our chances," Buffy said, "follow the stench."
"How?" Phoebe asked.
"Get in touch with your inner fish. And then when you find the cavern, call for Paige or Aunt Faith and we will orb there." Piper said.
"Okay." Phoebe said as she dove under the water and sped away.
"That's actually the most fun I've seen Phoebe have since Cole died," Faith said.
"Which time?" Paige wondered.
"Good point," Faith said.
"Okay, you guys ready? T-minus sea hag and counting." Paige said.
"Piper, have you got the power of three spell?" Buffy asked but received no answer. She looked at her eldest daughter with concern. "Sweetie, are you okay?"
Piper nodded, "I'm fine. Everything's under control."
"She's calling," Faith said. Everyone took hold of her and as she orbed out. Dawn and Piper let go and sat down on a rock, clearly frightened.
Sea Hag's Cavern
Buffy, Faith and Page orbed in. They saw that Mylie lay half out of the water with a shell attached to her chest. Phoebe was the first to notice that Piper and Dawn weren't with them. "Where's Aunt Dawn and Piper?" she asked.
"Dawn let go of my hand." Buffy said.
"Piper let go of mine," Paige said.
The sea hag materialized out of nowhere and threw a water ball at them. They ducked out of the way missing it just in time.
"Enough with the water. Shell!" Paige called out as the shell orbed of Mylie's chest and into her hand. As they looked at Mylie they saw a bloody spot on Mylie's chest.
The sea hag flicked her arm and seaweed appeared tightly around Paige and Buffy. Paige dropped the shell into the water and Phoebe dove down under the surface of the water to retrieve the shell.
Faith reached behind her back and unsheathed a sword that had been strapped there. She swung it at the sea hag who disappeared became water for a second before solidifying again into human form. The sea hag threw a water ball at Faith who was instantly trapped in a column of water.
It was then that Phoebe jumped out of the water and threw the shell at the sea hag. The shell landed on the sea hag's chest and second later she turned to dust as she was vanquished. Faith, Buffy and Paige immediately find themselves freed with the sea hag's death.
"Is everyone okay?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah," Faith and Paige said, nodding.
"No," Buffy said as she knelt beside Mylie. She checked for a pulse and found it to be weak. "No, she's dying. Leo," she called out as Leo orbed in. "Can you heal her?"
Leo looked around and spotted Mylie and rushed over to her. He held his hands over Mylie's wound but nothing happened. "It's no use, she's not human," he said as Faith orbed out.
"She should've stayed in the water," Phoebe said. "She could've avoided all of this."
"Can we stay positive please?" Buffy ordered her daughter as Faith orbed in with Craig.
"Get your hands off me!" Craig shouted as he tried to break free of Faith's Slayer grip. As Faith released him he looked around and found himself no longer in the airplane restroom. "What, what just happened? Where am I?"
"Somewhere off the north Atlantic would be my gut instinct," Phoebe told him.
"How... What... Who are you people?" Craig asked, taking a step back.
"Witch," Paige said.
"Angel," Leo said.
"Witch-Slayer." Buffy said.
"Witch-Whitelighter-Slayer," Faith said.
"Mermaid." Phoebe said.
Paige glared at Phoebe. "Don't you mean witch?"
"I know this is hard to accept, but all that matters is she's dying and you can help her," Leo said as he noted Craig was looking at Mylie.
"What can I do?" Craig asked.
"Tell her how you feel. Your love can save her." Buffy told him.
"My love?" Craig scoffed. "How can I love her? I mean, look at her. She's got a..."
"Really beautiful heart," Faith told him.
"Now you know what she is," Phoebe added, "but who she is, you've always known that."
"I do love you..." Craig said to Mylie as her tail morphed into very human legs.
Leo quickly took off his jacket and handed it to Craig who covered Mylie's naked body. Leo then knelt down and held his hands over Mylie as the healing golden glow began to heal the former mermaid.
Mylie woke and looked up into Craig's eyes and smiled. Craig leaned down and kissed her passionately. She looked at Faith, Leo, Paige, Piper and Buffy. "Thank you," she told them. "Thank you for everything."
"Okay, I hate to cut this short but I can sense Piper's panic," Leo said.
"And I can sense Dawn's," Faith added.
"I think we should get back to them," Leo continued as he, Faith, Buffy and Paige walked over to Phoebe. "And let her know that everything's alright. He held out his hand toward the middle Halliwell sister. "Phoebe, take my hand, I'll orb you back."
Phoebe swam back away from her family. "Nope, I'm staying in the ocean," she told them.
"Okay, just meet us back at the beach," Paige told her sister. "You swim so fast you'll probably beat us there anyway."
Phoebe shook her head. She wasn't going back. This was the only way to get away from Cole for good. "No, I'm staying in the ocean, I'm not going back."
"I don't understand." Buffy said with concern for her daughter.
"Mom, it's everything that Mylie said it was. It's complete freedom." Phoebe said.
"The call of the sea," Mylie explained looking at Phoebe in understanding. "It'll turn her heart cold if she lets it."
"Okay, Phoebe, get out of the water," Leo ordered his sister-in-law.
"No," Phoebe said as swam even further back away from them.
"Phoebe, take my hand," Buffy pleaded. "Please, fight it!"
Phoebe shook her head. "I don't want to fight it, Mom. I just want to be free." She dove under the water and quickly swam away from them.
"Phoebe Johanna Halliwell!" Buffy called out after her daughter.