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Chapter Twenty-One

Hexagram: The Divine and Earthly Planes

November 9th, 2003

The Manor, San Francisco

When Kate was nine, she was given the boxset of a series called the Old Kingdom by her grandfather for her birthday present. Kate had been a voracious reader, and after hearing a friend of Victor's describe the plot, he had thought that she would enjoy it.

He had been right. While probably a bit too mature for a girl her age, and though incorrectly portrayed magic usually irritated her (she had refused to read more than the first book of Harry Potter, despite its' popularity), she had been entranced by Garth Nix's books. The stories had all held contained a gritty, realistic air, at least they were realistic to someone who knew that monsters under the bed really did exist. Unlike most children's books, none of the Abhorsen series shied away from acknowledging that pain and death were a part of life. In fact, they preached about accepting loss and death, not shying away out of fear.

The saying Nix had made up and was so important to the books, 'does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?', had always stuck with Kate, growing up as she did in a family of prophesized heroes who fought to live their lives the way they wanted, not the way the Angels of Destiny wanted them to.

Later on, she related even more to the books. Like the title characters of the series, Sabriel and Lirael, Kate had been the inheritor of responsibilities she didn't want or feel ready for. Like them, she had decided to accept them anyway, because someone had to do it, and if Kate didn't take action, billions would suffer for her selfishness. Like them, death had become as familiar to her as the palm of her hand.

And like Sabriel, Kate had been lucky enough to find a man who accepted her completely. One who understood that her duty came first and foremost to her, and one who helped to anchor her and keep her head above the water when it felt as if she was drowning in an ocean of the blood spilled by her brother.

One who was lying silently on her mother's couch, having made the 'ultimate sacrifice' for her to live.

She reached out and traced his pale jaw. His usually tanned skin was a ghostly white. His eyelashes fluttered rapidly, and his chest rose and fell too quickly to be the result of a natural sleep.

She sighed exhaustedly, scrubbing at the side of her face grimly.

Piper had stayed with her for most of the night, comforting her like her mom had when she was sick as a child, until she had been forced to go to attend to Baby Wyatt's loud crying for attention.

Leo had orbed away soon after their return, called by the Elders to yet another meeting. At any other time, Kate probably would have sneered contemptuously at how quickly he left his supposedly beloved family to attend to the Elders' wants, but right then she was too relieved not to be forced to put up with him as well as everything else she could have orbed him back to the Heavens herself.

Paige, Phoebe and Cole were all off at work, and Kate didn't know where the good version of her brother was. She didn't want to know either. If she saw him right then, with Niko still unconscious from wounds Lord Wyatt had given him, her tightly controlled temper would probably snap like a fraying thread, and she would kill him.

Noticing a lock of her fiancé's hair had fallen and was now covering his eye, she reached out again to sweep it out of the way. As she pulled back, his eyelids flickered open, freezing her in place. It felt as if she would wake from a dream if she dared to move.

Niko's whiskey-coloured eyes darted rapidly around the room, as her's did whenever she first opened them or entered a different room, checking for exits and enemies or allies.

When the Phoenix had established he was not, as he had no doubt expected upon realizing that he was still alive, being held captive in Wyatt's dungeons, he began attempting to lever himself up. She sighed and rolled her eyes but stood to help him sit up straight. Like pretty much everyone in the Resistance, Niko was an awful patient, and never waited until he was fully healed to leave the hospital and return to working. Not that they could afford for their fighters to be out of commission long enough for them to recover properly. Trying to subdue him would only mean that he would be outside of her supervision when his weakness overtook him and he fainted or whatever.

"What'd you do, Kate?" he asked. His voice was even and resigned. Apparently, he had accepted that his lover wouldn't let him get away with upsetting her by dying to save her life. No, Kate had chosen to make him live, and suffer the never-ending problems that came hand-in-hand with being alive.

"I saved your life, you ungrateful son of a bitch," she snapped at him. Now that it was established that he was going to be fine, her temper rose.

Niko rolled his eyes, recognizing what was coming. Knowing that he would only stroke her rage if he dared to say anything, he elected to remain silent and ride out the furious tirade Kate used to cover her hurt and fear.

"What the fuck were you thinking, you goddessdamned selfish asshole?" She snarled, squeezing her fists to try and stop the sparks of fire and lightning darting around her fingers. "Trying to take the Source of All Evil's powers? Are you completely fucking insane or just plain suicidal?"

He didn't say anything in reply and she didn't give him the chance. She rose to her feet and began pacing furiously, clenching and unclenching her hands. Only a handful of people knew the Leader of the Resistance well enough to see the tears of pain and fear shimmering in her haunted green eyes.

"I mean, you've done some stupid stuff over the years, Niko," she continued. "But seriously, trying to take one Him? What were you thinking? Why didn't you leave fighting him to me?"

He literally bit his tongue to keep from defending himself or worsening her anger by reminding her that she had been without magic at the time. It would only upset her more. Best to ride things out in silence.

Finally, she stopped her rant, turning to glare at him. Her tears were so subtle that anyone who didn't know her well might think that they were nothing more the reflection of the light.

"You aren't allowed to do that," she croaked at him, jabbing a finger at him. It shook violently in the air, like she had arthritis. "You aren't allowed to die for me! It's not fair, why do people keep sacrificing themselves for me? I'm not worth it, I'm not! But people, good fucking people keep fucking dying so I won't and you can't do that! Mom, Sarah, Brian Michaels, Jordan Lu-"

He cut her off by standing and covering her mouth with his, holding her roughly just above the neck. He would never touch her actual neck, not after the time Declan had been forced by a spell to choke her and she had stabbed him, killing one of her best friends. But it was just above, stopping her from moving away from his rough kiss.

Once her wild tension had eased slightly, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. The tears had finally broken free and spilled down her thin cheeks in tiny rivers. They were so close that he could see the flecks of blue in the eyes that seemed to be pure green when looked at from a distance.

"Yes, I can die for you," he whispered insistently. "And I would. Without hesitation. Because yes you are worth it. You're worth the world to me, Angel. You were worth the world to your mother as well. Sarah, everyone who died for you. They all believed in you. I believe in you."

"I'm going insane," she breathed to him. There was a shattered look in her eyes. Niko had known for almost as long as he had known Kate that she was on the verge of breaking. Now, he feared that being in the past, surrounded by strangers who wore the faces of her lost family, she had finally broken.

"Then I'll go with you," he promised. She let out a watery laugh, a hint of hysteria still lacing it as she pulled away and rubbed away her tear streaks impatiently.

"Kate," Niko met her gaze seriously. She grimaced, evidently knowing what he was going to say. "What is Wyatt doing here? And why is he-?" he paused, unable to actually say the words. Even though that was the whole point of Kate time travelling, he couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him.

She exhaled heavily, shoulders slumping and casting a quick look at the door to ensure they weren't being eavesdropped on.

"Okay," she agreed. "I'll tell you what I know. Let's sit down."

Neither of them had noticed Piper, who had arrived at the door just in time to hear that she died saving her youngest child. Face paler than a ghost's, the eldest Charmed One raced back upstairs to her bedroom to have her own breakdown. But, unlike her daughter, Piper didn't have anyone to comfort her as she grieved at the thought of not seeing her children grow and as she grieved for her baby's innocence, lost the moment Future Piper's eyes went blank.

October 27th, 2016 (unchanged future)

The Manor, San Francisco

Kate scoffed and tore the note (not even a proper letter or a card, just a simple post-it saying he was sorry and he'd see her tomorrow instead. Bastard, failed excuse for a parent.) into pieces and dumped them in the bin.

"I'm sorry, Peanut," Piper sighed, an unhappy twist to her mouth.

"I don't care," Kate claimed, shrugging with false bravado. Truthfully, she did care, but it was more because Leo was the perfect father to Wyatt but couldn't even spare two minutes to apologize to her in person on her birthday for missing her special day. Why was Wyatt the perfect child, and she the failure?

Piper obviously saw right through her daughter, but she said nothing, not wanting to worsen the mood. "Want to lick the bowl?" she offered instead, a mischievous smile on her face. "Just because it's your birthday."

Kate grinned, bouncing forward and accepting the bowl, the remnants of the red velvet cake covering the sides intermittently. That was the moment that all hell broke loose.

In later years, Kate would never quite remember everything. She remembered the loud clang of the metal bowl falling to the floor when Piper grabbed her and dragged her to the ground, just in time to avoid an energy ball that would have hit her right in the centre of her back.

She remembered Piper shoving her under the table after they realized that Kate's orbing wasn't working. "Stay here and stay quiet!" Piper ordered her, brown eyes grim. Only minutes had passed since she had offered the bowl to her daughter, but already the kitchen contained at least twenty demons.

"I can help," Kate protested.

"No!" Piper snapped. "If you're involved, I'll be distracted protecting you," she reasoned. Kate bit her lip and gave a reluctant nod. "Don't worry, Baby," Piper smiled and gave her a brief kiss on the forehead before leaping up to face the invading force. "Everything will be alright."

Kate didn't remember the majority of the fight, though she knew she spent the whole time pleading for her Aunt Paige, her brother, even Leo, to come and help them. But the only clear part was the end of the battle.

Somehow, the table she had been cowering under was blown away, forcing Kate to fight for her life against a numerically, if not strategically superior foe. Piper turned just in time to see an energy ball being thrown toward her daughter's unprotected back and she reacted just like every mother whose child was in danger would.

She flung herself between the deadly projectile and her daughter, knocking Kate roughly to the floor just as the blue electricity hit her straight in the side of her chest. The demons took advantage of her stumbling to fling another dozen at her, the majority of which hit their target and made her collapse on top of a shrieking Kate.

The demons, knowing their objective had been achieved, let out malicious laughs and shimmered away, while Kate scrambled out and turned her mother over.

"Mom!" she cried, eyes wide with horror. "Oh, goddess, no! Mom, Mom please! Wyatt! Aunt Paige! Dad! Someone, anyone, please!"

"No one...coming," Piper panted. "Ward...blocking orbs!"

"No, no, no," Kate sobbed hysterically. "Oh, goddess. Heal, heal, why can't I heal? Mom, please don't do this! Please don't leave me!"

"'m sorry," Piper gasped.

"No, don't be sorry, just stay," the young girl wept. "Please!"

"I love...you!"