Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed. If I did, I would be publishing this and making money from it! This is purely a plot idea in my head and I do not intend to make any money from it.

AN: Okay. So now that I've made the lawyers happy…On with the story!! Please read and review! Lexi (my muse) really lives for getting reviews

Chapter 11.

The Balance Restored

The women lay in the clearing for about an hour before deciding to head back to the manor. Finally, Piper sighed and said, "We'd better get back. Leo will be wondering where we are. Plus, it's time for you guys to see your men!"

Four of the Daughters smiled at that. Kesia had the brightest smile on her face. "I'm so glad that David is okay. I know that I am in love with him. I'm just not looking forward to the conversation I get to have with him." She scrunched her nose at the thought of the difficult conversation that lay ahead. She took a moment and quickly released the shield protecting the area. "Okay. The shield is gone. Paige, can you orb us all back to the manor or do you need Leo to help us?"

Paige thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure I can do it. I've regained my strength. Everyone join hands."

The women joined hands and within a moment, all of the women were standing in the living room of the manor."

Four of the five men currently seated in the living room jumped at their arrival. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" exclaimed David. Then he got a good look at the women, who all had various scratches and bruises on their bodies. "Kesia? Is that really you?"

Kesia smiled. "Yes, David. It's me." She looked at all the men in return. "I'm glad you are all here. We need to talk."

"Yes, we do," said a very subdued Darren. "Kim? What the hell is going on?"

Kim took a deep breath at the anger and hurt that was evident in his voice. "We'll explain. I promise. First, we need to all introduce ourselves."

Keahi smiled softly. "Okay. We'll start with all the women. I'm Keahi, I'm the youngest. On my right is Kim," she said as she pointed. "Next to her is Kansas, then Kai, then Kesia." Then she turned to introduce the Charmed Ones. "On my left is Paige, then Phoebe and next to her is Piper."

The guys nodded. David was the spokesman for the men. "I'm David. That's Mark, Ben and Darren," he stated as he pointed out the guys. "Now can we get our explanation?"

Kesia drew in a deep breath, as the women grabbed seats anywhere they could. "Okay. Let me go back to the beginning. Do any of you know who Gaia is?"

David was the only one who nodded his head. "According to mythology, she is the immortal that is responsible for the creation of the Earth, sky and stars. She also gave birth to the Titans and then the Greek gods."

Kesia raised her eyebrows at his quick, concise answer. "Correct, except it's not mythology. It's real. Anyway, after the fall of the Titans, Gaia decided that she did not want to be immortal anymore. So she came down to Earth, mated with a warlock and gave birth to five Daughters. One of who would be destined to take her place when she was ready to…retire, I suppose. The Daughter, who was chosen, is our mother. Her name was Aqua before she became the new Gaia."

Keahi decided to pick up from then. "It is required that before the new Gaia is chosen that the Daughters live on Earth, to gain experience. While Aqua was on Earth, she made a rather bad enemy. It was a water demon named Nen. He was attracted to her power and when she basically kicked him to the curb, he got pissed."

"Really pissed," said Kai. "He tied his life-force to hers, so that as long as she lived, so did he. Mother was chosen to become Gaia. Now, almost five thousand years later, she is ready to retire. So she had all of us."

Kansas nodded. "We've been coming down to Earth, one at a time, to gain experience. What we didn't know was that Nen would attack us once Keahi got here. He wanted to kill all of us to gain the power of the Earth."

Kim laughed. "Which, of course, is completely stupid since no man can control the power of the Earth. Earth will only accept a woman as a master, hence Mother Earth."

David nodded in understanding, while the other men looked confused. "I see, he thought that by killing you, he would weaken Gaia and gain her power."

"Exactly," said Kesia, impressed by his deduction. "What we didn't know was that he was tracking our movements. We did not realize that you guys would be in danger or we would have put protection spells on you."

Darren looked a little dazed. "Okay. I don't get it. If what you are saying is true, and not some psychotic break in all y'alls personalities, then why didn't you tell us?"

Kim rolled her eyes a little. "And how would you have reacted if I had told you that I'm a witch?"

"I would have packed you off to the nearest psychiatric hospital. I still don't believe you." He got up and walked around the couch. "Look. I can't deal with this. I need to go. How do I get home from here?"

Kim looked a little shocked that he was leaving. "You're in San Francisco. Unless you have money for a plane ticket, you're staying for a while."

Darren felt his temper snap. "Fine, whatever. I'm getting away from all you crazy people." Will that statement, he walked up the stairs and disappeared.

Kim watched him leave with pain evident in her eyes. Her eyes glistened as she walked into the kitchen.

Phoebe watched her go with a feeling of empathy. She looked at the other women and said, "Let me go talk to her." She turned to Leo and said, "Leo? Can you go check on Darren?"

Leo smiled. "Of course. He's just having a hard time dealing with this. It's a lot to take in."

Phoebe smiled. "I know. Just make sure that he is okay." She turned and followed Kim into the kitchen.

Everyone else was silent for a moment. Piper looked at the couples. "Why don't you guys split up and spend some time talking one on one? I think that will help you come to terms with what has happened.

Kesia met Piper's gaze. "Good idea." She turned to David and said, "David? Why don't we go outside in the back yard?" David nodded his agreement and they walked out the back entrance hand in hand.

Kai held her hand out to Ben and together they walked into the sitting room, while Kansas took a seat across from Mark.

When Kesia and David got outside, they decided to sit on the patio. She looked at him. "I don't get it. All of you guys should be freaking out over everything that has happened. Why aren't you?"

David smiled. "Me, personally? I've suspected something. There is a reason that I know all about Gaia. Magic is present in my family. It just skips generations. My mother was a witch. She taught me everything that she knew, so that way I could teach my kids."

Kesia felt a light go on in her head. "Wait. When we graduated from the academy and you met, Casey, you gave me a strange look. What was that for?"

"Casey…" David laughed as he said that name. "I know that he is Kronos. I saw him when I was little. My mother used to call upon him to help her out. I'm sure he doesn't recognize me. I've changed a bit."

"Oh," said Kesia. "Is she still alive? What power did she have?"

David felt himself grow nostalgic. "She died when I was fifteen. A demon killed her. She controlled time."

"I'm sorry. You know, you might talk to Piper if you have any questions about her power. Piper also controls time."

David smiled. "Not necessary. Mother taught me everything that she knew." He turned and grasped Kesia's chin lightly with fingers. "I think we've talked enough. I've missed you." He lowered his head and lightly caressed her lips with his own.

Ben followed Kai into the sitting room. Kai looked at him, a little uncertain. "So…"

"So…" Ben trailed off. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Okay. I'm trying to wrap my head around this. So basically, you guys are the daughters of Gaia. Magic exists."

Kai smiled at him. "Yeah. We basically represent each of the elements."

"I thought there were only four elements."

Kai smiled at him. "Nope. There are five. Earth, fire, wind, water and metal."

Ben looked at her. "So which element are you?"

Kai looked at him. "I'm water. Kesia is earth, Kansas…wind, Kim…metal and Keahi is fire."

"Oh." He looked at her. "So, all those time you were running off, was there something else going on?"

Kai nodded. "Yes. I was going to fight demons, to save innocents. That's what good witches do."

"Wait," said Ben. "Kai, you control water. Is that the reason you keep beating me at surfing?"

Kai laughed. "No. I don't use my powers for personal gain. I'm just a good surfer."

"Can you show me your power?"

"Sure." Kai concentrated on the glass of water in front of him. Slowly the water began to move upwards, out of the glass. She made the water swirl into a water spout and then slowly lowered the water back into the glass.

"Cool," Ben said with admiration in his voice.

"It's all right. It was a lot of hard work growing up. To have so much power that can be easily corrupted…I really admire Mother for the way she raised us. She taught us so much, but didn't try to force us to choose a side. She let us make our own decisions."

"It should like you had a really great life growing up. I'm kinda jealous about that. I had an okay childhood, but my parents wanted to dictate my life. That's why I work at the marina. It's my form of rebellion."

Kai nodded. She leaned forward and grasped his hand and they continued to talk about growing up. Kai felt a sense of relief at being completely honest with him for the first time since they met.

Kansas looked at Mark. "I'm sorry. I should have been honest with you, but it's just such huge issue. I wanted to…be normal."

Mark nodded. "I understand that. I'm just a little hurt that you would continually lie to me. I'll be honest. I'm still in a little bit of shock. I never even imagined that things like this existed in the real world. I thought it was all fantasy."

Kansas laughed. "Most people that I know react the same way. I'm just beating myself up that I didn't come clean when I had to leave."

Mark nodded. "Yeah. Just a note saying that you had to leave to help out a sister was a little…"

"Rude?"

"I really didn't want to say that, but yeah. It was a little rude. Look. I promise that I will not react like Darren, but I'll need some time to really process this once we get home."

Kansas nodded, her heart saddening a little bit. "I'm okay with that. As long as you don't run screaming from me, I'll be all right."

Mark laughed. "I can promise you that I won't run screaming. Why don't you tell me what it's like being a witch?"

"That I can do," Kansas said as she settled back into the chair.

Leo followed Darren up into Phoebe's room. He knocked softly before entering. "Darren? Are you okay?"

Darren turned, still furious. "No, I'm not okay. My girlfriend, whom I love, is a freak! She's lied to me for the entire time that I've known her and because of her, I got kidnapped by something that is worse than even my worst nightmare. Why would I be okay?"

Leo nodded, understanding his rage. "Those are all valid points. Look. I can tell you why I think that she lied to you, but you really need to talk to Kim about this. Do you know what it's like to grow up being different?"

Darren nodded. "Yes, I do. I was adopted into a very small community, who pointed out how different I was every single day."

Leo sighed. "That's a little like it, but she has had to grow up with a huge responsibility on her shoulders. Look. One of the Five Daughters is going to be chosen as a new Gaia. Do you know what at entails?"

Darren just shrugged his shoulders.

Leo took that as a sign to continue. "That means that one of them will have to leave whatever life they have built here on Earth and become part of the Earth. She will be responsible for protecting all nature. She will also have to become neutral in all fights between good and evil. That's the rule. Earth and Time have to be neutral."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not a liberty to go into specifics, but ask Kim to tell you about what happened after her mother was chosen to be Gaia."

Darren sighed. "I'm so confused."

Leo laughed softly. "Then you are human. Let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you love Kim? Can you imagine your life without her?"

Darren thought about those questions for a couple of minutes. "Yes and no, I can't."

"Then be patient and ask Kim to explain her life to you. I know this for a fact. If her feelings are anything like yours, she would have come clean eventually. Go talk to her. She's in the kitchen."

When Phoebe walked into the kitchen, she found Kim sitting at the island, her shoulders shaking in her tears. "Kim? It will be okay. He'll come to his senses."

Kim looked up as Phoebe sat next o her. "You think? I feel so bad. If I had just been honest with him, he would not have gotten into this position."

Phoebe looked at her. "Look. You can't beat yourself up for something that you had no control over. You can not predict the future! Even though I have the gift for premonitions, I can't always predict what is going to happen. The future is fluid. It changes with very single decision we make. You could have told him and he might still have been kidnapped. When he calms down, talk to him."

"Can it be that simple?"

Phoebe laughed. "The matters of the heart are never simple, but yeah. Sometimes it just takes a step and I think that all of you are due for a little honesty."

Phoebe was about to continue when Kronos appeared.

Kim looked at him. "Kronos? What's going on?"

He smiled. "I want to talk to everyone, including the guys."

Kronos waited patiently while the group of thirteen people reassembled in the living room.

Kesia smiled as she saw him sitting down. "Hey, Kronos."

"Hi, Earth shaker. How are you?"

"I'm good. What's going on?"

"I'll explain when everyone is here." He turned to David. "Nice to actually get to meet you, David." Kronos smiled at him. "Your mother was a very special person. It's not often that someone who has the power to control time actually calls on me for help. When they do, I make it my business to get to know them and their families." He turned to the women once they had assembled. "I'm here because your mother wants to see you. I'm here to take all of you back to the fortress."

Keahi looked at him. "Just us Daughters or everyone?"

"Everyone. Including the guys. I'm here to bring you all up there."

"Why?" asked Leo.

"That's for her to reveal. Is everyone ready?" At the confused nods, he continued, "If everyone will hold hands, I'll take everyone up there."

Everyone grasped hands and soon they were standing in Gaia's fortress. The kidnapped men stared in awe at the white marble that made up the entryway.

"Wow," said David. "This is amazing."

The Daughters just smiled as they heard a door opening.

"My Daughters!" Gaia cried out in joy. The women ran to each other and held each other close in a group hug. "I'm so glad that you are all safe. I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell you everything about Nen. It's against the rules. This was your test to see who would be ready to become Mother Earth."

Keahi drew back at her comment. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the time is right for me to retire. One of you is to be chosen within the next week to become Gaia. That is the reason that I called you all up here today. You, my daughters, need time to prepare for the ceremony. I also wanted to talk to the Charmed Ones and your young men." Gaia looked up at the group of eight people who were watching them silently.

:Daughters? Could you please leave us alone for a bit?: Gaia sent telepathically. The Daughters each nodded slightly and made their excuses to leave the room.

Piper saw through the guise. "You wanted to talk with us, Gaia?"

"Yes. I wanted to thank you, Phoebe and Paige for keeping my daughters safe. I gave you as many clues as I could and I'm glad that you were able to decipher them." She turned to the men. "I understand that you guys have had a rough time the last couple of days. I want to extend my apologies. It was my own arrogance that put myself into this situation. I am truly sorry that you were sucked into this mess."

The guys looked stunned; each stood there silently, unable for form a response.

Gaia looked at them. "I understand if you have not come to terms with everything that has happened, but I would like to extend you a courtesy."

David looked at her with a question in his eyes. "What kind of courtesy?"

"I want every single one of you to be present when the next Gaia is chosen. I truly believe that if my mother had done that for us, my sisters would not have been brutally murdered after I was chosen."

Darren caught the sadness in her voice at that. "What do you mean?"

Gaia sighed. "Well, after Nen tied his life to mine, he strove to find a way to unbalance me. In doing so, he corrupted each of my sister's husbands and through them…he sent demons to kill them. One each day after I was chosen. You see, their husbands had no knowledge of what kind of magic that they held. My sisters tried to tell them, to show them, but they didn't believe the kind of danger that they could be put in. From what I was able to gather, once the demon killed their husbands, they took on their form and killed my sisters in their sleep."

Darren looked shaken at the danger that not believing Kim could put him in and silently promised himself to try to understand.

David looked resolved to never let anything like that happen to Kesia and himself.

Both Mark and Ben looked shaken but determined.

Gaia smiled. "That's everything I wanted to say to you. Now, I say this. Go home. Go back to your lives. Try to process everything that has happened, but I will send Kronos for you in a week, on the Day of Choosing. I'll make sure that it doesn't coincide with anyone's schedules."

The four men nodded in shock, while Leo and the Charmed Ones looked on. Kronos walked over to them. "Let me take you back home. Leo, Piper, Phoebe and Paige, do you mind staying here until I get them home safely?"

Piper smiled. "Not a problem. Leo can also take us home."

"Of course. If I don't see you again, blessed be." With that blessing, Kronos and the four mortals disappeared from sight.

Paige looked at Gaia. "Why do you want us to be here?"

Gaia smiled. "If not for you, it's highly likely that my Daughters would be dead. It's the least I can do to repay you."

Phoebe rushed to answer her. "You don't owe us anything! The Source has been a thorn in our side for way to long. It was worth everything to defeat him."

Gaia nodded. "I still owe you a debt. Why don't you head back to the Manor? You three are up for a well deserved rest. I promise I will send Kronos for you when the time is right."

The Charmed Ones nodded. They grasped hands with Leo and soon were standing back in the Manor.

The Charmed Ones were ready when Kronos appeared. Silently they linked hands and prepared to leave. When they arrived at the fortress, Kronos left them in a large room with a pentagram tiled into the floor.

Phoebe looked around the room in amazement. "Wouldn't it be great to have workroom like this?"

Paige nodded her agreement. "It would. It's so spacious and I think that there are protection spells on it.

Piper was about to talk when Kronos showed back up with the guys. "Hi, guys. How are you doing? Have you processed everything yet?"

David nodded. "Yeah, but I have experience in this. My mother was a witch."

Piper laughed. "That helps. What about you Darren? I know that this completely freaked you out."

Darren looked at her. "I'm a little better. I'm still in a little shock, but I love Kim. I'm willing to accept her as she is."

Mark and Ben smiled. Ben patted him on the back. "So you did take the fall."

"What?"

"You just admitted that you love Kim," said Mark. "That's the first step in acceptance."

Darren laughed. "I've known that I've loved her since I first asked her out. I just finally understood why she lied to me."

Phoebe nodded. "Love conquers all," she quipped.

Darren was about to say more, when Gaia and Kronos entered the room. Gaia nodded to the assembly. "It's time," she stated simply.

Gaia and Kronos moved to the side of the door and the five Daughters walked in. Each was wearing a white Grecian inspired gown. They were accented by belts that each invoked the color of their elements. Each moved to a point on the pentagram.

Gaia began to speak in Latin. "EGO dico super vox of orbis terrarum. Terra, ventus, unda, incendia, quod metal. Is est vicis pro Choice. Terra est promptus parumper transitus. Cui should is veneratio peto?"

A bright light entered the room and a wind began to circle the daughters. The wind circled each daughter once and moved on. When the wind was done, Gaia began to chant again. "Quinque elementum exertus. Quod unus mos gero pallium de vox?"

The wind began to circle again. It finally settled around Keahi bringing with it the purest light. Gaia smiled. "Keahi, you've been chosen to be my successor."

The other four Daughters felt relief that they could go back to their life on Earth, while Keahi felt like she was in shock. "What? Me? Why?"

Gaia laughed. "My dear, you showed the most leadership of all of you. You managed to keep a clear head throughout the whole ordeal. In short, you reacted like I would have. That's why you were Chosen."

Keahi nodded. "I feel so much honor at being Chosen." She turned to her sisters. "I'm glad that it was me, though. You guys have lives down there. You have men who love you, who are willing to go the distance with you. That is a bigger honor than what I have."

The daughters nodded, with tears in their eyes. "We're going to miss you, little sis," said Kesia. The other girls nodded their agreement. "I was pretty sure that you would be the one Chosen. You were better at leading us then I was. Which is strange, since I'm the oldest."

Keahi laughed. "I'm going to miss you. All of you. I'll keep a watchful eye out for you."

Gaia cleared her throat. "If you'll excuse us, Keahi and I have quite a few things to discuss before she inherits my power. Kronos is available to take everyone home, when you want to go." Gaia extended her hand to Keahi and they both walked out of the room.

Kesia walked over to David. "I'm glad you came. Are you ready to go home?"

David smiled. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world. It's not every day that I get to see history being made. I'm ready whenever you are."

Kesia smiled when she saw the glint in his eyes. "Kronos? Can you take us back to New York, now?"

Kronos smiled. "Of course. Let's go."

Ben walked over to Kai and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You look fabulous."

Kai looked at him, her love shining from her eyes. "Thank you. How are you doing?"

Ben sighed. "I'm still a little freaked out about demons, but I admire you for helping people out. You're an inspiration for me. Actually, I've decided to open a center for inner city kids that will give them the experience of going deep sea fishing."

Kai looked at him in shock. "That's a great idea. That just makes me love you even more. Let's go walk in the gardens, until Kronos gets back."

Ben smiled and grabbed her hand for the short walk.

Mark watched as Kai and Ben walked out of the room. He took their happiness to heart and walked over to Kansas.

Kansas smiled as Mark walked over. He started to say something but she cut him off with an abrupt kiss. When she withdrew from him, he looked stunned and she smiled. "I know you have a lot to process, but I'm not going to let you do it alone."

"I…um…Okay. Just be honest with me from now on and we have a deal," Mark said. He didn't wait for her answer, he just drew her back into a kiss.

Kim watched the easy way that Mark and Kansas were with each other. She sighed, knowing that it was possible that Darren would never speak to her again. She kept her eyes on the floor, not willing to look at him and get her heart broken. She jumped when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked up and got lost in the emotion in Darren's eyes. "Darren?"

"Kim." Darren sighed as well. "I'm not going to pretend that we can just pick up where we left off. I think that I've changed as a person." He noticed that he was about to say something and placed a finger on her lips. "Let me finish."

Kim saw the struggle that he was going through and nodded her head in agreement.

"Anyway. I'm sorry about what I said to you after we were rescued. I was confused. I had no idea what was going on. Then you tell me that you were a witch. Something that I had never believed in. I lashed out and for that I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for feeling angry that you lied to me, but I let my temper get the better of me. But, I wanted to tell you that I'm over my anger. I want to start over with you. I know I love you and I have since the first day that I met you. Now I want to get know the real you."

Kim looked at him, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe that you can forgive me just like that. I'd love to start over with you." Kim started to laugh as she pulled out of his arms. She stuck out her hand and said, "Hi. My name is Kim. I'm one of the Daughters of Gaia and a witch. I fight to save innocent people from demons, so that they can have a good life. What's your name?"

Darren laughed, too. "My name is Darren. I'm the lead singer of a rock band in Dallas. Nice to meet you." They both started to laugh as they started to have the first honest conversation of their relationship.

Leo and the Charmed Ones looked on at the relationships that were budding around them. Piper looked at her sisters. "Everything is going to be alright now." She turned to Leo. "Let's go home now.

Leo smiled as they held hands. With the knowledge that a great evil was gone from the world and that the Earth had a good mistress, the orbed back to the manor.

Fini

AN: Updated 9/18/07 for grammatical and spelling errors.