Charmed

Life Do-Over

Chapter Two

"Something awful must've happened to you, huh?" Weird-Phoebe asked, stroking Piper's hair. "You're talking a bunch of nonsense! We haven't seen or heard from Leo in nearly four years, you're married to Dan, how could you forget that? Whoever this Wyatt is, you have a beautiful two-year-old daughter named Peyton. As for me killing Cole, and becoming the Queen of Evil and all those horrible things you just said about him…I don't have a clue what you're talking about, and it's a scary thought. Prue's not dead, Paige doesn't live with us, my hair's been like this for a long time now, you've forgotten about my three-year-old, Potter, and"

Phoebe continued to talk, trying as hard as she could to keep up with all that she needed to say. However, Piper had stopped listening to her at hearing the name "Potter". It was a name Piper didn't particularly like too much. She remembered when they were trying to decide a name for her son Wyatt, and were struggling to come up with a decent name beginning with a "P". Phoebe had rambled on and on about all of the "no" names, and told Piper and Leo to consider Potter as a name.

Now, here was Phoebe, with a little boy of her own…Potter. Piper did remember when Phoebe was pregnant with a sonbut that was when Cole made her the Queen of all evil. Then the Seer had taken it from her, strange as that was. But it was all in the past.

"Piper, are you listening?" Phoebe shook Piper's shoulders, trying to make her snap out of her daze. Piper looked up and said, "This is wrong, Phoebe. Everything is wrong! I remember everything that's happened in my life, all that you're telling me is just crazy! I was sucked into a vortex! For all I know, you're a demon!"

A demon. Phoebe hadn't once considered that her sister wasn't her sister. No matter what she'd just gone through, how could it possibly have wiped out all of her memories and replaced them with new ones? It was time to give Piper a little quiz. "Piper, what's our mom's name?"

"What, are you crazy? Why are you asking me that, it has nothing to do with this situation!" This was just great. Phoebe, the demon, was accusing Piper of being the demon! She stood up, ready to explode the demon and find a way back home.

"Piper, stop! Look, if you're not a demon and you really are my sister, just answer the question. Humor me," Phoebe said, doing a horrible job of hiding her suspicion. Piper sighed. Perhaps she would quiz "Phoebe" afterward. "Patricia," she said, crossing her arms.

Too simple. Phoebe had to go deeper. "Who was the first in our line of witches?"

"Melinda Warren," Piper replied without hesitation.

Phoebe remained unconvinced. Nearly every demon after the Charmed Ones knew about their family heritage. It was time to ask some personal questions. "Who stole my leather boots?" Piper thought a moment. "Which ones?" she asked, wanting to giggle at some of the memories that popped into her head. But were they real? What if everything Piper knew was wrong? What if her entire life had been a mere five-minute dream?

"My very first pair: the ones that I got in 6th grade, they zipped up the side," Phoebe answered, beginning to suspect that this was the real Piper. As Piper began to laugh, Phoebe became even more certain. "Martin took them! He was your third boyfriend, was so cute in the face and had a nice buttthat was why you liked himand he had such tiny feet that those boots almost fit him. Oh God, Phoebes, I'd completely forgotten about him. It took you four weeks to get him to go out with you, and finally he agreed. Turns out he was gay!"

The two shared a laugh, Phoebe's cheeks turning red, and for a split second Piper truly believed that everything was okay. Her supposed past and being sucked into a vortex was a mere nightmare. Wouldn't that be great? Apparently in this reality Prue wasn't dead. The thought seemed so wonderful Piper thought she would cry. She even had a little girl, and Phoebe hadn't gone through the heartbreak of losing Cole…and getting him back and losing him again.

"Piper, what's the matter?" Phoebe asked.

Piper looked Phoebe in the eye. "So Prue is…alive?" Phoebe nodded, wondering what could have made Piper believe that her sister was dead. "Well, where is she?" Piper asked, longing to see her again after so long. "Oh, she's at work," Phoebe said simply. Piper felt jealous of this Phoebe, for she was able to act so nonchalantly at the subject of Prue because she'd never known the pain of losing her.

"And what about Paige? Why doesn't she live with us?"

"Well, when we met her, she was extremely shocked at learning of who she was, which is only natural. But it's called the Power of Three, not the Power of Four. She went demon-hunting with us and stuff, but she was more interested in learning about her Whitelighter side. She decided to quit learning witchcraft and become a full-time Whitelighter. …She does visit from time to time, though."

Piper only wished she believed Phoebe. She wanted to keep asking questions, but more than that she wanted to go home. "And you're telling me I'm married to Dan? I haven't seen him in forever! But how's that possible? He didn't like that we were witches," Piper said, pushing her homesick feeling away for a moment longer.

"Of course, Piper! You two were meant to be together. And as for us being witches, he was a little shaken at first but he got over it and now he's used to it. He could have left but he didn't because he loved you," Phoebe replied.

Piper thought of Dan, a love from the past (her real past), and knew that Phoebe was trying to make her remember marrying him. But it just made her think of Leo again, and she knew that the feelings she once had for Dan were dead.

Phoebe sighed. "Piper, what do I have to do to make you remember? Isn't any of what I'm saying to you ringing a bell?" She stood up, filled with impatience and frustration. "I'm going to hunt down the damn demon that did this to you. You just stay put and think or something. Drink some coffee." She stormed upstairs and Piper tried to understand what she'd been told so far, although it was too much to swallow at once, when there was a knock on the door.

Well, I guess this is technically my house, so I suppose I can answer the door, Piper thought, feeling silly about the thought. She opened the door and there stood Dan. "Piper, there you are," he said, pulling her into a hug. "I thought you'd be here since you weren't at home." He held her for a while in the hug, and Piper only wished he'd let go. "Home?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know, our house," Dan said, giving Piper a strange look. Suddenly a brown-haired toddler stumbled behind his leg. "Oh, she's so cute," Piper said, "Is she yours?" Dan looked shocked at Piper as the child mumbled "Mommy" and reached for Piper. Then Piper remembered Phoebe's words, "…you have a beautiful two-year-old daughter named Peyton…"

"Oh, Peyton," Piper said. "Sorry, I uh, forgot," Piper whispered even though she knew it didn't make any sense. Then again, nothing was making sense. Dan continued to stare and Peyton waited for a hug. Piper felt as if she were going to panic. "No!" she shouted. "This is not my life!" She ran upstairs, away from her new family, her new life, her new lie. The Book of Shadows had to have a way to get her out of this perfect hell.