Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed nor do I own anything related to Brooke Allison's song, "Say Goodbye." This takes place after the episode, "P3H2O."

Through the Years

Four: Say Goodbye

Once in every life
Someone steals your heart
And you are forever changed
Even when you must part
You find it hard to leave
The feelings aren't gone
But a voice inside is telling you
You can't hold on

So say goodbye
Oh I can't say that I won't cry
Cause I'm so glad
For everything we had
The good and bad
Say goodbye
Just look at me
You'll know that I­ still love you so
Even though we have to say goodbye

-Brooke Allison, "Say Goodbye"

"So now that I've finally cornered you, we can really talk," said Dan. He was grinning, and Piper tried to match his enthusiasm.

"Talk about what?" she asked.

"Everything," said Dan. "I want to know all about you. What's your favorite color? Did you ask for bedtime stories or lullabies when you were young? Best friends, stories... Everything, Piper."

"Everything," she said. "Right."

"When Phoebe was little she used to make up all these crazy stories," Piper said to Leo. They were lying in bed together; Leo was on his stomach with his head turned to face her, one of his arms splayed over her midsection. Piper didn't think she had ever been so comfortable.

"What kind of stories?" asked Leo. He smiled at her and Piper ducked her head, slightly embarassed.

"Crazy fairy tales," said Piper. "She had a real imagination."

"I can believe that," said Leo.

"They were always about the three of us, you know. She'd stick us in." Piper looked up at the ceiling, laughing at her own private memory.

"Girls, are you ready for bed?" Grams asked as she knocked on the door. Piper, who was eleven, called out affirmatively and Grams came into the room.

"Tell me a story, Grams!" said eight-year-old Phoebe. She was practically jumping up and down on the bed, just like every other night.

Grams smiled, but she seemed tired and sad tonight. Piper glanced at Prue for reassurance, but Prue was buried in whatever book she was reading for school. Even though she had her own room, Prue still came into Piper and Phoebe's room every night while Grams was tucking them in. There would soon come a night when Prue claimed she was too old for this, but on this night Piper was still content in her big sister's presence.

"Where are we in Anne of Green Gables?" asked Grams.

"No!" whined Phoebe. "Make up a story tonight!"

"Make up a story?" said Grams. "I don't know, Phoebe. Not tonight."

"Please," plead Phoebe. "I'll start it. Once upon a time there were three princesses. Their names were Victoria, Calandra and Eleanor."

Prue rolled her eyes, though she didn't lift her head from her book. Whenever Phoebe wanted a made up story she always used the same names: their middle names. At the time, Prue was going through a period where she hated her middle name because she had been named for her father. Eventually she would accept the name as her own, but that was many years away. Piper knew that it annoyed her endlessly that Phoebe insisted on using the name Victoria, but Phoebe had to have her way about this.

" Victoria was the oldest," Phoebe continued. "Calandra was in the middle and Eleanor was the baby. One day, an evil wit—" (Grams didn't like when they used witches as the antagonists, but Phoebe was almost always forgetting this fact) "—I mean demon took over the kingdom and locked the three princesses in a tower. Victoria and Calandra were very upset and they kept crying, but Eleanor told them not to worry because their princes would come and save them. Eleanor's prince was named Mikey and he was the handsomest." For several minutes, Phoebe went on describing Mikey's appearance. In every story she told she had a prince, and in every one the prince was different.

"Victoria's prince was named Lou and he had really thick dark hair," Phoebe continued.

"Phoebe!" said Prue. "I told you to stay out of my diary!" Piper giggled and Phoebe shrugged, clearly indifferent to Prue's anger. Grams raised an eyebrow in amusement, but didn't comment.

"Calandra's prince was named…uh…Elliot!" said Phoebe. That was pure improvisation, Piper knew. She didn't even know an Elliot.

"Anyway, they were waiting around for their princes to come, but it was taking forever. They didn't know that the evil demon had locked up their princes too! So Eleanor said, 'They're taking forever and I don't wait for any man!'" Both Piper and Prue stifled laughter at this; Grams said this all the time. "And then Eleanor told Victoria and Calandra to pull the bars off of the window because she had a secret weapon. Once her sisters had the bars off, Eleanor pulled out a secret purple ring that she had that her grandmother had given her. The ring let her fly! She took Victoria and Calandra's hands and flew out the window with them. She took them all the way to the princes' castle to give them a piece of her mind, and that's when the sisters realized that their princes had been captured too!

"Eleanor was so smart that she came up with another plan right away. She told Calandra and Victoria to keep watch and then marched off into the woods and found a dragon. She wrestled it to the ground and said, 'I need you to do me a favor, dragon! My prince is in trouble, and I need you to help me fight the evil demon.' The dragon agreed and Eleanor got on his back and flew up to the roof of the castle, where the evil demon was. The dragon blew fire all over the evil demon and destroyed it! Then Eleanor got her sisters and they all got their princes out of the dungeon. And they lived happily ever after! The end."

"That was a very nice story, Phoebe," said Grams.

Phoebe's mouth dropped open a little. "Whoops," she said. "I only meant to start it, Grams! Can you tell me another one since I accidentally told the whole thing?"

"Not tonight," said Grams. "It's time to go to sleep."

"Okay," said Phoebe reluctantly. She crawled under the covers. "Tomorrow night then."

"Hmm," said Grams. She kissed Phoebe on the head and then came around to Piper's bed, tucking her in too. When she was done, she went to Prue and patted her head, reminding her that it was time for her to leave. Prue gave both Piper and Phoebe quick kisses and then left, followed by Grams. "Goodnight, darlings," said Grams as she turned out the light.

Phoebe rolled over to face Piper. "Sorry I didn't have a good prince name for you," said Phoebe.

"It's okay," said Piper. "It's all make believe anyway."

"Well someday you'll have a prince," said Phoebe. She yawned. "When you do I'll make sure to put him in the story, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Pheebs."

"So your name is Piper Calandra?" asked Leo.

"Yes," said Piper. "Don't laugh."

As though her words prompted him, Leo began to chuckle. Piper hit him with one of the pillows and he threw up his hands. "I'm sorry!" he said. "It's cute though. I mean, since Calandra means 'lark' and larks are kind of like pipers. Your parents had a good sense of humor."

Piper hugged the pillow to her chest and looked down at him thoughfully.

"It suits you too," Leo added. "Piper Calandra."

Piper smiled, and leaned over to kiss him.

"So tell me something," said Dan.

"Well," said Piper. She found herself hesitant; that had been such a good memory, she almost didn't want to taint it. Stop being ridiculous, she chastised. Leo's gone for good, remember? And you have to give Dan a chance. "Phoebe used to make up stories about us when she was little. Fairy tales."

"Piper," said Dan in a slightly annoyed voice. Piper looked up from her cereal, honestly surprised.

"What?"

"You're being evasive. I asked about you, not Phoebe."

Piper stared at him for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Okay then."

She never did tell Dan her middle name.

A/n (12/8/07): Obviously, I've completely redone this chapter. It was the only chapter that I was extremely dissatisfied with, so I finally decided to re-write it. If you re-read it or are reading it for the first time, I'd love some feedback! Thanks so much.

Katie