Episode Four: Remembrance

Phoebe pushed open the old wooden door, making it creak as it swung on its hinges that hadn't been oiled in years. She yawned and pulled her robe tighter around her body. It was four in the morning and she would usually have been in bed. But she hadn't been sleeping well for the past few days, ever since Cole had left to find some way to get rid of his vast amount of demonic powers. She had almost drifted off when she had heard noises coming from the attic, so she had decided to investigate.

It was Piper. The older sister was sitting on the floor of the attic, surrounded by boxes. Phoebe made her way over and pushed aside a box, taking a seat next to Piper.

"Sweetie, what are you doing up here?" Phoebe asked.

Piper turned her head sharply, like she had just noticed that Phoebe was there. Phoebe saw that her sister's eyes were red, like she had been crying for quite some time.

"Do you know what day it is?" Piper asked, her voice a hoarse whisper, as she looked down at what she held in her hands. It was a piece of clothing.

Phoebe recognized it, for she had borrowed it from Prue several times. Glancing at the calendar on the wall, Phoebe suddenly knew exactly what Piper was doing in the attic at four in the morning. Moving closer to her older sister and putting her arms around her, Phoebe said, "Yeah. It's been exactly one year since Prue died."

Piper nodded. "I woke up at exactly midnight and had this horrible feeling in my chest. I couldn't figure it out, but then it suddenly hit me." Tears again began to fill Piper's eyes and her voice cracked when she spoke. "I couldn't believe that I had forgotten. I just had to come up here and look at all this stuff."

Phoebe looked around, seeing that all the boxes were filled with Prue's things. "I didn't know that you kept all of her stuff."

"I had to. I couldn't get rid of all of it." She sighed, a sigh that was filled with pain. "I know that keeping all this stuff is just holding on to something that isn't there. Not moving on. But I just couldn't get rid of her stuff, I couldn't..."

Phoebe pulled her sister in closer and hushed her. "I know, Piper, I know. It's okay. After she died I was going through some things that I had borrowed from her, thinking I should give them to Good Will or something. But I couldn't get rid of any of it. I mean, selling her car was hard enough." Phoebe smiled. "Sometimes I pull out some jewelry of her's and I remember her always yelling at me about how I took her things and never gave them back. Back then I would just roll my eyes and ignore her... but now it makes me happy remembering her voice. Even though it was angry, it was still her voice. And remembering it makes me happy."

"I can't remember," Piper whispered.

"What? Her yelling at me?"

"Not just that. Almost everything. I mean, I remember general stuff. But... I can't really think of any specific memories with her. It's all just sort of... a blur."

"Well," Phoebe said, remembering things from her psychology classes, "that's natural. After something tragic happens people sometimes block the event from their minds along with things linking to it. Prue died... horribly." Phoebe bit her lip, trying to keep long ago dried tears from returning. "So thinking of memories of her would really make you think of her and then make you think of her death and make you feel pain. So since you don't want to feel that pain you have blocked the memories that would lead to it."

Piper sighed again. "Maybe..." She sat up suddenly and started to gather up the things that she had pulled out of the boxes. "So should we do something?" she said, folding up a shirt and putting it neatly into a box.

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked, standing up. She didn't help Piper put things away, knowing that her sister had probably organized the boxes in a certain way and her helping wouldn't really be helping.

"I mean, should we do something for the anniversary of Prue's death? Have a dinner or something... invite her friends? I could cook Prue's favorite meal and-"

Phoebe shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Prue wouldn't want us to make something big about it. I mean, she hated it when we threw her a birthday party."

"But... just ignoring it doesn't seem right."

"We aren't ignoring it. We love Prue. And wherever she is... she knows that. And she wouldn't want us to remember that horrible day. She would just want us to remember all the good times. That day... was not a good time."

Piper gave a dry smile. "I know."

"So what is the point of remembering it?" Phoebe continued. "Or having some dinner for it? Let's remember Prue in a good way. And we can do that any day we want to."

Piper nodded. "You're right. Prue wouldn't want us to remember a day like that."

"Yeah," Phoebe said. "Now let's try to get some sleep." Phoebe turned and left the attic.

Once Phoebe was gone Piper looked down at all the boxes of her older sister's things. "I just wish I could remember something other than that day."

-x-

Even though she had barely gotten any sleep, Piper was up early, making breakfast for the family. Using a spatula she scooped a pancake out of the frying pan and set it on a large plate, completing a small stack of the breakfast food.

Piper switched off the burner and then picked up the plate, carrying it over to the table. As she proceeded to get out syrup and butter, Phoebe came into the kitchen.

"That smells delicious," Phoebe said with a yawn. The middle sister flopped down on one of the chairs and put her head down. "But how can you be cooking something like that? With the amount of sleep we got it's a cereal morning. The only breakfast really tired people can make without having to pay attention to it. Except when pouring the milk."

Piper shrugged as she set down a plate and utensils in front of Phoebe. "Cooking helps wake me up."

Phoebe immediately stabbed a pancake with her fork and dropped it on her plate. As she began to dribble syrup over it, she said, "Well, if it was me, I would have burned the pancakes with how tired I am."

"You would have burned them even if you were fully awake," Piper said with a smirk. She sat down and put a pancake on her own plate.

Phoebe mirrored her sister's smirk. "Yeah, I know, I can't cook. But you don't have to keep throwing that in my face." Phoebe stood up from the table and went over to the coffee pot to fill up a mug of the steaming liquid. She took a gulp of the coffee and almost spit it back out. "Oh, god! Why did you make the coffee so strong?"

Piper shrugged meekly. "That's the way Prue always liked to drink it..."

"Well, sweetie, Prue had a stomach made of steel," Phoebe said with a light smile.

"I know what you said last night, but I just had to do something in remembrance of her."

Phoebe nodded. "I understand." She then proceeded to pour her coffee down the drain. "But I just can't drink that stuff. Is it okay if I make another pot?"

Piper nodded. "I can't drink it either," she said with a small laugh. "I tired earlier and almost spit it out on the newspaper I was reading."

Phoebe laughed as she filled up the new pot with water. "Yeah, I never understood how Prue could drink that stuff. But it did keep her going the whole day." She returned to the table to wait for the new coffee to brew. After putting another pancake on her plate she asked, "So where's Leo? Still sleeping?"

Piper shook her head. "No, he left almost right after getting up. Said something about a charge that he has been having a lot of trouble with lately, but that's all he could tell me."

Phoebe nodded as she swallowed. "Whitelighter confidentiality."

"Exactly."

Paige came into the kitchen just then, with a bounce in her step. She hummed as she made her way over to the fresh pot of coffee, pouring herself a large mug. "Good morning," she said.

"Morning," Piper said, eyeing her sister. "Why are you so chipper? You didn't cast another spell to keep you awake, did you? Because you know what happened last time."

"No, I didn't cast a spell. I'm just like this because I actually got a full night of sleep. So I'm rested and ready to start the day."

"Guess you're the only one," Phoebe mumbled, glancing at Piper.

"You two didn't get any sleep?" Paige asked. "Why not?"

"Well," Piper started, "do you know what day it is?"

Paige bit her lip. "Arbor day?"

Piper sighed. "No, Paige, that's in April. Guess again."

Paige shrugged. "I don't know. Look, Piper, as much as I would love to play this game with you, I have to get to work. I'll just take one of those pancakes to go."

Phoebe gave her little sister a quizzical look. "How do you take a pancake to go?"

"Like so." Paige then proceeded to take a ziplock bag, place a pancake in it, and pour in a good amount of syrup. She extracted a plastic fork from the utensil drawer and dropped it into her purse that sat on the counter. "And that concludes today's lesson. See you later tonight."

Phoebe laughed as Paige left. "That's actually a good idea. I should try it sometime when I'm late for work." She then caught sight of Piper's look. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"She had no clue," Piper said. "She had no clue what day it was."

"Oh, Piper, don't blame her."

"Why not? It's just before her anniversary of becoming a witch. You'd think she would remember that, so you'd think she would remember this too."

"Well, I remember a certain someone not remembering their own anniversary of becoming a witch," Phoebe said, eyeing Piper.

Piper snorted. "That was different."

"How so?" After getting no response, Phoebe continued. "The days get very mixed up when you have the kind of lives we do. And Paige has a lot on her plate right now, with being a new social worker. She can't be expected to remember everything, even those two big dates."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Piper said. "Besides... she never even met Prue, so I guess her death wouldn't have as much of an impact on her."

"Don't say that," Phoebe said, shaking her head. "I think it had a huge impact on her. Just think of how it would be to find out you had a sister, but you didn't find out soon enough and she died before you could meet her. Not being able to know Prue probably hurts Paige a lot."

Piper nodded, but didn't say anything. After a moment she got up and started to clear away the plates. "I better clean up."

"And I better get to work," Phoebe said with a glance at her watch. She rose from her chair and went over to the sink, opening the cabinet underneath it. "But first I think I am going to try Paige's idea," she said with a laugh, pulling out ziplock bag.

-x-

"Okay, not my best idea," Paige grumbled as she tried to eat her pancake out of the ziplock bag and steer her VW bug at the same time. "Oh, thank god," she said as the light ahead of her turned red. She put her foot on the brake and started to eat, now able to use both hands.

As she chewed, Paige looked around her at the people outside of her car. She always wondered what was going on in other people's lives. The ones sitting in their own cars, or walking down the sidewalks on the street all had their own problems to deal with. A woman in the car to Paige's left seemed to be having an argument on her cell phone. Hopefully it's nothing serious, Paige thought.

She wondered what people thought when they looked at her. Did they think, "That there is a witch"? Doubtful. But still, Paige thought, I have this whole life full of secrets that no one knows about. She just thought it was so weird that people could pass one another on the street without knowing anything about each other. A man in the car to her right was giving her a coy smile. He's probably thinking he would like to get with me, by that smile of his.

Her gaze then moved to a young woman that was walking on the sidewalk. She was dressed in clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed in days. Her hair, mangled as it was, seemed to be the same way. Something about the woman made Paige keep watching her.

The woman reached the intersection and pressed the button on the stoplight that would light up the "walk" sign. The moment her finger touched the button the stoplight began to go crazy. The lights flashed between the three colors, confusing drivers and almost causing several accidents.

Even as sparks flew from the stoplight, Paige kept her eyes on the woman. Electrical energy was streaming from the "walk" button and into the finger that was pressed against it. The woman finally snapped back her hand and whipped her head around to see if anyone had noticed. Paige believed she herself was the only one, since she had been watching the woman in the first place.

The woman, with a frightened look on her face, ran off around the corner. The lights had now returned to normal and shown green for Paige. Without thinking, she whipped her steering wheel to the right and shot around the corner, cutting off the man in the car who had given her the smile. "He now probably just thinks I'm a bitch," Paige mumbled.

She saw the woman turn into an alley and pulled her car over, parking it and turning off the engine. Paige got out of the car and ran into the alley. "Wait!" she called.

The woman stopped and turned. "Stay away from me!" she screamed.

Paige slowed down and held up her hands in a peaceful gesture. "I saw what happened."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I just want to help."

"I don't need your help. Just go away!" The woman turned to run again, but skidded to a halt as the air in front of her shimmered and two men dressed in black suits appeared.

"Amanda," one said. "You got away from us. That wasn't the smartest thing, running away. I think you should come back with us. Delnar isn't in a good mood."

"I'm not going back," the woman, Amanda, said, backing away from the men, whom Paige knew must be demons.

"You don't have a choice," the other demon said.

"I think she does," Paige said, moving up beside Amanda.

"Who the hell are you?" the first demon asked.

"Someone you don't want to mess with."

The demon smiled as he conjured an energy ball. "Oh yeah?"

He whipped the energy ball at Paige, but she held up her hand and called for it, throwing it back at the demon as it began to rematerialize in her hand. The demon exploded as his own attack hit him square in the chest. "Yeah," Paige said with a smile.

"Witch!" the second demon yelled. He moved towards her, but Paige called for a metal trash bin that sat against the alley wall and sent it flying into the demon, knocking him to the pavement.

"Okay, we have to get out of here," Page said, turning around. Yet the alley behind her was empty; Amanda was gone.

"You are in way over your head, witch."

Paige turned around as the demon, who was now back on his feet, addressed her.

"If you want to live, you'll stay away from Amanda. She's ours." And with that, the demon shimmered out.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Paige said, already making her way back to her car.

-x-

"You're distracted."

"Hmm?" Phoebe looked up to see Elise standing in front of her desk. "Oh, Elise! Hey. I was... just..."

"Point positive." The editor sighed as she crossed her arms. "You have been this way for the past several days, Phoebe. It shows up in your column too."

Phoebe frowned. "What does?"

"Whatever it is that is bothering you," Elise said. "Your answers to your readers over the past few days have been... well, not you. I don't know what's wrong, and frankly, I don't care." Elise moved forward and plated her palms on Phoebe's desk, leaning in. "When I hired you for this job you were witty. Compassionate. You didn't sound judgmental with your answers. Now you better get that back fast, or I may regret having hired you. Are we clear?"

Phoebe nodded. "Crystal."

"Good." Turning on her heeled shoe, Elise exited the office, closing the door behind her.

Phoebe let out a breath and opened a drawer of her desk, pulling out a framed photo of Cole. "This is your fault, you know that?"

Phoebe knew that Elise was right. She had been off; in her writing... in everything. She was worried about Cole, wondering where he was and if he was okay. Worried about what would happen when he came back. Would he have found a way to get rid of all those demonic powers? Or would they be right back where they started?

"I don't even know if it's worth it," Phoebe whispered to the photo. "If you can't get rid of those powers... it's only a matter of time before something happens. And even if you do..." She sighed. "We all know what happened last time you were human."

She looked at the ring that was on her finger, remembering what she had said to Cole just recently, about love. Could love really conquer all? Would it be enough to save their relationship?

The sudden ringing of her phone tore Phoebe from her thoughts. She put the photo of Cole back into the desk and picked up the phone receiver off its cradle. "Hello, Phoebe Halliwell speaking."

"Phoebe, it's Paige."

Phoebe instantly noticed the tone in Paige's voice. It meant trouble. "Paige, what's wrong?"

"I think we have an innocent to save. Can you meet me back at the manor?"

Phoebe bit her lip and looked out of her office window. She could see Elise standing in front of someone else's desk, giving them their own talking to. "Uh, I don't know if I can. Elise just threatened my job and..."

"She did? Why?"

"Well she sort of did, because... Okay, never mind. I'll come home right now. Are you there already?"

"No," Paige said. "I'm on my way, though."

"Okay, I'll see you soon." Phoebe hung up and then grabbed up a few letters, hoping that she would be able to work on her column at home while she and her sisters dealt with whatever problem there was.

She snuck quietly out of her office, trying to keep out of sight of Elise. Just as she reached the main office door Elise yelled out her name. Phoebe slowly turned around as Elise came towards her.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Uh... lunch?"

Elise's face was as cold as stone. "It's not even ten in the morning."

"I didn't have breakfast, though," Phoebe lied.

"I saw you eating a pancake out of a ziplock bag when you came in here."

"Me? That's just... uh... Okay, the truth is that my sister has an emergency that she needs help with. But I have letters, see? And I promise to have my column done and in before the deadline."

"You better."

"I will. Okay, bye!" Phoebe turned and ran out of the office before anything else could be said.

-x-

The house was quiet.

Piper sat in the living room, trying to read a book. But it was just too quiet for her to concentrate, as crazy it seemed. She had thought that having some peace would allow her to relax. Yet she realized that she didn't like the silence. The noise that usually filled the house brought comfort to her. It meant there was a family in the house.

"A family that will have a new member very soon," Piper said to herself, patting her stomach.

A stab of pain suddenly hit her in the heart as she realized that Prue would never meet her child. That thought sent her mind reeling back to her lost sister.

Piper closed her book and set it down on a table next to the couch. She pushed herself up and headed for the attic. Reaching it, she moved over to the boxes that she had been going through early that morning. There was one that she had not gotten to and she dropped down next to it, lifting the cardboard panels.

Tears almost burst from her eyes again as she saw the item that sat on top. A golden necklace was placed on top of a folded leather jacket, with Prue's name on the necklace.

Lifting it by its chain, she dangled the necklace in front of her, letting out a pained sigh. "Why can't I remember?"

What Phoebe said about her blocking the memories came back to her and she stood up, heading over to the Book of Shadows with the necklace still in her hand.

"It would probably take months of therapy to unblock those memories," she said, flipping through the Book. "But I'm a witch and there must be some magical way I can do it."

After almost a half-hour of searching she found several pages that dealt with memory, but nothing that could help her. Pushing a hand through her hair, she said, "I've come up with my own spells before. I can do it again."

Once she had come up with a spell, Piper lit a candle and dangled Prue's necklace over the flickering flame. "By the magic of this flame, focus your power on this golden name. Years of memories I wish to see again, before our Charmed destiny had set in."

The flame of the candle sprang up and engulfed the necklace, but Piper's fingers remained untouched. A cold wind blew through the room, whipping Piper's hair, but she kept her eyes focused on the flame.

A moment later the flame receded and went out, a spiral of smoke being all that was left. The smoke, however, did not fade. It seemed to take on a life of its own, crawling up through the air, Piper's gaze following it the whole way. When it was several feet above Piper's head, the smoke began to write something in the air.

Piper said the letters as they appeared. "P... R... U... E."

As she uttered the last letter, the smoke shot down towards her and entered her body through her nose. Piper stumbled backwards, coughing. Her body then suddenly went rigged and she dropped, sprawling on the floor, her eyes closed.

Downstairs the front door opened and Phoebe and Paige entered, having both pulled up to the manor at the same time.

"So you think she's a witch?" Phoebe asked, Paige having already filled her in on the Amanda situation.

"Yeah," Paige said, closing the door and slipping off her jacket. As she hung it on the coat hook she continued, "I mean, she obviously have powers and demons are after her. What else could she be?"

Phoebe shrugged. "She could be any number of things. Maybe even a demon herself. But for now I agree with you, she's probably a witch."

"And we have to find her," Paige said, making her way towards the stairs. "Before those demons find her."

Phoebe followed Paige up the stairs. "The house is so quiet. Where do you think Piper is?"

"I don't know," Paige said as they started up the stairs that led to the attic. "Hope she didn't leave, because I think we are going to need all three of us for thi--" Paige stopped short as she entered the attic and saw Piper laying on the floor.

"Oh, god, Piper!" Phoebe yelled, running past Paige and kneeling down next to her older sister. "She's still breathing," Phoebe said, checking her sister over.

"What do you think happened?" Paige asked.

Phoebe shook her head. "I don't know."

"What's that?" Paige asked, pointing to something that was clutched in Piper's right hand.

Phoebe took the item from Piper's hand and held it up. "It's an old necklace of Prue's."

"What was she doing with it?"

Phoebe shrugged as she stood up, looking around for any sign of what could have happened. "She probably just wanted to look at Prue's things some more."

"Some more? When was she looking at them before?"

"At about four this morning. She told me she wanted to look at Prue's things when she realized that today is the anniversary of Prue's death."

"It is?" Paige thought about it in her head. "Oh god, it is. So that's what she was talking about at breakfast. How could I have been so stupid?"

"It's not your fault, Paige." She stopped and sniffed the air. "Is that smoke?" She glanced around and saw a candle on the table that Piper was laying next to. After feeling the wick she said, "It's warm."

"You think she was casting a spell?" Paige asked.

"Maybe," Phoebe said, looking back down at Piper. "We should call Leo."

Paige nodded and called out for their Whitelighter.

"What is it?" Leo asked after orbing in. "I'm busy."

"Too busy for your unconscious wife?" Phoebe said, nodding down at Piper.

Leo kneeled down next to his wife. "What happened?"

"We don't know," Paige said with a shrug. "We came home and found her like this. But that candle on the table was lit recently, so we think she might have cast a spell."

Leo tried to heal Piper, but nothing happened. "I'll go check with the Elders. See if they can tell us anything."

"Doubt it," Paige muttered as Leo orbed out. "Okay, I better get scrying for Amanda."

"Shouldn't we have told Leo about her?" Phoebe asked.

"He's got a lot on his plate right now. And I don't need his help to scry," Paige said, getting out the map and scrying crystal.

Phoebe knelt back down next to Piper. "I hope Leo finds something out soon. I hate not knowing what's wrong with her."

-x-

Piper bolted up in bed. Her hair clung to her sweat soaked neck.

"What the? Was that whole day a dream?" Piper looked around and frowned. "What am I doing in Paige's room? And why is all my stuff in here?" She knew that Paige liked doing practical jokes, but this was a little extreme. "What did she do, teleorb everything from one room to the other?" she wondered out loud, still looking around.

Glancing at the clock she saw it was late. She would deal with Paige in the morning.

But first I need something to drink, Piper thought, getting out of the bed. She went out of the room and down the stairs. When she reached the landing she knew something was definitely wrong. The door to what used to be the nursery was gone. The window that had been there before was back.

"This joke has gone way too far," Piper hissed, turning and stomping back up the stairs. She went to the room that Paige was most likely in, Piper's own room, and slammed her fist on the door. "Paige!"

The door opened. But it wasn't Paige. It was Prue.

"Piper? What is wrong? Who is Paige?" Piper backed up against the wall. Tears began to leak from her eyes. "Piper, honey, what is it? Are you ok?"

Prue pulled Piper into her room and Piper caught a glance of herself in the mirror. She gasped. She saw her reflection... but it was the one that she had seen everyday five years ago. The first year she had become a witch.

Prue pulled Piper onto her bed. "Honey... what's wrong?"

"No... you're dead," Piper said through her tears. She didn't get it. This all must be a dream. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

"What? Piper I am right here. Why are you crying?"

Piper got off the bed. "This must be something like when the Source made me think I was in a nut house... this isn't real. This has to be a spell or--" She stopped, a look of realization replacing the tears on her face. "The spell. It worked. But not the way I intended it to..."

Prue stared at her sister with a confused look on her face. "A spell? Piper... I think that you are not getting enough sleep. Now you should go to bed. You have that audition at Quake tomorrow, remember?"

"Quake?" Piper remembered the restaurant. "So the spell sort of did what I said. This is before P3... before everything."

"P3? Is that some kind of a parking lot?" Prue got up and took Piper's arm. "Come on. Let's get you back to bed."

"Um... that's okay. You go back to bed. I'm just going to go up to the attic to check on something." Piper shook off Prue's hand and then left the room, hurrying up to the attic.

She knew that she had to get to the Book of Shadows. This was the night that they got their powers and she remembered that Phoebe had stayed up reading the Book all night in the attic after she and Prue and gone to bed.

"Maybe the Phoebe here can help me," Piper said to herself as she reached the top of the stairs.

The door to the attic was closed. She tried the knob, but it wouldn't budge. The door was locked. "Why is the door locked?"

Prue came up behind her and sighed. "Piper, that door has been locked ever since Grams died. You know that."

"No... Phoebe came home and she came up here and got it open. Then she read from the Book of Shadows and gave us our powers."

"What? Book of Shadows? Powers? And Phoebe is in New York."

Piper started to sweat. "She came back though. The night before my audition she came back."

Prue took Piper's arm again and took her back down to Piper's room. "It's okay... now get some rest, sweetie. You have a big day tomorrow and you need sleep. A lot of sleep." Prue left the room and closed the door behind her.

Piper got into bed. "I'm sure Phoebe came back the night before my audition." She sighed as she pulled the covers up to her chin. "Okay, the spell sent me here for a reason, so I might as well just go along with it and see what happens." Yawning, she rolled over and was soon asleep.

-x-

Phoebe tapped her chin, trying to come up with an answer for the letter she had chosen to use for her column. Shaking her head, she closed her laptop. "I can't do it."

"Can't do what?" Paige asked. The youngest sister was still scrying for Amanda.

"I can't concentrate on my column while my sister is laying unconscious on the floor. What's taking Leo so long?"

The Whitelighter in question suddenly orbed in.

"Never mind," Phoebe said.

"What did you find out?" Paige asked, setting down the scrying crystal.

"She did cast a spell," Leo said. "The Elders aren't sure why she was doing it, but they say that the spell created an entirely new reality. And that Piper is there now."

"Okay," Phoebe said. "How do we get her out?"

"We don't," Leo responded. "The Elders said that she created the reality and only she can get herself out of it."

"So there's nothing we can do?" Paige asked.

Leo shook his head. "Nothing. Don't worry, though. Piper created that reality for a reason. She must be looking for an answer to something. So once she finds it... she should come back. Call me when she does."

Phoebe frowned. "Wait, you're leaving?"

"I have to. One of my other charges is in trouble. And there's nothing I can do for Piper."

Paige nodded. "You're right. You should go help your other charge."

"What about Amanda?" Phoebe asked.

"Who's Amanda?" Leo asked, looking from Phoebe to Paige.

"She's a witch," Paige said. "At least we think she is. I was on my way to work and saw her at a stoplight. When she touched the 'walk' button the whole thing went crazy. I followed her and we ran into some demons. They seem to be after her."

"Where is she now?"

Paige shrugged. "She disappeared when I was fighting the demons. I've been trying to find her by scrying, but... no luck yet."

"Do you need me to stay here?" Leo asked.

"No," Paige said, shaking her head. "I don't think we need your help yet. Right now we just need to find her."

Leo nodded. "Okay. Call if you do need help." He then orbed out.

"Guess I should keep scrying," Paige said.

Phoebe got up from where she was sitting and went to stand next to her sister. "You told me before that it looked like she was draining the energy from the stoplight, right?"

Paige nodded. "Right. So?"

"So maybe that's her power. To absorb energy."

"And that helps us find her... how?"

"All that energy would be hard to hide," Phoebe said. "So maybe you should scry for large amounts of unnatural energy."

"Worth a shot," Paige said, picking up the crystal once again. After a few minutes it landed on the map. "I hope that's her. Let's get going."

"Wait," Phoebe said. "What about Piper?"

"Leo said there's nothing we can do for her."

"Yeah, but we can't just leave her here," Phoebe said. "If a demon attacks she would be a sitting duck."

Paige nodded. "You're right. Let's put a protective circle of crystals around her. That should keep anyone unwanted out."

Phoebe went and took the crystals out of the box they kept them in and proceeded to place them in a circle around Piper's unconscious form. "Okay, done."

"All right then. Let's go find ourselves a witch."

Paige took Phoebe's hand and orbed them both out.

-x-

Piper opened her eyes. It was morning. An insistent knocking was coming from her door, obviously being what had woken her. Piper got up and looked in the mirror, seeing herself from five years ago. "Still here," she said.

The knocking continued. "Piper!" came Prue's call. "Are you up? You're going to be late!"

Piper cleared her throat. "I'm up! I'll... I'll be right out!" She sighed. "What is the point of this spell?" she muttered to herself. "To unblock the memories by seeing a living, breathing Prue?" She had to admit, she was extremely happy to see Prue again, even though it was just a spell.

She entered the kitchen a few minutes later and Prue looked up from the table. She had been reading the paper. "Hey. Do you feel better this morning?"

"Uh, yeah. I do."

"Good. Because you were acting so weird last night. I thought you had gone insane."

"Well, you were right. I was just so strung out about my audition." She went over to the fridge and opened it, pulling out items to make some breakfast.

"Oh no you don't," Prue said. "I know that you need something to eat, but you can grab something after your audition." Prue got up and took the carton of milk that Piper held and put it back in the fridge. "Now get moving, missy. You have been obsessed with wanting this job. You are not going to ruin it for yourself and then cry about it for the rest of your life. Now go."

Piper had to stop herself from smiling. She had forgotten how bossy Prue had been. She missed it.

"Okay, I'm going," Piper said, grabbing up her purse. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Prue said, sitting back down.

-x-

Paige and Phoebe orbed into a dim apartment. The curtains were drawn and the only light in the room was coming from several candles that were placed around the apartment.

"Strange," Paige said, looking around. "Maybe the power is out."

"Maybe," Phoebe answered. She started to walk slowly around the apartment. "Do you think we got the right place?"

Paige looked towards the bathroom as the door opened and Amanda came out. "Yeah, I think we did."

"You," Amanda said. "How did you get in here!"

"Okay, Amanda, just calm down," Paige said. "I'm here to help."

"I don't need your help. Now get out!"

"We know that demons are after you, Amanda," Phoebe said. "Please, if you let us help we can stop them."

Amanda shook her head. "You can't stop them. They're too powerful."

"We have some powers of our own," Paige said. "We're witches."

A look of relief came over Amanda's face. "Oh... Thank god. When I first saw you fight that demon I thought you were a demon yourself. I thought you were after me too."

"So you're a witch too?" Phoebe asked.

Amanda nodded. "I just found out about my powers recently. I had always believed in magic... but never thought that I could be a witch."

"Why are those demons after you?" Paige asked.

Before Amanda could answer, five demons shimmered into the small apartment. One of them was the one Paige had met before in the alley.

"You again," he said. "You can't stop us from taking her."

"Wanna bet? Sofa!" Paige orbed the sofa that was in the room and sent it crashing into the demons, knocking two down and pinning the rest against the far wall. Though it wouldn't hold them for long.

Phoebe kicked a demon who was trying to get up in the face, then bent down to pull an athame from his belt. She stabbed it down into the demon, pulled it back out, and stepped back as flames consumed him. Pulling back her arm, she whipped it at another one of the demons. It plowed into his chest and he erupted in flames a moment later.

"Let's get out of here!" Paige yelled. She grabbed Amanda by the arm and pulled her over to Phoebe. The three of them orbed out, just as two of the demons sent energy balls flying at them.

-x-

Piper stood in Quake's kitchen making her audition meal. She was working quickly because she knew what was going to happen. She had to add the Port wine before Chef Moore came in to taste the meal.

"... Where's the port?" she said to herself. She looked around and couldn't see it anywhere. "Oh no..."

"Your time is up." Chef Moore entered the kitchen. "Let's see..." He picked up an index card. "Roast pork with gratin of fennel and penne with a port giblet sauce." Chef Moore picked up a fork and Piper started to panic.

"Chef Moore..."

"What?"

"Uh, the port..."

"Yes, without it the sauce it is nothing more than a salty marinara. A recipe from a woman's magazine. Puh!"

"I don't have--" Chef Moore held up his hand to silence her. He then took some of her meal and put it on the fork. He moved it up to his mouth and Piper waved her hands to freeze him. He didn't stop. He put the food in his mouth and began to chew.

"And this is exactly what I just said. Where is the port!"

Piper stared at her hands. "Where are my powers? ... Oh right."

"What are you talking about? You know, I thought you had some potential. You disgust me! Get out of my kitchen!"

Piper nodded and ran out.

-x-

"Okay, we've established that demons are after you," Paige said after she, her sister, and Amanda had orbed into the attic. "Why?"

"They want me for my powers," Amanda said. She stopped as she saw Piper laying on the floor. "Um... Why is she on the floor?"

"Oh, ignore her," Phoebe said. "She's our sister... and our other problem. But we're concentrating on you right now."

Amanda looked confused, but said, "Okay..."

"So what are your powers?" Paige asked.

"Well... I'll just show you." She went over to the light switch and flipped it on, keeping her hand on the switch. The lights flickered and sparked and energy streamed from the light switch and into Amanda. After a few moments she let go of the switch and the lights went back to normal.

"So you can absorb energy," Phoebe said. "We thought so. But why would the demons want you for that?"

"Because of this." Amanda raised her hand, aiming at an old pillow that sat on a dresser. Her palm glowed a bright white and a blast of white energy shot from it, destroying the pillow on contact.

Paige and Phoebe watched as feathers from the pillow floated to the floor.

"Oh," Phoebe said. "I see."

Amanda nodded. "I can absorb energy... and I can also release it. I just can't really control it. I can't stop myself from absorbing the energy of something when I touch it--"

"Guess that's why all the lights were off at your apartment," Paige said.

Amanda nodded and continued. "I also can't control the releasing of the energy very well."

"You seemed to just now," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, I meant that I can't keep the energy in me for that long. If I had waited awhile that energy would have come out on its own. That's what happened when I first got my powers. I absorbed some energy without knowing it, thinking the lights were just on the fritz. Then later, without warning... bam, broken lamp."

"When did the demons first capture you?" Paige asked.

"A few days ago," Amanda said. "They just appeared in my apartment and grabbed me. The next thing I knew I was in some warehouse. They put me in a cage, but I was able to escape yesterday."

"How?" Paige asked.

"I always keep batteries in my pocket. You know, for emergencies and stuff. I remembered I had them and so I absorbed their energy. It was enough to break the lock on the cage and I escaped. But now they are after me."

"Still," Phoebe said. "Why do they really want you?"

"Maybe they want to turn her," Paige suggested. "That whole forty-eight hour window thing that the Source used to try to get me."

Phoebe shook her head. "No, I don't think that's it. Amanda, you got your powers... when?"

"About a week ago," Amanda said.

"So the forty-eight hour window is closed," Phoebe said.

Paige nodded. "Right."

"I think I know why they took me," Amanda said, drawing the sisters' attention. "I heard them talking with someone named Delnar. I think he's their leader. Delnar said something about wanting to get me to a place called the Underworld so they could make sure I wouldn't escape. Luckily he said he would have to prepare for me and I escaped that night."

"Very lucky," Paige said. "Go on."

"I also heard them talking about their plan for me. I couldn't hear very well, but I think that I heard them say that they wanted to use me to drain the power of a nuclear reactor at the local power plant. I have no idea why, though."

"I know why," Phoebe said. "You said you can't control the absorbing of energy. So they could just make you hold onto the reactor, thus forcing you to absorb the energy. You also said that it's only a matter of time before the energy is released and you can't stop it from being released."

"Oh my god..." Paige said, catching on to what her sister was saying. "They want to make you into a bomb."

-x-

Piper's cell phone began to ring just as she was pulling into the manor's driveway. She snatched it up once she was parked and answered.

"Hello?"

"Piper, hey, it's Jeremy."

Piper almost dropped the phone when she heard who it was. She knew that Jeremy was actually a warlock, just pretending to be her boyfriend until she and her sisters got their powers. Then he would try to kill them and steal their powers.

Well, too bad for him, Piper thought. Without Phoebe we don't get our powers.

"Jeremy... hi. What's up?" Piper asked, trying to sound casual.

"I'm just parked outside Quake right now, waiting for you to come out so I can congratulate you on your new job."

Piper remembered that. He had then taken her out for chinese, followed by a romantic evening of trying to kill her.

"Um, I'm not at Quake," Piper said.

"Oh. Well did you get the job?" Jeremy asked.

"No, I didn't."

"Why not?"

The idiot didn't freeze, Piper thought. But she said, "I forgot the Port that you gave me. After the chef tasted the sauce without it... he threw me out of his kitchen."

"Oh, Piper, I'm sorry," Jeremy said.

Yeah right, Piper thought, rolling her eyes.

"I want to do something to cheer you up," Jeremy continued. "Where are you?"

"I'm..." Piper said slowly, not wanting to tell him where she was. She doubted that he would attack her with him knowing that she didn't yet have her powers. But still, she didn't want to be with him, knowing what he was.

"I'm just driving around, trying to clear my head," she continued.

"Do you want to meet somewhere?"

"Well-- Oh, tunnel coming up. I'll meet you--" She cut the line. With a sigh Piper dropped the phone into her purse and got out of the car, heading up the stairs to the manor.

She found Prue in the kitchen, her sister just sitting at the table, staring at a carrot stick in her hand.

"Uh... Prue?"

Prue jumped, dropping her carrot stick. "Piper. You startled me."

"Yeah... Sorry I interrupted your intimate conversation with your carrot stick," Piper said with a small smile as she sat down at the table.

"What? Oh. I was going to eat it, but then it reminded me of Roger's skinny neck and I just was imagining his neck snapping." With that, she grabbed up the carrot stick and snapped it in half, throwing the pieces down onto the table.

"Okay, what happened?" Piper asked. Truth be told, she knew exactly what had happened, since Prue had told her once before. But she couldn't very well tell this Prue that.

"I quit my job today," Prue said.

"Why?" Piper asked, trying to sound surprised.

"Roger stole an exhibit from me and I just couldn't take it anymore. I used to think that job was my calling, but now..." She shook her head. "Anyways, I'm done with that museum and I'm done with Roger." She looked up at Piper. "By the way, did you get the job at Quake?"

Piper sighed. "Um... no. I forgot the Port that Jeremy gave me."

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry," Prue said, laying a comforting hand on Piper's arm. Her face then stiffened. "Oh no... That means neither of us has a job. How are we going to support ourselves and pay for this house?"

"Uh, well, we'll figure it out," Piper said.

"Not without draining all our savings first trying to pay the bills." Prue got to her feet and picked up her purse off the counter.

"Where are you going?" Piper asked.

"I'm going to go talk to Roger. See if he will give me my job back. After how I left him I think he'll be desperate for some help."

"Prue, you can't," Piper said. "That job is not for you. Especially since Roger is your boss. Don't get yourself back into that."

"Well, you didn't get that job... So I have to." Prue then left through the back door.

"Oh, this sucks," Piper moaned, leaning back in her chair.

-x-

"A bomb?" Amanda repeated, staring at Paige. "Why would they want to make me into a bomb? They have powers that can kill already."

"Yeah, but that's only one at a time," Paige said. "This would be able to cause mass murder."

Phoebe nodded. "Right now the Underworld--"

"What's that?" Amanda interrupted.

"Where the demons live," Phoebe said. "Right now it is in chaos. Last year we vanquished the their leader, the Source of All Evil."

"Several times, I might add," Paige chimed in.

"Okay, can I finish?" Phoebe said, giving her sister a look.

"Sorry. Go on."

"Thank you. Anyways, without a leader the demons create factions to try and gain power. They also work to gain respect from the rest of the Underworld, to prove that they have the right to be the next Source. One way to gain that respect is to kill innocents." From Amanda's blank look, Phoebe added, "Mortals."

"Oh," Amanda said. "So with me... they could kill a lot of innocents and gain a lot of respect."

Paige nodded. "They could also use you as a weapon against other demons who are in competition with them."

Amanda shuddered at the thought of her being used as a weapon for demons. "So what do we do?"

"First we should vanquish Delnar," Paige said.

"Then teach you how to use your powers," Phoebe added. "So that other demons don't get the same idea." She and Paige moved towards the pedestal where the Book of Shadows sat.

"What's that?" Amanda asked curiously.

"Our book of magic," Phoebe said, smiling fondly at the Book. "It has been in our family for years. It is the source of our powers."

"It also has a bunch of spells for vanquishing demons," Paige said, opening the Book and paging through it.

"Is Delnar in there?" Amanda walked over to stand next to the sisters.

"We're hoping," Paige said. She glanced at Amanda and saw the young witch looking intently at the Book, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. Smiling, Paige stepped aside and said, "How about you try looking for him?"

Amanda smiled and stepped up to the Book. She turned the pages slowly, looking in awe at each page.

"You know," Phoebe said. "Those demons are going to find us so maybe we should look a little faster."

"Oh. Sorry," Amanda apologized, flipping the pages faster to find the demon that was after her.

-x-

"Surprise!"

Piper came into the foyer to find Phoebe entering through the front door. "Phoebe... What are you doing here?"

Phoebe frowned as she closed the door behind her. "What do you mean? You knew I was coming. Frankly, I'm surprised you aren't acting all worried about me when you knew I was supposed to be here yesterday."

Piper bit her lip. "I am worried. Well, I was, but not now."

"Uh huh." Phoebe hung up her jacket. "The bus I was on broke down and we had to stay in it all night while they got someone to come and fix it. My back hurts so much from sitting on that bus for so long." She reached and hand behind her to try and rub her injured back.

"Why didn't you call?" Piper asked. "We could have come and gotten you."

"Because I don't have a cell phone and I was no where near a pay phone." Phoebe glanced around. "So... Where's Prue?"

"She's at work," Piper said simply, deciding to not go over the whole story.

"Good," Phoebe muttered, walking past Piper and towards the kitchen. "I just want to have something to eat and relax and not have a fight with her."

As Phoebe went into the kitchen the phone rang.

"Hello?" Piper said, answering it.

"It's Jeremy," came the response.

Piper winced. "Oh, hey. Sorry about earlier. Don't you just hate getting disconnected when driving through a tunnel?"

"Yeah, I do," Jeremy said. "Especially when I'm in the middle of a conversation with my boss about a news story I'm working on."

"That happens a lot, huh?"

"All the time," Jeremy said with a laugh.

Phoebe came back from the kitchen with a box of crackers in her hands. "Who's that?" she asked.

"It's Jeremy," Piper said.

"... Was that Phoebe?" Jeremy asked with a little too much interest.

Piper couldn't blame him. She knew he had been waiting for six months already for Phoebe to return to the manor so they could get their powers. But he is going to have to wait a lot longer if I have anything to do with it, Piper thought.

"No, that was Prue," Piper lied.

"It didn't sound like Prue."

"Well it was." Piper looked over at Phoebe, who was sitting down at the dining room table with her crackers.

The youngest Halliwell smiled as she picked up the bottle of Port that Piper had forgotten. She then set that down when she saw what was also on the table; the spirit board.

"Uh, Jeremy? I have to go," Piper said.

"But--"

"I'll talk to you later. Bye!" Piper hung up and ran over to Phoebe. "Hey, Phoebe, let's go out."

Phoebe turned away from the spirit board. "Why?"

The truth was the Piper didn't want her sister to start messing with the spirit board, knowing that it would point Phoebe to the attic. To the Book of Shadows. At that moment Piper didn't feel like opening the magical can of worms. If they got their powers then everything would go to hell. Their lives and relationships would be ruined by the demons that would plague them. Prue would die. Piper couldn't let that happen.

Maybe that was the point of the spell, Piper thought. To give me a chance to have a normal life. Without magic.

"Because that box of crackers is not going to be enough and I don't feel like cooking," Piper said. "Plus I know you don't have many clothes right now."

"True," Phoebe said with a nod.

"So let's go get some dinner and then go clothes shopping. What do you say?"

Phoebe smiled and closed the cracker box. "Let's do it." She got up from the table, but then stopped. "Wait. I don't have any money."

Piper waved her hand. "Doesn't matter. I'll pay."

"Good deal," Phoebe said with another smile.

"Okay. You go put the stuff you brought up in your room and I'll get my purse."

"Okay."

Piper waited until Phoebe had gone up the stairs and then grabbed up the spirit board, taking it to the basement to hide it.

-x-

"Here he is!" Amanda said triumphantly.

Phoebe, who had been checking on Piper, got up and went to stand next to Amanda. "Good work. What does it say?"

Before Amanda could read the description a demon shimmered into the attic. Paige had been mixing some potions while Amanda had searched the Book. Now she grabbed up a grenade potion and chucked it at the demon. With a look of fear the demon shimmered out and the potion exploded against a rocking chair, reducing it to splinters.

Shimmering back in, the demon held up his hands. "Wait! Don't vanquish me. I am just a messenger."

"What do you want?" Phoebe asked, moving to stand in front of Amanda to protect her.

"I have a message for Amanda," the demon said. "From Delnar." The demon smiled as he relayed his message. "Delnar just wants you to know that we have your family."

"What!" Amanda moved out from behind Phoebe, who grabbed her arm to hold her back.

The demon nodded as he continued. "We have your mother, your father, and even your little brother. Delnar says that he will kill them... Unless you come back with me and agree to cooperate."

Paige looked over at Amanda and saw the girl battling with herself. "No, Amanda. Don't go."

"Paige is right," Phoebe said. "You can't go. You don't even know if this demon is telling the truth."

Amanda shook her head. "I can't risk it. I can't risk my family dying because of me." She shook off Phoebe's hold and went over to the demon. "Take me to them."

"No!" Paige yelled.

But it was too late. The demon took Amanda's hand and shimmered out with her.

-x-

Piper laughed as Phoebe pulled her through the clothing store. Her sister must not have been shopping in months. Since Piper knew it was one of Phoebe's favorite things to do, she couldn't blame her for being so excited about this trip.

"Oh, look at this one," Phoebe said. She pulled a slinky red dress off of the rack and held it up. "What do you think? Guaranteed to get me a man?"

"Phoebe, you don't need a dress like that to get you a man," Piper said, taking the dress. She looked at the price tag and raised her eyebrows. "Especially one that costs this much."

"I thought you were going to buy me a 'Welcome Home' outfit."

"I am," Piper said, putting the dress back on the rack. "But I don't have as much money as the Queen of England. Look for something a little more in my price range."

"Fine," Phoebe mumbled.

Piper pulled a long green dress off the rack and smiled. "Paige would love this," she said.

Phoebe frowned. "Who's Paige?"

"Oh, um, I meant Prue," Piper said, trying to cover up.

"Well Prue wouldn't love that. She hates green, you know that."

"You're right," Piper said, quickly putting the dress back.

She suddenly felt horrible. How could she have forgotten about Paige? Without being witches, she thought, we would have never met. Piper turned and saw a woman cradling a crying baby. Piper put a hand to her stomach. At that moment she felt empty; incomplete. She wasn't pregnant anymore. And I won't be if I'm not a witch. Since I only met Leo because of that fact.

Piper shook her head. "I can't do this," she whispered.

"Do what?" Phoebe asked.

"We have to go home," Piper said, taking Phoebe's arm and leading her towards the exit.

"But I haven't picked something yet," Phoebe protested.

"I'll buy you something tomorrow," Piper said. "Right now we have to get home."

And get to the Book.

-x-

"How could she just go like that?" Paige almost yelled.

"Her family is in danger," Phoebe said, looking at the description of Delnar in the Book of Shadows. "Either of us would probably do the same."

Paige sighed. "You're right. Okay, we have to find her and stop Delnar. What does the Book say?"

"The usual," Phoebe answered. "Upper-level, wants power, blah, blah, blah. And for a vanquish... Oh no."

Paige had just started scrying and now stopped. "What?"

"The spell to vanquish him is a Power of Three spell."

"Great. Just great," Paige muttered, continuing to scry. "So how do we stop him?"

Phoebe bit her lip as she thought. "Maybe the two of us saying it will weaken him enough that we can take him out with one of those grenade potions."

"Maybe," Paige said, just as the crystal dropped. "I found her."

"Where is she?" Phoebe asked.

Paige looked up with a worried look on her face. "The nuclear power plant."

"Oh god. Okay, we have to hurry." Phoebe quickly copied down the spell as Paige grabbed up a couple of potions.

"I think we should call Leo, too," Paige said.

Phoebe nodded. "Leo!" she called. "We really need you now!"

Leo orbed in a moment later. "Is Piper awake?"

"No," Paige said with a shake of her head. "We have other problems." She quickly told him everything that had happened.

"Wow," Leo said. "That is bad."

"Yeah," Phoebe said. "Now we need to get to that plant and stop them. Can you come with us and get her family out of there while we take care of the demons?"

Leo nodded. "Sure."

"Okay," Paige said, pocketing a grenade potion and handing another one to Phoebe. "Let's get going." She took Phoebe's hand and orbed them out, Leo following on his own power.

A moment later they appeared in the nuclear power plant. Several dead guards were sprawled on the floor. Amanda stood near the nuclear reactor, tears in her eyes. Almost a dozen demons stood around, three of them guarding Amanda's frightened family, energy balls in their palms.

Delnar was standing next to Amanda. "Absorb the energy of the reactor now or my demons will kill your family."

Amanda nodded slowly, still crying. She started to raise her hands to put them on the reactor.

"Amanda, stop!" Phoebe yelled.

Everyone turned to Phoebe, Paige, and Leo. "Kill them!" Delnar yelled. He turned to the three demons guarding Amanda's family. "And kill the family!"

Paige raised up her hands and called for the energy balls before the demons could throw them. The began to reform in front of Paige and she redirected them at the demons she had stolen them from. Once they were vanquished Paige turned to Leo. "Get them back to the manor," she told him.

Leo nodded and orbed over to the family. They still looked frightened, but took his hands and he orbed them out.

Phoebe was in the middle of fighting two demons; one in front of her and one behind. They each conjured an energy ball and threw them at her. Phoebe levitated into the air and the demons were each vanquished by the other one's attack. After landing, Phoebe ran towards Amanda, but Delnar stepped in front of her.

"Witch," he snarled. He threw a punch that knocked Phoebe to the floor. "I won't let you ruin my plans." Delnar conjured an energy ball and prepared to throw it at Phoebe.

"No!" Amanda yelled. She jumped in the way of Delnar's attack and the energy ball hit her square in the chest. But it didn't kill her, didn't even hurt her. The energy ball had been absorbed.

Paige ran over and helped Phoebe up. "Amanda, are you okay?" she asked.

Amanda felt her chest and nodded. "I'm fine..."

"Good," Phoebe said. She looked at Paige. "Should we try the spell?"

With a nod from Paige, Phoebe pulled out the spell. Together they read it and then each threw their grenade potion. The vials hit Delnar and exploded, but when the smoke cleared the demon was still standing.

"Is that all you've got?" Delnar said with a laugh. Still laughing, Delnar shimmered out, followed by his remaining demons.

"We have to go after him," Paige said.

"But how do we stop him?" Phoebe asked. "We don't have enough power."

"I've got an idea," Amanda said. Before the sisters could stop her, Amanda placed her hands on the nuclear reactor. The ground shook and the lights flickered as Amanda absorbed the reactor's power. The lights then went out as the last of the power was drained, but the three of them could still see; Amanda was glowing.

"Is that healthy?" Phoebe wondered.

"Who knows," Paige said. Then to Amanda, "Why did you do that?"

"You said you don't have enough power to vanquish Delnar," Amanda said. "I thought that maybe I would if I absorbed the energy of the reactor."

"Probably," Phoebe said. "But just one problem. How do we find him before you explode?"

Paige thought for a moment and then said, "Did that demon take you back to the Underworld before you all came here?"

"Yeah," Amanda said with a nod.

"Okay," Paige said. "I want you to focus on that place. Try to make it as clear in your head as you can."

"How will that help?" Phoebe asked.

"You can absorb powers, too, right?" Paige asked Amanda.

"Well I didn't know I could until I absorbed that energy ball. But now that I think about it, after a demon would shimmer with me they would seem really tired and I would feel like I had just absorbed some energy."

Paige nodded. "I felt tired after we orbed back from your apartment. Thought it was just stress."

"Okay," Phoebe said, "What does all this have to do with finding Delnar? We're running out of time. I can tell." She nodded at Amanda, who had started shaking.

"Well," Paige said, "when Amanda touches me she will start to absorb my powers. I'm hoping that she will be able to focus enough on where Delnar is to orb us there."

"But what about when we get there?" Phoebe asked. "When she releases all that power... Will you have enough strength to orb us out?"

Paige shrugged. "I hope so."

Phoebe covered her face. "Oh god."

"We have to go," Amanda said. "I don't think I can hold this power in much longer."

"Okay," Paige said, taking Amanda's hand in her own, Phoebe taking the other. "Now remember. Focus on that place they took you and think of going there."

Amanda closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few moments the three of them slowly dissipated into orbs and disappeared.

-x-

Lightning flashed and the rain fell hard. Piper was struggling to get the attic door open while Phoebe stood behind her eating a candy bar.

"Piper, why are you trying so hard to get in there?"

"Because I need to get something," Piper said through clenched teeth.

"And what would that be?"

"A book. A very special book."

"Oh, I know which one! The Wizard of Oz, right?" Phoebe said with a grin. "That's your favorite."

Piper turned and looked at Phoebe, slightly annoyed. "No. It's not that. Now why won't this thing open!" She slammed her fist on the door.

"Maybe because it's... locked?" Phoebe shrugged and bit into her candy bar when Piper gave her a scathing look.

There was the sound of the front door closing downstairs, followed by Prue yelling, "I'm home!"

"Oh, it's Prue," Phoebe said. "I bet she is going to ignore me all night."

"Phoebe, listen. She doesn't hate you. She knows that you did not seduce Roger. She is just a little frustrated. And in time you two will be the best of friends."

Phoebe frowned. "And how do you know this?"

Piper turned away from Phoebe and quickly said, "Sisterly intuition."

Prue came up the stairs behind them. "Piper, are you trying to get in there again?"

Piper stood up and pushed a strand of hair out of her face. She turned to Prue and gave a weak smile. "Yes, yes I am." There was a creak from behind her and the attic door swung open. "Oh... well not anymore."

The room was dark and the three sisters walked in cautiously.

"What is it we are looking for?" Prue asked.

"A book," Phoebe replied. "And it's not The Wizard of Oz."

"Shush!" Piper hissed and hit Phoebe lightly on the arm. There was a bright flash of lightning that lit the room up. "There it is." Piper pointed to a large box. They gathered around it and kneeled down. Piper opened it and let out a sigh of relief when she saw the Book of Shadows.

"What's that?" Prue asked.

"I don't know," Phoebe said. "But that's a cool symbol."

"I wasn't asking you," Prue snapped. "Piper, you were looking for it, so you obviously know what it is. Tell us."

Piper pulled the Book of Shadows out of the box and set it down on her lap, opening it to the page with the spell that would activate their powers. Once she read it she would be able to reverse the spell she had cast and get home.

"A book of magic," Piper said, with nothing to lose.

"What!" Prue yelled.

"Cool," Phoebe whispered.

Piper took a deep breath and started the spell before anything else could be said. "Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night. The oldest of gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought. In this night and in this hour I call upon the ancient power. Bring your power to we sisters three. We want the power. Give us the power."

With the last word there was a flash of lightning from outside and a rumble of thunder. "It's done," Piper said.

"What's done?" Prue asked. "Piper, what did you just do?"

"Sounded like she just gave us our powers," Phoebe mused.

Prue shook her head. "No, powers aren't real."

"Oh, but they are."

The three sisters jumped and looked towards the attic door. Jeremy was standing there, an athame with a golden handle in his hand, a huge, murderous grin on his face.

-x-

Paige, Phoebe, and Amanda orbed into a cave in the Underworld, much to the surprise of Delnar and his minions.

"How did you find me?" Delnar questioned. Before they could answer he shook his head and said, "No matter. I have nothing to worry about. You've already proven you don't have enough power to stop me."

"We don't," Phoebe said. She then nodded to Amanda. "But we think she does."

"Now!" Paige yelled. She dropped her hand from Amanda and held tightly onto Phoebe, orbing out.

Amanda screamed as the power inside her exploded outward. A massive wave of energy ripped through the cave, vaporizing the demons along with everything else. It blasted through the walls and into other surrounding caverns, destroying anything and everything inside them.

When all the power had been released Amanda collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Just then, Paige and Phoebe orbed back in.

"You did it," Paige said.

There was a sudden rumbling and the whole place started to shake violently. Rocks fell from the cave ceiling, crashing down around the girls, making them scream with fright.

"The cave is collapsing," Phoebe yelled over the noise.

"Well there was a nuclear explosion in here!" Paige yelled back.

"We have to get out of here," Phoebe said, helping Amanda up.

Paige, tired as she was, took their hands and orbed them out as the entire cave collapsed.

A moment later they orbed into the foyer of the manor. Paige leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. "Okay, I'm not orbing you again anytime soon," she said to Amanda. "It's just too much of a drain."

Leo came out of the living room, looking concerned. "Are you guys okay? What took so long?"

"We're fine," Phoebe said. "Amanda just had to absorb a nuclear reactor so that we could vanquish the demon."

"Along with a good portion of the Underworld," Paige said, eyes still closed.

"Oh, that's what it was," Leo said. "The news said that most of the power in the city was out."

"Will they be able to get it back?" Amanda asked, worried.

"Sure they will," Paige said. "The reactor probably just needs some time to recharge, like me." She covered her mouth as she yawned.

"Where's my family?" Amanda asked Leo.

"In there," Leo said, pointing back to the living room. "Now I have to get back to my other charge," he said, orbing out.

Amanda started to walk towards the living room, but stopped. "I know that you have already helped me a lot," she said to Paige and Phoebe. "But could you do one thing for me?"

Phoebe nodded. "Anything."

Amanda fidgeted as she spoke. "When I was looking for Delnar in your magic book I saw directions in there for making a potion to bind powers. I was wondering... could you make it to bind my powers?"

Paige finally opened her eyes. "Why would you want to do that? If you're afraid of demons attacking you then you shouldn't be worried. You can absorb powers. Most demons wouldn't be able to hurt you."

Amanda shook her head. "It's not myself I am worried about. It's my family. I can't risk demons going after them just to get to me. I can't put them in that kind of danger."

"Are you sure about this?" Phoebe asked.

Amanda nodded. "I'm sure."

"Okay," Phoebe said. "We'll go make the potion. You go in and see your family."

Amanda smiled and went into the living room as Phoebe and Paige went to make the potion.

-x-

"Jeremy," Prue said. "What are you doing here?"

"He's here to kill us," Piper said, setting down the Book and getting to her feet.

"What?" Phoebe asked. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a warlock," Piper said, glaring at Jeremy.

She remembered hating him so much when she had first found out who he was. Most of it had been because she was so hurt from how he had used her for so long. Piper had loved Jeremy. Now after years of fighting demons and warlocks, she couldn't see how she had not seen through his charade.

"I don't know how you know that," Jeremy said. "But it doesn't matter. You're right. I'm here to kill you and take your powers. I've waited so long." He grinned again as he advanced towards the sisters, Prue and Phoebe now standing as well. "Wait's over."

Piper threw up her hands and froze Jeremy. Prue gasped and Phoebe screamed. Both of them turned to stare at their sister.

"Piper," Prue said. "What did you do?"

"I froze him," Piper said. "But he won't stay that way for long. We have to say the spell to vanquish him."

"Wait," Phoebe said. "We?"

"You have powers too," Piper said.

Phoebe tilted her head and smiled an anxious smile. "Really?"

Piper smiled, remembering Phoebe having been the one eager and ready to jump into their witchy lives. Guess this Phoebe is the same, Piper thought.

Prue shook her head furiously. "No," she said. "No. Powers aren't real. Magic isn't real."

Piper sighed and rolled her eyes. "Prue? There is a frozen warlock in our attic. I think that proves that magic is real."

"So," Phoebe said. "What is my power? Can I blow things up?"

"No," Piper said, choosing not to tell Phoebe that Piper herself would get that power later from the disappointed look on her sister's face. "You can have premonitions."

"Ha!" Phoebe turned to Prue. "And you think I don't have any vision of the future."

Piper was starting to get antsy. She knew that with her powers being so new at that time that her freeze wouldn't last long and Jeremy would soon be able to attack them. "Look," she started to say, but Jeremy suddenly unfroze.

For a moment he was disoriented. "You froze me, didn't you?" He smiled. "I'm going to love having that power." He raised his athame and started to attack Piper.

"No!" Prue yelled. She stepped in front of her sister and Jeremy suddenly flew backwards, crashing into the wall. Prue looked stunned. "Did I...?"

"Yes, you did," Piper said. "Now please, we have to hurry. Take my hands."

Phoebe did so, but Prue didn't move.

"Prue, I am your sister," Piper said. "You have to trust me."

Prue nodded slowly and took Piper's free hand as Jeremy got up from the floor. He jabbed his athame at them and a whirlwind surrounded them.

"Repeat after me!" Piper yelled over the screaming wind. "The Power of Three will set us free!" She started to chant and Phoebe joined in right away, Prue taking up the chant after a moment.

Jeremy's voice became distorted and demonic as he tried to yell over their chant. "I am not the only one. I am one of millions, in places you could never imagine, in forms you would never believe. We are hell on this earth! You will never be safe and you will never be free!" With his last word, Jeremy exploded.

For a moment there was silence. Then Prue said, "The Power of Three..."

Piper smiled. "Damn straight."

-x-

Paige took the empty glass from Amanda, who was now powerless, and set it in the kitchen sink. "Well Amanda, you've lost your powers. What are you going to do next?"

"I'm going to Disney World!" Amanda cheered, eliciting laughter from Phoebe and Paige. "Actually... I'm just going to try and continue on with my life as it was before I got my powers. Be normal."

"Sometimes we wish we could do that," Phoebe said with a sigh.

"Why don't you?" Amanda asked.

"We're the Charmed Ones," Paige said. "It's our destiny to fight evil. No matter how hard it gets or how much it interferes with our lives... magic is a part of who we are."

She glanced at Phoebe, who looked away. Paige knew that Phoebe was having a lot of problems with magic lately, mostly involving Cole. But she hoped that her sister wasn't thinking of wanting to give up their powers. They had recently got a taste of that and Phoebe had seemed to have changed her mind. Although, Paige thought, that was before Cole came back.

"I guess I should get going," Amanda said, interrupting Paige's thoughts. "I'm going to spend some time with my family. They are still pretty shaken up about what happened."

"We understand," Phoebe said. "Be safe."

Amanda nodded. "I will be." She turned to go, but stopped and looked back. "Thanks," she said. "For everything."

After Amanda had left, Phoebe and Paige went up to the attic to check on Piper.

"Still unconscious," Paige said with a sigh.

"Yeah," Phoebe said. "I wonder what she's doing in there."

-x-

Piper sat at a table in the attic, writing down the spell she had cast earlier on a piece of paper. Phoebe had told her of a spell she had used to reverse a spell that had made Paige's breasts balloon up when Paige was still new to the craft, and Piper thought it would be a good one to use to reverse her own spell.

"Piper?" Prue said. "What are you doing?" She and Phoebe came to stand next to the table that Piper was sitting at.

"Writing a reversal spell."

"A reversal for what?" Phoebe asked.

Piper sighed. She knew that once she had reversed the spell, this place would cease to exist. So it didn't matter what she said.

"For this whole alternate reality or whatever it is," Piper said, lighting a candle. She got up and looked at Prue. "I don't know how I could have forgotten anything about you. All I know is that it won't happen again," she said, pulling a confused Prue into a hug.

"Piper, what are you talking about?" Prue asked. "And you're squeezing the life out of me?"

Piper gave a short laugh as she stepped back. Tears were now in her eyes, threatening to to drip down her face. "I love you, Prue. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Prue said slowly, still confused.

"Good." Piper let out a painful sigh and picked up the piece of paper she had written on. "Goodbye, Prue. Phoebe? I'll be seeing you soon." She turned away from her bewildered sisters and touched the paper to the flame of the magic. She placed it in a bowl, and as it burned she said the reversal spell. "Guiding spirits, hear my plea. Annul this magic..." She took one last look at Prue and had to force herself to say the final words of the spell. "Let it be."

The paper burned and smoke rose from the bowl. It suddenly shot towards Piper and entered her body, like before, through her nose. Once again she coughed and sputtered, and once again her body went rigged and she dropped to the floor.

-x-

In the real attic, Phoebe sat writing the final touches on her column while Paige was resting on the attic's couch.

Piper suddenly shot up into a sitting position, gasping for breath.

"Piper!" Phoebe yelled, running to her sister and helping her up.

Paige jolted awake and got up from the couch. "You're back."

"Can we ask where from?" Phoebe asked. "We know you created some new reality or something with your spell, but we have no idea what it dealt with."

Piper caught a look of herself in a full length mirror. She smiled as she saw her older image for the first time in awhile. So glad I got rid of those bangs, she thought.

"Well?" Paige prodded.

"Uh..." Piper turned to her sisters. "It's a long story." She looked over Phoebe's shoulder as swirl of lights appeared in the center of the attic. "What the...?"

Phoebe turned and looked. "Maybe it's Grams."

But when the lights came together to form the arriving person they all gasped in surprise.

Piper was the first to say something, but it was barely loud enough to be a whisper. "Prue."

End of Episode Four: Remembrance