-10-

The potion stood ready in the center of a round table, bubbling and rolling within a steaming, pewter cauldron and letting off a soft hissing. As Phoebe dropped in the last sprig of rosemary, and the resulting puff of steam had evaporated into the air, Prue and Piper took seats around the table, their chairs equally spaced. Before she joined her sisters, Phoebe, acting on instinct, placed a small piece of rosemary beside the sleeping Lucy's hand.

As she sat in a hard-backed, wooden chair, Phoebe took a small knife from Grams and explained the spell to her sisters. "We've done this spell before to summon Melinda, remember? Soon after we learned we had powers, we needed her to vanquish a demon and protect our family line. Well, this is the same thing. All the potion needs now is a drop of our blood...each of our blood." Phoebe looked sideways at Piper when her sister figited slightly, and said, "Piper, I know you hate doing this, but its for a far bigger reason than a slightly painful-"

"I know, I know!" Piper said, face reddening with embarrassment. "Just, poke me quickly, ok?" Phoebe obeyed and jabbed Piper's finger slightly, allowing a drop of blood to appear on her skin. Piper made a small noise of pain, which drew rolled eyes from her sisters, then after Prue had drawn blood, Phoebe followed suit. Before combining her blood in the cauldron, she looked into the eyes staring back at her, then glanced over at Lucy, who lay asleep on the couch, hands resting lightly on her stomach, and briefly remonised about her own past. How would she, Phoebe, feel if her sisters were kidnapped by demons; demons more powerful than she could imagine? Would anyone help them if they had? The lives of the Millers rested in the hands of the Halliwells now. The burden was great, but then Phoebe realized that her sisters would die to save an innocent. It was up to them.

"Powers of the witches rise

Course unseen across the skies

Come to us, who call you near

Come to us, and settle here

Blood to blood,

I summon thee

Blood to blood,

Return to me."

A gust of magical wind whipped across the attic as the words died from the sisters' lips, but the candles surrounding the table did not flicker. The girls' hair lifted as magic bobs of light swirled around in front of them. Patty reached to her side and took her mother's hand in anticipated nervousness. Grams looked sideways at Patty, who's face was white and dotted with sweat and nodded reassuringly, giving her daughter's hand a squeeze. "Everything will be fine. They will accept her," she whispered, too soft for her granddaughters to hear.

The lights were the same that brought about Patricia and Penelope, but this time, when they faded away, a young woman stood in the center of the room, her small, thin hands held loosely at her sides. She was about 5 feet 6 inches tall, within the same age of the Halliwells, but a few years younger then Phoebe. She was slim with a round, childish face. Her dark brown hair, which settled about her shoulders loosely, clashed greatly with her smooth, though slightly freckled skin, which was quite pale. Her eyes, chocolate brown, were exactly like those of the three sisters sitting around the table, though at the moment they were darting around the room, resting on Patty and Grams.

"What...where am I? What am I doing here?" The woman asked, sounding almost dumbfounded with shock. She looked closer at Patty, then recognised her. "Patty? What...what is going on?"

Prue stared, first at the newcomer, then at her mother. "Patty? What? Wait, you two know each other? Mom, what's-"

"Prue, Piper, Phoebe," said Patty formally, crossing over to the new woman, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking upon her three daughters. "May I introduce your sister, Paige?"

Not a sound could be heard in the room for several long seconds as these words were processed in the minds of all four young women.

"Sister?" Phoebe and Paige said at the same time, both as astonished as the other.

"We don't have another sister," Prue said quickly and quietly, but her eyes searched Paige's face, looking for any detail that would betray a likeliness between them.

"Yes, you do," Patty replied, smiling. "She is your baby sister. Please, sit and let me explain." Paige looked at her now, extremely confused. Patty lead her to another chair near to the other three and sat her down.

"Mom, I don't-" Prue began, but Penny cut her off with a repremending whisper.

"Prue, not now. Listen."

Prue gave her grandmother a scathing look, but obeyed, shutting her mouth and turning to stare at her mother, who took a deep, steadying breath, then told her story.

"After you were all born, and Phoebe was about a year old, Victor and I had already divorced. Back then, it had been absolutely forbidden for a witch and a whitelighter to be together. It was unthinkable. But my whitelighter, Sam, and I cared for each other greatly. He was my greatest friend, my closest mentor. After a few months, we began to notice the connection between us, like a spark of emotion. Our emotions were all mixed up, confused, middled. Then, one day, it just got too big and I told him that I loved him. I realised it, and he too knew that he loved me and told me as much. It might have been a brief fling. Besides, I...well...died shortly after that, so we never got to carry our love out. But that's when I became pregnant with you, Paige. You three were all toddlers. You just thought Mommy had got a little fat. You never knew I was pregnant. No one did. The trouble was, being having children with a whitelighter was unthinkable. So, that's why we decided to give the baby up. Sam and I took her to a local church as soon as she was born, and gave the nun there the baby, along with a blanket. We hadn't named her yet, but I told Sister Agnes, the nun that took her, that I wanted her name to start with a P. We asked her to find a home for her, and she found one. A very good home with the Matthews.

"You four were not meant to meet for another year. There were things in your future that I cannot talk about with you, and never can. But I can tell you, Prue, that you were never meant to meet Paige Matthews."

Prue sat straighter at this, closing her mouth. It had been open for some time. "Why? What was supposed to happen? Why can't you tell us?"

Patty shook her head. "No. I've already said, I can't reveal what your future was. I'm sorry. Besides, I don't think it will be the same anymore. You can't know too much about your future, anyway. It's too dangerous" She finished speaking and looked around at her four daughters with love-filled eyes. "So now you know my story about Sam, and now I hope that you understand that Paige is your baby half sister: half witch, half whitelighter, a rare and extreamly powerful combination." She softly rested work-worn hands on Paige's shoulders and looked at the three oldest girls. "I hope you girls can accept Paige as your sister. And I hope you, Paige, can accept them as family."

Silence was the only thing active in the entire room, wafting into each corner, floating into each ear until Prue rose softly, and moved over to Paige, the amasssedor of her sisters, smiling graciously. She extended her hand and spoke: "Welcome to the Halliwell family, Paige."

In turn, Paige stood and gently grasped the extended hand and spoke for the first time since she had seen Patty. "Thank you." She suddenly smiled. "I've always wanted sisters., though this is definatly not the way I expected to get them." Piper and Phoebe stood to stand with Prue, and as they reached her, the lights suddenly darkened and a bright tinkling of bells sounded, as if a chorus of fairies were singing all around them. A beam of blue, angelic light broke through the roof of the attic and bathed the girls in its magical color as supernatural lights swirled around them in beautiful patterns. "Woah," Paige whispered.

"What's happening?" Piper inquired, just as softly. The four stared up at the lights, watching them spin around their heads.

"It means you're supposed to be together. You've just been blessed by the Elders." Grams said, stepping into the picture at last.

"Wait a second," Paige said, releasing Prue's hand and asking the question that had been bothering her for a while, as if Gram's explanation of the lights and the mention of the word "Elder" had sparked it. "Patty...er...Mom...what do you mean by 'witch'? What's a whitelighter? And an Elder?"

A brief glance between Patty and Grams was missed by the girls before Patty explained the best she could. "Whitelighters are guardian angels of witches. Well, they're not really angels. I mean, they're immortal and can only die from a darklighter arrow, but they protect witches and help future whitelighters. Elders are the guys up there," She pointed to the ceiling. "Who are basically the manager of Good."

"Now, this is going to sound ludacris to you, Paige, but I hope you will believe every work I say, because it is you. It is your destiny. You are a witch." Noting Paige's wide-eyed stare, Grams continued, hurriedly. "Yes, Paige. But a good witch. You can do spells, brew potions and all that stereotypical stuff, even if you have to learn it. But that's not all you are able to do. Anyone can make a potion. All you do is add ingredients. But you, my dear, have powers." Paige spluttered slightly, disbelieving, but Patty reprehended her.

"Do not doubt what she says, Paige. You have powers. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe all have powers. Your Grams and I have powers. And Lucy has powers," she said, pointing to the couch and drawing the attention of Paige, who had not noticed the sleeping witch before then and started slightly.

Paige cast Lucy a curious glance before speaking again. "How can I have powers?" She blurted, shaking her head and looking at her mother, spreading her arms wide. "Look at me! I'm skinny, pale, ugly, have an average job. I'm just Paige Matthews! Not some super witch who casts spells."

At this, Piper said, "Phoebe, toss that candle into the air and stay out of the way." Understanding what her sister had in mind, Phoebe picked up a large white candle from the floor and blew out the flame before, after a nod from her sister, threw it into the air. Piper calmly raised her hands, palms facing each other, and froze the candle in midair, leaving it completely stationary between ceiling and floor. Paige gasped. She couldn't believe what she saw. Piper looked over at her new sister, smiling. "Not seen enough?" With barely any effort, she flicked her wrists towards the candle. It exploded in front of their eyes, showering them all with bits of wax. Piper put her hands back down and turned to Paige, acting as though nothing had happened. "We have powers, alright!" she said, smiling and gesturing towards her sisters. "We all do. There is no way you can't. It's in your blood."

Feeling curiosity get the better of her, Phoebe asked, while picking wax from her hair, "What kind of powers does Paige have, Grams? I don't think it's quite fair to let her discover them on her own like we did, especially since we need her to get control over them quickly if we are to save the Magicked Ones."

"Speaking of which," Grams interrupted, ignoring Phoebe's question and crossing to the couch. "I think it's time that Lucy woke up. She needs to be alert now that you four have met each other." She gathered a handful of golden dust from a small pouch at her side and blew it into Lucy's face. Gently, Grams stroked Lucy's cheek, speaking softly, so as not to frighten the girl. "Lucy, dear. Wake up."

Lucy's eyelids twitched, then slowly opened. She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then her eyes roved the room, landing slowly on Grams. Slowly, she pushed herself upright, leaning against the couch arm for support. "Woah. What happened? Who-?" She stared hard at Page, her muddled mind scanning her intellectual files for a recognisable name, but it wouldn't click. "Who are you?"

"Lucy, this is Paige," Phoebe replied, introducing the two, her eyes never leaving Paige's face. "Our youngest sister. Paige, Lucy Miller, also a witch, one of the powerful Magicked Ones."

"It's nice to meet you," Paige said politely, still trying to resister all of what her mother had told her minutes before.

"Pleasure," Lucy replied, nodding cordially, but her eyebrows raising, before pressing the question that had arisen in her mind. "I didn't know you had another sister," She told the Halliwell sisters, looking sideways at Paige. "No offense, Paige," she continued on. "But I've never heard of you before."

"That's because we only just met her ourselves," Prue said.

"It's a long story," Paige assured Lucy with a slight smile.

A quizzicle look passed over Lucy's face. "Wait, then how did you get in here? I can understand everything if you tell me. I can usually comprehend what people tell me. What happened?"

Patty crossed the room. "Lucy, calm down. All will be explained in due time."

"If all will be explained in due time, then why not just tell me now and get it over with? I'll be better prepared for the future if you tell me sooner rather than later. What's the difference?" Lucy retorted, her chin raising defiantly.

"Boy, she's stubborn," Prue whispered to Piper, but too quietly for the younger woman to hear. Piper nodded back vigourilsy, a smile playing about her lips.

"Very well," Grams proclaimed. "I put you to sleep, Lucy, because I needed to introduce Paige to Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. Up until fifteen minutes ago, they did not know that the other existed. They only found out that they had a sister slightly before you did. She's a witch," Grams looked at her youngest granddaughter with pride. "A witch with a unique means of telekinesis. Call that book to you, Paige."

The girl did as she was told, and concentrated on the book that Grams had indicated. "Book," She demanded. In a flurry of white lights, the book vanished, only to return a split second later in Paige's outstretched hands, making her jump so violently that she dropped it with a snap. "Wow," she breathed, impressed. "I did that?" She looked at Prue in astonishment, as if waiting for an answer.

Smiling, Prue responded, "Yes, you did."

"So, apparently, Paige can move things with her mind, like Prue," Piper said, drawing another exchange of glances between Grams and Patty, which no one noticed.

"That's right," Patty said. "But centered with whitelighter powers, thanks to her being half-angel. She can also orb."

"Orb? What is that?" Paige questioned, looking throughly flustered.

"Your whitelighter half enables you to transport yourself somewhere. Anywhere. You focus your mind on a place, or even a person, and your body will take you there through your powers. Try orbing to the Book of Shadows." Eyes shut with concentration, Pagie again focused her mind on the area behind the couch. Then, her body tickled and felt as if she was begin rubbed all over with a soft towel. She had the funniest sensation of her feet lifting off the ground, and quite suddenly she was standing next to the podium where the Book lay open. She probed herself with long fingers, making sure that nothing had been altered on her thin frame, touched the podium, then looked up. "Wow," she whispered again, then her knees buckled, and she passed out on the floor.