Oni-Gil: Ok, Ok. I get it. Here's your update!

Catreddick4 Patience, young one! The story continues. I promise that it will end eventually! There are some things that have yet to be explained that cannot be explained in the sequel.

Patricia L. Bryans: Alas, Lynxe didn't quite make Zoltof vulnerable. He's still an incredibly strong monster. And alas, the Charmed Ones don't always win no matter how powerful their company, at least not in my stories. But they still do heroic things. And of course, there is much more time to face Zoltof...

Kings Lioness: Now you shall know...

chuckles1414: Yes, Lynxe did fight desperately. Desperately for a demon who is about to lose her life. But I liked the way she died. She took some of Zoltof with her, and she was able to stand up for herself, unlike so many pathetic demons who perish at the wrath of their masters. Whining, sniveling.

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: Here is the update for you, mate! And never forget (these words have been rolling across my mind for the past day and a half) "If you should ever see a snake like this in front of you, don't muck with it!" :)

A/N before I get going: I shall be at Mammoth Mountain for a Cross Country camp this week. I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back until Saturday. I'm sorry to leave you all hanging for another long wait, but I can't avoid it! Perhaps I shall leave the chapter updated and leave it for my sister to put onto the website for me, but then how will I respond to your wonderful reviews? Ah well. I apologize for the inconvenience!

-22-

The four Millers and Paige orbed down into the Halliwell mansion's brightly lit conservatory at long last, where the Charmed Ones were waiting anxiously for them. When the Magicked Ones had not followed the Halliwells, Phoebe had hurriedly sent Paige back to assist them. By the time Paige orbed out, Prue had Piper already laid out on one of the soft couches, unconscious and breathing shallowly, her arms lying limply at her side as blood began to cake her hair and shirt. Prue knelt beside her then, pressing a dish towel to her sister's wound and stroking her hair gently. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stared into her sister's pale and face, wondering if she was going to die or not. The girls had called Leo over and over but he had not come, much to the sister's worries. He had never failed to come down at their call before and now, in their greatest need, he was not there. What could have been happening "up there" for the Elders not to send down the Charmed One's whitelighter?

Now, Prue fought back sobs of grief as Paige and the Millers appeared in the middle of the room. Phoebe jumped slightly, startled. Lucy was still holding tightly to Heather's limp form while Kate and Sam watched by her side. As soon as they touched down, Paige released the Millers and walked silently over to her sisters, putting her arms around Phoebe and leaving the Millers with plenty of room with Heather. Her eyes were closed and she looked paler than death, but she was still breathing, though she inhaled sharply and raggedly. The stab wound at her stomach still shone with blood, but the flow was decreasing as the pulse in her body weakened. She was fading towards death quickly and there was no hope without Leo.

The tears in Lucy's eyes continued to drip down her cheeks as she held her sister closer still, refusing to let her go for fear that she would cease to breathe. "Heather," Lucy whispered, the name barely escaping her lips before wrenched with a sob. Gently, Lucy shook Heather's form. "Please," she pleaded softly. "Please, don't go. Don't leave us." Sam sniffed as she listened to her youngest sister and when Heather spoke, her voice barely audible, Sam could not bring herself to look over.

"Lucy…" Heather's eyes struggled to open and focus on her youngest sister, then they slowly shifted to the other two, her once proud brown eyes fading greatly. "I'm…s-sorry," she choked, gasping as blood rushed from the wound in her stomach and onto Kate's knees. "I…I f-failed you…"

Lucy's golden hair fell over her face as she shook her head furiously at Heather, flexing her arms and tightening her hold. "No. Heather, don't talk like that," she whispered. Unable to speak at all, Sam buried herself in Kate's arms as they both wept silently, listening to their eldest sister fighting to continue.

"S-stay strong…" Heather's eyes were closing and her breathing became suddenly slower as she coughed once more. Her head, which she had been trying to hold up fell limply against Lucy's chest as she struggled to speak again, her throat now filling with blood. "K-Kate," she whispered, her hand unclasping, struggling to open.

Kate untangled herself from Sam and forced herself to lean forward and she clasped her sister's weak, outstretched hand in her own, tears flowing freely from her eyes and dripping onto Heather's blouse. It took a few moments before she made herself look into Heather's eyes. "I'm here, Heather," Kate assured Heather softly, patting her hand feebly, trying to steady her voice.

"K-Kate. T-take care…of them." Heather arched her back in pain as she whispered and swallowed. Kate could feel her hand growing cold as she held it fast. "Please," Heather whispered, and then looked straight into Kate's warm brown eyes, her gaze piercing and desperate. "I…l-love…you..." she continued, and her voice was barely audible. She tried again. "I...love..." Her voice trailed away as she exhaled gently. Her sisters waited for the harsh inhale of a new breath, but nothing came and suddenly, Heather was not staring at Kate, but through her, her eyes clouded over.

"Piper," came Prue's voice from across the room. The eldest Charmed One was shaking her sister's hand, but Piper made no move nor response. She too had stopped breathing. "Piper!" Prue yelled, her eyes filling with tears. Phoebe choked out a sob and Paige stared at the couch where her new sister now lay still, and shock etched itself across her face as reality hit her.

Sam buried her head in Kate's chest and cried. Kate's eyes were red and staring into Heather's in disbelief as she held Sam close, shaking her head silently, her mouth open in shock. "No!" Lucy whispered, breaking the stunned silence at last. "Heather. No!" She repeated. "Don't die. Don't die because of me," She shook Heather roughly as she held her, as if trying to wake her up from a deep sleep. "Heather, please. Don't…no…" Her voice trailed into hiccoughs and tears as her body began to shake, then she put her head against Heather's and cried before whispering, "I love you."

Moments passed as the two families wept over their fallen sisters. Lucy pulled Heather's torso still closer to herself and rocked Heather back and forth, wishing that she had never orbed from their house when Lynxe had attacked. At least then they would have all been together and this wouldn't have happened. Guilt built in her breast and she could feel her insides twisting as she saw again Heather's face as the athamae was plunged into her belly and the expression of pain as she collapesed to the sand in the cavern. If only she hadn't left her sisters!

As she cried, a soft, violet glow slowly began to blossom and radiate from Lucy's hands, bright and magestic, but no one noticed until Kate was looking up to the heavens, as if about to scream at the Elders. She saw the glow through the corner of her tear-filled eyes and turned her head fully to look at Lucy. It wasn't until a few moments later until she realized what she was looking at, but not daring to believe what she saw. At last, she was able to pull herself together and whisper, "Lucy…your hands."

The youngest Miller lifted her head slowly from Heather's to look and saw what was happening. "What-" she started, wide-eyed and frightened, holding up one of her hands in front of her to examine it. It shone purple in the room, strong and sure.

Prue had looked up to see what was going on and when she saw, she gasped and her eyes flicked towards Phoebe sharply, who had also noticed. "She can heal?" Prue mouthed at Phoebe, who shook her head in wild astonishment. Prue returned her gaze to the Millers', still holding Piper close to her own body, but now she watched Lucy, although Prue was unable to say anything. Her mouth was stuck shut in disbelief.

"Lucy! Lucy, heal her!" It was Sam who spoke this time, for she too had finally realized what the glow was: the healing power of whitelighters, a possibility and chance of saving her sister.

Without further question or comment, Lucy jerked into action. She freed her hands from Heather's weight and held them close over her sister's wound, letting and willing the glow to soak into Heather's body, watching everything with wide eyes. Slowly, the light spread over Heather's stomach, which now glowed the same violet as Lucy's powers, brightly and angelicly. Then the horrific wound on her stomach slowly vanished, the muscles mending themselves and the skin knitting together effortlessly. The blood that trickled down Heather's chin from her blood filled mouth disappeared and without warning Heather jerked awake, her lungs suddenly working and gasping in air. At the exact same time, Piper was thrown out of her stupor and she too gasped in air and opened her eyes. The three Millers sat flabbergasted as the purple energy vanished from Lucy's hands slowly and Heather blinked.

"H-Heather?" Kate whispered, hesitating, then reaching over Lucy to push her eldest sister's hair back from her face with shaking hands.

"Kate?" Heather muttered dryly, her eyes turning to see her three sisters over her. At last, they focused and she gasped."Oh, Kate! Lucy! Sammie!" Heather struggled into a sitting position but before she was upright she had pulled Lucy and Kate into a tight embrace, motioning to Sam to join them. Joyously, Sam threw herself into the hug and the four lay on the floor together weeping with joy and shock, embracing each other as hard as they could, never wanting to let go.

"Heather! I thought…we thought you…" Sam stuttered, pulling back to stare at her sister's face, to which was returning an alive and perfectly healthy glow.

Heather laughed weakly, tears of happiness in her eyes. She pulled Sam back to her, rocking her back and forth and hugging Kate fiercely with the other arm. "No," she whispered, shaking her head and kissing Lucy forcefully on top of her head. "Never." She looked at Kate over Sam's shoulder at Lucy. "But," she continued suddenly, and her eyes narrowed, trying to figure it out. "How-?"

"Lucy," replied Kate, looking as questionable as Heather, but speaking in a final sort of way. "She healed you."

"But-" Heather whispered, astonished, her breath catching in her throat in surprise. "You can't…it's not…"

"-my power?" Lucy finished, shaking her head dejectedly and leaning into back into Kate's arms. "I know." She shook her head. "I don't know how it happened. I thought I didn't have whitelighter blood in me," she continued.

"You do," Prue said from over by the couch. The Millers looked over at her, slightly surprised as they had nearly forgotten that they were in fact, in the Halliwell's home. Prue and her sisters had remained quiet on the other side of the room, giving their own welcome to Piper, who had also been able to sit up. The four Halliwells were all crying, but Prue wiped a hand across her eyes roughly before going on to explain. "There is a whitelighter in your ancestry. I remember now, though I don't know why I remember or how. I mean, I didn't remember until this moment. Grams always told us stories about the Miller line and how it had grown in power, just like the Halliwell line. One of your first witch ancestors named Leia had a child, Shannen, with a whitelighter called David. Shannen was therefore half whitelighter but her daughter, Brianna, had no trace of whitelighter blood in her, which was a mystery then and now.

"Curiously, her blood went through your entire ancestral line without any whitelighter powers until you, for some reason. No one knows why that since Shannen, after seven generations of power in your family, you are the first to have full whitelighter powers. Although, our powers are still growing. All of ours," she added, motioning to her sisters. "Lucy's have just grown more. Her whitelighter side gave her healing powers, and just in time too," she finished, pulling Piper into another hug.

The Millers stared at Lucy in wonder. It didn't make much sense before Prue's story and now that they were suddenly informed on happenings in their family line, happenings that they didn't even know about, they had a lot to think about. But their youngest sister was still trying to master her first powers, let alone receiving a new one. Nothing except Prue's story made much sense. They were all silent for a few minutes, then Heather, who had tears in her eyes again, reached over and pulled Lucy into a strong hug. "I love you," she whispered into her ear, unable to think of anything else to say.

"I couldn't imagine losing you," Lucy sniffed into Heather's shoulder, her arms clasped around her eldest sister. "I love you too," she murmured.

After a long hug, the two sisters broke apart and Sam and Kate helped them to their feet. Heather's eyes grew hard once more as she glanced at the Charmed Ones still embracing Piper. "We need to destroy these demons," she said abruptly, causing the Halliwells to look up and stare at her. They were surprised to see the hard glint in Heather's eye, but knew that Heather was strong-willed enough to have recovered from her trauma quickly and they knew that she knew what she was talking about. "They nearly killed my sisters and they nearly killed Lucy's protectors. We can't let them gain our powers or our lives. We can't let them become more powerful and destroy us. And we can't let them get away with this."

"Wait," Piper said, interrupting Heather as she spoke at last, her hand on her stomach. "How did that happen?" She asked, pointing at Heather's abdomen, then at her own. "How did I almost die? I had the exact same injury as Heather did, in the exact same spot at the exact same time, and I healed when Lucy healed Heather. How did that happen? What magic is this? What is going on?"

No one could answer her, for they were all wondering the same thing. How did that make sense?

"You are connected."

Surprised, the eight young witches turned sharply to see Patty Halliwell coming down the stairs, still wearing jeans and a shirt, a yellowed slip of parchment clutched in her hand. Everyone watched as she crossed the room to stand by her daughters and check if Piper was all right.

As her eyes fell on the woman, a slight gasp escaped from Heather's lips before she could stop it, but no one looked at her. Heather's hands went to her mouth slowly, as she stared hard at Patty, registering her face in her mind. Something about Patty's soft, waving brown hair and deep, liquid brown eyes reminded her of something, of someone, of a place in time now lost in the depths of her mind.

A pair of eyes. A lovely, young face brightening in a smile. Open arms. The yells of joyful children. Shrieks as two young girls threw themselves in a pair of waiting hands.

"Heather, are you alright?" Kate was whispering in her ear as she poked her gently in the small of the back. Heather was pulled out of the flashback memory then, but she did not answer Kate. Indeed, she said nothing at all as she continued to stare at Patty, perhaps too astounded to speak.

Patty, who had not seen Heather's glance, or was avoiding it, smiled at the legendary sight that met her and spread her arms out wide. "It was told this day would come!" She exclaimed joyfully, though more to herself than to anyone. If she saw the astonished faces around her, Patty did not acknowlage them and went on. "The Prophesy spoke of this day: when the two most powerful families of witches would meet and combine to vanquish an evil beyond any before. And here you are, the eight of you under one roof and ready to fight evil."

Next to Patty, Phoebe's light brown eyes flicked quickly to Prue's in an inquiring look before she asked, "Uh, Mom? Care to articulate?"

The mother of the Halliwells smiled mysteriously as she said, "I'm not sure that I can tell you everything, but I can say that you four are supposed to be here," she told the Millers, smiling, reassuring them slightly.

But Piper spoke next. "Mom," she questioned, somewhat sharply without meaning to be. "How are we--me and Heather that is--connected? We've never met each other before and we don't share the same blood."

"Actually," Patty corrected, her voice suddenly softer. "In a way, you do share the same blood."

Confused glances and raised eyebrows were exchanged among the families. Seeing them, Patty smiled and said, "I can show you, if you'd like."

This captured everyone's attention immediately and they all returned their gazes to Patty. Heather had looked up as she and Sam sat on the couch, while Paige sank onto the love seat opposite them. This was going to be important. She knew it, though she didn't know how.

"Wait a minute, Mom," Prue said, her eyebrows knitting together. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"The Elders have allowed me to take you back to the past in order to show you the events that took place which made you to be…well, related in a sense. They do this because they feel that you will all grow a stronger bond with each other after you have seen everything and that in turn will help you defeat Zoltof." Patty spoke softly, and then her eyes suddenly lowered so that she was looking at her feet.

Piper noticed and leaned forward slightly to try and catch Patty's eye. "What is it?" She asked, concerned and worried.

Her mother's eyes rose to meet hers and Piper was shocked to see tears swimming in them. "I hesitate to tell you that there is sorrow in this particular vision quest, sorrow that will be difficult for the Magicked Ones to witness," she replied.

"Why? What happened?" Lucy asked, voicing the question that had embedded into each of her sister's minds. They glanced at one another in hesitation as they waited for an answer.

Patty shook her head. "I cannot tell you here," she repeated. "You must be willing to witness the past and take the consequences that come with it. Only then can you see and know what had happened and understand it all."

Something in the deceased witch's tone caught Kate's attention and she too asked a question. "Is it…was it bad?" She inquired in a whisper. As she spoke, her sisters glanced uneasily at her out of the corners of their eyes before turning to Patty to hear the answer.

"That, my children, is something you will have to discover yourself," Patty once again said, crossing to the center of the room, between the Halliwells and the Millers. "It is not for me to say."

The second eldest Magicked One turned to her family to see their reactions and their decisions. She knew, without looking at her, that Heather was curious and willing to go through anything to find out about the connection, being the object of concentration at the moment. Kate herself wanted to know what had happened, for she had the feeling that, in the vision quest, they would see their mother. Looking into the other two's eyes, Kate immediately understood the importance to her sisters of knowing the past and saw that they were ready. Convinced without any words spoken, Kate turned to Patty and spoke two words. "Take us."

Patty inclined her head slightly, resigning gracefully to the task. "So mote it be," she breathed, then held her hands out to the Millers. "Come."

After a moments slight hesitation, Heather awkwardly got off the sofa and crossed to Patty, her sisters following her slowly, wondering where the quest would take them and what it would show. Maybe they would see their parents, maybe they would see Patty in her past. None of them knew. But they did know that something would come from it.

The Charmed Ones stood silently out of the way, knowing how important it was for the Millers to be together and alone. But Heather's eyes suddenly met Piper's and she knew that Piper needed to see everything too. "Can they come as well?" Heather asked Patty. "After all, Piper is the one connected to me."

"As you wish," Patty agreed, holding out her other hand to her daughters. It seemed that she had been waiting for Heather to ask the question. She knew that her daughters should go back in time too, but if none of the Millers had asked, she was prepared to leave Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige behind. The Halliwell witches came forward as well and Piper reached out to grasp her mother's hand while her sisters held each others'. The nine witches stood in a row silently, then Patty spoke.

"The Bond which was not to be done
Give us the power to see it undone
And turn back time to whence it was begun."

Piper quickly swallowed another feeling of doubt that had suddenly reared up inside her. Even though her last gut feeling had come to pass and something bad had happened, she suppressed this one, for Patty was with them and she wouldn't let anything happen to them. Piper closed her eyes as the nine of them vanished in a swirl of bright white lights once again.