CHAPTER TEN

"Oh my God!!" I cried. Grabbing Chris' hand, I demanded, "Cemetery, now!"

"What the--?" Chris exclaimed.

"No talking, just orbing!" I screamed. "Now!"

So he orbed us to the cemetery. I ran to the wall and placed my hand on Prue's plaque. "In there!" I cried. "Orb in there, right now!"

He looked at me in shock. "You want me to what?"

"Chris! Now! Please!"

He shrugged and orbed away, soon orbing back with Prue, still dressed in the gown we buried her in. She gasped and gasped, finally catching her breath. She turned to Chris, smiling. "Thank you, whoever you are." Then she turned to me and anxiously asked, "Did we save the doctor?"

"What?" I was stunned. How could I tell her? What could I tell her? But after lying to Piper, I couldn't do it again, so I told her the truth. "No, Prue, I'm sorry; we didn't," and she looked heartbroken at the news that we had lost an innocent.

Chris was staring at his dead aunt, whom he must've always heard about, but had never met. "Prue?"

"Yeah," I nodded and introduced them. "Prue, this is Chris, uh, Chris Perry. Chris, this is my sister, Prue Halliwell."

She smiled at him. "He's a whitelighter, I take it?"

How the heck do I explain that?? So I used one of Chris' favorite explanations: "Not exactly, long story. Let's just go back to the Manor and I will try to explain everything." Yeah, right, I thought to myself. Good luck!

So Chris orbed all three of us back to the Manor. "Prue, why don't you go take a shower?" I suggested, since she still smelled rotten, and it would give me a chance to decide what to tell her. She grinned and ran up the stairs.

"Would you mind telling me what is going on?" Chris demanded, still confused.

I shrugged, finally putting it together myself. "Richard wished the Charmed Ones alive again," I reminded him. "It must have saved Prue, too, because she's also a Charmed One."

Just then Leo and Piper orbed back in, Piper carrying a sleeping Wyatt.

Leo didn't look happy, and neither did Piper. "I have an announcement to make," he told us. "The Elders insist that I must stay Up There full-time now and do my proper Elderly duties. I've neglected them for much too long."

"What!" Chris yelled in panic. "No! You can't!" He thought for a moment. "Stay for a few days. I need…." Then he noticed his young older brother. "Wyatt! Uh, isn't his first birthday in a few days? Couldn't you at least stay for that?"

Piper glanced over at Chris oddly. "You remembered Wyatt's birthday?" she asked with a smile. Then she turned to her ex. "Yeah, Leo, stay for your son. They've got to let you do that."

Just then Prue came back down the stairs, her wet hair wrapped in a turban-like towel, a large towel wrapped around her still-dripping body. "Phoebs, what happened to my room?" she asked. "Where is all my stuff?"

At the sound of this voice, Piper looked over to the stairs. "Oh, my God!"

Then she fainted.

"Piper!" Leo dove after her.

"Piper!" cried Prue as she ran to kneel at her side.

"She's okay," Leo assured her, as he smiled at her. "Glad to see that you are, too!" and she smiled back..

Soon Piper sat back up again, staring at our big sister kneeling next to her. "Is this real, or am I dreaming?"

This time Chris reminded them of what I had reminded him. "Richard wished the Charmed Ones alive again."

"Yeah, so what?" Piper asked impatiently. Then her eyes lit up as she finally got it. "Oh, I could kiss Richard!"

"No!" Chris yelled out, and I laughed, thinking about him panicking about Piper kissing anyone beside Leo.

I smiled at him. "I think we better leave that to Paige."

"Paige?" Prue asked. "Who is Paige?"

Oops! Piper and I exchanged awkward glances. How were we going to explain Prue's replacement in the Power of Three to her?? "This is going to be a long night," Piper sighed, changing the subject. "I'll go put on the coffee."

Leo and I followed her into the kitchen, while Prue stayed behind with Chris. Even as we walked through the conservatory towards the kitchen, I could hear Prue exclaim, "The Charmed Ones were dead? Did Shax kill us?" and I thought, "Good luck, explaining that one, Chris!" and I would've loved to have heard how he responded, but something must've hit Leo, because he pushed both of us into the kitchen and waited until the door closed before he spoke.

"Prue was supposed to die," he reminded us. "You three weren't."

"What are you saying, Leo?" Piper asked, fear in her eyes.

"Don't get used to this," he warned us. "Death will keep coming for her!"

Tears filled both of our eyes. "No!" Piper exclaimed, and I nodded. "I can't take losing her again! It was too hard the first time!"