"Piper, you've got to go up there and talk to her! She's been in her room for a week now." Phoebe pleaded while sitting at the kitchen bench watching her big sister cook dinner. But her pleas fell on deaf ears. It seemed to Phoebe that both her sisters were just as stubborn as each other. Piper wouldn't apologise until Paige showed she wanted to be part of the family. And Paige wouldn't want to be part of the family until Piper apologised and she was sure they wanted her.

"Take this to Paige, please" said Piper, handing Phoebe a plate of spaghetti and a glass of juice. Phoebe didn't dare suggest this to her sister, but Paige's meal looked just a little more carefully prepared that the rest of the plates. She would never say so, but Piper was feeling guilty for what she'd said.

Paige thanked Phoebe for the food and went to shut the door, only for Phoebe to block it with her foot.
"Honey, talk to me. I'm your sister."

Paige hesitantly let go of the door and walked towards her bed. Setting her food down on the bedside table, she patted the mattress beside her, motioning for Phoebe to sit down. She found herself instantly telling her sister all of her fears and insecurities; that she wasn't a good witch, that she was an even worse sister. Phoebe listened with all the tenderness of an elder sister and gently stroked Paige's hair while she rested her head on her shoulder.

"…I'm not Prue," Paige finished.

"Hey, look at me," said Phoebe, grabbing hold of Paige's hands. "You're not Prue. And no one expects you to be. She was the big sister we had before, but you're the little sister we have now. And although you're different, we love you both the same. Nobody expects you to be perfect at this witch thing yet – nobody expects you to be anything but yourself."

"Piper does." Paige whispered, almost as if to herself, but Phoebe heard her anyway.

Phoebe just shook her head and hugged Paige tight.

"Don't you worry your pretty little mind about Piper. She'll come around. I mean, she always did with me. It was Prue you had to work hard to please!"

After Phoebe was gone, Paige took out the photograph she had hidden beneath her pillow. The faces of three beautiful witches smiled back at her. The eldest had dark hair and a strong face. How Paige wished she had gotten the chance to meet this girl. If ever she'd needed some firm big sisterly guidance, it was now. From all the stories Paige had heard about her eldest sister, she knew that Prue liked to take charge. The Halliwell family needed a leader more than ever right now. Piper was too hurt to do it, Phoebe was too busy trying to keep the peace and Paige was just the little sister, what could she do? Picking up her almost cold plate of spaghetti, she scoffed it down and then went straight to sleep.

Paige must have been dreaming. She was standing in the middle of a vast nothing, mist swirling around her and clinging to her pyjamas. Her hair swirled in the wind, breaking free of the confinements of her hair tie and obscuring her view. Despite the unfamiliar land, Paige wasn't scared. The mist tingled against her skin and gave a warm feeling that reached all the way down to her bones. If Paige had to pick a word to describe the sensation, she'd have said "comfort".

"Paige…" a voice from behind her spoke softly. Turning around she was met with a woman of immense beauty. She glowed as if filled with all the stars in the world. It was Prue.

"Don't be scared," Prue said, although scared was the last emotion Paige was feeling right now.

"I… I-I'm so happy to see you," she exclaimed breathlessly, her heart filling with the strongest sense of love for this familiar stranger. "How can I get Piper to accept me? How do I be like you?"

"Why Paige, I cannot answer that. I am a figment of your subconscious – I know what you know. But I know I'd love to meet you one day." And with that the angel (for that was the most apt description for her) disappeared, leaving Paige to puzzle over the meaning behind her parting words.

The dream stayed with Paige when she awoke the next morning. She had orbed from her room into the attic, as she had been doing every day for the past week. Realistically, she could have taken the stairs, but Paige wasn't sure if she was ready to run into Piper just yet. The reason behind these secret trips was so she could study the Book of Shadows. Paige knew she couldn't solve the problem of her being nothing like Prue, but she could fix the problem of her being a clueless beginner witch. Getting half way there had to impress Piper, right? Paige had practised saying and writing spells until she got them right nearly every time. She orbed items all over the place, her precision increasing every day. She was now about two-thirds of the way through the book when she stopped dead.

To Call a Lost Witch

Power 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.

Could this be what Prue had meant in her dream last night? Was Paige supposed to talk to her ghost? She had nothing to lose. Either she got some answers, or she treated it as just more spell practise. Without a second thought she set about preparing the potion that accompanied the spell. She followed the instructions so carefully and said the spell in the clearest voice she could. She shut her eyes when she reached the final line of the spell, silently praying that when she opened them Prue would be there. Light flooded her eyes when she opened them once again; standing in front of her was Prue. Paige threw her arms around her sister. She felt as if she knew her already. But then she jumped back, did Prue know who she was?

As if reading her mind, Prue answered, "Grams and Mom told me all about you. I'm so sorry you grew up without me, or Piper, or Phoebe. But I'm glad they've found you now."
Paige thought for a moment. Now that she was here, what did she say to her sister's ghost? She hadn't really thought that far ahead. But again, Prue answered Paige's questions before she could even pose them.
"I've been watching all of you. I know Piper seems harsh, but she does love you. That's the problem; she loves you so much that she feels it is almost like a betrayal to me. She doesn't realise that she has the capacity to love you, without loving me any less. You may not have seen it yet, but her capacity to love is limitless."

But she'll only love me, if I'm like you, Paige thought.

"Paige, you are like me. We're sisters. You've got Halliwell blood coursing through your veins, just like I do. Well, did." She giggled. "You're strong. You survived your parents' deaths and you'll survive this. You're intelligent and driven to succeed. And you've had this uncontrollable urge to help innocents all your life. That's why you're a social worker – you've been fulfilling your destiny long before you even knew it existed. Both of our sisters will tell you that those qualities describe me too. You share a bond with me, and with Piper and Phoebe that can never be broken."

Paige nodded in understanding. "I suppose you have to go now, huh? Should I ask Phoebe or Piper to come see you before you disappear?"
"No, they're still grieving. It would hurt them too much to see me. But I will be watching over them, and you, always. They'll see me when the time is right."

Paige hugged her sister tight one last time.

"Oh, and Paige, keep an eye on Cole will you? I've never trusted him." And with that, Prue was gone.

Paige stood for awhile, staring at the place her sister had just been, trying to commit every detail of her to memory. This process was disrupted by the rustle of pages. Turning to the Book, Paige saw it had opened to a page she'd never seen before. It read: "Piper likes it if someone else cooks for her, just every once and awhile. And she'll be won over if you give her and Leo the space to be a married couple, if you know what I mean. Love Prue."
Paige smiled. Thanks sis, she thought.