First a thank you to my reviewer:
Lizardmomma – Sorry. Next time, I'll look ahead on the chapters and if the ending section of a chapter is too short, I'll just combine it with the previous one.
Chapter 2.1 – Explaining to Darryl
A few minutes had passed and Darryl was still dazed as he tried to take in everything that he had just been told. Looking first at Andy, then at Piper who was no longer in Leo's arms, he shook his head in amazement. "This is incredible, but how on earth are you going to explain it to the rest of the world?"
That was a question no one else seemed to have thought of. Phoebe was the first to speak. She turned to Paige. "Does anyone else know about your parents' death?"
Paige frowned and looked at her parents before turning to look at Andy. Finally, she turned back to Phoebe and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think so. I haven't seen anyone since Kernus killed them except for the people in this room and the Angel."
"Angel?" Darryl asked, once more confused.
It was Prue who explained. "The Angel of Destiny. After we defeated Kernus, he came and gave us a choice of giving up our powers or continuing being witches."
His curiosity piqued, Darryl had to ask the obvious question. "And what did you decide?"
"It was an easy enough choice for me," Prue told him with a smile. "I never wanted to be a witch in the first place." She shot a look in Phoebe's direction; and Phoebe rolled her eyes in response before Prue continued. "So once we were no longer needed to protect innocents from magical evil, it was easy to give up my powers." Looking over at Andy, she softly smiled. "And I'm very glad I made it, because had we not, I don't think the Angel would've given Andy, Leo, and Cole the same choice, about magic."
Darryl looked between the various occupants of the room. "So you're not witches anymore? None of you?"
"Actually just Prue and Phoebe aren't," Piper told him, speaking for the first time since he entered the room. "I kept my powers when given the same offer. When I found out that Leo had decided to remain a whitelighter, I knew I had to keep my powers so we could stay together," and Leo smiled at her. "Paige and her parents also kept their powers, but Andy gave up his powers and Cole is now fully human." She turned to Cole. "How's that feel by the way?"
Cole grinned. "It feels good, like something was crushing my chest and someone removed the weight. Relief. I no longer have to worry about doing something evil and losing Phoebe forever."
Phoebe grinned back. "Well, you still have to worry about doing something evil...being mortal won't stop you from doing that...but at least we don't have to worry about you using Belthazar's powers to do evil," and Cole nodded.
Darryl looked at Andy and Prue. "So how long have they known you were, well, all right, I guess?"
Andy grinned. "If you mean when did they find out I was a whitelighter? That was last night. I wasn't supposed to go to Prue or let her know I wasn't just a ghost, but she was hurting so much that I had to go to her."
"Then, where were you at the funeral when she needed you?" Darryl demanded, becoming more convinced that Andy really was back.
Andy kept grinning. "I was there. I couldn't very well walk into a funeral where there might have been any number of people who would recognize me, seeing as I grew up with Piper, so I went in glamour."
"Glamour?" Darryl asked, looking to anyone in the room who might be willing to explain that one.
"It's the ability to look like someone else," Leo told him. "It comes in handy when your charge doesn't need to know that you are following them because you are worried, or when they don't need to wonder why their handyman showed up at the grocery store behind them in line, three times in one week." The look in Leo's eyes as he said this told everyone who cared to look that both of these events had happened to Leo and that he had used glamouring for just those purposes.
"Oh," was all Darryl could say, "I see." Though it was clear he really couldn't. He turned back to Andy. "So I could have walked right by you and never known."
Andy nodded. "Actually at the funeral you did. Prue even introduced us."
Remember to reveiw if you want to find out what happens next. Hope you are enjoying the story.