Heaven's Mistaken Gift
by: Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell
Co-written by: That70sShoLova
Chapter 13: Revelation
10 years later…
Phoebe laid down at about 10 that night, her day having been filled with column writing and, of course, the three-hour-long demon hunt. She sighed. Life as a witch passing for a mortal sure was tiring.
Something had been bugging her about this whole day, but she didn't know what it was. Like a very important piece of her life was missing.
She'd had this feeling for many years though. After all, the 7 months up to her 17th birthday were a blur, not to mention a month after. A total blur. She couldn't recall anything, important or not. For a while, she passed it off as grief from their Grams' death, but she couldn't anymore.
A knock at her door and she looked up, seeing Piper. "Can I come in?" she asked, leaning in the door frame.
She sighed, lying against the pillows. "Sure, why not?"
Piper came and sat on her bed. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, Piper. My mind keeps going back to when I'm 17 and that huge chunk of memory I lost."
"What about it?"
"Well, it just feels like I forgot something important. Like really important. Like a person."
She raised an eyebrow. "A person? Like a kid?"
She laughed. "Kid? Me? Really Piper? I was irresponsible, but not in that way."
"Oh no, trust me, you were." She grabbed her hand. "But maybe if you don't remember, it means you aren't supposed to."
"I doubt it."
Piper stood up. "Well, sleep on it. Maybe you'll find the answer."
She yawned. "Yeah, maybe. Goodnight."
Piper reached the door frame. "Sweet dreams, Pheebs." And she left.
Sighing, Phoebe pulled the covers up over her exhausted body and slept, hoping her dreams would provide answers.
She knew she was in the Underworld, but it didn't feel ominous. She stepped farther into the room ahead of her and smiled. A little girl must be here, she thought. But who, in their right mind, would raise a child in such an awful place?
The room was themed in a pastel purple with white lace on every surface. She walked closer to the bed. The king-size bed had a dark purple theme as well as the satin sheets underneath the bedding. The walls were dirty-orange scoria, but upon the headboard of the bed she saw an interesting photo.
It was of a man and a little girl. The man had a black tank top on and matching jeans, short black hair, and piercing blue eyes with a wide pearly-white smile. The girl who sat upon his shoulders was wearing a baby pink dress and had shoulder-length, golden, curly locks. Her eyes were dark brown and Phoebe noticed a dimple on her right cheek only. From the left side of her hair, a purple ribbon was visible.
Why does she look so familiar? Phoebe wondered. Is she related to me somehow?
Bringing her hand to touch the photograph, she was pulled into a Premonition.
The girl was sitting at a small desk in what looked like a classroom. "Daddy?" she asked.
The man from the photo walked over, kissing her forehead. "Yes sweetie?"
"Why don't I have a Mommy?"
He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "You do, sweetie. You do."
"Then why aren't you two together?"
He sighed. "It's…complicated, sweetie. I haven't even seen her in many years, but I promise one day you'll see her."
"Why not now?"
"Well—" he began, but was interrupted as another demon appeared.
"Balthazar, His Liege requires your assistance."
Groaning, he morphed into demonic form. "Be good," he said as he disappeared.
The little girl sighed. "Yes, Daddy. I'll be good."
Phoebe was jolted out of the Premonition. "Who is her mommy? Why do I have such an urge to find her?"
Sitting on the bed, her foot kicked something hard. She got down on her hands and knees and pulled a box out from under the bed. Sitting down, she opened it, shocked by what she saw.
There, the first thing she saw, was another photo of what looked like her at 17, that man, and a pink bundle in her arms. She looked tired, but so happy.
Phoebe was shaking and crying by this point. How could she not remember? How could she have just forgotten about her own daughter? Th-that wasn't normal, was it?
She woke up crying as she sat up and wiped her eyes. She turned on her bedside lamp.
"Was-was that real? I-I don't remember her. I don't remember him. Nothing!" She took a shaky breath, trying to calm down.
Her door opened, but she didn't notice until someone rested a hand on her shoulder. "Phoebe."
She looked left. "P-Paige? I-How long have you been there?"
"Just now," she sat beside her. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."
She grinned. "Oh yeah? Try me."
"No, Paige, just get Piper, will you?"
Paige nodded, orbing out.
Five minutes later, both of her sisters formed in her room.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Piper asked, walking over to sit by her.
Paige sighed. "Well, since you clearly don't think I can help, I'm going back to bed."
"No Paige, wait!" Phoebe pleaded. "I didn't mean it like that."
She raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she sat at the foot of her bed. "Then what did you mean?"
"Does this have something to do with what we were discussing earlier?" Piper asked.
She nodded. "Completely."
"I'm out of the loop again!" Paige complained.
Piper held up her hand. "Yes, but just let me try and explain."
Paige nodded.
"From about 7 months until Phoebe turned 17 until about a month after, all three of us — Prue, Phoebe and myself — have a very fuzzy recollection."
"How fuzzy?" Paige asked. "Like you don't remember your birthday or—"
"I have no memory," Phoebe commented. "It's blank."
"Blank? Like wiped?"
She nodded, wiping her eyes dry. "And none of us know why. At first, I thought it was because Grams died like a month after I turned 17, but, eventually, I realized, that couldn't be it."
"Why?"
"I don't know. It just felt like whatever happened was connected to me more directly."
"Do you have memories, Piper?" Paige asked.
She shook her head. "Not memories per say. More like random images that just don't fit anywhere."
"Anyway, back to Phoebe," Paige said, taking her hand. "Why were you crying?"
"I think I might know who I forgot."
"Who?" Paige questioned. "Shouldn't it be a what?"
Phoebe shook her head. "I was in the Underworld and I was in a little girl's bedroom. It was themed in a pastel purple. I went over to the bed and a picture on the headboard caught my eye."
"A picture? Of what?" Piper asked.
"A man with a little blond girl on his shoulders. She had dark brown eyes and had a dimple on her right cheek. She was smiling, happy."
"So?"
"Paige, it felt like I knew her! Like she was a long-lost member of my family…like—"
"Like your daughter?" Piper commented with wide eyes.
She nodded. "Yeah, but how can I not remember anything? She's my flesh, my blood! How could I just forget her?"
"Calm down, calm down, Pheebs. Tell us what else happened. Why do you think she's your daughter?"
"I didn't say it, but after that I saw that girl sitting in a classroom and she asked her-her daddy…" she couldn't continue. The fact that she'd never even had the chance to get to know her was more than she could handle right now.
Piper wrapped her arms around her. "Ssshh, take a minute. It's okay."
"She's right though," Paige agreed. "If this really did happen – and isn't just a dream–"
"It's not!" she cried.
"Okay, okay, just calm down. Piper's right." Phoebe nodded and Paige continued. "Why doesn't she remember? Or you or Prue. You always say Prue had the best memory of the three of you."
Piper nodded, feeling Phoebe relax. "Yeah, but this is affecting us, not just her. Maybe because we were close.
Paige raised an eyebrow. "Her and Prue? You've gotta be kidding!"
Phoebe sat up, wiping her eyes. "No, she's right. We were close when it counted. But that wasn't very often."
"Can you continue?" Piper asked.
Phoebe nodded. "Yeah. She asked why she didn't have a Mommy, but her daddy said she did, though he hadn't seen her in many years. He said she'd see her one day and then a demon shimmered in — calling him Balthazar — and said he was needed by The Source and-and…Piper, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Say that over again in your head, Phoebe," Piper said.
She sat for a second, mouthing the words. "D-Demon? Source? I-I don't…"
Paige grabbed their hands and Orbed up to the attic.
Phoebe walked over and sat on the couch while Piper and Paige looked through the Book of Shadows.
"Piper, stop! I haven't told you everything yet!" Phoebe complained.
Snapping the Book closed, the sisters walked over. "Alright. What haven't you told us?" Paige asked, yawning.
"Well, after that, I sat on the bed —'cause I walked into the room and touched the photo—"
"So…the photo triggered a Premonition of the past?" Paige asked. "That sounds…weird."
Piper nodded, sitting beside Phoebe. "Yeah but not impossible. Keep going, Phoebe."
She nodded. "Anyway, I kicked something, so I dropped to my knees and found a box under the bed. After pulling it out, I sat on the bed and opened it and uh…I saw another photo." She looked directly at Piper. "I know I was 17 in it, that man had his arms around me and I had a pink bundle in my arms."
Paige swallowed. "We-were you happy, sad, terrified?"
"Happy," she answered. "Tired, but very happy."
Piper sighed, squeezing her sister's shoulder, standing and walking over to the Book of Shadows.
"Piper?" Phoebe asked.
"Hm?"
"What are you doing?"
She looked over. "Well, obviously this Balthazar — whomever he is —is a demon, so—"
"You just find out that you have a niece none of us knew about and you're looking for a demon?" Phoebe said, her voice shaking.
"Phoebe, I don't mean that she's not important, but—"
"But what? I wasn't important! I WASN'T!"
"Guys, just stop!" Paige shouted.
White lights formed in the middle of the room.
"Your sister's right, girls. Fighting now isn't going to get you anywhere."
"Grams?" Phoebe asked. "Is-is it true? I mean, I can't-can't have…"
Piper went over and sat beside her, Paige on her other. She saw how their grandmother hesitated, but also knew that her words would never be lies, especially in a situation like this. "Okay Grams, tell us."
She looked slightly amused. "Tell you? Tell you what?"
"We know you and Mom were watching and listening," Paige said, "and since you came down without us summoning you, you must have some information."
Penny smiled. "You're quick, Paige."
She smiled. "It's the Halliwell blood," she stated, quite proudly, Piper thought.
"Okay, can we please get back to the explaining here," Phoebe said, "before I breakdown again," she stated under her breath.
Since Grams wasn't responding, Paige took to questioning. "Phoebe mentioned someone named Balthazar from her dream—"
"Premonition!" Phoebe corrected.
"Whatever. Do you know anything about him? She said he was a demon."
Grams, her face set in a grim line, walked over, flipping pages in the Book of Shadows. "Piper, come over here."
She shrugged, doing as was asked. "Yes?"
She pointed to a passage. "Read this aloud."
"What good will that do?" Phoebe asked.
Piper gasped. "Uh, a lot of good, Pheebs. Listen, 'Legend has it that Balthazar was born a man, he is described as having hair the color of raven feathers and eyes the color of ice. A demon of fire. Since when asked how and where he was born, Balthazar was known to answer 'In the fires of Hell'. He later met and loved a girl trying to keep his human form thus being believed to be half human. Having fathered a daughter and having raised her did not make Balthazar a nice demon'."
"Okay, so he's a fire demon who raised a daughter, but isn't nice because of it," Paige stood. "But where does that get us now?"
Penny sighed. "Are you sure you want to know, Phoebe? It caused you nothing but heartbreak—"
"Yes I want to know!"
"Oh very well." Penny sat down and motioned for them to do the same. "The entry states how people thought he was half demon, he was. Other half human. He was...is immortal. He is evil though, Phoebe, evil. I don't want your thinking on him to be skewed. He is a demon. When you were in your teens, you dated a boy named Josh, or James or something."
"Jared," Phoebe corrected instantly. Her sisters and grandmother turned to look at her.
"Uh, yes, Jared. Well, I didn't approve of him, neither did Prue, which is why I suppose, you dated him. Well, the boy knocked you up." She shook her head. "You moved in with him and he turned out to be a demon. Balthazar was his friend, end of story."
Phoebe stared at her suspiciously. "You let me leave willingly?"
"Yes." She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Fine! I wouldn't tolerate you being pregnant, I knew you could do better things. I knew you wouldn't be able to care for a child, especially with your Charmed future."
Phoebe glared. "What do you mean you couldn't tolerate it?"
"That's besides the point. Balthazar, or as he went by Cole, and you got very...friendly from what Leo told me. Cole killed Jared or Zepar as was his demon alias."
"Wait, Leo?" Piper demanded. She looked up towards the ceiling. "Leo!"
Leo Orbed down and looked at Piper and then at the rest of the people in the room. "Penny?" he asked. "Piper, what's going on?"
She glared at her husband. "What the hell happened when Phoebe was sixteen?"
His eyes widened before he pulled on a poker face and smiled easily. "What do you mean, Piper? How would I know? I only got assigned as your Whitelighter when you got your powers a couple years ago."
"Bull crap!"
Paige was about to ask why, but her sister who wouldn't take no for an answer continued, leaving the youngest of the three amused.
"You've been dead our entire lives, Leo! You watched us grow up! You knew we were going to get where we are now, so don't you dare stand there and say you have no clue about what happened to my little sister!" she yelled, hands ready to combust him if he didn't provide a suitable answer.
He looked to Penny who sighed but nodded as a go head. "Okay, first of all, I haven't watched you your entire lives. Just major milestones."
Piper cocked an eyebrow. "That's just creepy on so many different levels."
"Well, what do you consider a milestone?" Paige asked. "The first A+ paper or test or date or…" she trailed off, shuddering. "Okay, now I see your point."
"Okay, let's put aside the fact that your then-to-be-husband may have been looking when he wasn't supposed to and get back to my predicament, shall we?" said Phoebe, who had been silent for the past fifteen minutes.
"It doesn't bother you?" Paige asked.
"What? Yeah, it bothers me, but I've got bigger issues now."
Piper sighed. "Okay, okay, boy I never thought I'd say this, but Phoebe's right. We've got bigger issues than my now husband's perverted ways."
"Piper, I didn't—" she combusted him. His orbs reformed a few feet away. "OW! Dammit, Piper! I did—" he began, but she raised her hands again and he fell deadly silent.
"Back to Phoebe," she answered. "What happened?" she asked in a dangerous tone.
He sighed. "A lot happened."
"Such as?" Paige asked.
He looked to Penny, who nodded again. "I'll be right back," he said, Orbing out.
"Grams?" Phoebe asked. "What I saw in my dream was it—was she real?"
The Halliwell matriarch sighed heavily. "I always hoped you'd never have to learn of her existence, dear, really I did. But it was never to stop you from loving her."
"Then why?" Phoebe asked as Leo orbed back in. "Why isn't she here now?"
Penny looked to her other granddaughters. "Girls, you might want to hold onto her for this part. It's…devastating."
They nodded, moving to sit beside her.
"Wait Mother!" A familiar voice said, forming beside her. "Let me say it," Patty said as she took on a corporal appearance.
Penny nodded, taking a step back. "Yes, I suppose it may be easier for you to hear coming from your mother, but be warned my girls, it's no less painful."
The three nodded. "Mom, what happened? Where-where is she?" Phoebe asked, with a vice-grip on her sisters and her voice shaking…
Author's note: So what do you think? I think I've been reading That70sshowlova's stories too much as I usually don't put sexual comments into a story like this, but whatever, it lightened my mood and hopefully yours too. *hehe!*
Anyway, the next chapter will contain many flashbacks, just a friendly warning.
[-[Also, I'm downgrading the rating from M to T until the end of the story (or unless some steamy or extremely violent scenes flow from my fingers. As for language, well, I can't really say, but don't be shockd to find it rough at times). If there is more mature content, I will say so before the chapter begins, though the rating may stay the same.]-]
Reviews are much appreciated. Please?
Review thanks to: That70sshowlova & HalliwellMB
Thanks to my co-writer: That70sShowLova!
Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell & That70sShowLova