Destiny
There had been a roller coaster ride of events and emotions recently with vanquishing the source, then Phoebe getting engaged to Cole but then finding out that the source had just been reincarnated into Cole and having to vanquish him. Finally, things were beginning to mellow out again and they hadn't fought a demon since they vanquished Cole.
Phoebe had been putting all of her focus on her work. It was a coping mechanism that seemed to be working for her. She got all her tears and rage out. She just needed to focus her energy somewhere else because Cole was such a big part of her life for two years and she loved him so much. It wasn't something you just get over but she'd been through painful things her entire life. This was just something else she was going to have to push through.
Since they had been demon free for a while, Melinda spent more time time in Grandview with Andrea and Jim. She felt like she had been neglecting her two best friends and that was not ok with her. Aside from the occasional ghost, she could let her hair down a bit.
Piper, of course was enjoying her demon free life more than anyone. She didn't even want to say the word demon because she thought she might jinx it. Piper and Leo had been wanting a baby for a while. They started trying after they vanquished the source the first time and hadn't had any luck. Since their lives were at peace for a while they had been trying a lot more often. She even talked Leo into giving her a romantic night in Paris. Piper's calculations told her that if she was going to have that little girl she saw in the future, it would be happening soon. She thought it'd be cruel to go to the future and meet her but not be able to get to know her.
Piper and Melinda were waiting for Phoebe to come downstairs because they planned for the day to be a sister spa day. Finally, Phoebe came downstairs but in a rush.
"See you guys later." Phoebe said, headed toward the front door.
"Wait, where are you going?" Piper asked as she and Melinda ran over to her.
"To work." Phoebe said.
"Spa day, remember?" Melinda asked.
"Oh... I guess I forgot. Rain check?" Phoebe continued toward the door.
"Phoebe!" Piper exclaimed. Phoebe opened the door but the door froze before Phoebe had a chance to close it.
"Hey! No fair! You can't use your powers against me." Phoebe said.
"I didn't do that." Piper said, confused.
"I did." An older man appeared wearing a gray colored robe.
"Who are you?" Piper asked.
"I am the angel of destiny." The sisters walked toward him. "I have an offer for you all. You have vanquished the source of all evil. Many have tried but you are the only ones to succeed and because of this, you may choose to give up your powers and live normal lives."
"Really?" Piper was intrigued.
"Piper!" Melinda exclaimed.
"How do we know we can trust you?" Phoebe asked.
"Angels of destiny are neutral beings, nor good or evil. We help to keep the grand design in order." The angel said.
"Book of shadows!" Melinda called the book from the attic. "Wow, I never called anything from another room before. I can't believe it worked."
"What are you doing?" Piper asked.
"Someone like the angel of destiny should be in the book, right?" Melinda flipped through the pages of the book until she came across a page about the angels of destiny and read it aloud.
"So you're legit." Phoebe said.
"Now back to my offer." The angel said.
"We have to think about it." Piper said.
"What's there to think about? I finally get used to my life being weirder than it already was and now you're considering giving our powers up? Now I see that if it weren't for magic, I wouldn't have even been born." Melinda said.
"Melinda, we've been doing this for almost five years. We've also had a lot of pain come along with all of this." Phoebe said.
"You're the last person I expected to say that." Melinda said.
"I figured you all would feel this way, unsure and all. I have to warn you though, once you make your decision, whatever it is, you can't change your minds. It's also a package deal, all or none. You have three days to make your decision but there's a trip you all must for each day.
"Trip, trip to where?" Phoebe asked.
"Your past." The angel said before raising his hands. Suddenly, the girls saw a flash of blue light. The next thing they knew they were in a foreign place.
"Where are we?" Melinda asked.
"I don't know." Piper said.
"Actually, this place looks familiar." Phoebe said.
It was night, there was land for miles. As they took in their surroundings, they thought they may have been in a time before they were even born. They heard noise so they went to check it out. What they saw was Charlotte Warren giving birth to Melinda Warren, the beginning of their magical family line.
"This is when we went back in time to save Melinda Warren and assist with her delivery." Piper said.
"Wow, fascinating." Melinda said. The next thing they knew, Phoebe was flying across the sky on a broomstick, starting one of the worst stereotypes of witches.
"That was fun. Too bad we can't do that in our time." Phoebe said.
Then they were taken ahead in time. A woman was being burnt at the stake.
"Where are we now? Or should I say when are we?" Melinda asked.
"Melinda's execution." Phoebe said, remembering the ancestor.
"What an awful way to go." Melinda said.
"Believe me, it is." Phoebe remembered her alternate future life where she suffered the same death.
"She sacrificed for us." Piper said.
They went further in the future, a lot further. Their mother was in what seemed to be a hotel room with Nicholas threatening her.
"...The mother of the Charmed Ones." Nicholas finished as he invaded Patty's space.
"No, I only have two daughters." Patty said.
"But there will be a third soon." Nicholas said as he used his powers to weaken Patty. "...And I want their powers."
The next thing the sisters knew, they were taken to the moment when Grams bound their powers.
"This is for the best... to keep them safe." Patty said to Penny.
The next time they were taken to in the future wasn't easy. They were back to where Piper and Prue used to go for camp as kids, noticed the docks, then noticed Patty running down the docks.
"Please don't tell me this is what I think it is." Phoebe said, remembering her worst premonition. Then they noticed Sam.
"Who's the man?" Melinda asked.
"That's your father, Sam." Piper replied. The sisters then watched Patty try to vanquish the water demon but be drowned it instead. The three instantly began to cry.
"This was really cruel for us to have to see." Phoebe said.
"I think we're being sent to all the prominent moments of our past that involve magic, the good, the bad and the lessons. Then it's up to us to see if it were worth it. This is supposed to help us with our decision." Piper said.
They went further in time and found themselves in a church where a funeral was happening.
"I don't remember this at all." Phoebe said.
"This isn't your memory, it's mine. That's me when I was a little girl at the coffin. The woman next to me was my grandmother. This is the first time I helped someone with my power. I didn't really understand it at the time and it was kind of scary but I talked to my grandmother about it. She helped me through it all."
"Seems like your grandmother was as amazing as grams. Amazing how we grew up apart but there are these little things in our lives that are parallel." Phoebe said.
"Yeah but you three didn't grow up with your powers. I wasn't aware of my orbing powers but my power to see ghost, I've always had to deal with which made be feel like a freak compared to everyone else until I got older and completely accepted it. At least you all got to be normal for a while. I did eventually get satisfaction from helping people and it helped me not to fear death though I do not want to die any time soon." Melinda said.
After that they went to after Melinda's grandmother, Mary Ann died and she was able to talk to her afterward.
Next, they found themselves in the attic. Grams was finishing up the potion that would bind the sisters' powers forever. Patty's spirit pleaded with Penny not to go through with it and wanted the girl's to make the decision on their own but Penny felt that keeping their powers from them was for the best. All the while, Penny was in obvious pain, pain that was coming from her bad heart.
"...This is the day that Grams died." Piper realized.
"I can't believe she talked to mom about this... I'm sure that my wild behavior and the fact that we couldn't get along didn't help Grams' heart condition." Phoebe said.
Grams blew out the candle that allowed her to directly speak to Patty and then headed out of the attic.
"Shouldn't we follow her?" Melinda asked.
"No. I know what happens next and I'd rather not relive it." Piper said knowing Grams was about to fall down the stairs from a heart attack and she would be the one to find her.
Fast forward in time, they witnessed the moment where Phoebe discovered The Book of Shadows and she read the spell that gave them their powers back. Then they went forward to when they vanquished Jeremy, the first of many vanquishes to come.
Then they saw when they went to the future and Piper met Melinda.
"Mommy, mommy, mommy!" Melinda exclaimed as she ran into the living room. Piper got off of the couch confused.
"Oh honey I think you have the wrong house and certainly the wrong mommy." Piper said.
"Oh mommy, stop fooling." Melinda hugged Piper then heard a horn blow from outside. "Carpool!" She ran to the front door.
"What the hell is going? This never happened." Phoebe said.
"This is when we went to the future, to 2009 to see why you were executed. That's my daughter... or she will be, I hope."
"But this hasn't happened yet." Melinda said.
"And this particular incident won't, just like Phoebe won't be burnt alive and Prue is no longer with us but I hope we haven't changed the future so much that I never get to see my little girl grow up, sometimes I wonder." Piper thought about the fact that she and Leo had been trying to get pregnant for a few months but it hasn't happened yet.
"If this is the future, why are we here?" Melinda asked.
"Like I said, this incident in particular won't be happening but it's still the past for me because I actually lived this moment and I remember it everyday... At least this allowed me to see her again."
"She really is absolutly beautiful, Piper." Phoebe said.
"And has the family looks." Melinda added.
The next thing they knew, they were in 2001. Piper was in her room, in her wedding dress and Patty appeared. They talked a few minutes before Prue and Phoebe entered and they embraced in a much needed hug.
They then moved to a past event that wasn't so warm and fuzzy. The instant they saw Piper and Prue, they knew what was about to happen. Shax came through the door, took down the doctor then sent Piper and Prue across the room and through the windows of the conservatory. A few minutes passed then Leo orbed in with Phoebe from the underworld. Phoebe ran to her sisters sides and fell to her knees. Leo ran over quickly to try to heal them. He started with Piper and it was taking longer than usual.
"Nooo!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Phoebe checked Prue's pulse, hoping they weren't too late. She didn't feel it but she hoped, maybe just maybe. "Leo! hurry!"
Finally, Piper came to and hugged Leo tightly but then looked over at Prue.
"Prue?" Piper panicked. Leo quickly tried to heal her.
"Why isn't it working?" Piper asked.
"...I can't heal the dead." Leo said.
"No! You healed me. You heal her, damn it! Heal her!"Piper yelled.
"She's gone." Leo confirmed.
"No!" Phoebe laid her head on her big sister's chest.
Leo embraced Piper.
At this point, Piper, Phoebe and Melinda all had streams of tears. Melinda could see Prue's spirit watching Piper, Phoebe and Leo as they mourned over her lifeless body.
They moved ahead in the future, still in tears.
"Where are we now?" Piper wondered.
Melinda realized they were at her old apartment and she had just found out that she was adopted and that newspaper was trying to lead her somewhere. The next time they moved ahead, it wasn't far. It was when the three sisters were in the manor together for the first time.
After seeing this though, the trip down memory lane changed and they began to see all the innocents they saved over the years, even families of ghosts that Melinda had helped. It was moving quickly, just enough to see them save all those people. It was overwhelming and they were beginning to get a headache. Finally, they were back in their time. They all needed to sit down.
"So how was the trip down Destiny's past?" The angel of destiny asked.
"It had it's moments." Piper replied.
"Well... I'll let you ladies rest up. I will send you on trip number two tomorrow." The angel disappeared in silver sparkles.
The next day the angel of destiny came back.
"Are you all ready for the next trip?" The angel asked.
"We won't have to cry this time, will we?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't know." He replied simply.
"What is it this time?" Piper asked.
"Oh you'll see." The girls saw the blue flash again.
They were still in the living room of the manor but something was different. They looked out the window and saw that everything was tore up and tore down. Life seemed to be dark and dreary.
"Did the underworld hit the surface or something?" Phoebe wondered.
They soon learned that every demon they had ever vanquished was alive so that meant that every innocent they ever saved was …dead. That meant that the demons went on to kill more innocents and whatever good any of the innocents they saved were supposed to do never got done. The demons had gotten so strong after all their accomplishments that they basically came out to play. They started working in the open, leaving humans to either live in fear, be killed or join them and many spirits couldn't move on and were deprived from entering the light. It wasn't pretty.
They were back to their lives soon enough.
"So that's life without us." Phoebe said.
"I knew we made a difference but who knew that it was to that extent?" Melinda said.
"What a wonderful life." Piper referred to the classic movie.
The angel came back the next day.
"Day three, the last day." The angel said.
"Now what?" Piper asked.
"You three get to live one day without your powers, demon free, absolutely normal. Then I will be back in the morning to hear your final decision."
"Wait, will I be able to orb?" Melinda asked.
"Yes. Orbing is strictly a whitelighter power and this only effects your witchy powers. However, you won't be able to call for things anymore because it's more of a witch power than whitelighter, though being a whitelighter effects how that power works."
"Good because I can't get to Grandview without orbing, total inconvenience." Melinda said.
"Your normal lives will start right... now." The angel disappeared in silver sparkles.
They all went on with life as they normally would. Phoebe decided to go into work and work on some advice columns she was behind on. Piper went to P3 and Melinda orbed to Grandview to hang out with Andrea.
They all found the day peaceful and didn't have to worry about being attacked at any moment. For Melinda, she didn't have to pretend like she didn't see ghost so that people wouldn't think that she was psychotic.
The sisters met up at P3 that night.
"Sisters, did you enjoy your day in a normal life?" Piper asked.
"Yeah!" Phoebe and Melinda exclaimed in unison.
"I think the word for it is peaceful." Melinda said.
The next thing they knew, Phoebe had knocked a glass off the table and Piper's instinct was to freeze it so she tried but of course nothing happened except the glass hitting the floor. One of Piper's employee's came over to clean it up.
"That would take some getting used to." Piper said.
Phoebe got a phone call. It was Darryl.
"What's up Darryl?" Phoebe asked.
"I need you and your sisters help. This case, I'm absolutely sure that this is some of that supernatural stuff."
"I don't know how much we can help you. We don't have our powers right now."
"What?" Darryl was totally confused. "Fine but maybe you all can figure out what's going on."
"Ok, we're on our way." Phoebe hung up the phone after Darryl told her where to meet him. "Darryl needs us, he says something supernatural seems to be involved with his case.
They met up with Darryl and the crime scene involved scorch marks, definitely from a demon and a witch's amulet.
"Definitely magical."Piper said.
"I guess a premonition would come in handy right about now." Phoebe said.
"Did anyone see the demon?" Melinda asked.
"No." Darryl replied.
The next morning the angel of destiny returned.
"Have you all made your decision?"
"Yes." Phoebe replied.
"We want to keep our powers. As peaceful as our day was yesterday, we can't help people without them and it'd be selfish not to consider that." Piper said.
"Even with all of the bad things that have happened?" The angel asked.
"Yes, even with the bad things as horrifically painful as they were... we did have a lot of good things with it and we've seen the world if we hadn't saved all those innocents, it wasn't pretty." Piper said.
"Are you all sure? Final offer." The angel asked.
"We're positive. Being witches is our destiny and we owe it to all of the Warren/Halliwell witches before us to see it out. They sacrificed a lot for us." Melinda said.
"Wonderful. Well I must be on my way." The angel said.
"Help Darryl now?" Phoebe asked.
"Yep! Help Darryl now." Piper and Melinda said.
"Oh, Piper. Neither decision would have effected you and Leo's personal Destiny. Congratulations."
"What?" Piper asked, wondering of she was thinking the right thing.
The angel looked down at her stomach before disappearing in the silver sparks for the last time.
"Oh my God! You're pregnant!" Phoebe exclaimed. Melinda screamed. Piper was still in shock.
"I'm pregnant?" Piper finally said it out loud. "I'm pregnant!" The sisters hugged. "Leo!" Piper called. He orbed in a minute later wondering why the sisters were so cheerful.
"What's going on?" Leo asked.
Piper went over to him with the biggest smile. "I'm pregnant."
"What? Really?" Leo asked. Piper just nodded, still smiling. "I'm going to be a daddy?" Leo embraced his wife. "This is the best news I could have asked for."
"You two just celebrate this happy occasion. We're going to help Darryl and we'll be back later!" Phoebe said in a jolly tone.
"Aaahhh, we're going to be aunts!" Melinda exclaimed as she and Phoebe headed out the door.
After helping Darryl, Phoebe and Melinda came back with balloons, stuffed animals and a cake.
"Sorry, we just couldn't help ourselves and Officer Booky Bear is from Uncle Darryl." Phoebe said happily as she and Melinda hugged Piper and Leo.