Prue was absent mindedly climbing the stairs to the second floor as she had done countless times her entire life; many thoughts were going through her head. Her earlier conversation with Chris; his reaction to her injury; her return and the ramifications; how things might go the next morning when they tell Darryl and her father about her return; and finally how she -even though she hates to admit it- needs some time to heal; and that she might not be able to do so and the lingering fear that she might put her sisters in danger. It surprised her a bit how easily she managed to go back to her obsessive and protective ways, but she took it to mean that it is a good sign of the first step of recovery.
She rounded the corner and moved towards her room, careful to be gentle so as to not wake her daughter up. She stopped in the doorway and couldn't help but watch as Leo tried to adjust the pillows around Andie.
"You know those aren't needed anymore; at least not on both sides" she whispered.
"Sorry, force of habit" he chuckled.
"There's nothing to apologize for; I can't thank you guys enough for what you did for her"
"You don't have to thank us for anything, Prue. She is a great kid, easy to love and easy to care for. Yes we hated it when she asked about you and we didn't know how to explain the whole 'everything happens for a reason' cause she's three and half; but like Piper said it was the least we can do. How many sacrifices did you make for your sisters? Countless; and how many times did you risk your own existence to save theirs? Same. The least we could do was make sure that she turns out to be the kind of woman that would have made you proud."
"What happened to me was not your fault Leo" she dead panned
Leo's head snapped up and he looked at her with slight guilt, "I should've sensed that it was a shape-shifter, I should've been there with you and Piper."
"No one could have known that all of this was going to happen, things happen for a reason. Maybe if this hadn't happened to me, you guys would have never met Paige; and I can't imagine living the rest of my life in the dark about her; and I know Piper and Phoebe love her, same for Andie. I'm here now, and it all worked out fine."
"What happened to you was a lot Prue; you need time to get back on your feet and it's not like before. The Source is gone, so demon attacks aren't as organized, and there are enough witches under this roof to protect you and Andie –not that she needs it- until you can get back on your feet. Take all the time you need and don't rush; and don't do it alone, we are all here for you." He soothed.
"Thanks Leo" she smiled, and leaned into him when he put an arm around her and rubbed her arm soothingly.
"That's what I'm here for" he said softly, as he kissed her the top of her head.
The Halliwell Manor stood proud and quiet, as all of its residents retired to their rooms. Piper slept soundly in Leo's arms; Phoebe and Paige each slept in their rooms; and Andie clutched onto her mother's shirt as she too slept peacefully.
Prue, however, was the one resident whom sleep eluded. There were many thoughts coursing through her mind, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't switch them all off and just go to sleep. The one thing that was nagging her more than the rest was what Chris kept mumbling as he kept her wound closed; it was baffling her that he would have such a reaction to her injury. With one of her sisters, sure she can understand that; but she had just been home for a couple of hours when Zara attacked, and he was already reacting like this? And what he kept mumbling, what does it mean? She hoped that her conversation with him earlier would make sense of things, but all it did was add more question marks, especially that now some strange feeling was emerging in her and getting stronger by the minute. And she couldn't even name THAT, and being in the Underworld for three years did NOT change her; she still didn't like it when she didn't understand things, or when she couldn't control them.
The sound of the bedroom door creaking snapped her out of her own head, and she saw Paige tip-toeing into the room.
"Paige? Is everything alright?" she whispered in concern.
Paige couldn't help but smile at Prue's protectiveness; "Yeah, everything is fine, I was just here to check on you and Andie; see if you need anything."
"Oh, we're good sweetie, thanks. Why are you still up?"
"I was just getting some water and came to check on Andie and only remembered that you were here after I pushed the door open. Old habits die hard I guess" she whispered sheepishly.
"You check on her every night?"
"Yeah, if I go to sleep long after her, or if I get up in the middle of the night for any reason."
"I can't even begin to thank you Paige and I don't want you to change the things you do with her just because I am back; I can't do it to either of you."
"You don't have to thank me Prue; she's a wonderful child and it was like having a piece of you around, which helped all of us heal and deal" Paige was now sitting on the bed at Andie's feet.
Prue smiled tearfully at her sister, and moved to hug her, only for Andie to stir in her sleep causing her to freeze mid-movement. Paige chuckled and moved closer on the bed so she can hug sister without having to wake up the sleeping Andie.
"Now that we know what has been keeping me up, what about you?" Paige asked, once she let go.
"Well, it's Chris; I just have this strange feeling about him."
"Strange how? Like the one you had with Cole?" Paige almost squeaked.
"NO; if it was that I would've vanquished him immediately, Elders and consequences be damned! It's just I don't think he's being completely honest with us regarding who he is, how he knows us and why he's here"
"Yeah, we all feel the same, but he's helped us out a lot; so we're giving him the benefit of the doubt. Especially that neither Wyatt nor Andie are suspicious about him" Paige agreed.
"What do Andie and Wyatt have to do with it?" Prue wondered.
"Well, aside from me, Andie was the first one to catch onto Cole's change; Piper thought it was weird that she cried every time he walked into the room, and even I thought it was strange cause in the few months that I had been around her, I noticed that she loved him. Soon enough she would flat out use her powers against him, and try to hurt him to the point where we literally made sure she is nowhere near him. We didn't know what was wrong and thought that she was just picking up on my hostility towards him. But when he became the Source, we realized that she knew all along that Cole the human was long gone, and this creature was responsible for it. And Wyatt usually raises his shield around people he doesn't trust"
"And the fact that a baby was trying to kill him didn't set off alarms in Piper and Phoebe's heads?" Prue asked.
"Well, I think it did in Piper's; but Phoebe brushed it off as her being too much like me and you."
"She was THAT blind?!" Prue wondered incredulously.
"Yeah; she even stood by him at his coronation as the new Source of the underworld. But then later, helped us vanquish him."
"Oh my God, I knew that he wasn't good for her! What the hell was she thinking?" Prue hissed.
"Well, she admitted that she screwed up and even helped me vanquish him yet again, long story! But anyways; don't worry she was wracked with guilt later on, and the fact that Andie refused to go anywhere near her was sort of punishment enough, because she knew that in a way that would have been your reaction as well."
"No, I would have snapped her neck!" Prue threatened, and Paige giggled.
"You know, now I see the resemblance between us" Paige commented.
"Yeah, I know and I love it, good to finally have someone in my corner; Piper was always the peacekeeper!" Prue remarked; and Paige had to cover her mouth to stifle her snort.
"Piper?! A peacekeeper! Now THAT I should've seen!"
"I guess she changed when she became the eldest."
"Oh, you have no idea! And I think she hated it at first, but then realized that she didn't have much of a choice."
"Yeah, it was one of the things that went through my head down there; that she was now forced to be in charge and I knew how much she hated it."
"I can't even begin to count the number of times we ended up in the Underworld; how come we never got wind of this! And Cole; if I find out that he knew about his, so help me God I WILL resurrects him so I can vanquish his sorry ass back again!" Paige hissed.
"Don't worry he didn't. If he did, he would have wasted no time in coming over to taunt me about it."
"Yeah, I guess. Good thing Andie gave him what he deserved then" Paige whispered softly, as she stroked her sleeping niece's hair.
"You know, when I first learned that I was pregnant, I thought about an abortion. I didn't want to raise her without her father, or in a world where she's being constantly chased. But I wanted her more than anything, and the idea itself scared me to no end. And I knew that she will have powers from the womb, after all Phoebe gave mom a premonition while she was still pregnant; but then she didn't! I didn't receive any new powers, and nothing at all changed! Even after she was born, nothing happened and no demon ever found out about her."
"That's why you believed Zara when he said that they were powerless?"
"Yeah, and it also meant that the three of you were working overtime to protect them."
"Well, she did show powers from the womb, she just did it subtly. She advanced your existing powers, and since they were already supposed to advance, they were left behind when she was born. And because of her connection with you, she knew that you didn't want her in danger, and therefore she didn't show any powers. No powers meant that she won't end up on any demonic radar, and therefore she'll remain a secret. You should've seen the look on the Source's face when he saw her!" Paige smirked at the memory.
"The SOURCE! As in of ALL EVIL?" Prue almost shrieked, causing Andie to stir in her sleep. She rubbed her back soothingly till she settled down and went back to sleep.
"Yeah, one and the same. But don't worry; he didn't as much as move a hair on her head. We were trying to vanquish him, and he had knocked Piper unconscious and I had lost my powers; he threw a fireball at us, when Andie teleported out of nowhere in Piper's lap and teleported all of us out of there, long enough for the fireball to pass and the Source to get the surprise of his life." Paige recounted a hint of pride in her voice at her niece's bravery.
"How old was she?" Prue wondered.
"She had just turned two. Needless to say, after that little stunt, we threw her one hell of a birthday party." Paige recounted.
Prue smiled fondly at her baby girl and leaned over to kiss her head gently. Paige was watching the interaction closely and smiling. She understood why Piper and Phoebe loved Prue so much; she spent years in the Underworld to protect all of them, including the sister and nephew she never even met. She could also see the incredible mother that they both always said she was, whether it was to them or to Andie.
The rest of the night was spent in tales, mainly Paige filling Prue in on their lives while she was gone, sometimes eliciting laughs from Prue and sometimes tears. Soon enough, they both drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.
That was the sight that Piper saw, when she opened the door slowly right before dawn. Prue sleeping in-between Andie and Paige, who were both snuggled up to her and she had her arms wrapped around both.
She smiled at the sight that was a dream come true to both her and Paige. Paige finally got to meet her eldest sister, and know what it feels like to be loved by her; Andie got her mother back and got to know what it felt like to be held in her arms and grow under her watchful eye; and she got the sister that she missed more than anything in the world.
She stood in the doorway for a few seconds, afraid that if she closes it that it will disappear, and it will all be nothing more than just a dream. But when she was sure that her sister was in fact sleeping tightly in the arms of her daughter and sister, she closed it again softly and went back to a restful, peaceful sleep.
Soooo sorry for the long wait you guys! Work and life was kinda crazy. Let me know what you all think, the next chapter should be done shortly, and how fast it gets uploaded depends on how many reviews I get.
Thank you, and have a wonderful 4th of July.