Charmed: Another Halliwell

by Brenna's Urbangirl Projects

Summary: Buffy Summers is the daughter of Joyce and Hank Summers. Joyce was born Patience Joyce Halliwell she was Prue, Piper and Phoebe's aunt. When Joyce dies Buffy is left in the care of her cousins. Pairings: Prue, Piper, and Phoebe (and later Paige) canon pairings. Buffy/Dawn (Yes, Forbidden Sibling Love). A/U Set during and after Charmed Season 1 and Buffy season 1.

14. Chapter 14: That Seventies Episode

Chapter 14: That Seventies Episode

May 1, 1997 - Thursday

The Halliwell Manor

Prue flipped through the photo albums with Buffy and Phoebe sitting next to her at one of the tables spread along the Solarium.

"There aren't any pictures of me growing up," Phoebe whined, causing Prue to look up from her stack of photos.

The older Halliwell sister smiled faintly. "That seems impossible. I mean, you weren't exactly camera shy," Prue joked as she flipped another page of the photo album.

"Phoebe you are in good company," Buffy said as her eldest and youngest cousins looked at her. "So far the we've seen only two photos that now show me. Or have you guys forgotten that with our memories erased so was existence of each other from our lives. The only evidence of that reversal are those two pictures."

Phoebe rolled her eyes good-naturedly and pulled out a small stack of pictures. "Yes, well neither were you and Piper, or you and Grams, or you and Dad… or look!" Her eyes went wide. "Uhm apparently we have three pictures now."

"What?" Buffy said as she looked at the picture that showed Joyce holding an infant with Prue, Piper and Phoebe circled around them. She flipped it over to the back of the picture and frowned.

"What?" Prue said seeing the reaction.

"It's not me," Buffy sadly admitted. She showed them the back of the picture which read: Joyce (24), Prue (12), Piper (9), Phoebe (6), Payson (1)

"Who's Payson?" Phoebe wondered clearly as confused as Prue and Buffy were.

"No idea," answered Prue. She then looked at Buffy. "Unless Aunt Joyce had a different name picked out for you at some point."

"Maybe," Buffy said with a shrug. "I guess we'll never know."

Prue pushed a picture closer to Phoebe. "Okay, here's a picture of you and Grams," she announced after tapping Phoebe on the shoulder to get her attention.

Phoebe's head jerked up immediately. "Oh, wasn't I cute?" she stated as much as asked.

Buffy looked from the picture with Joyce and baby to look at the ones of Phoebe and Grama. "You were," she agreed.

Prue noticed another picture and pushed it toward Phoebe. "Here's one of you and Mom," she added, watching Phoebe expectantly.

Phoebe's smile faded slightly but she looked eagerly down at the corresponding photo. It was of their mom reading a book to Phoebe. "Wow, I don't even remember that… What was I, about two?" Phoebe asked, receiving a nod from Prue. "She died on us a year later," she mumbled, quickly closing the album.

Buffy sighed, she knew how Phoebe felt. Prue and Piper remembered Patty. Phoebe was three when Patty died and had no memories of her as a result. While she wasn't born for three years after Patty died. She would never even get to meet the woman or have any pictures with her.

"Phoebe…" Prue warned her sister as she noticed the crestfallen look on Buffy's face at the mere mention of Patty. She felt worse for her cousin than her sister. At least Phoebe has pictures of her mother, Buffy doesn't have any pictures with her aunt at all.

Phoebe glanced at Prue and then followed her gaze toward Buffy and nodded in understanding. She and Prue wrapped an arm around their cousin in comfort. Silence fell between them for several moments until Piper came running into the Solarium.

"Okay, alright, I need a pen and paper," Piper exclaimed, heading straight for one of the drawers. She rolled her eyes when neither of her sisters or Buffy moved. "Quick we don't have a lot of time," she pressed struggling to open the drawer that was resisting.

Phoebe glanced at Buffy who nodded. She stood up, joining Piper next to the drawer. She hit the top of it twice and kicked the side once and the drawer popped open.

Piper's eyes narrowed at the drawer and then transferred to her departing younger sister. "I always wondered how you got in my candy drawer."

"Is there any candy still there?" Prue asked as she motioned toward Buffy.

Piper glanced down and pulled out a bag of lollipops. "Some lollipops," she answered, tossing one to Prue who handed it to Buffy. "Anyways, I thought it would be easier for us if we just write him a note."

Buffy paused in the process of opening her lollipop and glanced at Piper in confusion. "Who him?" she asked.

Piper glanced at her sisters pointedly. "You know, what's his name," she replied. Piper waved her hand for her sisters and Buffy to follow as she led the way to the Foyer when the doorbell rang. "Grandma's little friend, comes every year, same day, same time. Says, you know, the flowers are from a secret admirer, only it's obvious he's the admirer." She stopped in front of the door and Prue, Phoebe, and Buffy took up their normal positions around Piper ready to greet him. When they were ready, Piper opened the door to find the older man on the other side of the door. "Hi, come on in." Piper allowed, opening the door invitingly as the clock began to chime. "How are you?"

"Flowers for Miss Penny Halliwell." The man offered a vase of roses. As he started to hand them to Piper, they dropped from his hands.

Piper hastily threw her hands out to freeze everything before the vase crashed into the ground and shattered. She turned irritably back to Buffy and her sisters. "Every year, what a klutz!" she muttered, turning back and taking the flowers in her hands. "At least this year I can freeze him and spare myself the clean-up."

"Why did you want to write him a note?" Phoebe questioned curiously.

Piper bit her lip slightly. "To tell him Grams is dead…" She mumbled.

Buffy flinched. "Ouch… the poor guy."

"You're going to break his heart," Prue agreed, glancing at him sympathetically.

At that moment the room unfroze and the man looked around him knowingly. "Five chimes," he stated suddenly.

Buffy, Prue, Piper and Phoebe exchanged confused glances. "Excuse me?" Piper prompted, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"The clock, I only heard five chimes. It's noon. That means you froze me. Which means you have your powers at last," he explained.

Piper's mouth dropped and she carefully sat the flowers down on the nearest side table and backed away to join her family. "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about, Mister, but thanks for the flowers. Bye," she replied. All four of them backed several steps away.

"Call me Nicholas. Your mothers did," he suggested sharply, taking a ring from his pocket and slipping it onto his finger. Nicholas de-aged in front of their eyes. "I had to appear to age over the years otherwise you would've been suspicious," he responded to their stunned looks.

"What?" Buffy and Prue demanded

Nicholas smiled and his gaze shifted over Prue. "You see, twenty-two years ago today, your mothers and I made a pact. To spare their lives, they gave up your future powers to me. They blessed this ring…" He began, holding it up for them to see. "… Which gave me immunity to your powers." A fireball formed in Buffy's hand. She threw it at him, but when it hit him nothing happened. "… Immunity so that I could kill you and take the powers on for my own. To become invincible."

"Our mothers would never give away our powers," Prue argued stubbornly and tried again.

"They didn't have much of a choice." Nicholas replied, pointing his ring at Phoebe and Buffy. "Your blood is boiling. Soon your lungs will sear." Phoebe and Buffy shook momentarily before falling over in pain. He moved his hand so that it was now pointing at Prue and Piper. "Your organs will overheat and death will come." He finished. He grinned when Prue and Piper dropped to the ground in agony.

When he was focused on the elder two sisters, Phoebe snaked up and kicked him in the leg so that he fell to the ground and released them from his hold. They quickly stood and ran up to the attic.

Prue closed the attic door behind them while Piper and Phoebe ran to the Charmed Ones book and Buffy to hers. They began desperately flipping through the pages. "Why would Mom and Aunt Joyce make a deal like that?" Prue questioned aloud.

"Good question," Buffy agreed.

"More importantly, what are we gonna do about it?" Piper corrected, her arms crossed.

" I think I found a spell!" Buffy announced and her cousins crowded around her and her book. "To unbind a bond."

"You can't run from me!" Nicholas' voice sounded through the attic door followed by the creaking of the stairs as he undoubtedly ran up them.

Prue glanced nervously behind her. "Okay, we have no choice," she allowed.

"Hmm," Buffy said as she looked over the spell. "It says it must be cast by the Power of Three Augmented. What does that mean?"

"We don't have time to worry about that," Piper said, waving her hand dramatically to speed things up.

"Okay…" Buffy hissed narrowing her eyes in annoyance. She took Piper and Phoebe's hands as Prue took her sisters' hands completing the circle. "The Bond which was not to be done. Give us the power to see it undone. And turn back time to whence it was begun," she chanted. From deep within her she felt something build and spread out through her hands into Phoebe and Piper and from them into Prue.

They were surrounded by white orbs and they disappeared.

March 24, 1975

They reappeared in the same spot.

Buffy frowned as she looked around them. "Um… did I screw it up?" she asked. She, Prue, Piper and Phoebe didn't notice that the book they had been standing in front of a second later was now missing.

"Nothing happened…" Prue agreed, biting her lip slightly.

They all spun around as a phone began to ring downstairs. They hesitantly walked to the attic door and Phoebe pulled it open so they could better hear the ring. "Whose phone is that?" Phoebe asked.

"Not ours…" Piper answered softly in confusion.

"Definitely not mine," Buffy added. "I wouldn't have a ringtone like that."

"Halliwell Residence," someone's voice sounded from downstairs.

Piper glanced in Phoebe's direction. "You go," she ordered.

Phoebe immediately shook her head. "No, you go," she argued.

Their eyes turned toward Buffy who pointed in Prue's direction. "She goes." Buffy decided, pushing Prue out the attic door before she could respond.

Prue cast an irritated glance behind her as the attic door closed before she quietly walked down the stairs until she could see what was going on. Her eyes widened as she saw her grandmother on the phone.

"I beg your pardon? Well, Donna, I'm just hurt that you would suspect my little angels of such a thing," Grams spoke into the phone.

"Grams…?" Prue whispered to herself, trying to get a better view of her grandmother from this angle on the stairs.

Her jaw dropped as two young girls ran through the foyer. They could only have been herself and Piper. Prue guessed she was somewhere around four and Piper two or three.

"Prue. Uh, just a moment, Donna," Grams replied to the woman and then turned to the two girls that had stopped and were hovering at the far door. "Prue, Piper. Girls, don't run in the house," she ordered. Grams turned back to the phone and the little girls ran into the next room. "Yes. Yes…"

Prue quickly turned around and raced back up the stairs. She knocked on the door and dashed in the moment it was open, a stunned expression on her face. Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy exchanged glances when Prue didn't immediately say anything.

"Well?" Buffy prompted.

"What'd you see?" Piper demanded.

"The warlock?" Phoebe guessed nervously.

Prue slowly shook her head. "No… Us."

"Us?" Buffy said in confusion.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"How do we know we're back in time? What if we just brought the past to us accidently? We've done it before," Piper rambled as she paced back and forth around the attic.

"Piper, look around. What do you see?" Prue questioned with a faint smile.

Piper obediently allowed her eyes to flicker around the room. "A messy attic like always," she answered sharply.

"No, not like always." Buffy disagreed as she saw things in the attic she had never seen before.

Prue nodded in agreement. "We have a black light, a typewriter, eight track tapes, and a pet rock," she pointed out, waving her hand in the direction of each of the items. "I mean, we got rid of this stuff years ago, remember?"

"And you saw us? As kids?" Piper demanded in disbelief.

Prue gave the slightest of nods. "Yeah," she answered with a thoughtful expression. "Well you and me as kids anyways."

"This can't be happening. I'm getting a migraine!" Piper exclaimed, cradling her head in her hands.

"Well, wherever we are, I doubt Advil's been invented yet." Phoebe quipped with an innocent smile to Piper.

"And apparently neither has my book," Buffy added motioning to where her book stood. "Which means the spell doesn't exist yet either."

Prue walked up to stand next to Buffy who had been flipping through the Charmed Ones' book. "Let me guess there's nothing in there about how to get back to our own time?" she pressed.

"Nothing," Buffy answered, shutting the book a little harder than necessary. "Uh, let me be the first to say we're screwed."

Prue immediately shook her head. "No," she disagreed. "Okay, at least we're alive. If we had stayed in our own time, Nicholas would have killed us. We barely got away as it was… is… will be…" she babbled, appearing confused. "You know, I've never been good at tenses," she admitted.

Buffy snorted and glanced out the window. "So how are we gonna fix this?" she asked.

"Well, Grams is right downstairs. Maybe we should just go and tell her who we are," Prue suggested.

Phoebe laughed at the thought. "And say what? Hi, we're the ghosts of grandchildren future?" she joked. "Come on, even Grams is gonna have a little trouble with that."

"Plus, she has that heart condition," Piper added.

Prue sighed but nodded reluctantly in agreement. "Okay, fine, so we need another plan, but first we need to get out of the house."

"Agreed," Buffy voted and they hesitantly moved back to the attic door.

Prue led the way to the edge of the stairs with Buffy, Phoebe, and Piper right behind her. They stopped once they were in sight of Grams, still on the phone.

"You're talking too fast. Patty, sweetheart, slow down." Grams was saying into the phone.

"Patty?" Piper repeated.

Prue nodded. "Mom," she breathed, staring intently at the phone.

"Aunt Patty?" Buffy said as she glanced at Prue who nodded.

"What premonition? Patty, that's impossible, you don't have premonitions," Grams retorted.

Phoebe frowned and glanced in Prue's direction. "Wait, I thought you said Mom's power was to freeze time," she hissed, tilting her head in confusion.

Before Prue could answer Grams said, "Patience gets premonitions."

"Mom?" Buffy said as a tear sprang to her eye. She felt Piper and Prue each wrap an around her in comfort as Phoebe, from behind, touched Buffy's shoulder.

"Maybe you should go see a doctor." Grams suggested.

Buffy began looking at each of her cousins in appreciation for the comforting gesture when she noticed that Piper had moved away from them and picked up the upstairs phone to eavesdrop on the conversation. "Piper!" she whispered sharply in surprise. Prue and Phoebe immediately looked over at Piper before all three of them crowded around Piper and the phone to listen.

"I don't need to go to the doctor, Mom," Patty argued. "I need you to listen to what I'm saying."

Piper carefully placed her hand over the speaker so her voice wouldn't carry to the other lines. "She's talking to Mom," she breathed.

"I can't explain it either, Mom. It just happened. I felt a twinge in my stomach and then Bam! I saw it. Warlocks, four of them and one of them was taking Prue," Patty explained hastily.

"You know… you've been really stressed lately…" Grams began.

"Do you think that's really Mom's voice?" Phoebe whispered excitedly.

"Of course it is. There's only so many Patty's that would call Grams," Buffy joked, earning a poke in the side from Phoebe.

"Are you still nauseous? Why don't you come home from Buddy's?" Grams continued.

"I can't and it was not a daydream," Patty insisted. They exchanged a few more words before they hung up.

Buffy, Phoebe and Piper carefully followed Prue as they heard Grams move away from the stairs. "Okay, let's get out of here," Prue decided. As they reached the bottom of the stairs they heard Grams' voice in another room.

They froze as little Prue walked after a running little Piper. Seeing that little Piper was getting away, little Prue narrowed her eyes at a kids-sized couch and it moved to block the doorway.

Little Piper turned to glare playfully back at little Prue. "No fair, using magic."

"Whoa!" Piper breathed as little Piper turned back to her sister.

Buffy's mouth had dropped in disbelief. "Wait, you guys had powers back then?" she demanded, staring after the little girls.

"This is really freaky…" Phoebe remarked.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Prue led the way into the room where the little girls were. Little Piper was standing next to little Prue in the Solarium when they came in. Two pairs of kids eyes flickered to the four if them and little Prue stepped forward.

"Hey," Prue greeted, kneeling down so that she was level with her kid-self.

"Hi," Little Prue echoed, lightly touching Prue's freckle on her face.

Prue laughed softly. "You got one too," she whispered. "Come here," she invited eagerly, pulling her miniature self into a hug. Her smile faded as she heard footsteps coming into the room.

"How many times have I told you girls…?" Grams began scolding but froze as she saw the four of them with little Prue in the arms of one of them.

Prue immediately let little Prue down and backed away. "Uh, Grams… we can explain."

Grams didn't wait for any explanations. She raised her hands at them. "Warlocks, be gone!" she ordered and Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy were thrown out of the house, landing heavily on the concrete steps.

"Oh, god, let's go," Prue hissed as soon as the door had shut.

Streets of San Francisco

They wasted no time in running out of sight of the Manor. "Grams really had her power down," Prue remarked, pulling Buffy along after her with Phoebe and Piper following behind.

"She is one scary witch," Phoebe agreed.

"We're lucky all she did was throw us out of the house and didn't try to vanquish us," Buffy added, pulling back and slowing Prue down as they were farther down the street and were in no immediate danger of Grams coming to hunt them down.

Piper nodded and slowed down as well. "I don't remember having powers at that age, do you?" She asked, directing the question to Prue.

"No, I thought we got them for the first time last year," Prue replied with the slightest of shrugs.

Piper sighed and glanced back behind her toward the Manor. "Apparently not. We must have lost them before we could even remember having them."

Buffy frowned slightly appearing unconvinced. "I think it's the same reason we don't remember each other," she offered. "I think Grams must have erased your memories of having the powers,"

"I think Buffy might be right," Prue agreed looking at her sisters. "Think about. It could even be related to why we didn't remember Buffy and she didn't remember us when we first met each other."

"I don't think it's related," Buffy said shaking her head as her cousins looked at her. "We've seen the pictures with me with you guys at the age of six. Whatever erased your memories of me and mine of you was a result of something other than why our powers were stripped till we were older."

Phoebe had walked up to the end of a neighbor's driveway and picked up their newspaper. Her eyes quickly scanned for the date which she found at the top. "Mom is barely pregnant with mom," she announced after a quick mental calculation. "Here, March 24, 1975."

"And I am not even a glimmer in my mom's eye yet," Buffy sighed.

"That's the day Mom and Aunt Patty made the pact with Nicholas," Piper realized.

"So maybe that's why the spell sent us back here. To stop the pact," Prue suggested.

"Which means it may be the only way for us to get back to our time," Piper added.

Buffy nodded in agreement. "In order to do that, I think we're going to have to talk to either mom or Aunt Patty. Warn them about Nicholas or something," she offered. "Though mom might be harder than Aunt Patty since I'm not born yet."

"Regardless of who we go to. We have to do a better job at convincing them than we did Grams. This time we have to use our powers," Prue decided, glancing at her family for approval.

Piper frowned as she remembered the conversation their mother had had with Grams. "The only problem is mom and likely Aunt Joyce are on the lookout for four warlocks now," she reminded them.

Prue bit her lip nervously. "Uh, so then, maybe not all of us should approach them. Just in case," she suggested.

"Well, since I don't have any powers to show either mom or Aunt Joyce, I think you three should go," Phoebe replied. "I'll just stand outside and watch for Nicholas."

Piper exchanged a glance with Prue before looking back at Phoebe. "That doesn't seem fair to you, Phoebe, not being able to see Mom."

"I know, it's not, but I got over that a long time ago. I don't need to see her no," Phoebe assured them. Prue narrowed her eyes in concern and Phoebe forced a smile for her eldest sister. "Really, it's okay," she continued. When no one said anything she hastily sought to change the subject. "We better get going, though, before we miss her."

Slowly, Prue, Piper, and Buffy agreed and followed Phoebe to the part of town that housed the popular restaurant, Buddy's.

Buddy's

While Phoebe waited outside Buddy's, entertaining herself by checking out the movie theatre across the street, Prue, Piper and Buffy walked into the restaurant.

Prue froze in the doorway, forcing Piper and Buffy to follow suit or they would have run into her. Her eyes quickly scanned over the restaurant. "Whoa, scary. Buddy's has not changed a bit," she realized in surprise. She blinked quickly, appearing confused as she thought about what she had said. "Err… wouldn't… didn't…?"

Buffy gently pushed her in the direction of a booth, getting rather tired of standing in front of the door. "Give it up, Prue," she said.

Piper scanned the restaurant, looking more for Patty. "I don't see Mom anywhere, do you?" Piper asked, sliding in next to Prue.

Buffy, who was sitting opposite Piper and Prue, was the first to look up and see Patty come from the back. Recognizing her from pictures she had seen, "Guys," she whispered and nodded in Patty's direction.

Piper's eyes widened. "Prue," she breathed, trying to get her eldest sister's attention.

Prue glanced up at them curiously and followed their subtle, yet frantic nodding in Patty's direction. "Mom…" she whispered.

"She's so beautiful." Piper remarked.

"Yeah, she is." Prue agreed.

Buffy was silent as she tried to get a better view of Patty around all the customers. She smiled and looked back at Piper. "You look just like her, Piper!" she exclaimed in which Piper smiled and Prue laughed softly.

"I don't remember her working here," Piper admitted looking thoughtfully after her mother as she sat a couple of drinks down at the table in front of them.

"Yeah, with Dad gone she had to pay the bills somehow. I remember she used to come home late at night and she'd kiss me and she always smelled like hamburgers," Prue reminisced a little wistfully.

Piper's smile widened before she finally tore her eyes away from her mother and allowed them to flicker to her big sister. "You're lucky. You have a lot more memories than I do."

"Well, at least you have some. I mean Phoebe hardly has any and Buffy… doesn't," Prue pointed out with an apologetic glance in Buffy's direction.

Buffy offered a smile of assurance. "It does hurt not knowing her," she admitted. "But I think it hurts Phoebe more. After all I am just her niece. For Phoebe she is her daughter."

Piper nodded in understanding. "Yeah your probably right," she agreed. "But just because it may have hurt her more, we can't forget not knowing her at all hurt you also."

"Oh, here she comes." Prue announced, lightly tapping Piper's arm.

Piper looked a little nervously in Patty's direction. "What do we do if she recognizes us?" she demanded.

"Well, you freeze the place and when she sees that we don't freeze either, she'll believe us when we tell her who we are," Prue decided.

Piper she threw her hair over her shoulder and subconsciously pulled at the sleeves of her sweater. "Okay, how do I look?" she asked.

"Great," Buffy and Prue assured her.

Patty had just stopped at their booth. "Ready to order?" she questioned, pulling out the notepad to take their order on. Prue and Piper just stared, overwhelmed at the sight of their mother, while Buffy glanced between her cousins and Patty trying to figure out what they were doing as she had assumed one of them would have done the talking. Patty hesitated, guessing that they weren't quite ready. "Take your time. I'll come back," she allowed, beginning to turn away.

"No, we're ready," Buffy stopped her while giving her cousins a glare.

"Yeah, aren't we, Prue?" Piper jumped in, taking the hint.

Prue's eyes widened and hastily tried to cover before Patty could think about hearing her name too much. "Ah, prunes," she covered, glancing at Piper who bit her lip nervously. "Uh, prunes… She wants to know if you have any prunes." Buffy snorted and quickly ducked her head as Prue glared at her.

Patty's eyes flickered to Buffy before moving back to Prue. "6Prunes, sure. Yeah, I think so. I just started here. I'll go check," she offered, beginning to turn away again.

"No!" Prue yelled, stunning Patty into stopping. She bit her lip as Buffy dropped her head into her arms in an attempt to stifle her laughter at her two eldest cousins. "Uh, she can order something else."

Patty waited patiently, eyeing Buffy and Prue rather curiously. "Have we met before? I mean, you two look familiar."

Prue smiled faintly. "Yeah, so do you," she answered. "Now," she ordered under her breath to Piper.

Piper immediately dropped her menu and flicked her wrists to activate her freezing power. Nothing happened so she tried again, more noticeably. Patty stared at her for several moments while Prue's eyes widened and Buffy stopped laughing to stare at Piper as well.

"What's the matter?" Prue whispered, trying to appear casual.

"It's not working. Either of you try…" Piper hissed back.

Prue lowered her gaze to the glass of water on the table in front of her and squinted, willing it to move. Nothing happened despite several attempts. Prue glanced helplessly back toward Buffy.

"Salt…" Buffy called under her breath, holding her hand out, where the table salt should have flamed to.

"Okay, how is that possible?" Prue muttered.

Patty was watching them suspiciously now and only looked away when one of the waitresses called, "Patty, phone."

"Oh, okay thanks," Patty called over her shoulder, though her eyes never left Buffy, Prue or Piper. "Uh, I'll be right back," she said to them, starting to turn away, though somewhat reluctantly.

"Wait, we know you're pregnant!" Piper yelled after her in desperation. Prue and Buffy cast looks of disbelief at Piper, who suddenly realized that may not have been the best approach.

Patty stopped short and quickly walked back to the table. "What?" she demanded.

Piper laughed nervously. "This is going to sound really weird, but we're actually your…"

"Cousins," Prue interrupted. "Cousins from out of town," she elaborated, thinking that bashing her head into the table may not be too bad an idea right now.

"Right, cousins," Buffy agreed with a grin. She was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Piper just nodded awkwardly before continuing where she had been interrupted. "And we need to tell you something very important about the baby that you're carrying… sorta," she explained.

Patty hastily rolled her notebook up and dropped it in the pocket of her uniform. "Not that this is any of your business but I can't get pregnant anymore. Medically impossible," she replied sharply. "Excuse me," she added, turning away and actually making it away from the table this time.

Piper stared after her dumbfounded. "I panicked," she admitted. "I thought, you know, close family would know that she's pregnant."

"Yes, well, not only does she not know that she's pregnant, she doesn't even think that she can get pregnant," Prue responded.

"Yeah that puzzles me too," Buffy agreed. "I can understand depending on how long she and dad," she noticed Prue and Piper looking at her. "Remember your dad would have offered mom to adopt me since he didn't particularly like my biological dad. And you dad didn't have a problem with me thinking of him as mine, so…" Prue and Piper nodded. "Anyways as I was said I can understand depending on how long they've been seperated she not thinking she was pregnant. But the medically speaking part, that I don't understand."

Piper shook her head to try and clear her thoughts to something more important. "Okay, well, we have bigger problems. We have no powers which means we have no way of stopping Nicholas," she reminded them.

"Yeah, how do we not have powers?" Prue exclaimed. "I mean, little Prue and little Piper, they have powers."

Piper shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe only one set of us can have powers at the same time, in the same time." She suggested.

"That don't explain me, Piper," Buffy said as her cousins turned to look at her. "I have no younger me to share mine with."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"I was working, Mother, that's why I couldn't take your call," Patty explained into the phone that was in the kitchen.

"That premonition that you said you had. Did you see what the warlocks looked like?" Grams demanded, getting right to the subject.

Patty frowned in confusion and tried to remember the vision. "The warlocks? No, I didn't see their faces," she admitted after a moment. "Why?" she asked curiously.

"I'll tell you why. Because I saw them. All four of them. Here, and one of them had a hold of Prudence," Grams answered with a hint of anger.

"Are the girls okay?" Patty questioned demandingly.

"For now, thanks to me," Grams replied.

Patty nodded and quickly grabbed her purse from the small table next to her. "I'm coming right home," she announced before hanging up. She cast one last glance back at the table where Prue, Piper, and Buffy were chatting and went out the back door. Patty pulled her purse around and searched for her keys amidst everything else. She accidently ran into Phoebe, who was staring back at the window of the restaurant. "Oh!" she exclaimed, dropping her stuff.

Phoebe jumped back in surprise. "Oh, sorry!" she apologized, bending down to help pick the stuff up.

"I'm so sorry," Patty apologized in return.

"Oh, no, it's totally my fault," Phoebe argued, freezing when she actually looked at Patty for the first time and recognized who she was.

Patty smiled and took something from Phoebe's hands. "I'm such a klutz sometimes," she admitted.

Phoebe returned the smile. "Really? So am I."

"Yeah?" Patty laughed.

Phoebe suddenly realized how very strange she was acting and dropped her gaze back to the contents of Patty's purse that still littered the ground. "Yeah…" she mumbled distantly, reaching out for a pack of crackers. "Crackers?"

Patty nodded slightly. "Upset stomach," she explained, taking them.

Phoebe's eyes flickered to land on a cigarette pack. "Uh, you know, you shouldn't be smoking these now," she began, pausing at the weird look Patty sent her. "It's bad for your upset stomach," she elaborated hastily.

"You're very sweet," Patty complimented, standing back up now that she had re-acquired all her stuff. "Thanks, I gotta go."

"So soon?" Phoebe questioned before she could stop herself.

Patty turned back to her curiously. "Excuse me?" she inquired.

Before Phoebe could cover, an officer stopped next to them. "Is everything all right?" the officer demanded professionally.

"Yeah, thanks officer," Patty answered.

Phoebe spun around to see who the voice belonged to and her eyes widened when she recognized him. "Oh my God, Nicholas," she breathed, unconsciously stepping away toward Patty.

"I'm late. Thanks again," Patty thanked Phoebe before walking off to her car.

Nicholas turned to follow Patty, but Phoebe jumped in his way. "Excuse me, how do you get to Berkeley?" she questioned in an attempt to buy Patty more time.

Nicholas glared and pushed her away. "Get out of my way," he snapped, making his way to his car, presumably to follow Patty.

Before he could get his keys to unlock his car door, Phoebe stepped forward and kicked his hand so that he dropped his keys. She picked them up and threw them across the road before bolting into Buddy's.

"Phoebe, what are you doing?" Prue asked as she caught sight of her youngest sister.

Phoebe's head snapped around and she ran toward them, motioning for them to hurry up. "Nicholas is here," she hissed.

"What? Where?" Piper demanded, her eyes scouring the area.

"Time to go," Buffy decided, sliding out of the booth with Piper and Prue following. Phoebe led the way through the many people and out the back door. They had just disappeared when an angry Nicholas pushed into Buddy's looking for them.

Streets of San Francisco

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy walked down the street near the Manor trying to figure out how to make their next move.

"Was Nicholas wearing his ring?" Buffy wondered as she looked to Phoebe.

Phoebe tried to think back to their short encounter. "I don't know. I don't think so," she finally answered.

"It was a good thing you were there, Pheebs. That was probably when he was going to make his move on Mom," Piper went on thoughtfully.

"No, I don't think so. For one Aunt Joyce wasn't there and for another we would be back in our own time by now," Prue argued lightly.

Buffy glanced over at Phoebe, who was unusually silent. "You okay?" she asked gently.

"Yeah," Phoebe assured before dropping her gaze as Prue and Piper also looked at her. "Uh, just seeing Mom and talking to her, I just didn't expect to feel so…"

"Feel what? Good?" Prue suggested.

Phoebe shook her head slowly. "No, overwhelmed," she corrected.

Buffy wrapped her arm around Phoebe's shoulder and whispered something into her youngest cousin's ear that had Phoebe giggling softly again. Buffy seemed pleased with her accomplishment while Piper and Prue exchanged a glance.

"Well, Mom's car is here. At least we know where she is," Piper remarked casually.

"Yeah, but the question is how do we get to her? Grams must have told her about us by now. She probably thinks that we're the warlocks." Prue pointed out.

"Oh, I think she definitely thinks we're the warlocks," Buffy countered. "Or she wouldn't have bolted out the back door."

Piper nodded in acknowledgement with Buffy. "The problem remains. Our only option is to wait until Nicholas shows, but what are we going to do without our powers?"

Phoebe looked thoughtfully at the Manor that was across the street from them. "Well, technically you still have your powers. If you count little Prue and little Piper," she realized, a small smile forming on her face. "We need powers and they have them. Come on," she ordered.

Buffy led the way, Phoebe eagerly followed behind her while Prue had to practically drag a very wary Piper. She stopped behind Patty's car looking around to make sure only her cousins were watching. She planted her hands underneath the rear bumper and lifted the rear of the car a foot off the ground. "Magical half of my Slayer powers are gone, but I still have the strength at least," she admitted as she turned and led them toward the back of the manor.

The Halliwell Manor

They snuck in through the back door that led into the kitchen. Buffy looked carefully around the kitchen in search of anyone but found it empty. "Coast is clear," she called behind her, waving for them to follow.

"What if Grams catches us?" Piper asked worriedly.

"She'll kill us before Nicholas has the chance," Prue answered grimly as they slipped into the Foyer.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Buffy hoped.

Phoebe exchanged a knowing look with Buffy. "You wanna do the honors, Buffy?" Phoebe questioned with a smirk. Buffy looked at Phoebe

"All yours," Buffy said unsure what Phoebe wanted.

Phoebe shrugged and knelt down next to the heating duct. "She won't catch us. Observe," she announced, opening the heating duct up.

"You said the girls were safe with you. Besides, I want to go," Patty's voice drifted from upstairs.

"You are making a big mistake, Patty. Victor is not coming back," Grams argued.

Prue narrowed her eyes but appeared impressed. "How did you…?"

"Heating duct to upstairs. I used to listen to you guys for hours. Especially when you used to sneak Andy up to your bedroom in high school," Phoebe explained teasingly.

Prue's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I'm confused," Buffy said. "I thought dad did come back. Didn't the video tape he gave you guys show a Christmas after Phoebe was born."

"He did for a little while," Prue acknowledged. "But he eventually left again that time permanently." Piper grabbed her arm and pointed to her wrist indicating that they didn't have a lot of time. Prue sighed and nodded. "Fine, you two keep tabs on them. We're going to try and find the little girls," she ordered, following Piper into the next room.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"That's my doll!" little Prue yelled, trying to pull the toy from her younger sister's hands.

Little Piper stubbornly held on and tugged back. "You gave it to me!" she argued.

"No, I didn't. You stole it," little Prue accused.

Prue smiled and nodded to herself as she and Piper came around the corner of the room. "That's true, you did steal it," she agreed with her miniature version.

"I did not," Piper snapped.

"Yes, you did," Prue returned before shushing her sister. As they came into the room they saw little Prue narrow her eyes at the doll and telekinetically pulled the toy from her younger sister's hands.

Piper couldn't resist but to speak up for her little self. "Hey, that's not fair!" she scolded to little Prue.

The two kids turned to meet Prue and Piper. Little Prue smiled as she hugged the doll to her. "You came back," little Prue exclaimed.

Prue nodded and kneeled down in front of little Prue while Piper approached her miniature self. "Yes, we did, and we're gonna keep it a secret, okay?" she prompted gently.

Little Prue nodded eagerly. "Okay," she agreed.

"Okay," Prue laughed.

"You're pretty," little Prue complimented a little shyly.

Prue smiled wider and pushed little Prue's hair away from her face. "Oh, so are you."

Piper rolled her eyes at the Prues. "Oh, give me a break," she muttered.

"Grams said you're bad people," little Piper spoke up, crossing her arms in an act of suspicion.

"Oh, no, no, no. We're good people. We're, uh, just like you," Piper assured with a glance at Prue for help.

"Yeah, we're family," Prue elaborated and little Piper smiled faintly.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Victor sent me a note. He asked me to stop by his hotel after my shift," Patty explained to Grams.

Buffy and Phoebe listened closer at the mention of Victor. "Dad?" they mumbled as they looked at each other and smiled.

"You know it was doomed from the start. You never even took his last name," Grams argued.

"You wouldn't let me," Patty countered.

"I wonder why mom took dad's name? Especially if Grams wouldn't let Aunt Patty do the same," Buffy said as Phoebe shrugged. "

"That's beside the point," Grams replied stubbornly in her typical Grams fashion. "Why can't you just wear your uniform to see him?"

"Because I don't want him to know that I'm a waitress," Patty answered as if that made perfect sense. "Look, it can't hurt to talk, right?"

"Well, let him go I say. If husbands were meant to stay married, God would have made them live longer," Grams remarked offhandedly.

"Mother…" Patty scolded lightly.

Buffy snorted while Phoebe laughed softly. "Grams," they giggled at the same time.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Little Prue had now stepped slightly in front of little Piper with her arms crossed, almost protectively in front of her little sister. "We're not supposed to go places with strangers," little Prue stated.

Prue nodded in understanding. "Yeah, but we're not strangers, Prue. You're safe with us and I know that you know in your heart that you can trust us," she replied gently. Little Prue seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"If you're really family then prove it," little Piper challenged.

"Prove it? How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Piper snapped, turning on Prue.

"Piper!" Prue scolded as the curse word left the other Halliwell's mouth.

Little Piper turned eagerly to her older self. "Piper. Your name's Piper too?" she asked with wide-eyed wonder.

Piper glanced away from Prue and back to little Piper. "Yeah and, uh, not only do we have the same name, but we have the same secrets." Piper walked over to the candy drawer and knocked the top twice before kicking the side and the drawer popped open. Little Piper's mouth dropped.

Prue smiled, recognizing that they had won them over. "Okay, follow me," she called. She stopped when little Andy ran in.

Little Andy, dressed in a cowboy outfit complete with two toy guns, pointed his guns at the younger sisters. "Freeze!" he ordered in childish ecstasy.

Little Piper grinned and before her older self could stop her, had thrown her hands up. "Okay, Andy." Her power was activated and Prue and Piper froze.

Little Prue crossed her arms and turned on her little sister. "I'm telling, Mom. You're not supposed to freeze people!" she scolded.

"But he said to," little Piper argued with an accusatory finger pointed in little Andy's direction.

Phoebe and Buffy came running into the room at that moment. "Prue, Piper, Mom's coming down…" Phoebe began and trailed off at the sight of her frozen sisters.

"Oh, boy…" Buffy mumbled, glancing behind her at the sound of Grams and Patty coming down the stairs.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Fine, if you must go, go, I can't stop you, but I also can't promise that I won't teach the girls a new spell while you're gone," Grams consented reluctantly.

Patty stopped her descent down the stairs for a split moment. "Can't you just bake cookies with them like all the other grandmothers?" she suggested lightly.

Grams turned around to head back up the stairs. "The recipes they learn from me don't come from Betty Crocker, dear."

Patty laughed softly as she headed for the door. "Bye, girls. Love you," she called behind her.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Phoebe desperately waved her hands for little Piper to unfreeze the room. As if on cue, Prue and Piper unfroze and stared at Phoebe and Buffy in confusion.

Little Andy turned his gaze on the newly arrived Phoebe and Buffy. "Who are you?" he demanded suspiciously, a little tired of being ignored.

"Don't ask," Phoebe mumbled to him.

Buffy's mouth dropped in disbelief. "Oh my God! Is that Andy?" she exclaimed, kneeling down in front of little Andy and ruffling his hair. "He is adorable."

Little Andy ducked away from Buffy, giving her a look of disgust while flattening his messy hair.

"Uh, Buffy, we gotta go fast. Mom just left and Grams is…" Phoebe looked behind her as Grams' voice drifted from another room.

"Prudence, Piper," Grams called for her granddaughters.

"… Coming…" Phoebe finished hesitantly.

Prue's eyes widened and she picked up little Piper and ushered her miniature self toward the kitchen. "Go, go, go, go, go," she ordered.

Piper ran forward and pulled little Prue, who she thought was moving too slow, and Phoebe grabbed Buffy.

Little Andy quickly followed with narrowed eyes. "I wanna go too."

Phoebe spun back around. "No, Andy, you have to stay here," she replied.

"No!" Andy shouted, trudging forward stubbornly.

"Go, Phoebe, go. I got it," Prue muttered, carrying little Piper forward to block the door.

Phoebe grinned and took off after Buffy, Piper, and little Prue. "Oh, little Andy Trudeau is so cute," she agreed with Buffy's earlier words.

"Alright, freeze him," Prue instructed little Piper, careful to make sure that she wasn't in the room to be frozen. "No wonder he's so suspicious of us," she added to herself. Little Piper obediently flicked her wrists and froze him. Prue then opened the door smiling at little Piper. "Okay, cool. Come on. Let's go, let's go." She hurried little Piper out of the room following quickly behind.

Grams walked into the room to find little Andy frozen. "Oh, Andy. Did Piper freeze you again? Oh, you poor dear. You won't remember a thing." She laughed, he unfroze. "Do you know where the girls went?" she asked pleasantly.

"The strange ladies took them," Little Andy answered, pointing in the general direction of the departed foursome.

Grams' eyes widened in horror as she heard the start up of a car in the driveway… much too late to be Patty's. She bolted out to the driveway to try and intercept them. Grams was just able to see her car disappear down the street.

Golden Gate Park

They had taken the two children to the park where Prue was put in charge of instructing them on how to take on Nicholas. She had acquired a ball that they could practice their powers on. "Okay, girls. If we see a bad guy, what do we do?" Prue tested while Buffy stood next to her keeping watch.

"She's gonna cry," little Prue teased, pointing at little Piper as Buffy stifled a giggle.

Little Piper glared at little Prue in offense. "Am not, I'm gonna freeze him," little Piper snapped.

"And then, I'm gonna move him," little Prue followed, flicking her hand like she was using her power to throw something.

"You and Piper were so cute," Buffy whispered into Prue's ear.

Prue glanced at Buffy and smiled before turning her attention back to the little girls. "Okay, then we will take care of him and then we will all…" she prompted.

"Run like the wind!" little Prue and Piper enthused.

Prue laughed softly and held the ball up. "Exactly. Alright, so let's give it a try. Ready?" she asked. The little girls nodded and Prue threw the ball up in the air. Little Piper threw her hands up and froze the ball. As soon as it was frozen, little Prue pointed at the ball and it went flying through the air. "Wow…" Prue mouthed as she saw how far her miniature self could send the ball.

Little Prue spun back to face Prue. "Can we do it again?" she wondered enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes. Practice makes perfect," Prue allowed. Little Prue squinted at the ball and it came flying back, landing in Prue's arms. Prue handed the ball to little Prue and Piper. "Okay, go try it." She and Buffy watched them run off with the ball before sitting down on the nearby bench beside Phoebe.

"Those girls have major juice. They have control, they can aim…" Phoebe commented, sounding impressed.

"Not to mention… did you see how far little Prue sent that ball?" Buffy added with a glance in the little girls' direction.

Prue nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well, they've had their powers a lot longer than we have. I mean did… I think."

"What do you think happened to your powers when you were kids?" Buffy asked curiously.

Prue shrugged. "Well, we lost a lot growing up," she reminded Buffy. "Such as our memories, remember? Somehow we must have lost them too."

Piper walked up to them, returning from her investigation on Nicholas and Patty. "I finally found a payphone. Mom is at work until five and Nicholas is on duty until six," she explained.

"Good, at least we know where he is. The girls are ready," Prue replied for Piper's benefit.

"Well, I'm not," Phoebe announced softly.

Prue, Piper, and Buffy all looked toward Phoebe. "Why not?" Prue wondered.

Phoebe hesitated a moment before confessing. "Mom died before I could grab onto enough to keep her alive in my head. And now she's here, alive, pregnant with me. If we stop Nicholas, we have to go back to our own time and there's no Mom there."

Buffy sighed as she wrapped an arm around Phoebe. "I know how you feel, Pheebs. I finally got to meet Aunt Patty. On top of that in the here and now my mom is alive. I don't know if I want to go back to a world without either of them in it. But sadly we don't have much of a choice."

Behind them several cop cars pulled up next to the car they had 'borrowed' from Grams. "Ladies, is this your car?" One of the cops asked professionally.

The Pickwick Hotel

Patty walked up to the room number 246 that the note Victor had sent specified and knocked softly on it.

"Come in," A man's voice sounded through the door.

"Victor?" Patty questioned, opening the door and stepping into the dark room. As she made it fully into the room someone grabbed her from behind and slammed her up against the wall. "Get off me!" she screamed as he pulled her arms behind her back and handcuffed her.

"I won't let you freeze me, Patty. That would ruin everything," Nicholas responded, loosening his grip on her now that she was defenseless.

Patty pulled away from him and spun to see who her attacker was. "You!" she realized, recognizing the cop from earlier.

"Call me Nicholas," he allowed.

"Where's Victor?" Patty demanded, her eyes scouring the area for any sign of him.

Nicholas slowly advanced toward her with a cocky grin. "Not here. Bait for the hook," he explained. As he got close enough, Patty elbowed him in the stomach and ran for the door. Nicholas stumbled but his weakness was only temporary as he spun around and held his fist out to her. "Your blood is boiling…" he began and Patty screamed in agony. "… and soon death will come."

Patty slipped down against the wall. "What do you want?" she asked in defeat.

"What does any warlock want?" Nicholas questioned rhetorically. "I want your power, Patty. At least that's what I wanted at first. Until I realized you were the mother of the Charmed Ones. And your sister, Patience, is the mother of the Charmed Slayer."

Patty shook her head quickly. "No, you're mistaken. I only have two children," she gasped. "And Patience has none, she's not even married."

"Oh, but there'll be a third child. Where did that premonition of yours come from, Patty? If not from the unborn child inside you?" he inquired, his hand trailing down to Patty's stomach. He leaned forward. "I tapped your phone. I heard you and the old witch talking about it." Nicholas whispered to her. "And your sister will get married and have a daughter."

"I saw four warlocks… women," Patty replied.

Nicholas nodded slightly. "I saw them too. At the diner. Rivals, perhaps… I got to you first," he let her slide to the ground.

San Francisco Police Station

Prue and Phoebe were seated side by side on the short bench that resided in their cell. Buffy leaned casually against the bars, her eyes fixed on the pacing Piper.

"I can't believe we got arrested for kidnapping ourselves," Piper ranted, pausing in her pacing to glare at her sisters.

Prue smiled faintly and glanced around to make sure nobody was paying them any attention. "Yeah, well, it should make for an interesting defense," she joked.

Piper glared at Prue. "You think this is funny? Prue, we're not just stuck in jail, we're stuck in the past," she reminded them harshly.

"Yes, I know, Piper, I've been following." Prue returned with an amused smirk.

Buffy sighed listening to her cousins squabble. This was the second time in less than two months she was in a jail cell. She was sure the reason she wasn't being sent to juvie again was because they were going to charge her as an adult on the kidnapping charge.

"Uh, bright side?" Phoebe suggested, a little hesitantly.

Piper transferred her glare to her younger sister. "Oh, I dare you," she challenged.

"Well, maybe we can get to know Mom better and in mine and Buffy's case… finally," Phoebe offered. "And Buffy can even have more time with Aunt Joyce. I mean, if we really are stuck here, we might as well take advantage of it, right? And maybe we can keep either mom or Aunt Joyce from dying young this time."

The Pickwick Hotel

Joyce walked up to room number 246 that Patty had called her from with an excuse the her car had broken down. She knocked softly on it.

"Come in," her sister's sounded through the door.

"Patty?" Joyce questioned, opening the door and stepping into the room. She saw Patty sitting on the bed, her hands in handcuffs and a man standing next to her. She immediately realized the guy was likely a warlock and had handcuffed Patty so she couldn't use her powers on him. She looked her sister over looking for any injuries. "Patty, are you okay?" she asked.

Patty nodded. "I'm okay, Patience," she answered.

"Now that we're all together," Nicholas said with a smirk before retrieving his ring from a nearby drawer.

"I beg you. Don't hurt them," Patty pleaded.

"Hurt who," Joyce asked glancing at her sister a worried expression on her face. "Prue and Piper?"

"And my unborn child and your future child," Patty told her sister.

"There is another option, Patty, Patience," Nicholas pointed out, slipping the ring on his finger.

San Francisco Police Station

"Five minutes, Ma'ams." One of the officers said. They stepped aside revealing Patty and Joyce. Prue and Phoebe jumped up from the bench as Patty and Joyce stepped up to them.

"How did you know that I was pregnant? Who are you people?" Patty asked.

All four Halliwells exchanged glances during which Prue nodded silently in consent. Phoebe was the one to step forward. "Your daughters," she answered.

"Well I'm your daughter," Buffy said as she turned and looked at Joyce.

Joyce and Patty's eyes widened in shock. They took in Prue and Piper, the two they could actually recognize. Then their gaze shifted to Phoebe and lastly to Buffy. Their eyes narrowed a little suspiciously but they couldn't deny Phoebe looked very much like Piper and Buffy favored Joyce.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Patty and Joyce paid the bail and joined Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Buffy just outside where they were huddled along the sidewalk. "Okay, we bailed you out. You just better not be warlocks," Patty joked with a smile at them.

"Well, we wouldn't have needed you to bail us out if we were," Prue pointed out casually.

Patty nodded slightly and allowed her eyes to flicker over the two youngest. "I've seen some magic in my life, but this is a miracle. Don't you think, Patience?"

Joyce smiled as she looked at Buffy. "Agreed, it is a miracle."

"More than you know, Mom, Aunt Joy…" Phoebe managed to catch herself. She wasn't sure whether in this time if her aunt was going by her middle name yet, "…Patience."

Buffy smiled as she wrapped her arms around Joyce. "Mom," she said happily as Joyce returned the embrace.

"Um, where are the little ones?" Piper asked as a change of subject.

"Home with Grams. I called her before I came here. That's how Patience and I found out you were arrested," Patty answered.

"Did you tell her about us?" Prue inquired curiously.

Patty shook her head slightly. "No, I didn't know what to say. I didn't know who you were myself," she paused in leading them and Patience to her car so that she could see them more clearly. "Oh, you're all so beautiful. More than I ever would have imagined."

"So are you, my darling girl," Joyce said as she looked at Buffy.

"Phoebe…" Patty whispered, her handing slipping down to her stomach. "I must have named you after my favorite aunt, but if you don't like the name, I can always change it…" she offered.

"No, no, I love it," Phoebe assured her. .

"And apparently none named after your favorite sister," Joyce said as she glared at her older sister.

Patty smiled at Joyce and nodded reluctantly. "Well obviously you didn't name yours after me," she said as she turned her gaze toward Buffy. "No offense…" She looked back at Joyce. "But what kind of name is Buffy?"

Joyce shrugged, she had no idea. She glanced at her daughter. "Must have been your father's idea?"

Buffy hadn't a clue who had been the one to name her. "I have no idea whose idea my name was," she reluctantly admitted. "Maybe a discussion for later when you meet him."

Prue quickly wiped away a few stray tears before taking Buffy's subtle hint and stepping into the conversation. "Um, Mom, Aunt Patience. We cast a spell to come back in time to help you both. To stop you both," she explained.

Joyce reluctantly turned from Buffy to her eldest niece. "To stop us from what?" she asked.

"From making a pact with a warlock named Nicholas," Prue replied.

Patty closed her eyes for a moment and sighed deeply. "Then you're too late," she whispered apologetically.

"What?" Piper and Buffy demanded in surprise.

"I thought I was going to see Victor but it turned out to be a trap," Patty elaborated.

"Then I got a call from your mom saying her car broke down and that she was waiting with Victor," Joyce added. "And just like your mother it turned out to be a trap for me as well."

"Nicholas." Prue sighed in realization.

Joyce and Patty nodded in acknowledgment. "He tried to kill me. Phoebe too." Patty began with a glance at her youngest daughter. "Then when Patience arrived and saw me, she didn't give him a chance to harm her and she willingly gave herself up. We had to give him immunity to your powers in exchange for your lives. We'd rather love you as mortal daughters than have to mourn you as dead witches."

"But he's gonna kill us anyway to get our powers," Piper argued.

"No." Patty disagreed. "Not until Buffy's born. And all of your powers are complete, all four of you. We bought us some time in the hopes that Grams could help us." She smiled proudly at her daughters and niece. "Oh, she's going to be so thrilled when she sees you. The Charmed Ones and the Charmed Slayer."

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy smiled, tears slipping freely down their faces. Prue, Piper and Phoebe stepped into Patty's embrace while Buffy stepped into Joyce's.

Halliwell Manor

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy were seated on the couch in the conservatory with a suspicious Grams across from them, seated in her armchair. Joyce and Patty were standing behind their respective daughter in silent support against Grams' scrutiny.

"Where was I born?" Grams asked with narrowed eyes.

Joyce and Patty cast their mother a glare of disapproval. "Mom…" they scolded.

"I'm still not convinced that they're not warlocks," Grams interrupted

"We have a pact to undo. We should be looking for a spell," Patty argued as she and Joyce walked around the couch toward Grams.

"Boston," Prue answered suddenly and both Grams and Patty glanced at her curiously. "In a hotel room," she finished.

Joyce and Patty reluctantly dropped into their own chairs to sit through the interrogation.

Grams narrowed her eyes at Prue for a moment. "What was my husband's name?" she questioned.

Prue smirked. "Which husband?" she countered, causing Piper and Phoebe to erupt in giggles that they hastily tried to stifle.

"Who's Melinda Warren?" Grams went on, ignoring the laughter.

Phoebe leaned forward this time. "The beginning of our family line. She gave us our powers, our destiny," she replied.

"Technically I have two sets of powers," Buffy said as Grams, Patty and Joyce looked at her. "I got premonition from Melinda Warren, I share that one with Phoebe of course. The Slayer side of me gave me, on top of my increased abilities, fire based powers."

"What's the secret ingredient in my blueberry cobbler?" Grams inquired.

Piper smiled and answered this time. "Honey with a splash of rum."

Grams leaned forward eagerly. "What's IBM selling at in your time?" she demanded.

"Mom!" Patty and Joyce scolded.

"What?" Grams asked feigning ignorance.

"This is no time for personal gain," Patty answered sharply.

Grams sighed. "You're right… if they could just nod their heads…" she trailed off when Patty and Joyce narrowed their eyes in warning. "Okay, forget it," Grams allowed, turning back to her granddaughters with a wide smile. "Well, look at you. Four of you. The Charmed Ones and the Charmed Slayer. Oh, Patty, Patience, I always knew I'd deliver the Charmed Ones and the Charmed Slayer," she continued earning a glare from Joyce and Patty. "Once removed of course," she corrected. "Prue." She guessed, pointing at the eldest sister, who nodded slightly. "Piper." Grams recognized. Piper smiled and waved in greeting. "And, uh…"

"Phoebe!" Phoebe replied to her questioning look.

Grams' gaze shifted to Buffy. "You?" she wondered.

"Buffy," Buffy answered with a sigh.

Grams looked at Joyce shaking her head. "Patience, I am disappointed."

Buffy instantly came to her mother's defense. "I'm fairly certain it wasn't mom's fault. I believe my dad had a hand in my name."

Joyce smiled at her daughter.

"About the pac," Patty reminded pointedly.

"We must keep the girls safe until we can reverse it. I'll have to bind their powers," Grams decided with a glance back at Patty and Joyce, who nodded in agreement. "Though, Patience, it might not be a bad idea just in case…"

"I will work on a binding spell of my own," agreed Joyce.

"Uh, bind our powers?" Piper asked in confusion.

"Strip them from the young ones so Nicholas can't get a hold of them," Grams explained and hastily continued at the sight of her granddaughters falling faces. "It doesn't have to be done right away. As soon as Phoebe's born. I'll cast a spell to suspend their… your powers. When Buffy is born we'll bind hers separately," she elaborated.

Prue exchanged a look with Piper before turning back to Grams. "Yeah, but that's exactly what you did… do… err… will do," she stuttered. "You know what I mean."

"Well, that explains why we don't remember having our powers when we were younger," Piper pointed out thoughtfully.

This time Grams, Joyce and Patty were the ones that exchanged a glance. "What do you mean? How old were you when you got your powers back?" Grams inquired curiously.

"Uhh… two months ago," Buffy said.

Grams frowned in confusion. "What? I and Patience unbound your powers without having broken the pact? Why would we do that?" she asked rhetorically. "I mean, unless we died which of course would automatically…" she began but trailed off as she caught sight of her granddaughters look away. It was easy to guess why. "… Unbind your powers." She smiled faintly in realization and stood up. She was silent a moment before speaking again. "I guess, Patience, that you and I are not going to make it to the next millennium, huh?"

Buffy noticed the crestfallen look on her mother's face. She stood and moved over to Joyce and pulled her into her arms. "It's okay, mom," she said as she smiled at Joyce. At least I got to see you again. Say a proper goodbye. I didn't get that chance when you died. I came home from the movies and found you. Anyways I get to live now with my three favorite cousins in the whole world. I was a little sad when you passed away, but I'm happy now."

Phoebe was the next to speak. "Uh, speaking of that, Mom, Aunt Patience…" she started.

"No," Grams interrupted. "We mustn't know anymore about the future. You came back for one reason. To break the pact. You mustn't tamper with anything else. It's much too risky," she warned. "Heaven knows what damage you've already done by coming back here."

"We haven't done anything. We missed our chance to stop the pact," Prue argued softly.

"And there's a reason for that," Grams assured them. "Destiny always gets its own way. It's not as easy to change the past as you might think. If you do it incorrectly, everything will change. The evil that you vanquished, the good you've done, none of it may've ever happened."

They all followed Grams into the next room, Patty and Joyce stopped next to her with Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Buffy huddled together in front of them. "Well, we have to change this. We can't go back and let him kill us," Piper snapped.

"The only way to vanquish him in your time would be for Patience and I to un-bless the ring and take away it's immunity," Patty replied gently as Joyce nodded in agreement. "The ring is kept in a drawer in his hotel room."

"Okay, well, let's go to Nicholas' hotel room and steal back the ring. Hopefully it'll be there," Phoebe suggested.

"No, it's too dangerous, you don't have powers. I'll go," Patty decided.

Buffy stepped forward to block Patty's path as she headed for the door. "First, no, if something happened to you or mom then future history could be changed forever. Just like Grams said. For example if you died right now. Not only would the power of three end but who knows exactly how Prue and Piper's lives might turn out. I could end up in a foster home instead of living with my cousins," she argued. "Second, I may not have magical powers from either my witch or Slayer sides. But I still have my Slayer abilities. The strength, the speed, the reflexes. I tested it earlier. I lifted the rear of your car, Aunt Patty, a foot of the ground."

"Yeah, we have to go," Phoebe agreed.

"Well, I'm glad to see someone finally learned to listen to me," Grams remarked, earning a glare from Prue. "You better hurry. In the meantime, I'll write a new spell that will get you back to your own time." She turned to head up the stairs.

"Wait, you can do that? You can send us home?" Piper questioned, stopping Grams in her tracks.

Grams laughed softly. "We're witches, dear. We can do anything."

Phoebe's gaze flickered to both Patty and Joyce and she sighed. "I wish that were true…" she whispered.

"Phoebe," Joyce said as she smiled at her niece. "Everything happens for a reason. If your Grams, your mom or I are to die. There is a reason for it. I believe that."

"Okay, we better go," Buffy interrupted, smiling at her mother for trying to comfort Phoebe. Trying to appear casual, she linked arms with Phoebe and pulled her toward the door.

"We'll be back soon," Prue assured Joyce, Patty and Grams, heading out the door after Piper.

"Be careful," Patty and Joyce pleaded. They watched as their respective daughters walked out the door. They sighed before turning and heading up the stairs to help their mother with the spell.

The Pickwick Hotel

Buffy glanced down the hall as Phoebe picked the lock to Nicholas' apartment. "How come I'm not surprised you know how to do this?" she asked rhetorically.

Phoebe smiled faintly. "Let's just hope Nicholas isn't inside," she stated.

"The guy downstairs says he's not and Prue and Piper are outside watching for him," Buffy pointed out with a shrug.

Phoebe finally got the door open and she flipped the light on before leading the way inside. Buffy closed it behind her while Phoebe began the search. "Mom and Aunt Joyce say it's in a drawer," she reminded Buffy. She pulled open all the drawers next to the bed and they searched drawers that would normally hold clothes, but turned out to be empty.

Buffy was the one to eventually pull out the little box that held the ring. "I found it," she called and Phoebe ran up to her. She dropped the ring into her hand. "Okay, we gotta get it back to Mom and Aunt Patty."

"Buffy," said Phoebe as they left the room. "Talking about Mom and Aunt Joyce. I was thinking of leaving them both a note if we got the chance telling them about the day they die."

"Phoebe," Buffy sighed. "We can't change history."

"Haven't you seen 'Back to the Future'?" Phoebe said as she smirked at her cousin.

Halliwell Manor

"We have the ring, here it is," Prue announced, pushing the door of the attic open and leading the way to where Patty, Joyce and Grams were seated around the ritual area for the new spell. She handed the ring to Patty's outstretched hand while Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy filed into the room.

"Okay, now what," Piper asked, stopping next to Prue. Phoebe passed by the small gathering and headed for the Book of Shadows.

Grams carefully stood up before answering. "Go back to where you belong."

"And then Patience and I will un-bless the ring and get it back to the hotel before Nicholas finds it missing," Patty followed, twirling the ring in her hand.

"Now, remember, there is no time to lose. You will return at the exact moment you left, which means Nicholas will be there too," Grams warned seriously.

"Hopefully without immunity to our powers," Piper remarked.

Buffy was nodding enthusiastically. "Perfect. Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

Through their conversation, Phoebe had acquired a small notebook and wrote: "Mom, be careful on February 28, 1978 or a warlock will drown you. Aunt Joyce, be careful on February 24, 1997 or a warlock will kill you."

"We'll be ready," Prue assured their worried mothers and Grams. "Phoebe?" she called.

Phoebe quickly folded the letter. "Okay, I'm coming," she replied, opening the Book of Shadows and sticking the paper between the pages.

Prue smiled a little sadly and stepped into her mother's embrace. "I love you, Mom," she whispered before reluctantly pulling away.

Buffy smiled as she stepped into her mother's embrace. "It was nice to see you again, Mom. I love you."

Joyce smiled as she held her daughter tight. "It was nice to see you as well, Buffy. Be good, my darling."

Piper offered her grandmother a watery smile as they hugged. "I'm never gonna learn to like lima beans, Grams, but thanks for everything else," Piper stepped back and Phoebe came up.

"You're going to be a handful, aren't you?" Grams guessed.

Phoebe grinned. "You'll learn to love me," she laughed. Grams turned around to hug both Prue and Buffy while Phoebe followed Piper to Patty. "I'm gonna miss you," she whispered to her mother.

Prue, Piper and Phoebe each took their turns hugging Joyce while Buffy walked into Patty's embrace.

"I'm glad to have finally met you," Buffy said as she smiled.

"I'm glad," Patty said as she hugged her niece. "Now tiy don't give your cousins too much trouble, okay?"

"Promise," Buffy said as she joined Prue, Piper and Phoebe.

They watched silently as Grams lit a match and dropped it into the Wiccan bowl and began to chant. "A time for everything and to everything it's place. Return what has been moved through time and space."

Prue, Piper, Buffy and Phoebe glanced at each other when nothing happened.

Patty frowned and ran forward to help Grams. "Here let me help," She offered, taking Grams' hand. "A time for everything and to everything it's place. Return what has been moved through time and space," the chanted.

This time, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy disappeared in a swirl of white orbs.

"You both did well, Patience, Patty. Oh, they're fabulous," Grams complimented after a moment of silence.

Joyce and Patty smiled and wiped a few tears from their eyes. "I just hope they're safe," Patty whispered.

"So do I," agreed Joyce.

Joyce, Grams and Patty froze when there was another swirl of white orbs and Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Buffy reappeared in front of them.

Prue was the first to recognize something went wrong. "Oops…" she mumbled.

Joyce, Patty and Grams were staring at them in confusion. "What happened?" Grams demanded.

"Where did you go?" Joyce asked.

Piper glanced around the attic curiously for a moment. "We didn't go anywhere," she answered.

"Yeah, we were just standing here and the next thing we knew…" Buffy began.

"… We were just standing here." Phoebe finished with a shrug.

"I told you to use poplar buds," Patty rounded on Grams.

Grams appeared taken aback for a moment. "It's a perfectly good spell. It moved them through time," Grams argued in offense.

"Yeah, ten seconds," Joyce said sarcastically.

"I'm telling you, it's not the spell. It must be the power behind the spell. There's not enough power," Grams continued.

Prue and Piper exchanged worried glances. "Maybe we need the Power of Three," Piper suggested nervously. Obviously that wasn't going to happen for another couple of years. Grams, Joyce and Patty also frowned as the thought sunk in.

"The only problem is it doesn't exist yet," Phoebe was the only one to actually voice what everyone else was thinking.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Grams irritably shut the book and turned to face her four granddaughters and her two daughters. "Nothing," she stated, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Maybe this is our destiny," Phoebe offered with a shrug.

"Not for the Charmed Ones," Grams argued lightly. "Or the Charmed Slayer."

Piper rolled her eyes in annoyance at the entire situation. "We don't exist yet," she pointed out to their grandmother. "Not with powers anyway…" she added.

Patty's eyes widened in realization. "Oh my God! We may not have the Power of Three, but we do have the Power of Three," she announced suddenly. Everyone's face fell for a moment before. "Little Prue and Piper have their powers and Phoebe gave me a premonition so she must have hers. If we can teach the girls the chant, maybe the three of us can get you back to your time."

"Wait a second," Buffy said as everyone turned to face her and saw her eyes were wide in realization. "Uhm Grams, Mom, Aunt Patty. The spell that brought us here said it needed the Power of Three Augmented. Does that mean anything to any of you?"

Patty, Grams and Joyce looked at each other before turning their attention to Buffy. "It does," Joyce said as she smiled at her daughter. "I have a magical ability," she explained. "It's called augmentation. With it I can enchance another witches' powers beyond what they are normally capable of."

Buffy blinked as she realized the feeling she had felt everytime she helped Prue, Piper and Phoebe with a power of three spell. She was augmenting her cousins unknowingly. She looked at her cousins. "That's what it meant. I have the augmentation ability. The Power of Three Augmented is the four of us together. I've been doing it without realizing it all this time."

"Buffy, you just might be right. So the Power of Three Augmented with Aunt Patience, mom and little me and Piper… it's worth a try," Prue allowed.

Everyone spun around as they heard the front door slam closed. "Where are you, witches? Where's my ring?" Nicholas' very angry voice drifted up from the main floor.

"Nicholas," Patty and Joyce realized.

"You two and Piper go get the girls." Grams ordered Joyce and Patty. "We'll fend him off," she decided, her eyes flickering over Prue, Phoebe, and Buffy. They all dashed out of the attic to follow their assigned duties except Phoebe who was still standing back with the Book of Shadows. Phoebe quickly took the warning note that she had written to Joyce and Patty out and nervously fingered it as she tried to decide which to do. "Come on, Phoebe," Grams called from the top of the stairs, breaking Phoebe out of her trance.

Phoebe slipped it in her back pocket and silently followed everyone down the stairs.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Nicholas began to climb the stairs, but Grams pushed through her granddaughters so that she was in front. She threw her hand out and Nicholas flew through the air and crashed into the dining room table.

"Oh, Grams, don't get too close. His power," Prue reminded her.

"I know, I know," Grams sighed, letting her hand fall to her side.

"We can't risk you getting hurt. Go upstairs and help Mom and Aunt Patience start the spell," Phoebe suggested. Grams nodded and reluctantly went back up to the attic.

Buffy waved for them to follow her. "Yeah, we can take him," she agreed jumping down the stairs with Prue and Phoebe on her heels.

Nicholas was just regaining his feet among the debris when Buffy ran forward and kicked him with all of her Slayer strength in the face, sending him back to the ground.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Piper led her miniature self, still dressed in pajamas, into the attic and in front of Grams who was preparing the instruction. Joyce and Patty followed with little Prue and stopped next to the two Pipers.

Patty turned her little daughters to face her. "Okay, we're gonna play a little game, okay. Now give me your hands," she ordered gently.

"Okay, hurry," Piper fretted.

"Now, repeat after me," Patty told little Piper and Prue. "A time for everything and to everything it's place."

"A time for everything and to everything it's place," little Prue and little Piper repeated.

"Return what has been moved through time and space." Patty continued.

"Return what has been moved through time and space." They chanted in return. Piper nodded vigorously as little Prue looked up at her. Little Piper wrapped her arms around Patty's neck.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Downstairs, Prue lifted one of the dining room chairs over her head and smashed it down on Nicholas as he began to get to his feet again. Nicholas dropped, but reached out to grab Prue, who ran into the next room out of reach. Buffy jumped heavily on his reaching hand as she took off after Prue. They met Phoebe at the bottom of the stairs and raced up to the attic.

"Alright, we don't have much time," Prue announced as they ran into the attic.

"What about his ring?" Piper asked.

Grams ushered everyone to their places. "Don't worry about the ring now. Let's just get you back."

"It is unblessed thought, right?" Buffy questioned.

"Yes, but there wasn't time to test it," Grams replied.

Phoebe quickly reached for a camera that was lying on a nearby table. She moved around her sisters and pointed it at Joyce and Patty with little Prue and little Piper on either side of her. With a small smile she pressed the button and the light flashed. Patty, realizing what had happened, smiled at Phoebe before nodding for her to get back with Prue, Piper and Buffy.

"I know we don't have time," Buffy said. "But could I get a picture with Grams, Aunt Patty and mom. And if little Prue and little Piper want be in it with them as well?"

"You're right," Grams agreed. "We don't. But I think this one time, yes. I think we would like that."

Buffy nodded toward Phoebe who still held the camera. She smiled as little Prue and little Piper moved to flank her. She knelt between them as Grams, Patty and Joyce moved behind them in a semi circle. Phoebe smiled as she held up the camera taking a second picture.

"How will we know the ring is un-blessed?" Prue demanded nervously when Buffy and Phoebe joined her and Piper.

"You won't. Not until you get back and since time will pick up right where it left off, he won't know either," Grams explained hastily. Footsteps heading up the stairs announced that Nicholas was once again back on his feet. "Goodbye, girls. Be good, darlings," Grams wished, hugging all four of them at the same time.

She pulled away as Joyce and Patty ran up with little Piper and little Prue and gave a quick hug to them as well before pulling little Piper and Prue back to where they were going to say the spell. Patty placed her little daughters' hands on her stomach while Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Buffy huddled together across from them.

"A time for everything and to everything it's place. Return what has been moved through time and space," Joyce, Patty, little Prue, and little Piper chanted. Grams dropped the lit match into the Wiccan bowl and Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Buffy were surrounded by white orbs.

May 1, 1997 - Thursday

When they reappeared there was no Grams, Joyce, Patty, or little Prue and Piper.

"It worked, we're back," Prue exclaimed, looking around the attic curiously.

Buffy turned toward the door at the sound of Nicholas running up the stairs. "Yeah and so is he," she reminded them.

"Hurry," Phoebe hissed as they cluttered around the books searching for a spell to get rid of him.

Nicholas barreled through the door, slamming it back into the wall. "Time is up," he announced ominously. He held his ring up and fisted his hand, ready to use his power on them and gain their powers.

Prue squinted at him and he was thrown back into the wall. "Okay, the ring's unblessed."

"Down!" Buffy ordered, holding her hand which held a fireball. She threw it, hitting him and throwing him back to the ground as he tried to get back to his feet.

Piper hastily threw her hands out, freezing him. "Phoebe, find anything?" Piper demanded.

Phoebe stopped flipping through the pages of the Charmed Ones' book and smirked to herself. "How about the 'Nicholas must die' spell," she suggested.

"That wasn't there before," Piper pointed out, hastily scanning over the spell. "It says we need the Power of Three Augmented."

"Well, maybe it's just Grams' way of saying 'welcome back' … or, or front," Prue suggested under her breath as she ran to grab the necessary items for the ritual. A mortar and pestle and spice bag.

"Spell pouch included at no extra charge." Phoebe quipped.

Buffy moved beside her cousins and took Prue and Piper's hands in her own as Prue took Phoebe's in her free hand.

"Uh, lavender, mimosa, holy thistle…" Phoebe and Buffy began.

Piper poured the spices out of the bag with her free hand into the mortar and pestle that instantly smoked over.

"Cleanse this evil from our midst. Scatter it's cells throughout time. Let this Nick no more exist." they finished together.

He yelled defiantly as the magic spun him until he eventually exploded. His ring dropped to the ground where had been standing moments before.

They stared for several moments in silence. "Wow, I'm really glad I never got on Grams' bad side," Prue mumbled, breaking the resulting silence.

0 – 0 – 0 - 0 – 0

Buffy, Prue and Phoebe had moved down to the solarium continuing their picture organizing that had so rudely been interrupted by Nicholas.

Phoebe suddenly threw down her stack of photos. "I can't stop thinking about Mom. How I lost her and then I found her again," Phoebe sighed, dropping her head into her hand.

"I'm with you there," agreed Buffy. "Not just for Aunt Patty but for my mom as well."

"I'm just glad you both finally have memories of her," Prue allowed while also dropping the photos that had been in her hands. She stopped when Phoebe pointed behind them and turned to find Piper arranging the flowers from Nicholas on the nearby table.

"What? I'm supposed to throw out perfectly good flowers just because they came from a creep? If that was the rule we would never have flowers in this house," Piper argued when she noticed their staring.

Prue laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, they didn't just come from a creep, but they came from a warlock who tried to kill us."

"Still, if it weren't for him, I probably would've never gotten to know Mom," Phoebe pointed out thoughtfully.

"Same," Buffy said. "If it weren't for him. I would never have met Aunt Patty or gotten to say goodbye to Mom."

"We all wanted to save Aunt Joyce and Mom, Buffy, Pheebs. But Aunt Joyce, Mom and Grams said we can't change destiny," Piper reminded her younger sister and cousin gently.

Phoebe sighed but nodded in reluctant agreement. "Buffy and I know, but, um, I still wrote them a note anyway," she admitted.

"You did?" Prue asked curiously.

"Yes, Mom's note was telling her to stay away from water on the day that she died. Aunt Joyce's was simply to be careful on the day she died since we don't know exactly how Jeremy killed her. Then I put it in the Book of Shadows," Phoebe elaborated.

"I can't believe you did that," Piper exclaimed in surprise.

Phoebe frowned slightly at the accusation. "You don't understand. Every time I've made a wish, I've wished for time with Mom. And I believed in my heart that someday, somehow, that wish would come true and when it finally did, I didn't want to let her go." Phoebe explained softly. "And when I added the second note for Aunt Joyce I felt that despite everything that had happened that Buffy would like to have her mother back a little longer. But I realized that Buffy and I both had to let them both go, so I took the note out and put it in my pocket."

Prue smiled in approval and pulled Phoebe into a quick hug. "Maturity sucks, doesn't it?" she laughed.

"Mmhmm." Phoebe agreed.

Piper fingered a picture in her hand for several moments. "Still, faith has its rewards," she commented, passing it to Prue so that Phoebe could see it. "It's a pretty good one of us, but once again, not a great one of you, Pheebs. Or you, Buffy."

Phoebe quickly snapped the picture from Prue's hands. Her eyes flickered eagerly over the picture she had taken in the past of Patty with little Prue and little Piper. "Are you kidding? That is the best picture of me I've ever taken."

Buffy sighed as she closed the photo album.

"What is it, Buffy?" Prue said noticing Buffy's disappointed reaction.

"The picture is not here," Buffy answered as they heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it." She stood and made her way into the foyer. When she opened the door her eyes went wide at who she saw. "Dad?"

Hank Summers smiled as looked at Buffy. "Hey, sweetie," he said as he pulled his daughter into his arms and hugged her. "I can't stay long. I have a meeting in a few hours. But the reason I came by was because I found something."

"What?" Buffy asked as Prue, Piper and Phoebe came up behind her.

Hank took out an envelope from his inside jacket pocket. "This is addressed to you, in your mother's handwriting. I found it recently while going through some old stuff."

Buffy smiled and took the envelope. "Thanks, dad," she said.

"Uncle Hank," Prue said. "Would you like to come in?"

"As I was telling Buffy, Prudence," Hank answered. "I have a meeting in a few hours. I will take a raincheck though."

"Alright," Prue agreed.

Hank smiled as he turned back toward his daughter. "How about you and I get together this weekend?" he asked.

"I'd like that," Buffy said as she smiled at her father. She, Prue, Piper and Phoebe watched as he walked back to his car before Buffy closed the door.

"So what is it?" Prue asked looking at the envelope in Buffy's hands.

"Let's find out," Buffy answered as she opened the envelope. She pulled out a letter and two pictures.

---

Dear Buffy,

I write this as I watch you sleeping in your crib, you're almost two months old now. It has been six years since your visit from the future with your cousins. Your name was your father's idea. If I had the choice I would have named you Payson Patricia. After my two favorite people in the world your Aunt Patty and your great grandmother Payson. I had wanted to continue the family tradition but your father wouldn't have it. So that is why you were named Buffy Anne. If you want to change your name to the one I picked out, I won't mind one bit. Your father might, but I won't.

By the time you are reading this you know that your Aunt Patty passed away three years before you were born. And that your Grams and I have passed away also since you and your cousins powers are unbound. Take care of your cousins, Buffy. Just as I am sure they will take good care of you.

Know that no matter what I love you. Never forget that, no matter what. Be strong, my daughter. Know that I am proud of the beautiful young woman you have become.

Enclosed you will find a picture two pictures. One of them is the one taken in the attic just before you, Prue, Piper and Phoebe returned home. The other was taken shortly after you were born.

Be good, my darling,

I love you.

Blessed Be

Patience Joyce (Halliwell) Summers

March 15th 1981

---

Buffy smiled and then handed the letter to Prue who held it so her sisters could read it with her. She looked at both pictures still in her hands and smiled.

Prue watched her cousin for a long moment and then smiled knowing what Buffy would want to do. "So Payson, what do you think?" she asked knowing her cousin would want to change her name.

"I love it," Buffy said as she then showed them the pictures.

"Those are wonderful ones of you, Buffy," Phoebe said as she looked at the pictures. "Or is it going to be Payson now?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. On one hand I've been Buffy since I was born. On the other hand Payson is what mom wanted to name me and while I already honor mom's memory since I use the Halliwell name... If you all agreed again. I think I want to change my name one last time to Payson Patricia Halliwell and you guys and my friends can still call me Buffy."

"I think we can do that," agreed Prue.

"Also I think I want to get this one enlarged and framed so it can be hung in my room," Buffy said as she held up the picture of herself, with Joyce, Patty, Grams, little Prue and little Piper. "Then we can add both of the small ones to the family albums."

Prue looked at her sisters as if to ask 'what do you think'?

"I think it's a wonderful idea," agreed Piper.

"So do I," added Phoebe.