Chapter 50: Magic Hour
September 22, 1998 – Tuesday
Steel & Lacquer
Piper looked around the hair salon at the other women, reading bridal magazines. She rolled her eyes as she picked up a bridal magazine off the table. She looked at it for a brief moment and then put it face down on the table.
She stood and was about to head for the door when she changed her mind. She picked up the bridal magazine before exiting the salon heading for the elevator as two followed her, happily showing off their engagement rings. She let out a sigh of frustration.
Halliwell Manor
Phoebe stood next to the table making 3D glasses as Prue and Buffy watched. "She's gonna choose you," Prue said looking toward Buffy.
Buffy shook her head. "Is not," she disagreed.
"Out of the three of us you're closer to her, Buffy," Prue informed her cousin. "Ever since that deal with yours and Phoebe's past lives you two have been almost inseparable."
Buffy sighed. "And you and Phoebe have known her longer. I mean, there was that whole bonding time before I even moved in."
Prue sighed, she concluded Buffy had a point. "What are those?" Prue asked as Phoebe put on the 3D glasses.
Phoebe smiled. "They're glasses so we can watch the eclipse," she informed her sister.
Prue rolled her eyes. "They're very cool."
"I made you a pair too," Phoebe said as she handed a pair to Prue.
"Yay, thank you," Prue said happily as she took the glasses.
Buffy rolled her eyes as she watched her cousins.
"Oh and I did not forget you, Buffy," Phoebe said as she handed Buffy a pair as well. She turned as the front door opened and Piper walked in. "Oh, good, you're home."
"Hey, so, um, we were sorta hoping that you could settle something for us," Prue informed her middle sister.
"Sure, anything to get my mind off weddings," Piper agreed as Buffy, Prue and Phoebe shared a look. "What?"
"Nothing," Prue interjected before either Buffy or Phoebe could say anything.
"No, come on," Piper countered. "What?"
Prue sighed as she glanced briefly at Buffy and Phoebe before looking back at Piper. "Okay…uh, well…we were kind of wondering who you were going to have as your maid of honor," she said motioning between herself, Buffy and Phoebe.
"Oh, well, let me think about it," Piper groaned. "I'm not allowed to invite anybody or have a cake or a band or flowers, so what makes you think I'll be able to have a maid of honor?"
"It's not that bad," Buffy countered as they walked into the living room. Piper, Prue and Phoebe sat on the couch, she perched on the arm next to Piper.
"It's not like I'm some girly-girl who wants like a fairytale wedding, but I just thought there would be some things that would be givens," Piper admitted sadly.
"Like fighting with the caterer and agonizing over who makes the final cut on the guest list?" Phoebe questioned knowingly.
Piper sighed. "Even those," she agreed. "I just, just wanna be able to celebrate a little."
Prue nodded. "Alright, maybe you're not getting your dream wedding but you are getting your dream guy," she reminded her sister as Leo orbed in.
"Dad!" Buffy cried excitedly as she hopped up. She went to throw her arms around him.
"Shh!" Leo whispered as she stopped Buffy.
"Dad," Buffy whispered confused on why they were now whispering.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Leo informed them.
"Can't you possibly be the bearer of a big hug?" Piper questioned.
"Not after what I just found out. It's why I just stopped my daughter from…" Leo said as he sat on the coffee table. "They want an answer, Piper, about us. Either there isn't any us or you guys get a new Whitelighter." He looked toward his daughter, who had returned to sitting on the arm of the couch next to Piper. "And you will no longer be allowed to see me."
"Their going to punish me because they have a problem with you and Piper?" Buffy said angrily.
"Yes," Leo answered sadly. "They don't want to risk that you would bring Piper with you." He looked toward his girlfriend. "We have till tomorrow night to decide."
"Tomorrow night?" Piper asked in surprise. "That's insane."
Leo looked at his daughter and his girlfriend agreeing with how they both felt about this situation. "Look, there is door number three," he informed Piper. "We can try and pull this off tomorrow night, if we do, it's binding. They can't even break that apart."
"Yeah," Piper said with a sigh. "But if they find out they can break us apart into a thousand little pieces."
"Excuse me?" Phoebe and Buffy said with wide eyes.
Piper sighed as she looked at Buffy. "I believe the term he used was 'unspeakable wrath, the likes of which you can't even imagine.'"
"Sounds like something they would do," Buffy said sadly as she looked from Piper to Leo and back.
"Look, I'm not gonna lie to you," Leo informed them. "We would be taking a huge risk and until they get an answer they are going to be listening very closely, so any talk of 'it' any use of the W word…"
"I hate to be the detail police but how are we gonna hide it from them when we're on their supernatural redial?" Prue questioned looking at the Whitelighter. "They're always gonna be tuning in. Phoebe, did you find anything in the Book Of Shadows about how to hide this?"
Phoebe shook her head. "No, nothing," she admitted sadly. "I'm sorry, I'm still on the unspeakable wrath part."
"You and me both," Buffy added. "It's something I've always worried about since dad revealed he was my father."
"Is that just the bride and groom or does it also include bridesmaids?" Phoebe continued. "I mean, there must be some real reason that this merging is so forbidden, their hardcore against it."
"Yeah, well, rules are meant to be broken," Prue informed her sister.
"Bodies weren't," Phoebe countered.
"And neither were hearts," Piper told her sisters. "And it wouldn't be just mine either from what Leo is saying it would be Buffy's as well since she is his daughter." She looked back toward her boyfriend. "Leo, are you sure there's a way we can do this without getting caught?"
Leo shrugged. "If there is we'll find it," he said. "Just be extra careful. Speak in code and especially avoid using words like, you know…like dum, dum, da-dum."
"Mmm hmm," Piper agreed. "Alright, you should go." She, Buffy and Leo all stood up and stand close to each other. She and Buffy having a silent conversation on who would be first to say goodbye to Leo. "The less time you spend here is probably better," she informed Leo.
Buffy moved in to hug her father and then stopped. "If their watching, we probably shouldn't."
"No," he agreed.
"Which means we shouldn't…you know," Piper said in understanding.
"Soon," Leo told Piper and Buffy meaningfully.
"Yeah," Buffy and Piper agreed as Leo orbed out.
Buffy turned and hugged Piper. "Why are they so hell-bent on seeing each one of us so very, very alone," she said sadly as Kit growled from outside. "Kit?" she said confused. She walked to the front door and opened it to find Kit ready to attack a defenseless owl on the front porch. "Bad, Kit!" she cried. "Leave that poor owl alone!"
They watched as the owl suddenly and inexplicably turned in to a naked human man.
"Good kitty." Prue said as she smiled at him.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Chris, the former owl, sat on the couch a towel wrapped around his waist. On either side of him sat Buffy, who held Kit, and Prue. "Aren't you afraid of me?" he asked.
"No," Prue answered with a shake of her head. "Are you planning on sprouting horns, growing fangs and eating us?"
"If you work for him he'll do worse than that," Chris said cryptically.
"Which him are you referring to?" Buffy asked curiously.
"Okay, hi, not that I don't enjoy the verbal ping pong here but we do have that other thing we need to figure out kind of quickly, so let's cut to the chase," Piper told them. "Are we helping or fighting?"
"What you saw happen to me didn't scare you?" he asked in surprise.
"If I had a dollar for every time an owl turned into a hot guy on our porch," Phoebe said. "I'd be rrr—" she stopped suddenly as Piper covered her mouth.
"We've seen worse," Piper admitted.
"If you're not here to kill us, apparently we're supposed to help you," Piper informed him.
"The only help you can give me is to allow me to leave," Chris stated.
"I think it's pretty obvious, don't you, that uh, we're pretty familiar with the world of magic," Buffy informed him. "We're sort of on the same team here."
Chris sighed. "But the last thing I need in my life right now is more magic."
"I don't think you understand," Piper insisted.
Chris sighed. "No, you're right, I don't understand," he agreed, "because I stopped understanding when he cursed me and took my life away from me. The only thing I do understand is loss. The only thing I want is revenge."
"Who did this to you?" Phoebe wondered. "Was it a magician, a sorcerer?"
"It was my boss," Chris stated with anger.
"Just give us some time," Prue pleaded. "I'm sure we can figure out—"
Chris shakes his head, "I've lost enough time already when your cat dragged me here," Chris cut in looking toward Kit who had laid down in Buffy's lap.. "Look, I only have twelve hours and at sunrise tomorrow I am airborne again. I won't, no, I can't last another day repeating the same cycle. Tonight, this thing ends. His life and I hope the curse that goes along with it."
"Just give us 30 seconds, please," Buffy pleaded desperately.
"Starts now," Chris informed them.
"Okay, uh, there are some of my boyfriend's clothes over there," Piper said motioning toward some of Leo's clothes. "Why don't you dress while we huddle."
"Well," Phoebe said as Chris walked over to the clothes. "He definitely has that whole tortured innocent thing going on."
"Yeah, but we're kind of busy and he doesn't seem to want our help," Piper countered.
"Been there, saved that, it wouldn't be the first time," Prue admitted. "Alright, you get ready just incase he decides to bolt. Alright, here's what we're gonna…"
It is then that they all noticed that he had disappeared.
"Oh, well, he's gone. That's too bad." Piper admitted.
"Uh, Piper, we can't just ignore this," Phoebe told her sister. "He was brought to us for a reason."
"Yes, but we have to find a way to hide the w—w—w…rutabaga before they catch on," Piper reminded her younger sister.
"The rutabaga?" Buffy asked, her brow knitted in confusion.
"It's a code word," Piper informed her. "For the thing we're not supposed to talk about." She hummed the wedding march.
Buffy nodded in understanding. "Oh, the rutabaga."
"Yes," Piper said as Kit hopped out of Buffy's lap and began playing with the owl feather. "So let's do the divide and conquer thing, okay? Great," she said as she stood up and walked out of the room.
"I'll look in the Book Of Shadows and try to scry what this owl feather is," Prue said taking the owl feather from Kit. She looked at Phoebe. "You see what you can come up with for Piper's rutabaga."
"Uh, maybe I should stay here and help you." Phoebe suggested.
"Phoebe, Piper needs your help just as much as the innocent does, maybe more," Prue countered.
"Prue, I can help Piper," Buffy informed the eldest Halliwell. "It don't take fifty of us tag teaming each other."
"Buffy, I know you can," Prue said looking her cousin in the eyes. "But I need you here okay. That way if I find Chris you can flame me to him."
Buffy sighed.
Booksmith
Piper and Phoebe stood in the line waiting to checkout with the books they carried in their arms.
"I don't get it. If our ancient compilation of spells, witchcrafts and rituals can't help us, what makes you think Martha Stewart can?" Phoebe asked.
"You know what I don't get?" Piper asked looking at her baby sister pointedly. "Is why you're giving me such a hard time about this. Weren't you the same girl that was pushing me to say yes? If you didn't think I should have a rudabaga then you should've said so maybe, like a long time ago."
"Ding-ding," Cole said as he approached the sisters. "Back to your corners."
"Hi" Phoebe said as she smiled at the assistant district attorney.
"Phoebe…and…?" Cole asked looking from Phoebe to Piper.
"Piper," Piper said supplied.
Cole nodded. "Right."
"Assistant District Attorney, we have to stop meeting like this," Phoebe informed him.
"You better be careful or a guy might think he's been followed," Cole joked.
Phoebe smiled before letting out a small chuckle. "You better be careful or a girl might think her best friend's getting a really cheesy pick up line," Piper informed him.
Phoebe glanced from Cole to her sister and back to Cole. "So, what brings you all the way across town?" she asked.
"I needed some source material on a forensics psychology case," Cole informed her.
"Well, I can see you're making a lot of progress" Phoebe said noticing that Cole's hands were empty.
"Yeah," Cole agreed as he and Phoebe both chuckled.
"Here's the info on forensics psychology you requested," an employee said handing Cole several books.
"Thanks," Cole said, as the employee walked off.
"Oh, embarrassed pretty one," Phoebe said as they walked up to the counter and put their books down.
Cole noticed that Piper had the book, 'How To Keep Your Marriage.' "So who's the lucky guy or more importantly, who's the lucky friend?" he asked as the employee put the books into two bags.
"Me…me, me. Mimi, my cousin," Piper stuttered.
Unseen by Piper or Phoebe Cole wiggled his fingers magically swapping his books for Piper's.
"Good old cousin Mimi," Phoebe stated going along with Piper's lie.
"Well, I should probably get going," Cole informed them. "I've sort of got plans to accidentally bump into another eye witness over at the Gas and Sips."
Phoebe chuckled. "Cute."
"I get cuter," Cole said.
"Can we go now?" Piper asked.
"Yeah" Phoebe agreed as Piper grabbed the bag with Cole's books in it.
As the sisters left the store Cole pulled out Piper's books and looked at the covers. They were all about marriage and weddings.
Halliwell Manor
Prue was looking through family's Book Of Shadow's while Buffy looked through her own Book of Shadows.
"Hey, I hope you guys had better luck then we did," Prue said as Piper and Phoebe walked into the attic.
Piper walked over to the family's Book Of Shadows and started flipping the pages. "Not really," Piper said. "I ended up with the wrong books and, uh, well, Phoebe almost got lucky right there in the store."
"Ha ha," Phoebe chuckled before looking at Buffy and Prue. "So you two didn't find anything?"
Buffy nodded reclutantly. "Yeah, it's just the pieces don't really seem to fit, you know, I mean, I-I can understand cursing someone to be an animal but why for only half of the day?"
"And we don't know where he went, right?" Phoebe asked looking from Prue to Piper to Buffy and back to Prue. .
Prue shook her head. "No," she said. "Both Buffy and I tried scrying with the owl feather but it must not work while he's human."
"I found something," Piper informed them having stopped flipping through the family's Book of Shadows.
"On the curse?" Buffy wondered.
Piper shook her head. "Um, no, about the, um, rutabaga," she informed her cousin. "It's a ritual that's like a rutabaga but it's called a, um…" She turned to a chalkboard and wrote, 'Handfasting.'
Phoebe nodded. "Oh, yeah, hand…" she started.
"Shh shh shh." Prue, Piper and Buffy said in unison cutting Phoebe off.
"The reason we write the bad words is so that we don't say the bad words," Piper reminded her baby sister. "Wait a minute, I thought you said you looked in the book and couldn't find anything to help me."
"Uh, yeah, well, it said that we needed a high priestess and since we don't have one of those I just sort of figured why even mention it," Phoebe admitted sadly. "Besides, I couldn't find anything in there about how to hide it from them and I think that's the really most important part so that we don't have to feel the, um…" She turned to the blackboard and wrote, "Unspeakable Wrath."
Piper sighed. "I think you can say those words."
"Uh, I was hoping writing them down would help us remember them," Phoebe countered. "Um, I'm just worried that if you go through with it, it's going to be too dangerous and that maybe, um, this is really hard for me to say, but maybe you're being a little selfish."
"Selfish?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow.
Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, because what if Piper's rutabaga keeps us from doing our job, keeps us from saving innocent people? What happens then?"
"Uh, yeah, but what about me?" Piper wondered. "I mean, maybe you're right, maybe I'm being selfish but what's wrong with that? I mean, when do we get to do something for ourselves? Haven't you ever wondered that, or wanted that?"
"Also, remember Phoebe, if the rutabaga doesn't happen, I don't get to see D…A…D…anymore," Buffy added.
"I understand where you both are coming from," Phoebe admitted. "But we shouldn't be doing selfish things at the expense of hurting other people or each other."
Piper sighed. "Is that what you're afraid of? Getting hurt?"
"No, Piper," Phoebe stated. "I'm afraid that you and Buffy are not afraid of getting hurt."
"I've been through more pain in the past two years than you can imagine and this is the only way to stop that," Piper informed her sister. "Now, I'd like to do the right thing but I also want to be with him. And I would like him to be in Buffy's life as well." She closed the family's Book Of Shadows as the owl feather fell to the floor.
Buffy picked up the feather and was instantly thrown into a premonition.
Chris was being attacked by a wolf.
"I so wish sometimes that I didn't have that stupid power," Buffy groaned. "Why can't Phoebe be the only one who gets premonitions."
"What did you see?" Prue questioned moving beside Buffy.
"Our innocent," Buffy answered with a sigh. "I think he was being attacked by a coyote or a wolf."
September 23, 1998 – Wednesday
Forest
"Alright, wait a minute, I think that this looks like the place... sorta." Buffy said as she, Prue, Piper and Phoebe searched for where her premonition took place.
Piper sighed. "That's funny, I remember it looking like the right place sorta three hours ago."
"Okay, look, if you wanted a supernatural LoJack, Buffy and I are not it," Phoebe defended herself and Buffy's premonition power.
"Oh, wait, look, that is where Christopher was standing in my premonition." Buffy said pointing toward the spot where she was now sure Chris had been in her premonition.
"Shh, shh, what was that?" Piper said as they heard the sound of someone stepping onto a branch.
"There he is." Prue said as Chris stepped into the clearing. .
"Hey!" Phoebe called out just as a wolf ran out and barked at the girls.
"No!" Chris cried as the wolf ran over to him.
"Okay, Piper, you have to freeze him," Phoebe informed him.
"Wait," Buffy instructed as she realized something. "I don't think it was an attack after all."
Chris looked into the wolf's eyes. "We don't have much time, my love, someone's coming," he told the wolf.
"Buffy's right the wold isn't attacking," Prue said in agreement.
They watched as Chris and the wolf ran into an old abandoned house. They moved up to the door and watched as the sun rose behind tham and the wolf turned into a beautiful naked woman while Chris turned back into an owl.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The woman fully dressed ran out of the house past Buffy, Prue, Piper and Phoebe, who gave chase.
"Wait. Christopher wanted us to talk to you," Prue called after her.
"He does?" Phoebe added.
"I'm vamping," Prue said as Buffy rolled her eyes at the wordplay. "It's the only way to get her to stop." She looked back at the woman. "Look, we met him last night, right before he went after the sorcerer. We tried to stop him but without your help he'll do it again and we both know what will happen if he does."
The woman nodded. "He'll die," she said knowingly. "How do I know that you four aren't working for him?"
Buffy smiled. "You don't," she admitted. "You guys can't do it alone so you're just gonna have to trust us."
"Trust is earned," the woman countered.
"Okay, I hate to break up the whole getting to know you portion of the program but what did Christopher mean when he said someone was coming?" Phoebe asked.
"If Christopher went after him, then he must've sent someone after us," the woman informed them.
"Why?" Piper wondered.
"Because he fell in love with me," she said with a sigh. "This…this curse is my punishment for not returning that love."
"So woman by day and wolf by night?" Piper questioned as the owl flew past them.
"He's warning me, we have to go," she informed them.
"Huh?" Piper said. "Oh, alright."
"Okay," Buffy said as she held out her hands. "Take my hands," she informed the woman as Prue took one hand while Piper took Prue's free hand and Phoebe took Piper's.
"What?" Brooke asked confused.
"I can tele…" Buffy started just as sorcerer's assistant appeared. In his hand he held a crossbow and shot an arrow that missed.
"Where is he?" the assistant questioned angrily.
"That's the least of your problems," Prue informed him as she waved her hand and sent him flying away.
"Have we earned your trust yet? Come on," Phoebe asked.
"Take my hand, Brooke," Buffy informed her as she waved her free hand at the woman. You have to either be touching me or someone who is touching me."
"Why?" Brooke questioned with narrowed eyes.
"You'll see. Just do as I ask please," Buffy insisted.
Brooke looked at Buffy's outstretched hand and slowly took it as the five of them disappeared in a swirl of fiery flames.
Halliwell Manor
"I swear to God I've seen this in a movie somewhere," Phoebe said after listening to Brooke's story.
"Uh, Pheebs?" Prue said looking at her sister pointedly.
Phoebe nodded in understanding. "Upstairs, Book Of Shadows, curse search, way ahead of ya."
"Uh, okay, you and I are gonna go to the kitchen," Ptue said looking at Piper.
"I'm fine, really, let me help." Brooke pleaded.
Prue shook her head. "Look, you are tired and hungry, please, just let us help," she said as she led Brooke into the kitchen.
"Wanna take a wiccan time out and do the crossword puzzle?" Phoebe said as Piper gave her a questioning look. "Piper, uh, about what I said before, I didn't mean…"
"Yes, you did," Piper countered with a sigh. "You never say anything you don't mean."
"You keep saying that it isn't like what you'd have imagined and I do understand your side of it, I mean, I have never seen anyone look at you the way Leo does and that is beautiful and you deserve that but I still, I, um, I can't say that it's right," Phoebe said. "And I wish that I were wrong and it's important that you know that."
"The problem is you're not," Piper countered. "There's truth to do what you said, I can't deny that. So unless you, Buffy and Prue approve it I won't go through with it," she insisted as Phoebe turned and headed upstairs.
Buffy moved beside Piper and wrapped her arm around her middle cousin. "I approve I just would have liked it to be celebrated is all instead of basically being an E word."
Piper looked at Buffy, who was not only her cousin but in her mind her baby sister, and sighed. "I know you do, Buffy. But in the end this kind of affects all of us."
"I know it does, my sister," Buffy reminded Piper. "Or have you forgotten you are not the only one who is facing this problem. Unless you and he can pull it off or he tells the Elders there is no…you know. Then I could lose my father. You said earlier its alright to be selfish. And in this I am being selfish not only for you but me as well."
Piper looked at her cousin and nodded. "I forgot that you are affected more than Prue or Phoebe by this decision," she said as she brushed Buffy's hair behind her ear.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"We used to leave each other notes," Brooke said as she looked at post-it note on the fridge. Behind her Piper and Buffy walked through the door. "When this, when this first happened I'd find them at sunrise and I'd know, I'd remember all the reasons why I loved him. And then..."
"The letters stopped," Buffy finished for Brooke. Out of all of them she was the one who knew how Brooke felt. Dating a vampire was not the easiest of relationships. When she was sleeping Angel was awake and when Angel was asleep she was awake.
"There's a limit, you know, to how much any person can take." Brooke said as she moved to the window and looked out it. "You keep wondering…" She smiled as she spotted Chris in his owl form land on the back of a chair outside. "You keep asking yourself..."
"Shouldn't love conquer all?" Piper said in understanding, thinking about herself and Leo.
"You know this isn't fair," Prue admitted. "I mean, it's hard enough to find somebody that you can spend the rest of your life with but when you constantly have magic medalling, I am so sick of it. I mean, I've been through it, Buffy went through it, you're going through it, Piper, and now Brooke? What love can't conquer we will."
"For everybody but ourselves," Piper said sadly.
Buffy smiled at Piper as she laid a hand on Piper's back and began rubbing in soothing circles. "No, my sister, the day's not over yet. You and I won't…"
Piper nodded as she looked at her cousin before looking back toward Brooke. "We're gonna need your help if you want this to end happily ever after," she informed the woman. "I know I could use a happy ending."
"So could I," Buffy said as they all walked out into the backyard. Brooke slowly approached the owl. "I took a job. It was an established firm with the reputation for promoting from within," she said as she picked up the owl. "My boss was this odd man. I'd worked for nightmares before but nothing like this. He made moves, I made things clear, he made me this."
"To keep you away from Christopher?" Buffy said with a small nod of understanding. .
Brooke glanced at Bufffy and nodded. "He said if he couldn't have me, no one would," she continued. "Until there was a night within a day or until I give in. I never thought…magic was for kids parties, it wasn't real. I didn't know."
"We're still kind of getting used to it ourselves." Piper admitted looking at Buffy and Prue. .
Brooke sighed. "But this, this is my fault," she told them.
"No, you said yes to a job, not to a man." Prue reminded her.
"But Christopher is being punished because of me," Brooke countered. "I did this to him."
Buffy shook her head. "That's not what he said," she explained. "He doesn't blame you for anything and he said…"
"How strong you are," Piper finished for Buffy.
Brooke smiled. "He said that?" she asked as Piper and Buffy nodded.
"He said that it's your strength that he first fell in love with," Prue added. "And he just needs to know that you're not gonna give that up."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Phoebe was looking through the family's Book Of Shadows. "Anything, anything. I curse you, you curse me, get together and do a little cursing," she said as the pages began to flip own their own till they land on the page for 'Handfasting.' "Okay, alright, you know, I specifically asked for a…"
"You asked for an answer. There it is."
"I know that voice" Phoebe said as she looked around just as Grams appeared before her.
"Well, I should hope so," Grams said. "Yours came through loud and clear so, here I am."
"Grams," Phoebe said as she walked toward her grandmother. She then remembered that Grams was a spirit and she couldn't actually hug her. "Oh, I would hug you but..." she trailed off.
"I know. It's just good to be here," Grams informed her with a kind smile.
"Yeah, and not that I'm not thrilled by that fact but I'm a little fuzzy on the why," Phoebe admitted.
"You need guidance, some advice on a certain best friend situation," Grams answered. "Am I getting warm?" she asked already knowing the answer.
Phoebe sighed as she nodded. "Red hot. But wait a minute, if you know, that means that they know, and if they know then we are f—" she said but was was cut off by Grams.
"Fine. Anyway, I'm beyond them now," Grams said. "Secrets safe with me. But what about you, Phoebe? Do you want to tell me about that nagging concern you have in your gut?"
"That's no fair you have after life advantage" Phoebe countered.
"I know you, Phoebe," Grams said knowingly. "Talk to me."
"Okay," Phoebe agreed as she sat down in a chair. "Um, I wanna be able to support Piper in this. I want to look at her and I wanna say go for it but what if her and Leo get rudabaga-ed and they find out and then something horrible happens to them. I mean, look what happened to mom and her…special friend. And I hate to go skipping down selfish road but what if by association..."
"You, Payson and Prue get hurt," Grams said in understanding.
"Yeah. I wanna be support Piper, Grams, I really do but everything in my heart is telling me that it's wrong," Phoebe admitted.
"All valid points but logic and reason go out the window when love gets involved," Grams informed her granddaughter. "And it is not just Piper's love we are talking about either, Phoebe, but Payson's as well. After all her relationship with her father is at stake just Piper's love for Leo is at stake."
"Yes, I know that but…" Phoebe started though once again Grams cut her off.
"The Charmed Ones are destined for greatness," Grams stated. "When it comes to Piper, that fact doesn't keep a girl warm on a cold winters night. And when it comes to Payson, she's already lost her mother. Losing her biological father could be hard for her to take."
"I can't believe you're saying this," Phoebe said in surprise given her grandmothers stance on marriages as well as her stance with her own father.
"I'm saying what I know. I remember the loneliness all too well," Grams informed her.
"You were married four times," Phoebe reminded her.
"Well, that's because I never found true love but maybe Piper has and when the time comes to make it official, they'll feel it, they'll know," Grams stated. "And when it happens, it will also help Payson so she doesn't lose her father."
"Phoebe," Prue called from downstairs.
"Coming," Phoebe yelled as she looked at Grams. "Thank you," she said as her grandmother disappeared.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Piper was stuck against the wall with two arrows that had pierced her sleeves while Buffy worked on removing the arrows. Phoebe came down the stairs and the assistant shot an arrow at her causing her to gasp. Prue waved her hand and the assistant crashed into a cupboard.
"Pheebs, a little help here please," Piper called as Phoebe rushed over to her and began helping Buffy to pulle out the arrows. "Okay, he could've killed me."
"Us," Phoebe corrected.
"The question is, why didn't he?" Buffy wondered.
"Because I don't want you," the assistant answered. "I want the bird, where is he hiding?"
Brooke walked into the room as the assistant pointed his crossbow at her. As he fired at her, Chris in his owl form flew in front of her taking the arrow for her. "No!" she cried.
A fireball formed in Buffy's hand and she tossed it at the assistant causing him to disappear in a puff of smoke. She, Prue, Piper and Phoebe ran over to Brooke.
Brook was crying as she held the owl in her arms.
"He'll be alright." Prue informed her. .
"I know that's the right thing for you to say but you don't know that," Brooke countered. "Now all I can do is watch him die."
Buffy shook her head. "No, we can do a lot more than that." She held her hands over the owl and frowned when the golden rays of healing didn't appear. "Piper would you call for dad. Something is wrong."
Piper sighed. "Buffy, you know I can't, not now, not while they're watching."
"My sister, this has absolutely nothing to do with us and everything to do with an innocent," Buffy insisted.
Piper closed her eyes and was about to call for Leo when he orbed in. "Leo," she said motioning toward the owl. "We, uh…"
"I know, they told me about the bad guys," Leo informed them. "The vanquishing talk caught their ears not the other thing."
"Dad, my powers working, why?" Buffy asked looking up at her father.
"You can't heal animals," Leo informed his daughter as he moved beside her.
"Well, we can't take him to the vet," Phoebe reminded him.
"He's not exactly an animal," Piper told her boyfriend.
Leo nodded. "Give me your hand, Buffy. We'll try together," he said as he held out a hand to her. She took it and they both held their free hands over the owl. Still the golden rays of healing never appeared.
"He is until sunset," Prue stated.
"So you're saying we have to wait?" Phoebe wondered as the doorbell rang. She walked into the foyer and opened the door to reveal Cole.
"1329 Prescott Street," Cole said as he held out the bag of books. Phoebe looked at him with confusion on her face. "On the receipt. In the bag." He looked in the bag to try and find the receipt. "It was there. That sounded much better in my head."
"They gave you our books and you thought you'd drop them by," Phoebe said, with a smile.
"That wasn't so hard when you said it," Cole admitted. "I actually need the ones I bought, so if you don't mind I…"
"Of course you do, okay," Phoebe said as she started to get Cole's bag of books. When Cole moved to follow her she held up her hand. "Oh, actually, uh, you know, my friend sort of got into it today so the place is a disaster, it's like a bomb went off. So if you don't mind just waiting here that would be great." She closed the door.
Phoebe got the books before returning to the door and re-opening it. She handed his bag to him. "So, you going back to the office?"
"Justice must be served, right?" Cole asked.
"Tell me about it," Phoebe said Leo came up behind her.
"Phoebe, everything okay? I was starting to get worried," Leo said before spotting Cole. "Hey.".
"Um, Cole, Leo. Leo, Cole, Phoebe said making the introductions.
"Nice to meet you," Leo said as he held out his hand and Cole shook it.
"Pleasure," Cole said.
"Sorry to, uh…" Leo started.
"No, no, I was just leaving. I really need to take care of some business," Cole informed him.
"Bye" Phoebe said, with a smile as he walked down the sidewalk. She closed the door and they returned to everyone.
"Did you ever think, did you ever consider that maybe it wasn't meant to be?" Piper asked as Phoebe and Leo returned. "Things happen for a reason, right? Maybe it's not worth the risk to be together."
"If you don't take the risk for love, then what do you take it for?" Brooke said knowingly.
Buffy smiled as she looked from her father to Piper. "Brooke has a point," she told them.
Phoebe cleared her throat as Leo headed outside through the conservatory doors. "Leo, wait," Piper called out as she got up and followed her boyfriend.
Buffy looked at Prue, Phoebe and Brooke. "Excuse me." She stood up and followed Piper outside.
"Leo, wait, you can't do that," Piper said as Buffy came up beside her. "You can not come into the end a conversation and assume that you know everything."
Leo sighed as he looked at his girlfriend and daughter. "Alright, let's pretend that I don't know anything," he said. "Then explain it to me."
"I wasn't questioning you, I was questioning our decision," Piper informed him.
"Then ask me your questions," Leo insisted.
"Don't you think I would like to?" Piper said with a sigh.
"Honestly," Leo said with a shrug. "I don't know what you're thinking."
"Well, what I'm thinking is maybe Phoebe is right," Piper informed him. "Maybe we're being selfish, our decision affects other people, other people that I happen to love."
Leo nodded as he motioned toward his daughter. "I love them too, Piper, especially the young woman standing beside you. And our decision actually affects her the most out of your sisters."
Piper looked at Buffy knowing Leo was right that their decision did affect Buffy more than it did Prue or Phoebe. "I know, I know that," she said looking back at Leo. "Look, you are the last person I wanna be fighting with right now."
"Then let's stop," Leo suggested.
"Leo, if we get…if you and…Okay, let me try that again," Piper said trying to find the right words with the Elders listening. "Brooke and Christopher love each other very much but in the end that didn't matter."
"We haven't reached the end yet," Leo informed her. "Have a little faith. Don't you think this scares me too? Don't you think that I have my doubts?"
"Do you?" Piper questioned.
Leo nodded sadly. "Of course I do," he admitted. "What I'm trying to say is I know what Christopher must feel. You know, always worried about the timing, about how he has to live his life, knowing what his true feelings are but unable to share those with the two people that he has them for."
"How the timing is never just right," Buffy said in understanding.
"Exactly, Buffy," Leo said with a nod in agreement. He knew Buffy would get it. For she had gone through it just as she said with her and Angel.
"She knows but it doesn't fix everything," Piper informed him.
"You've gotta give it a chance," Phoebe said as she came out and stopped next to Buffy. She held up a small blackboard. "Logic and reason go out the window when love gets involved."
They looked to see that Phoebe had written: You have my blessing.
"You have mine as well, you know that, my sister," Buffy added. She then leaned over and whispered into Piper's ear, "I would be happy if you married my dad."
"Wait a minute, I thought you said that..." Piper said looking at Phoebe. .
Phoebe smiled. "Yeah, well, I got a long distance call with some really good advice," she informed them cryptically.
"But we still haven't figured out how to pull it off," Piper sadly admitted.
"When the time's right, you'll know," Phoebe informed them.
Buffy smiled. "Pheebs is right there," she agreed as Phoebe looked up at the sky.
"That's quite a turnaround for you, sis," Piper said looking at Phoebe pointedly. "Who's your new confidante?"
"Huh?" Phoebe said distractedly.
Buffy looked up and then saw what Phoebe had already recognized. She hurried back inside.
"I think she means your advice giver," Leo informed Phoebe, who blocked her face with the blackboard.
"Nice try, Pheebs," Piper said thinking Phoebe was trying to distract them from the truth. "But the distraction technique stopped working in third grade."
Phoebe shook her head. "It's the eclipse. A night within a day."
"I'm sorry, please repeat," Piper said in confusion.
Phoebe looked into the house at Buffy who was already kneeling before the owl. "The curse, the eclipse," she informed them. "Until a night within a day. Isn't that what Brooke said? That's what gonna break the curse." She ran inside as Leo and Piper followed.
Buffy held out her hands as the owl turned back into Chris. She pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. It was then that the golden rays of healing spread out from her hands over Chris healing him.
"Whoa," Leo said as Buffy finished healing Chris. "Whoa, you're not going anywhere," he said steadying Chris.
"Thank you." Chris told Buffy before looking at everyone. "Brooke," he said.
"Just rest, okay, we'll tell her," Prue informed him.
"You can't, she's gone," he told them.
Buffy frowned. "What do you mean she's gone?"
"She was in the kitchen when I left," Phoebe said.
"She's gone to him hasn't she?" Prue asked in realization. "Alright, we'll handle it."
"I don't understand," Piper said looking at her family. "Why would Brooke go to him?"
Buffy sighed. "She didn't trust that we would be able to save you," she said looking at Chris. "Am I right?"
Chris nodded sadly. "Yes," he agreed. "She knows that she can though."
"How?" Phoebe wondered.
"The curse," Chris informed them. "If at anytime she agrees to be with him, seals the pledge with a kiss…"
"She'll be forever bound," Piper said in realization.
"But the eclipse changes that," Phoebe countered.
"Yeah, but she doesn't know that." Buffy informed Phoebe. "Who's up for a flame express?"
Office Building
"T minus and counting." Phoebe said as Buffy flamed in with her, Prue, Piper and Chris flame in.
"Then we get to break into Attica," Piper said and then she looked at her family and Chris. "Ugh. I don't feel so…"
"What is it?" Buffy asked suddenly concerned.
"I don't know, I don't have a good feeling about this," Piper said and then something occurred to her. "Wait a minute, I take that back. I do have a good feeling about it, about something. I feel all warm and fuzzy."
"Is it your stomach?" Prue questioned with a frown.
"No, it's here." Piper said as she placed her hand on her chest.
"When the time is right you'll know," Phoebe said in realization. "Oh my God, the time is right."
"The time for what?" Prue questioned.
Buffy smiled. "The, uh, the wed... the rutabaga," she informed Prue. "It's gotta be the eclipse. If we can't look up, that must mean that they can't look down."
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Prue said excitedly. "Ooh, this is it, this is it. Okay, all we have to do is get home and…"
"And do the ritual and let Leo know and call the florist and we gotta d-d…" Phoebe said as Piper placed a hand on her arm. "What?"
"We've gotta get to Brooke," Piper reminded them.
"Piper is right," Buffy said. "Once that is done we will have to flame home quickly."
Piper looked toward Buffy and shook her head. "No, we only got time for one," she informed them. "So we either save Brooke…"
"Piper, go home," Chris insisted. "Of all people I understand this, alright, and so would Brooke. I can handle this on my own."
"No," Piper countered. "Alright, we'll go in the front."
Prue waved her hand and she sent the door telekinetically flying open.
They noticed that the sorcerer and Brooke were leaning in getting ready to seal the deal with a kiss.
"Oh, look, it's the girl scouts," the sorcerer said. "Set your thin mints down on the table and leave before you get yourselves hurt."
"Let her go," Buffy growled as a fireball formed in her hand.
"I have no fear of witches," he informed them.
Prue smirked. "Maybe not but how do you feel about true love?" she said stepping aside so that the sorcerer and Brooke could see Chris.
"That's not possible," the Sorcerer said as Chris and Brooke walked over to one another. "If I can't have her, no one will." A crossbow suddenly appeared in his hand.
"Whoa." Piper cried and with a flick of her wrist she froze him.
"Anyone got a vanquish in their pocket?" Phoebe wondered.
"Oh, let's not get rid of him just yet," Prue insisted. "I want him to watch this for a little bit. Buffy would you get rid of that for us?"
Buffy nodded as she extinguished the fireball and then held out her hand. "Crossbow," she said as the crossbow flamed out of his hands into hers. She held it up pointing it at the sorcerer. "Okay, Piper."
Piper flicked her wrist and unfroze the sorcerer just as Chris and Brooke kissed. The sorcerer began to burn before exploding.
"I don't know what to say." Brooke said as she wrapped her arms around Chris while looking at the Halliwells.
"How can we thank you?" Chris added.
"You already have." Buffy informed the couple.
"Oh, Piper, I think I have a solution to the whole maid of honor thing," Phoebe said.
"Oh, me too." Prue added.
"What about our distinct lack of a high priestess?" Piper questioned.
"Would you please just let me worry about that." Phoebe informed her sister.
Halliwell Manor
Grams and Leo stood in the living room. Grams smiled. "Girls, your high priestess is waiting, unfortunately the eclipse is not. Now let's move it." She flicked her wrist and the CD player turned on and began to play the wedding march. "That would be your cue, bridesmaids."
Prue and Phoebe walk down the stairs arm in arm. They split at the base and stood on either side. Then Buffy walked Piper down the stairs, She and Piper were the only ones carrying bouquets. It had been decided that Buffy would be the maid of honor and Prue and Phoebe would be Piper's bridesmaids.
Leo smiled at his daughter as she and Piper stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
"You both look beautiful," Prue said looking at Piper and Buffy. "Piper, I know it's not exactly how you wanted it."
Piper glanced at Buffy and smiled. "But it's exactly what I wanted," she said as she looked over at Leo and smiled.
Together the four Halliwells walked into the living room. Prue and Phoebe stood to the side while Piper stood next to Leo.
Buffy smiled as she stood just behind and between Piper and Leo. She briefly touched both of their arms, happy for both her father and her cousin.
Leo and Piper smiled at each other again and then suddenly Leo started jerking as if something was happening to him. He yelled as he disappeared in blue and white orbing lights.
"Grams, how can this happen?" Piper asked beginning to panic. "What did we do?"
"Listen to me, darling, it's going to be okay," Grams said. "We will fix this."
"We, we have to," Piper cried as Buffy held her in her arms. "This, this is all my fault." She knelt down on the floor bringing Buffy down with her. Next to them Prue and Phoebe knelt down as well. "He didn't deserve to be... I don't, I don't think I can do this."
"I'll be back," Buffy said as she handed Piper to Prue and Phoebe. Then she disappeared in a swirl of fiery flames. They knew exactly where she going, to get her father.
The Heavens
Buffy appeared looking around. "Where is my father!" she yelled. She spotted Roland approaching her and glared at the man. "How dare you!"
"I am sorry, Buffy," Roland said sympathetically. "Your father has broken the rules multiple times now. The first was when you were conceived. We allowed your birth to go forward with the condition there would be no repeat of that incident. Then he and Piper decided to have a relationship when it was forbidden. Then we clipped his wings when he saved you and Piper. We thought the matter was settled when he begged for his powers back when Prue's life was in danger from the Darklighter. Then he brings Piper up here. He was reminded of the rules. Then he tries to marry Piper in secret. That was the final time. You are now the Halliwells official Whitelighter and he has been reassigned. As his punishment he is not allowed to contact or see you or the sisters."
"So you are punishing not only my dad but myself and Piper as well," Buffy said angrily.
"I know you may see it that way," Roland admitted with a sigh. "But we are not punishing you."
"Doesn't feel that way," Buffy said as tears began to fall from her cheeks. She disappeared in a swirl of flames.
Halliwell Manor
Buffy appeared before Prue and Phoebe, who continued to hold a grief stricken Piper. The tears in her eyes told them everything they needed to know…that Leo wasn't coming back. Prue and Phoebe pulled Buffy into their arms and they held both Buffy and Piper trying to comfort the pair for the loss of someone they both loved.