Chapter 52: Once Upon A Time
October 19, 1998 – Monday
Piper's Dreamscape
Piper stood at the bar of Payson's as Leo walked up to her. She smiled at him. "I told Buffy you'd come back. She's been a wreck since she went up to there and they wouldn't let her see you."
"Piper, we need to talk," Leo informed her.
"Leo, you haven't kissed me in nearly a month. Don't you think maybe that takes priority?" Piper questioned as she walked around the bar and kissed Leo.
"Buffy was right," Leo informed her sadly. "I don't have time to say goodbye to you both, so you will have to say goodbye to Buffy for me."
"What?" Piper questioned with a frown.
"They told us to break up," Leo reminded her. "They caught us trying to get married."
"So we won't get married, we'll wait," Piper stated.
"It's too late," Leo said, his voice echoing. "We broke the rules and now they won't let you and I or me and Buffy see each other again."
"Wait a minute, they won't what?" Piper questioned with a frown.
"I don't care what they do to me but I couldn't bare anything happening to either of you," Leo admitted. "I shouldn't even be here right now." He started backing away from her.
"Wait a minute, Leo, I can't hear you," Piper informed him. "What are you saying?"
"You and Buffy both have to forget about me," Leo informed her sadly.
"No," Piper immediately objected.
"I love you," Leo mouthed as he orbed out.
"Leo. Leo!" Piper called out.
Halliwell Manor
For the last month, both Piper and Buffy had been sleeping together to chase away the bad dreams of losing someone they both loved. Buffy was sitting up in bed shaking Piper, trying to wake her from the nightmare that Piper was having. "Piper, wake up," she said.
Piper jerked awake as she sat up in bed. She looked toward Buffy. "Leo's not coming back."
"My sister, it was just a bad dream," Buffy insisted.
"No, it wasn't, it was real," Piper insisted as tears fell down her cheeks. "I don't understand why they are doing this to us. It's like destroying lives is how they amuse themselves."
Buffy sighed knowing exactly how Piper felt. Not only because she had lost Angel like Piper had lost Leo. But because she too had lost Leo. "It'll be alright, Piper," she said wrapping her arms around Piper and holding her till they both fell back asleep.
October 20, 1998 – Tuesday
Halliwell Manor
"Pheebs, it's me," Buffy said speaking into the phone.
"Buffy, tell Prue I will have her car home momentarily," Phoebe said from the other end of the line.
Buffy sighed. "Phoebe, I am not calling about Prue's car, I'm calling about Piper. Look, um, she had this dream about Dad and maybe I'm overreacting but I've never seen her like this. Me yeah, not only because of Angel but because of Dad. But I never expected Piper to completely give up on Dad."
"What kind of dream about Leo!" Phoebe replied seconds before Buffy could hear the sounds of screeching tires from the other end of the phone. "I'm fine, the car's fine. I'll see you later. Bye."
Streets of San Francisco
"What kind of dream about Leo!" Phoebe asked seconds before she slammed on the brakes to avoid a little girl standing in the middle of the road. "I'm fine, the car's fine. I'll see you later. Bye." She ended the call as she got out of the car and rushed over to the girl, who was clutching a small box. "Hi, are you okay?"
"You can't have it, leave me alone," the girl insisted. "I won't give it to you, leave me alone!"
Phoebe looked around to see who or what the girl was yelling at, she saw nothing. She turned back to see the girl running away and she took off after her. The girl suddenly screamed as she tripped and fell to the ground. Phoebe knelt next to her and pulled the girl into her arms.
"It's okay, it's okay," Phoebe insisted. "You're safe."
Halliwell Manor
The little girl, who Phoebe had found out was named Kate, sat at the kitchen table as Phoebe placed a cup of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies in front of Kate. "Okay," Phoebe said. "You just have to be very careful because it's hot, so blow on it, okay?"
"Hey, did you find out anything more from her?" Prue asked from where she stood next to Piper and Buffy.
Phoebe shook her head. "Name, rank, and serial number," she informed them sadly.
"Uh, her parents are on their way, they live up the street," Piper informed her sister. "They were very worried about you."
"I got to go to the car and get her jacket," Phoebe said as she walked over to the key hook. She reached up to grab the keys and found them missing. "Uh, keys?"
"What?" Prue questioned.
"You know, silver shiny things that go jingle, jingle," Phoebe said deadpan.
"I don't have them," Prue admitted.
"That's so weird," Phoebe said looking at the key hook. "I put them up here."
"The fairies probably hid them," Kate insisted.
"What was that?" Buffy asked.
"Sorry, I'm not supposed to talk about fairies," Kate admitted.
Phoebe smiled. "Um, you know what? In this house you can talk about anything you want," she insisted. "Sometimes we talk about weird things too."
Kate nodded as she looked at the grownups around her. "Well, that's what fairies do," she informed them. "Hide your keys and things. They're tricky like that."
"Um, is that what's in that box?" Buffy wondered. "Is it a fairy? Is that who you're protecting?" she asked as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."
"That's probably your mum and your dad," Piper said looking at Kate.
Kate sighed. "He's not my dad," she informed them. "He's just my mom's new husband."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Hi," said a woman as Buffy opened the door. "We're Kate's parents."
"Is she alright?" the man questioned looking at the teenager.
Buffy nodded, "Yeah, she's fine. I mean, she scraped her arm a little bit but mostly she's just scared," she informed them as Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Kate joined them.
"Kate," the man said as he spotted his stepdaughter.
"Get out of the doorway," Kate cried upon spotting her parents.
"Kate…" the woman started but Kate cut her off.
"It's an in-between…" Kate explained, "…get out of the in-between."
Buffy frowned as she looked at Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. "What's an in-between?" she asked as they shrugged.
"It's where the trolls are," Kate said looking at Buffy.
"Trolls, right," Buffy said with a roll of her eyes.
"Honey, we've had this conversation before," the woman told her daughter. "You're a big girl and it's time to stop believing in things like that. She's had some problems since her father and I divorced. Regressed sort of back to the imaginary friend stage."
"Look, uh, we should go, it's late," the man agreed. "Thank you again for everything."
"They'll get us," Kate admitted fearfully.
The man smiled at his stepdaughter. "I won't let them. It's okay," he insisted as he picked Kate up.
Kate spotted a troll hanging onto the door frame. "Look, there it is," she told them as the man carried her outside.
"Thank you," the woman said looking at the Halliwells appreciatively.
"You're welcome," Prue said.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Come on, Phoebe, trolls, and fairies?" Piper said with a roll of her eyes as she made a pot of coffee. "You don't believe that stuff."
Phoebe shrugged. "Sure, why not?" she asked.
Buffy looked at Prue and Piper with a raised eyebrow. "Did someone tell her about Santa?" she asked as Prue and Piper chuckled.
Phoebe groaned at the joke. "All I know is something was definitely after her," she informed them referencing Kate.
"But you didn't see anything?" Piper asked already knowing the answer.
Phoebe sighed. "No," she answered. "But how else did she get hurt?"
"How about she fell and scratched herself," Buffy countered.
"No, Buffy," Phoebe said, she didn't believe that theory one bit. "They weren't scratches, they were claw marks."
"If they were, you would've seen what had clawed her," Piper asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you being so stubborn about this?"
"Because I'm a Scorpio. What is the excuse for the two of you?" Phoebe questioned.
"Well I'm an Aquarius on the cusp of Capricorn," Buffy informed her with a smirk as Piper chuckled.
"Okay, so it's kind of late and, um, we're all a bit tired so how about we finish up tomorrow?" Prue suggested.
Phoebe looked at Piper and Buffy with narrowed eyes. "Now look what you two did," she informed them. "You two went and turned Prue into the middle child."
"Okay, Phoebe, even if fairies and trolls do exist, you heard what her mom said, the problems started when her father left," Buffy reminded her youngest cousin. "That's psychology, not magic."
Phoebe sighed. "I know," she said. "But you know what? I'm going to check the Book of Shadows just in case. Because I don't want to be out stubborned by an Aquarius on the cusp of Capricorn or a Leo." (A/N)
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Later that morning Prue stepped into the attic. "Hey," she greeted her baby sister.
"Check this out," Phoebe said handing Prue some of their childhood drawings of fairies and trolls. "We each drew one."
"Lily," Prue said recognizing the drawings.
"Do you remember her?" Phoebe wondered looking at her big sister. "She was our little imaginary friend we had when we were kids."
"I have not thought about Lily in years," Prue admitted.
"That's because you grew up and you stopped seeing her. Okay…" Phoebe informed Prue as she turned toward a book. "Fairies, elves, and trolls are mystical creatures that live in a realm parallel to ours but separated by a thin veil," she read.
Prue closed the book to see the cover. "The Enchanted Realm?" she said reading the title.
"A thin veil which lives only in tween places," Phoebe went on. "Tween places, Prue. That's like a realm in between two things. Like doorways and windows, um, shadows."
"Shadows?" Prue questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Phoebe nodded. "In between light and dark," she explained. "And it's exactly what Kate said. Trolls live in the in-between."
Prue sighed. "Right, but when you found Kate she wasn't in an in-between."
"She was in the biggest in-between of all," Phoebe countered. "Midnight. In the hour between night and day, the world itself becomes a tween."
"Okay, so why isn't there anything in either Book Of Shadows?" Prue wondered as she waved toward the books in question.
"Because both Book Of Shadows was written by adults," Phoebe explained. "And I'm assuming that scary dude in your picture is a troll."
"So then why is he trying to hurt Kate?" Prue wondered.
"I don't know, we have to ask Kate," Phoebe answered as the phone rang downstairs. "And we will fill Piper and Buffy in on the way."
"You know, maybe we should do this one on our own," Prue suggested. "You know, I mean, both Piper and Buffy are kind of out of it."
"Even more reason to drag them along," Phoebe countered. "Take their minds off of Leo."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Halliwell Manor, Payson speaking," Buffy said answering the phone.
"Hello, Payson, it's Cole Turner," Cole said from the other end of the line. "Is Phoebe in?"
"Sure, just a second," Buffy said and put her hand over the phone. "Phoebe! Phone!" she called up the stairs moments before Phoebe came down the stairs. "It's your little lawyer boyfriend."
"So, there," Phoebe said as she handed Buffy the drawings at the same time Buffy handed her the phone. "And he is not my boyfriend."
Buffy looked at the drawings as she walked into the living room where Piper was sitting. She handed the drawings to Piper. "Seems you guys had quite the imagination."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Hello?" Phoebe said holding the phone to her ear.
"Who's not your boyfriend?" Cole questioned from the other end.
"Um…the mailman," Phoebe answered. "Uh, yeah, sometimes Payson likes to tease me because I like to get the mail a lot. So, how are you?"
"Well, it's a beautiful morning and I got a beautiful woman on the phone, so things could be worse," Cole answered. "God, I sound like Billy Appleby."
"What?" Phoebe asked confused.
"Nothing," Cole answered.
"No, wait, what did you just say?" Phoebe asked not letting him off that easy.
"Billy Appleby's just this hokey guy from this old movie I watched too much when I was a kid," Cole informed her.
"Kill It Before It Dies," Phoebe said as Cole echoed her.
"You've seen it?" Cole questioned.
Phoebe nodded even though Cole couldn't see it. "Once or twice," she informed him.
"Really?" Cole said surprised. "Too bad it's not playing, I'd take you to see it. Of course, we could always have dinner instead."
"Are you asking me out, counselor?" Phoebe wondered.
"Guilty," Cole answered. "How about tonight? I could stop by your place."
Phoebe looked up just as Prue came down the stairs while Piper and Buffy joined them from the living room. "Uh, really, uh, well…" she said.
Buffy and Piper began putting on their coats as Prue gave Phoebe the motion to hurry up and end the call.
"Um, actually tonight's not good because Piper and Payson are both going through something but I will call you and maybe we can meet at the club," Phoebe said as Prue snatched the phone out of her grasp. "Sorry, bye." She turned to Piper and Buffy as her middle sister grabbed her car keys. "Did you two not look at those drawings?"
"They're cute, yes," Piper informed her sisters, who had moved between her and Buffy and the front door.
"Yeah they are cute," Buffy agreed. "Even I used to draw when I was little. Of course, for me, it was a distraction from the fights between Mom and Dad. Anyways all that proves is you guys drew the same thing."
"Cute?" Phoebe said with a raised eyebrow. "Cute? We," she motioned to herself, Prue, and Piper, "all had the same invisible fairy friend. That is proof that fairies exist."
Buffy and Piper glanced at each other with a roll of their eyes before trying to walk around Prue and Piper toward the door.
"Buffy's right all it proves is that one of us had a fertile imagination and the other two were big copycats," Piper said agreeing with Buffy's reasoning.
"Okay, Piper, Buffy, just listen to me, okay," Prue pleaded. "Um, we think that Kate is in trouble, our kind of trouble."
"Okay, well, we don't," Buffy countered.
"And after what they did to Leo, I'm not all that motivated to go dig up demons for them," Piper added.
"What Piper said," Buffy agreed.
"Trolls," Phoebe corrected.
Buffy and Piper glanced at each other again before looking back at Prue and Phoebe. "Whatever," they said in unison.
"Look, you guys can do whatever you want but I've had it and I'm done," Piper informed them. "If Buffy wants to help I won't stop her either."
"I'm done too," Buffy informed them.
"What does that mean?" Prue asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It means that the 'powers that be' haven't done anything but ruin my life…" Piper started.
"…and my life…" Buffy added.
"…so, therefore, neither of us is going to do anything for them anymore, okay," Piper informed her sisters. "Buffy and I are going now, excuse us, we're going now." She pushed past Prue and Phoebe and walked out the door.
"Piper's right," Buffy said as she looked at Prue and Phoebe with sad eyes. "Do you know how much heartache I've been through in the last two years since we came into our powers? I lost Mom to a warlock. I lost Angel to his curse. And now I've lost Dad. I can't do it anymore." She turned and walked past Prue and Phoebe sadly.
"I think they're on strike," Phoebe said with a sigh.
Kate's House
Kate was in her room drawing pictures of the trolls when a knock came at her door seconds before her stepfather walked in. "Kate, someone's here to see you," he said as Prue and Phoebe walked in behind him. He turned and left the three of them alone.
"Hey, so, um, we brought you your jacket," Prue said holding the drawings Phoebe had found. "We had to use the spare key to get into the car though. I guess the fairies hid them after all."
"Told you," Kate informed them.
"What are you drawing?" Phoebe wondered as she knelt next to Kate to get a better look at the drawing. "That looks like a very scary cave."
"You know, that looks a lot like mine," Prue said as she knelt as well and showed Kate one of her drawings from when she was a kid.
"That's a fairy and a troll," Kate said looking at the drawing. "My mom says I'm making them up but I'm not."
"Well, we believe you," Prue said sincerely. "Okay, we just need you to tell us everything you know so that we can help."
"I don't know that much," Kate admitted. "Thistle's kind of hard to understand. Fairies don't talk the same way people do."
"Thistle?" Phoebe asked wondering who that was.
"I saved her," Kate informed them. "See, the fairies are the bosses of the enchanted kingdom but the trolls thought they were the bosses, so they kidnapped Thistle from the king and queen of the fairies."
"So Thistle is a princess?" Phoebe asked in understanding.
Kate nodded. "Mmm hmm. But the trolls are going to kill her unless her parents hand over the kingdom."
"It's a miniature coup d'état," Phoebe said looking at Prue who nodded.
"But I found her tied up in the cave and I saved her," Kate informed them.
Prue smiled. "That was very brave of you."
"But now the trolls hate me because I won't give her back," Kate said. "Most of the time I can stay out of the in-betweens but at midnight…"
"There's no place to hide," Phoebe said as Kate looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I know."
"Can we see her?" Prue wondered.
Kate shook her head. "No, only children can see fairies."
"Well, I don't know if this is going to help but Prue and I are very in touch with our inner children," Phoebe suggested.
"Can we at least try?" Prue pleaded.
"We'll have to go into an in-between," Kate told them "Watch out for trolls." She unlocked the box with the key hanging around her neck. She then sat the box on the window sill. She made a cursory glance around before opening the lid of the box.
Prue and Phoebe look inside the box but saw nothing. Prue sighed as she shook her head.
"Can't help if you can't see her," Kate informed them as she closed the box. She held it close to her ear and listened as Thistle said something only she could hear. "Thistle says that if you believe in fairies, there's something that'll make you innocent again so you can see them." She opened the lid and grabbed a handful of fairy dust and threw it at Prue and Phoebe.
Phoebe burst out laughing.
"I think it worked," Kate said with a smile.
"I want to see the fairy," Prue said in a childish voice.
Kate opened the lid again and a little pink fairy flew out. This time Prue and Phoebe could see her as they stared with wide eyes their jaws hanging open.
Payson's
Buffy followed Piper down the stairs of the club as people leaving walked past them. "Oh, my Goddess." Buffy cried upon seeing Prue and Phoebe up on stage acting very childish.
"If you're happy and you know it claps your hands. If you're happy and you know it pats your knee," Prue and Phoebe sang as they patted their knees. "If you're happy and you know it pats your knee."
Phoebe smiled as she spotted Buffy and Piper. "You guys have got to do it," she informed them before resuming singing.
"What the hell is going on?" Piper asked as she and Buffy walked over to Abby, the club's manager.
"You think this is bad?" Abby said eying Prue and Phoebe. "You should've been here for Frere Jacques. They've been acting like kids since they got here. I didn't serve them, I swear."
"Alright, put on some music, any music, and kill that microphone," Buffy informed Abby before she and Piper walk over to Prue and Phoebe.
Phoebe smiled, "Hi."
"Hi. Lost your minds?" Piper asked.
Prue smiled, "Buffy, Piper, we have been waiting and waiting and waiting..."
Phoebe nodded, "Yeah, and you know what we did? We saw a fairy and she was very cute and she was sparkly and she was pretty."
Piper glanced at Buffy before flicking her wrist and freezing everyone in the club. "Okay," she said. "What ass-backward spell did you guys cast?"
Prue shook her head. "We didn't cast a spell."
"No, it is true," Phoebe agreed. "We did not cast a spell but we did use fairy dust."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Fairy dust?"
"Yep." Phoebe nodded.
"Okay," Piper said in exasperation. Great, so you two can go home now and reverse it, Tinkerbell."
"No, no, no," Phoebe objected shaking her head vigorously. "No, I am not a fairy." She looked toward Prue. "She thought I was a…We have to show them. Okay." She pulled a small pouch out of her pocket and she and Prue pulled out a pinch of fairy dust each.
"Ready?" Prue said looking at Phoebe. "Okay, go."
Phoebe smiled. "Three, two, one," she said counting down before they threw the fairy dust at Piper and Buffy, both of whom sneezed.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Piper questioned as her brow furrowed.
"Yeah, what did you do that for?" Buffy added as her brow too furrowed.
Phoebe glanced at Prue with a frown. "That did not work."
"No," Piper agreed. "Work, that's a very good idea. I'm going to get back to work now." She flicked her wrist and unfroze the club before she and Buffy walked off.
"Oh, you know what?" Phoebe said as she and Prue followed Piper and Buffy. "You are being a big, big, big, extra, extra, extra, double big jerk right now," she said as Prue tried to grab a strand of her hair that was in her with her tongue. "Because now I have the key…" she pulled out the key that hung around her neck, "…so Thistle is safe and we have to be back with Kate at midnight so when the trolls attack..."
Piper glared at her sisters. "No. You guys are going home and you're not driving either because someone will think you both are drunk or something. So go outside and wait there and I will call a cab."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "Yeah you two need to reverse that spell," she added.
"Oh..." Prue started.
"Shh, shh, no," Piper informed her sister as Phoebe began playing with the zipper on her jacket.
"Why are you two being so mean?" Prue whined childishly.
"Because we don't want you to…" Piper said as Phoebe and Prue spontaneously hugged her and Buffy. "Stop it," she cried as Phoebe and Prue kissed them both on their cheeks. "You two are trying to trick me and Buffy into ending our strike."
"And it's not going to work," Buffy added.
"You guys go home," Piper instructed. "Scoot. Go home. Scoot. And you go home and you reverse this ridiculous behavior."
Prue and Phoebe let go of Piper and Buffy as they reluctantly walked toward the front door of the club. They turned around briefly and stuck out their tongues at Piper and Buffy before walking out the door.
Buffy sighed as she sat at the bar. "Abby, can I get a Coke?"
"Sure, Payson," Abby said as she reached into the fridge behind the bar.
Piper walked around the bar to the cash register where she found Leo's Valentine's Day card. She looked at it and then handed it to Buffy.
Buffy looked at the card with a sigh as Abby handed her, her drink. "It'll be alright, Piper," she informed her cousin.
"How can you say that?" Piper wondered as she grabbed a tray. "After all I'm not the only one who lost him."
"I know," Buffy said sadly as she got off the stool and followed Piper, who was picking up wine glasses. Leaving her drink on the bar she grabbed another tray and began helping Piper clean up. "And it's unfair to you and me."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Piper tripped, dropping the tray and breaking the glass that rested on it. As she bent down to pick up the tray and the glass, she accidentally cut her finger on the broken piece of glass. "Ow!" she cried.
Buffy set her tray down. "You okay?" she asked glancing around to see if anyone was looking.
"Just cut my finger," Piper informed her as Buffy held her hand over hers. "What are you doing?"
"What do you think?" Buffy asked. "No one is looking."
"Buffy, that's not the point," Piper countered. "You…"
"You froze the entire club when we confronted Prue and Phoebe," Buffy reminded her. "There isn't any more of a chance at exposing our powers now than there was then. Especially if someone had walked in while everything was frozen."
Piper sighed. "You have a point."
Abby walked up to Buffy and Piper holding the phone. "Hey, Piper…Payson, your sisters…" she noticed the mess on the floor, "…are on the phone."
"Perfect," Piper groaned as she took the phone from Abby.
"Abby and I will clean this up," Buffy informed Piper as she and Abby began cleaning up the mess. "See what they want."
Piper walked over to the bar where she wrapped a napkin around her finger since Buffy hadn't had a chance to heal it. "You need a diaper change?" she asked whichever of her sisters was on the other end of the phone.
"Very funny," Phoebe said from the other end of the phone. "Look, we need you and Buffy to come home right away by midnight or else..."
Piper sighed. "The tooth fairy's going to come and harass us all for not flossing?"
"Alright," Phoebe groaned. "I know you and Buffy don't believe in fairies and I'm not asking either of you to..."
"Then what are you asking?" Piper said as Buffy came up beside her.
"What's up?" Buffy wondered as Piper moved the phone between them so she could listen in.
"We were trying to distract you both before, we were trying to take both of your minds off of Leo, okay," Phoebe said sympathetically. "And it was wrong and I'm sorry for that but it's not about that anymore. We are up against something that we cannot fight without you and Buffy."
"Trolls," Piper stated.
Buffy held her hand over the phone so her voice didn't carry through to Phoebe. "Trolls?" she asked looking at Piper. "Tell me you aren't buying this?" She then removed her hand from the phone.
"Believe it or don't but they are sneaky and mean and they are trying to hurt a seven-year-old girl," Phoebe informed them as Piper looked around the club. "Hello?"
"Any chance they may have been here?" Piper wondered.
"Yeah," Phoebe answered. "One attacked me there earlier. Why?"
Piper glanced at Buffy and sighed. "Nothing," she told Phoebe.
"Alright, look, they know that we're witches and they will do anything to stop us from helping Kate," Phoebe informed them.
"Alright, we're on our way," Piper said with a sigh.
"Okay, well, don't forget to stay out of the…" Phoebe said as Piper hung up the phone.
"Come on, Buffy," Piper said as she grabbed her purse. She frowned when she noticed her car keys were missing. "Buffy, have you seen my keys?"
"Not since we arrived," Buffy informed her.
"What about you, Abby?" Piper asked looking over at the club's manager.
"Aren't they on the hook?" Abby asked.
"No, if they were on the hook I wouldn't be asking," Piper snapped as she swung around and knocked over a few bottles.
"Watch it," Buffy cried as the bottles went crashing to the floor.
"I got it, I got it," Abby informed Buffy and Piper.
"Oh, damn it," Piper groaned as she and Buffy looked for the keys. "Spare key, spare key. Register." She opened the cash register and suddenly it closed on her fingers. "Son of a..."
Buffy's eyes went wide as she watched the cash register close on Piper's fingers. "You okay?"
Piper glanced at Abby. "Uh, could you just do Buffy and me a favor and close up for us?" she asked.
Abby smiled at both of her bosses. "Oh, yeah, sure," she agreed.
Piper returned Abby's smile. "Thank you," she said appreciatively before looking at Buffy. "Come on, Buffy." She led Buffy out of the club. As they passed through the doorway they were shoved forward by an unseen force.
"Okay, what in the heck is going on?" Buffy wondered looking back at the door.
"I think trolls may be real," Piper informed her cousin. "You saw what happened with the cash register. I think a troll tripped me inside and of course, we were both shoved from behind as we came outside."
"So, fairies could be real," Buffy said in understanding. "I don't want to leave Kate defenseless if trolls are real. But at the same time, I don't want to do this anymore without Dad here."
"I know how you feel, Buffy," Piper agreed as they walked toward her car.
Suddenly they were both tripped by an unseen force and knocked to the ground. Piper let out a groan as the contents of her purse fell out. "You better run while you can, you little rodents," she informed the unseen trolls.
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "If I could see you right now, you would be in for a world of hurt."
As they gathered Piper's things, Piper glanced toward the sky. "I bet you guys think this is really funny, don't you?" she asked. "Haven't you taken enough from me and Buffy? You have to send trolls to kick us while we're down. We had nice normal lives and you took that from us both. You took my boyfriend, you took Buffy's father, you took our lives, the least you could do is leave us my freaking car keys. We are good people; we are both good witches and Buffy is a good Slayer as well as a good Whitelighter. And damn it I would've made a great wife. And Buffy makes a great daughter. And how dare you take that from us. We deserve...no, you know what? We demand that you send him back to us. Do you hear us? Right now. Buffy and I are going to stay in this very spot until you send Leo back to us."
They waited and they waited but Leo never materialized.
Buffy sighed as she and Piper stood up. "I wish it were that simple," she said sadly. "They can be very stubborn. I know that all too well. Sometimes I wish I wasn't part-Whitelighter so I didn't have to deal with them." She held out her hand. "Come on we'll come back for your car later."
Halliwell Manor
It was six minutes till midnight and Prue and Phoebe were still waiting for Piper and Buffy to return home.
"She said that they were coming, right? Prue asked looking at her sister.
"What'd you think I just made that part up?" Phoebe questioned with a roll of her eyes.
Prue shook her head. "No, but it's almost midnight and we still have to go over to Kate's," she reminded her. "Without Buffy, it will be hard to get there in time."
"Well, maybe we should do it without them," Phoebe reluctantly suggested. "Do the best we can."
"No," Prue countered sadly. "I used a Power of Three Augmented spell, it won't work without Piper and Buffy."
"We can rewrite it." Phoebe offered knowing they didn't have time to rewrite it.
"In six minutes," Prue countered sadly.
Phoebe sighed. "Do you have a better idea?" she asked just as Buffy and Piper appeared in a swirl of fiery flames.
"Sorry we're late," Buffy said. "First Piper's keys went missing. Then trolls attacked us on our way to the car. Finally, I decided to just flame us here."
"Hey, are you two okay?" Phoebe asked looking at Piper and Buffy with concern.
"I thought this wasn't about me and Buffy?" Piper replied.
"Well, it just…you two don't seem like you're very open," Prue informed them.
"I'm as open as I'm going to get in the next five minutes so let's just do the damn spell," Piper admitted.
"Same," Buffy said with a sigh.
Prue nodded as she held up the piece of paper with the spell between them so they could all read it. "In this tween time this darkest hour, we call upon the sacred power. Four together stand-alone, command the unseen to be shown. In innocence we search the skies, enchanted is our newfound eyes."
"You've got to lay off the rhyming, Prue," Phoebe quipped with a chuckle.
"Alright one flame express coming up," Buffy said holding out her hands.
"Piper, once we're there you freeze Kate's parents so they don't come looking to see what's going on in Kate's room. Okay?" Prue asked hopefully.
"Fine, whatever," Piper groaned.
October 21, 1998 – Wednesday
Kate's Home
Just at midnight, Buffy appeared with Piper, Prue, and Phoebe amid a swirl of fiery flames in the hallway outside Kate's room. Piper quietly moved to the entrance of the living room and flicking her wrist she froze Kate's parents.
"Okay, why can't we see them?" Phoebe wondered looking around and not seeing any fairies or trolls.
"The spell didn't work," Prue answered as she opened the door to Kate's room.
"Help me!" Kate cried as she was dragged under her bed by an unseen force.
As the Halliwells approached the bed a shelf of toys was knocked down on top of them. Prue's quick thinking sent the toys flying onto the bed instead of them with a wave of her hand.
"Where'd she go?" Buffy asked as they got to the floor and looked under the bed, they saw nothing there.
"There's nothing here," Prue groaned.
"Well, she's got to be here somewhere," Piper informed her sisters. "She couldn't have just disappeared."
"Unless the trolls turned her into a fairy," Phoebe offered.
"A fairy?" Prue said with a raised eyebrow. "Why would they do that?"
Phoebe shrugged. "I have no idea," she admitted. "Maybe to punish her for taking Thistle." She picked up the box that Kate had kept Thistle in. "But we have to find Kate. Okay, come on, give me a premonition."
"Hold it between us, Pheebs," Buffy said as Phoebe held the box between them and she placed her hand on the box. "Ok let's see who can get a premonition first."
"I don't understand," Prue said with a frown. "I mean, why couldn't we see the trolls? We've had spells backfire on us before but never a Power of Three or a Power of Three Augmented."
"It didn't backfire," Piper informed them. "The spell didn't work because of me."
"And me," Buffy added sadly.
"Piper…Buffy…" Prue started.
"No, it's-it's true," Piper informed her sisters. "I think Buffy agrees this is all our fault." Buffy reluctantly nodded her agreement with the statement. "We just, we wanted to save Kate and never meant to hurt her, we never meant for this..."
"Don't blame yourselves, okay?" Prue said as she placed a comforting hand on both Buffy and Piper's hands. "You both have every right to be angry. You both lost someone very dear to you both."
"But not at the expense of a little girl," Buffy said with a sigh.
"Buffy's right," Piper agreed sadly. "I just don't understand how Buffy and I are supposed to believe in anything anymore. We both just want him back."
Prue sighed. "We know. But right now we have to get Kate back, okay, and we're going to need your help to do that."
"Damn it, damn it, damn it," Phoebe groaned. "I don't understand. What good is this power if I can't use it when I need it?" She glanced toward her cousin. "You didn't see anything, Buffy?"
Buffy shook her head sadly. "Nothing. But for me, it could be what Piper was just saying. I will try augmenting you, see if that works." She touched Phoebe's shoulder with her free hand and closed her eyes.
"Guys..." Piper interjected.
"What?" Prue wondered.
"I think the spell is working," Piper said as she pointed to a fairy flying near the window. "Do you see it?"
Buffy opened her eyes and looked toward the window and smiled. "Yes, what's it doing?" she asked.
"I think it wants us to follow it," Prue informed them.
Garden
Buffy, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were following the fairy as they approached a cave. Suddenly the fairy flew away as if afraid to get any closer.
"I think he got scared away," Buffy informed them.
"Yeah, and I can see why," Phoebe said looking at the cave entrance. "This looks like the cave from Kate's drawing."
"The first troll I see is in really big trouble," Piper stated. "Let's go."
Buffy nodded in agreement with Piper's thinking. She was ready to bring on the violence. "I hope they like being roasted," she said as they walked into the cave. They hide behind a rock when they spotted Kate and Thistle locked in a cage.
"Troll central," Phoebe said as they saw a troll place a branch beneath the cage. Another troll was banging two rocks together trying to create a spark to ignite the branch.
"What are they doing?" Piper wondered.
"It looks like they're trying to start a fire," Prue informed her sister. "Although I don't think that it's for roasting marshmallows."
"Kate and Thistle," Phoebe said motioning towards the cage as the trolls start the fire.
"Alright, Piper, do you think that you can freeze them from here?" Buffy wondered.
"I can try," Piper said as they moved out from behind the rock.
"Piper, freeze them," Prue said as the trolls moved to attack them.
"They're too fast," Piper informed her eldest sister.
Buffy nodded in agreement. "They are fast. I can barely keep track of them even with my Slayer-enhanced eyesight," she said as one headed straight for Piper, who managed to freeze it. A fireball formed in her hand and she flung it at the frozen troll who caught on hire. "One down."
"Okay…" Phoebe said as she levitated up. "Prue, a little help here."
Prue waved her hand and sent Phoebe flying over to the cage. She unhooked it before landing on the ground clear of the flames.
"Piper, Buffy, run," Prue instructed.
"Run?" Piper asked. "Run where?"
Buffy tried to flame out but nothing happened. "Weird. I can create fireballs but not flame. I guess they don't want anyone teleporting in or out." She grabbed Prue and Piper's hands and dragged them toward the fire.
"Buffy, are you out of your mind?" Piper asked in fear.
"Freeze the flames!" Buffy instructed. With a flick of her wrist, Piper froze the flames and they jumped through them to land next to Phoebe. "Unfreeze, now," she said just as the trolls jumped into the flames. Piper flicked her wrist and the fire unfroze burning the trolls to a crisp.
"Now that is just the way I like my trolls, medium-well," Prue quipped as Phoebe laughed.
"Here you guys go," Phoebe said as she let Kate and Thistle out of the cage. "It's okay, there you go." Her eyes went wide when Kate and Thistle began to fly away from them. "Um, hey, hey, hey, you guys, wait up," she cried causing Kate and Thistle to stop and turn back to them.
"Thistle, don't you know how to turn Kate back into a person?" Prue wondered as Kate looked at Thistle, shaking her head.
Buffy sighed. "Kate, you know, you can't stay a fairy because if you do, your mom will be very sad," she informed the girl. "Believe me I know what it's like to lose someone you love. My dad was taken from me just recently. I've been very sad as a result."
"You know what?" Piper added. "I kind of know how you're feeling also. Buffy's father was my fiancé. When someone you love goes away it doesn't make any sense and it feels like the whole world is out to get you. But you know what? Your mom and dad didn't split up to hurt you. Things just happen. Things that you may never understand. But you just have to believe that it's for the best. Even if it doesn't always seem that way. You remember how sad you were when your dad left?" Kate nodded. "Well, that's how sad everybody's going to be if you don't come home."
Kate looked at Thistle and then nodded. She closed her eyes as Thistle returned Kate to her true size. Phoebe rushed over and hugged the seven-year-old girl.
Prue looked at Buffy and Piper. "Nicely done."
Halliwell Manor
After taking Kate home, Buffy flamed with Prue, Piper, and Phoebe back to their own home.
"Ow." Phoebe groaned.
Piper nodded. "Yep," she agreed.
"Ice?" Prue offered as they headed toward the kitchen.
"You sure you guys don't want me to heal you?" Buffy asked as the doorbell rang. She moved over to the door and opened it to find flowers laying on the porch.
"Who delivers at this hour?" Phoebe said as she, Piper, and Prue came up beside Buffy.
Prue bent down and picked up her keys. "Hmm, I think this is somebody's way of saying thank you. Here," she handed each of them a wreath of flowers.
"Well, you're welcome." Piper and Buffy said in unison as they carried the flowers inside.
"Oh, they're so pretty," Phoebe said looking at her.
Piper moved in front of the mirror in the foyer and put her wreath of flowers on her head.
"Piper…Buffy, um, we..." Prue started as Piper took off the flowers.
"We, um, we just..." Phoebe added.
"We know," Buffy said.
Piper nodded in agreement. "It's okay," she added. "I'm beginning to understand why they don't want witches and Whitelighters to be together."
"Why they wanted to keep me separated from Dad," Buffy added sadly as they walked into the living room. They sat on the couch, Buffy and Piper in the middle with Prue next to Buffy and Phoebe next to Piper.
"Marriage is, um, hard enough, you know," Piper continued. "But marriage to a Whitelighter…He's got to orb out at all times of the night and sometimes he's gone for weeks at a time."
"I've been lucky in that regard since I started coming into my Whitelighter powers. So far you guys and Willow have been my only charges," Buffy added. "But I can see their point when it comes to why they wanted to separate me and Dad when I was born. As Piper said he has to orb out at all times of the day or night and sometimes he's gone for weeks at a time. What kind of father can he be when he is always gone."
"I think Buffy will agree that if we're going to have a meltdown every time, we have no idea where he is, then none of us are going to be able to do our jobs," Piper said as tears began to glisten in hers and Buffy's eyes. "And if we had lost that little girl tonight..."
"But we didn't," Phoebe countered.
"But we could've," Piper countered. "And I don't think I could live with that."
"Same here," Buffy agreed.
"If that means that I have to give up Leo, then I guess that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," Piper said as she stood up and walked out of the room.
"The same is sadly true for me," Buffy reluctantly agreed as she stood up and followed Piper out of the room. She came up behind Piper just as they reached the stairs.
It was at that moment blue and white orbing lights appeared and slowly solidified into Leo. "Am I dreaming?" Piper asked in surprise.
"If you are so am I," Buffy said in equal surprise. "Dad?"
Leo smiled at the two of them. "No, neither of you are dreaming." He hugged first Buffy and then Piper.
"I had a dream that you weren't coming back," Piper said. "That wasn't a dream either, was it?"
Leo shook his head. "No, it wasn't," he admitted. "As Buffy knows they had forbidden me from ever seeing either of you again," he said Phoebe and Prue walked up behind Piper and Buffy. "But now, I don't know what either of you said or did but they said you both showed great courage and great faith, enough to make them reconsider."
Buffy smiled. "Does that mean you're staying, Dad?"
"And that you and Piper can get married now?" Phoebe added.
"Ugh..." Prue groaned.
Phoebe glanced at her eldest sister. "What? I want to know."
"Not yet," Leo said. "It means they're giving Piper and I as well as Buffy and I a chance to prove we can make it work."
Buffy looked at her father sadly. "What do you mean?"
"Like probation?" Phoebe wondered as Buffy and Piper glared at her.
"If the three of us can show them that our relationships won't get in the way of our work..." Leo informed them.
"Then you'll stay," Buffy said as a smile graced her lips.
"And we can stay together?" Piper added as a smile graced her lips as well.
"But if anything goes wrong," Leo said looking from his girlfriend to his daughter. "If the three of us are distracted by one another to the detriment of a single innocent..."
"We won't be," Piper and Buffy said in unison.
Buffy smiled at Piper. "I'll get my stuff out of your room later, Piper," she informed Piper as Piper and Leo headed up the stairs.
Piper glanced over her shoulder and nodded as she smiled at Buffy before disappearing up the stairs.
"Are you worried?" Phoebe asked looking at Prue.
"When are you going to learn?" Prue questioned. "I am always worried. I'm relieved that he's back though…" she looked toward Buffy, "not only for you and Piper but..."
Phoebe nodded. "I know. Unknown, unattractive demon on the loose."
"What unattractive demon?" Buffy questioned.
"We'll fill you and Piper in tomorrow evening. Piper and Leo at least deserve one night of worry-free romance. And tomorrow you deserve one day of worry-free father-daughter bonding." She looked toward Phoebe. "Don't you agree?"
"Yes," Phoebe agreed as she smiled at Buffy.
Author's Note: Later on in the series the family tree is shown and it says that Piper was born on August 7th. But in this episode it said she was a Gemini. August 7th zodiac sign is a Leo hence the change.