Chapter 122: Centennial Charmed
Buffy and Piper are sitting balanced on a large rubber ball, taking deep breaths in and out.
"And breathe, two, three, four. And relax, two, three, four. And breathe, two, three..." Phoebe and Dawn say.
Piper loses her balance and falls off the ball.
"Are you alright?" Leo asks.
Piper shakes her head, "No, I am not alright."
Leo helps her up.
"Okay, come on, back on the ball." Phoebe says.
Piper frowns, "You get back on the ball, I quit."
"It's hard at first, I know, Piper, but the birthing ball really can make the delivery much easier, especially for home births." Eva says. "Though Buffy you seem to not be having an problem."
Buffy smiles, "I think it's my Slayer reflexes that keep me from falling off."
Piper sighs, "Hospital, people. How many times do I have to tell you crazy people? Hospital, I'm going to the hospital."
Dawn looks to Buffy, and smiles.
"What about water birth? Can we do that at home?" Phoebe asks.
Eva nods, "Sure, we can rent a tub. Of course that's assuming either Piper or Buffy are not early or late in delivering. And delivering at the same time as each other."
"What am I, a dolphin? I'm not giving birth to fish." Piper says.
Buffy shakes her head as she gets off the ball, "Well, actually, dolphins aren't fish, they're mammals."
"Shut up!" Piper says.
Paige walks in. "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late, I over slept. Hi, Eva."
"That's okay, we're just getting started." Eva says.
"Late night?" Leo asks.
Paige nods, "As a matter of fact, yes."
Eva pulls a white plastic tube out of her bag. Piper's eyes widen.
"What the hell is that?" Piper asks
"Uh, nipple enhancer. For breast feeding." Eva says handing one to Piper and one to Buffy.
Phoebe chuckles.
Eva turns back to her bag and scrounges around for something.
Paige sneezes and orbs out and back in.
"Gesundheit." Dawn says.
"Thanks, I've been sneezing my head off all morning." Paige says.
Leo shakes his head, "Not to mention the rest of you."
"A little ginger root and raspberry leaf will take care of that. Old gypsy remedy." Eva says.
Piper nods, "I think we got some of that in the kitchen. Why don't you go see if we got some of that in the kitchen?"
"Sure. Be right back." Eva says and she walks into the kitchen.
"What?" Paige asks.
"Hi." Piper says as they walk into the living room.
"What?" Paige asks.
"Do you not realize that you just sneezed and orbed at the same time?" Buffy asks.
"Ooh, it's a good thing Eva didn't see that." Phoebe says.
"Well, we saved her gypsy clan. I think she'd be fine with it." Paige says.
Dawn shakes her head, "Yeah, well, it's one thing to know and it's another thing to actually see it."
"I'm more interested in why it happened. What caused it? I think you should tell them." Leo says.
Paige sighs, "Fine. I tried to vanquish Cole last night."
"What?" Piper asks.
"I know, don't do the big sister guilt thing, okay. I knew what I was doing and it almost worked until I got all wet." Paige says.
"I tried to talk her out of it." Leo says.
Phoebe sighs, "Paige, you could've been killed."
"So what else is new? I just wanted to give you a little peace." Paige says.
"That's very sweet, but I don't need Cole to be vanquished to find peace. I'm okay, really, I am free of him emotionally." Phoebe says.
Buffy nods, "And besides, I thought we agreed to take a vanquishing hiatus during Piper's and my last trimester."
Paige sighs, "Well, that's why I didn't want to bother you two."
"Well, you should've because this is not something you can do by yourself." Piper says.
"Obviously Paige disagreed." Dawn says.
Later at Payson's P5 Michelle Branch sings "Goodbye To You" on the stage. She finishes and everyone cheers.
"Michelle Branch, Evaryone!" DJ says.
Buffy, Dawn, Piper, Phoebe, Giles, Anya, Willow, Darryl and his wife are sitting around a table. Leo walks up carrying glasses and champagne. Xander brings Anya, Willow, Dawn and Buffy glasses and a bottle of soda.
"Hi." Phoebe says.
"Glasses." Leo says.
"Okay." Phoebe and Willow says as Leo and Xander hands them the glasses and they hand them around.
"Here you go." Phoebe says.
Leo sits down.
"A toast to Lieutenant Morris. Congratulations." Piper says.
They hold up their glasses.
"Wait, shouldn't we wait for Paige?" Darryl asks.
"Um, I don't think she's gonna make it because she has a really bad cold. Cheers!" Phoebe says.
They all clink their glasses together.
"Long overdue." Buffy and Piper says.
Paige walks down the stairs and Phoebe notices.
"Uh, we'll be right back." Phoebe says.
Piper frowns, "We will?" Piper sees Paige. "We will." She looks to Buffy and motions with her head towards Paige.
Buffy nods and tugs Dawn out of her seat, "We will."
"Uh, Leo, Xander, keep pouring." Phoebe says.
Buffy, Dawn, Piper and Phoebe get up and go over to Paige.
"Don't mind them, they do that a lot." Darryl says.
"Hi guys." Paige says.
"Are you out of your mind?" Phoebe asks.
"What are you doing here?" Buffy asks.
"Um, going to Darryl's party?" Paige says.
Piper shakes her head, "The sneezing, Paige, the sneezing."
"Oh, that, no, Eva's little miracle cure worked great. I haven't sneezed all day. Is that Darryl's wife? She's cute." Paige says as she takes a step forward but Piper and Phoebe stop her.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. First we chat." Piper says.
"Come on." Buffy says.
Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe, Piper and Paige walk over to a table and sit down.
"I told you, everything's fine." Paige says.
"I don't think it's about that, Paige." Dawn says.
Phoebe nods, "It's about this morning when you left. You seemed really upset."
"Oh, that? No, I was just having a girlie mood, you know." Paige says.
"No, I think we all know it's a little bit more than that. Something's been bugging you so why don't you just talk to us." Piper says.
Paige sighs, "Okay. You really wanna know? I've just been feeling a little suppressed lately. It's not your problem, it's my problem. And I know you guys are the best thing that's ever happened to me, I do."
"But? There's a but." Buffy says.
"I just feel like, you know, having been an only child for twenty-five years, I'm used to doing everything on my own. And it seems like lately I've had to do everything by committee and it just..." Piper says.
"You feel like you've lost yourself along the way?" Phoebe asks.
Paige nods, "Yeah."
"Okay, so what can we do?" Dawn asks.
Paige shakes her head, "It's not any of you, it's me. I just think maybe I need to start looking for my own place to live." She feels a sneeze coming on and holds her nose.
"h, no, you don't. No sneezing." Piper says.
"Back hall, back hall, back hall." Phoebe says.
Piper, Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe herd Paige towards the office.
"Look out, people. Pregnant ladies coming through." Piper says.
Buffy rolls her eyes, "Subtle Piper, very subtle."
They walk in to the office and Buffy closes the door as Paige sneezes and orbs out.
Paige orbs back in to the office, but it's now quite dark. "Oh, major sneeze. Hey, who turned out the lights? And the heat?" She puts on her coat. "Piper..." She turns to find Piper, Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe gone. "Piper? Buffy? Dawnie? Pheebs?"
Paige goes to the door and turns the knob. The door falls off its hinges and crashes to the floor. She looks out to an abandoned room where Payson's P5 once was. There is rubbish all over the floor and overturned furniture. She walks through the filthy room and shivers. She spots the Payson's sign, broken and lying on the floor.
"Payson's?" Paige says to herself confused. She walks around the room, stepping over rubbish. "Why is the sign saying Payson's not Payson's P5? Leo! Leo!" A pile of rubbish rustles and a bum climbs out from under it scaring Paige and causing her to jump back. "Oh, god, you scared me."
"Who are you? Wh-what are you doing here?" Bum asks.
"I could ask you the same thing." Paige says as he pulls out a knife and points it at her. "Hey, it's o-okay."
"This is my bassinet!" Bum says.
Paige frowns, "Your bassinet? This is my sisters' club. Knife! Knife!" Nothing happens. "What the hell is wrong with my powers?" The bum attacks her and she flips him onto the ground. Frightened, he gets up and runs out of the club. "Leo!" Leo orbs in and looks around. "Damn it, where the hell have you been?"
"Who are you?" Leo asks.
Paige shakes her head, "Are you kidding? You're not kidding. It's me, Paige, your sister in-law."
"Look, I don't know who you are, lady, and I don't have time for games. All hell is breaking loose out there, so if you don't mind..." Leo says.
"Have you lost your mind? Do you notice anything different?" Paige says.
Leo shakes his head, "No, not really. So if you'll excuse me." He starts to orb out.
"Wait." Paige says as he orbs back in. "Uh, I'm your charge too. How else could you have heard my call?" Leo realizes she's right. "Thank you. I just don't understand how all this could've happened."
"How what could've happened?" Leo asks.
"This! Buffy's club. It's totalled. Doesn't that strike you as the least bit odd?" Paige says. "And why does the sign read Payson's?"
"You know Buffy?" Leo asks.
Paige nods, "Of course. Leo, the club."
"What about it? It's been like this for over a year. Ever since Buffy and Piper walked away from it, right after Prue died." Leo says.
Paige shakes her head, "That is not true. The club is kicking ass. Michelle Branch was just playing here and I sneezed and then I or... orbed out. Maybe if I sneeze again." She sneezes. "Did I orb?"
"How do you know about orbing? And Piper? And Buffy?" Leo asks.
Paige sighs, "Just take me to them. Piper will figure all this out, she always does. Please. What have you got to lose?" She takes his hand and they orb out.
Someplace in town there are overturned cars, tires, and barrels with fires inside. A dead body lays on the ground. Up on a hill, Leo and Paige orb in behind a large mound of dirt.
"What are we doing here?" Paige asks.
"Shh, Piper and Buffy are hunting." Leo says.
A Lazarus Demon smokes in beside the body. He kneels down and smells the body.
"Hey!" Piper says as she and Buffy stands up on a large crate nearby. Buffy and Piper are wearing black, tight leather clothes, and neither of them is pregnant. Piper freezes the Lazarus Demon and jumps down onto the ground. "Feeding time, huh?" She unfreezes just his head. "Knew you'd take the bait."
"What'd you do to me? Unfreeze me, witch." Lazarus Demon says.
"Sure, no problem. Just as soon as you tell us where we can find Shax." Buffy says.
"Shax? What's she talking about? We vanquished him already." Paige says.
Leo shakes his head, "Nobody's vanquished Shax. Ever since he killed Prue, Buffy and Piper have been obsessed with getting revenge on him."
"Go to hell." Lazarus Demon says.
"We're already there." Piper says as she blows up the Lazarus Demon and turns him into a pile of dust. She and Buffy turns to leave.
Paige runs down the hill as Leo follows. "Wait!"
Buffy and Piper turns around and Piper gets ready to blow Paige up.
"Piper, don't!" Leo says.
"Oh my god, you're both not pregnant anymore." Paige says.
"Who are you? Leo, what are you doing here?" Buffy says.
"It's me, your sister, Paige." Paige says.
Buffy shakes her head, "I don't have any sisters other than Piper."
"Look, if this is some lame attempt from the Elders to try and lure us back, you can forget it. Tell them to shove it because Buffy and I have no loyalties to them anymore, and I don't have any to you." Piper says.
"Hey! That's no way to speak to your husband." Paige says.
Leo sighs, "We're divorced. Have been for a while."
"Okay, what bizarre world have I sneezed my way into? You two are married and you're expecting, a magical child no less. Buffy you're pregnant also and you do have a sister, her name is Dawn. She was sent to you to protect. And both of you, are not La Femme Nikita. You're Charmed Ones. You don't mind kicking ass when you have to, but otherwise, you'd rather be hanging out with your sisters, and Piper you would be rather baking cookies or knitting booties."
Piper laughs and looks at Buffy who laughs also, "Knitting booties?" She looks back at Paige. "Clearly you don't know me at all."
"Oh, yeah? Well, how come I know you didn't really vanquish the Lazarus demon?" Paige asks.
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asks.
"As a breed, they resurrect. The only way to keep their remains down is to bury them in a cemetery." Paige says as Buffy and Piper starts to walk off. "Please, stay."
The pile of dust on the ground resurrects into the Lazarus Demon.
"Buffy! Piper!" Leo says as the Lazarus Demon picks up a long pipe and throws it at Piper. She ducks and Buffy throws a fireball dusting him again. "How did you know that was gonna happen?"
"Because we've fought him before in the real world." Paige says.
"What do you mean we?" Piper asks.
Paige sighs, "We. Me, you, Buffy, Phoebe. Your sisters. Oh, god, this is getting me nowhere. Just orb me to Phoebe."
Leo shakes his head, "I can't go to the manor anymore, it's forbidden."
"What? Fine, I'll do it myself. But when I fix this, you owe me." Paige says as she storms off.
Paige slips into the house and walks through the crowd, which is there for Cole's birthday, looking for Phoebe. She spots Cole with the Seer. She then sees Phoebe walk into the kitchen and follows. There is a chef and waitress in the kitchen.
Phoebe frowns, "Leave me."
The chef and waitress immediately leave. Phoebe goes over and pulls a cigarette and lighter out of a drawer. She lights it and takes a puff.
Paige walks in. "Phoebe." Phoebe quickly puts out the cigarette and coughs. She turns to Paige. "You don't recognize me. That's okay, Piper and Buffy didn't either."
Phoebe frowns, "Piper? Buffy? You know Piper and Buffy? How are they?"
Paige smiles, "They're, uh, different. Look, I don't have a lot of time so I'm just gonna drop this on you. I am your long lost sister Paige. I know, it sounds crazy but it's true. We're all sisters in the real world. Well except Buffy and Dawn who's actually our cousins. But we consider them sisters too."
Phoebe scoffs, "Guards!"
Paige frowns, "Look, I don't know how he did it, but Cole somehow switched realities in his twisted attempt to get you back. I somehow slipped through the cracks and landed here, I don't know how either. But I need your help in order to turn things back to the way they're supposed to be."
Darryl walks in. "You called?"
Paige smiles, "Darryl, hi."
Phoebe nods, "Get rid of her."
Darryl walks over to Paige and grabs her arm.
Paige frowns, "No, what are you doing?"
Phoebe smiles, "What bodyguards do."
Paige grabs a frying pan and hits Darryl over the head, knocking him out.
Phoebe picks up a knife and points it at Paige.
Paige sighs, "Phoebe, I know you better than you know yourself right now, in your heart of hearts, you know you are not meant to be with Cole. In this other life you are free of him and you're happy."
Darryl wakes up and grabs his gun.
Paige hears him and runs outside as Darryl fires.
Darryl follows.
Paige runs down the driveway with Darryl following. "Leo! Leo!" She trips and rolls down the driveway. Darryl points his gun. "Leo!"
Leo orbs in and Darryl recognizes him. Leo orbs out with Paige just as Darryl shoots.
Leo orbs to a cemetery with Paige.
"Thanks, that was cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Paige says.
"You're lucky I came at all." Leo says.
Paige shakes her head, "I'm lucky? You're lucky. Without me, we're all screwed. I'm the only one who can fix this thing."
"Oh, yeah?" Leo asks.
"Oh, god, it's just so weird. Cole living at the manor, all those demons we vanquished wandering around alive. Wait a second, if the demons are alive then that means all the innocents we saved are... dead." Paige says.
"Not just the innocents, Paige." Leo says.
"What are you talking about?" Paige says as she looks around. "What are we doing here?"
Leo turns to a grave marker. Paige looks down at it.
PAIGE MATTHEWS
BORN 1977 - DIED 1999
"After you left, I went and checked with the Elders. They confirmed your story that there was in fact another actual sister. Only they didn't know until it was too late, until after the Source had already had you killed." Leo says.
"This really sucks." Paige says.
Leo nods, "Well, it explains why none of us knew you. We never got a chance to meet you."
"So, what, you believe me now?" Paige asks.
Leo sighs, "I'm not sure what I believe. The fact is you're here and you're not supposed to be."
"Okay, so we've established the fact that I am here, how come I don't have my powers?" Paige says.
"Because you're not living your life anymore. You're living hers. You must have taken over our Paige's life in this reality, or at least, the life she would have lived had she not been killed. Since she never met her sisters or Buffy..."
Paige nods, "The Power of Three never got back together, and as a result the Power of Four and Five never existed. And I never got my powers. Lucky me."
"Luckier than you think maybe. If you hadn't sneezed when you did and orbed into the neutral plane, nobody would've ever known." Leo says.
"Cole would've. He's the one behind this. He altered reality to eliminate me and get Phoebe back. But it's not working. She hates him as much in this reality as she does in ours. The problem is she's trapped here." Paige says.
"Your reality sounds a lot better than this one. Not just for Phoebe. So, uh, how can I help you get it back?" Leo says.
"I need my sisters." Paige says.
"Well, maybe we can start with three and go from there." Piper says.
Paige turns to see Buffy and Piper approaching them.
"What are you two doing here?" Paige asks.
"Burying the Lazarus Demon. We figured if you were right about that, you were probably right about everything else as well." Buffy says.
Paige smiles.
Later at Buffy, Piper, Paige and Leo are at Payson's.
"So you say the club is still pretty successful in this alleged other reality of yours?" Buffy asks.
"Not alleged, it's real, and it's really good." Paige says.
"Oh, yeah? Am I a millionaire? Did I give money to Piper to open her restaurant?" Buffy asks.
Paige shakes her head, "No, not that good. Listen, if we wanna get this place back to how it used to be, we really oughta..."
"How is it that we don't know about you? That we had another sister?" Piper asks.
"Half-sister, apparently." Leo says. "And of course she would be another cousin, Buffy."
Buffy rolls her eyes, "And you know how I feel about Piper and Phoebe. It would have made sense that I would have considered Paige here a sister also."
"Anyways. Cliff notes version. Our mom," Paige says as she motions to herself and Piper, "had an affair with her Whitelighter Sam, but because the whole witch-Whitelighter rule thing, they had to give me up at birth. But when the Elders realized they needed me to remake the Charmed Ones, for the Power of Three. They needed you Buffy for the Power of Four and Dawn we believe is able to help us for a Power of Five. But we don't know that for certain as Dawn is still in training. Anyways they tossed out that stupid rule. Which as far as I'm concerned, paved the way for you, Piper, and Leo to be able to keep your baby."
"Well, how pregnant am I exactly?" Piper asks.
"Are we?" Buffy asks. "You said I was pregnant also."
Paige smiles, "Dawn, Phoebe and I are practicing to be your midwives as we speak. We're preparing for the big home birth."
Piper shakes her head, "Home birth? You're nuts. I'd never agree to that. I wouldn't give birth unless it was in..."
"A hospital. Yeah, yeah, you keep saying the same thing in any reality. Hey, who else but a sister would know that? You know out of both of you Buffy is the only one to want a home birth. Something about a fear of hospitals." Paige says.
Buffy nods, "I do have a fear of hospitals. We must be pretty close then, the four of us?" Paige nods. "Like Piper, Phoebe and I were with Prue."
"Yeah, close enough to have avenged Prue's death together." Paige says. "You even renamed the club, Buffy. To Payson's P5 in honor of all of us, Prue, Dawn and myself included."
Buffy nods, "That sounds like something I would have done."
"This Cole of yours must have cast a pretty powerful spell to do all of this. But if we vanquish him, the spell should automatically reverse itself." Piper says.
Paige nods, "Right, except for we already tried to vanquish him, he's become invincible in our world."
"Yes, but we're not in your world, you're in ours, so is he. So if you've assumed our Paige's life, he must've assumed Belthazor's." Leo says.
Paige nods, "Yeah, he would've."
"Did you guys try to vanquish Belthazor ever?" Buffy asks.
Paige shakes her head, "No, but you, Piper and Prue almost tried. You guys had a vanquishing potion, right?"
Piper nods, "How do you know that?"
"Book of Shadows, the families mainly. But I think there is an entry in Buffy's also. Also says that it needs a piece of his flesh to make it work."
Leo nods, "That's right, it did."
"Alright then." Buffy says as she pulls out a knife. "Let's go hunting."
Later at the Manor Piper turns a corner and stands in front of Cole. "What are you doing here?"
Piper smiles, "Saving my sister." She uses her power and sends him flying backward with a blast. He falls to the floor. "Now!"
Buffy flames in as Leo orbs in with Paige. Paige is holding Buffy's knife.
"You." Cole says.
"Surprise." Paige says as she quickly goes to Cole and slices a piece of flesh off his hand. He yells in pain. Paige moves back to Leo. Phoebe runs down the hallway.
"Piper, Buffy." Phoebe says as Cole gets up and an energy ball forms in his hand. "No!" She grabs Cole's arm and the energy ball disappears.
"Let's get out of here." Piper says.
Leo orbs out with Paige as Buffy flames out with Piper.
Back at Payson's they have gathered some things for the potion.
"Toadflax, toadflax. Did Leo get the toadflax?" Paige says as Piper hands her some toadflax. "Thank you. And we need a dash of cardamom, a pinch of carrot seeds... Hey, where's the mandrake root already?"
"I'm impressed, you really know this stuff." Piper says.
Paige smiles, "Of course I do, I learn from the best. I learn from you. And I'm helping Buffy teach Dawn."
"I'm teaching this Dawn? Who you say is my sister?" Buffy asks.
Paige sighs, "Yes. What we know is this there is a mystical Key. And this woman Glory who's looking for it. These monks had access to some old spells. They transformed the Key into Dawn and sent her to us as your sister for us to protect from Glory. Then they modified yours, mine, Piper, Phoebe's, and anyone elses memories that might have known she existed to think she had always been there. When we found out she used to be the Key we were all shocked. But we came to the realization that it didn't matter where Dawn came from or how she got here. We still loved her, she was our sister. Our baby sister."
"Wow." Buffy says. "So you like Prue, Piper and Phoebe consider me a sister and this Dawn as well?"
Paige nods, "Yes I do."
Leo orbs in. "Mandrake root."
"Alright, toss it in." Paige says as Leo puts the mandrake root in the pot. "Alright, now all we need... stand back."
Buffy, Piper and Leo take a step backward. Paige throws in the flesh and the potion explodes.
Piper smiles, "Good memory."
"Is that it? Is it ready?" Leo asks.
Paige nods, "Ready as it'll ever be. Can't guarantee it'll work though."
"Well, we're only gonna get once chance at it. Cole has to know why we needed his flesh. He'll be waiting." Buffy says.
"What about Phoebe?" Leo asks.
"We get her out first so that he can't hurt her." Paige says as she bottles the potion. "Ready, sisters?"
Back at the Manor in the dining room; Buffy, Piper, Paige and Leo pop their heads around the corner from the kitchen.
"Anything?" Paige asks.
Piper shakes her head, "No."
"Okay, come on." Paige says.
They walk into the hall.
Phoebe rushes down the stairs. "What are you guys doing here? You have to leave now."
"Pheebs, where's Cole?" Buffy asks.
Cole walks into the empty parlor. "Right here." He throws an energy ball across the room, hitting Buffy, Piper, Paige and Leo. It knocks them to the floor.
"No!" Phoebe says as she runs to their side. Cole flicks his fingers and the potion flies across the room and into his hand. "What did you do to them?"
"Exactly what they were gonna do to me." Cole says.
Paige reaches over to touch Piper and then Buffy's hands.
"They're still alive, grab Buffy's hand." Paige says.
"What?" Phoebe asks.
"I don't know how you got here, Paige. But if it's any consolation, I know exactly where I'm gonna bury you. Right next to yourself." Cole says.
"Grab her hand." Paige says.
Phoebe touches Buffy's hand and a light shines down on them. Cole throws an energy ball at them and it rebounds off the light. The light vanishes and Phoebe and Paige stand up.
"The Power of Three augmented." Phoebe says.
Paige smiles, "No, the Power of Four."
Phoebe looks to Paige and then at Buffy and her eyes go wide. Buffy's a Charmed One?
"Potion!" Paige says as the potion orbs into Paige's hand. "I do hate long goodbyes." She goes to throw the potion but Phoebe stops her.
"No!" Phoebe says as she takes the potion off of Paige.
"Phoebe, are you crazy? Throw it before he shimmers out." Paige says.
"She's not gonna throw it. Are you?" Cole says.
"Throw the potion." Paige says.
"We've been through so much together, haven't we? Our love's so strong, nothing can destroy it, not Even this. We're meant to be together." Cole says.
Phoebe shakes her head, "I don't think so." She throws the potion at Cole and he explodes and is vanquished.
Suddenly, the room starts spinning around.
The room stops spinning and Paige appears. She looks around. "Oh, please, god, tell me I'm back."
Piper walks in wearing her pajamas and holding a tub of ice-cream. "Oh, there you are. Where'd you orb to?"
"Piper. Are you pregnant?" Paige says.
Piper nods, "Yeah. Where you been?"
"Oh!" Paige says as she gives Piper a hug. "What about Buffy is she pregnant?"
Piper nods, "Yeah. Where have you been? What happened to your clothes?"
Paige smiles, "Time must have continued moving on in this reality too."
"I beg your pardon?" Piper asks.
"I'm back!" Paige says.
Phoebe walks in through the front door as Buffy and Dawn walk downstairs.
"Hey, what's going on?" Phoebe asks.
"She's very happy." Piper says.
Paige smiles, "Phoebe!" She gives Phoebe a big hug.
"Hi. Oh, oh, okay." Phoebe says.
Paige smiles, "Buffy!" She gives Buffy a big hug. "Dawnie!" She gives Dawn an extra big hug."
"What's with the hugging?" Dawn asks.
Paige smiles, "I'm just so happy to be home, that's all."
"You wanted to move out." Buffy says.
"I did? God, no, never. Well, you know maybe when I'm married or pregnant or hopefully both at the same time. We're sisters, all of us… Buffy and Dawn included, and we shouldn't split up until we absolutely have to. You know that, right?" Paige says.
Piper shakes her head, "She's rambling."
"I hear that." Phoebe says.
Paige sneezes and orbs out and back in.
"I'm still here, right?" Paige asks.
Dawn nods, "Mm-hm."
"I didn't go anywhere?" Paige asks.
Buffy shakes her head, "Nope."
Paige breathes a sigh of relief.
"Paige... What did you do?" Phoebe asks.
Moments later after telling Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Buffy and Dawn what happened they orb and flame to Cole's apartment.
"Cole?" Phoebe asks.
"I'm telling you, he's gone for good." Paige says.
"Yeah, that's what we thought last time." Phoebe says.
"And the time before that." Piper says.
"And the time before that." Buffy says.
"This time is different. He straddled two worlds just like I did, but he wasn't invincible there. Cole's not coming back, ever." Paige says.
Dawn shakes her head, "Is it just me or does it seem far too easy?"
Piper shakes her head, "Not just you Dawnie. It does seem far too easy. I don't know how I feel about that."
"I think you should feel good about it, you know? We don't have to look over our shoulders anymore. It's over." Paige says.
Phoebe picks up a photo of her and Cole. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."
Piper nods, "Let's go."
Phoebe places the photo on a side table and looks back into the apartment. She smiles slightly and joins her sisters.
"Happy birthday, Cole." Paige says as she orbs out with Piper and Phoebe as Buffy flames out with Dawn.