"The Warren Curse" by Aurora & Es (Complete)

[Esmeralda]

AUTHORS’ NOTE: As many of you know, during the summer between Season 7 & Season 8, The Charmed Café ran a contest. The entrant was supposed to write a script for a show for Season Eight. One of us, Aurora Nightstar, decided to enter this contest and decided to base her entry on her original story "The Family Curse" She had to make quite a few changes to make it fit Season 8, including taking out her original character, Paris, and replacing her with Billie and also adding Dex to the bunch as Phoebe's current slampiece, and I, Es, had the fun of helping her out.

Halfway through the process, we found out that certain characters were not allowed in the contest. Aurora did a fantastic job of adapting her script to those rules, actually winning the contest, while I continued playing with our original idea, featuring the characters not allowed in the contest. Her award-winning version is posted here as "The Family Curse--Season 8 February Sweeps" and mine is posted as "The Family Curse--A Virtual Series Finale"

We’ve decided to combine both of these ideas and change them from scripts into prose, including taking out Billie from hers, and the sisters' fourth cousin Rori from mine, allowing Paige a bigger part in the proceedings.

Aurora agreed to let me post it here. We hope those who have read one of the scripts will enjoy the extra pieces brought in from the others. We hope those who have read both will like how we combined them and will like the extra surprises we saved for this version! We hope those who haven't read either version will like this enough that they go back and read the other version! Whatever, we hope you enjoy it!

We are very proud to present:


THE WARREN CURSE

By Aurora Nightstar and Esmeralda


DISCLAIMER:

We own nothing Charmed. Nicole and Andrea are Aurora’s original characters. Patsy is Es' original character. The others are all property of Aaron Spelling Productions and the WB. Based on fictional scripts written during the summer between Season 7 and Season 8, this *totally* ignores all of the events of Season 8, including Billie, Christy, Dex, Henry and Coop. Leo, although still mortal, is still with Piper. Neither Phoebe nor Paige has found her dream guy.

PROLOGUE

“Where does he get all these freaks?” Phoebe exclaimed, as she grabbed the remote away from Paige and pounded the off-button. “Can you believe that woman rambling on and on about how her whole family was cursed? Curses don’t really work like that!”

Her younger sister shrugged. “Actually sometimes they do.” At Phoebe’s stare, Paige continued, “I remember reading about them in the Book of Shadows when I was trying to find out what was wrong with Richard‘s family. A curse can be about anything. Money, love, anything.”

Phoebe looked at her as if she was nuts. “How the hell could a love curse affect the entire family? If you couldn’t succeed in love, there would be no children, and that would be the end of the curse.”

That made Paige laugh. “Right, and sex is always about love.”

She smirked when Phoebe sheepishly admitted, “Well, no, not always!”

“According to the Book," Paige continued, “a love curse almost has a mind of its own. It will let you succeed in love just long enough to produce an heir to the curse. After that you can go through marriage after marriage…”

That made Phoebe laugh. “Yeah. Like Grams. After she had Mom, our grandfather died and Grams ended up getting married at least three more times.” She rolled her eyes. "That we know of."

“That’s true,“ Paige agreed. “But we can’t be cursed. After all, if it were an actual curse, wouldn’t it be more than just her? I mean, wouldn’t our entire family be filled with love gone wrong? Bad marriages, betrayal, even death?"

Phoebe stared at her in shock. “But that is our whole family!”

Paige shook her head. “Nah, our family isn’t cursed. Just look at Leo and Piper! They‘re made for each other!”

No sooner were the words out of her mouth, than they heard a scream coming from upstairs.

“Demon!” screamed Phoebe.

“C’mon!” cried Paige, as she grabbed Phoebe’s hand and orbed them to Piper and Leo’s room. There they found a shocking sight. A devastated Piper stared at Leo and Wyatt, who were standing behind Wyatt’s protective blue shield, while Wyatt glared at his mother!

[Esmeralda]

Just a few minutes before Paige and Phoebe orbed in, Piper and Leo were in the midst of an argument.

“Leo,” Piper demanded. “Do you ever think before you open your mouth?”

Leo shrugged. “I was just making small talk.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Well, make small talk about our anniversary, our kids, not about your experiences back in World War II!”

Again Leo shrugged. “They don’t know which war I meant.”

And again Piper rolled her eyes, getting angrier with frustration. “Oh, right! Like mentioning that Germans usually respected the Red Cross badge isn’t a sure tip-off!”

Now Leo threw up his hands in frustration, “Fine. Next time I won’t say anything at all. With all the weirdness in our lives, you should know better then to invite the neighbors over, anyway.”

Piper glared. “Well, excuse me for trying to have a normal life!”

Just then Wyatt, who was sitting on the floor, playing with some toys, began to get fussy, so Leo walked towards their son, totally infuriating Piper. “Don’t you dare walk out on me in the middle of an argument, Leo Wyatt!” she screeched.

Leo picked up their son, then turned back towards Piper, meeting her glare with one of his own. “I’m not. I’m just taking care of Wyatt.”

“You leave him and Chris out of it!”

Leo warned, “Piper, you have to calm down.”

That was the last straw. Piper flicked her hands as she gritted out, “I...am...calm!”

To her horror, Wyatt blew up into a million orbs, just like Leo had many times during their arguments before Leo became mortal--became mortal for her. Only this time, Wyatt took his dad’s mortal hand with him! Leo screamed in pain, while Piper gasped, “Oh, God, no! Oh, Leo, I am so sorry! I didn‘t mean to do that!”

Just then Wyatt orbed back in, still holding his dad’s hand. Seeing Leo’s grimace, Wyatt put Leo’s hand next to his wrist, and concentrating, his little hands glowed golden, restoring Leo’s hand.

Piper, tears still rolling down her cheeks, reached for Wyatt, “Oh, baby, you’re wonderful!” as she took a few steps towards her son, who immediately threw up his blue shield, protecting him and his father from his mother. Piper stared at him, totally devastated.

That was when Phoebe and Paige orbed in. Now Leo glared at his wife. “You need a serious time-out!”

Paige couldn’t help laughing, “Okay, so maybe I’m wrong and maybe we really are cursed.”

"What?" cried both Leo and Piper at the same time.

“No!” cried Phoebe. “We can’t be.”

Paige looked at her. “Remember what you told me last year? Right before Leo became mortal? ‘Maybe it's time we face the fact that, you know, perhaps we're not meant to find love.’ I told you that was ridiculous, and you said--”

Phoebe interrupted her, now remembering. “I said, ‘Okay, think about it. How many Halliwell women have actually been able to hold onto their men?’ ”

“You were right," Piper nodded, remembering what she had told her parents on the day of her wedding-that-almost-wasn’t: “The Halliwells -- we are blessed as witches and we are cursed as women. Sometimes I think we're all destined to end up alone.”

“No,” Leo insisted. “That will never happen, Piper! I’ll never leave you. No matter what you do! Wyatt, it‘s okay. Mommy won‘t hurt Daddy any more,” and Wyatt lowered his shield.

“Yeah,” Piper muttered “But what about the Elders always trying to separate us? How long can we keep fighting them?”

“And what about me?” Phoebe had to put in. "I still haven't found my daughter's father!"

"And Glen married Jesse," Paige added. "And Richard didn't work out and Kyle died."

“Well, remember what Grams told me during the day of Wyatt’s wiccaning?" Phoebe asked.

"About what?" Piper wanted to know.

"I asked her if we're supposed to give up on trying to find love just because we might get hurt?” Phoebe reminded them.

Paige nodded. “She told you that you will get hurt. That's part of our legacy, too, unfortunately.”

“And Chris,” Piper added. “He and Bianca didn’t make it.”

“Neither did Prue and Andy,“ Phoebe reminded them. “Or Mom and Dad! In fact, it goes all the way back to Melinda Warren--her and that Matthew guy didn’t make it either. And that daughter Prudence of hers had to have had a father. Maybe it goes back even farther, for all we know.”

Piper shook her head in surprise. “I never realized it before, but there’s no doubt about it. We're cursed! And you know something? I think I remember seeing something about how to get rid of such a curse in the Book!”

"No!" cried Paige, shaking her head. "There can't be!"

“Only one way to find out, ” cried Phoebe, leading the way towards the attic. "Let's go!"

[Esmeralda]

As Phoebe and Piper began flipping through the Book of Shadows, Paige shook her head. “I’m telling you, there is nothing like that in the Book. I have been through the whole thing from cover to cover. I would’ve seen it when I was looking for a way to help Richard and his family! And remember, I once even had everything color-coded.”

Piper rolled her eyes at her youngest sister. “Yeah, I remember you defacing the Book!”

Paige rolled her eyes right back. “I did not! And the point is, it isn’t in there.”

“Oh, yeah?” Phoebe asked, grinning at Piper. Paige and Leo, still holding Wyatt, ran over to the Book. Phoebe smirked at Paige. “You were saying?”

Paige stared at the page. “How did that get in there?”

“Mom!” cried Phoebe.

Piper shook her head. “Doesn’t look like Mom’s handwriting. Doesn’t look like Grams' either.”

“Who cares who wrote it?” Phoebe demanded. “It's here!” and she began to read from the Book: “The practitioner Ruth Cobb cursed Melinda Warren and her entire line on Melinda's 16th birthday. The Warren Curse, as it became known, prevented Melinda and all of her descendants from ever being able to hold on to true love. The Warren Curse started with her and will end only with the last of the Warren line.”

“Oh, no!” cried Piper, reaching for Leo’s hand.

“There’s a chance to reverse the Warren Curse,“ cried Paige, reading over Phoebe’s shoulder. “There’s a spell in here, but it can only be cast by the Charmed Ones!“

“What are we waiting for?“ Piper asked, squeezing Leo’s hand, the one she had blown off. “Let's cast it!”

Phoebe, who hadn’t stopped reading, shook her head. “Can’t. It requires a potion made from blood of the one who originally cast it. We can’t do that. Ruth was burned at the stake a few centuries ago!”

“You didn’t read far enough,“ cried Paige, still reading over Phoebe’s shoulder. “Wow! Whoever put this here really thought it through. There is even a spell to go back in time! We even get to keep our powers! Like what happened to Chris when he came back! And look, there's a symbol down at the bottom of the page--B & C inside a heart --I’ve been trying to figure out what it stands for.”

“Who cares?” Phoebe repeated. “Let’s just go!”

Piper turned to Leo. “Chris should be walking up from his nap soon, and Wyatt--”

Leo nodded, hugging Wyatt. “Don’t worry about me and the boys; we’ll be fine. Just remember. Don’t change anything. Just get the blood you need for the potion and hurry right back, okay?”

Piper rolled her eyes; she’d heard all of this one time too many. “Yeah, yeah, we got it. We know what we’re doing. It‘s not like we haven‘t time-traveled before!”

“Just be careful!” he insisted.

“We will!” Piper insisted right back. “Stop worrying!”

“Piper!!”

Piper shrugged. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Leo shrugged, fear in his eyes. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

[Esmeralda]

While Leo and Piper argued, Phoebe and Paige finished using chalk to draw a large triquetra on the wall and now backed away.

“Ready?” Piper asked her sisters. They nodded, so all three began to chant:

“Now turn back the hours
But let us keep our powers
Take us back to Richmond soon
In October, 1624, just before noon.”

And instantly, the triquetra transformed into a portal. First turning to look at Leo and say, “Don’t worry!” Piper led her sisters through the portal.

Immediately they found themselves in the woods outside of the square next to Ruth’s house, 15 years after Melinda Warren was born, a year before Ruth would cast the Warren Curse. The sisters walked to the edge of the woods, where they could see people gathering and preparing for a bazaar.

Phoebe gasped, then pulled the other three back deeper into the woods. She spread her arms. “Uh, guys, aren’t we going to be a bit conspicuous?”

Piper moaned. “Oh, no! We forgot to change into 17th century clothes first! Man, I hate time travel!”

Phoebe grinned. “Well, at least we have our powers this time, thanks to that spell!”

“Yeah,” Paige grinned back. “Watch this!” and as she passed her hand in front of herself, she glamoured into a 17th century woman. Her sexy outfit turned into one prim and demur, totally covering her. Even her hairstyle now fit the times.

Piper nodded. “Well, since you’re dressed properly and Ruth has never seen you, why don’t you go wander around and see if you can hear anything about where she is?”

Paige eagerly agreed, so Piper and Phoebe watched as Paige wandered into the square, roaming around, listening carefully, but she never even heard the name “Ruth” mentioned. Suddenly a man holding a bucket accidentally bumped into her, tipping his bucket and spilling scalding hot water, making Paige scream. But before it could burn the youngest Charmed One, she automatically panic-orbed, reappearing in a flurry of orbs a few feet away.

The man pointed at Paige, screaming, “WITCH!“

Paige hopped to her feet and started running towards the woods and her sisters, but suddenly a bunch of burly men appeared and began chasing her towards Ruth’s house.

“PAIGE!” Their baby sister’s scream had brought Piper and Phoebe running. Just as they came a few feet from their sister, a couple of the burly men grabbed Paige. She tried to orb, but had no success, so Piper flung out her arms, intending to freeze Paige’s captors. But her powers also had no effect.

“The talismans!“ she screamed at Phoebe, pointing at the silver talismans hanging in the tree. “They’re negating our powers!“

“That’s right," smirked a voice that sent shivers up and down Piper and Phoebe’s spines. Ruth, looking as mean and angry as ever, stepped out from the crowd of burly men. Pointing an accusing finger at Piper and Phoebe, she screeched out, “Witches! Grab them!”

The men grabbed Phoebe and Piper. Piper struggled, but had no success without her powers. Not Phoebe. Her knee connected with one guy’s nuts, while her elbow smashed into the other captor’s stomach. While the first one screamed and the second one bent over in agony, Phoebe began to run for the woods.

“Get her!” she heard Ruth scream. “Get her!”

Now, to Phoebe’s horror, she could hear horses galloping behind her. Entering the woods, she hid behind a tree, gasping for breath. Winging it, she began to chant:

“Make them see what isn't there,
Bring their deepest fears to bear.”

To her surprise, it actually worked! The horses, thinking there was a pack of blood-thirsty wolves after them, rose up to back legs only, throwing off their riders, before bolting. The men slowly got up, but then they could also see the wolves, so they also fled.

Phoebe sighed with relief, but she knew she wasn’t out of the woods yet, both figuratively and literally. Those witch-hunters had her sisters! She wondered what they’d do to them, remembering that last time they hung her and her sisters! But when she sneaked to the edge of the woods, she gasped. A couple of the witch-hunters were tying Piper and Paige to a couple of stakes just a few feet from her, while more witch-hunters heaped green wood beneath their feet!

Phoebe screamed in terror. “NO!”

[Esmeralda]

In horror, Phoebe wanted to run and save her sisters, but she stopped herself, knowing that she’d have to think it through, like she did with the horses. Getting herself captured wouldn’t help her sisters. Suddenly it hit her--that spell Paige had used on Darryl! How did it go?

“Burn the witches!” screeched Ruth. “Burn them!”

“Oh, no!” Phoebe gasped as she spot two men carrying burning torches, heading towards the stakes. But then she snapped her fingers in triumph as she began to chant:

“Bless me with powers from my destiny,
Bless me with invincibility.”

Even as she chanted, the two men lit the wood, the green wood making the fire burn hotter and longer, so soon smoke and flames leaped high. Piper and Paige began to scream in terror.

Phoebe ran towards the stake and was quickly surrounded by the burly witch-hunters, but she casually brushed them aside. Another witch-hunter drew a sword and charged Phoebe. He swung down on her arm, but the sword shattered!

Phoebe grinned at the guy. “They just don’t make those things like they used to.”

The man grew white as a ghost. “How in the hell? Demons!” and screaming, he turned and ran away.

“You’re far enough away from the talismans!” Phoebe yelled at her sisters, as she back-kicked another witch-hunter. “Paige, orb out! Piper, freeze them!”

Paige orbed away from the flames, but she was still tied up.

Piper screamed, “I can’t, my hands are tied!”

Phoebe sighed. “Do I have to do everything myself?” and running to Piper, she walked into the flames and ripped the ropes right off Piper! “Now freeze ‘em!”

So Piper threw out her hands, freezing all the burly men while Phoebe ripped the ropes off Paige.

“Grab them!” screeched Ruth, who wasn’t close enough to be frozen. “Kill them!”

Looking at the frozen witch-hunters, the Charmed Ones had to laugh. Paige winked at her sisters, then orbed behind Ruth, whispering in her ear, “Going somewhere?”

“PAIGE!” Piper suddenly screamed. “LOOK OUT!” A man on a horse was racing towards Paige, his sword drawn, and they were still too far away for Piper to freeze them!

So Paige panic-orbed again. Unable to stop his momentum, the man on the horse swung through the orbs, stabbing Ruth in the back, before riding off in horror at what he‘d just done. Ruth screeched as she fell to the ground, dying. Paige first grinned at her sisters, then reached down and ripped part of Ruth’s blood-stained clothes, then orbed back to them.

“Run before those witch-hunters unfreeze!” screamed Piper, as she ran towards the woods, her sisters right behind her. Not certain where they were going, they kept running until they came into a clearing. In the middle stood a stone Wiccan altar.

Phoebe stopped, grinning at Piper. “Talk about your déjà vu!” and Piper grinned back.

Paige, not getting it, just shrugged and held up the bloody cloth. “I got the blood! Let’s go back and make that potion and cast that spell!”

Phoebe rolled her eyes. “Good idea, but one problem. How do we get back? If that spell said anything about going back, I don’t remember it.”

“Neither do I,” Piper agreed. “I guess I just thought we’d automatically go back, like we did the last time we were back here.”

“Me, too,” Phoebe admitted. “But I guess not.”

“Think the spell that Mom and Grams used to send us home from the seventies should work?” Piper asked.

Phoebe shrugged. “Sure, but we’ll probably need the Power of Three.”

“Well, say it once,” Paige suggested. “I’ll catch on.”

“Hold hands,” Piper instructed, “so we all go together.”

The others nodded and held hands, then Piper and Phoebe began to chant:

“A time for everything
And everything in its place.
Return what has been moved
Through time and space.”

Paige nodded and joined the chant. After they had said it three times, the Charmed Ones sparkled out, becoming three sparks of bright white light. But when they took off, only two took off--the other one fizzled into nothing.

[Esmeralda]

The next thing two of the Charmed Ones knew, they were standing in the attic of Halliwell Manor. “Piper!“ screamed Phoebe, looking around. “Where’s Paige?”

Piper also looked around. “I don’t know. Oh, my God!”

“Piper, what is it?” Phoebe cried, unable to think of anything worse than their sister missing.

“Paige isn’t the only thing missing! Look!” and she pointed towards the empty pedestal.

“Oh, my God!” Phoebe gasped. “Where’s the Book of Shadows? What’s going on around here?”

“I don’t know,” Piper admitted. “But we better go find out.”

Phoebe nodded, so the two headed downstairs. But when they reached the hallway between their rooms, Piper stopped. “I really want to change my clothes. And Leo's in there. I want to let him know we're back and check on the boys.”

Phoebe nodded. “Yeah, your clothes do smell kinda smoky. I wonder if we broke the Warren Curse. I’m gonna go check my room, see if I can tell.”

Piper agreed, so both girls went into their rooms. Phoebe’s room looked the same to her, but as she looked around, she noticed some differences--signs of a man‘s presence--a man’s clothes on the floor, his shoes under the bed, a briefcase on a chair. Each time she saw one of these signs, she “oohed” in delight, until she happened to notice her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a total mess! She shook her head in disgust, as she picked up a brush and began brushing her hair.

Suddenly she could hear the sounds of shimming behind her. Screaming out the word, “DEMON!“ she spun around and karate-kicked as hard as she could. Her foot connected with a shirt and then the shirt went flying.

“Sorry, didn‘t mean to startle you.” laughed the intruder.

Phoebe stared in absolute shock. COLE TURNER was sitting on the floor in the midst of the roses he‘d been holding! “Get out!” she screamed, still in her karate pose. “I don’t know how you managed to come back from Hell, but I’ll vanquish you a million times if I have to!”

Cole stared at her up at her, hurt and shock on his face and in his voice. “What’s wrong? I love you! You love me!”

Phoebe couldn’t believe it! Completely losing it, she screamed, “Love you? I hate you! You’re evil and you’ll always be evil! You’ll never fool me again! No matter what you do, get it through your head that I will never get back with you! I’d rather die! Now leave! Now!”

And Cole, a tear in his eyes and pain on his face, shimmered out.

Phoebe spun back towards her mirror, shouting, “What is going on around here?” That was when she spotted the framed picture. Screaming, she grabbed it and ran out in the hallway, screaming for Piper, who was running out of her own room, holding her own picture, screaming for Phoebe.

“Piper, look!” cried Phoebe, showing her the picture. “According to this, I’m still married to Cole! How could that possibly happen?”

“Well, look at this!” retorted Piper, showing her own picture. “According to this, I’m married to Dan!”

“WHAT?” screeched Phoebe in total shock.

Piper nodded. “That was him in there, not Leo. He started kissing me, but I pushed him away. He wasn’t happy about that, so we started yelling and soon he just walked out. I heard the front door slam just as I found this on the dresser.”

Phoebe couldn’t help giggling. “At least you didn’t karate-kick him!” and Piper had to ruefully smile. Again Phoebe cried out, “What is going on around here?”

Piper shrugged. “I don’t know. But I hear voices downstairs. Maybe Paige got here first, orbed to Leo and they’ve figured it out.”

Phoebe nodded, so the two finished their way down the steps and headed towards the kitchen, where they could hear the voices. But when they reached the doorway between the conservatory and the kitchen, they stopped and stared in shock, unable to believe their eyes.

[Esmeralda]

Patty Halliwell, the sisters' long-dead mother, was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper and sipping coffee. But she was no ghost, not even a corporeal one, as she had been for Piper's wedding. Rather than close to the same age, she looked about 20 years older than the Charmed Ones, with a silver streak in her much-shorter hair.

“MOM!” Both sisters screamed ecstatically as they ran to Patty and hugged her tight.

She laughed, “Well, good morning to you two, too! What brought this on?”

“We’re just so glad to see you!” exclaimed Piper.

A laugh came from close by. “Well, it’s not like you didn’t just see her yesterday.”

Turning, the sisters saw their father standing at the stove, making French toast. To their shock and joy, they could see a gold ring on Victor’s left hand. When they checked, they saw a matching one on Patty’s hand.

“It worked!” Phoebe whispered to Piper, totally forgetting what they'd seen upstairs. “We broke the Warren Curse!” and she ran to Victor, hugging him tight. “Good to see you again, too, Daddy!”

“Mommy?”

At this new high voice, the two sisters looked down to see a small girl, about three, with long coal-black hair and big dark eyes, sitting on the floor, playing with a kitten. Piper smiled, ecstatic. Somehow she not only had her sons, but she also had the daughter she had seen in that future and who she thought was forever lost! “Melinda, sweetie,” she called, “Come here!

But as the little girl got up and began toddling towards Piper, taking the kitten with her, Victor asked, “Melinda? Who’s Melinda?”

The little girl grinned. “You finally named her!!” She pet the kitten a few times, then hugged it tight, making the kitten mew in protest. “I love you, Melinda!” and she passed the kitten off to Piper.

Piper let out a nervous laugh, wondering what to do with a kitten, while the little girl began toddling towards Phoebe, her arms out-stretched. “Mommy!!”

“Mommy?” gasped Phoebe, staring at the girl. “Me?”

Victor rolled his eyes. “Quit kidding around, Phoebe. Come on, you must recognize your own daughter!”

And Phoebe grinned at her parents, a wide grin showing her wisdom teeth. “Oh, of course,” before turning to Piper. The grin faded as she muttered, “Let’s talk! Now!!”

Piper nodded. “We’ll be right back,” she called to her parents, as she put the kitten on the floor.

Victor and Patty exchanged concerned glances, but nodded, as their daughters walked out of the kitchen, through the conservatory and into the foyer.

Phoebe threw up her arms. “Great. I have a daughter. The daughter I always wanted and now I don’t even know her name or who her father is.”

“Well, logically it would be Cole,” Piper pointed out. “That’s who you saw in your wedding picture.

“COLE!” screeched Phoebe. “No way!”

Piper shrugged. “Well, let’s get some answers. Go meet your daughter. I’m going to try to find Leo or Paige or the boys.”

Phoebe smiled happily, before turning to return to the kitchen. There she sat down and began playing with the little girl and “Melinda”, still not sure what to call her daughter and not sure how to ask. So she asked the other question that was burning in her mind. “Mom, Dad, where’s the Book of Shadows? It’s not in the attic.”

Victor and Patty exchanged looks and with a resigned sigh, Patty replied, “The Source has it now. Don’t you remember?”

Phoebe shrugged. “Then we’ll just steal it back.”

Victor looked at her in confusion. “How can you do that without the Power of Three?”

Phoebe was just as confused. “We have the Power of Three.”

Patty shook her head. “No, you haven’t, honey. Not since the Source had Prue killed and almost killed Piper!”

Phoebe was more confused than ever. “What about Paige? Where is she anyway?”

“Who?” Patty asked.

“You know, Paige, our half-sister.”

"Half-sister?" That infuriated Victor. “How the hell could you have a half-sister?”

Phoebe shrugged as she stated, “From when Mom had her affair with Sam.”

“What?!” Victor screamed in horror.

Patty firmly shook her head. “No, I did not have an affair. Not with Sam. Not with anyone. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I love your father much too much, and he loves me,” and she stood up and walked over to Victor, putting her arms around him and began hugging him. He turned in her arm and they began to kiss, deep kissed.

Phoebe ducked her head--she had never seen her parents acting like this before. Just then she heard the sound of shimmering and soon there were arms around her. “They give you any ideas?“ Cole asked amorously. “I know you were kidding earlier.”

Phoebe gasped in horror, then spun away from Cole, screaming, “Can’t you take a hint? Don’t touch me!”

“Phoebe!” cried Victor.

“Phoebe!” cried Cole. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Now Phoebe was fully pissed. “Nothing! I just don’t want to be with you anymore!”

Shocked, deeply hurt, Cole stared. “What? You don’t mean that.”

But Phoebe was very insistent, still very pissed. “Don’t come near me!” as she reached for the counter and picked up a steak knife.

“Phoebe!” commanded a shocked Patty. “Put that thing down before you hurt someone!” so Phoebe put the knife back on the counter.

“You can’t fool me,“ Phoebe gritted between her teeth, still glaring at her ex-husband. “I know you’re evil and you’ll keep trying to kill us!“

At that Victor stepped protectively between Cole and his wife, daughter and granddaughter, glaring at Cole, who put up his hands in mock surrender.

Patty was totally confused. “When was this?”

Cole put his hands down and very sarcastically replied, “Oh, probably the same time as your affair with Sam.”

Phoebe screamed in frustration, reached out, grabbed the frying pan Victor was using to make the French toast and threw it at Cole, screaming, “GET OUT!”

------------------------------

Meanwhile Piper had wandered around the Manor, but saw no sign of Paige, no sign of Leo, no sign of their sons. Worried, scared, she‘d just returned to the foyer when she heard Phoebe‘s scream and the loud crash.

Before she could say a word, “Melinda” the kitten raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs, closely followed by Phoebe’s little girl. Soon the little girl’s mother stormed out. “We have officially entered the Twilight Zone!”

[Esmeralda]

Just then Victor marched out. “What the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded, glaring at Phoebe.

“What happened?” Piper asked, but before Phoebe could answer, the front door opened and a young girl, about eight years old, stepped through the door. Her hair was long and a deep chocolate-brown, her eyes deep electric-blue, her cheekbones high and sharp. She was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt.

“Cole came back, “ Phoebe screeched, “and I kicked him out,” at the same time, Victor exclaimed, “She kicked him out! What has gotten into you, young lady?

The girl stared in shock. “You, what? What did I miss?”

“We better get a vanquishing potion ready in case he comes back.” Piper told Phoebe, and she nodded.

“Vanquishing potion?” asked Victor. “What for?”

Phoebe gritted her teeth. “My very soon-to-be ex-husband.”

“What?” cried Patty, as she walked into the room. “You two are getting a divorce? What happened? I didn’t know you two were having problems.”

Phoebe shrugged. “Cole just isn’t the right guy for me. We’ve been through too much. We’ll never be able to stay together.”

Her parents exchanged looks, while the girl looked confused, too. “What happened to ‘I could not have gotten a better husband’?” Victor asked.

“And ‘Cole and I were made for each other’,” Patty put in.

“And ‘I could l never love anyone so much as Cole’,” added the girl.

Phoebe shrugged. “I was naive back then.”

“Yesterday?” Victor asked.

The girl rolled her eyes. “I think a spell went wrong. Again.”

Patty reached out and stuck the pin she'd found in the kitchen into Phoebe’s arm. Phoebe yipped as she began sucking blood. “What did you do that for, Mom?“

“Well, at least you’re not possessed.” she explained.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” stuck in the girl.

Now Phoebe was becoming very worried, “Yeah, I think a spell affected my memory. Like I can’t for the life of me remember your name.”

“Andrea!” cried the girl, hurt in her voice. She turned to Piper. “Did you remember my name?”

Piper shook her head. “No, sorry, sweetie, I didn’t.”

Again her parents exchanged looks. “Well, obviously something has happened. Come on! Let's see if we can refresh those memories,” and they led the girls into the living room.

Patty reached into the bookshelf and brought back two albums, lying one on Phoebe’s lap and one on Piper’s. “Your wedding photo albums,“ she told them.

Andrea flopped down next to Phoebe. “Yeah, I got to be your flower girl! Certainly you remember that!”

Patty laughed. “How could you forget her trying to talk you guys into eloping just so she could get out of wearing a dress! See that first picture, Phoebe? It’s the only one we managed to get of you and Cole where you were not lip-locked. I’m sure you remember that, Piper?”

"Well," Piper started.

“I sure do!” laughed Andrea. “It was even mushier than your wedding!”

Victor also laughed. “You and Dan even joked about getting out a hose!”

Piper stared at them. “So Dan and I are really married?“

“Oh, not you, too!” muttered Andrea.

“Of course you’re married!” cried Victor “What is it with you girls?”

Piper winked at Phoebe. “See, I accidentally read a spell in the Book of Shadows, and something must've gone wrong. I think it warped both Phoebe's and my memory.” while Phoebe shook her head, trying to warn her.

Andrea stared at the two sisters in shock, while Victor and Patty exchanged weird glances.

“You got the Book of Shadows back?” Andrea asked. “How? When?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Piper remembered. “It’s gone.”

“Of course it’s gone!” cried Patty. “It’s been gone for four years!”

[Esmeralda]

“Four years!” screamed Phoebe.

Victor sighed. “I guess you don’t remember that either. The Source stole it after…”

Andrea’s blue eyes grew misty. “After they killed Mom.”

“Mom?” Phoebe stared at her in shock, as she finally recognized those blue eyes. “Prue was your Mom?”

Patty couldn’t believe it. “Don't tell me you don't remember that!”

“No, we don't,” Piper admitted. “But if the Source has the Book, why don’t we just steal it back?” while Phoebe again made motions, trying to get her to stop.

“Phoebe’s right,“ Victor insisted. “Just let it go, Both of you know you can't do that without the Power of Three!”

“And you haven‘t had it since Shax…” and Andrea’s head fell as she looked at the floor.

Piper walked over to her niece and began massaging her back. “It's okay, sweetie.”

Andrea looked up gratefully. “At least Shax didn’t kill you, too, Aunt Piper!”

Victor was staring at his daughters in confusion. “Well, whatever spell you're under, it must have really done a number on..”

Piper interrupted. “Phoebs, I think we changed more then we were supposed to.”

Patty gave her a weird look. “Strange spell if it made you forget things that happened and remembered things that didn't“

Piper nodded. “Yeah, it was a strange spell, all right.”

“Are you sure, Piper?” Phoebe asked.

“I don’t know,” Piper admitted, before turning to her parents and niece. “How many times was Grams married?”

“Four times!” cried Phoebe, while Piper rolled her eyes at her.

“No,” insisted Victor. “Just twice-- let’s not exaggerate!”

“What year did Melinda Warren die?” Piper next asked.

Patty shrugged. “I would have to check the family tree..”

“1712!” Andrea exclaimed.

Piper turned to her niece. “How did you..”

“Don’t you remember?” Andrea asked. “I recently did our family tree for a school project.”

“Do you happen to have it still laying around?” Piper asked, hoping it would help to shed some light on the subject.

Andrea grinned. “Sure,” and she ran off to get it.

[Esmeralda]

Patty stood up. “While you guys check on that, I’m going to go check on your daughter, Phoebe, since you seemed to have forgotten her, too.”

Phoebe looked a bit sheepish, but nodded. “Thanks, Mom.”

Soon the others had the family tree spread out on the dining room table.

“Okay,” Piper was saying, “so Prue married Andy right after college and,” she smiled at Andrea, “then they had a beautiful little girl,” and she patted her niece on the back.

“Yeah,” declared Andrea, “one who can kick some serious as.. “ At her grandfather’s stern look, she corrected herself, “butt! By the way, Aunt Phoebe, when is the next karate lesson?”

Phoebe wasn‘t listening. She was staring at the family tree. “1956? She died in 1956? I thought it was 1924!” and she pointed at an entry: P RUSSEL 1899-1956

“Yeah,” said Andrea. “Great-Great-Great Aunt Pamela is one of my favorite ancestors. She died helping some orphans escape a burning building.”

“Are you sure she wasn’t the one who started the fire?” Piper sarcastically asked.

“Hey!” and Phoebe put her hands on her hips and glared at Piper, insulted.

Andrea answered Piper. “Positive,” and she pulled out a very aged newspaper article from the back of the family tree.

Phoebe began reading it, then grinned. “I died a hero! I mean she did.”

Piper rolled her eyes at Phoebe, then told her, “Check the more recent entries--like your own.”

“Yeah, I glanced at that, but I didn‘t want to read it.”

Andrea rolled her eyes at her aunt. “You and Cole got married in 2002 and had Nicole in 2003. You named her after her dad like Mom named me after mine.”

At the sound of her name, Nicole shimmered in. She climbed up into Phoebe’s lap and cuddled up next to her, murmuring, “Mommy!!” Phoebe stared at her, first in shock, then in love as she began to cuddle her back. She looked at Piper, still finding it hard to believe. “Mine and Cole’s?”

Piper also stared at Nicole. “Dad, Andrea, where are my sons? Why aren’t they mentioned on the family tree? I mean, okay, I married Dan in 2001, I guess, but where are Wyatt and Chris?”

“Sons?” Victor stared at her as if she’d sprouted an extra head. “There haven’t been any males born to the Warren line in centuries.”

“Piper, not you, too!” cried Patty, standing at the door, where she’d come looking for her shimmering granddaughter. “You were always the sensible one! The next thing you're going to say is that Leo is the Source of All Evil!”

“Leo?” Piper began to whimper. “Where's Leo?”

Patty shrugged and pointed up before matter-of-factly stating, “Up There, just like he's always been. He's Sam's boss, the Chief Elder.”

That was the last straw for Piper, as she lost it. “No! This is all wrong! Leo was a whitelighter! Our whitelighter!”

“No, sweetie,” Patty‘s voice was gently insistent. “Sam has been our family whitelighter all of your life!”

Now it was Piper’s turn to scream as she became very seriously pissed. “No! No! Leo was our whitelighter! I love him! He loves me! I chose him as my husband, not Dan! We got married! We have two sons! Wyatt and Chris!

“Is that why Dan ran out the door?” Victor asked, while Andrea simply stared. “I think both of you girls need to apologize to your husbands!”

Very, very gently, Patty told Piper, “Honey, Elders and witches do not get married. Just like witches do not have affairs with their whitelighters. Just like you and Dan are very happy together, even if you don't have any kids. You love each so much--you did from the moment he moved in next door! Just like Phoebe and Cole and just like Prue and Andy did. Don't you remember? After we took the Hollow out of Cole and put it back in its box, the Angel of Destiny gave all of us a chance to live your fondest dream, Piper--we gave up our powers so we could live a normal life!” Andrea nodded. “We can still cast spells, but we can no longer vanquish demons, nor do we have to fear the Source or other magical villains. We can no longer save innocents from them, but at least we're safe. Remember? Only Sam and Cole kept their powers in case the Source changed his mind and came after us!”

“And he hasn’t for three years!” cried Andrea. “And except for the fact that we can't save innocents any more, we've all been very, very happy, even though we‘ll always miss my Mom and Dad! Surely you remember that, Aunt Piper!”

But Piper didn’t. She began to weep. “No! No! This is all so very wrong! What have we done, Phoebe? What have we done?”

Phoebe cuddled Nicole, smiling at her parents and niece. “We've made our lives better.”

“NO!” screamed Piper, becoming hysterical. “NO, NO, NO!”

[Esmeralda]

Patty exchanged a concerned look with Victor, then she reached for Nicole. “Come to Grams, sweetie.”

Phoebe gave her daughter another tight hug, then passed her off to Patty, who lovingly passed her off to Victor, who began cuddling her. Then Patty put a gentle, motherly arm around Phoebe and then the other around Piper, who put her head on Patty’s shoulder and continued to cry. Patty led them into the conservatory, although Phoebe kept looking back to look at Nicole.

Andrea began following them, but Victor put a hand on her arm and shook his head. “Pops!” she protested, not wanting to miss anything.

Victor shook his head. “Let your Grams take care of it,” and Andrea flopped back down on the couch, crossing her arms in frustration.

Meanwhile, Patty was leading her daughters to the wicker chairs by the window and settled her daughters into them. She went back into the kitchen. Piper continued to weep, while Phoebe looked confused, wondering, then ecstatic as she said, “Cole” lovingly, the way she said his name before he became the Source.

A few minutes later, Patty returned with two cups of hot tea, which she set on the table between the sisters. Phoebe reached for hers and sipped, while Piper kept crying. Patty knelt down between the two chairs, looked up, and took her daughters’ hands. Very, very gently, she insisted, “No more of this strange spell stuff. Tell me what’s going on.”

Piper snuffled her tears, then insistently told her, “We’re not crazy, Mom. Really we aren’t. What we’re saying is all true. I am married to Leo. We do have two sons. And we had to vanquish Cole because he really is evil--he became the Source, Mom! He made Phoebe his queen! She carried his evil child!”

Phoebe nodded, but Patty shook her head. “No, honey, the Source’s queen is the Seer. Always has been. Yes, when we helped her take the Hollow out of the power-mad Source and thought we were putting it back into its box, she made sure it went into Cole instead, trying to get him to impregnate Phoebe with evil seed, so she, the Seer, could have the child that she and the Source couldn’t have.”

The sisters nodded in agreement, then stared in shocked disbelief as Patty continued, “But it didn't work. Even though Cole was the Source's right-hand man for awhile, we all immediately realized that something was wrong. We all knew he had to be possessed, because we all knew he was good.”

Now Patty turned to look directly at Phoebe. “Phoebs, it was your love for him and his love for you that helped him defeat that possession.”

“Possession?” Phoebe whispered in shocked disbelief. “He was really always good?”

“Of course.“ There was a smile in Patty’s voice. “And when you helped him kick the Hollow out of him and put it back in the box, he kicked Belthazar out, too, even though he retained his demonic powers. It was only after that that you had the dream wedding you always wanted.”

Phoebe began to cry. “Oh, Mom, I can‘t believe how much I’ve wronged him! Dad was right, indeed I am going to have to apologize, and this time I‘ll mean it.”

Patty smiled, patting Phoebe‘s hand with pleased pride. “That‘s my girl.” She paused, as she thought. “Obviously something has happened to change what you girls remember into what your dad and Andrea and I remember.”

Phoebe shrugged. “Of course. We broke the Warren Curse.”

“The Warren Curse?” Patty asked.

“Yeah,” Piper replied. “The one Ruth Cobb put on Melinda Warren.” Before her mother could reply, she turned to her sister, confusion on her face. “But we didn’t break it, not really. We never cast that spell.”

“Well, tell me what happened,” Patty requested. "The way you remember it." After they had, she was still a bit confused. “Wait. First you said that this Ruth Cobb, the one who cursed Melinda Warren, was burnt alive, but then you said that she was stabbed. Which one was it?”

The sisters thought about it before Phoebe admitted, “I guess it was both. It changed when we went back.”

Piper nodded. “And that must be why the future changed.”

Patty also nodded. “She must’ve died before she could cast the Curse on Melinda Warren. So since your world no longer exists, you came to ours.”

At that Piper’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “That’s it! All we have to do is go back in time and fix this! Even if Leo and I still have to worry about the Elders separating us, we’ll still be together and we’ll still have Wyatt and Chris!”

“No!“ Phoebe protested. “We want to keep things just as they are! Piper, Mom is alive, and she’s together with Dad! Prue had a daughter, so we have a reminder of her! And I have a beautiful daughter of my own! Cole loves me, Piper, and now I know that I’ve always loved him! We‘ve gotta keep things just as they are!”

[Esmeralda]

Patty smiled very sadly. “You have to think of the bigger picture, sweetie. As good witches, our duty has always been to protect the innocents, and that's especially your duty as the Charmed Ones. I'm surprised and disappointed that neither of you even mentioned them as part of your decision. I thought your father and I would've raised you better than that.”

Very slowly, very cautiously, since she’d already figured it out and didn’t like it one single bit, Phoebe asked, “What do you mean?”

Patty’s smile stayed sad. “Did you say that in the world you remember that the Charmed Ones were reconstituted after Prue was killed?”

Phoebe nodded. “Dad really did leave you, Mom, and you did have an affair with Sam and had a daughter named Paige. She’s just like you, Mom--she’s beautiful and sweet and gentle and kind. She can orb, just like Sam. And she can move things with her mind, like Prue could, only it’s different. And now the three of us, we’re The Charmed Ones.”

Piper suddenly gasped as it hit her. “And that must be why Paige didn’t come through the portal with us! She can’t exist here as long as Mom and Dad are together.”

Patty nodded sadly, then squeezed Phoebe‘s hand. “And does the Source exist in your world?”

Phoebe grinned. “You kidding? We vanquished his sorry a$$!”

Again Patty smiled sadly, then very gently she explained what she thought should've been so obvious to her daughters. “Because you had The Power of Three. And that Power of Three must be reconstituted again, so that there can again be a world where the Source doesn't exist.”

“NO!” Phoebe screamed. “Then you’d die! Mom, you died when I was barely three, when Sam distracted you while you were trying to kill the Water Demon who was destroying the children at the camp! I didn't get to know you at all!”

Patty nodded. “I remember that. Sam never distracted me, because he wasn‘t there. I shocked the Demon to death and then came home to Victor and my girls.”

Phoebe shook her head. “Not in the world we come from. That’s why we gotta keep this one! We gotta keep this one where you’re alive and together with Dad--Mom, in our world, he left you before I was even born!--and where I have a daughter and Cole loves me and as a special bonus, we have Prue’s daughter! We have no reminder of her where we come from--she and Andy never got married! And Piper can learn to love Dan! She did before! We can’t go back, Mom, we can‘t!” and she put her head in her lap and began to cry again.

Her mother reached out and rubbed Phoebe‘s back comfortingly. “Sorry, sweetie, but you must. As I told you, we must protect the innocents and if that means that in some other world, I am not allowed to live the life I’m not supposed to be living anyway, then it’s for the best, a price I'm sure any version of me would willingly pay, no matter what happened in my past. If you only knew all the innocents who have died since the Power of Three was broken with Prue’s death! All the horrible things the Source has done!”

Phoebe looked up, whimpering. “You said we were happy.”

Patty nodded. “And we are, because we faced the fact that without the Power of Three, there was nothing we could do to stop the Source. It was why we agreed to give up our powers, along with giving you your dream of a normal life despite being a witch, Piper, a life Dan has always helped you live by making your homelife as normal as possible."

Then she turned back to Phoebe, a laugh in her eyes. "You and Cole like to live a bit more dangerously. And that works, even though there's always a part of us, especially of you girls, that feels bad that there is nothing we could do to save the innocents. But there is something we can do now--send you two back, so you and your half-sister can change the future back, let Ruth cast her spell, then go back to your own present and break the Warren Curse. That way the Source will stay vanquished in your world, and you girls can be happy. It won‘t change anything in this dimension, but it will change what happens in yours, and I'll be happy knowing I helped bring back a better dimension, where innocents who shouldn't have died didn't.”

Phoebe continued to whimper. “Oh, Mom! I hate the thought of losing you yet again, besides losing Nicole and Cole, who I now know is the true love of my life, besides never getting to know Andrea, but I have to admit that you’re right,” and Patty again squeezed Phoebe’s hand, beaming in pride.

“There’s just one problem,” Piper reminded them. “I don’t know how to go back to the past.”

“Neither do I,” Phoebe admitted. “I don't remember the spell, and now we can‘t look it up in the Book.”

Piper nodded. “I don't remember the spell either. We thought that we would just pop back into our own present after breaking the Curse. Now what do we do?”

It was Phoebe’s face’s turn to light up. “We face the fact that we can’t go back and we enjoy this present!”

“PHOEBE!“ Piper protested, staring at her in shock.

“Well?” Phoebe demanded. “Piper, what if this is the life we were supposed to have?”

“You can't mean that!” Piper was still shocked and now horrified. “You can't want a life that doesn't include Leo and Wyatt and Chris and Paige!”

“No, no, of course not!” Phoebe admitted. “I love all of them and would miss them, too, dreadfully. But, Piper, this is the life we would’ve had if Ruth hadn’t cast that Curse! Maybe getting to have Mom and Dad and Andrea and Nicole and Cole and even Dan in our lives was meant to be. Maybe having the others in our lives isn’t.”

[Esmeralda]

Patty very firmly shook her head. “I refuse to believe that. If that were true, you girls wouldn’t still remember what happened before--when you went back to the future, you would‘ve blended into the Piper and Phoebe of this dimension and not remember the one you came from. There’s another way to send you back,” and she called out, “Cole! I know you’re around! I can sense you! Show yourself!” and Cole shimmered in.

First Phoebe looked at him, then she looked down, extreme shame and extreme guilt washing over her. She slowly but surely stood up and walked over to Cole and put her arms around him. Very contritely, she did her best to apologize. “I’m sorry, Cole. Please forgive me. I know you love me and that I love you; I’ve always loved you.”

Cole jumped back from Phoebe, incensed, the angriest she’d ever seen him in any dimension. “How could you have possibly not known that I was possessed? How couldn’t you trust our love enough to know that once I started loving you, I would never betray you? That as long as you loved me, we could stand up to the Source and not do what was evil?”

Phoebe began to weep, and whimpered, “Please forgive me. I’m so very sorry.”

“So am I,” replied Cole, his voice very, very cold, still completely unforgiving.

Very gently, Patty told him. “Cole, you have to send them back.”

Immediately Cole lost it, and began screaming, seriously pissed. “What? Patty! I can’t believe my ears! Let me get this straight. You want me to help them bring back a world where she,” and he pointed at Phoebe, saying the word as if it was something that tasted terrible, “basically hates me?”

Patty nodded. “I know you were listening. So you know that there is a greater good at stake here, the need to bring back The Power of Three.”

Very reluctantly, Cole admitted, “Well, the Source does have control of almost everything. And he's done some pretty horrible things“.

Very softly, Piper asked, “For the sake of good magic, please help us.”

Very contemptuously, Cole turned to glare at her. “Yeah, I heard. Patty's right. You don’t care about the innocents. You just want your husband and sons back. Just like she,” and without even looking at Phoebe, he pointed at her, "only thinks she loves me because we have a daughter together! I'll bet I've done more good as an ex-demon with his demonic powers attached than you two and your half-sister have combined!"

He shook his head in disgust. "And it's my Phoebe and her sister Piper who gave up their powers! Why did it have to be their younger sister Patsy who died rather than your half-sister? They're the ones who deserve to be the Charmed Ones! Not you!!"

[Esmeralda]

Patty's eyes dropped at the reminder of Patsy, her own youngest child, the one who Victor had named after her, the reason for her sad smile each time the sisters had finally remembered Paige, their younger half-sister. It was also the same reason why Patty always refered Paige as "your half-sister". She couldn't bear the thought that her little Patsy had been given a different name by foster parents in a different dimension--that in some other dimension, Patty never would have had a chance to know her own baby, who would not have had a chance to grow up with her own sisters. At least Patsy had a chance to do that.

Phoebe gasped. "We had a baby sister here, too, but she died?"

Patty nodded, tears in her eyes. "She was in a car accident when she was 16."

Piper stared at Phoebe. "Just like Paige. But since she wasn't half-whitelighter, she couldn't orb out!" It was now Piper's turn to reach out and hug her mother, while rubbing her back. "Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry! We didn't even know Paige existed until after Prue died! I can't imagine what it would have been like to have known her all of our lives and then lose her! Even harder than losing Grams or Prue!"

"I was never the baby!" Phoebe gasped, and the others all rolled their eyes at her, especially Cole.

Patty blinked back her tears. "Thanks for reminding me, Phoebe. Back to the matter at hand. Cole, I think these girls need to be shown exactly what a world without the Power of Three is really like. Would you mind showing them?”

Piper nodded with a roll of her eyes. “Anything you can do to make Phoebe come to her senses.”

Patty looked at her sternly. “You, too, young lady.”

"Me?!" Piper was shocked. “I don’t need to be persuaded to go home.”

Patty nodded. “No, you don't, but Cole's right. You want to do it for all the wrong reasons,” as Cole snickered. "You're being just as self-centered in your own way--just wanting your husband and sons back--as Phoebe is being in hers--wanting her daughter and her parents and her niece. If it wasn't for reconstituting the Power of Three, I wouldn't be trying to send you girls back. Who raised you girls after I died anyway?"

"Grams," Piper told her.

"Mother?" Patty rolled her eyes, thinking of how much her mother had always spoiled her daughters. "That explains it. And then without Prue..." She shook her head. "Cole? Please?"

“But that means spending more time with her!” and Cole pointed at Phoebe. "Can't I just send them back so I can get my Phoebe back?"

Patty gave Cole a pleading look.

He sighed. “Oh, all right, but for your sake, Patty, not theirs!” Then he smirked, a devilish look of delight in his eyes. "Actually, it could be kind of fun opening their eyes!" and he took Piper and Phoebe’s hands, muttering, “But this part already sucks!”

[Esmeralda]

Cole shimmered them to a new location. The sisters looked around and saw unidentifiable piles of rubbish everywhere. As for the smell, the only time Phoebe ever remembered smelling anything worse was from her days in New York when the sewer system broke. "Where did you take us?" she demanded. "The city dump?”

Cole smirked. “Nope. Try Golden Gate Park.” Both sisters' jaw dropped, as Cole went on. "My Phoebe and I used to have picnics here all time. We would make out in the sun and feed each other strawberries. So much fun. Since the Source took over, we wouldn't let our Andrea come anywhere near here, and Nicole has never been here.”

"This is a very cruel trick!" cried Phoebe. "No way this could be Golden Gate Park!"

"Well, there's the Golden Gate Bridge," and Cole pointed at it.

“And there's the angel," Piper pointed out an all-too-familiar statue of an angel.

Phoebe was still finding it hard to believe. “Didn’t the one in Golden Gate Park have a head?”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Of course, it did. Once. Rather symbolic, don’t you think?”

"I still don't understand why you didn't get rid of the Source!" cried Piper.

"Or why we gave up our powers!" Phoebe added.

Cole rolled his eyes. "Because you didn't have the Power of Three."

"But you have Mom!" Phoebe argued. "She's a powerful witch! Andrea is Prue's daughter! She must've inherited Prue's power to move things with her mind! Certainly she should've been---"

"Nope," Cole interrupted. "Sure, Andrea had telekineses, but the prophecy said that three sisters would make up the Charmed Ones and be able to harness the Power of Three. And only the Power of Three can defeat the Source. You don't know how hard my Phoebe and her sister and her mother and her niece tried to put the Charmed Ones back together. But without Prue or Patsy, there's no way of doing it, especially once the Source stole the Book of Shadows. That's why they agreed to give up their powers. Even with them, we would've had to hide from the Source for the rest of our lives, never knowing when Shax would appear around the corner." He started to snicker. "Shax. Yeah. I know where our next stop will be. You guys should like this one."

He grabbed the sisters' hands again and shimmered them out. When they arrived, they saw tombstones as far as the eye could see. They stared in shock, as Cole went into lecture-mode. “After The Power of Three was no more with Prue's death, the Source went virtually unopposed and set out on a campaign to rid the world of witches. Every one of these people was once a witch. Look around. Shax did over half of these."

Phoebe looked at the stone in front of them and read out loud: "Eva Niccolli, 1973 to 2002."

Piper stared at her, horrified. “But we saved her!”

Cole looked at her in mock shock. “You mean you actually saved an innocent?”

Piper glared at him. “Yes, we have. A lot." Then she looked down and mumbled, "Well, we did.”

Cole snickered. "One down, one to go," then he smirked. “As for the rest of the tombstones, now to show you why Nicole had to be delivered at home. You'll love this one, Phoebe. Just the sort of world you want to live in,” and he grabbed their hands once again.

[Esmeralda]

This time he shimmered them into a hospital. They watched as a man in black scanned a newborn baby with a red raygun.

“Is it?” a man with sharp teeth and ice-blue eyes asked as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

“Nope," the man with the ray gun declared, sounding disappointed. "She isn’t a witch, just a normal baby.”

A man and woman standing nearby reached for the baby, thanking the men as they both breathed a strong sigh of relief.

“What happens if the baby was a witch?” Piper wanted to know.

“You sure you wanna know?” Cole asked, as he glanced towards the corner of the room behind Phoebe.

What Piper saw made her gasp in horror. “Oh, my God!”

“Piper? What's wrong?" Phoebe asked, as she watched her sister's face lose all its color. Piper couldn’t speak, she just uttered some odd sounds without actually forming words as she pointed to an object behind Phoebe.

Phoebe spun around and looked. “Is that what I think it is?” she breathed.

"Yeah, it's a guillotine all right," Cole smirked, before adding, "A baby witch doesn't get a chance to live a full day, and her parents have to watch before they face the same fate, first the father, then the mother," and even as the sisters gasped in horror, he shimmered them all back to the Manor.

He grinned at Patty. “I think they learned their lesson.”

Phoebe nodded. "I sure did," her face still pale in memory.

“You were right, Mom,” Piper admitted, hanging her head in shame. "I did need to see that, too. I've been so busy concentrating on my own family that I haven't given much thought about saving innocents, only when we were forced to. We've vanquished demons who came after us, but never tried to look for and help innocents who needed us, the way Prue always did. Neither you or Prue would be very proud of us, Mom."

Now she looked up, determination in her eyes. "I promise we'll do better. Because Cole's right; I do want my life back. It may never be a normal life, like the one I could have had here, but it’s the best life for me, because it includes the ones I love, no matter if the Curse is the reason why we got together or not. But now I know I also want to help all of the innocents who died because we couldn’t save them. Especially all of those poor babies!" and Phoebe nodded, like Piper, her face still pale, her eyes still big and dark.

Patty smiled. "I'm very proud of you now, my darlings! And I'm sure Prue is, too!"

Now Piper turned towards Cole. "Please help us save the innocents!! Please help us go back!"

[Esmeralda]

Cole nodded. "I'll do it. I also like the idea of those babies getting a chance to live, along with their parents, besides bringing back my Phoebe. But that's not the only reason--I get a nice side benefit," and he turned to glare at Phoebe. “I still can't believe that you could possibly believe that I was still truly evil even after you redeemed me with your love! How could you not believe in our love? I gave up everything for you! Everything! I can't believe you didn't give everything back to me in return! Especially not your trust in our love! You are nothing like my Phoebe! Nothing! I'll bet the Cole in your world is glad he's rid of you, even if he had to be vanquished to do it! You're nothing but a selfish shrew who deserves to be alone! That's the other reason why I'm doing this, letting you go back, so you can think about what my Phoebe has and what you lost through your own selfish blindness! I hope you end up alone, like you saw in that future, because the only true love you‘ll ever have is with me!” and turning away from them, he waved his arm and a small portal opened. "That will lead you back to the past you came from and hopefully bring my Phoebe--the true mother of my daughter, because you sure aren't!--and her sister back."

Piper stood up to hug her mother tightly. “I love you, Mom. I wish there was some way we could change your dimension, too, so you wouldn't have to worry about the Source and be able to do what I'm sure you guys did so well--saving innocents."

Patty smiled as she hugged her back. "I"ll be sure to tell your counterparts about you two. Knowing that there's versions of them doing what they want to do will help, the way it will help me."

Piper gave her another squeeze. "I hope I’m half the mother you are.”

Patty smiled as she returned the hug. “You are, sweetie. I’m sure of it. I love you, too.”

Phoebe hugged Patty, too. “Hug Dad and Nicole for me, please?”

Patty smiled as she hugged her back, “I will.”

Piper turned back to ask, “Andrea, too?”

Patty nodded. “Andrea, too. Phoebe, don’t blame yourself or miss us too much. Remember that it's the Curse that was affecting what happened in your world. So go, get rid of it, and be happy, my darling. Be very happy! I love you! Both of you, so very much!”

Piper smiled, waved, then walked over to the portal and stepped through. Phoebe began to follow, but then turned to look pleadingly at Cole. “I truly am sorry.”

“Go! I want my Phoebe back! Now!” and Cole pointed at the portal, still very angry, very cold, completely unforgiving, and Phoebe, her head down, tears in her eyes, walked through the portal.

She soon found herself standing next to Piper, back in the woods outside of the square next to Ruth Cobb's house in Richmond, VA, 1624, right as the rider rode towards Paige. They could hear the original Piper cry out, “PAIGE! LOOK OUT!” So the Piper who had just come back from the alternate future stepped out of the woods and threw out her arms, unlike her counterpart, close enough to freeze the scene just before the man would’ve stabbed Ruth.

She kept her arms out while the Phoebe standing next to her ran out and moved Ruth just a little bit, while drinking in the sight of Paige, so very happy to see her baby sister alive, admitting to herself how very much she would've missed her had she and Piper remained stuck in that other world. But she told herself, "Save Ruth now; hug Paige later!" so she simply winked at Paige before running back to Piper, while the original Piper and Phoebe continued to simply stare in shock.

Paige was also in shock--two Pipers and two Phoebes were too much for her--but she decided to just roll with it, so she took out her athame, then made a small cut in the back of Ruth‘s arm before screaming out, “She isn‘t bleeding!”

[Esmeralda]

Piper rolled her eyes, even as she admitted to herself how much she'd missed how dumb her so-intelligent sister could sometimes be, and yelled back, “That‘s because she‘s frozen!” and she flicked her hands.

The man on the horse swung his sword, just like he did before, but this time it just missed both Paige and Ruth, impaling the sword into the ground, knocking the rider from his horse, knocking him unconscious. As Ruth began to scream and began to bleed, Paige tore a piece of blood-stained clothes and orbed out quick.

“Run before the witch-hunters become unfrozen!” the original Piper yelled out. As she and the original Phoebe once more ran for the woods, the Piper and Phoebe who had gone to the alternate future watched them then turn to smile at one another and high-five in triumph. Then they smiled as they watched each other fade away, even as they blended back into their original selves, giving their new memories to their original selves, letting the original selves realize exactly what they'd just seen.

Meanwhile, those original versions had reached the Wiccan altar. Paige orbed in to join them, holding the bloodied cloth.

Phoebe looked at the altar, then at Paige, a huge grin on her face, a different grin than the last time she’d done this. She turned to look at Piper, she very slowly said. “Talk about your déjà vu!” and Piper’s grin was also different, as she nodded.

Paige, who, of course, didn't notice the difference, held up the cloth. “I got the blood! Let’s go back and cast that spell!”

--------------------------------------------------

Soon three bright sparks of white light appeared in the attic of the Halliwell Manor and formed into the Charmed Ones. Paige grinned and held up the cloth, then ran for the Book. “Let’s make that potion and end that Curse!” she cried.

Piper shook her head. “First things first! I‘ve gotta know!” and she ran out the door, and they could hear her clattering down the steps. Soon they could hear her clattering back up. She smiled brightly at Phoebe. “They’re safe. Both Wyatt and Chris are safe! So’s Leo!”

Phoebe gave her a very happy, yet sad, smile. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to Piper and hugged her tight. “I'm so glad that they're okay, Piper. I didn't really want them to be gone.”

Piper smiled back as she hugged her back. “I know, Phoebs. I understand.”

Phoebe hugged her again, then turned and walked over to Paige and hugged her tight. “I love you, Paige! I’m so glad you’re one of us!”

Paige looked at her, confused, then demanded, “Who are you, and what did you do with my sister?”

Phoebe gave her a very sad smile. “I just realized that maybe I've been a bit too self-centered lately in my search for my daughter‘s father.”

Paige quirked an eyebrow. “A bit?”

Phoebe laughed. “Okay, a lot self-centered. But I just want you to know how happy I am that you‘re part of our family and part of The Charmed Ones. I can‘t imagine our family without you. I really do love you, Paige, and I would even if we weren't Charmed.”

Paige hugged her back, a huge smile on her face. “I understand, Phoebs. I love you, too, and I'm glad I'm part of this family. I hope you find your daughter’s father. And guess what! You just might now, because we don’t even have to make a potion! We must not have read the whole entry! Since we’ve got an item with Ruth's blood on it, all we need to do is to use a white candle to burn it while chanting the spell!”

“Well, let's do it!” cried Piper.

Phoebe shook her head. “I need to do something else first. One more apology.”

“Phoebe?” Piper asked, her concerned voice sounding a lot like her mother’s. “Are you sure?”

Phoebe nodded. “It's okay, Piper. I don't know how much breaking that Curse is going to change things. I need to do something else first while the world is still the way we left it.”

“If you're sure?” Piper insisted, still concerned.

Phoebe nodded. “May I do this alone, please?”

Piper nodded, "C'mon, Paige!" and then seeing her baby sister's very confused look, Piper added, "I promise to explain the best I can," and she closed the door behind her.

Phoebe gave out a deep sigh, then set up a ring of white candles in the form of a pentagram and lit each one. After taking another deep breath, she began to chant:

“Hear these words, hear my cry,
Spirit from the other side,
Come to me; I summon thee.
Cross now the Great Divide.”

She took another deep breath, then continued chanting.

“Magic forces black and white,
Reaching out through space and light,
No matter where he may now be,
Bring back Cole Turner here to me.”

There was a brilliant flash of lights and then the ghost of Cole appeared. He first glared at Phoebe, then sighed in resignation. “What do you want, Phoebe? To vanquish me yet again? You can't. I'm a trapped spirit--trapped by you and your sisters--and can't come back, even if I wanted to. Nor do I.”

[Esmeralda]

Phoebe shook her head, deep sorrow and shame in her voice. “That's not why I summoned you, Cole. I want to say I'm sorry and to beg your forgiveness.”

"What?" Cole stared at her in shock, unable to believe his ears. “This is another one of your tricks, right?”

Again Phoebe sadly shook her head, “No, it's not. I'm serious. I know that you never returned to evil, not really. That you were possessed by the essence of the Source, and now I know that the loss of my love is what drove you crazy.” Tears formed in her eyes and began rolling down her cheeks, as she continued, deep sorrow and shame in her voice. “I'm so very sorry that I didn't trust our love enough to help you battle the possession.”

“Well, you're right,” Cole admitted. “But I still don't trust this change of heart. I can't. Tell me what's happened.”

Phoebe nodded and told it all, being brutally honest, leaving out nothing no matter how painful or embarrassing it was for her. She finally finished, saying, “And so he sent us back and we changed history back, but both Piper and I still remember what happened. I’ll never forget it.”

There was a long pause as Cole considered everything he’d been told, while Phoebe held her breath in hopeful fear. Then he gave out a deep, deep sigh. “Unlike that version of me, I'm not angry at you, Phoebe. Not now. Not now that I know that it was a curse that kept us from being happy. Not now that you know and have been able to accept the truth. And also unlike him, I want you to be happy and to be able to find love. Because I do love you. I always have and always will, and because I love you, I want what's best for you. And I can admit that I wasn't. It's another thing on which that other version and I disagree. I know that as long as I was with you, we would both always be tempted to turn to evil, and there's still a chance of innocents being hurt, because I turned to good for you, not for me. But this, you accepting what you did and asking forgiveness for what you did is all I've ever wanted, all I've ever needed. You've freed me, Phoebe! I’m no longer trapped. I can finally let go of this world and move on. Thank you for doing that for me.”

During this entire speech, happy tears rolled down Phoebe’s ecstatic face. Now she wished that he wasn't a spirit, so she could hug him. She tried to do it the best she could with her voice. “You're welcome, Cole. I'm just so very sorry I didn't realize it sooner. I love you, too, Cole. I always have and always will. Now I know that although all those guys I've had since you left satisfied my body, you're the only one who satisfied my soul.”

That made Cole grin. “That's all I needed to hear! Get rid of that Curse and be happy, Phoebe! I love you!” and the ghost of Cole began to fade away.

“I love you, Cole!” Phoebe cried out. Once he was gone, she sobbed for a bit, before finally wiping the tears from her eyes and calling out, “Piper! Paige! You can come back now.”

“Are you okay?” Piper walked up to Phoebe and put her arm around her.

Phoebe smiled broadly. “I am now. And so is he!” Then she saw Paige’s still-confused look, and she turned to grin at her. “Never mind. Let's just get rid of that Curse!” and Paige grinned.

Piper nodded, too, as she reached down to pick up one of the still-lit candles, and solemnly carried it over to the Book. Her sisters surrounded her as they began to chant:

“Where love is strong, let this Curse be weak,
It’s an answer that we seek,
Let her blood burn within this fire,
So we may keep our heart's desire.”

Paige stuck the cloth into the candle, and they watched it burn.

“Think it worked?” Phoebe asked, as she looked at the ash on the floor.

Piper shrugged. “Only time will tell.”

Phoebe looked around, not feeling any different. "I wonder how long before we find out."

Again Piper shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

[Esmeralda]

Aurora & I hope you liked the way we handled the Cole situation as compared to the way the show handled it. We also hope you'll feel the same way about we handle the other subplots. Just keep in mind when this story was written--before S8, so the stuff that happened during that (like Henry & Coop...) wasn't one of our options.

Paige was still staring at the Book. “Still I wonder who wrote this in here,” as she traced the heart.

Piper looked at the heart again. “Who is B and C? Could the C be Cole?”

Phoebe looked at the page. “No, not his handwriting. Besides that would be C and P not B and C. Cole would have put himself first for sure.”

Paige nodded. “Most people would.”

“Well, you guys figure it out,” Piper told them. “I better go get Wyatt and Chris.” She got half-way out the door before turning around. “Chris?! Wait! What was his girl's name…?”

Phoebe nodded, smiling. “Bianca.”

Paige also nodded. “B and C, it fits. But why would Chris put this in there and not tell us?”

Piper smiled. “I don’t think Chris wrote it.”

Phoebe stared at her. “You think Bianca did?”

Piper nodded. “It’s like Paige said, you put yourself first. And she certainly would.”

Paige smiled. “Cool! Looks like she did something good when she came back here after all.”

Piper also smiled. “Now c'mon. Let’s go find the boys,” and her sisters nodded before following her out the door.

No sooner did they leave than two very handsome, very young guys stepped out from behind the couch, one blond, the other brunet. They were the oldest of the next generation of Halliwells. Chris looked healthier and less stressed than his previous form, as if the world was no longer resting on his shoulders, while goodness shone from the Twice-Blessed Child. Rather than ultra-skinny as Chris had been before, both had the body of a Greek god, plenty of muscle, minimal fat, as shown by the clothes they wore. Both were impeccably groomed--Wyatt’s hair was neatly tied back while Chris’s had the perfect cut, emphasizing his green eyes. Neither showed so much as a speck of a beard or mustache. To put it mildly, the Halliwell boys were both looking fine, despite the fear in Chris' eyes and the over-confidence in Wyatt's.

"Did you hear that?” Chris asked, a shiver of fear in his voice.

“Every word,” Wyatt nodded, laughing. “They thought it was Bianca. That’s what you get for putting her initial first when you wrote the spells and instructions in the Book. I knew I should've done it! I told you not to add that heart!”

Chris looked confused. "But why would they think Bianca wrote it? How would they know about her? And why do they seem to know about me? What did we do? Are we really sure that spell worked this time?” he asked, as unsure of himself as ever.

“Of course, the spell worked!" and there was a gleam in Wyatt's eyes, as he brimmed with confidence. "Just like the spell to go to the past and keep their powers worked. How couldn't they? After all, look who wrote them!"

Chris rolled his eyes, wishing his brother would just get over himself. “Yeah, yeah, all your spells are wonderful, but what if this one didn't work the way we wanted it to?”

“Quit being so negative! You'll give yourself an ulcer!” Wyatt chuckled, enjoying teasing his baby brother, as he had most of his life. He took a deep breath. “Okay, I'll admit we won’t know for sure until we return to our own time. I'm just sure it worked.”

“Well, I'm just not so sure," Chris insisted. "I mean, you heard what Aunt Phoebe told Cole, what happened to her and Mom--they wiped out our existence, along with Aunt Paige’s! Who knows what else we changed? What if we made things worse?” and Chris shuddered at the thought, before voicing his worst fear. "What if we go back and Mom and Dad and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige aren't there?"