Fourever Charmed

[Fourever Charmed]

Summary: This is four part rewrite of the Charmed series finale. It's my own version including characters such as Prue, Cole, Andy, and other series favorites.

Rating: PG-13

A/N: I got my username long before the show's finale, Forever Charmed, aired. (I had once thought of titling a fanfic by my username.) So when I heard about the name of the finale, and knew that Prue wouldn't be in it, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to make a re-write of the finale entitled, Fourever Charmed.

Keep in mind, I wrote this a couple weeks BEFORE the finale aired, but I did use the spoilers on TheCharmedOnes.com as my guide for "main" plot. (The first chapter was VERY similar to show, but the next three parts begin to veer off a lot, and it ends VERY differently, I swear!) This is also cross posted on FFN (FanFiction.Net). This story begins where Kill Billie: VOL. 2 leaves off. (P.S. I can't fit the entire part one into one post, so I may have to double or triple post.)

Fourever Charmed, Part One

“Get away from me!”

“Piper-”

“No! I have to find Paige, damnit!” Piper Halliwell lurched forward. Her brown hair spun wildly around her face as she jerked herself from her husband’s arms.

“Piper!”

Piper could heard her husband’s feet pounding across the debris as he ran after her. She flipped around, almost falling over the broken leg of a chair, and flicked her wrists. In an instant, Leo became completely stationary. Turning around, she saw no sign of Billie Jenkins. Her mouth fell open as she elicited an ear piercing scream.

Then her eyes fell to the wreckage around her. “Paige? Paige! Paige! I need you damnit!” She raised her hands again, blasting a pile of debris into nothing but shards. She saw no sign of her baby sister. She turned again, this time quicker and blasted another pile of debris. “Paige!” The witch started to run, blasting everything in her line of vision. Still no Paige.

Piper’s legs felt like a weak jello mold. She could barely keep herself from falling face first as she ran across the decimated lot where the Halliwell Manor had stood just minutes before. Then she froze. Her blood ran cold as her brown eyes spied a clump of dark brown hair.

It was sticking out from under the chandelier. The same chandelier that Prue had been fixing the night she walked in and Prue was mad at her for being late, on the night Phoebe read the spell to give them their powers. The same chandelier that she, Phoebe, and Paige had held hands under and reconstituted the Power of Three. Her body trembled as she raised her hands, activating her power to explode. In a wickedly bright shower of white sparks, the chandelier was nothing more.

At the sight of Paige’s bruised and battered, pale skinned body, Piper’s legs finally gave out. She crashed to the ground with a bone crunching smack, landing on her knees next to Paige. Tears were gushing from her brown eyes. “No! Paige, baby, no!” Piper’s hands trembled out to grab Paige. “Oh god, no! No!”

Paige Matthews lay as still as a statue. Her eyes were shut, and except for the small trail of blood from her mouth, and cut lip, she looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Her dark hair was splayed around her head in a halo, and her hands laid neatly at her sides.

Piper snaked her arms around Paige’s tender body, pulling her baby sister into her lap and cradling her limp, lifeless form. “Oh god, Paige.” She curled her fists and wiped gently at Paige’s cheek. “Why?” She screamed, looking towards the sky. “You bastards! How dare you take her too!”

“Piper.”

Piper screamed. She pulled Paige tighter to her body, holding her for everything she was worth. “Leo,” she sobbed, “they took Paige too.”

“I know.” Leo dropped to his knees. He stroked his wife’s cheek, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “I’m so sorry.” He looked at his sister-in-law. Taking Paige’s lifeless hand in his, he left chills run up his spine. In that moment, she seemed to look so much like the sister he couldn’t save before. The dark hair, the blood, the way her hands hung loosely at her sides.

“I-I-I never t-t-t-old her,” Piper stuttered through tears.

“Told her what?”

“T-told her t-that I loved her.”

Leo squeezed Paige’s hand a little tighter. “She knew, Piper. I know she knew.”

“Wh-what if she didn’t? I never told her, Leo! I had been so cruel to her for taking Prue’s place, and I never told her! What if she didn’t know?”

“She knew.”

Piper buried her face into her baby sister’s hair, sobbing as she clung to her sister. “You held this family together, baby girl. You were the glue that we all needed after Prue left. I know I never said it, but I love you so much.” She was shaking like a leaf as she brushed Paige’s dirty white cheeks. “And I swear to you that I’m gonna fix this, Paige! You’re gonna be just fine. Do you hear me? Just fine, damnit! I swear it!”

----Several Hours Later----

Pitch black. Suddenly a rectangular shaft of light filtered into the room, as a door swung open. The silhouettes of two figures stood in the doorway; one female, one male. The shorter figure, the female, reached into the darkness and began to rub her hand across the wall, feeling for a light switch. There was a click, and the room was flooded with bright light. Leo Wyatt and Piper Halliwell stepped cautiously into the room. Leo slid his arm around his wife’s waist, as Piper looked at the room in dismay.

“Was this Phoebe’s loft?”

Piper nodded. She brushed her hand to the side of her glistening face, wiping away a trail of tears. A streak of dirt remained on her reddened face. “It was, and will be again. And that’s a promise.” She moved across the room, looking intently at every detail of her younger sister’s loft.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking.”

“For what?”

“Anything.” Piper stopped at a wooden desk, where Phoebe’s closed laptop resided. She wrapped her cut and bruised hands around the metal knob, and pulled it open. The witch grabbed a stack of papers from the drawer and began to rifle through them.

“A spell. I’m looking for a spell,” she suddenly exclaimed. “Phoebe never took the Book of Shadows with her when she moved out, but I know that she wrote a lot of the spells down in a notebook, incase she needed them and couldn’t make it to the Manor fast enough. I’m sure she would’ve written more of her own down in it. Maybe they can help. After all, Phoebe was always the best at spells.”

Leo crossed the room, moving to Piper’s side and laying a warm hand on her shoulder. “Piper, I don’t think anything’s in here.”

“There has to be.”

“Piper-”

“No! There has to be something in this place that can fix this!” She threw her hands into the air and the pile of papers scattered everywhere.

Leo wrapped his arms around his trembling wife, and pulled her to his chest. He stroked her ragged, brown locks as she sobbed into his chest.

“This is how we’re rewarded?”

“What?”

Piper pulled away. She stared at her husband for a minute, before looking deep into his eyes. “This.” She spread out her arms, pointing wildly at the empty room. “After eight years, eight fuckin’ years, this is what we get? We get to be killed! First it was Prue, and now they’ve stolen Phoebe and Paige from me! What do they want next? My children? My life?”

Leo reached out to her, unsure of how to respond. His eyes were pleading.

Angrily, the Charmed One shoved his hand away. She folded her arms as a floodgate of tears opened up again. “No, not my life. That would be too easy, wouldn’t it? I’d be with them again, and happiness is not an option for me!”

“Piper!”

Piper stopped, turning to face her husband. She stood silently a moment, just allowing the tears to rush down her cheeks and dribble down her chin, like a watery goatee. Her eyes glazed, and she blinked back more tears. “I’m sorry.”

Leo closed his eyes, taking in the apology. When he opened them, he walked to his wife and cradled her in his arms. “It’s okay,” he whispered softly. “We’re going to fix this, Piper. Everything will be okay.” He kissed the top of her head, and just held her in the silence of the room.

----

Dumain stood silently at the late Triad’s melted platform. His face is clouded with confusion, as he was unsure what to do or where to go from here. He knelt down, touching the edge of the melted white platform, and hung his head in shame.

Suddenly the door swung open, and a college student with medium length blonde hair ran in. “Dumain!” Her clothes were ragged and covered with a thick layer of dust and blood, leftover from her and her elder sister’s battle with The Charmed Ones. “Dumain!”

The demon rose to his feet, turning slowly in a one-hundred-eight degree rotation. His face was grim as he eyed the college witch. “Billie.”

“Christy, she’s…” Billie stood dumbfounded. Her face blanched, and her mouth hung open slightly. Tears pricked her eyes as she stared, horrified, at Dumain. “Christy’s d-dead…”

Dumain bows his head respectfully. “I’m sorry.”

Billie touched the corner of her eye, wiping away the tears with her finger.

“What about the sisters?”

“Phoebe and Paige were killed.” Billie’s eyes hardened. “But Piper’s still alive.”

Dumain curled his fist in anger. “She won’t be alive for long.”

“How? She’s still a Charmed One, and I don’t think I have the power to take her on myself.”

“There may be one way.”

Billie’s head bobbed up from her chest. Her eyes were wide. “How? I’ll do anything!”

“Projection.”

“What?”

“Your power of projection,” Dumain repeated. “You have to use it.”

Billie shook her head in confusion. “How will that help me?”

“You used it once to project back in time. Remember when you saw Christy? Saw her trapped in the demonic dungeon? You can do it again, only this time you have to project back to warn yourself.”

“I don’t know-”

“You did it once, and you can do it again! Look, Billie, there’s no other way. You have to do this! Trust me.”

Billie was silent for a moment. Then she nodded. “Okay. How do I do it?”

Dumain just smiled.

----

Victor Bennett, clad in red and white checkered pajamas, was sitting tiredly at his kitchen table. His elbows were propped onto the shiny wooden surface, and his face was resting in the cup of his hands. His eyes were fluttering, attempting to stay awake in the late hours of the night. Worry lines creased his aging face.

As his eyes began to shut again, a terrific thump from the living room made him jump. He bounded to his feet, instantly becoming aware of his surroundings. As he looked around, he realized that nobody was there. No Wyatt. No demons. No Chris. Then he heard the thump again. “The door,” he realized. The aging man turned, heading out of the dining room and marching into the living room, walking straight to the door. As he opened it, his heart sank. “Piper.”

“Daddy,” Piper wheezed. Her brown eyes were puffy and streaked with red, and dark circles clung under them. She reached out, falling into her Father’s arms.

“Piper, sweetie, it’s okay,” Victor soothed. He tucked his arm around his daughter’s neck, and helped her to the sofa. As he turned around, he saw his son-in-law shutting the front door. “Leo!”

“Hello, Victor.”

Victor stood dumbfounded. “I didn’t even realize-”

“It’s fine,” Leo assured. He waved the comment away, knowing that Piper was more important at the moment.

“I can’t believe you’re back.” Victor scratched his head. “What happened? Did it all work out? Is everything okay now?”

Leo waved his hand at the empty seat beside Piper, on the sofa. “I think you’d better sit down.”

Victor crossed his arms. His eyes narrowed dangerously, briefly reminding both Piper and Leo of the way Prue used to activate her telekinesis when she’d first found out about her powers. “I demand to know what’s going on. Where’s Phoebe?”

“Dad.” Piper’s lips trembled, as she grabbed one of the sofa cushions and hugged it to her chest. “Phoebe and Paige…” She closed her eyes, sucking in deep breaths. “They didn’t make it.”

“Oh my god, Piper-”

“We’re going to fix this, Dad. I don’t know how yet, but we will. I promise.” Piper pulled her legs onto the sofa, tossed the pillow to the side, and hugged her legs. “I made a promise to Phoebe after Prue died, that I’d always protect her. That I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, and I swear to whatever power is out there that I’m going to keep that promise!”

Leo moved to his wife, and placed his arm on her shoulder. “Victor, where are the boys?”

Victor lifted his hand, pointing towards the dark hallway. “Sleeping.”

“I’m going to go check on them, okay Piper?” Leo bent down, kissing his wife’s head before he moved to the hallway and flicked on the light. The ex-whitelighter disappeared around the corner.

“We have to keep Wyatt and Chris where nobody can find them. Dad, do you think you could do that for us? We have to protect them at all costs.”

Victor took a seat next to his daughter, and pulled her close to his side. He began to gently stroke her hair. “I’ll protect them with my life, Piper. I swear. They won’t be hurt.” He tucked a piece of her tangled hair behind her ear. “Can’t The Elders help you? Or even some of the magical community?”

Piper shook her head. She appeared to be gazing off into space. “No. Nobody can help us now.”

“What about Coop?”

“Coop?” Piper’s eyes brightened, ever so slightly. “How do you know about Coop?”

Leo stepped into the room, quietly listening to the conversation taking place. He knew that Piper nor Victor had seen him yet, and he decided to just stay quiet and allow Father and daughter to talk.

“He was here earlier, looking for Phoebe. I thought he was a demon, and I told him to get out or I’d have Wyatt vanquish him.” Victor paced across the room. “But Wyatt put down his shield for him, so I figured that if Wyatt trusted him, then I could too.”

“Who’s Coop?”

Piper and Victor looked up, surprised.

“I’m sorry,” Leo apologized. “I just-”

“It’s fine.” Piper motioned for her husband to stand next to her. “He’s one of the Cupids,” the Charmed One explained. “The Elders sent him down as a present to Phoebe, to help her find true love. I guess it was sort of as a way of apologizing for all the crap that they put her through.” Suddenly her face lit up. “Wait! Coop was able to Phoebe back in time, to help her look over her past loves and see what she’d done wrong! Maybe,” her voice was significantly lighter now, “maybe he can help us too?”

Leo and Victor looked confused. “How?”

“His ring!” Piper swung her legs over the edge of the sofa, and bounded to her feet. She cupped her hands over her mouth. “Coop!” Clearing her throat she yelled again, “Coop! Please, we need your help!”

A beat later, a fuzzy red glow appeared before Piper. Then a haze of pink glimmered around it, forming into the shape of a tall man in a gray suit. “Piper?”

“We need your help.”

Coop shook his head, looking away from the witch. “Piper, Phoebe made it clear to me how she feels.”

“Phoebe’s dead.”

Coop’s head whipped around, horrified at the revelation. “What?” His hand curled into a fist. “Who? Who did it?”

“That’s not important right now,” Piper replied. “What I need is your ring.”

“My ring?” Coop splayed out his fingers, looking down at his Cupid ring. “What for? How can that help you?”

“You used it to send Phoebe back in time, and we need it for that same purpose.”

“But the ring can only take someone back in time to follow love, Piper.”

“I love my sisters, Coop!”

“Please, Coop,” Leo interjected. “Do this for Phoebe.”

Reluctantly, the Cupid slid the ring off his finger and held it out to the only living Charmed One.

“Thank you,” Piper breathed, as she slid the ring onto her finger. “How do I work it?”

“Just think about the person, and how much you love them. In this case, your sisters.” Coop shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “It doesn’t always work, though. Love’s not practical.”

Piper bowed her head. “It’s my last hope. I don’t have any other choices.”

Leo stepped to his wife’s side. “I’m going with you.”

“Leo-”

Leo laced his fingers with Piper’s, and holding on firmly. “We’re in this together, Piper. In sickness and in health, till death to we part, remember?”

Piper nodded. “Okay.” She curled her hand and placed it over her heart. The witch shut her eyes. Moments passed, and then she began to glow a red glow, which spread to Leo, and together they faded away.

[Fourever Charmed]

----December 25, 1974----

A red haze fills the air, fading into the outlines of Piper and Leo. Once the haze vanished, the couple looked around the room in confusion. They realized this was Phoebe’s room, but it isn’t the same. The furniture was different, and Phoebe’s photographs weren’t on the walls.

The sound of pleasured giggling filled the air, catching their attention. They turned around, their jaws dropping to the floor, as they spied a young version of Patricia Halliwell and a young version of Victor Bennett, rolling under the sheets of the bed before them.

Horrified, Piper screamed and shielded her eyes.

Patty gasped, pulling the sheets up around herself and scooted backwards, leaning against the headboard on the bed. “Demons!” She raises both her hands, looking ready to catch a ball, and emitted her freezing power. To her shock and surprise, only Leo froze.

Victor stared in shock. He moved closer to his wife. “Why didn’t she freeze?”

“Because,” Piper said as she pulled her hands away from her eyes, “I’m your daughter.”

Patty’s mouth dropped open, staring at the brunette before her. She could already see her hair hanging down Piper’s shoulders, and her eyes were also the woman’s eyes. Recalling pictures of her own grandmother, Patricia Halliwell could see the striking resemblance. “Oh my god!”

Victor, on the other hand, sat in silent shock. His eyes flickered, obviously never having witnessed such powerful magic before. He locked eyes with his future daughter. His mouth opened and closed several times, before he finally uttered, “Piper?”

Piper nodded. She motioned to Leo. “Please unfreeze him,” she asked. “We need your help.”

Patty, still hiding under the sheets, flicked her wrist. Leo unfroze instantly. “Please,” she motioned to the bedroom door. “Victor and I will be down in a minute.”

Piper nodded faintly, rushing to the door and ushering Leo out as fast as she could. Once she was safely outside the door, she moved to the other side of the hall and leaned against it.

“Where are we?” Leo asked, looking around. He could see the hallway was decorated with strings of colorful Christmas lights and bows of holly. “And when?”

Piper stepped back, reaching her hand up the wall and touching the holly. “It must be around Christmas,” she observed. “We always used to hang this stuff around Christmas.”

Leo shook his head. “But why would we come back now? I mean, I thought the ring was supposed to take you back to the moment before Phoebe and Paige…” His voice trailed off, knowing that he shouldn’t speak of the deaths of his sisters-in-law.

“Coop said love is impractical,” Piper reminded. “I guess it took me back to my sisters, without really taking me back to my sisters.” She turned, facing her husband. “It technically took me back to my Mom, which is a part of all of us. The thing that binds us together. If it hadn’t been for her love, we never would’ve been here in the first place.”

Leo opened his mouth to respond, but heard the creek of the door and shut it. Turning around, he saw Patty and Victor standing in the door of Phoebe’s future room. “Are you ready?” He inquired, hesitantly.

Patty was clad in a simple tan dress now. It was loose fitting, and cut off just above her knees. She wore a black belt with white poka dots around her waist, and a matching scarf tucked under the collar of her dress, that hung loosely down the front portion of her dress. Her golden-brown hair was still ruffled from her and Victor’s bedroom episode, and hung freely around her shoulders and down her back. She held a pair of tan espadrilles with black laces in her left hand, and knelt down to put them on.

In stark contrast, Victor wore a classic long sleeved pale green shirt, with red poka dots and a burnt orange, seventies leather jacket. His bell bottomed, brown and white checkered pants clashed with everything, including his shiny lime green platform shoes. His black hair, although nicer than Patty’s at the moment, was also a mess.

“You must be very powerful witches to be able to come all the way back here,” Patty exclaimed. Her face was just glowing with joy and pride.

Piper held up her hand, revealing the ring. “Actually, it’s Coop’s ring that brought us back.”

Victor scratched his head, looking to Leo. “Who’s Coop? Is he my future son?”

Piper shook her head. “No. You only have daughters.”

Patty looked curiously to Piper. “Is it just you and Prue?”

As Piper opened her mouth, Leo placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “You can’t say too much, Piper. Future consequences.”

“We have to say something, Leo. Or will never figure out why the ring brought us back to the seventies!” Piper pushes Leo’s hand away from her shoulder. “Besides, we can fix all this later. Right now our top priority has to be saving the future.” She whipped her head back to her parents, who were now holding hands. Her eyes widened. She gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Patty inquired, instantly concerned.

“You’re holding hands.” Piper flicked her wrist towards the couples entwined fingers.

Victor’s brows shot up, confused. “And?”

“I’ve never seen you hold hands before,” the Charmed One whispered in awe.

Victor creased his brow, and ushered his hand towards the end of the hallway, to the stairs. “Come on, we should go downstairs. We told the girls we’d be down soon, so they could open their presents.”

“What’s the date?”

“Christmas, nineteen-seventy-four,” Victor announced, as he and Patty reached the end of the hallway.

Piper smiled faintly. “I wish I could remember this,” she sighed, beginning to follow her parents down the stairs. She couldn’t remember much of anything before Phoebe’s birth, due to the binding spell that Penny had cast on her and her sisters to protect them from Nicholas.

Leo reached the end of the stairs, and followed Patty and Victor into the living room, and he accidentally stepped on a toy. The toy squeaked, startling him. “I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized.

Piper knelt down, scooping up the toy from the floor. It appeared to be a horn that one could attach to the handlebars of a bicycle. She examined it, trying to remember the toy, or perhaps how old she was when it came to them. Failing to do so, she turned to her parents. “How old am I?”

“You turned one in August,” Victor answered.

“Which means Prue must be about three,” Piper calculated aloud. “And that means Phoebe isn’t even alive yet.”

Patty knelt down next to the wall. She grabbed the end of a cord and stuck it into the socket, instantly bringing the Christmas tree in the center of the room to life with a rainbow of colorful bulbs. Standing up she asked, “Phoebe?”

Ignoring her Mother, Piper shakes her head. “I don’t understand what this proves. Phoebe isn’t even alive yet!”

“Maybe she’s alive in a small way?” Leo suggested.

Patty looked down to her stomach, and placed her hand to it. “Are you saying that I’m…”

Piper shook her head. “No. Not yet. It’s too early.”

“Maybe she’s alive in theory, then?” Leo attempted again. “Like you said upstairs, your Mother is technically a part of all of you. Maybe she’s a key to helping us save them.”

“Them?” Patty was looking at Piper and Leo again. “Prue? And this Phoebe, are they in danger?”

“No, Phoebe and Paige,” Piper corrected.

“Paige?” Patty rubbed her neck. “Who’s that?”

“Your daughter.”

“Piper!”

“Leo, I have to!”

“This could change their future, your present, for the worst!”

“I won’t tell them everything,” Piper assured. “And besides, I promised that I’d fix all of this once we’ve saved Phoebe and Paige.”

“What happened to them?”

“They were killed,” Leo answered. “In a huge battle.”

Piper held up the ring. “And without the Power of Three, we had to use Coop’s ring to take us back in time. But we overshot about thirty years.”

“The Power of Three?” Patty gasped. “You mean, you and your sisters are The Charmed Ones?”

“The Charmed Ones?” Victor looked confused. “Is that part of all that witchy stuff? ‘Cause I’m still new to it.”

“The Charmed Ones will be the most powerful witches ever to exist,” Patty informed him excitedly. “Melinda Warren predicted that each of her descendants would become more and more powerful, until the culmination of three sisters, The Charmed Ones.” Suddenly her face paled. “Three sisters,” she repeated. “But you said I will have four daughters. How does that work? Is one of you not Charmed?”

Leo glared. “I told you not to tell them.”

Piper looked regretfully. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you.”

“What about me? Maybe I can help you?”

“How do you mean?”

“Family magic,” Patty explained. “Maybe I can help you direct the ring where you need to go?” She moved to her future daughter’s side, and took a hold on Piper’s hand.

“I can’t risk you getting hurt in the future.”

“Look, Piper, you can’t just come back to the past and tell me that two of my daughters will die, and not expect me to help!”

“But if you get hurt, Phoebe and Paige may never be born in the first place!”

Patty narrowed her eyes. “What about Mother?”

“Grams?”

Patricia nodded.

“How can she help us?”

“Maybe she knows a spell, or a potion or something that we can use? Maybe she can help us invoke the magic of the Warren line? Would that help?”

Piper looked to Leo. “Possibly.” Turning back to her Mother, she asked, “Where is Grams?”

“New York,” Patty exclaimed. “She’s visiting old friends there for the holidays.” Patty touched the ring on Piper’s finger. “Maybe we can use the ring to get to her faster? I know she’ll be able to help. She’s much better at spells and potions than I am.”

Piper looked hesitantly at Leo, and then finally gave in. “Okay, but only to get to Grams. I refuse to take you to the future. I can’t afford to put you in danger.”

“Okay,” Patricia agreed. She took her future daughter’s hand, as Leo took Piper’s other hand. “Victor, I’ll be back-”

“Mommy!”

Piper’s brown irises widened, as she jerked away from Leo and her Mother. “Oh my god, Prue!”

Standing between the entrance from the kitchen to the living room, two little girls stood. The taller one hand shoulder length, straight raven hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a white cotton nightgown with little red and white candy canes dotted across it. A small smile played on her pink lips. “Can me and Pipew opun ouw pwsents now?”

The smaller girl, barely one-year-old, poked her head from her older sister. She had floppy, light brown pigtails and a twinkle in her brown sugar eyes. She, too, wore festive Christmas pajamas. They were a two piece set. The pajama bottoms were green, with white snowflakes scattered across them. The top was also green, with a big picture of Santa Clause and his reindeer flying through a snowy North Pole. “Pwesant! Pwesant!”

Victor moved to his girls, bending down and scooping Little Piper into his arms. “Your Mommy has to go somewhere with your future self,” he cooed softly. “But you can open them when she gets back.”

Prue’s face fell. “Pwease?”

“Prudence-”

“One?” Prue begged, holding up a lone index finger. She squinted her eyes at the bottom of the sparkling Christmas tree, which was overflowing with presents. A medium sized box flew across the room, coming to rest perfectly in the little girl’s hands. She held it up. “Pwease, Daddy?”

Victor turned to his wife, smiling slightly. “Just one before you leave?”

Patty grabbed a small box from the tree, and moved over to her husband. She placed the present in Little Piper’s tiny hands. “Only one,” she finally relented.

Prue squealed with joy, as she tore off the shiny red and green metallic paper, and threw a golden bow to the floor. Under the paper, the raven haired witchlette found a medium sized, white box.

With tears in her eyes, Piper moved to the three-year-old, and knelt down next to her. “Hey Prue,” she murmured. Her heart was breaking all over again, as she envisioned her sister dying at the hands of Shax. “Wh-what did you get?”

Prue giggled, flipping open the box. Inside was a toy camera. The little girl squealed with joy as she yanked the play camera from the box, and held it up proudly. “Mommy, look! A camewa!” She held the toy up to her eye and pressed a button. A light blinked on the front of the camera, just like a real flash. She giggled in ecstasy.

“Wow!” Patty gushed. “Santa must have thought you were a really, really good girl this year!”

“Pipew?” Prue inquired, looking over to her baby sister in Victor’s arms.

“I don’t know,” Victor replied. He knelt down, setting his currently youngest child on the floor. “Do you want me to help you open your gift, Piper?”

Little Piper nodded feverishly. She grabbed a shiny silver bow and ripped it off the top of the package.

Victor gently began to tear the paper open, and urged his one-year-old to help out. Several minutes passed, he and Little Piper had successfully opened the gift. He gasped, pretending to be shocked for Little Piper’s sake. “Wow!” He grinned enthusiastically. “What is that?”

“Dowy!” Little Piper shrieked in delight, proudly holding up a brand new Raggedy Ann doll. She waved it in the air, grinning like mad.

“That’s wonderful Piper,” Patty exclaimed in glee. “Now she and your Raggedy Andy can play together!”

Little Piper nodded her head enthusiastically. “Amby!” She waved the doll. “Amm.”

“Prudence,” Victor looked over his shoulder at the dark haired three-year-old. “Why don’t you take your sister upstairs and help her find her Raggedy Andy doll?”

Prue scampered over to her little sister and helped her up. “C’mon Pipew, lets find Andy,” she said, ushering her sister up the stairs.

Once they’d disappeared at the top of the stairs, Victor moved to his wife and clasped his hands around her face. “Be home soon,” he whispered, kissing her passionately on the lips.

“I will, I promise,” Patty said, moving back to Leo. “Come now, Piper. We haven’t got time to waist.”

Piper dabbed her tearing eyes on her shirt, and shoved her hair behind her ears. Her heart was aching to run up the stairs after Prue, pull her into her arms, and just hug her. She hadn’t seen her big sister in five years, and seeing her at the tender age of three was killing her.

“Piper?”

“Coming,” Piper choked. She crossed over to her husband and Mother, took their hands, and called out, “Grams!” Her body glowed a red hue, spreading quickly to Patty and Leo, and they all vanished from the room.

Victor stared at the spot where his wife had just stood. He placed his hand to his heart. “Good luck.”

----2050----

Appearing in the same red haze, Leo looked around, confused. “Nothing happened.”

“Where’s Victor?”

“Yes,” Piper argued, “yes it did. Look around.” She flicked her fingers around the room. “There isn’t anything Christmasy around here. And Dad isn’t here either.” She spotted the bicycle horn on the floor, only now it’s tarnished and the rubber is discolored. To herself she asked, “Where are we?”

“You mean when,” Patty corrected.

“Yes! Triple score!”

Leo, Piper, and Patty looked around. They looked towards the sun room, where the voice of an old woman seemed to be filtering from.

“It’s not spelt right, so you can’t get a triple score!” This time it was the voice of an old man.

“It is too!” The woman’s crackly voice argued back.

The group of three walked slowly across the room, listening as the argument over this ‘triple score’ ensued. As they walked in, they stopped abruptly, staring at an old couple who were sitting over a Scrabble board.

“Are you challenging me?” The old woman asked saucily.

Piper looked hesitant, before opening her mouth and whispering, “Excuse me?”

The old man turned abruptly, looking at Leo. “How do you spell ‘Zankou’?”

“Cheating!” The old woman screeched, pointing accusingly at her partner.

“I’m not asking her,” the elderly man defended. “I’m asking myself!”

“Z-a-n-k-o-u,” Leo replied.

“Ha!” The elderly man boasted. “I was right!”

Confused, Piper begins to ask, “Who are-”

“We’re you,” the elderly woman cut in. “We’re your future selves,” she said, pointing to Piper and Leo. She grabbed a plate of hot peanut butter cookies, and pushes the plate towards Patty and Piper. “I just baked some cookies, if you want some.”

Piper’s jaw dropped. “Uh, n-no thank you,” she stuttered. Her brown eyes were huge.

Old Piper waved her arm at Old Leo. “Go take them into the kitchen,” she instructed. “We,” she motioned to Piper, “have things to discuss.”

Leo neared the table. “But-”

“Shh!” Old Piper grumbled. “Leo, go take them into another room!”

Old Leo mumbled something under his breath, and grabbed a cane that was leaning against the wall.

“I heard that!” Old Piper grumbled. She rolled her eyes. “Go get me some aspirin and water.”

Old Leo hobbled over to Patty and Leo, waving them on. “Come on now, you heard her.” He rolled his eyes and ushered his past self and mother-in-law out of the sun room.

“Sit down, sweetie,” Old Piper cooed.

Awkwardly, Piper slid into the seat that her husband’s future self had just vacated. “How did I get here?”

“You were aiming for Grams,” Old Piper explained, “but you were brought to yourself as a grandmother instead.”

“I’m a-a grandmother?” Piper stuttered in disbelief. “I mean, uh, I will be?”

Old Piper just grinned mysteriously.

Old Leo hobbled back into the room, balancing a cup of water and two aspirins in one hand.

“Did you know we’d come?” Leo asked from behind his future self.

“Fifty years ago we traveled to the future, just the same as you.” Old Leo handed over the water and aspirin to his elderly wife. “We were met with our future selves too.”

“It’s how we knew you’d come.” Old Piper’s eyes become misty. “Oh the days when we were like you. Fighting demons and getting torn apart,” she sighed.

“But they were worth it,” Old Leo reminded. He bent down, wincing at the pain of his arthritic knees, and kissed his wife on the lips.

“We have to leave to-”

“-save Phoebe and Paige,” Old Piper finished in time with her younger version. “I know. You have to-”

“No,” Old Leo interrupted. “You can’t tell her future knowledge, remember? It could mess up the future.”

“The future’s already messed up,” Piper growled. She was on her feet now, and worry lines were creasing her face.

“It’s worth saving,” Old Leo intoned.

“Use the ring, but focus on the things inside your heart, not inside your head,” the elderly woman said.

“You’ll get to Penny, and then Phoebe and Paige.” Old Leo crossed drew and invisible cross over his heart. “Trust me.”

“What do we have to do to save them?” Patty suddenly asked. She’d been silent, just soaking in everything, since the time they’d arrived in her future daughter’s far away future. Everything she saw amazed and awed her.

“You have to get rid of The Hollow,” Old Piper warned gravely.

Piper turned to her Mother and husband, taking their hands. As she turned her head over her shoulder, she mouthed, ‘Thank you.’ Before she can see their response, she felt the ring’s pull and faded into the red glow with Patty and Leo.

[Fourever Charmed]

----1982----

“I think we’re back in time again,” Patty announced as they appeared in the same spot where they’d left. However, the furniture was much, much older than before. Patricia Halliwell vaguely recognized some of it. She narrowed her eyes. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That,” Patty said, moving towards the exit of the sun room. She stopped in surprise as she entered the living room.

“That’s me,” Piper gasped, coming up behind her Mother but before Leo. “I remember this,” she whispered. “I was about nine, I think.”

Sure enough, a nine-year-old Piper was sitting on the sofa next to Penny Halliwell. Her face was raw and tear streaked. She was sniffling, as more tears ran down her cheeks.

“Do you need a tissue?” Penny asked. She leaned across the couch and grabbed a white tissue from a box on the coffee table, and handed it to her crying granddaughter.

Little Piper sniffled. She took the tissue, wiped her eyes, and then leaned into Penny’s arms.

“Oh Piper,” Penny soothed. “You are so special, little girl!”

“Not as special as Prue and Phoebe,” Little Piper whimpered.

“You’re special in your own way, dear.”

Little Piper shook her head defiantly, refusing to believe it.

“Oh, but you are! You’re the only one who can stop your sisters from fighting, remember? You make peace between them.” Penny wrapped her arms around Little Piper and began to rub her hand in circles on Piper’s back. “You’re my little helper. And although you can’t tell yet, you have gifts that will make you ever more special one day.”

“Promise?”

“I promise,” Penny whispered, kissing the top of Little Piper’s cheek. “Now, go off and find Prue for me, will you? I need her to clean up her room.”

The nine-year-old smiled brightly, and hopped off the couch. “Thanks, Grams!” Without looking back, she ran off to the stairs and disappeared up the stairs.

Piper sniffled, and wiped at her teary eyes.

“It’s obvious that Mom loved you very much,” Patty whispered. She wrapped her arm around her daughter, lightly patting her back.

Hearing the noise, Penny looked up. Her face hardened as she got up from the couch and moved nearer to the entrance. “Who’s there?”

Patty quickly stepped into the living room, narrowly missing Piper as she tried to grab her and hold her back.

“No, Mom, don’t!” The Charmed One was too late, however, and realized that her grandmother had already seen them. She stepped out after her Mother, just in time to see her grandmother gasp and fall backwards onto the floor, fainting. “Oh no!”

Alarmed, Patty rushed to her Penelope’s side and dropped to her knees, checking her pulse. “But…why?”

Piper chewed her lip as she knelt down next to her Mother. “Because,” she whispered softly, “you died when I was five.”

----Present----

“You have to separate your thoughts from your emotions,” Dumain instructed. He paced like a madman across the main room of Magic School.

Billie tossed her arms into the air, angry and tired. “It’s no use!”

“Do you want to save your sister?”

“Yes! More than anything in the word, but-”

“Then this is the only way!”

“What should I focus on?”

“Stop fighting it,” Dumain growled. “Focus on the battle, and nothing else. Anything beforehand will be threatened by The Charmed Ones. Killing the sisters is the key to saving your sister. It has to be done.”

“But what if I see my past self? How will it work?”

“Don’t worry about that,” the demon replied with a lazy flick of his wrist. “Time always has a way of catching up to itself.”

Billie nodded in understanding. She sat down on the floor, Indian style. She closed her eyes and placed her hands together, as if meditating.

“Clear your mind of all the pain and loss, and think only of Christy.” He watched her closely, seeing her begin to glow. “Now project yourself to The Triad!”

The blonde’s eyes flash open, and she glares at Dumain. “The Triad? Are you crazy?” She curled her fist. “I think you’re trying to trick me!”

“You have to trust me, if you intend on saving your sister!”

“But why The Triad?”

“You have to warn them of the impending battle, so they can help you stop it. They will help you save your sister. Save Christy.”

“Why didn’t you tell me The Triad was alive?”

“It was a distraction,” Dumain replied angrily. “I wanted you to be fully focused on killing The Charmed Ones.” He paced. “Christy knew, too. But she didn’t want to tell you, because she was afraid it would make you lose focus.”

“Christy knew?”

“Of course she knew! And when you go back and save her, you can ask her for yourself.”

----1982----

Patty knelt next to the couch, where Penny now lay, via Leo carrying her there. She placed a cool washcloth over Penelope’s head, and hummed softly.

Across the room, Leo sat on a chair and stared intently at Patty and Penny. He gently massaged his chin, deep in thought.

Briskly, Piper strolled into the room with a glass of water in hand. “How is she?”

“Coming around.”

“I was talking about Mom.”

“Suffering from an information overload,” Patty spoke up.

“You look upset,” Piper realized. She moved to Leo, taking a sip of the water before handing it to her husband. “What’re you thinking about?”

“The fact that once you say the spell to return The Hollow, everyone will be alive again.”

“That’s what we want, Leo.”

“That includes Billie and Christy,” the ex-Elder reminded. “It means I will have to go back too, because you won’t have completed your deal with the Angel of Destiny.”

“Our future selves were playing Scrabble together, remember?” Piper, stubborn as ever, absolutely refused to believe that her husband and herself would not end up together.

Penny’s eyes fluttered open, and she groaned, sitting up. “What’s going on?”

“You fainted,” Patty replied in a motherly tone.

Penny squinted at Leo and Piper. Suddenly her eyes became large, as memories of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe’s last visit filled her head. “P-Piper? Is that you?”

Piper smiled slightly. “You know who I am?”

“I remember when you and Prue and Phoebe came to help us stop Nicholas,” Penny reminisced. “You’re older now, though. But I know it’s you.”

Piper beamed.

“Who’s that?” Penelope Halliwell suddenly asked, pointing to Leo.

“My husband, Leo,” Piper replied gently.

“They’re from the future,” Patty exclaimed. “I’m from the past.”

Penelope nodded. “I know,” she choked. “You died four years ago.” She rubbed her head. “I think I need a drink.”

Piper waved her index finger. “If you want, I can get you some water. But no alcohol, it’s not good for your heart condition.”

By the tone of her voice, Penny cringes. Silently wondering to herself if her heart condition would end up coming to bite her in the behind in the future. She resisted the urge to ask.

“We don’t have time to explain,” Leo spoke up.

“We need your help to save my sisters.”

“The Charmed Ones,” Patty whispered.

Immediately, Penny could feel the tears of pride prick her eyes. “What do I have to do?”

----Present----

Billie closed her eyes. Her glossy lips began to move as she spoke in quiet hums to herself. “Christy. Christy.” Tears began to dribble at the corner of her eyes. “Christy, I need you!” Her entire body glowed, rippled, and then projected back into the near past.

----Earlier The Same Day----

A faded glow lit up the walls of the Manor, and Billie appeared on the staircase. Hearing footsteps, she spun around to see a recent past version of herself and Christy, both infected with The Hollow, hurrying down the steps. She jumped in front of them, catching their attention.

Past Billie’s eyes flickered dangerously, guessing that her look-a-like was a shapeshifting demon of some sort. “Who are you?” She growled.

“I’m from the future,” Billie insisted. “And I came to warn you.”

“Warn us of what?” Christy spat, eyeing Billie suspiciously. She narrowed her eyes, using her telepathy to probe Billie’s mind to see if she was, in fact, telling the truth.

“To stop you from battling the sisters!”

“Liar!” Christy hissed. She knew Billie was telling the truth, but she refused to allow her own sister to come back in time and stop them from destroying Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. “It’s our destiny to fight them!”

“No it’s-” Billie didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence. Her past self backhanded her across the face, and she went tumbling headfirst down the staircase. As she landed at the bottom of the stairs, she saw glowing orbs form out of the corner of her eyes. “No!”

The Charmed Ones materialized just in time to see Christy and Past Billie charging down the stairs.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Past Billie hissed.

“We’ll your wait’s over,” Paige countered.

“We’re your potions?” Past Piper asked tauntingly.

Christy glowered. “We don’t need potions this time.”

“We don’t either,” Phoebe countered.

Past Piper eyed Christy with distrust. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

A red haze began to take shape near the entrance to the kitchen. It formed into Piper, Leo, Patty, and Penny.

“You should have followed your instincts then,” Christy taunted.

“Start saying the spell!” Piper yelled to her Mother and grandmother.

“Next time we will,” Past Piper vowed.

Past Billie’s eyes blazed. “There will be no next time!” She loops her hand with her sister’s, and narrowed her eyes to activate her power of projection to increase the mega fireball that Christy was creating in front of them.

Over the noise of the fighting, Patty, Piper, and Penny took hands and began to chant.

Past Piper, Paige, and Phoebe also join hands.

“Fireball!” Paige screamed, narrowing her eyes in a Prue-like fashion. Instantly, the monster sized fireball enveloped in a swirl of orbs which went flying towards Past Billie and Christy.

Past Billie flung out her arm and telekinetically redirected the fireball back at the sisters three.

This time, Past Piper raised her hand and emitted one of the most powerful exploding blasts that she’d ever created, causing the fireball to erupt mid flight, halfway between her and Past Billie. The sheer power of the explosion sent her and her sisters, as well as Past Billie and Christy, flying in opposing directions. A cloud of Paige’s orbs enveloped the Halliwell sisters, saving them from a deathly landing. Everything else, however, was destroyed.

As Piper, Patty, and Penny finished the spell, The Hollow was released from the five witches’ bodies. Its black particles swarmed around like nats, and then flew through the floorboards.

----

In an Underworld tomb, the ancient box to contain The Hollow opened. The swirling black particles whizzed through the heavy doors and flew around the room, banging into each of the four walls before finally being vacuumed back into their protective casing. The heavy lid of the box slammed shut, and the heavy doors groan as she they, too, slid closed.

----

The Charmed Ones reappeared, via Paige’s orbs. They looked around, each one with teary eyes, at the destruction of their home. Everything within it was destroyed, but at least the house itself was still standing this time. Then they noticed Piper, Patty, Leo, and Penny. Past Piper’s eyes become wide, as she also sees Billie sitting at the foot of the stairs.

“Why? How did you get here?” Past Piper inquired, looking to Piper for answers. “Why is Mom and Grams and Leo with you?”

Piper shook her head in dismay. “You don’t know to know,” she warned. “It’ll only give you a headache.” Suddenly she begins to glow.

Billie, also seeing that she herself is glowing, began to realize what was happening. “Uh oh…” The glow from her body reached Past Billie’s body, which is sprawled out next to Christy’s, at the top of the stairs.

At the same time, a glow from Piper to her past self flickers beams and she’s sucked into her past self.

“That’s not something you see everyday,” Penny blurted out.

“What’s going on?” Paige suddenly asked.

“Time,” Leo replied. “It just caught up with itself.”

Paige rubbed her head. “Where did Leo come from?”

“And Grams and Mom,” Phoebe added in confusion.

“Coop,” Piper answered. “He helped us.”

Angrily, Christy jumped up from the stairs and pulled Billie up with her. “What went wrong?”

Billie shook her head, staring dismally at the sisters. “Now is not the time.” She pulled a potion vial from her pants pocket and hurled it to the floor. Gray smoke enshrouded them as she grabbed Christy’s hand. When it cleared, Billie and Christy were gone.

Leo placed a loving hand on Piper’s arm. “Don’t worry. Your sisters are alive.”

Patty stared at Paige for a time, locking eyes with her. She could see that Paige’s eyes were brown, and knew that the dark haired girl wasn’t Prue. “Where’s Prue?”

Piper swallowed, holding back her swell of emotions. “Now isn’t the time, Mom.” As the words left her lips, she saw the African-American Angel of Destiny appear next to Leo. “No!” Before she could reach out to grab for her husband, he and the Angel of Destiny vanished. She slunk to her knees as tears finally overpower her. “No, no, no! Not again!”

Paige sunk down next to her sister, wrapping her arms protectively around her big sister. “Shh. We’re gonna fix this Piper, I swear it.”

Sobbing, Piper wrapped her arms around Paige and buried her face into her baby sister’s shoulder. Piper leaned closely to Paige’s ear. Through strained breaths she whispered, “I love you, Paige.”

A single tear dribbled down the face of the youngest Charmed One. Holding Piper close she whispered, “I love you too.”

TO BE CONTINUED....

[Tim]

Agggghhh!  A cliff hanger. 

And it was never finished.