At this, both Phoebes gave each other a questioning glance. "You?" asked one, the other just shook her head no in response, as they exchanged a silent understanding of what the other was asking. The younger Phoebe turned to everyone else "Neither of us can think of a way to even word a spell to bring us to that moment when Grams finds it."
"Safely, at least," added the older Phoebe. "Without knowing where we're going, we risk exposing magic. Depending on whether Grams picked it up from a magical source or just at some mortal's antique shop we could appear anywhere."
Paige looked between the two identical sisters. "Ok, if you two start going all 'The Shining' on us and talking in unison, you're so getting separated!"
Younger Piper nodded with a laugh. "Yeah, you don't see us," she gestured to her future self, "going all Mary-Kate and Ashley." Future Piper smirked.
"Well, you're not empaths," replied the younger Phoebe.
"Ha!" replied the older Piper in a sarcastic laugh.
"Neither are you," said the younger Piper.
Phoebe crossed her arms. "Not yet, maybe."
Prue rolled her eyes. "Getting back to the point..."
"Yes." Grams nodded and turned to the two Phoebes. "You're right girls. Far too dangerous. But it's a moot point – I always mark my entries with a hidden astrological date."
"Not that that isn't helpful – but why?" asked Paige.
"Well, dear, I have a theory about the ties between demonic activity and the astrological alignments. One of the few things I carried over from my hippy days," she added as an aside.
"Wait! You were a flower child?!" asked the younger Phoebe with an incredulous laugh.
Grams shot her a look that Phoebe knew all too well growing up. "Later. Anyhow, the point is that I include the date of when I learned the information in all my entries - for later reference. If not by me, then another future Halliwell. And look, it's come in handy."
Penny's explanation was rudely interrupted by a very grumpy stomach rumbling loudly. "Sorry!" apologized Paige as she flashed an embarrassed grin.
"Okay, but..." began Prue, who absentmindedly rubbed her own empty stomach, "I don't see any dates on this entry."
Penny shook her head emphatically. "Of course not! This is an age-old family heirloom. I would never deface it like a -" she was interrupted again, this time by a suppressed yawn from the older Phoebe, who tiredly hid her mouth behind the back of her hand. This quickly spread domino style, the yawn shared amongst all the weary time travelers. When the group yawn died down, Grams raised an eyebrow and quickly finished her explanation. "I... would never treat the Book like some student's library book - defacing it with dates and the like! All the astrological data is stored in the margins of the entry."
The sisters and Chris scrutinized the entry on Ninsun's Tear, looking for some kind of meaning in the gilded border illustrations. It was made up of various animals and other symbols intertwined in a way reminiscent of Celtic knot work. The group stared at the pictures for a few minutes, but could glean no more meaning from them than they could have hieroglyphics. It was the older, empath Phoebe who finally admitted that they were all stumped and said, simply, "We don't get it."
Grams regarded the group of witches whom she knew to be both intelligent and resourceful and came to a firm conclusion. They were spent. From the other Halliwell's points of view Penny simply regarded them with her patented all-knowing, yet caring, arrogance. "Well, of course you are dear! Just look at the state you're all in! Just when was the last time any of you have had a proper meal or slept?"
The six sisters exchanged glances. "Well, there was..." began Paige before trailing off. "Good question. Before we left our time, I guess... how long ago was that?" she asked the group.
Penny could almost see the hamsters running their wheels in the time traveler's heads as they tried to figure out how much time had passed for them, relatively speaking. Finally Paige made a rough guess, "Two days, maybe? That can't be right, can it?"
"More like a day and a half," corrected Prue, who had always been sharp with numbers. "Give or take a few hours."
"Far too long, in any case!" scolded Grams. "How do you expect to defeat an upper level demon if you can't even decipher a simple lithograph? No, you're going to get a nutritious meal and a little rest before I let you go gallivanting into the future!"
The older Piper shook her head, "No, Grams. There's no time for that. We don't know how much time we have - "
"No," Penny cut her off. "You can't battle evil on little food and no sleep. Besides, if you can't figure out the simple hidden message in my entry I certainly won't be giving you the answer until you've had some rest! Don't you remember what I always tell, uh, told, you when you try and pull those cram sessions before a big test?"
"No amount of magic can stop a failing brain from ending in a failing test," recited Prue with a nostalgic smirk. The phrase had always annoyed her growing up, but like many things growing up it became a source a familiar comfort as it faded into the past.
The older Piper took stock of her sisters for a moment before finally acknowledging their flagging, tired postures. She sighed in recognition. "Okay! Okaaay. I know better than to argue with you on this. We'll eat."
"But then we're off," added Prue. The older Piper smiled at her 'older' sister as she felt a wave of the bond of that old, unspoken connection between them.
"Heeey... waitaminute – did you mean that 'no amount of magic' part literally when you used to say that?" asked the younger Phoebe as realization dawned on her. Grams smiled at her as if to say 'What do you think?' Everyone else just chuckled as they made their way down stairs for dinner.
_______________________________________________
A manager by habit by this point in her life, the 35 year old Piper had taken the role of head chef in Penny's kitchen and put her younger self in the role of a sous chef. Grams mostly just watched the two prepare a simple but sophisticated home cooked meal, enjoying the vision of what her shy little granddaughter would grow into. She had, of course, offered her two cents, or maybe 200 cents, worth as to a proper meal, but the more the older Piper brushed Penny's comments aside, the more 26 year old Piper's heady confidence came through. By the end of the meal's preparation both Piper's mannerisms were nearly indistinguishable.
Penny, as she noticed this gradual build of confidence, had backed off, marveling at how quickly her girl's hidden strength could be revealed if given the proper support – in this case the support of herself. She made a mental note to write a note to herself before her memory was erased to try and remind the 10 year old Piper of her gifts more often. Grams glanced at Prue, who was chatting about nothing of much importance with Paige, the sister she'd never met, while they set the table and a sad smile played on her face at the living glimpse of the future. Piper would truly blossom, but by having her sister - her greatest supporter - taken from her. Penny knew that everything happened for a reason, but she'd be damned before she’d ever say it was always fair. Losing her darling Patty had taught her that.
Since childhood, Piper had always been more confident in the kitchen and the more timid Piper only attributed her change in behavior to being back in her most familiar element. The older Piper didn't much notice the change in her younger self, but rather noticed the natural rhythm their movements had fallen into, and wished she could find staff so well coordinated to her at the club.
Meanwhile, the rest of the family had sat down at the rectangular table. As large as it was, the dining room table still barely afforded room enough for all six sisters, plus Grams, Chris, and the three little ones. Soon, the 27 year old Piper brought out a casserole dish full of pasta and little Phoebe's face lit up as she saw the dish. "Lasagna! My favorite!" she exclaimed as if Santa Claus himself had just leapt out of the chimney.
Warm smiles spread across the faces of both adults pairs of Phoebe and Piper at this. "I know!" replied the less experienced Piper. A confused look clouded the littlest Phoebe's eyes and Piper scrambled to cover her slip up. "Oh, uh, y'know - it's everybody's favorite! Favorite, uh, pasta."
"Not mine!" complained preteen Prue, ever contrary to Phoebe.
"But you still like it, don't you?" pressed adult Prue as a guilty look shadowed her face at her child self's behavior.
12 year old Prue let out a small huff before shrugging. "Yeaaaah... I guess! I was just saying that it's not -"
"Prudence! Don’t be rude!" reprimanded Grams. The other adults at the table exchanged a chuckle at this – except Prue whose face flushed at her younger self's bratty behavior.
She leaned over to whisper in her Piper's ear. "I wasn't really this snotty – was I?"
Her sister grimaced. "Well..." she began, trying to figure a way to squirm out of the question.
"Okay, okay! You don't have to say it! I think I know the answer..." replied Prue as her 12 year old self sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes at a piece of wisdom Grams had tried to impart.
Piper leaned back over, whispering out the side of her mouth. "Mostly only during the ages that ended in a 'teen'."
Prue narrowed her eyes at her sister, but couldn't quite keep the twinkle out of her eyes. "You only win because the evidence is busy sulking a foot away from me." Piper's answer was merely a self-satisfied smirk.
When the oldest Piper carried in a dish of Chicken Parmesan, the preteen's sassy bravado was forgotten the moment she took a bite of the dish. An involuntary "Mmmmm!" escaped her lips before she swallowed the bite and exclaimed "I think this might even be better than Grams's!" This particular recipe had been known in the Halliwell household as ‘Chicken Pruemesan’ for as long as any of the sisters could remember, as it replaced the Parmesan, which Prue hated, with Swiss cheese.
Penny nodded as she took a bite herself. For the past few years she'd seen her middle granddaughter's talent for cooking surface. She'd hoped it would someday be allowed to be applied to potions, under her tutelage, but at the very least she saw a little gourmet in Piper. This meal, however, surpassed even those expectations for her adulthood. "Mmm... yes. Which one of you dears made this?" she asked both adult Pipers, careful to avoid using a name.
The women smirked with some pride at their Grams unhedged compliment. The older Piper answered. "Well, I... uh, we, came up with it when we were around 19 and our Gram..mother gave us an assortment of professional-grade exotic spices."
"The secret is a pinch of cumin and a dash of lemon juice," added the younger Piper.
Little Piper stole a small bite of the chicken from preteen Prue's plate and as she chewed the dish exclaimed proudly, "I can taste that!"
"Hey!" shouted preteen Prue at her little sister's transgression.
Always happy to find a way to gain any kind of attention from her oldest sister, which was best won by antagonizing her, little Phoebe leaned over and stole a bite of Prue's chicken off her plate as well. "Hey, YOU!" she growled at the girl.
Adult Prue squinted her eyes at the Phoebe of her time. "You little brat!" she teased under her breath.
Phoebe shrugged, "What can I say? Your reactions were priceless!" she replied mischievously. Prue was about to respond when a piece of salad flew by her face from across the table and landed with a splat against the wall.
The two little one's tiff had escalated into a low grade food fight during the sister's short exchange. All the kids were tossing small bits of food at each other now; their sibling rivalry turned to playful battle.
A big glop of lasagna noodle sailed across the table, lading squarely on Chris's forehead before sliding down his cheek.
Chris, having grown up in a house stuffed full with many Halliwell children, let himself indulge in this familiar scene and joined in. He tossed a dinner roll, which flew over to bounce off of the oldest Phoebe's head.
"Ohhh!" she exclaimed in a playful growl before she tossed a handful of salad back at her nephew. Soon, the whole family was engaged in this wholesome little battle for a short time. That is, before the oldest Piper saw a grapefruit sized glob of lasagna hurtling toward her head.
"Whah-oh!"she exclaimed as she ducked, doing her best to ignore the reflex to freeze it. When Piper popped her head back up and stood, she immediately let loose a loud whistle and fell into her 'mom' voice. "OKAY! Hold it! Time out!" she announced. Everyone at the table froze for a moment in a living tableau.
Slowly, the raised hands full of food lowered and Piper settled back into her seat. It was at this point that Piper realized that throughout the food fight Grams had been flipping through the small black book that she recognized as Penny's personal spell book. 'Oh, don't tell me that she's pulling out that sibling rivalry spell!'
When Penny saw the incredulous look Piper was shooting her way she realized her granddaughter must be familiar with the booklet and quickly stuffed it away before defending herself. "How else am I supposed to keep three little girls in line by myself?"
The rest of the family looked at Grams, confused by the seemingly random comment. Penny, used to quickly covering for odd events, abruptly changed the subject. "Who wants dessert? Because you're only going to get dessert if you clean this mess up!" After a pause and no response from the little ones she lowered the pitch of her voice. "Girls?"
"Yes, ma'am," responded the little ones in a mildly whiny tone.
Penny nodded. "Thank you. Now finish your supper before it gets cold." After replenishing their plates the family tucked into their meal and Penny changed the subject. “So, how was Aunt Gail’s house?”
“Boooring. She made us help her decorate. I don’t know why she likes those big white rocks everywhere so much,” answered little Phoebe.
“They were crystals, Phoebe. Don’t you ever listen?” said little Piper. “But yeah, they’re pretty ugly for crystals.”
“Aaaanyway, Bobby wasn’t even home, so I had no one to play with…” replied little Phoebe.
“Who’s Bobby? A cute boy?” asked Paige. She’d hardly had any time with the little ones, and wanted to make up for the time she’d lost not growing up with them.
Little Phoebe wrinkled her nose, but her blush betrayed her real feelings. “He’s just a cool boy. ‘Sides, he’s a whole two years older than me, he’s way too old to be my boyfriend. He might as well be a hundred!”
Paige snickered, stealing a knowing look at her time’s Phoebe, who narrowed her eyes in turn. “Don’t even say it…” she warned under her breath, which only served to make the oldest Piper snigger as well.
“Anyway, it wasn’t boring Phoebe,” said little Prue. “You’re just too little to have grown-up kinda fun! Aunt Gail got this awesome camera Grams! And she let me take real pictures with it! With the tripod and everything! And she let me watch her in her develop ‘em. She said next time she might let me help,” she puffed up importantly a little at this.
Adult Prue leaned over to the oldest Piper, who was sitting next to her. “I forgot it was Aunt Gail who got me into photography. I haven’t seen her in ages. I wonder what she’s up to these days?”
Piper grimaced. “You don’t want to know.”
“You’re enjoying driving me crazy with all this future information, aren’t you?”
Piper broke into a chershire grin. “Maybe,” she teased.
Prue shook her head. “That’s what I thought…”
“So can I? She said I needed your permission…” pleaded little Prue to Penny.
“I don’t know, Prudence. Developing film can be dangerous.”
“Awww,” whined little Prue. “C’mon! I’m old enough! They even let us use Bunsen Burners at school last week!”
“And as I recall, that’s why Andy only has one eyebrow right now!” shot back Penny. This got a nostalgic chuckle from the adult sisters.
“Your Grams is right,” said Prue diplomatically. “When I was 16, I once was careless while handling some chemicals, and the next thing you know, it exploded and my sister ended up with stitches from a shard of glass.” Both Pipers absent-mindedly ran a finger across their right eyebrow. Prue turned to the Piper nearest her. “I never did apologize for that, by the way. Sorry,” added Prue.
“That settles it, then. No way are you playing with something that dangerous!” exclaimed Penny.
“But Graaaaams! She’s fine!” whined little Prue.
The older Piper shrugged and smiled. “Really, it’s alright. I think it adds character.”
“Penny,” prodded adult Prue. “Don’t you think you should think about it? Give it some time and decide in the future?” She was obviously hinting that she couldn’t change their futures.
Oldest Phoebe nodded. “Yeah, Penny. She never would have become a professional photographer if our grandmother hadn’t let you take those classes in High School.”
“My career in photography?” said Prue in surprise as she realized Phoebe had just unintentionally dropped information about her future. “I mean, yeah, my career. As a photographer,” she added, covering. For her part, Phoebe was just glad that Chris obviously didn’t know that Prue hadn’t left her job at Bucklands yet.
Penny narrowed her eyes at the adult sisters. “Alright. I’ll think about it….”
Little Prue let loose with a whoop of excitement.“I’ll take it! Finally some family with some sense around here! Thanks!” she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around her older self’s shoulders.
Adult Prue just chuckled. “No problem!” When her younger self had let her go, Prue looked up and noticed that the littlest Piper at the table was picking at her food, looking a little left out. “And what did you do, Piper?” she asked, trying to bring the quietest sister into the conversation. “Did you help too?”
Little Piper looked up and smiled shyly. “Nah. Aunt Gail said I’m not old enough. She did let me take some pictures. They’re not as good as Prue’s, but I’m not a big ol’ ham like Phoebe is for the camera....”
“Hey! Aam nof!” protested little Phoebe around a mouthful of pasta.
“Phoebe, only cows talk with their mouths full!” reprimanded Penny.
Little Phoebe quickly washed down her food with a glass of milk and scowled. “Cows don’t talk!”
“Don’t be smart with me young lady…” warned Penny.
“You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry…” remarked the Phoebe in her twenties.
Paige laughed. “I wonder what a hulked out Grams would be like?”
The oldest Phoebe leaned toward Paige and spoke in a hushed conspiratorial tone, though everyone could hear. “Think wicked witch of the west, but with the ability to throw you across the room.”
“Keep it up and you’ll see,” said Penny, raising a menacing eyebrow at all the Phoebes.
“Anyway,” interrupted adult Prue. “Piper, I’ll be the judge of that. Adult Prue tilted her head and put a mock scowl on her face. “I’ll be the judge of that. Can I see some?”
“Okay,” Piper hopped down from her chair and disappeared into the living room, coming back with a stack of 8x10 photos in a manila folder a moment later. Prue smiled and took the photos from little Piper, noticing that her35 year old counterpart was giving her a look clearly showed she was trying to figure out what Prue was up to.
For her part, Prue was feeling a little guilty at how her younger self was behaving, and was hoping to set a better example. She also remembered that on another day not too long from now, she would come home in a particularly bad mood after receiving an ‘F’ on an art project. She’d thrown out all the photos in a fit of adolescent anger, not thinking to consider that her sister had been particularly proud of one photo in particular. She never knew what happened to the negatives, and had always felt guilty about that incident since. She’d noticed that Piper was a bit obsessive about saving negatives and the like ever since. Now she had an idea about how to make up for it.
Prue pushed her plate aside, clearing a spot for the Piper to show her the photos. The little girl sidled up next to Prue and held the photos close to her chest. “You’re really a professional photographer?”
Prue nodded. “Uh-huh.” She’d worked as a photographer for her college newspaper, and that apparently she would in the near future, so she figured it was close enough. “Go ahead. Let’s see ‘em.”
Little Piper pulled out a photograph from the folder Prue had propped up. It was a close up of a bright red apple, sitting in the grass. “That one’s mine!” said little Prue proudly. “It looks just like a picture I saw at the museum!” Adult Prue passed the picture along to others at the table as little Piper pulled out another, and then another, and another.
“These are all Prue’s.” They all featured various household objects, or items in Gail’s backyard.
Adult Prue nodded. She remembered this was a period of time when she liked taking pictures of inanimate objects in an effort to recreate paintings. “You like still-lifes, don’t you, Prue?”
“Yeah. This one’s my favorite,” she poked at the photo currently in Chris’ hand featuring a pot of flowers casting a dramatic shadow. “What do you think?”
Prue made a show of considering the photo. If she were honest, she’d say it was good for a kid, but reeked of trying too hard to be artsy. But she wasn’t about to say as much. “It’s good. But next time, if you really want to get those shadows to pop, get Aunt Gail to push the negative.”
“What’s push mean?” asked her younger self.
“Underexpose and overdevelop. She should know how to do that.”
“Gee. Thanks!”
Prue exchanged a smile with her other self. “My pleasure. You stick with it.” Penny noisily cleared her throat and Prue got the hint. “And your studies too, though. All the best photographers are educated. You have to know how the world works to capture it on film.” She raised her eyebrows at Grams, shooting her a look that asked ‘Happy now?’ Penny nodded in approval.
Little Piper finally pulled out a photo different from the others. The first was one of Aunt Gail, her hands outstretched and a look of panic on her face. Little Piper laughed. “She thought Phoebe was gonna fall out of the tree she was climbin’.” She pulled out another, this one a close up of Prue, who was arranging objects they’d seen earlier, a very studious look on her face. The expression made her look eerily like the adult sitting a foot away.
The two adult Pipers wore nostalgic looks as they looked at the photos.
“These are wonderful, Piper,” said Penny.
Adult Prue nodded in agreement. She knew Piper had been very proud of these at the time, even if she wasn’t the type to say it. She could see why, although she knew little Piper herself probably couldn’t have articulated what it was. She could see Piper in these photos and the way they were framed that reflected how she saw people. “Yeah,” she picked up the final one, and a spontaneous laugh escaped her lips. “Sorry, it’s just… this is so Phoebe!” The photo showed Phoebe caught in mid-spin as she pirouetted, shooting an effervescent grin at the camera, looking both childishly mischievous and graceful at the same time. “I think this is the best of the lot.”
Little Phoebe stood on her chair and strained her neck out to see the picture. “Of course it is – it’s got me in it!”
Both adult Pipers rolled their eyes with a smile. The younger adult Phoebe laughed before remarking in a mock serious tone, “Well, she is an adorable subject…”
“You should be proud of these,” Prue told little Piper. “Thanks for sharing them with us.” She smiled warmly at the ten year old.
Little Piper bit her lip. “Thanks…” As the girl was distracted by gathering up the photos again, Prue deftly pocketed the negatives to these photos. She figured, either she lost them or took them in the original timeline, so saving something she thought she destroyed couldn’t hurt. She caught the gaze of the eldest Piper who seemed to be the only one who had noticed what she was doing and received a sardonic smirk in return as well as a silently mouthed “Thank you.” Prue shrugged in response, but was happy to see her sister knew what she’d been up to.
__________________________________________________
Once their meal was finished, the whole family joined in picking up the stray food which now littered the entire dining room. When they were almost finished cleaning up, Grams suggested to the eldest Piper, "Why don't you go get that dessert?"
"Gladly." Normally she would have railed a bit against Penny ordering her about like a child, but she was happy to get away from picking diced carrot bits and cheese from the carpet shag.
A moment later, Piper appeared with a tray full of golden brown cookies. "What are these?" asked adult Prue. They didn't look like any cookies she'd seen her Piper bake.
"Cookies, duuuh," replied preteen Prue. Adult Prue clicked her tongue in an effort to not respond.
"Honey-nut peanut butter oatmeal cookies," replied Piper with a chuckle at Prue finally being on the receiving end of her own sharp tongue. "Processed sugar free. Just honey and natural sweetness – and best of all, no kiddie sugar rush to deal with. A little recipe I came up with after I had the boys," she said with a smile.
Little Phoebe pulled a face. "What kinda dessert don't got sugar?"
The 32 year old Phoebe smiled as she wiped a stray bit of marinara sauce from her childhood self's face before handing her a cookie. "Just the best kind," she said in the silly voice she reserved for talking with children."I promise."
"Okay..." agreed the girl, cautiously. She took a small nibble and moved it around her tongue a bit, resembling a tiny wine connoisseur, before voraciously cramming the whole cookie into her mouth. A chipmunk cheek stuffed grin was plastered across the 8 year old's face. "These are yummy!" she declared through a mouthful of cookie. “As Princess I command that these are now the official cookie of Phoebeland!” At this declaration the other two girls each took a cookie and chowed down, smiling as they enjoyed the healthy treat.
As the girls and the rest of the family finished their dessert, Chris got up and began clearing the table of the multitude of dishes. The older sisters, who had known the first Chris, exchanged quizzical looks at this never before seen behavior. Their expressions change to ones of warm amusement as Chris turned to the little ones.
"Hey girls? These are a lot of dishes even for me to carry... I could really use a hand clearing them. Heck, I don't even know where they go – but I bet you've had plenty of experience. Would you mind helping me out?" he asked in a tone only the adults could recognize as a playfully pandering act of persuasion.
Little Phoebe and Piper nodded eagerly and young Prue replied with a genuine "Sure!"
"Awesome!" declared Chris as he pumped a fist, as if he was truly jazzed and grateful for the assistance, and shot them a smile. The witchlighter and the little girls exited shortly with armfuls of dishes. The sisters of 2007 again exchanged bemused looks at the young man's soft and silly rapport with the kids.
"Again. What a difference a better future made on our nephew!" exclaimed Paige.
"Yeah... it's good," replied older Piper softly, her distraction evident as her eyes lingered on the door her future son had just passed through. She was considering that as much as he was like the first Chris, the truth of the changed future was there in his softer edges and easier manner. He'd obviously grown up surrounded by younger family members, and was used to dealing with bickering kids. A small smile crept across her face. ‘The future is worth saving’, a voice echoed in her head as the muffled sounds of familial conversation murmured in the background.
__________________________________________________
After everything was cleaned up, Paige had brewed up some chamomile tea and the family had settled in the living room where Chris had stoked a fire in the antique fireplace. The comfortable conversation was soon interrupted by the chiming of the ever present grandfather clock. Penny stood up and clapped her hands together. "Alright, girls! 8 o'clock, you know what that means!"
Little Phoebe shook her head emphatically. "Nu-uh! There was only seven chimes! I counted!"
"It was so eight chimes, Phoebe, don't lie!" rejoined little Piper.
"But I don't wanna go to bed!" she exclaimed, and snuggled into Chris' shoulder, as if he would stop her Grams from putting them to bed. Chris smirked. 'Phoebe will be Phoebe,' he thought. ‘And so will her daughters...’
Grams put her hands on her hips and scrunched her eyebrows. "Phoebe Halliwell, you've had a big day and you need your rest if you're going to stay awake in school tomorrow!" Little Phoebe pouted in response.
Chris shifted the girl onto his lap. "You should listen to your Grams. I know she can be strict, but she knows what she's talking about," he intoned gently. "C'mon, I'll help you get ready for bed." He stood up, took her hand, and walked her upstairs.
"Goodnight! And thanks for showing me all that neat stuff," said little Piper before following her sister upstairs.
"Ha!" A laugh escaped Piper's lips despite herself. Adult Prue's eyes shot daggers at her but Piper just shrugged, a devilish smirk on her face.
"That's none of your concern, Prudence! And you know full well that this is your bedtime on weekdays as well," replied Penny, clearly not amused at this kind of impudence, as it was becoming a daily occurrence from Prue.
"But-" Prue began to protest.
"March!" ordered Grams, pointing up the stairs. Preteen Prue set down her teacup with a pout and stomped up the stairs, passing Chris on his way back down.
"What's that about?" he asked as he settled back onto a couch.
"Oh, nothing, just my past reminding me of-" Prue was cut off by both Phoebes hushing her.
"Little Phoebe. She's eavesdropping," whispered the oldest Phoebe. She then climbed the stairs authoritatively and pulled her little self out from behind a door. The 8 year old wore a look that clearly showed she knew she'd been caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
"Oops?" she said, turning on her charm to avert punishment.
Her older self just shook her head, all too familiar with her tricks, and gave a playful swat on the head. "C'mon... you know better. Back to your room or I'll sick Prue on you! Now shoo!"
The threat obviously struck home, as the girl quickly spun around and dashed back to her room, firmly shutting the door behind her, and the light immediately flicked off. Adult Phoebe made her way back downstairs to the rest of her family. She gave Grams an embarrassed grin. "Just let me apologize in advance for what I'm going to put you through as a teenager."
"Ditto," replied the other Phoebe.
"Do I even want to know?" asked Penny, tired even at the thought.
"Probably not?" answered Phoebe, scrunching up her shoulders.
"So how about you, Piper. You're obviously a talented cook. I do hope you followed your calling..." asked Penny, as Leo orbed in at the end of her question.
At the expectant look from all the Halliwells, Leo smiled. "Oh, don't worry, I'm just here to check in. Make sure everything is alright!"
The older Piper patted an empty chair next to her own spot on the couch. "Pull up a seat! We're just catching up with each other... so to speak."
"Um. Okay." He sat down in the chair next to Piper, gave Penny a glance, and settled, careful not to lean too close to Piper. "So, what were you talking about?"
"Oh, just our future," she replied lightly, with a knowing smirk.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Leo before her meaning fully sunk in. "Uh, wait. You mean our future?" And with that his curiosity about the woman whom he would leave his calling for had gotten the better of him.
35 year old Piper gave him a knowing smile. "I thought you might be just a bit curious about the home we've built together. What we’re fighting for."
"Well, yeah, it's kind of hard not to be. And since the Elders are just going dust me anyway..."
"No harm, no foul? Yeah, you used that phrase a lot when we first started dating," said Piper, finishing his sentence. He nodded and smiled as he looked at the fascinating woman before him. "And I bet you're wondering how we managed to get away with the forbidden love thing, hm?" The rest of the family watched this scene as Leo leaned closer to Piper, enchanted, despite himself. Some of the rest of the family leaned closer as well; the ones who hadn't already lived the story. The ones who had lived through it were merely amused at the connection the two held no matter when or where.
"Among other things. I mean, how does Chris have whitelighter powers if I clipped my wings?"
"Well... you didn't. Not exactly. Or at first... what I mean is..." Piper tripped over her tongue for a moment before deciding that a brief version of their story would probably make more sense than the filling in details in scattershot. "Ok, so it all started when you were posing as our handyman..."
She continued a purposely detail light recounting of their life together, their struggles, their triumphs, sprinkled with the kind of funny anecdotes a family accumulates through time. All the sisters threw in their own comments and a warm glow filled the evening as each sister shared small parts of the journey their younger selves still had ahead of them. It was both strange, yet comforting, for the younger witches to 'reminisce' about their futures. For the older ones it felt good to reflect on how far they had come and how much they had built in their lives so far. Chris still didn't share much, but he also knew that the sisters from 2007 probably weren't going to have their memories erased, so he still had to be careful about what he said. As the night waned on, and the teapot was drained, the clock struck midnight.
"Oooh, where did the time go? We should get back to the Book and - "
Grams cut Piper off. "No, no. You still need to get some rest before you put yourself back into danger."
"No, Grams, we really should. Leo is still in danger and putting us down to bed is not going to save him," argued the older Phoebe.
"You'd be surprised, dear. Besides, I'm only suggesting a couple hours nap," insisted Penny.
"We feel fine Grams! Really," said Prue, who then yawned despite herself.
“I can see that,” replied Penny smugly.
"Grams, this has all been very nice," said the oldest Piper diplomatically. "Normally I would agree with you, but I can't just go to sleep when some all powerful demon is out there plotting to erase my husband, and therefore also my sons, from history!"
“Yeah, not really the time for bedtimes,” added the other Piper.
Seeing that the girls could be just as stubborn at any age, Grams decided to use one of her oldest tricks to get the girls to unwittingly do as they should. "More tea, then?"
"Okay,” said Prue suspiciously. “But then to the Book.”
"Of course, dear," said Grams genially before she got up to brew her special Passionflower infused tea. She turned up the Manor's central heating by just a few degrees as she passed as well, to enhance the comfortingly warm atmosphere. She soon returned and filled everyone's cups with the holistic sedative tea.
The conversation soon split between smaller groups of sisters as they exchanged small stories and memories. The younger Piper stole a glance from time to time at her older self and Leo, finding herself inexplicably jealous of the report her other self despite not being sure how she felt about her own Leo. Thankfully, Chris proved an excellent distraction from her thinking too deeply on this. Soon, eyes drooped and one by one the women dozed off into a much needed slumber. Chris and Grams spent some time talking after this, but he too was flagging and soon drifted off, snuggled into the younger Piper's shoulder. Grams decided to go upstairs and work out the exact astrological date in the entry her future self had made.
Leo and the oldest Piper were the last ones awake in the living room, lost not just in stories of their future but sharing anecdotes of Leo's childhood in the 1930's, his time with Penny in the 60's, and Piper's own childhood. Piper had heard most of them before, but still enjoyed re-living that familiar old spark of new love that she saw glowing within him.
He didn't know when, but at some point, Leo realized he had shifted onto the couch to share it with Piper. It was strange to have her finish his stories of his mortal life when he had barely met this woman, but it felt good. Familiar. He had almost forgotten this feeling of a truly deep mortal connection – one he hadn't felt since he'd left his wife behind to join the war effort. Except there was something else about the energy that Piper unconsciously radiated toward him. The connection that his future self and Piper shared... he had the feeling that it was something deeper than he had ever experienced, even with his wife Lillian, let alone any other human being. Finally, he realized what it was. Piper was the same woman he should have been with in his past life in the 1920’s. Penny’s mother, Pauline.
Leo, for his part, wasn't sure of the appropriate thing to do, but was enjoying the full feeling in his heart as she unconsciously readjusted, snuggled, and sighed in contentment against him. He sat for a time, his eyes not really seeing the room around him, as he simply allowed himself to enjoy the moment. He wasn't sure just how much time had passed before he was pulled back to prescience by the sound of footsteps coming down the manor's perpetually creaky stairs.
It was Grams, with a notebook and astrology chart under her arm. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at the whitelighter when she saw Piper snuggled under his arm. Leo looked at Penny, embarrassed by her scrutiny, and gave her a pained apologetic smile before whispering "Sorry!" He knew that for her, Piper was first and foremost the little girl who was asleep upstairs and he himself still wasn't sure how to reconcile the woman next to him with the little girl he had met just this morning and the woman he’d had an affair with in a previous life.
"I suppose I'd better go," he said finally, and Penny nodded sarcastically, making it quite clear that she was only tolerating the whole situation because it was clear how happy he would make her granddaughter in the future. He simultaneously pulled a pillow into the spot his body occupied as he orbed out. Piper made a small noise at this before shifting and tugging the pillow to her chest.
Grams began draping blankets over her girls and made a mental note of the time. In two hours and she would wake them and have to send them back into danger."Sweet dreams my dearests," she whispered before blowing out a candle on the coffee table. It flickered out in a gentle whoosh, a gentle wisp of white smoke drifting up into the darkness.