Which meant the sleep spell wore off an hour ago.
She spun on her heel and took off at a clip through the door and down the stairs. “Oh, God, please…” she came to a stop at Phoebe’s bedroom door, her hand frozen over the knob, and took a deep breath to steady herself. She turned it slowly, and the door creaked open. Penny peered into the cheery bed, her eyes flitting immediately to the bed.
An empty bed. The covers barely disturbed. ‘Reason or no reason, magic can’t do this to my family. Not my little ones…’ She took off at a pace down the hall, willing herself to stay calm until she could be sure. Again, Penny found herself at a door, Prue’s this time, but there was no hesitation as she swung the door open. It took only a fraction of a second for her eyes to travel from the foot of the bed to the head, but it felt like a lifetime.
She took a deep breath, her eyes locked on the two oft-bickering sibling, and a smile of relief spread across her face. Whatever else her granddaughters, the adults, may face, she was relieved to know that the little ones were still safe.
As Penny was about to pull the door shut she saw Prue, always the first to rise, shift and yawn. “Morning Grams…” She rubbed her eyes with her free hand and made a face at little Phoebe who was still wrapped around her, but continued in a whisper. “What time is it? I’m gonna be late for school!”
“I think you’ve earned a day off, darling,” whispered Penny. Really, she wanted to keep an eye on her girls, but of course, she couldn’t explain that to the little ones.
Phoebe popped her head up at this, an expectant smile already upon it. “No school?”
Penny shook her head, smiling. “No school. Now, what are you doing in your sister’s bed?”
Phoebe snuggled the blankets up to her chin. “I heard voices coming from the attic…”
“It was just a bad dream Phoebe,” scolded Prue.
“Nuh-uh! Anyway, I got scared…”
“So I let her sleep in here,” finished Prue. “But it’s light now and I’m getting’ up.”
“Can we have waffles?” asked Phoebe.
“We’ll see. Why don’t you both sleep in a bit. I’ll get you when breakfast is ready.”
“But Graaams,” Prue began with a whine.
“If buts were candy and nuts, Prudence. Stay up here until breakfast is ready,” Penny scolded.
“Fine,” replied Prue with a scowl and dramatically threw her head back into her pillow, crossing her arms across her chest when she landed.
“Try not to tire yourself out resting, dear,” replied Penny as she shut the door. She knew she deserved it, for once, from Prue, but needed time to figure out what was going on. Hopefully, Leo would return soon and they could formulate a plan.
As if on cue, the familiar jingling of orbs filled the air and lights swirled next to her. “What do the Elders have to say?”
The orbs formed into a small blonde woman wearing Elder robes. “Greetings, Penny. How are you?”
Penny narrowed her eyes at the Elder. While she respected what they stood for, she was no fan of the Elders after what they had put her daughter through with Sam and Paige. Granted they didn’t know about the world’s first witchlighter, and she now knew everything with Paige turned out alright, but it was their worship of the rules that caused the whole mess to begin with. “Who are you? Where’s Leo?”
“My name is Sandra - and Leo is fine. He’s up there, being treated with memory dust. There’s no need to worry.”
“No need to worry?” Penny answered in a hushed voice, and grabbed the Elder by one of her billowy sleeves, dragging her upstairs. “Seven of my grandchildren are missing and I shouldn’t worry?!” she continued once they were back in the attic.
“I apologize. Perhaps I should have been clearer. All of your… visitors, from the future, are back in their proper times. Once the threat was successfully handled, we sent them back.”
“Well. A word of warning would have been nice. And it would have been nice to say goodbye,” replied Penny, hands on her hips.
“We felt that the longer they remained, the greater the chance of altering the timeline. Besides, once your memories of these events are erased, the goodbyes would be rather pointless, don’t you think?”
“That’s hardly the point! Or have you forgotten all sense of manners living up there for who knows how long?” As Sandra opened her mouth to reply, Penny pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. “You know what? Nevermind. What’s the plan?”
Sandra nodded. “After you leave Ninsun’s Tear and the triquetra enchanted to ward off evil I will return and use memory dust on you. Leo will still be assigned as your granddaughter’s whitelighter, but you both will simply remember a warlock attack and vanquishing him. We’d rather not use memory dust on the children, as we could inadvertently erase their school lessons, so we will need you to write a spell to remove any memory of a visit from their ‘cousins’.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” answered Penny, recalling the spell she used to use on the neighbor boy, Andy, before binding the girl’s powers.
“Excellent. Simply call when you’re ready,” said Sandra, who orbed away before waiting for a response.
Penny shook her head. “Well. You’re welcome,” she grumbled to the empty attic.
________________________________________________
1999
As the flash of light cleared from their eyes, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe spun around. “Hey! Where did everybody go?” exclaimed Piper.
Phoebe noticed the warm light streaming through the attic’s stained glass windows. “And am I going crazy or is the sun going down – not coming up?”
Prue walked over to the Book of Shadow’s podium and flipped through a few pages. “No candles, no salt on the ground. And it’s our version of the book here. I think we’re back in our own time.”
“Ok, but how?” asked Phoebe, flinging herself down on Aunt Pearl’s couch.
Prue shrugged. “Maybe cause we saved the day? Or our future sisters didn’t need us anymore? I mean, it happened as soon as our good-guy Triad was disbanded…”
“So, like when we got sent back from the future as soon as we let Phoebe burn at the stake?” replied Piper.
“Got a better explanation?” answered Prue.
Piper simply shrugged. “No. But it’s all just so… ‘Wizard of OZ’. You could have gone home all along-ness. What is this, an afterschool special?”
“Anybody else think that the ‘powers that be’ like having the most inconvenient timing? I mean, we didn’t even get to say goodbye to Grams, or… us. That still sounds weird,” said Phoebe.
“I can’t say I’ll miss the confusing semantics, though,” replied Piper. “But yeah, it would have been nice to say goodbye to our other sister. And my son. But apparently being the arbiters of all good doesn’t include being polite.”
“I guess we should call Leo to erase our memories,” said Phoebe. “Unless…”
“No, Phoebe,” said Prue before Phoebe could go any further with the idea.
“Aww, c’mon, why not? How much could it really hurt?” whined Phoebe.
Prue shot a withering look at her youngest sister. “Did you learn nothing from your future self? Besides, look at it this way. Unlike me, you’ll get to do it again in another, oh, eight years. And you’ll get to be on the all-knowing wise older sister side the next time.”
“True...,” answered Phoebe in a calculating tone. “But I still won’t get to remember this one.”
“We can’t really let something happen to you, can we Prue?”Piper interjected suddenly. They all knew what the real elephant in the room was; the possibility that Prue wouldn’t simply be going away for a while, but none could say it aloud. To give it voice would be to believe it was possible.
“You know we have to. If we couldn’t save Mom, I’m certainly not going to let you die for me, Piper,” replied Prue.
“But-“
“No buts, Piper. Look, as much as the future versions of you and Phoebe have changed, they were still you guys. I had a chance to talk with both of them, and whatever it is that happens… I know it’s the right thing. Because they believe that – and I believe in my sisters.” Prue wrapped one arm around Piper’s shoulders. “Look. There’s something I need to do. Can you guys call Leo and tell him we’re ready for the dust?”
Piper sighed, but nodded in the affirmative. “Alright. But don’t take too long or I can’t be held responsible for the changing of my mind.”
Prue nodded, softly adding, “I’ll be right back,” before leaving the attic. Phoebe and Piper exchanged questioning looks.
“Hey, you’ve known her longer,” answered Phoebe. “So, do you wanna call Leo or should I?”
Piper shook her head at her sister and sighed. “Leo!”
________________________________________________
Prue quickly made her way to her room and began rifling through a box in her closet. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled out an old fabric bound book, with the title ‘The Clue in the Jewelry Box” emblazoned on the front. She had always been a fan of Nancy Drew growing up and had never been able to bring herself to store her book collection in the basement, as she liked the idea of having them handy ‘just in case’. Nevertheless, Prue hadn’t actually read any of them since she was kid.
As she sat down on her bed, she separated a section of the inner lining of the book’s inside cover. Once that was completed she pulled a set of three photographs from her back pocket. They were the photographs that ten year old Piper had taken, and she believed she’d destroyed as a hyperbolic pre-teen. Taking a pen from her nightstand she began to quickly scribble a note on the back of one of the photos.
To my sisters,
I don’t know if, or when, you may find this. I hope you find it when the time is right. I saved these photos from my little self. I know I can’t keep them because trying to figure out where they came from will only raise questions, which could lead to us finding out about the little “trip” we took and possibly changing the future in terrible ways.
But, I’m hoping you’ll find it in my “absence” - if you know what I’m saying. If you’ve found this and don’t know what I’m talking about, do the right thing and have Leo dust the memory of this note. It’s for the best.
In any case, I just need you to know two things. First, you couldn’t have stopped “it” from happening. Don’t blame yourself; I certainly don’t blame you. Secondly, one way or another, I’ll always be there for, even you when you don’t know it.
Love Always,
Prue
November, 9th. 1999.
It was a long shot, but she knew no matter what happened to her, her sisters would never throw out her books. She wasn’t one for nostalgia, but those books were the exception that proved the rule for Prue. She just hoped that finding a book with a photo shaped bump under the cover, and a title with the word ‘clue’ in it would be enough to make her sisters find the photos. She knew she was not in danger of finding it herself in any case, since she’d not cracked one open in at least 15 years.
Prue was soon back upstairs with Piper, Phoebe, and now Leo. “So, are we ready to get this show on the road?”
___________________________________________________
2007
“Good luck,” said Coop to a mostly empty attic. His eyes naturally traveled to the prone form of Leo on the floor. “I don’t know how you sit back and let them go off like that all the time,” he remarked. But before he could decide what to do to distract himself from the waiting the freeze on Leo came undone.
But to his surprise, Leo didn’t continue to age or writhe in pain. He appeared, in fact, to be in a restful slumber. The grey hair quickly returned to its original shade and the wrinkles smooth themselves out. When he had returned to his normal appearance he began groaned and sat up and blinked a few times. “What happened?”
His only answer was the flash of a brilliant white light.
When the flash cleared from their eyes, Phoebe, Paige, and Piper found themselves standing in the same spot that they had been when casting the spell that sent them back to 1999 – including a mortal Leo pulling himself to his feet. Piper quickly rushed over to her husband and engulfed him, as best she could, in her arms. “Oh, thank God!” she exclaimed. “You look alright. How are you feeling?”
Leo laughed. “I’m feeling fantastic, thanks to my amazing wife,” he answered before their lips met in a kiss.
“Hey, what are we? Chopped liver?” said Paige.
“Of course. My apologies,” replied Leo with a smile. “I take it everything is fixed?”
Piper nodded. “I think so. Nothing’s changed, right? You’re still my husband, still own P3 and have two magical little boys?”
“Yup. Including one hefty order of cupcakes for a certain bake sale at one little boy’s very non-magical pre-school,” said Leo.
Piper groaned. “Ok, I wouldn’t have minded that changing…”
“Not that I’m complaining, but how did we get back here?” asked Paige.
“If you finished what you set out to do, you probably have the Elders to thank for that,” said Leo.
Piper let out an irritated huff. “Right. Figures that the Elders only deign to intervene when it’s inconvenient to us.”
Leo furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? You did finish everything you needed to, right?”
Paige shook her head. “I guess so, but…”
“We were just kind of tugged out of there. Without some much as a how do you do,” said Phoebe as she cuddled up next to Coop. “Prue was there…”
Leo smiled sadly at Piper. “You didn’t…”
Piper shook her head. “Of course not. Not that I didn’t seriously think about it.” She sighed. “But you think they’d at least have let us leave on our own accord. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye when we lost Prue. And thanks to their meddling I lost my last chance to say goodbye to Prue.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you,” Piper heard a familiar voice say from behind her.