The End, Part II
(the missing scenes between season three and four)
by Kassidy Rae
valwp@yahoo.com
Please note I have recapped storylines from the third season's last episode (All Hell Breaks Loose) and the first episode of the fourth season (Charmed Again) and incorporated them into this story to link the two seasons.
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Leo orbed into the manor, where a devastating scene awaited him. Two of the three he had pledged with all his heart and soul to protect lay motionless and bleeding -unconscious or dead, he didn't know yet- on the ground at his feet, flung carelessly by a mighty hand. He knelt quickly beside Piper, placing his hand on her chest, begging silently for her life. He felt her chest rise and caught the sob in his throat. He had work to do. A soft glowing light flowed from his fingers and into her. She'd barely started to stir as he turned his attentions to Prue. Looking down at her, his heart sank like a stone. He noticed the thick dark blood, pooled and thickening ominously beneath her head. Her still face was waxen, ghostly. Even as he felt for her pulse, he knew.
Leo tore himself away from Prue to tend to the Doctor, but it was too late. There was nothing Leo could do for him. Returning to Prue's side, Leo grasped her hand and wept as Piper crawled to her sister's body and shook her shoulder. "Prue…Prue, wake up….Prue? You have to wake up now… Why aren't you getting up? Dammit, get up!" she yelled, voice breaking, and collapsed over her sister's body.
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Prue awoke, dream-like. She thought she stood, but maybe she drifted… upward. Everything looked so fresh, so clean and airy. The very air glowed softly, warmly. She turned as a hand touched her shoulder. Death stood before her. "What are you doing here?" she asked, confused. She looked around her, and was shocked to see her own prone body on the ground with her sister and Leo next to her. She whirled around, staring at Death. "You're here - for me?" she said disbelievingly. He nodded, awaiting her reaction. "This is a mistake…I've got so much, too much to do…" she stumbled over her words.
"Prue," Death said, calmly, "We've been through this before, you and I. I'm not the enemy, remember?"
"Oh, no…I'm not going anywhere," she said, firmly. "What about all the innocents that need our help? My God, what about my sisters?" she continued, voice rising. "The circle has been broken - without the Power of Three, they're sitting ducks! Why are you doing this, now?" she demanded.
"You know I'm not doing anything to you," he replied, patiently, and stretched his hand out to her.
"But…" her eyes widened, "I don't want to go…" she sounded bewildered, like a child. "You don't understand, I'm not ready yet." Her voice trembled as she rushed on, "It's not my time, yet…it can't be…I haven't finished…anything…." she trailed off as Death took a step towards her. "No!" she screamed at him. 'Not YET!" And she took a defensive posture towards him.
He shook his head at her. "Still the same old Prue, I see…don't fight me again. It didn't work the first time and it won't work now," he said evenly. He sighed. "Very well, Prudence…I suppose you need a little help," and he stared commandingly at Leo.
Leo straightened, turning towards Prue and the Angel of Death. He whispered something to Phoebe and Cole, who'd shimmered into the manor moments ago. Phoebe went to Piper, and Leo walked towards Prue. "He sees me, I know it," thought Prue, hope rising giddily. Leo halted and wiped his face, standing still for a moment, listening, before turning to Prue and extending his hand to hers, meeting her eyes. She grabbed him and hugged him fiercely. "Oh, Leo, thank God! I knew you could help me," she said excitedly. He pulled away and looked into her eyes.
"I can help you, Prue," he said softly, "but I won't be able to do what you want."
"I can't come back?" she asked, childlike. Prue looked silently into Leo's sad eyes, seeing the compassion and the gentleness that she and her sisters had come to rely on. Seeing his heartbreak at the finality of her situation. Her eyes filled.
He cupped his hands to her face. "No," he answered gently, "It's your time. You have done so many wonderful, brave things. You have kept so many people from suffering. Prue…you've fulfilled your destiny. Now it's time to go." Leo's kind face soothed her.
"But, Leo," she said, voice trembling, "What about Piper? and Phoebe? How can I leave them alone?"
He stroked her hair. "I promise you, I will take care of them," he said, and smiled at her gently. Death approached again.
"Oh Leo, it can't be time already…" and her eyes pleaded with his. He lost his composure for an instant, then steadied himself.
"It can be…it is," he said, and his eyes were resolute. And this time, when Death stretched his hand out to her, she took it.
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On the day of the funeral, before daybreak, Piper sat before the Book of Shadows in the attic. A single candle chased the shadows. Before her was a silver bowl. Her hands splayed out over the Book, Piper chanted, "In this night, and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power. Bring back my sister. Bring back the Power of Three." She waited, looking skyward. She was so tired… but she had to keep trying. Why couldn't Prue hear her? She had to bring her back!
Unbeknownst to Piper, her sister did hear her call. Prue heard every faltering word, every trembling whisper. She saw Piper's pale, tired face and it was almost too much for her to bear. But she'd been forbidden to speak with her sisters. And while Prue never hesitated to break a few rules, she knew there was no way back to them - God knows she'd tried everything she could think of to get back, and it wasn't to be. She knew that it was absolutely imperative that her sisters accept the finality of her death. As They had made her do. But the look on Piper's sad, care-worn face was breaking her heart.
Piper began flipping through the Book of Shadows, then stopped at the spell To Call a Lost Witch. "Power of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies. Come to us who call you near, come to us and settle here." Her chin quivered. She put a sprig of cypress, some rosemary and yarrow root into the silver bowl. She picked up an athame and cut her finger, letting the blood drip into the bowl. "Blood to blood, I summon thee, Blood to blood, return to me," she whispered, voice beginning to shake. The candle flickered, and Piper's face reflected an instant of hope before being crushed. She didn't know what to do. She'd never felt so powerless. A voice called her, "Piper?" and Piper's eyes lit.
"Prue…?" she whispered. Phoebe entered the room. Despair returned to Piper's face.
Prue cried out, heartbroken, "Please, I didn't want to leave you," and Patti appeared at Prue's side. She hugged her. Prue clung to her ferociously, and her mother couldn't help but smile at the strength in her daughter.
Patti drew back, looking directly into her daughter's eyes and said tenderly, "You've got to let go, Prue. You know I wish there were another way, but your sisters still have to fulfill their destinies. They can't do that if they live in the past."
Prue's eyes blazed as she asked with raised voice, "How will they survive without the Power of Three?"
Patti smiled gently. "I have something to tell you, Prue. The Power of Three lives on," and she stilled her daughter's questions with a forestalling hand. "I can't do anymore -I can't say anymore, until you understand what you have to do, and do it now - you've got to let them go."
"But I love them so much…." Prue said, sobbing in her mother's comforting arms. Because the one thing she needed to tell them so desperately was left unsaid. Oh God, how she wanted to tell them that she was sorry - she'd never meant to leave them.
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Days passed. Prue's funeral was over, and Paige and her sisters learned of her true identity. The Power of Three was newly restored - a fragile, delicate work in progress….again. The only thing that wasn't restored - not quite - was Cole's faith in Phoebe's love.
That evening, in Phoebe's bedroom, Cole's arms were wrapped around her as he tried to sleep. He was quite sure Phoebe was awake, as well. He'd thought to let sleeping dogs lie, but he was haunted by her words - I abandoned my sisters for you. Over and over, it ran through his mind, until he thought he'd go insane. He knew it was true. He didn't know how to live with that fact. Oh, he knew she loved him - he'd seen proof of that when the Source had stabbed him, if nothing else - but how long would love last if she blamed him for her sister's death? He decided, reluctantly, to take the bull by the horns.
He spoke, voice low. "Will you ever forgive me for this?"
"For what?" she questioned, startled.
"For taking you away from your sisters when they needed you most."
She turned her face up to him, smiling faintly, and said, "There's nothing to forgive you for. It's forgiving myself that I'm having a little trouble with."
He kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair away from her face. "We're both to blame, Phoebe. It's both of us."
She said, "We'll work it out - who's guilty, who's to blame - we'll go through it all. And then we'll get through it all. Together. O.K?"
He pressed himself to her, slipping his hand under the small of her back. Phoebe arched up to meet him, murmuring his name….
Later, in the deep stillness of early morning, Phoebe lay awake. She gently disengaged herself from Cole's arms and left the warmth of their bed to creep quietly down the stairs. She went to the front doors and opened them, heedless of the cold. She stayed that way a long time, standing and staring at the distant, winking stars. Slowly the tears began to slip down her cheeks. In all this great, cold world, where was her sister now? She said a silent prayer. Be at peace, Prue. Be at peace.
She shut the doors and went back to her beloved, who awaited her.
