Post by Esmeralda on Aug 13, 2019 7:47:50 GMT -5
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: "This is how the Battle was supposed to end."
“Our cousins!” cried Phoebe in shock.
“But how can that be?” asked Paige, confused.
“Mom doesn’t have any sisters,” pointed out Piper, picking up on the fact that Grams had asked Billie about her maternal grandfather.
Grams spread her arms. “Very well, your half-cousins. Their grandfather was my third husband.”
Phoebe smiled. “Then they’re cousin-witches, even if they don’t have powers anymore”
Piper smiled at Paige. “In this family, there is no such things as halves, just family. So they are our cousins.” And Paige felt a thrill of joy run up and down her spine as she smiled happily back at her sister.
Grams said good-bye to Billie, telling her that her cousins would talk with her later.
Phoebe was still amazed how close they’d come to vanquishing relatives. “The Triad must’ve known. They must’ve known that even if they killed us, there were still other Warren descendants out there, ones who could’ve used their powers to vanquish them.”
Grams nodded sadly. “I wish I kept in contact with Christian Delaney even after the divorce. But he didn't want me around our daughter--that was the main reason for the divorce, since I kept trying to make her use powers she didn‘t have--so when your grandfather had troubles with Patty, once she started using her own her powers, I left Christian with his non-magical daughter and brought Patty home to the Manor instead. And I hate to admit it, but I got so wrapped up in Patty and her powers that I totally forgot about my other daughter until I recognized Christian in our granddaughter."
She shook her head in remorse and regret. "If only Patty had known about her non-magical half-sister, so you girls knew about your half-cousins when you were young! Just think--I could’ve helped find and free one of my own granddaughters when she was first kidnapped. To think she was being held against her will, being turned evil, being set up to kill my other granddaughters even when Patty, Coop, and you, Paige, came to visit me…” and she shuddered.
Phoebe went over to hug Grams. "You couldn't have known, Grams. And who knows? Had you not bound our powers, it might have been one of us who was kidnapped, not Christy," and Grams smiled gratefully at her as she hugged her back.
Paige smiled. “And at least it looks like we’ve straightened everything out now.”
Piper sighed. "Not quite."
“What‘s wrong, Mom?” Chris asked, concerned.
Again Piper sighed unhappily. “Someone’s still missing.”
“Our father?” Wyatt gently asked.
Piper nodded, tears in her eyes. “Even if they’re our cousins, we still never beat the Jenkinses in battle. Maybe that means I’ll never get him back.”
As if on cue, magical lights appeared. “No, Piper,” The Angel of Destiny smiled. “This is exactly how the Ultimate Battle was supposed to end--with Warren descendants not killing Warren descendants and The Charmed Ones saving the ultimate innocent--Christy. Congratulations to you all!”
Piper narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “So?”
And the magical lights lit up the room once more..
“Leo!” cried Piper as both she and her husband ran into each other arms. He quickly pulled her in for a big kiss, and everybody applauded.
Then her sons ran over. Maybe Wyatt and Chris had only known their father when they were very young, but they knew who he was from Piper’s stories. Wyatt still remembered how Leo saved him from evil the other time he visited and had told his brother and cousins all about it many times.
Chris had told stories, too. He was able to remember both the Leo from the evil future and the Leo from the past he’d gone back to. He knew that although he had hated the Leo from the evil future, the Leo who had left his family to become an Elder before Chris was even born and had appeared to have turned his back on his family, Chris had learned to love the version of his father that he met when he traveled back to the past. He knew that this was that man. He was first to reach his parents and gave Leo a huge hug, who happily hugged him back.
Even frozen, Leo had been able to watch everything that had happened and was thrilled to have his whole family here, even if these were the older versions of his kids. Soon they were all in a huge family hug.
“Charmed Ones,” The Angel of Destiny spoke again. “Thanks to your actions you have created a new timeline, one that includes a special reward for each of you.”
“You mean more than just getting Leo back?” Piper asked, surprised, as she hugged him again.
The Angel nodded, smiling. ”That was simply a condition for winning the battle, which you did by not battling. These are extra rewards.”
“Well, it better include us getting to play Scrabble in the future rather than spending all of our time battling demons!” Paige insisted.
Again The Angel smiled. “Yes, Paige, you are now in that timeline, because you have all done what those future versions of all of you did. But this includes much more than that. It's what will allow you to have that future that you and Patty and Coop saw.”
“So what are our rewards?” Phoebe eagerly wanted to know.