A/N: I've been getting increasing reviews and PMs, asking when I'll be updating. I'm not going go to into things right now, but I will say that I finally got my own laptop (YES) and now I have a place to write where nobody will be popping in and wiping the hard drive anymore. Woo hoo! Sorry for the long awaited chapter. I hope it's okay.

"Are we in the eighteen-hundreds?"

"Eighteen-nineties," the whitelighter exacted.

"Oh my gosh! I've always loved this time period, Leo! Aren't their dresses just gorgeous?"

"Well, uhm..." The whitelighter placed a hand to his throat, clearing it. "I'm really not one to ask, Paige. That's a woman's department."

"Excuse me?" The witch's slender fingers curved around her hips.

"I meant that in a good way!" The blonde defended. "I meant that

I have no style what so ever, especially not in dresses, so you shouldn't ask me!"

Paige reached out, pinching a piece of Leo's plaid flannel shirt between her fingers. "I suppose I can accept that, but only because of your obvious lack of style."

"Hey, these are perfectly good shirts!"

"They're plaid flannel, Leo."

"So?"

Paige threw her arms into the air, turning away from her sister's husband. "Men," she snorted. A few moments later she began to incessantly tap the toe of her Charles David against the dance floor.

The room was huge and packed from side to side with paying customers. A stage glittered brightly at the head of the room, where an act with about four show girls were dancing with feathers and singing a catchy tune that Paige nor Leo had ever heard before. Almost every person in the room held either a pipe, or liquored beverage, and some even held both.

"I think that's her."

Paige twirled around, following the angel's outstretched finger, to a spitting image of herself. "She's beautiful!" Paige grinned, striking a pose. "I'm beautiful."

Leo rolled his eyes. "I knew that was coming." He quickly pulled in his arm, knowing Paige was due to smack him, but he was a mere second too late. "Ow!"

The past life stood near the entrance of the cabaret, clad in a gorgeous dark magenta dress. It had a tight fitting bodice which sharply narrowed at the waist and then bloomed into a bell shaped skirt, reaching down to the floor. The neckline dipped to just above her bust in a rectangular shape, with rounded edges, trimmed in cream colored lace. The sleeves of the extravagant attire were small puffs of fabric, no larger than an orange, which covered her shoulders. Up to her elbows extended off-white satin gloves and in her left hand she held an expansive white and pink fan.

Golden chandelier drop earrings dangled from her ears and a strip of dark pink velvet curved around her porcelain neck, holding a white cameo with a rose background, trimmed in gold. Her deep mocha hair was pulled into a high bun, while wavy curls drifted down on either side of her face, accentuating her angelic features.

"Follow her," Leo instructed. Grabbing the witch's hand, he pulled her directly through the crowd, running after the young woman as she veered off towards a darker, less populated part of the cabaret.

"Gee Leo, rough much?" Paige grumbled, panting as she tried to keep from falling over her own feet. She stopped abruptly as she rounded the corner, where she toppled straight into her guide.

The past life stood serenely near a very burly man in a black tailcoat, with a drink in his right hand.

"Women aren't allowed back here," the man hissed. His black handlebar mustache wavered from his angered, and quite liquored, breaths.

The past life batted her eyelashes sweetly. "Oh, you don't know who I am, do you?" She held out a hand, dipping it before the man's face. "Angelica Meeks, Sir. I'm looking for my date and I'm guessing you might know him? Mr. Ricardo Montaine?"

The burly man's brow furrowed. "Mr. Montaine is busy, Madame."

"Really?" Angelica lowered her eyes to the ground as if threatening to cry. "He told me he'd be back in ten minutes, but that was twenty minutes ago. I'm worried sick, Sir." She lifted her petite head, batting her thick lashes. "If you see him, will you tell him that I'm looking for him?" As she caught the man's stare, she washed her hand over the top of his glass.

"Of course, Madame. Anything for a lady friend of Mr. Montaine."

"Much obliged, Sir." Angelic curtsied, before gently turning around and walking straight through Leo and Paige.

"Did you see that?" Paige whispered. Walking over to the man's glass, she could see a light fizz sprouting from the bottom. "She drugged his liquor."

The man slid his pudgy fingers across his mustache and placed the drink to his lips, savoring the sweet red liquid. Moments later he landed on the floor with a bang and the empty glass rolled from his listless fingers.

Slipping back down the hall, Angelica grinned. "So much for you, buddy." Gathering the edges of her skirt, she stepped over the drunken man's body and jiggled the door handle, walking into the dark room and shutting the door behind her.

After literally walking through the wall, it took Paige and Leo's eyes a minute to adjust, before they spotted Angelica scurrying skillfully around well placed boxes. They followed.

A small candlelight flickered at the edge of the room and Angelica knew that this was where she needed to stop. She closed her fan, dipping it into one of the deep pockets of her dress and grabbed the edge of a dark velvet curtain. With a swift motion, she drew it back to reveal several scared children ranging in age from nine to fourteen. She emitted a small gasp, before bending down to stroke the head of the nearest child. "Hey there," she whispered softly. "No need to be afraid. I'm here and I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"

As she reached for the gag on the mouth of the nearest child, a creaking door caught her ears. "Damn!" Pulling forth the curtain, she attempted to dive out of view and take cover behind the nearest box, only to discover that the hem of her dress was caught on a loose nail on the floor. "Come on," she whispered, pulling fruitlessly at the dress as a small shaft of light entered the dark room. Finally the dress ripped and she dove behind the box, just in time to see a shadowy figure walk in. She held her breath, hoping that the man would turn away.

"Who's here?" He called into the darkness, taking long slow strides towards the curtain. "Come out, come out, where ever you are..." He raised a lantern, shining it unto the walls of the storage room and saw nothing. Crossing over to his captives, he swung opened the curtain to find nothing amiss. He frowned. "I know someone was here," he growled under his breath.

Behind the box, Angelica quietly exhaled. Watching as the man turned to leave. Then she held her breath when he stopped and began to sniff the air.

The man's face twisted into a wicked grin as she flashed the lantern around the air again, this time bending own and retrieving something from the floor. "I knew there was a reason I didn't get that nail fixed," he sneered, holding a piece of the magenta fabric to the light. Slipping something from the inner flap of his white vest, he peered around a few random boxes, before heading towards Angelica's. "Angelica," he snarled, "I know you're here. And you aren't getting away." Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a flash of pink and he dove, catching the arm of the lady in question.

"Please, Ricardo-"

"I knew you were too good to be true," Ricardo sneered, pushing the girl against the wall. As he did so, his face caught the light of the lantern.

Paige gasped. "Richard!" She tugged at Leo's arm. "I used to date this guy named Richard Montana. I was sixteen, just shortly before my parents died. He got me into all sorts of trouble. We'd steal a lot of small convenience stores. I dumped him when he wanted to rob one and I refused to go that far."

Angelica shuddered. "I was only-"

"Trying to thwart my plan." He pressed the cold mouth of his pistol to Angelica's temple. "And now you're going to pay the price." He turned towards the curtain of children. "We came in together, seeing the drunk man at the door and we discovered the children. Unfortunately a shot rang out too late and I couldn't save you." He cupped her mouth to muffle her scream and then threw her to the side, as he shot the pistol.

As the blood spattered, Paige grabbed Leo's arm and the room began to whirl around them.

----

"Are we back already?"

"No."

"But-" Paige flicked her wrist around the misty white floor and glowing room. "We are up in Elder Land, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but it's not what you think."

"I don't get it."

"Paige! If you'd stop asking so many questions, maybe you would!"

"Now you're losing your temper? Aren't whitelighters supposed to be the good, cool guys?"

"Are you always cool, Paige?"

"I'm half whitelighter, honey. It only half applies to me."

Spheres of white, supernatural light began to twist and whir in the center of the room, then exploded into the form of Angelica Meeks. She was no longer dressed in her former party dress, but a more simple form fitting white gown and her hair was down, flowing freely against her back. "Where in the world-"

"You aren't in your world anymore," an ominous male voice boomed. It was almost like surround sound.

From the mist dissolved a long, white arching table and three figures: two male and one female. Each was dressed in golden, hooded robes and the female sat front and center.

"The Elders?"

Leo merely nodded.

"Miss Meeks," the center Elder informed, "you've been chosen."

"Been chosen for what?" The brunette inquired rather fearfully.

"To ascend to a higher power," spoke the Elder to the female Elder's right. "You have done very special things during your lifetime and your latest action saved the lives of ten children. For that, you have been chosen to be rewarded."

"How so?"

The left Elder chose to speak up now. "With magic."

"Magic?" Angelica's eyes bulged. "Magic doesn't-"

"On the contrary, Miss Meeks. Magic is all around you. Your very aura is magic." The female Elder rose now, circling past the males and making a beeline for Angelica. "I am Sandra," she introduced. "I'm an Elder. And your duty, if you choose to accept it, is to become a whitelighter."

"A whitelighter?"

"A guardian for witches. A protectress."

"Witches?"

"Yes, they're real, Miss Meeks." Sandra waved her hand, creating an image in the mist. The image expanded to show a witch and demon battling. The demon appeared to be winning and once it had felt that it had won, leaving the witch to bleed out, it shimmered away. Moments later a cloud of blue orbs deposited a young woman who bent down to heal the woman, only to disappear moments before the witch could awaken to see her protector. The image dissolved back into the mist, as Sandra turned an awaiting gaze to Angelica. "Do you have an answer?"

"How?"

"We endow you with divine abilities," Sandra explained. "You will endure a rigorous training program and you will study a rule book-"

"A rule book?"

"Yes," one of the male Elders bellowed. "There are very important rules that go along with such gifts. The first and foremost being that you cannot become attached to your charges. They mustn't know you exist. You must work your way into their lives in secret."

"And you must never have romantic relations with a charge," the second male Elder sneered.

Sandra nodded quietly. She crossed her arms, pushing for an answer on Angelica's part.

Angelica placed a hand to her head, attempting to digest all of the new information. She couldn't quite believe that all of this was real. As she looked back to Sandra, she felt her lips moving. "Okay."

"I was a whitelighter?" Paige gaped.

"A witch, a sorceress, and then a whitelighter. Naturally, the next course for your essence to become was a whitelighter-witch."

Paige nodded faintly. "So, what will my future essences become then? A Goddess?" She gave a nervous chuckle.

"No. Goddesses are immortal, which means that they are composed of a brand new essence. One that will never die and never be reused." Leo ran a hand through his soft blonde hair. "And your essence won't be used again after you die."

"Why not?"

"Because once an essence has achieved something of monumental greatness, then it's stopped being recycled. That goes for you and your sisters. The essences of witches as prophesied at the Charmed Ones definitely fulfill the greatness standard, don't you think?"

"I suppose."

"Come on, I think we've got one more stop to make." Leo looped his hand with Paige's and the angelic room before them drained away.

----

Paige gaped. She was standing at the foot of a king sized bed, where a spitting image of her husband was slipping on a pair of slippers.

"Glenn is in all of my past lives?"

"You're soul mates, Paige. Of course he's in every one of your past lives."

"But I was a whitelighter in this life. Doesn't that mean I can't be in love?"

Leo crossed his arms, looking curiously at the witch. "And what do you know about yourself?"

"That I...break the rules?"

"And did you just start doing that in this life?"

"Maybe?"

Leo smirked.

The bathroom door swung open, and a hot burst of steam flew out as Angelica walked out. A white towel was wrapped tightly around her sopping locks and a smooth white satin robe clung to her wet skin. She smiled serenely, as she slipped over to the man on the bed and nuzzled his ear.

"Angelica," the man gently cupped her hands in his. "There's something I need to tell you."

Angelica quirked an eyebrow, a smile playing on her rosy lips. "I'm listening."

"This is serious, Angie."

"Araian," she withdrew her hands. "I don't understand why you would think that I'm not being serious."

Araian drew in deeply. "I really care about you, An. And if this is to go any further, I want you to know the truth about me."

"The truth about you?"

"The truth that I'm a witch."

Angelica stood silently for a moment. Her mouth hung open in an o shape, not sure whether to continue acting as his house maid and secret mistress, or to confess about her being a whitelighter and her cover as his house maid.

"You don't believe me," he whispered knowingly. "I'll prove it to you." He pointed his hand at the dresser across the room and jerked his arm backwards. The dresser screeched as it was telekinetically pulled across the hardwood floor. "It's called telekinesis. It means I can move things with my mind."

Biting the bullet, she whispered, "I know."

"You...know?"

"Yeah." Angelica turned her head away, refusing to make eye contact with her secret lover. "I was sent to protect you. You weren't supposed to know."

"Sent to protect me?" Araian was off the bed now, pacing the room.

"I'm a whitelighter. It's a guardian angel for witches."

Angelica chewed her lower lip, tears threatening to spill.

"You lied to me?"

"Araian-"

"Don't you know how hard this was for me to tell you? What a risk I took? And you knew the whole time, but you didn't tell me?"

"You weren't supposed to know!" The whitelighter screamed, jumping to her feet. "I wasn't supposed to have relations with you, beyond guardianship. But I did! I fell in love with you!"

Araian seemed to stagger, catching the edge of the dresser for support. "Why?"

"Why? I don't know. You tell me how love works!"

"No," his voice soothed. "Why wasn't I supposed to know?"

"Because witches and whitelighters are forbidden to fall in love."

"Why?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "It's just a rule."

"Maybe it can be changed?"

"They won't."

"Who?"

"The Elders."

"The Elders? What are they?"

"My bosses."

"Take me to them."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"It's forbidden." Suddenly she gasped, grasping at her heart.

"Angelica?" Araian started towards her.

"No!" The whitelighter gasped, dropping to her knees. "I-I've said too much!" Suddenly dark swirls of blue and white surrounded her, orbing her away against her will.

"No!" Araian staggered to the floor, grasping at the air where she'd been. "Come back! Bring here back!" He screamed, looking to the heavens.

Another swirl of the same style lights appeared before him.

"Angelica?"

"No." Sandra stated flatly. She stood stoic to the kneeling man, pulling a small satchel from her golden robes.

"Bring her back!"

"She's broken the rules and she's been stripped of her guardian duty," Sandra replied. She dipped her hand into the satchel.

"Why?"

Instead of answering the witch, Sandra blew the white powder from her hands into his face. She stared at his trance-like face and opened her mouth. "You will remember none of these events. You will go to bed and when you wake up in the morning, you will know that Angelica has resigned and moved away. You will never see her again and you will move on with your life. Now go to bed."

Robotically, Araian turned away from the Elder and walked to his bed, climbing beneath his covers and closing his eyes.

Satisfied, Sandra orbed away.

Paige frantically turned to Leo. "B-but don't they get together in the end? What about them being soul mates, Leo?"

A wistful look filled Leo's eyes, something that did not go unnoticed by Paige. "Sometimes even soul mates don't make it, Paige." His finger drifted towards the sleeping Araian. "There is no happy ending for this story."

"What happens to him?"

"He marries a woman named Jessabelle and lives out the rest of his life. They never have children and he eventually becomes quite closed off from the world."

"And Angelica?"

"She's stripped of her powers and her soul was dissolved."

"Dissolved?"

"The equivalent of a demonic vanquish. The Elders didn't want to send her to the afterlife, because they didn't want her to reconnect with Arian when he finally passed on. Angelica's soul was dissolved and essentially absorbed into good magic as a whole."

A tightness gripped the pit of Paige's stomach. Never in her wildest dreams had she hated The Elders as much as she did in that moment. She closed her eyes. Her mind was swimming. She vaguely recognized Leo's arms around her shoulders and the familiar swirling took effect. She was going back to her time, but what she'd seen from her past life would haunt her forever.

TO BE CONTINUED...