Piper was walking along a sandy, rock-strewn beach. The air was slightly chilly, and the breeze coming off the water was fairly strong. She could hear seagulls crying in the distance over the constant booming of the surf. It was daylight, but she was unsure what time of day it was, or what beach she was on.

Disoriented, Piper turned on her heel, making a slow circle in the soft, wet sand. An incoming wave lapped gently at her toes. Looking down, she noticed she was barefoot. She wasn't dressed for the beach - just an untucked blouse over slacks, and no shoes. There was nothing over the water to determine her location - just a flat, featureless expanse of blue, with a few scattered whitecaps, and tufts of cumulus clouds wafting lazily in the sky. She was standing at the water's edge. Immediately around her was mostly fine white sand, but huge, dark boulders of obsidian and granite were scattered everywhere along the shore. As Piper looked up the shoreline, the beach gave way to higher ground, with clusters of ammophilia lodged in the heavier topsoil of the dunes.

Piper had to squint in the bright sunlight, but as she looked ahead of her - she assumed she was facing north - she could just make out a battered beach house some distance away, with weatherbeaten grey siding and wide windows that looked out over the ocean. Along the beach just below the house, a figure was walking towards her. A woman, dressed in a flowing white gown with long belled sleeves, and a golden sash for a belt. As the woman came closer, Piper could see that she was a young woman, probably in her late twenties, with a long mane of raven-black hair that was constantly teased by the gusty sea breezes.

When they were only a few feet away from each other, the woman smiled broadly. Piper stared at her, frowning in puzzlement; she seemed familiar somehow.

"Hello, Piper."

The voice was dusky, almost hoarse.

Piper stared again into the face of the young woman and her mouth fell open in amazement. She had not seen them for years, but there was no mistaking those dark green eyes.

"Prue?" Piper could hardly get the name out of her mouth. "Is - is that you?"

"It's really me."

"Oh, my God. I can't believe this." Piper ran forward and hugged her oldest sister tightly to her. But then, confused, she stepped back. "You're grown up. How can you be grown up?"

"I'm two years old than you, Piper. Always have been, always will be."

"But - but - you died," Piper stammered. "You died when you were little. Barely ten years old. How can you be here now?"

"I've always been here."

"But how?"

"You opened the nexus, Piper. Here, the membrane between what is and what could be is a little thinner."

"Okay, I have absolutely no idea what that means."

"You cast the unbinding spell. That means all your magical powers - including the ability to perceive things most people can't - has been restored to you."

"I'm dreaming," Piper said, with sudden clarity.

Prue merely smiled. "Think of it as an active dream," she suggested.

She reached for her sister's hand. "Shall we walk?"

Piper hesitated for only a moment, then clasped her hand in her sister's and they began to walk leisurely along the beach, just beyond the reach of the incoming waves.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked.

"See that house over there, on the high dune?" Prue pointed. "I live there."

"And where are we, exactly?"

"On the seashore."

"Yes, but where?"

"Piper - the where doesn't matter. This is a place beyond time and space as you understand it."

Piper found her eyes were blinded by tears.

"What is it?" Prue asked.

"I'm just so happy to see you," Piper blubbered, and the sisters had to stop their walk so that Piper could bestow another fierce hug on her sister.

"I'm happy to see you too, Piper."

"I don't know how you can be here," Piper sighed, holding onto Prue for dear life.

"I'm always here, Piper. I've always been here. There's no time when you and I did not exist, and there's no time when we will cease to be. That's from the Bhagavad Gita. I think."

As Piper hugged her sister, she was aware of feeling a great, transcendent joy - and with it, a tranquility that had been missing from her life for far too long.

"I've missed you so much," Piper wept.

"I've always been with you," Prue assured her. "Now that you have your powers, you won't have to take these things on faith any more."

Prue encircled Piper in her arms and held her, until the worst of her sobs had quieted. Then, by unspoken consent, they continued their walk, hand in hand, along the beach.

"So why couldn't I see you before?"

"You can see me any time you want," Prue answered. "You're only seeing me now because you wanted to."

"There are so many questions I want to ask you. I don't know where to start."

Prue's smile dimmed only slightly. "I'm afraid this isn't a social call, Piper. I came here to warn you. Now that you've found the Book of Shadows, they'll be coming after you."

"Demons, you mean? We've already met one group of them."

"They won't be the last," Prue said grimly. "The forces of darkness look at the power and knowledge you now possess, and they will want to steal it for personal gain."

"What about my personal gain?" Piper ruffed. "What's the point of being a witch if I can't use the powers for myself?"

"You weren't given these gifts for your own gratification, Piper. They were given to you so that you could help others and protect the innocent."

"Well, that sucks." Piper made a face. "I don't mean that. Not really. But I wish I had even some idea what I'm supposed to do," Piper said despairingly. "I'm flying blind here, Prue. I realize I've been handed all this power, and responsibility, but I have no idea what the rules are. Or what I need to do next."

"Don't worry. I know someone who can help you with that."

"You?" Piper asked hopefully.

Prue grinned. "Someone on your own plane of existence."

"So, are you dead, or what?"

"Piper, when you're in this place, you need to stop worrying about states of being. It will just get really confusing."

"Oh, I'm already confused, trust me," Piper retorted. Her expression turned somber. "Is there anything I can do for you? To help you? Or … avenge you?" she asked awkwardly.

Prue gave her sister her warmest, most radiant smile. "There's nothing you can do for me," she answered. "But there is something you can do, to protect others."

"There's a demon in the lake, isn't there? I mean, it's still there, still… alive."

Prue nodded sadly. "Yes, there is."

"Can I kill it? Or at least stop it?"

"You can, if you let Phoebe and Paige help you."

"How do you even know about Paige?"

"She's my sister, Piper, how would I not know about her?" She clasped Piper's hands. "You need to take care of them. Both of them. They need you, far more than they let on. They look to you to guide them. Wherever you lead, they'll follow."

"But what do I do?"

"Just remember what Grams told you. Love is the strongest magic of all. Whenever you're unsure of the way, love will protect and support you, and light your path."

Piper was suddenly aware that as the waves were cresting on the beach, her consciousness was also cresting at the very edge of the dream state. She clutched at Prue fearfully.

"Don't leave me," she cried.

"Don't worry, Piper. You'll see me again. Go. Hurry. I love you, always." Prue hugged her sister and kissed her forehead.

Piper sat upright in bed, suddenly wide awake. Blinking furiously, she saw daylight streaming in from the window - she'd forgotten to close the curtains and blinds when she'd gone to bed. She was still in Grams' room, with mostly Grams' belongings surrounding her. But the dream had left Piper with a lingering sense of tranquility and well-being, and she suddenly realized she was now where she was always meant to be. She was home.

As she slipped out of bed, she found a crumpled piece of paper on the nightstand - one that hadn't been there the night before. She picked it up and examined it. It was a crayon drawing, done many years ago - and Piper drew in her breath sharply as she realized she recognized the drawing.

It was a child's illustration of two sisters holding hands, with simple triangles to indicate dresses, and lopsided circles with dots for faces. "I love my sister forever," the note read, and one of the figures with black scribbled crayon for hair was labeled "Prue", the one with brown crayon was labeled "Piper". Prue had drawn this for her, when Piper was only four years old. And Piper hadn't seen this drawing since she was at least that age.

Piper found her eyes welling with tears. Finding a tape roll in the writing desk, she carefully affixed the drawing to the top of her freestanding mirror - where it would be the first thing she would see every morning.

"I love you too, Prue," she whispered to the drawing. "Always."

Some time later, after a quick shower - with hot water! - and a change of clothes, Piper came into the kitchen to find both her sisters already awake, and busily turning out the kitchen cupboards for any supplies that could still be salvaged.

"Look at you two, already hard at work," she marveled.

"Hey, Piper," Phoebe greeted her with a smile. "We saved some coffee and an apple muffin for you."

"You guys made apple muffins?" Piper was astonished.

Paige made a face. "I picked 'em up at the market. You know I can't cook."

"An apple muffin and coffee sounds wonderful. Thanks." She settled herself on a barstool at the kitchen island. "How are you guys doing this morning? I know yesterday kinda hit a new standard for weird."

Phoebe and Paige exchanged a quick glance. "Yeah, it was pretty creepy," Paige admitted.

"But then we decided, we're witches now, and that's seriously cool," Phoebe added, putting a cup of fresh coffee in front of Piper.

"Phoebe and me started talking about all the things we can do," Paige said shyly, warming to the topic.

"What can't we do?" Phoebe grinned, popping the apple muffin into the microwave.

"You guys, we weren't given these powers for personal gain," Piper chided gently.

"Aww," Phoebe groaned in mock dismay.

"You read the book, Pheebs. Good witches are meant to be protectors of the innocent. That's a pretty big responsibility."

"Do we have to be good?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes," Piper declared, not caring whether Phoebe was joking or not. "If you're living in this house, then, yes, you do."

"You're not sorry we cast the spell, are you?" Paige asked worriedly.

"Are you?" Piper threw the question back.

"I think… things will be different now," Paige allowed. "Probably a lot different. But I guess there's no point being a witch if you can't cast spells now and then."

"And there's so much to learn," Phoebe added, dropping the warmed muffin onto a plate and handing it to Piper. "We don't even know where to start."

"We did find our demon, though," Paige said. "We found him in the Book of Shadows after you went to bed. He's called a Shade."

"Which seems pretty obvious," Phoebe interjected.

"They're not demons, not really. They're sort of… well, parasites, I guess. They feed off negative emotions, grief, anger, despair, stuff like that."

"The book says there's no way to actually get rid of them, but if they appear, it means there's something really not right in your life you need to fix. Once you resolve whatever is bothering you, they go away on their own."

Piper snorted. "Wish we'd known that yesterday."

Phoebe looked at Piper, suddenly serious. "Really, Piper. Are you okay with this?"

Piper mulled the question over for several moments before answering. "I have to admit, I wasn't sure when I went to bed last night," she allowed. "But this morning, I think… yeah. I'm okay with it." She hesitated. "I had this really wonderful dream," she confessed. "I was with Prue. And she was all grown up."

"Really? You spoke to Prue?"

Piper smiled tolerantly. "It was just a dream, Paige."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Well… it seemed awfully real," Piper admitted. "I was walking along a beach, and Prue was taking me to this beach house where she lived."

"With grey siding? Up on a high dune?" Phoebe asked. "And these big, black rocks scattered all over the beach with white sand?"

Startled, Piper set down her coffee cup. "You had the same dream?"

"Not exactly," Phoebe answered. She hesitated for a moment. "I was with mom."

"You got to talk to mom?" Piper was astounded.

"What did she say?" Paige asked.

"She…" Phoebe looked down at the floor, sheepishly, suddenly self-conscious. Then she looked up at her sisters again. "She told me, don't be afraid. Stop running away. That I should stay with the two of you, let you into my heart, and every blessing I thought I'd lost would be returned to me, a thousand fold." She stared at the floor again. "You know. Mom stuff."

Impulsively, Paige gave Phoebe a quick hug.

"Wow, Pheebs, that's … wonderful," Piper marveled, not really having words befitting her reaction.

Phoebe discreetly wiped a tear away. "Yeah, made me think, maybe there's hope for me yet, huh?"

"How about you, Paige? Go for any beachside strolls last night?" Piper asked.

"Uhh… no…"

"What? No secret meetings with family members you love?"

Paige looked blankly at Piper, then at Phoebe. "I'm with you guys," she said finally, as if that explained everything.

Piper took a sip from her coffee cup, to hide her smile.

"So, the next big question is, what do we do now?" Phoebe said. "Now that we're witches, how do we figure out what we're supposed to do?"

As Piper mulled over her answer, the doorbell rang. She frowned in puzzlement.

"You guys expecting anyone?"

Phoebe and Paige shook their heads. The doorbell rang again. With a shrug, Piper got up from her stool, walked into the foyer, and opened the door. To her surprise, Leo Wyatt was standing on the porch, a bemused smile on his face.

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed. "Hi! I'm sorry, we weren't expecting you this morning. Was there something we forgot to do for the water heater yesterday?"

"Uhh… no. I'm actually here for an entirely different reason." He shuffled his feet slightly. "Piper… I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I know what happened here yesterday. I know that you and your sisters are witches, and that you've just received your magical powers. I also know that you're really in need of help, and… I know we've only just met, but I think I can help you."

Piper's mouth fell open in astonishment.

"Okay, I really don't know what to say to that," she said awkwardly.

"Yeah, it's not really the best conversation starter, is it?" Leo admitted, clearly uncomfortable. "Would it help if I told you… that Prue sent me?"

Piper had almost decided to slam the door shut in Leo's face, when Paige came running up to her.

"Let him in," she whispered breathlessly.

Piper stared at her baby sister. "Seriously?"

"Trust me," she pleaded. "He can help us."

Piper continued to stare at Paige for a long moment, assessing her pleading look; then she turned back to Leo. He was trying to hold a smile that looked a lot closer to a grimace.

"How can I know that Prue sent you?" she demanded.

Leo sighed. "She told me to tell you… that you said you were flying blind. That you want to know what the rules are." His smile became more relaxed. "I can tell you what the rules are."

Piper considered that for a moment. She looked back at Paige, who was nodding pleadingly for Piper's assent. She turned back to Leo.

"Are we going to get into trouble for this?" she asked suspiciously.

"Probably," Leo admitted.

Coming to a decision, she opened the door wide to let him enter.

"Come on in," she invited him.

Leo stepped into the foyer, and Piper closed the front door behind them; in so doing, she accepted opening the next chapter of her life - wherever that might lead her next.