Phoebe Halliwell walked down the hall and knocked softly on her sister Piper's bedroom door. "Piper?" she whispered. "Are you awake?"

"Come in, Phoebe," Piper replied. Phoebe pulled open the door and walked inside. Piper sat on her bed with Leo, glancing at the clock on her night stand which read fifteen minutes past midnight.

"I know it's late," Phoebe said. "Sorry I interrupted you two."

"No, we were just talking," Piper insisted.

"And I was actually just leaving. I'll see you tomorrow Piper. Bye, Phoebe." Leo kissed Piper softly and orbed out in a display of soft blue light.

Piper patted the bed beside her. "What's up, Phoebe? I thought you went to sleep hours ago... don't you have class tomorrow?"

"I did, and I do," Phoebe said, sitting down next to Piper. "I was sleeping and I had this really weird sensation."

"Like what...not a demon sensation, right? It's way too late for demons."

"Not a demon sensation. It was like I was smelling vanilla... it was really weird, Piper. I was sleeping and all of a sudden there was this brilliant white light... and the smell of vanilla was everywhere."

"Vanilla?" Piper repeated. "Vanilla with a soft touch of lavender, right?"

"Actually... how did you know?"

Piper smiled and brushed her sister's hair back from her face. "Mom used to come home late at night and tuck me in, and she always smelled like vanilla with lavender. I remember once when I thought she was downstairs, I went into her room and found the bottle of perfume. It was so beautiful, Phoebe, I couldn't resist putting it on. Mom walked in and stood at the doorway, watching me smell the perfume. I thought she would yell at me, but instead she gave me the bottle." Piper smiled and hesitated. "I must have been four years old, but I put the bottle in a shoe box under my bed and I never put any on."

"It was Mom's?" Phoebe said, a bewildered look on her face. "I didn't think I remembered anything about her."

"How could your forget vanilla and lavender?" Piper asked.

There was a soft knock at the door and Prue poked her head in. "What are you girls doing in here?" She walked in the room, her hair still messed with sleep.

"Do you remember vanilla and lavender, Prue?" Phoebe asked, as Prue took a cross-legged sitting position on the bed.

"Of course I do," Prue answered. "How did you remember, Phoebe?"

"I couldn't tell you," Phoebe replied with a light shrug of her shoulders. "All I know if that it was the best smell in the world."

Piper reached underneath her bed and pulled a small shoe box out. "I haven't opened it for twenty two years," she said softly. She handed the box to Phoebe. "You do the honors." Phoebe pulled the top off the box as all three girls breath caught in their throat. Inside there lay neatly a bottle filled with clear liquid, and a folded piece of paper. "I didn't put that in here," Piper said, pulling the paper out. She carefully unfolded it and read it aloud.

Prudence, Piper, and Phoebe,

My beautiful girls. If you are reading this, it means that Phoebe awoke in her bed with the smell of vanilla all around her. Piper, it wasn't coincidence that you tried on my perfume that day. And Phoebe, you were meant to smell the sweet fragrance. This is the only spell I ever wrote for personal gain. Who knows what the consequence will be... I won't even be alive to see it.

My Whitelighter, Sam, advised me not to go to the lake today. He told me a while ago that this particular demon was too strong for me to go up against. Even Phoebe knew. While I was playing with her this morning, she looked up at me and said 'lake'. Phoebe, you are only a few months old today, and you were by far the first of my children to say anything. By the very look on your face, I know that by saying 'lake', you were warning me against an evil I couldn't beat.

The easiest thing for me to do right now is to stay home. Maybe I could take you three to the park, or bake you cookies. But I can't. Please try to understand that everything happens for a reason, and there has to be a reason for this. If I didn't go, maybe it wouldn't be me who died... maybe it would be Prue, or maybe something terrible would happen to all of you.

I'll never know, but I'm not willing to take a chance that will put my daughters in danger. So, I cast a spell that one day, when the time was right, Phoebe would wake up in the middle of the night and go to Piper's room. Prue would arrive later, and you three would unlock the mystery of why I went to the lake. Phoebe, thank you for trying to save me. Piper, thank you for trying on my perfume that day. And Prue, thank you for keeping my secret. You were truly brave for keeping your word. I love you all very much... so much that I can't even express it in words.

If this letter accomplishes anything, let it be that now you know what your mother was thinking about when she went to the lake. I was thinking about you.... my three, beautiful daughters.

Love Always, Mom

Piper placed the letter down on the bed and glanced up at her sisters, who both had tears in their eyes. "Prue... what was the secret?"

Prue smiled and shook her head. "Mom just told you. It was the only spell she ever cast for personal gain. The consequence was that we got to read her beautiful letter."

Phoebe wiped tears from her eyes and leaned her head on Piper's shoulder. "Open the bottle, Piper," she said softly. Piper leaned over and took the bottle out of the box. She slowly took the cap off, and the room was immediately filled with the sweet fragrance.

"Unspoiled after so many years," Prue said.

"Magic," Phoebe replied.

"And a little bit of love from Mom," Piper added. Prue placed her arm around Piper. Phoebe's head was still resting on Piper's shoulder.

"I miss her," Prue said, interrupting the silence.

"So do I," Piper agreed.

"But at least we still have a little more of her memory alive inside us," Prue said.

Phoebe smiled and nodded. "The smell of vanilla and lavender."