DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters or the places. No profits intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: First, I'd like to thank my sister Karine for giving me the inspiration for this story. I'd also like to mention that this story is the sequel (that I already had in mind) to Voices. Lastly, if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I'm sorry. I am mostly a French speaker.

Chapter 1

It is a sunny morning like there often are in San Francisco. The kind of morning when you tell yourself that everything's going to be all right, that it's going to be a wonderful day. Unfortunately, that will not be the case today.

It is still early and everything is calm and quiet in the Halliwell manor. Everyone is still asleep, recovering from the last two days. Two days during which Phoebe and Prue were abducted by their apparently crazy new neighbor, Lucy. She wanted to kill them but failed. Then she killed herself in their bathroom. And no one knows what, exactly, pushed the woman to commit those actions. Phoebe and Prue both agreed that no one would ever know. They were wrong. They will soon understand why.

Suddenly, a scream cuts through the air in the house, waking up Prue and Phoebe who rush to Piper's room, recognizing her voice. What they discover leaves them without a word.

It was really Piper who screamed. She's lying in her bed, stirring, apparently tortured by a nightmare. Leo is next to her, looking worried, and is trying to wake her up. Because she is still sleeping. Piper Halliwell screamed in her sleep. Leo finally takes her in his arms, whispering to her to wake up, that it's just a nightmare and that everything is okay. Piper wakes up jumping and tries to free herself from Leo's embrace.

"Let me go!" she screams pushing back his hands. "Let me go!"

"Piper, it's okay, it's over." Leo tries to comfort her.

"No! Let me go!" she screams again. "Go away!"

She frees herself from his arms and moves away from him, shaking. It is only at that moment that Piper finally realizes she's really awake and that she's not in danger. She starts crying.

"Oh, Leo, I'm sorry." she says. "I… I don't know why I…"

"It's okay, Piper." Leo says getting closer to her and taking her gently in his arms. "It's over now. Everything's okay."

Piper huddles against her boyfriend, trying to stop her body from shaking. Phoebe and Prue, who observed the whole scene from the doorstep in silence, unsure what to do, come in the bedroom.

"Piper, honey, are you all right?" Phoebe asks, worried.

Piper nods, still unable to talk.

"Is there something we can do for you?" Prue asks.

This time, it's Leo who answers. "A cup of coffee sounds good, Prue."

"Okay. We'll be waiting for you downstairs, then." Prue says as she gets out with Phoebe.

Left alone with Piper, Leo does his best to comfort her while trying to push back his own fears and worries. Because this isn't the first time since last night that Piper wakes up from a nightmare. Apparently always the same. Except that each time, Piper is a little more terrorized. Every time, he asked her to tell him her nightmare. And each time, all Piper was able to tell him was that Prue, Phoebe and him were dead. This time though, Leo has the feeling that Piper remembers more.

When Piper finally stops shaking, Leo, still holding her close to him, asks her "You wanna talk about it?"

"No." Piper answers. "I can't, Leo. Not yet."

"Okay." Leo does. "When you're ready then, Piper."

"Promise."

They stay in bed for a few more minutes then they get up to go join Prue and Phoebe in the kitchen.

When they walk in front of the bathroom, Piper stops. She looks inside and is overcome by shivers as she remembers the voice she heard there yesterday, the one that told her that her dream wasn't one and that she won't be able to resist. Leo sees her turn pale and wonders what is going on.

"Piper, what is it?" he asks her.

Without answering, Piper catches his hand and grips it strongly.

"Piper?" Leo says, more and more worried.

Piper still doesn't answer him. That voice, she realizes, she also hears it in her nightmare. Leo, who's beginning to get scared for her, puts his other hand on Piper's arm and says "Piper, look at me."

This time, the young woman hears him and at last takes her eyes off of the bathroom. What Leo reads in her eyes doesn't reassure him.

"What is it?" he asks again.

"I… I…" Piper hesitates.

"You what?" Leo softly encourages her.

"I don't want to go in there." she lets out in a breath. "I don't know why, but I don't want to."

"Okay, we won't go there, then." Leo reassures her, unsure of what just happened.

Maybe Piper is simply traumatized because she's the one who discovered Lucy's body in there. Although he doubts that that's the problem. Piper looked terrified not traumatized or sad. It doesn't make sense.

Piper and Leo go downstairs to the kitchen. Prue is waiting there for them with two cups of coffee in her hands.

"Are you feeling better now, Piper?" she asks her sister.

"Yes. Thanks, Prue." Piper answers as she takes the cup of coffee her sister's giving her.

Everyone sits down at the table.

"You know what you really need, Piper?" Phoebe asks.

"What?" Piper asks in return.

"A nice big breakfast!" Phoebe answers, getting up. "I'll cook you some eggs and bacon…"

"No!" Piper and Prue shout together.

"Thanks a lot, Pheebs" Piper says "but I'll take care of it myself."

"But, Piper…" Phoebe starts.

"Don't take it too personal, Phoebe." Prue chips in. "But I don't think Piper wants you to intoxicate Leo and her."

"Hey!" Phoebe reacts while pretending to hit her big sister. "I'm not that bad!"

She looks at Piper and Leo for support. Piper contents herself to take out the dishes while pretending she didn't hear a thing. As for Leo, he tries not to laugh and shrugs, not wanting to incur Phoebe's wrath or to contradict Prue and Piper. Phoebe finally gives up and lets Piper make breakfast. "Anyway" she thinks "it'll help get her mind off of her nightmare."

Prue decides to give a hand to Piper. She is still a little upset by what she saw in her sister's room. Actually, it's not as much the fact that Piper had a nightmare that bothers her as her reaction when she woke up and pushed back Leo. Prue has never seen Piper like that before. But everything seems to be back to normal now and she tells herself it's not important.

As for Leo, he watches Piper bustling about in the kitchen, talking to her sisters. She seems to be back to her old self and there is no more sign of fear in her. Leo would like to think it's a sign that it's over but his instinct tells him otherwise. Still, he chooses not to talk about it right now and pushes back his worries to enjoy breakfast with the girls. There'll be plenty of time to address this later.

The rest of the morning goes on without any real problem. At ten o'clock, Darryl Morris stops by with a few other cops to make sure everybody's all right and to see if anyone thought of details he or she could've forgotten yesterday in their depositions. After obtaining their answers they leave and the morning goes back to being normal.

At lunchtime, Piper decides to make sandwiches and some salad. Phoebe proposes her help and Piper accepts it, saying that, anyway, it would be difficult for her little sister to spoil sandwiches. Leo also offers his help to Piper, who asks him to set the table while she's making the salad and Phoebe's making the sandwiches. He accepts and starts to put the dishes on the table.

Suddenly, Prue comes up from the basement where she was developing photos and collides with Leo. He drops the glass he was holding and it breaks on the floor. Hearing the noise, Piper jumps and quickly turns around, holding her knife like a weapon.

"What's happening?" she almost yells.

"It's okay, Piper." Prue answers. "Leo dropped the glass when I bumped into him."

"What?!" Piper does in a voice where Leo detects fear. "What did you do to him?"

"Piper, I just bumped into him." Prue answers, not understanding why her sister is asking her that question.

"Are you all right, Piper?" Leo asks his girlfriend, who's still holding her knife defensively.

Piper doesn't answer Leo. She just stares at him, then at Prue. In her head, she hears a voice asking her if she's sure she can believe them. She tries to ignore the voice by telling herself that Prue and Leo would never lie to her.

Phoebe, who's still standing next to Piper, gazes at her sister. The sight in front of her is worrying. Piper is there, almost threatening Prue and Leo with her knife, eyes wide open and full of fear. It almost seems like she's in a trance. Unable to take more, Phoebe reaches out and puts her hand on Piper's shoulder. Piper quickly turns around toward Phoebe as if she'd just been attacked. Taken by surprise, Phoebe gives out a little scream and takes a step back.

"Piper!" Leo says at the same time, hoping to bring her back to reality.

Hearing Leo shouting her name, Piper gets out of her trance. She lowers the knife and drops it on the counter as if it was a poisonous snake.

"Oh my God! I… I'm sorry." she says turning to Prue and Leo.

"Are you okay, Piper?" Prue asks her sister.

"I… I don't know." Piper, who seems about to cry, answers.

Leo comes closer and takes her in his arms. Piper clings to him and starts to cry on his shoulder. Long minutes go by. No one dares to speak. Prue and Phoebe pick up the glass debris in silence, exchanging a look from time to time. Something is wrong. They're both sure of that.

When Piper stops crying, Leo convinces her to go sit on the couch. Prue and Phoebe follow them.

"Piper, what happened?" Phoebe finally asks. "That wasn't like you."

"I don't know, Pheebs." Piper answers. "I felt… I felt like… like I was…"

"Like you were what?" Leo softly encourages her.

"Like I was stuck in my nightmare." Piper answers in a small voice. "I felt like it was becoming real…"

There is a moment of silence during which Phoebe, Prue and Leo exchange a look. It's obvious for all three of them what nightmare Piper's talking about. Leo, who had put his arm around Piper, tightens his grip on her a little while Prue takes her hand and Phoebe sits closer to her.

"Piper" Leo says after a few minutes "maybe you should tell us about your nightmare."

Piper nods and starts her explanations.

"In my dream, I see you die, all of you. Sometimes, I see.. demons or warlocks killing you… But… every time… every time there are demons who take your places. They… they pretend they're you and then, they… they try to… they try to… kill me."

"Oh, Piper…" Prue does pressing her sister's hand.

She looks at Leo and Phoebe. At least, this explains a few things like why Piper was scared of Leo this morning or why she was scared of them earlier. But it doesn't explain why she felt like she was living her nightmare.

"Piper, what made you believe you were in your nightmare?" she asks her.

"I don't know. I think it's -- " Piper starts before stopping.

"You think it's what?" Leo asks, reading in her eyes that she has something to add but doesn't dare.

"Nothing." she answers a little too quickly. "I don't know."

Leo looks at her for a few seconds. "She's lying." he thinks watching her look the other way so he won't be able to read in her eyes. "Why? What are you hiding from me, Piper? What scares you so much you don't want to talk about it?" Leo is dying to ask her these questions. But he doesn't. He is afraid, too. Afraid of the answer, yes, but also afraid she'll lie to him again.

"You really sure you don't know, honey?" Phoebe insists.

"Yes." Piper answers after a few seconds of hesitation. "Maybe I'm just a little tired."

"Okay." Phoebe says, accepting that explanation for now. "In that case, I think you shouldn't go to P3 today."

"But…" Piper protests.

"Phoebe's right." Prue agrees. "You need to rest, Piper."

"No, it's okay. It's over now." Piper says. "I'm all right."

"Piper…" Prue starts.

"Prue, I'm telling you I'm all right." Piper replies.

Prue and Phoebe look at her with an unconvinced look.

"Tell them I'm okay." Piper says turning to Leo.

"Ah, Piper… I think your sisters are right." he tells her. "You should stay here and get some rest. It can't hurt you."

"But I have to go open the club." Piper insists.

"I think your staff can survive without you for a day, Piper." Prue replies.

Piper looks at the three of them, then raises her hands in sign of defeat.

"Okay, okay, three against one, I got it." she says. "You win."

She turns to Leo.

"You know" she tells him "I'm starting to understand how you feel when we all pin against you."

Leo smiles at her.

"Try to remember that next time." he tells her.

"I'll try but I can't make any promises." Piper jokes as she gives Leo a small kiss on the lips.

Then she gets up and goes for the stairs.

"Wait a minute." Phoebe calls after her. "Where are you going?"

"In my room." Piper answers as she turns back to them. "To rest. That's what you wanted, right?"

"Okay, have fun." Phoebe answers.

Piper rolls her eyes to the ceiling and climbs up the stairs. Actually, it's not only to rest that Piper is going to her room. It's also because she won't have to look her sisters and her boyfriend in the eyes after lying to them. Piper knows she should've told them about the voice but she didn't have the courage. She's scared. She's scared of what it could mean. Piper Halliwell is scared she's becoming as crazy as Lucy.

In the living room, Prue, Phoebe and Leo are still sitting on the couch.

"Do you think she's better?" Prue asks the others.

"Looks like it. For now." Leo answers.

"For now?" Prue asks. "Why do you say that?"

"Prue, you know as well as me that something's wrong with Piper."

Prue bites her lip and nods. She knows Leo's right.

"What do you think is happening to her, Leo?" Phoebe asks.

"If I knew, Phoebe." Leo sighs, sitting against the back of the couch. "If only I knew."

Phoebe takes Leo's hand in hers. She knows how much Leo loves Piper and how much all this is tearing him apart. She's likely to do something to relieve him but she knows that he won't be until Piper's better. The best she can do is help him to find out what is going on.

"Hey." she does, searching for his eyes. "Don't worry, Leo. We'll find out, you'll see."

Leo looks at her and tries to smile but his heart is not in it. He has a bad feeling things are going to get worse before they get better.

Meanwhile, in her room, Piper tries to sleep. But she can't ; she's afraid she'll have an other nightmare. The young witch gets up and goes to look at herself in the mirror. She picks up a hair brush and proceeds to brush her long dark hair.

"Why do you think they wanted you to stay here?" the voice she's starting to hate asks her. "Why?"

Piper keeps brushing her hair, trying to ignore the voice, telling herself it's only her imagination.

"You think it's because they worry about you?" another voice asks. "Wrong."

"It's not them, Piper." a third voice tells her. "It's the demons who took their places."

"They don't want you to go out because they want to kill you." the first voice continues.

"No!" Piper says. "You don't exist. You're only a figment of my imagination."

"You know we're right." the second voice tells her. "Think about it. Would Leo really let you go upstairs alone after what happened?"

Piper closes her eyes.

"Why did Phoebe insist to know if you really didn't know why you did that?" the third one asks. "Because she knows you're on to them."

"You must kill them, Piper." the first voice goes on. "You must kill them before they kill you."

"No! Shut up!" Piper says. "Leave me alone!"

"They killed Prue and Phoebe. They killed Leo. They'll kill you."

"No." Piper says. "Prue, Phoebe and Leo would never hurt me."

The voices keep going on. Piper keeps telling them they're wrong but the voices continue, untiringly repeating the same thing. So much so Piper almost believes them.

Suddenly, unable to take it anymore, Piper throws her hairbrush on the mirror, screaming "NO!"

In the living room, Prue, Phoebe and Leo hear Piper's scream and the sound of shattering glass. All three of them jump up and run to Piper's room, fearing something happened to her. It's Leo who reaches the room first. The sight he discovers breaks his heart.

Piper is kneeling on the ground, her head burrowed in her hands, crying bitterly. Shattered pieces of the mirror are scattered all around her, obviously broken by the hairbrush. Quietly, Leo goes near Piper and takes her in his arms.

"Leo, please help me." she cries.

"How, Piper? How can I help you? Tell me, please." Leo urges her, almost crying too.

"Make them stop. Please make them stop."

"Stop who? How, Piper?"

"Make them shut up, Leo. Oh God, make them shut up."

"Who, Piper, who?" Leo asks her again, crying, despaired to see the woman he loves in such pain.

"The voices. Please make the voices shut up, Leo."

Chapter 2

Sitting on her bed, Piper tries to stop shaking. Leo is sitting next to her and she's huddled against him. She hasn't let go of him since he took her in his arms during her attack. For Piper, Leo is her anchor. It's his presence that shut up the voices, for now. But Piper is still trembling because she knows the voices will come back. And she isn't sure she'll be able to resist them for long.

Leo, him, does his best to comfort her, but he's also distressed. He suspected Piper wasn't all right during the incident in the kitchen. But he never imagined this. When Piper asked him to make the voices shut up, he felt his heart go cold. He now understands what Piper was afraid of and he can't help being afraid too.

Prue and Phoebe are also sitting in the room, hand in hand, tears brimming their eyes. They too cannot believe what is happening. They try to understand how Lucy's apparent insanity could transmit itself to their sister. They witnessed firsthand what the voices made Lucy do. On no account do they want Piper to suffer the same fate.

It's Prue who breaks the silence when Piper seems to have regain control of herself.

"Are-are you better, Piper?"

"No, Prue." Piper answers. "I'm not better. I'm going crazy!"

"Piper, don't say that." Leo reacts. "You're not crazy."

"Yes, I am, Leo." Piper replies. "I'm as crazy as Lucy was."

"No, I won't believe it." Phoebe says. "You're not crazy, Piper. It's something else."

"I'm hearing voices telling me I've got to kill you." Piper replies to her sister. "That's not crazy enough for you?!"

"Piper, stop it!" Leo exclaims. "Phoebe's right. I don't know what's going on but I'll find out, I swear."

"We'll find out." Prue adds.

"Yeah." Phoebe agrees. "Trust us."

Piper looks at Prue, Phoebe and Leo. She can read in their eyes the love and the concern they have for her. She can also read their assurance and determination to find a solution to their situation. That's what convinces her they're right.

"You really think I'm not crazy?" she asks.

"Piper, insanity isn't like a bad cold, you can't pass it on from one person to another just like that." Phoebe explains. "If the same thing as Lucy is happening to you, then there's a good chance it's something else."

"I didn't take any psychology classes" Prue says "but I think Phoebe's right. We just have to find out what it is."

"And how do we do that?" Piper asks.

"Well, we have the Book of Shadows and we've got Leo. That should be enough for now." Phoebe answers.

"I think I heard that somewhere before…" Piper does while giving a small smile.

"Yeah, well, I was right then too, right?" Phoebe reacts, happy to at least have made her sister smile.

"More or less." Piper answers. "What do we do now?"

"We find out what's happening to you, Piper." Leo answers, holding her a little tighter.

Prue stands up and claps her hands with a determined look.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do." she declares. "Phoebe, you go get the Book and meet us downstairs with it and we'll look in it. Piper, you'll have to tell us exactly what the voices sound like so we'll know exactly what we're looking for." She looks at Piper and adds "You think you'll be able to do that?"

"Yes." Piper answers. "Anything to get rid of them."

"Okay." Prue goes on. "Meanwhile, Leo, you should go up there and see if your bosses wouldn't have a little idea of what's going on."

"Yeah, sure." Leo accepts, willing to do anything to free Piper of the voices.

Piper isn't sure she wants Leo to leave right now but she doesn't say anything for fear of worrying him even more.

"Okay, let's go." Phoebe says as she gets up and goes to the attic to get the Book of Shadows while the others go downstairs.

A few seconds later, Phoebe joins them in the parlor, Book of Shadows in hand, and sits down in front of Piper, next to Prue. Without waiting, she opens the book and start flipping the pages. At the same moment, Prue looks at Leo, sitting next to Piper, and tells him "Leo, maybe you should go see them right away to gain time."

The whitelighter nods, then gives a small kiss to Piper.

"I'll be back in no time, Piper." he reassures her as he starts orbing.

Suddenly overcome by fear, Piper clutches Leo's hand.

"No!" she exclaims.

Leo stops orbing, worried, believing Piper is once again prey to the voices.

"What's wrong?" he asks her.

"Don't go, Leo, please." Piper asks him. "Stay with me."

"Piper, he has to go see them to -" Prue starts.

"I know, Prue." Piper says, still holding Leo's hand to keep him from disappearing. She knows that common sense dictates she should let him go, if only to put all the chances on her side. But Piper couldn't care less about common sense right now. Especially since her instinct tells her that if she lets Leo leave, the voices could come back.

"I know you should go, Leo." Piper goes on, turning to him. "But I don't want you to. I need you to stay here, with me. I need you."

"Piper…" Leo does.

He reaches out with his hand and tenderly strokes his beloved's cheek. She is scared. She doesn't have to say it in words, he knows. He gently pulls her against him and hugs her.

"All right, Piper, I'll stay." he finally accepts, kissing her on the temple. "I'll stay here while you guys look in the Book and try to find out what this is."

"And what if we can't find it?" Phoebe asks, raising her eyes from the book.

"We'll find it, Phoebe." Leo asserts.

"But what happens if we don't?" Prue wants to know.

"I don't think that'll happen. But if it does, I'll go see them. All right?"

The girls all nod and Phoebe and Prue both lean over the Book of Shadows.

After a while, Phoebe realizes that Prue and her will loose a lot of time searching blindly like this, without really knowing what they're looking for exactly. She decides to ask Piper more details on the voices.

"Piper, could you describe the voices to us a little?" she asks her sister.

"I can try." Piper answers. "There are three of them, actually. They sound like… like…" Piper shakes her head, unable to find words to describe the voices. "I don't know. Like normal voices, I guess."

"There's really nothing else that strike you about them?" Prue inquires.

"No, not really." Piper answers. "No, wait." she adds. "There may be something else."

"What?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know if it's really important, though." Piper says.

"If it strike you, then it must be, Piper." Leo tells her. "What is it?"

"Well, they always spoke one after another, never at the same time." Piper explains. "It was as if each one completed what the other said."

"Okay, if I understand correctly, what we're looking for is three voices who talk in your head in turn." Prue says, in a voice betraying her feeling that it's not much to go by.

This detail isn't lost on Piper, who feels discouraged. She'd like to give them more details but she doesn't have anymore to give. She feels like they'll never find where the voices come from. As those thoughts cross Piper's mind, the little courage her sisters and Leo have given her earlier starts to melt and, slowly, fear and despair start creeping back in her.

Prue and Phoebe are too absorbed in their searched in the Book of Shadows to notice the change happening in their sister. For Leo, however, that change doesn't go unnoticed. He sees it in Piper's eyes, of course, but also in the rest of her being. Piper curls up a little more on herself, she holds him tighter. He knows that the little information she could give them is the cause of this uneasiness. And the more Prue and Phoebe turn the book's pages without finding anything, the more Piper's spirit drops. Leo feels his own spirit drop at the same time; he hates seeing Piper like that. He has to do something, if only to give back hope to his girlfriend. "There's got to be something I can ask her to help in the search." he thinks.

"Piper, what is it like when the voices talk to you?" he asks her, at last.

Piper looks at him without understanding.

"What do you mean?" she asks him.

"What does it feel like?"

The young woman keeps silent for a few seconds, thinking about it before answering.

"At first, it just felt like there was someone else with me in the room who was whispering in my ear." she answers.

"And after?" he asks.

"Now, it feels more like the voices are in my head. You know, like when you talk to yourself in your mind. Except that I know it's not my voice. And the more they talk, the more I believe them. Like they were hypnotizing me or something."

"Like they were breaking through your barriers, little by little?" Leo asks her.

"Yes, exactly." Piper answers, surprised he guessed it. "Why, it rings a bell?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure, Piper." Leo tells her. "I've got the feeling I already heard about it, but I'm not sure when or why. Maybe another whitelighter had to face this."

"Or maybe you just heard crazy people describing how they feel, once." Piper darkly remarks while looking at her feet.

Not wanting to hear more of the young woman's unusual pessimism, Leo raises Piper's chin so she has no other choice but to look him in the eyes.

"Piper, stop it." he firmly tells her. "You're not crazy and you know it. Stop putting a negative spin on everything."

"Putting a negative spin on everything?!" Piper reacts. "God, Leo! I hear voices telling to kill you and you want me to think positively?! That's stupid."

Prue raises her head as she hears Piper's words, wondering what could've happened to make her react like that. Leo can't believe it. He knows Piper has a tendency to overreact but never to this point. And calling him stupid… It just isn't like her.

"I'm not asking you to act like everything's fine, Piper." he says. "I'm just asking you not to see things worse than they really are."

Piper gives Leo a scowling look without saying a word. However, it's obvious she's about to reply something to him. Leo, like Prue, notices her attitude and knows Piper is also about to let her anger explode.

"I understand how you feel, Piper." he tells her. "But-"

"No." Piper cuts him. "You don't understand, Leo. You don't understand at all!" She pushes his hand away. "None of you understand!"

Leo, seeing that Piper is starting to lose her temper, tries to get closer to her. He reaches out his hand once again to touch her arm. Bad call. As his hand touches Piper's arm she pushes him back again, hastily getting up and screaming "Leave me alone! Don't touch me, Leo!".

Piper's scream makes Phoebe, who, until now, has concentrated on the Book of Shadows while ignoring Piper and Leo's discussion, thinking Piper was only overreacting once again, raises her head. She isn't sure it's just that anymore.

"Calm down, Piper." Prue says, opening her mouth for the first time since the beginning of the fight.

"I'll calm down if I want to, Prue!" Piper replies sharply. "And mind your own business."

Prue opens her mouth but, unable to find words to calm down her sister, she closes it without a word.

"Piper, we're only trying to help you." Leo tries to calm her, getting up.

"Yeah, well, I don't want your help, okay?" Piper utters, looking at him.

"Come on, Piper…" Phoebe tries to convince her.

"No. You can't help me, anyway. No one can." Piper announces.

"That's not true, Piper. We can help you. You just have to give us more time." Leo tells her as he takes a step in her direction.

But Piper also rejects this attempt and steps back one step, away from Leo who stops, unsure what he should do now. Prue and Phoebe are open-mouthed. None of them knows what to do and they stand there, helpless, watching their sister with concern.

"Stop kidding yourself, Leo Wyatt." Piper spits out. "You can't help me: you don't even know what's happening."

The reply is like a cold shower for Leo. The words were delivered with a cold voice and the look that accompanies them is icy. Leo feels a shiver down his back. Piper didn't utter those words. Not his Piper. It's not possible. The voices must be back, he realizes, and they're the ones who are making Piper act like this.

Prue, who just had the same thought and reached the same conclusion, feels bad for Leo. He definitely doesn't deserve to hear this, she thinks.

"Piper, you're not being fair." Prue reproaches her sister.

"That's right, go on, defend him." Piper replies. "It doesn't really surprise me."

Prue looks at her sister, surprised, not expecting that kind of answer at all. She gives a look at Phoebe, who's as surprised as she is.

"Wait a second, Piper." the youngest Halliwell sister says. "Leo and Prue are only worried about you. You don't have the right to-"

"That's it, why don't you just all gang up against me." Piper reacts. "That's what you've been waiting for from the start, right?"

"What?" Phoebe says, confused.

"I know who you are." Piper goes on. "I know what you want. And you're not getting it!"

Leo, who's pulled himself back together, takes advantage of the fact that Piper's attention is focused on her sisters to quickly get close to her and grip her arms.

"No! Let me go! Let me go!" Piper screams, struggling.

Seeing her like this is tearing him apart but Leo knows he can't let her go if he wants to help her.

"Get a hold of yourself, Piper!" he exclaims himself. "It's not you who's talking, it's the voices. You have to take back control of yourself before you do something you'll regret."

"Let me go!" Piper yells, hysterical, still trying to get out of his grip.

"Get a hold of yourself, Piper!" Leo repeats. "Please, you're stronger than them."

"No!" Piper screams as she frees one of her arms.

She tries to push Leo back but he resists. He tries to catch Piper's hand. She's quicker than him and, crazy with rage and fear, Piper clubs him on the jaw. Taken by surprise, Leo looses his balance and sweeps Piper in his fall. Prue and Phoebe have only time to scream before Piper and Leo hit the ground, Leo's head banging against a piece of furniture while Piper falls on him.

Before her sisters have time to react, Piper quickly gets up, stepping back a few steps and brings her hand to her mouth, eyes wide open, horrified.

"Oh, Leo." she breathes out, unable to believe what she just did.

Phoebe then rushes to Leo, who's unconscious, while Prue goes to Piper. She seems back to her old self.

"Piper, are you all right?" Prue asks, searching for Piper's eyes, still fixated on Leo.

"Prue, what did I do?" she asks, near tears.

Prue takes her in her arms, trying to comfort her. Piper lets her, then she looks at Phoebe, kneeling next to Leo.

"Phoebe. Leo…" Piper starts, unable to finish her sentence.

"I think he's waking up." Phoebe answers as she sees his body move.

Indeed, Leo is now conscious and sits up slowly, bringing his hand to his head, grimacing in pain.

"Phoebe" he says noticing the young woman kneeling near him "is Piper-"

"She's all right." Phoebe reassures him pointing to her two sisters.

Piper watches Leo get up, relieved she hasn't badly hurt her boyfriend.

"Leo, I'm so sorry." she says, running to him, tears in her eyes. "I didn't want to…"

"I know." Leo comforts her, holding her close to him, happy to have back the Piper he knows and loves. "It's okay. The important thing is you've gained back control, Piper."

"All those horrible things I said and did…" Piper goes on.

"Shh. It's not important, Piper. There's nothing you could do. The voices made you do that."

For a few minutes, Leo, Prue and Phoebe apply themselves to reassure Piper that they're not mad at her. In spite of that, Piper can't chase the incident from her mind. The voices were almost stronger than her. It was only when she saw Leo unconscious that she regained control. Next time, she might not be so lucky.

"What the hell is wrong with me?!" Piper suddenly lets out, exasperated and discouraged.

"I don't know, Piper." Prue answers her. "But I think we'd better hurry to find the answer to that before the voices come back again."

"Prue's right." Phoebe agrees. "Which is why you should go see your bosses right now, Leo. Otherwise, I'm afraid we won't have enough time."

Leo doesn't answer right away. He is torn between two choices: go find the answer to Piper's problem and feel like he's abandoning her or stay here with her to support her but risk never finding the answer. Finally, logic prevails.

"Okay. I'll go see them. And I swear I'll make it as quick as possible, Piper." he says looking her in the eyes.

"I know." Piper answers as she hugs him.

Then Leo steps back and orbs out.

"Well, what about us? What do we do now?" Piper asks after a long silence.

"Phoebe and I'll keep looking in the book." Prue answers. "You never know…"

Piper nods while her sisters immerse themselves back in the Book of Shadows. She feels helpless but doesn't see what more she could do to help her sisters. Plus, she doesn't want to get too close to them, afraid the voices will come back and make her hurt them.

After ten minutes, Piper is tired of sitting there with nothing to do. She gets up and asks her sisters "I'm gonna get a drink in the kitchen. You want something?"

Phoebe and Prue shake their head and Piper goes to the kitchen. She just set foot in the room when she hears the voices again. "No" she thinks "you won't get me this time. I know what you want and you won't get it."

Piper goes to the cupboard and gets a glass that she fills with water. During all this time, she forces herself to concentrate on her task so she won't hear the voices. It seems to work until she sees the knife she left on the counter earlier. Before she has time to realize what she's doing, she grabs it. "No." Piper thinks again. "Put it down. Put it down on the counter." But she can't obey her own mind's order.

In the parlor, Prue's starting to think Piper's been gone for a long time.

"You think we should check up on her?" Prue asks Phoebe.

"I'm sure she's all right, Prue." Phoebe answers her. "That said, I'm still gonna go see her because now I'm thirsty. Keep looking in the Book."

As she enters the kitchen, Phoebe immediately sees Piper standing next to the counter, knife in hand.

"Piper?" she says, confused.

"Phoebe…" Piper reacts as she turns toward her.

Immediately, Phoebe notices her sister's struggling against something invisible. No doubt the voices. She takes a step toward her, hoping to help her.

"Don't come closer, Phoebe." Piper tells her. "Please."

"Come on, Piper." Phoebe answers. "You-"

"No! Don't come near me." Piper repeats, raising her voice and pointing her knife at her sister. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Okay, Piper." Phoebe softly says. "Just put down the knife."

"Go away, Phoebe." Piper says between her teeth. "Go away before they make me kill you."

"Piper, you're not gonna kill me: you're stronger than them."

"You don't understand, Phoebe. They're winning."

"No, I don't believe it." Phoebe answers walking the remainder of the space that separates her from Piper.

She tries to take the knife from Piper's hand but her sister cuts the air in front of her with it to warn her off.

"I don't want to Phoebe. I don't want to." Piper says, near tears.

"Piper…"

Phoebe doesn't know what to do. She realizes Piper has only marginal control of herself and that it's fading away every second. And she is armed.

Suddenly, Piper tenses and attacks, striking with her knife toward Phoebe. But she expected it (after all, Piper *did* attack Leo sooner) and kicks Piper's hand, making her drop the knife. Piper tries to go to the knife but Phoebe is quicker and jumps on her sister, making her fall on the ground. Piper twists under her sister's weight and screams "No!".

She struggles and tries to hit her sister. Prue, alarmed by the strange noises coming from the kitchen comes in running. She stops dead in her tracks as she sees her sisters.

"Phoebe? Piper?" she asks, unable to think of anything else to say.

Phoebe doesn't answer, concentrated as she is on Piper, who's stopped fighting a little.

"No." she says. "Leave me alone. Go away. Leave me alone."

Tears well up in Piper's eyes and that's when Phoebe realizes her sister's not talking to her.

"Help me, Phoebe." Piper goes on. "Make them shut up. I can't take more."

Phoebe gets off of Piper and the latter sits up. Then Phoebe takes Piper in her arms and presses her against herself, crying with her. Prue watches her sisters rock together and goes to join them when she sees a blue light she knows well from the corner of her eye. Leo is back.

"What's happened, Prue?" he asks her as he gets closer.

"I'm not sure." Prue answers. "I think she had another attack."

Leo nods and goes to the others.

"Piper…" he says, kneeling besides her.

She raises her head and sees him. She lets go of Phoebe and hugs Leo. He closes his arms around her and rocks her, just like Phoebe did before him.

"I'm sorry, Piper." he says, eyes filled with water. "I'm so sorry."

For long minutes, Leo and Piper rock each other in silence while Prue and Phoebe watch them, holding hands, near tears too. Finally Piper has no more tears to cry and she progressively calms down. That's when Prue dares to ask "Leo, what did your bosses tell you?"

"They told me to look up the Trion in the Book of Shadows." Leo answers, still holding Piper close to him. "That's what the voices are called."

"Okay." Prue does. "And Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He gives her a small smile, meaning he couldn't have done otherwise. He would give anything to make Piper well.

"Let's go look in the book." Piper says, now that she has calmed down.

"Piper, are you sure you want to-?" Phoebe starts to ask her.

"Oh yeah. And I want us to go right now."

Everyone goes to the parlor where Prue left the book. She takes it and quickly turns the pages.

"Let's see…" she mutters. "Trion… Trion… Trion… Ah! Got it!" she announces as she finds the right page.

"What does it say?" Phoebe inquires.

"Trion. Apparently, they're inseparable demons who enter their victim's mind and make them gradually loose control using their greatest fears."

"That must be why they're trying to make believe where dead and we've been replaced by demons to Piper." Leo concludes.

"Yeah." Phoebe agrees. "Does it say how they enter their victims?"

"Yes. Actually, their victim's always the first person who finds the body of the previous victim. They leave the first one in his or her last breath and their new victim unknowingly inhales them."

"And that's exactly what happened to me." Piper says. "I'm the one who found Lucy in the bathroom. And now that I think about it, I felt a strange shiver when I got close to her."

"That had to be them." Leo says.

"Does it say how we can vanquish them?" Phoebe wants to know.

"Huh, wait a second." Prue answers scanning the page. "Yep, there's a spell to vanquish them. But we can only use it when they're the most vulnerable and that's-"

The young woman interrupts herself, unable to believe what she just read.

"And that's when, Prue?" Piper asks.

Prue clears her throat and finally answers.

"That's just before they take a new host."

"Okay, how do we do that?" Piper asks.

Leo looks at Prue. He understands what she means.

"Piper" he says looking at her "what Prue means is that you can't vanquish them as long as they're in you."

"And they can't get out as long as I'm alive?" Piper asks.

"No." Leo sadly answers. "If you want to vanquish them, you'll have to die, Piper."

Chapter 3

"No! It's out of the question!" Prue yells angrily as she enters the living room almost running.

She can't believe the only way to save Piper from those damned voices is to kill her.

"Prue" Phoebe calls entering the room after her, "at least let me finish."

Prue turns around to face her youngest sister, still mad.

"I don't care what the end of what you were saying is, Phoebe!" she exclaims. "We're not gonna kill Piper!"

"That's not what I was gonna suggest either." Phoebe replies.

Prue stares at her, confused. At the same moment, Leo and Piper also enter the living room. Everyone is slightly demoralized by the turn of events.

A few minutes ago, Leo asserted that the only way for Piper to get rid of the voices is to die. Of course, the sisters didn't accept that, no more so than Leo himself, in fact. Once the initial shock was overcome, all four of them tried to find other options, without any success.

A few seconds ago, Phoebe ended up saying "Apparently, we have no choice. To get the voices out of Piper, we'll have to-" And that's when Prue rushed out of the parlor, yelling.

"What do you mean, Phoebe?" Prue asks.

"If you'd let me finish, you'd know." Phoebe replies, a little angry at her sister.

"Tell us now, Phoebe." Leo intervenes, not wanting to waste time in worthless disputes.

"Right." Phoebe accepts, forgetting her anger. "What I was saying was that we could make the voices believe Piper's dying."

Phoebe is aware that what she just said is dangerously close to insanity, but since it's the only possible option (short of killing Piper, which she refuses to even consider), she says it anyway. Prue, Piper and Leo keep silent, contemplating Phoebe's suggestion.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Prue finally asks.

"I don't know." Phoebe honestly answers. "I didn't think of that. Maybe we could use the same thing we used when we got rid of that ghost…"

"Which one?" Prue sarcastically asks.

"The one when Piper was in Hawaii." Phoebe answers. "We could make her drink that then revive her like Andy did for you."

"Seems like a good plan." Prue agrees.

Leo, him, doesn't agree. At first, he hesitates to share his opinion with the girls, knowing what it will imply for Piper. But he is a whitelighter and it is his duty to let the Charmed Ones know when they're wrong.

"No." he says. "It won't work."

"And why's that, Leo?" Phoebe wants to know.

"Because it's in their victim's last breath that the voices get out." Leo explains. "And to let out his or her last breath, their victim has to die."

Prue can't understand why Leo wants so much to make them see that they don't have any choice but to let Piper die. He should be the first to vote against her death is he loves Piper as much as he says he does.

"Why are you so intent to throw away all the ideas we come up with, Leo?" she asks him, a little mad.

"Maybe because it's his job and he's right." Piper answers, opening her mouth for the first time since she understood how to get rid of the voices.

Piper feels their eyes converge on her, She feels their concern and their opposition to her death. Even Leo is opposed to it. She knows it. She knows him well enough to know. But they must face the facts, she tells herself.

"What are you saying, Piper?" Prue asks, afraid of knowing exactly what her sister means.

Piper keeps her mouth shut but stares at her sisters and Leo with an eloquent look. There is only one solution to her problem and she knows it.

"No, Piper. You… No, we can't do that." Phoebe obstinately says.

"We can't kill you, Piper. It's… We can't." Prue adds.

"Prue, you read it yourself and you heard Leo: it's the only way to vanquish them." Piper counters.

"No." Phoebe refuses. "There's gotta be another way. I'm sure that if we look hard enough in the Book of Shadows, we'll find something."

"No. We won't find anything, Phoebe." Piper says.

"Come on, Piper." Prue does. "I'm sure Phoebe's right."

"Damn it, guys!" Piper exclaims. "Don't you think that if there were another way to do this it'd be written on the same page?"

During all this time, Leo keeps quiet. If he doesn't join the discussion, it's because he isn't sure where he stands. Part of him refuses to let Piper die and wants to find another solution. But another part of him knows that Piper is right and that there is no other way out than death for the one he loves.

Suddenly, Phoebe growls while raising her hands to the sky, discouraged by Piper's attitude, and turns to Leo.

"Leo, would you make Piper understand that her death is not an option?"

Surprised by the question, Leo doesn't know what to say. He looks at Phoebe, then at Prue and, finally, at Piper. She crosses her arms and stares him in the eyes. "Tell the truth, Leo." he can read in her eyes. He slowly takes his eyes away and looks at Prue and Phoebe once again. He hesitates again, unable to repeat what he said earlier, that sentence to Piper's death.

"I can't." he almost whispers.

Prue averts her eyes from Leo and stares at Piper.

"I won't do it, Piper." she says. "I won't kill you. You can't make us do it."

"I know." Piper answers in a trembling voice. "I had no intention to ask you to. I'll do it myself."

"No!" Phoebe and Prue let out simultaneously while Leo closes his eyes to keep from crying.

"There's gotta be a way to keep you alive!" Phoebe exclaims.

"Yeah, we don't vanquish the voices and I spend the rest of my life hearing them!" Piper retorts, starting to lose her temper.

"At least you'll be alive!" Prue lets out.

"Yeah, so they can make me kill you!" Piper yells, running up the stairs, intending to lock herself up in her room.

Leo moves to follow her but Prue stops him, saying "What's wrong with you?!"

She's angry, that's obvious. And Leo can understand her.

"Prue…" he starts.

"Why didn't you say anything? You could've given us a hand!"

"No, I couldn't have, Prue." Leo tries to explain. "And she knew it."

"You could've tried to convince her that as long as she's alive, we still have a chance to find a way to save her *and* vanquish the Trion." Phoebe tells him.

"Phoebe, even if we look for years, we won't find anything." Leo answers.

"So you're giving up? That's it?" an incredulous Prue says. "And here I thought you'd do anything to save her because you love her…"

Leo is aware that Prue and Phoebe's anger is only aimed at him because they feel helpless. But Prue's last words hurt him. Hurt it a lot.

"God, Prue! Don't you think if I had any hope of finding another way, I'd do everything in my power to save her?!" Leo yells. "I love her, Prue! More than anything! I don't want to lose her now…"

The last words were whispered in a trembling voice. Leo stares at Prue and Phoebe, eyes filled up with tears, then turns away and climbs the stairs. This time, Prue and Phoebe don't say anything. They're aware they hurt Leo and they feel bad about it.

In her room, Piper is laying on her bed and cries. She doesn't hear the fight between her sisters and her boyfriend, no more than she hears Leo open the door of her room and close it behind him. He stands next to the door for a moment then he slowly steps closer to the bed. Piper finally senses his presence and raises her head to look at him. Silently, Leo climbs on the bed and lies down next to her, taking her in his arms. Piper cuddles next to him and cries on his shirt. After a while, she raises her head again and realizes Leo's crying too.

"I don't want to lose you, Piper." he whispers in her ear.

Piper closes her eyes, remembering another time when he told her those words, in that place between life and death where he ended up healing her. He gave her back her life and had given up immortality for her. Leo got his wings back but Piper never forgot he clipped them for her. If Leo has no solution to offer, if even him can't save her, then no one can.

"It's not fair, Leo." she finally says to her guardian angel. "We were just starting to be happy."

"I know, Piper." Leo tells her, holding her more tightly.

There is a long silence during which Piper and Leo calm down a little.

"If I'm going to die now…" Piper starts.

"Piper…"

"No, let me finish, Leo. If it happens today, at least, we've had all these times together."

"Don't speak like that, Piper."

"Leo, it's the truth. Unless you found another solution…"

Leo doesn't need to answer, Piper knows there doesn't exist another solution. He simply pushes a strand of hair from Piper's face then lets his hand slide to her cheek. Tenderly, he brings her face to his and kisses her.

"We'll have to convince your sisters." he says when their kiss ends.

"I know. But I also know Prue and Phoebe. They know we don't have a choice. Give them a little time and they'll convince themselves."

"What about you? Are you really sure you want this?"

"Of course not. What I want is for everything to go back the way it was before. But that's impossible. And since I don't want to risk hurting those I love…"

Piper's voice trails off. There is another silence in which Piper and Leo are lost in their thoughts.

"Leo, can I ask you something?" Piper says.

"Anything, Piper." he answers.

"Stay with me tonight. If this is really the last night of my life, I want to spend it with the man I love. With you."

"I had no intention to go anywhere, Piper. There's nowhere else I'd rather be tonight."

Piper gives him a small smile and kisses him, putting all her heart and all the love she feels for him in it. Leo kisses her back and, tenderly, he brings Piper's body on top of his, intending not to let her out of his arms until tomorrow morning.

In the kitchen, Prue is sitting at the table, staring at her now mild cup of coffee.

After Leo followed Piper, Phoebe and her stood a while in front of the stairs without knowing what they should do. Then they went back together to the parlor where the Book of Shadows still was. Prue got closer to it and looked at it for a moment. Leo's words were still ringing in her head. It reminded her of not so long ago, when her sisters had to choose between saving her and saving the world. Of course, the stakes were a little different today but the heart of the problem was the same.

Prue then realized she'd known what decision to make from the beginning. Sighing, she closed the book and took it in her hands to bring it back to the attic.

"What are you doing, Prue?" Phoebe asked.

"I'll go put the Book back in it's place, Phoebe." Prue answered. "We don't need it anymore, I know the spell to vanquish the Trion by heart."

Phoebe opened her mouth to reply, but she knew her big sister was right. She took the book from Prue's hands without a word and went upstairs. Prue didn't follow her. They both needed some time alone. Instead, she went to get a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

She still hasn't touched it. All Prue can do is think. She tries to understand how she could let such a thing happen to Piper. She keeps going over the events of the last three days in her mind, searching for a way she could've avoided all this.

After a while, Prue starts to doubt she's made the right decision. Didn't she just sentence to death her own sister by choosing not to look in the Book of Shadows anymore? Maybe she and Phoebe could've find something. Maybe she should've forced Leo to go see his bosses so they could give him another solution. Maybe… Maybe…

And the waltz of reproaches and regrets goes on in her mind as her cup of coffee gets colder.

Sitting in a corner of the attic, Phoebe cries. She cries for the life of her sister. She also cries because she's angry. Angry at Prue because she convinced her. Angry at Leo because he is right, as always. Angry at Piper because she chose to die. Angry at the Book of Shadows because it doesn't help them. Angry against fate that keeps hurting Piper. But most of all, angry at herself because in spite of her powers, in spite of all her knowledge in witchcraft, she cannot save her sister.

For the first time in two years, Phoebe regrets that she and her sisters are witches. If they weren't, maybe Piper wouldn't have to die now.

Tonight, Phoebe Halliwell, eternal optimistic, able to see the bright side of every situation, able to hope against all odds, cannot find one single reason to smile. Piper will soon die and there's nothing she can do about it. Worse, she'll have to help her do it.

And Phoebe keeps crying, hidden in a corner of the attic.

Much later in the night, Piper slowly wakes up. The first thing her senses register is Leo's body close to hers and his arms around her. Piper smiles sadly. Usually, this sensation is all she needs to feel safe, shielded from the world. Nothing could happen to her as long as she was in Leo's arms. But not this time. Because this time, evil doesn't come from outside, it comes from within herself.

She finally opens her eyes and gazes at her angel sleeping by her side. God, she loves him. And, most wonderful of all, he loves her back. How many women can say the same? Piper knows she is lucky. And that's what makes what is to come tomorrow morning even more difficult. There are so many things she'd like to tell him, so many things she'd like to do with him. But it's too late now.

Slowly, so she won't wake Leo, Piper gets out of his embrace. She needs to get up, to take a walk downstairs. She pushes back the sheet that mostly covered her body and goes to the dresser, looking for the bottom of her pajamas, which she puts on. She starts looking for the top that goes with it in her drawer when she sees the T-shirt Leo was wearing under his shirt. She closes the drawer, smiling, and picks it up.

Wearing Leo's T-shirt to sleep or when she wakes up in the morning has become a habit since they got back together. And so it seems only natural to her to spend the reminder of her last night with it, remembering all the memories that come with this simple gesture.

Before exiting the room, she kisses softly Leo on the cheek. Then she goes to the bathroom.

After that, she goes down to the kitchen and finds Prue there, asleep on the table in front of a cold coffee mug. Piper watches tenderly her big sister before taking the cup and emptying it in the sink. Then, deciding to make toasts for herself, she takes the utensils she'll need. That's when the voices come back once again, trying to push Piper to take her knife and stab Prue in her sleep. Fighting against the Trion, Piper rushes out of the kitchen to stop herself from hurting Prue.

At the same moment, in Piper's bedroom, Leo slowly wakes up, hesitating between going back to sleep or fully waking up, until he realizes Piper's missing. He completely wakes up and looks around the room, searching for his girlfriend. Noting her absence, he gets out of bed to try to find her. He puts on his pants and finds his shirt, but there's no trace of his T-shirt. He smiles. Once again, Piper stole it. Leo puts on his shirt without his T-shirt and gets out of the room.

Seeing the bathroom door closed, he tells himself that's where Piper went and knocks at the door.

"Piper?" he says in a low voice so he won't wake Prue and Phoebe.

"Go away, Leo." Piper answers him. "They're here again."

"Open the door, Piper." Leo asks, worried.

"No, I don't want to kill you."

Suddenly, Leo remembers Lucy killed herself in that same bathroom. "No, not like this!" he thinks. If Piper has to die, he doesn't want it to be like this, alone in the bathroom, terrified of hurting those she loves.

"Prue! Phoebe!" he screams at the top of his lungs.

Without waiting for an answer, Leo orbs in the bathroom and discovers Piper sitting near the bathtub, holding a razor near her wrist, apparently unable to cut it. Seeing the blue light that comes with his arrival, Piper says "Leo, no. Go away."

"No, Piper. Not like this." Leo says as he gets closer to her and gently removes the razor from the young woman's hand.

"You don't understand, Leo." Piper softly protests. "They want me to kill you."

"Piper…" Leo says, taking her in his arms.

At the same moment, he hears someone try to open the door, then banging on it. He then hears Prue's panicked voice.

"Leo? Piper? What's going on?"

"It's okay, Prue." Leo answers to calm her. "She's all right."

However, he doesn't make any move to open the door. Making sure Piper is really all right is his only priority for now.

"I almost did it, Leo." Piper cries. "I almost killed Prue in the kitchen."

"But you didn't. That's a good sign."

"I can't keep doing this, Leo. I can't fight them anymore. I don't have the strength."

"I know, Piper, I know." Leo tells her.

"It has to end now."

On the other side of the door, Prue and Phoebe, worried, are waiting for Leo and Piper to open the door. When opens at last to let the couple out, they're holding hands and Piper has a determined look on her face.

"Go get the spell, guys." Piper orders, looking at her sisters.

They look back at her, refusing to obey at first. Then, remembering she has no choice, Prue tells Piper "We don't need the book, Piper. We know the spell by heart." Phoebe nods before saying "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes. I'm tired of worrying if I might hurt you or not." Piper says. "Like I told Leo, it has to end now."

Without a word, everyone follows Piper to the attic, except Leo, who goes downstairs to the kitchen to get the thing Piper asked him.

In the attic, Piper opens the Book of Shadows to the right page, just in case her sisters don't remember the words when the time comes.

"Piper…" Phoebe starts, a lump in her throat.

There are so many things she'd like to tell her sister and so little time to do so.

"Come here." Piper says, also having a lump in her throat, as she pulls her little sister closer.

It's all it takes Prue to join her sisters' embrace and all three of them start crying together. Piper tries to comfort her sisters by telling them "At least, I'm not going alone. I'll bring those damned voices with me."

"What are we gonna do without you, Piper?" a teary Prue asks.

"You'll be all right, both of you. You're strong."

"Not that strong without you." Phoebe replies.

"Phoebe…" Piper stops, the lump in her throat making her unable to go on.

She swallows her saliva and continues.

"Prue, Phoebe. I… I want you to know that if I'd be able to choose my sisters, I'd choose you two anyway. You're the best sisters anyone could have. I love you."

"Oh, Piper…" Phoebe does.

"We love you too." Prue says.

And the three sisters hug each other once again, knowing it's the last time all three of them are together.

Meanwhile, Leo comes back from the kitchen with a knife. That's the thing Piper asked him to get. She decided it was probably the quickest way to die. But that doesn't make things any easier for Leo. Entering the attic, he sees the three sisters together. He watches them without a word, waiting for them to finish saying goodbye.

When Piper moves away from her sisters, he gets closer to the three of them. Just before he reaches his girlfriend, Prue stops him by putting her hand on his arm.

"Leo, I want you to know, what I said earlier…"

"I know." he says hugging her. "I'm sorry, Prue. For everything."

Phoebe also goes to hug Leo, telling him "We're sorry too, Leo."

Then they let Leo join Piper. She watches her boyfriend coming toward her, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Without a word, because the lump in his throat is too big for him to talk, Leo gives her the knife. She takes it and leans down to put it on the floor. Leo crouches with her and takes her in his arms.

"It shouldn't end like this, Piper." he says at last.

"I know, Leo. But I don't have a choice."

"I should… I should be able to save you." Leo is crying now.

"Not this time, Leo." Piper cries. "Please, don't blame yourself for this."

Leo doesn't answer. He may be a whitelighter and know they're doing the right thing, he cannot help refusing Piper's death. He now knows what Sam felt when he lost Patty. He takes Piper's face in his hands, trying to imprint her features in his memory for eternity. Piper tenderly wipes the tears running on Leo's cheeks. She brings her face closer to his and they share a long kiss.

"I love you, Leo." Piper whispers when their lips part.

"I love you too." Leo answers in the same tone.

Then, Piper gives a last look to her sisters, takes the knife and, closing her eyes, plunges it in her heart. Prue and Phoebe cry bitterly as Piper drops the weapon and collapses in Leo's arms.

He is crying too, holding in his arms the woman he loves while life flows out of her with every single drop of blood that stains her T-shirt. Leo feels like someone pierced his heart too. He cannot believe that this is how the story ends. Now that she finally came back to him, now that he knows she loves him and not Dan, he has to lose her again. Piper was his soul mate. And has he watch her die, feeling her breathing getting more and more difficult, Leo knows that a part of him is dying with her. His entire being tells him to use his powers to save her, but he can't.

"I'm sorry, Piper." he whispers to his beloved when he feels the last beats of her heart. "I love you."

Then, he looks at Prue and Phoebe, who are crying together, and tells them "Do it, cast the spell."

Prue and Phoebe nod and, holding hands, they say the spell in the same voice as Piper lets out her last breath. Prue, Phoebe and Leo see a stranger mist rise out of Piper. It takes three human forms for a few seconds before evaporating, screaming.

"I hope it hurts." Prue whispers before kneeling next to Leo.

Phoebe also does and the two sisters cry next to Leo who's still holding Piper's now lifeless body. In tears, whitelighter looks at the skies in a silent prayer. "Please." he thinks. "Give me the power to save her. She died because of magic, I should have the right." He looks at Piper's face and remembers something she told him just before they got out of the bathroom. "You know, I heard that the brain can live four minutes after respiratory arrest." And what if…?

"What are you doing, Leo?" Phoebe asks between sobs when Leo puts Piper on the floor and places his hands over her wound.

He doesn't answer Phoebe, focusing on Piper instead, knowing he has very little hope of saving her, but a hope still. If only they can let him… Before Prue and Phoebe's surprised eyes, Leo's hands start to glow and Piper's wound heals. Suddenly, the young woman takes a deep breath. With watery eyes, Leo picks her up slightly and calls "Piper? Piper, can you hear me?"

Slowly, the young woman opens her eyes and looks at Leo.

"Leo?" she asks. "Am I… Am I dead?"

"No." Leo smiles, hugging her.

"Did it work? Are the Trion vanquished?"

"Yes, Piper." Leo answers. "We did it. It's over."

Piper smiles at him, relieved. Then Prue and Phoebe jump on her and Leo, happy to have their sister alive and free of the voices.

Epilogue

Under the warm sun of the beginning of the afternoon, Prue, Phoebe, Piper and Leo walk on the beach, carrying a picnic basket and beach bags. Finding the right spot, everyone puts down what he or she was carrying and gets settled.

After the horrible day and night she spent, Piper insisted she needed to get out of the house and have fun. Phoebe suggested a picnic at the beach would make them forget all those horrors.

While they were preparing the picnic, Prue told Leo "There's something I don't get, Leo. If Piper was really dead, how did you heal her?"

"When Piper saved me about a year ago, I was dead too." Leo answers.

Seeing the sisters' confused look, he added "There are circumstances when a whitelighter can heal someone who just died."

"And who decides of those circumstances?" Phoebe asked.

"'Them'. In this case, I think the fact that Piper chose to sacrifice herself to vanquish the demons played in her favor."

"I'm glad it did." Piper added, smiling.

After lunch, Phoebe and Prue decide to go for a swim, leaving Leo an Piper on the towels. Piper watches her sisters, smiling, and laughs when Phoebe starts throwing water at Prue. She turns to Leo and realizes he's holding one of the waterguns Phoebe brought with her.

"Don't even think about it, Leo." she warns him. "Don't you dare."

Leo smiles at her.

"I swear you're gonna regret it, Leo Wyatt!"

Leo pushes the trigger and a burst of water hits Piper in the face. She lets out a scream and tries to take the weapon from Leo's hands. A chase follows and ends up in the water next to Phoebe and Prue, who laugh their hearts out when Leo is beaten… by a wave that makes him fall. Piper is laughing so much now she's crying. Leo gets up and puts his arms around her waist, smiling.

"It's good to see you laugh again, Piper." he tells her.

"It's good to finally have a reason to laugh, Leo." she answers him. "Thank you for making sure I could laugh again."

"And I intend to do everything I can so you can keep laughing for a long time, Piper."

And with that, the two lovers kiss under the tender eyes of Prue and Phoebe.

It is a sunny afternoon like there are often in San Francisco. The kind of afternoon when you tell yourself that everything's going to be all right, that it's going to be a wonderful day, full of promises. And the four persons on the beach smile. Piper Halliwell is alive and free.