InsaneJournal

WHO: Emma Carstairs, Julian Blackthorn and Chris Halliwell (with special NPC appearances by the rest of the Halliwells)
WHAT: The Power of Three attempts to cure a curse
WHEN: Sept 25
WHERE: The Halliwell house
WARNINGS: N/A
STATUS: Closed/Completed Gdoc



This was it. This was the night that would either solve the problem of Julian and Emma’s forbidden love, or doom them to a life of unresolved romantic and sexual angst. No pressure or anything.

Emma twisted her fingers tightly together as she walked with Julian to the Halliwell house. Chris has sounded optimistic when he’d contacted them over the network, but she was still nervous. What if the spell didn’t work? Or what if it did, and Emma lost her parabatai forever? She couldn’t even remember what it was like to not have Julian as her parabatai. But if it meant being able to be with him, it was with the sacrifice.

She looked at him, wishing she could hold his hand for comfort. But even such an innocuous gesture was wreathed in tension at the moment. She settled for simply speaking instead.

“Are you as nervous as I am?”

***

“Yes,” said Julian. He might have looked calm, but he was far from it. His insides were twisting like an amusement park ride, and his mind was full of ways that this could go wrong, or even make things worse. He hated having to trust in people whose magic wasn’t from their world, but honestly, maybe it was the only way this whole thing could work.

“You trust Chris?” he asked, despite knowing the answer. Of course she did, or she wouldn’t be here in the first place. Emma wasn’t stupid. Far from it.

“This is...you know, it. One way or another.”

***

Emma nodded. Nothing else they’d attempted or researched in this town had given them hope that they could get their curse lifted, except for what the Halliwells had been working on. Granted, there was no guarantee that the Power of Three would work either, but at least there was a possibility. And that possibility was what Emma had been hanging onto for over half a year, because otherwise she would have to accept that she’d never be able to be with the man she loved.

This had to work.

She suddenly stopped. Julian was right: this was it, one way or another. Either it would work and they could love each other freely, or it wouldn’t, and they would have to accept that they would never be together. She felt like she was at the edge of a cliff, about to jump off. Either they’d grow wings and fly, or they’d hurtle to their deaths.

“Julian,” she said, and then she was catching his hand, tugging him close, reaching up and kissing him. Because if the spell worked, this would be the first in many, many, many kisses. And if it didn’t, it would be the last they could ever have.

***

Julian didn’t have the strength to resist her kisses. He just didn’t. He never had. He pressed against her, kissing her with all of his heart and all of his soul, either to new beginnings or to the end of all hope. It was desperate, either way you looked at it.

When he finally pulled back, he looked away from her, trying to get control of himself again.

“Is it a spell? I mean, are they going to cast something at us? Or is it a potion that we have to drink?”

He was trying to nail down the details, in the hope that being practical would somehow calm him down. After all, it had worked before.

***

It took a moment for Emma to recover. She’d been holding back for so long, the intensity of the kiss still left her shaken.

“I think it’s a spell,” she said vaguely, her mind still on replaying all the details of that kiss. She kept thinking, Either there’ll be more of that, or memories are all I’m going to have left..

She’d tried not to think of anything beyond the spell, but now the uncertainty was making her antsy. “We’ll find out soon enough. Come on.” She caught his hand and led the way to the Halliwells, where she knocked sharply on the door.

***

If Emma and Julian were nervous, it was nothing compared to how Chris felt. He had promised Emma so long ago that he would do whatever he could to help. He had just thought it would be so much easier. Every available Charmed sister was here. Plus him, plus Mel. Sure, if Wyatt were a little older and had his powers, it might help more. But it was a start, wasn't it? Man, he missed Paige.

But this was the only thing he could find. He had had all the sisters read over the spell, check the potion ingredients, the works. If this didn't undo that curse, he didn't think anything outside of their world would.

He answered the door, smiling half heartedly. "Hey. Come on in." Okay, he was a little nauseated here.

***

Julian nodded to him politely as he stepped inside, squeezing Emma’s hand tightly as he did. He hoped so very, very much that this would work. Back home, the two of them had looked into almost everything, and there were no options that wouldn’t cause pain to themselves, or to others. He hoped that being here, in this new place, had opened up a new realm of possibility and that they would be able to find something here that they hadn’t had back home.

Of course, it might not work. It might leave them exactly where they were now, or, Angel forbid, somewhere worse.

But they had to try.

“So it’s ready?”

***

Emma had thought she was holding herself together pretty well, up until she saw the greenish tinge on Chris’s face. Although she smiled brightly, her insides turned to a puddle of anxious goo. Because if Chris himself wasn’t confident in this, how much hope should she be holding out?

“I’m ready,” she said determinedly.

***

Chris couldn't help smiling. Emma's smile had always been contagious. It was why he'd gone into this so willingly. Well. That and the Halliwell tendency to throw yourself into doing good for others. But she was important to him, and Julian was important to her. So they would do this and they would make it work no matter what. If this didn't work, he wouldn't stop until he found something that did.

"Okay so… You two pretty much just need to stand there. I think it might strengthen the spell if you hold hands." And even if it didn't, at least they could support each other that way.

***

A bit nervously, Julian reached out and took Emma’s hands in his own. He felt the electricity that he always felt when he touched her. It was at least partially their parabatai bond. But it was also how he felt for her, and had felt for her since only a short time after they’d been bound.

“We’ll be okay,” he said softly. “We can do this.”

He would give her hope, and hopefully give it to himself in the process.

***

Emma just smiled and squeezed his hand tightly. It was true: they were always stronger when they were together, and when she held Julian’s hand, she felt like she could do anything. Hopefully it was a superpower she could confer to Chris and the other Halliwells.

“We’re ready.”

***

Chris took a breath and nodded, turning to give the other witches in the room the okay. They were his family, even if they were all from different points in their timeline. His the weirdest. Right or wrong, successful or not, they would be there for him.

He grabbed the potion vials. This wasn't the sort they were thinking, of course. They wouldn't be required to drink it. Stepping over to the other Halliwells, he tossed both potions, each landing and breaking in front of Emma and Julian. Puffs of pink smoke rose in the air in front of the pair and, in unison, the family spoke the spell he and his aunts had worked so tirelessly on.

The lights flickered, but Chris never took his eyes off of his friends. They seemed….safe, at least? They weren't hurt. But had it worked? "Well?" he asked, looking back and forth between the pair.

***

Honestly, Julian didn’t feel much different. His emotions hadn’t changed. He still loved Emma more than anything in the world, he could tell just by looking at her. And he still felt their bond. Could it be that nothing had happened? Could it be that what they had couldn’t be fixed by any magic? He was feeling a little discouraged, but didn’t let it show on his face.

“What do you feel, Emma?”

***

“I don’t...feel any different,” Emma said with a small frown. She wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen; she didn’t think anyone was. But she hadn’t expected nothing to happen. But oddly, she wasn’t terribly disappointed about it. She was just mostly confused.

She looked at Chris expectantly. “Did it work?”

***

Honestly, he didn't know. He really didn't know. And Chris felt horrible because he wasn't sure he had a way to tell. "I think… I mean, something happened." That much magic in the room meant something had changed. But what, exactly?

"Neither of you feels any differently? No murderous urges? No...need for me to orb you home before you start making out in my living room?" Which was mostly him teasing but was obviously the best case scenario.

***

“I never have murderous urges.” He said, then clarified. “Well, at least not randomly.” Only when people deserved them, that was. And Emma and Chris certainly didn’t. He looked at her closely, then back at Chris. He didn’t feel any different. Emma didn’t seem to, although she was being pretty quiet.

He turned his focus back to her.

“Hey...you okay?”

***

“Yeah, I don’t feel any different.” Emma looked inward, hoping for some kind of enlightenment, something to tell her the curse had been lifted. But there was nothing.

“Oh well.” She shrugged. “Thanks for trying, guys. I know you put a lot of work into it, but since it didn’t work, we’ll just have to live with it.”

It’d be all right, she figured. She wasn’t nearly as disappointed by their lack of success as she thought she’d be, but that was a good thing. It meant she and Julian could get back to normalcy even without the benefit of a spell to break their parabatai bond.

***

Chris smiled a little at Julian's comment. But he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something was wrong. But Phoebe was the empath, not him, so he couldn't tell if it was a reasonable feeling or just his usual anxiety.

"I'm sorry. I'll walk you guys out." Because...how? Something should have changed. Anything. He would even take a negative reaction over this. That he might be able to fix. But he and his family had put everything into this and nothing?

"Maybe the magic can't cross dimensions or something." Maybe. But his magic and orbing both had worked since he'd been here. "I don't plan to give up, guys. I promised I'd help and I meant it."

And Emma was being way too...accepting. Apathetic. He looked at Julian again, trying to express his concerns without actually suggesting something was wrong. A skill he'd gotten fairly good at over the years behind Wyatt's back.

***

Julian met his eye, and nodded slightly, the look in his own face clearly a bit...unsettled. It wasn’t like Emma to be so calm about everything. It was strange. One of the things that defined her most was her passion, and she didn’t seem to be displaying any of that at the moment, for better or for worse.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work,” he said to Emma, carefully. “But I mean, we can keep trying. There’s got to be something else, right?”

***

Emma shook her head. “We’ve tried everything, haven’t we? This was our last chance. And if it didn’t work, maybe it’s just time we accept that we’ll never find a solution and move on with our lives.”

It might even be easier than they thought. Now she thought back to it, Emma couldn’t understand why this had been such a big deal. Somehow she’d thought she’d die of longing if she couldn’t be with Julian, but now that she knew it was an impossibility, it was a lot easier to accept. Maybe she was really growing as a person.

***

"No," Chris answered, shaking his head. "This isn't necessarily it. There could be other options, you don't know." It would take more than one failed attempt to stop him from fighting for them.

It also worried him that Emma didn't seem to be interested in fighting for herself. "Ems, are you ok?" This didn't feel right. He knew he was upset but that didn't explain the dread in the pit of his stomach.

***

Honestly, Julian didn’t know if he could move on with his life. Was it even possible? How could he live life in love with Emma and unable to act on it - and at the same time being forced to be with her constantly?

He looked over at her, surprised at how calm she was about this.

“You...you’re sure it’s okay? Like, you’re okay with this?”

***

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Emma held out her hands in front of her and checked. Yep, all ten fingers still there, and not mutated or anything. “Spell didn’t work, but it didn’t hurt us or anything, right?”

She tilted her head to the door. “Thanks again for trying, guys, but I think you’ve worked hard enough. There’s no point in doing any more.”

She started to turn to the door, only pausing when she was almost there to look back at Julian. “You coming?”

***

Julian looked at Chris, his expression clearly worried. But he couldn’t explain exactly what it was that was bothering him. Emma just wasn’t...right. But he couldn’t put his finger on why. He shook his head slightly to Chris, then turned back to her.

“Yeah, of course I am. Let’s head back to Alec’s?”

***

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. And until he took the time to sit and analyze the spell, Chris couldn't pinpoint what it was. "Call me if you need anything. You know. If you notice anything weird." The words were spoken out loud in general but his eyes were on Julian's. He mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' at him from behind Emma's turned back and waved him on.

Phoebe was his spell expert. Maybe she'd have some answers.