Even before Paige had known she was a witch, there had always been something about a full moon that intrigued her, energized her, and called to her. Once she began to fully accept and understand her magical heritage, it all began to make a lot more sense. The full moon had a magic and energy all of its own, and it was also the perfect time for manifestation.
Prue was a much more pragmatic type of witch. She was still “superwitch” as Piper and Phoebe loved to call her, but she often took a very sensible approach to all things magical. Paige was a bit more open, slightly “woo woo” as some would say. A lot more of her beliefs were centered in emotions than cold hard facts.
That being said, she knew she could be a bit much for Prue at times, but they were still sisters, and it was important to Paige that they still have time together. Thus the Self-Care Moon Ritual Evening Spectacular was born. Paige could practice some full moon rituals and manifesting, and Prue could have a chance to unwind from her hectic schedule, while they both enjoyed some quality bonding.
They were currently set up in the living room of Halliwell Manor. An altar was set up near the window so Paige could charge her crystals in the moonlight, some relaxing music filtered out of the stereo speakers, and a plethora of snacks covered the coffee table. Paige was sitting cross legged on the floor in her PJs. Her dark hair was kept out of her face with a spa headband and a clay face mask was lightly drying on her skin. Candles flickered gently around the room and Paige turned to glance over at her big sister. “I can see you thinking about work, stop that.”
Relaxing wasn’t Prue’s most natural state of being. She enjoyed it when the opportunity arose, but her life, even before the release of her powers, had never been what one would call calm. She was always busy, always thinking, and even when she tried to be still and clear her mind, it was a hit-or-miss situation. She just wasn’t built that way.
She tried, though, for Paige.
It hadn’t taken her long to adore her long-lost baby sister. Did it still ache to be without Piper and Phoebe, too? God, yes. She knew it always would. But she wouldn’t have had this opportunity to meet Paige back home and she’d taken full advantage of having it here. They clashed occasionally, but they were like-minded in a lot of ways, too.
Basking in the light of the full moon wasn’t really one of those ways, but she appreciated the significance and what Paige was doing, so she allowed herself to be dragged into it.
She was tucked into the corner of the couch behind Paige’s seat on the floor, legs sprawled out across the length, idly picking at a bowl of cheddar popcorn beside her while her mind wandered. She snapped back to awareness when Paige’s voice broke through the haze and fixed her with a playful glare.
“For your information, I was thinking about you,” she teased, poking at her sister’s shoulder with a bare foot. “Your telepathy needs work.”
“So what I’m hearing is thinking about me is the same as thinking about work. Wow. You think you know a girl.” Paige turned a bit so that Prue could admire the full effect of her cheeky grin, then pinched her sister’s big toe lightly. “No really, now I have to know what you were thinking. Tell meeeeee.”
“I have one thinking face,” Prue chuckled, shaking her head fondly at that grin. “Nothing earth-shattering. Just thinking how lucky I am to have you here. If I’d known you existed back home…” She shrugged, expression turning a bit regretful. She still couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized their mom was pregnant a third time – she’d witnessed it twice before and was certainly old enough to understand – but with all the turmoil between her parents and grandmother at that time, there were big chunks of that time that were lost to her.
“Things would have been different,” she concluded after a moment. “I’d like to think so, anyway.”
“No, no, none of that.” Paige shook her head as soon as that look of regret started creeping over Prue’s features. “Much as I would have loved getting to know you back home, and getting the chance to know all of you sooner, we both know it was how it had to be. Greater magical destiny and all that.” She waved a hand in the air.
“Buuuut that being said, I know I’m super lucky to have you here too. Though I still wish Piper and Phoebe would get their butts here too. And Leo too,” she added as an afterthought. “I can already picture him and Raylan hanging out.”
Prue nodded; she had to give Paige that one. Greater good was usually the reason things played out the way they had for them, but part of her couldn’t help wondering if it had to be that way. Their mom could easily have just made another choice, and sure, maybe they wouldn’t have become the Charmed Ones, but was that such a bad thing?
In the bigger scheme of things, yeah, it probably was. But a selfish part of her just wanted to have grown up with her baby sister, magical destiny be damned.
The image of Raylan and Leo hanging out made her chuckle. “Yeah, they’d probably get along pretty well. They’re both a very calm balance to our Halliwell crazy.”
“I prefer to call it our Halliwell charms.” Yes, it was a terrible pun, and no she didn’t regret it in the slightest. In fact, she reveled in it. “But speaking of crazy, I think I want to hear some Teenage Prue stories tonight. So please tell me you have a good one.”
It was a terrible, terrible pun, but Prue still laughed, prodding her sister’s shoulder with her foot again. The smile didn’t leave her face even as she groaned and shook her head at Paige’s request.
“Oh, no. Nope, no way. I love you, I really do, but no Teenage Prue stories. Teenage Prue is long-gone, let’s leave her like that.” She grimaced dramatically, trying to make it seem as off-putting as possible, despite knowing those efforts would fail. She would inevitably cave, but she had to put up some semblance of a fight.
“Oh come onnnnnnn.” Paige wheedled in her best little sister voice. “It’s bonding!” She picked up a bowl of M&Ms from the table and waved it in front of Prue as an offering. “I’ll share my chocolate with you.”
“Such generosity,” Prue deadpanned, reaching out to snatch up a little handful of M&Ms as swiftly as possible. “Teenage Prue was much less exciting than you’d think, I promise. I had, like, one rebellious fall when I was seventeen, otherwise it’s just bitchy cheerleader stories.”
“So, basically someone I would have butted heads with a lot.” Paige grabbed some M&Ms and popped them into her own mouth. “I had an extended period of rebelliousness where I of course hated all things mainstream.” She gave an exaggerated hair flip. “I like to think I’ve got a much better balance on that these days.”
“Oh yeah, you’re Ms. Mainstream now,” Prue teased, digging back into her bowl of cheddar popcorn after that bursty of chocolate. “I like to think I was pretty easy to get along with. Some of my squadmates, not so much. But teenagers, overall, are idiots, and I know I was no exception.”
She’d had to be a little more mature, more serious, with the weight of her grandmother’s expectations on her shoulders and two little sisters to quasi-mother. But it hadn’t stopped her from making some stupid mistakes – that period of fall rebellion being one of the most prominent.
Paige snickered in response. “Huh, Phoebe would probably disagree with you there.” She’d heard plenty of stories about Prue and Phoebe’s battles in their teens. “But yes, hard agree on teenagers being idiots. God, the things I used to do thinking I was cool.” She cringed.
“Okay, so rebellious Prue stories are out, but I require something. What about future Prue? What do you see when you think about what’s coming next?”
Prue’s nose wrinkled, but she could hardly argue with that. Her troubles with Phoebe had carried over well into adulthood. It was really only because their powers had been released that they’d settled down, sorted out their issues, and become so close.
“Well,” she hummed. “Hopefully nothing that involves getting kicked out of Vallo again.” It was a bit flippant, but the concern never really faded. It had happened once, and she had come back with nothing, because there was nothing for her to go back to anymore. “I don’t know. I’m not really focused on the big picture or the far-out future right now. I love Raylan, and you, and Willa, and I’m happy. I just want to stay that way.”
Paige’s eyes softened at that answer and she reached over to grab one of Prue’s hands and give it a squeeze. “I’m glad you’re happy. And I’ll do whatever I can to help keep you that way…within reason, of course. It is my right as your little sister to annoy you whenever I deem fit.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” Prue squeezed that hand back, giving her a little tug before shifting to make room for her on the couch, too. “Come here. Tell me what you think about what’s coming next.”
Paige happily allowed herself to be pulled up onto the couch next to Prue. She propped her slippered feet up on the coffee table and settled in comfortably. “Actually, I haven’t given that a ton of thought here.” Paige had mostly been in reaction-mode since her arrival nine months prior. From finding and bonding with Prue, to adopting herself into the family with Raylan and Willa, and working at the DOA. It was all great, of course, and she did enjoy her life here. Yet, she couldn’t deny that she hadn’t put much thought into a future here. What did that look like for her? “Can I ponder that and get back to you on the next full moon?” Paige winked and gave Prue a playful nudge with her shoulder.
“Yeah, you do that,” Prue chuckled. She crossed her feet at the ankles where they were propped up on the coffee table and rolled a piece of cheddar popcorn between her fingers. “Maybe you’ll go back to Phoebe and Piper. You have a whole life to go back to, still.”
It was a bittersweet thought. Paige was so grateful for the time she had with Prue, but she missed Piper and Phoebe every day. Not to mention Leo and the boys. Of course there were other factors to consider too. “Do I, though? We literally had to fake our own deaths. As far as that world is concerned, Paige Matthews is gone. Seems like no matter where I am, I’m starting from scratch. At least here I don’t see someone else’s face looking back at me in the mirror. I think maybe I’ll just keep on hoping that Piper and Phoebe come join us here.”
She brought a finger up to poke at her cheek to see how dry her face mask was getting. It was stiff. She pulled her hand away and rubbed her fingers together to peel away any trace of the mask that was left there. “Hopefully this place can handle all of us.”
It was still hard to believe that things had escalated to such a point that the only choice left for her sisters had been to fake the entire families’ deaths. There was a piece of her that had always wondered if they might have to go to serious lengths to cover their tracks some day – being witches secretly had never been easy, not when it involved dealing with innocents and ending up on the police’s radar more often than they should.
She’d almost forgotten about the mask until Paige began to peel hers off, and she reached up to follow suit. “We’ll have to think of a new rhyme if they do. The Power of Four…”
“...We’re never a bore?” Paige grinned. “No, wait…The Power of Four, hear us roar.” She was on a roll, now. “The Power of Four, we’re better than Thor. I could go all night.”
Prue chuckled and knocked her shoulder against Paige’s. “I like that last one best so far. Keep it up. We’ve got the whole night ahead of us.”