Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used in this story, those belong to the WB. I do however, own the story and it should not be recreated without my permission. Thanks. (Right after the big vanquish scene and right before the P3 scene)

“Phoebe?” Piper asked carefully as she peaked her head into her younger sister’s room. When she didn’t see her sister she called again. “Phoebe?”

Again there was silence. Piper took a few more steps into the room, she thought she heard soft crying and she took another step. It was unmistakable then, she heard Phoebe crying. She looked around the room but couldn’t find her sister. She was about to go back outside when the flutter of the curtain caught her attention. Piper walked towards the window. It was open. Piper stuck her head out the window and sighed. Phoebe was sitting on the overhang, her knees pulled up to her chest, and her cries were soft but pained. Piper growled quietly but pulled herself through the window. She held her breath and muffled a yelp while she slid herself closer to her sister. But her fears were washed aside when she saw her sister’s face, glassy with tears. Piper touched Phoebe’s shoulder but her sister trembled away.

“Phoebe,” Piper’s voice was gentle and it brought a sad sob from deep inside Phoebe as she turned her body away and a shiver ran through her. Piper saw she was only wearing her pajamas. “Phoebe you’ll freeze honey, come inside.”

“No,” the word was barely audible but firm.

“Come on sweetie,” Piper coaxed, “we can talk inside, where it’s warm. Then you can tell me what’s wrong.”

“Leave me alone Piper,” Phoebe’s voice was hoarse and tired.

“Phoebe you’re scaring me,” Piper begged, “please.”

“Tough,” Phoebe spat, “I’m tired of being the strong one all the damn time. I can be mad too.”

Piper was silent, unsure of what to say. She watched her sister, she’d learned sometimes silence was the best reaction to what Phoebe had to say. Her little sister’s whole body was shaking but she refused to hug herself, instead her arms lay limply across her knees, which were pulled to her chest. Her brown eyes searched the skyline where the beginnings of a sunset were showing.

“Phoebe what’s wrong?” Piper finally asked.

Phoebe ignored her sister, instead she began in a wavering voice, “Once, she climbed up this pole,” Phoebe nodded to a gutter to her left, “it was really late and she had missed curfew. She knocked on my window....god I was only about twelve then...I let her in and she made me promise not to tell Grams.” Phoebe paused and her eyes unfocused as she concentrated on the memory. “But the next day she made me really mad, so I told on her,” Phoebe paused, and looked straight at Piper, her sad eyes ripping into her older sister, “She never asked me for many favors...and I blew it. I’ll never get to make it up to her now.” Phoebe’s bottom lip trembled and Piper could tell she was holding in another round of tears.

“Oh sweetie,” Piper sighed and that seemed to break Phoebe. She crumbled into Piper, leaning against her sister and sobbing. Piper let her own tears puddle behind her eyes as she carefully took off her coat and wrapped it around her sister’s shivering shoulders. Piper knew there were no words she could say that would be worth saying so she let the silence float between them.

“She hated Cole,” Phoebe finally began to speak again, “she would never have let me marry him.”

Piper sighed, so that’s what this was about. “Phoebe she hated him at the beginning,” Piper paused, “but she knew how much you loved him. She even called him an innocent, remember?”

Phoebe half smiled, “I just need her here so much. She’d know what to do.”

“To do about what honey?” Piper pushed.

“Everything, Cole, me, Paige, you,” Phoebe muttered, “everything.”

“Me?”

“You’re so sad and I don’t know how to help you,” Phoebe tried to explain, “Prue always knew what to do.”

“Let’s just worry about you right now,” Piper said, running her hand soothingly along her sister’s spine, “we haven’t worried about you enough.”

“It’ll never be the same you know?” Phoebe said softly, “no matter how many days pass, I’ll always wake up and know it will never be the same.”

“That’s true,” Piper agreed, “but it’ll get better. It has already don’t you think?”

“No,” Phoebe shook her head, “it’s so complicated. Cole proposed, but now he’s human. I don’t know what to say to him.”

“Do you love him Phoebe?” Piper asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Then nothing else matters,” Piper assured, “at least not yet. Look Phoebe, everything is harder now that Prue is gone, but that just means we have to deal with life slower. Take the parts we can handle and deal with them, and then break the rest down and deal with it slowly. You love Cole, he loves you. He wants to marry you, but you’re not ready yet. Cole was a demon, but he’s not now. You’re left with just loving each other, so I say you just worry about that right now. The rest will work itself out eventually.”

Phoebe smiled and wiped at her eyes, “We’re pretty good at this sister thing aren’t we?”

Piper smiled as she tucked a fallen piece of Phoebe’s ponytail behind her ears, “We’re pros.”

The two sisters sat next to each other for a moment more. Phoebe had stopped shaking. One hand clutched Piper’s coat, keeping it on and the other was entwined with Piper’s hand. The two sat there, side by side, leaning against each other and watching as the sun slowly neared the horizon. Piper gave a forlorn sigh.

“She’ll never see another one of these,” Piper commented softly.

Phoebe thought for a moment before smiling, “I think she does, but hers must be so much prettier, seeing it from up so high.”

Piper smiled and kissed her little sister on the cheek, “Do you want to go to the club with me, Leo and Paige? We’re leaving soon.”

“No,” Phoebe shook her head and followed her sister through the window. She handed Piper her coat, “I should wait for Cole. He took a walk I think.”

“Well, talk to you later,” Piper said, giving her sister another glance she added, “Okay now?”

“Okay now,” Phoebe confirmed. Piper smiled, one of her proud, loving smiles and then shut the door quietly behind her.

Phoebe sighed and walked over to the window. She reached up and pulled it down. Then she took a curtain in each hand. Just before pulling them together she whispered...

“Goodnight Prue.”