To Love Her

Chapter 2: Prue At Last

In a cave somewhere

A woman, none other than Prudence Halliwell herself appeared to where Billie was. Well, at least, her astral self was there. Billie's magic still was powerful enough to not allow the physical Prue to penetrate her barrier.

Nothing much has changed with her appearance. She still had the same piercing green eyes, long dark hair, and intimidating demeanor. Well, you don t really change much when you die. One of the many wonders of being dead that Prue discovered is that your corporeal self always reflects the peak years of your physical appearance, which for her was not very far from when she died making her just look a tad younger than when she and her sisters discovered that they were Charmed. Her eyes are the only place where her experience and maturity shone through.

Astral Prue didn't t have to bend down. She lifted Billie s body by the slightest of will and saw the misery on her face and remembered the time when she was a wreck too when she left her sisters and was told that she couldn't go back to see them. She pushed the thoughts away from her mind and focused on the task at hand.

Billie was starved and very near death. A few more days of not eating and Billie would probably meet her sister sooner than she was ready for. Astral Prue positioned Billie upright and gestured a slow wiping motion with her hand. After Astral Prue was done, Billie was all cleaned up and looked almost like before, albeit thinner and paler.

Slowly, Billie stirred and scrunched her forehead at that moment when you have to remember everything about yourself right before fully waking up. After a nano-second had gone by and her whole life flashed in her mind, she was about to sob again but was more startled at the appearance of the brunette in front of her and at the fact that she felt she didn't have to anymore. The pain inside her heart was gone. It was somewhere there but distant somehow.

She saw the inquisitive look the woman was giving her. Her first impression was fear. She could sense that although the woman in front of her was not evil, she was a witch, that much she can tell, and a powerful one at that. She could almost gag at the aura exuding so much power that she didn't think her being the Ultimate Power meant anything.

"Who are you?" The fear in her voice was evident. Survival 101, never show fear. Good luck with that one. She was even surprised her voice came out at all. She was thinking what she felt right now was pretty much what a rabbit would feel like trapped in a corner by a hungry wolf.

"Hi, I'm Prue. Can you stand on your own?" Before she could register Prue's name, she was distracted by the fact that she was floating 2 inches from the ground. Sure,  it wasn't new but it still surprised her.

"Yeah, I think I can." She then felt herself being lowered gently and very carefully. Once she was on both her feet she felt her knees buckle and were sure she would fall face-first on the ground when an invisible force stopped her fall inches from the ground and was forced to stand again. She was standing up with her feet just an inch from the ground. Of course, she could hoist herself up on her own magic but her brain was too sluggish from starvation.

"Clearly a big no on the standing on your own part but let s get things going. Now Billie, can you release the protective shield you have around us?" Prue asked again. She knew Billie was in trauma and if it were not for her powers, she would not even be able to talk to her.

"Uhm, what shield?" Billie asked not aware that she was releasing magic on her own.

"Okay Billie, you have to release the shield around us, or else I won't be able to take you with me." Billie panicked at her words. What did the woman want from her? In this instance, magic escaped from Billie intending to throw Prue far away from her and it would've worked if only Prue wasn't an astral projection. Her real body was somewhere else watching the scene unfold in her mind's eye.