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"Haven't you taken enough from me?
You have to send trolls to kick me while I'm down?"
-Piper
P3 is crowded
as ever as Piper runs around playing the happy successful owner. And then
suddenly, there's Leo, back in her life after a week. Piper is thrilled
to see him since the last time she laid eyes on him he was being viciously
orbed right out of their wedding. She rushes to kiss him, then notices
his hesitation. He has come to tell her that he can't see her anymore,
that he must say goodbye. He
can't
risk the whitelighters hurting her if they should stay together. As Piper
stands there distraught, Leo orbs out and Prue comes rushing over. Her
older sister starts to shake her and suddenly Piper is jolted awake. It
was all just a dream. But Piper is quick to realize that it was probably
Leo's way of sending her a message. He's not coming back. She is obviously
bitter at the whitelighters and cries as Prue reaches out to hug her.
Somewhere nearby,
Phoebe is driving Prue's precious car when her cell phone starts ringing.
Not surprisingly, it is Prue calling to relay Piper's prophetic dream.
Their sister seems to be giving up. Phoebe is about to get the details
on Leo's entrance into Piper's dream world, when she suddenly spots a young
girl in her headlights. She hits the brakes and swerves. After abruptly
hanging up on Prue, she jumps out of the car. The
girl
shouts to some unseen attackers then takes off down the street. Phoebe
chases her down, only to find her cowering on the ground with claw marks
on her arm. The girl, Kate, clutches a box tightly in her hands.
Back at the
manor, Phoebe tries to calm the little girl's fears. But soon the child
is speaking of fairies that have hidden their car keys. At the mere mention
of something fantastical, the girls' seem to perk up. Phoebe obviously
suspects that the little girl's fairy friends are more than just imaginary
. But her questioning is interrupted by the arrival of Kate's parents.
Kate is not too happy to see them, because the man with her mother is not
her real father, but her stepfather. Never the less she goes with them,
nervously glancing at the troll that hides on the doorway, one of many
'tween places that trolls can attack in.
Back in the
kitchen, Piper and Phoebe argue over whether or not the fairies are real
or imaginary. Piper is ready to believe that the creatures are just figments
of a child's imagination, but Phoebe
insists
that she's wrong. Prue quickly steps in before the bickering gets out of
hand. Then Phoebe wanders up to the attic in search of answers.
While young
Kate is trying to hide from the trolls in her room, Prue goes up to the
attic to get the status update on Phoebe's search. The youngest Halliwell
has found their childhood drawings of a fairy named Lily. All three of
the sisters drew her and this leads Phoebe to the conclusion that Lily
was indeed real. She quickly tells Prue about trolls and fairies and how
they exist in the 'tweens, places like doorways, shadows, and the biggest
tween of all, midnight. Prue realizes that what Phoebe is saying may have
some merit and she agrees that they must help Kate in whatever way they
can. But she wants to leave Piper out of this one. Phoebe, on the other
hand, believes they should bring their sister into the fold. At the very
least it will take her mind off of Leo.
Downstairs the
phone rings and Piper quickly hands the receiver over to Phoebe. It is
Cole, a seemingly evil ADA, who Phoebe seems to be falling for. As he talks
to her, he is looking over a list on all of her likes and dislikes. He
drops the name Billy Appleby (the character from Phoebe's favorite movie)
into the conversation and Phoebe's in love. She's about to agree to a date
when Prue rushes over and motions towards the departing Piper. Phoebe hangs
up on Cole, telling him that she'll meet him at the club later. Then she
works with Prue to bar Piper's exit.
Unfortunately
for Prue and Phoebe, their drawings have done little to convince Piper
of the existence of trolls and fairies. And since the powers that be have
done nothing but destroy her life as of late, she's not too keen on doing
the dirty work for them. She finally pushes past her sister and straight
out the door. Piper is now officially on strike.
Even without
Piper, Prue and Phoebe go visit Kate. She tells them about Thistle, a young
fairy princess who the trolls kidnapped. They were holding her until her
parents agreed to give up their kingdom, but Kate found her, and now she
is keeping her safe in a tiny locked chest. This has angered the trolls
and they keep attacking her, hoping to get the key to unlock Thistle's
box. Prue and Phoebe ask to see Thistle, but they cannot, at least not
until they are sprinkled with fairy dust. But there is a most interesting
side effect. Prue and Phoebe become all the more innocent, in other words,
they start acting like kids.
Piper starts
down the stairs into her club only to hear "If You're Happy And You Know
It" blaring over her speakers. Worse yet, her sisters are up on stage singing
it. Piper quickly orders the mic killed and rushes over to her giggling
siblings. Piper demands to know what ass backward spell they've cast this
time. With a slight lisp Phoebe informs her that she and Prue used fairy
dust. Then they try and
sprinkle
Piper with it. She sneezes, not exactly the desired reaction, then decides
to go back to work. But her sisters chase her down, telling her that they
need to help Kate. Phoebe has taken the key to the box that holds Thistle
and now they must protect it. Believing that they are simply trying to
end her strike, Piper sends them home to reverse whatever they did to themselves.
Prue and Phoebe are bitter and stick their tongues out to prove it. Then
they head out, diving through the doorways even as the trolls try to attack.
Over at the counter, Piper pulls out a card that Leo gave her on Valentine's
Day.
Back at the
manor, Phoebe and Prue are racing through the house, trying to stay out
of all the tween places. Just then Cole comes knocking at the door. Prue
and Phoebe answer it, still in their more childish state. They try to send
him away, but he explains that he needs to use their facilities. Prue and
Phoebe seem to find this funny as they let him in. But as soon as he is
in the bathroom, he glances up and disappears. He reappears, moments later,
in the attic.
Prue and Phoebe
meanwhile, are creeping through he house with a walkie-talkie. On the other
end of the line, Kate is getting nervous as the clock ticks towards midnight.
But Prue and Phoebe promise to be there. Not far away, Cole has transformed
into one ugly demon and is trying to steal the BoS. Prue and Phoebe hear
him, and burst through the door, ready with karate chops. They are shocked
at the sight of him and watch in awe as he disappears. Prue heads straight
for the book but Phoebe accidentally backs into the doorway. A troll immediately
attacks, stealing the key. In an attempt to help, Prue tackles her sister
and they both go tumbling down the stairs. As they glance around, they
seem to be back to their normal, adult selves. Moments later, Cole steps
out of the bathroom, looking down at them in confusion.
Phoebe and Prue
quickly hurry Cole out of the house, then return to the book, hoping to
find a less interesting way to see the trolls and fairies once more. Prue
decides to design a spell that should do
the
trick. The only catch... they will need Piper to make it work.
Still at the
club, Piper is having a terrible time of it. Unbeknownst to her, the trolls
are tracking her. As she tries to carry a tray of glasses, they trip her
up, and she drops everything to the floor. Then they cause her to cut herself
on the broken glass, just as Phoebe calls. Piper reluctantly agrees to
help out, finally realizing that what her sisters are saying might actually
be true. As she leaves the club though, she steps into the shadows and
the trolls cause her to trip once again. Poor Piper ends up sprawled under
the street light, the contents of her purse spilled out onto the pavement.
As she struggles to pick everything up, she glances towards the sky, yelling
at the whitelighters for their treatment of her. As she gets to her feet
she demands that they send Leo back to her. But nothing happens.
Finally Piper
arrives home and the sisters do the spell. Over at Kate's house, the trolls
are getting anxious. As midnight strikes they try to steal the box from
her. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe burst in, but
they
are still unable to see the magical creatures and are pushed back out of
the room. Kate loses the fight over the box and is dragged under the bed
where the trolls turn her into a fairy. Then they disappear with her before
the Halliwells even realize what's happened. As Phoebe aches for a premonition,
Piper blames herself for the spell's failure and Kate's subsequent
disappearance. She didn't believe and now they've lost the little girl.
Prue tries to comfort her sister, as Phoebe bitterly complains about having
no control over her powers. Just then, Piper spots a fairy over at the
window and all three sisters hurry to follow it.
Out in the woods,
they follow the fairy to a clearing. As they crouch behind some bushes
they spot Kate and Thistle in a cage and realize that the trolls are about
to light a fire beneath it. Before Prue, Piper or Phoebe can stop them
though, the trolls attack. Piper manages to freeze one of them and Prue
sends it unceremoniously into the flames. Then Phoebe levitates, grabbing
the cage away from the fire. Prue drags Piper straight through the flames
as her sister frantically freezes them. But once the
trolls
try to follow Piper unfreezes everything and together they watch as the
evil little creatures turn into flying fireballs.
Phoebe happily
releases the fairies only to realize that Kate doesn't want to return to
her former life. She is still upset about her parents' divorce. But Piper,
having learned a few things herself, reminds her that sometimes things
just happen in life and that you have to trust that they're for the best.
Kate finally agrees and Thistle returns her to her human self. Prue hugs
Piper and they both smile as Phoebe goes over to the little girl.
The Halliwell
sisters return home sore and weary. But before they can settle in the doorbell
rings. On their front step are numerous bouquets and wreaths of flowers,
along with their missing keys. They can only assume that this is the fairies'
way of saying thank you. As they go back into the house, Piper puts one
of the flower wreaths in her hair. Reminded of the wedding that wasn't,
Prue and Phoebe look on in sympathy. But Piper finally seems to be coming
to terms with everything. She
realizes that her worrying about Leo does get in the way of her job, and
almost cost them Kate's life. She's willing to sacrifice her relationship
with him if it means helping innocents.
As she wanders
back towards the stairs though, Leo appears. Realizing that she's not dreaming
this time, Piper rushes over to hug him. He was allowed to return because
of what she said, because she showed such courage and faith. And they are
now on a sort of probation with the whitelighters. He can stay as long
as their relationship doesn't get in the way of their work. Piper promises
that it won't, and as Prue and Phoebe happily look on, she and Leo disappear
up the stairs.
Prue and Phoebe
agree not to tell their sister about the demon until the next day and Phoebe
heads off to call Cole. She lets him chalk up her previous strange behavior
to mystery. As she hangs up though, Cole is more excited about talking
to his shadow guy. He tells it, to tell them that he's getting closer.