"W-What're you talking about?"

"Lia. . . Chris and Leo are stuck in a different dimension." Paige sighed, "We're trying to get them back, so you two can go back together, but it's just gonna take some time. Look, take the day off, relax. . . You know, use the time we have left to bid farewell to 2004."

"God, it sound so strange when you say it like that." The brunette sighed, "Fine. But if they're not back by Chris' birthday. . . I'm gonna leave California."

"What? No--"

"Paige, I've already made up my mind. There's this transfer student program," she sighed, "the cutoff date for signups is the seventeenth. If they're not back by then, I'm leaving." After a few moments of silence, the woman spoke up once more. "Thanks for the present, by the way. . . and, thank you, for not telling anyone that today's my birthday. It's kind of weird to technically be twenty years and two days older than my boyfriend."

"Ew, don't word it like that." The red lipped woman chuckled, "But, you're welcome. Happy birthday, Shade."

"Thank you, Matthews." The woman smiled to herself, "I'll see you?"

"Yeah, see you."

...

She ran into Halliwell Manor, her eyes growing more and more dim by each step she took into the threshold. When Paige had told her that Chris wasn't at the hospital with them, and that Gideon was on his way to "take care" of Wyatt, she knew something was wrong; her blood ran cold, and she'd broken almost every traffic law to try and reach the green eyed man.

The brunette rushed upstairs, her fluffy brown ponytail swaying with every hurried step she took. She ran upwards faster and faster, until her legs had begun to ache; how many fucking stairs did this house have?

"Chris!" She yelled, sprinting into the attic, where her boyfriend was standing over the Book of Shadows. He looked to her, eyes wide with surprise, joy, and slight suspicion. "Chris, what the hell is going on? Why is it so chipper, outside? What the hell is wrong with the sisters?" She then looked into his eyes, roughly shoving his shoulders. "And why the fuck didn't you let me know you're okay?!"

Without words, he engulfed her into a brief hug, pecking her lips quickly, before rushing back over to the book. "I'm sorry," he began, his eyes scanning the pages wildly, "I was gonna tell you, I was gonna go get you when it was safe to leave, but Gideon--"

Suddenly, Aurelia was thrown to the other side of the attic, away from Wyatt's playpen, and the spoken of Elder had appeared. Chris rushed over to the woman, before running back towards his brother.

"Don't make me sacrifice you both." Gideon scolded, turning his gaze back to the blond toddler.

Chris telekinetically threw the Elder to the opposite side of the room, earning a glare from the mustached man as a dagger materialized in his grasp; he vanished, and it wasn't rocket science to figure out what he was about to do.

Aurelia leapt to her feet, throwing herself between Chris and Gideon, just as the Elder had gone to stab the man. The knife had become wedged in her chest, the tip of the poisonous blade pricking her heart just barely. She fell to the ground, Gideon diving down with her to try and pry the blade from her chest.

Chris watched with tearful eyes, hurriedly picking up his big-little-brother and calling for Leo. "Dad!"

Gideon had given up on the blade, lunging toward Chris, only to be dodged swiftly. Leo appeared, catching his son's attention, and giving the Elder just enough time to tackle Chris and snag Wyatt from him, throwing a few punches toward his face, before orbing out.

...

Chris sat next to the bed, tears freely falling from his eyes as he watched the life leave, yet, another woman he loved. Aurelia flickered her eyes toward him, slowly, after he and Leo had come to the conclusion that the only person that could possibly save her was Gideon, seeing as it was his magic that did this; the very slight amount of saturation that remained, was practically glowing in the obnoxious amount of sunlight that bled through the curtains.

"I'm so sorry." The man apologized, "I'm so fucking sorry, this is all my fault."

The woman shook her head weakly, a small smile on her paling face. "I was bound to die in my twenties, anyways." She weakly handed him her driver's license, allowing him to read her birthday.

November 14th, 1984.

"No. No!" He exclaimed, "Please, you can't leave me. I. . . I can't lose you, too."

She smiled once more, a tear slowly gliding down her colorless cheek as she stared into those beautiful jade green eyes one last time. She weakly held her pinky out, "Forever and always, Shaggy."

"Always and forever, Freckles." He cried, hooking their pinkies together, and placing one last kiss to her lips, just as she released her last breath.

He didn't want to open his eyes, resting his forehead against her cool one. He knew that, if he were to open his eyes, and see her completely desaturated gaze staring blankly back at him, that he would have to accept it; he would have to accept a world that she's no longer a part of, and he refused to do that.

With his eyelids still screwed shut, he blindly covered her body with a blanket, sobs wrecking his body as his grasp on her hand had never loosened.

His eyelids had opened, painfully slow, as he was reluctant to see the traumatic sight in front of him. When his gaze locked onto her face, he released a shaky breath -- she'd died with a smile. Her eyes were locked onto his, and a smile was plastered on her pink lips.

Then he anticipated Paige's reaction.

...

They held a funeral, only a week later. Chris had stayed for a few days after he'd been born, packing up Aurelia's things, and placing them into the attic of the manor; Paige didn't want to throw out her stuff, either.

The service was small, only the people she viewed as family having been invited. Paige and Chris stuck to each other's sides like they were plastered together, both having loved the girl the most out of everyone else.

With Gideon dead, and Wyatt no longer in danger (for now), Chris had reluctantly decided to go back to his future; he took a small booklet of Polaroid pictures that Aurelia had taken of them over the past few months, knowing that only he, his parents, and his aunts would truly understand; Wyatt would probably question him about it, but he'd just make up some bullshit lie that his brother would be gullible enough to believe. Melinda would be harder to convince, though; for an eighteen year old, she was freakishly smart.

The future didn't feel like home, anymore, and Chris knew that it never would. . . not with Aurelia gone, forever.

...

Darkness. Silence. Peace.

Aurelia Shade drifted through the abyss, awaiting her fate in tranquility, before life had bled back into her lungs once more. She opened her eyes wide, her brown-black ponytail whipping furiously as she sat up in the center of a circle of white lights.

"What the hell?"

"Language, Miss Shade."

She widened her eyes once more, furiously snapping her head around as she tried to search for the source of the voice. "Who's there? Where am I?"

A group of people in white and gold robes appeared, surrounding the woman in a circle, and causing her to leap to her feet. A woman approached her, her hair honey blonde, and jaw-length, "Aurelia, we did not bring you here to hurt you. We're the rest of the Elders."

"Didn't one of you kill me?" She sassed, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at the group with pain glowing in her eyes. "And try to kill Wyatt? And -- Chris. . . Oh, my God, is he ok?"

"Chris is fine, for the most part." The woman sighed, gently placing her hand on the brunette's shoulder. "They successfully sent him back to his time, after your funeral. He's okay physically, but he's still very traumatized by watching you die."

"Wait. . . if I'm dead, why am I here?"

"You're now a whitelighter, Aurelia. . ." The woman drifted, "Your first charge is located in Athens, Greece. Your mentor is also there, waiting for you."