Wyatt Halliwell, the son of the eldest witch Piper and her whitelighter turned Elder husband Leo, was asleep in his cot in the nursery next to Piper's room. He had one arm curled around his favourite teddy bear Wuvey, while the other was clenched around the covers Piper had tucked him under earlier that evening.
The occupants of the Halliwell Manor had not been happy recently, ever since Leo had gone "upstairs" to become an Elder when they defeated the Titans. They now had a new whitelighter, Chris. Even though he was brilliant at his job, they still didn't know him that well and they all missed Leo terribly, especially Piper and Wyatt.
Piper was devastated when Leo left her. So much so, he had to use one of his newly required Elder powers to take her pain away and help her find peace so she could move on. The result of this made Piper act increasingly chipper every day, which was very not like her at all. Leo had planned to reintroduce her pain little by little each day so she would remember, but his plans were thrawted when he became imprisoned on Valhalla, home of the Valkyrie's. They still did not know who had sent him there, but Leo had suspicions of who was behind it.
Wyatt was also not his usual self. His daddy who used to be around all the time, making him laugh when he was sad and who used to play games like peek a-whitelighter with him, was no longer there.
Wyatt loved Leo and wanted him to come back to make himself, his mommy and his auntie's happy again. Little did Wyatt know he saw more of his daddy than he thought.
It was just after three o'clock in the morning and the wind had died down to no more than a whisper outside. Just inside the door to Wyatt's nursery, a swarm of blue orbs materialized into the form of Leo, who was still clad in his numerous Elder robes.
Seeing his son asleep in his cot, Leo smiled softly. Quietly making his way over to the middle of the room so as not to wake him, Leo bent down and stroked the top of Wyatt's fair hair, the strands caressing his fingertips.
Gently, Leo picked Wyatt up making a cradle for him out of his arms as he walked them over to the chair by the window and sat down.
"Hey, buddy." Leo whispered, brushing Wyatt's hair out of his eyes with the back of his hand.
"It's Daddy. It's OK, Wyatt. I'm here now."
Since he had become an Elder Leo knew he could no longer see his family as much as he wanted to, and that broke his heart. Wyatt, Piper, Phoebe and Paige meant the universe to him but he also knew that he could not ignore his Elder duties either.
That is why he savoured moments like this. Quiet, magical moments with his son where he could just hold him without being interrupted.
As an Elder Leo watched over his family constantly, making sure that they were always safe and protected. But it wasn't the same as actually being with them, and that hurt him more than he thought possible.
If he could Leo would have loved to have the best of both worlds, to be an Elder to help do good and to also be able to be with his family who needed him, and vice versa.
As much as his son, his wife and her sisters needed him in their lives, he knew his Elder duties had to come first, even though he somewhat hated the idea. His and the Charmed One's priority was to protect innocents, so that's what he had to do.
Leo always made sure Wyatt felt his presence so he would know that he would always be there for him and that he would always love him. He just wished he could actually be there to see his son grow up, to hear his first word, see him lose his first tooth, to walk him into his first day of school whilst trying not to break down. Elder or not, Leo was determined not to miss a single bit of his life.
"I have to go now, little guy. Daddy will see you soon. I love you."
Kissing Wyatt on the forehead, Leo got up slowly from the chair and tiptoed back over to the cot. Placing Wyatt under the covers once more, Leo gave his little hand a squeeze and tucked Wuvey next to him before preparing to orb back "upstairs". Before he did though, there was just one more place he had to visit.
With one last look at his little boy, a sad smile on his face, Leo orbed into the room next door. His and Piper's room.
When he had once again materialized, Leo saw Piper on the bed asleep, her dark brown hair fanned out around her head almost like a halo on the pillow.
When they had still been together, Leo had always loved to watch his wife sleep and this time was no different. He loved the frowning faces she sometimes made and he loved the way she would mutter under her breath, like she sometimes did when she was awake.
He also loved the fact that she sometimes looked utterly content, like she was living in a world where no demons or warlocks existed. Leo thought she looked absolutely beautiful in this moment. She was always beautiful to him.
Walking around the bed to where Piper was, Leo reached out and curled a strand of her hair around his finger, loving the silkiness of it. He sat down just next to her sleeping form, his hand continuing to gently run through the hair down her back.
"Hi Piper. It's me. I'm here."
Leo paused the movement of his hand as he thought about what he was going to say. He would of given anything to wake Piper up and to just talk to her, but he couldn't. It would of only caused her more pain when he would of had to eventually leave and he couldn't do that to her, not again.
"Piper, I am so sorry I can't be with you. I would give anything to still be here with you, Wyatt, Paige and Phoebe. You all mean the world to me. But I am an Elder too and I can't just ignore that.
"If you could hear me now, you would probably roll your eyes at that, and I wouldn't expect anything less. They need me just like you do."
Leo closed his eyes as his hand travelled down Piper's arm to take one of her hands in his own.
"You know I will always be there for you, Piper. You and Wyatt. I will always be there to catch you when you fall, I will be there to guide you when demons attack and I will always be there when Wyatt needs his daddy. You are not alone in this Piper, I promise. You will always have your sisters and you will always have me."
Leo gave Piper's hand a gentle squeeze before brushing her hair off of her shoulder.
"You are so strong, Piper. Stronger than you think. You may think you're not but you are. This is why I know you can get through this. You may be hurting right now, but day by day it will get better. It will always be there at the back of your mind. Pain never does go away, me and you both know that. But I know you will be all right. Because you are brave, clever, very fiesty and you never let anything stand in your way, especially when it comes to Wyatt. That is why I love you so much."
Putting his hand on Piper's shoulder, his thumb tracing comforting circles on it, Leo slowly lowered his head towards hers. Gently, he moved forwards and placed a kiss on her lips, the other hand coming up to softly trace the inside of her right ear.
If Leo had the power to freeze time like Piper did, he would capture this moment right now and keep it forever. But he knew time would eventually catch up with him and it wasn't fair. That's why he wanted this moment to last just a little bit longer.
Breaking apart even though he really didn't want to, Leo leaned back and watched Piper sleep for a few minutes, her shoulders moving up and down with every breath and hearing her sniff every now and then.
He really didn't want to leave her. But just a few seconds later, he could hear jingling summoning him. He knew he had to go back and he couldn't bear it.
Kissing her gently on the cheek, a hand running through her hair again. Before he left, he had one more thing he wanted to say.
"I will always be watching over all of you Piper, making sure you are still safe. Anytime you need me day or night I will come running. If I don't, I give you permission to vanquish me. I bet you would laugh at that. You know I've always been a glutton for punishment.
"I believe in you, Piper Halliwell. And I will always be there, as long as you need me. I love you."
With one final look at his sleeping wife, Leo orbed back "upstairs", leaving a scatter of orbs in his wake.
As soon as he had gone, Piper turned over in her sleep, one leg kicking back the covers. Slowly her eyes opened and she sat up, stretching and raking her fingernails through her tousled hair.
She could of sworn she had heard someone talking to her. Looking quickly around the room, Piper could see nothing out of the ordinary. Surely she couldn't of imagined it. Could she?
"Leo?" she called out, desperately hoping it was her husband who had been there.
"Leo, was that you?"
Please, please let it have been you, Piper thought as she waited a few moments to see if he would appear.
After a few minutes, there was still no sign. Sighing in disappointment, Piper threw herself back against the pillows and tried to go back to sleep.
Piper didn't know if she would see Leo again. All she had to do was to have faith that she would. Their love was and will always be eternal. She would wait for him to come back. Even if it took the rest of her life.