Piper let out a frustrated sigh as she threw a yet another dusty old tome onto the growing pile beside her.
It had been almost a week since they had finally vanquished the evil that was after Wyatt and they were yet to find a spell or potion that would successfully send Chris back to his own time. Since she was nearly nine months pregnant, she had spent most of her waking hours in this exact spot in the Magic School library searching for answers—it was one of the few things she could do to contribute in her current state. The others came to help when they could. Leo and Chris had been there for nearly three hours that afternoon, but they had not yet turned up any leads either. Knowing her youngest son, he had probably spent many sleepless nights researching as well and she was beginning to worry about their general lack of progress.
No one, not even Chris, knew what would happen if they didn't find a way to send him back before his little version was born. It was possible that everything would be alright, but they all knew it was best not to take that chance. With their luck, there would be dire magical consequences that would put them all in danger. So, as much as Piper hated the thought of her brave and handsome boy leaving her, she was eager to figure things out before the deadline. It wasn't like he was really leaving, she tried to remind herself. Little Chris would still be with them, and he would grow into the young man they had all grown to love.
"What's wrong?" Chris asked, eying the book she had thrown into her discard pile. "No luck?"
The woman snorted as she shook her head in affirmation. "Definitely not." She replied, rubbing her tired eyes. "That one wasn't even in English. It looked like Dutch or something. That's pretty useless to us."
As she watched identical expressions cross her husband and sons faces, she wondered how it had taken nearly a year to notice their similar mannerisms. Chris had certainly inherited most of his features from her, but (as much as he did not want to hear it) so many of his actions reminded her of his father.
"No problem, I'll take a look." Chris said as he leaned forward, picked up the tome and opened it to skim the index.
Piper watched, her brow furrowing with confusion.
"Wait…" She began, distracting her son from his task. "Since when can you read Dutch?"
The young man looked up, an equally confused look on his face. "It's old German, actually." He stated, glancing between his mother and the old book. "And whitelighters can read and speak any language they need to…." He paused. "I thought you knew that."
He looked back towards Leo, as if asking for confirmation.
"Oh, right." Piper noted, leaning back against the couch she had been planted in for the past several hours. "I mean, I know your father can do that, but I didn't really think…" She trailed off, not really sure where she had been going with her statement.
As she watched her son shrug and go back to his reading, she paused for a moment, contemplating the reasons for her surprise at his hidden whitelighter ability.
Even though Chris had been their whitelighter for over a year, she supposed that she had come to think of him primarily as a witch ever since she had found out his true identity. He had helped them with countless potions, spells and vanquishes over the past several months and, aside from orbing, hadn't seemed too connected to his other half. She supposed that had something to do with his strained relationship with his father in the future—apparently, he had been raised primarily by her, and it was little wonder that he was more attuned to all things wiccan.
But, she realized, she had never really asked him about the full extent of his powers. Maybe his drive to fight and vanquish was a result of the terrible situations he had been faced with in the future. Perhaps it wasn't as natural and all-consuming as she had assumed. He was, after all, his father's son, even if future Leo had not been very present.
Piper paused for a moment before blurting out a sudden question. "Why do you have regular telekinesis?" She asked, once again snapping the boy away from his task. She hoped he wouldn't be annoyed by the question, but now that the wheels are turning, she had to know. The thought had crossed her mind before, but Chris had always been so secretive and she had figured that most questions were pointless.
Now that the future had been saved and he was about to return home, however, perhaps there was a greater chance that he would talk.
He looked towards her and raised a dark eyebrow, confused by her seemingly random question. He opened his mouth for a moment before closing it and glancing at the playpen where his older brother was currently sitting.
"Rattle." He said. Seconds later, the summoned item appeared in his hand in a swirl of blue orbs.
Chris chuckled slightly as Wyatt turned towards him with annoyance, and he quickly orbed it back to his little big brother. "Sorry buddy" He said, smiling.
Piper watched the exchange between her sons with a loving smile.
"I've been able to do telekinetic orbing way longer than I've been able to do regular telekinesis. It's easier." Chris said with a slight shrug in his mother's direction. "But when I was locked…" He trailed off, clearly rethinking how much he wanted to reveal. "When Wyatt first turned I spent a lot of time trying to perfect the regular version. It took a couple of years, but I did eventually manage it." He paused. "I wanted to have at least one truly wiccan power, and its way easier to do undercover work with witches and demons when you're not summoning things in bright blue lights."
Piper gave a small laugh. "Yes, I suppose that's true." She said, he eyes examining her son as he spoke. Although he had not directly said it, should could tell that he had been in some pretty terrible situations in his future, and she was consoled by the thought that he would go back to a time when he would not have to push his limits or fight for survival.
As she placed a hand on her stomach, she wondered how different her son's life would be now.
There was a pause and, before Piper could ask her next question, her husband cut in. Apparently, he was just as curious and intrigued as she was.
"You've never really told us, Chris." The man began slowly, leaning forward as he spoke. "What other powers do you have? You said telekinesis is your only wiccan power, but clearly you have a lot of whitelighter powers as well." He finished, glancing at the book Chris was holding.
As much as she also wanted answers, Piper feared that a question from Leo would cause the boy to clam up once more. They had worked to mend their relationship over the past couple of months, but that could not make up for years of neglect in Chris' eyes. She looked at her son, hoping that he could see the pleading look in her eyes.
The boy hesitated and let out a long sigh as he contemplated his response.
"Fine." He muttered, somewhat bitterly as he caught sight of his mother's gaze. Clearly, he had trouble saying no to her, despite his mixed feelings towards his father. "I have pretty much every whitelighter power." Chris admitted, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "That's the one area where I outshone Wyatt. Not that it ever did me much good."
From the corner of her eye, she could see Leo sit up straighter in his chair, his face beaming with pride.
Apparently, Chris' similarities to his father went far beyond his mannerisms. Piper could tell that her son was not overly thrilled about this, but her husband clearly was.
There was another pause.
"I can orb, obviously." Chris began, unable to ignore his parents' expectant faces. "Read and speak any language, sense my charges, I have photokenesis, I can hover, glamour and I have invisibility." He hesitated. "The only thing I can't do is heal. And some of those powers are a bit shaky, because I never really trained them."
"What? Why not?" Leo blurted out, excitement and confusion both apparent in his voice.
Chris scoffed, shooting his father a look of disbelief. "I don't think you really want me to answer that, L…Dad." He replied.
Some of the joy faded from Leo's face. Obviously, this had been the source of some of Chris' resentment and Leo's shoulders began to slump as that thought sank in.
Even though the future had not happened yet, she knew her husband still felt as if he had failed their second son. She was grateful that they would now have a second chance to get things right.
"The funny thing was," Chris began again. "You used to take Wyatt 'Up There' for training all the time even though I was the one who got stuck with all the pacifist powers." He glanced back at his brother, who was still playing happily. "Most of his powers are wiccan." He said, nodding towards the toddler. "Despite the angelic blonde curls."
Piper let out a quiet chuckle as she looked between her two sons. Wyatt certainly did look like a perfect little cherub with his light locks and large blue eyes. And yet, despite Chris' dark features and drive for demon hunting, there was undoubtedly something angelic about him too. She had always been struck by the gentle quality of his voice, another trait that reminded her of her husband. And his soft green eyes, despite his moodiness, always held a hint of warmth and tenderness.
"Chris—I'm so sorry, I should have—"
Chris waved his hand before Leo could finish. Piper could see the hurt in her son's expression, but she could also tell that he was attempting to mask it.
"It's fine, dad." He cut in with another shrug. "It hasn't actually happened yet, I shouldn't hold it against you." The boy glanced at Piper's growing stomach. "And now you know. It'll be different this time around, right?"
"Of course!" Leo replied, somewhat relieved that the conversation had not taken a negative turn. "I can't believe things were like that in your future, but it is going to be different now." The man paused for a moment, a fresh wave of excitement crossing his face before he abruptly stood up from his spot. "In fact," He began eagerly, looking down at his son. "I don't see why it even has to wait for the future!"
Chris furrowed his brow in confusion before his father continued.
"We could probably use a break from all of this research," he noted, looking towards Piper for verification. She nodded in agreement—they had certainly been at it long enough for that afternoon. "Why don't I drop Wyatt off to play in the nursey for a bit? Then you can have a rest Piper while Chris and I go 'Up There' for a bit of practice."
Piper could not remember the last time she had seen Leo so excited about something and she gave him another nod, amused by his burst of enthusiasm. That all sounded fine to her, but she was not sure how Chris would respond. The only expression she could currently make out on his face was one of shock.
"I always thought it would be years until I could take my boys up to the practice chambers!" Leo said, beaming as his words quickly rushed out. "That's where the elders taught me how to use my powers, you know." He noted. "It's such a beautiful place, perfect for channelling whitelighter magic. Trust me, Chris, everything will come so much easier there! We could even start by working on your healing, if you'd like. I'm sure that you can do it with a little practice, it just takes more time then some of the others. But anyone who can orb is fully capable of it, both powers come from your inner light."
"Dad, I…"
Chris finally began to speak but Piper once again shot him a hopeful look that, thankfully, he seemed to catch. The boy trailed off, clearly torn between protesting and giving into his mother's silent plea.
She could understand the boy's hesitation, of course—this was very unexpected, and training with his father probably dredged up a whole load of emotional issues. She didn't want Chris to be in an uncomfortable position, of course, but she also would have hated to see her husband's hopes crushed.
This clearly meant a lot to Leo.
And besides, training was always a good thing, and perhaps the two would bond a bit during the experience.
"Here." Leo said, waving his hand towards Chris. With a swirl of orbs, a pile of folded white fabric appeared in the young man's arms and the boy looked down at it skeptically.
Before Chris or Piper could ask about it, however, Leo waved his arm again and his golden elder robes materialized onto his own frame.
Chris' mouth fell open in clear horror as his father scooped up Wyatt from his playpen, still beaming with excitement. Clearly, the man had not picked up on his younger son's facial expression.
"I'll drop Wyatt off down the hall and be right back." He said, placing a quick kiss atop Piper's head. "Put those on and we can go as soon as I get back, Chris. They won't let us in unless we're properly dressed."
A spring in his step, Leo walked out of the room with his oldest son in tow, leaving Chris and Piper in surprised silence.
"You have got to be kidding me." Chris said a few moments later, his eyes wide as he looked at the pile of white robes his father had orbed into his arms. "If he thinks I'm wearing these then he is insane."
Despite her son's seriousness, Piper could not supress an amused grin.
"Are you honestly smiling right now?!" Chris asked with a scowl as he slumped back in his chair. "Do you think this is funny?"
Piper tried to fight her expression, but her efforts were in vain. Truth be told, she was amused by the entire situation. Leo's excitement had been so endearing, and Chris' mortified expression as he looked at the whitelighter robes made her want to chuckle.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." She said, leaning forward to place her hand on top of his for a moment. "It's just, I haven't seen your father so happy for a very long time. And, after everything we've been though, it's kind of nice."
Chris continued to scowl. "And I suppose you're going to tell me to just be a good boy and go 'Up There' for the rest of the afternoon, aren't you?" He asked wearily.
"Well, that would be nice." The woman replied honestly as her son grumbled something about 'stupid whitelighter powers.'
"Look, Chris, I know it's not what you want to do, and I know you probably don't want to spend time with your father because of everything that happened in your future." She paused. "But you can see how much this means to him. He wants to make it up to you, even though he hasn't actually done anything wrong in this timeline. I can't force you to go, but it would make him so happy. And it would make me happy too. There is nothing I want more than to see my husband and son make amends. It hurts me to see the tension between you."
As she spoke, Piper could see his expression soften somewhat. Perhaps it was manipulative of her, but she knew that Chris strove to make her happy and she had played on that impulse.
She watched as he opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if to protest, before finally burying his head in his hands and letting out a low groan.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." He muttered bitterly as he stood up from his chair. "You always knew how to get me to do what you wanted, mom."
She grinned, surprised that her plea had worked so easily.
Perhaps part of him wanted this too, more than he was willing to acknowledge.
Chris let out another groan of disgust before closing his eyes in a grimace and waving his hand.
Piper watched as the folded robes disappeared in a swirl of blue orbs before reappearing on Chris' body.
The young man kept his eyes firmly shut for a few moments before reluctantly opening them and looking down at his unwelcomed attire. A red flush spread across his cheeks as he stood in front of her, clearly embarrassed by his required wardrobe change.
Although she knew that Chris might be annoyed once more, Piper could not suppress another smile. Despite her checkered past with the elders and whitelighters, she thought her son looked quite dashing in the white robes. He may have hated it, but they suited him well.
"Oh my god, this is so ridiculous." Chris huffed as he flopped back into his chair, his arms crossed across his chest. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He repeated.
Piper continued to smile. "It's not so bad, Chris." She tried to reassure him. "You make a very handsome angel if you ask me."
The boy rolled his eyes, clearly unconvinced. "I'd rather just be a handsome human." He muttered bitterly as he scowled down at the ground. "Maybe I should have let you sleep with Greg the fireman after all."
It was Piper's turn to roll her eyes.
"I know you don't mean that, Chris." She replied. Although she had tried to forget about Leo for a few months, Greg had been no replacement for her one true soulmate. It had never felt right, and she was glad that it had ended before it was too late. Chris would not have been Chris if things had gone another way.
She shuddered at the thought.
"Being a whitelighter is part of who you are, sweetheart. And deep down, I know that you love your father, no matter what you say."
Chris let out a scoff but did not protest. "Fine." He muttered. Still looking down at the floor.
A long pause hung in the air.
"I didn't ask for all of these powers, though." Chris continued suddenly, his voice softer than it had been before. "When we were little, Wyatt kept getting badass wiccan powers and I kept hoping that I would too. But instead, I just kept getting more and more lame pacifist stuff."
As if to demonstrate, Chris threw a few orb lights up into the air and let them dance around above them. Although she had seen it many times, Piper was always awed by the beauty of it.
It was simply divine.
While the lights began to fade, Chris continued. "I wanted to be like you and Phoebe. Paige was gone, and Leo was never around. I even tried going to magic school, but there were no whitelighters there to train me and I got made fun of for being different. I felt so alone every time one of my powers developed." The boy let out a quiet sigh. "When dad would come to pick Wyatt up for a practice, I'd try to tell him what I could do, but he never seemed to listen. I think you tried talking to him too, but he didn't care. It was all about the Twice Blessed to him." He paused. "You tried your best, mom, but you couldn't help me with this. Eventually, I stopped telling you about those powers and just tried to focus on being a witch. I didn't want to let you down. But, as you know, I'm not exactly great at that. I'm not a natural fighter like you or your sisters or Wyatt. I try, because I had to try in my future." He hesitated and gave his mother a sad smile. "But I've always been more like dad then I wanted to acknowledge. And I hated myself for it."
Piper felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as her son spoke. She did not like to think of him struggling with who he was—her poor baby had felt so alone for all of those years, and she felt guilty, even though she had not actually been there.
Piper vowed to make sure things were different this time.
"Chris," she began slowly, reaching out to brush a strand of dark hair out of his eyes. He looked towards her, his expression haunted by years of repressed struggle. "Despite what you seem to think, you're a wonderful witch. And a wonderful whitelighter. I'm so sorry that you never felt like you found your place, but everything is different now. Your father is going to be there for you, I know it. And you're not going to grow up in a world where you have to fight. You'll be able to find a path that suits you best this time around."
Chris shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, but Piper could tell that he was contemplating what she had said. Because of his upbringing, she could understand why he was hesitant to embrace certain parts of himself—but she hoped that such feelings would not persist in the future.
Then again, an unwelcomed voice in the back of her head wondered, perhaps this was simply what it was like to be torn between two worlds. She had always angerly dismissed the elders' protests about her union with Leo and, while she had no regrets about anything she had done (how could she ever regret her two beautiful sons!?), perhaps they'd had a glimmer of logic behind their stance. She was just a witch, and she knew what she was supposed to do. But her boys were witches and whitelighters. They would feel the call of both, and yet they would never fully be either.
She prayed they would not resent her for that.
Hopefully, with both parents at their side, they would be able to navigate the complexities of their dual identities.
"I guess going up there won't be so bad." Chris said suddenly as he leaned back into his chair. His voice was quiet and hesitant, and she could tell that he was trying to convince himself of the truth of his statement. "Even if they have a ridiculous dress code."
Piper smiled, happy to see some of his annoyance fading.
It was just in time too because Leo walked back into the room with a wide smile on his face. He stopped his eager pace as he reached his wife and son and she was once again warmed by his expression as he looked proudly at Chris.
He was undoubtedly thrilled about the prospect of their practice session, and Piper found it hard to imagine a future where Leo had been anything but a supportive and encouraging father.
"Are you ready to go?" Leo asked enthusiastically, his eyes surveying the boys' angelic garb with delighted approval.
Chris looked towards his mother as he contemplated his response and she offered him a small, reassuring smile.
Drawing a breath, he then turned towards Leo and, much to Piper's surprise, responded to his question in a rapid clicking language that he had only heard a few times before.
She had not thought it possible, but Leo grinned even wider and offered a response in the same indecipherable language.
"Wait…wait…" Piper gaped, looking back and forth between the two as they made their exchange. She let her eyes rest on her son, who seemed to be an endless source of surprises today. "You can speak whitelighter too?"
Chris smirked wryly as he stood up from his spot. "Yup." He paused. "Is that really a shock at this point?"
Piper looked up at her son. As he stood there in his long write robes with his otherworldly green eyes fixed on her and a faint smile on his strikingly handsome face, the only answer she could give was "no."
He looked every inch an angel.
At least in her eyes.
"Follow my orbs, okay?" Leo prompted. Her son gave a nod and Piper watched as her husband dissolved into a column of heavenly blue.
Chris hesitated a moment longer, his eyes locking with hers and she sensed that he needed one last nudge.
She nodded.
"Have fun, sweetheart." She said, hoping that her voice conveyed her pride and reassurance.
Chris nodded back and, a moment later, he was gone.
As Piper looked around the now abandoned library she let out a long, slow breath. She hoped that their time together went well and did not dissolve into the sort of stubborn standoff that they were both very capable of (like father like son, she thought exasperatedly).
Although Chris had his reservations, she suspected that he would be okay. Even through his protests the mother could sense that (deep down) he wanted to do this. As he had hinted, he had spent many years yearning for this attention from his father and, after that day's revelations, there was no doubt that his whitelighter genes were strong.
He would be in his element, doing something he should have done long ago.
Although there was still so much about the future that was uncertain, knowing that Leo and Chris would have a very different relationship and they moved forward filled her with happiness.
Her family was safe.
And they were finally beginning to heal.