Entwined

Soul-mates: forever and always

Piper lay beside Leo, watching him sleep. She had a habit of watching him sleep, ever since he was brought back to her. Her lips curved into a grin; she had a feeling he knew she was watching him...again. But Piper couldn't help it. Her husband looked simply like an angel as he slept serenely by her, even though- technically-he wasn't one any more.

Gently, she brought out her hand and rested it by Leo's face. He was real: she wasn't dreaming. Leo was near her and sometimes it felt unreal. Her childish smile suddenly morphed into a worried frown. Was he going to be taken from her again? How long will it be until he's forced to go away? First the Elders, then the Angel of Death and Destiny. A rebellious tear escaped from her eye at the mere thought of Leo savagely snatched away from her again. She didn't think she could handle it again. Their beloved children, Wyatt and Chris, were the only reason she didn't lose her head when Leo was stolen from her. More tears escaped, though she didn't realise. The unsettling, aching feeling returned as she thought back. Piper's heart tightened stiffly as she tried to swallow the sob that crept up on her throat.

Slowly, Leo peeped one eye open, sensing something was wrong. He gathered Piper in his arms as soon as he saw silent tears streaming down her cheek. "Sshh, it's okay," he whispered softly, placing a reassuring kiss on her head. He didn't need to ask; he knew why Piper was crying. It started since he came back after the Final Battle. Thankfully, her late-night crying ceased each day. "I'm not going anywhere, Piper."

"You can't promise that," she sniffled. She snuggled closer to him, relishing the loving warmth that radiated from him. It seemed to wash away all her fears and tears. Piper glanced up with watery eyes. In the dark, Leo could see them glisten under her chocolate pupils. "What if they take you away from me again?"

"Leo's heart broke at the vulnerability and helplessness splashed in her voice. He pulled her into a secure hug immediately. "It's been proven that no one can keep us apart, Piper." he murmured into her hair. He said with a smile, "not even death, remember?"

"Piper wrapped her arms tightly around him, afraid that he would disappear if she let go. She could never understand why she had taken him for granted so many times...and years. They stayed like that awhile, savoring the comfort in each other's arms.

"Sorry," mumbled Piper, breaking the sweet silence.

"For what," he smiled down at her amusedly.

"Waking you up again," she replied, playing softly with his untidy hair, which looked more attractive than usual.

"Well then," he chuckled, "l think we both should go to sleep now."

"Piper grinned brightly, which made his heart soar. The famous thousand-watt smile seemed to light up the room. "Goodnight."

She cuddled closer to him, as Leo's strong arms enveloped around her. If only they could stay like this forever; together without any worries. Tonight she would forget all the worries of tomorrow and the ignore problems which lay ahead in the future. Piper closed her eyes slowly, welcoming the peaceful slumber which lulled her gently into a tranquil oblivion.

Hard, loud feet stomped their way down the stairs. Abruptly Piper stopped, shock painted on her face. "Leo, you're here. Why are you here?" She asked nervously. Her magical ancestor was upstairs: this was no time for a mortal in the manor!

"I thought I'd work on the plumbing in the down stairs bathroom," he replied with an air of confusion.

Piper shook her head at her stupidity. He was a handyman, obviously he would be fixing something. "Oh, now's not really a good time," she smiled sheepishly, "we're getting our cousin Melinda ready to go away. Can you come back later? Like, tomorrow? Piper hoped that she didn't sound like she didn't want him around, because she did. Admittedly, she was attracted to Leo; her competition with Phoebe definitely showed that.

"Sure. No problem," he replied with a small shrug, turning to leave.

He's leaving, he's leaving. Ask him now! An imaginary voice urged Piper on; it strangely reminded her of Phoebe.

No, I'll ask him later, she hissed inwardly back. She couldn't ask him now; she wasn't ready. This is your only time to ask him out alone! Ask him Piper!

"Uh, Leo?" she started hesitatingly. Darn it, she why did she listen? Leo turned back round with one of his killer smiles, making him look dangerously debonair. As cliché as it sounds, Piper felt butterflies in her stomach. Really. They were making her increasingly timorous. It frustrated her that he was completely oblivious to the impact such a simple gesture was having on her. A stupid, cute smile and she was going to pass out (okay, maybe she was exaggerating a little).

"Would you like to go out sometime?" Piper asked. There she said it. For the first time ever, she asked someone out. "With me, that is," she added doubtfully. Piper mentally slapped herself for sounding so unsure. A thought suddenly popped in her head: what if he rejected her? She's never dealt with rejection before.

Say no, Leo you are a whitelighter! You can't go out with a charge, especially a Charmed- "I'd love to, Give me a call, " he grinned, ignoring the logic of his brain, and agreeing with his heart for once. It was instinct.

Piper held the bar at the side for support, her knees instantly becoming weak as he agreed. "Okay," she smiled brightly, her heart still beating erratically. Piper hastily ran back up, not wanting to continue to make a fool of herself by saying something inevitably stupid. Her sisters and Melinda have waited long enough for her. Leo's grin suddenly dropped as Piper raced back to the attic.

What had he agreed to?

Exasperated, Leo ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. He just said yes to a date; whitelighters don't go on dates! He said yes to Piper; whitelighter don't go out with their charges! He said yes to a date with Piper Halliwell: a Charmed One. Holy crap, he was going to get into a lot of trouble with Them. Leo inhaled deeply, pondering if he could make up an excuse to cancel the date. But deep down, he was excited and looking forward to it. When was the last time he went out on a date? Over fifty years probably.

A gentle jingle rang in his head, interrupting his reverie. His enthusiastic grin formed a flat line as he crinkled his eyebrow in concern. Leo looked up sharply, fully alert: a charge was in danger. In a shimmer of sparkly, bright blue light, Leo orbed out.

14th February. Probably a couples' favourite day of the year. P3 was adorned with pinks drapes and red balloons. Flowers embellished the white-clothed tables as the employers continued to beautify the club eloquently with the theme: love.

Piper smiled awkwardly as Leo left to take a tray of empty glasses to the store-room. Her eyes gazed momentarily at the flowers he bought for her. She smiled at the bouquet which lay on the counter. Leo was really charming, but she was still confused about her feelings. Piper hated it. Feelings, not flowers. Her heart always seemed to argue with her brain. Normalcy or magic? She slowly reached an arm out to touch them, but then heard someone familiar.

Dan.

Piper quickly withdrew her hand. She forced a glad smile when she saw a bigger bouquet of flowers her boyfriend was holding. For some odd reason, she liked Leo's flowers better. They were smaller, but were somewhat more meaningful to her. "What are those?" she asked, feigning surprise, "I thought that we were gonna wait until tonight." She did not forget about their special Valentine's date. That meant something, right?

Dan grinned and picked them back up. "You're right. I should take them back."

"Don't you dare. Give them to me," she ordered playfully." Piper brought the flowers close to her face a breathed in the lovely aroma...but still they didn't smell as good as Leo's. Stop comparing Leo and Dan! A voice in her head yelled for the umpteenth time./p

"They're beautiful, thank you," she smiled, bringing him down for a hug. Sometimes she wished Dan's hugs were more like Leo's. Dan's hugs were...normal. She didn't feel anything special. But with Leo it was as if she was surrounded in soft, silky angelic wings.

At the corner of his eye, Dan saw a certain blond person walk out the store-room casually. Automatically, his grip around Piper tightened slightly. He glared at Leo, who was looking at the decorations thoughtfully.

"Uh, Piper," he began, trying to keep his voice under control; he didn't want to appear jealous.

"Mmmhm," she hummed absent-mindedly, imagining how it would different it would feel if Leo was here instead...

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" he asked protectively, releasing Piper as she pulled away (too quick for his liking). But Dan brushed it off.

He brushed a lot of things off, only because he thought he might be too controlling over his suspicions about Piper's mysterious ex. No girl liked a controlling boyfriend. Dan didn't want to push Piper away. He loved her, but Leo was always a threat to him. To them. And at times, he felt like a competition. Dan was jealous about how well Leo knew Piper, he could tell they were extremely close at one point. Him being at the manor everyday was sort of a big give-away. Even when Piper was admitted in hospital, he stayed vigilantly by her side.

But it was Leo's name she called out. Not his.

Dan never confronted her about this uncomfortable fact (she was unconscious and maybe never realised), but lately he discovered that Piper acted different around Leo. He noticed she would give Leo more attention than he deserved. More attention than she gave to Dan whenever he was around. He didn't like this one bit. It was like Piper was slowly letting go, and this worried him to no end.

Piper racked her brain and ran through a mental checklist. "Not that I know of," she answered, trying to maintain her smile whilst confused as to why Dan's demeanor changed all of a sudden./p

"You sure?" Leo walked in. Dan faked a smile and Piper eyes widened slowly, finally realised what Dan meant.

Despite everything that had happened, she couldn't help but think that Leo was looking especially cute today, even with his hair- You are dating Dan! Dan Gordon! Piper had to constantly remind herself that she was with Dan now, and it often made her reconsider her feelings. She quickly turned her gaze away from Leo to prevent herself from imagining fantasies.

"Dan," Leo acknowledged. He smiled, but out of politeness. Heck, he loathed Dan. If he wasn't a pacifist or had such a strong moral compass, he would have gone ahead and beat his smug little face a long time ago.

"Leo," Dan replied stiffly with a note of accusation hidden in his voice as he looked at Piper. She glanced away, avoiding eye contact.

Leo smirked slightly as he walked between them. By the look on Piper's and Dan's face, his appearance caused some sort of trouble and Leo couldn't help but feel a sense of triumph. He nonchalantly picked up a huge heart which was made entirely from roses, and sauntered away.

"You never mentioned he was here," Dan stated with a convicting tone. He hated when Piper didn't mention things like this. Things that were clearly important. Since when did Leo work for her? This wasn't normal.

"Leo's here," Piper announced bashfully. "You're right. I meant to and then things got busy, so, um, I didn't and I'm sorry-" Not that she really meant that apology, why should she need to apologise for? "-he's just helping out."

And distracting me. So what if she was dating Dan? That didn't mean she couldn't leave her ex-boyfriend of an angel who became a mortal because he literally saved her from death itself. That would be immoral. She and Leo remained as good friends now... or so she believed.

Dan sighed angrily, and Piper began to get annoyed with his absurd jealousy towards herself and Leo's relationship. I mean friendship! She corrected mentally. The were just friends. Really close friends, purely platonic... Yeah right, A voice in her head muttered sarcastically.

And it still sounded like Phoebe.

Light peeped into Piper's eyes and they fluttered open. Her eyes darted to the alarm clock: 09:05. She smiled at her husband, who Piper guessed was only pretending to be asleep. She kissed him lightly just to test her theory. Correct: a smile blossomed on his face.

"Morning," she murmured, moving out of his arms and starting to get up. But Leo's arm stopped her from moving any further. He pulled her back down to his chest. "Leo," she laughed, "we need to get up. The boys are going to wake up any minute. And Chris-"

"Let them," he mumbled indifferently, enclosing his arms around her waist permanently.

"Leo," she stated in a stern, yet playful manner.

He peeked one eye open, "Just five minutes," he suggested with a smile he knew she couldn't resist, "please?"

Damn it, she couldn't ignore that. Piper turned back to the clock, and then grinned at Leo. "Five minutes," she repeated brightly, sinking back under the covers and burying her face in the crook of his neck. Leo wrapped his arms comfortably around her. Piper sighed in defeat: she was going to stay for longer than five minutes for sure. Leo planned this, who knew he could be so deceptive?/p

"You're evil," Piper stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I am, am I?" Leo asked teasingly.

"Yes you are," she poked his chest with every word.

"Ouch," he whispered, feigning hurt. Piper laughed lightly, burying her head into his strong chest. They lay like that, their hands entwined together. She closed her eyes briefly, pondering about everything they had overcome...

Until:

A cloud of blue orbs materialised into an unhappy toddler, "Mommy, Daddy, Chris is crying again!" Wyatt complained, bringing their quiet embrace to a screeching halt. Wyatt had a habit of complaining about his younger brother a lot.

With an annoyed sigh, Piper sat up, unlike Leo who engulfed himself with the covers. "Mommy's coming," she told her oldest son. Satisfied, Wyatt orbed out of the bedroom. "No orb- oh forget it," she muttered, realising it was too late. Piper gazed back at her husband, who refused to get up. As irritating as they can be, she loved her family to bits.

I'd like to see what you think of it, so please review! Thanks :)