Hello, Charmed fans. I am back! No, this isn't a "Womb Raider" ficlet, which I know many have requested. I'm getting to that, I swear! I've just had this tidbit floating in my head for awhile and wanted to get it down before it was forgotten in the haze.
This takes place during "Saving Private Leo". Basically, Leo's thoughts and feelings as he tries to save Piper and at the reunion. Just very fluffy and romantic. Total Piper/Leo, though Paige and Phoebe make cameos. Enjoy!
P.S. I also do not won "Charmed" or it's characters. Alas, if I did I woudn't have let season six happen!
The sound of his heartbeat was like a fevered drum in his ears as Leo pounded on his wife's chest. Piper was as lifeless as a rag doll beneath his hands, frightening him to the core. Anguish threatened to rip out his insides. Tears began to choke up his throat. The bruises he had received from the vengeful ghosts gave him no pain compared to the idea that he might actually lose the woman he loved forever.
The couple lay among the crushed ruins of the attic furniture. Piper's witch sisters, Phoebe and Paige, stood helplessly by as Leo frantically tried to perform CPR. Two evil spirits had destroyed their lives in an attempt to get back at Leo for leaving them to die during the Battle at Guadalcanal. His healing powers of good were now useless once he realized he hadn't deserved to become a whitelighter in the first place. Those two goddamn spirits – his friends – were now gone, but they could still take his one reason for living with them.
"Piper, no," he choked, his breath coming in harsh rasps. "Don't you dare die on me. Not because of me. Not because of me."
"Leo, you can't give up on her!" Phoebe cried in fright from behind him.
"Use your powers, Leo!" Paige shouted. "You have them for a reason. You're a good person who does a lot of good. You deserve to be a whitelighter. Now use them to save your wife!"
"I can't," he muttered, as he fruitlessly continued to pump Piper's chest. How long was it before the brain was dead anyway? Two minutes? Four? He had easily healed so many other witches and innocents over the years, that modern medicine hadn't mattered. Now, when he needed his powers more than ever, they had abandoned him.
"Please, baby," he whispered. "Don't give up on me. I love you. I love you too much to let you go now. Please, Piper, come back to me."
Suddenly, Leo felt a warm glow fill his body with such love that he thought his heart would burst. He looked down at his hands and saw they were glowing as bright as stars. Without pausing to think, he removed the towel that had covered Piper's wound and placed his hands over her chest. He held his breath anxiously as the seconds passed and she still didn't move beneath him. The only sound in the room was the soft hum of the yellow, healing light that Leo issued into Piper's wound.
"Come on, Piper," he begged again. Then as if on cue, her eyes fluttered open and she gasped for breath. Behind him, he vaguely heard Phoebe and Paige clap and cheer. Leo finally let his healing glow sink back into his body, his heart frozen. He never took his eyes off his beautiful, breathing wife. Was she – really alive? She finally met his green eyes and uttered a feeble laugh.
"That was close," she said, choking on a sob. "Too close."
Reaching out, they both grabbed for each other. Leo held her as close to his body as possible as he hugged her. He couldn't believe that he had almost lost her. If only he had just been a few minutes faster – if only he had had just a bit more faith in himself. Blindly he searched out for her face. He rained a thousand kisses over her tear-stained cheeks until his lips found hers. She whimpered softly under his lips and wrapped her arms tighter around him.
"I'm so sorry," he gasped when he finally stopped his kisses. He couldn't stop touching her sweet face. He never thought he'd see that look of love in her brilliant brown eyes ever again. Dimly, he was aware of Phoebe and Paige tip-toeing out of the attic to leave the couple in peace.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't fast enough."
"It's ok," Piper cried, smiling through her tears. "You made it in time. I'm living proof of that."
Gently, Leo placed his palm on Piper's sternum. He knew his healing powers had healed even the scar of the knife wound she had received, but he thought he could still see the shadow of it all the same. His rough fingers lightly traced the deep ragged hole his friends Nathan and Rick had punched into her.
"But not fast enough," he whispered. His eyes filled with tears as he traced the pattern of the wound he still saw on her. Piper covered his hand with her small, soft one to stop his fingers. She raised her head to lay a sweet kiss on his forehead, her other hand wrapped itself around his neck.
"Leo, look at me," she ordered softly. Unwillingly, he looked into her truthful eyes. How could he face her again after almost letting her die?
"None of this was your fault."
He shook his head violently. "No, it's my fault Nathan and Rick couldn't find peace in the afterlife. It's my fault they committed their murders. They were only coming after me. If only I had died with them that day, then none of this-"
"If you had died that day," Piper whispered. "I would have died a long time ago. All those innocents you saved over the years would now be dead. Those men in the field that you helped during the war would have died too. It is not your fault that you lived longer than Nathan and Rick. You didn't drop that bomb on them, did you? You're a good man, Leo. You have a good heart – a good soul. I recognized that the first moment I met you. Don't you let the fact that they turned evil ruin that fact. Do you hear me? None of this is your fault, Leo. If you didn't have such a good heart, I doubt I'd still be here."
Leo watched Piper as she spoke, slowly realizing that every word she uttered was true. He had to be a good man or he wouldn't have been able to have saved all those people over the years. He wouldn't have been able to come back and save Piper tonight. It was hard to swallow all the guilt he had lived with since the war. He couldn't absolve himself of all of his sins, but with Piper's words, he knew he could at least live with himself now. He had felt the love that had surged through him to heal Piper. Only good people could feel a rush of an emotion such as love.
"What would I do without you?" he asked smiling crookedly. He stroked her cheek as she smiled up at him. "You really do know me."
"Of course I do," she replied, softly. "I'm your soul mate, remember?"
"Never let me forget it," he murmured.
"Never," she whispered.
Slowly he bent his head to capture her soft, sweet lips once more. He saw her eyes flutter to an ecstatic close before he met her lips. He did deserve her. He did deserve all of this. From that point on, he would do everything in his power to prove it to her, her sisters and all those innocents. He was a good soul. It was his destiny to help and protect innocent people. And he deserved that destiny. After today, he would never forget that – or what it would have cost him if he had totally forgotten that fact.
Leo began to kiss Piper deeper and deeper, drinking in her love for him. His hands found the pins in her hair and released her luscious brown locks. She pulled him closer to her as his rough hands cut paths through the soft silk of her hair. He drank from the love of his wife, cherishing every inch of her.
No, he would never again forget what heaven he could have lost in even one moment of awful self doubt.
A few days later, Leo stood in front of the floor-length mirror that was parked in the bedroom he shared with Piper. He wore his best new tan suit – a present from Piper. It fit him well and made him look more confident than he felt. He tightened his brown tie for the fifth time…then loosened it for the eleventh. He ran a hand timidly through his spiky hair. Maybe he should have gotten a haircut before the reunion. Maybe he-
"Would you just stop fussing?" Piper cried from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see his wife walking up behind him. She looked absolutely stunning in her casually, elegant chocolate brown dress. Her chestnut hair lay in light curls around her shoulders. Her smile alone out-sparkled the scant jewelry she wore.
"You look fine," she said, turning him back around so they could both look at their reflections in the mirror. She stood on tip-toe to straighten his tie, then kept her arms tucked around his broad shoulders.
"Well, no one's going to be looking at me if you go to the reunion wearing that," he said with a nervous grin.
"Trust me. I'm not going to be looking at anyone else tonight anyway," she said softly, meeting his eyes in the mirror.
They were preparing to attend the reunion for the San Francisco veterans of the Battle at Guadalcanal. Leo hadn't wanted to go at all when Piper had first mentioned it to him. He had still been guilt-ridden about Nathan and Rick. He was no longer filled with such a gut-sucking guilt that it threatened to steal his heart whenever he thought of his two former friends. Yet, he felt enough of the shadows from that guilt to not want to go to the reunion. Piper had told him it would be good for him to see all those soldiers and their families. What good he could bring them now, he hadn't a clue.
"Maybe this is a mistake, Piper," he tried once again. "If someone recognizes me-"
"We'll say you're your grandson," Piper said firmly. She turned him around so she could face him. She brushed and straightened his lapels. "We've been over this, Leo."
"I still just don't think I deserve to be there."
"You do," she said, her eyes firm and insistent. "You died saving those men. Now you get to save hundreds more. You deserve this. Please, just even pretend to be happy – for me?"
"I could never pretend with you," he said, bending his head to kiss her softly. He reached for her hand. It felt so cool and strong in his warm, nervous grip. "Just stay with me. Ok?"
She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Where else would I be?"
A few hours later, the reunion was beginning to wind down as Big Band music filled the reception hall. Many of the families had already headed home, but a few still remained to reminisce, eat and dance. Leo had spent hours talking with the men he had saved at Guadalcanal. He still couldn't believe he had saved so many! And they all remembered him – well, his "grandfather" anyway. The men's children and grandchildren had all come up to shake his hand. Words couldn't have expressed the love that sprang into his heart after seeing so many people giving him thanks. If he hadn't gone out to save those soldiers in the field (and died with them), they would never have come home to have families and futures. If he had been as selfish to put his friends above thousands of others…none of them would be alive. It was at that moment that he realized that he did deserve to be a whitlighter. He did deserve Piper, her love and their happiness. He deserved his calling and was suddenly fiercely proud of it. It was his destiny to die on that field, helping others…as it was Nathan and Rick's to die bitter and vengeful.
After what seemed like years, he finally managed to untangle himself from the last of his fellow soldiers. Moving over to the punch table, his eyes traveled the thinning crowd to see if he could spot his wife. Piper had let him reminisce with his fellow veterans as she talked with their wives and daughters. He wondered what stories she had been telling them when he caught her throwing her head back in laughter throughout the night.
"Care to share the last dance with me, soldier?" a voice asked sweetly behind him. Grinning, he turned to see Piper smiling up at him.
"I always have room on my dance card for you, beautiful. Shall we?" Leo asked, holding out his arms.
"Oh, most definitely," Piper cried, slipping eagerly into his arms as they shared a laugh. Gently, he guided her onto the dance floor and they quickly blended in with the other older couples.
"I was very proud of you today," Piper said quietly as the slow music flowed over them.
"Why?" Leo asked, with a slight frown. He finally noticed there were unshed tears in her eyes. He quickly kissed both of her cheeks to soothe her. "Honey, don't cry."
"Their tears of happiness. I've never been so happy or so proud to be married to you. You're truly my hero. Now I finally got to see how much of hero you are to everyone else. All those lives you saved that day-"
"I know," he replied. "It was my destiny to – die- that day. I know that now. I was supposed to die so I could live on and help others. I mean, I'll never be ok with what happened to Nathan and Rick – "
"How could you?" Piper whispered.
"But I've come to accept that it was all meant to be. They were meant to die in that tent – I was meant to die on the field helping others. It wasn't about abandoning anyone. I couldn't turn down my calling."
"None of us would be here if you had," she murmured.
"I'll never forget that either," he whispered in reply, pulling her close. He sighed in contentment as Piper wrapped her small arms around his neck and he buried his head in her soft, curly hair.
Glen Miller's Sunrise Serenade floated over the speakers as Leo slowly twirled Piper around the reception hall's dance floor. At that moment, he was never so happy to have followed his own destiny. He softly nuzzled Piper's soft, elegant neck and vowed once again to prove to her how much he finally understood where his destiny truly lay.