***
Though she's your little girl, she is not a child anymore.
Her heart and mind are strong,
she wants to make a change.
No one's in the wrong, no need to rearrange.
Her love is always there,
a simple state of mind.
So join her if you care -- the truth is in her eyes.
The truth is in her eyes, in her eyes.
***
The months passed, and with them training levels increased. Together Piper and Leo discovered her three primary powers - telekinesis, freezing and premonitions. Together they trained and worked harder, pushing the boundaries of her powers and testing her to her limits. Demons came and were fought bravely and defeated, the two of them side by side, he shouting moves when needed, she following her heart. The Book of Shadows long ago discovered, it's thickness read from cover to cover, each page carefully studied, each word absorbed momentarily. They fought together, trained together, slept in the same bed at night. The Elders assigned him to her only, reallocating all his other charges, their focus very much on this new witch, and seeing how powerful she really was. Impressed, they allowed her to handle new things, new challenges, and allowed Leo to spend even more time with her. He all but moved into the grand old house her mother had left her, with all his earthly belongings scattered around, and he spent every minute he possibly could there.
***
Where do you want this?" he asked, sifting through the debris of the latest attack. She shrugged.
"Well, it used to sit on top of that..." she pointed to the antique oak dresser, once a beautifully carved piece, now a wreck of splintered wood and demon blood, scattered across the living room, shattered into a thousand pieces.
He grinned. He loved how she could pick herself up right after an attack, not fret over it or worry about the next one. "Here?" he indicated to a spot on top on the mantelpiece.
"Sure, that'll be fine. It doesn't matter anyway, we'll be attacked again in a few days time anyway. And then that foul thing will be broken." Her face broke out into a grin as Leo surveyed the stained glass vase in his hand, his twinkling eyes playful.
"I actually really like this." he commented quietly in the most serious tone he could muster, looking her straight in the eyes. She cracked a smile and giggled, not knowing whether to believe him or not. His eyes told a different story to the rest of his face and she ran over to him, throwing up feathers in the air from a burst cushion. Her eyes smiled.
"Liar!" she cried, running from him. Leo looked from her retreating form to the vase in his hand and back again.
"Oh...... fuck it!" he yelled, giving up the pretence and letting the vase fall from his hand, hearing the ear piercing crash and feeling the shards of glass flick against his jeans. He ran after her, up the stairs, down the stairs, their excited cries filling the otherwise empty house and echoing off the walls and ceilings. A rush of adrenaline crept through her as the pounding of his feet grew closer, and she could practically feel his hot breath on her neck. She screamed wildly and threw herself in a torrent down on the nearest sofa, as he, in just socks, skidded further down the hall, until finally a loud crash came.
"Leo?" she leapt up, rounding the corner separating them in one easy dash. Her heart thundered loudly in her chest. He lay, unconscious, amidst a pile of books and heavy ornaments, a large bump forming on his head. She fell to her knees, collapsing beside him. "Leo!" she cried frantically, feeling for a pulse. Just as she closed her eyes to try and focus better, a hand landed swiftly around the back of her neck, and the next thing she knew her lips were being pressed against his, their sweet softness filling her. Her eyes remained closed until they both finally drew away, gasping for breath.
He looked at her long and hard, the playfulness gone from his eyes, their sparkling green now showing another, more serious side, one that loved Piper too much for any amount of words to convey. He sat up, wordlessly taking her hand in his own. Piper recognised his change of mood and her own matched it. She nodded for him to continue.
"Piper..... I know how hard this has been for you. And you've been so fantastic, and you listened to me through it all. You're still listening." Leo's eyes shone as he gazed at her, his carefully planned speech momentarily halted. "You've worked so hard, and you've never doubted that what I told you, but just...you've just done it without question." He lovingly stroked her cheek. "I know it hurt you so much when you first found out. I hurt you. And I never wanted to do that. I love you with all my heart, and....I......" he fumbled in his pocket until his hand emerged clutching a small red velvet box. Piper gasped. Leo looked back at her, opened the box and knelt gently on his knee before her.
"Piper...... would you marry me?" She heard the words as if in a dream, their very presence in her life too unbelievable to comprehend. She looked from the beautiful diamond studded ring to his shining, grinning eyes, and back again. After what seemed like a lifetime, she finally blurted out the answer she knew she'd give all along.
"Yes," Both their faces broke into the hugest grins they could ever have smiled, and the adrenaline going round Piper's body caused her heart to beat faster and her eyes to twinkle as tears formed. Leo kissed her lightly as he slipped the ring on her finger. Piper wrapped her arms around his neck and let the tears fall.
"Thankyou." she whispered. "Thankyou for everything."
Leo felt as if his very being would split in two. Surely one person couldn't handle this much happiness. His arms around Piper tightened, and whispered simply in her ear.
"No, thankyou."
***
You and I together 'til we die
We dream of a place that we used to know
But cannot go with you girl in this
Everchanging world living loving learning
You is all I have to know
All I have to know
***
***
The days flowed by, no demons attacked, and Leo and Piper lay basking in each other and their newly found happiness. Each day he rose earlier than she, and would run downstairs to make them coffee before she woke, so she would finally do so to his hot breath on her neck and the smell of coffee wafting through the room. In their own haven, they heard nothing of the whispers of The Elders, heard nothing of their plans or concerns. They were oblivious to the dangers that lay ahead of them, and as bride and groom made the final arrangements of flowers and guests and corsages, their happiness blanked them off to ever suspecting all was not right.
***
The day finally arrived, a warm saturday in August, as the first golden leaves fell from the trees and the sidewalks became a flourish of reds and browns and goldens, the green of spring and summer gone. He woke early and snuck out, leaving her wrapped in her own dreams which would come true in mere hours. Just as he rounded the corner to the florists, where he planned to pick up rose petals, they called him. In the early morning no one else was around, so as the sun crept out from behind the only cloud in the sky, the blue lights enveloped him and the sidewalk was empty once again.
He orbed into the now less familiar environment of the Elders sanctuary, as the ten men sat uncomfortably, waiting for someone else to start to tell the young whitelighter.
"Well?" Leo asked, growing impatient. "This is my wedding day, you know."
A man to his left spoke unexpectedly. Ten faces all turned towards him.
"Yes, we know, Leo. We know only too well." Leo paused. He knew that tone. Something was wrong. Of course something was wrong. He was angry. This was supposed to be Piper's day, Piper and his day. The anger boiled up inside him and released itself as shouting at the very people he knew he should be listening to.
"Can't you just let us have one day? Can't we just have our day, our one normal day, where there are no demons, no fretting, just me and her and your blessing?" he yelled, gesturing wildly with his hands, looking at each face wildly, taking none of them in. "What is it? A demon? A warlock? Some evil that's indestructible? Tell me, and I'll do it myself. Don't involve her, she doesn't deserve this. Not on her wedding day." his speech broke off and he gasped for breath.
"We would, Leo, but....." the Elder trailed off, looking to his counterparts to continue. Finally the one who spoke first did.
"This is a curse on the pair of you. Well, a curse of sorts. There is a witch, Shanna......" Leo interrupted him.
"In the book? Yeah, we saw that. The witch of desire..."
"Not anymore, Leo. Yes, she used to be a good witch. She used to be like an Earthly cupid, matching up couples. Yet when she lost her own love to another, she turned. Joined the other side, breaking up couples, killing them through exhaustion on their wedding nights. Finally in 1980 a good witch managed to trap her underground, thereby supposedly preventing her from hurting any others. However she learnt the power of a sort of astral projection, she could still curse couples and cause exhaustion."
"What...what does this have to do with me and Piper?" The Elder who had spoken swallowed visibly, and Leo became more anxious. "Just tell me, you're wasting time!"
"You and Piper are the reincarnated forms of a Charmed one and her whitelighter." Waiting to see Leo's reaction, the Elder pursed his lips. "Piper Halliwell was the first Charmed One to pass away. She did so on her wedding night."
Suddenly it dawned on Leo what was happening. He shook his head, refusing to believe it. "No....." he whispered, the image of his beloved sleeping sweetly in their bed running through his mind.
"The only way Shanna can ever create enough energy to set herself free" The Elder continued, "is for her to curse a witch and a whitelighter on their wedding night." This combination had never happened before Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt in 2001. She didn't succeed then because Leo and Piper of that time stopped making love after Piper passed out, and his love for her was stronger than the desire he had been cursed to feel. It has never happened again since, until..."
"Until now." Leo finished for him.
Piper Halliwell. Piper Hall.
Leo Wyatt. Leo Watts.
Suddenly it all made sense. Why he bumped into Piper that day, why he felt such a connection - they had known each other before. In another lifetime.
"So.. what? We don't get married? We wait? We prevent it somehow?"
"Those are only temporary solutions. You and Piper are destined to always end up together, you as a whitelighter and her as a witch. You will always marry and in one lifetime, she will be set free, to reap havoc on the world and turn the reproduction cycle upside down. Life will cease to exist, and evil will rule, because evil cannot love. We need the chain to stop, when we've told you, when you know what to do, not in a lifetime where we may not exist."
"Well, what do we do? How do we kill her? Vanquish her?" Leo was becoming exasperated.
"There is only one way to vanquish her. It involves making the ultimate sacrifice for love. Or the ultimate sacrifice of love."
"What is it? I'll do anything. Please, just tell me so Piper and I can live out our life in as much peace as possible."
The Elders glanced at each other, the walls, anywhere but Leo. Finally one spoke up.
"You have to kill each other."
***
Somewhere deep inside me
I hold a picture of a time long gone
A time of ease and simple pleasures
And days in shadows not so long
Now with my mind I'm struggling
Holding on to what I believe
Listen to the fragments of my thoughts
That leave me broken and deceived
***
Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing, but their words penetrated his very soul and he knew he had heard the man correctly. He gasped, trying to form a response of any kind, but the blow of what had been said prevented him from doing so. His mind whirled and desperately tried to process and think rationally. More words spun around as the man spoke again, trying to explain himself.
"Shanna thrives on newly weds, and their lust and love for each other. She thrives on their complete trust in each other and disbelief that anything could go wrong. Newly weds thrive on the same things. If you and Piper....." Leo's heart clapped faster against his chest. "...were to act as normal newly weds, she would be yours for the taking, one or both of you would die, as in your last life together. However, if you break that bond of loyalty and trust by doing the one thing she never expects you to do, the repercussions of that act backfire on her and she is vanquished."
Leo tried to pinch himself, desperately hoping it to be a dream, but reopened his eyes to find that it wasn't, and there he still stood, as the ten men looked guiltily at him, each trying to think of something to say. "Wouldn't that break our bond of love?" he whispered finally, his mind processing the information and trying to make sense of it.
"No, Leo, it would only strengthen it. You would have died for the greater good, and so sealed yourselves a place forever in eternity, living each life together as you are meant to. The pain you would got though in this one would be vastly overshadowed by the happiness the lifetimes to come would give you. But if you don't go through with this now, your future lifetimes will be filled sadness and grief, as each time Shanna will destroy one or both of you." the old man paused, taking deep breaths. "You have been a wonderful whitelighter Leo, and we are so sorry to have to ask you to do this, but it is the only way to break the curse, to vanquish her."
"You're sure?" Leo began to think logically, and tried to block out his heart's screams to say no to this horrid idea. The cries prevailed slightly as the same man answered him;
"Yes."
"How would we come back? As a witch and eventually a whitelighter? Will we remember this?"
"Piper will always return as a witch, and you will return as a man who will become a whitelighter, yes. This is your destiny, Leo. In past lifetimes Elders tried to force you apart, as it was not known then. But you two are fated to spent eternity with each other, and with each lifetime she will become stronger and more powereful as a witch. Neither of you will remember this day,or remember your past together, just look forward to a new found happiness that you would find with each new meeting. It is the only way, Leo."
The young whitelighter nodded, finally understanding their reasons for asking him to do such a horrid thing. His stomach still turned at the thought of it, but he bid them farewell and orbed back down for a final time to try and explain to Piper why she would have to shoot her new husband in the head as he did the same to her.
***
Whe you feel all alone
And the world has turned it's back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
***
The tears fell, the denials screamed, the questions of surely isn't there another way asked and his head shook somberly, her tears matching his exactly. They both promised each other they couldn't do it, and wouldn't, each knowing in their heads it was the only way. Leo explained what they had told him, about past lives, future lives, the present life. Her heart screamed no, her brain whispered yes, knowing it was the only solution.
She got dressed for her wedding, the gown now seeming so unimportant, the carefully chosen hairstyle done to perfection only for him. He stepped into his tuxedo, the corsage seeming pointless, his hair gelled perfectly, only for her. They met wordlessly and said their vows quickly and quietly, each seeing only the other, with only the priest and two winesses in the room. Never had either of them meant the words more.
"Piper, through all the tears and struggles, I always knew in my heart that we'd make it here. I promise to love and respect you from this point forward, as your husband, as my wife, my lover, my friend and my soulmate. All I am is yours."
The tears streamed down Piper's face as her vows were spoken, as much in sadness as in happiness. "Leo, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I was afraid that you were too good to be true, that maybe I didn't deserve someone so pure and beautiful and loving as you are. Yet here we are, and I feel so proud and so blessed to be your wife. Leo, I was born to love you, and I always will." The lump in her throat grew until she could hardly contain her fears at how quickly the minutes were slipping by, and she took Leo's hand in her own as the priest pronounced them husband and wife. His lips and tears found hers, and neighbours secretly wondered why he was crying too. But in their own world a first and last kiss was shared as husband and wife, lips softly pressed against each other, tears merging. With his arms around her he orbed them up to their bedroom, where two identical guns lay with a note of apology on the bed. The tears rushed down Piper's cheeks, as she kissed Leo's lips a final time.
***
In her hidden prison, Shanna smiled as the witch and the whitelighter appeared in the bedroom, kissing as if there was no tomorrow. She closed her eyes, chuckling to herself. This time I'll be free, you foolish lovers. Out of practice, it took several moments but finally, she managed to project herself into the bedroom. Why was the bride crying so much? Wasn't she happy? Shanna didn't care as she took the powder form her pocket once more, feeling their love consume her nearly. Oh yes, this time I'll be free.
"Those who have just been joined
Allow them their greed
Useless to help
In times of need!"
Leo felt the change go through his body, his desire mutiplied a thousand times over. "Piper, she's started it. We need to do this now." the tears spilled freely over his cheeks as her eyes searched his for a better solution. He had none, his heart cried for her, cried for them, cried for there to be a better way. Hesitantly he picked up the guns and laid one in her hand. "Please. Think of all the futures we'll have."
Piper shook her head, the desire she felt nothing in comparison to the grief which flooded her heart. "Leo, I can't. I won't. I love you......" A shiver ran up her spine, and she felt like vomiting. The cold metal laid in her hand, and bile rose in her mouth at the mere thought of it. His eyes held a weakness that his body didn't show, as tears of hate of life flowed from them. He stroked her cheek once more, it's every pore memerised for eternity, each other's every imperfection found and known. He drew her to him, and they shared one last hug as husband and wife, their unstoppable grief engulfing them both.
Each held the gun to the other's head, their eyes never leaing each other. Vows of love were whispered in unison.
"I love you more than I love anything."
"I love you more than I love life."
"On three." Leo whispered, hating everything he had ever known except her.
"1......" A first sight. Oranges rolling into the road, milk spilling down the sidewalk. Eyes meeting. A shy grin. An accepted invitaion.
"2......" A first night spent in each other's arms, every inch explored lovingly, hair stroked, lips and necks and stomachs caressed with kisses. A cry breaking the silence of night. A first declaration of love.
"3......" A proposal accepted, a love admitted, soulmates together once again. Perfection found, only to be torn from them once more.
Triggers were squeezed, eyes met, bullets sped through the millimetres of air seperating barrel from skull. A last word was formed. "Soon." she mouthed, before their faces contorted, bullets ripping through their heads, memories severed, eyes closed, breathing halted abruptly and hearts stopped immediately. Guns clattered to the floor. Bodies fell slowly, in each other's arms, to the ground, heads rolled back as blood poured from identical wounds, matting hair, reddening the wooden floor. A double tragedy was declared. The question of why asked a thousand times. Buried together, a community was in mourning for months to come. In heaven two souls met momentarily.
"We did it, Piper. We've got eternity together. She's gone, never to return." a whisper echoed through the empty room. Lights smiled at each other, brown smiled at green.
They danced together, nonexisatnt arms imagined, the two needed only each other. Leo looked towards the heavens. "I have to go."
"Me too."
"We'll see each other soon, Piper." A kiss, but not a kiss goodbye. A kiss for eternity.
***
Baby, dance with me slow
Let me fly with you
While the band plays low
Till the night is through
The lights of the candles
Look like stars around the room
I'll try to be careful
But I know I'm not immune
'Cause I just can't imagine
How I'd ever come to harm
With this feeling that I'm feeling
As I'm drowning in your arms
***
3050
Piper sat in her neatly arranged office, paperwork stacked in piles, pen tapping lightly of the edge of the desk. Her restaurant Melinda's was due to open that night, and she still hadn't found a head barman. "Thankyou, Sam." she told the young man sitting in front of her. He wasn't suitable for the job, but she would keep his references for any future positions as a waiter. That he had experience in. "We'll get back to you." The young man rose form his seat and shook her hand earnestly, smiling shyly. "Oh, and could you please send the next person in?" she smiled back as he left the room.
Sam's file passed over to her left, she glanced momentarily at the next resume. Twenty - two years old, previous bar work, good references... her train of thought was interrupted as a knock broke the silence of the office. Her eyes glanced up, and met his. Brown met green, her heart leapt unexpectedly. "Leo Wyatt." she managed, despite barely noticing his name on his CV.
"Leo, I'm Piper."
"Yeah. I knew that." he replied, shaking her hand. Fireworks shot through them both as their skin touched, and in her heart Piper knew she'd hire him.
Brown met green, he saw her, she held him captivated.
Employer met employee, she saw him, he took her breath away.
For eternity lasts forver, and dance of true love knows no lifetimes and no bounds.
***
Baby, dance with me slow
Till we barely move
Let that crowd rock and roll
While we share this groove
And float like two shadows
In and out and in between
Those faces around us
At the edges of this dream
And it won't even matter
If they stare as we go by
I'm aware of only your love
In this world of you and I
Baby, dance with me slow
Let me fly with you
Let me fly with you
***
The End
Though she's your little girl, she is not a child anymore.
Her heart and mind are strong,
she wants to make a change.
No one's in the wrong, no need to rearrange.
Her love is always there,
a simple state of mind.
So join her if you care -- the truth is in her eyes.
The truth is in her eyes, in her eyes.
***
The months passed, and with them training levels increased. Together Piper and Leo discovered her three primary powers - telekinesis, freezing and premonitions. Together they trained and worked harder, pushing the boundaries of her powers and testing her to her limits. Demons came and were fought bravely and defeated, the two of them side by side, he shouting moves when needed, she following her heart. The Book of Shadows long ago discovered, it's thickness read from cover to cover, each page carefully studied, each word absorbed momentarily. They fought together, trained together, slept in the same bed at night. The Elders assigned him to her only, reallocating all his other charges, their focus very much on this new witch, and seeing how powerful she really was. Impressed, they allowed her to handle new things, new challenges, and allowed Leo to spend even more time with her. He all but moved into the grand old house her mother had left her, with all his earthly belongings scattered around, and he spent every minute he possibly could there.
***
Where do you want this?" he asked, sifting through the debris of the latest attack. She shrugged.
"Well, it used to sit on top of that..." she pointed to the antique oak dresser, once a beautifully carved piece, now a wreck of splintered wood and demon blood, scattered across the living room, shattered into a thousand pieces.
He grinned. He loved how she could pick herself up right after an attack, not fret over it or worry about the next one. "Here?" he indicated to a spot on top on the mantelpiece.
"Sure, that'll be fine. It doesn't matter anyway, we'll be attacked again in a few days time anyway. And then that foul thing will be broken." Her face broke out into a grin as Leo surveyed the stained glass vase in his hand, his twinkling eyes playful.
"I actually really like this." he commented quietly in the most serious tone he could muster, looking her straight in the eyes. She cracked a smile and giggled, not knowing whether to believe him or not. His eyes told a different story to the rest of his face and she ran over to him, throwing up feathers in the air from a burst cushion. Her eyes smiled.
"Liar!" she cried, running from him. Leo looked from her retreating form to the vase in his hand and back again.
"Oh...... fuck it!" he yelled, giving up the pretence and letting the vase fall from his hand, hearing the ear piercing crash and feeling the shards of glass flick against his jeans. He ran after her, up the stairs, down the stairs, their excited cries filling the otherwise empty house and echoing off the walls and ceilings. A rush of adrenaline crept through her as the pounding of his feet grew closer, and she could practically feel his hot breath on her neck. She screamed wildly and threw herself in a torrent down on the nearest sofa, as he, in just socks, skidded further down the hall, until finally a loud crash came.
"Leo?" she leapt up, rounding the corner separating them in one easy dash. Her heart thundered loudly in her chest. He lay, unconscious, amidst a pile of books and heavy ornaments, a large bump forming on his head. She fell to her knees, collapsing beside him. "Leo!" she cried frantically, feeling for a pulse. Just as she closed her eyes to try and focus better, a hand landed swiftly around the back of her neck, and the next thing she knew her lips were being pressed against his, their sweet softness filling her. Her eyes remained closed until they both finally drew away, gasping for breath.
He looked at her long and hard, the playfulness gone from his eyes, their sparkling green now showing another, more serious side, one that loved Piper too much for any amount of words to convey. He sat up, wordlessly taking her hand in his own. Piper recognised his change of mood and her own matched it. She nodded for him to continue.
"Piper..... I know how hard this has been for you. And you've been so fantastic, and you listened to me through it all. You're still listening." Leo's eyes shone as he gazed at her, his carefully planned speech momentarily halted. "You've worked so hard, and you've never doubted that what I told you, but just...you've just done it without question." He lovingly stroked her cheek. "I know it hurt you so much when you first found out. I hurt you. And I never wanted to do that. I love you with all my heart, and....I......" he fumbled in his pocket until his hand emerged clutching a small red velvet box. Piper gasped. Leo looked back at her, opened the box and knelt gently on his knee before her.
"Piper...... would you marry me?" She heard the words as if in a dream, their very presence in her life too unbelievable to comprehend. She looked from the beautiful diamond studded ring to his shining, grinning eyes, and back again. After what seemed like a lifetime, she finally blurted out the answer she knew she'd give all along.
"Yes," Both their faces broke into the hugest grins they could ever have smiled, and the adrenaline going round Piper's body caused her heart to beat faster and her eyes to twinkle as tears formed. Leo kissed her lightly as he slipped the ring on her finger. Piper wrapped her arms around his neck and let the tears fall.
"Thankyou." she whispered. "Thankyou for everything."
Leo felt as if his very being would split in two. Surely one person couldn't handle this much happiness. His arms around Piper tightened, and whispered simply in her ear.
"No, thankyou."
***
You and I together 'til we die
We dream of a place that we used to know
But cannot go with you girl in this
Everchanging world living loving learning
You is all I have to know
All I have to know
***
***
The days flowed by, no demons attacked, and Leo and Piper lay basking in each other and their newly found happiness. Each day he rose earlier than she, and would run downstairs to make them coffee before she woke, so she would finally do so to his hot breath on her neck and the smell of coffee wafting through the room. In their own haven, they heard nothing of the whispers of The Elders, heard nothing of their plans or concerns. They were oblivious to the dangers that lay ahead of them, and as bride and groom made the final arrangements of flowers and guests and corsages, their happiness blanked them off to ever suspecting all was not right.
***
The day finally arrived, a warm saturday in August, as the first golden leaves fell from the trees and the sidewalks became a flourish of reds and browns and goldens, the green of spring and summer gone. He woke early and snuck out, leaving her wrapped in her own dreams which would come true in mere hours. Just as he rounded the corner to the florists, where he planned to pick up rose petals, they called him. In the early morning no one else was around, so as the sun crept out from behind the only cloud in the sky, the blue lights enveloped him and the sidewalk was empty once again.
He orbed into the now less familiar environment of the Elders sanctuary, as the ten men sat uncomfortably, waiting for someone else to start to tell the young whitelighter.
"Well?" Leo asked, growing impatient. "This is my wedding day, you know."
A man to his left spoke unexpectedly. Ten faces all turned towards him.
"Yes, we know, Leo. We know only too well." Leo paused. He knew that tone. Something was wrong. Of course something was wrong. He was angry. This was supposed to be Piper's day, Piper and his day. The anger boiled up inside him and released itself as shouting at the very people he knew he should be listening to.
"Can't you just let us have one day? Can't we just have our day, our one normal day, where there are no demons, no fretting, just me and her and your blessing?" he yelled, gesturing wildly with his hands, looking at each face wildly, taking none of them in. "What is it? A demon? A warlock? Some evil that's indestructible? Tell me, and I'll do it myself. Don't involve her, she doesn't deserve this. Not on her wedding day." his speech broke off and he gasped for breath.
"We would, Leo, but....." the Elder trailed off, looking to his counterparts to continue. Finally the one who spoke first did.
"This is a curse on the pair of you. Well, a curse of sorts. There is a witch, Shanna......" Leo interrupted him.
"In the book? Yeah, we saw that. The witch of desire..."
"Not anymore, Leo. Yes, she used to be a good witch. She used to be like an Earthly cupid, matching up couples. Yet when she lost her own love to another, she turned. Joined the other side, breaking up couples, killing them through exhaustion on their wedding nights. Finally in 1980 a good witch managed to trap her underground, thereby supposedly preventing her from hurting any others. However she learnt the power of a sort of astral projection, she could still curse couples and cause exhaustion."
"What...what does this have to do with me and Piper?" The Elder who had spoken swallowed visibly, and Leo became more anxious. "Just tell me, you're wasting time!"
"You and Piper are the reincarnated forms of a Charmed one and her whitelighter." Waiting to see Leo's reaction, the Elder pursed his lips. "Piper Halliwell was the first Charmed One to pass away. She did so on her wedding night."
Suddenly it dawned on Leo what was happening. He shook his head, refusing to believe it. "No....." he whispered, the image of his beloved sleeping sweetly in their bed running through his mind.
"The only way Shanna can ever create enough energy to set herself free" The Elder continued, "is for her to curse a witch and a whitelighter on their wedding night." This combination had never happened before Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt in 2001. She didn't succeed then because Leo and Piper of that time stopped making love after Piper passed out, and his love for her was stronger than the desire he had been cursed to feel. It has never happened again since, until..."
"Until now." Leo finished for him.
Piper Halliwell. Piper Hall.
Leo Wyatt. Leo Watts.
Suddenly it all made sense. Why he bumped into Piper that day, why he felt such a connection - they had known each other before. In another lifetime.
"So.. what? We don't get married? We wait? We prevent it somehow?"
"Those are only temporary solutions. You and Piper are destined to always end up together, you as a whitelighter and her as a witch. You will always marry and in one lifetime, she will be set free, to reap havoc on the world and turn the reproduction cycle upside down. Life will cease to exist, and evil will rule, because evil cannot love. We need the chain to stop, when we've told you, when you know what to do, not in a lifetime where we may not exist."
"Well, what do we do? How do we kill her? Vanquish her?" Leo was becoming exasperated.
"There is only one way to vanquish her. It involves making the ultimate sacrifice for love. Or the ultimate sacrifice of love."
"What is it? I'll do anything. Please, just tell me so Piper and I can live out our life in as much peace as possible."
The Elders glanced at each other, the walls, anywhere but Leo. Finally one spoke up.
"You have to kill each other."
***
Somewhere deep inside me
I hold a picture of a time long gone
A time of ease and simple pleasures
And days in shadows not so long
Now with my mind I'm struggling
Holding on to what I believe
Listen to the fragments of my thoughts
That leave me broken and deceived
***
Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing, but their words penetrated his very soul and he knew he had heard the man correctly. He gasped, trying to form a response of any kind, but the blow of what had been said prevented him from doing so. His mind whirled and desperately tried to process and think rationally. More words spun around as the man spoke again, trying to explain himself.
"Shanna thrives on newly weds, and their lust and love for each other. She thrives on their complete trust in each other and disbelief that anything could go wrong. Newly weds thrive on the same things. If you and Piper....." Leo's heart clapped faster against his chest. "...were to act as normal newly weds, she would be yours for the taking, one or both of you would die, as in your last life together. However, if you break that bond of loyalty and trust by doing the one thing she never expects you to do, the repercussions of that act backfire on her and she is vanquished."
Leo tried to pinch himself, desperately hoping it to be a dream, but reopened his eyes to find that it wasn't, and there he still stood, as the ten men looked guiltily at him, each trying to think of something to say. "Wouldn't that break our bond of love?" he whispered finally, his mind processing the information and trying to make sense of it.
"No, Leo, it would only strengthen it. You would have died for the greater good, and so sealed yourselves a place forever in eternity, living each life together as you are meant to. The pain you would got though in this one would be vastly overshadowed by the happiness the lifetimes to come would give you. But if you don't go through with this now, your future lifetimes will be filled sadness and grief, as each time Shanna will destroy one or both of you." the old man paused, taking deep breaths. "You have been a wonderful whitelighter Leo, and we are so sorry to have to ask you to do this, but it is the only way to break the curse, to vanquish her."
"You're sure?" Leo began to think logically, and tried to block out his heart's screams to say no to this horrid idea. The cries prevailed slightly as the same man answered him;
"Yes."
"How would we come back? As a witch and eventually a whitelighter? Will we remember this?"
"Piper will always return as a witch, and you will return as a man who will become a whitelighter, yes. This is your destiny, Leo. In past lifetimes Elders tried to force you apart, as it was not known then. But you two are fated to spent eternity with each other, and with each lifetime she will become stronger and more powereful as a witch. Neither of you will remember this day,or remember your past together, just look forward to a new found happiness that you would find with each new meeting. It is the only way, Leo."
The young whitelighter nodded, finally understanding their reasons for asking him to do such a horrid thing. His stomach still turned at the thought of it, but he bid them farewell and orbed back down for a final time to try and explain to Piper why she would have to shoot her new husband in the head as he did the same to her.
***
Whe you feel all alone
And the world has turned it's back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
***
The tears fell, the denials screamed, the questions of surely isn't there another way asked and his head shook somberly, her tears matching his exactly. They both promised each other they couldn't do it, and wouldn't, each knowing in their heads it was the only way. Leo explained what they had told him, about past lives, future lives, the present life. Her heart screamed no, her brain whispered yes, knowing it was the only solution.
She got dressed for her wedding, the gown now seeming so unimportant, the carefully chosen hairstyle done to perfection only for him. He stepped into his tuxedo, the corsage seeming pointless, his hair gelled perfectly, only for her. They met wordlessly and said their vows quickly and quietly, each seeing only the other, with only the priest and two winesses in the room. Never had either of them meant the words more.
"Piper, through all the tears and struggles, I always knew in my heart that we'd make it here. I promise to love and respect you from this point forward, as your husband, as my wife, my lover, my friend and my soulmate. All I am is yours."
The tears streamed down Piper's face as her vows were spoken, as much in sadness as in happiness. "Leo, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I was afraid that you were too good to be true, that maybe I didn't deserve someone so pure and beautiful and loving as you are. Yet here we are, and I feel so proud and so blessed to be your wife. Leo, I was born to love you, and I always will." The lump in her throat grew until she could hardly contain her fears at how quickly the minutes were slipping by, and she took Leo's hand in her own as the priest pronounced them husband and wife. His lips and tears found hers, and neighbours secretly wondered why he was crying too. But in their own world a first and last kiss was shared as husband and wife, lips softly pressed against each other, tears merging. With his arms around her he orbed them up to their bedroom, where two identical guns lay with a note of apology on the bed. The tears rushed down Piper's cheeks, as she kissed Leo's lips a final time.
***
In her hidden prison, Shanna smiled as the witch and the whitelighter appeared in the bedroom, kissing as if there was no tomorrow. She closed her eyes, chuckling to herself. This time I'll be free, you foolish lovers. Out of practice, it took several moments but finally, she managed to project herself into the bedroom. Why was the bride crying so much? Wasn't she happy? Shanna didn't care as she took the powder form her pocket once more, feeling their love consume her nearly. Oh yes, this time I'll be free.
"Those who have just been joined
Allow them their greed
Useless to help
In times of need!"
Leo felt the change go through his body, his desire mutiplied a thousand times over. "Piper, she's started it. We need to do this now." the tears spilled freely over his cheeks as her eyes searched his for a better solution. He had none, his heart cried for her, cried for them, cried for there to be a better way. Hesitantly he picked up the guns and laid one in her hand. "Please. Think of all the futures we'll have."
Piper shook her head, the desire she felt nothing in comparison to the grief which flooded her heart. "Leo, I can't. I won't. I love you......" A shiver ran up her spine, and she felt like vomiting. The cold metal laid in her hand, and bile rose in her mouth at the mere thought of it. His eyes held a weakness that his body didn't show, as tears of hate of life flowed from them. He stroked her cheek once more, it's every pore memerised for eternity, each other's every imperfection found and known. He drew her to him, and they shared one last hug as husband and wife, their unstoppable grief engulfing them both.
Each held the gun to the other's head, their eyes never leaing each other. Vows of love were whispered in unison.
"I love you more than I love anything."
"I love you more than I love life."
"On three." Leo whispered, hating everything he had ever known except her.
"1......" A first sight. Oranges rolling into the road, milk spilling down the sidewalk. Eyes meeting. A shy grin. An accepted invitaion.
"2......" A first night spent in each other's arms, every inch explored lovingly, hair stroked, lips and necks and stomachs caressed with kisses. A cry breaking the silence of night. A first declaration of love.
"3......" A proposal accepted, a love admitted, soulmates together once again. Perfection found, only to be torn from them once more.
Triggers were squeezed, eyes met, bullets sped through the millimetres of air seperating barrel from skull. A last word was formed. "Soon." she mouthed, before their faces contorted, bullets ripping through their heads, memories severed, eyes closed, breathing halted abruptly and hearts stopped immediately. Guns clattered to the floor. Bodies fell slowly, in each other's arms, to the ground, heads rolled back as blood poured from identical wounds, matting hair, reddening the wooden floor. A double tragedy was declared. The question of why asked a thousand times. Buried together, a community was in mourning for months to come. In heaven two souls met momentarily.
"We did it, Piper. We've got eternity together. She's gone, never to return." a whisper echoed through the empty room. Lights smiled at each other, brown smiled at green.
They danced together, nonexisatnt arms imagined, the two needed only each other. Leo looked towards the heavens. "I have to go."
"Me too."
"We'll see each other soon, Piper." A kiss, but not a kiss goodbye. A kiss for eternity.
***
Baby, dance with me slow
Let me fly with you
While the band plays low
Till the night is through
The lights of the candles
Look like stars around the room
I'll try to be careful
But I know I'm not immune
'Cause I just can't imagine
How I'd ever come to harm
With this feeling that I'm feeling
As I'm drowning in your arms
***
3050
Piper sat in her neatly arranged office, paperwork stacked in piles, pen tapping lightly of the edge of the desk. Her restaurant Melinda's was due to open that night, and she still hadn't found a head barman. "Thankyou, Sam." she told the young man sitting in front of her. He wasn't suitable for the job, but she would keep his references for any future positions as a waiter. That he had experience in. "We'll get back to you." The young man rose form his seat and shook her hand earnestly, smiling shyly. "Oh, and could you please send the next person in?" she smiled back as he left the room.
Sam's file passed over to her left, she glanced momentarily at the next resume. Twenty - two years old, previous bar work, good references... her train of thought was interrupted as a knock broke the silence of the office. Her eyes glanced up, and met his. Brown met green, her heart leapt unexpectedly. "Leo Wyatt." she managed, despite barely noticing his name on his CV.
"Leo, I'm Piper."
"Yeah. I knew that." he replied, shaking her hand. Fireworks shot through them both as their skin touched, and in her heart Piper knew she'd hire him.
Brown met green, he saw her, she held him captivated.
Employer met employee, she saw him, he took her breath away.
For eternity lasts forver, and dance of true love knows no lifetimes and no bounds.
***
Baby, dance with me slow
Till we barely move
Let that crowd rock and roll
While we share this groove
And float like two shadows
In and out and in between
Those faces around us
At the edges of this dream
And it won't even matter
If they stare as we go by
I'm aware of only your love
In this world of you and I
Baby, dance with me slow
Let me fly with you
Let me fly with you
***
The End