The priest recognized his surroundings as he opened his eyes what seemed like only a second later. He was standing in the foyer of the same manor that he had visited earlier, although it seemed so much newer, as though it had been restored and repainted. The walls were no longer cracking, the paint wasn't chipped, and the solid wood floors shined as though they had just been cleaned. He took a few steps forward as he began to look around some more. It was the same house that Phoebe had lived in before she died, but all the furniture was different. The picture windows were clean, and the solarium was used as a sitting room rather than a billiards hall, as he remembered it. Everything he had seen in the history books about turn of the millennium culture was here in this house, and then he knew. He had made it.
"Leo!"
He spun his head around as a familiar voice called his name. The woman from his vision approached him at a jog, her long chocolate hair falling in waves behind her. He gulped as she neared him and gave him a furtive glance. "Piper?"
"You say that like you weren't expecting me to be here. What are you wearing? You know what? Never mind. I don't care. It doesn't matter. But I should remind you that Halloween isn't for another four months… Hey, where's Mel?"
Leonard shook his head. "Who's Mel?" he asked, trying to get a grip on his surroundings before he went insane. How did she know his name? It was all too strange.
The woman laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha. Very funny. I'm serious. Where is she?"
Another voice from around the corner in the living room drew her attention away from him, but not for long. A tall, muscular blond man came into the foyer, an adorably chubby baby with dark hair like her mother's wriggling in his arms.
"Where is who?" the man asked as he bobbed the baby from one arm to the other. The man, who could have passed for Leonard's clone, dropped his jaw in surprise as he noticed the minister in his entranceway. Unfortunately, the man wasn't the only one who noticed how much the two of them looked alike. The baby's mother, not to be lenient when it came to her family's safety, threw her hands up in the air, just as he had seen her do in his vision. Unfortunately for him, he was not immune to her power, and was blown backward as he felt a great pressure on his chest. The rosary beads around his wrist glowed with an amber flame as they took the brunt of the attack, just leaving enough force to send him flying backwards and hit his head against the side of a chair.
Leonard blinked groggily several times as he watched brightly colored spots dance before his eyes. He felt dizzy as he heard a panicked voice over his head.
"Why didn't he blow up? Is he immune to my powers? Oh God, we're all going to die…"
His own voice, although not from his lips but from those of his assailant's husband, calmed her with gentle reason. "Look at him, Piper. The rosary saved him because he's a force of good. You're lucky he had them or you would have killed your own innocent."
"But what if he stole them from some poor priest that he killed? Huh? What then?" She began pacing by his feet as he rubbed his forehead, which throbbed in pain.
"A demon can't hold something as pure as a rosary," her husband replied. "It's a blessed object, and would burn his flesh if he tried to take it. He's not a demon, Piper. He's an innocent. And now look what you've done." Leonard felt the husband lean down over him and place a hand over his head. He saw a single flickering light from his palm, and then it died. The man gazed at his hand in confusion and then tried again, but nothing happened.
"See?" the woman hissed, pulling at her husband's shirt with one hand while juggling her infant in the other. "You can't heal him, so he's not an innocent. And besides, how do you explain the likeness, huh? It's too uncanny."
"We won't know until we find out," came the answer as Leonard found himself on his feet and draped over the man's shoulders. His vision cleared as he plopped into the couch in the next room and held his head in one hand. He brought his fingers down so he could see them, and sure enough, they each had a thin line of deep red liquid on their tips. He grimaced and wiped the blood on his black pant leg. The woman, whom he assumed was Piper, sat down across from him on an antique-looking love seat after she had handed him a hanky, her eyes narrowed and her arms wrapped firmly around her child, who whimpered to be let down. She seemed to be about a year old, and when she smiled at the minister he could see the nubs of several tiny teeth in her mouth.
"You've invaded my house, you've cloned my husband, and now you're bleeding on my furniture. It would be nice if I knew who you were." Piper bounced the baby, Melinda, on her thigh for a second before handing her off to her husband. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited impatiently for his answer.
"Reverend Father Leonard J. Wyatt," the priest replied, still a little shaken while he wiped his head clean. "at your service. But, if I may, can I ask what you did to me back there?" He pointed towards the breezeway.
Piper flicked her wrist, dismissing the question with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah. Leonard J. Wyatt. That's really original. Who do you think you are, coming in here like you own the place? And why in God's name are you here?"
Leonard sat forward in attempt to reconcile the rift that he had obviously caused. "Well, you see, that's kind of a long stor-"
"Alright, Father Reverend Whatever Your Name Is-"
"Actually, it's Reverend Father, but-"
"Enough!"
Both Piper and Leonard whipped their heads around as her husband threw up one free hand to stop the verbal battle. "Piper, calm down. You… uh, Reverend, you just answer the question. What are you doing here?"
Leonard sighed. "I was trying to say that I found this book, and I read a spell of some kind, which brought me here."
"But you're a priest!" Piper interjected. "You're not supposed to be doing spells!"
"No, I suppose I'm not," Leonard affirmed. "But I did, and here I am."
Piper furrowed her brow and passed quick glances between the two Leo's. "What book did you say you found this spell in?"
Leonard was about to answer, but was cut off abruptly as the front door opened and closed with a slam. Another woman, one he recognized very well, stepped around the corner, a shopping bag in hand.
"Piper, you will never guess who I saw at Saks tod-AH!" The woman dropped her parcel onto the wood floor, and Leonard could hear the glass object inside shatter. "There's two Leo's!"
Leonard stood slowly as she watched him, and he made his way over to her with caution. His heart fluttered in his chest as he neared. He could smell her, hear her, almost taste her. Her long brown hair was different than he remembered it, cut shorter with a sort of shag look, but the deep brown puddles that were her eyes had remained the same. He reached out and touched her cheek as he circled around her, like a lion around it's prey. She jumped, but he continued to stare.
"Whoa there, tiger," she said, pushing his hand away from her face. "Don't you think we ought to get to know each other first?"
Leonard ignored her subtle attempt at humor and came around to stand in front of her, cradling her chin in his hand. "I never thought that I would see you again." Before he knew what he was doing, he pressed a soft kiss on her lips, feeling lost in the sensation all over again. She pushed him away as he heard Piper retch in the background.
"Blech. Okay, this is way too creepy." She took the minister by the shoulder and led him back to his place on the couch, but his gaze was fixed on the woman in the doorway. She was his soul mate. His first, last, and only love: Phoebe.
"Out with it, buddy," Piper pulled his eyes away from the awestruck Phoebe, and once again he was seated for an interrogation. "What are you doing here and where did you come from?"
Leonard, sensing a bit of tension in the air, decided it was best to just get right to the point. "I came from Saint John the Baptist church, just outside beyond the Bay Bridge. As to what I'm doing here, even I'm not really sure."
Piper put her elbows on her knees and glared at him. "But how is that possible? That church isn't even finished yet. I just saw the plans the other day at the city council's office when I went to renew the liquor license."
Leonard nodded. "Yeah, and it won't be finished until the year 2005, and I won't officially join the parish until 2114."
"Hold on a second," Phoebe cut in as she took a seat as far away from Leonard as she could get. "So what are you, Leo's immortal future self or something?"
"I don't think so," Leonard replied while he watched his double set Melinda into a playpen by his chair. "I think I'm his future life."
"Different bodies with the same soul," Leo chimed in. "That would explain why I couldn't heal him. I can't heal myself."
"Okay, so we know who you are, and what you are," Piper said, flicking off the items on her fingers. "but now we really need to know what you're doing here. If there's anything that we've learned in our years as witches, it's that everything happens for a reason. What's your reason for being here, of all places?"
Leonard looked down at his hands, at the half melted rosary beads around his wrist, and sighed. He looked up, directing his voice at Piper, but fixing his eyes on Phoebe. "I was in love with her. More than anything else, I just wanted to marry her. But she went and got herself killed."
"Who?" Phoebe asked, her voice low and anxious, as though she didn't understand his destitute stare. "Who was killed?"
Leonard lifted his hand and pointed at her. "You were."
Phoebe gulped loudly and stood, shaking slightly, then turned her back to the group as she walked out into the dining room. "I-I'll be, um, in the kitchen… with Paige, if you need me."
Piper nodded to her and focused on Leonard again, taking in a slow, deliberate breath. "How?"
"A demon, I don't know which one, but it's the only logical explanation. After she died, I was heart broken. I looked to God to find answers to all my questions, and so far I haven't found any, but I'm still searching. I spent a long time dwelling on the past, without ever confronting it. I didn't visit her grave until just yesterday, but I suppose that yesterday hasn't happened yet. But when I did finally go to see her, I had… a vision, if you could call it that."
"A premonition?" Piper arched her eyebrows apprehension.
Leonard shook his head. "This had already happened. I saw myself - well, you, actually," he pointed at Leo. "and you, together. I saw your wedding, the light you threw from your hand, the transparent woman behind the altar, your sisters and your parents. It was all so strange, but everything I saw seemed to fit. I felt as though I had really been there, done and seen those things."
Leo gave an agreeing nod. "So you had a vision of your past life. It's not uncommon."
"No, maybe not for you," Leonard snorted back. "But this whole magic thing is kind of new to me, so give me a break here." He paused as Leo nodded curtly, then continued. "The visions started when I traced my last name over Phoebe's on her headstone. The second vision, a different one this time, hit me while I was rereading the last letter she ever wrote to me. I saw all of you again; you, Leo, and your sisters. Except that one of them was missing, replaced by someone else. Almost a younger version of herself."
Leonard watched as Piper's shoulders slumped. "Prue, my older sister, was killed by a demon about two years ago. We met Paige, our half sister, not long after and we've become a family again."
He smiled comfortingly and sat back on the couch. "I'm sorry." Piper waved away the condolences, and beckoned him to continue with his story. Leonard explained about the vision he had had of her and Melinda, while trying to avoid the dubious glares he was receiving from Leo across the room. "And the third…" he trailed off, debating about whether or not to tell then everything all at one time. He didn't want to upset Piper, after all. She seemed fidgety, almost jumpy when it came to her daughter and her family's safety. He glanced over to the playpen on the floor, where Melinda was standing upright, holding onto the rail with her small, pudgy hands. He smiled and looked up at Leo, who was still in the process of trying to stare him down. "May I hold her?" Leo, reluctant, sighed and lifted his daughter out of the mesh cage and set her down on the floor. She waddled unsteadily over to Leonard, who picked her up and laughed as she gave a hard tug on his ear.
"That means she likes you," Piper said with a sheepish smile.
Leonard, grinning madly, gave her a subtle wink. He looked back to the toddler wriggling in his lap, but his grin faded as he saw her disappear in a blaze of blue light, and reappear in her mother's arms. She laughed wildly when she saw the confusion on his face, and grabbed her toes in delight. Piper, attempting unsuccessfully to hide her amusement, bobbed the baby on her lap for moment. Before she could bring herself to say something without bursting into hysterics, another wave of blinding lights swept into the room, and stopping in the middle of the hall, where they melded together to form the body of the young woman from Leonard's second vision. She took a few quick glimpses about the room, surveying both of the look-alikes, then she rolled her eyes and headed off toward the kitchen.
"Whatever you did this time," she called over her shoulder, "it better not involve the power of three until after lunch."
Piper, unable to control herself any longer as she watched the expressions on Leonard's face change at random, erupted into a fit of glee as she shook her head. "Let it go. If you don't, your head might explode."
"Maybe," he sighed as he watched Melinda pulling at her mother's hair and blowing spit bubbles for her own amusement. A small smile crept across his face as she gave him a quick glance out of the corner of her eye.
"The third vision?" Piper prompted him to go on with what he had been avoiding.
He heaved and let his shoulders droop. "I saw… well, I saw you and Melinda. You were all alone in a nursery, and it was late. You were crying, trying to hide from something. There was a pounding on the door. When I first saw it, I almost expected a burglar. But when a large hand hammered right through three inches of hard wood, I knew that it couldn't have been human. The thing flung aside the door, and you were trapped in the room. It looked just like a man would, with no real distinguishing features except it's eyes. They were blood red, and his face was pale as though it was sick or even dying. You tried to do to him what you did to me earlier, but it didn't work, and he killed you… both of you."
Piper was trembling so terribly with the baby in her arms that Leo had to come and relieve her of the burden. Instead of going back to his seat, he planted himself firmly next to his wife and wrapped one arm around her waist. Melinda, sensing that something was wrong, stopped fidgeting in her father's lap and scrunched up her face as though she were about to cry.
"When?" Piper whispered the question, although he knew she really didn't want to know the answer.
"I don't know, I'm sorry," Leonard replied softly. "I could only see the calendar on the wall, and it was set to July of 2003, so this is where I came. It could be tomorrow, or next week, or even next month, depending on when the last time you flipped the page was."
Leo took Piper's shaking hand within his own, and she immediately relaxed in his soft yet firm grip. Leonard's heart ripped in two as he saw a tear creep like a snake down her cheek, marring her creamy skin. I loved her so much…he thought to himself as the two conversed in whispers. Why couldn't that have been for me in the next life as well?
Piper looked up and wiped away her tear, then smiled at Leonard for the first time. It lit up her reddened cheeks, and for a brief moment she looked like an angel, her eyes filled with white clouds and light dancing across her face. The sun glowed from the window behind her and he saw the halo of orange light the enveloped her head, giving her a divine luminescence. He smiled stupidly back at her as she squeezed Leo's hand and flicked her gaze back and forth between the two men. "Well, we can't call you Leo," she said at last. "and Father or Reverend would be just too weird for me. How does Leonard sound?"
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and suddenly he felt as though he could get lost in her eyes. He let the corners of his mouth turn up as he nodded. "Leonard sounds great."
