A/N Ok, so, how long has it been since I last updated this fic? Five months? Well it's been a while, and to be honest, I'd completely forgotten about it until I got a review from zoned-out yesterday, practically yelling at me to continue it. So I took the advice and I did. I've decided to go with the majority vote and go for an actual story with an actual plot, though I've yet to think of one. But I'm actually going somewhere, which is better than anything I've had so far. Anyway, I had kinda forgotten about this issue of my Charmed-PO-points, ever since a new problem arose: Nick Lachey. I wont even begin to rant about that one because I might never shut up, but if you do feel like discussing the absolute calamity that is Nick Lachey being in the cast of Charmed, please feel free to email me, IM me, or even put it in your review. So, thanks for reading this, I really appreciate it, and enjoy!
Disclaimer Don't own Chris or any other character, blah blah blah, don't sue me, blah blah blah.
Chris could barely suppress his happiness as he and the rest of the family made their way to the three separate cars sitting in the street in front of them. The air almost crackled with excitement and joy as he, the twins, and Phoebe crammed themselves into the SUV, Leena and Eric bouncing up and down in their seats behind him.
It was as if none of the things he remembered of his first future had ever happened. And they didn't, he reminded himself, smiling. It hadn't and never will, the way things were going.
It took merely 15 minutes to get to the park where the fair was taking place. The place was nearly unrecognizable, every inch of it covered in play booths, food stands, and all the things one would usually find at a fair, plus the random wandering horned creature or giants.
Eric and Leena practically trampled Chris as they struggled to get out of the car before the other, and Phoebe had to levitate them out, for fear of not having another chaperone.
After the kids had been safely sent on their way to chase after the parading fairies, accompanied by their mother and aunt, Chris wandered over to Leo and Wyatt, who were emptying the van of all the packed sandwiches and snacks.
His heart clenched at the sight of his brother and father, talking and laughing together, so unlike the way he remembered them. Leo looked just like he had the last time he had seen him in the past, cheerful and lively. And Wyatt...Wyatt looked just like he had in his old future, but brighter. He was smiling. I've never seen him smile before, Chris thought as he made his way over to them.
"Erm, do you need any help?" he asked, sounding more nervous than he had intended too.
Wyatt good naturedly rolled his eyes at his younger brother. "Of course, ask after we've finished unloading everything," he said with a smirk, flopping down onto one of the big boulders next to the car.
"Well at least he would have done it without complaining the whole time. And he offered to help, unlike some people, cough cough your mother." Leo answered, his smile matching his son's as he took a seat next to him.
Chris almost couldn't believe his eyes. It was really real. His dad and brother were both happy and un-evil, his mom was alive and joyful, and the whole family was still together, as tight as it had been 20 years ago.
But as great as things were, he still felt as if there was still something missing, something he still has to do to be able to start moving on in this present.
"Dad," he asked, trying to keep his voice from starting to shake again. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
Wyatt, sensing the tension in his little brother, refrained from making any comment, but couldn't help to show a bit of brotherly teasing, and cocked a questioning eyebrow before getting up and saying, "I'll leave you two at it, then," before orbing off, most likely to join Phoebe, Piper, and the twins.
"What is it, Chris?" Leo asked, a worried look automatically plastering itself on his face when he noticed his son's uneasiness.
Chris took a seat next to "Dad, do you remember... remember twenty-two years ago? The day I was born?" he asked, a bit hesitantly. He didn't know whether his parents had told the him from this time space about what had happened it that past.
Chris could see Leo tense up at the mention of the day when so many things had gone wrong. "Yeah, I remember. Why did you want to bring that up now?" he asked, a bit more roughly than Chris would have liked.
Chris swallowed, not sure what kind of reaction he would be getting from this. "I...I don't know what happened, but...I woke up this morning and I cant remember anything that really happened in the past 22 years. I know what the old present was like. Last thing I remembered was...was dying," he said. He looked up at his dad, waiting for his reaction.
Leo's face become completely petrified, his old mask of frozen emotions slipping onto his features. For a minute, both son and father sat there, motionless, and Chris thought he was about to stand up and storm off.
Surprisingly, Leo didn't walk away. Instead, he grabbed Chris in a rib-cracking hug, pulling his son tight against him like he wished he could have done on that awful day twenty-two years ago. Chris hugged him back, sinking into his dad's arms like he had dreamed of doing when he had been a little kid.
"You have no idea how many times I wished I could have done something about that day," Leo said, his voice sounding tight under the strain of coming tears. "I wished I could have saved you, I wished I could have done something different-"Leo said, his tears threatening to fall.
"Dad," Chris said suddenly, pulling away from his emotional father. "It's ok. Really. There's nothing you could have done about it, no matter how much you wanted to. Just having you there was more than anything I'd ever dreamed of. That you actually cared... it was worth it, Dad."
Chris smiled at his father, grateful for everything that was happening. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought things would ever be this good between him and Leo.
"So you remember all of your old life, but none of this one? Nothing of the past 22 years?" Leo asked, getting back to business.
Chris shook his head, starting to understand what kind of situation they were in. "No. It's like I just skipped over everything, like I actually did get sent back to the future."
Leo frowned, his forehead pulling together in thought. This was certainly a pretty bizarre conversation. Normally, when people died, they died, no matter what time space or plane they were in at the time of their death. It didn't make sense that when Chris had died, he would have been sent back to his original time space, not unless the Elders had gotten involved, but that would have been doing him one heck of a favor.
The Elders had not been fond of Chris then, and neither of them could think of a good reason why they would so suddenly decide that he deserved to be sent back.
So there was no apparent explanation. Unless a bigger power than the Elders had involved.
"We'll have to think about that one. It doesn't seem like something that's likely to happen, but there has to be a reason," Leo said. "There's nothing we can do about it now, though, so I say we have some fun in the meantime." He got up, smiling down at his youngest son.
"I don't care how this happened. At this point I really don't. We should go find your mother and aunts and tell them about this," Leo said, starting to walk towards the fair, but Chris held him back.
"Actually, I think we should keep this between us. For now. At least until we know how it happened and whether it's... permanent. For all we know it could be a 24-hour thing," Chris said, hesitantly. He didn't want to have to go through what had just happened between him and Leo with everyone else.
Leo nodded, a bit uncertainly, but firmly. "Ok. If you think it's best then it'll keep quiet. Now let's go join your mother, her and Phoebe seem to be having some trouble with Leena. She just started orbing, and she's quite the little pest," Leo said with a smile.
Chris laughed as a ball of twinkling blue orbs flew over their heads, closely followed by two grumbling, running sisters. Like Leo had said, at this point, it didn't matter how things had happened, he was happy again. And that was all that mattered.
A/N Well, I am now officially back in the Charmed-mood! Cheers! Hoped you liked this installment of my overactive imagination, please review and tell me what you liked and/or didn't like. Also, if anyone has any ideas concerning an actual plot, I'm wide open to suggestions because right now, I have NADA! Thanks! :o)