From his void he knew he had come close to reaching them. He knew his messages were getting through, they just weren't able to interpret them correctly. Sending them images of Gideon with their own greatest threat he thought would help them understand Gideon's true intentions. He didn't realise how well Gideon had hidden those intentions, so well in fact that he was completely trusted by all of them.

From his void he continued to watch, or more accurately sense the effects of his messages. Chris went through a portal that day with Leo but it did not lead to the future as they had intended, instead it led to the alternate universe where the Charmed ones were evil and Barbas was the demon of hope He knew that this was exactly what Gideon had intended; only because he had seen this entire sequence of events play out before. And not just once. Over, and over, and over again. He was desperate for some change, not just in an attempt to break the world from this time loop, but also to free him from this void of boredom and monotony that he was imprisoned in. And this is why, when Chris and Leo went through the portal to the evil world, as they had done every other time, he was swept with a wave of disappointment and exhaustion. He knew he had failed in his attempt to break free from the loop, and that meant he would need to wait until the next opportunity presented itself to make another attempt.

He watched as, in Leo and Chris' attempt to escape from Evil World, they changed the balance between good and evil, changing the world into a Smiley World where everyone was a little too happy. The time before Piper gave birth to Baby Chris was chaotic, frightening and tragic. While Piper was fighting in hospital to save her own life and that of her unborn son, Leo was also desperately fighting to save the life of both Big Chris and Wyatt, because of Gideon. Not everyone would survive that day, and it was Chris who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Leo kept his promise and made sure he was there for Chris, creating a much happier life for him this time. As time progressed Wyatt was given Excalibur by mistake and used it for several years. By the time Leo and the other Elders realised it was meant for Chris, Wyatt had been corrupted by the Magical Sword and getting it back was all that mattered to him. As a result he became an outcast. When Phoebe, through her visions, discovered that Chris was still destined to die at the same age as the other Chris, Wyatt had decided to bide his time and wait until Chris was no longer in the way for him to claim Excalibur.

And so this timeline moved along. Patiently he watched from his void waiting for another chance. Finally, a few months after the family dinner when Chris introduced his new girlfriend, Jeni to his parents, he saw an opening. A slim window of opportunity existed to finally break the time loop they all continued to exist in. He took that opportunity.

"No!" Piper and Leo screamed as they both sat up in bed at exactly the same time.

"What the hell was that?" Piper asked, still breathless from the nightmare.

"Did you have a dream, too, or did I just wake you?" Leo asked, also catching his breath.

"No, I had a dream all right. Actually it was more like a nightmare. But why did we have it at the same time, now that is weird." She said to him as she reached over and turned the light on next to her side of the bed.

"You okay?" Leo asked her as he rubbed her gently on the back.

"Yes, I am now, but did that dream seem familiar to you?" Piper asked.

Leo thought for a few seconds before he remembered as well.

"Back before Gideon hurt Chris, we both had dreams. I remember now."

"Yes, and we all talked about it. We had a family meeting if my memory is correct." Piper said, and then added, "And the family breakfast the next day. Just our little family," she remembered fondly. "That was a good morning, do you remember how Chris started to open up to us a little?"

Leo smiled at the memory, "Of course I do," he said.

"So what are these dreams meant to be telling us now. And why would we be having them so long after the other ones? This just doesn't make any sense." Piper said, frustrated.

"Well, we don't know what the first message was to the other Leo, but we do know that the second message was telling us about Gideon being evil. We worked that out in hindsight." Leo summarised.

"What did you see in your dreams?" Leo asked.

"Very similar to before, I think. There were a lot of figures moving in circles and I think Wyatt was in there somehow with Excalibur maybe? Like all dreams, it was very mixed up." Piper tried to explain.

"My dream sounded almost identical to that, but there is one thing that worries me," Leo said.

"And what's that?" Piper asked him.

"The timing of the dreams. Remember Chris said the first dreams came the day before he was due to travel back in time. The second dreams also came the day before Chris was due to travel back in time, except we know that never eventuated." Leo explained.

"So you're worried that Chris might be planning a trip back in time again?" Piper surmised.

"Well it's hard to ignore the timing of the other dreams." Leo said.

Piper thought about what Leo had just said, and then all of a sudden jumped out of bed.

"What are you doing?" Leo wondered.

"We've got to stop him, come on, get up and get dressed!" She demanded.

"Piper it's five in the morning, we can't go over to Chris' place now." Leo tried to reason.

"You're right," she conceded. "We'll wait till seven, it's a work day, he should be up by then."

Leo sighed, but agreed, "Okay, we'll go over at seven."

When she continued to put her dressing gown on he asked, "Why don't you come back to bed?"

"There is no way I could sleep now, Leo, I'll go downstairs and cook some breakfast." She said as she headed toward the door.

Leo's mind immediately went back to the huge breakfast they had the last time Piper couldn't sleep with these dreams. "I'll just have some toast," he called to her as she disappeared out the door. And then reluctantly he got out of bed.

Two hours later Leo orbed himself and Piper outside the door to Chris' modest apartment he now shared with Jeni.

Piper went to knock on the door, but hesitated.

"What wrong?" Leo asked her.

"I was just thinking," Piper replied.

"Thinking what?" Leo asked.

"Well, I was just thinking what if we're….you know…..interrupting them." Piper finally got out.

"What do you mean inter……oh," Leo said suddenly understanding what Piper had meant.

"Don't you think we should have thought of that before!" Leo said, a bit too loud.

"Well, I didn't, so maybe we should go home and call first." She suggested.

Leo sighed. Heavily. "Piper, we're here now, let's just do this," he said as he lifted his hand to knock on the door.

"No wait!" She said holding on to Leo's hand to stop him from knocking.

Before Leo could ask Piper what she wanted to wait for, the door in front of them suddenly opened.

A very sleepy looking Chris appeared before them dressed only in boxer shorts.

"Mum, Dad, hi. Let me make it easier on you, how about you come inside and tell me why you woke me up this early." Chris said to them, as he turned to walk back into his apartment leaving the door open for them to follow him.

"And don't worry," he said to them, without turning around, "You didn't interrupt anything but us sleeping in after being up to three o'clock this morning marking exam papers from Magic School."

"You heard us?" Piper asked, horrified.

"Mum, our bedroom is the front window, of course we heard you." Chris said stating the obvious.

"I'm sorry, son, but what we want to talk to you about is pretty important," Leo justified.

"Don't worry about it," Chris said trying to stifle a laugh. "I guessed it must be important for you to come around at this time. So shoot."

"I'm just going to cut to the chase here, and I'll explain the question afterward. I want you to promise to answer honestly, no secrets okay?" Leo said firmly.

"Fine, I promise." Chris agreed.

"Are you planning to time travel at all in the next few days?" Leo asked him.

Chris had certainly not expected to be asked that question. "What!" He exclaimed, very surprised. "You're serious?" He checked.

"Completely!" Piper confirmed.

"No, absolutely not. No way am I planning on time travelling in any way shape or form in the next couple of days." Chris answered and could see the immediate relief on both his parents' faces. "Why?" He asked.

"It's a long story," Leo said.

"Well I'm up anyway, how about I put a T-shirt on and make us a coffee, and we'll sit down and you can tell me everything?" Chris asked them.

They decided to do just that. Leo and Piper explained to Chris how they had both had dreams just before the other Chris that had travelled from the future more than twenty years before was due to go through the time portal. They also told him about how the Leo from that Chris' original future had also had the dreams before that Chris went back in time. And finally how they had both had the dreams that night themselves once more, and were concerned it had something to do with him planning a trip through time.

Chris listened patiently to everything they had told him. "That is very confusing," he said, "but I think I understand what you're saying. So if these dreams don't have anything to do with the time travel, then what message do you think they are trying to tell you?"

"We have no idea!" Both Piper and Leo said at the same time, feeling very frustrated.

"That's if it is a message," Piper added, starting to doubt whether they were on the right track.

"What else could these dreams mean?" Chris asked.

"Maybe they're just dreams." Piper concluded.

Leo thought about that and then shook his head, "No, I don't believe that. There is definitely a reason why we've had these dreams at these exact times. And I still feel it is someone trying to communicate in some way."

"Okay, then who communicates through dreams?" Chris asked the logical next question.

"I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it," Piper answered him.

"Neither had I," Leo said, "We've been so busy trying to interpret the dreams, we haven't really thought about who would be trying to communicate to us through them."

Immediately Piper stood up, "Well, we'd better go and check the book of shadows." She said.

Leo and Chris stood up as well.

"Let me know if you find out anything," Chris said as he walked over to give his Mum a kiss goodbye.

"We will," Leo said.

"Bye honey, and thank you," Piper said before they both orbed out.

Chris looked at the time and considered going back to bed, but decided he'd better have a shower and get ready for work.