Leo took hold of Piper's hand as she looked at him with her sad eyes. Wyatt and Chris were at high school and Phoebe and Paige were out doing the weekly food shop.
"I'm sick, Leo." Piper said. She put it bluntly. Leo instinctively closed his eyes and tried to feel for where Piper was injured or damaged; trying to find the route of her discomfort, her disease.
"They say I've only got about five more months."
Leo opened his eyes and felt himself swallow. He shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows, showing his confusion. Piper leaned forward and kissed Leo's lips gently, before leaning her head on his shoulder.
"They say it's a miracle I've lasted this long, so how they can say I'm going to last five more months is beyond me, but I guess they have their ways of knowing…" Piper trailed of and gave a gentle sniff. Leo used his free hand to lift Piper's face up to look in to her eyes. He could see her pain and her anguish, and also a wish that she had told him as soon as she had found out that she was going to die. But there was no use in wishing she could change the past.
Sitting outside in their small but cosy garden Piper rested her head back on Leo's shoulders and he then rested his head comfortably on hers. They remained silent and at peace for most of the afternoon. Leo didn't cry and neither did Piper. Neither wanted to show the other that they were weak, that they were desperately trying to cry out for help, that they were both angry and hated the way the world could be so cruel.
Just before the sun disappeared below the horizon, clouds started to form and raindrops started to fall.
Neither of them wanted to move.
"You know, back when I was a little boy, I remember once being told that raindrops were the tears of the gods in the skies, that it only rained when there was something to make them cry. Raindrops are tears from heaven, Piper, and they're crying for you." Piper then allowed the rain to wash over her body as the once few and far between raindrops fell harder and her.
She closed her eyes and pictured herself on a beach somewhere with Leo. Just with Leo. Suddenly she could no longer feel the raindrops but she could feel their cleansing power. The rain was washing through her soul, leaving her with a clear picture.
One day, she could sense, Leo and her would be back together again.
"I love you, Leo."
"I Love you, Piper."
Together they sat in silence again.
When the tears from heaven receded, the two still didn't go inside.
Late in to the night and then early in to the morning.
Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt and Chris all checked that they were ok. Several times.
When the morning came, Leo and Piper awoke in each other's company, her head still rested on her shoulder, his rested on her head.
Together they watched the most beautiful sunrise they had ever seen.
Today would be the first day of the last of Piper's life, and she was grateful that she had found the love that she had, and that she had led the life she had.
Carefully raising her head, even though her neck was slightly stiff, she kissed Leo on his forehead and he smiled and temporarily forgot the bad news. Then a tear rolled down her cheek. Piper wiped it away and shook her head.
"No more tears," She smiled and kissed his lips. "Today, I live."