Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed nor do I own anything related to Aqualung's song, "Just for a Moment." This takes place at the end of "The Seven Year Witch."
Through the Years
Twenty: Just for a Moment
The same thing that blew us together
Might blow us apart
So keep a piece of me precious
And close to your heart
Just for a moment
All of my nightmares came true
Just for a moment
My heart was broken in two
Oh how I need you
Oh how I'd miss you
Oh how I love you
-Aqualung, "Just for a Moment"
When Leo had left home for the army, his father had told him three things: don't lose faith in the things that matter; never forget who you are; and, what you're doing may seem overwhelmingly huge at times, but don't forget that in the end you're really doing this for your family. Leo, despite being so young at the time, had taken the advice to heart. His father had fought in a war before and Leo could see the scars of that war in his father's actions every day. Leo had no doubt that his father knew what he was speaking.
He had died with his father's words in his mind.
Even after so many years, Leo had never forgotten the last advice his father had given him, but he had ignored it. In the light of this early morning, thinking back over the past six months, he knew that he had spent much of his time doing the exact opposite of what his father had told him. He had lost faith in everything he had once held sacred. He had forgotten who he was. And worst of all, he had been so obsessed with the big picture that he had been unable to be there for his family. Now, for the first time in much too long, Leo felt as though he was man his father had wanted him to be.
Leo smiled at the thought. The idea that his father, wherever he was now, was proud of him made Leo feel lighthearted. For so many years he had sought approval from the Elders, but they had never truly seen eye-to-eye on many things. Sometimes, it was disheartening. That didn't matter anymore, though, did it? He had finally proved to the Elders what he had been trying to prove for years: that he and Piper belonged together.
"You've heard of the Charmed Ones, haven't you, Leo?"
Leo's eyes widened in curiosity. "They're prophesied to be the most powerful witches of all time," said Leo. He tried very hard to keep any question out of his voice; the Elders would tell him what this was about in due time. Questioning them was frowned upon.
"Correct," said Corrine. "What else?"
"They're supposed to be three sisters, I believe," said Leo. "With three different powers?" Gideon nodded slightly, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, and Leo felt slightly more secure. Nothing bad was going to happen here today.
"That's right," said Corrine. "One with the power of telekinesis, one with the power to freeze time and one with the power of premonition."
All of the Elders stared at him expectantly, but Leo felt oblivious. He had no idea what they were trying to tell him. After a moment, one of the newer Elders, Ulysses, said, "You are the Halliwells' Whitelighter, correct?"
"Yes," said Leo proudly. Of course, the eldest was only five and the youngest had just been born so he hadn't done much yet, but the family was prestigious. Penny Halliwell was practically a legend. What this had to do with anything the Elders were discussing, Leo didn't know. Perhaps they were angry that he hadn't been to see the new baby yet.
Odin sighed impatiently. Leo wasn't exactly sure how he had become an Elder; he did not seem to have the calm nature required for the job. "Put the two together, son," he said. "There are three of them now, aren't there? I didn't imagine that baby's birth?"
Leo's mouth dropped open in shock. Put the two together? Certainly they weren't saying that the Halliwell children were the Charmed Ones. The idea that he—a Whitelighter with only thirty-three years experience—would be the Whitelighter of the Charmed Ones seemed ridiculous. It couldn't be true, could it?
"Excuse me," said Leo. "Are you saying that the Halliwells are the Charmed Ones?"
"By George, he's got it!" said Odin. "Give the boy a prize!"
Corrine scowled. "That's enough, Odin."
"But I don't understand," said Leo abruptly. "Am I being reassigned? Is that what this is about?"
"You should have more faith in your abilities," said Gideon, speaking for the first time. "You're an excellent Whitelighter, Leo."
"We have every confidence in you," added Corrine. "We know that you're going to do a fine job with them."
"You're serious about this," said Leo. He wasn't sure why he felt so hesitant; any Whitelighter would kill for this job.
"All this doubt," said Odin. "You're going to have to do something about that, boy."
"Leo," said Corrine, "you do want this job, don't you?"
"Yes!" said Leo eagerly. How could he not? "Of course I do."
"Excellent!" said Gideon. Corrine looked slightly less convinced.
"If you ever find yourself in doubt," she said, "you know that you can always come to us, Leo."
"I know," said Leo. "Thank you."
"You're alive," said Natalie, somehow sounded excited and concerned at the same time. "How are you alive?"
Leo averted his eyes, unable to look his friend in the eye. "It wasn't a big deal, Natalie."
"Wasn't a big deal?" she said. "Leo, you were shot by a Darklighter's arrow. Unless you had enough strength to orb back up here, you should be dead. You know that's the only way anyone has ever survived before. Now what happened?"
"I was with the Charmed Ones," said Leo vaguely.
"They saved you?" asked Natalie. "How? That's amazing! They must be even more powerful than anyone thought!"
Leo shrugged, unwilling to lie or to tell Natalie the truth. If she knew, she would be furious. Whitelighters didn't fall in love with their charges; that's just the way things were.
"Hey, what is going on?" asked Natalie. She put a hand on Leo's arm to stop him from walking on and looked him in the eye. "There's something you're not telling me, Leo."
"It's nothing. Just forget it, okay?"
"No!" said Natalie, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Something is going on with you. You've been moping around here for months now. You were angry when the Elders told you not to reveal to the Charmed Ones that you're a Whitelighter yet. Although I guess that cat's out of the bag, now. And now today you're mysteriously healed after being fatally wounded. If you can't explain it to me, Leo, how do you expect to explain it to the Elders?"
"I told you it's nothing," said Leo, shrugging off Natalie's hand and walking away.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're in love with one of them!" Natalie called out after him. Leo stopped dead in his tracks, trying to ignore the looks people were now giving him. Slowly, he turned to face Natalie again.
"You are!" she said. She rushed up to him and began to whisper so quickly that it sounded like a hiss. "What are you thinking? You can't fall in love with one of your charges! And one this high profile? You're insane, Leo! Go to the Elders right now and tell them that you need to be reassigned!"
"I don't need to be reassigned," said Leo. "It's no big deal. You're overreacting."
"She switched powers with you, didn't she?" Natalie said, ignoring Leo entirely. "That's how she healed you. Which means that she must love you too. This is worse than I thought!"
"Look, Natalie," said Leo stiffly, "it's none of your business. This is between me and Piper and no one else."
"Listen to yourself! Leo, this is the kind of thing that will get you fired. You're going to end up mortal again at best. At worst they'll recycle your soul. You can't stay on this path!"
"Just stay out of it!" said Leo. "I can take care of myself!"
"What were you thinking?" demanded Gideon. "Trying to marry a charge! You gave up a mortal life, Leo! You gave up mortal pleasures! Don't be an idiot!"
"You're not going to make me believe that I'm wrong," said Leo. "I love her. I love her more than anything, and I won't give her up!"
"Don't be stupid, Leo. Of course you're going to give her up. You have no choice in the matter. Now, I've convinced the other Elders to just keep you grounded for now. You won't be able to leave, but there will be no more drastic actions than that. Eventually, if you promise to stay away from the Charmed Ones, then maybe we'll give you some of your other charges back."
"You can't do that!" said Leo, perfectly aware that they could. "You can't keep me from her! We're meant to be together, and nothing you do is going to stop that! I'll clip my wings!"
"Stop speaking nonsense, Leo. We have ways to keep you from clipping your wings if that's what we want. You belong up here. Stop thinking of things that can't be and act practically. Nothing good can come from a union between you and Piper."
Leo shook his head. "We're soul mates, Gideon. You can't stop that. One way or another, Piper and I are going to be together. You'll see."
"Leo, please. We're friends. I care about you. A lot of people up here do. It's not worth it."
"Yes it is," said Leo. "Nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise. Now if we're really friends, you'll go in there and tell them exactly what I said. This isn't going to end until Piper and I are together."
Gideon frowned. "Look, Leo," he said, "I…" He sighed. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you!" said Leo. "Thank you so much!"
Odin placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. "Other Elders have been speaking on your behalf, Leo. Other Whitelighters too. Ones that remember how you were before you ever got entangled with the Charmed Ones."
"I'm still the same person," said Leo. He knew though, that he wasn't.
"No, you're not," said Odin. He sighed. "Sometimes I think that if I could just erase them from your mind; make you forget that you ever even heard of the damn Charmed Ones…"
"I could never forget Piper."
"You'd be surprised what you can forget. Do you remember your first wife? What was her name? Elaine? Lilly?"
"Lillain," said Leo. "Her name was Lillian. And she has nothing to do with this."
"What color were her eyes, Leo? What was her favorite food? What did her hair smell like?"
Leo glared at Odin. Lillian had been so long ago; the last time he had seen her was sixty-two years ago. His marriage to her seemed almost like a pleasant dream now, but was that really surprising? They'd dated for two years in high school and then married right after graduation. Two weeks later, Leo had left for the army. Did that even count as a marriage?
"See," said Odin triumphantly. "You can't remember!"
"It's not the same," said Leo. "Piper's a part of my soul. If I lose her, I'll lose myself."
"We'll see."
Odin had been wrong; utterly wrong. And today, Leo had proven it. From the moment he had told Piper what had happened, she became positively carefree. For once she didn't seem to have the weight of the world on her shoulders and it was a beautiful sight to see. "I never have to worry about losing you again," she had said. Leo felt similarly. They'd overcome so much, obstacles set by themselves and other people, and here they finally were; together without fear or doubt.
"What are you thinking about?" Piper asked, breaking Leo's reverie. Darkness had settled around them, but Leo hadn't even felt the tug of sleep yet. He was only slightly surprised that Piper wasn't asleep yet either.
"I was thinking about the Elders," said Leo.
"Oh?" said Piper. The worry was evident in her voice and Leo knew that he had to make himself clear.
"I was just thinking about how they never believed that we were meant to be. Or that we would make it if they gave us the chance."
"Well you know that bunch. They're eternal optimists."
Leo smiled. "They thought I would pick being an Elder over being your husband," he said. "They were absolutely convinced. Odin even told me a few weeks ago that if I forgot you everything would be okay. But look what happened today. The choice was finally there, in the plainest terms, and there was no contest."
"You're going to miss it," said Piper quietly.
"What?" asked Leo, genuinely surprised by her words.
"You're going to miss the Elders. And the other Whitelighters. You're going to miss your charges and you're going to miss your powers."
"No I'm not," said Leo. "All I need is you, Piper. You and the boys. I know that now."
"That's sweet, Leo. And that very well could be all your soul needs, but I know you. You're not one to sit idly by while others take the reins."
"Maybe not," said Leo. "But you're not asking me to do that."
Piper sighed. "Well I'm certainly going to be more worried about you, Leo. You're mortal now. But we'll figure it out. It's just going to take time."
Leo shrugged, uncertain. What Piper said made sense, but it contradicted how he felt. Right now he didn't have a care in the world, and it felt glorious. The Elders may have thought that they knew where he belonged, but Leo knew the truth. He remembered his real roots; what his father had said. He remembered Piper's sparkling brown eyes the night he had met her. He remembered the first time he'd been introduced by Phoebe as her brother-in-law and how much he had grieved when Prue died. He remembered Paige's faith that he would help her with her sisters. He remembered when both of his sons came into the world. And these were the memories that he reveled in every single day.
Most importantly, he remembered who he was: a man entwined to a woman through countless past lives and one who was destined to love her no matter what. That was greater than the Elders. Greater than arguments and self-doubt and suffering. Greater than anything else in the world.
That morning, after Piper had finally drifted off, Leo climbed out of bed to stare out the window at the coming dawn. And as the sun rose on his new life, he smiled, knowing once and for all that nothing was strong enough to break him and Piper apart.
A/n: I'm still not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I thought I'd post it anyway. I can always change it, if I have the inclination. I've actually been thinking about re-doing chapter four because I'm so dissatisfied with it.
Anyway, that's it for season seven. Piperleofan asked about a chapter regarding Leo's mortality, but in this story I'm not going to delve into that subject beyond what was written in this chapter. However, the idea really intrigued me, so there may be a story of that nature sometime in the future. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Thank you all for reviewing! I really can't express how much each review means to me. I'd appreciate any feedback on this chapter too! Thanks so much!!
Chapter twenty-one should be up soon!
Katie