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Piper stood staring out the window of her bedroom, barely registering the view below. People walked with their heads and eyes down, lost in their own thoughts, or stopped to talk to neighbors. Children played or quarreled over toys. None of them had any inkling of the real evil in the world around them. Human evils, yes. Demons? Not so much.
Despite her longing for a normal life, she knew that would never happen. Even if she tried to turn her back on her Wiccan heritage, she couldn't ignore the suffering demons and their ilk caused. She had to fight it. They'd lost Prue, and she kept on fighting. The birth of her sons only made her fight harder to protect them.
But for no good reason, her husband had been taken from her. After all they'd been through, forbidden love, dealing with his being on call to the Elders at all hours, separation when he'd become an Elder, and then an Avatar . . . Leo had been taken away. Why? To give her and her sisters motivation to fight an impending great evil, they had been told. The whole situation was completely ludicrous. Leo's death would not motivate her. If anything, it would make her fall into despair, like she had when they'd lost Prue. The living were her motivation: Wyatt, Chris, Phoebe, and Paige. Protecting them, keeping them safe, that was a more powerful motivation than ripping her husband from her arms. But the powers that be (damn them) were set on their course, and only her passionate pleas were able to prevent his death. Instead he was frozen in time and dangled before her like bait. And this was supposed to be in the name of good?
Nothing made sense anymore. She and her sisters had taken Billie Jenkins under their Wiccan wings, teaching her and guiding her so that she could help them in their fight against demons. And now Billie's sister had turned her against them. They were too self-centered, too interested in their own desires, Billie and Christie claimed, and for that reason, they had to be stopped. The very idea made Piper snort in derision. Insanity. It was no crime to wish for her husband back, or for Paige to find balance in her life, or for Phoebe to want to start a family. It was even less of a crime to merely dream about those desires. Everyone in the world, no matter how good their heart, dreamed of what they wanted. Just because she and Phoebe and Paige had the power to pursue them did not mean they would abuse that power to do so. Wasn't all the good they had done over the years proof enough? All the lives saved and demons vanquished? They had even saved the Elders' butts more than once. Billie, Piper decided, was a complete moron to be so easily swayed. Unfortunately, she was an extremely powerful moron. Her stupidity only made her more dangerous.
It was all too much. "I can't do this," she murmured. She felt completely overwhelmed.
"Yes, you can," a voice said behind her.
Piper spun around, Leo's name on her lips. But it wasn't her husband she found, though she did recognize the man who stood there. "Drake?" she said incredulously.
"In the flesh," he said. "Well, sort of. My body turned to dust when I died, after all."
Pointing a finger at him, Piper tensed, wary for any sign this was a trick. "Key word, died," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"Apparently my year as a human impressed the higher-ups," Drake said. "So they gave me a job."
"You're a Whitelighter?" Piper said dubiously.
"Not exactly," Drake said, "but we get our paychecks from the same bosses. I'm a Cupid."
"Like Coop?" Piper said.
"Like who? Coop, oh, right, Coop," Drake said, that charming smirk crossing his face. "We've bumped into each other from time to time."
"How the hell did a demon become a Cupid?" Piper said, still not convinced this was some sort of trick.
"Ex-demon, remember?" Drake said. "They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Well, I did have to negotiate the uniform, no way was I going to wear a diaper. I never killed an innocent when I was a demon, and when I got to be human for a year, I didn't squander it on debauchery -- okay, maybe a little debauchery. I used the time to teach the young, and of course, there was the whole making sure your and Leo's love survived. I got big points for that one."
Piper's eyes narrowed. "What did you have to do with that?"
"Oopsie," Drake said. He pointed behind Piper. "Oh Em Gee! What's that over there?" When she failed to fall for his blatant attempt to distract her, he sighed. "He's going to kill me."
"Who?" Piper demanded. "Were you helping Cole?" She'd shared with Leo how she encountered Cole in limbo, but never told Phoebe. She wasn't sure how her sister would react to the news.
"Me and Cole, we go way back," Drake said. "He's the one who told me about the Sorcerer so I could become human. He wanted me to do him a favor, though -- he wanted me to renew Phoebe's faith in love, and a big chunk of that hinged on you and Leo staying together. The Thorn Demons were all his idea, though, I had nothing to do with that."
"He arranged for the Thorn Demons, too?" Piper said. She hadn't realized Cole's involvement was that deep. "Why?"
"He knew the Elders would cheat," Drake said. "Sneaky little bastards, aren't they? He knew they'd cloud Leo's mind because, duh, wear tacky gold robes and meditate, or snuggles with a hotwitchy babe? Like there was any question which he'd choose. He knew they'd cheat, and the only way to get to Leo would be your death."
"Nice of you two to check that with me first!" Piper said.
"It worked, didn't it?" Drake smiled. "I knew love would find a way, and so did the Colethazor. Besides, I had Wyatt up my sleeve to heal you. Not literally, of course. So since I did such a good job renewing Phoebe's faith in love and make sure your and Leo's love endured, this was my reward."
"Why are you here now?" Piper asked. "And please don't mention Cole to Phoebe. She's liable to get hysterical."
"Never mentioned Cole helping you to her, huh?" Drake said.
Piper sighed. "I wanted to, but she freaks out whenever his name is mentioned."
Drake nodded. "That's something between her and Cole and...." He waved his hand vaguely. "Anyway! I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but hear what you said. You can do this."
She smiled sadly. "That's usually Leo's job," she said. "Encourage me, tell me I can do it."
"That's why I figured I'd drop by and fill in," Drake said. "I know you're feeling down, but remember, it's always darkest before the dawn. Don't stop believing, hold on to the feeling, don't stop thinking about tomorrow, it'll soon be here, better than before. Chiquitita , you and I know how the heartaches come and they go and the scars they'll leaving. You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end, you will have no time for grieving. Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them alive. It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight, rising up to the challenge of our rival. We can build this dream together, standing strong forever, nothing's gonna stop us now."
Piper couldn't help but laugh as Drake finished his spiel. "Leo's never quite done it like that before," she said.
"What can I say, I have a fondness for lyrics," Drake said. "But the point is, you can do this. Dumb and Dumber got nothing on you. They're all talk, no brains. You are going to kick their asses and bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. You've faced down the Source multiple times. You beat Zankou. These two aren't a great evil, they're a great annoyance."
Absurd as they were, Drake's words lifted some of the heaviness from Piper's heart. "You're right," she said. "I can do this. We can do this." She moved forward to hug Drake. "Thank you. For the second time, it seems. I'm glad you got a second chance at life."
"The Elders move in mysterious ways," Drake said, hugging her back. "Well, if by mysterious you mean really really dumb sometimes. But, hey, they gave me a job beyond death, so I can't complain too much."
"I'll send them a thank you note," Piper said. "But they're still off the Christmas card list for pulling this crap."
Drake stepped back. "I have to go," he said. "I have an appointment to make sure a woman runs in to the girl of her dreams. It's a busy life, being a Cupid. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride."
"I hope you can come see us again," Piper said. "I know Phoebe really misses you."
"I'm sure you'll be seeing me around," Drake said. "Tell Coop I say hi the next time I see him. And tell him to get his butt in gear."
Piper opened her mouth to ask Drake just what he meant by that, but before she could say anything, he snapped his fingers and vanished. She laughed softly and shook her head, then turned back to the window. The world outside somehow seemed a little brighter now, and her heart was filled with hope once again.