Konichiwa

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I know (sob) any of the already created Charmed characters... I am merely borrowing them from Brad Kern and Aaron Spelling and all those other peeps that do own Charmed (I hate them… sob)

Summary: Piper is pregnant with Chris, but the Charmed Ones still don't know who he is. Of course, if there’s one thing the Charmed Ones have learned through their years of being witches—and one thing they passed on to their children—it’s not to keep secrets from the ones you love.

Chris flipped through the Book of Shadows, frustrated that it hadn't shown him anything useful before now. The stupid pages held worthless information about demons from the past. What good was that to anyone? There was nothing about anything that could help him find the demon that turned—would turn—Wyatt evil. But, perhaps, if he looked once more...

"There's the Book," Paige sighed as she spotted the Book lying in front of a desperate Chris. He hadn't even sensed her orb in; he must be more tired than he thought.

"Paige, hi," Chris mumbled distractedly. He flipped a page and then another.

"Are you using the Book?" she asked.

Irritated, he grumbled, "What does it look like?" He was sorry to snipe at his aunt like that, but didn't she realize that he was using the book when she saw him flipping its pages? There was only so much he could take when he had gotten zero sleep in the last who-knows-how-many hours.

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine tonight. What's up?" Sitting down next to her nephew—although she only knew him as her neurotic Whitelighter, she waited for his no doubt sarcastic answer.

"Nothing," he replied grumpily. He couldn't exactly tell her that he was running out of time, could he? In less than four months, his past self would be born and Wyatt would turn evil. If he could only find out how...

"Yeah right," Paige grunted. She had tried to be nice to the annoying half-breed, but he hadn't taken the bait. His loss. "Well, if you're doing nothing, you obviously won't mind me using the Book." She pulled it out of his grasp and began to flip the pages herself.

Instead of arguing as she had expected, he leaned back against the sofa, sighed deeply, and said, "Go on; take it. It wasn't doing me any good anyway."

Paige stared at him in confusion. "It wasn't? What's bad enough that is can't be found in the Book of Shadows?"

"Something that, apparently, the Halliwell line hasn't ever come across yet," Chris answered back, resting his eyes for a moment.

Paige glanced at his gaunt features. Something was terribly wrong with her Whitelighter. If only he would talk to them, they could help him. "Are you feeling all right?"

Puzzled by the question, Chris said, "Yeah, fine, why?" So he was feeling a little off. It didn't mean he should go whining to 'Aunty Paige' especially when she would pass it off as her annoying Whitelighter, not as her nephew. If he could only tell the truth, life would be so much easier. But he couldn't, and he knew that. He didn’t know why those thoughts kept popping into his head; he knew what would happen if they ever found out the truth. They would start being over-protective and wouldn’t let him do anything alone. There was no way he’d be able to vanquish demons with them watching his every move—so despite the fact that he missed them treating him like a nephew, whom they loved, he bit his lip and kept his secret to himself.

"You look a bit pale, that's all. So the Book really didn't help?" Chris shook his head again, getting a bit miffed that he had to keep saying the same thing over and over again. Did she think that if she asked once more, he would change his mind and suddenly find something useful? "Maybe you missed something," his aunt mused.

With a laugh, Chris croaked, "It would be pretty hard to miss the same page six times."

"You looked through the Book six times?" Chris nodded in confirmation, glancing at Paige's stunned expression. If he was expecting sympathy—not that he was—he was sadly let down. "Whoa, you really need to get a life."

But he didn't bite back with a sarcastic remark, which proved to Paige how unwell the young Whitelighter actually was. "Yeah, I know," he muttered.

What, no cruel comment about how she didn't have a life either? Was he really ill? Did Whitelighters even get sick? No, but witches sometimes did; and she and her sisters had found out a couple of months ago that Chris was part witch. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Just peachy. Now, if you're done with the Book..."

"I thought you couldn't find anything," Paige said, eyeing the brunette.

"Yeah," he replied with a half-laugh. "But maybe I missed something useful... six times. One more time couldn't hurt especially since—as you so kindly pointed out—I don't have a life, so I don't have anywhere I need to be." Pulling the book back from Paige, Chris continued to flip the pages, starting from the beginning of the book.

The ice cream man. Belthazor. Furies. Suddenly, the cover slammed down. Chris looked up, startled. Paige had closed the Book with a thud, staring at Chris in aggravation.

"Why don't you just give up? You can look somewhere else." She noticed Chris's emerald eyes shudder with pain and fear and… was that exhaustion? "Or you can go to sleep. You look like you need it."

Again, Chris nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"So why can't you take a break?"

"Because," Chris growled, feeling his anger bubbling to the surface. "I'm running out of time!" Oops. He must have really been tired if he was letting his secret slip.

"Time? What do you mean?" Paige asked in uncertainty, afraid to hear the answer.

He couldn't lie now. With a sigh, he muttered, "Whatever turns Wyatt happens before Piper's second baby is born."

"It does? That can't be good. But still… we've got some time, right?"

Miserable, Chris nodded. He had just blown it. Not only would Leo convince the sisters not to believe him, but he would probably convince them to kick him out of the manor now as well. And without the Book of Shadows as his guide, he was hopeless.

"So since you seem to be doing a lousy job at finding out who's after Wyatt so far… no offense… why don't you let me take over for a bit. I promise I'll call for you if I get any leads, okay?"

Chris looked up, startled. "You're going to help me?"

"On one condition." Ah. Of course… blackmail. "You get some rest while I search."

"That's it?"

"Don't say 'that's it'. For anyone else it may be a simple task, but for you it’s nearly impossible." She wagged a finger at him as if he were a naughty schoolboy.

Chris laughed shortly.

"Don't be so surprised. After all, you are my Whitelighter, aren't you?"

I'm more than that, Chris thought. But that was the one secret he wouldn't let slip from his lips… no matter how exhausted he was. They could never know the truth.

“Wait, why did you need the Book?” he questioned.

“I was looking for something that might help Piper with her nausea.” Paige snickered playfully. “She’s a bit grumpier than usual because of that little fetus that seems to be a fabulous soccer player. She says he won’t give her a rest with all that kicking. But just forget about that; it’s not important right now. I’ll take care of your thing tonight and work on Piper tomorrow. You just worry about yourself.” She glanced at Chris in concern.

“Yeah, okay, thanks, Paige. I really owe you for this.” Orbing to P3, he collapsed on the couch and fell asleep the second his head touched the pillow. Unfortunately, if he was expecting a restful nap, he was mistaken.

"Please, help me!" That voice. It sounded so familiar.

"Where are you?" Chris heard himself call. But he hadn't said that… had he?

The woman came out of the shadows, yet her face still hidden. "Please, help me!" she repeated.

"Bianca?" he squinted to get a better look at her face, but it was blocked from view, swallowed in darkness. Why? Why couldn't he see his fiancé’s face? Why couldn't he look at her beautiful features? Why was fate being so cruel?

"Chris, please, save me!"

"Save you from what? What's wrong?" Chris questioned.

"He still has me! I'm still his prisoner! You have to save me!" she cried in desperation.

"Who still has you?" But he didn't have to ask. He already knew. Who else had the power to keep his fiancé alive when she was an inch away from death? Who else had the power to break her and make her plead for help like this? Who else but Wyatt?

Sitting up suddenly, Chris found himself covered in a cold sweat. He tried to calm his breathing as he made sense of his dream. Was it just that: a dream? Or was there a deeper meaning? Maybe Bianca had tried to contact him; maybe she was still alive. Or maybe it was just his tired mind playing tricks on him again; it wouldn't be the first time.

But he couldn't be sure that Bianca wasn't still alive, and if she were, he knew there was only one thing he could do. He had to go and save her from the evil being that had claimed her. He had to go back to the future.

Please read and review! Remember that the more you guys review, the more it motivates me to continue writing this story. And please send me any suggestions on how to improve my work! Thanks so much!

Ciao

Zaijen

Shan