Now and Forever
In tribute to Julian McMahon
Dedicated to Adrian
Author's note: Thank you CharmedMilliE and Badgirl21 for your wonderful reviews. No, there will probably not be another chapter since this is meant to be a short story to try satisfy my irritation at Phoebe's unsatisfactory treatment of Cole in Season 5. I'll try to write more fanfics though. )
Prologue
Phoebe slumped into the house and slopped herself onto the sofa.
"Hey, what's up?" asks Piper, coming in from the kitchen with a look of concern.
"Guys!"
Phoebe threw her hands up in frustration, as if to emphasize the truth of the statement.
Piper sits down next to her second sister, brow cocked in concern.
"Oh no, it's not Jason, is it? How did he take our secret?"
Phoebe hid her face in her hands and shook her head miserably.
"He said 'maybe we should take some time'. I knew it. It is so darn hard to find any guy who can handle our big bad secret. A good guy. Why can't I have a normal, loving relationship? Someone to have and to hold?"
Piper reassuringly pats her sister's shoulder.
"I guess I should feel lucky I had Leo as my soulmate. He understood what we had to do."
Phoebe sighed and looked up at her sister.
"You know what? I think I just need a break. A good night's rest and a good period away from guys. Pronto."
"Just as long as you do not give up on love. I learnt that lesson all too well after you and Paige whipped up Mr. Right for my birthday. Want a hug?"
Phoebe smiled weakly at her sister's jest and gave her a hug. She got up and made her way to her bedroom.
Part I
As Phoebe lay in bed, she could not help but think about the night that had happened. The last kiss she shared with the guy who could possibly be the love of her life totally broke her heart. In her mind, Jason's last words kept echoing in her mind:
"I've lost worse"
"Loving someone when you have big bad demons constantly on your tail is so hard!" mused Phoebe as she let out a bitter laugh. "The only guy whom could possibly fully understood what I've been going through is Cole..."
"Cole..."
It's bad enough to be thinking about her recent breakup, and worse to have recalled the person whom she called 'soulmate'. The one guy whom she dearly loved and had to vanquish because it was her duty? That was a bitter pill to swallow. "Bad things seldom come singularly, huh?" Ironic how Chinese idioms could hold so true.
"Forget it, Phoebe. Go to sleep." Phoebe closed her eyes with a determined effort. After some time, she fell into a restless doze.
Part II
Dreams, dreams, dreams. From the distance, we hear a poignant echo of Cole's voice calling out to her.
Dreamscape: Episode "The Honeymoon's Over"
Scene: College grounds. Phoebe's walking along the path. Cole sneaks up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. Phoebe spins around a does a high kick.
Phoebe: Hi-yah! Cole!
Cole: Hi, how's it going?
Phoebe: Oh... wow, is this embarrassing. Uh, I-I-I'm...
Cole: It's okay, I'm okay. Nice calf.
Phoebe: Oh, thanks. Can I have it back?
Cole: Sure. Sure.
Deep in sleep, Phoebe stirred but smiled at that memory of the first meeting.
Dreamscape: Episode All Halliwell's Eve
Villager: First, you must fill your heart, only thoughts of love. Then close your eyes and blow on the peel. Drop the peel into the water and watch.
Phoebe: And how is it that apple knows this big secret?
Cole: It's simple, milady. Apples are the fruits of knowledge.
Villager: It is C. The name of your true love begins with a C.
Phoebe: Cole.
Somehow, somewhere deep inside of her, Phoebe knew that Cole had always been her one and only true love. Even when she found out that he was a upper-level demon sent to kill her and her sisters...
Dreamscape: Episode "Sleuthing with the Enemy"
Phoebe cuts Cole's hand with the dagger and squeezes the blood onto his shirt. She drops the potion on his shirt and it burns and makes a loud noise.
Phoebe: Nobody will look for you anymore. You're dead.
He was her pillar of support through the several tough battles against evil. And he was the main source of her strength in the period after Prue's death. Phoebe stirred a little bit more from her troubled sleep. Cole was the only one who understood her duties as a Charmed One. Unfortunately, it was this duty that divided them when necessity calls for it...
Dreamscape: Episode "Black as Cole"
Cole: For all intense purposes I've been a demon for over a hundred years, it's all I've ever know. Or been. What am I supposed to do now? Who am I?
Phoebe: Well, you're still the good man I fell in love with.
Cole: But not the one you want to marry.
Phoebe: I love you, Cole. And nothing will ever change that. But I'm not ready, not yet. And that's got more to do with me and my issues, than it does you.
Cole: I still don't know where that leaves us, especially now.
And the power that corrupted him. She literally to Hell to be his bride, all because she loved him.
Dreamscape: Episode "We're Off to See the Wizards"
Cole: Are you sure about this? You're giving up your life.
Phoebe: My life is with you and our baby. We'll be strong together. After all, we're family.
And that pain. The pain of having to betray him to save her sisters. Somehow she just felt that a part of her just died when the last word of the vanquishing spell was uttered.
"I will always love you..."
An echo of the past, and Cole's last words to Phoebe before his human existence died. A teardrop rolls down from Phoebe's sleeping eyes.
Even after the vanquish, they both knew that their love for each other survived and became deadly.
Dreamscape: Episode "Siren's Song"
Cole: She couldn't have lured us if we didn't love each other.
Phoebe: Right. So once again our love was nearly fatal.
Dreamscape: Episode "Centennial Charmed"
Cole: We've been through so much together, haven't we? Our love's so strong, nothing can destroy it, not even this. We're meant to be together.
After so many relationships and such a long time, Cole's dead now. And the love? Is it all gone? Phoebe flips over to her side troubled by all these dreams of the past.
Epilogue
Phoebe awoke the next day with little or no recollection of the dreams of the past night. However, something pulled her towards that old drawer in her room containing items she held dear. Following her instinct, she went over and opened it, to find a familiar handwriting on a yellowing piece of paper. Cole.
"If I'm dead right now, I know it was at your hand. No one else in heaven or hell had power over me. Please don't cry, I was dead before I met you, I was born the day you loved me, and my love for you will keep me alive, forever."
Is there such a thing as forever love? Phoebe gave herself a sad smile in the memory of her soulmate. A warm, soothing breeze blows in from the open window, carressing her cheek gently.
Maybe.