DISCLAIMER: THE CHARACTERS AND STORY LINE OF CHARMED DO NOT BELONG TO ME. SOME OF THE ELEMENTS OF THIS STORY ARE ALSO INSPIRED BY OTHER MISC. FAN FICTION.
A/N: I think I have some ideas for this story now, so it will get more interesting, I promise. Please forgive me for it not being very well edited. Any ideas or comments are welcome. )
Paige was running down the stairs, straightening her blouse as she went and just then the front door bell rang. "I got it," she yelled to her two sisters in the kitchen and she bounded to the door and flung it open casually.
Cole turned to face her, with a smile on his face. She thought for a moment that he stiffened up a little when he saw it was her and not Phoebe. But if she made him uncomfortable, he quickly hid it. He blinked and then said, "Good morning, Paige. Is Phoebe home?"
She hesitated a moment. She had been ready to lash back at him with a sarcastic remark but realized he hadn't said anything to set her off. She blinked twice in stunned surprise and then flung the door open and made a wild waving motion with her arm, stepping to the side, "Yep," she sighed.
Cole stepped through the doorway and looked around half heartedly, then turned back to Paige as she closed the door behind him. She turned to see him looking at her expectantly.
"What, you forgot how to shimmer?" she asked.
"No, I just thought it would be rude."
"Since when has that stopped you?" she asked him with a slight smirk and she visibly relaxed. Cole finally realized that maybe Paige didn't despise him quite as much as he thought – the sarcastic banter was just how she related to him. He figured he ought to jump in, in that case, since being too serious might set her off.
"Oh, all Avatars have to go to charm school." She nodded and rolled her eyes a bit, walking towards the kitchen and he followed.
"Piper, guess it's just you and me today . . . " she said as they walked into the kitchen where Phoebe and Piper were sitting at the table drinking coffee, each holding one of the boys on their laps.
They looked up at Paige absent-mindedly and then, in unison, their glances slid behind her to where Cole stood, obviously uncomfortable.
"Am I disrupting your plans?" he asked in an apologetic tone.
Paige nodded and opened her mouth to say yes, but Phoebe was already setting Wyatt down in his highchair and crossing the room. "Cole," she said in a whisper as she crossed the room, reaching out to him.
He was surprised at the tenderness in her eyes. For a moment he was taken aback. He had almost forgotten that Phoebe wanted to be with him. After so many encounters where she was cold and almost mean, this would take some getting used to. As she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, his features softened and he realized he could definitely get used to it. He bent down and kissed her softly and she sighed with relief, squeezing him tighter.
He smiled down at her and she looked up at him and her brow furrowed.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Where have you been, Cole?"
"I went to consult the council of the Avatars about our . . . situation." He realized this was not the answer she was looking for and then he asked, sheepishly, "How long was I gone?"
"Three and a half weeks, Cole." Phoebe said sternly.
"She's been worried sick," Piper chimed in. He nodded back at her as he pulled Phoebe into a tight embrace and stroked her hair.
"I'm sorry," he said genuinely and looked at Piper and Paige apologetically.
"Well," Piper said as she got up from the table with Chris still in her arms. "I guess I can tell Leo I don't need him to watch the boys, if Phoebe's staying home we can just take them with us. Paige, grab Wyatt." She walked around Cole and gave a slight smile to see that Phoebe was still buried in his arms contently. Paige picked up the babbling toddler and followed Piper out of the room.
Cole held Phoebe's shoulders and pulled her back to look at her face. "It's alright, I'm okay."
"Well I'm not. What took you so long?" Now she had an accusing tone in her voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I was gone that long. Time moves differently . . . out there."
"Out where?" she asked impatiently.
"I'm not quite sure."
She gave a frustrated sigh, but she couldn't wait any longer for the news he was bringing her. "Well, what did they say?" She couldn't cut the nerves out of her voice.
He gazed at her tenderly and smiled, stroking her cheek. "They said I can stay here, with you, as long as it doesn't interfere with my . . . duties."
Phoebe's face lit up and she gazed into his eyes, searching for the elation she expected from him, but his face was blank, a very small forced smile curling his mouth. She blinked at him, then cocked her head. "Uh . . . is there something else?"
Cole quickly recovered and shook his head no. He smiled wider, and wrapped his arms around her, trying to pull her close again. She stopped him, putting her hands on his chest and narrowed her eyes. She reached out with her powers, searching him for whatever it was he was not telling her. She knew the blankness that she felt too well by that point. She pulled herself out of his arms. "Cole, what are you hiding from me? You're blocking my powers."
"Nothing. It's nothing to worry about, just Avatar stuff. Nothing important."
"I thought we are supposed to be on the same team now?"
"We are."
"Then what kind of Avatar stuff can you not tell me?"
"Phoebe," he started, impatiently then pulled away from her. She could feel him tense up and start to withdraw so she made the decision to leave it alone. She realized that she needed to show that she trusted him again, or this would never work. She let out a deep breath and then grabbed his arm to keep him from turning away from her.
"I'm sorry," she said looking up into his face hopefully. "It's just . . . you don't seem very happy?"
"I know, I'm sorry. I've had time for it to sink in, that's all. I mean, it will be complicated, hanging around here . . . your sisters. And there is lots of work to do. Of course I'm happy, Phoebe, I've waited for this for almost three years."
"So have I," she said as put her hands around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Coming out of it, Cole finally seemed to have his mind on the present and on her, which consoled her. She eased back from him to look into his eyes. With all of her love focused in on him she said, "Take me to bed." He blinked at her in surprise but then smiled and pulled her close as he shimmered them upstairs.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Piper, Paige and the boys were enjoying the beautiful afternoon. They had been shopping and had lunch at a quaint café and were just settling down at the park when Paige heard a jingle.
"What?" Piper asked, looking at Paige's confused squint up at the sky.
"I . . . I think I'm being jingled."
"Really?" Piper asked surprised. "That's new. Well, you better go – they don't like to wait."
"Well, are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Of course, you go ahead, we'll be fine." She smiled reassuringly.
"Okay . . . well, I won't be long." With that she orbed out.
Piper looked around the park for a moment to make sure no one had seen Paige leave. For a moment she wondered what could be going on that Paige would be getting a jingle but she quickly dismissed any worries and focused her attention on the two toddlers playing on the blanket next to her. It was a beautiful day and she had many more ahead of her. She wasn't going to let her forboding feeling get in the way of them enjoying it.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Paige arrived in elderland, which she had only been to a few times, and she instantly felt out of place. Everyone there seemed to have a purpose and they went about their business completely ignoring her. They were all dressed exactly alike, in either gold or white robes and hooded, so they all looked exactly the same. She looked down at her own cherry red capris and white tank top and blouse, complete with a chocolate handprint courtesy of Wyatt. She bit her lip as she looked around, trying to look lost and hoping someone would notice and offer to help her. No such luck . . . she stood there a few more minutes but the passers by didn't even acknowledge her. Finally, she saw two robed figures who had stopped and were talking. She approached them demurely and tapped one of them on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"
The white robed figure turned to her and raised an eyebrow. He didn't say anything, but his steely grey eyes told Paige that he wasn't used to his private conversations being interrupted. She thought for a second about turning around and orbing back down, but then decided she was curious about her first jingle and since the damage was done, she may as well just ask and get it over with.
"Umm, I don't know if you could help me, but . . ." she stammered, her gall depleting with every second he stared at her blankly. "Well . . . I was, you know, down there . . ." she said, pointing at her feet. He looked her up and down and made no other movement. She looked behind him at the other hooded figure, which stood there as if it were frozen, making no effort to even look at her. She looked around nervously. Finally, she hurried on.
"I heard, you know, someone calling me . . . ?" He narrowed his eyes.
"A jingle?" she said. He nodded slowly and Paige looked relieved.
"Well, what do I do?" she blurted it out like it was the fourth time she had asked the question. His features softened slightly and he pointed over her shoulder to a pillared archway in the distant mist.
"Right," she said with a shrug, her lip curling slightly as she looked over her shoulder, "okay, thanks." She walked away without saying anything more. When she was several feet away, she glanced back and saw that the two figures had returned to their private conversation. Whatever, she thought.
She crossed under the archway and into thicker swirling mist. Suddenly, she felt a tingle in her stomach and then the feeling of orbing, but in a way she had never felt it before. She wasn't in control of it. It was not a feeling she liked, but the recognized that if she tried to fight it, it would be worse, so she tried to relax. She reappeared in what seemed to be some sort of meeting room. The floor was solid below her and it was a polished white marble. There was no mist, only clean white marble surrounding her from all sides, and she tried her best not to think about how it would be hard for any air to get into this solid marble coff-room! She could feel her resolve slip a little but she took a few deep breaths with her eyes closed. When she opened them, there was a small hooded man standing before her. He was short and narrow and Paige imagined that his nose twitched inside his hood like a little door mouse peeking out of its hole. She smiled sheepishly.
"Greetings, child." He said in a confident, albeit small voice.
"Uh . . . Hi," she said with a small waive.
He smiled and walked towards her, she wasn't sure what to do, until she looked down and realized that his short arm was stretched out to her, his overly large robe draping below it. She reached out and shook his hand.
"Paige, my name is Mr. Davies, and I am your counselor."
"Huh?"
"Your counselor, dear. Your advisor?" It was almost a question, he asked as if he wasn't sure if she hadn't heard him or didn't understand him.
"Sorry," Paige replied shaking her head.
"You didn't know you had an advisor?" He asked somewhat surprised.
"Uh . . . nope. Wha-?" He quickly interrupted her.
"I see, well, I must admit that I regret we have not met until now, but I have been a little over-booked and I figured, what with you being one of the charmed ones and all, you would be right up to speed . . ." She looked at him quizzically, slightly amused at how he had puffed out his chest when he mentioned how busy he was. "Obviously, that is not the case, so where should I begin?"
Something told Paige it wasn't a question she was meant to answer, so she just raised her eyebrows and waited. He paused for a moment as if thinking and then said, "Ah!" and snapped his fingers. A white marble desk with two white marble chairs on either side appeared beside them. "Please, sit down," he motioned to one of the chairs with his arm as he walked around to the other side of the desk and sat down. "Let's take a look at your file, shall we?" As he said the words, a white folder appeared before him and he flipped it open. Paige seated herself across from him, determined to fight back the feeling that she was back in high school.
