Witch's Promise
Song By: Jethro Tull
A/N: This is just little snip-its of Phoebe and Cole's minds as they discover what their feelings for each other really are.
Lend me your ear while I call you a fool.
You were kissed by a witch one night in the wood,
And later insisted your feelings were true.
"What is happening to you Balthazor? Are you becoming soft! Why have you not completed
your task and finished the Charmed ones! I grow impatient waiting for you to act!"
The Source's voice echoed through Cole's head, what was he waiting for? The Charmed ones
were nothing to him, 'what was one more witch, or three, for that matter, to him?' Several times now he had
had the witches within his grasp, several times now he could have struck, yet he had hesitated, and he didn't
know why. He did not fear their power, he feared nothing, yet each time he raised his hand to do harm
something held him back.
Something… something with soft brown-blond hair and a smile that was pure invitation. Something
with warm brown eyes that spoke of innocence, and a luscious body that spoke of sin.
The witches promise was coming,
Believing he listened while laughing you flew.
"You're struggling with the truth. That you're a good person who wants to do the right thing
here but for whatever reason you can't. How am I doing so far?"… Those words, his words, they kept
coming back to her, the woman who had the power to tame a demon. Words that seemed to say so much
more than they appeared to.
But how could he know so much? How could he, a man she had only met a few days ago, be
able to lay her very soul bare with those few correctly placed words, words that know one should know.
What was he saying to her, and what more, what was she saying to him, that they could have such intimate
knowledge of each other's minds within only a few meetings.
Leaves falling, red, yellow, brown, all look the same,
And the love you had found lay outside in the rain,
Washed clean by the water but nursing its pain.
The witches promise was coming,
And you're looking elsewhere for your own selfish gain.
The youngest Halliwell was what was staying Cole's hand. Each time he saw her, he was tempted
to think there was more to life than just the kill, that perhaps evil was not he only way. When he had first
observed the sisters they had not struck him as anything special. The oldest was a dry, somewhat bitter
woman who'd been consumed with the role of mothering and guiding the other two. She seemed to be using her
duty as a shield to hide from the life she was afraid to live.
Piper, the middle child was far too involved with trying to achieve a normal life to really embrace and
take full advantage of her powers. But Phoebe had caught his eye, she had a spark and spirit to her that made
his heart leap and his head turn every time she was near.
Her soul whispered a promise of redemption and reached out to him,
beckoning him, tempting him, calling Cole forth and giving him the power to control Balthazor that had been lost
to him for so long. But at the same another part of her, the one brimming with power and itching for a fight was
enough to attract the attention of Balthazor. The more he watched her, the more he thought her a worthy
adversary, in body and mind. She called to each of them, promising both what they most wanted.
Keep looking, keep looking for somewhere to be,
Well, you're wasting your time, they not stupid like he is.
Meanwhile leaves are still falling, you're too blind to see.
You won't find it easy now, it's only fair.
He was willing to give to you, you didn't care.
Phoebe watched him leave, still convinced he was holding back, but then, how could she chide him
for what she herself had committed? He had entreated her more than once to trust him, to confide in him, but
she'd been unable to. Unlike her sisters Phoebe had no difficulty in being a witch and none in being human,
her problem came when she tried to be both at once. Each existence must be kept separate, for when they
were combined, her emotions and her instincts became clouded and she cannot discern what she has to do
from what she wants to do.
That was why should could not truly confide in Cole, for she feared if she did then her position as a
witch might at some point be compromised by her feelings for the one she loved. And at the same time her
relationship with Cole might be jeopardized by a truth he could not, or would not deal with. Either way she
faced a bitter stalemate that held deadly consequences should one miscalculated move occur. Why did life
always have to be so hard…?
You're waiting for more but you've already had your share.
The witches promise is turning so don't wait up for him,
He's going to be late.
Cole sat at his desk, trying not to stare at the door he should have walked through almost half an hour
ago. He and Phoebe had made plans to go to dinner, but he didn't think he could face her right now.
But he couldn't face her right now, the battle raging inside of him right now was to great to try to
pretend it wasn't there.
His human half, which had resurfaced with a vengeance of late was crying out for him to take the
opportunity fate and given him and break from his old ways. To tell Phoebe and seek her help. If she
could free him then he would be free to rededicate his life to the path he had always wished to follow.
To fight for her, with her against the evil that had held him in check for so long, to learn at last what it really
was to be human, to love and live for something other than the kill.
But at the same time Balthazor cried out, straining against the bonds Cole had erected around him,
calling for the death of the Charmed Ones and the way of life and mind that had occupied him for most of his
life. How easy it would be he thought, to cut them down like wheat in a field, and now it would be easy, now
that he had Phoebe in his grasp.
Cole looked out the window at the stars and asked the question whose answer would determine his
future, 'would a single witch and her promise be enough to evade his fate and her destiny…?'
A.N.
P.S.
Big thanks to Dimples for beta reading for me, you were a bigger help than you can ever
imagine. Alright guys, you know what comes next, just be gentle.