Despite it all, its still you – it always was, it always will be.

AN: Well, here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long, but my nephews came and stayed the weekend so I didn't have much time to work on it. Also this chapter was a bit harder to write than the others. Originally, this fic was just going to be about Phoebe coming to terms with her feelings for Cole and then bringing him back – two or three chapters. But as I started to write it, I found myself writing about Piper, and now Paige and Leo. But I didn't have a good handle on Paige or Leo for that matter, so it took me a while to figure out where I wanted to take them. Anyway, here it is, I hope you guys like. And just let me say it one more time: I stopped watching Charmed when I figured out that Cole was possessed so I'm not completely sure of the events or the timeline for that season that's why I'm using generalities, if there are mistakes let me know so I won't make them again.

Replies: Katbaby: thank you for you review. I'm usually visualizing the conversations when I'm writing so for you to tell me you could close your eyes and see it, it's about the best compliment you can give me. PhoenixPowered: I'm glad you're loving my story and don't worry I'll finish it, I'm even thinking of a sequel. Charmed1s-halliwells: don't worry Cole will be back next chapter. I hope you all like how I resolved Paige's feelings about bringing Cole back. I like Paige and I don't really like it when she's always fighting with him.

Chapter 7

Paige ran down the steps from the attic with one thought playing over and over on her head: 'how could she?' Paige simply could not understand how her sisters could be so ready to bring him back after everything he did, everything he had put them through. She had been sure Phoebe had been over him and that she would not have to deal with him ever again. And now, after all this time, here she was talking about being in love with him – about having always being in love with him. And what's worst Piper seemed to agree with Phoebe that it'd be ok to bring him back. Paige shook her head feeling angry, hurt and left out, like what she thought didn't matter to her sisters.

Paige was so occupied with her own thoughts that she failed to notice Leo as he was leaving the boys' room after putting them for a nap. "Whoa," said Leo as he held onto her arms to keep them from falling, "where's the fire?"

But Paige was not in the mood for jokes. "Do you know what your wife and sister-in-law are doing up in the attic?" She asked waving her hand back and upwards towards the attic. "Of course you know. Piper tells you everything, doesn't she? I'm sure she would not have made that decision without telling you about it. I guess that it's just me that doesn't know what's going on around here; that I'm the last one to find out when something important happens, uh?"

"Uh, Paige? I have no idea what you're talking about here. Yeah, Piper tells most things; but I wouldn't say she tells me everything. I don't think that's possible. And you are not the last one to find important things, at least if you are its not intentional – it could be because you've been very busy lately. You know that your sisters would never intentionally keep anything important from you."

"I thought I knew that, but now I'm not sure. Oh Leo, how could they? I mean . . ." Paige ended with a shake of her head.

Leo, noticing that Paige was really upset and that she needed to talk, put his arm around her shoulders and steered her down the steps and towards the conservatory. "Come on, Paige. Let's go sit down and then you can tell me what's got you so upset."

Paige let herself he guided by Leo all the while shaking her head and sniffling as if she were trying to stopped herself from crying. When they got to the conservatory, Leo led Paige to the sofa and sat across from her.

"Ok, what's going on?" Leo asked, though he had a fairly good idea that what had put Paige in this state was Piper finally telling her and Phoebe about Cole being the one that had helped them connect a year ago. But then, Leo realized that there had to be more to it than that. Paige was way too upset for it to had just being Piper telling them; Leo would have sworn that Paige would have been mad about it, mostly about Piper having kept it from them for so long but this reaction was over the top. 'But what else could it be?' he asked himself, and then he remember that Piper was also going to try and talk to Phoebe about what was going on with her lately.

Both he and Piper had noticed how distracted Phoebe had been for the past few months. At first it had just seemed as if she had a lot on her mind, but then it was almost as if she were in mourning. She was still fulfilling all her duties as a columnist, sister, aunt and Charmed One; but that was precisely it: she was fulfilling duties. It was almost as if she took no real pleasure in anything anymore; as if her reason for living had gone and she was just making time doing what she had to do until she, too, could go. Piper, and if he was honest, Leo himself were getting really worried about Phoebe. Piper had told him a couple of days ago that this had gone on too long and that she was going to get to bottom of it, even if she had to force it out of Phoebe.

Piper had also told him that she thought Phoebe's problems had to do with Cole. Leo was not sure about that but he had to agree that Phoebe's behavior reminded him of how she had acted the other times that they had thought that Cole was dead. Now, Leo was getting the feeling that whatever had gotten Paige upset had to do with Phoebe and her weird behavior. Paige had said something about a decision, and while Leo didn't know what it was he was suddenly sure that he could probably guess what it was. But he decided to let Paige tell him about it.

"What's going on?" Paige asked. "What's going on is that I just found out that Piper had been keeping a pretty big secret from us – that the mysterious friend that had helped her connect to you last year was Cole. And as if having that, that demon contact Piper and her keeping it from us all this time was not enough, I also found out that what I think and what I want apparently does not matter much around here." Paige told Leo in a bitter and hurt voice.

"Paige, that is not true and you know it. Everyone's opinion matter, it's just that sometimes things had to be done that not everyone agrees with. That does not mean that your feelings or opinions don't matter. You know that, don't you?" Leo insisted until Paige somewhat reluctantly nodded her head. "Now, what don't you tell me what decision has been made that you don't agree with?" asked Leo.

"Well, it seems that miss Phoebe has recently realized that despite everything that her demon ex did to us she still loves him and apparently always will. She's also decided that everything that went on back then is somehow or another as much her responsibility as his and that he didn't act of his own free will but was instead first possessed by the source and then he was insane; and in her view that made him an innocent that we fail to protect. She's also determined that, since she's still in love with him and since he's basically blameless of what went on back then, it'd be a good idea to get in touch with him and if at all possible bring him back." Paige angrily and disdainfully told Leo.

Leo, for his part, listened to her patiently and at the end found that he was not as surprise as he maybe ought to have been. In fact all he could think was: 'I guess Piper was right and it was about Cole after all."

Paige noticed that Leo was not at all surprise and took that to me that he had been known about the decision and that he agreed with it. "Leo, not you too! How can you agree with them? Don't you guys remember the hell we went through back then? Am I the only that thinks this is a totally crazy and completely dangerous idea? He's a demon, for God's sake! How can you guys think it's a good idea to bring him back? I mean if we are going to try and bring back someone than should we try and bring someone worthy, like Prue?" demanded a frustrated Paige.

"It doesn't really work that way. Prue is dead and she can't be brought back, at least not by you guys." Explained Leo.

"And Cole can be brought back? How is that fair?" exploded Paige.

"It's different with Cole, didn't Piper explained? Cole, unlike Prue, has not really moved on. Yes, he is dead but he's stuck in limbo. As such it is possible, at least theoretically, to bring him back." Leo, who had been in charge of Magic School for the past year, explained.

Paige thought about that for a minute until she realized she really didn't care. "Leo, I'm not in the mood for a dammed magic lesson right now! We're talking about Cole here. Cole, Leo, the guy who used to be the source and who tried to kill you wife when she pregnant with your first child, remember?" asked Paige who was seriously starting to wonder whether her whole family had gone insane.

"Yes, Paige I remember who Cole was and what he did. But, after thinking about this for a really long time I have to agree with Phoebe, he wasn't himself when he did those things." Leo answered her patiently.

"And that excuses it? That makes it all right?" demanded Paige.

"Well, maybe it doesn't excuse it or make it all right but it does make it, I don't know, easier to accept." Leo tried to explain something he hadn't ever verbalized. "Look Paige, we've all at one time or other gone bad, done things we've later regretted and wished we could undo. We've even had incarnations where we were evil. And, after the whole mess with the avatars and how willing Piper was to let me come back and losing my wings, I have a better understanding of what Cole went trough. It is not easy to stop being a magical being, to let go of the only life you've know for decades – and I was only a whitelighter for some 60 odd year, after having being born a mortal. Cole was a demon for over 120 years and he was born a demon; being a demon was all he knew. And yet, he gave it all up for Phoebe, because he loved her. I can't even image how hard that must have been for him. The temptation to go back to evil must have been overwhelming but yet he resisted until circumstances outside his control took over." Leo paused to take a breath before continuing.

"Paige, I know what it is to loose your way, to feel like you're in danger of loosing everything you love and because of that choose a path you would never have chosen otherwise. Thankfully the people I love stood by me and I was able to right most of my mistakes. Cole didn't have that chance and maybe now . . ." Leo was not able to finish his thought because Paige interrupted.

"Oh, come on Leo! How can you even compare the two? You joined the avatars because you wanted to create utopia. Cole altered reality and created hell just to be married to Phoebe and they weren't even happy. I just don't get why you guys are so ready to think that it wasn't really him that was responsible for that whole mess."

"I'm not sure what else I can tell you Paige. But I think you're exaggerating a bit; it's not like we thought or believed all this as soon as he was gone. It took us, what? three years to get to this point. It wasn't easy. I don't know how Phoebe got here, but I can tell you that for Piper and me it was long talks, a lot of soul searching and remembering everything that Cole had done for us."

"What has he ever done for us?" Paige asked in an incredulous voice.

"A lot, Paige. If it wasn't for him we'd all be death a few times over." Leo sighed and said in a hesitant voice, as is he was unsure of what he was going to say or maybe of how to say it. "Maybe we are more willing to believe that it wasn't his fault because we've known him longer. Remember we'd known him for over a year before we met you; we've went through a lot in that year – he helped us numerous times and like I said he saved our lives in more than one occasion."

Paige snorted and in an annoyed voice said, "So what? He's more important than me because you've known him longer, because supposedly he's the love of Phoebe's life?" Paige asked with a mocking, angry tone in her voice.

Leo stared at her a while a new reason for Paige's behavior and her antipathy of Cole occurred to him. "What is this really about, Paige?" Leo asked her after a few moments, following his instinct.

"What do you mean what is this about? This is about you guys thinking Cole was not responsible for everything that happened back then."

"No, I don't think it is." Leo said slowly trying to feel his way through his new realization. "Paige have you ever been in love? I mean really in love? Have you ever thought you've met the love of your life, your soul mate, the person you'd do anything to be with – give up everything to be with?"

"What does that have to do with what we're talking about here?"

"A lot because what we're talking about here is love - the love that Phoebe and Cole feel for each other. Sure, they've made many mistakes but all of them were because they loved each other; really loved each other – they're each other's soul mate. And if you've never felt that kind of love then maybe you can't understand. And maybe this is not really about Cole after all."

"Oh, no? Then what do you think it is about?"

"About you, your wants and how you feel about your sisters' love life."

Paige, who had been pacing for a while, turned to look at Leo and a bit uncomfortably and said, "I really have no idea what you're talking about, Leo."

Leo studied her for a few minutes while she shifted her weight from foot to foot, and then he said, "It's alright, you know? It's normal to feel a bit of jealousy when you see someone else having what you want. As long as you don't wish that person harm, do anything to hurt that person or want what that person actually has there's nothing wrong with it."

Paige was looking at him like he was crazy. "Do you actually think that I want Cole or anyone remotely like him? Are you crazy?"

"No, I don't think you want Cole or me for that matter but I do think that you want what your sisters have: someone that loves them unconditionally. I think that you want to be love by someone that would give everything up and would fight everyone just to be with you because you are the most important thing in the world to him. There's nothing wrong with wanting that Paige. In fact you deserve to be love like that; and I'm sure one day you'll be love like that."

"Leo if all that were true then don't you think that I'd resent you and Piper being together too?" Paige asked with a face that clearly said she thought Leo had gone totally crazy.

"No I don't, because I was, for lack of a better word, an angel. I was and I am on the side of good, I was here to help and you couldn't resent me or find me wanting because your inherent goodness wouldn't have let you. Even when the whole mess with the avatars happened, you knew that I was still good. Cole, on the other hand, was a half demon who had lived his whole life as a demon; it's much easier to say he's no good and he'll never be any good than to have to confront feelings you've probably buried very deep and don't even want to acknowledge. And I'm not saying that he didn't do terrible things or that you were wrong in trying to stop him or even that having him back will be easy –we all have issues that will have to be dealt with. What I am saying is that you should really think about why you don't want him to come back, about all he did for this family before the whole source mess, about whether you really - in your heart - still think that he was responsible for that mess. Finally I think that you should think about what refusing to help your sisters bring him back would mean to Phoebe, not only to your relationship with her, but what it would mean to her life and her future. Are you really prepared to be the one that denies your sister her chance to be happy with the love of her life?"

Leo knew that he was being harsh with his last question, but he wanted to get her thinking about what it would mean if she kept refusing to even talk about bringing Cole back. He looked at her for a moment longer and when he saw that he seemed to have gotten through to her, he got up from his seat and turned to leave the conservatory.

"Leo" Paige called softly as Leo reached the doorway.

Leo stopped and turned his head to look at Paige and waited to see what it was she wanted.

"Why? I mean" she started to clarified as she saw the questioning look in Leo's face. "I guess I can understand, sort of, why Phoebe would want to bring Cole back. But why are you and Piper so willing to bring him back into our lives?" She asked genuinely puzzled.

Leo saw that this time Paige really was just looking for an answer; that she seemed to really want to try and understand why it was that they were so willing to bring back someone that in her mind was evil. He turned to fully face her and took a few minutes to think about how to best answer her. He thought about his life as a whiteligther before he met Piper; about how lonely he'd been despite the many charges he'd had. He thought about how his life had changed after he'd met and fallen in love with Piper, about how his life was now complete and how happy he was despite the problems that they had. And he thought about how much Phoebe loved Cole and how much Cole loved Phoebe; about how most if not all that had gone wrong with Cole that last year was because Cole really loved Phoebe. And he thought about all the trouble that knowing Cole had brought them – from petty sisterly fights to big magical problems. And he thought of all the family moments they have shared with Cole – from his and Piper's wedding to Prue's funeral. And he thought of how Cole had had as much to do with shaping the Charmed Ones into the witches they were today as he and the girls.

He thought of all this and he thought of how to tell Paige all of it in a way that she'd understand it. In the end all he said was: "I guess it's because, at the end of the day, he's a big part of why I'm standing here today and why Piper and I are still together; and because, despite it all, he's family." Leo looked into Paige's eyes a few moments longer to make sure she had the message, he then turned and went up to the attic to see what Piper and Phoebe were up to.

Paige sat back down, laid her head on the sofa's back and closed her eyes. 'Leo is crazy' she thought. 'Isn't he?' She brought her hands up and started massaging her temples. 'Of course he's crazy. I'm not jealous of my sisters' love life. The only reason why I don't want Cole to be back is because he's evil. Just look at everything he did before we were finally able to vanquish him.' But just as she was starting to feel confident that her motives were pure, her innate honesty made her take a harder look at her motives and at the events surrounding Cole's death. Slowly, almost against her will, she also started to remember the days before Cole took the Hollow and the reasons why he did it.

After a long while, Paige opened her eyes and muttered, "Damn, he's not crazy." It galled her to admit it, even to herself, but it seemed that Cole had not been responsible for his actions – the source had really taken him over. As for how he acted after he came back from the wasteland, Paige supposed that Phoebe might have a point. She had rejected him and that rejection, given that he had given everything up to be with her, combined with the all the powers that he had picked up, which his body had not been able to handle, had driven him insane. So, if Cole was not really evil and he had not been a willing participant in that whole mess the only reason for her to object to bringing him back was that she was jealous. Paige took a big breath and decided that that was not a good enough reason to deny her sister the love of her life. Sure there might be one or two problems when Cole got back - funny how she had no doubts that if the Charmed Ones wanted to bring him back they would bring him back – back they could deal with it. Now that she'd accepted that he was not responsible for all the hell she went through that year, Paige was sure that she could have an amiable relationship with Cole maybe not as close as the one she had with Leo but then again that may come with time. The important thing was that she would stand by her sister and would do anything in her power to make sure that she was happy. And maybe, if she was really lucky, one day she would meet a man that would love her as much as Leo and Cole loved Piper and Phoebe, one who would be willing to give up everything for her – she just hope that her road to true love would be a bit smoother and a lot less dangerous than the ones her sisters traveled. With that hope in mind, Paige got up from the sofa and went to join her sisters in the attic to help them research how to bring Cole back.