Chapter 2: Times of Yore

Holding her head up, she started to march the length of the runner to face him, getting out a blue potion vial from her pocket as she reached the steps.

"What do you think you can achieve with that? Are you suicidal?" Cole tilted his head, that one of his guards took as a command to snap his fingers, then open his palm with Phoebe's potion in it, "take it to Arch," he ordered, "he is our witch, he crossed over and builds up an information book about what potions white witches use," Cole took the time to explain it to Phoebe.

"Where is my whitelighter?" She inquired.

"I haven't given my instructions about that yet," Cole walked down the steps and stood two feet away, "leave us," he ordered everyone.

"My liege..." her captor started.

"You can have your marriage arranged as you wish, Napoc. You serve well," to which Napoc bowed and disappeared with the rest of them, "you've got one chance Phoebe. Allow us access to the Book Of Shadows or watch your whitelighter die," he motioned and one of the tapestries became a screen on which she could see Chris writhing in pain with a darklighter arrow in his thigh.

"You know I would never do that."

"Well, people could change," he casually sat down on the marble steps, "of course that doesn't go with the stubborn and conceited ones."

"I'm not stubborn for the sake of being stubborn, but there are some values I will always keep myself to."

"Like not getting involved with a demon again? Don't be ridiculous, Phoebe. I was looking out for you for a while, even after you vanquished me for the second time, and you went out with two demons just I know of. Harmless ones, without active powers, sure, but you knew they were demons. And you didn't care. You know, I was hoping for something like this once happening, for me to have the chance to ask you why? Why did you stop caring about me? Why did you push me away so strongly that I lost all ground and used my powers? You knew I needed you."

"But Cole, I never stopped caring about you..."

"It didn't look like that to me."

"You were evil. You are evil."

"And the other demons you dated weren't? Think about this for a minute, your reasoning is totally slanted."

"With the others, there was no temptation to the other side. With you...with you I could've went anywhere."

"I didn't ask you to go anywhere. I accepted your witch life and family the way it was."

"I know that...and for the record, I appreciate I was too cagey. But does that matter now Cole? We are at different sides here. I would like to have my whitelighter back in one piece and..."

"It doesn't work like that Phoebe. You can't expect anything from me after what you did to me and besides that, I have my duties and my responsibilities towards my people. I'm sorry, but that's how things are. But...there might be another way. I absorbed powers very similar to Tempus' the second time in the wasteland, amongst others."

"You would...turn back time to before we came here? Why would you do that? You said you are not going to do anything for me."

"It wouldn't be just for you, and no, I can not turn back time as such. My powers are similar to Tempus', not the same. Remember the time when you conjured up your old self just before our wedding? I could send you back there and you could be your old self."

"It was an even older me."

"It doesn't matter. You could go back, as you are, and talk to yourself at that time. Tell her everything, stop everything that took us apart happening to us. I would never reign and you would never come down here with your whitelighter either."

"I could save Piper..."

"That too. So? What's the verdict?"

Phoebe nodded, "yes. There would be so many things I would do differently."

"In that case, there' s nothing more I wish to do in this reality. See you soon," Cole shot his eyes and started chanting his time travel spell.

The End.