Phoebe was lying on the sun bed on the terrace bathing in the sun. She wore her dark sunglasses, brown shorts and a yellow tank top. Cole was out to get some food from her favourite Chinese restaurant – in Hong Kong.
They had come back to Maui shortly after their wedding. She had silently wished that she could go home to the Manor afterwards. But this wish was out of question. She had decided to go with Cole and there was no going back on her word. She wasn't bringing Cole to the Manor again. It was too dangerous. There was no way Cole and her family could coexist next to each other, with her too weak to hold them apart.
Since the wedding day she had felt increasingly weaker and without energy. She slept a lot but wasn't refreshed afterwards. So they had spent the last few days mostly in the suite with Cole fulfilling every wish she voiced. The biggest part of the time she had been sleeping and he had watched her anxiously.
"Delivery service directly from Hong Kong", Cole shouted from inside the suite.
"I'm here", Phoebe called back softly and took off her sunglasses. It took pains for her to right herself against the back of the sun bed.
Cole came out on the terrace, a big plastic bag filled with little boxes in his hand. He was smiling. But his smile lapsed as he threw one glance at Phoebe. He set the bag on the table beside him and then sat down next to her on the sun bed.
"What's wrong honey?" he asked concerned as he took her hand in his.
His eyes searched hers for an answer but the only thing he could find was her total exhaustion.
Phoebe faintly shrugged her shoulders, it was an effort for her to do so, "I don't know Cole, it's just like it was the last few days. I feel so run down."
"Wanna eat something?" he asked motioning to the bag on the table, "It will make you feel better. It smells really delicious." Phoebe just shook her head.
"I'm not hungry", she whispered, "I think my time is up." There was no point in denying the truth any longer.
He froze and looked at her horrified.
"That can't be", he breathed and with a stronger voice he declared, "I won't allow it".
Phoebe smiled weakly. He wasn't the person to surrender to anything. But this time he would have no choice. She knew it. She had pondered all options around this, it was just not possible. Her sister Prue had to learn this lesson the hard way.
"No one can defeat Death, Cole", she told him, "Not even you."
She smiled at him and squeezed his hand solacing. He looked so desperate, she could see his mind racing behind his brilliant blue eyes. He reached out to pull her in his arms and she leaned thankfully against his chest. She listened to his drumming heartbeat when the premonition struck her.
Cole was standing in the living room of the Manor He wore the same clothes as he did now. His eyes were pitch black. He held a fireball in his hand and said something. Then she could see the person he was talking too. Piper! She looked determinedly back at Cole. Her hands flexed to blow him up. Phoebe's own dead body lay on the couch behind Piper. Cole threw the fireball at Piper who froze it and Leo started to orb them out. But they weren't quick enough for the second fireball. It hit Piper directly in the chest and she incinerated instantly.
Phoebe gasped. "No!" she exclaimed. Tears came to her eyes.
Cole knew that she had had a premonition. He had been shielding himself from her premonitions all the time so that she couldn't accidentally see something she wasn't supposed to. Just now he had neglected it. He had been so torn apart by his feelings of loss that caution had slipped his mind for a second. Interpreting her reaction he could guess it hadn't been a happy one.
"What did you see?" he asked cautiously.
Phoebe lifted her tear-wet eyes to his and said in a choked voice, "I saw you killing Piper. Today at the Manor."
He was stunned. So it happened much quicker than he had expected. It was inevitable that he killed them in the end. His own seer had given him the same information. He had preferred that Phoebe didn't know or at least didn't see it – literally.
"I'm sorry", he whispered and lifted a strand from her face. She didn't resist. He was truly sorry for her that she had to witness this.
"Don't do it Cole, please", she pleaded for her sister's life. She looked at him with her big damp eyes searching for the good soul she was sure he was deep inside.
"I can not promise anything like that", Cole answered her with regret, "It will converge to it in the end. It will be them or me." He voiced what both of them had known all the way.
"I don't want to be responsible for their deaths", Phoebe snivelled.
"You are not." Cole tried to console her. "They lived because of you. If it wasn't for you, Belthazor would have killed them years ago. If it wasn't for you, the Source would have killed them using the Hollow. If it wasn't for you, there would have never been a truce. You prolonged their lives."
"I can't see it your way", she answered back defeated, "but I'm too tired to fight about it."
She didn't want to fight with him in her last minutes. It wasn't her fight anymore, she had done all she could. She looked tenderly at him and he drowned in her eyes. The world ceased to exist. It was only her and him.
"I love you Phoebe, I always did, I forever will", Cole promised to her, "no matter what happens next". That had always been the one true thing between them.
"I love you Cole", Phoebe whispered and gave him a small smile. "I forgive you". Cole was relieved at her words. It seemed like she had finally accepted his true nature.
Phoebe rested her head heavily against his shoulder and took some breaths with great effort. The premonition had drained her of her last strength. He kissed her on the forehead and stroked her back gently as he cradled her softly in his arms. Her breath became erratic and shallow and then died away. Cole felt like he was ripped apart. It wasn't a physical pain, more an agony of his soul.
He felt a presence and looked up. Death stood next to him, reaching out for Phoebe. Cole jerked Phoebe's body away from Death's grasp.
"Take me", Cole offered desperately, "take me instead of her."
Death frowned,"When time is up, it's up. There is no bargaining with me about that. Your time hasn't come yet."
"It would be in the best interest of the greater good if you collected a bad soul instead of a good one", Cole tried to convince Death.
Death was annoyed by Cole's tenacity. "I don't care if the soul is good or evil", he informed Cole dryly, "That's none of my business."
Death reached for Phoebe again. A bright shining swirl arose from Phoebe's body and settled into his outstretched hand. Without a further word Death disappeared with her soul.
"Phoebe, don't leave me alone", Cole prayed barely audible," I can't go on without you."
He knew he was doomed. Without her love the last remains of his soul were going to be annihilated by the evil force pressing down on it. But Phoebe was gone. She would never answer him again.
He sat motionless on the terrace holding her tight until the sun went down and her body became cold.
tbc