Epilogue

"Coop?" I couldn't keep my old wrinkly hand raised for long but my husband caught it before it fell back to the bed.

"I'm here, love," he replied with a smile. He'd aged his appearance to match mine as I grew older through the years and my heart still skipped a beat gazing into his eyes. "I'm here," he repeated, kissing the back of my hand.

"I'm not ready to die," I whispered. "I'm not ready to leave you."

"But your body is, love," he told me, sweeping my hair out of my eyes. "We've had our time; it's the natural order."

"What about you, my love? You'll be alone." It was so tiring to speak, it took so much energy.

He leaned forward and I closed my eyes as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. He brought my hand over his heart, "How can I be alone when you will always be here?"

"Not what I mean," I sighed.

"I know," he nodded. "But remember when I proposed? Remember how we talked about the possibility of your being killed and I would be left behind? Together we decided that our love was worth the risk of that pain. And hasn't it been worth it? Sixty-eight years later with three beautiful daughters, ten grandchildren, and --"

"Two great-grandkids," I interjected, slightly out of breath. To think one of those munchkins was named after me.

"That's right, love," he smiled. "We've had such a long life together, longer than even Piper and Leo."

"We've been incredibly blessed," I acknowledged weakly.

"That's right," he softly agreed. "So no tears, love. You know that death isn't the end. I will see you again."

As always, he knew just what to say. But as the room turned colder and my eyesight faded, I tried to squeeze his hand. "Hold me?"

He carefully settled on the bed behind me. Wrapping his arm around me, he spooned closer, whispering in my ear, "I'm here, Phoebe. I'm holding you."

I closed my eyes with a sigh, drawing his hand tighter around me. I was so tired.

"Sleep, love," he murmured.

There was so much I still wanted to say but I barely had the energy to tell him, "I love you forever, Coop."

"And I you, my love."

I felt strange. A sudden weightless feeling came over me. I didn't feel my husband holding me and I opened my eyes in fear. Everything was in such sharp focus, the colors so vivid. "Coop?"

"I'm here." I heard him say from behind me. I slowly rolled over to find him standing by the bed looking exactly as handsome as the day we married.

He held his hand out to me, "Come, Phoebe."

Surprised by the ease in which I moved, I suddenly understood. I looked back at our bed to find my body peacefully resting there. I sighed and gazed back at him, wishing I was solid and could caress his cheek. Instead, I held my hand up next to it and he smiled at my intent. "I'm not sure how you convinced the Angel of Death to let you take over but I'm so glad you were with me, Coop. Thank you."

"The Charmed Ones still hold a special place of honor," he smiled, "and just as Leo was there for Piper and Paige there for Henry, it was never in doubt that I would be here for you."

"So what now?" I shrugged.

He pointed to our bedroom door which was suddenly glowing in a bright light. "As cliché as it sounds, love," he chuckled, "all you need to do is walk into the light."

I hesitated. "I'm not ready to leave you." I gazed at him, "I'll be with my sisters and parents and you'll be --"

"Keeping an eye on our family along with Paige and Leo," he smiled. "I will always love you, Phoebe. No matter where you are, believe that to be true."

"I do," I nodded. "I just…what we had was perfect."

"Not always," he reminded me before conceding with a smile, "but it was close enough." Pointing to the door, he encouraged, "Now go, love, and accept your destiny."

"You're my destiny," I firmly told him. But I sighed knowing I couldn't keep prolonging the inevitable. I took a step closer to the doorway before turning back to my husband. "I love you. Always and forever."

He smiled and I memorized the sparkle in his eyes. "I love you too. Be happy, Phoebe."

He was gone before I could even panic at the ironic familiarity of his farewell. I watched the glowing afterimage of a red heart fade away before I turned back to the doorway and stepped through it.

I wasn't sure what heaven was supposed to be like but I didn't expect it to be the solarium of the manor. "I don't get it," I uttered in confusion.

"Neither do I."

I spun to come face-to-face with Cole. "I'm in limbo?"

"Apparently," he frowned.

"I don't get it," I repeated, growing annoyed with his annoyance. "I wasn't lost. How could I end up here? Did you --"

"I had nothing to do with this," Cole emphatically stated.

"He sent me off to accept my destiny," I glared at him. "I thought he meant Piper and Prue and Mom and Grams and --"

"Who knew Cupids had such a warped sense of humor?"

"This isn't funny!"

"Isn't it?" Cole smirked. "He sent you here to torture me. I'm here for eternity, you know."

"Not funny," I snapped before it suddenly clicked into place. "Oh my God." I met Cole's gaze. "You. You're my destiny."

"Don't be ridiculous," he waved away my words and turned from me. "Your destiny was Coop. You love him."

"I do and I always will," I agreed, "but even he understood that you were the love of my life."

"Please," he grumbled, "you spent nearly seventy years bonded to that Cupid. Don't --"

"There was always a part of my heart still tied to you," I insisted. "I could think about any of the others with a loving fondness but you, Cole, you were the only one who could still occupy my thoughts in those quiet moments when I was alone. You were the only one I still missed."

It was strange being unable to sense his emotions without my power but, being truthful to myself, I knew Cole well enough to read him even without it. He was torn. He wanted nothing more than to happily accept what I was telling him while at the same time he wanted to deny it all in order to protect himself in case it wasn't true.

"I'm not lying," I promised. "I've had my time with Coop, my family with him…I've been so blessed to have loved and been loved by him. And even though you and I were together for only such a short amount of time, I was equally blessed to have loved and been loved by you, Cole."

"But Coop's your destiny," Cole whispered with a shake of his head.

And suddenly it all made sense. Just as I didn't have to deny my love for Cole from Coop, I also didn't have to deny my love and life with Coop from Cole. My love had come full circle. "And you're my eternity," I declared with a smile.

He stared thoughtfully at me for a moment before he finally smiled. "You can change your appearance you know. Just in case you don't want to spend eternity looking as the beautiful one hundred year old woman you are."

"Barely one hundred," I muttered glancing down at myself. "And you're still a century older than me so don't knock my age."

"I wasn't," he assured me with a chuckle. "I only meant that without physical form, you aren't restricted by your spiritual form. You can appear in whatever image you want." He indicated to our surroundings, "This too. This could be the South of France or a beach in Hawaii. It's all in how you choose it to be."

"Then I choose to be like this," I commented as I closed my eyes, imagining myself to be just as I was when I was married to him all those years ago.

"I don't believe formal wedding attire is required in limbo," he commented with amusement. "And I think I liked you better with the longer hair," he impishly added.

I glared at him but softened my expression as I recalled the one time I'd called him from limbo. It was the last time I'd been able to wear that sleeveless eyelet dress before I began showing and, while he hadn't commented at the time, I knew he appreciated how I looked in it. Running my fingers through my dark locks, I made sure, "Like this?"

"Perfect," he smiled.

I gasped when he suddenly stroked hair, twisting a strand around his fingers. "How can you -- can I…" I didn't wait for his response before I reached up to stroke his beard stubble. "I always did love you scruffy."

He didn't break his gaze from mine. "You're perfect," he quietly told me.

"Far from it," I countered as I let him wrap his arms around me. "Charmed perhaps but not perfect."

"Perfectly charmed," he murmured, kissing the top of my head.

"For eternity," I grinned and nuzzled his chest.

"For eternity," he promised as we faded away and met our destiny together.

the end