Eternal flame

Chapter 21 – Sister vacation, part 3

Phoebe and Cole were sitting on the bench near the cottage. She was sitting in his lap and they talked.

"What shall we do?" Cole asked her, looking at her eyes. "Josh wants to kill me, and it looks like there's no way to explain to him that Belthazor is dead."

Phoebe was just smiling. "He can't kill you, you're invincible." She said. "Why are you so worried? Do you remember of that girl whose fiancé you killed?" she asked and Cole nodded. "Well, we managed to taught some sense into her. We'll do it with Josh, too."

"Shall we?" Cole asked. "I mean, that girl vanquished Belthazor, so she calmed down, but this guy…"

Phoebe looked at the distance, thinking. "Why did you… I mean, Belthazor… kill his parents?"

"They were one of the most powerful witches of that time." Cole said. "And were about to join the Avatars, so Source sent me to kill them. I almost got killed myself, but I didn't."

"Who are the Avatars?" Phoebe asked.

"Uh… Magical beings, neither evil nor good. They claim to make the balance between good and evil." Cole rolled his eyes. "But in fact, they are just the bunch of liars. They are seeking for power. That's why they wanted me to join them few years ago. I bet that they don't know I'm alive, or they would come and stalk me again."

"You… to join the Avatars?" Phoebe asked, laughing. "To keep the balance between good and evil? Yeah, right; and I'm Queen Victoria."

"I joined them." Cole said and Phoebe's jaw dropped. "But, it lasted only for a few hours. Than I died. I died because I became one of them."

Phoebe shook her head. "No." she said sadly. "You died because I was a bitch. And the real one of that. Even if it was alternate reality and even if Paige was the one who made me, my hand was the one that threw the vial at you."

Cole kissed her lips gently. Than he hugged her, and she placed her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his strong arms around her, hugging her protectively. "Shhh" he whispered. "You were never a bitch."

"Yes, I was, and…" Phoebe said, but she just couldn't find the right words to express what she felt.

"No, you weren't." Cole said. "Phoebe, I was the one that got crazy. I was the one that turned Darryl into a water machine; I was the one that killed that man when you were a super-heroes; I was the one that became the Source and dragged you with me. I was the one that turned you into a mermaid."

"Yes, but you didn't want to do all that stuff. I mean, you turned Darryl back to normal and you saved him life after that. You didn't know I'd turn into a mermaid and you had no choice, but to become the Source."

"And that man I killed?" Cole asked guiltily

"I would forgive you that." Phoebe said. "Like I forgave you when you killed Jenna. Besides, you were already getting crazy than. And I am the cause of that."

Cole hugged her tightly. He looked down at Phoebe and saw two bright tears rolling down her cheeks. "No, don't cry…" he whispered and whipped her tears away. "All that matters is that I'm here now… and that we love each other. I swear I'll never leave your side again…"

Phoebe curled up in Cole's arms and placed her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head. Than he looked towards the cottage and saw Josh standing in front of it, looking right at them. "Pheebs, Josh is looking at us right now." Cole said and Phoebe quickly turned around.

"Do you want me to go and try to talk to him?" Phoebe asked.

"Why?" Cole asked "It's pointless." He said, but when he saw the look on Phoebe's face, he sighed. "Okay, go. I'll shimmer back to the Manor to check on that nanny you guys hired and the kids." Than he looked down at her, placed a light kiss on her lips and shimmered away.

Phoebe got up from the bench and walked over to Josh. "Hi." She said, not knowing where to start.

"Why you?" Josh asked, and she just looked at him. "Why are you fooling around with that killed? I mean, look at you. You can have any guy you want. Why him, of all the guys on this planet?"

"I don't know." Phoebe whispered. "Do you know what the love at first sight is?" she asked.

"Love?" Josh laughed ironically. "Don't make me laugh. Evil can't love."

"Cole is not evil." Phoebe said, and Josh rolled his eyes and turned around. "He was before. When we met, he was evil. But, I taught him how to love. How do you think I felt when I discovered that the love of my life is in fact the cruel demon who seduced me to try to kill me and my sisters?"

"Well, that, why didn't you vanquish him?"

"I saw good in him." Phoebe explained, ignoring Josh's ironic laugh. "He loved me. His ability to love was that good in him that I saw. I turned him. The only thing I never lost was faith in him. And you should have a little more faith in people around you. You might me surprised."

"Yes, Elle Woods." He said ironically. "I do have faith in people; I just don't have faith in demons, especially not the one that killed my parents."

"Cole is not that demon." Phoebe shook her head. "That demon was vanquished long time ago. You see, his father was a mortal. He was a San Francisco Prime Minister 'till 1888. He did good things. If there's one thing in which Cole and his father are similar, it's the ability to do good things."

"Right." Josh looked at her. "He is a demon, Phoebe!" he yelled "Demons don't do good."

"This one does." Phoebe replied. "Cole was a half human – half demon when I met him. But, after a year or so, his demonic side was vanquished by one woman. The demon that you're after doesn't exist anymore. Cole has only his human half left."

"Oh, that's weird." Josh rolled his eyes again. "I thought I saw his shimmer out of here couple of minutes ago. But, that was probably just my imagination, right?"

"No, it wasn't." Phoebe said. "He is a demon again, but not Belthazor. The demon that killed your parents was vanquished almost four years ago."

"How can you defend him with so much stubbornness and passion?" Josh asked.

"I love Cole Turner, Josh! And no matter what anyone says, I'll always love him, 'cause, unlike you, I do have faith in people and I don't judge them before I get to know them!" Phoebe said angrily and walked away.

She sat on the bench again and stuck her head in her hands. Josh really knew how to freak her out. Than she heard a shimmer next to her and looked at it. A second after that, Col appeared next to her. "How was the conversation?" he asked.

"In the beginning, he was the one who was yelling, and in the end, it was the opposite." Phoebe said. "Well, he freaked me out with that 'he-is-a-cruel-killer, how-can-you-defend-him' attitude, so I yelled at him and left." Phoebe explained.

Cole hugged her once again. "I love you, Phoebe." He said soothly. "I love you more than my own life and everything within it."

"I know." Phoebe whispered with a smile. "I love you, too."

---

Leo and Prue orbed in the cottage. Everybody looked at them, and Prue smiled. "Hi, guys." She said. "Leo just healed me."

"Yay, you're finally back!" Phoebe smiled and stood up from the couch to hug her sister.

"Wait." Prue said. She put her hand on her mouth and sneezed. At once, they all noticed that her hand is frozen. "What happened?" Prue asked, looking at her hand. "Why is my hand frozen?"

"New power, probably." Leo said. "I'll go check with the Elders." He kissed Piper's cheek and orbed away…

---

"Finally!" Prue yelled when Leo appeared after 15 minutes. "What took you so long?"

"The quick meeting." Leo apologized. "Well, effectively, you have the new power. It is Cryokinesis. The power to blow cold breath that freezes your enemies."

"I know that power!" Phoebe yelled. "Past Prue had it. I mean, you had it in your past life." Phoebe said to Prue.

Prue was pretty impressed. "Cool!" she yelled. "This is a very cool power. I hope I learn how to control it, though. I don't wanna pass like Piper when she got Molecular Combustition." She said, and Phoebe and Leo laughed along with her.

"What happened?" Paige asked.

"Long story." Piper said quickly.

"Why can't I get a new power?" Phoebe asked sadly. "And an active one, please!" she yelled, looking at the ceiling. She obvious thought that the Elders can hear her.

"It's not up to them to decide how do you develop you powers and when do you get the new ones." Leo said "They just get informed when you do. So, they can't send you an active power, don't waste your voice."

"But, I just really want an active power." Phoebe complained Prue has three active powers, Piper has two, Paige has… well, who knows how many, and me… I have one that is mid-active. It's not fair!"

"I'll borrow you one of mine, if you'd like." Cole joked.

Phoebe smiled. "No thanks, just keep your powers for yourself. I don't need for my blood to protect itself, or to turn cops into a water machines, thank you." She finished and Cole laughed, ignoring Josh's furious glare. Phoebe ignored it, too.

"I'm going outside to practice my new power." Prue said. "Anyone wants to come with me?"

"To do what?" Piper asked. "Be freezed? I don't think so."

"I'll go." Cole said, and Phoebe quickly turned around. "Well, since I'm invincible, Prue can feel free to practice on me. The worst think that can happen is for me to catch cold. But, with the weather this hot, I don't think so."

"Than I'll go and watch you." Phoebe said "Anybody else wants to come?" she asked.

"No." Piper shook her head. "Well, at least not me. I want to use this unique opportunity of Leo's presence to talk to him about everything."

"Paige? Josh? Emma?" Phoebe questioned.

"I'll go." Emma said. "It may be quite interesting."

"Well, than I'll go, too." Paige said. "I don't wanna stay here alone." She said, looking at Josh "Or in the bad company." She added and went outside.

Josh didn't say anything, but he came, too. He sat down on a grass, away from everyone. Every time Prue would freeze Cole, he hoped the guy would brake into pieces, or at least stay frozen forever. His hopes were just hopes, though.

The rest of the afternoon was like a real vacation. Piper and Leo joined the rest of them an hour later and they all went to one meadow nearby. There they played with freezbee and ate their lunch. They all had a really nice time. Even Josh joined them. When the evening came, they came back to the cottage and lightened a campfire in front of it. Phoebe cuddled in Cole's arms. "I swear, I could stay like this forever." She said. "Well, I couldn't actually. I'd miss David and Alyssa."

"When we find the way to find that stupid demon and vanquish him, we're going home." Piper said. "I miss my sons. Besides, the mosquitoes around here are unbearable when it's night. We'll have no blood left when we get back home."

"Too bad." Phoebe said in baby voice. "I just found out what blood type I have."

"Yeah, well, that's why I propose to try really hard to find that stupid demon." Piper said. "Cole will help us vanquish him."

"How come I don't know about that?" Cole asked and everybody laughed.

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So, guys, what do U think? Did it suck? Please, review!