Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

Happiness

"Piper, this is great!" squealed Phoebe, as the trio stood in the manor's attic. "In fact, I think if I reword this a little and we say it as a Power of Three spell, we can actually bring him back now, not just talk to him."

"Hey, what if he doesn't want to come back? Not to put a damper on your joy, Pheebs, but you did kill the guy."

Phoebe looked at Paige, "I don't know. Coop can't get a read on demons, so he couldn't tell his feelings. He said that Cole must still love me though, or he wouldn't try to save me from myself."

"Oh, I'm sure he still loves you. It is Cole. But, that doesn't necessarily mean he wants to come back to you."

"Or," Piper added, "maybe he just won't want to come back. I never thought about it earlier, but when I talked to Cole in Limbo, he said he accepted his fate; he thinks he deserves to be there,"

"That's what he told Drake. But he doesn't Piper. And even if he can't forgive me and doesn't want to start our relationship over; even if he thinks he belongs in that plane of existence, I owe it to him, for not believing in him or helping him, to give him another chance at life, even if it's not with me. I'll convince him he deserves the chance to be good and alive that I never let him have."

"That's true with what happened after the Source fiasco. But, what about everything he did as Belthazor. He may be good now, but he did do great evil in the past. Maybe he thinks he needs to pay for those crimes."

"Piper, he's remorseful for that. You don't know how he struggled with that guilt when we were together. And, anyway, I think three years in solitude with nothing to do but reflect on those actions is more than enough punishment."

"Do you think the Powers That Be will see it that way?" Paige questioned.

"Who cares? Cole should've had the chance to continue doing good to help make up for his past. I took that chance away and now I'm going to give it back. He is good, you'll see," said Phoebe, determined.

Piper spoke up again, "I believe Cole has a good soul and heart, Phoebe. I'm not arguing with you there." She sighed, "We still don't know that he wants to come back."

"After he's alive again, he can't say no. And it's not like he's gonna go kill himself."

"It wouldn't be the first time he tried," Paige pointed out. When Cole had lost his mind right before his final vanquish, he had tried everything to destroy his invincible body.

"He wasn't himself then. I'll be there for him this time, as a friend at least. So, he'll be fine. There, I'm done with the spell. This should work." Phoebe had been making alterations to Piper's spell during the conversation with her concerned sisters. "Let's do this."

Piper and Paige took their places on either side of Phoebe and glanced at the piece of paper in her hand. In unison, the three recited the verses.

"Face to face, bring us Cole.

Because we stole his chance to be good,

We call him from Limbo, body and soul.

Restore him to life; let all be as it should.

Let him not suffer for our mistake,

Through the Power of Three, let Cole awake."

A flash of light formed in the middle of the room and in front of the sisters stood the formerly vanquished, now confused, Cole. Shell shocked, he gaped at his ex-wife and her sisters.

"Welcome back," Piper grinned.

Piper's voice broke through Phoebe's daze of just staring at her ex. Without thinking about it, she quickly strode across the attic floor and wrapped her arms around Cole's neck. She buried her head beneath his chin, a few tears escaping through her closed eyes.

Unsure of what to do, Cole stood still, his confusion growing, until Phoebe snuggled into his strong chest, urging him to embrace her. Slowly he wrapped his arms around Phoebe's waist, holding her close. As wonderful as it felt holding her again, Cole had no idea what was going on. He figured this is what he got for forcing himself not to check in on Phoebe as often as he had before his confrontation with Piper. He knew Piper wasn't happy about his spying, though, so he'd made himself stop.

As he gazed down at Phoebe, Cole savored the feel and smell of her, lest he was dreaming and when he woke up, she'd be gone, never looking back at their relationship and thrilled that he was gone. But, then, he didn't sleep.

He spared a look at Piper over Phoebe's head. She was chuckling at his bewilderment. A couple feet from her, Paige had a mix of happiness and annoyance on her face.

Phoebe whispered, "I'm sorry."

Cole seemed to regain the use of his voice at hearing her, "What?"

Pulling away slightly, she looked into his face. Unable to stop a smile from spreading across her face or her hand from moving to caress his cheek, she explained. "I'm sorry, for everything I put you through. For hurting you, not believing in you, not helping you, for driving you crazy, and all but actually throwing the potion that killed you. I'm sorry I pushed you away and blamed you for everything because I was hurting. I'm sorry I buried my feelings. I'm sorry I didn't let you be good. Because you are good, Baby. You have a good soul and a good heart."

"Did she just call me Baby?" Cole asked to no one in particular.

Phoebe giggled. "I love you, Cole."

He jerked from his stupor, "You what?"

"I had a Cupid make me come out of denial. I love you. And we brought you back to life so that you can have the chance at life I stole from you," she paused. "If you can't forgive me and don't want to give our relationship another shot, I at least want you to be able to live, as a good man, like you wanted before, even if it's away from me."

"You resurrected me? Because you love me? Apparently you miss a lot being dead and not spying." He looked at Phoebe. "I'm the one who needs to apologize. I hurt you and your sisters. I-"

Phoebe cut him off as she brought her lips to his. The kiss deepened until Paige made a noise of repulsion in the background. "We all made mistakes," She told him. Piper nodded in agreement and at a gentle push from her, Paige did also, albeit reluctantly.

"So, you don't have powers, do you?" Paige piped up.

"I did where I was stuck, the same ones I picked up in the Wasteland, not that they helped against my confinement."

"I knew you had powers," Piper accused.

"Sorry," he told her, "We didn't have time to argue about it that day."

Cole turned to explain to Phoebe, but she spoke first, "I know. Coop, the Cupid, was taking me on a tour of my past loves. I saw you talking to Drake and then confronted Piper when I got back to this time."

"Yeah, so about those powers," Paige said, "Did they come with you when you left Limbo?"

Blurring from one side of Phoebe to the other, Cole's instant teleportation answered the question. "At least I lost the Avatar powers after my alternate world," he said. The power of those beings was something he hadn't really wanted in the first place. Upon arriving in Limbo, Cole had been glad to realize that, while his vast array of demonic powers had returned and Belthazor's disappeared again, the Avatar power was nowhere to be found.

"When were you an Avatar?"

Cole looked at their surprised, and a bit angry, faces. The Avatars had made Leo one of them, killed Paige's old boyfriend, and tried to control the world by erasing mortals' free will a little over a year before. "I guess you didn't know that. I thought they would have told Leo when he joined them. I didn't want to be one of them. They came to me after I, um, disposed of those two guys at that bar. I turned them down initially, but they hounded me for weeks. And, after my failure with the Nexus, I didn't have anything left to lose. I knew they just wanted power and to control the world their own way, but, in my state of... madness, I figured I could use that to my advantage."

"That's how you altered the world," Paige realized. "I don't know why we never saw that. It makes so much sense that the Avatars would want your power."

"I think they wanted my connection to you, too. That's why they let me die and weaken the collective after they realized that bond was severed. It was worth giving up even my power if they could somehow get the Charmed Ones."

"So, they waited until Leo was unstable and went after him," Piper said. "I hate them more, now."

"But, everything worked out, Piper. Leo came out OK," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, and now he's an icicle."

"Excuse me?"

Phoebe answered Cole, "We had to freeze him so that he wouldn't die. Then, an Angel of Destiny took him. He'll come back after we beat some major evil."

"Which isn't what we should be talking about now," Piper announced, again pushing sad things from her mind. "Cole just came back. Let's let him breathe without all this kind of talk. Paige, why don't we let Phoebe and Cole talk privately?"

When the door shut behind her sisters, Phoebe nervously faced Cole. It had been easier to forget that Cole had said neither that he loved her still nor that he wanted to work things out with her when her sisters were talking.

"I'm still confused as to why you brought me back. I need to pay for my crimes, you have to know that. I was doing that where I was, Phoebe."

He still hadn't said it. "I told you, you would still be doing good now, if I'd only let you. You deserve to be able to do that again. I think you've had enough punishment in Limbo. And you're sorry. That counts."

"It's my fault I didn't stay good. I didn't have to listen to you and actually start doing things that were wrong, just because you said I was evil."

"I should've helped you," she argued.

"I should've left you alone like you wanted, given you space. Protected innocents and fought for good because it's the right thing to do, not to prove anything to you or make you love me. And, when you weren't impressed, I shouldn't have turned back the other way. I knew better. You'd taught me better."

"You have another chance at good, at life, Cole. Stop fighting it."

"And were you serious, when you said I had another chance with you, too?" he asked. He held his breath waiting for her answer. It was only a millisecond later, without hesitation, but to Cole, that millisecond was longer than his 100 plus years of life. The answer that was to come would tell him if he could still have the one thing he cherished.

But, if it was to be no, that she'd spoken rashly and had since changed her mind, Cole told himself that this time he would let her and be. Then, he would go into the world and do good, because three years of reflecting had shown him that he really did want to be a force for the side of good.

She quickly nodded after his question. "Our love is too precious to throw away. We can make this work, forever. I won't let you slip away from me again. I love you; I always will, Cole. Nothing will ever change that."

They shared another passionate kiss.

"I love you, too, Phoebe," Cole whispered as he drew back.

And her heart soared.

The End