Thanks everyone for the great feedback. I've got a busy month so I may be slow to update, but I'll try my best! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=
http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Part 10</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Meanwhile at the Manor –</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br> Phoebe’s face suddenly pales. Her equilibrium wavers as a result of her latest premonition, and she grabs at the table while trying to find the balance. Piper runs to her immediately and helps to steady her, narrowly preventing her from falling to the floor.<br><br> Paige gasps at the sight.<br><br> “Phoebe, what is it? Another premonition?” Piper asks alarmed.<br><br> Phoebe merely answers with huge gasping breaths. She holds her hand up asking them to give her a minute to recover. Paige runs over with a chair and helps Piper slowly lower Phoebe into it. Phoebe’s hands reflexively clutch at her chest as if in pain. In truth, she was trying to reassure herself that she was back; that her heart and soul were still intact. After a few minutes, Phoebe finally speaks.<br><br> “I saw – I saw – a horrible future.”<br><br> “About Cole again?” Paige asks intuitively.<br><br> “Yes, but not what you’re thinking, I’m sure,” Phoebe answers with a touch of bitterness in her voice.<br><br> Piper braces for another heated argument about Cole, but Paige just winces in response. To prevent what she knew would be an uncomfortable silence, Piper quietly begins to play peacemaker yet again.<br><br> She reaches over and gently brushes a strand of hair out of Phoebe’s face as she says, “Nobody’s thinking anything. It’s just that we all know that all your premonitions have been about Cole. It’s clear that whatever we are supposed to do, it has something to do with Cole.”<br><br> Piper looks up at Paige meaningfully, “Isn’t that right Paige?”<br><br> Paige answers, “Yes, of course. Phoebe, I didn’t mean . . .”<br><br> “OK, forget it. I’m sorry. The emotional flood I’m getting in these premonitions is just overwhelming. You guys just don’t understand what I’m seeing and feeling. Otherwise, you would never doubt what I know – that Cole is our innocent.”<br><br> Piper notices that Phoebe still hasn’t released her grip on her own chest. She thinks she recognizes the look of horror in her sister’s face. She’d seen it so many times before. Piper admired her sister’s amazing strength to experience these visions; something she didn’t think she could handle herself.<br><br> “What did you see? Were you – you – dying or something?”<br><br> “No,” Phoebe responds solemnly, “worse. My soul was dying.”<br><br> “Your soul? How is that possible? What does that mean?” Paige asks.<br><br> Before Phoebe can answer, Leo orbs in. His meeting with the Elders had inspired in him an extra sense of urgency. He inferred what they had been unwilling to say, that this mission could critically affect the balance of power between good and evil. Because he was concentrating hard to keep the three Charmed Ones on his radar (for their protection) he had heard everything.<br><br> “Your soul? Don’t you mean Cole’s soul?” Leo asks surprising everyone.<br><br> Everyone begins talking at once, answering Leo’s question with questions of their own.<br><br> “Eavesdropping, were we?” Piper replies.<br> <br> “How did you know about that?” Phoebe asks surprised.<br><br> “What does that MEAN?” Paige repeats.<br><br> Leo handles the confusion expertly, surprising even himself, but his latest meeting with the Elders had awakened more than a heightened awareness of the critical problem at hand. He also now felt a renewed confidence in his ability to guide his most important charges in what was to be their most important challenge to date. He wonders briefly whether his first actual contact with an Elder had given him more than just a vision.<br><br> “I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was watching over you,” he begins. Then turning to face Phoebe, “I talked with the Elders and they were able to show me what I should have known all along. You were right. Cole is our innocent, and he is in danger of losing his soul.”<br><br> Phoebe sighs in relief and leans back into the chair, finally able to release some of the tension she didn’t even know she was harboring. “Finally,” she thinks to herself, “someone really on my side – and Cole’s side – for once.”<br><br> Leo then turns slightly to address Paige, saving the most important question for last. “Without your soul, you cannot have compassion, and without compassion, there can be no good. If we lose our soul, we have lost, period. We give in – to darkness – to evil.”<br><br> Leo pauses, giving the 3 girls a chance to fully comprehend what he has said. Then he addresses Phoebe once more, “Your vision was of you AND Cole?”<br><br> Phoebe nods. She was way ahead of her sisters; she knew exactly what Leo was trying to say.<br><br> “This is really bad – really bad,” Leo mutters almost to himself. “So, this is what they meant when they said the power of 3 was at stake.”<br><br> Phoebe nods again before Leo even finishes speaking.<br><br> Piper watches her sister and husband communicate in this almost telepathic manner, unable to suppress a twinge of jealousy. Since finding out she was pregnant, she had fought the constant lonely feeling that Leo didn’t understand what she was going through – didn’t understand her. Logically, she knew she was being ridiculous, but emotionally, she often wished they could switch places just for a day so that he may fully appreciate her pain. The nausea, the cramps, the exhaustion. She wanted his undivided attention and devotion, but this was not about her, not about their baby. Something huge was at stake. She could sense a change in Leo indicating the importance of what Phoebe’s visions were trying to show them. She needed to push aside her selfish feelings and focus in order to ensure a safe world for her baby to enter. Her thoughts are interrupted by Paige’s persistent questions.<br><br> “But how can Phoebe’s soul be killed? Did you see who will be responsible for this? I will look him up in the Book of Shadows.”<br><br> Phoebe shakes her head. “There is no demon to vanquish, unless you want to vanquish me,” she says somberly. “I am to blame.”<br><br> Piper putting all the pieces together begins to understand. “No honey,” she answers. “We are all to blame.”<br><br> Leo agrees, “But it is not too late to change. We can work together to prevent that future vision from ever occurring.”<br><br> Paige looks at everyone incredulously. Frustrated because she still doesn't understand, she suppresses the urge to blurt out another stupid question. Since learning of her destiny as a Charmed One, she had worked hard to catch up to her sisters. She had just begun to feel confident that she was at least an equally powerful and useful part of this team. She had easily learned to control her telekinetic and orbing powers, much faster than anyone had anticipated. Now she was also a wiz at potion and spell making. But this, this was again reminding her that she was a newbie. Clearly everyone grasped the meaning of Phoebe’s premonitions. She could see that everyone in the room understood the newest evil they needed to fight and even how. Everyone that is, except for her.<br><br> Paige wanted to ask how they all could be responsible for killing Phoebe’s soul, but she senses correctly, that it would not be the right question to ask. Instead, she merely inquires, “So, what is the plan?”<br><br> Phoebe looks at Paige suspiciously. Paige would be the last person she would expect to accept that Cole was their innocent let alone why. Paige carefully avoids Phoebe’s eyes, hoping to avoid another confrontation.<br><br> “So you finally believe that Cole is our innocent?” Phoebe presses, wanting to be sure that Paige is really on the same page as everyone else.<br><br> “I – I trust your instincts. You – you all have much more experience than I do.”<br><br> “That’s not good enough,” Phoebe protests. “You need to really understand.”<br><br> “Why don’t you tell us about your premonition?” Piper interrupts, again playing mediator. “Then, Leo can tell us what the Elders said. Once we have all the facts, I’m sure Paige will understand. Then, we can come up with a plan together.”<br><br> “Yes, let’s review what we know and then plan our strategy,” Leo agrees. Piper smiles at him, thankful for the support.<br><br> So, Phoebe relates the details of her latest premonition.<br><br> “Wow,” Piper says, amazed at the amount of detail Phoebe is able to recall. “Your powers are really growing. You can really see and feel everything!”<br><br> “Yes,” Phoebe replies. “And I never want to feel that way again. It was horrible – Cole – me – what I was doing to Cole AND myself . . .” Her voice trails off as she recalls the horrible unrecognizable soulless versions of herself and Cole that she had witnessed.<br><br> “Not just you,” Leo protests. “All of us are to blame for pushing Cole away. I especially blame myself. I have been so blind.” He then proceeds to explain what he had learned from the Elders.<br><br> “You are being too hard on yourself, both of you,” Piper says.<br><br> “No,” Leo disagrees. “I must accept most of the blame. I am here to guide you, and I have allowed my prejudices against demons in general to cloud my judgement when it came to Cole. I should have known better. In retrospect, it is so obvious that Cole’s good side had been awakened and strengthened by Phoebe’s love. As his human side is losing hope, his demon side is regaining control.”<br><br> Phoebe continues, “But it is I who has failed to follow my heart. And in denying the love that we share, I have endangered the power of 3 more than once.” She remembered regretfully her close call with becoming a mermaid.<br><br> “Enough!” Paige exclaims, surprising everyone. She finally comprehended and now she was ready to attack this problem with unparalleled energy, like she had done so many times before. “Phoebe, the power of 3 has not been lost yet. Don’t talk as if we’ve already lost. Clearly, we must all go to Cole and apologize for the way we’ve been treating him. I have a feeling that by saving him, we will be saving you as well.”<br><br> “Yes,” Piper chimes in. “Cole has saved us countless times. It is now our turn to save him.” Leo begins to agree energetically, but Phoebe waves her hands and shakes her head in disagreement.<br><br> “No, not everyone. Just me. I am going alone.”<br><br><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center">~~~</div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--><br><br><br><br><br><br> <p><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> I want to be what I was when I wanted to be what I am now.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=
http://pub129.ezboard.com/bmajiklmoonsr ... y>ssplatty </A> at: 4/4/03 10:05:35 pm<br></i>